- Talk - lists.gtalug.org

X10 - Gear you don't want? Or replacement suggestions?
by Giles Orr 16 Jan '22

16 Jan '22

X10 ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X10_(industry_standard) ) isn't directly related to Linux, but this seems like the right group to ask about it ... I've been happily using X10 transmitters and receivers to automate switching lights on and off around my place for about two decades. These days that requires a USB-to-serial converter cable, but otherwise works just fine. X10 has significant limitations (unencrypted, local interference, very slow, one-way) but works well for the simple things I want it for. Which leads me to my two related but rather different questions. First Question: Does anyone have any X10 gear they'd like to get rid of? I'll happily take it off your hands. If you'd prefer to sell it rather than giving it away, we can talk. I'm particularly looking for a "Transceiver Module." I can still buy these from x10.com - but they're an American company without a Canadian customs broker. They'll happily ship me stuff ... but whether or not it arrives, how much I have to pay in duties, and whether or not I have to travel to Niagara Falls to pick it up ... all my problem. Second Question: What's a more modern replacement for X10? Keeping in mind that I have several limiting caveats. The first of which is, no "calling home." All interactions should happen within the confines of my computers and my residence. I would also fairly strongly prefer not to rely on a local wireless network: I have wireless, but it's deliberately off most of the time and I prefer it that way (for misguided security reasons, not misguided health reasons ... I like wires). I also don't want to have to do my own soldering (I'm capable of it, barely, but would prefer plug-and-go). Thanks. -- Giles https://www.gilesorr.com/ gilesorr(a)gmail.com

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ot: perhaps, headphones?
by Karen Lewellen 14 Jan '22

14 Jan '22

Hi folks, or more specifically, a local store site where I can shop by details? Granted, some of this is tied to poor website design and accessibility. but I need to filter out what I do not need to reach what I do need, Regular wired headphones with a set of technical specifications. not bluetooth, not noise canceling, no microphone etc. Honestly, to avoid this issue I have been finding the same pair of JVC ones which, because they are well built, last a couple of years or more, smiles. To clear out the obvious best buy's site is no longer a possibility filter wise, and I cannot even get past the "are you human" thing at Walmart.ca, which has no way to answer it inclusively. Hoping to visit a place to pick up, rather than have to get them delivered..my office remains closed. Any ideas, even if only to narrow down specifics I can then ask about elsewhere? Thanks, Kare

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cortex-m instruction set
by Trevor Woerner 12 Jan '22

12 Jan '22

Hey, i couldn't answer Hugh's question at this evening's meeting off the top of my head, but wikipedia to the rescue: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_Cortex-M#Instruction_sets "All Cortex-M cores implement a common subset of instructions that consists of most Thumb-1, some Thumb-2, including a 32-bit result multiply." I was much more involved with cortex-m SoCs in the earlier days but wasn't 100% sure of the instruction sets of the latest members of the family but, according to wikipedia, all cortex-m's use some variant of the thumb instruction set. Best regards, Trevor

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OT RISC-V
by Ivan Avery Frey 11 Jan '22

11 Jan '22

Thought I would mention in the context of RISC-V, that the European Processor Initiative has created a Compiler Explorer website: https://repo.hca.bsc.es/epic There are two windows. The left window has the C or C++ source code and the right window has the RISC-V assembly output. Ivan.

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[GTALUG-Announce] January Meeting Reminder
by Alan Heighway 11 Jan '22

11 Jan '22

*Speaker:* Chris Sullivan *Topic:* Radio Direction Finding with the Raspberry Pi *Date/time:* 2022-01-11 T19:30:00 *Location:* Virtual - Big Blue Button (link below) *Topic description:* Home-brew pseudo Doppler radio direction finding systems are typically based on discrete components. Much of the hardware complexity can be replaced with a software design, using minimal external components to the Raspberry Pi. This can dramatically lower the cost of implementation, provide additional signal processing capabilities, and provide remote control capabilities that permit the coordination of multiple units for instant triangulation. *We're going to use Big Blue Button for this meeting: * https://blue.lpi.org/b/eva-zjc-gjy-kgl *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing] --- GTALUG Announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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[GTALUG-Announce] Reminder: GTALUG January Meeting Tomorrow
by Alan Heighway 10 Jan '22

