GeekNights Mondays: Science Technology Computing

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about package managers. We've covered Linux package management specifically in the ancient past. In the news, Rym's gonna do the Tunnel Run once it's safe to travel again, Europe has better vaccination policies than the US, Canon reminds you that the chips in their printer ink cartridges are unnecessary, Zynga was worth $12.7 BB, a nefarious developer set off a logic bomb in two popular NPM packages, and the James Webb Space Telescope is extremely important.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Package Managers

Things of the Day

• Rym - Seinfeld: Hello, Newman (but Disney Furry)
• Scott - The world's worst video card?

Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss software libraries. Most of you are probably too old to remember DLL Hell, but you probably don't want to be proving how square roots are calculated just to calculate them in your program. In the news, Amazon has had multiple outages, the log4j zero-day is a nightmare, and VR is edging into the mainstream with its first real consumer maturity milestone.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Software Libraries

Things of the Day

• Rym - Fruit, by their Appearances in Mario Games
• Rym - The physics debate
• Scott - I bought 1000 meters of wire to settle a physics debate

Tonight on GeekNights, we present our 2021 GeekNights holiday technology gift guide! You can refer to our recent gaming gift guide as a companion to this. In the news, COVID vaccine boosters are fantastic, take heed as the Omicron variant poses a "very high" global risk, Streamlabs agrees to rename SLOBS after public outcry, we're running out of quarters, and we're running out of Twitter CEOs.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Tech Gift Guide 2021

Things of the Day

• Rym - Why you don’t hear about the ozone layer anymore
• Scott - Bald eagle swoops in to steal Florida man's shark

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider Home HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. We've previously covered server room cooling, and the show is interrupted at the end by a classic. In the news, New York is taking some action on robocalls (though it's honestly too late at this point), people are upset that Microsoft is forcing Edge on Start Menu web search results, and Unity acquires Weta Digital.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Home HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

Things of the Day

• Rym - Fish Finder CRT
• Scott - Lady Gaga - Just Dance (Live at MNET Countdown)

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider documentation. Client documentation, user guides, service runbooks, developer notes, and the like. We've previously covered Documentation Systems, as well as in a game design lecture on game rules.

In the news, Rym finally dressed up as Zed from Zardoz, Facebook's name change to "Meta" isn't fooling anyone, a theoretical unicode-based attack on compilers is being patched, Roblox had a massive outage, and the LIRR is now able to run trains into Grand Central Terminal, a feat of engineering in the making since 1963.

This is also the 16th anniversary episode of GeekNights! We started on October 31 2005, and we made "beta" episodes well before that!

Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Documentation

Things of the Day

• Rym - ORBIS: Google Maps for Ancient Rome
• Scott - Famicom Party: Making NES Games in Assembly

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider upgrades of and migrations between Operating Systems. We may need to consider that the concept of an Operating System has changed and continues to evolve as computer technology matures. In the news, Apple Day told us about new MacBook Pros and AirPods (plus how people apparently aren't actually using Siri), and a kid accidentally shot himself immediately after assembling a 3D printed gun.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Operating System Upgrades and Migrations

Things of the Day

• Rym - Don't Touch: The Story of the U-Force
• Scott - Unicode Calendar Generator

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the Leopard that is social media. It is difficult to summarize the myriad ways that social media has materially harmed society despite its great promise. From Orkut to Facebook to Twitter, it's been a destabilizing force. In the (possibly too on-the-nose) news, Facebook had a major global outage today (see our episode on outages), Facebook has a whistleblower revealing terrible revelations about the harm Facebook causes, a new tool can reveal who actually owns companies, and Europe is looking to (rightly) standardize on USB-C for charging electronic devices (much to Apple's discomfort).Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Social Media

Things of the Day

• Rym - Skull Toilets
• Scott - The Funniest Sudoku Of All Time

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider the archaic "computer magazine" that you may have heard old people talking about. From PC Gamer to Maximum PC to Computer Shopper, the pre-Internet was a wild time. In the news, Western Digital "My Book" users had all their data deleted in a convoluted story, Western Digital tried to trick people into buying inferior drives, Google's internal dysfunction led briefly to Google News failing for all Google Workspaces users, and Sir Clive Sinclair has passed away at 81. Also Rym was nearly attacked by a crazy driver biking from Poughkeepsie to Queens on Sunday.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Computer Magazines

Things of the Day

• Rym - DOOM Version 1.9 SHAREWARE VERSION PLEASE DISTRIBUTE!!
• Scott - Computist Magazine

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider Apple, CSAM, and Privacy. Apple is under fire for its solution here, some have warned of its dangers, and other companies already do similar things. (It's worth noting that Apple is already doing this on iCloud Mail).

In the news, OnlyFans sells out its core user base, though the situation is more complex than it appears and other similar entities have complied with the rules that they ran afoul of. Meanwhile, Twitch is doing essentially nothing to curtail a massive wave of targeted attacks on minority and marginalized streamers, leaving them to use inadequate tools to solve a problem that Twitch is 100% responsible for. Join the boycott of Twitch on September 1st!

Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Apple, CSAM, and Privacy

Things of the Day

• Rym - Tiny Simpsons TV
• Scott - How Plywood Is Made In Factories?

Tonight on GeekNights, we accidentally do a June tech news roundup. So, in that news, US carries share vertical location data for 911 calls, Apple adds additional safety measures to AirTags (though there are still workarounds), Facetime is (sort of) coming to the web, and there's a ton of WWDC news.Related LinksForum Thread

• GeekNights Monday - Tech News Roundup - June 2021

Things of the Day

• Rym - Lift 5 (1992) - Yanis Freyzhas
• Scott - VGA ROM Fonts