Open Source & DIY — Posts

17 posts on "Open Source & DIY" by Shlomo Strauss — bilingual writing on technology, science, and business.

• The dopamine trap of building useless AI projects — The ease of generating code with AI creates a dopamine loop of unused projects, highlighting the need to focus on fundamentals and real value.
• Bambu Lab vs. the open-source community: a fight over who controls — Bambu Lab's push to lock its printers to official software has triggered a fierce backlash from open-source developers and right-to-repair activists,…
• France’s Shift to Linux Signals a Growing Challenge for Microsoft — France's transition to Linux highlights a growing global trend of governments and enterprises seeking alternatives to Microsoft's ecosystem.
• Google's TurboQuant Algorithm Cuts AI Memory Needs by 8x — Google's open-source TurboQuant algorithm uses polar coordinates to compress AI memory requirements by eightfold without losing accuracy.
• Agentic browsers and open-source platforms make a surprisingly — Pairing mature open-source platforms with an agentic AI browser bridges the gap between an empty self-hosted stack and a fully configured, working system…
• Why a 2002 PS2 game suddenly sells for $400 — and nobody plays it — A leak of PlayStation 5 boot keys revealed that exploiting a critical vulnerability requires a rare physical copy of Star Wars Racer Revenge, sending its…
• Using AI to generate a sequence diagram from real production code — By connecting a GitHub repository to Google's Firebase Studio and Mermaid, the author generated a detailed sequence diagram that maps a web scraper's full
• A free WordPress plugin for Israel's privacy banner requirement — Responding to Israel's updated privacy law and the lack of local tools, the author built a free WordPress plugin that adds a customizable privacy notice…
• Building an automated Telegram news channel in under two hours — Using RSS feeds, a self-hosted N8N server, and a lightweight AI model, the author automated the translation and publishing of tech and finance headlines…
• Steganography: hiding a file inside an ordinary image — A look at digital steganography and the open-source tool OpenStego, which can conceal files inside images in seconds with no visible trace.
• Apple I: the garage-built computer now selling for nearly a million — A look at the Apple I's origins, design philosophy, and how a machine that sold for $666 became a collector's item fetching nearly $1 million at auction.
• Setting up a physical home server — and why real server hardware — After rescuing an abandoned server from a client's storage room, the author explains what sets dedicated server hardware apart from ordinary PCs and how…
• From SSH terminal to a secured web hosting server: a full setup — A practical breakdown of deploying an AlmaLinux server with WHM/cPanel, covering security hardening, automated backups, and two-factor authentication.
• Beeper brings 14 messaging apps into a single interface — Built on the open, decentralized Matrix protocol, Beeper consolidates WhatsApp, Telegram, and 12 other services into one free app across all major…
• WordPress hosting: why most sites overpay and underget — A thorough breakdown of the WordPress hosting market, offering practical conclusions to help site owners stop overpaying for poor service.
• Two websites for a Jerusalem nonprofit: service mapping and two — White Tiger completed a dual-site project for a veteran Jerusalem nonprofit, integrating Google Maps API for service-point navigation and launching…
• A cheap power supply can silently kill a new PC — A real-world diagnosis of a PC shutting down unexpectedly shows how a low-quality power supply can degrade silently within months and why it pays to…