Most searches I run I just want an answer, and don’t want to have to sift through ads or multiple websites. So, here’s how you can use perplexity.ai as your default search engine in Vivaldi (it’s a similar process on other browsers as well). Maybe ask perplexity.ai how to do it on your browser of choice!
Open Vivaldi “Settings” and go to “Search”
Click the “+” to add a “Search Engine”
Add Perplexity. The “URL” is https://www.perplexity.ai?q=%s
That’s it! Feel free to make it your “Default Search Engine”
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Now that we’ve discussed E2EE and FOSS, let’s start with probably the most important thing you want E2E Encrypted… your communication!
Did you know that most text messages sent from your phone or chat/IM messages sent through social media companies can be seen, read, or processed in a number of ways?
How gross is that??
Very!
So what to do? Use an end to end encrypted messaging service like Signal. Signal is cross platform (no blue/green bubble shaming) so works on iOS and Android, but also has desktop apps that work on Windows, Mac, and Linux! Add in rich media (photo/video support) as well as calling (including video calling), and you shouldn’t need any other communication tool (other than email – which we’ll get to)
Note: Please don’t be fooled by the titans saying they have E2EE too. It may be “technically” true, but usually there are manual steps or other “gotchas” involved, and often the titan has a copy of the key to read your messages. Save yourself the research and just use Signal.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Building on yesterday’s rant about Sellouts and Hypocrites, one of the 1st things you need to understand in order to extract yourself from the tech titans are the concepts of:
End to End Encryption (E2EE)
With E2EE you own your data. Not the software creator. They just own or maintain the software that makes it possible for you to work with your data. Here’s a good primer if you’re really interested, but the point is E2EE is what keeps the titan (FB, X, Goog, etc) from reading/using your data. Believe it or not, there are E2EE services for just about anything.
Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
FOSS (aka FLOSS) takes things one step further to prevent vendor lock-in from any 1 titan. This is usually enhanced by the FOSS taking advantage of a protocol. The web and email are two of the best examples of what FOSS has enabled. With a little bit of know how anyone can run a website and send or receive email without being forced through a single provider (be it Gmail, Outlook.com, etc). There are even FOSS social media networks!
In Summary
Yes, I know these are overly simplified descriptions, but the point isn’t to get dragged into holy wars over the pedantic differences between FOSS and FLOSS, or encryption at rest vs in transit… it’s to understand what you’re looking for and, more importantly, why!
One last point before I go… Not all FOSS includes E2EE, nor does E2EE mean the software is FOSS (we software developers have to make a living after all). No one ever said freedom comes free.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Well, if you look at which sellouts and hypocrites were at the felon’s coronation it is obvious we’re surrounded by them, and that’s just part of why you’re reading this here. If you feel the same way I suggest you start extracting yourself from the clutches of the oligarchs. But how?…
We’ll start with the basics and delve into some specifics in future posts, but in summary… STOP SUPPORTING THE TITANS.
And supporting means using their services or buying anything from them.
Don’t be a “user”.
You’re just being “used”.
You want to keep your account for periodic check ins while you extract yourself or to spread the word that others should get out too? Go for it. Hell, I haven’t figured out how to extract myself from all of them yet.
But if you’re with me I’d encourage you to follow along and share any tips you have!
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
I’ve been playing around recently with Azure, finally got some things working, and think I’m starting to understand things a little better (though still terrified somehow I’m going to create something that costs a boatload of money).
One of the things any app developer will always want to do is be able to review logs so that’s what I was in search of today. While it looks like you can monitor logs in real time… I hardly ever need to do that (that’s what local debugging is for). I was trying to figure out where/how to view my logs after they had generated… you know, like you have to do to support anything.
Anyway, it appears the secret is that you need to configure things to send your logs to a log analytics workspace 1st (and if I’m wrong here I would love to know a better way). To do that I followed the instructions here.
Keep in mind though that it take a bit for logs to start getting pulled over so it’s not like a real time stream. For a real time stream (like when debugging, but from the server) look at “Log stream” for your Function App…
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Now that I’m officially working remotely, and have had some questions about my setup, I figured I’d do a write up so everything was in 1 place. So, let’s start with a picture…
… and I’ll tell you that my setup consists of a Desktop (not shown) and the Laptop you see in the photo. Also included in the photo are the microphone and camera. The Stream Deck shown in the lower right (as well as shells, rings, and baseball) is optional 😊.
Now, how it all works together… The main monitor (with the rings at the base), keyboard, and mouse are controlled by the computer KVM which determines if I’m working off the Laptop or the Desktop. Essentially, the computer KVM takes “in” the keyboard, mouse, and HDMI from both the Laptop and Desktop, and sends “out” to the shared keyboard, mouse, and main monitor. A simple double tap on “Scroll Lock” + either “1” or “2” switches between them.
I also use a USB Switch to toggle peripherals between the Laptop and Desktop. This allows me to switch between the computers but make the camera and microphone potentially “stick” to the backgrounded computer (i.e. be on a call/meeting on one computer, but switch to the other briefly as needed). Setup is as simple as the USB Switch taking a USB “input” from each computer, and having the peripherals tied into it. Switching between does take a press of the button on the USB Switch.
So, what about the other monitor and laptop monitor you may ask? The full monitor (upper left) is tied into the Desktop using a DVI output on my graphics card (but could be tied into whatever additional output you may have) so that when the Desktop is active I’ll have the 2 monitors. When I switch to the Laptop, the laptop and main monitor act as my 2 monitors.
And finally, you may be asking, how do you tie all that stuff to the laptop if it only has a USB C and maybe a standard USB? For that, I use a USB Dock. The dock allows me to connect to my wired network (better reliability and throughput of signal), the computer KVM, USB Switch, and a few other USB peripherals (mostly for charging things). All that junk stays connect to the dock, and I simply need to unplug or connect the 1 USB C connector!
Of course, if you don’t need to switch between multiple computers and just want to connect multiple monitors and an external keyboard and mouse the USB Dock is sufficient (and is how my wife’s work setup is configured).
As to the Stream Deck, that’s probably a post for a different day, but suffice it to say when the Laptop is active the aux monitor (upper left) is rotating through a number of browser tabs running on the Desktop and I can use the Stream Deck to control that (refresh, volume, mute, etc).
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Do you know where the first commercial use of a CAPTCHA was? PayPal
Do you know CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart? I didn’t, but now you do!
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
As I’ve said before, I’m certifiable 😂. Passed the DP-900 exam on Saturday. Look about 30 minutes (plus 15-20 for the remote proctor to release the exam). As with the Azure Fundamentals certification it was a lot of just knowing the names or classifications of things. I guess that’s why it’s a “fundamentals” exam.
Anyway, if work is going to pay for me to pad my resume I’ll take it.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
Ever connect to a wi-fi hotspot only to have nothing happen? Enter NeverSSL. After connecting to the hotspot, enter the URL (web address) http://neverssl.com into your browser of choice and watch magic happen.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself.
