Most of Microsoft’s productivity tools are closed-source, but there are plenty of free and open-source alternatives that can handle the same tasks just as well 😎👇

Find high-res pdf ebooks with all my Linux related infographics from https://study-notes.org

#opensource #freesoftware #microsoft #productivitytools #software

OnePlus officially gives up on the US and Europe

The OnePlus 15 was the company’s final US flagship. | Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge OnePlus has confirmed what industry observers have long expected: it's quitting the US and European markets, and will no longer la…

https://www.theverge.com/tech/966404/oneplus-oppo-us-europe-withdrawal-realme

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #TheVerge [The Verge]

Today Microsoft finally disabled my old version of Word making it read-only because I refuse to spend money on a new MacBookAir, now that my old one will no longer update its MacOS.

Anyone out there have any recommendations for a (preferably free) simple word processor that would allow me to produce new documents that are readable (happy if that means I have to concert them to PDFs for distribution) & to edit old Word files (less need).

thanks in advance

#technology #WordProcessing #software

New York enacts one-year data center ban on projects larger than 50 megawatts — first US state to impleme…

New York is the first to pass a statewide data center moratorium, which pauses all projects greater than 50 MW for one year. The governor's office said that it will create a GEIS to hold developments to "consistent stan…

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/data-centers/new-york-enacts-one-year-data-center-ban-on-projects-larger-than-50-megawatts-first-us-state-to-implement-moratorium-will-also-pursue-repealing-tax-exemptions

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #TomsHardware [Tom's Hardware]

I've been using Cachet for our status page for a long time now but unfortunately it seems to keep getting abandoned and I don't have the skill (or the time) to try to fix the issues in the upstream version that keep causing glitches for us.

Has anyone got any recommendations for good self hosted status page software like Cachet that doesn't depend on being populated by automated monitoring data / similar. I just want a way to post the status myself and show an overview of the various services.

#software #opensource #sysadmin #mastoadmin

#software #libreoffice Gotta love Microsoft. So my forced “upgrade” to 365 on my aging Mac failed in the middle of work. How seamless is the transition to Libre Office, people who know these things? Can I just open my existing Word/Office docs after download or are there conversion issues?

@timbray @elsua54 Actually it's your kinds of comments that have a similar ring to it:

"If you don't like the software get out."

Not exactly what you said at all but it's not as positive or helpful, do you see?...

It was totally missing from something of a collective positive effort.

It's decent #software - But not the end of #evolution or #empathy I hope.

Too many 'working' with #computers and NEVER #people.

Agree / disagree / mix of both ?

Do you do anything worthy to what I mean?

This week at 8UTC Sunday (40 minutes..) we have another #software #mastodon titan, @yantar92 #developer of #orgmode !

#peertube #livestream : https://toobnix.org/w/2Z7id1MZQ6C2GTo4XjvuX1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgmode http://orgmode.org/ is comparably famous to last week's Mastodon #curl's @bagder ( https://toobnix.org/w/rPKt4GRBwLeWzF3VcMFWNo ).

The first thing anyone sees on #git is its README.org support for Ihor's orgmode. The #lisp community's Ihor's #emacs #orgmode.

+ @me 1 year org user!
#lispyGopherClimate
boost for visib

Alt...

Red Lispy Gopher Show banner The gopher, lisp alien and another character lean on a "lispy gopher show" sign. The banner says anonradio.net but you should go to the toobnix.org peertube in this case.

Google will begin enforcing Android developer verification for sideloaded apps in four countries on September 30, adding new installation checks. 📱 Unverified apps will require extra approval steps, while verified developers gain streamlined tools and limited accounts support before global expansion in 2027. 🔐

🔗 https://finance.biggo.com/news/202606211920_Android-sideloading-restrictions-start-September-30

#TechNews #Android #Google #GooglePlay #Sideloading #Apps #AppSecurity #Developer #Privacy #OpenSource #Mobile #Cybersecurity #Linux #Technology #Software #FOSS

SpaceX vaporizes 260 Starlink satellites in six months using Earth's atmosphere — new environmental concerns emerge over burning 2,700-pound orbital data centers, FCC seeks to…

SpaceX retired 260 Starlink satellites in six months, with hundreds more to follow, as debate grows over the atmospheric impact of satellite burn-ups.

