Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 24/07/2023: Checking out FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE and X.com is Stupid



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • 🔤SpellBinding: CHULRSI Wordo: PLYER
      • the image of an adult woman

        Over the years, I thought I'd be finally free from this teenage mindset to appear as mature as possible - like an adult, like a hyper organized successful person, who cares about the right things and discards the others, who never indulges in childish things and always knows what to say etc. - but I realize recently that it only changed its face, its expression, the overall goals, but at its core it remained and stayed the same! No matter the specifics, at its core was always the idea of becoming a type (or even trope) of desirable adult woman that was currently hyped in the view of society, someone who ticks all the boxes regarding her interest and hobbies and style, who is working, who is 'girlbossing', glamorous, eating a certain way etc etc.

      • Harvesting onions



        This is half of the crop: 43 onions (one isn't visible). I planted some sets out in April, on a whim (I wasn't planning to grow any this year), then felt bad for the left-over sets and planted those too, a month later. Successional planting isn't actually a very good idea with onions, and that second planting is looking a bit weedy compared to this one, but I'll make the best of it.

        When onions are ready to harvest, the green tops start to fall over; once around half of the crop has done that, you bend over the neck of the remaining ones, pull them, and set them out in a dry, airy place to start drying out. These onions are bred for storage - if they're harvested in optimum conditions and "cured" correctly, they might last for a whole year after harvest - at which point the new crop of onions will be ready. Plant enough of them each year, and you'll never have to buy an onion again.

    • Politics and World Events

      • Limping back to the center of the cyclone

        If Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump represent above-average human beings, Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are the insanely intelligent aliens us dumb-asses have been struggling to find. That ilk is *already among us*!

        Too bad stupidity can't see above its grade, huh?

        BTW, if you're unfamiliar with Scott Adams' daily YouTube show (he's a cartoonist cancelled by throngs of murmuring half-brained morons who believed the out-of-context script-ure fed them by their fundamentalist high-priests/high-priestesses (high-priestLesses? high-priestGesses? high-priestBesses? high-priestTesses? high-priestQesses? high-priest+esses?)), do make haste, as it was particularly fun today (and of course the past shows are retained).

      • A Haiku

        Stick head up own ass.

        ### Will it soon emerge, from mouth?

        ### Silently, waiting...

      • Sunset Gets Political II - Dark Days

        I normally avoid talking about politics outside of areas I feel like I have a strong enough understanding, and I usually don't feel comfortable expressing strong opinions on day-to-day politics. I'm uncomfortable with the political system in general and with both major US parties, and I'm ashamed of some of my past bad takes. I'm also really bad at expressing a lot of this kind of thing.

      • Getting Over Getting Dumped

        I get dumped more often than I'd like to admit. Well, I guess I'm admitting it right now to the tens of people reading this, but still. I just got dumped out of nowhere, again, so I went through my usual processes of getting over it and I figured I'd share what I do with all y'all for some fucking reason.

      • Emma Flint: "why the Barbie movie’s body diversity message shortchanges Ken"
    • Technology and Free Software

      • Checking out FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE

        There are several differences compared to Linux. For example in the development process: unlike GNU/Linux, where the kernel, the userland tools and everything else is made by different projects, FreeBSD is a complete operating system. Everything (kernel, userland tools, some servers and documentation) is developed and maintained by the FreeBSD team.

        While the Linux kernel and most of the userland tools are licensed under the "copyleft" GNU GPL, the FreeBSD system is licensed under the "permissive" BSD license. As a result Apple could base main parts of it's MacOS on FreeBSD and make it proprietary software. I leave it to the reader if this is a good thing or not.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • I'm in love with Gem, and I feel fine

          I'm envious, but just don't have the time to go beyond a large list at this point in time.

        • Heads up: don't read this if you're a Gemini Content Idealist, because I guarantee it will disappoint - if not horrify - you

          I find the "MAGA wing" as detestably ignorant as the let's-repurpose-the-alphabet-to-describe-mostly-made-up-genders wing.

          But I'll likely be voting with the former because the latter thinks they know me and my character by way of my age ("old"), skin color ("white"), and gender ("male"). And what they "know" of me - not merely suspect, but know with certainty! - through that ridiculously moronic categorization is I'm "privileged", a "supremacist", and spent all my life plotting to ruin life for all who aren't an "old white male".

