Author: Kevie Macphail

In this festive themed show Dave (aka thelovebug), Kevie and Andrew (aka mcnalu) start with their usual distrowatch roundup and then take a look at the ICE Site Specific Browser (SSB), developed by the PeppermintOS team, which turns many web applications into desktop friendly apps. We go back to our childhood Christmases with a look at some emulation software to play classic games including Dune, Dune II and Duke Nukem on DosBox and Crazee Rider on BeebEm for linux which Andrew managed to compile from the BBC micro source code after some some slashing around.

We also chat briefly about the upcoming episode of Podcrawl Jitsi, which will take place on Saturday 18th December at 6pm (UK time). Check out the Podcrawl page for more details.

The Creative Commons, festive tracks on this show include:

• The Willows – This Is Christmas
• The Kelly & Mason Duo – All I Want for Christmas is You
• Bobnoxious – Police Nabbed My Dad
• Jerry Paladino – What Will You Give Me for Christmas
• No Tent – Auld Lang Syne

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Stocking Filler (under £10):

• The Foundation Licence Manual for Radio Amateurs
• Minecraft Chicken Egg Cup and Toast Cutter
• Moon lamp
• Multi Tool Pens
• USB Flash Drive Ballpoint Pen
• Proper Raspberry Pi power supply
• Chocolate Gaming Controller

Low (£10-25):

• Amateur Radio-themed signs/stickers/mugs/clothing
• Screwdriver set in a box
• UV-Zone Phone Sanitizer
• Thumbs Up RETARCCTL Retro Pocket Games
• Raspberry Pi Pirate audio 3W stereo amp
• Wild West Boot Beer Glass
• Laser Distance Meter 50M/165ft, IP54 Laser Measure with 2 Bubble Levels

Mid (£25-100):

• Fill it yourself advent calendar
• Huawei Freebuds 4i
• RSGB Foundation Licence Exam
• Axe throwing kit (mini)
• Zephyr PRO RGB Sweat-proof Gaming Mouse
• Baofeng UV-5RE+ Plus UHF VHF Long Range Dual Band Ham Amateur Two Way Radio

High (£100+)

• HOLY STONE HS110G GPS FPV Drone
• Logitech Ultimate Ears BOOM 3
• Dual Fuel Inverter Generator
• Xiegu G90 20 Watt AM/CW/SSB SDR HF Amateur Transceiver
• Roberts Revival iStream 3

Wow! You really love them!!!

• DJI Air 2S Combo
• OptiBeam OB3-80+ Multi Switch Plus Balun
• Virtual Reality Treadmill
• Build a gaming PC (as my neighbour made me do!!!!)

Festive Tracks:

• Proto Evangelion – O Come All Ye Faithful
• Pepper Coyote – Jingle Bell Rock
• The Honeybirds – Sing The Bells
• Jonny Scab – So This Is Christmas (War is Over)
• Tom Smith – A Pirate Christmas

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Andrew, Dave and Kevie are enjoying cake, jelly and ice cream as TuxJam turns 10 years old. With a look back to the first episode we look at the distro that has replaced SimplyMepis: MX Linux. To our amazement, the lightweight music player Pogo is still being maintained and we do another review ten years down the line. We look ahead to the upcoming Podcrawl which will take place on Saturday 26th July at 6pm (UK time), keep an eye on the Podcrawl page for the video conference link (available nearer the time).

The creative commons tracks are all from bands that were played during the first five episodes and should give the seasoned listener a feeling of Jamendo nostalgia.

• Crazy Evolution – Sweet Breeze
• Dan Bryk – Normal
• Tequila Mockingbird – Distance
• Retrosonic – Until The End

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Our freedom loving trio of Dave (aka thelovebug), Kevie and Andrew (aka mcnalu) begin 2021’s run of TuxJam with what they thought would be a shorter than usual episode. As usual, they proved themselves wrong.

First up is a roundup of new releases reported on distrowatch.com which prompted discussions which will be followed up in future episodes or perhaps on Hacker Public Radio.

We do not review a distro in this episode but take a look at the cute pixel art game Android game Xeonjia which Kevie discovered when trying to entertain himself on a long ferry crossing. We then take a look at radio streaming android app Transistor.

We finish with a few words on the latest podcrawl jitsi or jitcrawl podsi or jitpod crawlsi that took place in December. We air the idea of having it quarterly close to the solstices and equinoxes with a mooted next date of 20th March 2021. Do let us know what you think about that in comments, by email or via social media.

All this along with the usual mix of CCmusic:

Jon Worthy – Happy to See You
Flashinmusic – My Happy Walk
Whacko Sacco – How Can I Win
DeepDaikon & Yubatake – Town from Xeonjia

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After a long and strange year people are looking forward to Christmas 2020 and none more so than your TuxJam hosts, Kevie, Dave and Andrew.

In this episode we begin with our usual round up of distrowatch and then we review a distro and an app with a vaguely festive theme. The GNU/linux distro is Pop!_OS which is based on Ubuntu. The app is for android and is Tux Rider which will be familiar to anyone who has played Tux Racer on the linux desktop. We then review a good amount of feedback and announce the results of Andrew’s “guess my shopping list” from last week’s show. (And no, Chalkahlom, 50% of his list is not alcoholic drinks!)

Creative Commons tracks:

Jingle Bells – Anup

Linda Heins – O Little Town of Bethlehem

Vitne – Winter Love Song

Wood Hitch – Auld Lang Syne (Don’t Waste My Time)

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The Earth completes another orbit and Christmas is approaching once again. There are many shopping days remaining, each filled with 86,400 seconds in which you can click on the perfect gift for your geek. Guided by TuxJam’s special seasonal show you literally have no excuse!

