Table of Contents

Welcome From The Chief Editor

1. ICYMI: UK Moves Forward Wtih Ban From Paying Ransomware Attackers

2. GIMP Tutorial: Create Transparent Cutout Text

3. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Creamy Cajun Steak Alfredo

4. Why Linux Is The Ultimate Mental Gym For Problem-Solvers; A Doctor & An Equestrian's Journey

5. Adding An Extra Hard Drive To Your PCLinuxOS

6. Tip Top Tips: How To Use Joe's Own Editor (JOE)

7. How To Draw Arrows In GIMP 3.0

8. You Don't Own That Game (And That App On Your Phone? Yeah, You Don't Own That Either)

9. The Online Safety Act

10. Wiki Pick: PkgProblemResolver

11. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Rice Krispie S'mores

12. PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

13. Screenshot Showcase

From The Chief Editor's Desk...

One day, Meemaw and I were talking, as we often do. We communicate with each other about a wide range of topics, not just plans for the magazine. After all, we’ve been working together closely for over 16 years on producing this magazine.

One of our conversations towards the end of July involved discussing the distro rankings on Distrowatch. Eventually, our conversation included that time back in 2008 when PCLinuxOS was THE number one distro listed in the Distrowatch rankings.

Ryan & Dad at the 2025 Missouri State Fair, on the Ferris Wheel

Being #1 is a double-edged sword. On one side of the “blade,” it’s an honor to hold the top spot in the distro rankings. It’s a good way to get out word about our favorite Linux home among users of other distros. It’s a “reward” for all of the hard work that has gone into producing a stable, fast, and useful Linux distro.

But, the other edge of that same “blade” is where the real cutting occurs. What does everyone want to do to the “king of the mountain?” They want to dethrone it, hopeful that their favorite distro will supplant the “top dog” (which rarely, if ever, happens). As a result, the “top dog” in the list draws in all kinds of users who have no other agenda other than to sabotage and knock that top distro down a few pegs.

It’s easy to understand why every user of the various Linux distros want to see their favorite Linux “home” (distro) listed in the top spot on Distrowatch. But, does it really matter?

I can understand the competition between the various top-level operating systems. Most of us using PCLinuxOS are Windows refugees who grew tired of Microsoft’s narrow vision, who grew tired of paying large sums of money for software, and who grew tired of Windows being a literal virus magnet (all for several reasons). So, that competition between users of different operating systems — Linux, Windows, MacOS — is easy to understand.

What’s not so easy to comprehend is the tribalism and competition between the various Linux distros. We all are, after all, using essentially the same operating system. Yes, it’s true that there are nuances and differences (some subtle, others not so much) between how our favorite operating system works. Each “version” or distro of Linux is built differently by individuals or entities, and evokes the vision that that individual or entity has in mind for how Linux should work. PCLinuxOS users are fortunate to have Texstar, who has created our preferred Linux distro with the idea of being stable, fast, has great hardware detection, and works well as a desktop replacement for Windows (without embracing the Windows mindset).

As such, each Linux distro has a piece of its creator’s vision for what they think or feel Linux should be. But those differences are nothing to “go to war” over. If one distro doesn’t fit your needs, you move on to another one. In moving on, it’s in poor taste to disparage a distro that didn’t live up to YOUR idea of what Linux should be.

Linux has, it seems, always been about choice. You have a choice of programs. You have a choice of desktops. You have a choice of hardware. You have a choice of distro. So, yes, I think it’s safe to say that Linux is all about choice. That’s because of the at-large community that has sprung up around Linux, with input accepted from all walks of life to help shape each person’s view of what Linux should be.

And, here's the real “rub” about the Linux tribalism: it's all built around the exact same open source code base. With PCLinuxOS, for example, ideas, code, implementation plans, and configuration options are “borrowed” from just about every other Linux distro. Well, at least the ones that work. And, PCLinuxOS isn't the only Linux distro to borrow from the other distros. They all do it. It is, more or less, how open source software works. So, to criticize one distro is to potentially criticize your favorite distro.

So, do the Distrowatch “rankings” really matter all that much? Granted, users new to Linux, and existing Linux users looking for a new Linux distro to switch to (or “hop” to), will use the rankings on Distrowatch to steer their selection. But, where do those numbers come from? Well, they come from Distrowatch themselves. That’s it. There is NO scientific or statistical relevance to anything other than a count of how many times the link for a particular distro has been clicked on while a user is on the Distrowatch website. That’s it. It doesn’t tell anything else. What if users went straight to the distro’s homepage and downloaded the latest from that distro? Nope. Those numbers are not included. So, in essence, the Distrowatch “rankings” are entirely made up by Distrowatch itself, presumably just to generate web traffic. For what it’s worth, PCLinuxOS is listed at number 38 in the rankings list (as of the writing of this article). Even Ubuntu and Fedora BARELY made it into the top 10.

But, to the rest of us — those of us using PCLinuxOS — know that PCLinuxOS is #1. I know for me, it has remained my “Linux of Choice” for over 18 years, and counting. I’ve not had wanderlust for any other Linux distro. PCLinuxOS just simply meets my needs, fully.

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This month’s column was “designed” by Meemaw, using Bing Image Generator. She decided to try her hand at using AI to create an image for this month’s cover. This month’s cover “celebrates” the traditional return to school from “summer vacation.” And, of course, it features Tux teaching a class of baby Tux penguins in a classroom setting.

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Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity, prosperity, and continued good health!

ICYMI: UK Moves Forward Wtih Ban From Paying Ransomware Attackers

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

NASA

New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) are painting a new picture of Jupiter's moon Europa and revealing the hidden chemistry of the icy moon's interior, according to an article from Space.com. For decades, scientists pictured Europa's frozen surface as a still, silent shell. But the new observations reveal that it's actually a dynamic world that's far from frozen in time. “We think that the surface is fairly porous and warm enough in some areas to allow the ice to recrystallize rapidly,” Richard Cartwright, a spectroscopist at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory and lead author of the new study, said in a statement. Perhaps even more exciting is what this surface activity reveals about Europa's subsurface ocean. The presence of geologic activity and ongoing cycling between the subsurface and surface make “chaos terrains” — highly disrupted regions where blocks of ice seem to have broken off, drifted and refrozen — especially valuable as potential windows into Europa's interior.

Ancient Egyptians sure knew how to stage a burial, including canopic jars to hold organs and scrolls from the “Book of the Dead” to help the deceased navigate the afterlife. In central Egypt, archaeologists uncovered one of these elaborate scenes: a 3,500-year-old New Kingdom cemetery filled with mummies, amulets, statues, canopic jars, and a 43-foot-long papyrus scroll containing part of the Book of the Dead, according to an article from Popular Mechanics. This scroll is the first complete papyrus found in the Al-Ghuraifa area, and is “characterized by being in good condition,” Mustafa Waziri, secretary general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, said in a translated Arabic statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

Found in everything from protein bars to energy drinks, erythritol has long been considered a safe alternative to sugar. But new research suggests this widely used sweetener may be quietly undermining one of the body's most crucial protective barriers – with potentially serious consequences for heart health and stroke risk, according to an article from ScienceAlert. A recent study from the University of Colorado suggests erythritol may damage cells in the blood-brain barrier, the brain's security system that keeps out harmful substances while letting in nutrients. The findings add troubling new detail to previous observational studies that have linked erythritol consumption to increased rates of heart attack and stroke. In the new study, researchers exposed blood-brain barrier cells to levels of erythritol typically found after drinking a soft drink sweetened with the compound. They saw a chain reaction of cell damage that could make the brain more vulnerable to blood clots – a leading cause of stroke.

Image by Katie White from Pixabay

The United Kingdom will move forward with its plan to ban all public sector bodies and critical national infrastructure from paying ransomware attackers, according to an article from TechRepublic. The intention is to make critical industries “unattractive targets for criminals” to reduce the frequency and impact of incidents in the country. The ban, which would apply to NHS trusts, schools, local councils, and data centres, was first proposed in January. It then underwent several months of public consultation, culminating this week in an announcement that nearly three-quarters of respondents supported the proposal.

Astronomers have discovered a brand-new world hiding out beyond Pluto, according to an article from BGR.com. While exciting, the discovery of this new world could challenge long-standing theories of the existence of Planet Nine. In fact, the discovery could even kill those theories completely. The idea that a ninth planet exists in our solar system isn't a new one by any means. In fact, scientists have been theorizing about it since we officially marked Pluto off the planetary lineup (possibly even before, but back then it was called Planet X, instead). However, finding evidence of a ninth planet has been difficult. Not only because of how far away it might be — in the outer reaches of our solar system — but also just because it doesn't always line up with the science we have in front of us. Proving that Planet Nine exists shouldn't be this difficult. But space is vast. Thankfully, researchers say they might have found the key to proving Planet Nine's existence. Further, some scientists even did the math and estimated that there was at least a 40% chance that Planet Nine exists.

Four major U.S. agencies have issued a joint cybersecurity alert warning about the escalating threat posed by the Interlock ransomware operation, which has increasingly targeted businesses, healthcare providers, and critical infrastructure entities across North America and Europe, according to an article from TechRepublic. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released the alert Tuesday as part of the #StopRansomware initiative. The agencies emphasized Interlock’s rapid evolution and its focus on high-impact sectors, particularly healthcare. According to the advisory, Interlock emerged in September 2024 and has since launched financially motivated ransomware campaigns. The group employs a double-extortion model that involves both encrypting the victim’s system and stealing data, threatening to publish the stolen files if a ransom is not paid. The gang does not include ransom demands in its initial notes. Instead, victims are given a unique code and directed to a .onion URL on the Tor network, where ransom negotiations take place.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Stevia may provide more benefits than as a zero-calorie sugar substitute, according to an article from Science Daily. When fermented with bacteria isolated from banana leaves, stevia extract kills off pancreatic cancer cells but doesn't harm healthy kidney cells, according to a research team at Hiroshima University. The researchers published their findings in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences. “Globally, the incidence and mortality rates of pancreatic cancer continue to rise, with a five-year survival rate of less than 10%,” said co-author Narandalai Danshiitsoodol, associate professor in Department of Probiotic Science for Preventive Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences. “Pancreatic cancer is highly invasive and prone to metastasis, showing significant resistance to existing treatments, such as surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. As such, there is an urgent need to identify new and effective anticancer compounds, particularly those derived from medicinal plants.” Prior studies by other researchers indicated that stevia leaf extract demonstrated potential as an anticancer drug, but isolating and applying the specific bioactive components that protect against cancer cells has remained challenging, Danshiitsoodol said. However, fermenting with bacteria can structurally change the extract and produce bioactive metabolites, which are compounds that can impact living organisms.

