Bonum Certa Men Certa

Gemini Links 24/07/2023: Checking out FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE and X.com is Stupid



  • Gemini* and Gopher

    • Personal/Opinions

      • 🔤SpellBinding: CHULRSI Wordo: PLYER
      • the image of an adult woman

        Over the years, I thought I'd be finally free from this teenage mindset to appear as mature as possible - like an adult, like a hyper organized successful person, who cares about the right things and discards the others, who never indulges in childish things and always knows what to say etc. - but I realize recently that it only changed its face, its expression, the overall goals, but at its core it remained and stayed the same! No matter the specifics, at its core was always the idea of becoming a type (or even trope) of desirable adult woman that was currently hyped in the view of society, someone who ticks all the boxes regarding her interest and hobbies and style, who is working, who is 'girlbossing', glamorous, eating a certain way etc etc.

      • Harvesting onions



        This is half of the crop: 43 onions (one isn't visible). I planted some sets out in April, on a whim (I wasn't planning to grow any this year), then felt bad for the left-over sets and planted those too, a month later. Successional planting isn't actually a very good idea with onions, and that second planting is looking a bit weedy compared to this one, but I'll make the best of it.

        When onions are ready to harvest, the green tops start to fall over; once around half of the crop has done that, you bend over the neck of the remaining ones, pull them, and set them out in a dry, airy place to start drying out. These onions are bred for storage - if they're harvested in optimum conditions and "cured" correctly, they might last for a whole year after harvest - at which point the new crop of onions will be ready. Plant enough of them each year, and you'll never have to buy an onion again.

    • Politics and World Events

      • Limping back to the center of the cyclone

        If Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Donald Trump represent above-average human beings, Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. are the insanely intelligent aliens us dumb-asses have been struggling to find. That ilk is *already among us*!

        Too bad stupidity can't see above its grade, huh?

        BTW, if you're unfamiliar with Scott Adams' daily YouTube show (he's a cartoonist cancelled by throngs of murmuring half-brained morons who believed the out-of-context script-ure fed them by their fundamentalist high-priests/high-priestesses (high-priestLesses? high-priestGesses? high-priestBesses? high-priestTesses? high-priestQesses? high-priest+esses?)), do make haste, as it was particularly fun today (and of course the past shows are retained).

      • A Haiku

        Stick head up own ass.

        ### Will it soon emerge, from mouth?

        ### Silently, waiting...

      • Sunset Gets Political II - Dark Days

        I normally avoid talking about politics outside of areas I feel like I have a strong enough understanding, and I usually don't feel comfortable expressing strong opinions on day-to-day politics. I'm uncomfortable with the political system in general and with both major US parties, and I'm ashamed of some of my past bad takes. I'm also really bad at expressing a lot of this kind of thing.

      • Getting Over Getting Dumped

        I get dumped more often than I'd like to admit. Well, I guess I'm admitting it right now to the tens of people reading this, but still. I just got dumped out of nowhere, again, so I went through my usual processes of getting over it and I figured I'd share what I do with all y'all for some fucking reason.

      • Emma Flint: "why the Barbie movie’s body diversity message shortchanges Ken"
    • Technology and Free Software

      • Checking out FreeBSD 13.2-RELEASE

        There are several differences compared to Linux. For example in the development process: unlike GNU/Linux, where the kernel, the userland tools and everything else is made by different projects, FreeBSD is a complete operating system. Everything (kernel, userland tools, some servers and documentation) is developed and maintained by the FreeBSD team.

        While the Linux kernel and most of the userland tools are licensed under the "copyleft" GNU GPL, the FreeBSD system is licensed under the "permissive" BSD license. As a result Apple could base main parts of it's MacOS on FreeBSD and make it proprietary software. I leave it to the reader if this is a good thing or not.

      • Internet/Gemini

        • I'm in love with Gem, and I feel fine

          I'm envious, but just don't have the time to go beyond a large list at this point in time.

        • Heads up: don't read this if you're a Gemini Content Idealist, because I guarantee it will disappoint - if not horrify - you

          I find the "MAGA wing" as detestably ignorant as the let's-repurpose-the-alphabet-to-describe-mostly-made-up-genders wing.

