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December 18, 2024

Asurion Warranty and Cloud Backup The Good and Bad

TLDR = Asurion warranty returned my $415 purchase price, and all my data was saved on Msft OneDrive.

My beloved Beelink $415 computer died a month and a half ago. Wouldn't power on. I had purchased the Asurion warranty via Amazon. I'm a sucker for warranties. In this case, it worked with caveats.

I loved this small form factor, Intel NUC style computer. I had upgraded the ram and the nvme. Great price/performance. Alas, a year and a half later, it died - wouldn't power on.

I created an Asurion claim but didn't want to wait for the repair as I had work to do. So I bought a second "identical" Beelink delivered the next day. I took the upgraded ram and nmve, put the originals back in and shipped off the original for repair under warranty.

I put the old nvme into the new computer and -- booted right back up! I was back in business with thoughts that I'd get the original repaired in time for me to send back the second one. I never worried about my data as I have all my data on OneDrive. My "My Documents" and other directories are linked to OneDrive so I don't worry about my data. I also have periodic local backups but would have been screwed if that had been my only data recourse this time.

Asurion held onto my machine for 2 weeks with occasional information free status updates. "We are working on your computer". They have NOBODY to call and talk to. The AI chatbot was no help. And it wouldn't respond to "I want to talk to a human".

I resorted to x/twitter where I got a response and DM's that escalated the effort until, two more days later, they refunded my original purchase.

My second version of Beelink that was the same as the first had dropped $80 in price, so I made money on this deal.

Ultimately the Asurion paid for my computer after 1.5 years of use. So I'm glad I bought it. But I am not thrilled with their lack of human support.

I'm glad that OneDrive among its other uses, automatically backs my data up to the cloud.

I still think the Beelink's are decent computers for the money. I'll withhold final judgment with this second one.

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This leaked video shows Microsoft's AI centric vision for a future OS. No native (legacy) Windows software. All web based, and all AI.

NeXTStep, Emacs, & Desqview/X Walls:
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Microsoft Adopts Rust CoreUtils Clone... for Windows (Not a Joke)

Those increasingly buggy, not yet complete, Rust clones of the GNU CoreUtils? The ones Ubuntu ships? Microsoft is now officially maintaining them for Windows.

Massively Discounted Lifetime Subs Through June:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/50-off-yearly-and-massively-discounted

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Debian Replacing GNU Coreutils with Rust Clones?

Is Debian going the way of Ubuntu, dropping tested code in favor of untested Rust clones? It's looking that way.

NeXTStep, Emacs, & Desqview/X Walls:
https://lunduke.substack.com/p/vim-beats-emacs

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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.

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

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https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
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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! 🤣

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https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
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"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
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Beijing Curbing Overseas Access to Chinese AI Models - USA Getting Banned from China AI - YouTube

🤣🤣🤣

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Just saw this over on Level1!
So I asked myself: If I were designing an OS from scratch, how would I do it differently?

And so I designed and developed my own kernel and userspace, and the result is my experimental open-source system — LiberSystem :slight_smile:

A microkernel OS written in Rust, based on typed objects, capability-based security, isolated services/drivers, and explicit volumes instead of classic mount points.

I do not see it as a replacement for Linux, more as an experiment.

I would be interested to hear what you think: does this direction make sense to you, or is the Unix model still the best approach in your opinion?

More info about my project: libersystem dot com
Source code on GitHub: libersoft-org/libersystem

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TRS-80 Model 100 joins The Lunduke Journal Lifetime Wall party!

Buckle up, Buttercup. Because The Lunduke Journal is about to blow your mind.

  1. The “BeOS” Wall Lifetime Subscriber Wall is now full (see all of them on Lunduke.com)!

  2. We’ve added a new “TRS-80 Model 100” Wall (because we can)! That’s the 19th Lifetime Subscriber Wall! 19!

  3. The discounted Lifetime Lunduke Journal Subscriptions are still available through to the end of this month (July).

Which means there are, as of this exact moment, 4 Walls with space available (see Lunduke.com for the full list of Walls). But these fill up wicked fast.

  1. Emacs (only a few spots left)

  2. Desqview/X (a little less than 2/3rd’s full)

  3. NeXTStep (still plenty of space)

  4. TRS-80 Model 100 (just launched)

 

Nice, right?

Worth noting: The “TRS-80 Model 100” has very limited screen resolution (240 x 64), which means only a small number of names can fit on that wall. If you want on it, I’d let me know right away.

Grab a discounted Lifetime Subscription (if you don’t already have one), then let me know (email “bryan at lunduke.com”) which Wall you’d like to see your name on.

Huge high five to everyone who has already added their name to a Wall. At the current rate, we’ll have over 20 retro computer themed walls, filled with all of your names, by the end of the month.

And, doggone it, that’s amazing.

-Lunduke

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Vim beats Emacs!

Well, we’ve done it.

We’ve answered the eternal question: “Which Lunduke Journal Lifetime Subscriber Wall would fill with names quicker? Emacs or Vim?”

The answer, it turns out, is “Vim”. And it takes just 8 days.

 

A hearty “Thank You” to everyone who supports The Lunduke Journal by getting Lifetime Subscriptions (massively discounted throughout July) and getting on these walls! You make all of this possible!

Now. How long will it take for Emacs to fill up (matching the same number of names as the Vim Wall)?

Well, right now the Emacs Wall is a hair over 2/3rds of the way full. So we’ll find out!

Welcome NeXTStep Wall!

With the closing of the “Vim” Wall (and the BeOS Wall only having the space for 1 name left), now seemed like a good time to add a new retro computer wall: The NeXTStep 1.0 Wall.

Right now, there are 4 Walls available to add your name to (*cough* massive discount *cough*).

  • NeXTStep (just opened)

  • Emacs (about 2/3rds full)

  • BeOS R5 (1 spot left)

  • Desqview/X (1/2 full)

 

Once again, huge thanks to everyone who supports The Lunduke Journal!

-Lunduke

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Lunduke's Week in Tech : June 28 - July 4, 2026

Lunduke’s Thoughts of The Week

Yesterday was the 4th of July.

As such, time that I normally would have spent writing up some thoughts on the Tech News of the Week (tm) was, instead, spent eating hamburgers, watching fireworks, and generally goofing off with my kids.

So allow me to briefly summarize my thoughts using as little effort as possible:

Rust is weird, Sony sucks, and America is awesome.

… Yup. That just about covers it.

I hope all of my fellow Americans had a truly splendid Independence Day.

Biggest Tech Stories - June 28 - July 4, 2026

Here are the major stories from the last week, with direct links to X and Substack.

See Lunduke.com for all other platforms (Rumble, RSS Audio Podcast, etc.).

  • Git Takes Another Step Towards Making Rust Mandatory (X, Substack)

  • 74 Million User Accounts Exposed in Breaches During June (X, Substack)

  • BCacheFS Adding Rust Dependency Even Though “Rust doesn’t have a stable ABI” (X, Substack)

  • Git Without Rust From Dev of XLibre (X, Substack)

  • Sony Says No More Physical PlayStation Games (X, Substack)

  • Ubuntu Sponsors Rust Clone Foundation (X, Substack)

  • Like Computers? Thank America. (X, Substack)

Huge thank you to all of The Lunduke Journal’s subscribers. You make all of this possible.

-Lunduke

 
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