Leftovers

• Ruben Schade ☛ Australian floor numbering

  Last week I talked about some issues I had with a pair of lift indicators, like a gentleman. I mentioned that:

  P1 is such a ridiculous number for a floor, but I digress.

  Me, digress? Never! But it’s time to address this.

  I grew up in Singapore and Malaysia, countries with English-speaking populations that understand how to number floors in buildings. Floors are numbered, and basements are prefaced with a B.

• Hackaday ☛ Saving Australia’s Ants With Age Of Empires II

  Australia’s native meat ants are struggling. Invasive species of foreign ants have a foothold on the continent, and are increasingly outcompeting their native rivals for territory. Beyond simple encroachment, they pose a hazard to native animals and agriculture.

• Hackaday ☛ Particle Accelerator… On A Chip

  When you think of a particle accelerator, you usually think of some giant cyclotron with heavy-duty equipment in a massive mad-science lab. But scientists now believe they can create particle accelerators that can fit on a chip smaller than a penny. The device uses lasers and dielectrics instead of electric fields and metal. The conventional accelerators are limited by the peak fields the metallic surfaces can withstand. Dielectric materials can withstand much higher fields but, of course, don’t conduct electricity.

• Techdirt ☛ Would You Trust All Of Your Financial Services & Money To Elon Musk?

  Yes, I’m well are of Betteridge’s Law, and yes, this headline is designed to deliberately obey it.

• Hackaday ☛ William Blake Was Etching Copper In 1790

  You may know William Blake as a poet, or even as #38 in the BBC’s 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. But did you know that Blake was also an artist and print maker who made illuminated (flourished) books?

• Hackaday ☛ AI In A Box Envisions AI As A Private, Offline, Hackable Module

  [Useful Sensors] aims to embed a variety of complementary AI tools into a small, private, self-contained module with no internet connection with AI in a Box. It can do live voice recognition and captioning, live translation, and natural language conversational interaction with a local large language model (LLM). Intriguingly, it’s specifically designed with features to make it hack-friendly, such as the ability to act as a voice keyboard by sending live transcribed audio as keystrokes over USB.

• Education

  • The Straits Times ☛ School's out forever in ageing Japan

    Public money is available to help municipalities manage old schools and repurpose the disused buildings.

• Hardware

  • Hackaday ☛ Tile-Based Macro Pad Keeps Getting Better

    If there’s one thing we love to see around here, it is the various iterations of a project. If you keep up with Keebin’, you know that [Michael Gardi] created a tile-based macropad after developing a tile system for yet another project. This macro pad would have 3D-printed tiles next to the keys that would not only make them easy to relabel, but give [Michael] a novel way to change the function when changing the tile using magnets and Hall effect sensors.

  • Hackaday ☛ 2023 Halloween Hackfest: Organ-playing Skeleton Livens Up Halloween

    Every hacker appreciates how off-the-shelf parts can be combined into something greater, and [bryan.lowder] demonstrates this beautifully with his organ-playing skeleton, a wonderful entry to our 2023 Halloween Contest!

  • Hackaday ☛ Rotating Necked Guitar Looks Difficult To Play

    Have you ever looked at a guitar and thought “Nah, that’s way too easy to play.”[Mattias Kranz] seems to have done, so he built the 360 Guitar, a new instrument with a circular, rotating neck. The rotating neck means that it can have more strings than most: we think that it has sixteen, but it’s hard to tell. Anyway, it has a lot of strings and looks utterly impractical, which makes it an exciting project.

• Health/Nutrition/Agriculture

  • New York Times ☛ This Florida School District Banned Cellphones. Here’s What Happened.

    Schools in Orlando took a tougher approach than a new state law required. Student engagement increased. So did the hunt for contraband phones.

  • Latvia ☛ Initiative calls for ban of smartphones at schools

    An initiative has been launched on the portal Manabalss.lv on the ban of smart devices in primary and secondary schools, reports Kurzeme regional television on October 30. Some schools surveyed in Liepāja support such an idea, but there are also opponents.

  • New York Times ☛ Do School Smartphone Bans Work?

    Proponents say no-phone rules reduce student distractions and bullying. Critics say the bans could hinder student self-direction and critical thinking.

  • Federal News Network ☛ A promising new avenue to help prevent suicides among veterans

    Social media posts reveal a lot about the posters. That is why some agencies look at job candidates' or security clearance applicants' social control media accounts. Now research shows how monitoring social control media posts can reveal indicators of suicide … and therefore help prevent it. Federal Drive Host Tom Temin spoke with the man doing the research: Harvard psychology professor Matthew Nock, PH.D.