The most commonly taken analgesic worldwide – and one of the most consumed drugs in the US – could be doing a lot more than just pain relief, according to an article from ScienceAlert. Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and sold widely under the brand names Tylenol and Panadol, may also increase risk-taking, according to research from 2020 that measured changes in people's behavior when under the influence of the medication. “Acetaminophen seems to make people feel less negative emotion when they consider risky activities – they just don't feel as scared,” explained neuroscientist Baldwin Way from The Ohio State University when the findings were published. “With nearly 25 percent of the population in the US taking acetaminophen each week, reduced risk perceptions and increased risk-taking could have important effects on society.”

Imagine this. A hacker frantically types code into a (punk sticker-laden, if the movies are accurate) laptop, trying to get around the active firewall that stands between them and access to the organization’s information, according to an article from CD Insights. It’s burdensome work. There’s sweat and a certain amount of genius involved. And really, if that were an accurate picture of the threat landscape, we might have a better idea of how to stop breaches from happening. Unfortunately, a growing number of incidents are happening because the hacker just…gained access through credential-based attacks. How does this happen? It starts with something called infostealer malware, which is small, fast, and widely available. These programs quietly infiltrate personal or enterprise devices and harvest login credentials, browser cookies, and authentication tokens. Once captured, those credentials are sold or traded on dark web marketplaces. Some go for pennies. Others, if they offer access to high-value enterprise tools like Okta, Salesforce, or Microsoft 365, can fetch hundreds or even thousands of dollars. And attackers are buying. According to the recent 2025 M-Trends report from Mandiant and Google Cloud, stolen credentials have now overtaken phishing as the second most common method of initial access in breaches, and this is a significant nugget for understanding how the threat landscape is shifting. The top spot still belongs to known vulnerabilities and exploits, but the credential economy is closing the gap. Why? Because it works. And because too many organizations still treat identity protection as a checkbox, not a control surface.

Image by Andreas from Pixabay

Researchers have discovered that the active compound in psychedelic mushrooms can extend lifespan and reduce cellular aging by 50% in human cells and 30% in elderly mice, according to an article from the GoodNewsNetwork. The experiments reveal another potential therapeutic use of the compound — called psilocybin — which has already been studied as a treatment for a myriad of other conditions. The team from Emory University are calling it the first ever long-term study evaluating the systemic effects of psilocybin in aged mice. The animals were the equivalent of 60 to 65 in biological human years, and exhibited hair loss and greying, as well as reduced physical activity. The mice were dosed with psilocin, the active ingredient in psilocybin that appears once the latter is broken down during digestion. The mice received a low level at first, and eventually a higher dose of 15 milligrams once a month for 10 months. Within the first 3 months, the mice receiving psilocybin exhibited signs of youth, including fewer instances of greying and hair loss—including a reversal of these symptoms — and a general improvement in physical activity. By trial’s end, the mice that received psilocybin had a 30% increased lifespan on average compared to the control group.

Scattered Spider is the somewhat too cutesy name applied to one of the most dangerous threats facing organizations today, according to an article from Forbes. The ransomware threat actors behind devastating attacks on retail and aviation targets, among others, show no signs of going away. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency have now updated a joint cybersecurity advisory with a critical new warning: don’t reset your passwords. Here’s what you need to know about the latest FBI warning and the ongoing Scattered Spider threat. The July 29 update to the FBI and CISA cybersecurity advisory, alert code AA23-320A, warns that Scattered Spider has “posed as employees to convince IT and/or helpdesk staff to provide sensitive information, reset the employee’s password, and transfer the employee’s MFA to a device they control on separate devices.”

Breast cancer patients who have been in remission for years or even decades may still need to be cautious about respiratory infections, according to an article from ScienceAlert. Some common viruses may re-awaken a very small number of dormant breast cancer cells within our lungs, according to emerging research. “Dormant cancer cells are like the embers left in an abandoned campfire, and respiratory viruses are like a strong wind that reignites the flames,” argues molecular geneticist James DeGregori from the University of Colorado. The research began following the COVID-19 pandemic, when DeGregori and his colleagues began to notice a curious uptick in cancer cases. To find out more, the international team turned to human population studies and mouse models. They found that patients in remission for cancer in the UK Biobank who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 later showed a twofold increase in cancer-related death.

When a multimillion-dollar extraterrestrial vehicle gets stuck in soft sand or gravel -- as did the Mars rover Spirit in 2009 -- Earth-based engineers take over like a virtual tow truck, issuing a series of commands that move its wheels or reverse its course in a delicate, time-consuming effort to free it and continue its exploratory mission. While Spirit remained permanently stuck, in the future, better terrain testing right here on terra firma could help avert these celestial crises, according to an article from Science Daily. Using computer simulations, University of Wisconsin-Madison mechanical engineers have uncovered a flaw in how rovers are tested on Earth. That error leads to overly optimistic conclusions about how rovers will behave once they're deployed on extraterrestrial missions. An important element in preparing for these missions is an accurate understanding of how a rover will traverse extraterrestrial surfaces in low gravity to prevent it from getting stuck in soft terrain or rocky areas. On the moon, the gravitational pull is six times weaker than on Earth. For decades, researchers testing rovers have accounted for that difference in gravity by creating a prototype that is a sixth of the mass of the actual rover. They test these lightweight rovers in deserts, observing how it moves across sand to gain insights into how it would perform on the moon. It turns out, however, that this standard testing approach overlooked a seemingly inconsequential detail: the pull of Earth's gravity on the desert sand. Through simulation, Dan Negrut, a professor of mechanical engineering at UW-Madison, and his collaborators determined that Earth's gravity pulls down on sand much more strongly than the gravity on Mars or the moon does. On Earth, sand is more rigid and supportive — reducing the likelihood it will shift under a vehicle's wheels. But the moon's surface is “fluffier” and therefore shifts more easily — meaning rovers have less traction, which can hinder their mobility.

New research from Edith Cowan University has found that just one session of exercise, either resistance or high-intensity interval training, can trigger anti-cancer effects in breast cancer survivors, according to an article from SciTechDaily. New findings from Edith Cowan University (ECU) suggest that just one session of resistance training or high-intensity interval training (HIIT) may support the body’s ability to fight cancer. PhD researcher Francesco Bettariga discovered that a single workout can boost the production of myokines—proteins released by muscles during exercise that are known to have anti-cancer properties. His data showed that these proteins could potentially slow cancer cell growth by 20-30%.

A virus normally found in black-eyed peas is emerging as a powerful ally in the fight against cancer, according to an article from SciTechDaily. Scientists discovered that this plant virus, called CPMV, doesn’t infect human cells—but it does trigger a potent immune response, training the body to recognize and destroy cancer cells. Unlike typical therapies, it primes both innate and adaptive immunity, offering long-term protection. A virus known for infecting black-eyed peas is now emerging as a surprisingly powerful tool in cancer treatment, and scientists are beginning to understand why. Researchers from the University of California San Diego, led by a team of chemical and nano engineers, recently published a study in Cell Biomaterials that dives into how the cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) stimulates the human immune system in a way that other plant viruses do not. Unlike its viral relatives, CPMV appears to uniquely trigger immune cells to recognize and fight cancer.

ESA/Hubble, M. Kornmesser

The saga surrounding Neptune-size “super-Earth” exoplanet K2-18 b just got a whole lot more interesting, according to an article from Space.com. For a quick recap, this is the world a team of scientists recently suggested could host life — to the dismay of other scientists in the community, who felt the announcement failed to include necessary caution. While signs of life on the world have failed to conclusively present themselves to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the powerful space telescope has discovered that this planet is so rich in liquid water that it could be an ocean, or “Hycean” world. “This has certainly increased the chances of habitability on K2-18 b” Nikku Madhusudhan, the University of Cambridge scientist behind the original K2-18b discovery as well as the new study, told Space.com. “This is a very important development and further increases the chance of a Hycean environment in K2-18 b. It confirms K2-18 b to be our best chance to study a potential habitable environment beyond the solar system at the present time.”

Zealandia had so much promise as the eighth continent on Earth. Well, it did — until about 95 percent of the mass sunk under the ocean, according to an article from Yahoo! News. While the majority of Zealandia may never host inhabitants—at least, not land-based ones—the would-be continent is now no longer simply lost. Researchers have finished mapping out the northern two-thirds of Zealandia, wrapping up the documentation of the nearly two million square miles of the submerged land mass. In a study published in Tectonics, researchers from GNS Science of New Zealand document their process of dredging rock samples from the Fairway Ridge to the Coral Sea in order to analyze the rock geochemistry and understand the underwater makeup of Zealandia. Zealandia’s history is quite closely tied to the ancient supercontinent of Gondwana, which broke up hundreds of millions of years ago. Zealandia followed suit—roughly 80 million years ago, according to the latest theory. But unlike neighboring Australia or much of Antarctica, Zealandia largely sank, leaving only a small portion of what many geologists believe should still be dubbed the eighth continent. New Zealand makes up the most recognizable above-water portion of Zealandia, although a few other islands in the vicinity are also part of the maybe-continent in question.

