World

For ages now, I’ve been highly suspicious of the frankly awful battery life on my OnePlus Pro 9 device. Over time, the battery life has become hugely problematic, and on average, I get around half a day of usage before I need to charge it again. Yes, I’m a power user, but I don’t use this device for video streaming or games, so it’s not as though I’m asking the earth in terms of reliability and performance.

As my contact is coming up for renewal, I started looking at the OnePlus Pro 11 - with it’s outrageous price tag, I decided to look elsewhere, and am currently waiting for a Samsung S23 Plus to be delivered (hopefully tomorrow).

It seems that this has been an issue since it was identified in 2021 - OnePlus evidently deliberately “throttles” the performance of apps such as WhatsApp, Twitter, Discord - in fact, most of them in order to “improve” battery life on the OnePlus 9 and 9 Pro phones

There are two articles I came across that discuss the same topic.

https://www.xda-developers.com/oneplus-exaplains-oneplus-9-cpu-throttling

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/8/22568107/oneplus-9-pro-battery-life-app-throttling-benchmarks

Having to discover this after you buy a supposedly “premium” handset is bad enough, but OnePlus themselves kept this quiet and told nobody. To my mind, this is totally unacceptable behaviour, and it means I will not use this brand going forward. The last time I had a Samsung, it was my trusty S2 which literally kept going until it finally gave up with hardware failure meaning it wouldn’t boot anymore. I could have re-flashed the ROM, but consigned it to the bin with full military honours

And so, here I am again back on the Samsung trail. Sorry OnePlus, but this is a bridge too far in my view. I faithfully used your models throughout the years, and my all-time favourite was easily the OnePlus 6T - a fantastic device. I only upgraded “because I could” and I’m sorry I did now.

Here’s to a (hopefully) happy ever after with Samsung.

US President Donald Trump has said Microsoft is in discussions to acquire TikTok and that he would like to see a “bidding war” over the sale of the social media app

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g3z55zz7xo

Something else for Microsoft to kill off…

This is the guide that I followed with setting up KDE Plasma on Linux. This guide shows how to install Arch manually and then goes from there to install KDE. One of the options with Arch after you boot up from a live usb is to use archinstall and that will have all your options that you can choose in a nice setup menu. You are able to choose KDE Plasma as one of the desktops to install from that setup. So you could skip the first part of the guide and then pick and choose which software and changes you would like to make from there following the guide.

https://github.com/XxAcielxX/arch-plasma-install

So this year on Oct 14th, Windows 10 will be at end of life. I think that it is stupid that MS put the new requirements in place. I kind of get it, but so many people will either be forced to buy a new one or to go with a different OS. I can’t afford to buy a new one at this point in time so I am planning on switching my machine over to Linux.

I played around with several different Linux OSs like Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu (which I’m not going with), Mate, Garuda Linux, Mint and several others. I believe I have made my decision to go with Arch. I like how due to the rolling updates that is is always up to date. I can even wait a week or two before doing any upgrades so then any bugs get worked out. If a new virus or whatever gets released, their patch gets sent out almost right away. Or at least that is what it seems like.

My other option was Fedora. I like how Fedora functioned and they would make updates on a regular basis so you had the newer packages. Not as often as Arch but when you go to install something like php or nodejs, you get the latest versions of those software. I know that Debian, Ubuntu that they wait longer to provider a more stable environment, but you usually have to manually install the latest version of software. That isn’t a bad thing, it is nice to just be able to install software and not have to go searching around to add the source to install the latest version.

The more I play with Arch the more I like it. It is fast and straight to the point and this isn’t anything special with Arch, all Linux OSs are customizable. Although, I will say that Arch does not have any bloatware whatsoever.

This isn’t a post saying that Arch is the end all be all. This is just a post about the Linux OS that I am choosing. Not to say that, that won’t ever change in the future, but for today. There are things in Arch that take longer to setup, for instance, NGINX and setting up everything that goes along with that. Manually setting up the folders for websites and configs and such, and at the same time going through and figuring that out, I understand a lot better how Webmin/Virtualmin work on the backend when setting up a new virtual website and how Linux works with them in the background.

Anyway, I would be curious to hear what versions of Linux that others have gone with and what they like and don’t like about it. Here is a link to the MS page with the date of the end of life for Windows 10.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/windows-10-home-and-pro

Mark
I updated to version 4 but i could not understand what changed from the forum?
Could it be that i did not notice a difference because i’m using your theme?
I could not clearly understand the active pub section. What is it purpose excatly?

