Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 01/06/2023: Scam Call and Flying High With Gemini



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

    • Technical

      • Backport OpenBSD 7.3 pkg_add enhancement

        Recently, OpenBSD package manager received a huge speed boost when updating packages, but it's currently only working in -current due to an issue.

        [...]

        On -current, there is a single directory to look for packages, but on release for architectures amd64, aarch64, sparc64 and i386, there are two directories: the packages generated for the release, and the packages-stable directory receiving updates during the release lifetime.

      • Scam Call

        I had an unusual experience yesterday: a call from a scammer claiming to be from my bank.

        Because the caller ID showed the correct name, I was initially taken in.

        They claimed that there had been a suspicious transfer from my bank account via online banking, and that they had blocked it. They then asked about how I use online banking—from what devices—and suggested that one of these must have been hacked.

        [...]

        I asked for the account number of the account with the issue, and they made up a number—it didn’t match anything I recognized. I asked for the address associated with the account—and they had a wrong, out of date, address for me.

      • Lagging Mouse Mystery

        For years I've been trying to figure out why, sometimes, my mouse starts pausing for 1/2 a second or so at random intervals.

        I went down many rabbit holes, but it looks like I have an old mouse that must be defective. `journalctl -b -e` (very useful for things like this) reports entries like 'kernel: usb 3-3.1: reset low-speed USB device number 14 using xhci_hcd' - several per minute when things get bad. That explains it.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Flying High With Gemini

          So here I am on an airplane flying from Istanbul to Los Angeles. I thought it would be fun to take the opportunity to post on Gemini while I'm thousands of feet in the air. Bubble is the most convenient way to do so on my phone, although I could get out my laptop I can't be bothered.

          The flight came with some form of free WiFi, which is a shock to me because last year they wanted to charge an arm and a leg for it. The terms of service seem to have gotten a lot better, with lower cost packages back down to what I remember them being 10 years ago, and a longer duration of use, I think. (The flight is 12 hours and I have 24 hours of service.)

        • away with ye, for we have won the WWW

          Two camps. Two schools of thought.

          The despondent "partakers" in consumer tech

          The devoted...devotees of the WWW

          We are on the cusp (or IN) the New AI era of tech. I've said a million times, it (AI) IS the biggest innovation (through numerous iterations) in the tech space since the creation of the Web by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990.

        • What's in a Name

          The domain name of this capsule has been a topic of discussion.

          I've already added an introductory text to the Help page that sheds some light on what's the deal here, but to further alleviate potential confusion, I've decided to switch this Bubble instance over to a subdomain.

        • Oof

          Not posting this on main, too easy to connect the dots.

          Don't scroll Facebook, you'll only find bad things.

          Checking up on an old friend, it turns out he (regularly? semi-regularly?) plays board games with a known antagonist/pot-stirrer of Canadian letters, someone who devotes most of his space to being unkind, cruel, belittling; a person who, if it were me playing games with him, would have fellow writers taking me aside to tell me, "winter, dude, what the fuck."

        • Let's not be pitying the web, now

          There's never been anything wrong with the web.

          For how could a reflection be wrong?

          The web quite simply has far more moron-ia to reflect.

          Poor thing.... right?

        • Domains And Cathedrals

          The most recent excitement in Geminispace is about the domain `geminispace.org`.

          Is it appropriate that it be used for Bubble?

          Might it confuse newcomers into thinking it is somehow an “official” representative of Geminispace?

      • Announcements

        • Rosy Crow 1.1.2 Released

          The new menu button serves to visually indicate the function of the application menu to new users. The button also serves to provide an alternative method of expanding the menu for users who may not be able to (or may not wish to) use the swipe-down gesture.

      • Programming


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

10 Easy Steps to Follow for Digital Sovereignty in Nations That Distrust GAFAM et al
When "enough is enough"
Dr. Andy Farnell Explains Why Slop Companies Like Anthropic and Microsoft 'Open' 'AI' Basically Plunder and Rob People
This article was published last night at around 10
 