Malwarebytes Labs has identified a phishing scheme that begins with an email appearing to be from Instagram asking users to confirm their identity because someone has just tried to log into their account, according to an article from Lifehacker. The text includes a verification code and a link to “report this user to secure your account” as well as remove your email address. Campaigns like this often send users to a phishing website, where they are prompted to enter their credentials or other personal identifying information. In some cases, the fake sites have tech support chatbots or list step-by-step instructions to “fix” an issue. No matter the tactic, threat actors are trying to obtain enough information to steal your identity, your money, or both by capitalizing on your fear and sense of urgency to secure your account. What's different about this Instagram scam is what happens when you click the links in the email. Instead of a fraudulent website, the text is a mailto: link, which opens the default email program on your device with a pre-filled recipient and subject line like “Report this user to secure your account” or “Remove your email address from this account.” The email addresses in the recipient lines appear relatively trustworthy—though none direct back to Instagram, which is what you'd expect—thanks to a tactic known as typosquatting. Ultimately, though, they connect back to servers run by threat actors, and hitting “send” on your end validates that your email address is active and ripe for further targeting.

Image by Alexandra Koch from Pixabay

A new AI model from Singapore-based Sapient Intelligence is challenging the “bigger is better” mantra dominating today’s AI model development, and it’s doing it by copying a trick from the human brain or, at least, how we think the brain works, according to an article from TechRepublic. Meet the Hierarchical Reasoning Model (HRM), a tiny 27M-parameter design that solves complex reasoning puzzles that leave today’s massive AI models completely stumped. The problem with models like ChatGPT, according to the researchers, is that they’re architecturally “shallow.” They rely on Chain-of-Thought (CoT) prompting — basically, talking themselves through a problem step-by-step — as a crutch. But with CoT, one wrong turn can derail the whole process. HRM takes a different approach. On the ARC-AGI benchmark, which is basically an IQ test for AI, HRM went head-to-head with top-tier models and dominated. On Sudoku-Extreme puzzles, HRM solved 55% of them. Claude 3.7 and OpenAI’s o3-mini-high? They scored 0%. On 30×30 mazes, HRM found the optimal path 74.5% of the time. The others? 0% again.

If you still use Gmail as your primary email service, this tip is for you. Gmail's new feature will let you get an overview of your existing subscriptions and bulk unsubscribe with a few taps, according to an article from CNET. Previously, when you viewed an email newsletter, an “unsubscribe” option would appear at the top so you could quickly unsubscribe with a single tap or click, but that would (obviously) only work for the individual newsletter. The new feature centralizes all of your newsletter subscriptions so you can declutter unnecessary future emails with ease. Look for “Manage Subscriptions” (just under Categories) in the left pane of the Gmail window.

Google’s LLM-powered vulnerability sleuth, Big Sleep, just reported its first haul of security flaws — 20 bugs lurking in widely used open source tools, like FFmpeg, ImageMagick, cups-filters, and QuickJS, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter). Developed by DeepMind and Project Zero, the AI autonomously identified and reproduced the vulnerabilities, with a human in the loop only for final verification. While details remain under wraps until fixes roll out, Google hails this as a milestone in automated vulnerability hunting. Big Sleep just proved AI can hunt security bugs while the rest of us are still waking up. You can view the bug reports here.

Cybersecurity researchers have discovered a nascent Android remote access trojan (RAT) called PlayPraetor that has infected more than 11,000 devices, primarily across Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Peru, and Hong Kong, according to an article from The Hacker News. “The botnet's rapid growth, which now exceeds 2,000 new infections per week, is driven by aggressive campaigns focusing on Spanish and French speakers, indicating a strategic shift away from its previous common victim base,” Cleafy researchers Simone Mattia, Alessandro Strino, and Federico Valentini said in an analysis of the malware. PlayPraetor, managed by a Chinese command-and-control (C2) panel, doesn't significantly deviate from other Android trojans in that it abuses accessibility services to gain remote control and can serve fake overlay login screens atop nearly 200 banking apps and cryptocurrency wallets in an attempt to hijack victim accounts.

Google has been hacked. Source? That would be Google itself, according to an article from Forbes. An August 5 posting by the Google Threat Intelligence Group has confirmed that one of the corporate databases was impacted by hackers thought to be associated with the ShinyHunters ransomware group, more formally known as UNC6040. “Google responded to the activity, performed an impact analysis and began mitigations,” the GTIG posting stated, adding the database in question was a Salesforce instance “used to store contact information and related notes for small and medium businesses.” Customer data was, Google said, “retrieved by the threat actor,” in the short period of time that the attack window remained open. Although Google has not gone into great detail regarding the attack as of yet, it did confirm that the stolen data consisted of “basic and largely publicly available business information, such as business names and contact details.”

A common type of human papillomavirus (HPV) could be more dangerous than we thought, according to an article from ScienceAlert. The virus, known as beta-HPV, was thought in rare cases to contribute to skin cancer by worsening UV damage, but a new study suggests it can actually hijack the body's cells to directly drive cancer growth. These fresh conclusions came from a study of a 34-year-old woman who sought medical help for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) on her forehead. Her tumors were repeatedly growing back, even after immunotherapy and surgeries. A closer genetic analysis revealed something surprising: the beta-HPV had actually integrated itself into the DNA of the woman's tumor, where it was producing viral proteins that helped the cancer thrive.

NASA

‘Float rocks,’ sand ripples, and vast distances are among the sights to see in the latest high-resolution panorama by the six-wheeled scientist, according to an article from NASA JPL. The imaging team of NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took advantage of clear skies on the Red Planet to capture one of the sharpest panoramas of its mission so far. Visible in the mosaic, which was stitched together from 96 images taken at a location the science team calls “Falbreen,” are a rock that appears to lie on top of a sand ripple, a boundary line between two geologic units, and hills as distant as 40 miles (65 kilometers) away. The enhanced-color version shows the Martian sky to be remarkably clear and deceptively blue, while in the natural-color version, it’s reddish.

According to an article from NewAtlas.com, green tea extract and vitamin B3 combo may hold the key to reviving the brain’s natural cleanup crew, restoring energy, clearing toxic Alzheimer’s proteins, and giving aging neurons a second wind, according to new research. Although the largest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease is age, the age-related mechanisms that contribute to that risk aren’t clear. While some propose that a buildup of toxic amyloid-beta proteins is to blame, others say the condition is caused by an imbalance in cellular energy supply and demand. A new study by researchers from the University of California, Irvine has found that a combination of two natural compounds, readily available as dietary supplements, helps revive the brain’s natural cleanup system that removes damaged parts and toxic buildup.

Are you a Star Trek fan? If so, prepare to rejoice. During the Star Trek panel in Hall H at the San Diego Comic Con, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds showrunners Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers made it known that they had an endgame in mind, according to an article from CBR. They want to explore Star Trek: Year One, a Captain Kirk-focused sequel and spinoff of sorts that traces Kirk in his very first year as captain. This would star Paul Wesley and continue on in the same continuity. It's an intriguing idea and one that already has a fan base ready, considering the popularity of the new iteration of the character.

Lenovo Performance Full HD Webcam

Eclypsium researchers have discovered vulnerabilities in USB webcams that allow attackers to turn them into BadUSB attack tools, according to an article from Eclysium. This allows remote attackers to inject keystrokes covertly and launch attacks independent of the host operating system. Principal security researchers Jesse Michael and Mickey Shkatov presented this research at DEF CON 2025. Eclypsium researchers discovered that select model webcams from Lenovo run Linux, do not validate firmware, and can be weaponized as BadUSB devices. To our knowledge, this is the first time it has been demonstrated that attackers can weaponize a USB device that is already attached to a computer that was not initially intended to be malicious. Two attack paths are possible: 1) An attacker can send someone a backdoored webcam (or, with physical access, attach a weaponized webcam to a computer) or 2) remotely compromise a computer and infect the Linux-based webcam to perform attacks. While this research focuses on two models of Lenovo webcams, other webcams and USB peripherals that run Linux may also be vulnerable. Attackers who gain control of Linux-based USB peripherals could also launch other attacks, depending on the device capabilities, including interacting with WiFi and/or Bluetooth. Detecting these attacks is challenging, as the malicious USB device could re-infect the host and provide stealth and persistence to the attacker(s).

In the endless saga of hacks and data breaches, it's practically guaranteed that at least some of your personal information is available on the internet. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't take steps to remove or protect it wherever you can — including from databases that have a history of being compromised. National Public Data, a background check company operated by Jerico Pictures Inc., was the target of a massive hack in early 2024, which led to the leak of billions of records containing data (culled from non-public sources) like Social Security numbers, according to an article from Lifehacker. The site has since returned under new ownership as a “free people search engine” and, while it purports to rely on publicly available information, you still can (and should) remove your records. If nothing else, doing so means one less place where people can easily find your address, phone number, and other personal information. I looked up my information, and a significant portion of the “information” was blatantly wrong. Removing my data from the database was super easy, following the instructions in the article.

Reddit has started blocking The Internet Archive (IA) from archiving most of its platform, according to an article from eWeek. The company says the move was prompted by concerns that AI developers were pulling Reddit-originated data from archived pages, something IA has not been able to stop. The IA regularly archived Reddit content, including original posts and comment threads to user profiles. Even if a post was deleted by the original author, a snapshot often remained available on the Wayback Machine. Deleted user profiles were even made available on the archive. While this information could easily be found by any tech-savvy Reddit user, the real issue arose when automated bots started using the IA to scrape data for use in their own AI models. The problem escalated when automated programs began using those archives to gather large amounts of data for AI training. Because the platform bans automated scraping without approval, Reddit argues it had little choice but to limit IA’s access when the archive could not reliably block these activities. Tim Rathschmidt, a spokesperson for Reddit, was recently quoted as saying: “Until they’re able to defend their site and comply with platform policies (e.g., respecting user privacy, re: deleting removed content) we’re limiting some of their access to Reddit data to protect redditors.” The restriction does not cut off IA entirely; the Wayback Machine can still capture Reddit’s homepage but not full posts, comments, or subreddit pages.

Image by Jan from Pixabay

Now here’s a use of AI that we can all get behind. With help from artificial intelligence, MIT researchers have designed novel antibiotics that can combat two hard-to-treat infections: drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae and multi-drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to an article from MIT News. Using generative AI algorithms, the research team designed more than 36 million possible compounds and computationally screened them for antimicrobial properties. The top candidates they discovered are structurally distinct from any existing antibiotics, and they appear to work by novel mechanisms that disrupt bacterial cell membranes. This approach allowed the researchers to generate and evaluate theoretical compounds that have never been seen before — a strategy that they now hope to apply to identify and design compounds with activity against other species of bacteria.

