Feed aggregator

I'm a creator and my new favorite Linux distro is multimedia perfection - here's why  ZDNET

Over the past year, we’ve witnessed how creators globally have been using our AI models and tools to share their stories with the world. That’s why we launched the AI Fi…

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy plan to deploy a nuclear fission reactor on the Moon by 2030 to provide continuous, long-duration power for lunar bases, science missions, and future Mars exploration. space & defense reports: NASA said fission surface power will provide a critical capability for long-duration missions by delivering continuous, reliable electrical power independent of sunlight, lunar night cycles or extreme temperature conditions. Unlike solar-based systems, a nuclear reactor could operate for years without refuelling, supporting habitats, science payloads, resource utilisation systems and surface mobility. NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said achieving long-term human presence on the Moon and future missions to Mars will require new approaches to power generation. He said closer collaboration with the Department of Energy is essential to delivering the capabilities needed to support sustained exploration and infrastructure development beyond Earth orbit. The fission surface power system is expected to produce safe, efficient and scalable electrical power, forming a foundational element of NASA's Moon-to-Mars architecture. Continuous power availability is seen as a key enabler for permanent lunar bases, in-situ resource utilisation and expanded scientific operations in permanently shadowed regions. Further reading: You Can Now Reserve a Hotel Room On the Moon For $250,000

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Linux Systems Face a New Predator: Inside VoidLink’s Sophisticated Attack Arsenal  Technology Org

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. The Linux Mint project has announced the release of Linux Mint 22.3. The Ubuntu-based distribution will receive support through to 2029 and introduces a new tool to help users troubleshoot problems. "The 'System Reports' tool received many new features and it was rebranded as 'System Information'. In addition....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. This week in DistroWatch Weekly:
Review: MenuetOS, SparkyLinux with CDE, iDeal OS 2025.12.07
News: Debian seeks new Data Protection Team and updates install media for "Trixie", Ubuntu 25.04 nears end of life, Google limits Android code releases, Fedora plans to replace SDDM with new login manager, Budgie migrates to....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. Marco M. Mariani has announced the release of an updated build of MODICIA O.S., a Debian-based Linux distribution with focus on multimedia and creative work. The new version comes with a real-time Linux kernel 6.12.63, as well as improved graphics and video performance: "The new ISO image of....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. The Mageia team has announced an alpha development snapshot of the upcoming Mageia 10 release. The final release is expected in April 2026. "Alpha ISO images are the first public snapshots of the upcoming release. They are not ready for production use, but they are perfect for developers,....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. ArchBANG Linux has been through many changes in recent times, including the renaming of ArchBANG, to GreenBANG and back to ArchBANG again. The most recent update involves a new desktop user interface, moving from the Openbox window manager to the labwc Wayland compositor. Inspired by Openbox, labwc is....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. David Heinemeier Hansson has announced the release of Omarchy 3.3.0, an updated build of the project's Arch-based Linux distribution with Hyprland as the preferred window manager. It is intended for more advanced Linux users and developers. Besides a long list of additions and fixes, the new release also....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. The IPFire project has a new release, version 2.29 Core 199, which introduces improved wireless networking performance and enhances the intrusion prevention system: "IPFire now supports WiFi 7 and WiFi 6 for wireless access points. Although the hardware has been supported before, IPFire can now take advantage of....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. VailuxOS, a German desktop Linux distribution with a customised KDE Plasma desktop, has been upgraded to version 1.6. While the previous releases were based on Ubuntu's latest long-term support branch, VailuxOS 1.6 is based on Debian 13: "We are pleased to announce that VailuxOS 1.6 is now officially....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. This week in DistroWatch Weekly:
Review: postmarketOS 25.06 and 25.12
News: FreeBSD Foundation improves laptop support, Unix v4 available for download, a new X11 server is in development, CachyOS team plans server edition
Questions and answers: Should you switch to Linux and how to learn how to use Linux?
Released in....

The DistroWatch news feed is brought to you by TUXEDO COMPUTERS. Philip Müller has announced the release of Manjaro Linux 26, a major update of the project's set of rolling-release distributions with a choice of GNOME, KDE Plasma and Xfce desktops. Besides updates to GNOME 49 and KDE Plasma 6.5, the release introduces the latest long-term supported Linux kernel,....

Here’s my 2025 Year-End income update as a companion post to my 2025 Year-End asset allocation & performance update. Even though I don’t focus on high-dividend stocks or covered-call strategies – I still track the income from my portfolio as an alternative metric to price performance. The total income goes up much more gradually and consistently than the number shown on brokerage statements, which helps encourage consistent investing. Here’s a related quote from Jack Bogle (source):

The true investor will do better if he forgets about the stock market and pays attention to his dividend returns and to the operating results of his companies. – Jack Bogle

Stock dividends are a portion of profits that businesses have decided to distribute directly to shareholders, as opposed to reinvesting into their business, paying back debt, or buying back shares. They have explicitly decided that they don’t need this money to improve their business, and that it would be better to distribute it to shareholders. The dividends may suffer some short-term drops, but over the long run they have grown faster than inflation.

Here is the historical growth of the S&P 500 total dividend, which tracks roughly the largest 500 stocks in the US, updated as of 2025 Q4 (via Yardeni Research):

Tracking the income from my portfolio. Three of the primary income “trees” that produce income “fruit” in my portfolio are Vanguard Total US Stock ETF (VTI), Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS), and Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (VNQ).

