Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the humble remote control. We are some of the youngest people who remember having screens and other devices without remote controls, and they changed things in more ways than you might have expected. In the news, Apple is going after Itch.io in its ongoing fight with Epic, Steam rejects some games but not others without clear rules, Facebook rejects adaptive clothing ads, Microsoft changes its old icons, and a major US fuel pipeline was shut down by ransomware.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Remote Controls

Things of the Day

• Rym - DMX Meets David Bowie
• Scott - Theme Park Brochures

Tonight on GeekNights, we bring you a technology news roundup for April 2021. Apple announces several things, Apple must face a lawsuit over whether or not people "buy" things, early results show promise for a new malaria vaccine, capitalism is keeping the COVID vaccines from widespread global use, Honda will stop selling combustion engines by 2040, Fujitsu software wrongly sent people to prison, Elon Musk's tunnel is worthless garbage, chip shortages are getting worse, Signal pwn3d Cellebrite, the University of Minnesota is now banned from contributing to the Linux kernel (their apology was not accepted), a driverless Tesla killed two people and burned so bardly firefighters couldn't put it out, Roku and Google are beefing (another reason why the HTPC is superior to all other streaming devices), this streaming device points a camera at you to literally spy on you, and lab-grown salmon meat is a real possibility!Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Tech News Roundup - April 2021

Things of the Day

• Rym - Jingle Bells 2
• Scott - BLDC Motor (Open Loop)

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the current world of laptops and tablets. The world is changing, and laptops are increasingly becoming desktop replacements or niche devices. Don't take our advice from how to buy a laptop in 2008, and internalize how long ago 2012 was. (This was Rym's first laptop). In the news, Yahoo Answers shuts down forever, destroying a treasure trove, LG exits the smartphone business, and Nvidia unveils a server-room ARM CPU.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Tuesday - Laptops and Tablets

Things of the Day

• Rym - Momijigari (1899)
• Scott - SE/30 logicboard recreation

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider how multi-factor authentication works. We've previously talked about single Signon, biometrics, the levels of security & privacy, and the like, but we've never actually talked about how TOTP and other multi-factor authentication schemes work.

In the news, the ship is no longer stuck, New York opens up vaccines to everybody, fake ai-generated and fake stolen-profile-photo twitter accounts are spreading Amazon's anti-union propaganda, and the Free Software Foundation has ruined its reputation by bringing Richard Stallman back on board, with many others joining the denouncement. Also note that there is a vulnerability in 2FA keys that allows cloning them.

Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Multi-factor Authentication

Things of the Day

• Rym - Compositing Kowloon Walled City Cross Sections
• Scott - Why a Hass Avocado Seed Does Not Give Us a Hass Avocado Tree

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider cable management. From inside your computer to... outside your computer. Rack & stack to mounting a TV, cable management is more important than you might realize. In the news, maybe we can end the terror of Daylight Saving Time, Twitter banned Memphis, there's malware in your browser extensions, and Apple pulls the plug on the HomePod. Also LG is putting ads directly into your television.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Cable Management

Things of the Day

• Rym - Why Snatch Blocks are AWESOME (How Pulleys Work)
• Scott - Welcome to picoCAD!

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the evils of cryptocurrencies. In the news, the worst social network on Earth got hacked, Fry's is no more, Twitter almost has a business model, and you can't get better at biking.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Cryptocurrencies

Things of the Day

• Rym - GamestonkTerminal
• Scott - The lamps you're not allowed to have.

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the Environmental Cost of Computing. In the news, Nintendo is replacing its multiplayer server, Sony appears to be reviving small Android phones, and Tesla has a recall problem.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - The Environmental Cost of Computing

Things of the Day

• Rym - 1939 Ski Jumping competition
• Scott - How to Photograph Squirrels Without Photoshop

Tonight on GeekNights, apropos of nothing in particular, we talk about outages. In the news, Slack started the new year with a major outage, Google employees are unionizing, and Scott found Turbo Vision. Welcome to 2021!Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Outages

Things of the Day

• Rym - 19th century "ASCII" advertisements
• Rym - Solving a Century-Old Typographical Mystery
• Scott - Making an unpickable lock. Calling locksmiths

Tonight on GeekNights, at the end of the year they'll write songs about and the end of a decade, we consider what's changed in the last ten years. We'll be doing this for all four nights of GeekNights in the coming two weeks.

In the news, GitHub removes that annoying cookie banner in the best way possible, and the supply-chain hack of SolarWinds is a historic mess.

Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - The last 10 years of Technology (2010-2020)

Things of the Day

• Rym - Playing an RPG for the first time
• Scott - The first trilobite

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the longevity of technology. From computers to bikes, proper maintenance can greatly extend the life the right tool, though some more easily than others. We've talked about computer maintenance specifically before in 2006 and then in 2020.

In the news, Apple may be working on a 32-core processor, Pornhub runs into trouble with its payment processing, the Arecibo Telescope is sadly no more, and the devil cars sell their self-driving unit. Also don't forget to check out the Advent of Code this year! Scott's doing it!

Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Technology Longevity

Things of the Day

• Rym - How I Made a Self-Quoting Tweet
• Scott - jump onto raw eggs