Obsessive Compulsive Linux Disorder

Linux Journal Says Goodbye

Pariah — Fri, 09 Aug 2019 19:28:55 +0000

RIP, Linux Journal

Source: RIP, Linux Journal / Boing Boing

Goodbye, Linux Journal. Thanks for the RAMs

Firefox Quantum has just gotten better!

Pariah — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 18:58:37 +0000

It’s been a LONG time since I used Firefox as my daily driver, rather than a backup, but over the last month I’ve been quietly impressed with the speed of Firefox Quantum. Even more impressive are the additions of privacy enhancements and how much less memory Firefox uses now than it used to. Firefox 2 (yes, version 2 of the huge bloat that would slow my computer to a crawl) was the last time I used Firefox exclusively. After I discovered Opera, I used that exclusively up until about a month ago. Even though Opera sold out and became ‘chropera’ I still used it and still miss it but these chrome based browsers are really starting to piss me off with invading my privacy. Additionally, Opera has gotten to be a bit fat with memory usage to the point it’s affecting my graphic design work as I can’t use Opera efficiently anymore while I have memory intensive graphic design apps going.

Don’t get me wrong, I think I still prefer the chrome based browsers as far as general use (they tend to have built in features that FF requires extensions for–in my case, I wanted to open the browser with the pinned tab i had when i closed it prior. Chrome based browsers do it. Firefox required an extension. The more extensions you have, the slower the browser runs and the more resources it hogs– Another favorite of mine is Slimjet Browser, which is still available as 32bit. Not sure why modern browsers need to use more resources but if you need something super fast that won’t hog your system resources while you’ve got several Adobe apps or the Affinity suite open, a 32bit browser is THE way to go so your computer doesn’t start running like molasses (provided you can’t afford a better computer).

Listary: Keyboard Launcher and File Finder Extraordinaire

Pariah — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 03:36:09 +0000

Wow, I have really been an absentee blogger! Many apologies to my followers; I hadn’t realized it had been so long! I had to get a Windows computer to work on *cries in Linux* and my Linux laptop is turning 17 this year so it may be a while before I get to do more Linuxy awesomeness *sad pandas everywhere* Today, I’m breaking all the rules and posting one of my absolute favorite Windows programs in the known universe. It’s called Listary; it’s a keyboard launcher and file finder and it lives here: https://www.listary.com/ I’ve been using keyboard launchers since my Gnome 2.x days and sorely missed it on horribly inefficient WinExplorer. There are certainly others to try, like Wox or Executor but to me Listary just works OOTB and is HUGELY customizable. One example: to open my pictures folder, I’d open Listary by either clicking Control button twice, or by user preferred shortcut (I like Shift + Space, as I used in Gnome-Do–yes I do still miss it!) and type the word pic, hit enter and i’m in my pictures folder. Or I can type the word fonts, enter and I’m right inside my font collection folder. Got a folder buried several layers deep? create a keyword and instantly open it. I can type f and the first result is firefox, click enter and bam, interwebs! One of my favorites is as simple as: SL, which suspends my computer. These are all customizable so use whatever shortcuts you like/can remember. Sure there are keyboard shortcuts for many things in Windows but I can never remember them What I can remember is the word firefox or the word pic and I’m a fast typist so it’s WAY faster as far as getting around Win Explorer. There’s also a search window that pops up underneath the active Windows Explorer window so you can search files, folders, etc. But if you hate WinEx, Listary also integrates with other File Managers, such as Total Commander, Free Commander, XYplorer and several others! (So far I haven’t found that feature anywhere else)
It’s FREE for home users but it will let you know when you use a Listary Pro feature. As soon as the forthcoming version 6 comes out, I will be purchasing pro (again, use it freely if you prefer) I briefly tested the beta of version 6, which is also freely available to anyone wanting to test the new features now and when it’s finished it’s going to be EVEN BETTER. I’ve written a novel and haven’t even told you all the really cool things Listary does. If you have to use Windows, use the best programs right? Give ‘er a go!