According to an article from The Times, Russian intelligence has tripled its cyberattacks on Poland this year and Warsaw is steeling itself for an attempt to shut down the water supply or the power grid, the country’s deputy prime minister has said. In an interview with The Times, Krzysztof Gawkowski, who also runs the digital ministry, said there had been more than 100,000 attempts to compromise Poland’s computer networks last year, equating to roughly 300 a day. On Thursday, a few days after the interview, his warning was vindicated as he announced that the security services had foiled a cyberattack on the water and sewage systems of a “large city” at the last minute. Gawkowski argues that Russia is locked in an ongoing “war” with Poland in cyberspace. In recent months, security agencies from the US, the UK and more than a dozen other countries have warned that the Russian state and its proxies are stepping up an already intense “cyber campaign” against western targets involved in providing aid to Ukraine.

These days, the internet and Wi-Fi connectivity seem to be virtually ubiquitous. In the US, at least, there is a societal expectation that you can connect your devices to the web wherever you go. After all, connectivity is essential for many devices to function. But sometimes that connectivity fails — and what can you do if you want to watch TV without the internet? Here's what you can do: use a USB flash drive, according to an article from ZDNet. Most modern smart TVs have built-in media players that read content from USB devices. The range of benefits for using a USB drive is abundant. You can play your selected media files without streaming or connecting with multiple devices. Using a drive is cost-effective; you can store a large library of content on a USB stick and avoid monthly streaming subscriptions. And you have increased flexibility because you can use the USB stick to play content on pretty much any TV manufactured since 2001.

GIMP Tutorial: Create Transparent Cutout Text

by Meemaw

I saw another tutorial by Davies Media Design that you might enjoy. This could be useful in photo editing to add a title to a photo for an album. It’s a nice effect because it makes part of the photo visible through the text.

I used a photo of the harbor in Seward, Alaska (we went there on vacation in 2017). Load it first.

To put the text in, choose the text tool. You can change the color to white, choose the font and size before you type. In the tutorial, Davies changed the kerning (distance between the letters) as well, but that’s a personal choice. Type your text. You’ll notice that GIMP puts the text on a separate layer, which is what you want. Choose Layer > Crop to content. This will turn off the text information, but if you’ve made a mistake, you can choose the text tool again.

You can do this any time in your steps, but this is where his video has it. To make sure everything is centered (if that’s how you want it), you should add a vertical guide in your project. Choose Image > Guides > New by percent and make it 50% to center the guide. You can always delete it when you’re finished. When you choose the Move tool, and grab the text, you’ll see a plus sign in the middle that you can line up with the guide.

Now we’re going to add our frame. Create a new transparent layer (he named it “Text box” but that’s up to you). Move that layer between the text and the photo layers. Choose your Rectangle select tool, and draw a rectangle a bit bigger than your text and fill it with black. A shortcut you might not remember is to grab the black color chip from the color palette and drag it on top of the rectangle, which will fill it.

Again, choose Layer > Crop to content to make the box layer the size of the box. Choose Select > None, then change to the Alignment tool (next to the Move tool). Select the box layer, then the text layer, and align your items horizontally (they should be already because of the guide), and then vertically, which will center the text in the box.

Choose Select > None again, then select the text layer and click Layer > Transparency > Alpha to selection. The selection needs to remain this time. Now select the box layer and click on the Layer Mask tool, which is at the bottom of the layers window next to the Delete layer button.

Your layer mask setting should be changed to ”Selection”, and “Invert” should be checked, as shown here. Your layers dialog should look like the next image as well.

Now, go back to your text layer and turn off the visibility. You should be able to see through to your photo. Neat, huh?

I also made one using a local sight. In Southeast Kansas years ago, they did coal mining with huge diggers. One of the remaining electric shovels, affectionately named Big Brutus, is parked in Weir, KS and is now a museum.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Creamy Cajun Steak Alfredo

Creamy Cajun Steak Alfredo

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb steak (ribeye or sirloin), sliced into strips

12 oz fettuccine pasta

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 tbsp Cajun seasoning

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small onion, diced

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Cook the fettuccine pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the steak strips with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning. Cook the steak for 3-4 minutes until browned and cooked to your desired level of doneness. Remove the steak from the skillet and set aside.

In the same skillet, melt the butter. Add the garlic and onion, cooking for 2-3 minutes until softened and fragrant.

Pour in the heavy cream, bring to a simmer, and cook for 3-5 minutes until slightly thickened.

Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese and cook until the sauce is smooth and creamy.

Add the cooked pasta and steak strips to the sauce, tossing to coat everything evenly. Cook for 1-2 minutes to heat through.

Garnish with fresh parsley and serve warm.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 540    Carbs: 45g    Sodium: 559mg     Fiber: 6g    Protein: 48g

Why Linux Is The Ultimate Mental Gym For Problem-Solvers; A Doctor & An Equestrian's Journey

Hazem Abbas

MEDevel.com

Reprinted with permission

The Impact of Linux on My Journey as a Doctor, Developer, and Instructor

Linux has been more than just an operating system for me — it’s been a companion, a mentor, and a tool that’s shaped how I think and work. My journey with Linux started back in 1999. As someone who was already juggling the complexities of medical school, I was drawn to Linux for its simplicity and stability — two things that often felt missing in other operating systems.

I started with Slackware, then moved through Debian, RedHat, PCLinuxOS, Ubuntu and finally Manjaro. Each switch wasn’t just about trying a new system — it was an exploration, a challenge, and a chance to learn.

My minimum use for any Linux distro is two years — I never recommend switching or distro-hopping frequently. Constantly jumping from one distro to another prevents you from gaining the stability needed to truly learn and grow. Stick with one, explore its depths, and remember: everything is customizable, so face the problems head-on and solve them.

Over the years, I’ve had the chance to use some incredible but now-discontinued Linux distros like Dreamlinux, Moblin Linux, and CrunchBang Linux.

Each of these had its charm — Dreamlinux impressed with its Mac-like aesthetics, Moblin was a bold step towards a mobile-centric future, and CrunchBang (#!) was the minimalist’s dream, designed for speed and simplicity.

What stands out the most, though, is the vibrant CrunchBang Linux IRC channel. It was more than a support space — it was a thriving community where users exchanged ideas, solved problems, and formed connections. It remains one of the best Linux communities I’ve ever been part of, a testament to the power of open-source collaboration.

DreamLinux 2007

Over the years, I’ve experimented and used LinuxMint, Arch Linux, Manjaro, Solus, and Deepin, but I’ve ultimately settled with Manjaro as my daily driver.

Why? Because Manjaro strikes a balance between simplicity and power. It’s stable, it’s fast, and it just works — whether I’m developing software, teaching a class, or working on something completely unrelated, like horse training.

Linux: More Than an Operating System

One of the reasons I recommend Linux so passionately to friends, colleagues at med school in the early 2000s, and even my med school classmates is that it offers something far deeper than the surface-level advantages of other platforms.

Crunchbang Linux while using 2009

Sure, the benefits like stability, security, privacy, and customization are great. But the hidden value of Linux lies in the mental discipline it cultivates.

For those who’ve never used Linux for at least three to five years, I truly believe they’ve missed out on learning how to approach a problem. Problem-solving, critical thinking, and resourcefulness are skills I sharpened not just through my education, but through my Linux experience.

I recommended Linux not just to my fellow developers, but also to doctors who’d spend countless hours gaming or relying on overly polished software.

I believed then — and still do — that using Linux is a mental exercise, a form of problem-solving practice that teaches you how to face challenges head-on.

From Shell to Saddle: How Linux Prepared Me for Horse Riding and Training

Owning horses and embracing a lifestyle of regular riding and training taught me valuable lessons, but it wasn’t until a 30-mile solo horseback journey that I realized how deeply Linux shaped my approach to this new passion.

Just like every Linux distro I’ve explored, each horse brings its unique traits, temperament, and challenges.

Training or riding a horse feels strikingly similar to installing and adapting to a new Linux distro — it requires understanding its character, finding the right “configuration,” and solving problems as they arise.

This mindset, honed through years of using Linux, has made me adaptable, patient, and solutions-oriented, both in the command line and the saddle.

So, when someone says: “your horse is dangerous, how you managed to tame and train it like this”, The first answer that comes to my mind is: “It is just another Linux distro for me”.

The Obvious Advantages of Linux

To appreciate the full scope of Linux’s impact, it’s important to start with its clear and undeniable advantages:

Stability: Linux rarely crashes. Period.

Security: Viruses are almost non-existent in the Linux world.

Privacy: Linux gives you control over your data, something other operating systems rarely prioritize.

Customization: You can tweak and adjust everything to suit your workflow.

Performance: It runs smoothly on older computers, extending their lifespan.

Software Updates: Regular, reliable updates that improve performance without breaking things.

Diverse Software: Hundreds of open-source alternatives for every proprietary software you can imagine.

Experimentation: You’re encouraged to try, fail, and learn — without restrictions.

Less Gaming: Yes, gaming is possible on Linux, but not as tempting. This, in turn, means fewer distractions.

The Hidden Advantages

Beyond the obvious, Linux taught me skills I never expected to gain from an operating system:

Challenging Yourself: Linux constantly pushes you to learn and adapt.

Improving Problem-Solving: Debugging an issue, fixing a broken update, or configuring software builds resilience and analytical thinking.

Productivity: The lack of distractions, coupled with efficient tools, means more time spent on meaningful work.

Mental Sport: It’s like solving a puzzle every day. Each problem is an opportunity to grow.

Open Source Values: You learn to appreciate and contribute to a community-driven ecosystem.

Understanding Internals: From the kernel to package management, Linux teaches you how operating systems actually work.

Better Development Practices: Whether it’s coding on Linux or deploying servers, it’s a developer’s playground.

Mastering the Command Line: The terminal isn’t just a tool; it’s a superpower.

Improved Search Skills: Searching forums, reading documentation, and finding solutions become second nature.

