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Discounts on Locals subscriptions ends Monday!
Now is the time to make the move to Lunduke.Locals.com!
May 12, 2023
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Note: The faster we can finish up the move from Substack to Locals the better.  So I'm really hammering this home right now.  By Monday I'm hoping we can have enough folks moved over from Substack that I can ease up and not mention it so much (and not need to do any futher sales or promotions... get back to the point where we can only mention such things no more than once per month).

The great Lunduke Journal migration from Substack to Locals began this week. And, to make that easier for folks, there are some pretty deep discounts available… but only until Monday (May 15th).

After that the prices go back up to normal. So now is the time to make the move.

Like… right now. Chop chop. Andele. Allons-y!

Here’s all the details:

  • The Yearly Founding Member Subscription — Discounted to $75 for a full year. ($6.25 per month for three communities / publications? Awesome.)

  • The Lifetime Founding Member Subscription — Discounted to $120… for life. That’s insane. Never pay again and get access to every part of The Lunduke Journal forever.

Both of these options provide full access to all three Locals publications / communities (and every single perk available — every book, video, podcast, article, etc. — on all of them):

  1. Lunduke.Locals.com — the primary, Tech-focused community and publication.

  2. NerdyEntertainment.Locals.com — focused on nerdy entertainment (TV, comics, books, etc.).

  3. ConservativeNerds.Locals.com — the only place around here where politics is allowed.

Just follow the instructions below. Super simple.

Note: If you already have a Founding or Lifetime Subscription and have not already set up your Locals accounts… simply reach out to Lunduke and you’ll get setup lickety split.

How to get the Founding Member subscription:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/subscription.

  2. Create an account (if you haven’t already).

  3. Select the “Annual” option and enter $75 into the field.

It will look something like this:

 
 

How to get the Lifetime subscription:

  1. Go to Lunduke.Locals.com/support.

  2. Select the “Give Once” option and enter $120 into the field.

 
 

Once you’ve done that, Lunduke will set all of your accounts — on all three Locals sites — to full access. Easy peasy.

Getting Started on Locals

One you are all setup, head to the following post on Locals:

https://lunduke.locals.com/post/3979854/a-quick-locals-primer-for-the-new-folks

This will give you a handy, quick primer on where to find all of the subscriber benefits and some tips on how to make the most of your Locals experience.

Then go here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/3991870/how-to-find-every-exclusive-video-pdf-podcast-article-on-locals

To learn how to access all of the exclusive goodies on Locals.

-Lunduke

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With nosediving marketshare, upcoming loss of Google funding, & a shift to advertising... this was inevitable.

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November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044
It’s Nerdy Q & A time!

You know the drill. Ask me a question. Any question at all. Just make sure it’s good and nerdy.

(Retro computers, programming, modern computing, tech news, advice, hypothetical, you name it.)

Post that question in the comments of this post on Locals.

Then give the thumbs up to your favorite questions.

I’ll sort by “most liked” and answer as many as I can.

Aaaand… GO.

Okay, so I'm still very much in the great country, behind the great wall, but there is so much tech to talk about!

Of course that is not why I am in the country, but since the other part is my wife's private matters I'll just report on the tech :)

First of all, the Chinese cars are amayzing. We take Didi (chinese Uber) everywhere, and for under 10 yuan (€1.25) you have a 1 mile ride in the inner city.
The cars themselves all look like fancy minimalist teslas on the inside, with huge dashboard computers and often neon lighting.

The e-hailing system reports on the arrival time of your ride, but also shows where it is, and the amount of seconds it is stuck behind a red light (live countdown). My wife loves it. During the ride you can check your app if the driver is following the agreed route as well.

Authentication of the ride is by license plate, authentication of yourself is by communicating the last four digits of your phone number. This functions as a password for the didi mini-app to confirm ...

Just sitting in the car on a pseudo smoke break (I don't smoke) and working on a personal project using the Mattbook. I just love this thing. It is partially because we made it ourselves but also because it is just such a good little computer. I mean it is really not that LITTLE but I think this is a good point. I mean UMPCs of the past have been glorious but really it was a novelty factor that was the main pull. Trying to do real work using them was an exercise in stress that was also (if I am being completely honest) kind of fun. Still I think the Mattbook size is near perfect. The chonk is unfortunately not that perfect. BUT this is what is required to make it repairable and upgradable and for me this is a worthwhile compromise.

I don't squint to see the screen. I don't get finger cramps to type on the keyboard. I have a full up 13th gen i7 with 64gb of RAM in here. I can do everything on this computer. It could be my only computer. To me this just feels like success.

With Intel ...

November 03, 2024
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Last week at The Lunduke Journal (Oct 20 - Nov 2, 2024)
Linux v. Russia! Internet Archive Weirdness! RISC OS Web Browsing!

