Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 25/07/2023: No Change Friday, Twitter Getting Worse



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Things are going Okay

        Some time ago I reduced my exposure to doom-feeling-inducting websites even more. After initial FOMO eased up I noticed a lot of positive changes in my life. I’ve always know that I alone will not save the World but it has never sunk in. You cannot help everyone, but you can help your family, friends or neighbors. You cannot save the World, but you can make your vicinity a little better. Think simple, think small. This philosophy made me for the first time since forever feel completely calm. Politics is still shitty here and around the World. The war abroad is still going on. The internet is still collapsing. Corporations are still doing their power grab. But I’m not feeling that everything is lost.

        So instead of shouting: “Doom is near! Everything is lost!” I’ll write something positive.

      • Life is but a I have a dream

        I awoke to pee at 2:31am last night, and became enchanted with the title of this - albeit fearful I'd not remember it by the morning given how it seems memory is no longer a gimme.

        I returned to bed, and oriented this nearer-the-end-than-the-beginning body the opposite the way it was pre-pee, knowing it was just a matter of time before my wife's nasal foghorn would kick in.

        But soon enough the other side of the bodily waste elimination game was tapping me on the inner shoulder loudly enough to prevent falling back asleep. So I showed it its due respect, then walked slowly out into the house proper, and opened most of the windows, as it was pleasantly cool outside, remembering the central air could just barely keep the insides 76F yesterday. Service for that is supposed to arrive today. But I wanted to get the house as cool as possible before the environment started bringing the heat.

      • Red Rising book review

        Red Rising is a science ficiton novel written by Pierce Brown in 2014. It tells the story of a dystopian universe ruled by a society that enforces a caste system based on colors. At the top, the almost inhuman Golds, physically and mentally stronger than the rest, born to enforce the rule of their class. At the bottom, the Reds, born to work the mines and treated as less than human. As the title of the novel suggests, the Reds grow tired of being slaves of the Golds and begin to rise against the society.

        I found this book after finishing the Silo series by Hugh Howey. I was initially drawn to the novel as it starts off similar to Silo. The Reds live deep underground, safe from the inhospitable surface of Mars above them. They work to one day make the planet safe for themselves, and other members of the society. Similarly, Silo is the story of the last of humanity living in a massive underground bunker, safe from the toxic wasteland that has consumed Earth.

    • Technology and Free Software

      • No Change Friday

        Sysadmins (or whatever it is they are called these days) may push for no changes to production on various days, Friday for example. There is plenty else to do meanwhile. Some developers instead push for all changes all the time. This probably depends where one is on the "change nothing, ever" to "move fast and break things" line and may also depend on who is going to be woken up at two in the morning to do triage (a sysadmin, usually). There will be variance by industry: an experimental lab may differ from a bank as to what regulations apply, when changes can be made in production, etc.

      • Whoooooo are you... who who .. who who?

        Are all of you essentially non-player characters in my dream/simulation?

        Or is it that all of you *and* "I" are essentially NPC's in <can't be said>'s dream/simulation?

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Twitter's Getting Worse and I'm Saying My Goodbyes, Again

          Yesterday, completing what felt like a weekend whim by its owner, Twitter rebranded to X. I refuse to call the new service X, in the same way that the stadium the Blue Jays play at will always be the SkyDome, and not the Rogers Centre: the people in power can change an official name, but you don't have to go along with it. You can call things whatever you want.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Evri (HermesUK) is Now Run by Bots and Hallucinating Scammers
Years ago they virtually removed support and tried chatbots instead
 
