danie10 - Network

This Machine Flattens Your Old Warped Vinyl Records

“The aptly named “Flatten It” device is designed to do exactly what its name suggests: flatten warped vinyl records. This isn’t some DIY hack; it’s a purpose-built machine that uses carefully controlled heat and pressure to restore your records to their original, pristine condition.”

Some things improve over time. I don’t ever recall seeing such a device back in the 1970s and 1980s when we all used vinyl records.

Nice to know there is a safe way of “tuning” your vinyl records. I still have all my old vinyl records (along with the player) and I certainly could have used this device back in the day. I loaned one record out to a friend, and she left it in her car, and the record buckled a bit. I had to throw that record away.

But this device is not at all cheap at US$850.

See howtogeek.com/this-machine-fla…
#Blog, #audio, #retro, #technology, #vinyl

Open Source KStars is the most feature-rich free astronomy software for Linux, macOS, and Windows

KStars caters to a wide-variety of use cases. Whether you are a student, an educator, an amateur astronomer or an astronomy enthusiast, you will find tools in KStars that are useful to you.

Graphical simulation of the sky with the planets, up to 100 million stars, 10000 deep-sky objects, comets and asteroids, with adjustable simulation rate.

It has complete astrophotography workflow (with extensive support for INDI, KStars can control almost any sort of astronomical equipment, including telescope mounts, motorised focusers, filter wheels and CCD and CMOS cameras), and a host of tools that predict conjunctions, plot time variation of positions of planets, perform calculations etc. It can therefore be a powerful observation planner to plan your observations.

See kstars.kde.org/category/uncate…
#Blog, #astronomy, #astrophotograhy, #opensource, #technology

Huginn is a free, open-source IFTTT alternative that’s much more powerful

“Automation tools like IFTTT (If This Then That) have revolutionized how we connect apps, devices, and services to create workflows. However, while IFTTT is user-friendly and widely accessible, it lacks the depth, flexibility, and control some advanced users crave. Enter Huginn, a powerful, open-source platform that is often hailed as a more robust alternative to IFTTT.”

I’d actually stopped using IFTTT because the free tier was reduced to near useless with so many limitations. This looks very interesting and very powerful, although it won’t be quite as easy as IFTTT. I’m certainly going to try this out in the near future.

See xda-developers.com/huginn-free…
#Blog, #alternativeto, #IFTTT, #opensource, #selfhosting, #technology

OxiCloud is an open source lightweight alternative to NextCloud

NextCloud is great, but it tends to be heavyweight and packs a ton of extra functionality in.

OxiCloud may be worth considering if you are looking for something a lot lighter and faster. OxiCloud requires a minimum of 512 MB RAM, and I see it has a Docker installation too. Its focus though is very much on performance and speed.

Just note some features are still on the roadmap (which NextCloud already has) such as WebDAV support for desktop integration, basic file versioning, simple file sharing with links, etc.

It has three contributors and the code has been updated in this last week, so it is being actively developed. The project has been around for only a month, so it is also quite new, hence why those features are still to be added.

See github.com/DioCrafts/OxiCloud
#Blog, #opensource, #storage, #technology

Nitisinone Could Make Human Blood Deadly to Mosquitos, Combatting Malaria

“Mosquitoes are more than pests. They’re also a mortal threat, contributing to millions of cases of malaria a year. Fortunately for humans, however, a team of researchers has recently identified a medication that could curb mosquito populations, controlling their spread of malaria. Revealing their results in a paper published in Science Translational Medicine, the researchers report that the medication nitisinone makes human blood deadly to mosquitoes.”

This is quite interesting in that it has no effect on the environment at all. Malaria affects 100’s of millions of people worldwide, so this could help a lot of people.

Scientists still have to determine what dosages will work, and I suppose how long it will last in the blood.

I wonder if this also why mosquitos like some people’s blood, but not others. The difference with nitisinone though is that it is deadly to them.

See discovermagazine.com/health/th…
#Blog, #health, #malaria

Mini rolling robot takes virtual biopsies — And it’s all in the shape

“The team, led by engineers from the University of Leeds, say this is the first time it has been possible to generate high-resolution three-dimensional ultrasound images taken from a probe deep inside the gastrointestinal tract, or gut. It paves the way to a transformation of the diagnosis and treatment of several forms of cancer by enabling ‘virtual biopsies’ — non-invasive scans that provide immediate diagnostic data, allowing doctors to detect, stage, and potentially treat lesions in a single procedure: eliminating the need for physical biopsies.”