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/space/spacex-vaporizes-260-starlink-satellites-in-six-months-using-earths-atmosphere-new-environmental-concerns-emerge-over-burning-2-700-pound-orbital-data-centers-fcc-seeks-to-exempt-satellites-from-regulations

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #TomsHardware [Tom's Hardware]

WhatsApp is rolling out usernames, letting users hide their phone numbers from people outside their contacts for added privacy. 🔒📱
Users can reserve names now, with optional username keys adding another layer of control before messaging begins. ✅

🔗 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/whatsapp-rolls-out-usernames-to-help-users-hide-their-phone-number/

#TechNews #WhatsApp #Privacy #Usernames #Meta #Messaging #CyberSecurity #DataPrivacy #Encryption #Technology #Mobile #Tech #DigitalRights #Software #Username

Apple's Hide My Email contains an unfixed flaw that can expose users' real email addresses, according to a researcher and 404 Media's tests. ⚠️📧
The vulnerability has reportedly remained unpatched for over a year, raising privacy concerns for users who rely on email masking. 🔒

🔗 https://www.404media.co/apple-hide-my-email-vulnerability-reveals-peoples-real-email-addresses/

#TechNews #Apple #iPhone #MacOS #HideMyEmail #Privacy #Security #Email #CyberSecurity #DataProtection #InfoSec #Technology #DigitalPrivacy #Tech #Software #iOS

We’re working to preserve and reanimate historic computing software and documentation. We just took on the archive of two former #Commodore #Amiga PNW clubs and would like #community support for our efforts. https://icm.museum #history #software #preservation #archiving

New blog post "Understanding lattice risks: Many differences between marketing and reality." https://blog.cr.yp.to/20260630-risk.html #lattices #software #looseness #modules #asymptotics #worstcase

Bitdefender VPN has an excellent starting price, even if it lacks the advanced features that privacy nerds may want.

Alt...

Bitdefender VPN Review: Fast and Affordable Privacy

In clear violation of the #PrivacyAct of 1974 & the E-Government Act of 2002: #WhiteHouse "now operates four public #federal #websites: ndstudio.gov, trumprx.gov, realfood.gov & trumpaccounts.gov."
All are running illegal #surveillance #software, "none carries the public filings [that] federal #PrivacyLaw requires."
In violation of the Help #America #Vote Act of 2002, *vote.org is being tracked* by the President, capturing all #VoterRegistration activity.
#fascist #USA
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/28/government-website-visitor-tracking-surveillance-fears

The Circle: The Scariest Part Isn't Big Tech. It's Us.

When The Circle hit theaters in 2017, many people saw it as another tech thriller. Today, it feels less like science fiction and more like tomorrow's news feed.

The movie is based on Dave Eggers' bestselling novel, often called the 1984 of the digital age. Ironically, the film improves on the book in one important way. Instead of explaining every idea through endless dialogue, it lets us see them. The result is faster, smoother and much easier to watch. But it still feels more like an essay than a real story.

Mae Holland lands her dream job at The Circle, a giant tech company that looks like a mix of Google, Apple, Meta and TikTok. The campus is bright, colorful and full of smiling people. Everyone talks about changing the world. That is the first warning sign.

Modern tech companies rarely say they just want to build products or make money. They promise to make humanity better. The Circle sells exactly that dream. Soon Mae believes privacy is outdated. If you have nothing to hide, why keep secrets? She starts wearing a tiny camera that livestreams her entire life. Every second. Every conversation. Every emotion. Imagine if your entire life became one endless Twitch stream.

This world feels like a strange combination of George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Control no longer comes through fear alone. It comes through convenience, entertainment and the promise of a better future. Looking at today's AI boom, smart homes and endless social media feeds, the movie suddenly feels much less fictional than it did a few years ago.

One scene stands out. The Circle suggests that voting should happen through its own platform. If everyone already has an account, why not connect democracy directly to the app? It sounds efficient. Maybe even practical. The movie briefly asks whether democracy itself could become a product owned by a private company. That is one of its most interesting ideas.

Sadly, it never explores that question.

Instead, the ending takes the easy Hollywood route. Rather than challenging the system, it blames a few powerful executives. Once their private emails are exposed, the audience is expected to believe justice has been served. As if replacing a CEO could solve everything.

But that misses the real problem.

Systems survive because people are replaceable. Remove one tech billionaire and another one will take the job. The real issue is a business model built on collecting more data, measuring human behavior and turning attention into profit. It doesn't matter whether the CEO is friendly or arrogant. If the machine stays the same, the result stays the same.

That idea feels even more relevant today. We often argue about individual tech leaders. But should we? The real question is why any company should have that much power in the first place. Whether it is Meta, Google, Apple or the next AI giant, the structure remains the same.

The movie also lets us off the hook too easily. It is comforting to blame powerful corporations. Harder to admit that we help build this world ourselves. We accept the cookies. We install the apps. We trade privacy for convenience. We buy smart speakers, connect everything to the cloud and tell ourselves it is worth it because life becomes easier.

