Table of Contents

Welcome From The Chief Editor

1. ICYMI: Decade Old Vulnerability Found In Sudo

2. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Chicken Tortilla Casserole

3. Inkscape Tutorial: The New LPE Tool

4. Install Easy Flatpak Manager On PCLinuxOS

5. How To Install The Typst.vim Plugin

6. Wiki Pick: Cron Jobs

7. Good Words, Good Deeds, Good News

8. Tip Top Tips: Disable Firefox's Integrated AI Chatbot

9. How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, & Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups

10. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Husband's Delight

11. PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

12. Screenshot Showcase

From The Chief Editor's Desk...

The recovery is mostly complete.

In late June, 2025, YouCanToo/The CrankyZombie experienced a fire at his place of residence. Inside his residence were the servers that ran all of the “services” that PCLinuxOS users came to rely on. That included the forum, PCLOS-Mail, PCLOS-Talk, PCLOS-Cloud, this magazine’s website, and the PCLinuxOS Knowledgebase Wiki.

Even though his residence experienced significant smoke and water damage from the fire, YCT/TCZ found that the backups he had made of the magazine, wiki, and cloud site were intact. That meant that it was only a matter of finding a new webhost for these sites. Texstar had already started a new forum. He is still figuring out a format for the main PCLinuxOS page.

We found a new webhost, and with the help of YCT/TCZ, we managed to move the domain to the new webhost fairly quickly (same address … https://pclosmag.com). YCT/TCZ, TerryN, and I worked tirelessly to find a new webhost for the PCLinuxOS Knowledgebase Wiki (note the new URL).

Then, YCT/TCZ managed to find a new home for PCLOS-Cloud. His efforts resulted in the cloud storage site coming back online in the latter half of July. With PCLOS-Cloud, all of the user login credentials and files were intact, so despite the brief interruption of service, PCLOS-Cloud users should now have full access to their files stored there.

The “jury is still out” on whether PCLOS-Mail or PCLOS-Talk will ever come back. Still, if that’s all that the PCLinuxOS community loses from this calamity, it’s remarkable that all of the other services have returned as quickly as they did. And they did so with a LOT of behind-the-scenes work from many people.

Unfortunately, YCT/TCZ lost all of his camera equipment, but found a light at the end of that tunnel when he found out that his insurance on his home was going to cover the loss of his camera equipment.

During the month of June, my son Ryan and I spent 10 days at H. Roe Bartle Scout Reservation in Osceola, Missouri, where he earned three merit badges and earned his Scout rank. Then, he and I went on a troop campout over the weekend of July 18-20. There, he completed his Tenderfoot rank, and he earned his horsemanship merit badge. Not too bad for only being in the “big” troop (crossing over from Cub Scouts) since March, if I do say so myself. Now, all of his attention is going to be focused on banging out the requirements for his Second Class Scout rank.

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This month’s cover image was produced by Bing Image Creator, and shows Tux enjoying a typical summer night around the campfire, making Smores with friends. My image creation “text” was “Linux mascot Tux sitting around a campfire making smores.” Bing Image Creator is powered by DALL-E 3.0.

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Until next month, I bid you peace, happiness, serenity, prosperity, and continued good health!

ICYMI: Decade Old Vulnerability Found In Sudo

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Image by Cliff Hang from Pixabay

A new mobile crypto-stealing malware called SparkKitty was found in apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store, targeting Android and iOS devices, according to an article from Bleeping Computer. The malware is a possible evolution of SparkCat, which Kaspersky discovered in January. SparkCat used optical character recognition (OCR) to steal cryptocurrency wallet recovery phrases from images saved on infected devices. When installing crypto wallets, the installation process tells users to write down the wallet's recovery phrase and store it in a secure, offline location. Access to this seed phrase can be used to restore a crypto wallet and its stored assets on another device, making them a valuable target for threat actors. While taking a screenshot of your seed phrase is never a good idea, some people do so for convenience. A report by Kaspersky says that the new SparkKitty malware indiscriminately steals all images from an infected device's photo gallery.

Facebook is asking users for access to their phone’s camera roll to automatically suggest AI-edited versions of their photos — including ones that haven’t been uploaded to Facebook yet, according to an article from TechCrunch. The feature is being suggested to Facebook users when they’re creating a new Story on the social networking app. Here, a screen pops up and asks if the user will opt into “cloud processing” to allow creative suggestions. As the pop-up message explains, by clicking “Allow,” you’ll let Facebook generate new ideas from your camera roll, like collages, recaps, AI restylings, or photo themes. To work, Facebook says it will upload media from your camera roll to its cloud (meaning its servers) on an “ongoing basis,” based on information like time, location, or themes. The message also notes that only you can see the suggestions, and the media isn’t used for ad targeting. However, by tapping “Allow,” you are agreeing to Meta’s AI Terms of Service. This allows your media and facial features to be analyzed by AI, it says. The company will additionally use the date and presence of people or objects in your photos to craft its creative ideas.

A serious security vulnerability in many Bluetooth headphones allows attackers to read data from the devices remotely and take over connections, according to an article from Heise Online. This was discovered by researchers from the German security company ERNW. They presented their discovery at this year's edition of the TROOPERS security conference. Millions of devices from various manufacturers are suspected to be affected; updates to resolve the problem are not yet available. Nevertheless, the researchers are reassuring: although attacks are possible, the target group for attacks is limited. The vulnerabilities are located in Bluetooth SoC (System-on-Chip) from the Taiwanese manufacturer Airoha, which is particularly popular for “True Wireless Stereo” (TWS) headphones. Using Airoha chips, small in-ear headphones can reproduce stereo sound from playback devices such as smartphones without latency. Well-known manufacturers such as Sony, JBL, Marshall, and Bose use it in some cases, but also install Bluetooth technology from other suppliers.

Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Security researchers have discovered a critical elevation of privilege (EoP) vulnerability in a popular Linux utility, and another that has been lying hidden for over a decade, according to an article from Infosecurity Magazine. Sudo is a privileged command-line tool installed on 99% of Linux servers and workstations, which means around 30-50 million endpoints in the US alone, according to security vendor Stratascale. The utility is often used to implement least privilege access by delegating admin tasks that require elevated privileges without sharing the root password, and also creating an audit trail in the system log, Stratascale explained. However, CVE-2025-32463 undermines this by enabling local users to gain full root access to a targeted system, via abuse of the chroot function.

Cybercriminals are using v0, an AI tool developed by Vercel, to rapidly generate convincing phishing websites, sometimes in as little as 30 seconds, according to an investigation by Okta, an identity and access management company, says an article from TechRepublic. Okta Threat Intelligence has uncovered that the AI-driven tool, designed to help developers create websites through natural language prompts, has now been co-opted by threat actors. These bad actors are abusing the technology to build fake login portals for well-known services, including Microsoft 365, cryptocurrency platforms, and Okta. Following Okta’s disclosure, Vercel promptly removed the phishing pages. The company is now working with Okta to implement more effective abuse-reporting systems. In a statement to Axios, Ty Sbano, chief information security officer at Vercel, said: “Like any powerful tool, v0 can be misused. This is an industry-wide challenge, and at Vercel, we’re investing in systems and partnerships to catch abuse quickly and keep v0 focused on what it does best: helping people build powerful web apps.” Despite the takedowns, Okta discovered open-source clones of the v0 tool on GitHub, complete with DIY guides that could allow other malicious actors to create their AI-powered phishing infrastructure.

