Using Real VNC server on Elementary OS

To setup Real VNC sever on Elementary OS the corresponding .deb file must be downloaded from their website and installed.

Make a Real VNC account and activate the 'Home' subscription, which is free. This will give you over the cloud access to the server from a Real VNC client.

Run sudo vnclicensewiz. This command prompts window were you must log into your Real VNC account.

Running systemctl start vncserver-x11-serviced.service , will start the VNC server and will pop a window on which the vnc server can be configured. Such settings can be accesed if the previous command is used with sudo. There will also be a promt to set a password for access to the server.

Moreover, to make the server start on boot run sudo systemctl enable --now vncserver-x11-serviced in the terminal.

Betelgeuse Supernova Hype is Cooled Down

Betelgeuse won't explode into a supernova as previously speculated. NASA:

Observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope are showing that the unexpected dimming of the supergiant star Betelgeuse was most likely caused by an immense amount of hot material ejected into space, forming a dust cloud that blocked starlight coming from Betelgeuse's surface.

Hubble researchers suggest that the dust cloud formed when superhot plasma unleashed from an upwelling of a large convection cell on the star's surface passed through the hot atmosphere to the colder outer layers, where it cooled and formed dust grains. The resulting dust cloud blocked light from about a quarter of the star's surface, beginning in late 2019. By April 2020, the star returned to normal brightness.

It would have been interesting to see a supernova. Betelgeuse will eventually explode as a supernova, due that it is an old expanding red star. When its dimming became visible to the naked eye, all the supernova speculation rose. It now, unfortunately dims.

The paper on Betelgeuse's dust cloud and dimming can be found at The Astrophysical Journal .

Reverse Engineering Google News Links for RSS Feeds

I was about to add an RSS feed for Reuters, but they decided to stop supporting it. Either way, I stumbled upon a procedure and some tools to scrap RSS feeds from Google News. Artem Bugara:

Base URL: https://news.google.com/rss/search

Add up the following to the url.

Query Parameter: q=when:24h+allinurl:reuters.com

That’s how you let Google know what you need.

when parameter is responsible of fetching the last X hours articles

allinurl parameter restricts search results to documents that contain all of the query words in the document URL


Country and language: ceid=US:en

If you need a Reuters feed from another country then just change the URL to one with a subdomain, and the country & language parameter.

Now, lets dive into some examples.

https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=when:24h+allinurl:reuters.com&ceid=US:en&hl=en-US&gl=US

https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=when:24h+allinurl:ru.reuters.com&hl=ru&gl=RU&ceid=RU:ru

https://news.google.com/rss/search?q=when:24h+allinurl:nacion.com&hl=es-419&gl=US&ceid=US:es-419

Perhaps the previous examples give a better notion on the given construction.

This procedure is pretty useful since many popular platforms that once supported RSS have stopped supporting it by mere conceit. RSS gives vast possibilities for delivering information, but it seems these publishers (like Reuters) have gotten greedy enough to delete their feeds in order to feed income by advertising or tracking. Now they publish their 'feeds' on their social media channels, in detriment of privacy and online safety.

By using RSS, you protect your privacy on the web, and optimize the information you obtain from the internet in a mailbox fashion.

Trump Imposes Tariffs Yet Again a Month After Signing T-MEC

Kevin Breuniger and Christina Wilkie, CNBC:

President Donald Trump said he signed a proclamation Thursday to reimpose 10% tariffs on aluminum imports from Canada that had been suspended more than a year earlier.

"Canada was taking advantage of us, as usual," Trump said during a lengthy, campaign-style speech at a Whirlpool manufacturing plant in Ohio.

What is most shocking is that just a month ago, T-MEC was signed. Yet, he decides to resume tariffs.

Hefty Sanctions Should be Imposed to Supporters of Fake Medicine in Costa Rica

Other than just forbidding the advertising and selling of fake medicine like chlorine dioxide, economical sanctions against parties involved in these grounds should be dictated by law. In addition, this should be stated as a crime, and be punished with heavy prison sentences. Costa Rica shan't be pliant with the punishment against this myriad of crooks and imbeciles.

Chlorine dioxide and disinfectants aren't a cure against coronavirus or other diseases. They are indiscriminate killers.

Google Posts Decline in Revenue Amid Pandemic

Due to the economic slowdown produced by the coronavirus pandemic, it was foreseeable that retailers would significantly cut advertisement spending. At last, Google felt the blow, and reported a decline in revenue for Q2.

Follow Up on "Reopening and Testing Capacity"

For further reference, check out the ratio of positive tests over daily tests in the United States.