Some of Edison's earliest voice recordings of famous Britons from 1888 Really eerie listening to these moments captured in time 136 years ago when recording equipment was basically 'unheard' of. I don't think many of these people would ever have thought their voices would be heard around the globe at just the click of a mouse 100 years into the future. The voices of Robert Browning, Arthur Sullivan, Florence Nightingale, a trumpeter from the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava, to major political figures like William Gladstone and Queen Victoria. This really still qualifies as a mechanical invention at the time, but one which had a more significant impact than others, as it brought the ability to us to perceive something from way back with our senses. Prior to this, there was of course photography, but maybe we have become too used to seeing the many photographs that circulate today from way back when. Hearing an actual voice recording, is to me closer to it being a real experience. The manner of speech, too, is pleasant to behold today when we have become so used to rushed speech, slang, abbreviations, etc. Listen at #technology #vintage #history

11 Must-Have Docker Tools To Simplify Your Workflow And Why CLI Is Good Docker is a popular tool for creating, deploying, and managing containerised applications, but managing containers, images, and configurations can become complex over time. Here’s a detailed guide to some essential Docker tools that simplify your work, whether you’re a beginner or experienced. These tools help you monitor, troubleshoot, and manage Docker more effectively. I do monitor and work with three different docker based servers, and activating the VPN, then opening Portainer or whatever to work on each one, can all take time. So I'm testing some of the CLI based tools listed in the linked article. The reason is I can open a terminal window and just type 'ssh het' or whatever the shortcut is which I use, and instantly that opens a public private key based session into that server. I can quickly run (or keep open) the CLI app to monitor my containers. I could have three terminal windows open, one for each server, at the same time if I wish. It is why terminal windows and apps can be super useful and lightweight for many occasions. See

11 Must-Have Docker Tools To Simplify Your Workflow

11 Awesome Docker Tools To Level Up Your Dev Skills

These Docker tools make managing containers easier, whether you’re working with single applications or handling multiple services across differen...

#technology #docker #servers

Mermaid is an open source tool that can be used to create such charts using Markdown plaintext Quickly create a flowchart, mindmap, or Gantt chart without once touching your mouse. Open source means it is not going to suddenly disappear tomorrow, it can be broadly supported across different platforms and Markdown editors, and you can see what it is doing (not a binary storage blob). Wherever a Markdown editor has support for Mermaid (often through a plugin) this type of chart and diagrams will work. For those who do tables in Markdown, Mermaid's syntax will look familiar. Plain text format means it will still be readable in 500 years time when Microsoft is long gone. The linked article also gives a link to the online Mermaid site where you can test this out, or design your chart and then copy the code to your Markdown file. See

Lifehacker

Use Mermaid to Create Charts and Diagrams Without Image Editing Tools

The text based alternative to Lucidchart and Microsoft Visio is free to use.

#technology #opensource #markdown

Nebraskan Farmers Were Using Wind Turbines Before Environmentalism Was Invented Many seem to forget that electric cars, windmills generating energy (whether electric or mechanical energy) are just not new ideas. The difference is that the technology at the time was limited by what was known then. Today, we can make things work much more efficiently. With the networking of ideas, we are also able to exponentially improve what we know. So many inventions have come about from society's need to solve challenges and problems. And yet so many ideas were violently resisted as well - remember when all cars had to be proceded by a person waving a flag, or where it was thought that steam locomotives would cause cows to stop producing milk, when we thought humans could not travel faster than they could run, when we were not made to fly, when we thought 5G cell towers were going to cause cancer, and so the list goes on and on. Our biggest problem today is we are a society of buying everything - so things cost more, we lose our ability to fix and repair things, and then we panic that a new invention is going to take all the jobs away. In fact, new things (like just moving from horses to cars, or typewriters to computers) have created more new jobs after the transitions. Society's difficulty is more one of not being willing to change, and today even more so, with the misinformation that is so popular. See

Hackaday

Nebraskan Farmers Were Using Wind Turbines Before Environmentalism Was Invented

To a casual observer of public discourse here in 2024 it seem extremely odd that the issue of replacing coal fired power stations with wind turbine...

