Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 09/08/2023: Risk of Proprietary Web Apps



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • No pedal or to the metal

        Nice looking day on tap out the front with. Occasional vehicles passing. Somehow odd to see them in the school parking lot across the street.

        I wish I could have found a way to stick with the middle-school teaching stint I attempting a couple years ago. My wife had the same kids for different subjects, and I love when either of us is suddenly remembering a specific student, their quirks, wondering how they're doing a couple years later, what directions they'll head post school.

      • Re: On a Modern Mental Illness (Prince Trippy)

        The Prince[1] recently wrote about the "modern mental illness" of being overly-concerned (neurotic) about online privacy. Maybe the same extends to privacy in general, I don't know... but I think it mostly exhibits in the digital world.

        I enjoyed the realization he came to: that it is "an endless game," full of players in various strata, and that the pursuit of a cure is more-than-usually vanity.

      • A First Step into Gardening

        Our house has a fence running around most of the property with a small open section left behind. One corner of the fence has several vines and shrubs that grow thick and tall. These were fairly well-shaped when we moved in, but thanks to intense sunlight and bountiful rain this summer, the shrubs are growing rapidly.

        I know nothing about gardening and plant care, but I'm trying to learn as best I can. I can't identify the plants in the corner of the fence, but I can see plainly that they're overgrown and about to consume the small space next to our shed.

      • Hello world!

        Right when I heard about geminispace I thought I am going to write here about the things I do not want anyone to read. Yes, it sounds kind of weird or stupid (I do not know) but I am kind of "scared" or "ashamed" to write things that my parents or relatives can read.

      • Defending a village against raiders

        There’s actually a pretty interesting example on that page where the party splits. Some characters are “resting”, presumably because their players can’t make it to the next session. That session, some other characters go and investigate a dungeon, return and rest for a few days, go again, fight a big monster and loot it. The session ends after the big monster fight and the loot. The next session, the players who didn’t participate are back and decide to go to the same dungeon! At this point in time, the big monster and all the loot is still there. Now what? You can bend reality and say the monster and loot just cannot be found because the other group will have found it in the future, or you can do what I do: force-extend their rest so that whenever there’s a session, it is “now”. Once the big monster is slain, there’s no adventuring in the same dungeon at some point in the past. The players have the choice to explain what else they were doing in the days until “now”.

      • Calzonia

        There is little point to letting a sourdough starter pizza or calzone dough rise, especially if the starter is short on yeast and long on lactic acid bacteria, or the natural yeast somehow is not the crazy mutant bread type. Also the dough is too soft to use if you rotate the starter in the morning and then want to cook the dough for dinner. One might instead rotate the starter around dinner time, let the dough "rise" for a bit, then shape it and let it dry out overnight, but that's not when I rotate the starter. Instead, rotate the starter, use all the excess with a suitable amount of flour and some oil (or clarified butter) and salt for a pretty dry dough, shape that out, and let it sit somewhere maybe on a cutting board to dry out. This makes it much easier to manipulate without tearing or sticking to the cutting board when you want to move it into the oven.

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Can You Purchase A House Without Javascript Or Proprietary Web Apps?

        I'm a free software advocate who tries to compromise as little as possible with my principles, by blocking JavaScript in my Web browser, and by not using non-free Web apps, which in most practical cases amounts to the same thing. I also recently have been trying to purchase a house. So, I have been in a position to test how much of the process can be done without violating these principles, and how difficult it is. If you have no idea what I am talking about, please read this [...]

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Open Offer: I Will Host Your Domain



          When you set up a domain, it will be hosted on _both_ HTTP(s) and Gemini. So you can interleave both html and gmi files in your git repo, and it will all work out. Or you can just leave off one or the other, if you don't care about one protocol.

          Now for the offer: if you're reading this, just shoot me an email and I will give you the passphrase which allows you to use the instance. If you have always wanted to have a personal website or gemini capsule on your own domain, but hadn't wanted to go through the effort of setting up hosting, this is your chance!


