Noticed quite a few of my searches performed in Google Search are returning results that are completely off the mark / irrelevant. Many of the results I am looking for were there a day earlier. In fact, finding relevant information via Google is slowly but surely becoming an increasingly challenging affair. With that said, it looks like the traditional web is in decline with people moving more and more to proprietary platforms / silos.
Computing
Getting the feeling that NextCloud is abandonware
This is only an unquantified Hunch at this stage, however I’m starting to get the feeling that NextCloud is slowly becoming abandonware. Used to run a self hosted instance of NextCloud, but dropped it after repeated performance issues. Went to a managed instance, but even with only a limited about of files, finding that it’s randomly slow at times. The App keeps kicking me out of a document editing session and lacks many features found in Google’s and Microsoft’s suite.
Started searching for an alternative, but sadly it appears NextCloud is still stated as the most oft recommended solution.
Issues with Web Search
I am trying to find a better solution to searching for information on the web.
The problem I’m frequently encountering is when you do a search for a problem (pertaining to something tech related), you end up in some forum post or article with outdated solutions or which may have never actually worked and you left running around in a circle going through a bunch of useless solutions.
Google search results are just inundated with cookie cutter bot written spam these days and admittedly, it’s infuriating.
Used to be able to add “reddit” on the end of any search term, but even that has become much less sure with just people confirming they experience the same issue.
As an aside, noticed there’s more internet traffic coming to my website for various vague search queries. Frankly, some pages here are ranking unduly high for some of these. May have to do some anti-SEO to get some of these pages down as some of my posts in queestion are merely “thoughts” rather than substantive “solutions” to problems that joe public may utlimately be looking for.
That said, It could be that the web as we knew it is dying out being replaced by something else. Goodness knows what. ChatGPT?
Sold a domain name (for the first time)
Ended up flicking off the domain name anhedonia.org. Admittedly I forgot I even had that domain name and the unsolicited offers sent to me were ending up in the Junk folder unbeknownst to me until I went to check that folder.
No, this is not an invitation to begin sending me unsolicited offers to buy any of the other domain names I happen to hold.
Looks like Domain Agents and Escrow.com are legitimate in so much so the proceeds from the domain sale has appeared in my bank account. That said, the mechanics of the domain sale process however I feel could have been made a lot more clearer upfront and feel I was left hanging by Escrow especially particularly on up and coming steps I should be taking in advance to ensure a smooth transaction.
Moved from Google Keep to Joplin for note keeping
Have moved from Google Keep to Joplin.
Only draw back I can see is there is no Web based UI to the thing. Have to use the native platform specific Joplin apps.
Installed Joplin client on Ubuntu 22.04 using this command line.
wget -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/laurent22/joplin/dev/Joplin_install_and_update.sh | bashHowever, found that Joplin (after double clicking it’s short cut icon) refused to launch. So had to run these commands to lay down something called libfuse2
sudo add-apt-repository universe
sudo apt install libfuse2…and then tried again, it launched after quite a few seconds.
Set up the path to my Joplin directory on my NextCloud installation.
https://[YOUR_SNAP_NEXTCLOUD_SERVER]/remote.php/webdav/JoplinAs for actually migrating your Google Keep Notes to Joplin, it’s a bit of a long winded process. Check here for some potential methods.
Australian Mastodon Server instances
Update 16 February 2023: mastodon.au have announced they are shutting down.
Update 21 November 2022: New Australian Mastodon Server instances theblower.au and mastodon.au are now live and accepting signs ups. Existing instance, aus.social has just re-opened to Sign ups again today.
Update 12 November 2022: Appears both aus.social and Chinwag have temporarily halted signs ups. There is a new Server being developed at theblower.au. Please read more about the new AU Mastodon server here.
In the meantime, If any one knows of any other Australian Mastodon instances that are still open (and have the capacity to take in new sign ups) please advise in the comments below and help your fellow Aussies out, thanks.
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If you’re in Australia and looking for a Mastodon (Twitter alternative) server to join, please look at…
theblower.au – NEW! Open for sign ups.
aus.social – Reopened to Sign ups 21 Nov 2022.
bne.social – NEW! Open for sign ups.
melb.social – Melbourne Based – Requires invite from existing user.
chinwag.org – Closed to New Sign ups.
mastodon.au – Instance announced it is now shutting down: See announcement.
There’s probably other Australia based (or focused) Mastodon instances. If anyone knows of any that are available to take sign ups, please let me know in the comments below and I’ll add them here.
Currently helping out at mastodon.nz in an assistant mod capacity to help get on top of reviewing sign ups and noticed there were a lot of Australians applying to sign up mentioning they could not find their local regional Mastodon server.
Signing up for Matrix Chat using Element
Noticed there is basically bug all user guides directed at the layman on the internet regarding signing up for Matrix chat using the Element chat client. Here’s a hastily cobbled together one based off the Android version of the Element App off of Google Play Store. If any other Matrix chat users want to flog this and improve it, by all means, please do so.
