Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 21/08/2023: Trust Model Online and Gemini Radio



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • One Meal

        One meal per day is pretty tricky; you probably don't want to drop from three or more to one directly. Maybe start with two per day, say around 09:00 and another 16:00 or so, and keep at that for a week before going to one. Another good idea is lots of fibre—sugar wafers or whatever are not going to tide you over the hours like a good bowl of brown rice and lentils or beans and brown rice or brown rice with tofu. Variety! A lot of modern food is somewhat lacking in fiber, though, or if there is fiber it comes with, like, 7000% of the daily salt requirement. 7000% salt was probably okay if you were working in a foundry and sweated out that much, but maybe not for keypushers.

      • 🔤SpellBinding: CEKLURN Wordo: STIRS
      • Summer storm/apple tree

        We are having the biggest storm in 80 years pass through today/tonight (it is just befor 8pm local time) where I live (Southern California Mountains). It mostly just rained all day like most other rainy days. But I guess the accumulated water caused my soil structure to weaken deep enough that one of our two apple trees (the one that produces more apples) collapsed onto my driveway a bit ago, just narowly missing my car (which I have moved back out of the way of the other apple tree).

        We've been getting around .33" of rain an hour, but it is about to bump up to 1.4" of rain an hour for a few hours with 50ish mph winds. We are hoping none of the other trees around us, particularly the large evergreen trees, fall. We've moved my daughter's bed away from windows and toward the low center of the house out of an abundance of caution.

      • Venn diagram of improbability â­•â­•

        I have a colleague who likes to play the banjo. He's an enthusiast for this rather niche instrument, which he's been playing for some years now.

        Recently the company moved to a new online meeting tool, and there have been teething troubles. Today the same colleague was in a meeting with someone and they had issues with screen sharing. Everyone in the room was trying to ignore the half of the meeting we could hear, but we were all as surprised as he was when said "When I accepted the screen share, you heard BANJO MUSIC?!!"

      • Thoughts on Oppenheimer (2023)

        I just saw Oppenheimer. What a film! It was probably the first film that I've gotten really immersed in. Some people disliked how quick the cuts are, but I loved it. I finally felt like I'd seen a film with a pace matching the speed of thought. I didn't feel patronized by the movie, and I was easily able to follow the different scenes as the film jumped between time periods.

        Oppenheimer was so optimistic about how nuclear bombs would be thought about. I won't spoil the movie (thô you can read what he thought from many sources), but I will say it reminds me of the finvenkismo of the early Esperantistoj, who thought that Esperanto would solve war and promote cross-cultural acceptance instead of chauvinism. Evidente, la tuta mondo post Esperanto ne eniris denove al milito.

    • Photos

    • Technology and Free Software

      • Re: Dark mode/light mode

        The good news is that Lagrange is already fully equipped for this because it has been implemented for macOS and iOS.

        The bad news is that supporting this on further platforms requires specialized code for each platform. There's already a feature request open on GitHub about adding support for this on Windows, for instance.

        I understand you're talking about GNOME, though. Since Lagrange uses none of the GNOME libraries, it cannot easily access the system-wide setting for dark mode. At a glance it seems at least D-Bus is required, and Lagrange does not use that (directly) either. D-Bus would be a pretty useful addition for Linux desktop environments for a few other reasons, though.

      • Retro Mail Call (New pickup!)

        Every now and then I get nostalgic, get online and order some of the gadgets that I craved for back in the day. I am a Palm OS enthusiast, former dev and these devices will always have a soft spot in my heart.

        In todays mail bag, we get a Palm Tungsten T3! It's one of the more "modern" Palm devices that sport Bluetooth (which can be handy for setting up a internet connection, routing it through your phone or computer). Only appropriately that I would take a picture of it using my Palm Zire 71, hence the slightly blurry pictures.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • Thoughs on trust, SSL and Gemini

          People criticize Gemini for standardizing trust-of-first-use policy of TLS certificate verification (FAQ:4.5.5), discussing security and scaling. Here is my take on these issues.

          [...]

          Whenever you connect to a server you never connected before and have no a-priory reason to trust, it doesn't really matter whether it has a self-signed certificate or a certificate signed by CA. Well, there is a little difference -- you will know if your DNS response was spoofed in case of CA-signed certificate. But you still has no reason to trust the content server sends to you.

