Software - Blog — Nottingham Nerds

Sign in Subscribe

Software

A collection of 31 posts

Merging with Matrix: The Multifaceted Advantages of Matrix Protocol and Element Messenger for Enhanced Collaboration and Security

Matrix is an open standard communication protocol for real-time communication between multiple clients and servers. It is a decentralized and federated protocol that allows users to communicate with each other securely and privately. The Element messenger is a popular client that uses the Matrix protocol to enable messaging, voice and

Venturing into VPNs: Why ProtonVPN is a Valuable Choice for Home Users and Businesses

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) are essential tools for ensuring online security and privacy. VPNs encrypt internet traffic and hide IP addresses, allowing users to browse the internet anonymously and securely. VPNs are especially important for home users and businesses that need to protect sensitive information and communications. ProtonVPN is a

Streamlining Security: The Significant Advantages of Network Segmentation and VLANs

Streamlining Security: The Significant Advantages of Network Segmentation and VLANs

Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) are a powerful networking tool that can help businesses and home users optimize their network performance, increase security, and simplify network management. In this article, we will explore VLANs, how they work, and the advantages they offer to home users and small to medium-sized businesses.

Protecting Your Perimeter: The Power of a Professional Network Firewall

Protecting Your Perimeter: The Power of a Professional Network Firewall

Homes and businesses of all sizes face numerous cybersecurity threats in today's digital age. From phishing attacks to malware and ransomware, homes and businesses are vulnerable to cyber attacks that can cause significant damage to their operations, reputation, and finances. One of the most effective ways to protect

Battling Password Breaches: The Beneficial Features of Bitwarden Password Manager

Battling Password Breaches: The Beneficial Features of Bitwarden Password Manager

In today's digital world, the importance of having a strong, unique password for each online account cannot be overstated. But with so many accounts to keep track of, it can be difficult to remember every password without compromising security. This is where a password manager comes in, a

Automating Your Assets: The Amazing Advantages of IT Infrastructure Automation with Ansible

Automating Your Assets: The Amazing Advantages of IT Infrastructure Automation with Ansible

In today's fast-paced business environment, small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) need to be agile, efficient, and scalable to remain competitive. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by automating IT infrastructure management processes. IT infrastructure automation involves using software to automate routine IT tasks, such

Embracing Encryption: The Extraordinary Advantages of Secure Email Communications

Embracing Encryption: The Extraordinary Advantages of Secure Email Communications

Email is an essential communication tool for both home users and businesses. However, traditional email services like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook are not secure, and they do not provide the necessary protection for sensitive information. Unencrypted email is susceptible to hacking, identity theft, and other forms of cyber crime. Encrypted

Decluttering Your Digital World: The Benefits of DNS-Based Ad-Blocking for a Cleaner, Safer Web

Decluttering Your Digital World: The Benefits of DNS-Based Ad-Blocking for a Cleaner, Safer Web

Online advertising is a ubiquitous part of the internet. It's how many websites and services make money, and it can be an effective way to reach potential customers. However, many people find online advertising intrusive and distracting. In addition, some ads can be malicious, containing malware or phishing

Outpacing Proprietary: The Ongoing Advantages of Open Source Over Proprietary Software

Outpacing Proprietary: The Ongoing Advantages of Open Source Over Proprietary Software

Open source and proprietary software are two types of software that have been used in the technology industry for decades. Proprietary software is created by a single company and sold for a profit, while open source software is developed by a community of developers and made freely available to the

Balancing Bandwidth: Best Practices for Distinguishing MBps and Mbps

Balancing Bandwidth: Best Practices for Distinguishing MBps and Mbps

As technology has advanced, data transfer rates have increased and we now use a range of units to measure these speeds. In particular, we often see the terms MBps, Mbps, GBps and Gbps being used interchangeably. However, it's important to understand the difference between these units and what

Demystifying Data: Understanding the Difference Between MB/Mib, GB/Gib, & TB/TiB

Demystifying Data: Understanding the Difference Between MB/Mib, GB/Gib, & TB/TiB

When it comes to digital storage, understanding the units of measurement used to express the size of files and data is crucial. Two of the most common units of measurement are kilobytes (KB) and kibibytes (KiB), which are often used interchangeably. However, there is a significant difference between the two

End-to-End Encryption: What is it?

End-to-End Encryption: What is it?