#technology #windpower #environment #change

Successful South African electric vehicle maker that few people know about South African firm MellowVans is seeing massive demand for its groundbreaking three-wheeled electric vehicle (EV), which aims to combine the best features of motorcycles with light vans for last-mile cargo transport and courier deliveries. After its tremendous success in South Africa over the past decade, the MellowVan is poised to make big waves overseas. The EV is the first vehicle from a South African automotive original equipment manufacturer to achieve European and British homologation, a long and costly process that makes a vehicle road legal in a particular jurisdiction. According to the company’s website, a MellowVan delivery with a driver is around R16.94, compared with the R32.36 it would cost to deliver the same amount of goods via two petrol-powered motorcycles. Yes, it's true that many of us just assume when we see these vehicles, they are Chinese imports. But this is far from the case, and it is impressive to see what thought has gone into the design right down to the transporting of perishable goods and medical supplies. "Total practicality" seems to permeate through the design and operation of these vehicles. It charges anywhere, the driver is protected from the elements, it can carry more cargo than a normal scooter or motorcycle, it is environmentally friendly, and it costs less to operate than a conventional motorcycle. It has won international awards already, and has already started to export its first vans to Europe (I'm assuming Europe does not charge an extra import duty on EV imports like South Africa does).\ See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/motoring/570060-successful-south-african-electric-vehicle-maker-that-few-people-know-about.html #technology #SouthAfrica #EV #environment

Online shopping syndicate warning in South Africa Hot on the heels of today's report about some incredibly weak passwords that South Africans are using online, and then re-using across other websites, comes this warning now about very realistic looking fake online shopping sites that closely resemble the real brand. We have Black Friday coming up, as well as the festive season, so everyone is looking out for bargains. We should never be clicking on links we receive over instant messengers or e-mails, but now you want to be doubly sure you are actually on Takealot, or whatever site you expect to be on. I'd suggest you check the URL carefully before making purchases, and rather use your saved bookmarks to access sites you regularly use. Your password manager refusing to show a login, is also a sign you may be on a fake site. See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/570114-online-shopping-syndicate-warning-in-south-africa.html #technology #southafrica #scams

Google's Gemini AI Chatbot Finally Has an iPhone App Billed as a way to converse with Google’s AI, it’s kind of like using speech-to-text, but without having to press a microphone icon before each question. Just say your questions out loud, and Gemini will respond to them in real time, incorporating context from your previous questions. Exclusive to the iPhone app is some clever use of the Dynamic Island. While you’re talking to Gemini, you’ll see icons in the Dynamic island indicating that Live is still active and whether it’s listening to you. So far I've been Gemini the most useful for decent answers to things, including helping out with getting various code snippets sorted out. But it is pretty good for most things you'd ask of any smart speaker. I see it can also be used to report road conditions and issues in Waze, something which I need to try instead of doing the three button presses on the car dashboard. See

Lifehacker

Google

Google's Gemini AI chatbot is now available for iPhone, complete with Gemini Live capabilities. The app's release follows recent attempts...

#technology #AI #ios

Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Health A big issue with some Big Tech health cloud services like Apple, Google, etc is you can't get your data out easily to perform your own analytics, or use them if you decide to leave that platform. Apple Health cannot be viewed or analysed on a Linux desktop at all. These tools help monitor exercise offline from your devices, either through direct link, or importing of data. Jogger is for Linux computers or phones to track running and other workouts. Golden Cheetah is a really powerful offline analysis tool that connect with indoor trainers and cycling equipment such as cycling computers and power meters to import data. In addition, it can connect to cloud services such as Strava. It shows many stats that I don't even understand, but seems ideal for analysing cycling, swimming, etc and asks for data such as wheel sizes, swimming pool lengths, and so on. It will also track nutrition and body measurement data, and it runs on Windows, Linux and macOS. MyTourbook is software which lets you visualize and analyse tours which are recorded by a GPS device, bike- or exercise computer and ergometer. See

LinuxLinks

Best Free and Open Source Alternatives to Apple Health - LinuxLinks

The Apple Health app provides a central and secure place for your health and fitness information. This software is proprietary.

#technology #health #opensource

Open Source Cardiography Signal Measuring Device Much of the world’s medical equipment is made by a handful of monopolistic megacorps, but Milos Rasic built an open cardiography signal measuring device for his master’s thesis. Using a Pi Pico W for the brains, Rasic’s device can record, store and analyze the data from an arm cuff, stethoscope, electrocardiograph (ECG), and pulse oximeter. This data can be used for monitoring blood pressure in patients and he has results from some of his experiments to determine the optimal algorithm for the task on the GitHub if you really want to get into the nitty gritty details. See

Hackaday

Open Cardiography Signal Measuring Device

Much of the world’s medical equipment is made by a handful of monopolistic megacorps, but [Milos Rasic] built an open cardiography signal mea...

