Android Leftovers

• [Update: 4 New Devices] Paranoid Android Quartz 4 brings new features, adds support for Mi A2, Redmi K20, and more

• Xiaomi Mi A series has made a mockery of the Android One program

• EE UK Android 11 (Android R) update: Is your phone eligible and supported for OS upgrade?

• Nokia C3 Budget Smartphone with 5.99-inch HD+ Screen, Android 10 Launched: Price, Features

• August 2020 Android security patch here for Pixels

• Misfit's $280 Android Wear smartwatches are on sale for $40

• YouTube Music on Android TV gets ‘app’ for direct homescreen access

• Netflix has a useful new trick on Android, but iPhone and TV viewers miss out

• Best Cheap Android Phones in 2020

Security-Oriented Kodachi Linux 7.2 Released with One of the Best Secure Messengers

Based on the latest Xubuntu 18.04 LTS point release, Kodachi Linux 7.2 codename “Defeat” comes with the newest Ubuntu kernel that’s patched against recent security vulnerabilities and full sync with the upstream Bionic Beaver repositories to provide users with an up-to-date installation media. On top of that, the new release introduces new security features, such as Session Messenger, a popular private messenger that the Kodachi Linux team doubts as one of the best secure messengers and the Steghide UI utility for hiding encrypted text messages in images, text or audio files.

Linux and Linux Foundation: 5.9 Kernel and LF Edge

• Intel SERIALIZE, Dropping Of SGI UV Supercomputer, i386 Clang'ing Hit Linux 5.9

  A number of x86-related changes were sent out today for the first full day of the Linux 5.9 merge window. 

        

• Btrfs Seeing Some Nice Performance Improvements For Linux 5.9

  With more eyes on Btrfs given the file-system is set to become the default for Fedora 33 desktop spins, there are some interesting performance optimizations coming to Btrfs with the in-development Linux 5.9 kernel.  On the performance front for Btrfs in Linux 5.9 there are optimized helpers for little-endian architectures to avoid little/big endian conversions around the on-disk format, tree-log/fsync optimizations yielding around a 12% lower maximum latency for the Dbench benchmark, faster mount times for large file-systems in the terabyte range, and parallel fsync optimizations. 

• As IoT Continues to Evolve, LF Edge Explores the Edge Continuum in a New White Paper

  Earlier this month, LF Edge, an umbrella organization under The Linux Foundation, published a white paper updating the industry on their continued ecosystem collaboration. LF Edge brings together projects within the Foundation, that “aims to establish an open, interoperable framework for edge computing independent of hardware, silicon, cloud, or operating system.”

Open Hardware With Arduino: Counter and MKR ZERO

• Keep track of your laps in the pool with this Arduino counter

  PeterQuinn925 swims for exercise, and to train for the occasional triathlon, but when doing so he often zones out and forgets how many laps he has swam. To solve this problem without spending a lot of money on a commercial solution, he created his own counter using an Arduino Nano and an ultrasonic sensor. The sensor detects when a swimmer approaches, and the system calculates distance based on this, assuming that a lap is roughly 50 yards or meters. This info is announced audibly via a speaker/amplifier using an Arduino speech library and is shown on a 7-segment display.

• Recreating Rosie the Robot with a MKR ZERO

  While 2020 may seem like a very futuristic year, we still don’t have robotic maids like the Jetsons’ Rosie the Robot. For his latest element14 Presents project, DJ Harrigan decided to create such a bot as a sort of animatronic character, using an ESP8266 board for interface and overall control, and a MKR ZERO to play stored audio effects. The device features a moveable head, arms and eyes, and even has a very clever single-servo gear setup to open and close its mouth.