This guide is intended to be a very quick and dirty guide for getting prospective users who are interested to have a look at the Federated Matrix chat system signed up and started in the most direct way possible using the default reference matrix.org homeserver instance purely as a starting point only.
More privacy conscious users may wish to use a different homeserver as opposed to using matrix.org’s reference homeserver. This is one of the key benefits of the matrix protocol is that you have a choice of servers in which to establish an account on. Don’t like a particular homeserver (due to their policies)? There are many other homeservers to chose from.
Without further a do.. Steps to get started with Matrix.
Step 01: Open Google Play Sore and search for Matrix. Element Messenger should come up as one the top results… Open the App’s page and click Install. Continue reading “Signing up for Matrix Chat using Element”
Matrix chat community New Zealand
There is currently a matrix.org based chat community operating for New Zealand, originally established back in 2015 (when I was exploring and testing out alternative communication platforms to potentially draw friends and family away from the large centralized and commercialized platforms such as Facebook)
The community has grown to around 80 unique users and continues to grows every week. Click the following link to get started with [matrix] (using the currently foremost client Element).
The key benefits of Matrix over say Discord, WhatsApp, Telegam and signal is that users are able to run their run (Self-host) and govern their own homeserver for their social group (social groups, makers spaces, etc) and have it federate (talk to) other Homeservers.
Given Matrix’s federated nature, users can sign up for a account on a server of their choice or host their own. Recommended for NZ is mtrx.nz or otherwise, the main reference Matrix server instance at matrix.org (via app.element.io).
Main (Landing) space…
- #nzcom:matrix.org – New Zealand Matrix Community Space
Individual Rooms within the Matrix New Zealand space…
- #nz:matrix.org – New Zealand Aotearoa (General)
- #nzphoto:matrix.org – NZ Amateur Photography
- #nztech:matrix.org – NZ Technology Discussions (Most active)
- #nzpol:matrix.org– NZ based political and debates
- #nzofftopic:mtrx.nz – NZ Off Topic
- #NZSysadmin – NZ System Administrators
- #auckland:matrix.org – Auckland
There will be others, please check the #nzcom:matrix.org – New Zealand Matrix Community Space, for the latest list of New Zealand Matrix chat rooms.
Instructions to get started with Matrix (using Element.io).
BAN 1366×768 Screens 😛
In the year 2022, Why on earth do New mid-range and better Laptops fitted with a 15.6 inch 1366×768 resolution screen still even exist?
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Something tongue in cheek… In the guise of certain people in New Zealand advocating banning 1080 poison by way of “BAN 1080” signage and scrawls particularly in parts of rural New Zealand, I propose a new movement for the more tech inclined among us: BAN 1080 768, Demand 1080 (minimum)… 😛
“768” being the vertical resolution on laptops screens I’m railing against (which is not tongue in cheek). The majority, if not all laptops with a screen size of 14 inches or larger should have at least a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080. No laptop with a screen 14 inches or larger on a medium spec (AMD Ryzen 5, Intel i5) or better laptop should ever be sold new with a mere 1366 x 768 resolution screen in the year 2022. Continue reading “BAN 1366×768 Screens 😛”
New direct .au domains in Australia available apparently but requires manual intervention to be made live
The AuDA (.au Domain Administration Ltd.) in Australia have enabled domains to be registered directly under the .au level (without the need for .com.au .net.au .id.au, etc) for eligible entities.
To be eligible, you need to meet some Australian presence test (which I don’t, so won’t) – The “Australian presence list” criteria can be found buried in their licensing rules and doing a text search in your browser for Australian presence.
The new domains apparently require manual intervention by Afilias to be made live and accessible with a few people finding their new .au domains failing to resolve and expressing dismay regarding the matter on twitter.
Web Domains not for sale
I have been getting an increasing number of enquires recently asking to buy this and other domains off of me. Unless otherwise stated on the web domains themselves, none of the web domains I presently hold are up for sale.
As a side observation, at least up until very recently and for quite some years prior (since 2014), the newer .nz direct second level registration domain names were far less sought after, regarded, and recognized than the more familiar and consequently more trusted .co.nz domain names. Having a look at the recent statistics, this appears to be still the case where .co.nz remains more popular than the equivalent .nz with the number of new .co.nz registrations continuing to substantially outpace registrations of the newer .nz extension.
On the theme of domains, Australia are getting their direct .au registrations next coming week.
ESS Sage was down
Update 5:15 p.m. NZDT – Appears it’s finally back up.
Looks like ESS sage (Micropay – ess.cloud.micropay.com.au) who my employer uses as their payroll facility provider is currently down and has been down for a day. Not sure why there hasn’t been any news about this.
Security Warning – Click Hijack investigation
Investigations so far suggest that there is some type of conditional redirect exploit/hijack being planted on many WordPress websites redirecting search engine referred visitors to fake award/survey sites such as “moviesuddenvalley”, “applefacetook”, “hurryexpectsugar”, “mouthtroubleask”, “ondiesmall”, “thendownmeat”, “makemodernfive”, “sayhitome”, “whateyeweight” among several others typically ending in a “.live” or “.top” address. While this Hijack, as far as I have seen appear to predominantly affect some WordPress websites, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this possibly affects other types of websites as well.