End-to-end encryption is a method of securing communication between two parties, in which the message is encrypted at the sender's device, and only the recipient can decrypt it. This means that the message is only visible to the sender and the intended recipient, and nobody else, including the

Open Minds, Open Code: A Beginner's Guide to Contributing to Open Source Projects

Open Minds, Open Code: A Beginner's Guide to Contributing to Open Source Projects

Open source software has become a critical part of the technology landscape. It offers a range of benefits, including customizability, affordability, and community-driven development. Contributing to open source projects can be a rewarding experience, allowing individuals to build skills, make connections, and make valuable contributions to the development of software.

Tech Enthusiast's Dream: 10 Essential Open Source System Utilities

Tech Enthusiast's Dream: 10 Essential Open Source System Utilities

Hello there, fellow tech enthusiasts! Mike from Nottingham Nerds here. Today, I want to talk about open source system utilities and how they can benefit you and your computer system. System utilities are a crucial part of any computer system as they provide tools and resources for managing, monitoring, and

Linux Lowdown: A Look at Different Types of Operating Systems

Linux Lowdown: A Look at Different Types of Operating Systems

Hello there, tech enthusiasts! Are you curious about Linux operating systems but don't know where to start? Well, you're in luck because today we're providing a beginner's guide to Linux operating systems. What are Linux Operating Systems? Linux is a free and

Why Open Source Matters: A Beginner's Guide to Open Source Software

Why Open Source Matters: A Beginner's Guide to Open Source Software

Greetings, techies! Open source software has become a game-changer in the technology industry, and today we're going to explore why it matters for the future of technology. What is Open Source Software? Open source software is software that is developed and distributed under a license that allows users

Open Source Cloud Computing: Benefits and Beyond

Open Source Cloud Computing: Benefits and Beyond

Cloud computing has revolutionized the way we store and access data. It has enabled organizations to run their applications and services on the cloud, reducing infrastructure costs and increasing scalability. The popularity of cloud computing has also led to the growth of open source software. In this article, we will

Collaboration and Community: The Heart of Open Source Software

Collaboration and Community: The Heart of Open Source Software

Open source software has gained a significant foothold in today's digital landscape, with numerous open source projects driving innovation across industries. Open source software is software whose source code is available to anyone to inspect, modify, and enhance. The beauty of open source software lies in its collaborative

Out with the Old, In with the Open: Embracing Open Source Alternatives to Proprietary Software

Out with the Old, In with the Open: Embracing Open Source Alternatives to Proprietary Software

Proprietary software has long dominated the software industry. These software are developed by companies and individuals who hold exclusive rights over the code, making them expensive, and limiting the level of customization users can have over the software. Fortunately, there is a growing trend of open source alternatives to popular

Software Spotlight: Full Steam ahead on Linux gaming support!

Hello and welcome to the Nottingham Nerds blog! Today we are discussing a couple of monumental updates in the Linux world. For those of you that read our post [https://blog.nottinghamnerds.com/hardware-highlight-steam-deck/] about the Steam Deck [https://www.steamdeck.com/en/], some of this information will be familiar,

Software Spotlight: Shells.com

Software Spotlight: Shells.com

Maybe you're interested in checking out modern day Linux, but you don't want to spend a bunch of money on a new machine with Linux installed on it and you don't have a spare machine to have it installed on (by you or a

Software Spotlight: Apps for Gnome

Gnome has recently released "Apps for Gnome" – a new web portal to showcase applications that are curated by Gnome and include applications which are built with the Gnome philosophy in mind. They are intuitive, simple to use, and feature a consistent and polished design. All of the applications

Software Spotlight: Mastodon

Software Spotlight: Mastodon

Welcome back to another post, nerds! We are here today to discuss social networking. Nottingham Nerds generally takes a pretty strong stance against social networks and the companies that run them because of the data collection, lack of privacy, manipulation, security issues, rampant misinformation, and many other reasons. We ran

Hardware Highlight: Steam Deck

Hardware Highlight: Steam Deck

Welcome back to the Nottingham Nerds blog! Today we are covering the recently announced Steam Deck. Stay tuned even if you're not into gaming because this device is a huge step forward for Linux and open source! The Steam Deck is a handheld gaming device made by Valve

Software Spotlight: Gnome 40 & Pop!_OS COSMIC!

Software Spotlight: Gnome 40 & Pop!_OS COSMIC!

Welcome back to the Nottingham Nerds blog! We are covering some exciting news in the Linux world today! For those of you who are unaware, Gnome (Guh-Nome, the 'G' is not silent in this case) is a Linux desktop environment (the graphical user interface that is used as