It’s well known that videos are not nearly as easy to save from a website as things like images or text. Although web browsers do not feature a default way to save videos directly to our hard drive, open source projects like yt-dlp and youtube-dl fill this gap quite nicely.
Source: LXer – yt-dlp vs youtube-dl
Monthly Archives: January 2022
KDE Plasma 5.24 Beta Released with Several New Features
KDE Plasma 5.24 comes with numerous changes that will make users happy. Learn about the KDE Plasma 5.24 Beta release here.
The post KDE Plasma 5.24 Beta Released with Several New Features appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – KDE Plasma 5.24 Beta Released with Several New Features
Harken back to the late 1990s with this re-creation of the dialup Internet experience
A demonstration of the late 1990s dialup experience using nearly period-accurate hardware, connecting to modern websites using outdated browsers over a 31.2kbit/s dialup connection. Be forewarned: page loads are in real time.
We all found our coping strategies for riding out the pandemic in 2020. Biomedical engineer Gough Liu likes to tinker with tech—particularly vintage tech—and decided he’d try to recreate what it was like to connect to the Internet via dialup back in the late 1990s. He recorded the entire process in agonizing real time, dotted with occasional commentary.
Those of a certain age (ahem) well remember what it used to be like: even just booting up the computer required patience, particularly in the earlier part of the decade, when one could shower and make coffee in the time it took to boot up one’s computer from a floppy disk. One needed a dedicated phone line for the Internet connection, because otherwise an incoming call could disrupt the connection, forcing one to repeat the whole dialup process all over again. Browsing the web was equally time-consuming back in the salad days of Netscape and Microsoft Explorer.
So much has changed since then, as the Internet has gone from a curiosity to a necessity, reshaping our culture in the process. As Liu noted on his blog:
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Source: Ars Technica – Harken back to the late 1990s with this re-creation of the dialup Internet experience
Black Panther 2 Is Back on Track, With a Few New Wrinkles
The Black Panther sequel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, will resume filming next week after a two-plus month shutdown. The shutdown was primarily because actress Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri, was badly injured during a stunt and could no longer perform. She’s now said to be healthy and ready to resume filming…
Source: Gizmodo – Black Panther 2 Is Back on Track, With a Few New Wrinkles
John Deere Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for Alleged Tractor Repair Monopoly
A class action lawsuit filed in Chicago has accused John Deere of running an illegal repair monopoly. Motherboard reports: The lawsuit alleged that John Deere has used software locks and restricted access to repair documentation and tools, making it very difficult for farmers to fix their own agricultural equipment, a problem that Motherboard has documented for years and that lawmakers, the FTC, and even the Biden administration have acknowledged. The lawsuit claims John Deere is violating antitrust rules and also alleges that Deere is illegally “tying” farmers to Deere-authorized service centers through arbitrary means.
“Farmers have traditionally had the ability to repair and maintain their own tractors as needed, or else have had the option to bring their tractors to an independent mechanic,” the lawsuit said. “However, in newer generations of its agricultural equipment, Deere has deliberately monopolized the market for repair and maintenance services of its agricultural equipment with Engine Control Units (ECUs) by making crucial software and repair tools inaccessible to farmers and independent repair shops.”