  • University of Michigan ☛ UMich partners with JED Campus to support student mental health

    The University of Michigan is collaborating with national mental health program JED Campus to improve student wellbeing on campus, as announced in an Oct. 12 statement from the U-M Well-being Collective. The Jed Foundation is a suicide prevention nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the mental health of teenagers and young adults.

  • Silicon Angle ☛ Transforming healthcare: The seismic potential of AI-powered healthcare solutions [Ed: Selling buzzwords and other mindless garbage by piggybacking the pandemic, which we didn't even solve.]

    As the world recovers from the devastating effects of the COVID pandemic, the state of our healthcare systems continues to be a pressing issue.

  • RFA ☛ Kim Jong Un orders military food reserves restored ‘at all costs’

    North Korea released much of its rice reserves to keep people from starving during the pandemic.

  • New York Times ☛ How Eight Straight Rainy Weekends Devastated Apple-Picking Farms

    Eight straight weekends of rain have pushed the pick-your-own orchards toward financial disaster.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China’s smog-covered north on highest pollution alert as visibility drops

    The authorities have warned the public that visibility could drop to less than 50m.

  • WhichUK ☛ Is all ultra-processed food bad for you?

    Ultra-processed foods have been linked with negative health outcomes but some do have a place in a healthy diet

  • Science Alert ☛ She Heard Noises Inside Her Ear For Days. Then She Learned The Horrifying Truth.

    "You're obviously going to feel the crawling sensation."

  • Science Alert ☛ Even Healthy People Can Be Tricked Into Hearing Voices That Aren't There

    Is there anybody there?

  • Latvia ☛ Urgent need for blood in Latvia's hospitals

    Compared to the previous year, demand for blood components increased by at least 15% monthly this year, Daugavpils Regional Hospital told Latgale television on October 30. A similar tendency has been observed in all regions of Latvia, and it is increasingly difficult to ensure this demand.

  • Science Alert ☛ FDA Issues Eye Drops Warning After Deadly Outbreak of Bacterial Infections

    Dozens of products are considered dangerous.

• Proprietary/Artificial Intelligence (AI)

  • Elon Musk’s X loses half its value within a year

    Elon Musk’s venture into social media, rebranded as X from Twitter, faces a tumultuous journey. Valued at $19 billion, a stark contrast to the $44 billion price tag just a year ago, the company grapples with staff layoffs, dwindling ad revenue, and $13 billion in debt. Musk’s ambitious pivot towards subscriptions yields underwhelming results, with less than 1% of users on board. Nevertheless, he aims to transform X into a multifaceted “everything app,” competing with industry giants like Google and Microsoft. With a steep drop in value, the prospect of taking X public remains uncertain, leaving its future hanging in the balance.

• Security

  • Privacy/Surveillance

    • Silicon Angle ☛ Meta is offering ad-free versions of Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram to keep EU regulators at bay

      Meta Platforms Inc. today announced an advertisement-free, paid subscription service available for users of Facebook (Farcebook) and Instagram in the European Union.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Meduza ☛ ‘Nobody will evade accountability’: Dagestan governor blames ‘traitors and Banderites’ after anti-Semitic riot leaves 20 injured and 60 in custody — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Letters across borders Why you should write to Russia’s political prisoners. And how to do it. — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Makhachkala airport in Dagestan resumes operation following anti-Semitic riot, flights from Tel Aviv temporarily redirected — Meduza

  • Meduza ☛ Vladimir Putin to hold ‘major meeting’ to address anti-Semitic riot in Dagestan — Meduza

  • New York Times ☛ Riot in Dagestan as Mob Storms Airport Looking for Israeli Passengers

    A mob in the Russian republic of Dagestan stormed runways looking for a flight carrying Jewish passengers. The episode highlighted the threat of ethnic strife in Russia.

  • New York Times ☛ Suspected Gunman Holds Hostages in Near Tokyo

    The episode followed a report of a shooting at a nearby hospital. Incidents involving guns are rare in Japan.

  • AntiWar ☛ The ‘Genocide Moment’ [Ed: antiwar.com siding with Hamas, the famous "antiwar" movement]

    Reprinted from Consortium News with the author’s permission. Israel’s systematic and wanton destruction of Gaza has raised long-standing issues of its political and legal culpability over the treatment of Palestinians to a new level of seriousness.

