💡Characters & Compose key: how to type unusual characters in Linux
A devoted reader of my blog might have noticed that I care about typography. For instance, my use of em-dash — which I love — or ⌀, the diameter symbol. That involves the use of special techniques while typing.
It’s also worth noting that many people prefer to communicate with emojis over letters nowadays (which is even reflected in modern architecture).
While it’s quite trivial to enter such characters on a smartphone, it may get tricky when it comes to a Linux desktop. But fear not, for that is actually taken care of: there are even multiple ways of inserting your favourite 🐱.
once.to ‣ September update: statistics, redirects, abuse reports
We’re back with a number of updates about the world’s fastest link shortener once.to!
This edition’s highlights: phishing, abuse, slugs and redirects!
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Shortly after once.to went out of beta the service got flooded with phishing and otherwise malevolent links. There were dozens of them created during a short timespan, all leading to pages mimicking login pages of banks, Facebook, Google and so on.
Kubernetes Application Developer certification
Yesterday’s Friday 13th proved to be a lucky day for me as I became a Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD).
For those not familiar with Kubernetes (K8s), it’s the most popular and advanced platform for cloud deployments. It’s been initially developed by Google, and is used in nearly every mature cloud these days.
It also runs our once.to URL shortener, by the way.
Kubernetes is an awesome platform: powerful, flexible, and — last but not least — open-source.
But back to the certification: as always, there are nuances, which I’d like to share with you, hopefully they can be of use.
Norse Life — The Best Viking Sites in Scandinavia
Photo by Veroniki Thetis Chelioti/Unsplash.
Scandinavia is known for many things. From the beautiful coastal sceneries of Dueodde Beach on Denmark’s Bornholm island and Norway’s Svalbard outpost, to the enchanting treks through the isolated Hornstrandir peninsula, this region has become a mainstay in the bucket lists of explorers and globetrotters the world over.
The region has also become known for its unique-sounding place names, making destinations in Scandinavia all the more appealing to foreigners. Not only is Finland home to Äteritsiputeritsipuolilautatsijänkä, the third-longest place name in Europe, but a geography facts post on Gala Bingo also highlights how there are villages in Sweden and Norway just called Å — the shortest place names in the world.
once.to ‣ July update: out of beta, 25% discount
Today the world’s best link shortener once.to has officially lost its beta status!
Here’s a short summary of what we’ve been up to in the past thirty days or so.
Sound Switcher Indicator ‣ 2.3.6
The version 2.3.6 of the Sound Switcher Indicator has been released, featuring improved keyboard shortcuts and device display.
once.to ‣ June update
Happy first summer day to everyone!
It’s been exactly two months since our world’s best URL shortener once.to has entered public beta.
Dear, we’ve been busy! These two months resulted in a whole bunch of cool features.
Invisible wireless charger
When it comes to interior design, I’m a big fan of minimalism — which one can notice from the photo of my workplace (and that’s how it looks in real life and not only on the photo).
Long time I wished to build a wireless Qi phone charger right into my desk so that I could charge my mobile by simply laying it down onto the desktop.
There was an issue though. My desktop is a sheet of 10 mm-thick hardened glass, and common wireless chargers only support charging over a distance up to 8 mm.
Recently I have been able to find a solution to this and make it exactly the way I wanted.
Do not share Googles
We’re just back from the UAE. In Dubai all boards and announcements are bilingual, in Arabic and English. And it’s worth noting English there is quite decent compared to other non-English countries.
Yet there is a blunder now and then.
Ymuse ‣ 100 stars on GitHub
A little less than a year ago, on 22 May 2020, I released the first public version of MPD client with the strange name Ymuse.
These days we’re at a 100 stars on GitHub and 270 active weekly users of the snap package only!
once.to ‣ Jokes aside: World’s fastest link shortener
Even though it’s April 1st, I have some serious story for you today! It’s about what I’ve been up to for the last six months, which has been a pretty busy, interesting, and eye-opening time for me.
Long story short: we at Yktoo Solutions are busy building the best link shortener in the world, which we called once.to.
Do read on for intriguing details explaining what that is and why it is so fascinating.