Adobe Price Increase Another Example of Corporate Greed

Pariah — Mon, 17 Sep 2018 22:42:25 +0000

Adobe has decided to increase their prices. Is anyone surprised that this is the direction Adobe is deciding to take? Surely we knew this was coming, as soon as Creative Cloud was announced as the replacement for Creative Suite. Smaller, less well known products decided then that it would be a good idea to step up their own development, and now, thanks to ”the little guy” we have viable alternatives. Adobe is well deserving of the title, Douche of the Day for this edition. Adobe has failed, repeatedly, to listen to its users and will suffer losses accordingly. Back when Creative Suite was still available, it cost around $600. (I can’t remember the exact price it used to be, forgive me but this number will have to suffice–please comment the correct amount if you know it). Yes, that’s really a lot at one time, which is why a subscription model came about. In theory, one could pay a little at a time and thus more people would be able to purchase the product. A great idea to benefit both userbase and profit margin. However, that one time $600 payment has been replaced by $600 A YEAR. If you had CS for 10 years, you paid $600 for it one time and used it for say, 10 years. Now Creative Cloud will cost ~$636 if paid monthly/~$600 if prepaid yearly. So if you have Creative Cloud for 10 years, at the VERY least you have paid $6,000. I don’t think enough people add that up because literally everyone who isn’t rich would be looking for alternatives. And most customers are going to be using these programs for years. Adobe has made a very serious error in judgment in scalping their customers so inexcusably. I myself will be offering my money to alternative sources, most likely Affinity but we’ll see. There are a lot more alternatives out there than there used to be, especially for us ”little guy” designers. Remember what happened to the cable companies? When being a greedy corporation, one must remember not to shoot oneself in the foot in the process. Congratulations Adobe for winning the Douche of the Day award.

Exciting News! Linux Apps Are Coming to Chromebooks

Pariah — Wed, 09 May 2018 23:46:00 +0000

Courtesy of OMG Ubuntu! I found out today that Linux applications will be coming to Chromebooks. This is a pretty big deal and one that is so long overdue: the recognition of Linux in the greater computing world. Those of us who already know and love Linux can go on for an hour about why Linux makes us happy. Seriously, you can google flame wars (people who get in online arguments about whose Linux is better) yes, it’s a thing. There is some of this attitude seen in Mac owners and it’s absent entirely from Windows owners in general. Most feel, myself included, merely okay with having an operating system that has more glitches than an episode of Max Headroom. I’m using Windows 10 due to the necessity of using Adobe products *cries* and believe me when I say I feel the loss of Linux in my everyday computing life. I’m gradually saving up for a lappy that can run the hog called Adobe and then I will be changing my desktop over to Linux entirely. I honestly can’t wait. This idea of accessing Linux for the ‘basic’ computer user is a fantastic way to gently immerse newbies into the Linux pool without overwhelming them. Sometimes I worry that Google is trying to take over the world…and they are making it very hard to resist!“Users will soon be able to install Linux apps on Chromebooks, Google has confirmed. Google says it is adding support for Linux apps to Chrome OS to ‘equip developers’ with the tools they need.”–OMG!Ubuntu!

Source: It’s Official: Linux Apps Are Coming to Chromebooks – OMG! Ubuntu!

Fake Email Subscribers Problem

Pariah — Tue, 08 May 2018 19:04:36 +0000

For the time being, I have removed the options to subscribe to my blog and also to follow my blog. These options are being abused by people signing up for Outlook.com email accounts. They are then subscribing to posts by email in order to get your real email address. As soon as you post something new on your blog, your real email address is going to be sent to these “followers” and ”subscribers.” So, it’s like one is deliberately placing themselves on an email collection list for future spam. I’ve gotten probably 20 or so of these notifications from WordPress.com over the last few days. No doubt, my email will be flooded with spam within the next couple of weeks. Super. The only option I know of at this point is to remove the follow options until either, A. WordPress devises a way to deal with this or B. This is just another spam thing to live with. *sigh*

UPDATE: WordPress.com has been made aware of the issue and is working hard to remove fake subscribers. Thanks, WordPress for being on top of this issue.

So, for any real people that want to subscribe, please be patient and hopefully the issue is resolved relatively quickly.

New subscribers, eh?