Apple will battle the European Commission in court to try to overturn a €500 million ($587 million) fine imposed by the commission in April, according to an appeal filed on July 7, says an article from TechRepublic. At stake is the much-debated App Store ecosystem, which the commission said was in violation of the Digital Markets Act. Specifically, the DMA states tech companies can’t block app makers from accepting payments through third-party services. The European Commission enforces EU laws, including the Digital Markets Act. Apple’s App Store and its design to keep monetary transactions inside approved apps as much as possible has gotten the company in trouble before. Both lawmakers and companies with a significant financial stake in their mobile apps have protested it in court. For its part, Apple said the “walled garden” was a matter of safety and security, reducing breaches and scams, while allowing customers to control who has access to their data.

Image by Kohji Asakawa from Pixabay

OpenAI is set to launch its own internet browser, powered by artificial intelligence, in the coming weeks, in the hopes that it will pose a real threat to market leader Google Chrome, according to an article from TechRepublic. The idea is to reduce the need for users to visit third-party sites or apps, whether to access information or a competitor AI chatbot, as ChatGPT will be integrated into the software. While OpenAI ignited the fuse of the AI boom with the release of ChatGPT, it is now facing competition from rival chatbots based on comparable or more powerful large language models. As a result, it is looking to diversify into other areas, and the browser is part of that plan, anonymous sources told Reuters. OpenAI plans to integrate its AI agent products, such as Operator, directly into its browser, allowing it to perform multi-step tasks on the user’s behalf, according to the sources. Having access to their web activity, typically collected and stored by browsers, will significantly enhance the usefulness and intuitiveness of agent-driven interactions on websites, such as autofilling forms or booking reservations. The ability to access user data is a key reason OpenAI chose to develop its own browser instead of building a plug-in for Chrome or other existing browsers, according to the sources. After all, it is what has allowed Chrome to dominate for so long.

If you want a job at McDonald’s today, there’s a good chance you'll have to talk to Olivia, according to an article from Wired. Olivia is not, in fact, a human being, but instead an AI chatbot that screens applicants, asks for their contact information and résumé, directs them to a personality test, and occasionally makes them “go insane” by repeatedly misunderstanding their most basic questions. Until last week (the first week of July, 2025), the platform that runs the Olivia chatbot, built by artificial intelligence software firm Paradox.ai, also suffered from absurdly basic security flaws. As a result, virtually any hacker could have accessed the records of every chat Olivia had ever had with McDonald's applicants — including all the personal information they shared in those conversations — with tricks as straightforward as guessing that an administrator account's username and password was “123456.” Uhm … there’s a lesson here. Can you spot it? (Hint: it’s something we’ve written about here in the magazine, ad nauseam).

Microsoft's $13 billion love affair with OpenAI hides a ticking clock: a clause that lets OpenAI ditch Microsoft the moment it deems its models to have reached artificial general intelligence and are powerful enough to generate the $100+ billion required to pay off its backers, according to an article from TechRepublic. Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, once shrugged it off, assuming AGI was years away. Now, Sam Altman hints it could be months, and Microsoft is scrambling to renegotiate as part of OpenAI's shift to a public-benefit corporation. The clause also forbids Microsoft from independently pursuing AGI, effectively handcuffing its research while rivals like Meta throw Ohtani-sized paychecks at talent. If OpenAI's board rings the “we did it” bell, Redmond might be stuck with last year's model while the rest of Big Tech sprints ahead. OpenAI reportedly may concede that its nonprofit roots and profit caps are outdated, giving Microsoft leverage to kill the clause altogether. Whether that happens will shape who controls the next-gen AI gold mine—and on whose cloud it runs.

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

Economic development is associated with increased prevalence of obesity and related health problems, but the relative importance of increased caloric intake and reduced energy expenditure remains unresolved, according to a new study published on PNAS. We show that daily energy expenditures are greater in developed populations, and activity energy expenditures are not reduced in more industrialized populations, challenging the hypothesis that decreased physical activity contributes to rises in obesity with economic development. Instead, our results suggest that dietary intake plays a far greater role than reduced expenditure in the elevated prevalence of obesity associated with economic development.

Researchers in Japan say they have set a new world record for the fastest internet speed, transmitting over 125,000 gigabytes of data per second over 1,120 miles (1,802 kilometers), according to an article from LiveScience. That's about 4 million times the average internet speed in the U.S. and would allow you to download the entire Internet Archive in less than four minutes, according to some rough estimates. This is also more than twice the previous world record of 50,250 GB/s, previously set by a different team of scientists in 2024. To achieve this new speed — which has not been independently verified — the team developed a new form of optical fiber to send information at groundbreaking speeds over roughly the distance between New York and Florida.

In mid-May 2025, Cloudflare blocked the largest DDoS attack ever recorded: a staggering 7.3 terabits per second (Tbps), according to a blog from Cloudflare. This comes shortly after the publication of our DDoS threat report for 2025 Q1 on April 27, 2025, where we highlighted attacks reaching 6.5 Tbps and 4.8 billion packets per second (pps). The 7.3 Tbps attack is 12% larger than our previous record and 1 Tbps greater than a recent attack reported by cyber security reporter Brian Krebs at KrebsOnSecurity. 37.4 terabytes is not a staggering figure in today’s scales, but blasting 37.4 terabytes in just 45 seconds is. It’s the equivalent to flooding your network with over 9,350 full-length HD movies, or streaming 7,480 hours of high-definition video nonstop (that’s nearly a year of back-to-back binge-watching) in just 45 seconds. If it were music, you’d be downloading about 9.35 million songs in under a minute, enough to keep a listener busy for 57 years straight. Think of snapping 12.5 million high-resolution photos on your smartphone and never running out of storage—even if you took one shot every day, you’d be clicking away for 4,000 years — but in 45 seconds.

Image by Mattia Verga from Pixabay

The Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) theory suggests that most galaxies are low-mass dwarf galaxies, many of which orbit larger galaxies like the Milky Way, according to an article from Gizmodo. More broadly, the LCDM represents our best understanding of how the universe works. But there’s a problem. According to the theory, the Milky Way should have significantly more satellite galaxies than scientists have observed with telescopes and predicted with computer simulations. By combining the highest-resolution supercomputer simulations to date with new mathematical modeling, cosmologists at Durham University in the U.K. suggest there might be up to 100 previously unidentified galaxies orbiting the Milky Way, effectively tracking down our galaxy’s “missing” companions. If future telescopes detect these galaxies directly, it would further bolster the reliability of the LCDM theory, the most widely accepted standard model of large-scale cosmology.

The Perseids, considered by astronomers to be the best meteor shower of the year, are about to begin, according to an article from ABC News. The meteor shower occurs annually from about July 17 to Aug. 23, typically peaking in mid-August, according to the American Meteor Society. Its “swift and bright” meteors often leave long “wakes” of light and color behind as they streak through the Earth's atmosphere, leading to the best annual display of meteors, astronomers say. The Perseids are also known for their fireballs, which are larger explosions of light and color that persist longer than an average meteor streak, according to NASA.

An object has been discovered orbiting the sun far beyond Pluto, calling into question theories about a possible Planet Nine in the solar system, according to an article from Forbes. The object, for now, designated 2023 KQ14 and nicknamed “Ammonite,” was found by astronomers in Japan using its Subaru Telescope in Hawaii. Announced in a paper published July 14, 2025 in Nature Astronomy, the object is not a planet but a sednoid. It's only the fourth sednoid ever discovered. A sednoid is an object beyond the orbit of Neptune that has a highly eccentric orbit, similar to that of the dwarf planet Sedna, one of the most distant objects in the solar system known to astronomers. Astronomers use the distance between the Earth and the sun — one astronomical unit or AU — to measure distance in the solar system. Sedna gets as close to the sun as about 76 au, but as far away as 900 au on its elliptical orbit. 2023 KQ14 gets as close as 66 au from the sun and as far away as 252 au.

