Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 11/07/2023: 'Getting into Flash' and Waning World Wide Web



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

    • Technology and Free Software

      • BESM Multiverse and Uresia: Grave of Heavan arrived!

        My physical copies of the BESM Multiverse Maps, BESM Multiverse, BESM Uresia: Grave of Heavan, and Ikarion Gate, the BESM Multiverse LitRPG novel arrived today. I really like having physical books for things that are information dense: settings or rules; I find it helps my comprehension when learning the material. (I'm this way about technical material as well: I try to get computer books in print as well.)

      • Having fun with NixOS

        I decided to run NixOS on my personal laptop, replacing an Arch Linux installation that I've had for years. The idea of a declarative OS has a strong appeal to me, since I'm a big fan of declarative languages — SQL probably being the main one.

        [...]

        On the other hand, I realized I don't have to install pyenv in order to create isolated Python environments for development. I can just use a Nix shell to spawn a new Python version where I do my development.

      • Software and services I use
      • Day 1

        First day of the Old Computer Challenge. I've spent most of the day at work so I've been using new computers for that. For travel, I'm trying to reduce the amount I use my phone as it's more powerful than the limit. I've now booted up the old computer and the WiFi is failing to connect. Not sure why. I may have to reboot.

      • Getting into Flash

        So I'm slightly younger and I got into flash in two ways. Firstly, I """"obtained"""" a copy of Macromedia Flash 5 on CD. But more importantly, secondly, I only got into it because of Newgrounds. It was the early 2000s and Newgrounds was where it was at. Watching videos playing games I loved it.

        So yeah. It's 2000 and somehow a CD ended up on my desk with a marker scribbling of "Flash 5" on it. The interface for flash was a paint canvas and it primarily was an animation platform (I guess). You had a timeline where you could drop in different pieces of art and even animate using keyframes. You could type into the web "stock sound library" or something of that nature and find just an archive of stock, royalty free: punches, gunshots, etc. It was glorious.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Japanese

          Anyone interested in forming a study group to go through the Genki books for learning Japanese? I'm interested in meeting weekly, perhaps via Discord or another client, if you prefer.

        • Retiring geomaticblog.net

          Vicente[2], Pedro-Juan[3], and me started this blog in 2006[4]. Back then blogs were the best way to create content and share knowledge. It was the times of RSS, Google Reader, social bookmarking through `del.icio.us`, and pictures on `Flickr`. Very different from these days of micro-blogging, quick videos, influencers moving from one platform to another chasing their viewers' attention and money, newsletters under paywalls, etc.

          [...]

          I will keep the blog code and content on a GitHub repository at https://github.com/jsanz/geomaticblog/[9] where we have posts in Markdown since 2007, and everything is hopefully for ever available in the web archive at https://web.archive.org/web/20130801000000*/http://geomaticblog.net/[10]. I will probably copy my posts to my website[11].

        • We Can't Go Back to What We Had: Olia Lialina's "From My to Me" and the Loss of the Personal Web

          Despite being active on the web for more than twenty-five years, I had never heard of Olia Lialina. A net artist, professor, and archivist, Lialina has written extensively about the web-that-was. In the mid to late 1990s, she created the art piece "My Boyfriend Came Back From the War". Stark, high contrast white-and-black images and text playing out across frames, the art piece (to me) echoes the sorts of ideas and techniques I'd see in twine-based hypertext years later.

          [...]

          As a researcher with the One Terabyte of Kylobyte Age archive (which holds GeoCities sites "built and abandoned by amateur webmasters between 1995 and 2009), Lialina is in a unique position, sitting on what could well be the largest archive of GeoCities sites outside of the Wayback. And as an artist and amateur webpage creator herself, Lialina has seen designs coalesce, colours harmonize, and the enthusiasm associated with those days, with the creation of something innately personal, slowly fade away.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Red Hat QA Team "Had Shrunk by Half Over the Past Year." (After IBM Divestment)
If Red Hat's workforce is being moved to the East, then RHEL can become a national security problem
Preparations for Our 19th Anniversary Have Already Begun
When we get back we'll probably sort out some balloons and venue for the next party
Pleased After 2 Years With team.blue
Moving from a Content Management System (CMS, dynamic) to a Static Site Generator (SSG) was a wise decision that made life so much easier
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is Being Attacked by Organisations Jealous of Its Principled Stance and Longevity
Nobody is perfect, but imperfection does not instantaneously imply sinister intent
Many Microsoft "Assets" Are Fabricated Baloney (to Game the Numbers)
At times it seems like what we deal with are many weak patents (on algorithms), valuations or speculations based on hype ("hey hi"), and stocks held by Microsoft and its own staff
 
