101* things to do with an old SteamLink

I bought one of these back when they were reduced to almost nothing. I used it very little as my pedestrian desktop couldn’t stream game satisfactorily and it’s sat in the cupboard since. As I don’t like to get rid of old tech until I’ve absolutely exhausted all possible ways to repurpose it, I though I’d hoke it out and see what the community has come up with.

Read more

Mastodon

I signed up to an account on the mastodon.social server using the federated FOSS microblogging/twitter style service Mastodon a few years ago. I liked the look of it and the idea that it was free and servers could be based around different topics/groups etc, but like many such services I knew no-one on it and as such put it to one side thinking it would probably fade away or become a dull hangout for hardcore nerds and misanthropes.

Read more

Top 10 Google Cardboard Apps

I recently picked up a Google Cardboard VR headset, because curiosity. Google sell them on their website for $15, but I grabbed an unbranded copy for £2.50 on eBay. Technically, due to the simple nature of the device you can make one yourself but I can’t be bothered with that and if my paper-craft skills are anything to go by, the result would look like something Cthulhu crapped out after eating an Amazon delivery.

Read more

Happy 20th birthday Windows 95.

Apparently it’s the 20th anniversary of Windows 95. Love it or hate it (most will say they hate it) it was an important development in home computing. Yes, Apple/Commodore/Xerox et al did it first but they didn’t open up the market the way Microsoft did. In many ways that was what MS always did best;take someone elses idea and put a marketing juggernaut behind it.

Read more

Scrobbling Vinyl to Last.fm

Since AudioScrobbler first arrived on the scene back in the early naughties I’ve been ‘scrobbling’ my listening behaviour to my AudioScrobbler profile for the interests of fellow music aficionados, friends, prospective employers and the NSA. While this was as simple as installing a plugin or ticking a box in my mp3/ogg/whatever player of choice I’m also a keen fan of vinyl records. As this is an analogue medium they aren’t easy to scrobble, but not impossible.

Read more

Choosing a GF friendly Linux for netbooks

My SO’s netbook is choking. I’m hoping it’s just caused by a flakey and poorly maintained Ubuntu install and not the symptoms of a netbook on its last legs.

While she’s back home for a week in .fi I have a chance to reinstall the OS. I thought I’d take the opportunity to install a more netbook friendly flavour of Linux.

Read more