Image by MasterTux from Pixabay

Researchers at MIT and other institutions have identified compounds that can fight off viral infection by activating a defense pathway inside host cells, according to an article from MIT News. These compounds, they believe, could be used as antiviral drugs that work against not just one but any kind of virus. The researchers identified these compounds, which activate a host cell defense system known as the integrated stress response pathway, in a screen of nearly 400,000 molecules. In tests in human cells, the researchers showed that the compounds help cells fend off infection from RSV, herpes virus, and Zika virus. They also proved effective in combating herpes infection in a mouse model.

In spite of having plagued humans for millennia, typhoid fever is rarely considered in developed countries today. But this ancient threat is still very much a danger in our modern world, according to an article from ScienceAlert. According to research published in 2022, the bacterium that causes typhoid fever is evolving extensive drug resistance, and is rapidly replacing strains that aren't resistant. Currently, antibiotics are the only way to effectively treat typhoid, which is caused by the bacterium Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S Typhi). Yet over the past three decades, the bacterium's resistance to oral antibiotics has been growing and spreading. In their study, researchers sequenced the genomes of 3,489 S Typhi strains contracted from 2014 to 2019 in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, and found a rise in extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Typhi. Even worse, these strains are spreading globally at a rapid rate. While most XDR Typhi cases stem from South Asia, researchers have identified nearly 200 instances of international spread since 1990. Most strains have been exported to Southeast Asia, as well as East and Southern Africa, but typhoid superbugs have also been found in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Hackers continue to go after healthcare-related businesses in their attacks and unfortunately, you could easily get caught up in the aftermath as the result of a data breach. Case in point, millions of Americans are now receiving data breach notifications in the mail following a cyberattack on a medical billing company earlier this year, according to an article at Tom’s Guide. As reported by BleepingComputer, back in January and early February, hackers stole the personal and medical information of 5.4 million people during a cyberattack at the American healthcare services company Episource. While you likely haven’t heard of this company, which is owned by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary, it provides risk adjustment, medical coding, data analytics and other tech to healthcare providers. As a result, Episource often handles large troves of personal and medical data, which makes it a valuable target for hackers and other cybercriminals. Now, though, the company has begun notifying affected individuals that their personal and medical data could be in the hands of hackers.

Maybe a job in the tech industry isn’t looking so good these days. According to an article from TechCrunch, the tech layoff wave is still kicking in 2025. Last year saw more than 150,000 job cuts across 549 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. So far this year, more than 22,000 workers have been the victim of reductions across the tech industry, with a staggering 16,084 cuts taking place in February alone. TechCrunch is tracking layoffs in the tech industry in 2025 so you can see the trajectory of the cutbacks and understand the impact on innovation across all types of companies. As businesses continue to embrace AI and automation, this tracker serves as a reminder of the human impact of layoffs — and what could be at stake with increased innovation.

Looking for an all-day meal? In Japan, Burger King’s gargantuan but curiously named Baby Body Burger tips the scales at nearly 680g (1.5lb), according to an article from The Guardian. As part of a collaboration with the Japan Sumo Association, whose July wrestling tournament has just started, the burger checks in at 1,876 calories. Sumo wrestlers would only need about four of these to get their average daily caloric needs; a mere mortal would need just one to one-and-a-half. And, at ¥2,590 (£13.05), it’s nearly twice the price of a one-patty Whopper with cheese. The burger stack is thick and impressive: five charbroiled beef patties, four cheddar cheese slices, bacon, lettuce, tomato and pickles on a sesame seed bun topped with mayonnaise, mustard and an umami-infused, tomato paste-based Aurora sauce. “This could dislocate my jaw,” joked a woman splitting one with her family.

When folks picture Neanderthals, the image often involves heavy brows, furry pelts, and stone tools. Yet, pieces of their DNA are still part of the modern human genome. Recent research suggests that some of these genetic variants inherited from Neanderthals could be linked to autism spectrum disorder, according to an article from Earth.com. About 50,000-60,000 years ago, small groups of modern humans trekked out of Africa into Eurasia. They met Neanderthals, exchanged tools, and also exchanged genes through interbreeding. It has been estimated that Eurasian-derived populations have approximately 2% Neanderthal DNA, which was acquired during introgression events occurring shortly after anatomically modern humans migrated out of Africa. Later, some descendants journeyed back to Africa, sprinkling a much thinner dusting of Neanderthal genes across the continent. That genetic shuffling means nearly everyone on Earth carries at least a trace of Neanderthal ancestry, though the amount varies. Genetic leftovers can be helpful. Certain Neanderthal alleles boost immune responses or aid survival at high altitudes. Many others never meshed well with our biology and were slowly weeded out by natural selection. Brain-related genes are especially unforgiving; even minor glitches can prove disruptive.

Another month, another set of Google Chrome vulnerabilities. Google has released a critical security update for its Chrome web browser, patching six vulnerabilities, according to an article from TechRepublic. The most alarming of the bunch is CVE-2025-6558, a high-severity bug (CVSS score: 8.8) found in Chrome’s ANGLE and GPU components that is being actively exploited in the wild. According to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), the bug stems from insufficient validation of untrusted input in ANGLE and GPU modules. ANGLE (Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine) is a key layer in Chrome that translates graphics commands to work across various systems, including Direct3D, Vulkan, Metal, and OpenGL. By creating a malicious HTML page, an attacker could exploit this vulnerability to escape Chrome’s sandbox, a protective barrier designed to keep malicious code locked inside the browser and away from the rest of your computer. The zero-day flaw was discovered on June 23, 2025, by Clément Lecigne and Vlad Stolyarov from Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG), a team known for tracking targeted cyberattacks. Google confirmed in its official release that it is “aware that an exploit for CVE-2025-6558 exists in the wild.”

Unless you've already ditched Google for good (I haven’t used Google search for a very long time), you've probably noticed that these days, your search results typically start with an AI-generated answer, according to an article from Lifehacker. Maybe you've found this useful, or maybe you've found it annoying. But the thing is, whether you want it there or not, most of your Google searches include these long, AI Overviews by default. The feature isn't as problematic or error-prone as it was when Google first rolled it out, but you still shouldn't take these results at face value. The feature is merely summarizing answers it finds in its own web searches, which might include high-quality and accurate sources, but also low-quality, intentionally misleading, or comedic sources as well. Check out the article for three ways to remove AI from Google services.

Image by BrownMantis from Pixabay

A recently discovered prompt-injection flaw in Google’s Gemini makes it possible for hackers to target unsuspecting users in sophisticated phishing attacks, according to an article from TechRepublic. The flaw allows attackers to embed hidden instructions in seemingly benign emails. When a user clicks Summarize This Email using Gemini for Google Workspace, the chatbot can be manipulated into generating fake security alerts, prompting victims to click malicious links or call scam phone numbers. According to the anonymous researcher who originally discovered and reported the vulnerability, the technique “involves clever and unorthodox tactics designed to deceive the model, often requiring an understanding of its operational mechanics to achieve desired outcomes.”

DuckDuckGo recently announced a new feature for its Images tab that allows you to hide AI-generated images by default, according to an article from Lifehacker. While there are ways to hide AI from your Google searches, unless you install extensions, you have to go out of your way to use them every time you make a new search. With DuckDuckGo's solution, it's set-it-and-forget-it. Just go to the DuckDuckGo website, enter your search, click on the Images tab, then in the settings toolbar below the search bar, click on AI images and choose Hide from the dropdown menu. DuckDuckGo will then remember your settings for all future searches. Alternatively, click on the hamburger menu in the top-right corner, click on Settings under Search, and toggle on Hide AI-Generated Images. Or, you can just start your search from noai.duckduckgo.com. The company does warn you that its “block list is not exhaustive,” so a few AI-generated results might slip through the cracks, but I immediately noticed a big difference in my attempts. While searching for tabby kittens, I managed to cut a good four or five AI images off of the front page of results, including some with weird, cartoony proportions that wouldn't really help me if I just wanted to know what a baby tabby looks like. It wasn't quite as noticeable as the “baby peacock” example DuckDuckGo gave in its announcement, but it's a welcome assurance that what I'm seeing is probably real.

