The British VarEVolt battery fully recharges in 18 seconds — and it just got the green light for mass production I know, news about new battery breakthroughs gets quite boring, as we really don't any of them really making a difference on the ground. “The RML Group was granted Conformity of Production certification for its VarEVolt battery on June 2. This government approval signifies that the firm can mass-produce the powerful batteries for EV manufacturers.” So, maybe this one will really happen. There are two possible problems though, one being the grid/charging station capacity, and the other being at what cost. But either way, the big disadvantage for those needing a charge long the road (not those charging overnight at home) has been the charge time. First prize is always being able to top up at home (cost and convenience). See

Live Science

This EV battery fully recharges in just 18 seconds — and it just got the green light for mass production

The British VarEVolt battery has been granted the certification needed so it can be manufactured on a large scale, meaning more EV makers can use t...

#technology #EV #environment

Steam Now Has an Overlay Performance Monitor “Steam has added a new performance monitoring tool to its in-game overlay, giving you information about how your games are using your computer’s resources. This should help you spot potential performance problems, although it is currently in beta. This tool shows information about FPS, CPU, GPU, and system RAM usage, making it easier for players to understand their game’s performance and fix issues.” Mileage may vary on this one, as I'm only seeing the FPS right now. For now MangoHUD works better for me, but if you don't have MangoHUD, this is better than nothing. The screenshot I've included shows MangoHUD at the top left, and the Steam performance overlay at the top right. See

How-To Geek

Steam Now Has an Overlay Performance Monitor

Steam is giving users a performance overlay monitor.

#technology #gaming

WUD is a better alternative to Watchtower for Docker updates What's Up Docker (WUD) will notify you of updated Docker container images for installation, just like Watchtower can do, but WUD solves a number of challenges that I have with using Watchtower: 1. Shows a custom descriptive name for images, including database images. 2. This means no time wasted checking which image must be updated. 3. Updates can be run with the click of a button inside WUD. 4. Auto prunes the old images. 5. Can work with more than one remote Docker host endpoint. 6. Numerous notification services supported. 7. Can single-click to see image's change log. 8. Can optionally auto update docker-compose file with new image version. I demonstrate a number of these features, but I did not really go through the menus, as most settings are set using the environment and label variables in the Docker files for containers (which I do show in the video). Watch #technology #opensource #docker #selfhosting

ZorinOS is a worthy consideration for Windows users newly moving to Linux The linked article is from a Windows user's perspective, moving to Linux. The timing is good as many are faced with working hardware, but which is not compatible for Windows 11. ZorinOS is an Ubuntu-based distro, meaning there are tons of support and advice on the Internet for anything that may need solving. It will also install and run most Windows software, using Wine (I seem to recall that is built in, so double-clicking on an EXE file, should just run). See

XDA

6 reasons I chose ZorinOS as the absolute best way to move from Windows to Linux

If you want to move from Windows to Linux, ZorinOS is the best way to do it.

#technology #Linux #opensource

OpenCloud is the lightweight Nextcloud alternative that runs on anything If you are finding that NextCloud is using too many resources, and just packs way more functionality than you need just for file syncing and sharing, then OpenCloud may be the answer. You are not going to have calendar, mail, chat, etc functionality with OpenCloud, but it also does not load a bunch of other services that NextCloud requires to run. It does have file sharing with passwords and expiring access, and interestingly it handles some basic tasks like PDF viewing on the client side. So this will happily run on a Raspberry Pi. See

XDA

OpenCloud is the lightweight Nextcloud alternative I'm using that runs on anything

Looking for a lightweight, self-hosted cloud storage alternative to Nextcloud? OpenCloud is fast, minimal, and perfect for low-spec servers or solo us

#technology #opensource #filesharing

Anker’s Soundcore Sleep earbuds finally feature active noise cancelling - At a Price “Anker has announced a new version of its wireless sleep buds that could be even more effective at delivering a peaceful slumber by blocking out disturbing noises using active noise cancellation. Previous versions of the Soundcore Sleep earbuds blocked external sounds passively using just a snug fit inside the ear, but the new Sleep A30 finally add ANC while still offering enough battery life to last the night.” So, yes, this revision now really seems to tick all the boxes, but the price has also gone up quite a bit (53% in fact). I suppose, though, if these could also be used as your main earbuds then it is not too bad. See

The Verge

Anker’s Soundcore Sleep A30 earbuds finally feature active noise canceling

A better night’s sleep.