Bluesky is in Trouble
Bluesky is a private company (unlike Bluesky Digital Assets Corp. in Toronto, that one runs a pyramid scheme!), so it's hard to know for sure just how much money it is losing
China Says Goodbye to Microsoft
It is hardly surprising that Windows is shedding off userbase all around the world
Links 18/08/2026: US Abandons South Korea, New Legal Disputes Over Slop Plagiarism in the Music Scene
Links for the day
Linux Losing Interest in Users' Freedom, Pursues DRM Instead
"Linux" is (or was, as GNU/Linux) meant to empower - not artificially restrict - the users
GNU/Linux in Ecuador and Colombia: Growing, Still Below International Average
locals turn away from Windows and try GNU/Linux instead
IBM is Dead or Dying. Now It Asks Workers to 'Resign' Voluntarily.
To save face, to pretend no layoffs are happening (as it might alarm shareholders) [...] We keep hearing more and more stories like that
Links 18/08/2026: Sergey Brin Controlling State Policies, "Dario Amodei's (Anthropic) Wife Is Closely Linked to Jeffrey Epstein"
Links for the day
SBS News Interviews Daniel Pocock
The locals say this PR stunt (by the bigot, Farage) was a waste of money
Clownflare Sees One in 7 Web Requests in Libya Originating From GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has taken a (foot)hold there
Openwashing and Manifestos Composed in Private by Dictators With Deliberately Addictive (and Subsidised, Bundled) 'Tech'
It's long, so make a cuppa first
SLAPP Censorship - Part 153 Out of 200: Decades of Debt, Weaponising Borrowed Money to Try to Put Their Critics in Debt
they've always had a financial report by now
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 17, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 17, 2026
Gemini Links 18/08/2026: Solar Power, Kipple and Impermanence, Catastrophe Ethics
Links for the day
Less Technology, More Life
Technology is being associated (sometimes rightly) with physical and mental problems
Google Search Has Gotten Worse (a Lot Worse)
getting worse
Birthday in 80 Days
we'll start decorating and party online with our community
Loans and Massive Debt at Microsoft, This Won't End Well.
Microsoft running out of money to pay salaries (to the point of paying people for 'voluntary' layoffs) is a positive sign?
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Life in Plain Text, Mimicking KARL, Release of Jugulans, Avoiding Slop
Links for the day
Clown Storage Without Backups
Setting up several reliable copies of the data, plus several off-site backups (this data is nowhere as sensitive as medical data), should only cost a few grand
FreeCAD is Becoming Slop-ware, Use LibreCAD Instead
It has regular releases and "Qt5 is mandatory" now [...] they at least audit what they add
Cuba and Venezuela High in Adoption of GNU/Linux
some of the "communist" nations
Links 17/08/2026: Myanmar’s Cholera Outbreak, China Sends Commercial Vessels Through Arctic
Links for the day
GAFAM Loyalty Has Come to an End, Morale Low, People Whose Future is Uncertain Choose to Become "Lifers"
morale is low and there's no loyalty anymore
SLAPP Censorship - Part 152 Out of 200: Injunctions Do Not Cover Criticism, They Have Scope
self-incriminating communications
Clownflare Sees About Quarter of Web Requests in Ireland Coming From GNU/Linux
Well, in Ireland it seems like many people adopted GNU/Linux
Clownflare: In Australia and New Zealand GNU/Linux Peaks at Over 10% During Working Hours
That right there is interesting in its own right
Slowing Down by Intention
At the moment we have 6 or 7 ongoing series
Gemini Links 17/08/2026: Chamboree, Partial Solar Eclipse, Lady Macbeth
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2026: "Bluesky Is Down Again!" and "Anti-Social Media"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 16, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 16, 2026
A Vortex of Beacons (or "Bluetooth Everywhere" Vision)
If someone (or someones) calls you paranoid for taking about "beacon"-like functionality, there will be no lack of authoritative citations (e.g. Web links) they can be provided to prove them wrong
Falkland Islands: GNU/Linux Elevated to 6%
GNU/Linux usage seems to have increased a lot there
Links 16/08/2026: Reading Outside, Going Offline More, and Art of Computer Programming
Links for the day
The Question of Patience
Is there a lesson here somewhere?
IBM May be Sued for Mass Layoffs Via PIPs
Some whole threads (with all the long comments in them) recently got nuked by thelayoff.com
Links 16/08/2026: Ceuta Reports Social Control Media Used as a Weapon
Links for the day
Links 16/08/2026: Europe in Crisis of Droughts While Energy- and Water-Consuming, Pollution-Emitting Chatbots Are Spread by GAFAM (US) to Keep a Ponzi Scheme Going
Links for the day
GNU/Linux is a Platform for Work (Usage Surges in Daytime)
GNU/Linux 15% in daytime
We Need Rain, Not Chatbots
There's no "anti-AI" (it's not even AI), there's opposition to fraud, to plagiarism, and to companies that profit more when there's global warning (caused in part by their business activities)
SLAPP Censorship - Part 151 Out of 200: Dealing With Sleazy People and Companies That Steal (While Employing These Sleazy People)
we offer a quick summary and we're reflecting
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 15, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, August 15, 2026
Gemini Links 16/08/2026: Sterrenkijker Releases, Solar Gemini Server
Links for the day