Last Notes
F-Droid’s Android open-source app store has been rebuilt from the ground up
“Virtually every Android device comes with the Play Store preloaded, but there are other ways to get apps. F-Droid bills itself as a community-driven source for free and open source Android apps, but its official app store has gone 10 years without a major update. That’s finally changing: After a multiyear effort, the team has just announced F-Droid 2.0 is rolling out. The new F-Droid client was redesigned from scratch in Kotlin Compose, which is the standard for modern Android apps. This makes the store much more responsive, and there’s optional support for Android’s Material theming. The interface has also been cleaned up considerably, making the most important functions easier to access and hiding some others in overflow menus.”
I've been using F-Droid, along with Obtainium, for a long time. Many open-source apps are not at all on the official Android play store.
F-Droid fetches the public git/mercurial source code for an app, strips out non-free dependencies (like proprietary tracking, ads, or Google Play Services binaries), and compiles the APK on its build servers. Because F-Droid compiles the binaries itself, the resulting APKs are typically signed with F-Droid's cryptographic key rather than the app developer's key.
But this does guarantee that the app you download and install, is true to the published source code. Nothing of course is perfect, but we have seen numerous times that problematic apps have even appeared on both the Android and Apple play stores. So let no-one cast stones from their glass houses.
The reason I have returned twice to Android, is because of the freedoms of being able to install open source software without limitations. It bugs me that both Apple and Google go out of their way to control and monetise apps for the platforms. Imagine if Linux imposed such restrictions? Basically everything installed on Linux is “sideloaded” and guess what, my Linux has been working fine for decades (Better than my wife's Windows has been struggling along).
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/f-droids-android-open-source-app-store-has-been-rebuilt-from-the-ground-up/
#android #fdroid #opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/F-Droid2-1-1536x864.webp
Microsoft going back to its roots and breaking spreadsheet compatibility
“Microsoft has ended 40 years of single-occupancy for Excel cells and is now allowing multiple values to inhabit the same home. For the time being, this capability is only available in Microsoft Excel for Windows and Mac Beta Channels. And it is opt-in.”
Which is exactly what Microsoft was accused of doing many years ago when they brought out their OOXML standard and punted it as a global standard. Very few fell for that as ODF was already the open document standard, and not owned by any corporation. But they would keep tinkering with things behind the scenes so that if anyone tried to use OOXML, it would still break in practice as features were not supported. This would happen a lot with MS Word where especially all the formatting and layout would often not be the same.
I remember this happening with a South African charity who had to provide business plans to a Department of Social Development. Being a charity, and not having unlimited taxpayer funds, that charity was using a free alternative called OpenOffice, and working in ODF format (which by the way, was the only officially approved document format for that government), but the business plan's template did not load as the Department had designed it using MS Word. Did the Department redesign it into the compliant standard? No, they told the charity to go and buy MS Word!
This was why open document standards were created, and also approved by many governments around the world. It was to reduce the cost of ownership (can use the free software), and to improve interoperability and freedoms of choice.
The correct way to do it, is to propose the change to the standards body, and get it voted on or amended, and then it goes live after approval, giving all other providers a chance to implement it as well so that compatibility works.
It just goes to show that Microsoft still acts the same underneath, despite the PR. It is probably not going to bother me really in 2026, as I'd just respond that the spreadsheet is broken. What bothers me more is Microsoft's attitude and approach to changes like this. Certainly, there could be some good reason for going with this change, but then let's do that process correctly and be good neighbours to each other.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/microsoft-going-back-to-its-roots-and-breaking-spreadsheet-compatibility/
#microsoft #openstandards #technology
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OpenCode is an open source alternative to Claude Code
OpenCode is an open source agent that helps you write and run code with any AI model, including free (for now although the free tier uses a limited subset of backend models including Big Pickle) use of its own OpenCode Zen model. It's available as a terminal-based interface, desktop app, or IDE extension.
So OpenCode is similar to Claude Code in that it has agentic abilities, MCP servers, etc. Their Zen model is interesting. You connect to it (so no download or local GPU really required) and it is a curated set of AI models tested and benchmarked for coding agents created by the team behind OpenCode.
OpenCode passes whatever costs are involved in using Zen, straight through without any markup. However, to cover costs, OpenCode adds only a small payment processing fee of $1.23 per $20 balance top-up. The models being used are optimised for coding ability.
What Zen's real offering is, you are paying this one entity, to pool funds, and get access to various backend models, which would normally be separate subscriptions on their own. You could also connect your own front end AI to the Zen service as well.
With over 195,000 GitHub stars, 950 contributors, and over 13,000 commits, OpenCode is used and trusted by over 16 million developers every month. So this is no small project. That said, it is really for coding and technical troubleshooting, and not really for use as a chat service.
See or
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/opencode-is-an-open-source-alternative-to-claude-code/
#ai #opensource #programming #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/opencode-on-desktop-pc-clock-and-lamp-in-view.webp
Grist is an open source self-hosted spreadsheet with a database hiding underneath
“Grist is a relational spreadsheet-database app that I can host on my own server. When I first tried it, it felt familiar because the basic idea is still the same: I get rows, columns, cells, and tables that I can use to organise information. I came across Grist while looking for something that could replace the spreadsheets I use for everyday work. I mainly wanted a simple way to create tables, organise information, and keep track of things without dealing with a complicated interface. The first thing I noticed was that Grist doesn't try to make spreadsheets feel completely different. I can start with a blank document, add columns, enter information, and use formulas just like I would in a regular spreadsheet.”
I remember way back when the first spreadsheets appeared, many would try to make them work like databases. But the fact is if you have a lot of data, and it needs to reference other data (relational) and be updated, an actual database was usually more robust. Sorting partial columns by mistake in a spreadsheet can completely mess up your data (versus using proper indexes).
So this looks like a pretty good idea. Apart from the database aspect, this can always be available as it does not depend on access to some else's cloud, and it stays private. It is also accessed via a browser so you need not install anything on your devices, and can work on it from anywhere.
See or
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/grist-is-an-open-source-self-hosted-spreadsheet-with-a-database-hiding-underneath/
#opensource #privacy #selfhosting #spreadsheets #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/grist-self-hosted.webp
Immurok Fingerprint Key Unlocks Linux, Approves SSH and AI Agents
“It is a tiny wireless box that can unlock your desktop session, approve a sudo command, authenticate via polkit, log you into a server over SSH, generate TOTP codes for 2FA, and put a physical touch in front of an AI coding agent. And it does all of that with the same finger, over Bluetooth. The good news is that the core features work. The less good news is that on Linux, getting there was not as simple as touching a sensor.”
