Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 05/08/2023: New SIM and a Goodbye



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Mass Air Flow Senso

        I have two vehicles, one is 17 years old, the other is 23 years old. I've always driven older cars, and I try to work on them myself, when the repair is something I can tackle--when it's not, the car is usually ready to get rid of.

      • Brakes! What brakes?

        At Wednesday I was on a bicycle trip. Some 130 km in relatively flat terrain (the middle parts was in Nizky Jesenik mountain so ther e were some hills). A very nice trip except the strong headwind.

      • Working late

        Well,it's summer and I am not able to do any creative work in my office where the lowest temperature is over 30 C. So I am working now at 22:00.

      • Menuet in F

        except for the modulation (if you could call it that) to the dominant, and another to the dominant of that dominant, or F to C and then C to G Major (but not for very long). In theory you're supposed to go back to the original key, I guess. Minuets are also supposed to be dancable, though music has something of a tradition of turning danceable music into that which is not. There was even a diet of worms edict when church music got itself too fancy, or you can find chorus music from the 1500s that used chromaticism not seen again until some while later:

      • Cycling

        I purchased a bicycle in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and a time when most gyms and swimming pools in my area were closed. Though I had Ring Fit Adventure and a Pump It Up arcade machine at home, I get cabin fever very quickly, and I needed something to do outside the house.

        As the region began to reopen in 2022, I found myself cycling less and less. This was primarily because I could satisfy my itch to go outside in other ways, but as I began cycling regularly before then, I found that it wasn't easy to use my bike as anything other than a dedicated exercise machine.

      • Chair

        I feel like I am broken. On the surface I might seem ok but under-neath, it feels like something is seriously wrong here, mission control. There is now a cast on my leg where I tore my achilles, which has further impeded my mobility. This injury has put the brakes on, or even halted many things that could be going on had it not manifested. I think this was not happenstance, rather, this needed to happen. My trajectory has not been sustainable,

        Recently, I have been reacquainted with an old chair. It is a chair that I was gifted by my friend, Sandy, when he was moving out of his studio, almost 30 years ago (I feel so old now.) The chair is old, metal, and heavy for its size. Not sure how old it really is, but it was made during a time when things were built to last and made to be repaired by the owner of the chair with common parts found at a local hardware store. Over the years I have replaced various parts, even re-riveting a couple broken rivets on the hinge that attaches the back of the chair to the back post and also adding a tie-on seat cushion since the original chair padding has long since flattened over the course of use and time.

      • AEILSTZ Wordo: MILES
      • Universes Beyond

        Just a heads up: gonna be some spoilers for the Lord of the Rings novels down below.

        Magic has started making cards from other games, books, or shows like The Walking Dead, Street Fighter, Arcane, Fortnite, Warhammer 40000, Doctor Who, and The Lord of the Rings. That’s called “Universes Beyond”.

        I’ve been all for that, with one exception—I don’t ever want to see “brands”, like “I tap your 3/3 Pepsi with my Tide pod”. I get that an IP is a brand but I hope the line between what’s a cultural artifact, like a novel, versus a product with a logo, is clear enough even for Hasbro.

      • Metagaming, part one—D&D

        My players are pretty strict with meta information.

        I had three parties step into the same trap and die and I was like “guys, what’s going on!” and they were like “our new chars don’t know what our old chars knew!”

        I was satisfied with that. In the end made PCs quick-witted enough to deal with the situation without meta knowledge.

        I’ve said they are free to meta as much and as little as they want, it’s a lever they’re completely on their own for, I don’t mind it at all but to the extent that it takes away from their experience, they don’t do it

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Modern WWW browsing on IRIX

        You know, the SGI IRIX is dead at last from 2006 so there are almost no new apps. Definitely there is no "current" WWW browser (people have been trying hard but it seems to be impossible). The latest one is the Firefox 3.0.19 with ages old SSL suppurt (so almsot no https://).

      • Forgot to replace batteries

        Some devices have very long battery live. So long so I usually forget that they are batteries at all. This time it was the PSION MC600.

        The main battery is just an 8xAA block and there is a backup battery. But the backup can work for days and not for the whole month. These old PSIONs use RAM cards as storage. They are also backed up by batteries (all backup batteries are the CR1620). This time one of them don't survive so I lost the whole G: drive (about 2 MB of data and programs).

      • Speed of computers

        I was in the Prague last week. I had only the GPD Pocket with me (an Item Atom-based machine). I did some light computing here (some FEA) and found that speed on my unoptimised software is still rather acceptable here. After return I tried to do the same on the MNT Reform. As expected the MNT was about 2 times slower (it has an industrial ARM CPU which is wasn't the fastest even when it was new).

