Devices and Tech
Cover photo by https://unsplash.com/@we_are_rising

Samsung Galaxy S3 Tab
Galaxy Tab S3 is a 10 inch (9.7") tablet released in 2017. 
 Installing TWRP 
 
 To install TWRP on the device it's best to use this chap's release and install via Heimdall: 
 apt-get install heimdall-flash 
 Once you have the files ready to go, put the tablet into download mode with Power + Vol Down + Home (hold for 10 seconds). 
 
 heimdall flash --RECOVERY ./Downloads/twrp-3.6.0_9-0-gts3lwifi.img --no-reboot
 
 
 It's important to now reboot straight into recovery so that the old recovery partition is not recovered - Power + Vol Up + Home 
 Swipe to install TWRP 
 
 LineageOS 
 
 Use LineageOS 19 this release is most stable 
 Using NikGApps 12.1 (SL) 
 From TWRP install the zip files.

NeoVim
NeoVim is a new super configurable version of the VIM editor. 
 I've been learning to configure and customise it for my own use. I used the following tutorials: 
 
 
 https://scribe.citizen4.eu/geekculture/neovim-configuration-for-beginners-b2116dbbde84 
 
 
 I also really like these plugins: 
 Powerline 
 Lualine adds a status bar at the bottom of VIM that shows you what's going on - its pretty neat. You need to install powerline fonts on the system. On Debian-based systems you can run apt-get install fonts-powerline 
 
 
 https://github.com/nvim-lualine/lualine.nvim (you also need powerline fonts for this)

Online Reading and Feeds
RSS 
 I use FreshRSS to manage my feeds for me and the associated Android client for on the go. On the desktop I use NewsFlash reader which can also subscribe to FreshRSS 
 Read it Later App 
 I use Wallabag to store articles I want to read later and the accompanying android app for on the go. I use Read it Later for Wallabag stuff on desktop and the Firefox plugin for quickly adding things to my to read list.

Firefox on Ubuntu 22.04 Non Snap
In the latest Ubuntu they made Firefox a snap instead of just installing via deb. This walkthru tells you how to undo it. 
 In summary: 
 sudo snap remove firefox 

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mozillateam/ppa

echo '
Package: *
Pin: release o=LP-PPA-mozillateam
Pin-Priority: 1001
' | sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla-firefox

echo 'Unattended-Upgrade::Allowed-Origins:: "LP-PPA-mozillateam:${distro_codename}";' | sudo tee /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/51unattended-upgrades-firefox

sudo apt install firefox

Hugo Static Site Generation
I use Hugo to maintain most of my websites. 
 Extended Edition 
 Hugo has an extended version which includes hooks for building SASS. Hugo recommend using snaps to manage and install versions of their tool rather than relying on debian packages since these can often be out of date.

Zellij
Zellij is a Golang terminal workspace + multiplexer - its a bit like tmux on steroids 

 Featured in charm interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnp9LCUdtJw

Dell XPS 13 9305
I had one as my daily driver at work from late 2020 to late 2023. I was so pleased with it I bought one for home/personal use too. Dell no longer make this laptop . 

 

   

 

   

 Managing and Limiting Battery 

 I used dell-charge-limit to automatically stop charging at 80% and preserve battery life

LaTeX
LaTeX is a powerful typesetting system that renders books and has specific markup for mathematics

Angle Brackets (Greater Than, Less Than) show as upside down question and exclaimation marks
This is an issue when <> render incorrectly, it can look very weird. 

 Check your encoding 

 According to this post ( mirror ), it could be as simple as not using the correct encoding and can be remedied with the correct package being included in the document: 

 \usepackage[T1]{fontenc}

Delonghi Dedica
I've had my trusty dedica machine for over 11 years. It has taken a battering over the years but I still enjoy using it. 

 

 Dedica EC680.M Manual.pdf

XTEInk4
The XTEInk4 is a budget e-ink ebook reader that is smaller and thinner than a modern smartphone. 

   

 Crosspoint Reader 

 On Github 

 This is a community-provided open source reader firmware for the XTEink4 that can be flashed via the web flasher.

Ravpower Filehub RP-WD009
Manufacturer's Manual 

   

 Installing OpenWRT  

 You can install OpenWRT on Ravpower Filehub - instructions can be found on the OpenWRT Wiki here and archived here

Samsung Chromebook XE303C12
First generation chromebook from Samsung in 2012. 

   

 

 Cannot boot from the USB 3.0 port (blue) - USB boot is only available from the 2.0 port. 

 Press CTRL + U to boot from USB or CTRL + D to boot from internal disk 

 low beep indicates that the machine cannot find a bootable image on the USB drive 

 Check that you have run sudo crossystem dev_boot_usb=1 dev_boot_signed_only=0 - the signed image flag is important and making sure it is low (set to 0) is key. 

 

   

 After a Flat Battery 

 The crossystem values go back to default so you have to redo the steps above to enable dev boot and disabled signed boot. 

 ArchLinux ARM 

 See Samsung Chromebook  

 

 LinARM Images 

 see Linarm