Why Linux is a Mental Game

Using Linux is about more than functionality — it’s about cultivating a mindset. Every configuration, every bug, every tweak teaches you something new.

It’s a lifestyle that promotes curiosity and problem-solving.

For me, it’s also been about the joy of discovery. When you finally solve a problem you’ve been stuck on, it’s not just relief — it’s exhilaration. And that exhilaration translates into confidence, both personally and professionally.

My Experience in Points:

Adapting to Differences: Like Linux distros, every horse has its unique traits and requires a tailored approach.

Problem-Solving: Both horses and distros present challenges that demand patience, analysis, and creative solutions.

Learning Patterns: Training a horse is akin to learning a new OS — understanding its behavior and quirks is essential.

Customization: Just as Linux allows infinite customization, working with horses teaches you to adapt your techniques to fit each individual.

Patience and Persistence: The long journey of mastering a horse mirrors the learning curve of mastering Linux — neither offers shortcuts.

Mental Growth: Both activities improve focus, resilience, and adaptability, making you more resourceful in life.

Meditation and Reflection: Horseback riding offers a meditative escape, much like the satisfaction of solving a tricky Linux problem.

Consistency: Commitment to a distro — or a horse — over time reveals deeper rewards and teaches discipline.

Enjoying the Journey: Whether it’s a long trail ride or troubleshooting a system, the process itself is deeply fulfilling.

Community and Sharing: Both Linux and horse riding involve learning from others, sharing knowledge, and growing together.

My Advices for Linux Users and Newcomers

“Stick with one Linux distro long enough to learn its depths—stability breeds growth.”

“Facing problems head-on in Linux mirrors solving challenges in life: patience and persistence are key.”

“Switching distros often might feel exciting, but it prevents you from mastering the art of problem-solving.”

“Linux is more than an operating system; it’s a mindset that cultivates creativity and resilience.”

“Every bug is a hidden lesson; solving it sharpens your mind and strengthens your confidence.”

“The best communities, like CrunchBang’s IRC, remind us that open-source is as much about people as it is about code.”

“Customizing Linux isn’t just about tailoring software—it’s about taking control of your workflow and thinking.”

“Challenges in Linux aren’t roadblocks; they’re stepping stones to better problem-solving skills.”

“The journey with Linux is a mental exercise—one that transforms frustration into growth.”

“To truly appreciate Linux, stop looking for perfection and start embracing its potential for endless learning.”

Final Thought

Linux is not for everyone, and that’s okay. But for those who stick with it, the rewards go far beyond a faster computer or a more secure system. It’s a way to sharpen your mind, challenge your assumptions, and learn to love problem-solving.

If you’ve never tried Linux — or gave up after a few months — I encourage you to give it another shot.

Not just because it’s free, secure, and customizable, but because it teaches you how to think. And in a world that increasingly demands creativity and critical thinking, that’s a skill worth cultivating.

Linux has been a cornerstone in my life — not just as an OS but as a mindset. It’s not just about what Linux can do for you, but what you can become because of it.

About The Site & Author

Medevel.com is a restart of an old project, Goomedic.com when we used to blog about medical/ healthcare related open-source projects. The writers are also medical doctors doing software development, as well as open-source enthusiasts and Advanced Linux users.

Medevel.com is writing articles about open source with a primary focus on medical, science projects.

Medevel.com is on a mission to promote open source to healthcare sector users like doctors, nurses, healthcare IT specialists, open-source community, researchers.

Medevel.com's team is writing about visualization, medical imaging, lab-ware, medical records (EMR, EHR), clinical practice management software, digital pathology, medical simulation, & data analytics apps.

Medevel.com is focusing on:

- Open source technologies for Healthcare

- Privacy-focused applications

- Medical Imaging: DICOM/PACS solutions

- Electronic Medical Records/Electronic Health Records

- Medical Visualization & Simulation

- HIPAA & GDPR compliant solutions

- Self-hosted Open-source solutions

- Linux Applications

- Medical Mobile apps for Doctors & patients (Android, & iOS)

We are also writing reviews about some open-source software, & projects which we find useful for our audience, aiming to help open-source software developers to reach more audiences.

Authors

Hamza Mu: A physician with programming skills, Linux user since late 1990s, Open-source supporter. He is also a former PCLinuxOS user.

Desoky Mo: A physician interested in Open Source, programming, machine learning, AI and technology in general.

M.Hanny Sabbagh: Computer science and engineering graduate, with an on-going M.Sc in computer science. Founder of FOSSPost.org. An open-source software developer and technical writer for more than 10 years.

Adding An Extra Hard Drive To Your PCLinuxOS

by Agent Smith (Alessandro Ebersol)

Having your hard drive filled up and running out of space is not so much a possibility as a certainty. It will happen, and depending on how you use your computer, it may happen sooner rather than later.

It happened to me, thanks to my wine folder (Ah, Windows games...) and torrents, my 500 GB hard drive was full to the brim. But how did I solve this problem?

How to increase your disk space with one (or more) extra disk(s) in Linux?

Linux has two options for adding extra disks. One is LVM, logical volume manager, and the other is to use the new hard disk as a pluggable mounted drive.

LVM, as defined by Wikipedia: “The Logical Volume Manager (LVM) is a device mapping framework for the Linux (and NetBSD) kernel that provides flexible management of logical volumes, creating an abstraction layer over physical storage. Originally developed in 1998 by Heinz Mauelshagen at Sistina Software, with influence from the HP-UX volume manager design, LVM allows administrators to group physical volumes (PVs) into volume groups (VGs) and create logical volumes (LVs) that can span multiple disks. Logical volumes can be resized, moved, or captured while systems are running and support thin provisioning, caching, striping, mirroring, and RAID-type layouts. LVM is widely integrated into modern Linux distributions and supports root file system configurations, offering operational flexibility and dynamic storage management without service interruption.”

However, LVM should preferably be done before installing the operating system, since placing the root partition in LVM after installation is quite difficult, and it would probably be better to reinstall. In addition, it is not possible to simply create an LVM on an already mounted partition.

So, we will see how to add an extra hard drive as a pluggable unit within an already working system, which is what I did to solve my space shortage problems.

Steps to add another HD to your Linux system

In order to keep this tutorial structured, I will list the steps necessary to install an extra hard drive on an already installed and functioning Linux system.

- Acquire the hard drive

- Connect the new hard drive to the computer

- Format the new hard drive

- Create a mount point for the new hard drive (in the /media folder)

- Add the hard drive to /etc/fstab (so that it mounts automatically at boot)

- Restart the computer

And that's it, just use the new hard drive.

Step 1: Acquire the hard disk

I'm going to use a 500 GB Seagate hard drive that I had from another computer.

Step 2: Connect the hard drive to the computer

I connected the hard drive to the computer, and it was recognized as sdb.

Since it already had other partitions from previous installations, I removed them all and left the space unallocated.

Step 3: Format the new hard drive

I formatted the entire disk as a single partition in EXT4.

Detail: After formatting the disk, you need to copy its UUID so that we can insert the disk into /etc/fstab later.

Step 4: Create a mount point for the new hard drive (in the /media folder)

As root, I created the mount point for the new hard drive in the /media folder and named it hd_extra (you can name it whatever you want).

Step 5: Add the hard drive to /etc/fstab (so that it is automatically mounted at boot time)

As root, go to the /etc folder, find the fstab file, and edit it in your favorite plain text editor. I edited it with leafpad and added the entry for hd_extra, copying the same parameters that were in the entry for my /home partition and indicating the UUID of the new hard drive and its mount point (/media/hd_extra).

Step 6: Restart the computer

No major problems, just reboot so that the computer recognizes the new settings.

Step 7: Use the new hard drive

After restarting, the new hard drive is automatically mounted and appears in the file manager.

However, the new drive, hd_extra, does not have write permission. So, we have one more adjustment to make.

Become root, open a terminal, and type

chmod -R 777 /media/hd_extra

(here should be the name you specified in your installation)

By doing this, you allow anyone to write to the new hard drive, making it possible to transfer your files to it.

In the case of the .wine folder, after moving it to the new hard drive, you need to create a symbolic link so that everything works normally.

In your /home folder, open a terminal and type the following command:

ln -s /media/hd_extra/.wine ~/.wine

And that's it, Wine won't notice any difference and will continue to work as usual, but now it will store the files on the new hard drive. Note that the command I showed above is valid for my installation, since I used specific names. Another thing: The use of the new HD is not automatic, it must be specified, both as a download location and in torrent programs.

I hope you appreciate this simple method of adding extra space to your installation and can continue using your PCLinuxOS without running out of space for your files. I moved my wine folder, my downloads, torrents, and dosbox to the new hard drive, which freed up a lot of space in my /home.

Tip Top Tips: How To Use Joe's Own Editor (JOE)

Editor’s Note: Tip Top Tips is a semi-monthly column in The PCLinuxOS Magazine. Periodically, we will feature – and possibly even expand upon – one tip from the PCLinuxOS forum. The magazine will not accept independent tip submissions specifically intended for inclusion in the Tip Top Tips column. Rather, if you have a tip, share it in the PCLinuxOS forum’s “Tips & Tricks” section. Occasionally, we may run a “tip” posted elsewhere in the PCLinuxOS forum. Either way, share your tip in the forum, and it just may be selected for publication in The PCLinuxOS Magazine.

This month’s tip was shared by hunter0one.

Joe's Own Editor is an old-as-dirt text editor that I (hunter0one) learned since I didn't like nano. It is similar to WordStar or Emacs.

You can get it on PCLinuxOS by installing the joe package. Run it from the CLI using joe, or you can find it in your application launcher along with the other keybinding modes like Emacs and WordStar emulation. I only use and will focus on the original (Ctrl + K centered) mode. From now on, I will use ^ in place of Ctrl, so Ctrl + K will be abbreviated ^K.

JOE is a modeless editor so you can move around with the arrow keys. ^E will get you to the end of a line, and ^A will get you to the beginning. Now is a good time to mention a lot of keys use combos where you press ^K and then another key. For example, you can go to the top of a document with ^K U, and ^K V to go to the bottom.