So, yes no ready to use graphical interface like Windows, and macOS users get, but it can be setup and got to work, and after that it seems pretty seamless.
You always have your passwords to fall back to, if you leave your finger behind or lose it somewhere.
It is a Kickstarter project, but good to see there is a working review unit, so it is not vaporware.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/immurok-fingerprint-key-unlocks-linux-approves-ssh-and-ai-agents/
#linux #security #technology
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AI Efficiency Could Cost Us the Next Generation of Experts
This is a very though-provoking that applies much wider than just AI. In fact, its origins go back to long before AI was even around. It is applicable to whenever automation is involved with humans. The problem with humans is they get lazy, and they lose muscle memory over time, and it is even worse if they never gained the muscle memory in the first place.
Examples given are a nuclear power station where, despite the possibility of fully automated processes, humans are deliberately kept in the loop to perform approval and manual processes. This was to keep them current and to practice what they need to do.
The other example was the Air France flight 447 accident which could have been prevented if the humans in the cockpit were not so accustomed to flying on autopilot for years, and they could have still assessed what went wrong using their manual flight skills.
It really brings to the foreground some of the inherent issues we have with humans, and how these can manifest themselves when humans work with, or let AI do their work for them.
The real meat of the article though, is the long term effects, and how junior engineers become senior engineers through hard effort, diagnosing and understanding problems, and struggling for hours to fix something. Most of today's senior engineers and designers went through these stages when they started out as junior engineers. This learning process is vital to later growth and success in most field. What I learnt this way in the 1990s, I still applied many decades later, even with newer technology, as I understood how the fundamentals fitted together and interacted together.
We've already seen signs of this reality with studies about students using AI and where, without the AI in exams, they actually score lower than students who did their studying without AI. Of course there are always exceptions to this, and it is certainly not that AI is just all bad, but it is how we use AI with humans that is important.
Another study I have quoted before, also showed that organisations fared economically better when AI was overseen by humans using it, versus organisations trying to just replace humans with AI.
What is becoming clear, is there is nothing wrong with AI, and it will be part of our future just like telephones are, but we need to think about AI's usage alongside humans to ensure a good future for both. It is no good, in 20 years time when today's senior engineers are due to retire, to then wake up and realise we don't have any suitable senior engineers to replace them.
It also brings home what I have preached before about just outsourcing everything to an external cloud provider. The organisation loses all its ability to deeply evaluate and quality assure any cloud provider because they have lost their own internal skills. If you ever want to withdraw from that external cloud provider, they have nothing to fall back on.
It all comes down to the same final argument in the linked article: “Deliberate inefficiency is not waste. In safety-critical engineering we have always known it as insurance, and we buy it on purpose”.
The linked article is really well worth reading, and should be part of any AI awareness training for senior management. Just looking too at some humans who have committed suicide based on “advice from their AI therapists” we humans have our own failings, and we need to consider how we use and interact with AI to harness it successfully into the future. This is probably going to be really fertile ground for doctoral thesis in the coming years.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/ai-efficiency-could-cost-us-the-next-generation-of-experts/
#ai #skills #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/human-and-robotic-hands-share-a-caliper-over-technical-engineering-blueprints.webp
“I’m Not Dead Yet!” Reverse Polish Notation Calculators You Can Still Buy
“RPN isn’t exactly the way people calculate with pencil and paper, and it certainly wasn’t derived from the slide rule, but there is a similarity in the way you work. With a slide rule, you generally establish some value, operate on it, and continue from the result. When doing a long-hand calculation, you often calculate a subexpression, write down the answer, and use that answer in the next step. You will probably start with the inner parenthesis and work outward, just like someone with an RPN calculator does. RPN formalises that process with a stack.”
I still have my HP41CV, and it still works well 40 years on. RPN is actually a highly effective way of doing complex calculations. Once it is understood, it is quite intuitive. My HP41CV was RPN-only, so I got very used to using it.
It is good to see there are still options available to buy, and I did not know about the Linux AppImage for HP Prime Virtual Calculator. Neither had I seen the CalcTastic Android app — must say it works very nicely, and I do love the many theme options.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/im-not-dead-yet-reverse-polish-notation-calculators-you-can-still-buy/
#calculators #rpn #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/RPN.webp
Australians Could Soon Opt Out of Social Media Algorithms Altogether
“The Australian government is proposing to give social media users the option to switch off the default algorithmic feed, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Tuesday. Under the draft legislation, “Digital Duty of Care”, users could opt to see only posts from the people they follow on platforms like Instagram or TikTok, instead of what the algorithm curates for them personally.”
Now this really does make sense for quite a few reasons:
It would go a long way to cutting down on the social media “doom-scrolling” addition that many users have.
It is a cleaner feed which is more relevant to users wanting to follow family or friends.
It is an easy measure to hold Big Tech accountable for.
Most importantly too it should cut down on many viral posts with misinformation etc, as the user should actually not see those being inserted into the feed.
This indirectly also reduces the spread of viral misinformation, as they can't take root across all users' feeds anymore.
It's not going to stop adverts being served, nor metadata being harvested by Big Tech (nor the sharing of that data to data brokers or “partners”). For this, you still want to rather move off to decentralised and federated types of social media.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/australians-could-soon-opt-out-of-social-media-algorithms-altogether/
#doomscrolling #socialmedia #technology
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Could flipping Raise wrist to wake and Always On Display (AOD) improve battery life?
This is an interesting option to try (I have a Pebble watch, so battery life is not an issue). The theory is that raising the wrist normally kicks the full CPU on to check time, and that probably triggers quite a bit when you don't want it to.
Turing off the raise wrist activation, but also enabling AOD, could result in less battery usage.
I suppose this may differ between watches and people, so it is something one needs to try and see what difference it makes. The theory could make sense though.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/could-flipping-raise-wrist-to-wake-and-always-on-display-aod-improve-battery-life/
#batterylife #technology
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Tether Brings the Apple Continuity Experience to Linux
“Continuity. That is Apple's catch-all term for how iPhone, iPad, and Mac talk to each other. It covers a wide range of small conveniences. Copy something on the iPhone and paste it on the Mac. Start an email on one device and finish it on another. Take a call from the Mac even when the phone is across the room. But, to no one's surprise, there's a gap in its support. It doesn't officially work on Linux. So Zack built Tether, an open source project that replicates pieces of that experience on Linux without requiring a Mac device.”