          Can you see why I might vote against that - if not occasionally want to seek refuge in a "small town"? ;-)

        • The LLM's Aren't Looking Here Yet

          When I ask Google Bard to access specific websites, it usually has no trouble finding the information I'm looking for. This can be helpful if I'm looking for answers in a large body of documentation - instead of combing the docs for an answer to an obscure question, I can ask Bard where I need to look and save a lot of trouble.

        • X is stupid

          I make no secret of my disdain for Elon Musk (nor indeed for any m/billionaire). The man is certifiable and incredibly immature, which combined with his immense wealth and incurious nature makes for a pretty dangerous person. I guess we're lucky he seems to be focusing all his efforts on destroying the brand of his new expensive toy. It could be worse.

          When I was a kid, I used to play a Sega Genesis game called "Road Rash" a lot. I loved that game. The motorbikes, the violence, the incredible soundtrack. It had it all. One thing I remember really liking was the character names. Names like "Axle" and "Teflon Mike" just sounded so cool to my 8 year old ears, to the point that I started trying to create similarly cool names for stories I wrote. My sister mocked me relentlessly, but she just didn't get it.

          I get the feeling that Elon feels the same way about "X" as I did about those character names. A overwhelming sense of childish "that's cool!" that everyone else thinks is foolish.

        • ChatGPT4 spam will help the internet because companies will have to trade growth for trust
        • GPT4 Spam Not Gonna Help

          Yeah, right. First, IDs?? This doesn't sacrifice anything besides privacy, and probably only makes things more centralized, since users won't trust anyone but a few reputable Big Guys with their government ID.

          Second, subscriptions. Well, that just decreases accessibility and makes social networks private clubs for rich people. Also, centrally reliant on credit card companies.

          Third, invite-only signups. This one has less problems, and definitely "sacrific[es] growth for trust". But do we want to be in closed-off invite-only silos? Wouldn't this scenario make federation pretty tricky? Most importantly, I doubt big growth-oriented companies will choose this option if they can avoid it. More likely, they'll go the centralized and privacy invading route of government ID verification.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Firefox Has Fallen to 2% in New Zealand
At around 2%, at least in the US (2% or below this threshold), there's no longer an obligation to test sites for any Gecko-based browser
GNU/Linux in Kyrgyzstan: From 0.5% to 5% in Eight Years
the country is almost the size of the UK
Microsoft-Connected Sites Trying to Shift Attention Away From Microsoft's Megabreach Only Days Before Important If Not Unprecedented Grilling by the US Government?
Why does the mainstream media not entertain the possibility a lot of these talking points are directed out of Redmond?
 