          Now suppose this server happens to publish source code of some useful program. You download the source, audit it diligently and deem non-malicious and useful. Server publishes new version of the software, and another one, and you eventually develop trust into the server and its certificate.

        • Gemini Radio - Episode 54

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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Slow News, But Not Slow for Us
So far this year (maybe premature to say so because many journalists are still on holiday) the news is very, very slow
A Golden Opportunity that Canonical and IBM Intentionally Ignore (in Order to Appease Microsoft)
They're too dependent on Microsoft "sweeteners"
Canada: Windows at All-Time Lows, ChromeOS and GNU/Linux Rise to Almost 8%
It is widely known that many schools in Canada adopted ChromeOS
In Mexico, Windows Down to All-Time Low, GNU/Linux Up to All-Time High
Yesterday we showed that in North America adoption of GNU/Linux is growing fast
GNU/Linux and ChromeOS in Australia Tripled in 5 Years? That's How statCounter Sees It....
Based on statCounter...
GNU/Linux Reaches 5% in Indonesia (Population Size Near 300 Million)
You would need not envy "Microsoft Indonesia" right now
GNU/Linux Back to 5% in 2025
That's not counting ChromeOS
GNU/Linux Gained About 0.5% Last Year, According to StatCounter
2024 ended with "proper" GNU/Linux at +0.4%, ChromeOS at +0.1% (based on statCounter/StatCounter)
 
