Bonum Certa Men Certa

Links 16/08/2023: First Contact With an Antenna, Ben’s Gemcast Has New Episode



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • Funeral Times

        Yesterday was spent at my Grandma's funeral. She died 2 or so weeks ago in a quiet manner after not really eating or drinking for the past 4 months. My Grandma had been suffering from vascular dementia for 6 or so years although managed to stay in her home thanks to carers until the last 5 months. The day I realised that the woman I loved had changed significantly was when she went grey. If she was well, she would never of not dyed her hair. I still have no idea what her natural hair colour was. I am not sure my mum knows really.

        My response to the call that she had died was very matter of fact and there was relief that she had stopped suffering. The last time I visited, she was just lying in bed in the dark. There was a response but she was not able to really concentrate. Luckily my brother was there and went into his work mode. He works as a pharmacist in care homes so is used to patients in her condition. Following that, there were tears but weird tears.

      • Re: I Want to Wear a Dress

        So do I! Or, well, probabably more likely a skirt. A skirt seems like a more versatile replacement for pants and shorts, and I would expect to have better luck finding a skirt that fits well. Lately I have been trying to improve my sewing skills beyond clothing repair so I can reliably make my own clothes. If anyone knows of some good skirt patterns, let me know.

      • 🔤SpellBinding: FSIKLOH Wordo: GRITS
      • Social Adulthood

        When I was a senior in high school, I was afraid of the prospect of my childhood ending and that I'd have to go out into the real world. I struggled with self-confidence for much of my life, and I doubted that I'd be able to succeed in anything I tried. I was also afraid of leaving the comfort and familiarity of home. When it came time to choose a university to attend, I gave up on my first choice because I was intimidated by how far I'd be from my family and friends.

        That trend continued in college. I didn't apply myself very hard, partially because I was lazy and partially because I feared I wouldn't do well even if I tried. I ended up graduating with a GPA lower than 3, and with no hope of continuing into graduate school--a goal I'd adopted by default because I was scared of entering the business world.

    • Technology and Free Software

      • First Contact with an Antenna Made in a Hurry

        I'm a radio amateur newbie and I've struggled to get on the air with my shortwave BITX40 radio and my 20m long wire antenna on my balcony. For a long time I've also owned a Baofeng UV-5R+ handheld radio for the VHF/UHF bands, but never actually used it. It's very cheap (about $25 when I bought it), doesn't have many bells and whistles, but still as a lot of bang for the buck.

        Compared to shortwave, VHF/UHF is much easier to get into. No need for a huge wire antenna. The tradeoff is that you only are limited to line of sight range, compared to the bounce-off-the-ionosphere action that allows shortwave to reach between continents. On the other hand you have VHF/UHF repeaters on hilltops that have powerful radios and good antennas (and this very good range). These allow people to talk to each other using the repeater as a hub.

        One evening I programmed the freqencies for the repeaters in my area into my handheld and listened in on a conversation. I thought I recognized one of the guys from an antenna day in Motala the year before. Maybe it was him... Another night I felt it was time to call CQ and see if anyone would answer. Lo and behold, the same guy answered my call! Well, he heard that someone was trying to call, but he said he couldn't read the call sign.

      • Doing and Making Things Myself

        I'm in the process of selling my flat. Therefore I've learned how to put up new wallpapers, and I'm using my amateur handyman skills to fix smaller aesthetic blemishes.

        I'm updating my OpenTTD mod Tea Tea Deluxe, adding custom train carriages for monorail and maglev. And tweaking smaller things, of course. Because why wouldn't I?

        I've done a whole lot of kit and scratch bashing lately. The kids and I are getting into Warhammer 40k (not playing, though, because that was just boring). Models are expensive, but a package will give you a lot more than it says on the box. Lots of extra arms, heads, and weapons for alternative builds. The sprues are great for bashing too. I scored an expensive box for half price because it was incomplete. Still a bargain compared to buying the included models separately. With fimo clay, extra bits, and select pieces of trash one can make pretty cool stuff.

      • Timely Fiction, Non-Eternal Fiction: A ramble on old stuff

        So I decided to rewatch one of the old flash animations from Homestuck today. Thanks, youtube Music algorithm for suggesting that activity. I guess.

        I remember being so hype about Homestuck back in the day, circa 2011-2012. Any time Hussie updated it was like an Unannounced Random Christmas. My then-boyfriend now-husband and I would freak the fuck out and go read or watch them with ravenous fervor. Like, to use the terms of nowadays for back then, we were positively *pogging* out our goddamned *gourds*.

