openstandards - GadgeteerZA

5 reasons you should use Markdown for documentation and notetaking

2025-01-012025-01-01 Danie

The image shows a spiral notebook with lined paper. In the foreground, there's a cartoon hand holding a pencil, seemingly about to write something on the notebook. To the right, there's another pencil and the word 'NOTES' playfully written. The background features a soft gradient of purple and pink, reminiscent of a dreamy, pastel sky, with some small stars scattered across it. The 'M' symbol combined with the downward arrow inside the box is a symbol for Markdown.

A good reminder again about the future-proofed nature of Markdown format notes. They are essentially plain text and will be read my many apps well into the future. Also true that Markdown’s “shortcuts” for headings, […]

Star Flash is a universal remote control standard because we have too many proprietary remote controls

2024-12-162024-12-16 Danie

The image shows seven different TV remotes scattered on a light beige wooden table. In the foreground, there's a variety of remotes, each with unique designs and button layouts. The background is blurred but shows a consistent wooden surface. Several of the remotes display signs of use, with some buttons appearing more worn than others.

Too often you have a TV or device where the remote has been lost or broken and there is no easy replacement, or you end up having 5 or 6 different remote controls on the […]

The OTIO standard can allow importing of a video editor’s timeline into a different video editor

2024-12-092024-12-09 Danie

The image shows two screen captures of video editing software. In the foreground, there are various tools and options for video editing, including color balance, equalizer, and effects. The background displays a preview of a video clip showing a vintage-style streetcar traveling along a desert-like landscape. The streetcar appears to be well-preserved, suggesting a historical or restored vehicle. The video editing software is shown here is Kdenlive, a professional-grade video editor. The screenshot displays multiple tracks and clips organized on a timeline, showing it is an advanced use-case scenario. The small details in the timeline include timestamps that correlate with the video footage, suggesting careful consideration and attention to detail by the editor. This implies the editor has advanced skills in editing, as the software displays a multitude of features including an audio mixer, video effects, and transitions.

This means a timeline that contains various media with multiple tracks and clips with cuts, can be exported, for example, from Kdenlive and imported into DaVinci Resolve. This is useful where often one editor can […]

Both the TETRA radio and Microsoft Azure Cloud vulnerabilities are ‘Negligent Security Practices’ and ‘Security Through Obscurity’ is not secure

2023-08-132023-08-13 Danie

The cover screen for the Security Now podcast showing the title Revising Global Privacy Control - Voyager 2, MS Security, keyboard acoustic side-channel attacks, and a red button to open it to listen in Pocket Casts.

Listening to Steve Gibson’s feedback today on the Security Now podcast #934 made me realise that both companies knew about the vulnerabilities but were extremely lax about doing anything (probably both trusting in their security […]

Google throws its weight behind yet another messaging standard: This time though it is the IETF’s MLS standard

2023-07-212023-07-21 Danie

Green patterned background with words "Google Chat" repeated over and over again

Yes I know, the words Google, Messaging and Standards, all diverge in different directions and visions, and which often overlap. I have no clue what Google’s own current latest messaging app is even called. Google […]

Think how much richer Internet searches will be with results from Lemmy, Beehaw, Kbin, etc

2023-06-142023-06-14 Danie

I have found search results to be very good with Reddit links in the past. I get that Reddit needs to pay for their hosting (just like everyone else) but with so many more Internet […]

Bluesky vs. Nostr vs. ActivityPub — Which Should Developers Care About More?

2023-06-022023-06-02 Danie

Yes, there is quite a debate raging across different networks about what protocol to support. Obviously, those who know only one well, are going to root for that one, irrespective of whether it may be […]

How to avoid the trap of cloud lock-in, because for many cloud providers that is their primary goal

2022-09-112022-09-11 Danie

Lock-in is not a healthy model. A company can lock in customers by making parts of service so proprietary that moving elsewhere becomes a very disruptive and expensive choice. It’s essentially an artificial inconvenience. It […]

KDE’s Kaidan Messaging App Adding End-to-End Encrypted Audio/Video Calls Supporting Interoperability Among XMPP-using Applications

2022-09-042022-09-04 Danie

This is the great thing about having open standards supported applications, as they can intercommunicate securely using those standards with no lock-in to a single Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, etc. Let’s ignore the fact that Facebook […]

Snikket (open standard XMPP instant messaging) has achieved XMPP account portability to move users between XMPP hosts

2022-08-262022-08-26 Danie

Popular messaging apps today are designed so that all your messages and data flow through the provider of the app. The companies that provide these apps are in the perfect position to track everyone’s messages […]

Tag: openstandards