#technology #sleep #audio

Samsung Galaxy Watch 7 battery life hammered by Samsung Health Monitor app I noticed about a month or two back that my Galaxy Watch was suddenly no longer getting its two days of use out a battery charge. I do keep my watch usage quite light, and normally have the Wi-Fi off, display set to lower brightness, etc, so 2 days is usually fine. I do use watch with the Sleep For Android app that monitors sleeping heart rate etc, and that does chew about 11-12% during the night, but that has been my normal usage. I thought at first maybe it is the battery ageing, but it is not even a year old yet. But checking the battery usage stats showed that the Samsung Health Monitor app (not the standard Samsung Health app) was chewing the battery by a good 3%, higher than any other app. Rebooting had not helped either. Seeing that app is only used for ECG, sleep apnoea and blood pressure, not of which I had used for quite a while, that app should be idling with no battery usage. I tried to delete the app, but it deleted off the phone but not from the watch at all. It would also not disable properly, nor could I turn off the background usage toggle. In the end, I used the ADB command to manually delete the app. And wow, now I have a full 2 days battery use again, plus a little extra. It shows again what impact badly behaved apps have on hardware. Ideally, this app should not be using any battery power if I don’t have sleep apnoea detection active, or if its parent app on the phone is deleted. #batterylife #samsung #technology

How To Check Disk Health In Linux: A Beginners Guide “Your computer's disk drive stores all your important files. Photos, documents, videos, and everything lives on your disk. But what happens when your disk starts to fail? You could lose everything. Worry not! Linux has built-in tools to check your disk health. You can spot disk-related problems early and save your data.” Smartmontools is a package on Linux that provides tools for monitoring and managing the health of storage devices—such as hard drives and SSDs—using the built-in Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) system found in most modern drives. But other tools are also covered such as badblocks, fsck, and the graphical user interface app GNOME Disks. See

OSTechNix

How To Check Disk Health In Linux: A Beginners Guide - OSTechNix

Learn how to check disk health in Linux using smartctl, badblocks, and fsck utilities. Identify failing HDDs/SSDs early and prevent data loss.

#technology #Linux #diskdrives

How much VRAM do games really use in 2025? Why this caught my eye is because I just hit a VRAM limitation this week with my RTX 2060 card. It has been playing games just fine without any issue, but DaVinci Resolve Studio reports an issue with one of the new AI features requiring a minimum of 8 GB VRAM to work. So, this is something to keep in mind when looking for a new GPU. The advice seems to be to not necessarily buy the fastest or latest GPU, but rather go for something lower down the ladder, but with a lot more VRAM. See

XDA

How much VRAM do games really use in 2025?

How much do you actually need?

#technology #GPU

Denmark’s Government Ditches Microsoft for Open Source “Up to half of employees at Denmark’s Ministry of Digital Affairs will be switched to (an unspecified version of) Linux in place of Windows, and move from Office 365 to the leading open source productivity suite LibreOffice. Denmark’s minister of digitisation, Caroline Stage Olsen, confirmed the migration is in progress to Danish media outlet Politiken (paywalled), adding that if all goes well the whole ministry will switch to using open source software by the autumn. Denmark, like many countries, wants to have greater control over its own digital infrastructure, data, and cloud services.” This certainly seems to be a move that is growing in popularity across Europe. It does a bit of effort for any change, but this will likely also mean more investment is local skills and resources, and many governments are prepared to pay a premium for that. See

OMG! Ubuntu

Denmark's Government Ditches Microsoft for Open Source

Denmark is making 'digital sovereignty' a priority, replacing Microsoft and other US big tech products with Linux and open source.

#technology #Denmark #opensource #government