Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 11/09/2023: RICO Charges Against Protestors in Atlanta, NYC’s Airbnb Problem



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Do Dogs Face North When Pooping?

        I saw a stupid Youtube segment that claimed that dogs prefer facing towards the magnetic North when crapping. This sounds like nonsense, but it seems that many other places of questionable reputation concur.

      • An Anecdote from Another Place

        Just yesterday, far away from Nightfall, I spent some time at a much more crowded place. It was noisy and the scent of exhaust fumes was so strong that it seemingly affected the inhabitants' minds negatively.

        [...]

        The guys were joined by a woman claiming to be a marine biologist and agreeing wholeheartedly with the guy yelling himself into a rage.

        How paradox. At least from the marine biologist I would have expected a more nuanced response, yet this doesn't seem to be encouraged at this place. But considering that the other two guys appeared to be academics, as well, I wonder if that is supposed to be a reflection of the current state of academia and higher learning, which is... disappointing enough to have made me leave this place immediately, to say the least.

      • roophloch'23

        which about as far as I can go before the wifi cuts out and there is somewhere to sit that isn't lawn or garden stuff. The box thing is the bottom a bird house, though it's pointed towards the house which is also where most of the weather comes from (off the Pacific) so maybe the orientation isn't so good for birds?

        Keeping conifer needles off the keyboard occupies some of my time. The squirrel that usually yells at me is not around. The daystar makes it sometimes difficult to type; it's partly cloudy. There's a better spot in the shade with (usually) less squirrel, but that's outside wifi range.

      • 2023-09-11

        One of the ways you know you are getting old is when you see the state-of-the-art desktop PC technology and ask the question "why would you need all that?"

        that's a bonafide sign you are too old. I hit that point a few years ago but I was reminded of it again when I saw a younger family member's workstation.

      • I hate being two timezones from home

        This makes the east coast my least favorite spot by default. I have no real reason though to dislike out east, however. The culture is foreign to me, but the people are alright.

    • Politics and World Events

      • The RICO charges brought against protestors in Atlanta are ridiculous

        Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's recent indictment of the Stop Cop City protestors is laughable. His office's 109-page indictment cites "mutual aid", "occupy[ing] a treehouse", and a man "sign[ing] his name as 'ACAB'" as "overt act[s] in furtherance of the conspiracy" to prevent the construction of a police training complex in the Weelaunee Forest.

      • Edan's Capsule - The Barbie Movie

        Today, I finally went to see the Barbie movie! Oppenheimer isn't at my local cinema anymore, but I guess I'll be able to get it on Blu-Ray soon enough.

        To be frank, this was a really€ awesome film. The funny scenes were hilarious and on-point; and there were also some seriously deep and introspective scenes. This film was good enough, in fact, that it's now on my Blu-Ray list. On top of that, it was SO memable.

    • Science

    • Technology and Free Software

      • NYC's Airbnb Problem

        NYC is supposedly cracking down on Airbnb. I sure hope they make it illegal altogether. But I am sure the crackdown is not about making rents more affordable, but about squeezing more tax revenue from Airbnb.

        NYC is a great city -- if you can find reasonable housing. But that is a big if. Why is it so expensive? Hint: it's not really greedy landlords, it's mostly rent control laws. Also, Airbnb. Even if you ignore inflation (everything else doubled in the last few years, so it's not a surprise that rents did also). But the real problem is rent control. According to some sources, 70% of NYC apartments are stabilized or controlled, and are pretty much forever off the market. You'd be an idiot to give up a rent-controlled apartment in NYC.

      • How to add pledge to a program in OpenBSD

        This article is meant to be a simple guide explaining how to make use of the OpenBSD specific feature pledge in order to restrict a software capabilities for more security.

        While pledge falls in the sandboxing features, it's different than the traditional sandboxing we are used to see because it happens within the source code itself, and can be really tightened. Actually, many programs requires lot of privileges like reading files, doing DNS etc... when initializing, then those privileges could be removed, this is possible with pledge but not for traditional sandboxing wrappers.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Already Closing Down Studios, According to Some Publishers
It is being compared to what happened in Intel
IBM PIP Stories Told in Public, Fake IBM News (Fabricated Claims) Drown Media Sites
IBM is seeding fake news to help justify the bailout
The Register MS is Promoting a Pyramid Scheme for Money, But It Is Over 6 Million Pounds in Debt
How much lower can the reputation of this publisher sink?
The Cyber Show on How Data is Misused and Broadcast is Abused to Crush Resistance to Harmful Technology
We recently published a number of articles about how Computer Science is coming under attack
Assessing the "Worth" of a Life
Don't let blunt plutocrats decide whether Venezuelans deserve sympathy or not
 
