5 quirky self-hosted services to manage your relationships, adventures, and more I’ve been a part of the self-hosting ecosystem for a long time, and let me tell you, it’s filled to the brim with all sorts of fun and interesting projects. On the practical side of things, you’ve got the e-book management platform Calibre Web, budgeting powerhouse Firefly III, PKM system TriliumNext Notes, and a host of other utilities. For security experts, there’s the network traffic probe ntopng and self-hosted firewall OPNsense. But here’s a list of the most quirky (but still fairly useful) services you can host on your workstation. There is something for trekkers, tourists, and travellers; a Customer Relationship Management tool; a private, self-hosted browser; a genealogy tree; a habit tracker and changer; and a few other ideas too. The great thing with self-hosting a service is that it remains private. I'm busy implementing OPNsense firewall myself right now at home. See

XDA

5 quirky self-hosted services to manage your relationships, adventures, and more

Looking for outlandish apps you can host on your home lab? We've got you covered!

#technology #selfhosting #privacy #opensource

10 of the best plug-ins for your OpenMediaVault NAS On its own, OpenMediaVault is a decent OS if you want to build a NAS out of a low-spec device. After all, it has the holy trifecta of a simple UI, lightweight nature, and compatibility with ARM systems. However, hidden under that beginner-friendly exterior is a highly customizable operating system that can be outfitted with powerful plug-ins to extend the functionality of your NAS. The linked article covers a few interesting plugins you can use to extend the functionality of your OMV NAS. I'm still using OMV myself after many years, as it does what it needs to do quite well. See

XDA

10 of the best plug-ins for your OpenMediaVault NAS

Turn your OMV NAS into a behemoth of a storage server with these incredible plug-ins

#technology #OMV #NAS

5 reasons why FreeOffice is a great Microsoft Office alternative I use FreeOffice myself, mostly because it starts up super quickly (ready in under 5 secs) and has an interface that resonates with me. Yes, LibreOffice is just as powerful and is much better known, but I find it takes nearly 30 secs to start up on my desktop PC. I also have challenges getting the themes to show the colours correctly. The great thing though with free office packages is, you can install two, four or more of them and give them a good try out. FreeOffice is not perfect, though, and one of the biggest drawbacks is the lack of an English grammar checker (there is a spell checker). See

XDA

5 reasons why FreeOffice is a great Microsoft Office alternative

Looking for a free Microsoft Office alternative? Here

#technology #officesuite #alternativeto

Opera Air is the most relaxing browser you've ever seen Given how much work gets done in our browsers, it's odd that companies haven't capitalised on making their software as calming as possible. This is a shame because, if a recent survey from Opera is to be believed, we're in dire need of a browser that can soothe us during the frantic days. Well, given how Opera makes browsers, it decided to solve this problem itself with Opera Air, a new version that emphasises calmness and relaxation while you browse. In response to the need of a browser that takes the user's mindfulness first and foremost, Opera Air focuses on what it calls “Boosts.” It's very true that many of us spend far more time in a browser, than actually using any native apps any more today (on our desktops anyway). Depending on whether you go to Facebook/X or Bluesky/Mastodon, your experiences online can vary greatly (this is especially true for sites that actively employ algorithms to incite rage, as nothing drives clicks better than rage). There is nothing unique about what they have added into this browser, but I suppose browser providers are struggling to differentiate themselves from the others. The link at the end of the XDA Dev article though is incorrect, so the correct one is https://www.opera.com/air. From

XDA

Opera Air is the most relaxing browser you've ever seen

Takes the edge off of bidding on items on eBay.

#technology #browsers

Someone built a DIY wall-mounted NAS with Lego and a Raspberry Pi In a post on the HomeServer subreddit, user koechzzzn showed off their newest build. It's nothing too complex; it's a Raspberry Pi and a hard drive connected to one another and mounted on the wall using a Lego case. People in the thread were pretty impressed, even if they weren't so keen about how the original poster screwed the Pi and the Lego in. Some spare Lego can go a long way. One of my first router "racks" was made out of Lego, too. See

XDA

Someone built a DIY wall-mounted NAS with Lego and a Raspberry Pi

A little bit of ingenuity (and some Lego) can go a long way.

