Here is something that has been driving me nuts ever since I switched back to GNOME a while ago. For whatever reason, it doesn't remember where I chose to place the windows on the screen. So, the next time I start a given application, I always have to rearrange it. I found the solution somewhere on Reddit. Basically, install the GNOME Tweaks tool, and use it to enable centered windows under the "windows" section. To be clear, this doesn't truly restore the window to whatever position it had before, but at least it does consistently center it on the screen, which is precisely what I was aiming for anyways {link to this entry}

I recently bought a refurbished Dell OptiPlex 7010 to make it my main home computer. It came pre-installed with Windows 10. So, while I figure out how to partition the thing, how to configure it, etc. I figured I might as well run Windows for the time being and see what the experience is like. I must say I'm seriously put off by the overly commercialized approach that Microsoft took when configuring the default settings on the operating system. I'm referring to things like the search bar right at the center of the desktop that, of course, points to Bing, their own search engine. But, way worse than that, I'm also referring to the notifications that pop up here and there to let me know about a game they just released for the Xbox, or a trip somewhere that I could purchase using whichever online service they favor these days. Overall, I'm quite disgusted by the experience. I had not run a Windows version for the home market in many years (25 years, perhaps?), and what I've seen so far smacks of cheap, careless commercialization without any conscience. Is this truly what goes as "normal" these days? It saddens me. {link to this entry}

I accidentally came across the Killed by Google website today. I knew they had killed lots of services and web apps, but scrolling down the complete list is a big warning to anyone who trusts Google with essential services. {link to this entry}

Believe it or not, it wasn't until today that I heard about the Web Environment Integrity standard being proposed by Google. According to the description in Wikipedia:

The standard proposes an API for websites to get a digitally-signed token that contains the certifier's name and whether or not they deem the web client to be authentic. The stated goal is to only allow access to certain sites for human users instead of automated programs and "allow web servers to evaluate the authenticity of the device and honest representation of the software stack and the traffic from the device".

It sounds innocent enough but, taking into account the overwhelming dominance of Chrome in the browser market, this has the potential to destroy the open web as we know it. No matter how they try to spin it, it sounds a lot like browser vendor lock-in. Here is a video by Brodie Robertson on the topic:

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Reading a blog post by Chris Siebenmann on how not to write kernel messages, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one to complain about this issue which, I'd say, is getting worse and worse. As Siebenmann states:

Linux is far from the only Unix to do this, but for various reasons the Linux kernel has taken it to new heights (or depths). Quite a few kernel messages are not written for outside people, and in fact they're often not even written for general kernel programmers; they're pretty much written for the people who are working on the particular subsystem, the sort of people who know off the top of their head what Yama is and what an in-joke message like 'Yama: becoming mindful' actually means.

I'm not advocating for a totally buttoned down style of messages and sometimes you really do need debugging messages that require so much domain expertise that there's no point in making them comprehensible to outsiders. But most of the time kernel messages don't have to be anywhere near as obscure as they are.

Mind you, the kernel error message he is writing about ("Yama: becoming mindful.") is nothing compared to other gems one runs across of when running regular apps these days. Yes, even web apps! Sadly, things like "Unknown error!" are common currency these days. Worse yet, there are plenty of apps that just fail silently. {link to this entry}