Joe with a script loaded and the help menu displayed

Just Joe’s help menu

By default, there is a help menu to guide you. You can go to the next page of the help menu with Esc + . or to go back Esc + ,. You can toggle the help menu with ^K H.

If you want to delete an entire line, you would do ^Y, or from the start of the cursor, ^J. To select a block, you could do ^K B to start your selection, then ^K K for the end point. You can then do a number of things with the selected text. You can use ^K M to move it someplace else (effectively cut and paste), or ^K C to copy it.

If you do ^T, a new menu will pop up at the bottom of the editor which you can navigate. This lets you modify things like word wrap or the color scheme. Yes, JOE has color schemes like Vim or Neovim. You can press ^C to get out of that menu. In fact, every action can be cancelled with ^C. You can search for or replace text with ^K F.

To exit JOE, you can do ^K Q. To save a file, press ^K S. If you notice any annoying DEADJOE files lying around, you can get rid of these by editing /etc/joe/joerc and removing one space before -nodeadjoe so that it's not green. You can actually tweak a lot of its behavior here, including having a backup path and custom keybindings, though you may want to back this file up or copy it to your home folder as ~/.joerc before you do that.

Editor’s Note: The C source code for Joe is hosted on SourceForge. On the project page on SourceForge, there’s a brief history of Joe, along with a full user manual. The current version of Joe is 4.6, which is the version in the PCLinuxOS repository. And, hunter0one is correct. Joe is older-than-dirt (in software terms). It appears to have been around since around 1988, with distant roots going back to 1984.

How To Draw Arrows In GIMP 3.0

by kalwisti (David Pardue)

I am a basic user of GIMP and know enough about its features to edit the screenshots that I include in my articles. One function, however, has always frustrated me: the ability to add arrows. The procedure seemed to be needlessly difficult, so I have preferred using Shutter when I need to add an arrow.

Shutter has multiple dependencies relying on perl and perl-gtk2; a recent issue with outdated perl and/or perl-gtk packages in PCLinuxOS caused Shutter to be removed/uninstalled. (Texstar wrote in the forum that perl and perl-gtk are broken at the moment and “may be for a while.” Updating the perl-related packages is a daunting task, as more than 3,000 packages would need to be rebuilt.) I realized that it was time for me to learn how to draw arrows in GIMP.

The result: This task can be accomplished easily, thanks to the “arrow.scm” script created by programmer_ceds. My tutorial covers how to install this script and use it in GIMP 3.0.4.

GIMP 3.0 was released in March 2025, after seven years of effort by developers, artists, and members of the GIMP community. Meemaw provided an overview of this release's new features in the July 2025 issue of our magazine. The Davies Media Design channel on YouTube has an in-depth review of the changes. Version 3.0 runs natively on Wayland, while still continuing to run under X11.

Davies points out that the API in GIMP 3.0 changed in many places; these changes break most of GIMP's legacy plugins — especially those with inactive development. Although this means inconvenience in the short term, it will improve the development of scripts and plugins for GIMP and will lay the foundation for a new generation of even better plugins.

Fortunately for us, the “arrow.scm” script has been updated to be compatible with GIMP 3.0. The script works by using functions that interact with GIMP's internal functions. “arrow.scm” is a modified version of an earlier script by B-Ranger [Berengar Lehr]. (The .scm file extension is for a “Script-Fu” script based on an interpreted programming language called Scheme [which, in turn, is a variation of Lisp].)

The screenshot below displays a snippet of the script:

The advantage of this script method is that you can render an arrow to a desired size and position, rather than having to rely on using a pre-configured brush and manipulating its size, angle and other variables before adding it to your image.

Download the Arrow Script

First, you need to download the zipped script file [121 KB] from:

http://programmer97.byethost10.com/Files/arrow.zip

In case that URL does not work properly, you may also download the file from my personal Box.com account:

https://app.box.com/s/3w4xgycnbfycihw1xnxvu7roz584dnn7

Extract the Files

Use your favorite archive manager (Ark, Xarchiver, Engrampa, etc.) to extract the files. You should see three files:

- arrow.scm

- ArrowScriptNotes.pdf [contains instructions / notes]

- arrow_V3.scm

Install the Arrow Script

Place the “arrow_V3.scm” file in the appropriate GIMP folder in your /home directory: ~/.config/GIMP/3.0/scripts

Important: To avoid potential conflicts, do not copy the “arrow.scm” file into that folder. That script is for legacy versions of GIMP (2.10 and earlier).

Make sure to use only “arrow_V3.scm” with GIMP version 3.0.x.

Restart GIMP after installing the script.

Draw Straight Arrows

Make a path for your arrow to follow:

Click on the Paths Tool (or just type “B”) to begin creating a path.

You will first specify the starting point. Click on the spot where you want the arrow head/pointer to be.

Notice that the map pin icon adds directionality to the first node that is created. It indicates the direction that your path is traveling. In the example below, the arrow head will point to the northeast.

Next, click to create the ending point/anchor.

Go to the Tools menu > select Arrow > then choose Arrow.

A dialog window will open with various settings.

Adjust the variables as you wish.

The arrow's color is determined by the setting of the active foreground color in the GIMP toolbox.

(The default values are reasonable — in my opinion — and produce attractive arrows.)

Note: You can revert your adjustments later, if desired, by choosing “Reset to Initial Values” or “Reset to Factory Defaults”:

Click the “OK” button in the bottom right corner of the dialog.

Voilà! Your arrow will appear.

Draw Curved Arrows

Follow the same steps outlined above to create a path.

Afterwards, bend the path by clicking and dragging the path.

While bending the path, you will see something like the screenshot below:

The result after calling the “arrow.scm” script:

The two screenshots below illustrate some of my experiments (with multiple adjustments to the Arrow variables). They will give you an idea of the results that you can achieve:

(The blue background textures and the Wilber stamp are standard brushes available to the Paintbrush tool.)

Additional Sources

The ArrowScriptNotes.pdf (bundled inside the “arrow.zip” file that you downloaded) is worth reading; it has a brief user guide as well as instructions for how to edit the default script values.

Since GIMP 3.0 has been released so recently, there are not yet many tutorials on it. So one of the best reference sources is the official User Manual: https://docs.gimp.org/3.0/en

The User Manual is available in other languages besides English. At the moment, the most complete translations appear to be in the Romance languages (except for Romanian), the Scandinavian languages, German, Dutch, and Russian.

The sections on plugins and scripts contain relevant information.

Summary

Despite my initial reluctance to draw arrows with GIMP, I was surprised how easy the task is — thanks to the “arrow.scm” script. Based on my testing, the script works reliably and allows you to control the placement of your arrows, their line thickness as well as the size of the arrow head. If your needs are fairly simple, this script fits the bill; it saves you the trouble of hunting down compatible arrow brush sets or creating your own brush(es).

You Don't Own That Game (And That App On Your Phone? Yeah, You Don't Own That Either)

Hazem Abbas

MEDevel.com

Reprinted with permission

Let's talk about that sinking feeling. You boot up your library, ready to revisit an old favorite, and it's just … gone.

Not corrupted. Not lost. Erased. By the company you paid. That's not a glitch; that's the new reality of digital ownership, and it just blew up into a full-blown war.

The Game That Started Everything!

Remember The Crew? That open-world racer you might have dropped $60 on? Ubisoft didn't just shut it down; they reached into your digital locker and deleted it. Servers went dark on March 31, 2024, rendering the game unplayable.

But then, the kicker: they started revoking licenses and removing the game from players' Ubisoft Connect and Steam libraries entirely. You paid full price, and poof, your “purchase” vanished. This wasn't a technical hiccup; it was a corporate policy in action.

This nuclear move sparked outrage and a class-action lawsuit filed by two California gamers. They argue Ubisoft violated consumer protection laws by making the game permanently inaccessible after purchase.

Ubisoft's response? A cold splash of reality: players never owned the game. They had a “limited license” to access a service, and that service has ended. They've filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, doubling down on the idea that you don't have ownership rights over your digital purchases.

Essentially, they're saying, “You bought a ticket to a theme park, and when we decide to bulldoze the park, the ticket is worthless.”

This ignited a firestorm. Gamers worldwide realized the uncomfortable truth: buying a digital game, movie, song, or even software often means you're just renting access, governed by lengthy Terms of Service you never read.

The fundamental rights we associate with ownership, like ongoing access, the ability to lend it to a friend, or resell it, are almost always stripped away in the digital realm. The traditional model of ownership has been replaced by restrictive licensing agreements.

Stop Killing Games (SKG)

Enter Stop Killing Games (SKG). What started as a reaction to The Crew's demise, has snowballed into a global movement. Their petition, demanding new EU laws to prevent publishers from remotely disabling games consumers have paid for, has now gathered a staggering 1.4 million signatures. Yes, you read that right. 1.4 million people screaming, “We paid for this, it should be ours!”

The European Commission is now reviewing the petition. If validated, it could lead to legislative proposals protecting digital ownership rights and ensuring game preservation. Even a Vice President of the European Parliament has voiced support, calling for laws to prevent the permanent shutdown of purchased digital games. This is no longer just a gamer issue; it's a consumer rights battle for the digital age.

Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, responded not with empathy, but with corporate logic: “Support for all games cannot last forever”. He framed online games explicitly as a service that will inevitably end.

“You provide a service, but nothing is written in stone and at some point the service may be discontinued. Nothing is eternal,” he stated. It's a brutally honest, yet deeply unsettling, admission of the industry's current model. But is that acceptable? Should paying $70 for a game really mean you're just subscribing to a temporary service with no guarantee of longevity?

The Problem Isn't Just Games. It's Everything Digital.

Think about that expensive photo editing app you bought. The music library you built on iTunes. The e-books filling your digital shelf. In almost all cases, you don't own these. You've purchased a license to use them under specific, often changeable, terms. The company can alter features, sunset support, or, in extreme cases, potentially restrict access.

The rights encompassed by true ownership, ongoing access, availability, resale, are largely aspirational for digital content. The shift from owning physical media to accessing digital content has quietly eroded consumer rights.

So, What Should Gamers (and All Digital Consumers) Do?

