May 2025 - Talk - lists.gtalug.org

Dollar store computer audio system...
by Colin McGregor 21 Aug '25

21 Aug '25

A feature of the original Raspberry Pi from the original on up to the Raspberry Pi 4 was a 3.5 mm audio jack for sound output. I am told by audiophiles that the Pi audio out ... wasn't very good, but to me it sounded fine. With the Raspberry Pi 5 that audio jack was dropped. The loss of that audio jack isn't an issue if you're connecting to a TV via HDMI (use the TV audio), or if you don't need audio, or you use a Bluetooth speaker. But what if you want things more-or-less the way they were before? A visit to Dollarama might be your answer. At Dollarama I ran across a USB-C to audio cable for use with the likes of mobile phones for a little less than $5. Of course the Raspberry Pi 5 uses USB A for its' USB input/output connectors, but again for a little less than $5 you can get a Dollarama USB A to USB C adapter. Connect the above together and the Raspberry PI will see this as an audio device and be able to pass audio out. Less than $10 (before tax) and you can be back almost to the way things were before (okay granted this way you are down one USB port :-( , still that isn't too bad in most situations). Going beyond the above, Dollarama does sell an audio speaker (available in white red or black) about the size of a beverage can with a 3.5 mm input jack for $5 (plus HST) that can (in my case) run off an old phone charger (I didn't try the Dollarama phone charger, but that could be an option). Add in a Dollarama audio cable and you are good. Now, I am not enough of an audiophile to be able to tell if all of the above is good, but it does sound fine to me. I thought that getting a complete, if VERY modest, computer audio system at a dollar store is a bit wild and worth sharing.

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Video production...
by Colin McGregor 30 May '25

30 May '25

I have always thought that video production was the domain of those other (non-Linux) platforms, but live and learn. Here is a video by one YouTuber who explains how she puts together educational videos just with software tools / hardware that is available for / supported by Linux. https://youtu.be/PEFqdqRr18E?si=uwgtro-pI6gV9fxr I have no idea how well the tools noted compare against the other platforms, but at least I now know that there is at least one road to video production open under Linux. Colin.

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Reminder: General Meeting - May 13th, 2025
by Alan Heighway 11 May '25

11 May '25

Round Table Discussion <https://www.gtalug.org/?p=244> Description: Got a burning question or a topic you’re eager to explore? Whether it’s something we haven’t touched on yet or a subject from a previous discussion you’d like to revisit, this is the meeting for you. Join us for an open, round-table style session where the agenda is driven by *you*. We’ll be collecting questions and topics from both in-person attendees and online participants, and we’ll address each one during the meeting. This is your chance to: - Ask the questions you’ve been holding onto - Share insights or experiences related to ongoing conversations - Suggest new ideas or areas for group exploration No topic is too big or too small—if it sparks curiosity or conversation, we want to hear it. And if any discussion opens the door to a deeper dive, we’ll consider dedicating a future meeting to that subject alone. Come ready to speak, listen, and engage. This is your platform. Speaker: Moderator: Alan Heighway Agenda: 1. Business Meeting 2. Presentation 3. Discussion 4. Adjournment 5. More Discussion @ the Pub (Optional) Date / Time: May 13th, 2025 19:30 EST Location: In Person: TMU George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, 245 Church Street (just north of Dundas), Room 201 (See note below) Online using Nextcloud: https://hub.gtalug.org/call/7m45sf9i NOTE: The doors to the building are normally locked. There will be someone from GTALUG at the doors on the southeast corner of Church and Gould to let people in. If you come late or don’t see anyone at the door please SMS at 647 657 6575 for THIS NIGHT ONLY. Do not call. *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca 416-712-5247 VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing]

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converting between video interfaces: HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 08 May '25

08 May '25

<https://www.barco.com/en/inspiration/news-insights/displayport-to-hdmi-conv…> This makes it clear where the tricky bits are. For example - what is DP++? - Dual link DVI is "out of scope" for most converters - active vs. passive They don't tell you how to buy the right converter. They don't really explain how HDR signals work. Or "8k" resolution could be supported.

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Someone used to have a redundant ISP service... Who?
by David Collier-Brown 05 May '25

05 May '25

It sent the exact same stream of data down both Rogers and Bell lines. If a packet got dropped, it was replaced by the copy from the other vendor. This handled censorship, bad cables and outages. But who was it? I can see him in my mind... --dave -- David Collier-Brown, | Always do right. This will gratify System Programmer and Author | some people and astonish the rest davecb(a)spamcop.net | -- Mark Twain

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PewDiePie switched to Linux and encourages his viewers to do so too
by Ron 02 May '25

02 May '25

> I installed Linux (so should you) > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVI_smLgTY0 > > 3,213,555 views 1 day ago > > 13,949 Comments If you're like me and never watched a PewDiePie video before, this should still be very interesting. He's got 110M subscribers, so this will get quite a few more views in the next few days... (3M in *one* day!) He's switched to Linux, and strongly encourages his > 100,000,000 YouTube subscribers to join him. This is great news - about 10 times the number of followers as any tech channel. He got famous live-streaming games, so his followers tend to be younger. But what I enjoyed about it is - just how deep he's gotten into it and his raw enthusiasm. He installed Mint, then Arch. He wanted better performance and shows `systemd-analyze` and `systemd-analyze blame` in the terminal. He advocates in favour of using the terminal. He skipped from X.org through Wayland to Hyperland. He loves the tiling window manager on his laptop, and emphasizes that when it ran Windows, he hated that hardware, now he loves using it. He gives examples of how to use `grep`. He made his own NeoFetch animated ASCII art. He claims to not be very technical, yet is a hard-core convert, and is thoroughly enjoying the experience. vs LTT (Linus Tech Tips), who tried Linux and foolishly uninstalled his desktop, breaking everything. It's *very* impressive how much he's picked up, and with his reach, this could bring more converts than the EOL of Windows 10 + the SteamDeck. Brodie Robertson covered it (in twice the length of the original): PewDiePie Made a Linux Ricing Video?!? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P96qx7cucOg (and Brodie the Linux tech YouTuber didn't even know about `systemd-analyze`) Some selected comments from PewDiePie's video: > @ChrisTitusTech > 5 hours ago > I'm upset, I've made hundreds of Linux videos and Pewds comes in an makes a better one on his first attempt. Fantastic Video man and way to take the red pill! > @grimdrippah > 1 day ago > I have to say, writing a bash script just for the sponsor is such a power move I can't do anything but respect it > @gustawitresh > 18 hours ago > The fact that pewdiepie is out here actually having fun with a computer. Is really fun to watch. You can see the bliss in his eye talking about all this. And this might even lead to more support for linux. Win win > @JamesLee > 19 hours ago (edited) > Felix got busy learning some l33t terminal skills AND is asking his massive audience to jump on board a wholesome community cause. He deserves some serious hacker internet steet cred.

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