#technology #Lego #NAS

Challenges with Asus Router and VLANs (Video) Key issues covered in my video are: * Problems with VLAN Trunked port and Inter-VLAN traffic rules * No aggregating of wired and wireless devices into the same VLAN * Correct settings for a TP-Link TL-SG108E switch for mixed VLAN traffic I show some of the issues I experienced with my new Asus ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 gaming router. It is one of only about five or six routers of Asus that support VLAN traffic. The problem is, Asus only provides basic support for 802.1Q VLANs, and for anything more you probably need to consider a MikroTik, pfSense, etc type routers if detailed VLAN support is required. This is an excellent gaming router, but VLAN support is not something it really excels at (and it does not claim to do so either). Watch #technology #asusrouter #networking #VLANs

The Pebble smartwatch is making a comeback: Shows Founders are more Innovative than Big Tech Even with Big Tech themselves, once their own founders have moved on, a lot of the mojo is lost. They tend to buy up their competition rather than innovate, and drive, from the ground up. It is just sad that many of these smaller start-ups get bought out, or smothered. Big Tech has got so big today, that they can also put any smaller company out of business by selling their own products at a loss, or they can leverage favourable deals with OEMs. In the case of Pebble OS though, I'm not sure that we will see any dramatic innovation (yet) as it seems to be a philosophy of minimalism and long battery life rather. But as the community can contribute, we are likely to see some interesting 3rd party apps for it, and especially for platforms that have open APIs. Apart from telling the time, and heartrate monitoring, the other big thing I use my smartwatch for is my weekly shopping list. The founder of Pebble had also founded Beeper, so it is clear he is pitched more at fulfilling real needs than selling lots of promises. I still have my own original Pebble watch from way back, and when I last checked it, it was still working. So, I'll be keeping an eye on this project going forward. See

The Verge

The Pebble smartwatch is making a comeback

The OG smartwatch is getting a second life.

#technology #smartwatch #Pebble

Be careful of misleading security claims by hosting companies: US FTC cracks down on GoDaddy The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will require web hosting giant GoDaddy to implement basic security protections, including HTTPS APIs and mandatory multifactor authentication, to settle charges that it failed to secure its hosting services against attacks since 2018. FTC says the Arizona-based company's claims of reasonable security practices also misled millions of web-hosting customers because GoDaddy was instead “blind to vulnerabilities and threats in its hosting environment” due to its failings to implement standard security tools and practices. The big problem is the company claimed to have robust security measures in place, but lots of basic security practices were found not to be in place, and they had multiple major security breaches over time. According to a proposed settlement order, the FTC will require GoDaddy to establish a robust information security program and prohibits the company from misleading customers about its security protections. The order also mandates that GoDaddy hire an independent third-party assessor to conduct biennial reviews of its information security program. It really appears that this was almost tantamount to fraud — where you promise something in writing to customers, but in fact, that is not what you are delivering behind the scenes. Hopefully it is a major wakeup call to other hosting providers. Promise what you are delivering on, and don't promise what you are not doing. It is really as simple as that. Independent security audits are certainly a desirable practice to have in place, along with how regularly it is performed. See

BleepingComputer

FTC orders GoDaddy to fix poor web hosting security practices

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will require web hosting giant GoDaddy to implement basic security protections, including HTTPS APIs and mandato...

#technology #security #vulnerabilities

Even if you don't know Linux well enough, you should know these common terms to blend in These really are the key components which comprise a Linux system. Unlike Windows, which is a single stack, and you don't have any options to swap anything out, Linux is a more modular system. In case that sounds too complicated, most distros that a user downloads, are complete to install and run. Some may just offer a choice of which desktop environment you'd like to install, or which type of file system, but if in doubt they will have defaults on offer. So this jargon guide is quite useful to quickly understanding what the different terminology is, especially if you need to log an issue or a request on a user forum or a software project. With so many new Linux users on Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Steam Decks, etc, it has got a lot more friendly and helpful to novice users. Getting to grips with some key jargon, though, does make one feel at home a lot more quickly. See

