GeekNights Mondays: Science Technology Computing

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the humble remote control . We are some of the youngest people who remember having screens and other devices without remote controls, and they changed things in more ways than you might have expected. In the news, Apple is going after Itch.io in its ongoing fight with Epic, Steam rejects some games but not others without clear rules, Facebook rejects adaptive clo...

Tonight on GeekNights, we bring you a technology news roundup for April 2021. Apple announces several things , Apple must face a lawsuit over whether or not people "buy" things , early results show promise for a new malaria vaccine , capitalism is keeping the COVID vaccines from widespread global use , Honda will stop selling combustion engines by 2040 , Fujitsu software wrongly sent people to pri...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the current world of laptops and tablets. The world is changing, and laptops are increasingly becoming desktop replacements or niche devices. Don't take our advice from how to buy a laptop in 2008 , and internalize how long ago 2012 was . ( This was Rym's first laptop ). In the news, Yahoo Answers shuts down forever , destroying a treasure trove , LG exits the sm...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider how multi-factor authentication works. We've previously talked about single Signon , biometrics , the levels of security & privacy , and the like, but we've never actually talked about how TOTP and other multi-factor authentication schemes work. In the news, the ship is no longer stuck , New York opens up vaccines to everybody , fake ai-generated and fake stolen-...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider cable management . From inside your computer to... outside your computer. Rack & stack to mounting a TV, cable management is more important than you might realize. In the news, maybe we can end the terror of Daylight Saving Time , Twitter banned Memphis , there's malware in your browser extensions , and Apple pulls the plug on the HomePod . Also LG is putting ads...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the evils of cryptocurrencies . In the news, the worst social network on Earth got hacked , Fry's is no more , Twitter almost has a business model , and you can't get better at biking . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - Cryptocurrencies Things of the Day Rym -  GamestonkTerminal Scott -  The lamps you're not allowed to have.

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the Environmental Cost of Computing . In the news, Nintendo is replacing its multiplayer server , Sony appears to be reviving small Android phones , and Tesla has a recall problem . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - The Environmental Cost of Computing Things of the Day Rym -  1939 Ski Jumping competition Scott -  How to Photograph...

Tonight on GeekNights, apropos of nothing in particular, we talk about outages. In the news, Slack started the new year with a major outage , Google employees are unionizing , and Scott found Turbo Vision . Welcome to 2021! Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - Outages Things of the Day Rym -  19th century "ASCII" advertisements Rym -  Solving a Century-Old T...

Tonight on GeekNights, at the end of the year they'll write songs about and the end of a decade , we consider what's changed in the last ten years. We'll be doing this for all four nights of GeekNights in the coming two weeks. In the news, GitHub removes that annoying cookie banner in the best way possible, and the supply-chain hack of SolarWinds is a historic mess . Related Links Forum Thread Gee...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the longevity of technology. From computers to bikes, proper maintenance can greatly extend the life the right tool, though some more easily than others . We've talked about computer maintenance specifically before in 2006 and then in 2020 . In the news, Apple may be working on a 32-core processor , Pornhub runs into trouble with its payment processing, the Areci...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider displays. LCDs, OLEDs , "Smart" TVs, and the current state of the art. We haven't talked about this since 2006 , and a lot has changed in 14 years! In the news, we've migrated our 2-Factor Auth to NFC Yubikeys , Comcast is enforcing data caps nationally , the Apple M1 is revolutionary , Fleets are here I guess , and the GIMP is 25 years old and not much better th...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the ever-present Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). Originating in the era of the World Wide Web as envisioned by Ted Nelson and Tim Berners-Lee, it is surprisingly simple. In the news, Slingbox is discontinued , and there is a better way to multiply . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) Things of the Day Rym&nbs...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the usage, potential, and ethical concerns of Facial Recognition Technology . Police are abusing it , but activists are (rightly) using it right back on them . In the news, there's water on the moon , the RIAA attacks open source software , and you absolutely have to vote for Joe Biden if you are eligible to vote in the American election. Related Links Forum Thre...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider when devices get bricked . In the news, someone temporarily bricked their Ferrari , Spotify is working the hold your customers' data hostage angle, and SpaceX is developing military transport rockets . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - Bricked Devices Things of the Day Rym -  Gates Wildlife Control Scott -  Skeleton Prank

Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss what really happens with source code leaks . In the news, troubleshooting audio can be moderately complex, you'll die without the new Apple watch , we were correct that Firefox Send is gone forever , there are problems with the 3080s , you should learn what a " founder's edition " of a video card actually is, and IFTTT goes pro . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNig...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the humble software update, from both a developer/publisher standpoint and a user/client standpoint. In the news, Nvidia buys Arm Holdings in a move that will shake up the global computing ecosystem, the American date format is terrible , and Mozilla suspended Firefox Send over malware concerns (but claims it will return one day ). Related Links Forum Thread Geek...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider biometrics . Biometrics bring great power, as well as great danger, and aren't just for authentication credentials. In the War of the Apple Store news, Apple backs down against Wordpress after a "misunderstanding," Facebook isn't allowed to tell people that Apple takes a cut, and no one can download Fortnite or Infinity Blade on an Apple device. In the non-Apple...

Tonight on GeekNights, we revisit a topic we covered once in 2007 to update it for current times: removable media. USB sticks and such. Rym spent some $20 for a 2GB USB stick in 2007. Times have changed. In the news, Epic Games has kicked off a massive legal battle with Apple and Google , as things continue to escalate . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - Removable Media in 2020 Things...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the ( largely unwise ) idea of bug bounties , as well as the questions and concerns around responsible disclosure of bugs and exploits in software and services. We did talk about this once back in 2009 , but times have changed. In the news, Twitter was hacked for a bitcoin scam , Deep Fakes are getting dangerous quickly , and there are a lot of reasons you should...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider what it means to truly be obsolete technology . In the news, the Pixii camera is a ridiculous waste of money , Olympus exits the camera business , and the Supreme Court upholds the 1991 law that bars robocalls to cellphones . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - "Obsolete" Technology Things of the Day Rym -  Why is the Ace of Spades...

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about CI/CD . Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (or sometimes Continuous Deployment ). In the news, everyone hates Bill de Blasio , Vote tomorrow if you're in New York, the T-Mobile outage was not a big deal, Apple is switching to ARM (among other announcements at Apple WWDC ), and Microsoft kills Mixer . Related Links Forum Thread GeekNights Monday - CI...

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about our computer maintenance schedules and procedures. We talked about this once back in 2006 , but a lot has changed in 14 years. In the news, Black Lives Matter . That should go without saying, but we're saying it again. Help any way you can. If nothing else consider a donation to the cause or call your local, state, and federal representatives. The protests are...

Tonight on GeekNights, because we are in our late 30s, we talk about kitchen appliances. Stoves , cooktops , refrigerators , and dishwashers . In the news, Windows 10's May update has some stuff in it, twitter plans to fail to stop misinformation from spreading with their same old tricks, Apple is reported to use 12-core 5nm ARM in their coming Macs (we'll see how that goes ), and cable TV is dyin...

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about our RTMP streaming setup. It involves an nginx server, three OBS instances, but not this pile of garbage . In the news, beware poor performing SMR hard drives , which shouldn't be used in NAS/SAN solutions . Be sure to check any drive you may be thinking of buying. Scott bought a $300 keyboard . It's pretty good. Our review of No Return is on youtube! We did ta...

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider PostgreSQL , the open-source relational database. It's basically the one to use. Most people just call it "postgres." If you're not sure what we're on about, check out our previous episode about relational databases . In the news, new laws mean new COBOL code , John Conway was taken from us , there's a gravity clock (sort of), and Discord is adding group video ch...