I have to say that it’s quite rare for me to come across a website that really blows me away, but I’ve found one. The site is called “Engineerine,” and it highlights all sorts of advances in a multitude of fields. Here’s an assortment of some of the more interesting articles I’ve found on their website. There’s an article reporting on researchers using CRISPR technology to remove the extra chromosome that causes Down’s Syndrome, and another article that reports on researchers using the same CRISPR technology to remove all traces of HIV from cells. Yet another article reports on researchers at Stanford discovering a molecule that makes cancer cells self-destruct. Still another article reports on Chinese researchers using stem-cell therapy that reverses BOTH Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Another article describes how researchers in Japan have created an artificial womb capable of sustaining embryos outside the human body, potentially saving the lives of extremely premature babies. So, poke around on their site, and I’m sure everyone will find news about a wide variety of topics that piques their interest.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:

Cooking spray

2 (10-oz.) cans diced tomatoes and green chiles

2 TBSP. chili powder

1 TBSP. ground cumin

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 (15-oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups frozen corn kernels (from 1 [10-oz.] pkg.)

3 ½ cups shredded skinned and boned rotisserie chicken (from 1 rotisserie chicken)

12 (6-in.) corn tortillas, quartered (about 2 cups)

12 oz. pepper Jack cheese, shredded (about 3 cups), divided

½ cup sour cream

¼ cup thinly sliced scallions (about 2 medium)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat a 13 x 9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside. Stir together diced tomatoes and chiles, chili powder, cumin, and salt in a large bowl. Fold in beans, corn, chicken, tortilla quarters, and 1 1/2 cups of the cheese. Transfer to a prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven until bubbly around edges and lightly browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Dollop with sour cream, and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Serve hot.

TIPS:

You can make Chicken Tortilla Casserole before you plan to serve it, but we recommend you bake it and then put it in the fridge, instead of making it and storing it unbaked. Cover with aluminum foil, and enjoy up to 5 days later.

Leftovers can be stored in the fridge, wrapped with plastic wrap or in an airtight container, up to 3 days. The tortillas may soften more as the dish sits, but it will still be delicious. You can reheat individual servings of Chicken Tortillas Casserole in the microwave for 1 to 2 minutes. If you have more left, you can reheat larger leftover portions in the original baking dish at 350°F for 30 to 45 minutes or until heated through.

You can freeze this casserole for a great make-ahead dinner down the road, but again we recommend you bake the casserole and then freeze it instead of freezing it before it's baked. Bake the casserole as instructed, and cool it entirely. Then, wrap the dish in plastic wrap, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Make sure you label the dish with the ingredient's name and date. The Chicken Tortilla Casserole will be good for two months in the freezer. Let the frozen casserole thaw overnight in the fridge, and set it out 30 minutes before you want to put it in the oven. Then, bake at 350°F for about 1 hour and 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reads 165°F.

Top with Pico de Gallo, Guacamole or sliced avocados.

NUTRITION:

Calories: 270    Carbs: 24g    Sodium: 850mg     Fiber: 3g    Protein: 20g

Inkscape Tutorial: The New LPE Tool

by Meemaw

As you know, I look at YouTube to see if anything new has popped up about Inkscape and GIMP. I came across this one from Logos by Nick, and it was something I didn’t know about. It’s the new LPE Tool (LPE standing for Live Path Effects). We’ve done a lot with path effects, but this new tool is a shortcut to some of the experimental tools. If you don’t have the experimental tools enabled, you’ll have to do that.

Enable the experimental tools by clicking Preferences > Behavior > Live Path Effects (LPE) and check the box that says “Show experimental effects”. Close the Preferences window and restart Inkscape.

Now if you have an object and want to use the Path Effects tool, you can see more of them and the ones at the bottom are “Experimental”.

The new tool, however, is located in your toolbox at the left of your window, just above the measuring tool, and the tool and toolbar look like this:

It allows you to draw objects that might be more difficult with the tools you already have.

The tools we will use are the first seven. From left to right, they are: Draw segment, Circle from 3 points, Circle from 2 points, Parallel line, Perpendicular line, Angle bisect, and Mirror symmetry.

Draw Segment

Suppose you have a figure, and you want to draw a line along one side of it. You can draw a segment along that line using the pen tool, but it’s probably only going to be as long as the line you’re drawing it along. This allows you to make another editable segment. Open the figure you’re going to use, and enable snapping. Choose your LPE tool and choose the Draw Segment tool. Click along your figure and place a point, then place another. In this image I have placed one point and am placing the other. If you have trouble, it may help to lock your figure to the canvas before you start with your LPE tool. Just right click and choose Lock selected objects.

You won’t see anything at first because no stroke color has been set. Press Shift and click on your desired stroke color.

To finish the process, click Path > Object to path. Now, if you want to move it, you only need to click on your Nodes tool and grab a node.

Circle from 3 points

Working on a project, I thought I might draw a circle around a star. Drawing the star and the circle separately, and trying to fit them together precisely would be a pain. This tool helps a lot. I drew the star and edited it to get my desired object. Then I changed to my LPE tool, and chose Circle from 3 points. (Again, make sure Snapping is enabled.) I then clicked on three points of my star. I then changed my fill to None and my stroke to red.

Circle from 2 points

I don’t always measure my creations, but if you are creating something that has to be precise, or something with a definite center to measure from, this should help as well. In Nick’s video, he had a group of triangles that he wanted a circle around, just like the previous creation. He knew exactly where the center was, and used it. However, if you know exactly how big you need your circle, this tool will help. The circle tool forms the circle from where you click (one side of the circle) to wherever you drag your cursor (the other side of the circle). Circle from 2 points allows you to click in one spot, which will be your circle’s center, to the spot which will be the outside of the circle, using the radius instead of the diameter.

Parallel line

If you are trying to get things precise, the parallel line tool helps too. If you want it parallel to another object, just use points on that object to determine your line. I had a square that was rotated, but I wanted my line parallel to one edge. I locked the square to the canvas and chose the corners as my line. Here, when you get your line defined, press the enter key, and you will see another node appear. You’ll have to choose your stroke color, like you did before.

You can grab your Nodes tool, and notice that if you move the nodes on your figure, your parallel line will stay parallel to the alignment of the nodes.

Perpendicular line

This works pretty much the same as the parallel line tool works, except the line you get is perpendicular (of course) to your two nodes. The second image is after I moved a node.

Angle bisect

This tool allows you to set three nodes and have an angle with a bisecting line. Unless you draw an angle and use that, you’ll get 2 nodes and a line. I used one side of a four-pointed star for my angle, and with this one as well, you’ll have to set your stroke color. Also, the nodes are moveable with the Nodes tool, and the angle they make will be bisected.

Mirror symmetry

I think we’ve done mirror symmetry, so this is a shortcut. It’s really easy, though. For this one, I created a square and placed a triangle inside with the right sides aligned. You HAVE to group these objects because the tool will only work on one object.

With it selected, I chose the LPE tool and chose Mirror Symmetry. The tool immediately added the new square.

Notice the sides are touching, with three nodes in the center. Grab the Nodes tool and move the center node. It controls how far apart you can move the items. The top and bottom nodes let you rotate the added item (your original probably won’t move).

This tool is going to be great! I’m sure you can find many things to use it on, and with a little practice, your projects will be easier to create!

Oh, while watching this video, I had a look at some of the comments.

I believe this was from an Inkscape developer:

“This has existed for many releases, but we kept it disabled because it was deemed too unstable and not effective. It looks like we forgot to disable it in 1.4. Which is why no one has mentioned it in the release notes. It's not new, and it wasn't intended to be released. Welp, too late now!”