Brodie Robertson Addressing the Recently-Discovered Comments
Most people probably knew nothing about this until he wrote a response
Slopwatch: "Open Source" and "Linux" News Faked, Made by Bots and Entered Into Google News
Spam combined with slop about "Linux" has entered Google News
Links 03/09/2025: Microsoft Causes Mass Layoffs Outside Microsoft Also, "Google Can Keep Paying for Firefox Search Deal"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 03/09/2025: calendar.txt, Alhena 5.3.1, and ROOPHLOCH
Links for the day
The Theory That the Man From McKinsey, Whom Red Hat Took From Microsoft a Month Ago as Executive, Wants 'Efficiency' (Lower Salaries)
So far... no "official" word
When Your Site's Articles Are Being 'Cheapened' by Slop as Feature Images
Dr. Farnell should become an advisor to The Register MS
Certificate Authority Let's Encrypt Drops to Only Half a Dozen Capsules and 0.2% of the Whole in Geminispace, Self-Signed is the Way to Go
It used to have hundreds, according to Lupa
Doing to Red Hat What They Already Did (and Still Do) to IBM
there seems to be a drive to hire cheaper staff, and it may be led by somebody Red Hat hired from Microsoft
Links 03/09/2025: Salesforce's Latest Mass Layoffs, 93% in Large Poll at The Register MS Say UK Government Should Dump Microsoft
Links for the day
If You Reject the Google Verdict in the US, Then You Should Also Reject the "Modern" Web (Do Something About It)
Gemini Protocol is still open; it cannot be hijacked or subverted because it's frozen by design and by intention
Open Source Initiative IRS Filing: Almost All the Money is Corporate, Stefano Maffuli (Executive Director) Takes About a Quarter of That Money for Openwashing of "AI" Ponzi Scheme
OSI is currently little but a PR/marketing agency of Microsoft
Many People Are "Leaving" Red Hat, Even High-Level Managers
Something is definitely going on at Red Hat
Techrights Has Been Subjected to Calls of Violence (and Death Threats), It Never Condoned Violence
I have no sympathy for people who call violence "free speech" and then get in trouble
Condoning Violent Behaviour and "Free Speech"
perhaps Microsoft Lunduke lost touch with what constitutes violence
Takeaway From the Google Verdict: GAFAM Has Too Much Control (Even Over the US Government and Courts With Government Appointees)
Many people feel disappointed but hardly surprised by the verdict
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Turns 40 in One Month
As noted a few days ago, several times in fact, many people now recognise the importance of the FSF's mission, even if most people don't know what the FSF is
"Voluntary" Layoffs at Microsoft (to Game the Numbers, Sugar-Coating a Crisis)
"Employees interested have until the end of October to volunteer."
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, September 02, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, September 02, 2025
Links 02/09/2025: Oligarch Tech and Text Encoding Concerns in Ada
Links for the day
"Internal Changes at Red Hat / IBM"
It seems like quite a few people are leaving
Confirmed in French Media: Mass Layoffs (10% Culled) in Microsoft France
Now some reports in French
"People on LinkedIn Saying That They've Left Red Hat."
We already saw signs of it a month ago and named some of the people
Gone With the BRICs (or BRICS): "Linux 8" in Cuba
GAFAM must be worried
Telecompaper Reports Microsoft to Reduce the Workforce by Another 10% (in France)
Imagine what this will do to staff's morale
Microsoft in Freefall in Finland
Can Finland eradicate Windows from all its infrastructure, including core operations that are sensitive to sabotage by cracking?
Google's Chrome Passes 70% and Web Standards Are Dying
The Web is quickly becoming devoid of any standards
India is Back to Windows 8 (Market Share Down to 8%) as Android Soars to a New Record High
For Microsoft, India is a runaway market
Slopwatch: Plagiarism and Ponzi Scheme, Bubble About to Burst Entirely, Admits Goldman Sachs
the hype that Google News and The Register MS actively participate and profit from
Links 02/09/2025: SCO Summit and Russia Suspected Of Jamming GPS
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/09/2025: Mediterranean Marriage and Staying Connected at 35,000 Feet
Links for the day
The Register MS Says "AI Web Crawlers Are Destroying Websites", So Why Does The Register MS Help 'AI' Companies? (Spoiler: Money)
People need to call out The Register MS on its hypocrisy
Slopfarms Already Peaked, They Will Die When Slop Companies Run Out of Money to Borrow
slopfarms will lack an actual "engine"
Links 02/09/2025: Attacks on Unions, Microsoft TCO, and DDoSing a Growing Problem
Links for the day
Why We Publish Information About the SLAPPs (But Not About the Legal Process), an Abuse of Process by Americans Trying to Silence Critics of Their Employer, Microsoft
It doesn't take thousands of pages to explain something simple
Internet Relay Chat Didn't Fall Off a Cliff
IRC will turn 40 in less than 3 years from now
The UEFI 9/11 - Part V - This is Not a Drill (Disable "SecureBoot" Now)
A "9/11" Coming
There's No Obligation to Speak to Anybody
The very fact that "bkuhn" is till spending time in social control media says a lot about his poor judgment
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, September 01, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, September 01, 2025
Microsoft Trying to Force People to Resign (Amid Mass Layoffs) a Strategy That Takes Its Toll
Microsoft seems to be circling down the drain and the "final flush" will be the moment the "hey hi" (AI) bubble implodes completely
Google Simply Cannot Be Trusted
Only fools would trust GAFAM
Admission That a Third Party (or Parties) Funds the SLAPPs Against Techrights
This can end up costing them over a million dollars
Modifying and Writing One's Own Computer Programs is Not a Crime (or: Google Proves That Stallman Was Right)
We're generally gratified to see so many positive mentions of him
Why We Stopped Publishing Videos (for Now)
We'll probably get back to videos one day, but it's hard to say when or to what extent
What Animal Rights Activism Teaches Us About Sympathy and Focus
It's possible to believe that the planet is warming, that we must do something about it, and still eat eggs and butter