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

A Data Centres Hub Puts Everyone at Risk, Especially People Who Live Near Them at Times of War/s
Spoiler: Datacentres are military targets, they attract missiles, some with nuclear warheads
GAFAM Mass Layoffs and Mountains (Trillions of Dollars in 'Secret' or 'Off-the-Ledger') Debt
GAFAM is having layoffs this month
analytics.usa.gov Says 7% of Sessions Come From GNU/Linux and ChromeOS. If ~40% (Mobile) Get Omitted, It's More Like 11%.
In desktops and in laptops GNU/Linux has become a big player
IBM Cannot Survive for Much Longer, There Are Limits to RAs and Offshoring, IBM Now Asks Workers to Quit
IBM is in very serious trouble
Debian losses in Switzerland hidden until after DPL election debate
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
How to Dehumanise a Triple National
Don't be easily incited against those who sacrifice a lot to inform the public of suppressed topics
 
Start of September 2026 'Voluntary' Mass Layoffs at IBM, Start of October Red Hat Employees Forced Into the 'Bloodbath' (After Collapse of IBM's Shares)
Red Hat is in trouble
Many GNU/Linux PCs Are Not Connected to the Net or Don't Use the Web
Saying GNU/Linux user-agents are just "bots" (Microsoft Lunduke and other Microsofters say this) is like asserting that the Twin Towers fell not because of two giant planes but because of explosives
They Call Occupations "Professions" Because the "Pro" Means Something
If you want to find tech news online
New Conference Paper (Science of Cyber Security) Credits RMS With Delaying Passwords
When it comes to passwords, RMS was "right"
Removing Gender Barriers in Computer Science
It is not that "women aren't good at maths"
In Brunei, GNU/Linux Approaches International Average of 8.5%
a sharp rise from 0% to about 7.5% happened in a few years
15% of IBM Staff Marked for Layoffs ("RAs"), the Workers' Objective is to Find Another Employer and Leave
"That's not a workforce, that's a waiting room."
Maintenance to be Completed Tonight (IPv6)
Notice how, after 25+ years, we're still not fully adopting IPv6, we're only about 50% there
August 2026 Microsoft Layoffs Confirmed by Staff This Week
It's hard to assess how many are impacted but signed an NDA, preventing them from speaking about what really happened
SLAPP Censorship - Part 141 Out of 200: Brett Wilson LLP Failed to Learn From the Mistakes of the European Patent Office (EPO)
my solicitor, David Allen Green, put them in their place
Texts of the Claims From Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley and Matthew J. Garrett Almost Identical, I am Suing for Abuse of Process
Half a decade ago Balabhadra (Alex) Graveley from Microsoft and GNOME was arrested for strangulation in Texas
Gemini Links 06/08/2026: "Eat That Frog", Mutt Terminal Email Guide, and BASICODE
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, August 05, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, August 05, 2026
Big Announcement Tomorrow
Stay tuned...
GNU/Linux Seen Exceeding 10% in Antigua and Barbuda
In Antigua And Barbuda, what's seen this month is not far from the average
Gemini Links 05/08/2026: Family Room, Smoke, and Alarm clocks
Links for the day
The Establishment, Oxford, Google & Debian artificial intelligence conspiracies
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
SLAPP Censorship - Part 140 Out of 200: You Become What You Eat, Your Clients Become You
In 2024 Brett Wilson LLP failed to heed a decade-old warning
Links 05/08/2026: Microsoft's (XBox's) "Devastating July" and "Never Write With" Slop, Says New York Times
Links for the day
Gemini Links 05/08/2026: No to Slop, Dangers of Clown Computing, and Reducing Internet Usage
Links for the day
The Register MS Takes Money From NVIDIA and HP to Promote Their Ponzi Scheme, "AI", in a Fake 'Article' That Says "AI" 42 Times
"The media"... selling us scams for profit
Fertility app privacy, Britain's teenage pregnancies & faith based schooling
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
In Chile, GNU/Linux Approaches 4%
Let's see if it can exceed 5% by year's end
No Room for Misogyny and Incels in Free Software
How can we ever trust men whose own family and their own partners cannot trust?
In El Salvador, ChromeOS and GNU/Linux Now Measured at Around 12%
signs of gradual and steady adoption of GNU/Linux
Software in the Public Interest (SPI) Starts Spending Big Money in an Effort to Resist Lawsuit From Daniel Pocock
They've lost over half a million dollars in the latest 3 years
The Establishment, Cambridge, Steve McIntyre & Debian suicide cluster
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 05/08/2026: Internet Archive Harmed by Slop Bot, "EBay And Former Execs Agree to Pay $56 Million For Trying to ‘Crush’ a Journalist"
Links for the day
Luxembourg and Software Freedom