However, many comments after this one praised the new tool, saying it would be very useful in CAD drawings. Some said it made Inkscape into a CAD tool.

“These tools mimic the constrained drawing tools in Computer Aided Design workflows, in essence, making Inkscape a CAD platform. This will be important in situations where the graphics have to be translated with precision to real objects, such as laser cutting or 3d printing.”

Install Easy Flatpak Manager On PCLinuxOS

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

I know. The holy “mantra” for PCLinuxOS users has been, for as long as I can remember, “don’t install programs from outside the repository.” There are multiple reasons for these age-old words of wisdom.

First, there’s the whole issue of what is non-affectionately called “dependency hell.” If you don’t have the proper version of a library installed, the program isn’t going to run. Attempting to install a missing library will likely result in another two or three “missing pieces,” and attempting to install those missing pieces may cause you to discover that you are missing even more pieces to the pieces. Before you know it, your system is trashed.

Second, installing programs from untrusted sources (say you found some source code, and you want to compile it) can make you vulnerable to unscrupulous actors who want to steal your personal, private information … or who wants to inflict harm on the end user.

But, that was before flatpaks and appimages appeared. Their arrival has, in a way, changed the Linux landscape. Where before you were urged to only install programs from your distro’s official repository (or compile and install from source, if you’re accustomed to the in’s-and-out’s of doing this task … and many Linux users are not), flatpaks and appimages are completely self-contained, allowing the user to run programs on any Linux distro, without making changes to the Linux system as a whole.

We have covered flatpaks and appimages before in The PCLinuxOS Magazine. In fact, I did a full article on just these two installation tools in the April 2023 issue of the magazine. If you want or need a more complete discussion of these tools, I urge you to revisit that article.

So, Just What Are Flatpaks?

According to the DuckDuckGo AI Assist tool, flatpaks are a type of software packaging system for Linux that allows applications to be distributed and run in a sandboxed environment, ensuring they work across different Linux distributions without dependency issues. This makes it easier for developers to manage and update their applications while providing users with a consistent experience. This universality makes Flatpaks a popular choice among developers and users alike.

Flatpaks run applications in a sandbox, isolating them from the rest of the system. This enhances security, as applications cannot access system resources without explicit permission.

Flatpaks bundle necessary libraries and dependencies, reducing conflicts between applications. They target specific runtimes, which provide the basic utilities needed for applications to function.

Flathub is the main repository for flatpak applications, where users can find and install software easily. Developers can also create independent flatpak repositories. Just like with the PCLinuxOS repository, the programs offered up as flatpak packages in the Flathub repository are carefully curated and monitored so that they don’t cause dependency or security issues.

There are several advantages to using flatpaks.

Cross-Distribution Compatibility: Flatpaks can run on any Linux distribution, making software installation simpler.

Direct Updates: Developers can push updates directly to users without going through distribution maintainers.

Space Efficiency: Although initial installations may take up more space, Flatpak uses deduplication to manage storage effectively over time.

Flatpaks simplify the process of installing and managing software on Linux systems, making them a valuable tool for both users and developers.

Use Easy Flatpak Manager To Manage Your Flatpaks

Of course, before you can use a flatpak on PCLinuxOS, you will need to install the flatpak binary from Synaptic.

Once you’ve done that, follow these steps to install Easy Flatpak Manager on your computer. This will work on any desktop environment offered by PCLinuxOS.

First, open a terminal session. Remain a normal user. That means, DO NOT su to the root user. If you do, things will not work properly. Type (or copy) this command (all on one line):

flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --user flathub https://dl.flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

Be sure to type the entire line, including the link.

Second, enter the following command in your terminal session:

flatpak install org.dupot.easyflatpak

This will install the easyflatpak package on your computer. You will first be asked if you want to install this for your current user, or if you want to install it to the system for all users. If it’s the former, you’ll enter “2,” which is what I used, since I’m the only real user on this computer. If it’s the latter, you’ll enter “1” to install it so that all users on the system can access it. If you want to abort the installation, you’ll need to enter “0” to abort.

It will then ask you a couple of times if you want to proceed. Simply enter “y” and the Enter key to proceed with the installation.

You should soon see some output in your terminal that looks something like the text below:

Third, enter the following command in your terminal session:

flatpak update org.dupot.easyflatpak

This will ensure that if there are any updates to the program, those are also downloaded and installed on your computer.

To make it show up in our PCLinuxOS menu, we need to create a .desktop file for easyflatpak. In a plain text editor (do not attempt to use a word processor … this file should be created in something like Kate, Mousepad, Leafpad, Geany, Notepad++, etc.), copy or type in the following:

[Desktop Entry]

Name=Easy Flatpak Manager

GenericName=Flatpak Manager

Comment=Install, remove and upgrade flatpak packages

Exec=flatpak run org.dupot.easyflatpak

Icon=/var/lib/flatpak/appstream/flathub/x86_64/942a15ba2d7f505ae5f6608116cbe10a21c3c9f02285423b2a98d3cac68a542d/icons/64x64/org.dupot.easyflatpak.png

Terminal=false

MultipleArgs=false

Type=Application

Encoding=UTF-8

Categories=PackageManager;GTK;System;Application;X-MandrivaLinux-System-Configuration-Packaging;

Save it in /usr/share/applications as easyflatpak.desktop. Be aware that you must do this last step as the root user. This will allow Easy Flatpak Manager to appear in your PCLinuxOS menu, under the Software Center menu entry. You’ll have easier access to Easy Flatpak Manager if you do it this way.

Alternatively (isn’t Linux great that you have all of these choices!), you can install the desktop file to /home/[your-user]/.local/share/applications. Installing the .desktop file here does not require root/administrative privileges, but only installs the program for that particular user. The “drawback” to this method is that it doesn’t place the launch icon in your PCLinuxOS menu, under Software Center.

Running Easy Flatpak Manager

The program opens to the “Home” category. There, nine programs from each category are displayed in largish tiles. Under the tiles is an ellipse (three dots), on the left side, under each category displayed in the right pane of the program window. Clicking your mouse on the ellipse will show all of the flatpaks in that category (shown below).

The buttons at the top right of the right pane of the program window allows you to choose how to display those available flatpak files. The “default” (the first time you run the program) is like what you see in the image above. Selecting the middle button will display the large tiles like you saw on the “Home” page/category. Selecting the far right button will give you a detailed view of each flatpak package available in the Flathub repository.

Selecting a flatpak package causes Easy Flatpak Manager to open a new view of the details of that package. That view includes screenshots of the program, along with a more detailed description. There are a couple of things you should note in the Easy Flatpak Manager window. First, you’ll want to use the “Install” button in the upper right corner of the right pane of the program window to install that package. The other button you’ll want to notice is the small “arrow” button in the lower right corner of the right pane of the program window. Clicking this will take you back to the list of packages available in the Flathub repository.

After you press the “Install” button, you’ll be asked to confirm your selection, and then Easy Flatpak Manager will install the selected program for you. In this particular instance, Alexandria reader was installed to my computer, and an entry was made in my PCLinuxOS menu, under the “Office” submenu. The progress of the installation is shown in the upper part of the blue panel at the far right side of the Easy Flatpak Manager window.

If you attempt to load a flatpak that you have already previously installed, you should notice that the buttons in the upper right corner of the right pane of the Easy Flatpak Manager have changed. They now read “Uninstall” and “Run,” giving you not only the opportunity to launch the program with Easy Flatpak Manager, but also giving you the ability to uninstall the flatpak package from your system.

That latter point is a valid one. Don’t expect every flatpak you download to run perfectly. While many/most do run perfectly, little niggles and differences between Linux distributions may make some programs not run as well as you might expect. And, in some ways, I guess that’s to be expected. In that case, you’ll probably want to uninstall the flatpak that isn’t running as well as it should, and Easy Flatpak Manager makes the task of uninstalling those flatpaks as easy as it is to install them.