#technology #opensource #medical #cardiography

You can finally move your health data across Android devices - Can't believe this was not backed up before Since Google had moved Health Connect (the service that each health and exercise app can optionally sync to on Android) into the main Android device menu, I just assumed it was part of the device backup (E2EE if needed). Now it turns out that this was never the case. If so, this is terrible design, and I can't imagine that Apple Health only exists on the user device with no sync or backup via Apple Cloud. But OK, let's move on. It seems now that backup is available, it is also not on by default (you must activate the backup schedule), and no it is not going to back up as part of the Android device sync (it exports to a local file, and you must back that up). Again, what a clunky implementation. When I activated mine, I got the option to save my backup file to Proton Drive, which is perfectly fine for me. So it will back up to cloud services that you have active on your device (and you can import from them too). The linked article also mentions Google Drive, so I'd imagine if that is active on your device, you may see that as an option. See

Android Police

You can finally move your health data across Android devices

Health Connect finally lets you export (and import) your health data

#technology #health #Android

Signal introduces convenient “call links” for private group chats up to 50 people with creating a group Users can control who joins the secure group chats by requiring admin approval when a new join request is created, so the host can approve or decline them. Nice to see such chats also have features like raising a hand button, emoji reactions, enhanced desktop call views, microphone and camera muting, switching video source, etc. And it is cross-platform too, so this should make it really easy for everyone to use. What with Telegram defaulting to no E2EE and WhatsApp leaking metadata like a sieve, Signal has become an attractive private and secure option for most users. Yes I know all about Session, Threema and SimpleX (and I use all three) but I have no friends using them, so they are not yet a mainstream option really. See

BleepingComputer

Signal introduces convenient "call links" for private group chats

The Signal messenger application has announced a set of new features aimed at making private group chats more convenient and easier for people to j...

#technology #messengers #privacy #security

5 of the coolest things you can run on Docker These are some refreshingly different things to consider running on Docker. Covered in the linked article are: * game servers for popular multiplayer titles * Kasm Workspaces * LLMs and image generators (Generative AI) * emulate retro games inside your browser * macOS See

XDA

5 of the coolest things you can run on Docker

Tired of running the same set of Docker images? You can spice things up by running these five services

#technology #Docker #gaming

Victron's VRM app can now install on Your Apple, Android or Garmin Smartwatches Well, this is something new. Depending on whether you have their solar system, temp sensors or EV charging devices, you can view any of this at a glance on your wrist now. See

Victron Energy

VRM on Your Smartwatch - Victron Energy

We are excited to announce that our VRM App is now available on smartwatches! You can now monitor your Victron system on the go, directly from your...

#technology #Victron

How To Use Reddit to Stay on Top of The News as well as more Good News Despite there being pretty good alternatives to Reddit (think Lemmy etc), Reddit still can't be matched for the sheer volume, breadth, and depth of content to be found. Having hands-on moderators also means that the Subreddit rules are pretty well adhered to. What you end up getting is strongly topic focussed content, which also gets rigorously crowd vetted by the community in each Subreddit. You can find news along with some balanced commentary and moderation. But Reddit is more than just the big general r/news and r/worldnews that many know about. There are also Subreddits specifically focussing on Uplifting News, Science, Good News, and more. So, if you're looking for more positive news (wanting to actively avoid bad news), some of these Subreddits maybe worth looking into. The linked article also goes on to explain how you can create your own custom feed. If bad news gets you down, it is well worth spending some time to focus on places where you can get more positive news for a change. Too many news outlets (and even social media posts) want to use clickbait headlines and content focussed on angering, upsetting, or alarming viewers into reading their content. See

How-To Geek

How I Use Reddit to Stay on Top of The News

Stay on top of the news the fun way.

#technology #goodnews #positive #news

Mensinator is an open source privacy respecting period tracking app for Android Mensinator provides a clean and intuitive interface for tracking your menstrual cycle, monitoring your periods, and viewing essential statistics—all without the need for sign-ups or sharing personal data. All information is stored securely on your device, ensuring your privacy is always protected. It's not the only such app on F-Droid, but coming from F-Droid means it is proper compiled open source code, and says what it does. There is no Big Tech company requiring registration to install it, or having privacy intrusive adverts inserted (which usually track and report locations). There are a few countries in the world today where such information needs to be kept private to protect their citizens' privacy. Open source respects the individual's right to decide how they want to use their software. See

Mensinator | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Tailored Period Tracking, Total Privacy—Your Period, Your Control.

