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Nils

@ Nils @piefed.ca

Posts
4
Comments
22
Joined
8 mo. ago

  • Tiny Desk Concert - Bad Bunny

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  • What a sweet episode, thanks for sharing. I like how the Tiny Desk songs hit different.

  • YOU MAKE ME SICK

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  • In this video, doesn't Taliesin Jaffe misses the table, and they laugh at him?

    op adding subliminal layers to the meme. 😅

  • The CAQ Forced An End To Montreal’s Transit Strike

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  • I don't know if it would work in Montréal, but I saw some public transit strikes around the world with similar problems and their union did some "compliance strike" instead.

    They went to work, opened the gates and disabled the payment systems, so everyone would ride free. The service is important, but if you want profits, you need to talk to us.

  • Here’s what ads on your $2,000 Samsung smart fridge will look like

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  • Wow, I might be old, I guess language changes. Crackers used to be for hackers that focus in bypassing security, like in "code crackers". It seems it is still used for gaming scenes that reverse engineer DRM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_warez_groups - and the colour of the hat, just how they used their skills.

  • Here’s what ads on your $2,000 Samsung smart fridge will look like

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  • What could be the best way to introduce the world of computers to a kid, let's say of 6 years old, so that he learns to handle it like a toy and stops dreading it like some esoteric, arcane and

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  • Start with building a very cheap computer with your kid.

    You can buy parts for cheap or sometimes get them for free from e-waste processing places. You can do the screws to the case, but let the kid put the parts in place while you explain what they do.

    Parts are easy to handle, just make sure to not damage the components as they look cute and are a bit malleable, but put too much pressure you can destroy it (not sure a kid will be strong enough for that).

    It is as easy as building Lego, or putting a cartridge on an old console. This will help to make the computer less scary.

    Make sure that you can do it yourself and test the parts first before involving your kid, so they do not get too frustrated if it fails.

    This will cover hardware.

    You can also help them to install the OS.

    After, make a list of the programs you want your kid to be aware of: calculator, place to write text, anything you think it will be useful. Take some time to explain them, and do some exercises with each - let's write a letter to a friend, etc.. Let them play around with it without judgment. (remove things you don't want them to use).

    If you want to give the child some background in how software works, Logo was very popular with kids at the school.

    Logo is this little turtle that you give orders, similar to imperative programming language used in most softwares.

    Change colour to green, walk forward 50 steps.

    And the turtle would draw a green line on the screen.

    There are plenty of options for software that provides that, here is an option https://apps.kde.org/kturtle/

    And, of course, try to break these in multiple days, building a PC, installing OS and playing with programs can be overwhelming for some kids.

  • Pants too!

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  • Wasn't there an experiment of farting in a lab and contamination of petri dishes?

    Something in the lines that at least wearing one layer (underwear) is enough to prevent contamination.

    Wow, there are plenty of studies, this is the funnies one I found:

    https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1121900/

    “Our deduction is that the enteric zone in the second Petri dish was caused by the flatus itself, and the splatter ring around that was caused by the sheer velocity of the fart, which blew skin bacteria from the cheeks and blasted it onto the dish. It seems, therefore, that flatus can cause infection if the emitter is naked, but not if he or she is clothed. But the results of the experiment should not be considered alarming, because neither type of bacterium is harmful. In fact, they're similar to the ‘friendly’ bacteria found in yoghurt."

  • Question: Is buying second hand repaired PS5 controllers a good idea?

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  • Depending on the sticks, you will not know it is hall-effect unless you open the controller or if after playing a lot you are drift free. If it is legit, you might want to share the seller with us, as it might a great place to buy improved joysticks.

    Now, I just wish Sony or modders would improve the battery life of the controller.

  • Documenting the descent into madness

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  • MacBooks with intel chip are some of the best hardware to put Linux on, there are plenty of guides online on how to liberate your MacBook with Linux.

    I tested a bunch of distros based on Debian, Arch and Fedora. By far, the easiest one was EndeavourOS just because it recognized the WiFi driver from the Live USB for me. Otherwise you will need to use a mobile phone with USB tethering to share internet so you can install the broadcom driver. Maybe things changed, but this was my experience in 2023.

    Another driver you will need to install is the camera facetimehd . Everything else worked out-of-the-box for me.

    After that, all the Linux variants I tried worked great, and it was mostly about distro philosophies and deciding the desktop environments (DE) I wanted to use, and that can be a bit overwhelming at first.

    If that is your first experience, I just recommend to start with KDE or gnome. I find gnome works ok from the start, but KDE is easier to tweak. You can always test them from a Linux Live USB before committing them to your hardware. Steam Deck uses KDE for desktop mode.

    There are others that are prettier or lighter you can test too: cinnamon, XFCE, MATE. Or even windows managers, but I would leave them alone until you are a bit more comfortable with Linux.

    here are a few links in case some people need it in the future:

  • What is the current state of VR in Linux?

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  • I think the ProtonDB mixed ratings are because there are plenty of old review and people do not update much VR games. I have been using Steam VR and HTC Vive with Linux for a while now, and I remember when Creed and a couple of other games would not work. I think about 5 years ago, with Proton 5.13, that changed and since then, pretty much everything works.

    My only problem is with Steam VR software that is a bit inconsistent. I used to do a bunch of stuff with it, now I just launch the games and avoid it when I can.