It's FOSS

21 Jargon Every Linux User Should Know

Even if you don't know Linux well enough, you should know these common terms to blend in ;)

#technology #Linux #opensource #jargon

Alfred is the best productivity app on macOS, and it's not even close If you're looking for a Spotlight replacement on your Mac that can aid in productivity, there's no better option than Alfred. Alfred is a complete third-party replacement for Spotlight search. It offers a far more extensible and powerful platform with plenty of configuration, while retaining the same speed, ease of access, and sleek design that Spotlight is known for. While Apple's default Spotlight search is a powerful tool for accessing apps, files, or searching the internet, it pales in comparison to Alfred. Yes, 3rd party innovation can often be better, especially when they listen to what their users really want. On Linux I use Krunner which is also quite integrated into the browser history, bookmarks, apps, etc, but it stops short of having controls for apps like Spotify. Linux also has Albert, but it is no relation to Alfred, apart from them doing similar things, and Albert does have a media player integration. Although, I'd venture to say that Krunner and Albert on Linux are probably on par with the free version of Albert on macOS. See

XDA

Alfred is the best productivity app on macOS, and it's not even close

If you want to improve your productivity and work more efficiently, Alfred is simply unmatched for Mac users.

#technology #macOs #launchers

Free Latest App Checks Your MacBook Apps for Updates Some of the best Mac apps serve a single purpose. Latest (the app's name) is another tiny app you should install that can check for and apply outstanding updates. This app will check for updates regardless of whether you have opened, or used, the app recently. It works with all App Store apps, plus those that use the Sparkle open-source update framework and Homebrew package manager. I also recall though using something similar a few years ago when I used a Macbook, which was also a 3rd party app. One forgets that non-Linux users don't have the luxury of a full app check daily as part of the OS. See

How-To Geek

This Free Mac App Checks Your Apps for Updates

Update everything in a few clicks.

#technology #macOS

8 Cool Tricks You Can Do With Your Browser's Element Inspector The Element Inspector in your browser seems like a tool only meant for developers, but you can do some cool things with it even if you don’t know any programming. I've used this often for saving images for my blog. But you'll probably also appreciate, after reading the linked post, why you can't just blindly trust screenshots someone sends you. As with all technology, it can be used for both good and bad purposes. See

How-To Geek

8 Cool Tricks You Can Do With Your Browser's Element Inspector

No coding lessons required.

#technology #browsers #tips

Finally, You Can Automatically Block Spam Calls on Your iPhone: Too Late For Me Though I did try again using an iPhone about 3 years ago, because it had really caught up to Android with 3rd party keyboards, some widgets, etc. And of course, the Apple Watch is second to none when it comes to health stats. But as I said in my blog a year ago, I was so frustrated with spam callers, and Truecaller not being allowed to do number lookups, that I finally ditched the Apple ecosystem for a second time (and final) time. I have just sold off my AirTags as well. Seriously, if this functionality was release a bit over a year ago, I may well have stayed in the Apple ecosystem. Well, I can't say for sure, as my philosophy around accessibility and open standards is a bit divergent from Apple's. But it does go to show that clearly this was a major frustration for many, and it just takes Apple very very very long before (ah, RCS messaging I'm now thinking of) before they make a change. This does though make me feel very happy for Apple users. That said, Android does also appear to be restricting some things now. The two ecosystems are getting more and more alike. See

Lifehacker

Finally, You Can Automatically Block Spam Calls on Your iPhone

iOS 18.2 introduces a new API for developers that finally brings live caller ID to iPhones. Truecaller is the first app to take advantage of this n...

