Bonum Certa Men Certa

Future Plans and Using Videos to Complement Text

We'll remain focused on the underlying technology and policy issues, not political party tribalism

Biden Harris 'Fixed It': Change again?



Summary: Remarks on recent and impending site changes; We are not replacing text with video, we're just trying to enhance the presentation a bit, especially where visuals help make a point or where browsing through Web sites (or leaks) is more suitable than static, linear presentation

THE site is increasingly being served over IPFS. We also have the capacity to self-host very large files, then deliver them at high speeds (without a CDN like ClownFlare). It makes the site a lot more difficult to censor (Google/YouTube rapidly becomes notorious for it [1, 2]) or to digitally attack. Since moving to the new server about 18 days ago we've had no issue staving off attackers (in the DDOS sense). Readers can probably sense that pages are now loading a lot faster, too. We also did a lot of coding at several levels, both for operations and monitoring. There are always some projects floating about, waiting for time to become available. IRC tooling, Raspberry Pi tooling, IPFS and so on. For those who are curious about that level of depth, all the details will always be available in IRC logs. For secure and anonymous document drops we'll have to complete the migration to Alpine containers and then add SSL on top of it all. It's still work in progress, which requires scheduling and prior planning. We don't want to risk any downtime (or worse).

"Rehearsals cause recordings to be somewhat robotics and audiences can easily tell when they're scripted; we don't want that."I have, by now, become more accustomed to and familiar with Free software tools that produce video (strictly with Free/libre software). The main weakness, I think, is the equipment used (low-cost and built into a laptop). There are lock-downs here and I do not shop online, so there's no reprieve for at least another month. In the meantime, a clarification is in order. We do not intend to replace text with video; not ever or any time soon...

As a side note, we've promised ourselves (as Tim and I did when we published episodes of TechBytes) that there will be no preparation, no outlining, or even editing of what we record. It reduces complexity and makes production far less cumbersome. Spontaneity is possible as long as we have a set of URLs or Web pages with potential topics in them -- topics which shall be dealt with in turn (sometimes reordering them helps a bit as it tidies up the mind). Rehearsals cause recordings to be somewhat robotics and audiences can easily tell when they're scripted; we don't want that.

Videos are actually a lot faster to make than text; the workflow is largely the same for video and upload speeds are the bottleneck (especially this month because of severe issues with the ISP). Some particular aspects of publications are easier and safer to do in video, e.g. when dealing with leaked material. At the moment we're a little light on news (not much happening in GNU/Linux or anything else for that matter) but not light on material because there's plenty to be said about software freedom and patents in the analytical sense.

"In terms of storage and bandwidth, we're much better off on the new server. Disk space increased tenfold!"One advantage we have is that we rarely need outside help to maintain and run the site (even beyond the level of editing, e.g. provisioning, backups, upgrades). This greatly lowers the costs associated with keeping the site online and active 24/7. A lot of other sites don't have that luxury because they're not run by sufficiently technical people and any time they need help with something they need to shell out a lot money (which they don't have unless their site is trying to sell something, in turn corrupting its independence and integrity). In terms of site traffic, Apachetop (site monitoring tool) says that over the past 10 days the site averaged 7MB/second in requests, largely owing to videos. Last week the demand for videos grew 50% compared to the prior week, so there seems to be no reason to abandon videos, at least as a side feature. In terms of storage and bandwidth, we're much better off on the new server. Disk space increased tenfold!

Recent Techrights' Posts

BetaNews Appears to Have Fired All Of Its Staff
Even serial sloppers
Gemini Protocol Turns 6 on Friday
Active (online) Gemini capsules are estimated by Lupa at over 3,000
Microsoft's "FUD-as-a-Service" (Against Linux) Not Functioning Well
This is the kind of contribution companies like Microsoft and Google have to offer to society
Betanews Becoming a Slopfarm is "Betanews Growing Alongside You", According to Betanews
Their first 'article' in over two weeks is 52% "AI-generated" (slop), 33% mixed (edited slop), 18% human-written, says an advanced scanner.
 
