IRC: #techbytes @ FreeNode: Tuesday, December 22, 2020

schestowitz

Recovery seems to be faster than I hoped. But I lose like 3 hours per day on extra sleep.

Techrights-sec2

The stimulus plan in congress is so weak that it looks like its only

Techrights-sec2

pupose is to carry riders such as the 'felony streaming' section and

Techrights-sec2

other 'coypright' cartel abuses.

schestowitz

mintpress fetcher fails to fetch headlines, puts 0s there instead

Dec 22 08:00

*Condor has quit (Ping timeout: 264 seconds)

Dec 22 08:17

Techrights-sec2

Ok, mintpress is updated. It should show the titles correctly starting tomorrow

Dec 22 08:36

Techrights-sec2

Not a word about copyright cartels:

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/12/22/pers-d22.html

Techrights-sec2

Techrights-sec2

it's almost like the bill was not about stimulus

-TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.wsws.org | As the oligarchs make trillions, Congress offers a pittance for the jobless - World Socialist Web Site

schestowitz

I just saw 3 articles about it; truly disturbing, even more tax breaks for oligarchs. Failed Nation.

https://www.mintpressnews.com/no-joe-dont-roll-out-the-red-carpet-for-torture-enablers/273796/

schestowitz

I will attempt to get back to exercise today. My legs were in pain yesterday, I had to write articles from bed and not from the chair. Much better today. I might power down the pi later to reassemble it.

Dec 22 08:45

schestowitz

Dec 22 08:52

-TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.mintpressnews.com | No, Joe, Don’t Roll out the Red Carpet for Torture Enablers

Dec 22 08:52

schestowitz

https://www.mintpressnews.com/chris-hedges-biden-systems-managers-of-empire-returning-to-power/273786/

Dec 22 08:54

-TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.mintpressnews.com | Chris Hedges: Biden and the systems managers of empire are returning to power

Dec 22 08:54

Techrights-sec2

It was basically SOPA back again but as a rider. Like the PATRIOT act, no

Techrights-sec2

one read it or could have even had time to read it.

Techrights-sec2

Those kind of bills ought to be null and void.

Techrights-sec2

The process to become eligble for a vote needs to include a long lead-in time

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for evaluation.

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There wasn't even time to call or write congress.

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By the tiem the single source from which all the other articles are derived,

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The Hollywood Reporter, wrote about it, the vote was over.

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That one article wasn't even on the front page for more that a very short time.

Techrights-sec2

There were a few all-too-late articles today. Maybe the authors of those

Techrights-sec2

coould be enticed to look at the EPO, especially since it affects both

Techrights-sec2

sides of the pond. Crap that happens on one sie nearly automatically gets

Techrights-sec2

deployed on the other side in the name of "harmonization".

schestowitz

UPC in a nuthsell, with swpats in it. There was another such trick recently in NDAA.

https://www.newsweek.com/republicans-democrats-voted-against-stimulus-why-1556574

schestowitz

lost 2+ kg in 1.5 days

Dec 22 09:48

Techrights-sec2

Techrights-sec2

Again no mention of the riders in the bill.

-TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.newsweek.com | Republicans, Democrats Who Voted Against Stimulus Bill Explain Why

schestowitz

symptom of rogue country that quit caring about people

schestowitz

starting to work on pi now

Techrights-sec2

Ok. Be sure all power is disconnected, and double check the pin order before connecting any GPIO.

Dec 22 10:09

schestowitz

need quick advice: GPIO connects to a sort of extender, in turn connects to HAT, on top of that goes BLINKT, with the text BLINKT being upright and consistent with the text on the HAT. Correct?

Dec 22 10:22

schestowitz

and I am guessing that soldering would be done along the middle part, if only I had the equipment at this time

Dec 22 10:23

schestowitz

BLINKT pins cannot be inserted all the way in, only about 80%, but I guess that should be enough?

Dec 22 10:25

Techrights-sec2

Yes, that's enough. The rounded corners go on the outward edge

Dec 22 10:31

schestowitz

Same as what I did last month, before removing the whole thing, wrongly assuming I'd get equipment after the lockdown. I will try to screw the housing now, I was never happy about it being so 'naked' with dust

Dec 22 10:32

schestowitz

btw, lxer is down again, 3rd or 4th time in 10 days. What was the link about?

Dec 22 10:32

Techrights-sec2

The one HAT which goes underneath the Blinkt unit does act somewhat as a dust cover.

Dec 22 10:33

Techrights-sec2

It was about EOL of a kernel version. I think Linux 5.9 or something.

Dec 22 10:33

schestowitz

Ah, that would be the article from Marius. I saw them linking to it last night

Dec 22 10:33

schestowitz

The Pi is back up now, no issues. The LED module is connected. Can you run whatever it is you run on these (I checked the python script in /bin but it complained) so I can see lights? Those points towards me now, the Pi is vertical now.

