Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 12/06/2023: Opal 1.7.0 and More



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Funeral For a Friend - Casually Dressed & Deep In Conversation

        I've talked about this album a lot. Every now and again I'll feel in the mood to just be 12 again: sad confused and angry.

        Disclaimer: This kinda got away from me! Bare with what is basically a listen along once I get into the song breakdowns. I highly recommend listening along if you want to! Back to the gemlog!

      • Introduction to the series (no album)

        The CS nerd in me is sad number 0 isn't an actual entry. But I figure this requires its own introduction!

        For the longest time I have considered a few albums I love "perfect". A perfect album to me is one I can press play on and I never get bored, tired, or that urge to "ugh let me skip this track" (cough uncough Drive by Incubus). But especially those that once I start listening I can't stop. I just want to keep listening or if a track comes on I have to just continue forward. That doesn't necessarily mean they have to be "album albums" where they require that context and ordering - but just an overall solid album through and through!

      • the art of letting go

        late at night, i'm the most productive. and when you used to be able to smoke inside, writing, smoking, and drinking is probably the best combination for successful prose on paper since liber and mercury bestowed us with their gifts. but even still, there is not much cooler a vibe than a writer at the end of the bar at a local pub, scribbling in a notebook in between sips of their beverage of choice—and it does say a lot about them, doesn't it?

        a pint: probably a more lover of language who writes for the hell of it. a dirty martini: some emotions are a bit built up in that one, there. an old-fashioned: who are you kidding? i see ~bartender shaking his head; i must've gotten that all wrong, but generalizations are more fun to write.

    • Science

      • Problematic Monoculture Reductivism in Literary Analysis

        In reading opinions of literary analysis, I sometimes come across large sweeping claims with little justification. Statements such as "Western stories focus on a singular power fantasy hero, while Eastern stories focus on unity to overcome threats." Usually they try to tie this in as a cultural analysis.

        They'll point to examples like *John Wick* to demonstrate their idea of Western stories, then *Sailor Moon* for Eastern stories. This ends up painting the stories of both cultures as one singular idea. It over-simplifies to a point where the the nuances of the cultures are ignored for the sake of the author's thesis statement.

      • the little things

        i tend to speak very openly about my mental health. about three to four years ago, i was at my absolute worst. i got stuck in really dangerous thought patterns, things like "if i were to jump out this window then i could knock myself out for a week at least at best". i was fortunate enough to (almost) never pull through with these ideas and sought help when i was at my lowest. within two weeks i got a first appointment with a psychotherapist in training. preliminary diagnosis: f32.1 moderate depressive episode. five months later i found myself in group therapy. i filled out a questionnaire at the beginning of every session which had me reflecting on my mental state of the past two weeks. the result was a score representative of the severity of my depression. before my first session i got a score of 33 out of 63, thinking it wasn't that bad. we weren't given the scale until late into therapy where we had the opportunity to look at our past scores and reflect on our mental growth. as it turned out, a score of 29 and above is classified as a severe depressive episode. it hadn't dawned on me just how messed up my mind was until then. at my last session, i got a score of 5. the scale didn't speak of depression up until a score of 8.

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Bad Loops

        A bad loop might be "10 open up reddit, read all the posts, close reddit, open hacker news, read all the posts, close hacker news, GOTO 10". Sure, you might learn a few things, and put even more things into the ever-growing list of things to get to, but then where did the day go? Where were the other things you wanted to do?

      • Yet Another Homelab Setup

        I have a new homelab setup. I've been homelab-hopping for the past year or so, and with each new setup, something or other just never sit right with me. It always felt like there was something that could be made better or more effcient with the resources I had. I recently discovered the wonderful world of LXD, and I was excited over how robust the technology is, so I endeavored to make my homelab setup with it.

      • so many standards

        This is also a way of identifying a URL as the location of an avatar, and works pretty decently as just an extra class that can be added to what would otherwise be a normal HTML page containing information about a person.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Identity Again: Visual Hashing

          Feedback on my ideas around identity on Gemini has emphasized the need for decentralizaton and privacy.

        • I am Spartacus — Anonymous Identities on Gemini

          After a few days of musing, I am of the opinion that Morgan's Gemini identity proposals are fundamentally flawed and I am not going to implement them in Bubble.

        • gemini client testing

          The original torture tests that were up at => gemini://gemini.conman.org/test/torture had been taken down some time ago, and I started writing some new ones for shits and giggles and talked about it in

      • Software Releases/Announcements

        • Opal 1.7.0 - now with Titan!

          Last night I finished the initial implementation of support for the Titan protocol in Opal.

          Opal is a Gemini client library written for the C# world (.NET Standard 2.0 and .NET 7).