          But I'll likely be voting with the former because the latter thinks they know me and my character by way of my age ("old"), skin color ("white"), and gender ("male"). And what they "know" of me - not merely suspect, but know with certainty! - through that ridiculously moronic categorization is I'm "privileged", a "supremacist", and spent all my life plotting to ruin life for all who aren't an "old white male".

          Can you see why I might vote against that - if not occasionally want to seek refuge in a "small town"? ;-)

        • The LLM's Aren't Looking Here Yet

          When I ask Google Bard to access specific websites, it usually has no trouble finding the information I'm looking for. This can be helpful if I'm looking for answers in a large body of documentation - instead of combing the docs for an answer to an obscure question, I can ask Bard where I need to look and save a lot of trouble.

        • X is stupid

          I make no secret of my disdain for Elon Musk (nor indeed for any m/billionaire). The man is certifiable and incredibly immature, which combined with his immense wealth and incurious nature makes for a pretty dangerous person. I guess we're lucky he seems to be focusing all his efforts on destroying the brand of his new expensive toy. It could be worse.

          When I was a kid, I used to play a Sega Genesis game called "Road Rash" a lot. I loved that game. The motorbikes, the violence, the incredible soundtrack. It had it all. One thing I remember really liking was the character names. Names like "Axle" and "Teflon Mike" just sounded so cool to my 8 year old ears, to the point that I started trying to create similarly cool names for stories I wrote. My sister mocked me relentlessly, but she just didn't get it.

          I get the feeling that Elon feels the same way about "X" as I did about those character names. A overwhelming sense of childish "that's cool!" that everyone else thinks is foolish.

        • ChatGPT4 spam will help the internet because companies will have to trade growth for trust
        • GPT4 Spam Not Gonna Help

          Yeah, right. First, IDs?? This doesn't sacrifice anything besides privacy, and probably only makes things more centralized, since users won't trust anyone but a few reputable Big Guys with their government ID.

          Second, subscriptions. Well, that just decreases accessibility and makes social networks private clubs for rich people. Also, centrally reliant on credit card companies.

          Third, invite-only signups. This one has less problems, and definitely "sacrific[es] growth for trust". But do we want to be in closed-off invite-only silos? Wouldn't this scenario make federation pretty tricky? Most importantly, I doubt big growth-oriented companies will choose this option if they can avoid it. More likely, they'll go the centralized and privacy invading route of government ID verification.


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



Recent Techrights' Posts

Car Companies Fail Because They Don't Manufacture What Costumers Actually Want
They try to impose their dumb vision on purchasers
Links 24/07/2026: Mass Layoffs at Patreon, Netflix Deemed Bad for People's Brains
Links for the day
Google Spreads Misinformation, Google's Slop Makes Stuff Up and Calls That "Intelligence"
Google very well understands (and even publicly admits so, albeit only for legal reasons) that the slop does not work
US is Insolvent, GAFAM is Buying Time by Hiding (Not Disclosing) Its True Debt Which Explains Never-ending Layoffs (Unrelated to Slop or "Efficiency Drives")
Five Tech Giants are Hiding $1.65tn in AI Debt, Using the Trick that Toppled Enron
PIP Apocalypse (PIPocalypse) at IBM, CEO Promotes Vapouware (Lying to Shareholders)
Companies get to shrink while lying about it to the public, even to shareholders
 