That may be The Circle's biggest weakness. It criticizes Silicon Valley's worldview but forgets to criticize ours. Most people are not driven by ideology. They simply choose what is new, useful and comfortable. That is how surveillance becomes normal—not because anyone forces us, but because we quietly invite it into our homes.

The movie offers only one alternative: rejecting technology completely and escaping into nature. But that feels just as unrealistic as total digital transparency. It presents two extremes while ignoring everything in between.

Despite its flaws, The Circle remains a fascinating warning. Not because it predicts the future perfectly, but because so much of its future has already become our present.

Why am I writing about such an old movie? Shouldn't we have much smarter, deeper movies about AI, surveillance and Big Tech by now? Or have we simply become so used to these technologies that we no longer notice what is happening? Has Silicon Valley slowly won us over with its own propaganda? If you know any newer movies or series that tackle these questions in a more thoughtful way, let me know in the comments. I'm always looking for the next great warning before it becomes reality.

#TheCircle #movie #film #entertainment #cinema #Hollywood #criticism #filmcritic #siliconvalley #bigtech #bigdata #bigbrother #orwell #surveillance #privacy #warning #danger #today #future #ai #technology #software #algorithm #freedom #democracy #economy #power #billionaires #finance #money #company #humanity #ethics #world #life #control

Alt...

movie poster from the circle with the face of Emma Watson

An independent test confirms Krita delivers 90% of Photoshop's power for zero cost. As Adobe pushes its $20.99 monthly subscriptions, open-source alternatives are absorbing budget-conscious digital artists. #Tech #OpenSource #Krita #DigitalArt #Software
https://blazetrends.com/open-source-krita-hits-90-of-photoshops-capability-as-creators-abandon-adobe-subscriptions/?fsp_sid=43382

Playing around with the Limnetic HTML Synth https://ko-fi.com/s/35c92eee33

1. I got a really nice sequence editing my own notes, starting from a random dice.

2. Tweaking the sound was fun & easy, & it sounds really good!

3. Exported the. wav & imported in my DAW for effects processing. It sounds really really good!

4. I have a solid track starter! 🎶

#music #artist #composer #sounddesign #synth #synthetizer #html #tech #software #electronicmusic #berlinschool

@limneticvillains
@ExperimentalMusic

Alt...

Playing around with the Limnetic HTML Synth

Alt...

Playing around with the Limnetic HTML Synth The final wav processed into the DAW

Did I ever mention how annoying and *disrespectful* it is when I close the program's (last or only) window, and instead of exiting it minimizes to tray, and keeps using up memory? If I wanted to minimize the program, I would have fricking minimized it!

#software #UX

People think the #Matrix was about robots. It wasn't. It was about operating systems.

#Windows is the blue pill.

You take it, and everything stays comfortable. Pretty icons. Friendly sounds. A setup wizard asking if you want to save your soul to the #cloud. Updates appear at the worst possible moment like a Marvel post-credit scene nobody asked for. Your #PC reboots. You cry. #Microsoft thanks you for improving your experience.

#Linux is the red pill.

You wake up. You see how deep the #RabbitHole goes.

At first, it is terrifying. The #terminal stares at you like Darth Vader asking if you know the power of the #CommandLine. You type one wrong character and feel like you accidentally launched nuclear missiles.

But then something changes. You realize your #computer actually belongs to you.

No ads in the Start Menu. No #AI assistant spying harder than a reality TV producer.

No mysterious background process eating half your #RAM like Pac-Man after three energy drinks.

You choose what gets installed. You choose when #updates happen. You choose what your #desktop looks like.

You are Neo.

Windows #users are still sitting in their pods, downloading the latest mandatory #update called KB-Whatever-Again, wondering why their printer suddenly speaks ancient Sumerian.

Linux is not perfect. Sometimes Wi-Fi drivers behave like a side quest in Dark Souls.

Sometimes you spend two hours fixing a problem just to feel smarter than everyone else.

But that is the point. The red pill was never about comfort. It was about #freedom.

And freedom means occasionally reading a forum post written by a Finnish guy in 2007 who solved your #problem and vanished forever like a #Jedi master.

Welcome to Linux. There is no spoon. Only #sudo.

#meme #choice #os #software #foss #floss #opensource #gnu #gpl #computer #user #nerd #just4fun #system

Alt...

matrix meme for OS

I explain my path through metaphors of ontological grammar with examples.