Summary

As far as I can tell, Easy Flatpak Manager only loads in flatpaks hosted in the Flathub repository. This is, as I see it, a safety measure that helps prevent you from using Easy Flatpak Manager to install flatpaks from questionable sources.

Using Easy Flatpak Manager also insulates you from the sometimes complex terminal commands to install and use flatpaks. So, if you’re one of those users who avoid using the command line, you’ll appreciate that with Easy Flatpak Manager, you’ll never have to bother with the command line, except for the initial installation of Easy Flatpak Manager.

Plus, since the original post about Easy Flatpak Manager was posted by Texstar in the PCLinuxOS forum, I take that as his “seal of approval.” It might not be an explicit seal of approval as much as it is an implicit endorsement, but that's good enough for me. I don't think he'd post instructions on how to install it if he thought PCLinuxOS users were going to go around hosing and breaking their computers.

Both Meemaw and I have had minor issues with the program crashing unexpectedly, but no harm has come to us. Just restart the program and continue on your merry way.

This tool has earned a place on my computer, due to its simplicity, and the vast resources it provides. I’m sure you’ll find it useful, as well.

How To Install The Typst.vim Plugin

by David Pardue (kalwisti)

This brief tutorial explains how to install a Vim plugin for Typst (typst.vim) which was created by developer kaarmu (Kaj Munhoz Arfvidsson). If you are familiar with Vim, this will give you an alternative to using the VSCodium (or VS Code) editor with your local Typst installation. Although this setup is more like working with a traditional LaTeX editor—in the sense that it does not provide a live preview—it offers a writing environment with fewer distractions. Some users might find that appealing.

Plugins extend Vim's core functionality. As a user with limited Vim experience, the mechanics of installing a plugin were confusing to me at first. Fortunately, I found two helpful videos by Jay LaCroix and Eric Murphy which cover the basics of configuring Vim and installing plugins. I recommend that you begin by watching these tutorials, as they will make it easier to follow the instructions.

The “hybrid” method below is a combination of some tips offered by Jay and Eric, as well as the instructions presented by Junegunn Choi on GitHub. It is straightforward and effective.

Prerequisites

Check that you already have these packages installed on your system:

- The Typst pre-built binary. My previous article explains how to install the Typst compiler locally on PCLinuxOS.

- Vim (packages vim-minimal, vim-common, vim-enhanced and vim-X11 from the PCLinuxOS repositories)

- curl

- git

Create Your Local .vimrc File

When you start a new file in Vim, the window is almost blank. The lines are unnumbered and the blue tildes show you where a line is not, i.e., that there is nothing there — yet.

We will begin by creating a local .vimrc file and adding some simple customizations. (This file contains Vim's core global settings.)

Open a Terminal/Konsole and type: $ vim ~/.vimrc

Go into Insert mode and add the following:

" Set compatibility to vim only

set nocompatible

" Show line numbers

set number

" Status bar

set laststatus=2

" Auto-wrap text extending beyond screen length

set wrap

" Encoding

set encoding=utf-8

Note the double quote (") at the start of lines 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13. It is part of Vim's comment syntax. It causes the whole line to be ignored. You do not need a closing quote.

• Save your changes and exit Vim.

Download vim-plug and Place It in autoload Directory

The next step is to download the vim-plug Plugin Manager from Junegunn's GitHub repository and place it in the autoload directory.

Note that are multiple methods to install plugins in Vim. This how-to uses the easy, dependable and performant "vim-plug" Plugin Manager.

Open a Terminal/Konsole and type (all in one line):

curl -fLo ~/.vim/autoload/plug.vim --create-dirs \

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/junegunn/vim-plug/master/plug.vim

You can copy the command above directly from Junegunn's GitHub instructions, if you wish.

Afterwards, you will see something like the screen below:

Add vim-plug Section to Your .vimrc File

Open a Terminal/Konsole and type $ vim ~/.vimrc.

At the end of the file, add the following lines:

" Plugin section

call plug#begin()

Plug 'kaarmu/typst.vim'

call plug#end()

This section begins with the command call plug#begin(),, lists the plugin(s) with a Plug command, and ends with the call plug#end() command.

The 'kaarmu/typst.vim' entry designates the actual typst.vim plugin. It follows the pattern (developer's) username + repository name.

Save your changes and exit Vim.

You can add more plugins later, if you wish. Additional plugin entries should be placed between the "plug#begin" and "plug#end" lines. The plugin entries should follow the naming convention described above.)

Install the typst.vim Plugin

Restart Vim: $ vim

In Command mode, type: :PlugInstall

(This opens the plugin manager within Vim and proceeds to install all plugins listed in the .vimrc file. Installed plugins automatically load the next time Vim is started.)

If this succeeds, you should see something like the screenshot below:

Other Plugin Commands

You might find these three commands useful; they are also issued from Vim's Command mode:

PlugUpdate — to install or update the plugins

:PlugDiff — to review the changes from the last update

:PlugClean — to remove plugins no longer in the list

Basic Usage of typst.vim Plugin

:TypstWatch

Use Vim to open your local Typst file and begin editing.

In Command mode, type: :TypstWatch

The typst-watch command activates a mode where Typst continuously monitors the specified file for any changes. When you save your changes, Typst will recompile the file and update the displayed PDF.

This command will open the compiled PDF in a PDF reader—Evince Document Viewer, in the screenshot below:

You can leave your PDF viewer open in the background. Typst will automatically refresh the PDF after you save changes to your source file (with the " :w " command).

If you have more than one PDF viewer installed and need to change the default PDF reader in your desktop environment, I have a publicly shared Typst project with tips on how to accomplish this in KDE Plasma, Xfce, and MATE [subsubsection 6.1.1, pages 6–8].

Error Checking

The typst.vim plugin includes error checking.

In the example below, I intentionally omitted the required colon following "Thylacine" in the term list. (It should be " / Thylacine: ")

When I saved my file, the plugin notified me that there was an error:

In the second example below, I intentionally omitted the required final underscore following "Italicized". (It should be "_Italicized"). The plugin alerted me about the mistake:

Vim Directory Structure

In case you are curious, here is a graphical overview of the Vim-related directory structure after you have installed the vim-plug Plugin Manager and the typst.vim plugin:

Within your /home directory, you will have a .vimrc file and a .viminfo file.

You will also have a .vim directory with various subdirectories:

A subdirectory named autoload will contain the plug.vim file:

There should be another .vim subdirectory named plugged:

This subdirectory contains the typst.vim subdirectory:

In turn, the typst.vim subdirectory contains a variety of components downloaded from kaarmu's GitHub repository when you installed the plugin:

Have fun using Typst with Vim as your editor!

Wiki Pick: Cron Jobs

by The PCLinuxOS Community

Relevant to All editions of PCLinuxOS

Crontab Configuration Under Linux

Cron is a time-based job scheduler in Unix-like computer operating systems. The name cron comes from the word “chronos”, Greek for “time”. Cron enables users to schedule jobs to run periodically at certain times or dates. It is commonly used to automate system maintenance or administration, though its general-purpose nature means that it can be used for other purposes, such as backing up important data.

Each cronjob has the following syntax:

Now, below is a command to be executed.

STEP 1: Open terminal as a root/normal user and enter the following:

crontab -e 1 * * * * /bin/echo "Congratulations...!"

This will echo “Congratulations…!” every minute, and you can see this message in the user's mailbox. Save and exit the file.

STEP 2: Restart the cron daemon to make it effective, use the following command service crond restart.

What does the line actually mean?

crontab -e means to edit the user's cron file. Your cron file(s) is located at /var/lib/spool/cron

The '1 * * * *' is the time base. 1 is the number of minutes to be run. The following '* * * *' are wild cards meaning ALL so we are running this command every one minute of every hour, of every day of the month, every month of the year, and every day of the week.

