Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 12/07/2023: IM Nostalgia and Goodbye Manjaro, Hello Debian



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • The sound of music

        The day got off to somewhat of a slow start, but we eventually wound up visiting the municipal band so my wife could rehearse with them for a hometown (her hometown) music event in a couple days. Got some good recordings so she can continue to rehearse her part. It was fun to exercise the good 'ole "Zoom H4" device to accomplish the recording. Can't say enough about it. Can't remember how long I've had it, prolly at least half a decade. But it's simplified a lot of sound-related things for us over the years. It's a rare tech winner in my book.

      • 🔤SpellBinding: ABDILZR Wordo: MISSY
      • A really hot Sunday

        It was really, REALLY hot on Sunday. Looking back at the weather report, it said the RealFeel was 39c, which is 102f. Also the UV Index was 11: Extreme. That is probably why I got burned - again - despite putting on sunblock, wearing protection and so on.

      • Depressing Summer

        The RealFeel today after lunch, was 42c / 107f. The news said 20 of the 47 prefectures of Japan raised Heat Stroke warnings. Western Japan was battered by heavy rains which unfortunately took lives. Here in the East it's very hot and very humid. We are baking here in Tokyo.

        It's turning into a depressing Summer. A/C all day and all night, the drone of cicadas all the time, a loss of appetite.

    • Politics and World Events

      • Annotation and Commentary on Marx’s Gothakritik

        “Free State — what is this?

        It is by no means the aim of the workers [..] to set the State free. [..] [T]oday [..] the forms of State are more free or less free to the extent that they restrict the ‘freedom of the State’.

        The German Workers’ party — at least if it adopts the program — shows that its socialist ideas are not even skin-deep; in that, instead of treating existing society [..] as the **basis** of the existing State (or of the future State in the case of future society), it treats the State rather as an independent entity that possesses its own intellectual, ethical, and libertarian bases.

      • Quick peek at The News

        - Opinion: Biden made the right call on cluster munitions for Ukraine - CNN


        But CNN, you say Biden made the right call regardless the call, so what's your assessment worth? Except to True Believers, of course....

        Speaking of which:
        - Opinion | Why liberals protesting cluster munitions for Ukraine are wrong - The Washington Post


        What? Liberals not agreeing on ways that it's okay to kill others? Whodathunk?!!!

      • Beyond Free Banking

        In my previous article “In Lieu of Free Banking,” I outline the mutualist and individualist anarchist arguments for free and mutual banking, its potential ability to empower labor, and, briefly, some immediate proxies available via credit unions and alternative currencies. But I also point to Laurance Labadie’s assessment of Benjamin Tucker’s (and later his own) belief that wealth and property “concentrations had reached such a pass that even if it could be inaugurated, free banking alone would not be sufficient to break the monopolistic power of capital.” I ultimately conclude then that…

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Tribal Voice PowWow

        Did anyone here use PowWow back in the late 90s?

      • Mirabilis ICQ

        Did anyone here use ICQ back in the 90s? I was shocked to learn my UIN actually still works today 🤯

      • Old Computer Challenge 2023 - Day Two

        Recently I switched to Honk, a ActivityPub server written in Go. It is mostly without Javascript.

        This means you can use any browser to view the time line.

        Honk doesn't support external clients like toot.

      • Goodbye Manjaro, Hello Debian

        I have been running Linux on my personal computers for some time now, probably between 10-12 years. I started using Linux after I worked with it as a Post-Grad, it was love at first site, how can you not love the SPEED?!

        I first tried Scientific Linux, then some weird Ubuntu/Debian derivates like Elementary, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Voyager linux etc; I had no idea what I was doing and what I was looking for. After a few breaking of install by adding dodgy PPAs I discovered Manjaro XFCE; it was amazing and everything I was looking for! I went full Manjaro, even printed those little stickers to stick on my laptop after I removed the Windows ones. After a few years on Manjaro I got that itch again and went down other Linux rabbit holes (ArchLabs Ricing etc). One of which was the systemd-free one, but that for another time.


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