Yes there is KDE Connect, but apparently Tether goes a bit deeper than that for Apple. So this may be interesting for Apple users to try out with Linux.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/tether-brings-the-apple-continuity-experience-to-linux/
#ios #opensource #technology
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HAMgpt Launches as a Personal AI Copilot Built Specifically for Amateur Radio
“Unlike a general-purpose chatbot, HAMgpt is built around the real operating situation of each ham. It can take into account the operator's license class, country, grid square, radios, antennas and operating history, then combine that station profile with live propagation, space weather, DX activity and current on-air conditions.”
This is quite interesting as it is not just a rebranded chatbot, it actually checks the various live reporting sites that many ham operators use. Just a lot quicker and more broadly, and applies that to the specific operators circumstances. HAMgpt is designed to work like a personal digital Elmer that already knows the operator's station.
It appears otherwise to look like any AI chatbot, so plain English queries work perfectly, making it easy for non-technical users too.
There is a free tier with five AI queries per day, but it does require registering an account.
See or
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/hamgpt-launches-as-a-personal-ai-copilot-built-specifically-for-amateur-radio/
#ai #amateurradio #hamradio #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/hamgpt.webp
Scientist learns in front of peers why we cannot trust AI Blindly
“Sutter’s cringe-inducing tale perfectly illustrates how many users of AI tools are putting themselves at risk without knowing it, including in the most rarefied echelons of academia. The science world has been inundated with poorly-researched and often unedited AI slop, a major reckoning forcing academics to be responsible for everything they publish — including any potentially embarrassing hallucinations.”
Don't get me wrong here, AI can be extremely useful, but its usefulness comes when it is overseen by humans. You cannot just sit back and assume AI is correct. It does often hallucinate, and needs savvy contextual checking by humans.
Businesses that just let agentic AI loose, have a good chance of failing. In April 2026, the software company PocketOS lost its entire production database and backups after an AI coding agent named Cursor, powered by Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6, autonomously deleted the data in nine seconds. When employing AI, you want to ensure you do have experienced humans watching over it. I still prefer to read the outputs and then manually click allow, before letting AI just update things itself. My AI also has a standing instruction to always back up any file before it makes changes.
It's quite true that AI is little more than a sophisticated next-word predictor. It appears to be very clever, and it wants to please you, but it has no real intelligence despite what marketers of AI tell to CEOs.
Don't discount AI either though, as a person using their savvy with AI and who has some experience of what is being performed, is a lot more effective than someone just not using AI at all today. So I would never ridicule anyone using AI, as it is where the future is going to be, they just need to be cautious as to how it is applied.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/scientist-learns-in-front-of-peers-why-we-cannot-trust-ai-blindly/
#ai #technology
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The Days Of Broadcast Digital TV Could Be Numbered
“When the analogue TV signals were turned off in most places around fifteen years ago, their replacement took the form of a set of digital multiplexes. ATSC for North America, and DVB-T for Europe and other places. This would deliver a multichannel broadcasting solution for the future, and this would be how those not on a cable would consume their telly. It’s a surprise then to find that some governments are already looking at turning off digital TV broadcasting, with the UK in particular wanting to put a date on the switch-off of 2032.”
It always seems bad when radio rolls backwards as it is the ideal medium for disasters and emergencies, but despite that, the trend amongst consumers today is less broadcast TV (having migrated to cable TV, Internet streaming, YouTube) and the same often for audio FM broadcast radio (I listen to podcasts in the car and never the radio, whilst others listen to Facebook).
But actually despite that, radio is still actively used across police, emergency services, ambulances, etc for speed and reliability, especially when teams and groups need to coordinate. One could say something like WhatsApp or Zello could be used, but they aren't used as a primary communications tool in these teams. The problem is apart from the Internet going off for any short periods, phones must have data, users must have apps installed, they must have phones available, etc. And everything short range with phones must travel via that app provider and the phone network (data). Disaster events generally also mean congested phone and SMS networks, delaying those mediums of communication.
Radio bypasses all of that. Most radios don't rely on a network (apart from maybe trunk radio), don't rely on data expiring or being bought, they work instantly at the press of a button, and the devices are provided by the employer, which sets the standard for what will be used by all in the team.
It's why, as much as ham radio operators also have lots of digital modes and satellites etc, we still also rely on the faithful fallback of VHF and HF phone radio — it just works across all users everywhere as it is the one thing all operators have, and were licensed to use.
Given Oudtshoorn's (in South Africa) recent 4 to 5 days without power, it is not a given that power will just stay on at all times. In any disaster there is a chance that power as well as the Internet (along with VoIP phones and Microsoft OneDrive) go offline. Disaster and emergency personnel will still be using their radios and keeping essential communications alive as their initial response.
If those radio networks also start to fail due to extended outages, we as ham radio operators will be responsible for re-establishing communications locally and further afield, using our “fallback radios” and our communications savvy to “make it work”.
And on the topic of traditional radio, I can say now that Cape Town has over 180 MeshCore radio nodes across the city, and many of them operated by ordinary citizens without any radio knowledge. MeshCore links Cape Town to Worcester in the East, and up to Saldanha and past Piketberg 160 km to the North. It is fostering good relations across suburbs where no-one was even aware of the other person before. This has a backbone of solar-powered repeaters that will survive any extended power outage no matter how long it lasts. It is all pure radio without any Internet required.
When everything else needs a network, radio is the network. Or as HAMNET says: “When all else fails, amateur radio will not fail”.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/the-days-of-broadcast-digital-tv-could-be-numbered/
#disasters #radio #technology
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Image Toolbox is an open source Android app for social media creators
“For you, as a content creator, the tools that matter the most are batch processing, format conversion, the 61 built-in export presets sized for platforms like Instagram, X, and YouTube, background removal, and watermarking. The latter, background removal, comes in both automatic and manual modes, with a choice of models including MlKit, U2Net, RMBG, and BiRefNet.”
