Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 19/06/2023: Tale Of Two Unknowns and Perfect Home Lab



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Three variations on a feedback theme

        It shouldn't need pointing out that positive feedback can be a terribly bad thing. Let's consider some very different cases.

        [..]

        Mais oui, it still _would be_ a problem even if the users had the full ownership of this technology. The scenario that comes to my mind is that people already use their headphones to mask out an undesirable, harsh sonic environment. In response to this shielding, I suppose, sound signals and announcements have to be made louder to reach even those listening to music in their headset. Anyway, I can think of no equally plausible explanation for the absurdly loud announcements of the next stop at the regional train, occasionally also on busses. Yes, the population's hearing is also gradually deteriorating by frequent exposure to loud sound levels, so the signals that must penetrate the noise have to be made louder again.

        The Acoustic Ecology movement (R. Murray Schafer and others) would ordain increased awareness of our sounding surroundings instead of trying to block them out. Which is not to say that a noisy city dominated by the diffuse persistent motor hum and rubber decks against roads, mixed to a blur of vehicles at all distances, is an ideal or particularly fascinating soundscape. Schafer would prefer a quiter backdrop in which delicate sounds are given a chance to be heard, a rural, pre-industrial soundscape.

      • A few photos from a river walk last week

        From the trails along the Tanana River...

      • Garden Photos

        A few photos from last week, from the garden in front of our apartment.

      • More river trail photos

        I believe this flower is the same as the Northern Bluebell mentioned in this Wikipedia article...

      • The Pursuit of Less: Anyone Else on This Journey?

        Just finished another marathon with my two little whirlwinds, and while I was tidying up their battlefield, a thought washed over me. The thing is, I've been trying to simplify life lately. Has anyone else been wandering down this less-trodden path?

        I look around, and my life is cluttered with possessions; objects I once craved, but now merely collect dust. Unopened Blu-Rays, video games whose titles I've long forgotten, gadgets I've barely touched. They're all silent reminders of a time when more was exciting. But, as of late, my desire seems to be shifting towards the exact opposite - less.

      • The Nightfall Express

        Looks like the renovation work on Main Street's metro station is finally over. *points out*. There's a new train too, The Nightfall Express, that supposedly takes you all the way across Nightfall and beyond. The next one leaves at 19:00

        (Send me an email at m15o at posteo dot net if you'd like some to help test this new protocol out! Would love to get your feedback :))

      • Music Is a Time Machine

        I'm sure this has been brought on by my upcoming move and new job, but I've been finding myself listening to my nostalgia playlists more often lately.

        Most of these songs are ones that I haven't listened to in years, but when I hear them I'm instantly reminded of memories from a specific year, couple of months, or even a particular event.

      • Weekend Update

        My partner's birthday was last week. For the next little while, we're the same age. Then, my own counter ticks up.

        Her parents came in late last week for her birthday. We got ice cream on Thursday. My partner and her mom went to the spa on Friday, and then afterward we all went to a 50s-style diner in a nearby small town. Burgers, fries, hot dogs, ice cream, milkshakes. Our booth done up in vinyl and metallic red paint.

        We had a BBQ with her folks and a couple of friends on Saturday. Steak (well done; my father-in-law won't eat meat if there's a hint of red), baked potatoes, a couple different kinds of salad, potato chips, Hawkins cheezies. Good beer for those who wanted it. And lots of games.

    • Science

      • Tale Of Two Unknowns

        "Solaris" the book is quite interesting. I can see why a movie would be problematic, especially in 1972, or even now, in the likely event the audience finds Crazy Ocean boring or has any sort of need for closure, as most humans do. This is probably why the filmmakers added something more than "I guess it's time to go," the End.

        "Rendezvous with Rama" is comparatively dull: the alien vessel is encountered; characters and technology precise for the next situation arrive like clockwork; please buy the sequel. There, a set of three.

      • realizing limits

        I have always been used to doing things alone and having to handle crises alone; I grew up an only child, rest of the family far away, parents unreliable and neglectful. Asking them for any help would end in judgement, using the info against me, or never letting me forget about the time they needed to help me. It seemed like a huge burden to them and they would dramatically sigh and act annoyed throughout it all. Peers were nothing to rely on as well, especially for more complex issues.

    • Technology and Free Software

      • My Perfect Home Lab — An Antithesis

        After reading about the new home lab subspace on BBS, it’s time to write a little about my ideas of the perfect home lab, which I wanted to do for a long time.



        [...]

        I’ve had this situation for three years, but then needed to have a wired Internet connection for remote work during and after COVID-19 to improve latency. While my connection is now much better than before, my LTE Internet speed was okay for ordinary web browsing and the occasional download and cloud sync.