  • LRT ☛ Insufficient industrial capacity to blame for delays in artillery supplies to Kyiv – Lithuanian president

    Delays in the provision of artillery shells promised by the European Union to Ukraine stem from insufficient military industrial capacity, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda believes.

  • RFERL ☛ White House Says Offsets For Israel, Ukraine Aid Would Be 'Devastating' For U.S. Security

    The White House said on October 30 that offsets sought by House Republicans for Israel and Ukraine spending would be "devastating" for U.S. national security.

  • RFERL ☛ One Dead In Russian Attacks On Southern Ukraine

    A Russian missile attack on a ship-repair plant in the Odesa region on October 30 injured four employees and damaged the administrative building and plant equipment, the regional prosecutor's office announced.

  • RFERL ☛ U.S. Condemns Airport Riot In Daghestan, Says Russian Claim Of Ukrainian Involvement 'Absurd'

    The United States has condemned a violent anti-Semitic event at an airport in Russia's predominantly Muslim region of Daghestan in which a mob overran the airport and threatened an aircraft arriving from Tel Aviv.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US VP Harris to discuss Israel, Ukraine with UK's Sunak on London visit

    U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict and \"consult on next steps in our support for Ukraine\" with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak during a visit to London later this week, a White House official said on Monday.

  • The Strategist ☛ Russia, a Chinese cargo ship and the sabotage of subsea cables in the Baltic Sea

    Earlier this month, as the world’s attention was focused on the horror unfolding in Israel and Gaza [...]

  • RFERL ☛ Co-Owner Of Russia's Alfa-Group Arrested In France For Money Laundering

    Authorities in France have detained a co-owner of Russia's Alfa-Group on suspicion of money laundering, the newspaper Le Monde reported on October 30.

  • Breach Media ☛ Activists occupy 17 MPs’ offices, read names of dead Palestinian children

    Several activists arrested during sit-ins at MPs' offices, as part of cross-country protest demanding Canadian government support a ceasefire and end to siege of Gaza

  • Breach Media ☛ Canada has voted against Palestine 150 times at UN in past decade

    The Liberal government’s vote against a United Nation ceasefire resolution is the latest in their complicity with Israeli aggression

  • RFERL ☛ French Minister Says Paris Will Deport 39 Russians

    Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told French broadcaster RMC radio on October 30 that Paris plans to deport 39 Russian citizens who, according to French officials, are followers of radical Islam.

  • LRT ☛ Lithuania sends note to Belarus over threatening statement

    Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry on Monday handed a note of protest to a representative of Belarus over a threatening statement by a Minsk official.

  • France24 ☛ Thousands feared displaced after armed groups, Myanmar junta forces clash near China border

    China's public security minister has held talks with Myanmar's junta on establishing peace along their shared border, state media said Tuesday, following clashes between ethnic armed groups and the military in Myanmar.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Drones target Iraq's Ain al-Asad airbase, no casualties, damage: Sources

    Two armed drones targeted Iraq’s Ain al-Asad airbase, which hosts U.S forces and other international forces in western Iraq, a security source and a government source told Reuters on Tuesday.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China security minister holds talks with junta in Myanmar after border clashes

    Mr Wang Xiaohong met the junta’s home minister, Lieutenant-General Yar Pyae.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China finds foreign-funded meteorological observation points in sensitive sites

    Some observation points were set up around military units and military industrial enterprises.

  • RFA ☛ Manila rejects Beijing’s account of sea encounter

    Manila and Beijing square off over South China Sea incident, seen as China’s test of U.S. commitment in region.

  • The Straits Times ☛ US tried to pressure Malaysia on Palestine-Israel conflict, says PM Anwar Ibrahim

    This came about because Malaysia refused to condemn Hamas’ actions, he added.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Two South Korean police officers stabbed outside presidential compound

    One was stabbed in the stomach while the other was stabbed in the left arm.

  • New York Times ☛ Police Were Told Maine Gunman Had Threatened to Carry Out Shooting Spree

    The Army Reserve and a Maine sheriff’s department knew of a reservist’s deteriorating mental health five months before he carried out America’s deadliest mass shooting this year.

  • The Straits Times ☛ North Korea's closure of Africa embassies a sign of economic hardships - South's ministry

    North Korea's recent closing of its diplomatic missions in Angola and Uganda was a sign that the reclusive country is struggling to make money overseas because of international sanctions, South Korea's unification ministry said on Tuesday.

