Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 22/05/2023: Smolver Security Hole Fixed



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • 🔤SpellBinding: EILXPSM Wordo: LOXES
      • Music Index!!!

        This isn't really warranting an announcement... But I decided to carve out some of my music related posts into their own page. I often cite these posts and its nice to have a quick place to find them. I want to do more music related writing (even though I am bad at it) so I figured if I carve out its own page then maybe this can incentivize me.

        Every post I make is going to show up in my gemlog regardless - so I'm keeping my RSS feed the same. It'll just act as basically a "Tag filter"

      • Duolingo, Long Weekend

        Two weeks into Duolingo and I'm now in the Gold League (there's like, five or six tiers). Do enough lessons/get enough points each week, and you move up. So I have. I won my Bronze League by the skin of my teeth, then Silver last week pretty easily. I assume it will just get progressively harder. But, I'm sort of impressed. So many achievements! Gems! Shiny things! Challenges, and practices! The product managers have absolutely mastered the gamification of language learning, holy hell. Incredibly slick, engaging, no rough edges. And even a wicked sense of humour. One of my old online friends, much more fluent in Irish than me, started up again after a few months away. The first sentence Duolingo gave her: "I don't have time for five minutes a day."

    • Technical

      • Games Showcase: Hogwarts Legacy

        Hogwards Legacy, released this year, brings to life a world that many of us already know well.

        I’m not, I should say up front, a devotee of the series. I read and enjoyed some of the books, I watched and enjoyed the movies; and I think I understand why it’s been hugely successful. The world of Harry Potter is a fun, colourful place to allow one’s imagination to spend time.

        Still, it took me by surprise just how much I enjoy playing Hogwarts Legacy.

      • Sleepy morning

        Ah, okay. I'm typically in Amfora, and some related documentation seems to get me in the right ballpark. Thanks!

      • Internet/Gemini

        • One Week on Bubble

          The first week has been very useful for testing and bug fixing. Developing a multi-user system locally is a bit challenging, so many issues will only pop up when things are running live. I got up to v1.4 during the first week with some days seeing two upgrades.

          [...]

          Using Bubble for issue tracking is promisingly fast and slick. All the cross-referencing and social feature (when they work...) are as useful as expected. Perhaps this will indeed be a viable choice from a developer's point of view, and maybe Gemini users will prefer this to going on GitHub or some other web interface? I can see myself preferring this.

          The search feature will need some improvement: it shows issues as regular posts...

          Issue trackers are hidden from All Posts so their activity is a bit hidden from view, but that is probably for the best. One can always follow the issue tracker subspace for more visibility.

      • Announcements

        • Public Service Announcement - smolver Security Hole!

          I have found a security defect in v1.1.0 or later in smolver: if you have client certificate authentication configured, client certificates (.pem files) could potentially be served if a URL request for the file is received. This is worsened by the fact that per-directory config files, .smol.json files, which may contain authentication configuration data, are also serveable in the same manner.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