Forest River Farms, a farming corporation in North Dakota, filed the recent antitrust lawsuit against John Deere, alleging that “Deere’s network of highly-consolidated independent dealerships is not permitted through their agreements with Deere to provide farmers or repair shops with access to the same software and repair tools the Dealerships have.” “As a result of shutting out farmers and independent repair shops from accessing the necessary resources for repairs, Deere and the Dealerships have cornered the Deere Repair Services Market in the United States for Deere-branded agricultural equipment controlled by ECUs and have derived supracompetitive profits from the sale of repair and maintenance services,” the lawsuit, which repeatedly cites some of Motherboard’s reporting on the issue, continues. […] The lawsuit alleges that, though Deere has made some types of software and repair parts available to the public, they are “insufficient to restore competition to the Deere repair services market,” and notes that “there are no legitimate reasons to restrict access to necessary repair tools.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot – John Deere Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for Alleged Tractor Repair Monopoly
Google's Pichai, Meta's Zuckerberg Backed Alleged Ad Price-Fixing Scheme, Unsealed Court Docs Claim
When Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton first spearheaded a blockbuster multistate antitrust case against Google towards the end of 2020, it included some (heavily redacted) allegations of a secret agreement with Facebook that let the duo squash fellow competitors in the advertising space and lord over the lion’s share…
Source: Gizmodo – Google’s Pichai, Meta’s Zuckerberg Backed Alleged Ad Price-Fixing Scheme, Unsealed Court Docs Claim
Crytek Threatens Modder With Legal Action Over Crysis Photo Mode Mods
A popular PC modder who has created unofficial photo modes for various PC games has been hit with a cease and desist letter by Crysis developer Crytek. Now, after threats of legal action from the German studio, the modder has opted to remove the mods he created for Crytek games from his Patreon page.
Source: Kotaku – Crytek Threatens Modder With Legal Action Over Crysis Photo Mode Mods
Google starts rolling out the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro's delayed December update
Google has begun rolling out the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro’s latest update following a delay in December. As may you recall, the company “paused” the release of the OTA after there were reports of the software causing calls to drop and disconnect. The issue was such that Google took the nearly unprecedented move of removing the associated factory images for that update from its developer website.
In December, the company said the software would arrive sometime in “late January.” Last week, it pushed up that timeline to today, January 14th. “The update will be available for all devices over the following week, but exact timing may vary depending on your carrier and country,” the company said. To that point, some carriers have said they’ll begin pushing out the software starting early next week. For instance, Canadian carrier Fido notes on its website it’s targeting January 17th for the start of its rollout.
Now that the update is available, it includes all the fixes Google had planned to release in December in addition to more than a dozen new ones. Among other tweaks, you’ll find a fix for an issue that had caused the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro to drop a connection to a WiFi network in certain situations. Additionally, the update addresses a bug that had caused the phones to drain their batteries faster than expected.
Source: Engadget – Google starts rolling out the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro’s delayed December update
How to Create an RDS Instance on AWS Using Terraform
In this article, we will see how to create an RDS MySQL instance on Amazon Web Services (AWS) using Terraform.
The post How to Create an RDS Instance on AWS Using Terraform appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – How to Create an RDS Instance on AWS Using Terraform
How to Install Node.js and NPM on Debian 11
Node.js is an open-source and cross-platform JavaScript runtime environment built on Chrome’s V8 JavaScript engine.
Source: LXer – How to Install Node.js and NPM on Debian 11
Netflix cites “more entertainment choices than ever,” raises prices again
Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty Images)
On Friday, Netflix confirmed plans to raise prices for its video-streaming services in North America for the seventh time in 11 years.
Unlike many previous Netflix price hikes, this year’s bump hits all three subscription options. In the United States, the “basic” tier, which is capped at 720p and includes other limits, receives its first increase in three years, jumping $1 to $9.99 per month. The 1080p “standard” tier goes up $1.50 to $15.49 per month. And the 4K “premium” tier jumps $2 to $19.99 per month. Canadian customers can expect similar jumps in prices for all three tiers as well.
Netflix says the price increases will roll out in phases to existing customers based on their billing cycles, and all customers will get no fewer than 30 days’ notice before the higher prices go into effect. Brand-new customers must begin paying the higher prices immediately.
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Source: Ars Technica – Netflix cites “more entertainment choices than ever,” raises prices again
All the Sci-Fi, Superhero, and Fantasy TV Coming to Screens in 2022 (So Far)
We’ve had movies to look forward to, streaming faves to plan binges around, but what’s good and on broadcast in 2022? io9’s got your look ahead out of what to expect from the first few months of 2022 in sci-fi and fantasy TV—and taste of a few things we know are coming later this year.