Wake Up & Read the Fine Print: Understand that “Buy Now” usually means “License to Access.” Those Terms of Service are the contract. Pay attention to clauses about service lifespans and license revocation.

Vote With Your Wallet (and Your Voice): Support developers and publishers who champion longevity, offline modes, and modding communities that can preserve games. Boycott companies that engage in predatory delisting practices.

Join the Fight: Sign the Stop Killing Games petition if you're an EU citizen. This movement is our best shot at forcing legal recognition of digital ownership rights. Share it. Talk about it. Make noise. (Editor's note: the petition has closed, but you can review the petition page here.)

Demand Transparency: Companies should be crystal clear about the lifespan of online services and what happens to your purchase when they end. No more burying this in legalese.

Consider Physical (When Possible): For games that offer it, a physical copy, even if it requires online activation, often feels like a more tangible asset, though even this isn't foolproof anymore.

End Line

I believe, if a company permanently kills a product you paid full price for — like Ubisoft did with The Crew — they owe you a refund. You didn’t buy a temporary service; you were led to believe you owned a game.

Taking it away without compensation is no different than selling a car and then remotely bricking its engine. Charging $70 for access to a finite, non-guaranteed experience without refund options is deceptive.

Consumers deserve transparency and recourse. If the product vanishes, the money should come back, ownership means something, or it means nothing. Companies profiting from digital sales while dodging long-term responsibility is unethical. Refunds aren’t generosity; they’re justice.

The battle for digital ownership is just beginning. Ubisoft drew a line in the sand with The Crew. The players responded with a petition of historic scale.

The EU is listening. The question is no longer if we need to redefine ownership in the digital world, but how. Will we accept being perpetual renters in a world we've paid to access? Or will we fight for the right to truly own the digital things we buy?, and I’ve replaced them

The servers may shut down, but the fight for our rights is just powering up.

About The Site & Author

Medevel.com is a restart of an old project Goomedic.com when we used to blog about medical/ healthcare related open-source projects. The writers are medical doctors also doing software development, as well as open-source enthusiasts and Advanced Linux users.

Medevel.com is writing articles about open source with a primary focus on medical, science projects.

Medevel.com is on a mission to promote open source to healthcare sector users like doctors, nurses, healthcare IT specialists, open-source community, researchers.

Medevel.com's team is writing about visualization, medical imaging, lab-ware, medical records (EMR, EHR), clinical practice management software, digital pathology, medical simulation, & data analytics apps.

Medevel.com is focusing on:

- Open source technologies for Healthcare

- Privacy-focused applications

- Medical Imaging: DICOM/PACS solutions

- Electronic Medical Records/Electronic Health Records

- Medical Visualization & Simulation

- HIPAA & GDPR compliant solutions

- Self-hosted Open-source solutions

- Linux Applications

- Medical Mobile apps for Doctors & patients (Android, & iOS)

We are also writing reviews about some open-source software, & projects which we find useful for our audience, aiming to help open-source software developers to reach more audiences.

Authors

Hamza Mu: A physician with programming skills, Linux user since late 1990s, Open-source supporter. He is also a former PCLinuxOS user.

Desoky Mo: A physician interested in Open Source, programming, machine learning, AI and technology in general.

M.Hanny Sabbagh: Computer science and engineering graduate, with an on-going M.Sc in computer science. Founder of FOSSPost.org. An open-source software developer and technical writer for more than 10 years.

The Online Safety Act

by Agent Smith (Alessandro Ebersol)

And so begins the end of freedom on the Internet.

George Orwell must be rolling in his grave.

England is implementing an internet access law called the Online Safety Act. It came into force in July 2025 and is considered one of the world's strictest laws for protecting children in the digital environment.

The “official” narrative is that the Online Safety Act was created in response to a series of tragedies and growing concerns about the harmful impact of the internet on the lives of children and adolescents. It represents an ambitious attempt to make the digital environment safer, especially for young people. Well, that's what they say. But who is behind this law?

Party and politician who led the approval

- Conservative Party: The original bill was drafted and promoted by the Conservative Party, which governed the United Kingdom during the development of the legislation.

- Peter Kyle (Labor Party): Although the bill was initiated by the Conservatives, the National Secretary for Technology, Peter Kyle, of the Labor Party, was one of the most vocal figures in defending the final version of the law. He made strong statements, saying that those who oppose the law are “on the side of predators and pedophiles.”

Now, the reasons for having laws to control internet access are, at first glance, very good and justified. After all, we want to protect children from accessing content that they should not be accessing. And when the two main parties in England unite in a common effort, there must be a very strong reason for it. And there is, but it is not any of those being propagated.

Although England's two largest political forces are in favor of the online safety act, Nigel Farage of the Reform UK party strongly opposed the law, claiming that it threatens freedom of expression. Farage promised to repeal the legislation if his party wins the next election.

Nigel Farage

Now, when the so-called right-wing populist extremist is the most reasonable voice in the room, something very strange is going on. Otherwise, why would England's two largest parties want to pass a law that will inevitably curtail the right to individual expression on the internet?

Without delving too deeply into the English political environment, since that is not the scope of this article, it can be said that, since Tony Blair's Labour Party, the policies of Labour and the Conservatives have been almost identical, with rare differences: austerity, government downsizing, privatization, and revision of social welfare policies. In short, the two seem more like bridge partners than political adversaries. And with the new law, they may be trying to suppress Farage's party, which has grown impressively in recent years in England. But let's leave that aside, since we are interested in the effects of the law, not its causes.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

As the saying above goes, good intentions can ruin everything, because what starts out as “protecting children” can end very badly. Let's see how the Online Safety Act works and why it was born already ineffective.

What led to the Online Safety Act

The Online Safety Act was prompted by a series of tragic incidents and concrete concerns about online safety, especially in relation to the protection of children and young people. Here are some of the key events and reasons that contributed to its creation:

- Molly Russell's suicide (2017): Molly, a British teenager, committed suicide after being exposed to content about self-harm and suicide on social media. The case sparked public outrage and led to an investigation into the impact of social media on young people's mental health.

- Breck Bednar case (2014): Breck, a 14-year-old boy, was murdered by a man he met online. The case highlighted the safety risks associated with using the internet and the need to protect children from online predators.

- Rising in Cyberbullying Cases: Reports of online bullying and its devastating consequences for young people's mental health have been on the rise, leading to greater awareness of the need for regulation.

All these cases caused an uproar in society, and, taking advantage of this public outcry, politicians created the Online Safety Act. However, before the OSA, Australia already had its own law, the Australian Online Safety Act, AOSA.

How the Online Safety Act works

OSA operates aggressively on the side of online platforms, due to the identification requirements it forces them to implement and the massive regulation of the content displayed:

Identification of Harmful Content: Platforms must identify and remove content that may be harmful, such as pornography, hate speech, and material that promotes self-harm or suicide. Content Classification: Platforms should classify content according to its potential harm and implement specific measures for each category.

At OSA, one of the fundamental requirements is mandatory age verification. This must be implemented by digital platforms:

1. Identity Verification: Platforms may request identity documents to confirm the age of users. This may include:

- Passports: An official document proving the user's identity and age

- Identity Cards: Documents issued by governments that contain personal information and a photo of the user

- Student ID cards: In some cases, student ID cards that contain the date of birth may be accepted

2. Verification Technologies: Platforms can use specific technologies to verify users' ages without the need to collect physical documents. These may include:

- Biometric Verification: Use of facial recognition or fingerprint recognition to confirm the user's identity and age

- Third-Party Verification Systems: Partnerships with companies specializing in identity verification that can securely validate users' ages

3. Self-Declaration Methods: Although less secure, some self-declaration methods can be used, where users provide their age when registering. However, these methods must be supplemented by other measures to ensure accuracy:

- Age Declaration: Users may be asked to declare their age during registration, but this should be accompanied by additional checks

4. Data Analysis Algorithms: Platforms can use algorithms to analyze user behavior and determine the likelihood of their age. This may include:

- Usage Pattern Analysis: Monitoring how users interact with content to identify typical behaviors of different age groups

And all this to protect our “children.” But we will see below that these “good intentions” are fallacies, and that the target, despite being “children,” is actually the elderly, and that such new legal practices open up serious security loopholes.

Biometrics will save the Internet!

At first glance, this may seem like a very good thing. After all, how many bots would disappear from the internet if only real people accessed it?

And since these measures came into effect at the end of July, social media platforms Reddit, Bluesky, Discord, and X have introduced age checks to prevent children from viewing harmful content on their sites.

Pornographic sites such as Pornhub and YouPorn have implemented age checks on their sites, now requiring users to submit a government-issued ID, provide an email address for the technology to analyze other online services where it has been used, or submit their information to a third-party provider for age verification. Sites such as Spotify are also requiring users to submit facial scans to third-party digital identity company Yoti in order to access content rated 18+.

Unfortunately, circumventing biometric requirements is one of the easiest things to do today, and children and young people, who are digital natives (born with computers and smartphones), can easily bypass these requirements. And besides, what could go wrong with facial recognition?

Facial recognition: easy to crack and a huge risk!

Well, first, let's address facial recognition: Since OSA is being done very sloppily, there are several ways to circumvent its requirements. And kids already know this and are using computer games to circumvent facial recognition.

People are already using selfies of Sam Porter Bridges (the protagonist of Death Stranding) to bypass Discord's age verification, thereby gaining authorized access without actually having their age verified and protecting the privacy of the user who used this feature.

Taking selfies with Death Stranding

In addition, VPNs also completely nullify the “effectiveness” of the law, since, in order to verify age, online services test the range of IP addresses that access the website and only apply the age test if the user's IP address comes from England. Thus, by changing the access IP to any other country outside the jurisdiction of this law, these digital locks become ineffective.

But why not use facial recognition? After all, that would put an end to fakes on the internet. It would be great, except it wouldn't. Who has used facial recognition lately, and it went very wrong?

Tea App – A cautionary tale

Recently, there was a massive leak of personal data from the website https://www.teaforwomen.com/, an online dating app exclusively for women based in the United States, with over four million users, which stood out for its ability to flag men as red flags, serving as a warning to other women interested in dating them.

