Geek Miscellany

Black holes, LHC, Star Wars, quantum uncertainty… if it is of general geek interest, but doesn’t fit into one of the other categories, it lands here.

Read more about the article Online anonymity

Online anonymity

Is it possible to be truly ‘private’ while still having some sort of online presence? How much sharing is too much? What can the ‘bad guys’ find out about a person online?

These are all reasonable questions to ask. I respect that some people make a conscious choice to be ‘anonymous’ online, and aim to separate certain aspects of their personality from their ‘real’ identity. There can be any number of perfectly valid reasons for having such concerns and working to retain a degree of anonymity.

I read some good thinking on this topic from Lou Plummer and from Vixiss on the Viscissitudes blog a while back. As for myself, I don’t really attempt to hide who I am behind different presences online. I’ve had chats with people over the years who seem surprised that a ‘savvy’ technical person would be so seemingly unconcerned about their personally identifiable details being available on the internet. I’ve tried to explain my thinking with varying degrees of success, and this post is another such attempt.

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Read more about the article Fixing my broken Fedora Linux

Fixing my broken Fedora Linux

I run my blogs on a little web server in my basement. This is great because it means I control exactly how my web server is configured. It is also horrible because I control exactly how my web server is configured.

In simple terms, I screwed up. Some years back I configured Fedora to perform automatic updates after updating it to the then-current Fedora Core version 34. I thought automatic updates would keep the OS current. This was not correct.

Worse yet, my server wasn’t even actually running the Fedora core version 34 kernel: it was running FC kernel version 27. Fixing this took me far longer than it should have.

But I did finally fix it. This post explains a bit of how I resolved the issue, but for those in a rush: follow the instructions in the Fedora core documentation, including the ‘optional’ guidance to upgrade the GRUB boot loader. That bit about updating GRUB is not really optional for some releases.

If you are not in a hurry and want some details on how things can go wrong, then read on! The stooges would be proud of me…

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Read more about the article My brush with fandom: Star Wars

My brush with fandom: Star Wars

I read Monsterlady’s post earlier this week about ‘core fandom’ and their early Pokemon experiences. I have to admit that I really have no idea what ‘core fandom’ is versus just regular fandom. But reading that post triggered a set of old memories about how Star War’s impacted me back in the day: grist for a new post!

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Read more about the article AI in 2024: Debunking Misconceptions and Predicting the Future of Artificial Intelligence

AI in 2024: Debunking Misconceptions and Predicting the Future of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence as a term conjures up all kinds of science fiction images for most people. Colossus, Terminator, HAL 9000, the Matrix: most of the stories are tales of man’s hubris as a ‘creator’ turning against him.

These are all interesting cautionary tales. And advances in the field of artificial intelligence over the last few years have been amazing. But are we really on the verge of ‘the singularity’? Will our creations become smarter than us and then turn against us? Are these the end times, just before our robot overlords arise?

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Read more about the article Windows 11 and new computer weirdness

Windows 11 and new computer weirdness

I’m configuring a new PC for Irene. I’d love to move her to macOS, but she has too much ‘history’ with Windows. So I went with this:

I bought it a month ago- when it wasn’t ‘unavailable’

A neat little computer- the Msecore machines have a good reputation as a ‘no-name’ brand. But there was definitely some strangeness in setting it up, which ultimately I blame on Windows 11 and its ‘secure BIOS’ technologies.

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Read more about the article Server updates- A Good Thing™

Server updates- A Good Thing™

So I heard there were some updates for my web server OS, so I updated the updates so I could update. Yikes what a pleasure- but this would probably be easier if I did it more than once a year or so. Or not.

I decided to document a bit about what I needed to do to go from Fedora 25 to Fedora 34, with a few side trips into Apache (HTTP) issues around Fedora 33.

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Secretlab’s Titan: Because sitting is important…

I have been uncomfortable in my office chair for a year or so.  It was a perfectly nice ‘executive style’ chair, but not long after the warranty ran out a couple of years ago it started to ‘list’ to one side by about 10 degrees.  This abnormal sitting position was accompanied by a ‘rocking’ from side to side: I looked at the mechanism, and found that a bearing hole in a metal plate that was supposed to be round had become oblong due to wear.  

So I started looking around for a replacement.  After some trepidation, I decided to opt for a ‘gaming’ chair: yes, I’m a gamer, but I’m not a tech-bro “Gamer”, so choosing one of the iconic clique-indicators of this tribe for my home seemed a bit wrong.  Specifically I started looking at the products made by Secretlab, and specifically their Titan model.  

secretlabs titan

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Adding an e-Bike to the garage

It has been snowing a lot here in Cloverdale the past week or so.  This naturally leads me to start thinking about Spring, from which follows feeling out of shape, and somehow mumbly-jibbly-brain stuff bicycling.

Bicycling is something I used to do out of necessity.  From about six years of age, I always had a bike: and from about 15 onward, including that time I failed to get a motorcycle license when I was 18 or so, I ended up using said bike to get to places I wanted to go without having to use a bus.  At times, I rode a lot: hundreds of kilometres a season, which it bears mentioning was a rather short season as I was living in Edmonton at the time.  I used to like riding a bicycle quite a lot, actually: like riding a motorcycle, it was a mentally ‘focused’ process that led to a kind of zen state when I was in decent shape so that the mechanics of riding weren’t to physically challenging.

NewImageNOT AN EBIKE- Similar model to the bicycle I bought in 2015: same brand (Achielle)

A few years back with those memories in mind I bought a ‘city’ bike with the idea that I could use it to enjoy being outside a bit and get back into shape.  What I didn’t count on was just how incredibly out of shape I was/am.  I carry a good 40-60 pounds of ‘excess’ weight: pure fat.  And that bike darn near broke my heart: I couldn’t make it up any of the hills in my neighbourhood.  And one day trying to ride along while Irene (my wife) rode her horse was a complete impossibility.  I ended up getting off the bike that day and never getting back on.  So why am I buying a bike again this year?  Read on…

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