Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 27/06/2023: Gemini Communities and errno



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • mary louise pratt, toward a speech act theory of literary discourse

        it is one thing for the poet, or even the poet-critic, to claim that his art exists in a universe of its own and bears no relation to the society in which he and his readers live. it is quite another for the literary analyst to unquestioningly accept such a view as the basis for a theory of literature. the poet's declaration that he no longer wishes his work to be associated with 'society' or 'reality' or 'commerce' or 'the masses' is hardly grounds for the critic to decide that the associations have in fact ceased to exist or ceased to pertain to the critical enterprise.

        mary louise pratt, toward a speech act theory of literary discourse

      • 2023 Week 24/25: Status and Photos

        I have a few items in the works for Rob's Gemini Capsule, mainly a new math article and some CGI projects. However, I've stalled on them in the last few months, as pressures from real life have been taking up most of my time and energy. As a result, I've primarily been updating my log on the capsule and little else. I hope that'll change soon.

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Installing Ethernet

        My house used to be connected to Comcast before we switched over to a local fiber ISP. This switch has happened years ago and the house was outfitted with coax back in the Comcast days. Of course now, there is no use for Coax. The local antenna stations are not great and we don't have cable coming in either. So I figured that I would replace our existing coax with ethernet.

        We have three coax ports. One in the basement that goes outside along the wall. And two in the house that share the same wall across two floors. The basement port was very easy to replace as I just had to poke the ethernet out the wall and re-enter into the boiler room—where the networking is located.

      • hottail -- tail -f with a heat-map

        I am a big fan of log files. As I develop and test, and deploy code, logs provide invaluable information for debugging and improving (and sometimes, understanding) the system.

        While watching logs with 'tail -f' works pretty well, I would _really_ like to see a heat-mapped view of a log. By that I mean colorized lines which start hot and slowly cool -- allowing me to instantly see if anything happened recently, as well as the relative age of entries -- at a glance!

        I assumed that anything I can think someone has already done -- the world is now big enough for that. But it appears that no one has, in this case. There are many ways to colorize a log based on its content, but not time-based.a

      • Finishing the BITX40 Case

        Last time I had powered up the front panel to test the radio, and were just about to try some power filter components to get rid of the "tuning clicks". I experimented and found that the clicks went away with a 56 Ω series and 33 €µF parallel low pass filter added to the Raduino power input. I went with a 330 €µF capacitor to have some extra margin.

        Next I soldered shielded cables to the volume knob, the audio out jack and the and microphone in jack. The "mono" cable used for the jacks was quite nice to work with. The "stereo" cable used for the volume knob was a bit bulky. I didn't have a crimp tool for the Molex KK connectors used on the BITX main board, so I soldered the wires into the pins (I had bought a lot of them). I continued with a red-black twin cable for the power and a short run of RG316 coax for the VFO.

      • The Semi-Ultimate ATRAC Encoding Comparison

        In which I present samples of ATRAC1 and ATRAC3 audio compressed using various methods, so you can both compare different ATRAC encoders as well as the different ATRAC versions and bitrates.

      • Backups of RK3588 TRM and Datasheet (on the decentralized web)

        My plan of running language models on my RK3588 board failed because the official SDK segfaults with the simplest of examples. Nothing I can do until Rockchip fixes it. In the mean time, me and my friend cam across the RK3588(S) Technical Reference Manuals on GitHub (not linked in the hope that Rockchip will not spend time to take it down). We decided to look into it and see if we can build our own drivers and SDK. I also made backups of the datasheets and TRMs in case they get taken down.

      • re: Installing Ethernet

        ttocsneb wrote about their plans to run Ethernet through the house. Running wire through the wall is a complete pain! I've heard a chain is a great way to pull calbe from the attic up, and I've used cable fishing lines before for smaller jobs. Even used speaker wire for a recent project haha.

        I got lucky in my house that the phone jacks found in each room were actually wired with Cat5e, all going to a central location in the basement. Was easy enough to replace with RJ45 keystone jacks. I did have to run new cable through to the garage for my PoE security cameras though. Went up through from the basement, through a joist and terminated with 2 keystone jacks. I still have to run one to the back patio though, and I've been dreading that job. Will probably have to drill through my siding and exterior wall to run the cable into the basement. I hate making permament changes 'ya know?

      • Internet/Gemini

        • ✍ Gemtext enhancements...

          I believe I found a method to make tables and ordered list in GemText without any major changes. I will post my take on this subject ASAP!

        • gemini feed'

          I'm looking for a protocol description of 'gemlog' and 'gemini feed'. Can anyone point me to links? (I am studiously avoiding the word 'definitive' here intentionally) 🤔

        • 2023-W26: Locrian.zone

          Locrian.zone has a “Friday link roundup”, which initially piqued my interest in the capsule. The “Friday link roundup” has links of interesting things from multiple protocols.

        • Gemini, the Devil's Advocate

          People who write Gemini software, like myself, are occasionally annoyed by the incompleteness and ambiguousness in the spec. But oh man it is so, so, so much more comfy to write Gemini software than nearly any other network protocol ecosystem. Maybe IRC comes close but even then Gemini beats it in brevity.