      • New SIM, new phone

        My Palm Centro decided to die. So I have had to replace it. Things have not been so easy because my old full-sized SIM (trimmed to the microSIM format anyway) do not fit any modern (or semi-modern) phone.

        Thus I visited my phone provider's shop today. It was a story for itself: the Sturmey-Archer hub on my Brompton bike have started work incorrectly. Then was a heavy rainfall. But I ahve got a new SIM.

      • Living with a 7" laptop

        I'm in the process of renovating my office so as my desktop computer is stashed away, I've been using my travel laptop, i.e. my only laptop, as my main computer for nearly a week now. I've been aware of all of its pitfalls since day one but using that computer for that long, has made them harder to bear.

        I bought a GPD Pocket 2 a few years ago, as a replacement for a slightly bigger netbook, which in turn came in replacement of my beloved first generation eeePC that perished in battle. It's insanely practical, and portable. It will fit into any bag, and probably into cargo pant or spacious coat pockets. It's also much beefier than most currently sold sub-12" laptop on the market. The screen is however 7".

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Bye, Gemini

          This will be my last post on Gemini, as I just don't have a good reason to use it anymore. You can read more about my thoughts in my latest blog post, linked below.

        • Magic: the Gathering’s announcement day, 2023

          So Magic had an announcement day where they laid out their plans for the next three years. I’ve sorted everything that they announced by how much I’m into it, and a short thought on each.

          So this is not the order they’re gonna come out in. Instead, I’ve placed them from “aww yeah” gradually down to “Not into it”. For me personally. And not having seen the sets.

        • Hyperion online music store download helper bookmarklet

          I sometimes buy classical music from Hyperion Records, because they are one of few classical labels to provide downloadable lossless audio files. However, their site is rather outdated and they push you to use a 'downloader' application (for Windows or Mac only) to download your purchases. That doesn't work for me.

          They do provide a webpage with all your purchases to download regularly, but with individual links per track! That quickly gets annoying.

        • I started a literary magazine

          So, it seems that I have started a literary magazine[1]! I have thought about it on and off for a few years, but nothing seemed to really come together. The idea that finally did it as something that came about after reading one of my wife's recent stories. It just felt so comfortable and nice and I felt like I wanted more stories like that in my life. So, Hearth Stories was born.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Being Prevented From Accessing One's Own System Means Getting Locked Out, Not Security
a metaphor
3/4 (Three-Quarter) of Requests Seen by statCounter (Originating From Desktops/Laptops) Deemed to be "Linux" in San Marino
74% Linux, it says...
The Linux Foundation Does Not Work for Linux, Definitely Not for Free Software
works for its biggest sponsors, i.e. companies like Microsoft, IBM, and others
The European Patent Office's (EPO) Crisis Week Ends Today, the Rest of the Year Will be EPO Staff on Strike
The outcome of the two-day meeting won't change the fact that EPO staff is on strike for the whole year
 