Source: Gizmodo – All the Sci-Fi, Superhero, and Fantasy TV Coming to Screens in 2022 (So Far)
AMD Renoir-X Ryzen 4000 CPU Specs Leak As Entry-Level Showdown With Intel Looms
AMD’s current desktop processors with graphics are the Ryzen 5000G series, codenamed Cezanne. Those chips pair powerful Zen 3 CPU cores with aged-but-still-potent Vega graphics, and make a solid foundation for a system that can serve almost any desktop use-case, including casual gaming—as long as you don’t expect too much from the iGPU.
If
Source: Hot Hardware – AMD Renoir-X Ryzen 4000 CPU Specs Leak As Entry-Level Showdown With Intel Looms
For Drivers in This Texas City, the Days of Getting Pulled Over by the Cops Are Over
If you live in Windcrest, a city northeast of San Antonio, the days of getting pulled over by the cops for breaking certain traffic laws—shame on you, but no judgement here—are over. Police will just text you a warning or ticket. And hey, if you’re a good driver, they may even send you a thumbs up.
Source: Gizmodo – For Drivers in This Texas City, the Days of Getting Pulled Over by the Cops Are Over
Here are the New Features Coming to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
A continually updated article that lists all the main features being added to the upcoming Ubuntu 22.04 LTS “Jammy Jellyfish” release.
The post Here are the New Features Coming to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS appeared first on Linux Today.
Source: Linux Today – Here are the New Features Coming to Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
US Olympic Athletes Urged to Leave Phones Behind Amid Chinese Surveillance Concerns
American Olympic athletes heading to Beijing for this year’s 2022 Winter Olympics are being advised to pack a disposable burner phone and get familiar with virtual private networks to avoid potential Chinese government surveillance.
Source: Gizmodo – US Olympic Athletes Urged to Leave Phones Behind Amid Chinese Surveillance Concerns
Shkreli’s infamous 4,000% price hike gets him a lifetime pharma ban
Enlarge / Martin Shkreli. (credit: Getty | Drew Angerer)
A federal court on Friday banned convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli from ever working in the pharmaceutical industry again in any capacity and ordered him to pay back $64.6 million in profits from his infamous scheme that raised the price of the life-saving drug Daraprim more than 4,000 percent.
US District Judge Denise Cote issued the lifetime ban after finding that Shkreli engaged in anticompetitive practices to protect the monopoly profits of Daraprim.
According to a lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission and seven states—New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—Shkreli, his former pharmaceutical company Vyera (formerly Turing), and former Vyera CEO Kevin Mulleady created a “web of anticompetitive restrictions to box out the competition” in 2015 after they bought the rights to Daraprim.
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Source: Ars Technica – Shkreli’s infamous 4,000% price hike gets him a lifetime pharma ban
315,000-Gallon Diesel Spill Kills Thousands of Animals in Louisiana
A decades-old pipeline spilled 315,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) of diesel into an environmentally sensitive area in Louisiana last month, killing thousands of animals, the AP reported Thursday. The spill happened a little over a year after a safety inspection found that the pipeline was severely corroded—but the…
Source: Gizmodo – 315,000-Gallon Diesel Spill Kills Thousands of Animals in Louisiana
Sadly, 'Covid Dick' Is Real
It seems we can add sexual dysfunction to the long list of unexpected and unpleasant effects of the coronavirus. Thankfully, this doesn’t appear to be a common occurrence, and there are some potential remedies that those afflicted can try.
Source: Gizmodo – Sadly, ‘Covid Dick’ Is Real
Intel “mega-fab” coming to Ohio, reports say
Enlarge (credit: ony Avelar/Bloomberg)
Intel is reportedly planning to build a large chip facility in New Albany, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, the state capital. An official announcement is expected on January 21.
The company reportedly plans to invest $20 billion in the site, and the city of New Albany is working to annex up to 3,600 acres of land to accommodate the facility, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which first reported the deal.
Given the size of the parcel and the facility’s rumored price tag, it is likely the site of Intel’s “mega-fab,” which CEO Pat Gelsinger said would be like “a little city.” The mega-fab would contain six to eight modules, he said, and would focus on lithography processes and packaging techniques. Suppliers would have space on the site, too.
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Source: Ars Technica – Intel “mega-fab” coming to Ohio, reports say