Ok, first off: I totally forgot to publish a "week in review" article last week.  Woops.  My bad.  So this article covers the last two weeks.

Second: Over the last 14 days, apparently there's been 16 shows.  Hot dang.

And the news has been all over the map!  The big story, obviously, was the "Linux v. Russia" craziness.  The really wild part of that story is that it's still ramping up.  The next month is going to see some wild stories relating to open source software and sanctions compliance.

Oh!  Oh!  And the Internet Archive stuff!  Insane!

But, you know what my absolute favorite news story was for the last two weeks?  The one about RISC OS having WiFi and a modern web browser now.  That story just made me happy.  It's nice to know that, even when various software companies and organizations are losing their darned minds... there's still bright spots of nerdy joy out there.

The Shows

The Articles

Read full Article
November 02, 2024
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Apple Removes Ability to Run Unsigned Apps in macOS 15.1
Big Tech's war against "sideloading" continues.

On Monday, October 28th, Apple released the macOS 15.1 update.  And, with that update, Apple has ratcheted up their war on "sideloading" by completely disabling the ability to run unsigned macOS software.

And signing software, of course, requires an Apple Developer Connection subscription.  Which, for most people, is a costly thing.

 

Every Few Months, A Little Less Freedom

 

Just a little over one month ago (September of 2024), the initial release of macOS 15.0 brought with it a new round of restrictions on running non-signed (also called "non-notarized") applications.  With 15.0, users could still run non-signed software... but they needed to jump through a few extra hoops by openning the System Settings and manually enabling each application they wanted to run.

 

 

This change made running unsigned software on macOS a bit more annoying -- additional steps to do something that used to be a simple "double click on the darned icon" process.  Annoying, to be sure.  But, luckily, all software could still be run.

That all changed -- less than 45 days later -- as Apple released the 15.1 update to macOS, which included the removal of the "Click around in System Settings" option to allow unsigned apps to run.

Now, in 15.1, when you attempt to run a non-notarized piece of Mac software, you will be greeted by a simple error message: "The application 'Finder' does not have permission to open '(null)'."

 

 

No option to run the software whatsoever.  Effectively banning all non-signed software (such as those developed by a hobbyist).

 

The War on Sideloading Continues

 

This isn't exactly a surprising move by Apple.  Over the last few years, all of the Big Tech operating system companies (Microsoft, Apple, and Google) have pushed -- with increasing intensity -- to lock down what software users are allowed to run on their computers.

Increasingly restrictive "application signing" systems, and the removal of "features" which allowed non-signed applications to run, have been a stated goal of all three corporations.

All in the name of a war on, what Big Tech has termed, "Sideloading".

What is "Sideloading", you ask?

"Sideloading" is most simply defined as "The act of installing software on a real computer."  And Apple, Google, & Microsoft are determined to stop people from doing that.

 

 

These companies haven't exactly been quiet about their goal to stop people from installing software on their computers (outside of approved, heavily restrictive mechanisms).  Back in 2021, Apple published a whitepaper entitled "Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps - A threat analysis of sideloading".

 

 

That's right.  Apple considers you having the freedom to install whatever software you want on the computer you own -- something every real computer (including those made by Apple) have done since the dawn of Personal Computing -- to be a "threat".

With macOS 15.1, Apple is taking significant steps to neutralize that "threat".

No software freedom for you.

 

The Last Workaround

 

As of now -- with macOS 15.1 -- there remains one final way to work around these draconian and artificial restrictions.

To do so requires the complete disabling of "Gatekeeper", the system which verifies downloads and restricts the running of non-signed applications.

This can be done via a fairly simple terminal command run as root:

 

sudo spctl --master-disable

 

However, it should be noted that with Apple's ever increasing requirements of application "notarization" -- and increasing reliance on the Mac App Store for software distribution (which ties into Gatekeeper) -- the full disabling of "Gatekeeper" seems likely to cause issues going forward with "Apple approved" methods of installing software.

Likewise, at Apple's current rate of attacks against "sideloading", the ability to turn off Gatekeeper may not be long for this world at all.

 

Don't Laugh, Google & Microsoft Users

 

While the news, today, is focused on Apple (their fight against the most basic freedoms of computing -- the ability to run software)... both Microsoft and Google have made it clear that they are all in on the war against sideloading.

Case in point: Google is migrating Android software away from "APK" application packages... to the far more restrictive "AAB" application bundles.  Microsoft, likewise, is pushing for a reliance on their online store.

So users of Android, ChromeOS, & Windows shouldn't laugh.  You're next.

Users of a variety of open source, alternative operating systems (such as Linux, BSDs, and many others), however, can laugh all they want.

Read full Article
November 02, 2024
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Funny Programming Pictures Part LXII
Number 7 will SHOCK you!

No Ctrl-C's were harmed in the making of this post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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