Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 05/06/2023: New Ship in Cosmic Voyage, Stack Overflow Moderator Strike



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal

      • but when the world needed him most, he vanished

        hi, so im an asshole. ive replied to a few of the emails that have dripped through in the past two and a half years of inactivity, but not all of them. there were a surprising number. i guess people were reading my dumb blog after all lol. im sorry to anyone whose email wasnt replied to. im an asshole.

      • living in the batman pod and eating the batman bugs

        as ive described, im gonna be including some of my letterboxd reviews where they appear to fit into the theme of this blog, and this is definitely one such post. it deals with the legacy of trumpism (and centrist reactions to that legacy) in the biden era, an era this blog has wholly failed to describe due to my absence, and, in the end, sort of sets the stakes for the discussions that this blog will end up covering in the next few years.

      • First post on smol.pub!

        Just what is says on the tin, it's my first time posting on here! If I'm honest it's pretty much my first time that I can really recall ever writing in this kind of format, so I'm new to it all.

        I don't know who, if anyone, will be reading this, but if you're reading right now then hello! My name is Claire, or Mr. Pinkvampyr if you prefer, I'm not sure what I'll be writing here but it'll probably mostly just be about my life, the things I'm into, maybe a little bit about activism, and since I've started learning to code, some updates on that as well!

      • 🔤SpellBinding: YIJLOVA Wordo: HIKED
      • Anticipating Stockholm Marathon, Kitchen stuff, Recording of TKey talk, Media computer, TKey Hackathon, Lund Linux Conference.

        Evening, electrons!

        When I start writing this my short working week is over. Tomorrow, Friday, is a day off, remember? Productive day today, but nothing really fancy going on. Still mostly splitting up repos. Things are slowly moving into place. But of course other things turn up and has to be prioritized.

        Been coughing and feeling a little under the weather but it's cleared up now. This, however, meant I missed the last longsword practice for the semester! There will probably be some sparring in a park during the summer, but I tend to be in my cottage a lot, so it's kind of hard to go 120 km by bus just to fence a little... But then again. Yeah, very much a luxary problem. I can always do solo drills on the lawn...

    • Technical

      • Text wrapping a mail or new message

        It's surprisingly hard to get this right. I feel like I need this in order to use `ed` as the editor for `tin`, my current news client.

      • Aggregators Tilt East

        UI design is hard; fairness is hard. Fair UI design? No chance.

        I was doing my usual afternoon walk today and thinking about traffic lights and their influence on walking patterns.

        Specifically: I think I have identified that there is a bias in my route.

      • Short Post: The Stack Overflow Moderator Strike

        Stack Overflow's volunteer mod team is on strike from moderation activity as a result of Stack Overflow's failure to allow robust moderation of machine-generated submissions.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • New ship in Cosmic Voyage - Lantashi Dance

          One of my favorite Gemini capsules, filled with different sci-fi stories (from different authors), is Cosmic Voyage! I've decided to try my hand at writing some fiction in this shared universe, and asked to join :) I've always loved reading other people's fiction. You get to *inside* them, and share in their imaginations. It's really cool.

          Writing for the universe is interesting. You get a login to a Linux server. The instructions are on the site on how to join up. I'm still working on figuring everything out on there, but I was able to create a ship, and submit a log.

        • emotional allocation

          I put more into my e-mails and online exchanges (usually IRC, and also M.P) these days when I am not fish-frying my emotions to grease and grime via logging every day. No need for me to desensitize my writing chops or my emotional form(s) of expression. Straight forward exchanges and sincere comraderie. There's where it's at! :)

        • Odyssey

          I am tired of WordPress blog which I used on and off for 7 years or so. Never liked the interface. But some good photography blogs kept me there.

          I am tired of my Tumblr (it is not blogging) that I have been using on and of for 7 years or so. What kept me there ? So easy to share my photos and some other photographers . It is a dump.

      • Programming

        • Declaratively manage your Qubes OS

          As a recent Qubes OS user, but also a NixOS user, I want to be able to reproduce my system configuration instead of fiddling with files everywhere by hand and being clueless about what I changed since the installation time.

          Fortunately, Qubes OS is managed internally with Salt Stack (it's similar to Ansible if you didn't know about Salt), so we can leverage salt to modify dom0 or Qubes templates/VMs.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft said “GitHub and its leadership team will continue its mission as part of Microsoft’s CoreAI organisation.” But it's just an empty shell created earlier this year.
In short, it's not too clear what Microsoft has just done except dumping GitHub - i.e. mostly a Web site that loses a ton of money (it always lost money) - into some mysterious new bucket
IBM Layoffs in MCC, or Marketing, Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
IBM and Microsoft inflate their share price by circular financing
The Register MS gets Lazy, Uses Slop
Unlike 3-D renderings or "Classic" CG, slop images aren't quite original and definitely not fair use
 
