This is a Github collection of lists that link to numerous "awesome" sites on various technology related topics. The topics often cascade down into sub-topics too, so there are real rabbit holes to fall down into. It reminds me a bit of the early Internet search engines which were topic based lists really.

Being on Github means that anyone can also contribute to these lists and expand them even further. They have a link at the top of each category called Contribution guide, which helps explain how to do this.

It's not a replacement for Wikipedia content at all, but more a suggestion of awesome sites to look at for a specific topic, and it is supposed to also state why that site is awesome.

See https://github.com/sindresorhus/awesome

#technology #awesomelists

The new BMW Motorrad ConnectedRide smart glasses integrate the familiar BMW head-up display technology found in its cars. They project data such as navigation, speed or selected gear directly into the rider’s field of vision in real time.

They are designed for comfort and fit numerous helmets and face shapes. The lithium-ion battery enables up to 10 hours of operation and BMW Motorrad supplies two sets of certified UVA/UVB lenses with the frame.

I remember a helmet also having something like this a few years back, and I'm not sure if it is still around. This, being a BMW product, probably means it is solid and works well, but also means it's going to cost €690 (ZAR14,202). Having navigation directions also visible does mean your expensive phone need not be sitting exposed on the bike's dash (which in South Africa can be a brave thing to do).

See https://www.timeslive.co.za/motoring/news/2023-07-11-bmw-smartglasses-help-bikers-navigate-with-head-up-display-technology/

#technology #motorcycling #BMW #HUD

The Thunderbird client has got a big makeover. It is not just an e-mail client though, as it also has calendaring, contacts and tasks built-in, and many additional add-on's that provide extra customisation and functionality.

The app will connect via IMAP to most e-mail services to download and sync your e-mail offline. If you have e-mail at various services, Thunderbird will consolidate that for you in one app.

But even if you're still a Gmail user, Thunderbird is a great way to sync your e-mail offline so that you have your own permanent copy of all your mails. Who knows when Google will tire of providing Gmail.

And if you feel like a version of Thunderbird on steroids, Betterbird is an enhanced version of Thunderbird with new features and bug fixes not available in Mozilla Thunderbird. Betterbird looks and feels like Thunderbird, but it's easy to spot the new features available. Many of these features have been requested for over a decade, and some have been attempted and failed. Betterbird already updated to the Thunderbird 115 build on 8 July 2023.

See https://linuxiac.com/thunderbird-115-supernova/

#technology #opensource #Thunderbird #email

Most modern VMs are configured to skip the GRUB bootloader for a seamless experience. However, you might need to access the GRUB menu at times. For example, if you want to switch back to the older kernel or get into recovery mode for resetting the password.

It is certainly also a useful way to test any changes to GRUB before doing so on your production machine, too. In this way if for example you'd like to add colour themes to your main machine's GRUB, test it out first on the VM's GRUB until you have it like you want it, then apply to your main machine.

See https://itsfoss.com/access-grub-virtual-machine/

#technology #VM #GRUB #opensource

No one in the Android ecosystem can hold a candle to Apple's software support timeline for the iPhone, but there is one company that comes the closest: Fairphone. Following in the footsteps of the Fairphone 2, the Fairphone 3 is also getting an Android-industry-best seven years of OS support. Fairphone continues to run circles around giant tech companies that have a lot more resources than it does, and it's doing this even in the face of component vendors like Qualcomm dropping support for the phone's core components.

You'd hope that others follow suit, but don't hold your breath. Samsung is probably closest, but not for their whole range I think. That said, Fairphone is not very quick with their updates. Still 7 years is nearly double the time that most Android OEMs give so you can certainly get your money's worth out of these devices.

See https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/fairphone-3-gets-seven-years-of-updates-besting-every-other-android-oem/

#technology #Android #Fairphone

Botched and buggy software updates are all too common these days. But the latest Fitbit Charge 5 update takes things to a new level—several users complain that their Charge 5’s screen is now unresponsive, while others are struggling with battery drain.

I'm also in a group of about 50 or 60 Fitbit Aria scale users complaining that the second user of the scale is being seen only as a guest user. But the worst is about 2 months went by without Fitbit (Google) acknowledging it in the forum thread (on their website). Needless to say it has really incensed all the users.

Many voiced opinions that Google is really trying to kill off Fitbit as a separate product. Whatever the reason, there is still no reason to be so distance from your customers.

See https://www.reviewgeek.com/158558/your-fitbit-charge-5-might-be-broken-after-its-latest-update/

#technology #Fitbit #health

When setting your fan speeds, you should strike the perfect balance between cooling and noise level. Most operating systems, including Windows 11, allow you to set a fan profile using BIOS settings, OEM software, or third-party apps.

Third-party applications are generally the most effective solution as they have easy-to-use interfaces and allow you to set individual profiles for all your fans. Fan Control is one such open-source app that offers plenty of customizability to control your cabinet, GPU, and CPU fans, making it the perfect cooling management tool for beginners and experts alike.

This article will go over the process of setting up Fan Control to help you create the perfect fan profile for your system.

See https://www.xda-developers.com/fan-control-guide/

#technology #opensource #FanControl

This solves a problem I had with wanting to quickly start up a Distrobox container using a shortcut key, but also being able to differentiate it visually from my normal Konsole terminal screen I'd use on Manjaro Linux. It is extremely quick and the named Konsole Profile has a different colour as well as a different window title bar. I needed this as my Starship custom prompt was not playing ball with showing the change of OS properly (it could do so, but the formatting broke all the time). This method I describe here is solid, and works irrespective of the prompt.

I thought this was worth sharing as firstly I could find no search results showing how to do this, and secondly, it can actually be applied for purposes other than just starting a Distrobox container. Any terminal command can be used. It is also a useful way to actually use these named Profiles that Konsole has in KDE Plasma.

My video also gives a taste of what Distrobox does, so if you're interested further in Distrobox I have also included a link below my video, to a Distrobox overview video by someone else.

Watch https://youtu.be/g7x_ngYtj6Y

#technology #opensource #Linux #Distrobox #Konsole

Enable both backward and forward compatibility with software and freedom to use whatever distribution you’re more comfortable with. Distrobox uses podman or docker to create containers using the Linux distribution of your choice. The created container will be tightly integrated with the host, allowing sharing of the HOME directory of the user, external storage, external USB devices and graphical apps (X11/Wayland), and audio.

Ideally, you would probably use a Flatpak or Appimage application for your main computer, if they're available. But if they're not, this is an amazingly easy alternative. The apps boot as quickly as if they are the native apps for your host machine. You could probably also manually install these containers, but why, if Distrobox largely automates this for you and integrates them so tightly with your computer, that all your home directories are already integrated and visible.

It's also a great way to learn a different distro and how its package manager and syntax works.

Their site has extensive documentation as well as a good video giving an overview of how this works.

See https://distrobox.privatedns.org/

#technology #Linux #opensource #distrobox