#technology #opensource #menstruation

Future Apple Watches Could Have Sensors Embedded in the Bands: Maybe Not A Great Idea It sounds good as such sensors may provide some good functionality, but it is also the reason I sold my LG Watch and never bought another one from them. The reason is that straps, like batteries, are the first things that start breaking. The strap usually goes way before the battery does, and if it is any form of silicone/plastic strap, this usually happens after just a year and a bit. Then you'll discover those straps are really pricey with the sensors inside. Also, you can forget about having two or three alternative colour straps for other occasions, as that will also be expensive. Want to buy a cheaper alternative strap? Well, then you lose some functionality on your watch. Oh, and seeing this integrates with the watch, you'll have to buy replacement straps from Apple otherwise they won't work. Great for the manufacturer (Apple), not great for the consumer. See

Gizmodo

Future Apple Watches Could Have Sensors Embedded in the Bands

These sensors would be able to track things like blood pressure, and respiration rate measurements.

#technology #Apple

BrickMasterVR - Building Lego using Oculus Quest VR Glasses I know someone who builds Lego for therapy. He buys sets on an ongoing basis, some of which are well over 10,000 pieces (think of the Titanic). They take up a mass of space. I get that some sets are great for physical display, but it also gets costly building and giving them away. There is already online free virtual Lego building with Bricklink Studio, but has none of the "handling" of the pieces nor seeing it in proper three dimensions. The logical direction to take this is towards VR glasses type solutions, where you can see it in 3D (as if you were looking at the real model) and be able to pick up and place pieces (using virtual hands). A partnership between Lego and Apple would also have been a logical conclusion for this. But, as far as I know, there is still no real working solution for this, despite lots of interest in it. The video linked below shows an early prototype in action, but that was about 3 years ago. It was also discussed on Reddit in r/OculusQuest back then. See #technology #VR #Lego

10 non-stream things to use a Stream Deck for I've done a video before about how I'm using my Stream Decks (I even bought a second one) for so many different things. I'm using about 20 different pages at the moment and can quickly move between them to fire up regularly used apps, including my notes manager with specific notes, run updates, be alerted of events from Home Assistant, open certain reference web pages, quite a few of my games, change mouse profiles, etc. The power really comes with unlimited pages that you can customise, and the ability to show status or feedback on each button. See

XDA

10 non-stream things to use a Stream Deck for

Get control of your PC.

#technology #productivity #streamdeck

Apple Maps on Web Now Works on Linux (But Only in Firefox) The screenshot above shows Mozilla Firefox 132 (running on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS) with the web version of Apple Maps successfully loaded. All features work as they should, including search, directions, hybrid images, location detection, guides, places of interest, plus core interactive features like scrolling/zooming, and so on. In other browsers, this is not the case. Thing is, Linux users being able to access a competent alternative (not the only alternative, of course) to Google Maps is a good thing, even if most people would prefer to use another service, like OpenStreetMap. See

OMG! Ubuntu

Apple Maps on Web Now Works on Linux (But Only in Firefox) - OMG! Ubuntu

Something to file under "won't please many Linux users, but is nonetheless a good thing™ for choice", Apple Maps on the web now works on Lin...

#technology #firefox #applemaps

Capacities could be a very good alternative to Obsidian Notes I've only had a brief look and test so far, but I'll be testing this out a lot more. Obsidian is free to use but not open source software, Capacities is the same with a generous free option and is not open source software either. Something quite different, but useful, is that Capacities is cloud synced first, so the various clients all sync via the cloud for free (unlike Obsidian which can be a bit clunky via SyncThing or similar sync software). Obsidian is more offline first in Markdown format for full portability between other note apps. Capacities however does export (and backup) to various formats including PDF, Markdown, MS Word, and Latex. I'm just not seeing a bulk export yet of selected notes (called pages in Capacities) to these various formats. I'm testing this a bit more still. Getting some notes from Obsidian into Capacities so far was just a matter of copy and pasting. I just had to copy and paste any images separately into the note. Tables, code snippets, headings, etc all came across perfectly. Speaking of code snippets, I do really like that you can tag each one as a bash script, Python code, Lua code, etc, and it does a great job of syntax highlighting (something I was not seeing in Obsidian). Capacities does not yet have all the plugins that Obsidian has, but for many who were thinking of starting to use Obsidian, Capacities may be a good option to consider. I'll also be interested to see what the Linux app (in development) stores locally and how well it works offline. There are already desktop apps for macOS and Windows (and mobile apps for Android and iOS). See

XDA

I found a powerful alternative to Obsidian and I can’t stop raving about it

Obsidian who? This note-taking solution blew me away.

#technology #knowledgemanagement #notes