Links 04/07/2026: 2026 Old Computer Challenge and Trying Gopher
Links for the day
SLAPP Censorship - Part 127 Out of 200: Lawsuits by Americans Filed in the UK a Burden on British Taxpayers, No Way to Recover the Funds When Americans Lose Their Cases
Are Garrett and Graveley 'pulling a 4Chan'?
Links 04/07/2026: USMCA (Covering Software Patents) Might Not be Renewed, Slop Bros Try to Pay Weird Al to Endorse Their Scheme
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, July 03, 2026
IRC logs for Friday, July 03, 2026
Gemini Links 03/07/2026: Mindfulness Practice and "Slop Is Killing the Human Spirit"
Links for the day
Links 03/07/2026: Openwashing of Slop in "Linux" Clothing and "Happy Birthday, America"
Links for the day
John Been (reallinuxuser.com) May Have Crossed Over to the 'Dark Side' of LLM Slop
It 'smells' like it, a scanner seems to concur
Who or What is "Nadeko"?
Fijxu's services make life a lot easier for Free software sticklers
10 Years Since the World Lost Ian Murdock
My wife and I still use Debian, as does this site
No, Microsoft is Not Laying Off 5,000-6,000 But a Lot More
There are "buyouts", "PIPs" (silence layoffs), pink slips, and future waves, not counting subsidiaries and contractors
The Cyber Show's Andy and Helen Confronting 'Upgrades'
the latest from Andy and Helen
statCounter Sees Almost 1 in 10 Desktops or Laptops in Egypt as GNU/Linux Workstations
10% "market share" (for GNU/Linux) was nearly attained last month
The March of GNU/Linux in the Russian Ally, Belarus
record high for GNU/Linux in Belarus
Technology is Getting Objectively Worse and Less Reliable
Something went horribly wrong
FOSS Force 2026 Independence Drive Lacks Independence From GAFAM's 'Linux' Foundation
We're not trying to 'bash' FOSS Force
News That Matters, News That's Exclusive, and News LLM Slop Will Never Get Right
Churning out blog posts just for quantity's sake was never our goal
Independence and Software Freedom
Much work remains to be done
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Operation Monte Titano: Micro-State Diplomacy
On 28th May 2026 EPO President António Campinos paid a visit to the Most Serene Republic of San Marino where he was received with full diplomatic honours
Links 03/07/2026: Slop "Isn’t Replacing Lawyers", "App Fatigue"
Links for the day
Statement on This Week's DDoS Attacks
DDoS attacks are not a "badge of honour". They are a nuisance.
Skinnerboxes as Health Problems and Impediments (Against Happiness)
skinnerboxes are a form of addiction
Costa Ricans' Adoption of GNU/Linux Reaches New Highs
Windows is doing poorly in general
British Women Don't Want to Work for American Men Who Attack American Women
"[g]reeting clients and preparing beverages"
Mass Layoff Event on June 30 at Red Hat? Let Us Know...
We are looking for more Red Hat whistleblowers
Gaming on Windows is in Trouble, XBox is Practically Dead Already
It seems increasingly clear that Microsoft wants to get rid of XBox
New Record for GNU/Linux in the World's Largest Muslim-Majority Population (287,983,025)
Will Indonesians leave GAFAM behind?
SLAPP Censorship - Part 126 Out of 200: Becoming More Aggressive Against Us Only Proves Us Right
the police involved
IBM Red Hat Kicks Out the Community, Promotes Slop
It has gotten so bad
The Register MS Covers "AI" Because It Gets Paid to
A lot of noise "in the news" about "AI" is paid-for trash
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 02, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, July 02, 2026
Gemini Links 02/07/2026: OpenBGPD, Newt and OpenBSD, Indieweb Theme for Ghost
Links for the day
Links 02/07/2026: China "Ethnic Unity" Law a Global Threat, "EU Imposes €3 Duty on Parcels From China"
Links for the day
Japan's Share of GNU/Linux Has More Than Doubled
GNU/Linux now sits around 3.5% compared to about 1% two years ago
'Largest Single Layoff Event In Gaming History' or 'Largest Single Layoff Event In Microsoft History'?
we need whistleblowers, not official or semi-official statements from Microsoft
Off-putting Terms or Behaviour That Keep Women Away From Areas of Technology (Not What IBM and GAFAM Tell Us)
the use of language
Microsoft Windows "Goes South" in South America, GNU/Linux Popularity Soaring
Brazil and its neighbours must have paid attention to what happened earlier this year in Venezuela
It's Not the Layoffs, It's the Debt
PIPs and/or "silent layoffs" are about the companies flouting obligations to staff, reducing or eliminating the compensation packages
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: Cutting Ribbons in Sintra While the EPO Burns
Like the Roman Emperor Nero, Campinos fiddles in Sintra while the EPO burns
In Spain, GNU/Linux Now Measured at 5.5%
Microsoft and Windows are generally shrinking
North America: GNU/Linux Leaps to 8% "Market Share"
the trend is clear
statCounter: GNU/Linux Has Risen to All-Time High of 6% Worldwide (July 2026)
GNU/Linux has massive gains
Not Tolerating Death Threats
Death threads are a serious matter
Silent Layoffs, 'Happy' Layoffs, and 'Buyouts' (Pretending to Voluntarily Retire)
We've been seeing lots of that at IBM and Microsoft
SLAPP Censorship - Part 125 Out of 200: Litigants in Person (LIPs) Handling American Lawfare Funded by Third Parties (About a Million Pounds for 100 Kilograms of Legal Papers)
An appeal to the Court of Appeal can be justified at one point
IBM HR "Process is Similar to Raising Farm Animals"
IBM "silent layoffs" won't stop
Attacks on the Sites
These are clearly censorship attempts
Links 02/07/2026: Microsoft May be Shutting Down 5+ Studios, Slop Got Too Expensive, "RAMpocalypse" Discussed
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 01, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 01, 2026
Gemini Links 02/07/2026: Kondo, Theological Thought, and X4
Links for the day