• Environment

  • Science Alert ☛ 'Nightmare Scenario': Extreme Storms Now Breach The Worst-Case Scenario

    A pivotal moment in the history of weather forecasting.

  • Wildlife/Nature

    • Latvia ☛ Kuldīga wages tech war against fish poachers

      River Venta has high water levels this autumn, providing favorable conditions for salmon – and for poachers. The municipality of Kuldīga has installed surveillance cameras but poachers have also equipped themselves with thermal cameras and drones that allow them to record the approaching of inspectors, Latvian Radio reported October 31.

    • The Straits Times ☛ Python appears on windscreen of car on Malaysia highway

      The car's driver had avoided making sideward movements while driving to help keep the snake from falling off.

    • Science Alert ☛ This Halloween, Feast Your Eyes on Terrifying Finds From a Deep-Sea Fisherman

      The nightmare is real.

• Finance

  • Techdirt ☛ FCC Robocall Enforcement A Feckless Mess, Experts Once Again Tell Congress

    We’ve long noted how absurd it is that scammers, debt collectors, and greedy telemarketers have ruined our voice communications networks. We’ve also noted how a big reason our robocall problem never gets fixed is because the regulator in charge of it (the FCC) routinely fixates on scammers and not the “legit” companies that use the same tactics and routinely undermine reform and enforcement efforts.

  • New York Times ☛ U.S. Looks to Allay European Fears of a Subsidy War

    Wally Adeyemo, the deputy Treasury secretary, will argue in a speech in Germany that the Biden administration’s climate law is not protectionist.

  • New York Times ☛ Bank of Japan Takes Another Step Away From Easy Money

    The Bank of Japan said it would be more flexible in how it manages government bond yields, citing rising inflation.

  • YLE ☛ More families in Finland finding everyday life a "struggle for survival"

    There are an estimated 120,000 children living in low-income families in Finland.

  • The happiest country in the world? This Finnish company with a 10% lifetime employee turnover shows their real secret is trust

    Finland is a high-trust society, and Finns trust their institutions and their fellow citizens. That same trust extends to the workplace and is visible in how employees trust their leaders and their colleagues.

  • The Strategist ☛ Proposed US rule for electric vehicles could shut out Australia’s critical minerals

    In April, the US Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposed a rule relating to the ‘new clean vehicle credit’ under the Inflation Reduction Act.

  • BBC ☛ Firms going bust on track for worst year since 2009 - BBC News

    Insolvencies rise 10% from a year ago in the three months to the end of September, official figures show.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Straits Times ☛ ST Picks: Why Fentanylware (TikTok) response to Vietnam govt’s demands may impact wider region

  • RFERL ☛ After Months Of Jockeying, Montenegro Approves New Coalition Government

    Following weeks of talks, Montenegro's parliament on October 31 approved a new coalition government headed by economist Milojko Spajic of the Europe Now Movement (PES).

  • Federal News Network ☛ Furlough warning from Federal Labor Relations Authority chairman

    In today's Federal Newscast: The Transportation Security Administration is not retreating on certain cybersecurity rules. Correctional officers at Leavenworth federal penitentiary are holding a picket line today. And the Federal Labor Relations Authority Chairman sounds a warning about furloughs.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Jokowi’s influence looms large as Indonesian presidential election draws near

    But concerns have been raised about alleged attempts by Mr Widodo to interfere in elections.

  • University of Michigan ☛ ACLU hosts local elected officials at town hall

    A five-person panel of government officials from Washtenaw County spoke to more than 50 students at an American Civil Liberties Union town hall on Friday in the Ford School of Public Policy in a discussion to hear from young constituents about their opinions on local policies.

  • RFA ☛ In China, floral tributes pile up for Li Keqiang

    Police forestall mass memorial gatherings for former premier, censors delete social control media posts.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China to cremate ‘outstanding’ leader Li Keqiang on Thursday

    On Nov 2, national flags will fly at half-mast at locations including Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

  • Hong Kong Free Press ☛ Canada bans WeChat and Kaspersky on government phones

    Canada on Monday banned popular Chinese messaging app WeChat and Russian platform Kaspersky from government smartphones and other mobile devices, citing privacy and security risks. The suite of applications would be immediately removed from government-issued devices and users will be blocked from downloading them in the future, said a statement.

  • Security Week ☛ Canada Bans WeChat and Kaspersky on Government Phones

    The Chief Information Officer of Canada determined that WeChat and Kaspersky applications present an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China scales back ‘loud and brash’ Pacific funding: Report

    Instead, Beijing now seeks to cement its footprint in a smaller number of “friendly states”.

