Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • FOUR EYED

    Yesterday I picked up my first two pairs of glasses, probably not something worth sharing with the world, but it turns out writing this phlog has finally turned me into one of these self-important diarying sorts.

    Being short-sighted, I underestimated how odd it would be to have things get out of focus up close with the glasses on. Having known my father switching between one pair of glasses or another all my life, it shouldn't have been so surprising, but it was. Altogether quite a lot to get used to, although certainly there's a revelation to being able to put a certain form to the distant (and not so distant) blurs that I'm used to.

  • One of Céline's Lines in "Before Sunset"

    My partner is visiting her family this weekend, and I would've joined her but I've developed a nasty cold starting on Wednesday. A year or two ago I watched Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise" for the first time, and as a hopeless romantic, of course fell hard for it.

    So today being Valentine's Day, and having nothing in particular to do after work other than make some food for the weekend and hang out with my dogs, trying to forget the freezing temperatures outside, I decided to watch the sequel to Sunrise, "Before Sunset". I rented it on YouTube, had a quick supper, made a cup of coffee in the moka pot, and then settled in. Sunset is wonderful - kind of a tempered, more measured follow-up, where Jesse and Céline are not yet middle-aged, but also no longer young, at that age where people are making impossibly huge life choices, and where they themselves, by the end of the film, will make another of their own.

  • There is a void in waiting

    There is a void in waiting. Exciting things are coming, and they are coming soon. But still I must wait. Not for long anymore, but time slows down as I wait. I've got my thoughts here. I've got a home full of things I like and things I like to do, but nothing interests me while I wait for what's to come.

    I did schedule myself up to meet my friends in the coming days to help pass the time, but I'd say it's not quite accurate to say that I'd only done it to help pass the time for the things I'm actually waiting for. Rather, these activities have also now become things I'm waiting for, while tonight I still sit alone.

    I won't be alone for long. Not only do I arrange to meet people, these people also seek me out.

• Technology and Free Software

  • Internet/Gemini

    • RE: Moving Domains

      I sort-of don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm somewhat right-wing on economic policy (although not right-wing enough on social policy to like Trump overall). I prefer in general to deal with companies owned and operated from my own country, Australia. It retains the wealth within the local economy, and companies have to follow local laws, unlike say China where everything from IP law to the liberties of its people are thouroughly ignored in order to undercut businesses in the nations that they sell to.

      China was also in a trade war with Australia until recently, entirely banning imports of various products for which they were the largest export market for Australia, seemingly in order to intimidate politicians after our government took a skeptical view of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nobody here talked about avoiding Chinese goods, services, or companies. In fact the Chinese BYD car company launched in Australia and rapidly rose to popularity in the electric vehicle market, becoming the second biggest brand within a year of their 2022 introduction. At the same time as Chinese spying revelations, and Chinese naval vessles jumping around the edges of Australian waters around the coast.

      [...]

      I don't think I have a paid subscription with any internet service for purely personal use, foreign or otherwise. For subscription services I think it's just: ISP, Domain Registrar/host, VPS host. The first two are Australian companies.