If the command line is not your cup of tea, there are several good GUI programs for setting up your cron job.

Webmin is a simple way to set up cron. It is also in the Repository.

So what can cron be used for besides sending out silly little messages every minute, you ask? You can use it for almost anything. Only your mind is the limit of the things cron can do.

Automate a daily backup, send yourself reminders, create and keep your own repository up to date, or maybe … uhhh … remind yourself to write an article for the PCLinuxOS Magazine.

If you can dream it, cron surely can do it.

Good Words, Good Deeds, Good News

compiled by Meemaw

Teen Saves Eleven Year-old From Drowning

Thirteen year-old Gauge saw an eleven year-old boy fall off a dock in Everett, Washington. When he didn’t come back up, Gauge jumped in to find him. He was stuck in the seaweed under the dock, so Gauge grabbed him.

“I swooped him up, I had his arms like t-shaped, and I wrapped my arms around his ribs and his back so he wouldn’t fall out. I used my one hand to get up as much as I can, and he fell out of my arms, so I had to grab him again,” he recalled.

When he finally got the child up, he had been stuck ten feet underwater for about 6 minutes. Gauge brought him up, bystanders pulled him onto the dock, and Gauge started chest compressions until others at the scene started CPR. He says he also started praying for the child to live.

The boy who nearly drowned is recovering and reportedly in stable condition, thanks to Gauge’s selfless and brave actions. Gauge said, “I’m super-happy that he’s doing well. I didn’t sleep well because I was just worrying about him,” adding that he hopes his family contacts him after he goes home, so the two can meet.

Texas Man Saves Woman From A Tree Amid Flood

The Texas flooding was awful, with many people losing their lives. In Center Point, TX, a resident named Carl heard screaming, and found a woman clinging to a tree above the flooding. She had apparently been washed downstream and had finally grabbed onto the tree. He yelled back to her to let her know he had heard & seen her, and then called 911.

He couldn’t get through to 911 personnel, so he drove back to town to alert some first responders, who came back in two boats, and were able to get a life jacket to her and get her out of the tree, She had been camping with 5 members of her family when the flooding started. They tried to drive to higher ground, but the vehicle got swept away. She was 20 miles downstream when Carl saw her.

Twelve Year-old Saves His Family From House Fire

Twelve year-old Ramir was upstairs at home with his mother and grandmother when he smelled smoke, and heard crackling and rattling sounds that got louder. He knew his younger brothers were downstairs playing, so he went out in the hall. He could see smoke coming from the basement, so he yelled “Fire!” to alert the women, then got his brothers, ages 1 and 2, out of the house. He also made sure his mother and grandmother were out.

The Petersburg Fire Department Chief made a post on social media afterwards which said they were 3 miles away and could see black smoke pouring out of the house. The blaze was ruled an accident due to an electrical problem.

“As glass shattered and the heat intensified, this young boy kept his composure and got his family to safety, before our units arrived,” the emergency service’s post read.

“Ramir saved lives today. His quick thinking and selfless bravery are nothing short of heroic. In a moment where seconds mattered, he stepped up just like a firefighter would. Just like a protector does. Ramir, we see you. We salute you. You showed the heart of a fireman today and the soul of a warrior,” it added. The rescue service said in its post it would love to honor the young man in its awards ceremony.

Chihuahua Shows Rescue Workers Where To Find His Master

A man was exploring the Fee Glacier in southern Switzerland when he fell into a crevasse. He was able to call someone who then called Air Zermatt, emergency services. However, finding him was very difficult because of the terrain. His dog, a Chihuahua, had been with him and was still on the surface of the glacier, pacing back & forth next to the crevasse. Finding the dog helped lead emergency services to the crevasse so they could get him out.

Air Zermatt added that “the little dog did not move during the entire operation and closely followed every movement of the rescue specialists.” The company said the little dog’s actions had “contributed significantly to the successful rescue,” calling the Chihuahua “a four-legged hero who may have saved his master’s life in a life-threatening situation.”

Police Office Saves Four Year-old From Drowning

An emergency call came into Newaygo County, Michigan about a four year-old being found face down in the water. Officer Casey grabbed a CPR machine and rushed to help him. She performed CPR compressions while someone else tried breathing into his mouth. He started breathing and coughing up water, so the fire department helped her carry him up from the dock. They got oxygen on him and he started crying. He is expected to make a full recovery.

When asked if it was hard to overcome the emotions surging at the scene, Casey said it was imperative that she not let anything get in the way of saving the boy’s life. “I need to be there and be calm and do something in the midst of everything. Afterwards, for sure it was a little hard because I’d never done CPR on a child before. Then I can kind of let the emotions in but in the moment I have a job to do, I need to save him. I got into law enforcement to save people. I knew that this is what I’ve been training for, and I was gonna save him. I needed to,” she explained.

Tip Top Tips: Disable Firefox's Integrated AI Chatbot

Editor’s Note: Tip Top Tips is a semi-monthly column in The PCLinuxOS Magazine. Periodically, we will feature – and possibly even expand upon – one tip from the PCLinuxOS forum. The magazine will not accept independent tip submissions specifically intended for inclusion in the Tip Top Tips column. Rather, if you have a tip, share it in the PCLinuxOS forum’s “Tips & Tricks” section. Occasionally, we may run a “tip” posted elsewhere in the PCLinuxOS forum. Either way, share your tip in the forum, and it just may be selected for publication in The PCLinuxOS Magazine.

This month’s tip was shared by mutse.

Did you know that Firefox now has an integrated AI chatbot? No? Well, me neither. And I’m one of the most devout Firefox users on the planet.

So, how do you feel about Firefox having an integrated AI chatbot? I don’t know about you, but I think there’s too much “focus” on AI. It’s still in its infancy, it still gets a LOT of things wrong, and if it doesn’t know the answer, it’s prone to making up its own facts and passing them off as reality. Plus, there are next to no “guardrails” in place for the current iteration of AI. With AI growing so quickly in its abilities, I can’t imagine any legislation addressing the concerns of AI run amok. AI is simply growing at a rate too quickly for legislation to install adequate safeguards. It won’t be able to “keep up” with AI’s advances. And no, Mozilla, I don’t want or need an integrated AI chatbot in Firefox.

In his post, mutse pointed us to a site that has multiple tweaks for Firefox. (Bonus tip within a tip … the other tweaks are worth a look, too!) Of special interest is the tweak to disable Firefox’s integrated AI chatbot. Sign me up!

Here’s that tweak:

Firefox features an integrated AI chatbot. By default, it's turned on. This might negatively affect both your privacy and the performance (speed) of Firefox.

Thankfully, it's rather easy to disable this feature. Like this:

1. Type in the URL bar of Firefox: about:config. Press Enter.

2. Now you're being presented with a warning. Ignore it and click on the blue button “Accept the Risk and Continue”.

3. Copy/paste (or type) the following search term into the configuration search box: browser.ml.

4. Find the following entry: browser.ml.chat.enabled. That's currently set to the boolean value true. Double-click on it, so that it changes into false.

Do the same for the entry: browser.ml.enable

5. Close Firefox and re-launch it.

Note (1): Leave the other browser.ml settings as they are: usually, the less invasive a hack is, the better. Because this reduces the risk of unexpected unwanted side effects.

Note (2): Disabling this is a user preference, so repeat this in each user account.

Now, you have successfully disabled Firefox’s new (and unwelcome for some users) integrated AI chatbot.

How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, & Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups

by Thorin Klosowski

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Reprinted under Creative Commons License

Encrypted chat apps like Signal and WhatsApp are one of the best ways to keep your digital conversations as private as possible. But if you’re not careful with how those conversations are backed up, you can accidentally undermine your privacy.