To sign up for the site and access the platform, you would need to be a woman, and, attention here: women must submit a selfie and an official ID to verify their identity. Once accepted, they are encouraged to share experiences, warn about risky situations, and connect with others for mutual support and protection. Of course, once again, we have “good intentions” that went very wrong, as the site has suffered at least two significant data breaches. The first breach, confirmed on July 25, 2025, involved the exposure of approximately 72,000 images, including selfies and identity documents, while a second breach revealed access to more than 1.1 million private messages. Now, with all the selfies, personal data, and everything else, such leaked data is delighting online scammers, who will have material for internet scams for years to come. In addition, the leaked data about the men on the website is generating public outcry among these men to sue the website for defamation and take it down permanently, as the comments made about the men on the platform border on harassment and defamation.

That is why facial recognition should not be used on public platforms, as the risk of things going off the rails is too big.

But the law will protect children!

No, we have already seen that this is not the case. But the point is to use very sensitive situations in the present day to generate public outcry that facilitates the passage of restrictive laws that will censor the internet. And for older people. Yes, young people, digital natives, know how to get around the restrictions imposed by laws, but older people do not.

How did we get here?

Unfortunately, nowadays, we no longer have objective truth, but narratives. And at a time when news agencies report the facts to the whole world, smaller agencies simply replicate the information from agencies such as Reuters, AFP, Bloomberg, and the like, creating a cascade effect. Thus, with a handful of so-called “official” news sources around the world, it is very easy to create narratives that favor political interests. Now, the horizontal nature of the internet has favored the emergence of independent journalism, which has become a way to challenge official narratives.

We must note that the OSA is not an isolated case, but at a time when contradictory narratives are suppressed, it is an effort to control expression on the global internet. In this effort to censor the internet, the following countries already have laws in place regarding internet access control: Australia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and even the United States has several laws to “protect children,” but they are not federal. In Brazil, there is a movement, thanks to public outcry over YouTube videos by some notorious YouTubers, who are now being prosecuted. Well, the timing is strange, really strange, that, like a game of dominoes, in which each stone falls in sequence, now these “hidden forces” are putting pressure on Brazil

Who judges the judges?

One of the objectives of the OSA is “Identification of Harmful Content: Platforms must identify and remove content that may be harmful, such as pornography, hate speech, and material that promotes self-harm or suicide.” However, these terms are so vague that they could mean anything. An opinion about a particular person or subject could be interpreted as hate speech, depending on how it is phrased. And the question remains: Who will judge what is or is not hate speech? What is or is not appropriate for children? Sure, there are things that are evidently harmful, but what about the rest ? What is appropriate for one, might not be for others.

That's not how you combat fake news

Once again, the veiled objective of these laws is also to suppress fake news, but fake news cannot be combated with censorship. Fake news are combated with quality information, supported by reliable data and research, which can bring information closer to reality. When contradictory information is prevented, under the guise of combating fake news, only official fake news are accepted, without the right to contest them. This is not combating fake news, but rather imposing an official narrative and making it impossible to contest it.

Is there hope for freedom of expression on the internet?

Users in the United Kingdom have already made their dissatisfaction with the OSA clear: Within days of the age verification coming into effect, VPN apps became the most downloaded apps on Apple's App Store in the UK, and a petition calling for the repeal of the Online Safety Bill recently reached over 400,000 signatures. The internet must remain a place where all voices can be heard, free from discrimination or censorship by government agencies, and efforts must be made to truly make the internet safe for children, rather than using them as a pretext to impose Draconian laws whose objectives are far from what they appear to be.

A picture is worth a thousand words

I saved this cartoon by American cartoonist John Jonik a while ago. In its direct simplicity, it perfectly captures the moment we are living in. I think this cartoon was drawn around 2012 or 2015.

Tea App – A cautionary tale

Wiki Pick: PkgProblemResolver

by The PCLinuxOS Community

Relevant to all PCLinuxOS editions

ErrorMessage displayed

This is an error produced when trying to update your PCLinuxOS distribution.

Situations that generate this error:

- While updating via Synaptic

- While updating via command line using 'apt-get'

Cause of the error

The cause is most likely some conflicting names of the packages between older packages on your computer and those on the update server, resulting in unresolved dependency.

A screenshot of Synaptic throwing this error is not available. Here is a sample command line output including the error.

After issuing the following command

apt-get dist-upgrade

you get this output

Reading Package Lists... Done

Building Dependency Tree... Done

Calculating Upgrade... Failed

The following packages have unmet dependencies:

plymouth-theme-coffee: Obsoletes: plymouth-theme-Coffee

E: Error, pkgProblemResolver::Resolve generated breaks, this may be caused by held packages.

This particular example was due to the new package being named in all lower case, compared to the lone uppercase for Coffee in the earlier version.

The Solution

- Make a note of the offending package(s)

- Open Synaptic

- Mark the offending package for complete removal

- Click Apply

Then your update should proceed smoothly. After your update is complete, reinstall the updated version.

Remember that everything in Linux is case-sensitive. In Linux, “coffee” and “Coffee” and “COFFEE” are three totally different things.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Rice Krispie S'mores

Rice Krispie S'mores

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS:

nonstick cooking spray

two 10-ounce bags (566g; 11 heaping cups) miniature marshmallows, divided

½ cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

pinch salt

7 cups (190g) crispy rice cereal

1 and ½ cups graham crackers, broken into small pieces (6 graham crackers; 90g)

3 Hershey's milk chocolate bars, broken into pieces (1 heaping cup; 129g)

TIPS:

Topping (optional)

1–2 Hershey's milk chocolate bar(s), melted

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven's broiler on high, about 5 minutes.

Toast half the marshmallows: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with nonstick cooking spray. Spread half of the mini marshmallows (one 10-ounce bag) in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Broil until the marshmallows are toasted and golden-brown on top, which only takes a couple of minutes. Keep a close eye on them so they don't burn. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Line a 9×13-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment. I always use a very light mist of nonstick spray. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a very large pot over medium heat. Once melted, add the remaining 10 ounces of (non-toasted) marshmallows. Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula until the marshmallows are completely melted.

Remove from heat, then immediately stir in the vanilla extract and salt. Fold in the crispy rice cereal and graham cracker pieces until mostly combined. Allow to slightly cool for a minute or two, and then fold in the chocolate and toasted marshmallows.

Transfer mixture to prepared pan. Using a rubber spatula (greasing it lightly helps), gently spread mixture to fit the pan. Lightly grease the back of a flat spatula and very gently press the mixture down into the pan. Do not pack it down with force, just lightly press down until it is secure in the pan.

Allow treats to set for at least 1 hour at room temperature, and up to 1 day. Cover tightly if leaving out for more than a few hours.

Optional topping: Drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the cooled treats, if using, and place in the refrigerator for about 15–20 minutes to set the chocolate. (Not too much longer, or the treats will be too hard to cut.)

Lift the rice krispie treats as a whole out of the pan using the edges of the parchment paper. Cut into squares.

Cover and store leftover treats at room temperature for up to 3 days. To store, place in an airtight container, with sheets of parchment or wax paper between layers.

NOTES:

Freezing Instructions: Rice krispie treats aren't the best dessert to freeze because the texture isn't always completely the same after thawing. That being said, you can still freeze these squares. Freeze in layers between sheets of parchment or wax paper in a freezer-friendly container for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Chocolate: Instead of Hershey's bars in the treats, you can use chocolate chips. For the topping, you can use any milk or semi-sweet/dark chocolate.

NUTRITION:

per serving

Calories: 110    Carbs: 20.3g    Sodium: 915mg     Fiber: 0.1g    Protein: 0.9g

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Sudoku

Download Puzzle Solutions Here

Scrappler

Download Puzzle Solutions Here

September 2025 Word Find

Back to School

Download Puzzle Solutions Here

September 2025 Crossword

Back to School

Download Puzzle Solutions Here

Mixed-Up-Meme Scrambler

Download Puzzle Solutions Here

Screenshot Showcase

Posted by frank_v65 on August 4, 2025, on XFCE

Posted by hunter0one on August 4, 2025, on KDE

Posted by jogurtmen on August 13, 2025, on KDE

Posted by Just19 on August 8, 2025, on KDE

Posted by kc1di on August 7, 2025, on KDE

Posted by Meemaw onAugust 5, 2025, on XFCE

Posted by old-man on August 12, 2025, on KDE

Posted by old-polack on August 12, 2025, on KDE

Posted by tschommer on August 11, 2025, on KDE

Posted by youcantoo on August 4, 2025, on KDE

Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents

2. From The Chief Editor's Desk...

3. ICYMI: UK Moves Forward Wtih Ban From Paying Ransomware Attackers

4. GIMP Tutorial: Create Transparent Cutout Text

5. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Creamy Cajun Steak Alfredo

6. Why Linux Is The Ultimate Mental Gym For Problem-Solvers; A Doctor & An Equestrian's Journey

7. Adding An Extra Hard Drive To Your PCLinuxOS

8. Tip Top Tips: How To Use Joe's Own Editor (JOE)

9. How To Draw Arrows In GIMP 3.0

10. You Don't Own That Game (And That App On Your Phone? Yeah, You Don't Own That Either)

11. The Online Safety Act

12. Wiki Pick: PkgProblemResolver

13. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Rice Krispie S'mores

14. PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

15. Screenshot Showcase

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

From The Chief Editor's Desk...

ICYMI: UK Moves Forward Wtih Ban From Paying Ransomware Attackers

GIMP Tutorial: Create Transparent Cutout Text

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Creamy Cajun Steak Alfredo

Why Linux Is The Ultimate Mental Gym For Problem-Solvers; A Doctor & An Equestrian's Journey

Adding An Extra Hard Drive To Your PCLinuxOS

Tip Top Tips: How To Use Joe's Own Editor (JOE)

How To Draw Arrows In GIMP 3.0

You Don't Own That Game (And That App On Your Phone? Yeah, You Don't Own That Either)

The Online Safety Act

Wiki Pick: PkgProblemResolver

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Rice Krispie S'mores

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Screenshot Showcase