Dec 22 11:36

schestowitz

File "/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/blinkt.py", line 76, in show

Dec 22 11:58

schestowitz

GPIO.setup(DAT, GPIO.OUT)

Dec 22 11:58

schestowitz

RuntimeError: Not running on a RPi!

Dec 22 11:58

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Dec 22 12:01

Techrights-sec2

python3-blinkt - Python library for the Pimoroni Blinkt!

Techrights-sec2

It needs the above package.

Techrights-sec2

If the Ethernet port is facing you and the microSD card away from you,

Techrights-sec2

then the rounded corners go on the right.

schestowitz

python3-blinkt is already the newest version (0.1.2).

Dec 22 12:11

Techrights-sec2

I'll log in and take a look.

Dec 22 12:14

Techrights-sec2

Ok. I get the same. It is strange. I'll look into it.

Dec 22 12:18

Techrights-sec2

Are you in the group 'gpio' ?

Dec 22 12:18

Techrights-sec2

Can you add me to gpio?

Dec 22 12:22

Techrights-sec2

usermod -aG gpio xxxxxxxxxxx

Dec 22 12:22

Techrights-sec2

There are some RPi4B issues with early models, maybe.

Dec 22 12:23

Techrights-sec2

But that should not be an early model.

Dec 22 12:23

Techrights-sec2

Are they lit?

Techrights-sec2

Excellent!

Techrights-sec2

I have other patterns in the demo script, but as mentioned you have more experience

Techrights-sec2

programming algorithms and probably programming in general so mods should be easy

schestowitz

Do you have the script for downtime check handy? IIRC, it did lights with triggers

Techrights-sec2

I'm not sure of a way in python to have the lights stay on after the script

Techrights-sec2

quits but that is probably obly a good thing

Techrights-sec2

That was on the openbsd system with raw GPIO.

Techrights-sec2

But I will upload those simpler scripts.

schestowitz

Maybe I can reuse those. BTW, the reason I have many typos is that the ytalk screen is attached to a machine with a keyboard I can barely reach. Sometimes I dump whole lines from my main keyboard, as if the case now.

Dec 22 12:30

schestowitz

I can see the scripts now in the homedir/bin

Dec 22 12:32

schestowitz

I would rather wait for a bit to see what we need to monitor after site migration

schestowitz

maybe no systemd anymore, who knows...

Techrights-sec2

Sure.

Techrights-sec2

They're in ~/bin/ now, please mv rather than cp, so that I know you have them.

Techrights-sec2

Then they might be a little too customized.

Techrights-sec2

Yep. That's them.

Techrights-sec2

They're rather simple and use HTTP only, nothing about the backend of the

Techrights-sec2

services. If a copy of a Blinkt script goes into /usr/local/bin/ then the monitor script(s) could be used to call it as ne

Techrights-sec2

eded.

Techrights-sec2

Yay! Hopfully free of systemd.

Dec 22 12:35

Techrights-sec2

Dec 22 12:35

schestowitz

The case became stronger after centosgate

Dec 22 12:35

Techrights-sec2

Yes, but one could always see the end game from day one, both in regards to the IBM

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purchase of RH and with the bullshit that poettering and his cabal pulled

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on the greater community.

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Something really odd went on that it was accepted. There were only a few write

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ups of the decision being made by 1 person on the Debian TC and he didn't even pick anything from among the first three runo

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ff choices.

Techrights-sec2

By the way, if you have speakers they can be plugged into the 3.5mm jack and do

Techrights-sec2

audio alarms. that's what I have on the Pi here now but some of them are

Techrights-sec2

a little too quiet. However, that's probably better than blasting the sound

Techrights-sec2

at odd times.

schestowitz

Let's start with simple and build up from there, I did consider the speakers this morning when I put the bits and screws

Dec 22 12:39

schestowitz

Messing a bit with the LEDs now...

Dec 22 12:41

schestowitz

can use colour to display load status when I am in bed and cannot see the screen/tmux

Dec 22 12:42

Techrights-sec2

There are three type of random pattern in the script, with varying color depth.

Dec 22 12:43

Techrights-sec2

Fewer colors is much more distinct.

Dec 22 12:43

Techrights-sec2

yes, ant the brightness can be adjusted.

Dec 22 12:43

schestowitz

Yes, I just did that

Dec 22 12:44

Techrights-sec2

There is a sunrise/sunset module somwhere

Dec 22 12:44

schestowitz

rianne loves the light shows I hack together

Dec 22 12:46

schestowitz

but I really ought to get back to TM postings

Dec 22 12:46

schestowitz

TR won't be a priority today because of recovery and migration. One xmas project down, 2 to go...

Dec 22 12:47

Techrights-sec2

Nice. There's a surprising amount that can be done with 8 LEDs and RGB color.

Dec 22 12:54

Techrights-sec2

The back story for the board is that it was used for system monitoring.

Dec 22 12:54

schestowitz

I have made it bed-facing, right next to my alarm clock which is over 20 years old and still working (NEC)

Dec 22 12:54

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Dec 22 12:57

Techrights-sec2

I used to use my watch when I needed an alarm. I used to have very keen hearing.