When a conversation is properly encrypted end-to-end, it means that the contents of those messages are only viewable by the sender and the recipient. The organization that runs the messaging platform—such as Meta or Signal—does not have access to the contents of the messages. But it does have access to some metadata, like the who, where, and when of a message. Companies have different retention policies around whether they hold onto that information after the message is sent.

What happens after the messages are sent and received is entirely up to the sender and receiver. If you’re having a conversation with someone, you may choose to screenshot that conversation and save that screenshot to your computer’s desktop or phone’s camera roll. You might choose to back up your chat history, either to your personal computer or maybe even to cloud storage (services like Google Drive or iCloud, or to servers run by the application developer).

Those backups do not necessarily have the same type of encryption protections as the chats themselves, and may make those conversations—which were sent with strong, privacy-protecting end-to-end encryption—available to read by whoever runs the cloud storage platform you’re backing up to, which also means they could hand them at the request of law enforcement.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how several of the most popular chat apps handle backups, and what options you may have to strengthen the security of those backups.

How Signal Handles Backups

The official Signal app doesn’t offer any way to back up your messages to a cloud server (some alternate versions of the app may provide this, but we recommend you avoid those, as there don’t exist any alternatives with the same level of security as the official app). Even if you use a device backup, like Apple’s iCloud backup, the contents of Signal messages are not included in those.

Instead, Signal supports a manual backup and restore option. Basically, messages are not backed up to any cloud storage, and Signal cannot access them, so the only way to transfer messages from one device to another is manually through a process that Signal details here. If you lose your phone, or it breaks, you will likely not be able to transfer your messages.

How WhatsApp Handles Backups

WhatsApp can optionally back up the contents of chats to either a Google Account on Android, or iCloud on iPhone, and you have a choice to back up with or without end-to-end encryption. Here are directions for enabling end-to-end encryption in those backups. When you do so, you’ll need to create a password or save a 64-digit key.

How Apple’s iMessages Handles Backups

Communication between people with Apple devices using Apple’s iMessage (blue bubbles in the Messages app), are end-to-end encrypted, but the backups of those conversations are not end-to-end encrypted by default. This is a loophole we’ve routinely demanded Apple close.

The good news is that with the release of the Advanced Data Protection feature, you can optionally turn on end-to-end encryption for almost everything stored in iCloud, including those backups (unless you’re in the U.K., where Apple is currently arguing with the government over demands to access data in the cloud, and has pulled the feature for U.K. users).

How Google Messages Handles Backups

Similar to Apple iMessages, Google Messages conversations are end-to-end encrypted only with other Google Messages users (you’ll know it’s enabled when there’s a small lock icon next to the send button in a chat).

You can optionally back up Google Messages to a Google Account, and as long as you have a passcode or lock screen password, the backup of the text of those conversations is end-to-end encrypted. A feature to turn on end-to-end encrypted backups directly in the Google Messages app, similar to how WhatsApp handles it, was spotted in beta last year but hasn’t been officially announced or released.

Everyone in the Group Chat Needs to Get Encrypted

Note that even if you take the extra step to turn on end-to-end encryption, everyone else you converse with would have to do the same to protect their own backups. If you have particularly sensitive conversations on apps like WhatsApp or Apple Messages, where those encrypted backups are an option but not the default, you may want to ask those participants to either not back up their chats at all, or turn on end-to-end encrypted backups.

Ask Yourself: Do I Need Backups Of These Conversations?

Of course, there’s a reason people want to back up their conversations. Maybe you want to keep a record of the first time you messaged your partner, or want to be able to look back on chats with friends and family. There should not be a privacy trade-off for those who want to save those conversations, but unfortunately you do need to weigh whether or not it’s worth saving your chats with the potential of them being exposed in your security plan.

But also it’s worth considering that we don’t typically need every conversation we have stored forever. Many chat apps, including WhatsApp and Signal, offer some form of “disappearing messages,” which is a way to delete messages after a certain amount of time. This gets a little tricky with backups in WhatsApp. If you create a backup before a message disappears, it’ll be included in the backup, but deleted when you restore later. Those messages will remain there until you back up again, which may be the next day, or may not be many days, if you don’t connect to Wi-Fi.

You can change these disappearing messaging settings on a per-conversation basis. That means you can choose to set the meme-friendly group chat with your friends to delete after a week, but retain the messages with your kids forever. Google Messages and Apple Messages don’t offer any such feature—but they should, because it’s a simple way to protect our conversations that gives more control over to the people using the app.

End-to-end encrypted chat apps are a wonderful tool for communicating safely and privately, but backups are always going to be a contentious part of how they work. Signal’s approach of not offering cloud storage for backups at all is useful for those who need that level of privacy, but is not going to work for everyone’s needs. Better defaults and end-to-end encrypted backups as the only option when cloud storage is offered would be a step forward, and a much easier solution than going through and asking every one of your contacts how or if they back up their chats.

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Husband's Delight

Husband's Delight

Serves: 8

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16-oz.) pkg. egg noodles

1 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for greasing baking dish

1 (9-oz.) yellow onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

1 lb. ground sirloin

8 oz. sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

½ tsp. kosher salt

1 (0.70-oz.) envelope Italian dressing mix

1 (32-oz.) jar marinara sauce

1 (8-oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 cup whole-milk cottage cheese

½ tsp. crushed red pepper

1 (8-oz.) pkg. pre-shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish with oil. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat oil a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Add onion, and cook until softened slightly, about 3 minutes. Add ground sirloin, sausage, salt, and Italian dressing mix. Cook, stirring occasionally, until beef and sausage are browned and cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in marinara sauce and cooked noodles. Spoon into the prepared baking dish in an even layer.

Stir together cream cheese, cottage cheese, and crushed red pepper in a large bowl. Dollop evenly over the pasta mixture in the baking dish. Spread into an even layer to cover noodles. Sprinkle evenly with Cheddar cheese. Bake in a preheated oven until hot and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.

TIPS:

Once cooled, wrap the casserole dish in plastic wrap or scoop leftovers into an airtight container. Leftovers can be stored for up to 4 days.

Reheat in the microwave in 30-second intervals until the casserole is fully reheated.

You can also easily freeze this casserole before the baking steps. When you're ready to eat it, thaw it in the fridge overnight, and bake it according to the directions. You may need a bit more time to get it fully heated.

Serve with a fresh green salad and Garlic toast. Even the kids will like it!

NUTRITION:

Calories: 427    Carbs: 14g    Sodium: 981mg     Fiber: 1g    Protein: 21g

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

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Table of Contents

1. From The Chief Editor's Desk...

2. ICYMI: Decade Old Vulnerability Found In Sudo

3. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Chicken Tortilla Casserole

4. Inkscape Tutorial: The New LPE Tool

5. Install Easy Flatpak Manager On PCLinuxOS

6. How To Install The Typst.vim Plugin

7. Wiki Pick: Cron Jobs

8. Good Words, Good Deeds, Good News

9. Tip Top Tips: Disable Firefox's Integrated AI Chatbot

10. How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, & Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups

11. PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Husband's Delight

12. PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

13. Screenshot Showcase

Table of Contents

From The Chief Editor's Desk...

ICYMI: Decade Old Vulnerability Found In Sudo

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner: Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Inkscape Tutorial: The New LPE Tool

Install Easy Flatpak Manager On PCLinuxOS

How To Install The Typst.vim Plugin

Wiki Pick: Cron Jobs

Good Words, Good Deeds, Good News

Tip Top Tips: Disable Firefox's Integrated AI Chatbot

How Signal, WhatsApp, Apple, & Google Handle Encrypted Chat Backups

PCLinuxOS Recipe Corner Bonus: Husband's Delight

PCLinuxOS Puzzled Partitions

Screenshot Showcase