In my experience, for sites that are affected, to replicate…
(These most certainly could differ depending on the site affected)
- Prerequisites…
- Needs to be done from an IP address that has yet to access the site in question. (e.g Mobile Data Connection, activate and deactivate airplane mode to get a new IP address)
- Chrome or Firefox browser (Win 10 or Android) in Incognito Mode (No plugins). Reportedly in other variations of the exploit, it only occurs on Safari under iOS
- Search for the site in Google search
- Click on the search result that points to the website. Instead of loading up the website as expected, you get redirected to a hijack site.
The hijack will not fire If you access the site directly (via bookmarks or typing the address directly in the address bar of your browser). This appears to be some conditional exploit based on visitors coming from Search Engines. (e.g by typing the site URL directly into the Address bar, you won’t get redirected) and it looks like it will only fire once per IP Address each week (resets at the start of each week).
I probably should add that many so called WordPress vulnerability scanners online I’ve discovered aren’t even set up to detected this sort of hijack. The scanners based on “Securi” certainly will not detect this exploit, I’ve found.
Other resources…
- WordFence – Removing Malicious redirects
- CoreRecon – Identifying a conditional redirect hack (Beware, annoying pop up)
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Original Post (Old):
Noticing some apparent weird intermittent redirect hijack on the general web where some sites are allegedly redirecting to some dodgy website with names such as “mouthtroubleask”
Update – 2020-09-11T06:55:00+12:00: Added steps to replicate (from my own experience)
Update – 2020-09-12T18:20:00+12:00: Added note to mention that all of the online WordPress malware scanners I’ve tried won’t detect this sort of hijack.
Pi-Hole on a Raspberry Pi 4
Experimented with running Pi-hole on the Raspberry Pi 4 that I have.
The Set up at least for the more tech inclined is very easy, all you had to do was launch a command line prompt and type this command…
curl -sSL https://install.pi-hole.net | bash
After running it for an evening. Thoughts and findings so far…
- Predominantly Does a DNS level block with a blocklist of known advertisement serving IP addresses.
- YouTube is a moving target whereby ads are served from youtube.com itself and therefore very difficult to (completely) block with Pi-Hole.
- Mobile devices with Ad laden apps will perhaps see the greatest reduction in ads.
- The default configuration doesn’t block nearly as many ads as say uBlock Origin installed on Desktop Firefox. This is not a replacement to having Client side ad blocking.
Curiously noticed these appearing in the query-log…
- www.collab.apps.mil
- www.gov.teams.microsoft.us
- www.dod.teams.microsoft.us
Why would Teams try and poll for these addresses is beyond me. It does raise a sufficient level of curiosity that I will be checking this out.
Retro City
Revisiting an old rendition of SimCity Classic while stuck at home…
Downloadable from the Windows Store as RetroCity. Beware, Windows Store pop up nags.
Site Move + State of the web.
Moved NUI.NZ again. This time to cheaper self managed hosting at Digital Ocean. Was on Cloudways who turned out to be excellent, though couldn’t justify spending almost 40 NZD a month on what essentially was a personal homepage hosting a bunch of personal photos. New arrangement will probably save me around 300 NZD per year.
I’m probably increasingly one of the last few netizens in New Zealand who still bothers to maintain a fully fledged personal website as the primary means of staying in contact with Friends and Family, particularly where I host my own photos (and video clips) on my own domain rather than putting it on one of the many proprietary services.
I have trouble with supporting the like’s of Facebook given their track record behaviour. After all they are a business whose first and foremost aim is to maximise profits and believe that it is not a good idea for us collectively allowing them to so much power over our communication lines between friends and family and subsequently our lives in general. They aren’t some benevolent organisation, being a for-profit entity, they are ultimately answerable only to their shareholders
Giving the increasing complexity of maintaining a website along with Web development becoming an increasingly specialized field… we are seeing more and more personal websites simply become single page landing sites which contain little more than a series of links to one’s social media accounts on the proprietary platforms owned essentially by Advertising companies.
So much Facebook hating but no one wants to do anything tangible about it
I noticed an inundation of Facebook hate articles, posts and general commentary across the wider general internet again. It seems to come in cycles. The most infuriating thing about this, is that few people seem to want to do anything about the state of affairs despite expressing their own disdain for Facebook. Almost everyone is waiting for their friends to move off before they do… this situation presents a sure fire way for Facebook keeping it’s dominance and dare I say, for us to encourage Facebook’s ongoing track record of behaviour.
All I can say is, at least I’ve tried… One sets up alternative services for people to elevate at their request, after setting it up, people find excuses (Some Valid, some perhaps less valid) to not even look at it. As each service fell into disuse, I ended up eventually re-purposing these sites along with the domains they were on for personal use… Continue reading “So much Facebook hating but no one wants to do anything tangible about it”