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

Reboots Should Never be Necessary
"BUT WHAT ABOUT SECURITY!!"
There's Still Hope for the World Wide Web
Let's hope that the trajectory of the Web won't be leading us to over-reliance on Google, nor will it reward worthless slopfarms
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Smolweb and Alhena 5.1.7
Links for the day
XBox is Rapidly Turned Into a Slopfarm by Microsoft
Slop isn't about efficiency and saving money
Microsoft's Halloween Documents and systemd, Wayland, Etc.
Maybe one day Wayland will be widespread. Or maybe not.
 
Links 15/07/2025: LLM Pollution and Pushback in Ukraine
Links for the day
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: xkcd, New Cert, and Alhena Gemlog
Links for the day
Links 15/07/2025: Press Freedom at Risk and New Facebook Blunders
Links for the day
The Danes Want GNU/Linux
David Heinemeier Hansson recently moved to GNU/Linux
Cory Doctorow Explains Why Software Freedom Matters, Whereas "Open Source" Misses the Point and Helps Monopolies
It's a very long article
BillPR (EpsteinGate-Bribed NPR) is Turning Into a Partial Slopfarm that Promotes Slop
"I went on a date with a chatbot!"
Two Weeks Passed Since Latest Large Wave of Microsoft Layoffs, More Expected Next Month
Blaming the debt on "AI" is just self-serving storytelling
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, July 14, 2025
IRC logs for Monday, July 14, 2025
Gemini Links 15/07/2025: Gemini "Style Sheets" and Switching From Microsoft GitHub to Codeberg
Links for the day
Coming Soon: Another OSI Scandal, This One Implicating Molly de Blanc
OSI has been fairly quiet lately
Outreachy & Debian pregnancy cluster, Meike Reichle evidence
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Again, "Lunduke is Actually Sending His Audience to Attack People"
Microsoft Lunduke is not trying to "protect" Linux
One of the Most Hilarious Things About the Microsoft SLAPPs
It's so ridiculous
Financial Support for the Free Software Foundation or the GNU Project
The FSF has extended until Friday its fund-raising campaign
Illegally Hiding (or Demanding Secrecy Around) Illegal Requests or Attempts at Extortion
unlawful communications like threats
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: BOFH Archive, Updating Old Palm PDAS, and Nginx vs Slop Bots
Links for the day
Ubuntu is Becoming GAFAM-Like
What does that say about Canonical and Ubuntu?
Slopfarms Which Take Real Articles About GNU/Linux and Turn Them Into Copycats Which Are False
Even before the LLM hype those were quite common
The Firm That Picks on Techrights is Accustomed to Working With Criminals
Techrights never did anything illegal. So why is it being picked on by people who work with criminals?
Microsoft Said the Mass Layoffs Were for "Investment" in "AI", But It's Also Laying Off the "AI" and "Copilot" Staff
Months ago we showed many so-called "AI" people were getting the boot and this time it's the same
DryDeadFish is Dead, Long Live DryDeadFish
We kept checking, hoping it can recover from some temporary technical issue
For Quite Some Time Already Microsoft Attracts Crackpots, Scams, and More
Occasionally we talk about the situation at IBM as there are many parallels
Links 14/07/2025: Chatbots Broken Again, McHire LLM Shows Limits of the Hype
Links for the day
Changing One's Name Won't Change One's Past
People who have earned a bad reputation are not magically "entitled" to reset
People Who Assault Women Are Not Victims of "Distress"
It seems like an American tradition. In a country with almost 50 presidents, not even one was a female.
Slashdot Media Turned Linux Journal Into a Slopfarm and Now Slashdot Actively Promotes Anti-Linux Slopfarms
Yes, "no-nonsense" apparently means actual nonsense
Adoption of Gemini Protocol Still Growing
Gemini Protocol is being obscured by the media - it doesn't help that Google 'hijacked' the word "Gemini" - but people still manage to find out about it, download a client, and use it
Links 14/07/2025: Arresting Photographers, Threats to Revoke US Citizenship Over Criticism
Links for the day
More EPO Leaks on the Way
We hope that Mr. Rowan will actually try to refute what we say and show, not merely point the finger at the messengers
Decommodification is a Corporate Strategy Against Communities
systemd is led by Microsoft and hosted by Microsoft
copyleft.org 'Hijacked' by the People Who Attack the Person Who Created Copyleft
So far there's nothing "tasteless" in copyleft.org, but that can change at any time in the future
Asking People to Take Down Articles and Videos Only Makes These More Popular and "Viral"
If you do something bad, one of the worst things you can possibly do it try to silence those who speak about it
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, July 13, 2025
IRC logs for Sunday, July 13, 2025
Two-Thirds Towards FSF Goal, Richard Stallman to Give Talks in Europe
There are 67 left before reaching the target
Brett Wilson LLP "Takes it Personal" (Character Assassination, Not Professionalism). Everybody Can See That.
On behalf of violent men
Gemini Links 14/07/2025: Politicised Tech and "Leaving GitHub"
Links for the day
Pissing Contests and Pissing Off Everyone
people who came from Microsoft are trying to vex and divide the community
Microsoft Repeats the Mistakes Made by the EPO After We Exposed a Major Microsoft/EPO Scandal 10 Years Ago
That scandal was all over the media, not just in English
The Demise of LLMs
We've just checked BetaNews again. They've dropped all the slop and went back to human authors.
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Sonpo Museum of Art and FCEUX
Links for the day
Links 13/07/2025: UnitedHealth's Censorship Campaign, Australia Wary of China
Links for the day
Firing Away With Nonsense
Or fighting fire with fire
Links 13/07/2025: Climate Crisis, GAFAM Poisoning the Water
Links for the day
Turns Out LLMs for Code Don't Save Time and Don't Improve Quality
Neither legal nor useful
The Microsofters Will Have an Obligation to Compensate Us
This story isn't just about Microsoft. It's also about corruption, there are many women victims, there is abject "abuse of process", and many more scandals to be illuminated in years to come.
Reproducing at the EPO Instead of Producing Monopolies for Foreign Monopolies With Their Price-Fixing Cartels
Does the EPO recognise the need of well-educated Europeans to bear kids?
Valnet Inc. Dominates Real (Not LLM Slop) GNU/Linux Coverage in 2025
And likely in prior years, too
Free Software Foundation (FSF) Fund Raiser Goes on
Later this month we'll expose another OSI scandal
EPO Staff Representatives Issue a Warning About Staff's Health and Inadequate Care
Even the EPO's own stakeholders (money sources) are openly protesting against what the EPO became
Links 13/07/2025: Partly Assorted News From Deutsche Welle and CBC
Links for the day
Gemini Links 13/07/2025: Board Games and Battle Styles
Gemini Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, July 12, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, July 12, 2025