Links 26/06/2026: RIP, Om Malik, 1966-2026
Links for the day
Memory Leaks Suck
Slop ('vibe') coding means lots of bad programs
Natural Disasters and Personal Disasters
Thank you, Om Malik, for the positive memories
Gemini Links 25/06/2026: Life Philosophy and Misery
Links for the day
GAFAM Became a Mainstream Term, and Why Words Matter
Conveying problems in useful terms [...] Impairing propaganda attempts (e.g. calling parrots "intelligence", back doors "confidential", and outsourcing "cloud") should be the first step
European Patent Office (EPO) on Strike Today, Next Week Another Historic Week
If you live in Europe, contact your delegates today
FSF FreeJS Project (Part of the GNU Project's Goals) Advanced Further in 2026
They're moving to reduce dependence on anything to do with Microsoft
SLAPP Censorship - Part 119 Out of 200: Our Suggestions to Our Politicians and Heads of State
coverage about SLAPPs and related matters
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, June 25, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, June 25, 2026
Microsoft Falls to Lowest Value Since 2023
Microsoft can come back down to somewhere below $100
This Could be the Start of Microsoft's Biggest Wave of Layoffs in 50+ Years
This is what it looked like for Intel a few years ago
Gemini Links 25/06/2026: Unix-like People and NeoGeo
Links for the day
Members of the Delegations in the EPO's Administrative Council Told That Amid Unrest Campinos Must Go; a Year of EPO Strikes Means It's Time to Change Leadership
Which strategy is needed for the European Patent Organisation?
Increasing Participation Rates in Staff Representatives' Elections at the European Patent Office (EPO)
The industrial actions seem to have brought colleagues closer together
Microsoft's Mass Layoffs Have Already Begun (Could Not Wait 'Til July)
Microsoft's biggest layoffs round in 50+ years?
Planning 20-Year Techrights Event
Interested people can contact us in IRC
Links 25/06/2026: Earthquakes Strike Venezuela, Conflict of Interest in Kangaroo Court UPC
Links for the day
More Weight of IBM's Stock is Ascribed to Lies and Things That Do Not Exist
Turning stones into gold?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 118 Out of 200: Exposing Crimes is Not a Crime, It is a Public Service
We will soon enter the sixth year of lawfare
Links 25/06/2026: "Why We Need Seed Legislation" and XBox Chaos Predicted by Insiders
Links for the day
Gemini Links 25/06/2026: Hobbies Change, Young love, Strange Encounter, and Raspberry Pi Zero W
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, June 24, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, June 24, 2026
Don the Con Meets the Conman From IBM, Shares of IBM Continue Sliding Some More
The "Quantum" hype did not last long [...] PIPs are the new layoffs
Retaliatory Whistleblowing Expected at Microsoft During or After the Mass Layoffs
Retaliatory behaviour by Microsoft will backfire
Gemini Links 24/06/2026: Heatwave, Steam Next Fest, and Year of Buying Guitar Pedals
Links for the day
Links 24/06/2026: China Tops "TOP500", Impact of Microsoft’s Massive Layoffs Extends Further, Internet Society's Community Snapshot
Links for the day
While Thousands at IBM Lose Their Jobs ("Silent Layoffs") IBM's CEO Goes Begging the Dictator for Bailouts, Based on Deliberate Lies About "Quantum"
Many who claim to be retiring are only in their 40s and 50s. They're too proud to publicly admit what IBM did to them.
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: London Calling...
EPO Vice-President in charge of the "Patent Granting Process" is likely to have been a pay-off for the support which the UK gave to Campinos in 2017
Faking Productivity With Slop and Wasting Money on Faking 'Productivity': A Microsoft Story
If the quality of everything at Microsoft goes down
IBM Sends Workers 'Packing', Sometimes With the "Low Performer" Label That Imperils Their Future
To many people out there, IBM correlates with deceit
Links 24/06/2026: Four-Day Workweeks, GM Cut 1,000 Workers at Its EV Plant, 21,000+ Oracle Layoffs
Links for the day
A Step in the Right Direction (EU) in the Fight Against LLM Slop From GAFAM (US)
We've already mentioned this in Daily Links, but let's discuss this a little further
SLAPP Censorship - Part 117 Out of 200: Libel Tourism or Defamation Forum-Shopping in the United Kingdom Condemned by the European Union (EU)
Last week we reminded readers that the EU had criticised UK defamation law
Demonstration Next Week at the European Patent Office (EPO), Administrative Council Seen as Complicit
Corruption in Europe hurts all of us
IBM is Now Hinged on False Accounting and False Promises
This is the legacy of the current CEO
"PARTNER CONTENT" or 'Content Farms' That Promote Slop and Misinformation (The Register MS)
The Register MS represents a big part of the problem we all face
Wikipedia - Like Some Free Software Projects Infiltrated and Bribed - Bans Its Own Founder
Over the years we've named (not shamed) some projects and organisations that got corrupted by money and ended up banning their own founders
Turn Off the Slop, It's Wasting Energy and Destroying the Planet (the Only Planet We Have)
Right now we see lots of headlines about energy shortages and drained-up reserves
Lessons From Almost 30 Years of Site-Building Activities
We still strive to become faster and lighter
Do Not Outsource (the Seductive Mirage)
Abandoning so-called 'conventional wisdom'
Media Complicit in IBM Fraud Meant to Prop Up the Share Price Based on Lies, Fabrications
Even IBM insiders are fuming at this
The “Aktion T4” at the European Patent Office (EPO) Saves Money for the President's Own Purse
Call for parents of children with special needs
In Some Countries, Windows Has Lost Its Monopoly
Windows fell to an all-time low globally this month
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, June 23, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, June 23, 2026
Gemini Links 24/06/2026: Motivation, PostScript Printer, and Why Hyperscalers and the Smolnet are Compatible
Links for the day