#technology #iOS #spamcallers

Datacus extractus: Harry Potter publisher breached without resorting to magic There is a link in the article to how such vulnerabilities were discovered in the Planet Technology WGS-804HPT industrial Ethernet switches which were being used by the publisher. The key takeaways though for any self-hosters or home automation hobbyists though are: 1. Do not expose any web interfaces to the Internet that are not absolutely necessary. 2. Do not publish what equipment you are using and how fancy your network looks, as these are all clues to anyone as to how everything fits together. 3. Where possible, segment all your IoT devices, doorbells, etc onto a separate LAN even if it is a separated guest network. All my home automation web logins e.g. to Home Assistant, Sonoff switches (which have been reflashed), CCTV, Portainer, etc are behind a VPN login from outside. If I need to access any of them, I will have to log into the VPN first, and then access their dashboard screens. It is not even about the brand of switch that is being used, as Cisco themselves have suffered zero-day exploits too. These specific vulnerabilities with the Planet Technology switches should have been patched if users have installed the updates. See

Harry Potter publisher breached, millions of records lifted

PLUS: Allstate sued for allegedly tracking drivers; Dutch DDoS; More fake jobs from Pyongyang; and more

#technology #security #vulnerabilities

New study suggests that the co-location of solar farming with sheep grazing is not negatively impacting wool production Yes, this is likely no surprise to many, but seemingly it is a surprise for the few who thought this would have a negative impact. “The findings suggest that the co-location of solar farming with sheep grazing is not negatively impacting wool production, even in the case of pre-existing high-quality standards,” Lightsource bp said, in a released statement. According to the farmer who owns the sheep, the quality of wool actually increased over this period. Other studies have found that crops like maize, Swiss chard, and beans grow even better under partial shade provided by solar panels. See

The Cool Down

New study makes surprising discovery while testing sheep grazing alongside solar panels — here's how it could dramatically change agriculture

In New South Wales, Australia, one renewable's developer just commissioned a study on agrivoltaics that had promising results.

#technology #solar #environment

I Feel Like a Hacker Using These Cool Linux Terminal Tools Most of these tools will only excite a YouTuber wanting to have some geeky stuff happening in the background, but actually gping is a graph view of the ping command in the terminal, and Bpytop is an htop alternative with a really good layout. Surprisingly enough, when I wanted to install Bpytop on my Manjaro machine, it was already installed by default. I did not even know it was there the last few years. It responds to the mouse, and has various options that can be set and tweaked. See

It's FOSS

I Feel Like a Hacker Using These Cool Linux Terminal Tools

Get ready to look like a hacker with me using these Linux terminal tools!

#technology #Linux #terminal #opensource

BusKill is an open source laptop kill cord that can trigger your computer to lock or shutdown when it's physically separated from you BusKill can trigger your laptop to lock, shutdown, or self-destruct if it’s physically separated from you. It's actually been around for a few years, but this was the first time it popped up in my feed. BusKill can provide travellers peace-of-mind when logged into their bank account or social media from a café in Paris. BusKill can keep a journalist's documents and their sources safe if they’re targeted by the political police. It is probably also useful for activists, businesses, military, and intelligence operatives. The intention to use a physical cable was a deliberate one, as otherwise Bluetooth or other wireless triggers could be thwarted. It works on Windows, macOS, Linux, and even QubesOS. See

BusKill

BusKill: The USB Laptop Kill Cord

#BusKill is a laptop #DeadManSwitch triggered by someone physically yanking your laptop away from you. Powered by #USB & #udev. #opsec #infosec #Cy...

#technology #security #deadmanswitch #opensource

7 hidden features in Krita to boost your creative workflow Krita is a fantastic open-source tool for creative image manipulation. While Krita is one of many alternatives to Photoshop, it stands alone as a go-to creative tool for many digital artists and illustrators, even for digital illustration from tablets too. Krita has many obvious tools and features, like layers, brushes, shapes, and selection tools, but it also provides many hidden features you should use to boost your creative workflow further. Krita’s wealth of tools competes against the best paid-for software — like Photoshop, Affinity, or Procreate — for digital art and illustration. It’s good to learn the full metrics of the software you choose to use, especially pesky hidden tools, that are most often overlooked. The linked article also helps give an idea of some useful things you can do with Krita. As I recall, it also has support built in for digital drawing tablets. See

