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Showing posts from August, 2021

A right to repair

 One of the funny obsessions I have right now is the YouTuber Hugh Jeffreys . I have been a casual watcher for a while but recently I have been getting more and more satisfaction out of his videos. His premise is simple. He gets an old bit of technology, a PC, Mac, phone or something else that has been damaged. Sometimes its not even that old. Then he repairs it on camera.  My interest comes from building PCs. There was a time when the only way to afford a PC was to build it from parts. Buy an empty case, a motherboard, a cpu and out it together. You could save a lot money and you got to understand how they worked. The economic case for building PCs declined but gamers still build their own PCs. Over time PCs just worked and dramatic changes were less. Applications no longer needed a better processor every six months.  The new fashion is repair. Instead of throwing away a broken device, why not repair it? There is a good reason. Manufacturers would like you to upgrade. They would like

YouTube Alternatives

 There are two aspects to YouTube . One is the element of self-publishing and cat videos. The other is the creative space where people now run entire businesses on YouTube. Their channel subscribers and advertising revenue shares mean they are full time YouTubers.  The problem is that all the power is in the hands of Google . Google can demontize a YouTuber. They can suddenly get no money for a stream. A channel can be closed down. The metrics and algorithms can make your videos less visible. The power is with Google.  Out of this creators are looking for other places to present content. The ones I have found include Nebula and Odysee . Nebula is a subscription service. You don't subscribe directly but you get it free when you pay for CuriosityStream . At $19 per year you get a documentary channel and a creators channel. The creators on Nebula are often YouTubers that use the platform for longer form videos and things that would not bubble up on the YouTube algorithmic searches. Y

Windows 11 after all

 In the world of rapid development cycles nothing stays the same for long. Microsoft have now moved Windows 11 testing into the more stable "beta" channel. I am still nervous about moving my PC into a beta environment but I am a long time user of Windows, professionally and personally, so what happens to Windows matters to me.  The Windows Insider programme has three levels of entry. DEV. This is the most frequently updated and buggy version released for public comment and testing. BETA. A version for professionals and enthusiasts to see what is coming next with a less frequent update schedule and fewer problems.  RC. A release candidate version. The last version before formal release of a production ready product. A version for businesses and developers to see what the next released version will look like.  All of these will provide feedback and telemetry to Microsoft. The beta channel is most suitable for people who want to feedback to Microsoft on how Windows 11 is really