Very interestingly, the big innovation seems to be around changing the shape (the oloid shape) so that the device can manoeuvre far better.

The important outcomes of all of this is that immediate results can be obtained for determining colorectal cancer, and the process may be more comfortable for patients.

See leeds.ac.uk/main-index/news/ar…
#Blog, #cancer, #health, #technology

Ear Tip Fit Tests: How Do They Work, and Are They Accurate?

Apart from the explanation of how the software test actually works, there is some good advice why you want to start out first testing with the smallest size tip and work your way upwards.

See howtogeek.com/ear-tip-fit-test…
#Blog, #audio, #technology

Wow, this is a 25-year-old Palm Pilot still being used in 2025

“They were the original distraction-free technology before we even needed such a thing. You didn’t spend the money on a Palm Pilot to play games or scroll social media. You spent the extra money on a Palm PDA because you had a job to do. Palm Pilots were the original productivity monsters, keeping us on schedule and connected through lightweight email programs and RSS feeds.”

I don’t think many of the youth today could visualise a really distraction-free and advert-free piece of technology. Today notifications keep popping up, adverts clutter pages, as well as pop-up cookie notices.

I remember using a Palm Pilot myself, and I used to sync my notes, e-mails, etc with my desktop PC. A Palm Pilot was one of the really early productivity devices, being able to run all sorts of 3rd party downloadable apps. I remember, too, the early database apps, I think mine was called HandyDB.

This is PURE productivity at its best. Technically, with the Pebble watches making a comeback, there is no real reason why Palm Pilots could not also do so. Big Tech would of course hate this as they still want to sell newer flashier devices to you, that can pop up all sorts of messages and disclaimers.

And look at this: “Surprisingly, the 25-year-old rechargeable battery still works well, holding a charge for over a month.”

See androidpolice.com/i-still-use-…
#Blog, #palmpilot, #retro, #technology

Keep Tabs On Your Vehicle’s Needs With Self-Hosted LubeLogger

“This free and open source software tool is designed to make it easy for individuals to keep track of both the routine maintenance needs of their vehicles, as well as keep track of any previous or upcoming repairs and upgrades. In perhaps the most basic example, LubeLogger allows the user to add their vehicle to a virtual garage and set up routine maintenance tasks (such as oil changes), and fire off reminders when tasks are due. But it can also do things like track your vehicle’s mileage and fuel efficiency over time, and break down its operating costs.”

It looks like a great app to track all of this data. You can test it out on the app’s website, where there is a demo version. The only pity is there is no knowledge base of vehicles with the recommended maintenance. I suppose you’d enter this from the owner’s manual yourself.

I do like the touch for choosing an oil change based on date or mileage, whichever comes first.

See hackaday.com/2025/03/28/keep-t… or their website at lubelogger.com/
#Blog, #opensource, #selfhosting, #technology, #vehicles

These 5 Companies Make Linux-First PCs

Many probably take this for granted, but I remember well the painful years about 3 to 4 decades ago where Microsoft would have prohibited us having this choice at all.

Yes, back then any OEM wanting to get the discounted price of having Microsoft Windows pre-installed on their desktops or laptops, was only allowed to sell Windows desktops and laptops. So all that a buyer would find to buy, would be PCs with Windows on. Many ended up buying a Windows PC (including paying for that Windows license) and then formatting it to put Linux or a different OS on.

This was how Windows became so dominant today. Today it does not matter much to Microsoft as they are firstly not interested really in selling to the end user, and secondly they have entrenched themselves into schools to ensure the youth are exposed to their OS and apps early on.

It is great that today at least buyers can choose freely what they want to buy, and if they buy a Linux laptop, they won’t be paying for a Windows license.

So, if you are intending to run Linux on your PC or laptop, and want to buy a ready to use device, then try to support these PC makers.

The PC makers mentioned are:

• Kubuntu Focus
• Laptop With Linux
• Star Labs
• System76
• Tuxedo Computers
• Dell (still offers this, but not exclusively)

See perplexity.ai/search/does-dell…
#Blog, #linux, #opensource, #technology