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Re: [GTALUG] unexpected firefox "server not found" messages
by David Collier-Brown 24 Nov '16

24 Nov '16

On 23/11/16 10:32 PM, ac via talk wrote: > On Wed, 23 Nov 2016 09:52:43 -0500 (EST) > "D. Hugh Redelmeier via talk" <talk(a)gtalug.org> wrote: >> Once in a while I've been getting "Server not found" errors from >> Firefox that surprise me. The links are to real sites. Other >> browsers can see the site. >> I thought that the problem might have to do with some tightened >> security rules. No, the problem is IPv6. >> I don't have IPv6 at home. But Fedora has it enabled normally. This >> generally doesn't cause problems. But now it has. >> >> Fix: >> <https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/server-not-found-connection-problem?re…> >> >> type URL "about:firefox" > firefox ver 50.0 about:firefox = The address isn’t valid > > not sure if I care enough to figure out why they removed that. > > I may just change to chrome > > I find that the common trend in software is over development. > > Developers simply cannot accept that a product has reached a level of > maturity and functionality where the use is optimal in relation to the > issues that additional functionality would presume. > > It is as if all huge and well funded software projects are trying to > become everything to everyone instead of doing the best job of that > which is supposedly its core focus. > > Another recently encountered example is wordpress. I think they all > want to be everything. > > Which means that in 10 years firefox will be wordpress and wordpress > will be firefox. > > ridiculous as one or the other will fail and fail dramatically and miserably. > > ac > --- > Talk Mailing List > talk(a)gtalug.org > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk Every so often, you have to change OSs to kill off the dinosaurs. The same disease struck MVS when it was new, and it became a trueism that no program was complete until it could send email (;-)) --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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Looking for SSD HD
by Kevin Cozens 22 Nov '16

22 Nov '16

Greetings, everyone. I have a laptop that I don't use that often which runs Windows 10. It has killed 3 regular hard drives since I've had it. I don't know if it is getting bumped and causing a head crash, or if it is a power related thing. Windows will seem to lock up on me so I force a power off by holding down the power button. After that I have trouble with the HD when I try to turn the machine on again. I don't think the laptop has been getting any more shock or vibration than my old laptop which had a mother board failure. These newer higher capacity drives may be more sensitive or it may be related to forcing power off when the machine locked up. I'm thinking of switching to an SSD instead of a regular HD. I don't want to spend a ton of money as I don't use the laptop much. It would be to run Windows natively on occasion instead of via emulation. (I run Win XP via virtualbox on my main computer to use a Windows only 3D modelling program). I would like an SSD with a capacity of around 250GB (or more) and not spend too much more than $100. I don't really want to get in to spending $200+. I might be able to get away with a 120GB HD as I don't expect to put a lot of programs on the machine. I'm still concerned about how SSDs can wear out with use. My knowledge of SSDs may be a bit out of date. When using Linux I remember people saying you have to turn off atime and mtime (IIRC) to minimize wearing out the SSD too quickly. I don't know what equivalent tweaks may be needed when running Windows. Any suggestions for drives I should consider? Any ones I should avoid? -- Cheers! Kevin. http://www.ve3syb.ca/ |"Nerds make the shiny things that distract Owner of Elecraft K2 #2172 | the mouth-breathers, and that's why we're | powerful!" #include <disclaimer/favourite> | --Chris Hardwick

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Deal on open source compatible router
by lsorense＠csclub.uwaterloo.ca 21 Nov '16

21 Nov '16

I see NCIX has the Linksys WRT1900ACS on sale today for $200 (down from the usual $300). I have the WRT1900ACv2 which is the same hardware as the ACS and am running LEDE (https://www.lede-project.org/) on it and it works great. Not bad for a router with dual Cortex-A9 1.6GHz CPU, 512MB ram, 128MB flash, USB3 and USB2 eSATAp. -- Len Sorensen

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Certificate Error On Chrome
by Michael Galea 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

I went to pay my cell providers bill via Chromium on Debian and it threw a "Site not secure" error at me. That was odd as I had paid at the same site many times before. I reported the problem to the cell provider's customer support line, not really expecting much. To my surprise they requested screenshots, and I provided them. The tech came back and replied, "I have seen this error before. Click on “ADVANCED” and you should then have an option to proceed to website and this should resolve the issue". :-) I replied that I would try paying by another means thanks, and that if I was seeing the site warning, others were likely to as well.. Google was reporting "Certificate Error : There are issues with the site's certificate chain net::ERR_CERTIFICATE_TRANSPARENCY_REQUIRED)." Apparently, Google started following a 2013 protocol that detects fraudulent certificates, and the cell providers certificate vendor does not support it. Has anyone else seen these sorts of certificate problems, and why now? -- Michael Galea

