Hackaday Links: October 25, 2026
Some disappointing, however maybe not totally unsurprising information this week out of Denmark — after asserting final 12 months that they’d transition away from Microsoft’s proprietary software program, the realities of constructing it work appear to have caught the federal government off guard. The phrase is {that a} trial program instantly bumped into issues when authorities staff that had been given Collabora tried to collaborate with their friends working Office, and has since been quietly abandoned.
Although there’s most likely a joke to be made about completely different components of the federal government not figuring out what the opposite ones are speaking about, the truth is that if one group of staffers can’t reliably entry the info being produced by one other, that’s a reasonably large downside. Of course, had they merely requested us nerds, we might have suggested them that these kind of points are inevitable if you happen to don’t absolutely decide to the trouble.
Had your entire authorities moved to the Open Document Format (ODF) without delay they’d have prevented the problem, no less than when it got here to newly created paperwork, however clearly that’s a significantly bigger enterprise than putting in Collabora or OpenOffice on just a few dozen machines and calling it a day. There’s no phrase but on how this stumble will affect Denmark’s bigger effort to free themselves of proprietary software program, however we’d hazard a guess it’s not an awesome signal. Hopefully issues go better for the Dutch.
As the TV’s in query are working Android, all of the AI instruments must do is hook up with them over Android Debug Bridge (ADB) and uninstall any offending packages that could be offering advertisements, and equally making a custom-made launcher interface is a matter of spinning up an Android app and putting in it over the community. The outcomes could seem like arcane magic to the uninitiated, so we respect The Verge declaring that it’s all fairly primary stuff for anybody acquainted with Android improvement.
On the topic of extracting undesirable parts, a fragile operation to remove the masts of the sunken WWII cargo ship SS Richard Montgomery was completed successfully earlier this week off the coast of Sheerness, England. To these unfamiliar with this explicit vessel that may not sound like a giant deal, however whenever you’re coping with a wreck holding an estimated 1,400 metric tons of explosives which have been deteriorating since 1944, even approaching the realm wants cautious planning and coordination.
There was a priority that the masts and their supporting buildings had been on the verge of collapsing into the hull of the wreck, which consultants warned might doubtlessly set off an explosion massive sufficient to hazard life and property. Actually eradicating the explosives from the ship itself will likely be a far bigger enterprise, however no less than in the meanwhile, eradicating the masts has helped stabilize the state of affairs.
Finally, if you happen to’re trying to study one thing just a little extra native than a doubtlessly explosive state of affairs in Sheerness (apologies to anybody in Sheerness), take a look at Local Wikipedia. Created by [Ed Jefferson], the positioning helps you to filter Wikipedia pages by their distance out of your location or no matter different landmark you want. By default it exhibits outcomes which can be inside 1.5 miles, however if you happen to don’t have something too thrilling inside vary it can begin opening up the radius to drag in additional outcomes.
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