[Memes] Two Dictators. Donald Trump Loves TikTok.
This is a problem
Jeff Bezos (Washington Post) Spreads Political Propaganda Against the Internet (and the Web)
Then people wonder why trust in the media has gotten so low
In Hong Kong and Taiwan People Flock to GNU/Linux (Unlike Windows, GNU/Linux Doesn't Capture Screenshots of Everything You Do and Add Back Doors to Encryption)
Hong Kong and Taiwan have bright engineers. They know Windows is a joke.
When You Get Your "Latest Technology News" From an LLM Slop Farm
They still call themselves "BetaNews" (the word "news" is in the name)
For Software Freedom (and for Broader Personal Freedom), the Goalposts Are Moving
we need to open up our eyes and identify/classify other threats, such as social control media
Engineering Things to Last 70 Years in an 8-Bit, 16-Bit, and 32-Bit World
Nowadays they make things that barely last 7 years
GNU/Linux Rose to 5% in Belgium (It Was 1.66% Last January)
Trebling in 12 months, according to statCounter
[Meme] Crushing Free Speech Before Even Taking Public Office...
someone who isn't even president is already meddling
[Meme] Be a Good and Obedient Citizen. Use Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft actively works with China to censor search results and spy on citizens
The Free Software Foundation Extends Cutoff Date (Two More Weeks), Raises About 330,000 Dollars
Isn't it predictable that people who worked for Microsoft GitHub gave money to some unscrupulous lawyers in London to harass us?
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, January 02, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, January 02, 2025
Windows Falls to ~22% in France and Spain, Based on statCounter
Windows 'corrected' at 22% "market share" in France - i.e. roughly the same as Spain
Gemini Links 02/01/2025: Goals 2025, Microsofter Clickbaiting Again, Advice for the Newbie or Returning Perl Hacker
Links for the day
[Meme] Wrestling With Pigs in Social Control Media
“Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.” ― George Bernard Shaw
Even Worse Than Racism at the Linux Foundation
And worse than corporate colonialism
It's Not Just MElon X, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, All Social Control Media is Basically a Digital Weapon
The question is, what are you going to do about it?
Microsoft Especially Important to Phoronix (It Also Gives Gifts to Phoronix)
A whole section devoted to Microsoft, mostly with puff pieces/ads of proprietary things
Microsoft Plummets to New Lows in Azerbaijan
Perhaps the Azerbaijani population is looking for something other than the NSA's foremost facilitator
We Need Something More Like DMOZ, Not Search Engines and Bill-Funded Wikipedia (Censoring Unfaltering Information About Powerful People and Institutions)
era of LLMs trained on Wikipedia... Microsoft tried - and failed - to game the narrative to the same extent Google does
Tens of Billions of Dollars Down the Drain (Microsoft Lost the Search "Arms Race" or Market)
But caused injury to itself and others, just like with Nokia in mobile
Seems Like GNU/Linux Usage Doubled in Japan Last Year
So says statCounter data anyway
GNU/Linux Measured at 4.4% in South America and 3.34% in Africa, Based on 2025's Preliminary Data
All-time highs
GNU/Linux Leaps to 6% in the United States of America (Not Even Counting ChromeOS)
Additionally, the FSF in Boston is managing well
GNU/Linux Usage in Europe Leaps Above 6% in 2025
This is a big deal because a lot of Microsoft's revenue came from Europe
Windows Falls to 22.5% Worldwide, Android Up to 48%
The world's (by far) biggest populations don't use Windows much
Links 02/01/2025: Production of Apple Vision Pro Halted, More on Public Domain Day 2025
Links for the day
Links 02/01/2025: OpenAI Whistleblower Suchir Balaji Alleged to Have Been Murdered, Islamic Terrorism in New Orleans
Links for the day
Gemini Links 02/01/2025: Friends, Blunder Valley, and New Year
Links for the day
Links 02/01/2025: Violence Crisis in South Africa and Arrest Warrant for South Korean Leadership
Links for the day
Rumour: IBM Will Try to Induce Mass Resignations This Month Using R.T.O. (Just Like Amazon Does This Month)
Amazon will start some of this in March, sources have told us
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, January 01, 2025
IRC logs for Wednesday, January 01, 2025
Last Day of 2024 Was Spent by Brittany Day Publishing Only Fake 'Articles' (LLM Slop) About "Linux", Joined by Serial Slopper Brian Fagioli
Not even a holiday was enough to stop Day from "spamming" the Web with fake 'articles' (LLM slop) about "Linux"
Gemini Links 01/01/2025: Looking Back at 2024 and Happy 2025
Links for the day
Addendum: What the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) Really Is
Not serum free light chains (SFLC)
Microsoft FakeHub: Identity Theft in Microsoft GitHub (Microsoft Won't Bother Addressing It; It Gives a False Impression of Adoption by GNU/Linux Veterans)
This is the same company that kept intact deleted accounts and counted them as if they're live and active (to hide the gradual abandonment and demise of the "hub")
Microsoft Tries to Force People Into Vista 11 by Stopping Vista 10 Patching, Herding Them Into TPMdom
It's backfiring
CyberShow Blog Upgraded, RSS Feed Added
CyberShow Blog has just had somewhat of a facelift
Sitting on a Mountain of Money (Almost 8 Million Dollars) is "Pro Bono"
Does the general public realise what SFC is?
Software Freedom Conservancy Inc (SFC) Lost Revenue and Also Got Rid of "Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion" (Sage A Sharp, Formerly Known as Sarah Sharp, Who Ran an Ill-Spirited Campaign Against Linus Torvalds, Theodore Tso, and Other Prominent Linux Developers)
Not much needs to be said; a little needs to be shown (from an authoritative source, the IRS)
In Operating Systems, Google Was the Biggest Winner in 2024
Nevertheless, 10% of the managers are to be laid off shortly (after a leak led to confirmation by the CEO)
FSF-EEE (Colonial Splinter Group Based in Germany) Promotes Microsoft
New and misleading
Did GAFAM or IBM 'Downgrade' Pensions to 'Insurance' (Which Can be Denied)?
'Insurance' does not mean what it may sound like
Gemini Protocol Continued to Grow in 2024
it's no longer hosted from home
Geoffrey Knauth, FSF President and Treasurer, Comments on the FSF Raising Over $300,000
Now almost $304,000
Links 01/01/2025: Whistleblowers Shunned, EU/Germany Blasts Twitter (X, MElon) Interference
Links for the day
Mother of OpenAI Whistleblower Says Her Son Was Murdered (He Accused OpenAI of Copyright Violations at a Massive Scale, OpenAI is Running Out of Money That It Borrowed)
"Mother of OpenAI Whistleblower Alleges He Was Murdered, Says There Were Signs of Struggle"
Housekeeping and Productivity
The less we tinker with those things (system administration tasks), the more we can write and curate links
The Engineering Side in 2024: A Look Back, Taking Stock
uptime was somewhere around 99.95%
Dr. Andy Farnell Nominates Gromit the Dog "as an Unlikely Hacker Hero."
The world needs more decent engineers
The Free Software Foundation's (FSF) Holiday Fund-Raising Campaign Reaches About $303,000
in some parts of the US it's still 2024
[Meme] The Microsoft Syndrome
Typical Microsoftism
Gemini Links 01/01/2025: Reflecting on 2024 and FSMs
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, December 31, 2024
IRC logs for Tuesday, December 31, 2024