Danie van der Merwe

Little Snitch, the macOS network tool, is now available on Linux

“Little Snitch for Linux is written in Rust and uses eBPF for kernel-level traffic interception (this lets sandboxed code run inside the Linux kernel without modifying it). The tool shows processes on your machine making network connections, and giv ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/little-snitch-the-macos-network-tool-is-now-available-on-linux/

#firewalls #linux #security #technology

Dangerzone — an open source app to safely open suspect PDFs, office docs, or images

Dangerzone works like this: You give it a document that you don’t know if you can trust (for example, an email attachment). Inside a sandbox, Dangerzone converts the document to a PDF (if it isn’t already one), and then converts the PDF into raw pix ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/dangerzone-an-open-source-app-to-safely-open-suspect-pdfs-office-docs-or-images/

#opensource #security #technology

France’s government is ditching Windows for Linux, calling US tech dependence a strategic risk

“The French government has decided that enough is enough. It has announced that it will shift away from proprietary technologies from outside the European Union and focus more on open-source solutions — and part of that means ditching Windows for Li ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/frances-government-is-ditching-windows-for-linux-calling-us-tech-dependence-a-strategic-risk/

#France #linux #opensource #technology

Large Study Finds That Replacing Workers With AI Is Backfiring Badly

“A new study from Gartner immediately caught our eye. As Fortune reports, the research and advisory firm surveyed 350 global business executives whose companies are pulling in at least $1 billion annually to investigate whether all these AI layoffs ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/large-study-finds-that-replacing-workers-with-ai-is-backfiring-badly/

#AI #technology #workplace

Big Win for Open Source as Germany Backs Open Document Format

“Germany has strictly standardised its digital document requirements. The Deutschland-Stack (in Deutsch), the country’s new sovereign digital infrastructure framework, names just two document formats that public administrations are allowed to use: O ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/big-win-for-open-source-as-germany-backs-open-document-format/

#ODF #opensource #openstandards #technology

Google quietly fixed AirPods compatibility with Android, and the LibrePod app is all you need

“It’s long been a poorly kept secret that AirPods technically work with Android phones. However, certain features have always been broken due to Apple’s disregard for Bluetooth standards. That’s finally been fixed, and an app called LibrePods unlock ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/google-quietly-fixed-airpods-compatibility-with-android-and-the-librepod-app-is-all-you-need/

#AirPods #opensource #technology

I cut $800 in subscriptions by running free tools on hardware I already owned

“Subscription costs have a way of feeling invisible. You might have a cloud storage here, an AI tool there, a transcription service you barely use anymore. All of this can add up to something substantial. But if you own a mid-range GPU, there’s a go ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/i-cut-800-in-subscriptions-by-running-free-tools-on-hardware-i-already-owned/

#GPU #opensource #subscriptions #technology

Stop using Cloudflare’s default 1.1.1.1 DNS (changing one digit blocks malware at the router level)

“Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS server is popular for its speed, reliability, and support DNS over HTTPs (DOH), which gives you some added privacy. However, 1.1.1.1 doesn’t do much besides lookup IP addresses for you. If you want something that offers add ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/stop-using-cloudflares-default-1-1-1-1-dns-changing-one-digit-blocks-malware-at-the-router-level/

#DNS #malware #security #technology

With KOReader My ancient Kobo eReader is now better than a new Kindle

The linked article inspired me to install KOReader on my old Kobo eReader. It was just a question of copying two files to the Kobo’s root directory, and running the install.sh script there. I then also ran an update for KOReader itself once it had r ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/with-koreader-my-ancient-kobo-ereader-is-now-better-than-a-new-kindle/

#ereader #Kobo #reading #technology

South African universities developing their own ChatGPTs that better understand local languages

“From Cape Town to the Free State, local educational institutions recently announced work on language-focused AI models that better understand local languages compared to international giants like ChatGPT. On Monday, researchers from the University ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/south-african-universities-developing-their-own-chatgpts-that-better-understand-local-languages/

#AI #southafrica #technology

My First Meanderings With My Own Locally Hosted AI Tools

This is by no means any form of detailed tutorial, but I did pick up a few things about locally hosted AI while I’ve been testing the last few days, so I thought I’d share some of what I’ve picked up.

I did upgrade my GPU card recently to 12 GB V ...continues

See https://gadgeteer.co.za/my-first-meanderings-with-my-own-locally-hosted-ai-tools/

#AI #technology