Salvadorans' Usage of GNU/Linux Measured at Record Levels
All-time high
Links 22/01/2026: Ubisoft Layoffs Disguised as "RTO", US "Congress Wants To Hand Your Parenting To GAFAM", Americans' Image Tarnished Among Canadians (Now Planning to "Repel US Invasion")
Links for the day
No, the Problem at IBM/Red Hat Isn't Diversity
Microsoft Lunduke also openly shows his admiration for Pedo Cheeto
Do Not Link to Linuxiac Anymore, Linuxiac Became a Slopfarm
now Linuxiac is slop
Richard Stallman (RMS) at Georgia Tech Tomorrow
After the talk we'll write a lot about "cancel culture" and online mobs fostered and emboldened in social control media
Software Patents by Any Other Name
There is no such thing as "AI" patents
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 21, 2026
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VIII - Salary Cuts to Staff, 100,000 Euros to Managers Busted Using Cocaine (for Doing Absolutely Nothing, Just Pretending to be "Sick")
Today we look at slides from the union
Gemini Links 22/01/2026: Forest Monk, Aurora Observation, and Arduino Officially Launches the More Powerful Arduino UNO Q 4GB Single-Board Computer
Links for the day
Next Week is Close Enough for Wall Street Storytelling About 'Efficiency' by Layoffs for "AI"
This coming week GAFAM and others will tell some creative tales about how "AI" something something...
Google News Still a Feeder of Slop About "Linux", Which Became Rarer in 2026
Our main concern these days is what happened to Linuxiac. Bobby Borisov became a chatbots addict.
Links 21/01/2026: "Snap Settles Lawsuit on Social Media Addiction" and Attempts in the US to Revive Software Patents
Links for the day
Links 21/01/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' in More Trouble, US Has "Brown Shirts" Problem
Links for the day
Yesterday Afternoon The Register MS Published Paid Microsoft SPAM Disguised as an Article About "AI PCs"
The Register MS cannot help itself, can it? [...] Follow the money.
Microsoft's XBox is in Effect Dead Already, Now It's a Streaming and Advertising Platform
Expect many layoffs soon
Richard Stallman's Talk at Georgia Tech is Just 2 Days Away
We're still curious to see how malicious people (or trolls) in social control media will try to slant his talk as "bad"
EPO's Web Site Misused for Propaganda About Illegal Kangaroo Courts to Distract From EPO Scandals and Judicial Crisis in Europe
UPC is illegal and unconstitutional
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VII - The Industrial Actions Began Yesterday, Here's Why
The "Alicante Mafia" might not last much longer
Gemini Links 21/01/2026: Edible Circuits and "Sayonara HTTP"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 20, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 20, 2026
IBM Hides Its Own Destruction (and Red Hat's)
It's like scenes out of '1984', which is what a now-famous advertisement from Apple compared IBM to
LLM Slop Not Dead Yet, Examples of Slop About "Linux"
We wish to see the totals down to zero
Links 20/01/2026: Cheeto Blackmails France Into 'Peace' While Looking to Annex EU, Mass Layoffs in Capgemini (Microsoft Reseller/Promoter) in France
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/01/2026: Boxing and "Inbox Zero" Success
Links for the day
Windows and Slop Declining While Microsoft Silences Critics
Microsoft tries to suppress facts while faking 'demand' by imposing slop on everybody, everywhere
openai.com Traffic Said to Have Fallen 50% in the Past Three Months, Reports Say It Nearly Ran Out of Money to Borrow
After the slop frenzy all we'll have left is environmental destruction
IBM Kills OzLabs, Signalling An Attack on Free Software (a Sign for Red Hat)
ibiblio also appears to have died (or experiences critical issues)
Red Hat Vice President Leaving After Nearly Two Decades
IBM's culture of secrecy is not compatible with Free software
Links 20/01/2026: "ChatGPT Health" (Latest Distraction From Being Insolvent) Flops and Raises Concerns, "The U.S. Military Faces a Reckoning on Greenland"
Links for the day
Rudeness and Vulgarity Won't Stop Journalism About Free Software
we seem to be on the right path
Readers Pleased With Layout Changes
Two days ago we began improving clarity and accessibility in the site
IBM Plans for Layoffs Becoming Clearer With "Employee Reviews"
Of course this impacts Red Hat as well
IBM is Outsourcing Red Hat's Fedora to Slop to 'Save Money'
If IBM cared about quality rather than alleged "cost savings" (cutting corners), it would assign more IBM staff to Fedora, but instead the exact opposite happened, with the likes of Cotton and Miller removed from the project
European Patent Office (EPO) Industrial Actions Formally Start in Two Hours
As per the latest (revised) action plan, today workers will slow down their work and limit patent grants
Microsoft Under Fresh Investigation by the Italian Competition Authority
In 2025 we kept a running tally of 30,000+ Microsoft layoffs, so 40k this year would not be unthinkable
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VI - More Strikes Planned at the EPO, Starting This Month
Yesterday we said that friends of Berenguer or inside Berenguer's circle may have left
Gemini Links 20/01/2026: New Tea, Using a Roku at a Hotel, and "Voltage-Based Power Management for Any Raspberry Pi"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 19, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 19, 2026