It has many such tools, and is available both on the official Play Store (published by ProgiX), but also on the F-Droid store.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/image-toolbox-is-an-open-source-android-app-for-social-media-creators/
#contentcreation #opensource #socialmedia #technology
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I tested out the new Elecrow ThinkNode M9 with MeshCore Decentralised Radio Network
For those who don't know, MeshCore (similar to Meshtastic and same hardware LoRa radios) is a decentralised radio network that runs in the license free bands. It's a great way of being in contact with neighbouring suburbs and towns. I Cape Town we have just passed 180 to 190 nodes (chat and repeaters) and it stretches oof to the East over the mountain to Worcester, and Northwards about 167 km to Saldanha and other side of Picketberg.
I just bought this newly launched Blackberry style device to use on the network. It is similar, but slightly different to the LilyGO T-Deck. It does some impressive stuff, I tried a few firmwares out on it, and there are some pros and cons to using an all-in-one device like this.
I've settled on using the free and open source WADAMESH firmware, and it has quite blown me away with all it can do.
There is a lot of info, as well as screen photos, that I wanted to share so it is best to view it all on my website at the link below. There is also an additional link on that page, to tips on using WADAMESH specifically on the M9.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/i-tested-out-the-new-elecrow-thinknode-m9-with-meshcore-decentralised-radio-network/
#meshcore #opensource #technology #thinknodem9
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Quest VR Headset Becomes Unlocked Hardware
“The Quest virtual reality headset gets a fully unlocked bootloader thanks to the QuestStack tool, which automates a complex process of privilege escalation to provide stable, privileged access to the hardware. This solidly frees the headset from its existence as a device tied to Meta’s walled garden, although the tool only works on the Quest 1.”
I was on the point on buying one of these back in the day but was not at all keen on Meta owning them (of all the IT companies on Earth). But I'm glad it is open as it can at least be experimented with now, and there is freedom to use it in other possible ways. Interesting innovations may come of this.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/quest-vr-headset-becomes-unlocked-hardware/
#technology #vr
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Is it going to work in my Jellyfin library and set the playlists?
You're proposing a whole different solution which is not what I'm looking for. Jellyfin works perfectly well, and I use front ends like Music Assistant and Navidrome in front of it, as well as Android apps that source the music from Jellyfin. It is already all self-contained.
Moving your Linux home folder to a dedicated drive is the distro-hopping secret I wish I knew earlier
“Home is where the heart is. On Linux, home is where everything personal to you is: your documents, downloads, screenshots, and configuration. In fact, your home is so special, you really ought to be showing it a bit more love. When you first installed Linux, you might’ve overlooked the option to use a custom disk setup—and nobody would blame you for doing so. But take your time to understand the benefits, and a highly portable, easily upgradable system is yours for the taking.”
Although I've stopped distro hopping, I did still move earlier this year from Manjaro to EndeavourOS. It was completely painless seeing I've long had my home folder on a separate hard drive (although a separate partition is also fine).
The key reasons are:
No worry about overwriting your important documents, settings etc when installing a new Linux distro as /home is physically separated.
Can test new distro with a separate / root with your data.
I have a higher speed NVMe boot drive whilst my /home folder sits on a bigger slower hard drive.
It is really well worth setting up.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/moving-your-linux-home-folder-to-a-dedicated-drive-is-the-distro-hopping-secret-i-wish-i-knew-earlier/
#linux #technology
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Jellyfin Playlist Membership — Easily browse Jellyfin Music song titles to add or remove from playlists
I wanted to quickly see which of my song titles are already in which playlists, and to quickly add them to other playlists or remove them etc. There is just no view that does this inside Jellyfin, and neither in Music Assistant nor Navidrome. You can do it by opening and closing each one, but that is very messy and time-consuming.
I iterated through something with Claude Code to create a simple HTML file that allows me to do this much quicker and slicker now. It also has some sort functionality, and you can play a track to hear it, and even delete it from your library to clean things up. As I have multiple folders on Jellyfin Music that separate radio shows, there is also an option filter for folders at the top of the screen.
Hopefully this helps others who have had a similar challenge and wondered why this was not a built-in feature.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/jellyfin-playlist-membership-easily-browse-jellyfin-music-song-titles-to-add-or-remove-from-playlists/
#jellyfin #music #opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/jellyfinPlaylists.jpg
Open Source Caving: 20 Years of Making Cave Mapping Tools
“In his talk Open Source Caving: 20 Years of Making Cave Mapping Tools at Hackaday Europe 2026, Phil takes us through a series of progressively more advanced open hardware devices that he’s designed to increase the speed and accuracy of underground mapping efforts. Along the way, he’s learned a number of valuable lessons about designing hardware that’s robust enough to handle the uniquely challenging environment underground while still being accessible enough for a hobbyist to build and use.”
Interesting, and entertaining, to listen to this talk about the progression of the technology being used. So true too that these environments require dustproof, shockproof, and waterproof devices. And of course all being open source, means anyone can reproduce it and improve it too.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/open-source-caving-20-years-of-making-cave-mapping-tools/
#caving #opensource #technology
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The Powerful Chinese AI Model Experts Warned About Is Here
The “best” model is not always the “best” model for you. Why I say this, is because Z.ai's model is still outperformed in some dimensions by proprietary models from Anthropic for example. But can you afford to actually use that top end “best of the best” model?
Very usually you cannot afford them. Now consider that the new model for Z.ai is only a few percentage points (depending on what benchmarks you look at) behind Anthropic's Fable 5, but the cost is only 25% of the cost. You end up with a situation, that what you can afford through Z.ai is way better than you'll get from Anthropic or OpenAI (given like for like payment).
I have not done in-depth testing between Claude Pro and Z.ai, but I have thrown some similar challenges to both, and I got pretty good answers from them both. The difference is I'm on the free tier of Z.ai yest I have some access to their current flagship GLM-5.2 model (5.3 is only being released in a week or two), whilst on the Pro level paid Claude subscription, I'm locked out from using their flagship Fable 5 model unless I pay usage credits over and above my subscription.
It also does not seem that the proprietary US based models are fully private either. Someone was recently prosecuted after their AI model chat history was produced as evidence. We have also seen that some API keys and other information got recycled as output to others. The advice has been to not feed private notes and documents with API keys and secrets to cloud based models. All I'm saying here is that privacy is also not some feature separating proprietary AI Models from open weight models.
The very nature of how AI models are trained, means they have all “stolen” information from various sources across the Internet. None of them can claim to be fully self-taught without any hint of theft.
There is a lot depending on the future of AI, some say that can be as much as a country's entire economy being at stake. So lots of money and high stakes, as well as the weaponisation of AI, means this is becoming a lot like politics. Who can you believe is telling the truth, who is trying to sell us vapourware, who could be spying on us through AI, who could pull the rug out from under us, etc?