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Programmable LED badge
by Daniel Wayne Armstrong 17 Nov '16

17 Nov '16

I have this cheapie 44x11 programmable LED badge that I am trying to access under Linux. I *think* its the same as this device ... https://github.com/Caerbannog/led-mini-board ... but when I connect it to a USB port no /dev/ttyU* or /dev/ttyA* is created. Output of dmesg ... usb 2-5: new full-speed USB device number 21 using xhci_hcd usb 2-5: New USB device found, idVendor=0416, idProduct=5020 usb 2-5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0 usb 2-5: Product: LS32 Custm HID usb 2-5: Manufacturer: LSicroelectronics hidraw: raw HID events driver (C) Jiri Kosina usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid usbhid: USB HID core driver input: LSicroelectronics LS32 Custm HID as /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00: 14.0/usb2/2-5/2-5:1.0/0003:0416:5020.0001/input/input14 hid-generic 0003:0416:5020.0001: input,hidraw0: USB HID v1.10 Device [LSicroelectronics LS32 Custm HID] on usb-0000:00:14.0-5/input0 ... and of lsusb ... Bus 002 Device 023: ID 0416:5020 Winbond Electronics Corp. Searching for details on this device returns lean pickings. I did come across this one comment in a discussion thread for a different device ... https://www.reddit.com/user/k2539/ ... with no response. Any advice about how go forward would be appreciated! Thanks. -- (o< .: Per curiositas ad astra .: http://www.circuidipity.com (/)_

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Internet testing
by o1bigtenor 14 Nov '16

14 Nov '16

Greetings I have been using www.testmy.net as a non-flash based (its html 5 IIUC) connection tester. My ISP on the other hand believes that only flash based tests like Ookla's are any good. Looking for thoughts and opinions on the differences between the two and which might actually be more accurate. Regards Dee

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OK, where are we having dinner, folks?
by David Collier-Brown 08 Nov '16

08 Nov '16

--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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micro: better than nano, and written in Go
by Stewart C. Russell 07 Nov '16

07 Nov '16

I won't be able to go to the Go talk tomorrow, but a project written in Go has been working very well for me: micro, a basic but rather good text editor — https://micro-editor.github.io/ What I like about micro: · it uses standard CUA commands: Ctrl-S to save, Ctrl-Q to quit, Shift+movement to select, etc. · it's terminal only ·… but you can use the mouse to move the cursor and select stuff *even over ssh* · it's not bloody nano. It's definitely a lot easier to get beginners using micro, as it works the way you'd expect. cheers, Stewart

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Kelly Gotlieb
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 07 Nov '16

07 Nov '16

C. C. "Kelly" Gotlieb died on October 16 at age 95. Kelly was one of the zeroth generation of Canadian Computing. Probably the last I knew. (I don't remember ever calling him "Kelly" to his face. I never felt that I was a peer of his. At one point he and I had neigbouring offices in a backwater of the Sanford Flemming Building so I got to have a few unhurried chats with him.) <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/kelly-gotlieb-was-the-father-o…> Nit picking the Globe article: - there was no reasonable way to send a gigabyte of data by teletype in the 1950s. The typical speed would be 10 characters per second (110 baud) or less. A gigabyte would take three years solid. And nothing could easily store it. - I don't think that Kelly had long talks with Turing. I asked Kelly about Turing and my recollection is that Turing was not very conversational with Kelly. Of course my recollection is not 100% reliable. - His PhD thesis my well still be classified -- Kelly liked to tell that story. But I don't think it was about "cybernetics". It came out of his work with the team that studied artillery shells with the new and secret "proximity fuse". This allied invention was perhaps as secret and important as the atomic bomb in World War II. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proximity_fuze> <https://www.npa.org/public/interviews/careers_interview_331.cfm>

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Recommendation for a Good VPN and a PGP on Email Tutorial.
by Brad Fonseca 06 Nov '16

06 Nov '16

Hello, I was hoping someone on this list might be able to help me out with some advice and/or point me to a previous thread or to a good current resource. I have decided (belatedly) that it would be good to start using a VPN service to connect to the Internet. There are a large number of choices out there and I was wondering if anyone on GTALUG uses and recommends any. Also, if someone could point me to a good tutorial for PGP on email that would also be helpful. I assume the only way to use PGP with Gmail is through a client like Thunderbird (which is what I use for my consulting email address). Thanks so much for your help in advance. This list has always been very interesting to read for me, even if I don't feel I have the technical expertise to contribute much. :P Regards, Brad -- Brad Fonseca Mobile: 416-876-2191

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