In the US, the dividend culture is somewhat conservative in that shareholders expect dividends to be stable and only go up. Thus the starting yield is lower, but grows more steadily with smaller cuts during hard times. Companies do buybacks as well, often because they are easier to discontinue. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Total US Stock ETF (VTI) via WallStNumbers.com.

European corporate culture tends to encourage paying out a higher (sometimes even fixed) percentage of earnings as dividends, but that also means the dividends move up and down with earnings. The starting yield is currently higher but may not grow as reliably. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Total International Stock ETF (VXUS).

In the case of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), they are legally required to distribute at least 90 percent of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends. Historically, about half of the total return from REITs is from this dividend income. Here is an updated chart of the trailing 12-month (ttm) dividend per share over the last 15 years paid by the Vanguard Real Estate Index ETF (VNQ).

The dividend yield (dividends divided by price) also serve as a rough valuation metric. When stock prices drop, this percentage metric usually goes up – which makes me feel better in a bear market. When stock prices go up, this percentage metric usually goes down, which keeps me from getting too euphoric during a bull market.

Finally, the last income component of my portfolio comes from interest from bonds and cash. Vanguard Short-Term Treasury ETF (VGSH) and Schwab US TIPS ETF (SCHP) are example holdings, with the actual amount varying with the prevailing interest rates, the real rates on TIPS, and the current rate of inflation.

Dividend and interest income yield. To estimate the income from my portfolio, I use the weighted “TTM” or “12-Month Yield” from Morningstar (checked 1/4/26), which is the sum of the trailing 12 months of interest and dividend payments divided by the last month’s ending share price (NAV) plus any capital gains distributed (usually zero for index funds) over the same period. My TTM portfolio yield is now roughly 2.66%.

In dividend investing circles, there is a metric called yield on cost, which is calculated by dividing the current dividend by the original purchase price. In other words, while my portfolio yield today is 2.53%, that is because the current market price is also a lot higher. Due to increasing dividends on average over time, my yield-on-cost based on my portfolio value from 10 years ago is over 5%.

What about the 4% rule? For big-picture purposes, I support the simple 4% or 3% rule of thumb, which equates to a target of accumulating roughly 25 to 33 times your annual expenses. I would lean towards a 3% withdrawal rate if you want to retire young (closer to age 50) and a 4% withdrawal rate if retiring at a more traditional age (closer to 65). It’s just a quick and dirty target to get you started, not a number sent down from the heavens!

During the accumulation stage, your time is better spent focusing on earning potential via better career moves, improving your skillset, networking, and/or looking for asymmetrical (unlimited upside, limited downside) entrepreneurial opportunities where you have an ownership interest.

Our dividends and interest income are not automatically reinvested. They are simply another “paycheck”. As with our other variable paychecks, we can choose to either spend it or invest it again to compound things more quickly. You could use this money to cut back working hours, pursue a different career path, start a new business, take a sabbatical, perform charity or volunteer work, and so on. You don’t have to wait until you hit a magic number. Our life path has been very different because of this philosophy. FIRE is Life!

Thelasko shares a report from Forbes: We have not seen this before. Iran's digital blackout has now deployed military jammers, reportedly supplied by Russia, to shut down access to Starlink Internet. This is a game-changer for the Plan-B connectivity frequently used by protesters and anti-regime activists when ordinary access to the internet is stopped. "Despite reports that tens of thousands of Starlink units are operating inside Iran," says Iran Wire, "the blackout has also reached satellite connections." It is reported that about 30 percent of Starlink's uplink and downlink traffic was (initially) disrupted," quickly rising "to more than 80 percent" within hours. The Times of Israel reports "the deployment of (Starlink) receivers is now far greater in Iran" than during previous blackouts. "That's despite the government never authorizing Starlink to function, making the service illegal to possess and use." "While it's not clear how Starlink's service was being disrupted in Iran," The Times says, "some specialists say it could be the result of jamming of Starlink terminals that would overpower their ability to receive signals from the satellites." Multiple reports suggest Russia's military technology may be responsible. Channel 4 News describes Russia's activities as a "technological race with Starlink," which it says "is known to deploy trucks which deploy radio noise to disrupt satellite signals." Simon Migliano, Head of Research at Top10VPN.com, said "Iran's current nationwide blackout is a blunt instrument intended to crush dissent," and this comes at a stark cost to the country, underpinning the regime's desperation. "This 'kill switch' approach comes at a staggering price, draining $1.56 million from Iran's economy every single hour the internet is down." He added: "Iranian authorities have proven they are prepared to weaponize connectivity, even at a tremendous domestic cost. We are looking at losses already exceeding $130 million. If the 2019 shutdown is any indicator, the regime could maintain this digital siege for days, prioritizing control over their own economic stability."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Linux apps are NOT coming to many still-supported Chromebooks  BetaNews

Wine 11.0 Enhances Windows Games and Apps Performance on Linux  filmogaz.com

New Linux Voidlink malware targets cloud and container environments  varindia.com

Linux Mint 22.3 "Zena" is Officially Available Now! Introduces Two New Apps  It's FOSS