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

Richard Stallman's Talk at Georgia Tech is Just 2 Days Away
We're still curious to see how malicious people (or trolls) in social control media will try to slant his talk as "bad"
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VII - The Industrial Actions Began Yesterday, Here's Why
The "Alicante Mafia" might not last much longer
 
Software Patents by Any Other Name
There is no such thing as "AI" patents
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 21, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 21, 2026
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VIII - Salary Cuts to Staff, 100,000 Euros to Managers Busted Using Cocaine (for Doing Absolutely Nothing, Just Pretending to be "Sick")
Today we look at slides from the union
Gemini Links 22/01/2026: Forest Monk, Aurora Observation, and Arduino Officially Launches the More Powerful Arduino UNO Q 4GB Single-Board Computer
Links for the day
Next Week is Close Enough for Wall Street Storytelling About 'Efficiency' by Layoffs for "AI"
This coming week GAFAM and others will tell some creative tales about how "AI" something something...
Google News Still a Feeder of Slop About "Linux", Which Became Rarer in 2026
Our main concern these days is what happened to Linuxiac. Bobby Borisov became a chatbots addict.
Links 21/01/2026: "Snap Settles Lawsuit on Social Media Addiction" and Attempts in the US to Revive Software Patents
Links for the day
Links 21/01/2026: Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' in More Trouble, US Has "Brown Shirts" Problem
Links for the day
Yesterday Afternoon The Register MS Published Paid Microsoft SPAM Disguised as an Article About "AI PCs"
The Register MS cannot help itself, can it? [...] Follow the money.
Microsoft's XBox is in Effect Dead Already, Now It's a Streaming and Advertising Platform
Expect many layoffs soon
EPO's Web Site Misused for Propaganda About Illegal Kangaroo Courts to Distract From EPO Scandals and Judicial Crisis in Europe
UPC is illegal and unconstitutional
Gemini Links 21/01/2026: Edible Circuits and "Sayonara HTTP"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, January 20, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, January 20, 2026
IBM Hides Its Own Destruction (and Red Hat's)
It's like scenes out of '1984', which is what a now-famous advertisement from Apple compared IBM to
LLM Slop Not Dead Yet, Examples of Slop About "Linux"
We wish to see the totals down to zero
Links 20/01/2026: Cheeto Blackmails France Into 'Peace' While Looking to Annex EU, Mass Layoffs in Capgemini (Microsoft Reseller/Promoter) in France
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/01/2026: Boxing and "Inbox Zero" Success
Links for the day
Windows and Slop Declining While Microsoft Silences Critics
Microsoft tries to suppress facts while faking 'demand' by imposing slop on everybody, everywhere
openai.com Traffic Said to Have Fallen 50% in the Past Three Months, Reports Say It Nearly Ran Out of Money to Borrow
After the slop frenzy all we'll have left is environmental destruction
IBM Kills OzLabs, Signalling An Attack on Free Software (a Sign for Red Hat)
ibiblio also appears to have died (or experiences critical issues)
Red Hat Vice President Leaving After Nearly Two Decades
IBM's culture of secrecy is not compatible with Free software
Links 20/01/2026: "ChatGPT Health" (Latest Distraction From Being Insolvent) Flops and Raises Concerns, "The U.S. Military Faces a Reckoning on Greenland"
Links for the day
Rudeness and Vulgarity Won't Stop Journalism About Free Software
we seem to be on the right path
Readers Pleased With Layout Changes
Two days ago we began improving clarity and accessibility in the site
IBM Plans for Layoffs Becoming Clearer With "Employee Reviews"
Of course this impacts Red Hat as well
IBM is Outsourcing Red Hat's Fedora to Slop to 'Save Money'
If IBM cared about quality rather than alleged "cost savings" (cutting corners), it would assign more IBM staff to Fedora, but instead the exact opposite happened, with the likes of Cotton and Miller removed from the project
European Patent Office (EPO) Industrial Actions Formally Start in Two Hours
As per the latest (revised) action plan, today workers will slow down their work and limit patent grants
Microsoft Under Fresh Investigation by the Italian Competition Authority
In 2025 we kept a running tally of 30,000+ Microsoft layoffs, so 40k this year would not be unthinkable
The "Alicante Mafia" - Part VI - More Strikes Planned at the EPO, Starting This Month
Yesterday we said that friends of Berenguer or inside Berenguer's circle may have left
Gemini Links 20/01/2026: New Tea, Using a Roku at a Hotel, and "Voltage-Based Power Management for Any Raspberry Pi"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Monday, January 19, 2026
IRC logs for Monday, January 19, 2026