        In the last 20 years before that, I’ve always owned a second computer as a backup computer and server at home. For a couple of years I’ve connected an external RAID 5 to my server. In the last years before cancelling my wired Internet connection, I only owned a NAS, which had a single SSD installed to avoid any noise, and I did online backups. My DSL connection was always the fastest available and I always got the maximum connection rate.

      • I just want to fucking play Call of Duty on my day off

        Me: I finally get to play this brand new copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on my day off

        Me: [Puts disc into PS5 and clicks play]

        PS5: MUST INSTALL UPDATE FOR THIS APPLICATION FIRST

        Me: ok

        PS5: IT'S 63 GB

      • No, i am not from the future...

        .. i am just too stupid to enter the correct date in my feed.gmi ;-)

        But this whole "timetravelling" thing reminded me of a story i read a while back about the "John Titor" persona that emerged some time around the early 00s...

        That i never heard about it back in the day (even as someone who frequented UFO and conspiracy forums quiet extensively) is quiet interesting... perhaps another proof of how more diverse the internet back then was. So, as it was way too hot to sleep last night i crawled into this rabbit hole and spend many hours reading and digging deeper.

      • Using git bundle to synchronize a repository between Qubes OS

        In a previous article, I explained how to use Fossil version control system to version the files you may write in dom0 and sync them against a remote repository.

        I figured how to synchronize a git repository between an AppVM and dom0, then from the AppVM it can be synchronized remotely if you want. This can be done using the git feature named bundle, which bundle git artifacts into a single file.

      • Maybe it's time to post something again

        We need more of Richard Stallman, not less

        > The problem is that we didn’t listen.


        Ego *can't* listen. It can *pretend* to. Quite convincingly, too: whatever it takes to keep the other egos a combination of misinformed and guessing so as to be a fine mix of lesser and behind.

        ` RMS was and still is pictured as a dangerous maniac


        Ego loves seeing other egos as whatever form of lesser (e.g. "dangerous maniac") being/personhood/individuality necessary to feel, um, more-er.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Announcement: Weather CGI Fixes

          In the early days of my capsule I implemented a weather forecast CGI. A visitor can enter a five-digit US ZIP code, and the CGI will present a one-week weather forecast from the National Weather Service. That CGI is still online today.

          The original script was written in Bash, but in July of 2022 I converted all my CGI content to Python. In preparation for that change, I compiled a database with a list of ZIP codes, their corresponding cities and states, and the NWS weather stations and grid numbers needed to get the ZIP's forecast via API. This required me to first find a source that gave the latitude and longitudes of each ZIP code, then querying the API with the list of coordinates to get the stations.


* Gemini (Primer) links can be opened using Gemini software. It's like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.



Recent Techrights' Posts

Links 09/11/2026: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Cheats on Wife With A Suspected Chinese Spy, "400,000 Russians Killed in Battle Since 2022 Invasion"
Links for the day
Digitalisation Is Not Inevitable or Unavoidable
Nor inescapable
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIV - Why the Swatting Failed
After that we only ever heard from or spoke to cops when we invited them to our home to collect evidence
 