The Right to Know and the Freedom to Report on Crime (at the Higher Echelons)
I'd like to do the same thing for the next 20 years
After the Web Becomes Slopped to Death
A lot of people are rightly fed up with the "modern" Web
Microsoft's Windows is a Niche Operating System in Africa
African nations aren't a large contributor to Microsoft's income, but if many African nations move away from Windows, then the monopoly is at risk
Like Most Social Control Media, Microsoft LinkedIn is Collapsing
One reason for Microsoft acquisitions is debt-loading, i.e. offloading and burying its debt
Microsoft is Losing Its Richest Clients
Unlike some very poor countries, Germany and the EU are a considerable source of income to Microsoft
Proprietary Means Not Secure
Proprietary software tends to rely on secrecy, not good design
Slop in 'AI' Clothing is a Passing Fad, We'll Get Past It (Like Blockchain Before That)
Many people cheat in exams using slop and there are professionals that try using slop as a "shortcut"
GNOME Does Not Campaign Against Microsoft, KDE Does
It's good to see that KDE is still active in promotion of Free software - a term that it uses
Slopwatch: BetaNews, Linuxsecurity, and Other Prolific Slopfarms
name and shame the sites that establish such proliferation of slop
Gemini Links 18/06/2025: Birch Lake and Loon Pond
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 17, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Links 17/06/2025: "The Grift Economy" and Kubernetes Does Proprietary
Links for the day
Coffee Day and LLM Sloppers
The LLM slop "bros" are a lot like fake-money bros; they lie to people, they boast that they lie to people, and they're generally bad people, BS artists in colloquial terms
Double-Dipping the Docket for Microsoft Glory and Censorship of Microsoft Critics
same lawyer, same barrister, all US, all Microsoft
TheLayoff Censorship of IBM Threads Has Gone Truly Ludicrous
we do not argue that TheLayoff should not cull LLM slop
More Stallmanites Added to FSF Board and Summer Fundraiser Commences
There's some good news from the FSF
Gemini Links 17/06/2025: Consistency and Notes About NixOS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, June 16, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, June 16, 2025
July 2 2025 Would Not be First Big Wave of Microsoft Layoffs Before Major National Holiday
July 2 or 3 mark the start of a very long weekend in the US
IDG's NetworkWorld Seems to Have Just Become LLM Slop
If IDG (now controlled by China) does that in at least one site, why not the rest? Only a matter of time?
Gemini Links 16/06/2025: Free Lunches and Bookmarklet for Mastodon
Links for the day
IBM: Less Than a Month's Severance for Each Decade of Service
Yes, decade!
Taking a Lesson From Denmark and Greenland? Iceland Shows New Lows for Windows, All-Time Highs for GNU/Linux
If Microsoft sabotages systems of judges at the Hague (in order to appease the insane man who wanted to invade Greenland), why won't its neighbour Iceland take note?
BetaNews Has Just Deleted Its Latest 'Article' or Got Cracked Again and Restored From Outdated Backup Again
BetaNews seems to be in some serious trouble right now
Software Freedom is "Activism" Because the Corporate Agenda Revolves Around Bribery, Deceit, and Betrayal
At the end Software Freedom will win because it's on the same side as truth and lawfulness
The EPO, Europe's Largest Patent Office, Admits Outsourcing to Microsoft Slop
Their sole goal is to make more money
Links 16/06/2025: EchoLeak and NASA Teaming up With India
Links for the day
The Better the Understanding or the More Nations Understand the Threat Posed by Microsoft, the Faster It'll be Eradicated
We believe that the thing to advocate is self-hosting and Free software... A lack of simplicity or absence of alternatives is a form of vendor lock-in
A Week of Sunlight
They say transparency is like sunlight to a vampire
"Linux" Sites That Went Astray
there are even worse things than shutdowns
Links 16/06/2025: Climate, Wildfires, Breaches, and Monopolies
Links for the day
Links 16/06/2025: Summer in Finland and Misunderstandings
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, June 15, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, June 15, 2025