10 Jan '22

*Speaker:* Chris Sullivan *Topic:* Radio Direction Finding with the Raspberry Pi *Date/time:* 2022-01-11 T19:30:00 *Location:* Virtual - Big Blue Button (link below) *Topic description:* Home-brew pseudo Doppler radio direction finding systems are typically based on discrete components. Much of the hardware complexity can be replaced with a software design, using minimal external components to the Raspberry Pi. This can dramatically lower the cost of implementation, provide additional signal processing capabilities, and provide remote control capabilities that permit the coordination of multiple units for instant triangulation. *We're going to use Big Blue Button for this meeting: * https://blue.lpi.org/b/eva-zjc-gjy-kgl *A*lan *H*eighway <http://heighway.ca/> heighway.ca VA3WAH / VA3YKZ [image: Please consider the environment before printing] --- GTALUG Announce mailing list announce(a)gtalug.org https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/announce

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Man and Info Pages
by Howard Gibson 09 Jan '22

09 Jan '22

I am updating my UNIX Command Line HOWTO. I have a remark in my text to the effect that man pages contain text stating that man is obsolete, and that you should use the info pages instead. I actually have not seen this lately. What is the status of man and info at the moment? -- Howard Gibson hgibson(a)eol.ca jhowardgibson(a)gmail.com http://home.eol.ca/~hgibson

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Debian install fails due to network failure
by sciguy 08 Jan '22

08 Jan '22

This has happened with what I have tried so far: Debian and Ubuntu. I have been accustomed to my network card being auto-detected and the internet being automatically connected with an installation, but I am not getting internet on installation, so much of the installation has failed. This machine was set up as a dual boot, and is running Windows 10 with the latest updates. It has previously run a version of Ubuntu Studio, but with this upgrade (first by USB then by DVD), I am not getting a network, and so the installation remains half-finished. Somehow, after changing this over to Debian, where the installation failed for the same reason, Windows 10 EFI detected the incomplete installation and now offers "finishing the Debian installation" as a boot option when I reboot. It seems the root of my problem is in Microsoft's choice to take over the EFI in a recent update, thereby supplanting GRUB, which was there before. GRUB was a technology I understood fairly well; EFI is not. Can anyone suggest, or point to some resources, for how to install Linux alongside W10, in a way that the EFI appears to recognize (since it seemed to almost accidentally with Debian). Thanks Paul

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help with Rogerrs SMTP
by Ariel Burton 24 Dec '21

24 Dec '21

Hi everyone, I'm trying to get outgoing SMTP email to work with Rogers, and would appreciate any help. I am not looking for a full solution; all I need is for outgoing email to work from the command line in my user account. I don't need a system-wide solution, or a solution that works with GUI email readers. See below for a sample use-case. I used to have a solution that had lines like this in my $HOME/.mailrc: BEGINS set smtp=smtp.nl.rogers.com:587 set smtp-auth-user=MY-ROGERS-EMAIL-ADDRESS set smtp-auth-password=ROGERS-DEVICE-SPECIFIC-PASSWORD set replyto="Ariel Burton <MY-OTHER-EMAIL-ADDRESS>" set smtp-use-starttls set ssl-verify=ignore ENDS Something like this worked for many years, but stopped working a while ago. Earlier versions differed slightly, e.g., using "from" or "sender" in place of "replyto", or different port numbers. This is a transcript of how it fails: BEGINS /home/me> mail MY-OTHER-EMAIL-ADDRESS Subject: test test . EOT % smtp-server: 550 Request failed; Mailbox unavailable "/home/me/dead.letter" 12/365 . . . message not sent. ENDS Can anyone see what am I doing wrong, and how to fix it? Thanks, Ariel ==

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"a web page is slowing down Firefox. To speed up your browser, stop that page."
by D. Hugh Redelmeier 22 Dec '21

22 Dec '21

I get this message when I read the Globe and Mail with Firefox on my Fedora 35 desktop. How can I figure out the cause?

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