ptz

I dug out my old Asus Zenbook (UX305CA) and refurbished it: gave it a good cleaning, replaced the thermal paste, installed a new battery, upgraded the SSD, and did a clean install of Ubuntu 24.04 (don't judge; everything else in my house is still Debian and/or OpenWRT).

The only thing I can't upgrade is the memory since it's soldered on. It's got 8 GB which hasn't really been a limit given my use cases, but since I'm in upgrade mode, I was thinking of running it with zram configured.

I just setup zram and gave it 50% of the physical memory as a starting point, set vm.swappiness to 140, and am using zstd as the compression algorithm.

Haven't noticed much difference, so there doesn't seem to be much CPU performance penalty even on this low-spec CPU (base clock 900 MHz lol). zramctl shows it's got 726 MB swapped to it currently which is compressed to 126 MB. Not bad! The only thing I haven't done yet is set the power profile to "Power Saver" - if there are going to be noticeable performance penalties, that's probably when it will show up.

I've only ever used zram on Raspberry Pis and on an old netbook, so I'm not sure if using it on a machine with an otherwise usable amount of RAM is even worth it.

Thoughts and/or suggestions for a better config?

Nothing better to relax you after a stressful 11am to noon meeting than going out into the garden and ripping some weeds out. It's like nature's bubble wrap.

California residents who lit illegal fireworks over the July 4 holiday may be in for a nasty surprise in the mail thanks to covert fire department operations.

A number of California cities, including Sacramento, have begun using drones to locate people shooting off illegal fireworks. From Wednesday to Saturday night, the Sacramento Fire Department’s special fireworks task force patrolled the streets with unmarked cars and drones, focusing on neighborhoods where they’ve had prior complaints. Task force officers and the drones took photos of the illegal activity, and within 30 days the property owner where the fireworks were used could receive a fine in the mail.

S7E01: Descent Part II + Family Guy: Blue Harvest

Waited weeks for this and was so excited it finally arrived today. Unboxed it, put it on charge, and....nothing. Won't boot up, no signs of life. He's dead, Jim.

Now I have to send it back and wait who knows how long if I want a replacement. Probably just going to ask for a refund; I can't wait another 4-6 weeks or wait for one to ship from the September batch. Ugh!

Mildly infuriating, highly disappointing.

TNG 6x24: Second Chances

Ok, she said "Night Bird" but same energy.

It also helps to imagine that scene, but with this voice:

collapsed inline media

I have a bunch of Ankers, and of course at least one of them was part of this.

Edit/Clarification: Only certain serial numbers are affected. If your model is listed in this, you'll need to enter its serial number in the recall form to see if that specific unit is affected.

Models:

• Anker Power Bank (10K, 22.5W) — Model A1257
• Anker Power Bank (20,000mAh, 22.5W, Built-In USB-C Cable) — Model A1647
• Anker MagGo Power Bank (10,000mAh, 7.5W) — Model A1652
• Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C and Lightning Cable) — Model A1681
• Anker Zolo Power Bank (20K, 30W, Built-In USB-C Cable) — Model A1689
• Anker PowerCore 10000 Power Bank — Model A1263

Resources:

• Recall Overview: https://www.anker.com/rc2506
• Product Recall Submission Form: https://www.anker.com/rc2506-form

U.S. lawmakers have reintroduced the bipartisan Open App Markets Act, aiming to curb Apple and Google's control over mobile app stores by promoting competition, supporting third-party marketplaces and sideloading, and safeguarding developer rights. AppleInsider reports:

The Open App Markets Act seeks to do a number of things, including:

• Protect developers' rights to tell consumers about lower prices and offer competitive pricing;
• Protect sideloading of apps;
• Promote competition by opening the market to third-party app stores, startup apps, and alternative payment systems;
• Make it possible for developers to offer new experiences that take advantage of consumer device features;
• Give consumers greater control over their devices;
• Prevent app stores from disadvantaging developers; and
• Establish safeguards to preserve consumer privacy, security, and safety.

This isn't the first time we've seen this bill, either. In 2021, Senators Blumenthal, Klobuchar, and Blackburn had attempted to put forth the original version of the Open App Markets Act.However, the initial bill never made it to the floor for an office vote. Thanks to last-minute efforts by lobbying groups and appearances from chief executives, the bill eventually stalled out.

While the two bills are largely similar, the revised version introduces several key differences. Notably, the new version includes new carve-outs aimed at protecting intellectual property and addressing potential national security concerns.There's also a new clause that would prohibit punitive actions against developers for enabling remote access to other apps. The clause addition harkens back to the debacle between Apple and most game streaming services -- though in 2024, Apple loosened its App Store guidelines to allow cloud gaming and emulation.

There are a few new platform-protective clauses added, too. For instance, it would significantly lower the burden of proof for either Apple or Google to block platform access to a third-party app.Additionally, it reinforces the fact that companies like Apple or Google will not need to provide support or refunds for third-party apps installed outside of first-party app marketplaces.

The full bill can be found here.

I could have done the meme in one frame, but I wanted Quark to do a Jim stare.

You hear that piano intro, and who do you think of?