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

The Register MS Has Just Published Slop Spam for NVIDIA and HP, It Says "AI" 43 Times
As usual, The Register MS ought to be ashamed of itself for participating in it
The Slop Debt (Trillions of Dollars, Money That Does Not Exist) is Causing the Collapse of GAFAM et al
This slop hype will end up like "metaverse", except "metaverse" never ended up justifying trillions of dollars in "investment"
Social Control Media is the Opposite of Information
That says a lot about social control media
Lack of Empathy Rampant in the Sector
Sociopaths are sociopaths. They cannot help themselves
Before the "Big Tech" (That Almost Everybody is Forced to Use) Was Controlled by Men Who Hate Women
Such rejection and even hatred of women qualifies/enshrines oneself as an "incel"- a dangerous and violent online cult
Enshittification More Than a Century Ago
Is enshittification more than a century old?
GNU in 1991 (35 Years Ago): Compiler and Lots More Ready, Linux Now Becoming 'Vibe Heap' (Slop Replaces Real Code)
Without curbs in place, many Linux developers will flee
SLAPP Censorship - Part 147 Out of 200: The SLAPP Series is 'Slow' Because Timing Matters
It is important to stress that after this series is finished there will be many more series, with some of them showing raw evidence of what we've been illuminating and telling
 
Gemini Links 12/08/2026: Losing a Child, "The OpenWeb Needs Diversity", and Gmail Woes
Links for the day
Voluntary' Layoffs and 'Proper' Layoffs at IBM This Year
When will IBM management confess that 15% of staff is already marked for potential removal?
Links 12/08/2026: Trouble in Proprietary Chaffbot Company 'Open' 'AI' and Slop "Investors Are Suddenly Quaking in Their Boots"
Links for the day
Daniel Pocock in National News in Australia the Day of the Election
"Posted 20m ago" (Thursday in Australia), it's timed nicely to help illuminate Pocock and give him last-minute exposure
Simpler Means More Reliable
The simple old way of local storage and local backups is still the best
Clownflare and statCounter See GNU/Linux at ~8% in Norway
Norway has long championed GNU/Linux compared to the rest of Europe
Clacton manifesto: Reform UK hacking, leaks, raw sewage & 8GB Swiss Archive
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
statCounter Today: ChromeOS + GNU/Linux Measured at 10.98% Globally (Desktops and Laptops)
Clownflare does not quite refute this
The Register MS Has Just Published Fake Article About Replacing Linux With Proprietary Google System, "Sponsored by ASUS."
All of those things are proprietary GAFAMware
Links 12/08/2026: "X’s Advertising Business Continues to Tank", "Stop Feeding the Billionaires"
Links for the day
In Defence of Hoarding CDs, More So When Digital Restrictions (DRM) Come to More 'Content' and Even Offline/Physical Media Won't Work When Some Remote Server Says "No" (or Goes Offline)
made to serve and entertain owners, not to allow companies like Sony and Microsoft subjugate owners
Clownflare: In Finland, Birthplace of Linux Kernel, GNU/Linux Now Bigger Than Apple's MacOS
It's not just in Finland where we see such trends
More Mass Layoffs Due to Monumental Debt Excused as "Investment" (in Slop)
They're maxing up the private debt and their country is already insolvent
METRO Interviews Daniel Pocock a Day Before Election
The article is behind a wall that blocks people who block ads
Company-Wide 'Reorg' ('Redundancies') at IBM, Mark October 1st 2026 in the Calendar
Is Oct 1 the new Apr 1?
Even ZDNet Accepts That "Market Share" of GNU/Linux May Have Doubled on Desktops and Laptops
GNU/Linux is definitely growing, and quite quickly in fact
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 11, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 11, 2026
Microsoft Layoffs and Shutdowns Continue This August, Morale Low, Employees Set Up Giant Inflatable Rat to Protest Against CEO
nothing demonstrates their anger better than what they did to the CEO
Gemini Links 12/08/2026: Sophomore Slump, Mandatory Phone Addiction, and Vintage Web Game Gallery
Links for the day
Summer Layoffs and 'Redundancies' (Cost-Cutting) at Microsoft and IBM
IBM is merely buying its revenue - an unsustainable strategy that aims to hide the company's rapid decline
Links 11/08/2026: Tensions South of China and Stingy "YouTube Doubles the Eligibility Requirements" (to Get Paid)
Links for the day
The Independent (UK) Today: "Independent candidate Daniel Pocock is concerned about media issues."
Let's see what results say around Friday
Gemini Links 11/08/2026: Stargate, Stargazer, Air-gapped Environments, and SystemVerilog Simulator
Links for the day
The Slop ('Linux') Foundation Celebrates 35 'Linux' Years a Week After GNU/Linux Turns 43
they'll keep on trying to change history
Keumars Afifi-Sabet Produces Useful, Informative Coverage Regarding Privacy
And it's good for Richard Stallman
Confirmed: Microsoft Layoffs in August 2026, Entire Operations Shut Down Too
Microsoft is just bleeding
Paying With Cash in 2026
Cash isn't going away. Not any time soon.
Blocking Tor Is Not a Solution, It's Paranoia
Tor is not a crime
Oligarchs and Their Footsoldiers Are Most Enthusiastically Loud About the Things They're Attacking
