http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux May 2019 LXF249 3WELCOME
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WHO WE ARE
SatuphereinourivoryLinux Format
Tower,it’seasytopourscorn on those
lessernon-Linux-usingtypes, hopelessly
switchingtheirlightsonand off with
theirphones,askinglittleround
speakerswhattheweatheris like
outsidetheirwindowsandchecking if
theirmilkhasgoneoffbylooking at their
smart-fridgedisplay.
Butwhyshouldn’tsomeone be able
toremote-controltheirlights, control
theirheatingoraska system what the
weatherisincompletedigital safety?
We’reexploringhowopensourcecansolvetheIoTproblembycombining
theMycroftandOpenHABprojectstocreatea smart,securevoice-
controlledopensourcehome.Heck,it eventiesintoGoogleHome and
Alexa,if that’syourthing.
ButdigitalLudditesoftheworldfretnot,if havinga smarthome isn’t for
you,we’vegota healthypileofsmartthingstodowithyourinstall of desktop
Linux.TheserangefromtheRoundupofdiskcloningtools,soyou can do
smarterbackupsanddeploymentsofsystems,toourveryown Jonni
attemptingtoannoytheArchLinuxcommunitybyexplaininghow to turn it
intoUbuntu.Somemaysaythat’snotverysmartatall.
Forprojectsandtutorialswehavemoregoodnews,fromgetting started
inmakingmusicwithAudacity, organisingyourphotosinShotwell, drawing
usefuldiagramswithvectorsandstreaminggameswithSteam, to creating
stop-motionanimationswitha Pi,exploringthenewWebassembly language
andtroubleshootingserialconnections.There’ssomethingforeveryone
wholikestotinkerwithcomputers,soenjoy!Jonni Bidwell
More and more I find myself focusing on the
not-so-smart things, so this is a really tricky
question. I dunno though, Vernier calipers
are pretty smart. Oh, and the people that do
the Royal Institution lectures.John Knight
I don’t have any ‘smart’ gadgets at home,
but I have ideas for an off-grid cabin powered
by renewables. A collection of Raspberry Pis
would be excellent for regulating power and
lighting, and their low-power consumption
would be perfect for computer usage without draining watts.
Christian Crawley
Sorting out the kids’ dance lessons, telling
me where I need to be (and where to go)
while working to resolve the concerns of
residents as a local Councillor, the smartest
thing in my life is without doubt my wife, Ceri.Les Pounder
The smartest thing in our home is Dexter
the dog. However, he has started to become
unresponsive to voice commands. The only
recognised commands are “walkies” and
“dinner.” Previously working commands
bathtime and“vets” are no longer starting the correct
processes.Theerrorlog is full of “woof” and “bark.”Control everything!
This issue We’re looking at building a open
source smart home, so what’s the
smartest thing in your life right now?
“b th ti ” d “Mayank Sharma
The voice recognition in my car is not
smart, it’s evil. It’ll change tracks and dial
numbers correctly, as long as it isn’t me
talking. When it hears me, it’ll always dial
relatives I don’t want to talk to – even
whenallI wantit to do is change tracks.Wina secureNitrokeyStorage 2
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