  • The Straits Times ☛ China hopes EU adopts pragmatic, rational attitude in bilateral cooperation - foreign minister

    China hopes that the European Union (EU) will adopt a more pragmatic and rational attitude in cooperation with China, its foreign minister Wang Yi said.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia’s PAS has tough task wooing non-Muslim voters, analysts say

    Non-Muslims are concerned that their rights may be eroded should the Islamist party come to power.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • RFERL ☛ Moldova Blocks More Russian News Outlets For Alleged Election Influence

    Moldova has blocked access to the websites of major Russian news media on grounds that Russia is using them to try to influence upcoming local elections.

  • RFERL ☛ Telegram Blocks Channel That Published Calls To Seize Daghestan Airport

    The Telegram social-media platform has blocked the Utro Daghestan channel, days after an angry mob shouting anti-Semitic slogans stormed the airport in the Daghestani capital, Makhachkala.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Telegram to ban channels that called for anti-Semitic riots in Russia's Dagestan - founder

    The popular messaging platform Telegram will block channels that called for anti-Semitic violence in Russia's Dagestan region, Telegram founder Pavel Durov said on Monday.

  • BIA Net ☛ Microsoft blocks access to T24

    All of T24's content was inaccessible for 4 hours and 15 minutes.

  • University of Michigan ☛ Academic Freedom Lecture to feature free‑expression advocate

    Free-expression advocate Jonathan Friedman will give the keynote address at the Faculty Senate's Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Disqualified Move Forward reformist Pita sees long-term change in Thailand

    His party met with opposition for pledge to soften kingdom’s strict royal anti-defamation laws.

  • Reason ☛ Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre's Defamation Lawsuit Against Hall-of-Famer Shannon Sharpe Thrown Out

    Passes are parabolas, "you've got to be a sorry mofo to steal from the lowest of the low" was hyperbole.

  • RFA ☛ Hong Kong university fires Tiananmen historian after visa denial

    Professor Rowena He is let go after the immigration authorities refuse to renew her work visa.

  • The Straits Times ☛ Malaysia orders organisers to create ‘kill switch’ for foreign artists’ concerts

    The new directive is the result of an incident involving British band The 1975 in July.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • [EPSU] Collective bargaining news from the European Public Service Union

    The first round of bargaining for a 2024 pay increase for public sector workers took place on 20 October and as usual the basic aim was to agree the key figures on which the negotiations would be based. These were established as 9.15% for inflation (year to September 2023) and forecasts of a 0.4%-0.8% decline in economic output. The negotiations involve the public sector unions younion and GÖD. Meanwhile, the first round of bargaining in private health and social care was disappointing for the vida and GPA trade unions as the employer offer of an 8.8% increase was well below the unions’ claim for a 15% increase. The second round of negotiations will take place on 15 November and the unions are already planning a major conference of staff councils on 20 November in the expectation that the negotiations don’t produce a result and so to discuss potential mobilisation.

  • CS Monitor ☛ Deal reached: GM reaches tentative agreement with UAW to end strike

    An agreement between General Motors, Ford, and Jeep-maker Stellantis and the United Auto Workers union would include 25% general pay raises and cost of living adjustments. UAW President Shawn Fain called the deal “a turning point in the class war.”

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Techdirt ☛ Don’t Want To Be Part Of A Geofence Warrant Line-Up? You Have Options.

    Google is an internet powerhouse. It’s home to the most-used search engine in the world. It has its own operating system and its own line of cell phones. It also has its own cell phone service. It has ad services, a suite of web-based productivity apps that are (somewhat compatible) with a bunch of Microsoft software, an app store, and a considerable amount of consumer loyalty.

  • Techdirt ☛ T-Mobile Backs Off Price Hike They Pretended Wasn’t A Price Hike

    Earlier this month we noted how everything critics of the T-Mobile and Sprint merger predicted has come true, whether it’s 10,000 employees who have lost their jobs, the steady implementation of fees and price hikes, a lower overall quality product, or the company’s boring new branding.

• Monopolies

  • Techdirt ☛ Google Search Default Payments Seem To Be The Opposite Of What You’d Expect For A Monopoly

    I have no idea how the current Google antitrust trial will turn out, and frankly, I’m not sure it much matters. I mean, I’m sure it matters for Google, but I don’t see how either outcome will change all that much for anyone else. I have noted, repeatedly, that I’m much more interested in a different Google antitrust trial, regarding how it handles ads. That one strikes me as more akin to a traditional antitrust case, in which it argues that Google used a dominant position in the ads market to be in a position to extract much greater rents from basically everyone.

