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Microsoft Teams: Note-To-Self: Have you spoken to yourself lately?

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Don't worry, you're not alone. After all, who else can truly appreciate your witty observations at 3 AM? While society might raise an eyebrow when you debate the health benefits of “The Kitchen Sink” sundae consumed solo with your reflection, there's nothing wrong with a little self-talk. We all use Teams to chat with colleagues, but did you know you can chat with yourself? This often-overlooked feature is a powerful tool for keeping track of ideas, links, and notes.   Saving links and notes for later review Simply paste links, text, or upload files into a new chat with yourself. Teams automatically timestamps entries, making it easy to track their age. When you're done with a note, delete it or mark it as processed using the Thumbs Up emoji.   Microsoft Teams is everywhere Microsoft Teams is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and IOS. Besides native clients for these operating systems, You can even use it as a web app. This means
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Great technology links - September 2024

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Fake News Introduction In this edition of GTL, we explore the topic of fake news. Fake news refers to false or misleading information presented as news. Nowadays, the majority of people consume news through electronic devices. Advances in AI and the evolution of apps have made it easy for practically anyone to manipulate audio, video, and text. These tools can create scenarios where people appear to be in places they've never been, say things they've never uttered, and generate text in their style that they've never produced. Once disinformation is created, it spreads rapidly, potentially reaching billions of people within seconds. Companies and individuals, for a fee, promote and disseminate this information, pushing it to the top of the targeted audience lists. Fake news serves the purpose of controlling public opinion. It can either favour the originator, making their case appear more favourable than it is in reality, or target opponents, portraying then and their ag
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Fake News Catwalk of World Leaders

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The ying or the yang of society?
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Poem for this day

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The sun begins its climb,  Gathering strength,  Pushing on,  Replacing the incumbent. Its golden rays start stretching wide,  Dispelling night’s embrace,  Building energy inside,  To light the world with grace. This daily feat, we hope, Inspires readers of these lines, As soon as they awoke, To have a day that shines. So let this be the start, Of a day both bold and kind, Grant strength within one’s heart, And peace within one’s mind. x
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Proxmox-NUT Homelab HOWTO : Step 0 : The Proxmox-NUT HomeLab HowTo: Introduction

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Step 0: The Proxmox-NUT HomeLab HowTo: Introduction The series includes this article, a 7-part video series, and a VMWare archive. In this HowTo, I cover the following steps: Configure a VM on VMWare Workstation Pro to install Proxmox on it; Install a Windows Server 2022 VM as a VM in Proxmox; Install the NUT (Network UPS Tools) UPS Software. I also configure Proxmox, Windows Server 2022, and NUT to use a Gmail SMTP relay. This will be used by Proxmox and Windows server to send emails when they start and stop. Proxmox and NUT will provide additional status information. Windows Server is configured to start automatically when Proxmox starts and will shut down cleanly without manual intervention when Proxmox is shutdown or rebooted. Every stage is tested out to verify that everything is working as expected. Any limitations are highlighted. A snapshot of the VM state after every Step is taken. You can download the entire archive and run it on your own hardware. If you decide yo
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Proxmox-NUT Homelab HOWTO - Step 2: Setup email using gmail.smtp.com as relay / Test Email from shell and Proxmox GUI / Test Proxmox startup / shutdown notification

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Step 2: Setup email using gmail.smtp.com as relay / Test Email from shell and Proxmox GUI / Test Proxmox startup / shutdown notification We will set up Gmail as a relay within Debian (the OS on which Proxmox runs). We will look at the options within Proxmox that allow us to configure email communication on this SMTP. We will also configure Debian so that whenever it starts and stops it alerts us with an email. Generate a Gmail app password setup   Log into Gmail, click on the cog and click on "Manage Google Account". In the search bar, type "App Passwords". Enter a name that describes where the password is used. This step is very important because this name is the only way to remember where this app password is being used. If you have many app passwords, you can easily recognise which password is used where. Furthermore, if you decide to disengage an SMTP relay all you have to do is delete the app associated with that service. Copy the generated password into
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Proxmox-NUT Homelab HOWTO - Step 5 : Install NUT UPS Solution / Configure NUT for Email Alerts and System Shutdown / Test

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Step 5: Install NUT UPS Solution / Configure NUT for Email Alerts and System Shutdown / Test NUT will be installed on Debian (Proxmox) and will be linked to a single APC UPS. When there is a power failure, NUT will send an email. Its status will change from Online ( OL ) to On Battery ( OB ). When either the remain battery percentage charge goes below a certain value (85% in this example) or the remaining run time goes below a certain amount (15 minutes in this example), the UPS status will change from OB to Low Battery ( LB ). When the status becomes LB , NUT will send out an email and start shutting down Debian. As part of the Proxmox shutdown process it will shut down all guests running with it and then shut down itself. After that the OS shuts down. If the LB condition does not trigger within 5 minutes the UPS will shut down Proxmox. This is discussed further below. NUT manages other UPS status such as whether it is discharging and if the battery needs replacing. These set
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