Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • On Homemade Cocktails

    Some time ago, while I was still in early ~20s I happened to land on a lowly paid, albeit very lax job, about 5 years went by, leaving some joys, some scars, well, the usual.

    At some point, I started remoting and at the same time frequenting a local bar, I kind of got mesmerized by classy atmosphere and the way he made drinks, however I was always grumpy looking at receipt later. Financed were tight, so I thought why I can learn to make my favorite drinks myself, sure this will take some time and some equipment needs to be bought, but otherwise it should give me more control over what I want and how big/drunk I want 'em drink.

• Politics and World Events

  • Really? now you're freaking out?

    People are starting to freak out now?

    This is what was needed to make you realize the system was rigged, now?

    And you blame it all on one man?

    Well wake up and smell the coffee!

    This shit has been happening for a long time! He is not the problem, he is the symptom of a system that has been broken for a long time.

  • Plans

    The last few months have been nothing short of distressing: hearing Trump, while still only President-elect, referring to Justin Trudeau as the "Governor of Canada"; all the world leaders going to his tacky estate in Florida to kiss the ring; and hearing him repeat this Canada-state line, over and over and over, like a dog with a bone who won't let go. To go along with talk about Panama and Greenland, it is, to say the least, extremely upsetting. And it's got me wondering what the next few years will look like. Whether Canada will exist in the same way at the end of it, whether he's serious or just senile.

• Science

  • The Kessler syndrome

    Have you ever heard of Kessler Syndrome? The orbital chaos scenario is credited to Donald Kessler in 1978. However, this story dates back all the way to the 17th century, with Franz Kessler, an alchemist and inventor during the Roman Empire.

    Back when he was still a sane person, Franz Kessler was working on his new invention, the Rotierende Lampe — literally "revolving lamp" — with his associates, Daniel Stolz von Stolzenberg and Michael Mayer, both alchemists from the lands of Bohemia, as well as Heinrich Khunrath, another prominent alchemist who traveled 500 km to Cologne — his soon-to-be deathbed — invited by Kessler himself.

  • Pen and paper

    ...not the e-paper. Well, I have been extended use of old good hardware tools. While I use my phone and computer to manage my calendar I don't like to use digital things to make quick notes and to manage my tasks.

    For the calendar: I use the NextCloud provided by my employer so I can connect to it from almost any device I use. So I can review or insert the calendar events even on my phone (the Sony Xperia with A*****d) which is handy during various meetings. Then I'm able to convert the calendar to the Remind format which can be used on almost anything (the Remind still works even on old SGIs). And, of course, I can use the WWW interface to the calendar or see it in the Thunderbird, if needed.

• Technology and Free Software

  • Internet/Gemini

    • Please, websites, I only want to read the news

      About a month ago, I deleted all my Big Tech accounts and switched to using Firefox and Brave with plenty of blocking offered. But at work, I don't have browser options; it's Chrome, Edge, or nothing. I also can't install extensions on them without IT approval.

      I'm working on a project this morning that requires me to read a lot of local news websites - with nothing between me and the ads, the pop-up random videos, and everything else. It's uncomfortable!