Pariah — Mon, 16 Apr 2018 18:16:14 +0000

So here lately I’ve been getting all kinds of notifications from my bloggo here that I’ve got oodles of new subscribers..I can’t help but feel a little scammy considering that, thanks to lack of funds for a new lappy, I haven’t been able to do any Linux reviews *sniff*

Thanks to any legit subscribers but if you’re just here for nefarious reasons, you should shuffle off to whatever rock you crawled out from under. Thanks! Enjoy your subscription!

LastPass extension for Firefox Nightly

Pariah — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 08:56:42 +0000

So, just a heads up (I know, I know, I’m gone forever and now I just waltz back in like nothing’s happened) Firefox Nightly was not working at all with the LastPass extension for quite some time. On this page here at the LastPass blog, there is a beta extension that is supposed to work (or might, hey there’s no guarantees with a beta anything..not even the fish) so I gave it a go last week (on Firefox 58, Nightly) and it didn’t work. I was a very sad (and mad!) panda so I found an alternative extension called Bitwarden, which is a very capable password manager but I was missing the form fill features of LastPass so today I decided to try again. I grabbed the beta from the included link and was able to successfully install and use it. So far the only thing that is not functioning for me is editing a new entry. LP asks if I want to save new credentials but upon editing, I was not able to successfully put the new login info into the folder I wished to. Not a dealbreaker, it’s easy enough to click on the vault and do it from there. If you are using FF 57, you should be good to go on this as I’m using it on 58. Enjoy!

https://blog.lastpass.com/2017/10/lastpass-beta-firefox-57.html/

Bookmarklets Aren’t Dead, Just Hard to Find

Pariah — Thu, 01 Sep 2016 23:43:11 +0000

I’ve tested quite a few web browsers in my time and had my favorites (Opera 12 and Flock) and my least favorites (like Internet Explorer and Chrome) These days I’m using Chrome based browsers, such as Citrio, Yandex and Opera (I always come back) but one thing hasn’t changed much. Browsers keep consuming more and more memory to run. I don’t see how some people manage with their regular PCs. (I have a custom build with 16GB of RAM and it’s still not nearly enough!) One thing that makes a huge difference is the number of extensions one adds to their browser. Each extension runs memory at all times, whether being actively used or not. I have about 4 ”essential” extensions; LastPass, uBlock, WOT and the Great Suspender. I used to also have Lightshot but I discovered they have a desktop version so now I just use that. I really do hate extensions for how much memory they hog. I’d very much prefer to use bookmarklets for most things. LastPass I wouldn’t mess with and WOT (Web of Trust) wouldn’t work well if it wasn’t integrated but it would be nice to just click a button when I wanted to suspend tabs or block ads. I do use several bookmarklets for several every day tasks; for instance, I’m using a bookmarklet to open a window and write an entry for one of my blogs…this blog entry in fact. I have one bookmarklet for each of my two WordPress blogs. I also have a StartMe bookmarklet; at the click of a button, I can add whatever page I’m on to my StartMe (bookmarking) account which is then viewable on all my browsers. I dug around for a bookmarklet for Raindrop.io that I remembered from when it first came out. I found one that was written for Apple Safari but it works great and I don’t have to waste any resources on it while I’m not using it. I wish the trend would swing back toward bookmarklets and away from extensions.

Workaround for Raindrop.io Opera Extension (or Chrome based browser)

Pariah — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 20:30:50 +0000

I’ve been happily using Raindrop.io for some time now, ever since my beloved Springpad was so cruelly taken from us *sniff* but I can never get the extension to work properly in Opera (and some other Chrome based web browsers) In Opera, I discovered the panel version works but the toolbar extension doesn’t (wat?) but I find it irritating to have to open a panel for one item. So instead, I found a bookmarklet script (written for Apple products originally) that works just fine for adding a bookmark to Raindrop.

Here is the script. To use copy and paste it into a new bookmark on the bookmark bar in the url box. Call it whatever you like; Raindrop or add to Raindrop works for me. Then as you are browsing and come across something you wish to save and click on your new bookmarklet. You may have to log in if you weren’t already.

Feature-rich, attractive and easy-to-use bookmarking app

Source: Raindrop.io