overview for spizzat2

‘I’m an American, Bro!’: Latinos Report Raids in Which U.S. Citizenship Is Questioned in c/politics@lemmy.world

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 5 points 22 hours ago (2 children)

why we don't leave the US.

Why should we leave? They're the ones who suck!

Ejecting an unreadable disc (rant) in c/kde@lemmy.ml

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Thanks for the tips.

I did try holding the eject button for up to 15 seconds when I first noticed this issue, but that was ineffecive. I just tried it again so that I could try tapping the eject button afterward, but it didn't work, either.

I used the paperclip in the past. That works because it's mechanical.

8

Ejecting an unreadable disc (rant) (lemmy.zip)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by spizzat2@lemmy.zip to c/kde@lemmy.ml

6 comments fedilink

Sorry, this is going to come across as a newbie rant... mostly because I just switched a few months ago. I'm not completely unfamiliar with Linux. I had to use Unix in college for some projects. I've dual-booted with Windows before. I use a Mac at work. I'm reasonably comfortable in the console, though I'm certainly no expert. I feel like what I'm about to talk about shouldn't be so confusing/unintuitive.

I'm running Kubuntu on an older laptop. I have a burnable DVD that may or may not be blank. The disc is old, scratched, and unlabeled, but I would like to see if anything is on it.

I press the eject button on my laptop's disc drive. The tray comes out. I insert the disc and close the tray. The system gets busy trying to read the disc, but eventually stops spinning. Nothing pops up. Dolphin doesn't show my disc drive in the "Devices" panel, or that there's anything in the drive. VLC says it can't read the disc.

Ok, fine. The disc is probably either empty, or it's too scratched to read and needs to be trashed, so I would like to remove it from my system. I push the eject button again, and... nothing happens. It's the same button I used to open the tray to insert the disc, but now it's unresponsive. I open Dolphin and confirm that it doesn't show that I even have a disc drive in the "Devices" panel (presumably because nothing's in it). I open the "Discs and Devices" section in the Notification tray, and the most I can get it to show is my hard drive. It's like my computer doesn't believe the DVD drive exists.

So, what do I have to do? I can open MakeMKV, and it has an Eject button that opens the tray. I'm sure plenty of other software has similar functionality. I can also open the terminal and type "eject", and the tray pops right open. Clearly, my system knows that there's a DVD drive, and it has the ability to open the tray.

Why doesn't the eject button work? Why doesn't Dolphin just always show the DVD drive? Why do I have to google "How to eject a dvd kubuntu"? What am I missing?

System:

Ubuntu 25.04

Drive: BD-RE BU40N (Firmware: 2024-04-23 13:47)

CPU: Intel Core i7-5500U CPU @ 2.40GHz

Memory: 16GB (2x 8GB SODIMM DDR3 Synchronous 1600 MHz)

Anker is recalling over 1.1 million power banks due to fire risks in c/technology@lemmy.world

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 20 points 3 days ago (5 children)

The recall process is kind of annoying, but it seems fair if it works. They gave me the option of a $30 Amazon gift card (which is more than I paid for it), or a replacement/updated charger.

They insist you take two photos, and one of them has to include the serial number. The serial number is incredibly small, and it's very low contrast on the black version of the charger. Getting a photo that actually shows the number was nearly impossible. They also require that you affirm you will "safely dispose of the device" per their instructions.

I'm still waiting to hear if they approve my request, but it's only been a day.

Judge rules Mahmoud Khalil can't be deported or detained for foreign policy reasons cited by Trump administration in c/news@lemmy.world

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

That's a different guy (isn't this timeline wonderful?).

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was arrested during a traffic stop and illegally deported to El Salvador. He was brought back and immediately placed in front of a judge to face criminal charges related to the traffic stop.

Mahmoud Khalil is a student at Columbia University who was illegally abducted by ICE without a warrant, despite Khalil being a legal resident with a greencard. He is still being detained in Louisiana without any criminal charges filed.

Edit: I think I have all of the facts straight. I browsed the wiki articles for a refresher, but maybe I missed something. Anyone feel free to chime in if I got something wrong.

1,800+ 'No Kings' Rallies Planned Across US as Trump Deploys Military to Crush Protests in c/news@lemmy.world

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It is disappointing to be reminded that "innocent until proven guilty" is not the shield we were taught it was.

1,800+ 'No Kings' Rallies Planned Across US as Trump Deploys Military to Crush Protests in c/news@lemmy.world

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 14 points 4 days ago (12 children)

Can you elaborate on this? I want to know what the concerns are.

Obviously, they can track you with cell towers, and there's the legitimate risk that they're setting up stingray cells to intercept or even disable communications. All of that sucks, and I wish it weren't a problem.

However, if I'm participating in a non-violent protest, I do take a bit of a "flood them with noise" attitude by just being there. I also want to be able to contact my group in case we get separated. Burner phones feel a bit like overkill for what should be a non-violent protest.

And yes, I know there are problems with my "nothing to hide, nothing to fear" attitude. I'm not trying to advocate for that. I want more information so that I know why I should be worried.

Yes, it's Linux. in c/linux@lemmy.ml

Thousands of years ago, when tools were very primitive, it was probably common to have a favorite rock. in c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world

[–] spizzat2@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I had a different one in mind.