Links 09/11/2026: 'Humanitarian' Putin Knocks 600,000 Civilians Off the Grid, Eminem’s Publisher Sues Suno
Links for the day
Like Crooked Politicians, The Register MS is Selling "Dinners" (Access, Sponsors)
Talk about "hey hi".
The Register MS is Not Objective Regarding "AI", It's Paid by Pushers of the Pyramid Scheme (including Nvidia)
Some time soon we'll name some companies that pay millions to The Register MS in order to cement their role in the house of cards (while it lasts)
GAFAM Moribund
A lot of what we say about Microsoft in respect to debt is equally applicable to the rest of GAFAM
NVIDIA as a Scam Company Run by Scammers Who Fake Demand for Their Waste of Energy (Subsidising GPU Sales for Use Cases That Don't Exist)
First they targeted gamers, then fake 'currencies' (which turned out to be a bust), now it's slop (obfuscation of plagiarism using brute force and fusion) [...] We're quite glad that Huang publicly broadcasts how untrustworthy he is
Zero Tolerance for Slop
very few sites that dabbled in slop ended up well off (for it)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, November 08, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, November 08, 2026
Gemini Links 09/11/2026: "The Blue Wave Won't Save Us" and "Discoverability Is Only Solved If You Can Be Discovered"
Links for the day
IBM 'Robbery': No More Car Allowance in the UK, Severance Shredded, CEO Pay Up 51% in One Year While Thousands Laid Off in Secret
Why does a CEO reward himself so much when the company does so badly?
Gemini Links 08/11/2026: "Back", Zot, and Information Overload
Links for the day
“Concerned Microsoft Workers” Say “Working at Microsoft Has Become Joyless and Demoralizing.” (That's What Microsoft Wants, More Will Leave That Way)
Many Microsoft employees are going to leave
The Register MS is Losing Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds a Year While Directors Pay Themselves Hundreds of Thousands of Pounds a Year in Dividends
they take money from slop pushers and have clearly compromised some journalistic standards in the process
GNU/Linux Measured at 7.4% in the UK This Weekend: Clownflare Radar
I hope that one day GNU/Linux will be everywhere here
Never a One-Person Project
Just because I'm the main "public face" of the site (who takes all the insults and SLAPPs) doesn't mean I deserve all the credit
“I Always Expect to Lose. I Fight Anyway, and Sometimes I Win.” — Richard Stallman
To change the world meaningfully people must think big
Stop Looking for News About "Layoffs", Layoffs Are Over (They've Been Rebranded)
To properly assess the status quo we need other yardsticks
Links 08/11/2026: Bosses Who Were Forcing Their Workers to Use Slop Change Mind, "Rapper RBX Files Ninth Circuit Appeal in Fraud-Focused Class Action Lawsuit Against Spotify"
Links for the day
Links 08/11/2026: Why Vikings Stayed in Iceland and "TikTok Accused Of Promoting Sex Industry To Young Girls"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 08/11/2026: "Before Sunrise" and LLM Scrapers Versus Self-Hosting (or Web in General)
Links for the day
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXIII - Weaponising Cops in Another Continent (Europe), Knowing They Cannot Come to Your Home in America, While Threatening Women
This year it culminated in death threats
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, November 07, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, November 07, 2026
The Decade Ahead, a Decade of Suppressed Stories
Our stories aren't discouraged or considered taboo because of racism or "toxic politics" or anything like that; they just hurt powerful people and corporations
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Inaction and Incompetence - Part V - "Reports Closed Without the Evidence Being Examined."
Totally what the SRA did regarding Brett Wilson LLP
Gemini Links 07/11/2026: Illusion Garden and Lagrange 2
Links for the day
Complexity is the Tyrant's Friend
Slop is for feeble minds and cheaters
IBM Firings (or Silent Layoffs) After Bluewashing; "IBM’s Employment History is More Troubling Than its Patriotic Marketing Suggests"
"It has zip to do with race but everything to do with the greed of the 1% who have been doing all they can to destroy the middle class..."
“Week van de Werkstress” and Work-Related Stress at the EPO, Where Staff is Bullied Into Granting Illegal Patents for Foreign Monopolists
"poor working environments, including discrimination and inequality, excessive workloads, low job control and job insecurity pose a risk to mental health"
Czech Republic: GNU/Linux Rises Above 5% in Desktops and Laptops
A year ago it was somewhere around 4%
EPO's Local Staff Committee The Hague Says Almost or About a Third of Staff Assembled to Organise at "a Time of Continued Social Unrest"
They speak of "circa 850 staff members in attendance" (in The Netherlands there are about a couple thousand)
Suggestions That XBox Will be Offloaded by Microsoft, Rather Than Shut Down, Make the False Assumption XBox is Profitable (It's Not, It's a Liability)
Microsoft has serious financial troubles
Which "Smart" "Phone", Which "Social" "Media", and Which "Cloud" "Storage"?
Let's take back control of the language
State of the (Linux) Slop, Late 2026 Edition
Google News (Gulag Noise) is a plagiarism booster
Year 21
It's 5PM here
Links 07/11/2026: "Flock Cameras Got Eviscerated by the Midterms" and Joshua Wong Shows China is Highly Repressive and Fully Controls Hong Kong
Links for the day
At The Register MS the Net Liabilities Doubled in One Year, Tangible Assets Down About 35% in One Year
signed off in 2026
Intercontinental Brigading - Part XXXXII - Running One's Mouth
British Police told me "making a false complaint to police is a crime" in relation to Lozza
Another 20 Years of Exposing Corruption
We'll focus on carrying on what we do
EPO Budget and Finance Committee (in Very Recent Meeting) Increases Bribes to People Who Vote on Campinos Reappointment ("Cooperation Activities")
Buying 'elections' to protect the cocaine-stained regime in Europe's second-largest institution
Links 07/11/2026: London's SLAPP Industry Now Targets Kirkenes (Northern Norway) at the Behest of Corrupt Thieves in Russia and Microsoft’s 'Buyout' Offer Crashes Microsoft Systems
Links for the day
Links 07/11/2026: "The Moon is Waning Crescent", Homeworlds, and "Can't Handle The AVIF!"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, November 06, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, November 06, 2026