Dec 22 12:58

schestowitz

I've not tested all the modes, the alarm clock has display, radio, and alarm that turns on the radio with snooze button

Dec 22 12:59

schestowitz

Sometimes you realise tech does not advance as much as the hype and marketing

Dec 22 12:59

Techrights-sec2

Oh. Clock radios are good.

Techrights-sec2

For a few years I used a small light on a timer, not so much to wake up, but

Techrights-sec2

more to simulate sunrise and to indicate when I should get ready to go to work.

Techrights-sec2

No tech in many areas has not advanced.

Techrights-sec2

I think some areas have only changed because of the wasteful amount of computing

Techrights-sec2

power that can be thrown at problems now.

Techrights-sec2

*cough*ai*cough*

Techrights-sec2

*cough*statistics*cough*

Techrights-sec2

There are net radios so you could similuate a clock radio with the Pi if

Techrights-sec2

there are external speakers.

schestowitz

Maybe we can talk about it over mumble and record (voice), using no ID

Dec 22 13:04

schestowitz

for some videos with browser showing, I'm still training to improve

Dec 22 13:05

Techrights-sec2

Sure we can talk but I'd prefer to avoid recording for now.

Dec 22 13:09

Techrights-sec2

I'm in mumble now if you'd like to test it for a few minutes.

Dec 22 13:09

Techrights-sec2

When idling mumble server uses almost no resources.

Dec 22 13:09

schestowitz

I can imagine; the issue is, input/output for audio was a struggle for me. Side story: it started when I realised I could not download a Downfall video I had made, so I tried to record from the screen.

Dec 22 13:10

schestowitz

I plugged in headphones and mics and stuff, old ones too, to no avail. So at the moment I stick to lousy webcams and laptop mic.

Dec 22 13:11

schestowitz

I'm sure that with some mixer it's possible to somehow blend in folks over mumble ... but it's well outside my ballpark and can be hours of errors, time down the drain (as happened last week)

Dec 22 13:12

Techrights-sec2

There are a lot of mics out on the market. Having a good one improves

Techrights-sec2

the understandability and makes it more pleasant to listen to.

Techrights-sec2

Obviously there was a huge run on them in the spring, but I think

Techrights-sec2

most stores have restocked by now.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20201221/09573745928/congress-once-again-sells-out-to-hollywood-sneaks-case-act-felony-str

schestowitz

rianne says she'll practice python on the pi with the LEDs

Dec 22 13:17

Techrights-sec2

Techrights-sec2

eaming-bill-into-government-funding-omnibus.shtml">Congress (Once Again) Sells Out To Hollywood: Sneaks CASE Act And Felony

Techrights-sec2

Streaming Bill Into Government Funding Omnibus

-TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.techdirt.com | Congress (Once Again) Sells Out To Hollywood: Sneaks CASE Act And Felony Streaming Bill Into Government Funding Omnibus | Techdirt

Techrights-sec2

Yep. CASE (similar to SOPA) was snuck in way uner the radar. Most

Techrights-sec2

articles today don't even mention copyright, let alone the damage.

Techrights-sec2

Cool. It's a fun python project.

Dec 22 13:19

Techrights-sec2

Most of the RPi periperals are I2C or SPI underneath it all.

Dec 22 13:19

Techrights-sec2

So knowing that demystifies a lot.

Dec 22 13:19

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Dec 22 19:25

schestowitz

The LEDs are our xmas lights now

Dec 22 19:58

schestowitz

./run-blinkt.py flashed_bar 250 255 255 0.0001

Dec 22 19:58

schestowitz

You can run this on the pi to wake us up

Dec 22 19:59

schestowitz

I'm pretty sure it would

Dec 22 19:59

Techrights-sec2

Ok, but I'd prefer to use it sparingly.

Dec 22 20:20

schestowitz

maybe I can think of better use cases. I've just studied the python code. It's very simple. Rianne will fork it.

Dec 22 20:21

Techrights-sec2

Sure, it's available for any use. It's just someting I put together a while back

Techrights-sec2

to see what I could do with visual notifications.

Techrights-sec2

I expect there is a lot more that can be done.

schestowitz

I didn't know you wrote it!

Techrights-sec2

I had some more complex scripts for a while that played morse code, albeit slowly

Dec 22 20:23

Techrights-sec2

I found that "TM" or "TR" were easily distinguished.

Dec 22 20:23

Techrights-sec2

Yes, but it's really simple and on top of that just theme and variation on

Dec 22 20:24

Techrights-sec2

that simplicity. I'm not even sure it is correct style for Python3

Dec 22 20:24

Techrights-sec2

One thing I left out was an alpha channel for the color.

Techrights-sec2

That would make it easier to pick a color and then and intensity.

Techrights-sec2

Currently it is done by RGB values only.

schestowitz

can add a new mode or modes, based on existing one/s