XDA

7 hidden features in Krita to boost your creative workflow

Krita has loads of helpful tools which are sometimes hidden in plain sight

#technology #opensource #drawing

The streams repository is a self-hosted Fediverse server that offers more of a Facebook alternative type experience The name refers to the code repository, so there is no actual branding for this service. Hence, “the streams repository”. It isn't a product. It's just a collection of code which implements a Fediverse server that does some really cool stuff. There is no flagship instance. There is no mascot. In fact, all brand information has been removed. You are free to release it under your own brand. Whatever you decide to call your instance of the software is the only brand you'll see. The software is in the public domain to the extent permissible by law. There is no license. It began in 2010 as a decentralised Facebook alternative called Mistpark. It has gone through a number of twists and turns in its long journey of providing federated communications. The Fediverse servers Friendica and Hubzilla are early branches of this repository. If you look for the streams repository in a list of popular Fediverse servers, you won't find it. They're not big on tracking and other spyware. Nobody knows how many instances there are or how many Monthly Active Users there are. The default settings tend to favour personal and private use on relatively modest hardware for close friends and family. They also provide what they believe is the most harassment-free experience for marginalised people and communities available today in the Fediverse — “out of the box”. The idea therefore is for users to host this service for themselves and/or family and friends. It will interconnect with Hubzilla, Friendica, Fediverse (yes, including Mastodon), and some other services. What is like Facebook? Well, it is long form posts (not short-form like Mastodon, Twitter and BlueSky), and it supports markdown, html, and bbcode. Posts can also be edited after posting. You can also upload photos with some basic arrangement into folders/albums. It has WebDAV access for cloud storage too. Events are also catered for: Calendar and attendance; with automatic timezone adjusted birthday notifications for friends using this feature. These are many of the basics that the original Facebook had when it started out. What you won't see is lots of algorithms, any adverts, not Facebook Marketplace, etc. It appears to be a bit more refined than Hubzilla and Friendica. Interestingly, it has also inherited Hubzilla's excellent nomadic identity: Clone your online identity and content to multiple sites using the Nomad protocol and mirror any changes in near real-time. Then, if your chosen site goes down (either temporarily or permanently) or you get booted off of it for some reason, your online life doesn't have to come to an end or force you to start over. All your friends and all your content are available on any of your cloned instances — at any time. I've taken some of the above content from Mike Macgirvin's own blog post about streams. The key thing here though is there is no big flagship instance to sign-up at to use this service. There may be some folks hosting such servers and allowing public registration (link below has a link to some such instances), but otherwise you or a friend need to host it yourselves. Anyone on Mastodon would be able to follow your posts on streams, so using this is in place of registering an account on Mastodon or any other Fediverse server. I see also there is a Docker installation as well! This is interesting as I was struggling to get a Docker install of Hubzilla to work. I may give this a spin myself, actually. See

Codeberg.org

streams

Decentralised personal communication system.

#technology #decentralised #selfhosting #OpenSource #socialnetworks

Microsoft patch to Linux kernel is disabled — Maybe this explains the numerous Windows vulnerabilities Intel and AMD engineers have stepped in at the eleventh to deal with a code contribution from a Microsoft developer that could have broken Linux 6.13 on some systems. So this patch never went live. Microsoft is notable for dubious quality control standards regarding releases of its flagship operating system, Windows. That one of its engineers should drop some dodgy code into the Linux kernel is not hugely surprising, and the unfortunate individual is not the first and will not be the last to do so, regardless of their employer. Yes, it is not just Microsoft which has caused these problems for the Linux kernel, but one has to wonder about the ongoing vulnerabilities that Windows OS has had over its many decades of existence. One could say Windows is a horrifically complex collection of code, but I think the same can be said for Linux too (with patches being submitted by many devs all around the world, and the Linux kernel driving so many different types of hardware, more than Windows itself). I suppose the difference in expectations comes from the remuneration of the devs. I'd expect that Microsoft pays their devs in hard cash to do their jobs, whilst Linux devs do it mostly for love. See

Microsoft change removed from Linux over Intel CPU issues

'Let's not do this again please'... days before release date

#technology #Microsoft