Like "Microsoft loves Linux"
FOSSY (SFC) Platforming GAFAM, Sells Endorsement
Houston, we have a problem here
Not Allowing Misogyny and Misogynists to Run the World
We stand with (and for) equality, justice, and freedom
"SPONSORED EXPLAINER" at The Register MS is Just More SPAM "Sponsored by HPE."
This is a great example of crap 'journalism'
IBM Won't Hire (or Hardly Hire) This Year
IBM is bluffing with buzzwords while shrinking out of existence and reducing salaries
SLAPP Censorship - Part 146 Out of 200: An Industry of Plagiarism, 'Normalised'
they pursue personal enrichment by stealing from Free software developers
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 10, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 10, 2026
5.1k Capsules Known to Lupa, Gemini Protocol Crawler
If no limits (e.g. 10k max per capsule) were imposed on crawling, there would likely be millions of pages in the database
Gemini Links 11/08/2026: Waking Up Earlier, Whining About LLMs as Destructive Plagiarism
Links for the day
Links 11/08/2026: "The Enemy Is the Platform" and 'Vibe' 'Coding' Shown to be Little But Plagiarism
Links for the day
IBM's Age Discrimination Leads Workers to Contemplate Suicide While the CEO Becomes Billionaire for Lying to the Press and Faking Performance (Fraudulent Accounting)
IBM avoids issuing WARM notices
If Your Software Project Welcomes Bots, Then All You'll Have Left at the End Is Bots (Same for Sites Which Permit LLM Slop; They End up as Slopfarms and No Human Wants to Contribute Anymore)
A "slippery slop."
Clownflare Affirms Disturbing Trend of Web Monoculture (Which Extents to Clownflare Itself)
Clownflare itself is another layer of the same problem
The Open Web Is Not Coming Back
the open Web going out of control
Tell Me Something I Don't Know
Those who have a stake in the secrecy would do anything to maintain secrecy
Gemini Links 10/08/2026: Recollections and Washing Machine That Only Last a Few Years
Links for the day
Claims of Mass Layoffs at IBM (in Finance)
IBM tries hard to maintain an illusion of normality - to the point of viciously censoring critics and whistleblowers.
The Slop Bubble (Pyramid Scheme) is Becoming Bigger and Everyone Should be Terrified (Its Implosion Will Cause More Damage)
there's no plan for a turnaround
Microsoft and Apple Lose Ground to GNU/Linux in the United States
This contributes a lot to the international curve
Escaping Ads
When users do not want ads, then no ads should show up, period
For Second Year in a Row Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) Loses Money (Over $3,000,000 Lost in 2 Years), Bradley M Kuhn Steps Down as Treasurer
lost almost $600,000 last year
Microsoft/GAFAM Operating at a Loss
Microsoft has financial problems
Nigel Farage crisis: Taylor Swift & Jeffrey Epstein both shunned cryptocurrency bosses
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
statCounter Now Sees GNU/Linux "Market Share Worldwide" at 9.21%, Soon 10%
If this data is more or less accurate, it's time for panic at Microsoft
Rumours of Impending Mass Layoffs in IBM's Yorktown Office, Impacting the LLM (Slop) Staff
Bubbles never last forever, hence their name
Links 10/08/2026: "Long COVID Linked to Lasting Damage in The Brain's Dopamine System", Microsoft’s Weather App Uses Over 1,000 Megabytes of RAM
Links for the day
Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) Does Not Support Women, It Imitates Authentic Organisations, Embraces Misogynists, Then Projects
They try to monetise for personal gain at the expense of unpaid volunteers
When You're Evil and You're Publicly Attacking Something, That Something Will Become More Popular
when an oppressor becomes openly oppressive and does anything to squash/censor critics, the outcome will typically be detrimental to the oppressor
Links 10/08/2026: "Against Oligarch" and "The Invisible Women"
Links for the day
Social Control Media Deathwatch: After Nearly a Million Posts Sent EchoFeed Shuts Down
EchoFeed is hardly unique
When the LLM Chatbots Industry (Trillions in the Red) Quits Paying the Media for FOMO
fear of missing out, or FOMO for short
Microsoft Killing Morale
branding the process “inhumane” and “demoralizing”
Google's "AI Overview" as Proprietary Censorship Engine and Gatekeeper
People do not choose to use this, Google is just shoving that in people's faces, encouraging laziness and misinformation
SLAPP Censorship - Part 145 Out of 200: They Tried Hard to Hide the Fact Their Client Had Been Sued, Twice Even
A month ago Brett Wilson LLP tried to take my wife "to the side" (in effect isolated) to make her an offer
statCounter: GNU/Linux Up to 8.95% Globally
So the estimates are being "corrected" upwards, not downwards
Explaining How Someone Attempted to Cancel RMS This Year (and Failed)
The process itself involved debunking some falsehoods
Microsoft's "XBOX Ranks Last", IBM is Headed for Extinction
If Microsoft cannot dominate its own "home turf", what prospects are there elsewhere?
DebConf6 fight denied by Google artificial intelligence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, August 09, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, August 09, 2026
Gemini Links 10/08/2026: A Mild Monday, Sleepy Saturday, OUYA, and Moving to GNU/Linux
Links for the day