  • Question: Is buying second hand repaired PS5 controllers a good idea?

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  • PS5 works great on Linux, everything works: from gyroscope to touchpad. But the stick drift and battery life are the two main downsides. One of mine started drifting after 2 years, the other is still ok, but I have been using a GameSir with Hall-Effect for a while now as my main controller.

    Not sure where you are buying it from, get it from a place with easy return policy as the quality may vary. Amazon was rigorous with their products, ebay only gave me headaches with refurbished stuff.

    It is easy and cheap to find replacement parts but fixing it is very time-consuming task and require the right tools https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/DualSense+Joystick+Replacement/142488Sadly, when I did mine, there were not many hall-effect sticks replacement for PS5, and the ones around had terrible calibration. I will probably update with hall-effects when they die again.

    There are plenty of budget controllers with Hall Effect or TMR sticks, that might be worth looking into GameSir, 8bitdo, gulikit...Just make sure you can do everything with hardware for a smooth Linux experience (some controllers require a Windows only app for basic setup or update firmware). It is also worth to search for the "model you are interested and Linux" to find problems related to the device.

  • Linux Gaming @lemmy.world
    Nils @piefed.ca

    Adding Linux GPU Benchmarks: Best Distributions for Gaming Tests, ft. Wendell of Level1 Techs

  • Rising gonorrhoea cases in Finland mirror European trend

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  • I remember, when I was a kid, of a bunch of ads on TV raising awareness and medical professionals would visit schools to teach stuff. And you could get free condoms in events and medical facilities. Those campaigns were not only about STDs, also about a bunch of other health related stuff, from driving safely to using floss and recycling.

    I don't see those any more. I talk to people that never heard of those campaigns, and some are afraid to "look like a sailor" for carrying a condom.

    I think the last campaign I remember in Canada was "Plenty of Syph", a fake dating website where people's profiles would show different stages of the disease. You can see a postmortem here https://zgm.ca/work/ahs-plenty-of-syph/ A broken version of the site is available with Wayback Machine https://web.archive.org/web/20111223055933/http://www.plentyofsyph.com/.

  • Wired: Proton VPN is the best VPN overall

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  • I always look forward to Sunshine's posts. But this is just an AD. :(

    If you are looking for VPN for accessing content, Proton is fine, so are many others, just make sure they are open-source, don't save logs and are audited. You will probably be looking more into bandwidth than other technical aspects.Country is important, but if the VPN endpoint you are accessing is in any of the "several"-eyes country, or some other surveillance state, there are some risks involved.

    If you need more privacy, Mullvad is the best option, you can also pay with cash. You can send them with no personal information.

    There used to be a spreadsheet with significant details of many providers, but it haven't been updated in a long while. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/1UV8RozvFDOMnCcfwryEnyGp5GKYY4XJQHXJUG2gN8hU/htmlview

    This one is more recent, but it is missing a bunch of important information. https://vpndatatracker.com/features.html

    If your life depends on it (in case you are a whistleblower), you will need many more things in addition to Mullvad.

  • Bolsonaro sentenced to 27 years in prison for plotting Brazil coup

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  • Rust compiler performance survey 2025 results

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  • I recently started learning rust, and one of the things I liked was the quick build times after small changes. I did not know how bad it can get until I read this article, but I haven't tried anything besides terminal applications so far.

    While I used some workarounds from my baggage using C/C++ it is nice to know other techniques people use with Rust, and it is nice to learn about Rust profiling tools as well.

    Thanks for sharing, it is a very insightful article.

  • Is it possible to slow down mouse cursor speed?

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  • I think mouse and keyboard only works properly in Desktop mode. Not sure if intended or a bug.

    My suggestion is to open a support ticket with Valve/Steam. They might help you troubleshoot it, but most likely they will escalate the problem to their dev team as a feature request / bug report.

  • Recommend a simple, small cheap laptop < 15" I can chuck in my bag for use in coffee shops!

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  • I second this if he can find a 2013~2017 for free/cheaper, I use an old Macbook Air with EndeavourOS mostly for writing, but my use case is not that far from OP's, it also runs some old games.

    It is light and portable, and it is just as easy to find a refurbished option as the Thinkpad (at least in NA).

    My only problems are with the drivers(the Wi-FI and the FacetimeHD camera) and the charging cable.

    I tried a bunch of distros, but only with EndeavourOS I got them to work easily.

    That said, if OP prefers better Linux support, and better cost x performance. He will be better suited with a Thinkpad T or X (T480/T490 or X280) refurbished will be in the price range.

    X280 is barely above 1Kg, with a smaller screen.

    T480 is chunkier, bigger screen and Ethernet port.

    https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/lenovo-thinkpad-x280-core-i7-8550u-16gb-ram-256gb-touchscreen-windows-11-laptop-12-months-guarantee-4640028

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184872920970

  • Recommend a simple, small cheap laptop < 15" I can chuck in my bag for use in coffee shops!

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  • M1 mac is still problematic with Linux, with only Asahi offering limited support, and you cannot find one at OP's price point.

  • Recommend a simple, small cheap laptop < 15" I can chuck in my bag for use in coffee shops!

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  • No, I don't think I ever seem one for under 700 USD, despite some "news" saying you could find at 500 USD.

    Every time people ask for cheap computers, there is always people sharing their preferences without any regard for OP's listed needs.