I never thought I’d see the day when Ross Ulbricht received a pardon.

The creator of a dark web market that sold illegal drugs, stolen passports and hacking equipment using Bitcoin has been pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Ross Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole, in 2015 in connection with his ownership and operation of the hidden website. The then-26-year-old was also ordered to forfeit $183.9m (£120.2m).

https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-ross-ulbricht-founder-of-drug-marketplace-silk-road-now-pardoned-by-trump-13294204

Ross Ulbricht was eventually apprehended by stupidly using his own GMAIL address to identify himself on a website discussion around magic mushrooms.

More like Ross “Not so bright”.

The fact this criminal has been released by Trump is simply unbelievable.

This comment alone says it all

“Make no mistake: Ulbricht was a drug dealer and criminal profiteer who exploited people’s addictions and contributed to the deaths of at least six young people,” said Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York

I saw this article earlier, which piqued my interest

https://news.sky.com/story/netflix-hints-at-crackdown-on-password-sharing-after-fall-in-subscribers-12594439

The streaming giant estimated around 100 million households worldwide are watching its service for free by using the account of a friend or another family member, including 30 million in the US and Canada.

Did they seriously think that password sharing to reduce overall costs amongst friends and family wouldn’t be an issue ?? Like Zoom, Netflix enjoyed a huge uptake in user subscriptions during the COVID pandemic, and now of course, that revenue will be in freefall as people return to their jobs and are spending less time at home.

Surely, they must have realised that such a surge couldn’t last ? Now it seems they are getting greedy - if they decide to start including ads in a paid service, I’ll be cancelling my subscription for sure. The whole point of subscription services is not to receive ads in the first place !

iOS 18.3 automatically enables Apple Intelligence for users, requires opt-out to disable.

Can’t help but feel this should have been the other way round. It’s effectively forcing into the user in my view.

https://9to5mac.com/2025/01/21/ios-18-3-automatically-enables-apple-intelligence-requires-opt-out-to-disable/

Ubuntu 22.04 upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 can’t ping, found the problem, resolv.conf is corrupted or does not exist, 24.04 official has abandoned resolv.conf, what is the best alternative to use.

Please help me, I can’t install nodebb, I installed it for a week, the installation was unsuccessful, please help me, I provide the server account and password, my operating system is Ubuntu 22.04, please help me, friends, thank you.

Wishing everyone a very happy new year.

Hi All,

I have been running a Gaming Server and Site from home for many years. I have not really touched it in a while and switched on again today for some nostalgia and basically take a look.

My site uses mongo to store the information and i had one db on there. I updated my system and all seems completely broken. I can no longer see the site. Sorry for the long code text but you can see from when I use sudo apt update then upgrade that it suggests to fix. But I get this.

I am happy for someone to take dive in and take a look for the price of a coffee or two of course I guess it may be something simple but I am far from the level of most of the guys here. I am wondering if my db and data is lost Any help much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