Either ways though, we should be thankful for two things:
There is right now no “Microsoft” of AI totally dominating the market, so we are seeing healthy and credible competition.
There is certainly the ability to self-host AI, not to the level of the big cloud providers, but certainly fit for most purposes and fully private.
But given that, it is a difficult call to make, and to decide decisively which path to take. Where do you bet your money, as a lot of customisation and work goes into adopting whichever technology you choose? Or do you take the slower more focussed middle road of trying to enable some in-house hosting and skills development. In the latter case, you build incrementally upon what you do, and there is no sudden rug pulling out from under you.
Personally, I've always been a proponent of the latter path, rather being in more control of what is built and ensuring absolute privacy. I've viewed Big Tech cloud services as land grabs and lock-ins. Yes they're convenient, they're quick, and they cost less in the short term, but that turns against you later on as your data is no longer under your control, getting it out later is very expensive and not easy, and the vendor lock-in and cost increases are very real.
Which is why my own cloud subscription is only paid month-to-month. I'm ready to switch or go fully self-hosted once I can get a more mature setup. Businesses don't always have that luxury though.
What I would bet on though, is that AI is here to stay. It is no passing fad. It is the same as moving from steam power to internal combustion engines. The world is moving on, and it is now just a question of which wave we ride, and how it helps leverage whatever we do. We're not going every going back to an age of no cellphones, no Internet, etc, much as I may sometimes wish we could.
Yet, the more digitally instant and interconnected everything becomes, I realise too how very little we own in that world, and how it can be gone in the blink of an eye. I still fear this generation may lose the most of its heritage in the future millennia. Our innovation has outstripped our abilities to preserve the volumes of data we are creating daily. In the year 3030 or 4030, if humans are even still around, they may know more about Ancient Rome than from 2026. I'm not speaking here about Wikipedia, I'm speaking about my and your hard drives at home, and in hundreds of millions of other homes, all collecting documents, photos, memories… They're all going to become lost to civilisation within just 50 to 80 years. Clouds are also not the answer, as they do shut down eventually, and memorialised accounts just get lost.
So who knows, maybe our data being sucked up (stolen) by AI, means it somehow grows and prospers on deeply embedded inside of AI, as it gets “restolen” between different AI providers
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/the-powerful-chinese-ai-model-experts-warned-about-is-here/
#ai #archiving #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/zai.webp
Cheap USB-C chargers are actually fine—these 4 specs are all that matter
“These days, buying a charger requires you to be familiar with USB PD, PPS, GaN, and a handful of other acronyms, on top of having to check wattage, making it surprisingly difficult to figure out which specs actually matter. The good news is that I'm here to help you figure out how to buy a charger that's fast, reliable, and safe without spending more than you need to.”
And something many people don't understand, is that it takes three devices in the chain to deliver proper USB-C performance. That cable connecting the charger and the user device, is absolutely vital. If it does not have the electronic chips embedded on either end in the plugs, and the correct spec cable, everything is going to default to low power, and even worse, only power without any data communications. So do not skimp on USB-C cable quality.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/cheap-usb-c-chargers-are-actually-fine-these-4-specs-are-all-that-matter/
#technology #usbc
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/usbc.webp
N64 classic GoldenEye 007 has been 100% decompiled, paving the way for mods and ports
“Rare's GoldenEye 007, which dropped back in 1997, is one of the most influential games in history. It arguably established the FPS genre on consoles thanks to its local four-player split-screen multiplayer. Before GoldenEye 007's release, PC was the dominant platform for FPS games, with titles like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake defining the genre. It's likely that if it weren't for GoldenEye 007, as janky as it is by modern standards, we never would have gotten first-person shooter mainstay series like Halo and Call of Duty.”
So it will be like playing a piece of history actually when this port goes public. One also has to remember that this game is nearly 30 years old and the time it was the cutting edge of graphics and gameplay. It sounds like it may hit various platforms.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/n64-classic-goldeneye-007-has-been-100-decompiled-paving-the-way-for-mods-and-ports/
#gaming #retro #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/goldeneye-007-screenshot-switch-xbox.webp
Something I learnt was perseverance and curiosity outweighs absolute knowledge
And of experience still benefits even from short term failures
Not an actual fork though: nfSensei is an open source spiritual successor of pfSense, by the original creator, for Linux
nfSensei is an open source fork of pfSense, by the original creator, for Linux
“nfSensei is a modern network operating system built from scratch in Rust with a React frontend, designed around a single principle: one API to rule them all. The CLI, the web UI, and the on-device AI assistant all flow through the same API surface. No drift, no divergence, no surprises. The entire system ships as five self-contained binaries. The nushell-based CLI has 400+ commands. The Kensho design system provides 40+ themes. And Clyde, the on-device AI, brings intelligence directly to the firewall without shipping your data to the cloud.”
I see a lot of similarities in Scott's journey through computers to my own. As he says he has learnt a lot of lessons along the way. I spent quite a bit of time tossing up between pfSense and OPNsense before I decided to go the OPNsense route. Either ways, these systems give a lot of freedom from the commercial router and firewall vendors who tend to cripple their offerings.
From FreeBSD to pfSense to nfSensei — Scott Ulrich has spent two decades of building open-source network operating systems. So I'm going to be very interested to see where this project goes, and I have no doubt it will be a major success.
Interestingly, and I suppose logical enough, it has a configuration import from OPNsense and pfSense, but right now this is not ready yet for production use.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/nfsensei-is-an-open-source-fork-of-pfsense-by-the-original-creator-for-linux/
#firewalls #nfsensei #opensource #pfsense #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/nfSensei.webp
I Remember These Modular Electronics Kits
It's a real pity these kits are no longer around as they really “spark” an interest in building practical things, and in electronics.
Mine was a 50-in-1 kit I think, and came in a wooden frame. You got all the various components fixed to the board with wire springs on the top as the connector points. There were resistors, capacitors, a variable resistor (like a volume knob), a diode, a speaker, and various other components. By connecting wires between the spring terminals, you “made circuits” for whatever project you were building.
Some projects were a burglar alarm, or a radio, or an FM transmitter, and plenty more. But what it taught you, was that many complex devices are just built up from basic components wired together differently. Also, you learnt that with a few components you could build many devices that actually have a practical use.
