📅 April 8, 2021

MPV + youtube-dl: Stop Wasting Resources

Force 1080p video playback in mpv+youtube-dl

When it comes to YouTube, my biggest pet peeve is youtubers publishing their videos in 4K/8K. Not the annoying ads, or even Google collecting as much data as possible about me. I already took care of that, to the best of my abilities, a long time ago ( here, here, here and here ).

If you’re watching your videos exclusively on a nice 4K/8K TV, or a beefy desktop with a  4K/8K monitor, just skip this article. It’s not for you.

But if you’re watching your videos on an older computer or a laptop keep reading…

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📅 April 3, 2021

cpufetch: A CPU Architecture Fetching Tool

a new tool similar to screenfetch/neofetch to fetch and display your CPU architecture

 

One of the most popular tools for Linux and macOS users is screenfetch and/or neofetch.  These tools are basically bash scripts that detect and display system information alongside the ASCII version of the Linux distribution logo of the system.

cpufetch is a relatively new tool, similar to screenfetch/neofetch. However, instead of displaying your system’s information, it will fetch and display your CPU architecture.

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📅 February 24, 2021

Tuxi: A Command Line Virtual Assistant

Get answers to your questions instantly. From the command line.

Everybody uses ( or used at least once ) digital assistants. Or voice assistants. Or virtual assistants. Whatever you want to call them.

We all know about Siri, Alexa, OK Google and so on. There’s even people that use open-source virtual assistants like Mycroft.

We also know how creepy these virtual assistants are. Some less creepy than others, depends on who owns them, but they’re all creepy.

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📅 February 24, 2021

Deskreen Turns Any Devices Into a Second Screen for Your Computer

Wirelessly turn any devices into a second screen for your computer.

 

Deskreen is a free, open source and cross platform desktop app that turns any web browser equipped device into a second screen for your computer. Over WiFi.

Deskreen can be used to turn any devices into a second screen, to mirror your computer’s screen or limit Deskreen to sharing only one application window ( presentation purposes ). It can also be used as a teleprompter.

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📅 February 1, 2021

BpyTOP: Bashtop Port Written in Python

Resource monitor that shows usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network and processes.

BpyTop is a resource monitor that shows usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network and processes. If it looks familiar to you, that’s because it’s a python port of Bashtop.

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📅 January 29, 2021

LibreWolf: A Firefox Fork Focused on Privacy, Security and Freedom. It’s Not for Everyone

A free and open source Firefox fork that is focused on privacy, security and freedom

 

Firefox is a great web browser. But Mozilla made some poor choices in the last few years with both Firefox and their stances regarding internet privacy and digital rights.

Because of that, some Firefox users are starting to look for alternatives. And one of those alternatives, that gets a lot of attention lately, is LibreWolf – a fork of Firefox focused on privacy, security and freedom.

Basically LibreWolf is an exact clone of the latest up to date Firefox release but it removes all telemetry, anything that phones home either to Mozilla or somebody else ( for example, it removes the Google search engine ) and it is hardened using arkenfox’s user.js and pyllyukko’s user.js. It even comes with uBlock Origin out of the box.

This sounds great. You basically don’t have to mess with any about:config settings and/or user profiles. LibreWolf basically does everything for you. However…

While LibreWolf seems to be a great community-driven project, it just might not be for everyone.

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📅 January 28, 2021

Hush: A Free and Open Source Content Blocker Written Specifically for Safari

a lightweight, free and open source contant blocker writtent specifically for Safari

 

When I think of contenct blockers, I immediately think of uBlock Origin ( which is so much more than just a content blocker but, for the sake of this article, let’s pretend it’s just that ). Unfortunately, Safari users can’t enjoy the benefits of such an extension anymore. Why? Because Apple won’t allow it…

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📅 January 23, 2021

HOW TO: Install Vanilla Arch Linux Using the Calamares Installer

An easy and familiar way to install Arch linux using the Calamares installer

 

Arch is a fantastic Linux distro. From being a rolling release to its stability, to the Pacman package manager and AUR. Not to mention the Arch Wiki. However, the lack of a default GUI installer drives users away to other Arch-based distros like Manjaro and ArcoLinux.

But if you want to run pure Arch, you can either follow the installation guide or use an installer like Anarchy, Zen or ezarch. Another way, a more familiar way for most users, is the Calam Arch Installer which allows you to install vanilla Arch Linux using the Calamares installer.

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📅 January 12, 2021

LuLu Firewall Updated With Native Support for M1 Macs

LuLu, the free and open source firewall for macOS, updated with native support for M1 Macs.

 

With the built-in macOS firewall, you can block incoming connections, but what do you do when you want to block outgoing connectons? You can either use custom host files ( search FSM for host files, there’s a few articles on it. Also, see our GitLab repo for more info ), or use LuLu. Or both…

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📅 January 9, 2021

Dangerzone: Convert Potentially Dangerous PDFs, Office Documents and Images to a Safe PDF

A free and open source cross platform tool that allows you to convert potentially dangerous PDFs, Microsoft Office or LibreOffice documents, or images into safe PDFs

 

How many times have you heard “Don’t open attachments”? It’s a solid advice, but 1. most people don’t follow this advice and 2. depending on your job ( i.e journalist ) most of the time it’s almost impossible to follow.

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