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One of the most influential teachers I’ve had was my university music professor. One piece of wisdom particularly resonates with me: he asked, “How good would you be if you did everything your teacher told you to do?” His point was not that you should unquestioningly do what you’re told. Rather, he meant that after we’re familiar enough with a discipline, we know what yields improvement at it. We know what habits, procedures, and mindsets will make us better at what we do...

As readers of my previous desktop Linux DNS article will be able to attest, systemd’s management of DNS is complex. By putting time into comprehending its complexity, though, we can create nuanced DNS resolution behaviors for specialized use cases ...

When I went into writing this article, I thought I knew the route to the destination I intended to lead you to. But in retracing my steps to make sure I understood the way, I ended up way off course. Irked as I was at this gap in my knowledge, the exercise allowed me to produce the kind of piece I enjoy writing the most: one where I learn as much as you do, if not more...

Computers and information systems, while certainly a love of mine now, were not my first. I have always been an avid student of history and an observer of geopolitics. My bookshelf can readily attest to this ...

Recently, an article crossed my path that made me smile. There's not much in tech these days that does that, so I took a moment to savor this rare sensation ...

This month marks a year since I took on my current and most technical role of my career. I didn't intend to keep it a secret. Really, it just didn't factor much into my writing ...

As I occasionally do, lately, I was racking my brain for a fun Linux flight of fancy to take us on. Many pixels have been spilled on the subject of "Linux," or even just desktop Linux, with many more sure to follow. Even so, I strive for a unique perspective ...

A friend of mine with decades of experience in tech made a wittily apt remark that I've been thinking about lately ...

When writing about digital technology, or any topic, is something you do, it takes time to accumulate credibility. Even if you put in the study time up front to know your stuff, building trust takes time ...

Lately I've been thinking a lot about thinking. There are a couple of reasons for this ...

The best thing about tech-related disciplines, to me, is that they are probably easier than any others to learn online. In fact, that's exactly how I built up the computer science foundation that supports my work. Without an internet full of resources, I wouldn't be where I am today ...

If you've run any operating system for any length of time, you will probably have encountered strange phenomena. When it comes to computers, strange is usually unwelcome. The longer you run any given OS installation without a reinstall, the more likely you are to see at least a few quirks. This can be anything from programs freezing, to your cooling fan suddenly revving up, to all manner of oddities...

Geopolitics may be something a lot of us are getting a crash course in these days, given recent events, but I've been an amateur student of the subject for a long time. By "long time," I mean prior to studying computer science. I took a class in high school in which we simulated geopolitical dynamics with tabletop RPG-style games. From then on, I was hooked on analyzing the world through the lens of converging interests, power, and human nature...

Over the years, writing about technology, I've produced many guides on how to do cool stuff (by my definition, at least) with your computer. But in all that time, I failed to devote any attention to how to approach those guides or any technical reference material. I assumed readers had the groundwork needed to use resources like mine ...

People are freaking out about reports of NSO Group's Pegasus surveillance tool being used to spy on journalists, political dissidents, and other opponents of regimes worldwide. It's disheartening, and worth discussing. But why are we shocked? ...

As much as I extol the variety that Linux offers, I've done a bad job of enjoying it. Sadly, playing with new distributions usually gets bested by competing priorities. Not today ...

As longtime readers know, while I try to stay knowledgeable on the many sub-disciplines of information technology, my passion is for information security. Since it's been a while since I've contributed any InfoSec know-how, I wanted to rectify that. I couldn't have timed this realization better because (as you'll see) the techniques on display are perfect for protecting your deluge of tax season documents...

Recently, I took an interest in poking at Gentoo a bit. In the eyes of many desktop Linux users, it's considered a rite of passage to install this historically significant distribution. I've scaled Mt. Arch, so Gentoo Peak is next in my Linux mountaineering ...

A sagely guru by the name of Yogi Berra imparted some words of wisdom that I periodically revisit: "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice, while in practice there is." Though intended for comedic effect, it rings true (as all good comedy does) ...

I've often extolled the philosophy of Unix, and as the title implies, I'm not about to stop. Before I learned computer science, I thought all computers were impenetrably arcane. But when I grasped Unix, through the imperfect medium of Linux, it made intuitive sense to me. Through all its evolution, at its heart Unix retains the charm that I have previously remarked on.