I progressed from there to etching circuit boards and building my own infrared TV remote control and more devices. Which in turn led to CB radios and other hobbies.
This was all before the Internet was even known about, and also long before home computers. It was books and magazines which published such designs, and you waited until they were published, and you bought them in a store.
I get that we have the Internet and computers now, but I'd really have thought that such a kit would still have interested 10-year-olds today. Learning to physically build things is a creative skill we really want to encourage today.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/i-remember-these-modular-electronics-kits/
#electronics #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/electronics.webp
FairEmail is an open source privacy orientated email app
“Setup was IMAP credentials for each of my personal accounts. There's no account to create with the developer or a sign-in step before you can reach your inbox. Two things in the listing made it appealing to 1 million+ users, including me. The app requires no special permissions, and it doesn't use Firebase Cloud Messaging, which is how most Android apps receive push. Instead, it holds an IMAP IDLE connection open to the mail server, so new messages arrive without Google in the middle. It's also the lightest mail client I've installed in years.”
Yes, this is not for connecting to business accounts (unless they have a plain IMAP login) but it is really ideal for keeping your mail private more private. Too many services today want to suck everything up, either to protect the children, or to “enhance their offerings to you”.
It's true this makes little difference if you actually have your mail service at Microsoft or Google, but I recently moved to Zoho Mail. It costs me around R115 per year (that is like US$8 or so) which is perfectly affordable, and they are not in the business of pushing ads into your mail, or hoovering it up for AI, etc. On my desktop I use BetterBird (a fork of Thunderbird) that pulls my mail and consolidates it into a combined inbox. I also use my personal domain name with my mail so I can switch providers later if I want to, without having to change my e-mail address everywhere.
I've realised we have to push back against getting locked into everything all the time. We lose our privacy, we kill competition, and we lose our freedom to move away easily.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/fairemail-is-an-open-source-privacy-orientated-email-app/
#email #opensource #privacy #technology #vendorlockin
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/mobile-phone-showing-fairemail-app-on-playstore-1536x864.webp
Very true, as they could potentially be worked inside the content. Advertisers must already be panicking as the search model just collapses. Sadly they are also the money behind many things so they won't just disappear without trace. Somehow they're going to be inside of AI too.
Homelabbers and Desktop Tweakers may want to move beyond just plain AI chat
The days of asking AI a question, or pasting a config file in, and then pasting (or typing) the updated file back, are no longer needed. I have over 47 running docker containers, with almost as many stopped, and when I want to create a new docker stack I'm never sure if there will be a port clash. Now I can just ask an agentic AI to check all my stopped and running containers and fix any port clashes, restart containers, diagnose why something is not working, check reverse proxy arrangements, etc.
Agentic AI is a term often heard, but in simple English, it is AI that actually does stuff, not just answer questions. Sometimes there is an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server to install, or a connector, or a plugin. Those mechanisms give selected access to the AI to actually do tasks like reading and updating a config file itself, check log files and advise on corrective actions (or even do those actions), etc.
A chatbot AI answers questions, but an Agentic AI is a combination of AI with carefully selected tools installed, and permissions that must be granted by the user.
In my earlier example with Docker Portainer, I put some code into Claude's config to connect to my Portainer instance on the LAN directly. In this way it can read all my existing container configs and learn what style I'm already using, and create something that really fits my environment with its unique volume mappings, etc. I also gave it directory access to my Conky config files (and the scripts folder for that) so that it can tweak any changes I require.
I have also installed the n8n connector which has taken my breath away. The n8n service is workflow automation tool (for example I use a n8n workflow for checking my blog RSS feed, and then automatically pushing my posts out to the various social media accounts I post at). That is usually a lot of back and forth as I have to fix small issues. Now Claude uses the n8n connector and literally creates a n8n workflow from scratch for me. Yesterday it created a workflow to search my Nextcloud Notes content, retrieve it, update it, add new notes. It tested and figured out what did not work, and applied the fixes all by itself (with me just reviewing and clicking apply for the various write actions).
So many possibilities open up, but there are some safeguards worth keeping in mind:
Most such connectors have permissions that default to ask first. You can go a step further by granting always read permission, and keeping ask before writing, or if you are really living on the edge then permission granted for read/write/delete/overwrite automatically (and only for trusted tools).
I have told Claude to remember to always back up any config file that it is going to write to or edit, but more importantly I have my own automated and independent backups that I can restore myself if I have to.
Filesystem connectors require you to add specific paths first. Do not add the root folder, but stick to just specified folders you want help on.
The Portainer access for example cannot access the .env files where typically passwords and API keys are stored (in Claude's case for this connector so you may want to check on what you use for this).
The cloud side cannot reach inside your network or desktop without a locally-running connector. So when you want the AI to reach your LAN, filesystem, Docker socket, localhost services, etc you need to install an appropriate local connector/bridge service.
Ask to review differences before applying changes.
Don't give an AI access to secrets merely because a tool happens to be capable of reading them. You can often put secrets into a file elsewhere, where your scripts can put them in themselves, but AI has no access to read that folder.
But start small and just give it access to one useful thing. This lets you see what it can do, and then you can decide whether you want to give it more. Even a few small automated tasks end up saving a lot of time down the road.
And yes, some AI tools are better than others at some tasks. So when I asked Gemini which would be best for my types of tweaking and configs that I do in my home lab, it recommended Claude without hesitation. Chat is still also very useful for asking questions about setting up your Agentic AI capabilities, and what safeguards you should apply.
I decided to also start paying for AI now as it is performing a truly useful function, and saving me money not only in time now, but also to better utilise the free self-hosting services that I have. I have already saved more than $20 per month on other subscription services (see my video about what Wallos did for me — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9F4szRS6mY).
It is not to say AI is perfect (it still needs human supervision) but it is undoubtedly a super tool to help make humans more productive themselves. For the same reason humans needed to master the use of the wheel, levers, early cars, telephones, and Internet search engines, if we don't do the same with AI, we could lose our jobs to other humans who do use AI effectively as a tool. Cars and telephones never directly threatened jobs at all, in fact they created many new types of jobs, but those who harnessed those technologies gained leverage over those who just ignored them. Whether we like it or not, the world has moved on to another level. The great advantage we have with this new tool is, we can even ask it how we can use it better and more safely (just check its answer elsewhere too!).