          Folks have been repeating variations of the above five criticisms since at least I joined the Gemini community nearly four years ago. In 2021 some of these had some merit, and I had my own specific complaints about Gemini born from actually writing software for it (URLs were still the wrong choice vs IRIs, TLS was still the wrong choice vs a custom noise channel, etc), but it is becoming increasingly obvious now that all the people who criticise Gemini on rational and objective merits have an egg on their face.

        • On communities, centralization and capitalism

          I recently watched a YouTube video talking about the demise of a website called Tumblr (well, demise... the place is still working, but its current numbers make it a very low traffic place), how the NSFW content there made it what it was, how it turned into a very queer friendly place and how ads, revenue and the subsequent companies that owned it didn't want to do any with that content... and that was it.

        • My (third) first gemlog entry

          The FIRST first was on gemlog.blue, which I quickly left after realizing it was completely unmoderated. The SECOND first was on smol.pub, which is a lovely place with a great dev, but over time I came to decide I wanted to keep my gemlog here on my capsule and maintain it myself.

        • Re: The Devil's Advocate

          I'm a relative newcomer here I guess. This capsule's first post is dated from March 5th of last year. I had a capsule up for a few months the previous summer but had a pretty bad hardware failure with data loss. Gemini was pretty much exactly what I was wanting for the past twenty years really. I missed the start of the internet, as I didn't even have a computer until the turn of the millenium, but once I did get started I had just enough time to realize the potential of the web and start learning html before Web2.0 came along and began to slowly swallow as much of the open web as possible under corporate umbrellas. I always felt cheated for having missed out on those earliest years of the web. More to the point, I absolutely hated the change from thousands of interlinked island nations to everyone having a little studio apartment on a few big corporate servers. By the time I had my own blog it was so difficult for anyone to find it that it really was like shouting into the void. I hated everything about SEO and Adsense and social media features creaping into every space that they didn't fit. Gemini, with a spec that was actively designed to make it next to immpossible to extend, gamify, track and advertise immediately resonated with me. I didn't know if anyone would read my capsule, but it still felt like the place I should be.

      • Programming

        • Interleaved 2D Notation for Concatenative Programming

          A really cool 2D concatenative programming language. There's even an online IDE for it.

        • errno

          errno is a global variable; anything can change it within a process. errno may also remain unchanged across who knows how much code, until it emerges with some non-zero value. This can be surprising, especially as the abstractions pile up and errno emerges from who knows where.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft Has Fallen to #3 in Singapore
There are many technically talented people in Singapore or overseas workers who lodge in Singapore
In IBM, PIPs and RAs (Layoffs) Have Become Almost the Same Thing, Workers 'Expire' With Age (Seniority, Experience) and Empathy is Punishable by Termination
IBM does seem like a dead company
"Social Dialogue" With the Man Who Never Faced Real Competition at the European Patent Office (EPO), He Buys the Voters and Eliminates Rivals
Will the "Pretender" write back?
Greenwashing Corruption With a "Chief Sustainability Officer", Who Infamously Defended Battisetelli's Crimes at the EPO and Petitioned for Him
She was rewarded for conspiring against EPO staff, as usual
What I Explained to Police About Blackmail and Death Threats via Burner Accounts (a Practice Which Generally Constitutes a Crime)
Today I've communicated several times with police
 