smiley@fmjcod4:~$ sudo apt update
Hit:1 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:2 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates InRelease
Hit:3 https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb stable InRelease
Hit:4 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports InRelease
Hit:5 http://fi.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-security InRelease
Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/maxmind/ppa/ubuntu focal InRelease
Hit:7 https://repo.mongodb.org/apt/ubuntu focal/mongodb-org/8.0 InRelease
Hit:8 https://downloads.sourceforge.net/project/d-apt d-apt InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
22 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
smiley@fmjcod4:~$ sudo apt upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt --fix-broken install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 mongodb-org-database : Depends: mongodb-org-server but it is not installed
                        Depends: mongodb-org-mongos but it is not installed
 mongodb-org-tools : Depends: mongodb-database-tools but it is not installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try 'apt --fix-broken install' with no packages (or specify a solution).
smiley@fmjcod4:~$ sudo apt --fix-broken install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
  libboost-program-options1.71.0 libgoogle-perftools4 libpcrecpp0v5 libphobos2-108 libphobos2-108:i386 libsnappy1v5 libtcmalloc-minimal4 libyaml-cpp0.6 mongo-tools mongodb-server-core
Use 'sudo apt autoremove' to remove them.
The following additional packages will be installed:
  mongodb-database-tools mongodb-org-mongos mongodb-org-server
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  mongodb-database-tools mongodb-org-mongos mongodb-org-server
0 upgraded, 3 newly installed, 0 to remove and 22 not upgraded.
6 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/114 MB of archives.
After this operation, 386 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
(Reading database ... 198688 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to unpack .../mongodb-org-server_8.0.4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb-org-server (8.0.4) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/mongodb-org-server_8.0.4_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/bin/mongod', which is also in package mongodb-server-core 1:3.6.9+really3.6.8+90~g8e540c0b6d-0ubuntu5.3
dpkg-deb: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Preparing to unpack .../mongodb-org-mongos_8.0.4_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb-org-mongos (8.0.4) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/mongodb-org-mongos_8.0.4_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/bin/mongos', which is also in package mongodb-server-core 1:3.6.9+really3.6.8+90~g8e540c0b6d-0ubuntu5.3
dpkg-deb: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Preparing to unpack .../mongodb-database-tools_100.10.0_amd64.deb ...
Unpacking mongodb-database-tools (100.10.0) ...
dpkg: error processing archive /var/cache/apt/archives/mongodb-database-tools_100.10.0_amd64.deb (--unpack):
 trying to overwrite '/usr/bin/bsondump', which is also in package mongo-tools 3.6.3-0ubuntu1
dpkg-deb: error: paste subprocess was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /var/cache/apt/archives/mongodb-org-server_8.0.4_amd64.deb
 /var/cache/apt/archives/mongodb-org-mongos_8.0.4_amd64.deb
 /var/cache/apt/archives/mongodb-database-tools_100.10.0_amd64.deb
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)

Merry Christmas to all members 🫶.

Looking for a person well versed in Cake PHP to update the software version of an existing website from its current version to the latest version of Cake Php
Please only qualified people with direct relative experience with Cake Php. based websites. Preferrably someone ready to start ASAP and be paid task basis. Thank you

My nodebb instance had 50 new joiners over a month, all posting spam.
I had to turn on Admin approval to try and limit this.
But Im still getting Spammers. Location of IP gives a clue as most of these accounts come from a certain area, but its impossible to know for sure.
How to enable code that on registration they have to type why they want to join forum, so admin has more idea on what their motivations are?

I have a Zoho mail account but it will not work on NodeBB for sending out any kind of emails.
Under AdminPanel/email
I selected Zoho in the list
Typed in username@mysite.co.uk
Typed in the Zoho email password
and saved.

any email tests get an error
Invalid login: 535 Authentication Failed

This has been a problem for years, the zoho account sends emails fine, but it doesnt seem that my nodebb instance can use it?

The Massgrave hacker group claims to have carried out an exploit by bypassing the licensing protections of Windows and Microsoft Office, allowing the permanent and illegal activation of these software. They explain that they have cracked “almost the entire Windows and Office license protection system”. This method directly threatens Microsoft’s economic model, based on licenses and subscriptions.

The implications are serious, but for users, this illegal approach carries big risks, including exposure to malware or legal penalties. Microsoft could intervene quickly to close this loophole.

Microsoft’s licensing system has already been circumvented by methods such as hardware identifier (HWID) activation and KMS. However, what makes this recent hack remarkable is its simplicity and universal accessibility. It allows you to bypass the protections put in place by Microsoft for several years.

– More information :

https://www.ghacks.net/2024/11/30/hackers-claim-to-have-cracked-microsofts-software-licensing-protection/

Interesting to see how this goes seeing as I’m with Voxi who are a parent company of Vodafone.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/dec/05/vodafone-and-three-given-approval-to-merge

I’ve recently started looking into NodeBB as an option for a new forum that I want to start and I have to say that Sudonix is the best implementation I have come across so far.

Would you mind sharing a list of all the plugins that you are using?

A years-long infiltration into the systems of eight telecom giants, including AT&T and Verizon, allowed a state sponsored actor to steal vast amounts of data on where, when and who individuals have been communicating with.

Sophisticated state-sponsored campaigns from China are constantly targeting network appliances and devices. Among the culprits are four major APT groups: Volt Typhoon, Salt Typhoon, Flax Typhoon, and Velvet Ant. Volt Typhoon made headlines earlier this year when the FBI removed their malware from hundreds of routers across the US.

Source - MalwareBytes

https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/news/2024/12/americans-urged-to-use-encrypted-messaging-after-large-ongoing-cyberattack