4 Old Articles About Microsoft/IBM SystemD
old but still relevant
Winning Streak
Free software prevalence
Links 19/05/2024: Conflicts, The Press, and Spotify Lawsuit
Links for the day
GNU/Linux+ChromeOS at Over 7% in New Zealand
It's also the home of several prominent GNU/Linux advocates
libera.chat (Libera Chat) Turns 3 Today
Freenode in the meantime continues to disintegrate
[Teaser] Freenode NDA Expires in a Few Weeks (What Really Happened 3 Years Ago)
get ready
GNU/Linux is Already Mainstream, But Microsoft is Still Trying to Sabotage That With Illegal Activities and Malicious Campaigns of Lies
To help GNU/Linux grow we'll need to tackle tough issues and recognise Microsoft is a vicious obstacle
Slovenia's Adoption of GNU/Linux in 2024
Whatever the factor/s may be, if these figures are true, then it's something to keep an eye on in the future
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, May 18, 2024
IRC logs for Saturday, May 18, 2024
Links 19/05/2024: Profectus Beta 1.2
Links for the day
Site Archives (Not WordPress)
We've finally finished the work
[Meme] The EPO Delusion
on New Ways of Working
EPO Representatives Outline Latest Attacks on Staff
Not much has happened recently in terms of industrial action
Links 18/05/2024: Revisiting the Harms of Patent Trolls, Google Tries to Bypass (or Plagiarise) Sites Under the Guise of "AI"
Links for the day
Links 18/05/2024: BASIC Story, Site Feeds, and New in Geminispace
Links for the day
Justice for Victims of Online Abuse
The claims asserted or pushed forth by the harasser are categorically denied
[Meme] Senior Software Engineer for Windows
This is becoming like another Novell
Links 18/05/2024: Deterioration of the Net, North Korean IT Workers in the US
Links for the day
Windows in Lebanon: Down to 12%?
latest from statCounter
[Video] 'Late Stage Capitalism': Microsoft as an Elaborate Ponzi Scheme (Faking 'Demand' While Portraying the Fraud as an Act of Generosity and Demanding Bailouts)
Being able to express or explain the facts isn't easy because of the buzzwords
Links 18/05/2024: Caledonia Emergency Powers, "UK Prosecutor's Office Went Too Far in the Assange Case"
Links for the day
Microsoft ("a Dying Megacorporation that Does Not Create") and IBM: An Era of Dying Giants With Leadership Deficits and Corporate Bailouts (Subsidies From Taxpayers)
Microsoft seems to be resorting to lots of bribes and chasing of bailouts (i.e. money from taxpayers worldwide)
US Patent and Trademark Office Sends Out a Warning to People Who Do Not Use Microsoft's Proprietary Formats
They're punishing people who wish to use open formats
Links 18/05/2024: Fury in Microsoft Over Studio Shutdowns, More Gaming Layoffs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, May 17, 2024
IRC logs for Friday, May 17, 2024
Links 18/05/2024: KOReader, Benben v0.5.0 Progress Update, and More
Links for the day
[Meme] UEFI 'Secure' Boot Boiling Frog
UEFI 'Secure' Boot: You can just ignore it. You can just turn it off. You can hack on it as a workaround. Just use Windows dammit!
The Market Wants to Delete Windows and Install GNU/Linux, UEFI 'Secure' Boot Must Go!
To be very clear, this has nothing to do with security and those who insist that it is have absolutely no credentials
In the United States Of America the Estimated Share of Google Search Grew After Microsoft's Chatbot Hype (Which Coincided With Mass Layoffs at Bing)
Microsoft's chatbot hype started in late 2022
Techrights Will Categorically Object to Any Attempts to Deny Its Right to Publish Informative, Factual Material
we'll continue to publish about 20 pages per day while challenging censorship attempts
Links 17/05/2024: Microsoft Masks Layoffs With Return-to-office (RTO) Mandates, More YouTube Censorship
Links for the day
YouTube Progresses to the Next Level
YouTube is a ticking time bomb
Journalists and Human Rights Groups Back Julian Assange Ahead of Monday's Likely Very Final Decision
From the past 24 hours...
[Meme] George Washington and the Bill of Rights
Centuries have passed since the days of George Washington, but the principles are still the same
Daniel Pocock: "I've Gone to Some Lengths to Demonstrate How Corporate Bad Actors Have Used Amateur-hour Codes of Conduct to Push Volunteers Into Modern Slavery"
"As David explains, the Codes of Conduct should work the other way around to regulate the poor behavior of corporations who have been far too close to the Debian Suicide Cluster."
Video of Richard Stallman's Talk From Four Weeks Ago
2-hour video of Richard Stallman speaking less than a month ago
statCounter Says Twitter/X Share in Russia Fell From 23% to 2.3% in 3 Years
it seems like YouTube gained a lot
Journalist Who Won Awards for His Coverage of the Julian Assange Ordeals Excluded and Denied Access to Final Hearing
One can speculate about the true reason/s
Richard Stallman's Talk, Scheduled for Two Days Ago, Was Not Canceled But Really Delayed
American in Paris
3 More Weeks for Daniel Pocock's Campaign to Win a Seat in European Parliament Elections
Friday 3 weeks from now is polling day
Microsoft Should Have Been Fined and Sanctioned Over UEFI 'Lockout' (Locking GNU/Linux Out of New PCs)
Why did that not happen?
Gemini Links 16/05/2024: Microsoft Masks Layoffs With Return-to-office (RTO) Mandates, Cash Issues
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, May 16, 2024
IRC logs for Thursday, May 16, 2024
Ex-Red Hat CEO Paul Cormier Did Not Retire, He Just Left IBM/Red Hat a Month Ago (Ahead of Layoff Speculations)
Rather than retire he took a similar position at another company
Linux.com Made Its First 'Article' in Over and Month, It Was 10 Words in Total, and It's Not About Linux
play some 'webapp' and maybe get some digital 'certificate' for a meme like 'clown computing'