The Local Staff Committee Munich (Representation of the EPO's Staff) Explains When Cluster of Pregnancies May Result in Reduced Pay
"...even one week of part-time working is sufficient to reduce the salary you perceive during the entirety of your maternity leave."
Another Black Eye for 'Secure Boot', Microsoft Media Tries to Blame "Linux"
It enables Microsoft to remotely control computers, even computers that don't run Windows and never had any Microsoft software installed
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, linuxsecurity.com, and Various Slopfarms in Google News Attacking "Linux"
A new survey of the Web said that the majority of the Web is now slop (that's being said in the news this week)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, October 15, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Links 16/10/2025: Increased Use of Social Control Media Surveillance in US, French Rage Over Pensions
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Qantas Airways Loses Control of Sensitive Data and Software Patents Are Being Thrown Out
Links for the day
Vista 10 is 'Dead', Here's Why People Should Move to GNU/Linux (or the BSDs)
Today we try to make an outline of reasons move away from Windows to GNU/Linux
Our Sites Continue to Improve
LLM slop has had no noticeable impact on us
Gemini Links 15/10/2025: Neovim, Helix Compared and Gemlog.blue Now Closed
Links for the day
Links 15/10/2025: Mass Layoffs at Amazon, OneDrive Spyware Revved Up, More 'Gen Z Protests'
Links for the day
The EPO's Staff Engagement Survey 2025 is Already Tainted by Intimidation by EPO Management (Trying to Influence Outcomes by Scaring Genuine, Honest Critics)
"[W]e have received reports that, following the previous survey, teams with negative responses were reproached or questioned about their answers..."
The DDoS Attacks by Microsoft's Scam Altman and Other Slop Charlatans and Frauds is Hurting the FSF, Delinking It From Copyleft Projects
This impacts a lot more than access to the licences
Microsoft Scanning Faces in Photos People Upload to Microsoft (Even Unconsciously), Slashdot Turns Report About It Into "Microsoft Sez" (Says)
Or "let's repeat the lies from a PR person/Microsoft's publicist"
[Teaser] Angel Aledo Lopez the Manipulator (Nepotism, Poll Rigging, and Other EPO Corruption)
We'll discuss this later today or tomorrow, based on internal EPO material
Attacks on Techrights Are Only Making Techrights Bigger and Even More Popular
A week ago they offered to settle with us
Epic Metaphor for End of IBM: "The IBM Demolition is Down to the Last Shards!"
Nothing lasts forever
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, October 14, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Proprietary and DRM Prisons Spiralling Down the Sinkhole? Not Just Yet.
Let's hope that more people will flee to GNU/Linux
The European Patent Office (EPO), the Second-Largest Institution in Europe, is Cracking Down on Recreational Activities
Without AMICALE activities, and as staff already says it's pressured to work more for less, how can the EPO recruit bright people?
Transparency: FSFE financial reports exclude speaker fees and expenses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Many Developers Have Many Political Views, They'll Never Agree on Everything
It's an effort to divide and destroy, not build
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: An Opportunity to Consider GNU/Linux and Another Simple IRC Client
Links for the day
Slopwatch: UbuntuPIT, LinuxSecurity, Google News, and the Serial Slopper Brian Fagioli
Nothing of merit here, just more slop
Links 14/10/2025: Lack of Trust in Slop and "Retirement Challenges"
Links for the day
EPO Staff Can Go Listen to Richard Stallman Next Week in Munich (Technical University of Munich, Rudolf-Diesel Hörsaal (MW2001) on Campus Garching at 18:00)
"The talk is open to the public and attendance is free. Registration is not required."
Rhonda D'Vine, Gerfried Fuchs, Pronouns & Debian pregnancy cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
At IBM, Relocation Means Layoffs (Downsizing)
Silent or 'invisible' layoffs?
Central Staff Committee of the European Patent Office (EPO) Warns That EPO Management is Robbing or Manipulating Pension Funds Again
Faking "growth" is just about as bad as forgery
Probably a Lot Worse Than LLM Slop: GNOME Tying Itself to Divisive Politics, Even Where It's Clearly Not Relevant
Something has gone terribly wrong in GNOME
Links 14/10/2025: Microsoft OneDrive Scanning Faces in Photos (Without Asking First), "OpenAI Says It Will Move to Allow Smut"
Links for the day
They Generally Don't Like Scholars, as They're Less Compelled or Pressured to Repeat What Corporations and Oligarchs Say
People who loathe scholars have an agenda in mind that, unlike that of reasonable people, revolves around controlling people
Dystopian Trends in Technology Make Richard Stallman More Relevant Than Ever
It's good to see him attracting vast audiences
Belated New Article About Last Thursday's Lecture by Richard Stallman in Helsinki, Finland
there are good reasons to pay with cash, not limited to privacy
Attacking Richard Stallman Has Become 'Career Suicide'
If you're going to viciously attack somebody, make sure your arguments are rock-solid
Microsoft's Failing XBox Business Has Turned Games Into Funerals
How does it feel to depend on Microsoft?
Yesterday's "Distinguished Lecture" by Richard Stallman Possibly Attended by Close to 1,000 People
The capacity of the place is about 900
Slop Poisons Everything
Imagine wanting to find what Torvalds has just said or what has just been released
Taking Software Freedom 'Mainstream'
interest in Software Freedom must have grown
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, October 13, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, October 13, 2025
Gemini Links 14/10/2025: Ada Lovelace Day, Sony CLIE PEG-TG50 Review, Why to Avoid Network Solutions
Links for the day
Richard Stallman (RMS) Announced His Talk Less Than 24 Hours Before It Took Place and Still Filled Up the Auditorium at Sapienza Università di Roma
Photos from yesterday evening [...] It looks like it was a very successful event