The more worrying side we will need to solve, is how AI is being weaponised for hacking attacks, and even more dangerous, for creation of convincing AI-generated misinformation that can destabilise whole countries. This is something we need to solve, because cars, phones, the Internet, etc are also all used for bad purposes too, but they don't just get cancelled.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/homelabbers-and-desktop-tweakers-may-want-to-move-beyond-just-plain-ai-chat/
#ai #homelab #selfhosting #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/AgenticAI.webp
I think Brave has its own private AI summaries and search too?
Thanks I appreciate that. I try to prioritise quality over the sake of quantity ;-)
I think I forgot the key analysis and assumptions?
The routing is more network/repeater related. It was the functionality.
Track Bird Visitors With A Raspberry Pi And A USB Mic
“Avian Visitors is a lovely project by Teddy Warner that uses a Raspberry Pi and microphone to keep track of which birds have been visiting your home, and creates a colourful illustration of recent visitors on top of it all. It reports on a web interface of its own making, but what really takes things to a new level is an optional, stylish E-Ink panel that shows the last 24 hours’ worth of visitors at a glance in a collage.”
The colour E-Ink display showing the birds is a really nice touch. There is quite a bit of potential for this project, and one could just start off with the identification before going for a display.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/track-bird-visitors-with-a-raspberry-pi-and-a-usb-mic/
#birds #opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/BirdNET-system.webp
SoloMD is a simpler markdown open-source app that opens your whole Obsidian vault
“Obsidian is probably one of the best note-taking apps out there, but it's not open-source, which is fine, there are perfectly good reasons for that. But a part of the Obsidian user base has always wanted a properly open-source alternative, one that isn't half-finished or abandoned. So when SoloMD popped up as MIT-licensed and Markdown-native with a built-in AI panel, it seemed worth a look. What it turned out to be was a Markdown editor that opens an Obsidian vault as-is without an import setup, and then it also handles a bunch of functions you'd only assume Obsidian can.”
Of course, markdown being markdown, this works with any markdown files. It does not have any formatting menu bar though, so if you want to say bold some text, you do have to type the asterisks in. With its Live edit WYSIWYG mode, you do see the rendering as it should appear. That is at least something great about Obsidian too. 13 code-block languages, KaTeX math, Mermaid diagrams, footnotes, YAML front-matter, ==highlight== (including use of colour codes), and underlined text. But SoloMD plays nicely with everything, and apart from the markdown files and editing working just fine, it has built-in AI functionality.
Beware though, if you point the AI to an external cloud AI provider, your note content will go out to that cloud provider, complete with any sensitive data.
Although SoloMD does not have a nice WYSIWYG table editor, I did fine I could paste the table in the AI window, and asked my AI to insert an extra column in column 2. I pointed the AI to my Llama server AI and that worked just fine, as did querying it about my note, etc. But it did not just stop at pointing outwards to Llama server, as SoloMD can also expose its own built in MCP service (Exposes the open workspace as a Model Context Protocol server so Claude Desktop / Codex / Cursor can list, read, search, write your notes). Note again that you want to think about what you are exposing, but it can be handy for say Claude Code to consult your own notes about coding work, when thinking.
It even has a built-in BYOK cost meter, that calculates the cost of tokens used for OpenAI or Groq (the latter of course allowing a generous free tier per day).
What caught my eye actually about SoloMD, was this really rich enablement of AI into the application. You decide though what you want on or off (and everything can be off).
It does its between-device sync using GitHub. They recommend using a private repo on GitHub, and it uses public private key exchange for authentication. From inside SoloMD you can opt to get a public link for any note, and share that to others for viewing. When setting up this vault sync to GitHub you can optionally enable Argon2id + XChaCha20-Poly1305 for end-to-end encryption too. SoloMD just runs git push and git pull so it can be pointed elsewhere too.
It is open-source MIT-licensed, zero telemetry by default, no accounts, no cloud lock-in. Its installer is only 15 MB in size, and it uses around 80–150 MB RAM. It saves plain .md files (not using any proprietary formats) so is fully compatible with other Markdown editors. There are apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android.
It exports to HTML, Word, PDF, Image (PNG), EPUB, ODT, LaTeX, RTF, Pandoc Template.
It does not have the massive community plug-ins collection that Obsidian has, but it is a really solid and very functional Markdown editor. One thing I'd like to have seen, was custom shortcut keys.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/solomd-is-a-simpler-markdown-open-source-app-that-opens-your-whole-obsidian-vault/
#ai #markdown #opensource #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/SoloMD.webp
Capabilities more as the routing or paths is more network side
I turned my security cameras into AI assistants with open-source LLM Vision
“LLM Vision is a free, open-source Home Assistant integration that lets an AI model examine the images from your cameras and describe what is happening in those images. LLM Vision doesn't replace systems like Frigate; it builds on top of them. Instead of just getting a notification that a person is detected, the AI model can describe what the person is doing, whether they're carrying a package, which direction they're going, whether they're doing anything unusual, and even describe the person and what they're wearing.”
In 2026, we should not still be rewinding for hours through video from cameras to spot the issue we are looking for. Imagine being able to just ask it, is the garage door open, are the trash cans outside still, when was the cat last seen, etc.
Key though is to really have a LLM running locally that does the work, saving on bandwidth, ensuring privacy, as well as for when the Internet is not reachable.
I only wish I realised all this when I bought a new mini-server and my last graphics card. If I knew how useful it was going to be, having local AI running as a service at home, I would have bought differently. Only my desktop PC has this ability, and it is not running 24/7, and it does other things.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/i-turned-my-security-cameras-into-ai-assistants-with-open-source-llm-vision/
#cctv #opensource #privacy #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/llm-vision.webp
Google Search is likely Yahooed now
This is a lesson that you are never too big to disappear. I remember the arrival of Google Search (when that was all they did) and how it collapsed Yahoo search from the scene. Googling even became a verb.
As big and massive as Google Search was, who can say they still go to the Google search site to search, after ever having asked what they are looking for in most AI services today? Even just a year or two ago, most people would have laughed at you if you told them no-one would be actually visiting the Google Search page today.
Just a month ago I used AI to compare available TVs on Amazon Prime Day, and help me arrive at a decision to buy a new TV. It was a more intuitive and interactive process than doing a plain search.
The difference I suppose is, people know Google Search is dumb search (well apart from paid rankings) whilst AI is perceived to be “clever”. AI is not actually clever, but it is at least a step or two above basic search.