      • foobucket.xyz is now redtermnial.org

        The old domain is valid until 10th of september 2024. Until this date it will permanently redirect all requests to the new domain to prevent broken links (status code 31). Hopefully this works good enough.

        Besides the fact that I didn't like the "foobucket.xyz" name (I'm not good at naming things), the new domain "redterminal.org" has the advantage that it's more search engine friendly (already got some "web creators"/"SEO" spam after 3 days). Search engines like wiby.me or marginalia.nu didn't accept the old domain. I'm not completely sure why, but I think these judge "xyz" TLDs as spam domains.

      • 50 Years of Text Games @Ruby_Witch suggested this book, and I could not resist.

        I really wish I could get the paper edition, but it was sold out. I got the digital version for $25 (pdf, epub and text), but... The book has tons of insets, photos, and graphics, and the epub, unfortunately, cannot keep up with it. CoolReader, my favorite epub viewer, does not break lines correctly in example text, and surrounds each inset with things like


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Credit Suisse collapse obfuscated Parreaux, Thiébaud & Partners scandal
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
UK Media Under Threat: Cannot Report on Data Breach, Cannot Report on Microsoft Staff Strangling Women
The story of super injunction (in the British media this week, years late)
Under the Guise of "MIT Technology Review Insights" the Site MIT Technology Review Posts Corporate Spam as 'Articles'
Some of the articles aren't even articles but 'hit pieces' against Free software and some are paid advertisements
Brett Wilson LLP Has Track Record in Scam Coin Cases (e.g. Craig Wright and More), Now It Works for 'Crypto' Scam Purveyors
But wait, it gets worse
Will Brett Wilson LLP Handle Its Own Winding Up Petition or be Struck Off for Overt Abuse of Process?
Today we sue not only the first Microsofter
Ubuntu Becomes Microsoft GitHub, Based on Decision Made by British Army Officer
You're hopeless, Canonical
Sharing Code and Recipes
It helps explain the triviality of software freedom
How Many Women Has Microsoft's Alex Balabhadra Graveley Already Strangled and Where Does That End?
If you too are a victim of this man and wish to share information, contact us
 
What Matters More Than "Market Share"
The goal is freedom, not "market share"
Tech Used to be Fun. To Many of Us It's Still Fun.
You can just watch it from afar and make fun of it all
Links 17/07/2025: "Blog Identity Crisis" and Openwashing by Nvidia
Links for the day
Greffiers and the US Attorney of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
The lawsuit can help expose extensive corruption in the American court system as well
The People Who Promoted systemd in Debian Also Promote Wayland
This is not politics
Victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, Wanted to Sue Him But Lacked the Funds (He Attacked Their Finances)
Having spoken to victims of the Serial Strangler From Microsoft
Links 17/07/2025: Science, Hardware, and Censorship
Links for the day
Gemini Links 17/07/2025: Staying in the "Small Web" and Back on ICQ
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 16, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 16, 2025
Exclusive: corruption in Tribunals, Greffiers, from protection rackets to cat whisperers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 16/07/2025: Chip Bans and Microsoft’s “Digital Escort” Program
Links for the day
Revolving Doors: One Day You're a Judge, the Next Day You're an Attorney Paying Public Officials and Working for Violent and Dangerous Microsoft Employees
how the US justice system works
Slopwatch: Noise, Plagiarism and Even Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt/Fear-mongering/Dramatisation
What are we meant to do to prevent a false association or misleading connotations? Game the LLMs? No. Boycott slopfarms.
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: BaseLibre Numerical System and Simple Web Browsing with TLS
Links for the day
Links 16/07/2025: Fascist Slop Takes "Intelligence" Clothing, New Criminal Case Against MElon
Links for the day
"We Might Save Somebody's Life"
I follow the example of my father
Why I am Suing the Serial Strangler From Microsoft, Alex Balabhadra Graveley, in the UK High Court This Week
Out of respect to the process and to the Court, I shall not share any pertinent details about the case
Links 16/07/2025: China’s Economy Grows Steadily, France Takes Action Regarding Harm to Children by GAFAM and Fentanylware (TikTok)
Links for the day
It is Not About Politics
Beware the people who try to make this about politics
Good Journalism Saves Lives
a shocking number of women die or get seriously hurt every day due to violence from a partner
Recognition of Women's Contributions to Free Software
Being passive is not an option when bad things are happening
Slopfarms Are Going to Perish Because Public Opinion is Changing
Many slopfarms will simply go offline
19 Years of Standing Up for Justice, Equality, and Truth
This week we shall take it up a notch
Gemini Links 16/07/2025: Tmux and OCC25 Working TLS
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 15, 2025
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 15, 2025
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
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
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