Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 21/07/2023: Offline-first and Oversharing



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Taking The Bait

        This morning I got an email from the University stating that I had a duplicate account and that it was going to be terminated within 24 hours if I didn't verify my account.

        Naturally I was nervous and clicked the link in the email, which appeared to be from the university website, but it took me off to a different "jotform.com" site. I was confused and then tried typing in the link from the email only to have it 404 me. It was at that moment I immediately realized what just happened, I'd been the victim of a phishing attack. Fortunately it appears to be not a very sophisticated one as it was just a hidden link. So unsophisticated that I wonder if this was just a fake phishing attack by the university itself, which they do as little practice drills.

      • Sumo Nagoya 2023 Day 13

        Wow! What a tournament so far. There has been some strange happenings for sure.

        Kirishima (former Kiribayama) has returned and been doing fairly well. He won his first bout as an Ozeki so the gods will be happy. Hopefully he can get his kashi-koshi and avoid being kadoban with Takakeisho in at Aki.

      • Winter

        It always feels unfair how winter keeps getting colder even after the solstice. It's not like I'm ungrateful for the extra daylight, even if there is no warmth to the sun. And I understand enough about orbital mechanics and latent heat to know why it works that way. I just can't help but feel cheated.

      • *Warning: Post in somewhat depressed mood*

        Recently, for the last couple of weeks i am in a somewhat *meh* mood with missing energy for nearly everything.

        The thing is: Over the last three to five years my wife and i were constantly on edge, there was our barn conversion project, there were many problems that needed attention NOW, there was the ilness of my dad (he MUCH better now, thank the nonexistant gods!), there was the pregnancy and birth of our son... to make it short: We had simply no time for anything besides the immediate needs. Now, with the big project finished, our son now five months old and new habit settled in there is again free time... but i somehow have no energy left (and no real interest) to do anything with that free time.

      • You gotta love Dylan

        I see the word 'woke' more in contrast to the word 'asleep'. The "woke" are convinced they've a better grasp of morality than those they consider asleep with respect to the same.

        And they're religious about it. They've their bible, i.e. left-leaning news media. One might say left-leaning media scripts are the woke's script-ure. They consider any other points of view heretical. They proselytize. They shun to the point of cancellation of the unrepentant. They're basically a secular religion.

        (NOTE: from my point of view they don't merely "lean"... they "apocalyptically, twin-towers-grade crumble and fall" every hour, on the hour..)

    • Politics and World Events

      • re: Crying "woke"

        I have a bone to pick with WOKENESS, one of my least favorite newspeak words. WOKE is one of those: when I hear it, I know that any chance of a productive or even remotely interesting or satisfying conversation -- are out the window. There will be no deviations from the party line from here on - left or right.

        Note that it is simply mentioning this word as an adjective€¹ (except in the context of linguistic misuse or perhaps quoting some fool), is enough to indicate to me that the person using it is likely a rabid, brainwashed simpleton, or possibly feeble-minded idiot. You just know what follows. There is simply no point continuing the conversation -- just not politely nod and back away!

        I may agree with what they are saying (though probably not entirely). "My dad is, like, not woke." "Perhaps you are right. Oh, look at the time."

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Offline-first approach

        I've taken an offline-first approach to computing. I find it benefits me greatly, by using more resilient utilities, having technological sovereignty, and nonetheless spending less time on the Internet, more offline, even if it's on a computer.

        I don't recommend data hoarding, I think each should keep how much data they consider to be useful, if they have the space required for it. Keeping offline wikis, dictionaries, translators, backups, passwords, can always prove to be helpful, relying less on hosted services, and more on yourself (Argos translate comes to mind as an offline translator).

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Oversharing

          For the last three days, once a day I've sat down with my UMPC and created an empty Gemini log file. I'd fill in the date and format all the links, then move my cursor to the body of the post. Minutes would go by, then hours. Each time I would find that I had written nothing. Eventually I'd close my editor in frustration, delete the file, and move on to other things.

          Rob's Gemini Capsule has been relatively quiet this month, but it hasn't just been this month. I posted 30 fewer entries to my log over 12 months in 2022 than I did over 11 months in 2021, the year I launched the capsule. So far in 2023, every month except July has seen the same number of posts or fewer per month.

        • My PROXY v2 C# Implementation

          Since we're on the subject of reverse-proxies today, here's something I wrote in C# which parses a binary (v2) PROXY-protocol header from the beginning of a Stream.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Improving the Static Site Generator
Our system has fixes triaged
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
 
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
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
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
Daniel Pocock in Mainstream Media Again
AFR wrote an article today. It is about Pocock and another contender.
Millions of Daily Requests
4.5+ million requests in 4 days
In statCounter, a Lot of "Unknown" Turns Out to be GNU/Linux
GNU/Linux has more than doubled
3,500 Active Gemini Capsules Soon
How much longer before 3,500+ active? A month?
Gemini Links 26/07/2026: European Eclipse, Writing About Writing, and Comments on Formatting Gopher Posts
Links for the day
Stigma of Being Laid Off by Microsoft
One might call this the "curse" of having worked for Microsoft
Silent Layoffs (PIPs) Have Allegedly Accelerated Since IBM's Stock Cratered
"IBM is Managing Decline, Not Building Growth"
Non-Techs Using Slop Run Fedora and It's Turning Out to be a Total Disaster
RIP, Fedora?
Gemini Links 26/07/2026: Beach Day, CAs, and Plaintext
Links for the day
Sweden Needs GNU/Linux and Free Software, Not GAFAM
home of IKEA and ABBA
Being Pro-Slop is Death Knell to One's Credibility
It's not hard to see Ubuntu users resisting and antagonising this
Maintenance Today
Preparing for more mass-publication activities
Links 26/07/2026: "Zelenskyy Says Russia Wants To Bring North Korean Troops Into Ukraine", Muslim Van Ramming Attack on Berlin Pride
Links for the day
Centrica fraud exposed: worse than Palestine Action 'terrorists' with cardboard placards
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 26/07/2026: "Nate Silver Discovers the Educated Poor" and "India’s “Cockroach” Protest Movement Faces State Repression"
Links for the day
The Slop Bubble is Killing the Planet, Not Just the Economy
The chatbot/LLM speculation bubble not only causes a health crisis, a mental health epidemic, and climate change; it's also crashing the economy on several levels
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 25, 2026
IRC logs for Saturday, July 25, 2026