Luxembourg's adoption of GNU/Linux has quite consistently been higher than the European average
The Free Software Foundation (FSF) Web Site is Online, GNU's Site Having Issues (Ongoing Issues)
We hope they can rectify the issues with the GNU Web site
Freedom Includes the Liberty to Disagree (and be Listened to, Not Censored)
Freedom is our collective strength
Tanzania: GNU/Linux Now Seen on 8% on Desktops/Laptops (User Clients)
numbers have more than doubled
IBM CEO Says IBM Won't be Bankrupt by 2028 or 2029 (When He Reaches Retirement Age)
IBM has no path to survival
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, August 04, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, August 04, 2026
Gemini Links 05/08/2026: Being Good, Tildeverse and Tilde.pink, Games
Links for the day
Links 04/08/2026: GAFAM Expressing Concerns About Dangerous Disinformation by Slop, Bill Epsteingate-Connected Litigation Firm Salivating Over Europe
Links for the day
Gemini Links 04/08/2026: Root Shell and "Duty of Care"
Links for the day
Alternate Data (Not IBM's Headcount) to Show Mass Layoffs' Effect at IBM (Despite Many Acquired Workers Via M&A)
mass layoffs at Hashicorp and at Confluent this year (media did not cover either).
Big Blue's Quiet Axe - Poem Regarding IBM "RAs"
No idea who posted this, but it is profound
Growing Proportion of Linux Commits Being Made by LLMs Not a Sign of LLMs Working, It's a Sign of Linux Development Being Shifted From Community to GAFAM and Other Slop Pushers
antagonist became apologist
Worse Than "Taking Your Job", the Slop Pyramid Scheme Will "Take Your Pension"
This will not end well
Abundance of Fake (Sometimes Paid-for) 'News' About IBM Will Discredit the Media as a Whole
In 'the news' today
Microsoft is Trying Vapourware Again (to Keep Developers and Gamers From Fleeing)
For XBox, the main thing over the horizon is additional layoffs
statCounter Reckons 12.33% of Web Traffic in Gambia Can be Attributed to GNU/Linux, Even 15% If Adding ChromeOS
Will this be sustainable?
Reminder: The Pedophilia Problem Comes From the Accusers
Attacks on Richard Stallman are a distraction; his accusers are themselves the culprits
SLAPP Censorship - Part 139 Out of 200: Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Needs More Public Scrutiny (New Management Changed Nothing, It's Costing a Lot of Taxpayers' Money)
millions or maybe billions of pounds wasted
Rumours of Further IBM Shutdowns
IBM is going out of existence
Brigading Against Women - Part II - Threatening Women Using the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) and Then False Threats Miscarrying the Name of a Court
In this series we intend to show the threats, the outcomes of those threats, the response to those threats
Collapse of MElon Companies a Taste of What's to Come for Slop Bubble and GAFAM (Trillions in Debt, Justified as Slop "Investments")
One good example of this was SpaceX
The 'Hyperinflation' in Hardware Dooms Video Hosting (Very Large Files)
a terabyte of video files would be expensive
Rumours of Silent Layoffs in Microsoft This Month (August 2026), PIPs and Global Voluntary Separation Agreement (GVSA), aka "Buyouts"
Will any investigative journalism follow or just shallow puff pieces and LLM trash from slopfarms?
Links 04/08/2026: "Framework for Musician Burnout" and Alexa+ "is a Buggy Embarrassment"
Links for the day
Signs That XBox as a Console is Coming to an End, Windows Gaming Will be Called "XBox"
"XBox" is the next "Surface"
Microsoft's Share in Search Falls Sharply in Europe
The layoffs at Microsoft's Bing will carry on
Romania: GNU/Linux Reaches 4% (Less Than EU Average)
We expect this same upward trend to carry on
Microsoft Sites or Sites Sponsored by Microsoft Angry That GNU/Linux is Gaining
The Microsofters cannot easily dismiss reports of GNU/Linux growth as "bots" or just allege that statCounter alone is wrong
Ableism in the Free Software Movement Typically Comes From GAFAM Operatives and Proprietary Software Apologists
And their hired guns
Afghanistan: GNU/Linux Steadily Rises to 9%
Windows is steadily declining
IBM Innovation: It Has Invented New Methods of Silent Layoffs or Secret RAs
How IBM disguises mass layoffs now
Many Anniversaries
Many anniversaries in quick succession
LLM Slop Won't Replace People and Jobs (in the Long Run)
At the end of the day, people who know their job offer more useful information, whereas LLMs waste people's time (typically an 'externality' to the entity deploying chatbots)
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, August 03, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, August 03, 2026
Over 3,500 Known Gemini Capsules Accessible and Active According to Lupa
It finally happened this morning
Gemini Links 04/08/2026: Library Cards, Dead Ends in Software Development, and DOS on USB Key
Links for the day