Items marked with * involve extra costs outside the US.

Stocking Filler (under £10):

• Micro SD card filled with podcasts (find out what your geek is into)
• Spaceballs The Face Mask
• Pibow Coupe 4 (£9)
• Bearables Bear Kit (£9)
• Sandisk 64GB Cruzer Blade USB Drive – £7.79 (Amazon)
• Raspberry Pi Zero W – from £9.30 (Pimoroni)
• Raspberry Pi Zero W Starter Kit – £37.50 (Pimoroni)

Low (£10-25):

• Mario Pipe Can Holder (£17)
• SanDisk Clip Jam (£21)
• Computer Clock module kit ($34.99*)
• Willful T1 Headphones (£19.99)
• Linux-themed t-shirts – £15-£20 (Amazon)
• Cordwood Puzzles
  Puzzle One – £15.90 (Pimoroni)
  Puzzle Too – £15.90 (Pimoroni)
  Puzzle Three – £15.90 (Pimoroni)

Mid (£25-100):

• Make up a collage of things that your geek is into and put it in a custom frame which displays their username (difficult to price)
• Swiss Army knife Workchamp (£90)
• 6502 computer kit ($84.95*)
• CAMRA Membership – £26.50-£31.50 (CAMRA)
• 3D Printing Pen – £35.99 (Amazon)
• Raspberry Pi 400 Personal Computer Kit – UK – £93.90 (Pimoroni)

High (100+)

• Ledger Nano X (£110)
• GTRacing Gaming Chair (£180)
• FairPhone 3+ (£425)
• Complete 8-bit breadboard computer kit bundle ($279.96*)

• Picade – desktop retro arcade machine
  10″ display – £225 (Pimoroni)
  8″ display – £165 (Pimoroni)
  Console – £75 (Pimoroni)

Wow! You really love them!!!

(or wish to blast them into space)

• AT-AT BBQ
• Thermal IR camera (£37,605.50+free delivery!)

• Commercial space flights with netflights.space
  Around the ISS – £250k/pp
  To the moon and back – £85m/pp
  To Mars – £500m/pp

Along with a mix of Creative Commons Christmas tracks:

• Radical Boy – Merry Christmas Everyone
• Pet Rock – Walking in the Air
• Lee Rosevere – I’m Giving You My Cold for Christmas
• Sean T Wright – Silent Night
• Evan NG – O Come All Ye Faithful (featuring Benjamin Ding)

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Podcrawl Glasgow 2020 was due to take place on Saturday 1st August. However, the recent pandemic due to COVID-19, limitation on travel and the requirement for social distancing meant that it was not practical. However all is not lost as the TuxJam crew got together and decided to try out a virtual podcrawl using the Jitsi platform. In this short episode we preview, as best we can, the podcrawl including giving people details on how to join in.

For more information, check out the Podcrawl Jitsi webpage.

The tracks included in this episode are:

• Black Bones – Drink Up Me
• MateysTorridon – Drinking Away (Thanks to the band for allowing us to play their track)

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With normal service resumed the usual crew of Andrew, Dave and Kevie take a look at Gentoo-based distro Redcore Linux. We also take a look at two useful applications: SimpleTask (F-Droid) and Standard Notes (F-Droid) on Android.

The CCmusic included in this episode is:

• Jasmine Jordan – Smile
• Funky Stereo – I Want
• Julandrew – Get Back In Line
• David Ryan – Good News Good Day
• Spin Wires – Secret Beers

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With the majority of the world affected by the Coronavirus/COVID19 and many of us in lock-down, the TuxJam crew decided to talk about the geeky things that they are doing to pass the time. So in a break from the traditional format, the usual suspects were joined by Wayne, Yannick and (briefly) Caroline from the OSPN’s other shows, and the reviews were left on the shelf for a month to make room for a more discursive episode.

But TuxJam wouldn’t be the same without the music (we need some form of consistency), the tracks included on this show:

• Songwriterz – I’m Happy (acoustic version)
• Barefoot McCoy – Summer In My Soul
• Explosive Ear Candy – Miracles Like You
• Alex Cohen – Good Ole Times

Please note that this show was recorded after COVID19 guidelines were issued. It is a virtual round table, none of the hosts were even within a two mile radius of each other and therefore more than the recommended distance of two meters apart. The beer consumed was from different mug, tankards, glasses, cans or bottles. No communal cups were used in the making of this podcast.

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Dave (aka TheLoveBug) rejoins Kevie and Andrew (aka mcnalu) for our ninth square-numbered episode of TuxJam, and our third that is a square of a square. We begin with our usual round-up of recent releases of lesser known linuxes on distrowatch.

We then take a look at a distro that’s back from a four year hiatus, Simplicity Linux, which is unusual in several ways such as in not using systemd.

Next up is Librera which is a versatile e-reader app for Android available from both Google Play and F-Droid, and in PRO and non-PRO flavours.

If gaming on Linux is of interest then you might like to hear our thoughts on Lutris, which aims to make it easy to play all FOSS games on linux, and windows ones too if you are so inclined.

We finish up with feedback and if you have any to give us do get in touch or leave us a comment on this post.

Creative Commons licensed tracks play in this episode:

• Mijax – The Dream Girl
• Wes Anderson – Moments in Time
• Bert Jerred – Gassoline
• Daniel Guzman – Sometimes Things Go Wrong
• Myke Clements – The King Is Here

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