So the future battlefield for SEO and adverts will now have to be within AI. I expect the paid accounts will have non/fewer of that versus the masses using free access (the way it has always been).
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/google-search-is-likely-yahooed-now/
#ai #search #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/90s-search-engines.webp
Netflix accounts taken over in South Africa through session cookie hijacking
“These cookies allow users to stay logged in to websites or to save items in a shopping cart even after they exit a site. Through these cookies, cybercriminals have found an exploit that has allowed them to access protected private accounts. They are specifically taking advantage of “remember-me cookies”, which help users log in to different websites and platforms on the Internet without having to re-enter their details.”
This was a big thing about two years ago and safeguards were built into Chrome (and Chromium) browsers but that really worked when the hosting service implemented those Device Bound Session Credentials (DBSC) protections. Seemingly Netflix has not done this. It seems that many entertainment and media platforms still rely on standard long-lived bearer cookies.
Some good practices though for end users are:
Log Out explicitly: Closing a tab leaves the session token alive in local storage. Click Log Out on accounts when finished, which sends a revoke request to the server and invalidates the token.
Use "Sign out of all devices": If you suspect malware or a compromised browser, use the account dashboard (e.g., Netflix's "Manage Access and Devices" or Google's "Security -> Your Devices") to invalidate all current session keys instantly.
Passkeys: Where supported, switch from traditional passwords + long-lived sessions to Passkeys (FIDO2/WebAuthn). Passkey sign-ins rely on public-key cryptography bound to your device's hardware enclave (TPM or security key), making token replication significantly harder for off-device attackers.
Unknown links: Don't click on them is this is often how the session cookies are stolen.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/netflix-accounts-taken-over-in-south-africa-through-session-cookie-hijacking/
#security #southafrica #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Netflix.webp
Team South Africa wins at NASA space engineering competition
“The international finals for the world’s longest-running space engineering competition were held at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre and the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida from 30 July to 2 August. Team ZA was the only African team in the competition. It was South Africa’s first time entering, and no African team had competed before.”
So yes, not a solo win by Team ZA on their own, but it shows the tremendous potential that South Africa has. If only SA could rid itself of the corruption plaguing it still, this potential could be fully realised and innovation could help spur economic growth. We owe this to our youth.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/team-south-africa-wins-at-nasa-space-engineering-competition/
#southafrica #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/International-Space-Settlement-Design-Competition-Team-ZA-winners.webp
RSS-Bridge generates web feeds for websites that don’t have one
You can either self-host the service, in many different ways, or there is also an official online instance you can use. The link to that instance is on the GitHub project page at the link below.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/rss-bridge-generates-web-feeds-for-websites-that-dont-have-one/
#opensource #rss #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/rss-bridge.webp
That was my turning point into there was something to MeshCore being viable
OpenAI is giving ChatGPT free users unlimited text chats
“OpenAI is making a big change for ChatGPT users on its free and Go tiers: Starting next week, users on those tiers will be able to have unlimited text chats with the chatbot, according to OpenAI. Right now, you may run into rate limits if you do too many text chats on those tiers, but those limits, just for text, will be going away soon. Next week, OpenAI is also adding a Think button for free and Go users that they can use to access higher reasoning for harder questions.”
Which may be great for ChatGPT users, but the important thing is competition also helps push the bar up for other AI services such as Claude (who still has a hard cut-off with a rolling window).
My spouse recently needed to start using a pretty complex financial package for a startup business. Normally this would involve me being dragged in, and I'd have to set it up and try to explain how it works (after I've spent time mastering it myself). Well she used free ChatGPT and did everything herself. I'm not saying AI will magically solve everything, but it can do some amazing grunt work. Yes, it can be better to learn how to do everything from scratch yourself, but often you need an outcome to get something productive done. On her own, this would have taken way longer and with a lot more frustration.
Like it or not, AI is a useful tool to help us get stuff done. It takes dictionaries and search engines from yesteryear, to new levels of productivity. As I've stated before, I don't think AI is capable of actually replacing humans, and even the AI I use, I either paste into it what I want it to look at, or I authorise every step of changes to be made. I do not trust it to just run wild on its own. It requires oversight.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/openai-is-giving-chatgpt-free-users-unlimited-text-chats/
#ai #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/OPEN_AI_4_CVirginia_A.webp
LG Monitors Fill Windows PCs With Adware, and It’s Not Just Recent Displays
“If you’re using an LG monitor and you suddenly see blaring ads for McAfee scam protection, it’s not because your PC’s been hacked (or, rather, not hacked by some unknown third party). LG, the maker of popular high-end screens, has been quietly stuffing its current and even past monitors full of adware.”
I missed this somehow but heard about it this morning on the Security Now podcast. The big issue is not really the adverts at all, and if it were not for the adverts, no-one would probably have picked up on the tracking issues (thank you adverts!).
The privacy policy mentions LG can track device usage data and online activity, including what sites you visit and what activities you do on those sites. That is metadata harvesting, much like WhatsApp does, and users should have been aware of it. Although to be honest, most privacy policy issues only become known once someone has highlighted them.
It is also partly an issue with Windows updates and how they just install automatically without any highlighting of changes to a privacy policy. Microsoft has warned LG off of this behaviour, but will that just be the adverts disappearing, or the metadata tracking as well. I'd imagine (my guess here) is that LG was also sharing that metadata with advertisers, like WhatsApp states in their T&Cs as “partners”, so it is not 100% clear how far this all went.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/lg-monitors-fill-windows-pcs-with-adware-and-its-not-just-recent-displays/
#privacy #technology #tracking
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-5K2K-Evo-Monitor.webp
Spam callers face penalties of up to R1,000,000 in South Africa
So a few amendments made, but what I really am happy to finally see, is the loophole closed around marketers opting in or not: “Any direct marketer who is not registered on the opt-out registry is prohibited from contacting consumers for marketing purposes”.
They have to pay to register, and abide with monthly conditions, and of course there is now potentially a hefty fine too.
I suppose the only issue is going to be around “foreign marketing” but so far all my spam callers had seemed to be for South African companies.
See https://gadgeteer.co.za/spam-callers-face-penalties-of-up-to-r1000000-in-south-africa/
#southafrica #spam #technology
https://gadgeteer.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Spammers.webp
Yes I liked that SA service also blocking spam callers by triggering restrictions after 10 people have reported something as spam. Not to block anyone wanting to follow, but rather blocking active promotion of the feed.