Gemini* and Gopher

• Personal/Opinions

  • Notes on an overheard conversation while on the way to lunch

    “Ooh look! That is such a cool yellow Mini Cooper!”

    “Neat.”

    “It's so mini.”

    “So many what?”

    “It's too … Mini Cooper.”

    “There's only one Mini Cooper.”

    “Pththththththththth.”

• Technology and Free Software

  • Pro1 X Repair

    I own an F(x)tec Pro1 X, a smartphone with a sliding-keyboard form factor. The device had a troubled production, badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and F(x)tec essentially ran out of money in the middle of the fulfillment process. As a result, most spare parts for the Pro1 X are almost impossible to find.

    Two weeks ago, I accidentally dropped my Pro1 X on concrete, and the screen was severely damaged. Fortunately, the Elephone U Pro uses the same screen as the Pro1 X, so spares are readily available. I already had one on the way for an unrelated reason. H

  • My Scotoma image (migraine-related visuals)

    Every so often I get these. I was scared the first time, but then I learned that it is not that unusual -- I am experiencing a pre-migraine aura, which, in my case, _does not_ develop into a headache. Thank god for that at least.

    But it does temporarily blind me.

    It starts out as a small glare-like area, hard to focus on. Both eyes are affected identically.

  • Internet/Gemini

    • The Mercury Protocol

      Early on I asked questions about why we bother with TLS here. I still ask those questions.

    • THAT: Absolute Maximum

      I was pondering how an analog computer such as THAT could be programmed to solve a practical control problem. Say, if your vehicle is a distance of y away from a certain position, and the computer has control over vehicle velocity, what should your velocity be as you get closer and closer to the desired position. A natural place to start, I figured, was the simple DE [...]

  • Programming

    • Markov Chains

      Minimal code would be a script that selects from the set of letters G, E, and B. This could produce B, GB, EBG, or longer such chains or characters if left to run for too long.