Nils
- 2 Posts
- 12 Comments
3·1 month agoThere was some drama about FUTO here a few days ago, on the sense they were promoting fascism and using Rossmann credentials to validate it.
If I am not mistaken, this is one of the articles shared. https://drewdevault.com/2025/10/22/2025-10-22-Whats-up-with-FUTO.html
I think the user before mistook FULU with FUTO. Not sure. I cannot see any redflags on the FULU website, they do not see to be the same people. https://fulu.org/our-team
11·1 month agoStart with building a very cheap computer with your kid.
You can buy parts for cheap or sometimes get them for free from e-waste processing places. You can do the screws to the case, but let the kid put the parts in place while you explain what they do.
Parts are easy to handle, just make sure to not damage the components as they look cute and are a bit malleable, but put too much pressure you can destroy it (not sure a kid will be strong enough for that).
It is as easy as building Lego, or putting a cartridge on an old console. This will help to make the computer less scary.
Make sure that you can do it yourself and test the parts first before involving your kid, so they do not get too frustrated if it fails.
This will cover hardware.
You can also help them to install the OS.
After, make a list of the programs you want your kid to be aware of: calculator, place to write text, anything you think it will be useful. Take some time to explain them, and do some exercises with each - let’s write a letter to a friend, etc… Let them play around with it without judgment. (remove things you don’t want them to use).
If you want to give the child some background in how software works, Logo was very popular with kids at the school.
Logo is this little turtle that you give orders, similar to imperative programming language used in most softwares.
Change colour to green, walk forward 50 steps.
And the turtle would draw a green line on the screen.
There are plenty of options for software that provides that, here is an option https://apps.kde.org/kturtle/
And, of course, try to break these in multiple days, building a PC, installing OS and playing with programs can be overwhelming for some kids.
Wasn’t there an experiment of farting in a lab and contamination of petri dishes?
Something in the lines that at least wearing one layer (underwear) is enough to prevent contamination.
Wow, there are plenty of studies, this is the funnies one I found:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1121900/
“Our deduction is that the enteric zone in the second Petri dish was caused by the flatus itself, and the splatter ring around that was caused by the sheer velocity of the fart, which blew skin bacteria from the cheeks and blasted it onto the dish. It seems, therefore, that flatus can cause infection if the emitter is naked, but not if he or she is clothed. But the results of the experiment should not be considered alarming, because neither type of bacterium is harmful. In fact, they’re similar to the ‘friendly’ bacteria found in yoghurt."
1·2 months agoDepending on the sticks, you will not know it is hall-effect unless you open the controller or if after playing a lot you are drift free. If it is legit, you might want to share the seller with us, as it might a great place to buy improved joysticks.
Now, I just wish Sony or modders would improve the battery life of the controller.
MacBooks with intel chip are some of the best hardware to put Linux on, there are plenty of guides online on how to liberate your MacBook with Linux.
I tested a bunch of distros based on Debian, Arch and Fedora. By far, the easiest one was EndeavourOS just because it recognized the WiFi driver from the Live USB for me. Otherwise you will need to use a mobile phone with USB tethering to share internet so you can install the broadcom driver. Maybe things changed, but this was my experience in 2023.
Another driver you will need to install is the camera facetimehd . Everything else worked out-of-the-box for me.
After that, all the Linux variants I tried worked great, and it was mostly about distro philosophies and deciding the desktop environments (DE) I wanted to use, and that can be a bit overwhelming at first.
If that is your first experience, I just recommend to start with KDE or gnome. I find gnome works ok from the start, but KDE is easier to tweak. You can always test them from a Linux Live USB before committing them to your hardware. Steam Deck uses KDE for desktop mode.
There are others that are prettier or lighter you can test too: cinnamon, XFCE, MATE. Or even windows managers, but I would leave them alone until you are a bit more comfortable with Linux.
here are a few links in case some people need it in the future:
- facetimehd https://github.com/patjak/facetimehd/wiki/Installation
- https://boilingsteam.com/liberating-the-macbook-air-2013-with-linux-complete-guide/ (sorry for the plug, but it shows all my experience installing with an in-depth guide)
- https://endeavouros.com/
PS5 works great on Linux, everything works: from gyroscope to touchpad. But the stick drift and battery life are the two main downsides. One of mine started drifting after 2 years, the other is still ok, but I have been using a GameSir with Hall-Effect for a while now as my main controller.
Not sure where you are buying it from, get it from a place with easy return policy as the quality may vary. Amazon was rigorous with their products, ebay only gave me headaches with refurbished stuff.
It is easy and cheap to find replacement parts but fixing it is very time-consuming task and require the right tools https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/DualSense+Joystick+Replacement/142488
Sadly, when I did mine, there were not many hall-effect sticks replacement for PS5, and the ones around had terrible calibration. I will probably update with hall-effects when they die again.There are plenty of budget controllers with Hall Effect or TMR sticks, that might be worth looking into GameSir, 8bitdo, gulikit…
Just make sure you can do everything with hardware for a smooth Linux experience (some controllers require a Windows only app for basic setup or update firmware). It is also worth to search for the “model you are interested and Linux” to find problems related to the device.
I second this if he can find a 2013~2017 for free/cheaper, I use an old Macbook Air with EndeavourOS mostly for writing, but my use case is not that far from OP’s, it also runs some old games.
It is light and portable, and it is just as easy to find a refurbished option as the Thinkpad (at least in NA).
My only problems are with the drivers(the Wi-FI and the FacetimeHD camera) and the charging cable.
I tried a bunch of distros, but only with EndeavourOS I got them to work easily.
That said, if OP prefers better Linux support, and better cost x performance. He will be better suited with a Thinkpad T or X (T480/T490 or X280) refurbished will be in the price range.
X280 is barely above 1Kg, with a smaller screen.
T480 is chunkier, bigger screen and Ethernet port.
M1 mac is still problematic with Linux, with only Asahi offering limited support, and you cannot find one at OP’s price point.
No, I don’t think I ever seem one for under 700 USD, despite some “news” saying you could find at 500 USD.
Every time people ask for cheap computers, there is always people sharing their preferences without any regard for OP’s listed needs.
3·5 months agoOh, I did not know that. Thanks for explaining it.
I thought MS Sam was an accessibility feature, that you can enable and disable text-to-speech. Did they use that for NPCs voice-overs?
Wow, I might be old, I guess language changes. Crackers used to be for hackers that focus in bypassing security, like in “code crackers”. It seems it is still used for gaming scenes that reverse engineer DRM https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_warez_groups - and the colour of the hat, just how they used their skills.