Technology Tales

The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is utilising artificial intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies to enhance its grant management operations. The Automated Referral Tool, an AI-based system launched in 2022, assists NIH staff in assigning applications to appropriate review branches based on historical data. An enterprise level tool comparing application abstracts with program officials' expertise suggests matches and reduces workloads for liaisons at NIH Institutes or Centres. Digital tools also help prevent duplicate or overlapping applications from being funded, saving time and resources. NIH is exploring ways AI can guide programmatic assessment of an application’s Data Management and Sharing Plan, improve public reporting on funded projects, and reduce reputational bias during merit review. These technologies aim to make grant operations more efficient, innovative, and flexible while adhering to confidentiality rules and ethical guidelines.

It is better to close Mac applications using the CMD + Q keyboard shortcut or clicking on the Quit entry in the application menu. Simply clicking on the red X icon risks losing a memory of anything that you have open in the application. That was what I found when closing Firefox that way, and it happened a few times before I finally took the hint. Restoring open tabs is not only a faff, but also is unreliable. Visual Studio Code behaves the same way, and I suspect that CotEditor does too. All in all, this seems to be a general macOS thing and a gotcha for anyone coming from Windows or Linux.

Installing PowerShell 7 or later on macOS systems running version 13 or higher is possible using one of multiple installation methods including Homebrew, direct download, .NET Global tool and binary archives. It specifies that newer versions replace existing ones, with preview versions installable alongside other versions using the binary archive method. Installation via Homebrew is recommended, requiring the use of the brew command to install the latest stable, LTS, or preview releases, followed by verification through the pwsh command. Direct download involves bypassing macOS Gatekeeper restrictions, either through Finder with manual security settings or Terminal commands. The .NET Global tool method requires the SDK to be installed, while binary archives necessitate manual dependency management. Uninstallation instructions are provided for each method, along with details on supported macOS versions and file paths for configuration and module storage. The content also notes that Microsoft supports the outlined installation approaches but does not guarantee compatibility with alternative methods.

Now that I have a presence on Mastodon, I have begun to use a command line tool called toot to add missives on there. The web interface works as well, yet toot can be logged into more than one account at a time; switching between accounts is a fairly facile operation. For a command line tool, toot is well intuitive once you get used to it.

WinGet is a package management solution for Windows that enables users to install, upgrade and manage applications through a command line interface, offering tools for developers, independent software vendors and enterprise environments. It supports configuration files that streamline device setup using PowerShell Desired State Configuration and YAML instructions, while also providing enterprise security features such as certificate pinning to protect against man-in-the-middle attacks. For organisations using Microsoft Intune, WinGet integrates with Group Policy settings to control application sources, execution policies and local development options, with additional templates available for deployment. The tool is maintained through open-source contributions on GitHub, where users can access documentation, submit feedback and explore training resources to enhance its functionality and adaptability across different use cases.

Set up a Dev Drive on Windows 11 involves creating a virtual hard disk formatted with ReFS, which is optimised for performance in development environments. This storage solution allows developers to store project files, build outputs and temporary data separately from the system drive, potentially improving efficiency and reducing build times.

Security settings are crucial, as the drive must be trusted to avoid risks associated with unauthorised access. Customisation options exist for enterprise users, though these may be restricted by organisational policies. Performance can be further enhanced by enabling Microsoft Defender's performance mode, which minimises interference during real-time protection tasks. However, alternative antivirus software may not support this feature, requiring manual adjustments to filter lists to balance security and speed.

Dev Drives can be deleted through system tools, though care must be taken to detach virtual disks before removal to avoid data loss. Integration with tools like Visual Studio is seamless, with recommendations to relocate project-specific directories and temporary files to the Dev Drive for optimal results.

While ReFS uses more memory than NTFS, modern systems with sufficient RAM can handle this without significant issues. Even so, developers should also be aware of limitations, such as the incompatibility of Dev Drives with WSL for performance gains and the need to manage filters like WinSetupMon for certain operations. Overall, Dev Drives offer a tailored approach to storage management, particularly beneficial for those working on large-scale or resource-intensive projects.

Now that ownCloud has been acquired by Kiteworks, there is some uncertainty about what happens next. So far, there is an offer for ownCloud and Nextcloud users to move to Kiteworks' proprietary platform. Nextcloud itself has been busy making use of the uncertainty to promote their own product line.

Switching Between SD Card Slots on the Pentax K-3 III

The Pentax K-3 Mark III camera introduces a user-friendly method for selecting which SD card slot to use for storing images, eliminating the need for the cumbersome workaround previously required on earlier models such as the K-3, K-3 II and K-1. Users can now switch between SD1 and SD2 via the control panel during image shooting mode or through the main menu, though firmware version 1.02 currently directs RAW files to SD1 and JPEGs to SD2 when using RAW+ format. This change simplifies workflow for photographers managing multiple memory cards, addressing a long-standing limitation that was reportedly influenced by patent restrictions.

Troubleshoot crash or freeze in Photoshop

Install previous versions of your Creative Cloud apps

The above two articles got consulted when I ran into trouble when running an upgraded version of Photoshop in a Windows 11 guest session on VirtualBox. Then, the solution was to roll back to the previous version.

However, that did not last, and I moved it onto a PC that dual booted Windows and Linux Mint. That persisted for a while once I sorted out the Samba access permissions on my primary Linux Mint powered workstation. That had me consulted another article that is listed below:

How to connect to Linux Samba shares from Windows

Since that time, I have moved onto doing image editing on Apple devices, one of which works off a primary workstation, powered by Linux Mint and a different one to the earlier link up from a Windows machine.

The open-source section of the website got a lot of tweaking in the last few weeks. The recipient of the attention was the operating system subsection. That got a full reorganisation, with all the listings seeing new entries too. The desktop software also got a bit of attention, and other areas could get altered yet.