News Briefs

• Microsoft has published the code for Windows Calculator and released it on GitHub under the permissive MIT license. Ars Technica reports that "The repository shows Calculator's surprisingly long history. Although it is in some regards one of the most modern Windows applications—it's an early adopter of Fluent Design and has been used to showcase a number of design elements—core parts of the codebase date all the way back to 1995."
• Audacity recently released version 2.3.1. This new version restores Linux support, which was missing in the previous version, and also fixes more than 20 bugs and improves Audacity for macOS. For details on all the new features, go here, and see also the release notes.
• Flickr has announced that all CC-licensed images will be protected. According to the Creative Commons article, "all CC-licensed and public domain images on the platform will be protected and exempted from upload limits. This includes images uploaded in the past, as well as those yet to be shared. In effect, this means that CC-licensed images and public domain works will always be free on Flickr for any users to upload and share."
• Purism announces that along with three kill switches, Librem 5 smartphone also will have a new feature called "Lockdown Mode". As far as the kill switches, one is for cameras and microphone, one for WiFi and Bluetooth, and one for cellular baseband. Lockdown Mode goes further and "extends our normal kill switches to provide even more security and privacy". Purism's Chief Security Officer Kyle Rankin writes, "When in Lockdown Mode, in addition to powering off the cameras, microphone, WiFi, Bluetooth and cellular baseband we also cut power to GNSS, IMU, and ambient light and proximity sensors. Lockdown Mode leaves you with a perfectly usable portable computer, just with all tracking sensors and other hardware disabled. If you switch any of the hardware kill switches back on, the hardware that corresponds to that switch powers on along with GNSS, IMU, and ambient light and proximity sensors."
• Firefox announced its new Firefox Send feature. According to the Mozilla Blog post, "Send is a free encrypted file transfer service that allows users to safely and simply share files from any browser. Additionally, Send will also be available as an Android app in beta later this week." You also can decide when the link expires, select the number of downloads and optionally add a password for more security.
• The FSF awarded seven devices from ThinkPenguin with its Respects Your Freedom (RYF) certification. The devices include "The Penguin Wireless G USB Adapter (TPE-G54USB2), the Penguin USB Desktop Microphone for GNU/Linux (TPE-USBMIC), the Penguin Wireless N Dual-Band PCIe Card (TPE-N300PCIED2), the PCIe Gigabit Ethernet Card Dual Port (TPE-1000MPCIE), the PCI Gigabit Ethernet Card (TPE-1000MPCI), the Penguin 10/100 USB Ethernet Network Adapter v1 (TPE-100NET1), and the Penguin 10/100 USB Ethernet Network Adapter v2 (TPE-100NET2)". This certification means that "products meet the FSF's standards in regard to users' freedom, control over the product, and privacy."
• The new PocketBeagle Linux computer is now available for $29.95 from Adafruit. According to Geeky Gadgets, the PocketBeagle "offers a powerful 1GHz AM3358 powered Linux single board computer with a tiny form factor and open source architecture". The article quotes Adafruit on the new SBC: "what differentiates the BeagleBone is that it has multiple I2C, SPI and UART peripherals (many boards only have one of each), built in hardware PWMs, analog inputs, and two separate 200MHz microcontroller systems called the PRU that can handle real-time tasks like displaying to RGB matrix displays or NeoPixels. It's not too much larger than our Feathers, but comes with 72 expansion pin headers, high-speed USB, 8 analog pins, 44 digital I/Os, and plenty of digital interface peripherals. You can also add a USB host connection by wiring a USB A socket to the broken out USB host connections labeled VI, D+, D-, ID and GND. Then plug in any USB Ethernet, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi device with available Linux drivers."
• The official Raspberry Pi keyboard and mouse are now available. You can purchase them now from approved Raspberry Pi resellers. The keyboard is available in six layouts—English (UK), English (US), Spanish, French, German and Italian—with more in the works. The mouse is a " three-button, scroll-wheel optical device with Raspberry Pi logos on the base and cable, coloured to match the Pi case". View a video of the products for more details.
• SUSE is on track to become the largest independent Linux company. ZDNet reports that this is due to IBM acquiring Red Hat and SUSE's growth for the past seven straight years. The ZDNet post quotes SUSE CEO Nils Braukmann, "We believe that makes our status as a truly independent open source company more important than ever. Our genuinely open-source solutions, flexible business practices, lack of enforced vendor lock-in, and exceptional service are more critical to customer and partner organizations, and our independence coincides with our single-minded focus on delivering what is best for them."
• Chef has announced it is releasing all of its software as open source. According to DevOps.com, "Chef has decided to open source its entire portfolio of IT automation software as part of an effort to make it easier for organizations to construct a DevOps pipeline using the company's software. A part of that effort, Chef also launched the Chef Enterprise Automation Stack—which combines Chef Infra for managing infrastructure, Chef InSpec for maintaining compliance, Chef Habitat for managing applications, Chef Automate for managing hybrid clouds and Chef Workstation, a starter kit for launching Chef—within a single distribution of Chef software. Chef Infra is the original Chef project around which the company was launched."
• Purism is partnering with Private Internet Access (PIA), "as its very first OEM partner to bring an unprecedented combination of tracking-free and encrypted tools and services to the people." From the Purism blog post: "By combining its signature VPN capabilities with Purism's leading secure hardware and software products, the two will create a first-of-its-kind bundle for users to set up a privacy protecting and secure environment out of the box. The addition of PIA as a VPN partner strengthens Purism's growing roster of partners and services that make its Librem line the most comprehensive privacy and security focused offering on the market."
• RaspberryPi.org reports that you can now build a digital Etch-A-Sketch. The post notes that Martin Fitzpatrick built something called an "Etch-A-Snap", which is a Raspberry Pi Zero and camera module-connected Etch-A-Sketch: "Etch-A-Snap is (probably) the world's first Etch-A-Sketch Camera. Powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero (or Zero W), it snaps photos just like any other camera, but outputs them by drawing to an Pocket Etch-A-Sketch screen. Quite slowly." See Martin's Reddit post for more details.