  • Patents

    • Unified Patents ☛ $2,000 for iCharts multimedia patent monopoly prior art

      A new PATROLL contest, with a $2,000 cash prize, was added seeking prior art on at least claim 1 of U.S. Patent 8,271,892, owned by iCharts, LLC, an NPE. The ‘892 patent monopoly generally relates to generating and sharing interactive charts. The interactive charts are generated in an online portal that allows users to share, customize the interactive features of the chart, and includes an interactive audio feature.

    • Analysis Confirms that WDTX Judge Shopping Generated More Lawsuits, Imposed High Costs

      Following his appointment to the Waco Division U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas (WDTX) in 2018, Judge Alan Albright quickly garnered a reputation for trying to attract plaintiffs in patent monopoly lawsuits.

  • Copyrights

    • Digital Music News ☛ Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour Movie Is Now the Highest Grossing Concert Film in History as Box Office Tops $200 Million

      Having raked in north of $200 million, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour film is now the top-grossing concert movie “in history,” according to AMC CEO Adam Aron. Meanwhile, the theater chain’s stock price spiked by close to nine percent during today’s trading.

Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • Are you evil like us?

    Warm was the night, soft was the breeze. Rekut was jolly happy to have escaped the city with a bag full of jewels. Truth to be told, most were not of the kind you'd sell in any reputable market. Firstly, of course, because they had been acquired in long nights of very disreputable work and, secondly, because they were mostly fakes with a second rate pearl hidden here and there. Nothing that bothered our jolly thief as his skills included a tongue sweet enough to convince a destitute old farmer of the dangers of wealth. But it was his swift feet who had saved him to a last trip to the pillory. Just two days before our story, the magistrates, after bearing his many previous wrongdoings, had warned him the month before that “next time, you get the drop.”

  • 🔤SpellBinding: PCEHIMA Wordo: HERBY

  • October 2023

    October was a very mixed feelings month. I started at Vigo with the trip back from Geocamp. We had a few friend gatherings but by mid-month we were devastated with a friend's 6 years old kid passing away after a three months fighting leukemia. Just the very same week we had a weekend trip to Lleida were the pretty good weather gave us some chance to visit the city. The rest of the month was pretty quiet and easy.

  • Spooky stories: My cat is radioactive

    Several months ago, my cat, Edison, started eating and drinking a lot, yet lost a lot of weight. He was constantly anxious, very warm, and his heart was racing all of the time. We took him to the veterinarian, and after running a blood test, we found out that Edison has a benign tumor on his thyroid.

  • Smash the... state?

    A li’l over a year ago I posted a couple of essays where I was expressing some hesitancy over the “smash the state” crowd of the traditional federating / decentralizing / bottom-up ancom where I made my political home during the 00s: [...]

  • How to use the AM/PM notation when talking about time

    In the US (and a few other places) the 24 hour clock is not commonly used or understood by the average person. When context cannot distinguish between two similarly numbered hours from different parts of the day, AM or PM is typically appended. However, if you find AM/PM confusing, then the following might help when communicating with others who are not familiar with the 24 hour clock. It is also handy for reading any times written this way (e.g. plane, train or bus times).

• Politics and World Events

  • My best guess at a climate solution

    It’s true that the ultra rich are most of the problem. We need to address that quickly and resolutely. But society’s wealth is built on fossils, which we need to ban, and everyone’s QoL is going to get hurt.

• Technology and Free Software

  • “And in other news, water is wet, and the Pope is Catholic … ”

    I was hesitant to talk about the problem I had in replying, because it's well known that the Big Players (Google and Microsoft in particular) don't really care about smaller email servers, making it difficult to self-host email.

  • Software Releases/Announcements

    • The Guppy Protocol Specification v0.4

      (I don't know if anyone is interested in this, but let's give it a try. It started as a thought experiment, when I looked for 'lighter' protocols I can implement on the Pico W. I see Spartan mentioned here and there, and I wonder if there's any interest in going even more ... spartan. If you find this interesting, useful or fun, and have ideas how to improve this protocol, I'd love to hear from you at my-first-name@dimakrasner.com!)

  • Programming

    • Not This Next Character

      One regular expression trick is to use "not this next character" or here "[^b]+"; this avoids various pitfalls of ".+b" (greedy) or ".+?b" (not greedy). A downside is that you need to have a character to match on that never appears in what is being skipped over.