I have been making music in a way by taking some of our CD’s and ripping them to my digital collection on my laptop. I have been using the Linux program Rhythmbox to import the music and then visually organizing the albums on Gnome Music where I will play them from.
Rhythmbox
Furthermore, I am saving them in the open source Ogg Vorbis format and tagging them so they can have the album art can be found online and embedded to each title. They won’t be going online for sharing just so that people with power will know it will be for personal use only. This is a retro way of doing things I would imagine, but it is fun.
We ordered pizza from Domino’s for dinner tonight. The delivery driver who did a good job saw the Linux t-shirt I was wearing, and we struck up a very short conversation about our favorite distro. He said he was a casual Linux Mint user while I am a Zorin OS guy myself. It’s cool when nerds find connections with one another.
My first computer was a Commodore Vic 20 which preceded the popular Commodore 64. It was a Christmas gift to me in 1982. I loved that machine because you could learn to program and play games. It was an 8-bit system, and it used a cassette tape drive and cartridges like a video game. It was also at a great price point of under $300 at the time. Furthermore, it really did a great job of getting technology to the people. Thanks to my mom and dad for gifting it to me and making me a happy boy.
An advertisement for the Vic 20 featuring William Shatner.
I wanted to share with you the operating system and apps that powers Nerd Corner. I use them on my desktop and laptop computers. They are vital to me in my creative endeavors. I use them daily to make connections with my family, friends and this blogging community. Check them out and give them a spin.
Zorin OS 18
I love Linux and my official operating system is Zorin OS, which is in its 18th version. It powers both my desktop and laptop. This open source software looks and feels like Microsoft Windows, and many use it because of that reason. You don’t have to put up with all the bloat and ads of Windows 10/11. It comes with loads of productivity and entertainment software already installed and has a library of thousands of apps I can download to make it my own.
Mozilla Firefox
Mozilla Firefox is my long-time favorite browser because it is open source, secure and offers enough features that don’t get in the way of getting stuff done. I use Firefox for browsing the web, posting blogs, watching YouTube videos, e-commerce, and connecting to others on social media among other fun things. There is also a mobile app that I use daily.
Thunderbird Email
Thunderbird is my go-to email app. You can send and receive email from various places like Gmail, Yahoo and the like. It is highly customizable so you can make it work for you. It also comes with a built-in calendar you can sync to your online calendar. Not only that, but it’s also secure.
In disclosure, I have made a very small donation to the organizations that maintain and distribute these programs. If you use them, it makes sense to support them in whatever way you can. Each of them are also non-profit and community supported, which is something I feel good about.
It’s more than OK, to repeat posts you have made in the past. When you have been blogging as long as I have, some things are worth mentioning again. I have created thousands of posts over the years, and there is no way I can keep up with them all in my head.
Some posts are good to revisit because you have a new idea or things have changed, where an updated post is a good idea. Blogs can be a way to capture what is in your head to share with others. Sharing is fun, right?
The saying “everything old is new again” is oh so true these days. With all the reboots and recycled ideas in culture. We are all different people than we once were. Blogging is supposed to be a living and evolving exercise. Enjoy the process of sharing an old idea in a new way. The most important thing is to Keep On Blogging!
Microsoft Windows 10 will reach its End of Support (EoS) on October 14, 2025. My wife’s computer this week had to be upgraded from Windows 10 to Windows 11.
At home, we are a Linux/Android/Chrome OS family so we don’t run Windows or iOS outside the office. We have some older hardware that would struggle to keep up with the resource hogs that are Windows machines.
I found this meme on Facebook that shows the lament of people who really liked Windows 7 and didn’t want to upgrade to Windows 10. Those same people now don’t want Windows 10 to go away. I like Windows 10, but I think my Linux Mint 22.2 Dell desktop works just fine for my needs. A lot of older hardware will fall by the wayside because of Windows 11’s heavy resource and technology demands.
It will be an interesting few days in October to see what people will do when they have to upgrade. I suggest Linux Mint because it is less bloated, and it’s a solid and familiar feel too. Of course, many will buy new machines when they don’t have to if they will embrace an alternative.
The Tony Burgess Blog 