👉 https://open.substack.com/pub/brywillis634737/p/ontological-grammar-and-metaphor?r=pvxh5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

#philosophy #substack #blog #podcast #optics #lenses #water #refraction #software #firmware #ontology #judgment #metaphor #grammar #ontologicalgrammar #perspective #physics

LLM (noun): a machine used by software teams to turn piles of cash into technical debt

#LLM #AI #software #TechDebt #TechnicalDebt #coding #AmbroseBierce

Bose thinks it can be a media company for some reason

The history books are littered with the corpses of corporate record labels started by companies that had no business being in the music industry. Bose thinks it can be the exception to the rule. It thinks it can be Red …

https://www.theverge.com/entertainment/953324/bose-studios-record-label-media-company

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #TheVerge [The Verge]

Hello all, I am looking around for a person known as agorka. He was the maker of a little tool called Orangator old non realtime softsynth from the 90s, as I wanted to talk with him to see if he wants to share the code.
#Synthesizer #synthesizers #90s #software

I did a quick write up of what I experienced and how I was able to setup Writer to work like Word -- and keep my workflow the same. It was an easy change.

https://ultramookie.com/2026/06/libreoffice-writer-images/

cc: @libreoffice@fosstodon.org

#software #libreoffice #microsoft #office #office365 #howto

The fact that #Anthropic had to take down #Fable5 for users outside of the US by order of the US government shows how critical it is today to rely on US services

Imagine they'd do the same with #WhatsApp, you will not be able to talk to your #family and friends anymore

This should be a wake-up call for everyone to rely on your own server infrastructure, running with #OpenSource #software

#autonomy #digitalindependence #europe #european #decentralization #selfhosting #ArcaneChat #android #ai

RE: https://muenchen.social/@romankofler/116749607079878296

Sorry, ich kann nicht anders:

#Software an deutschen #Schulen

#Linux zu verwenden, großartige Idee und wurde auch Zeit.

Aber dann OnlyOffice zu installieren ...

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnlyOffice

... dies tut dann schon wieder AUA .

Zumal wir hier aus 🇩🇪 OpenOffice haben, was es auch für Windows, Mac und sogar Android gibt und damit dann gleich jeder Schüler bedient wäre.

https://www.openoffice.de/openoffice_download_linux.php

Warum nur Deutschland, tust Du mir dies immer wieder und wieder an ??? 🤔 🙄

Several police officers arrested for using controversial Flock AI license plate reader system to stalk romantic partners, says report — investig…

Tens of officers have been fired, and some even arrested, for abuse of the Flock license plate reader system used by police departments throughout the US, according to a new report.

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/security-software/several-police-officers-arrested-for-using-controversial-flock-ai-license-plate-reader-system-to-stalk-romantic-partners-says-report-investigators-have-unearthed-at-least-18-such-cases-in-the-us-over-recent-years

#Tech #Technology #TechNews #AI #Gadgets #Software #Cybersecurity #Apple #Google #Microsoft #Startup #OpenSource #TomsHardware [Tom's Hardware]

#Mozilla, why are you playing along with Google's devious game and #betraying the #principles of #free #software?

source: omgubuntu.co.uk/2026/06/mozill…

Nonetheless, the appearance of ‘device attestation’ in Firefox’s mobile codebase has raised eyebrows in the #FOSS #community, including from #mobile projects based on the #Android Open Source Project (AOSP) codebase, like #LineageOS and #GrapheneOS, which omit Play services.

Given that Firefox’s entire USP on Android is that it’s an open-source, privacy-respecting alternative for those avoiding #Google (and open-source, privacy-conscious users often run non-stock Android) it’s a move that, short of further explanation, rubs some the wrong way.

#news #software #security #ai #technology #cybersecurity #Firefox #browser #future #smartphone #api #evil #economy #bigtech #fail #floss #opensource #principle #opensource #ethics #surfing #web #www #freedom #alphabet surveillance #tracking #power #privacy #root #rooted #question #aosp

#lispyGopherClimate #live weekly #technology #podcast every 0UTC Wednesday (Tuesday night in the Americas) since 2022.

https://toobnix.org/w/tFN3aeiUunJrU99yzWhHjq

#archive #RSS https://toobnix.org/feeds/videos.xml?accountId=580185

#climateCrisis #haiku by @kentpitman

I want to tie the climatecrisis to an Alexandrian view of the crisis of, I guess, the hugely popular failure of modern industrial architecture.

The meteoric (good) impact Kents notes on my #NicCLIM #software https://lispy-gopher-show.itch.io/nicclim and #CLIM #GUI useage. #commonLisp #McCLIM

Alt...

A WIP picture of the evolution of my NicCLIM part-way through trying out some of Kent's notes about it and lisp community expectations about what the presentations and gestures would mean. Believe me, this is already a drastic improvement.

Alt...

Lispy Gopher climate unix_surrealism banner. Thinking of Maude you forget everything else