Tag: TechnoDenbow
January 14, 2018 / Journal

Deep/Dark Web Exploration

The Dark Web sounds nefarious and scary but with the right tools, and a balls of brass, I can access and browse safely.

The
deep/dark web refers to web sites that hide their web address and is
only accessible by using encrypted tools like the TOR browser, the Tails
operating system designed to boot from a USB flash drive, all from an
ideally new, clean, low-cost computer. And forget about using social
media sites such as Facebook or even Google. Use a search engine that
won’t track you such as DuckDuckGo.

I’ve been exploring the
deepest, darkest parts of the web for awhile now and it is fascinating
in how it reminds me of the early, pioneer days of web 1.0.

This
feels very much like exploring the frontier here because the
possibilities and the risks are both real and exciting. More later.
June 27, 2013 / Journal

Quantifying Myself

Fitbit

 

Fitbit usage for one week
June 10, 2013 / Journal

Opening Windows

For the past few years I have rejected the Microsoft Windows operating system in favor of Linux Ubuntu.

Open source software, software upgrades and updates every 6 months are all very appealing.

However, I am tired of trying so hard to accomplish a task that takes too long in Linux that is a breeze in Windoze.

So, I fired up a clean install of Windows 8 (still hate the interface), re-added Office 2010, Photoshop and Lightroom. I was missing these apps the most. Everything else is synchronized via Google products.

Oh, and where did Microsoft hide the primary button?
May 30, 2013 / Journal

Space Dock

FINALLY got my hands on the elusive Nexus dock for my tablet. Connected to speakers and charger (cleverly hidden). Now functions as a great alarm clock, video viewing etc.

spacedock
May 2, 2013 / Journal

Twitter 7.0

Today marks the seventh year of TWTTR.

As an early adopters back then we didn’t know what we were doing but we had fun exploring it and making it ours.

Over the years, like all social media platforms it has gained huge users both legitimate and spam.

I’ve also signed up for a similar platform called App.net. The difference between these two is that App has a business model. You have to pay to get in. This helps eliminate the spam and increases the desire for a great interactive product since everyone is invested in it.

The problem is that most of the friends and followers I’ve made over the years on Twitter have not or will not convert.

Dilemma.
April 30, 2013 / Journal

W3

On this day 20 years ago the World Wide Web was made available to the public. Here is the original link to the world’s first public domain website which highlights the goals of the CERN team.

Does anyone else miss the dial-up modem noise? 
April 27, 2013 / Journal

Ubuntu 13.04 (Raring Ringtail)

Time to update
April 25, 2013 / Journal

Digital Moderation

You know what I learned from my one week digital cleanse?

Moderation.

After a self-mandated abstinence from digital media I had almost 1000 blog feed posts waiting for me. 5,000 tweets and numerous G+ posts.

I redeemed my time by reading physical books, right-sizing the material stuff I own and dabbling into PhP, MySQL and Apache server systems.

So great was the temptation to consume media that I had to bury the pervasive Google apps in a folder deep down to the kernel.

I used Firefox for a week because Chrome has those tempting apps built in.

From here on out, I will moderate and limit my intake.

Check the feeds once a day. Check email twice a day.

Now it is time to declare digital bankruptcy and clear the notifications and alerts and the feeds. Starting from zero…now.
April 20, 2013 / Journal

Digital House Cleaning

Since my digital sabbatical started yesterday morning, I’ve decided to clean up and purge a few things.

I removed the Linux and Windows 7 partitions and did a clean install of Ubuntu 13 Beta Raring Ringtail as the primary operating system. Also added Virtualbox.

Inside the virtual hard disks I am running Windows 7, Fedora 18 and pretty soon Linux Mint.

These will be for various programs, testing and needs.
March 4, 2013 / Journal

Data Migration

Just formatted my Linux laptop and am adding Windows 7 to it. I will then format the desktop drive from W7 and add Linux server to it instead.

The desktop just can’t handle W7 but can run Linux easily.

Of course my backup schema allows for this and will restore files to both automagically.

*03/07 Update* The data is secured and migrated already. Was attempting to format the drives. Now BIOS can’t find either of them or the Master Boot Record.

“No boot device available.”

After investing 3 days and going no where, I have set it aside for now.
January 1, 2013 / Journal

Happy GNU Year

I’ve taken on another project that involves diving deep inside the Linux operating itself.

For a few years I’ve been using a dual boot hybrid desktop using Ubuntu and Windows 7.

I’ve added the Fedora distribution inside a virtual machine inside Ubuntu and deleted the Windows partition.

Oh, and GNU = “Gnu’s Not Unix”
December 29, 2012 / Journal

Top 10 Android Apps

I have two Android devices that are heavily used. The Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone and the Google Nexus 7 tablet.

A few friends have asked which are the best Android apps out there. Well, that is subjective to opinion. I can share which apps I use constantly and why. Everyone is passionate about their own platform and apps and there will be heated discussions.

Keep in mind, this is not a top 10 list that is to spark a debate. In no order of importance, here I go…

  1. Snapseed- Simply the best mobile photo editor out there.
  2. Vignette- This camera app has so many shooting options and filters it would take another blog post to list.
  3. EyeEm- As soon as Facebook bought Instagram, I looked elsewhere. Social photography is excellent.
  4. Google+ Again, the Anti-Facebook social experience.
  5. Drive- Sync my documents between my computer and phone? Yes please.
  6. Any.DO- My to-do list goes with me and sends me timely reminders too
  7. Currents- A great too to catch up on news, blogs for my tablet.
  8. Pocket- Want to read it later? Right click and put it in your web pocket
  9. Google Now- Instant information no matter where I am at.
  10. Spotify- web-based music and radio. I will never buy music again

What is in your list?
December 27, 2012 / Journal

Chromebook: For Me

The Samsung Chromebook is a fantastic browser with a keyboard. It weighs less than  3 pounds with an 11.6” screen. The 16GB solid state drive is quiet and fast. Boot time is exactly 8 seconds to power on and go. True, 16GB is not much but it does come with an integrated 100 GB of free storage space in Google Drive!

Google documents and mobile photos do not count against your free storage space. So how in the hell would you be able to use it all? Wait, how will I even fill up my 16 GB of hard drive space? Music files? Please. Google Music gives me up to 20,000 song space, again, free.

Speaking of integrated and Google, it gives me immediate access to it’s ecosystem of apps. Apps like Docs, Gmail, Reader, G+, Picasa, webcam, Music and more.

Wifi, HDMI, 3 USB ports, Bluetooth (for my mouse) and SD card slot round out the features. No, it doesn’t have an optical drive.

Inexpensive at $249, lighter, faster, portable and entirely cloud-based. Welcome to the future.

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