Accessibility Isn't Overrated
Making things simpler typically means better accessibility
The Register's Slopfest
Remember when The Register UK (yes, UK) had better standards?
Latest Version of Windows (Vista 11) is a Failure 4 Years After Its Fake 'Leak'
Vista 11 became more scarce this month
Improving Our Archives
Our old archives are still accessed a lot. Making them better is well worth the investment.
Things One Learns as a Litigant in Person at the UK High Court
Don't fear the official manuals
Slopwatch: Lots of Fake Articles From Fake "Linux" Sites and About "Linux"
Google says it's committed to "AI" (it means slop, not AI); that seems like an excuse to dodge accountability
Links 19/08/2025: "Eavesdropping on Phone Conversations Through Vibrations" and Air Canada in Chaos
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/08/2025: Niche Spaces and "AI Pasta Sauce"
Links for the day
Links 19/08/2025: "NASA Is Giving Up on Climate Change Science" and "Earth's Continents Are Drying Out at an Unprecedented Rate"
Links for the day
Phil Wyett evidence & Debian Zizian plagiarism, modern slavery tendencies
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Many Countries People Move Away From Vista 11
Vista 11 has been available for download for 4 years already, but adoption has been poor
Desktops/Laptops Fall to All-Time Lows in the UK, So Why Does British Media Quote a Famous Criminal on "End of the Smartphone Era"?
mobile usage (for Web access) has never been higher, based on an Irish surveyor, statCounter
The Groklaw Web Site Has Been Hijacked by Scammers
Groklaw.net isn't a safe site to access at this time
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 18, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, August 18, 2025
Online Safety Act Does Not Tackle the Worst (and Biggest) Culprits
if our governments are serious about tackling online harms, then they need to look closely at GAFAM and social control media giants
Chat Control (1 and 2) in the European Union Sends the Wrong Message
This is an EU law
Slopwatch: Google News and Serial Sloppers (Fake Articles About "Linux")
Calling out the culprits
Gemini Links 19/08/2025: Digital Legacy and Chat Control
Links for the day
English Law Misused by Americans and Irishmen Against Brits is Unfair
There's always a way to improve existing laws
Overly Maximalist, Expensive, Localised Patent Law is Dooming Western Companies, Argue 3-D Printing Champions
We've long warned (over 7 years already!) that China's approach to patents will impress WIPO by gaming the totals but will doom the West
Links 18/08/2025: "Microsoft Store" Gets Increasingly Hostile, "Cracking Abandonware DRM"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 18/08/2025: Summer "Gone" and Web Reposts in Gemini
Links for the day
Microsoft's Windows in Gabon: Still Moving Down
What is this Unknown? Who knows...
Links 18/08/2025: LLM Reputation Damaged, Australia Catches Google Foul Play
Links for the day
Geeks Like GNU/Linux
The technical community seems to be consolidating and rallying around GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux is 486 in Ireland
4.86% that is
End of Reliable Media
it makes the world a worse place, it renders the Web a misinformation machine
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 17, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, August 17, 2025
GitHub Won't Last Much Longer
Many things at Microsoft are going to go the way of the Skype (or "dodo"). GitHub will be among those.
We've Never Used Large Language Model (LLM)
we just never used an LLM
"Secure Boot" is a Security Problem, Not a Solution
These people don't try to improve security but to undermine security
Gemini Links 18/08/2025: Retro and Endless Escape from the WWW
Links for the day
Working Whilst Away From Home
Decades ago being away meant all sorts of problems associated with workflows and connectivity
The Next Version of Windows Will Always be the Best (for Microsoft)
It's worse and slower over time
"End of the Smartphone Era" According to Jeffrey Epstein's Key Enabler
They call it "sour grapes"
Links 17/08/2025: Strike Downs Air Canada, Postmortems of Putin's Red Carpet Summit
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2025: Slow Tools and Enshittification of YouTube
Links for the day
Don't Talk to Bullies
This serious matter is still being examined by British authorities
Links 17/08/2025: "The Performance of Power" and "My Undesirable Friends"
Links for the day
Growing Our Reach
Our goal was never "hits"
The Russian Vision of Technology
Russia's surveillance is very extensive
Sooner or Later Almost Everyone Will Know "AI" is Just a Go-To, Misused, Misapplied, and Grossly Overused Term of Liars and Con Jobs Who Ride a Ponzi Scheme
At the expense of people gullible enough to "invest" in this or take salaries/bonuses in the form of "stock" (tied to a Ponzi scheme)
The Register MS Has Begun Using Slop Images
It's not clear when it started; but it's definitely getting worse [...] Worst of all are 'articles' about slop that are themselves slop
Reddit Funded by Microsoft
Reddit is merely a filter and we knows who controls that filter (using money)
When It Comes to Technology, Mozilla and Firefox Are Illiberal
Last month in Planet Debian we saw one more person explaining to everyone how to "turn off" DRM in Firefox and hide the pop-up/s
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, August 16, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, August 16, 2025
The Open Source Initiative Has Many Scandals, We'll Try to Summarise Them All
Open Source Initiative (OSI) hates facts
Open Source Initiative (OSI), Wikipedia, Molly De Blanc, and Censorship/Reputation Laundering
OSI is like SPLC. The old name remains, the mission changed
Gemini Links 17/08/2025: Misunderstanding "Geminiverse" and Let's Encrypt
Links for the day
Links 17/08/2025: Breaches, Layoffs, and Scams
Links for the day