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Streamlining the Decision-Making Process
Negrão was one of 17 applicants for the position but he somehow managed to end up as the sole candidate on the shortlist prepared by the Management Board in June 2020
Links 29/07/2026: "Hugging Face Has a Deepfake Nudes Problem" and "$1.5B Anthropic Copyright Infringement Ruling" (Plagiarism is Not "Training")
Links for the day
Comments on Today's Judgment
It hopefully helps clarify what actually happened
Thank You, Andy
Burnham and "Tech Rights"
Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Inaction and Incompetence - Part II - 77 Messages Sent, Did Not Even Investigate or Examine Any of the Actual Evidence (British Taxpayers' Money Wasted)
SRA has become known (even notorious) for inaction
Inevitable Politics
In technology, provided the work you do has growing impact (we served almost 2 million requests yesterday), things will inevitably become more political - whether you like it or not does not matter
Not Only "Loonies Take on Farage"
pretending that the opposition to the right wing is "Loonies"
Brigading Against Women - Part I - Bypassing the Legal System by Threatening Companies in Another Continent
In the next part we'll begin to connect Lozza's online activities (and court activities) to those of Garrett
IBM is Trying to Turn Debt (Borrowed Money) Into Fake Growth and It'll Worsen Matters
they put in their balance sheets a fake "growth" in something that does not even exist
Microsoft Relies on Misleading Narrative of Studios Going 'Independent'; in Reality There Are Mass Layoffs in Them
This is not a good narrative for Microsoft
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 28, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Gemini Links 29/07/2026: Arosa, Tired Tuesday, and Constellation Browser
Links for the day
At Microsoft, PIPs Are Sometimes Known as "LITE" (a Silent Layoffs Legal Hack or a Shrewd Workaround to Skirt WARN Act)
Zero "layoffs" to report
Gemini Links 28/07/2026: “Strategies Against Algorithms” and DIYers
Links for the day
Digital Restrictions (DRM) and Microsoft: What Kills XBox Will Kill Windows Next
Microsoft wrongly and very arrogantly assumed that users would tolerate everything it throws their way
GNU/Linux in Afghanistan Reaches 7%
For many years it was stuck at less than 1%
Links 28/07/2026: "People’s Claude Chats Are Publicly Accessible Online" and SpaceX Stock Crashes Like Its Products
Links for the day
UK tech sector missing from democratic process
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How Not to Cover Elections (Democracy Relies on Reliable, Complete Information)
Misinformed voters are a recipe for disaster
Microsoft E.E.E. (and "Bait and Switch") Going Exactly According to Plan
That is what they are trying to tell us and the companies that employ us
IBM: An Old Company That Hates Old People
Remember that's coming to Red Hat workers in 2 months
Strict Policy on Violence and Violent Language
This matter is now being escalated to law firms
Avoiding Discrimination Against People With Disabilities
work underway to improve the system which runs the sites
Links 28/07/2026: XBox DRM Doomed Everyone (Cannot Play Anything), Slop (Ponzi Scheme) Being Pinkwashed Now
Links for the day
Gemini Links 28/07/2026: Ethics, GIMP Script-Fu, SMTP Versus Gemini, and Proposal for Better TOFU
Links for the day
To a Sociopath, Ethical People Are Bad People. Don't Fall for It.
If you put sociopaths on a pedestal, the pedestal will break
Improving the Static Site Generator
Our system has fixes triaged
Diversity in Debian
bringing up the topic is the real problem, diversity itself is a taboo subject
GNU/Linux in Brazil. The B in BRIC(S).
the "market share" is assessed to be around 5%
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 27, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, July 27, 2026
Hate Consumes the Haters
If you hate someone (or something) and you're willing to do anything for "hate rituals", then at the end the emotion will outweigh reason and it'll backfire, surely
GNU/Linux Rises Some More Internationally, statCounter Now Estimates Its Usage on Desktops/Laptops at 7.7%
significant growth for GNU/Linux in Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia
IBMers on PIPs and the Age (or Cost) Factor
People in their 50s seem to be targeted as they are considered "expensive"
Sad State of Troll-Feeding British Media (Establishment Channels Promoting Total Idiots)
Breeding ignorance means people will assume they have a choice between two pieces of trash: "Nige" or a literal trash can
Links 27/07/2026: Sleepless Japan PM Takaichi Becomes Unpopular and Data Centre Magnate Confiscate Land Without Consent
Links for the day
A Few Hours Ago The Register MS Published an 'Article' With "AI" 32 Times in It, Including First Word in Headline and Summary. It Was Paid SPAM "Sponsored by Hammerspace".
The lost media is engaging in self-harm
Microsoft is Down
This relates in a timely fashion to what we published yesterday
In Techrights, Gemini and HTTP/HTML Are Very Different
Those were never equivalents or mirrors, those are two things that are inherently different and are maintained by different teams
Gemini Links 27/07/2026: Gemified Internet RFCs, “Junk DNA” Is Commented-Out Code, and More
Links for the day
The Techrights Gemini Capsule Was Never a Mirror
Techrights has long taken accessibility quite seriously
Americans Are Not Our Masters
If you are subjected to online abuse, don't give up
Daniel Pocock Campaigns Around "Safety of Children Online" and "Cybersecurity"
There seems to be a growing 'coalition' in the UK based around important issues which impact the entire planet
XBox the Console is Practically Finished (Unofficially), Even the Streaming ("Live") or DRM Service is Dead
XBox has never been closer to profitability
Many CEOs Are Just Glorified Scammers With Suits and Ties
Economies cannot function when few people abuse them for self-enrichment
After statCounter Figures Out Many "Unknowns" Were in Fact GNU/Linux the "Market Share" Estimate in China More Than Doubles
Japan is the same for similar reasons
peppe8o - a Site About Raspberry Pi, Arduino and Electronics - Has Turned Into a Slopfarm
We won't be linking to it anymore
Feeding 'the Children'
Maybe some time soon we'll do a fund-raiser to help feed the birds
Japan: GNU/Linux Crosses the 5% Threshold, Two Years Ago It Was Only 1%
Now it's at over 5%
We Need More Transparency
Our heads of state are very much aware of and concerned about SLAPPs and censorship
"The War on Children" Explained by The Cyber Show
Consumer protection and the war on children
EPO Cocainegate and Current EPO/EU Series to Carry on for Months to Come
Another week has begun
When IBM "Managers Have to Mark 15% of Their Teams as Low Performers" a PIP Means Likely Layoffs (Disguised as a Performance Issue)
"IBM is a Law firm with an I/T department."
Links 27/07/2026: Chatbots Lead to Suicides, Social Control Media Intentionally Designed for Addiction
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 26, 2026
IRC logs for Sunday, July 26, 2026