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Are there any good FOSS motion-tracking / monitoring tools? I can't say I would want to spend all day watching video feeds, but it would be neat to have an automatic alarm for anything unusual.

With reference to a recent Tech-Conn video, I do wonder why other countries don't use fused plugs. It's not a complicated intervention, and hugely reduces the potential for overloaded socket-strips. It would be surprising to find an extension lead not rated for and fused at 13A in the UK. Some...

Perhaps it's trying to work out how much current the supply can really deliver, by ramping it up until the voltage drops off? I know at least some smartphones do that.

What do you make of the idea that patents encourage disclosure of trade secrets, thus opening up an industry to competition and innovation once the patent expires? Would weakened or lesser copyright law encourage or discourage large monopolistic publishers? On one hand, a small publisher with...

Q: What starts with 'T', ends with 'T', and is full of 'T'? A: Teapot!

I quite agree with the aging problem. Big corporate copyright policy tends to undermine historical interest. There is /still/ a great deal of cultural material from WWII which is locked up in archives where nobody can reach it. If I had my way, published works which are no longer available from...

I would be interested to see statistics supporting the idea that the move away from buying literal news papers has led to a decline in reporting quality. Some counterpoints: Tabloid/gutter journalism has been around for easily a century Attention-grabbing headlines sung by the newpaper seller...

Personally, I doubt I'll be using this, but I think it could be a very valuable option for some users. If you don't like DRM, you are completely free to shun those streaming services that use it - no extra effort required!

How does the existing system detect battery temperature? It's worth checking that you get that set up correctly with the new cells, otherwise it will either keep cutting out, or you'll have no protection against "interesting" failure modes.

For that matter, what is that god trusted to do or be? It always seems an odd slogan; religious enough to conflict with the separation of church and state, and yet so vague and casual as to belie its own profession of faith!

I'm curious about the motivations people have for buying or carrying penknives, etc. How many carry a multitool professionally? What jobs do you do? How many use it for a specific hobby? Camping? Something else? How many carry a knife as insurance for emergencies? What sort of emergency? How...

Libera definitely supports cloaks, but all the user/channel data was left behind on Freenode; you'll want a new NickServ account, etcetera.

I'm still not sure I gather the implicit parts of this argument. You suggest that most small FOSS developers haven't the time, energy or money to legally pursue those contravening the terms of their chosen license. I think I agree. What I don't quite understand is the implicit conclusions of...

The fact that you could be deliberately unethical and/or criminal - and probably get away it it - is not argument for doing so. You can get away with being antisocial on the internet, too. That said, there is a valid point about the difficulty of enforcing copyright law. That isn't restricted...

It seems to me very difficult to release software anonymously - in a practical sense. There are very few methods of hosting or publishing work online that do not attach some kind of user ID to the content. If your code does something illegal, then it is usually possible for the police to track...

I don't think that counts as spin. It's just brass-faced tactical lying! Wikipedia, for comparison, suggests the following modes of spin: Cherry-picking quotes and examples Denials that don't actually deny anything important Apologies that don't actually admit fault Distancing yourself from...

Why should a lie need dressing-up? If truth isn't on the agenda, you can just say whatever makes the voters happy and leave it at that. Surely the art is in being truthful enough to withstand formal scrutiny while still misleading the casual observer?

I would argue that a spin doctor's role is not exactly to lie, elaborately or otherwise. "Spin" (I think) refers to sports in which you can make the ball spin when hitting it, so that its trajectory/behaviour surprises your opponents. That is, a spin doctor takes a politically-unpopular truth...

Mad Hatter: Would you like a little more tea? Alice: Well, I haven't had any yet, so I can't very well take more. March Hare: Ah, you mean you can't very well take less. Mad Hatter: Yes. You can always take more than nothing.”

How is control of the volume currently shared between GUI volume controls and the wheel? What happens if you open Kmix/whatever, and move the master volume slider?