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.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft said “GitHub and its leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI organisation.” But it's just an empty shell created earlier this year.
In short, it's not too clear what Microsoft has just done except dumping GitHub - i.e. mostly a Web site that loses a ton of money (it always lost money) - into some mysterious new bucket
IBM Layoffs in MCC, or Marketing, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
IBM and Microsoft inflate their share price by circular financing
The Register MS gets Lazy, Uses Slop
Unlike 3-D renderings or "Classic" CG, slop images aren't quite original and definitely not fair use
Overly Maximalist, Expensive, Localised Patent Law is Dooming Western Companies, Argue 3-D Printing Champions
We've long warned (over 7 years already!) that China's approach to patents will impress WIPO by gaming the totals but will doom the West
Microsoft's Windows in Gabon: Still Moving Down
What is this Unknown? Who knows...
 
Links 19/08/2025: "NASA Is Giving Up on Climate Change Science" and "Earth's Continents Are Drying Out at an Unprecedented Rate"
Links for the day
Phil Wyett evidence & Debian Zizian plagiarism, modern slavery tendencies
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Many Countries People Move Away From Vista 11
Vista 11 has been available for download for 4 years already, but adoption has been poor
Desktops/Laptops Fall to All-Time Lows in the UK, So Why Does British Media Quote a Famous Criminal on "End of the Smartphone Era"?
mobile usage (for Web access) has never been higher, based on an Irish surveyor, statCounter
The Groklaw Web Site Has Been Hijacked by Scammers
Groklaw.net isn't a safe site to access at this time
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 18, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, August 18, 2025
Online Safety Act Does Not Tackle the Worst (and Biggest) Culprits
if our governments are serious about tackling online harms, then they need to look closely at GAFAM and social control media giants
Chat Control (1 and 2) in the European Union Sends the Wrong Message
This is an EU law
Slopwatch: Google News and Serial Sloppers (Fake Articles About "Linux")
Calling out the culprits
Gemini Links 19/08/2025: Digital Legacy and Chat Control
Links for the day
English Law Misused by Americans and Irishmen Against Brits is Unfair
There's always a way to improve existing laws
Links 18/08/2025: "Microsoft Store" Gets Increasingly Hostile, "Cracking Abandonware DRM"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/08/2025: Summer "Gone" and Web Reposts in Gemini
Links for the day
Links 18/08/2025: LLM Reputation Damaged, Australia Catches Google Foul Play
Links for the day
Geeks Like GNU/Linux
The technical community seems to be consolidating and rallying around GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux is 486 in Ireland
4.86% that is
End of Reliable Media
it makes the world a worse place, it renders the Web a misinformation machine
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 17, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 17, 2025
GitHub Won't Last Much Longer
Many things at Microsoft are going to go the way of the Skype (or "dodo"). GitHub will be among those.
We've Never Used Large Language Model (LLM)
we just never used an LLM
"Secure Boot" is a Security Problem, Not a Solution
These people don't try to improve security but to undermine security
Gemini Links 18/08/2025: Retro and Endless Escape from the WWW
Links for the day
Working Whilst Away From Home
Decades ago being away meant all sorts of problems associated with workflows and connectivity
The Next Version of Windows Will Always be the Best (for Microsoft)
It's worse and slower over time
"End of the Smartphone Era" According to Jeffrey Epstein's Key Enabler
They call it "sour grapes"
Links 17/08/2025: Strike Downs Air Canada, Postmortems of Putin's Red Carpet Summit
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2025: Slow Tools and Enshittification of YouTube
Links for the day
Don't Talk to Bullies
This serious matter is still being examined by British authorities
Links 17/08/2025: "The Performance of Power" and "My Undesirable Friends"
Links for the day
Growing Our Reach
Our goal was never "hits"
The Russian Vision of Technology
Russia's surveillance is very extensive
Sooner or Later Almost Everyone Will Know "AI" is Just a Go-To, Misused, Misapplied, and Grossly Overused Term of Liars and Con Jobs Who Ride a Ponzi Scheme
At the expense of people gullible enough to "invest" in this or take salaries/bonuses in the form of "stock" (tied to a Ponzi scheme)
The Register MS Has Begun Using Slop Images
It's not clear when it started; but it's definitely getting worse [...] Worst of all are 'articles' about slop that are themselves slop
Reddit Funded by Microsoft
Reddit is merely a filter and we knows who controls that filter (using money)
When It Comes to Technology, Mozilla and Firefox Are Illiberal
Last month in Planet Debian we saw one more person explaining to everyone how to "turn off" DRM in Firefox and hide the pop-up/s
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 16, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 16, 2025
The Open Source Initiative Has Many Scandals, We'll Try to Summarise Them All
Open Source Initiative (OSI) hates facts
Open Source Initiative (OSI), Wikipedia, Molly De Blanc, and Censorship/Reputation Laundering
OSI is like SPLC. The old name remains, the mission changed
Gemini Links 17/08/2025: Misunderstanding "Geminiverse" and Let's Encrypt
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2025: Breaches, Layoffs, and Scams
Links for the day