Gemini Links 24/07/2026: Animal Friendship, Squirrels, and Lagrange
Links for the day
Links 24/07/2026: IOC Drops Russia Ban, New Internationalist Raises Money
Links for the day
Poor Piece From Valnet: Microsoft Keeps Sabotaging GNU/Linux, So You Should Quit Using GNU/Linux
Really awful take
We Need More Encryption, Not Less of It
Use Free software and use encryption to ensure sources are fully protected
At 3PM on a Friday The Register MS Collects Some 'Pyramid Scheme' Money From Communist China (ZTE)
This won't age well for The Register MS
What Freedom Does Not Mean
Tell Warren Buffett to go skiing; he'll soon understand how much freedom he truly has
Linuxiac is Plagiarism
We won't link to it, we're done [...] If you wish to support journalism about GNU/Linux, do not visit or link to slop
Verizon is Over 200 Billion Dollars in Debt (US Telecoms Collapsing, Wrapping Up the Failure in "Hey Hi" Clothing)
They will tell us this is "innovation", not a failure, and that only "Luddites" would oppose this
You've Been Conned If You Ever Believed That MElon (MUSK, Elon) Was a Trillionaire
Connected to corrupt officials
The People Who Tried to 'Cancel' (or Deplatform/Censor) Daniel Pocock Are Annoyed That He's Mentioned in Dozens of Press Articles
If Pocock's words did not matter, there would not be such a huge effort to silence him
Cybershow Explains Why Only Sociopaths Gravitate Towards Leadership Position in 'Tech'
The general thesis is a familiar one
Give Me Your "Dumbest" (Devices)
Why can't people accept that a "modern "smart" "phone" isn't necessary to check the time (overkill) and playing social control media "on the go" is far from necessary?
Speeding Up 'Down Under': Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania...
As things stand, the best we can do is let people retrieve pages within less than 0.1 seconds since a request is received
Google's Debt Trebled in Only 9 Months and It's Not Even the Full Picture (There's Secret Debt, Too)
No wonder there are so many layoffs and workers try to unionise
Microsoft Layoffs in India
it's about cost-cutting
Deregulation is Blowing Up the Economy, Which Has Become a Multi-Level Scheme or Pyramid Scheme
Why did only Japanese media call out the BS; is that so hard to figure out and properly report on?
Daniel Pocock Proves Wikipedia is for Rich People or People Who Work for Very Rich People (the True Owners of Wikipedia)
It's for billionaires and their faithful boot lickers
GNOME: Your Personal Opinions Must Overlap GAFAM's (Otherwise Those Opinions Are Impermissible)
Get well soon, GNOME
Making Excuses for Stressful, Unrewarding, and Immoral Jobs
excuses for difficult and/or barely-rewarding jobs. [...] People in tech must not be evaluated (or have their "worth" assessed) based on remuneration
Almost 5 Years Without Social Control Media ('Mind Prison')
Life is too short to be stuck inside a skinnerbox
Linux Must be About People (Humans), Not Bribery From Slop Companies Trillions of Dollars in Debt and in Pursuit of Positive Press
We've lost Williams
John Dvorak Understood That "MSM" Was a Vehicle of Censorship
Independent publishing, which obviates the need to censor (influenced by existing advertisers or lookout for prospective advertisers), is the only credibly thing out there
To Understand Why Linus Torvalds Became a Boot-Licking Booster of Slop Look at Another Operative of 'Linux' Foundation, the "Mentor" of Clickfraud SPAMnil (According to SPAMnil Himself)
it seems like SJVN does not give a full disclosure
Blaming "Computers" Instead of Blaming Microsoft
Blaming Microsoft is "hate"
"Online We Are All Refugees" and Slop Pushers Are the Oppressors
They basically resort to nationalism and racism to distract from their commercial failure and fraud (pyramid scheme)
GNU/Linux Soaring in Antigua And Barbuda
GNU/Linux is internationally approaching 8%
Calling Out the Worst Culprits in "Linux" Slop (Slopfarms That Manipulate Information and Engage in Plagiarism)
Once they're gone (offline), the slopfarms cannot carry on for much longer
Defying Discrimination
Rianne's birthday is exactly a month away
Dan Williams Represented Real Diversity in Linux
Williams probably understood based on personal experience what it was like to be marginalised and discriminated against
The First Point About Software Freedom is, You Must Understand What It Really Means (Not "Open Source")
Forty Three Years of Commitment to Software Freedom [...] Educating people about what Software Freedom actually means
Gemini Links 24/07/2026: Recovering From Broken Shoulders, Loss of Passion, and "True Hacker Versus Growth Hacker"
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, July 23, 2026
IRC logs for Thursday, July 23, 2026
Gemini Links 23/07/2026: Databases, TLGS, and RSS Feeds
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2026: Science, Censorship, and Territorial Overreach by China
Links for the day
The State of Google Security: Blocking competition
GMail is the best!
What Happens When Windows Becomes as 'Niche' as GNU/Linux on Desktops and Laptops
Android enjoys a near-monopoly and GNU/Linux isn't far behind Windows.
IBM Cash "Down $6.3 Billion From Year-end 2025." Total Debt/Equity 188.97%. (Debt Can Exceed the Company's Real Value)
the CEO alone can make well over $0.7 billion in 5 years of salaries and bonuses
Wave of PIPs Allegedly Coming to Microsoft, Managers Trained to Terminate Employees Without Paying Severance (and Without Calling it Layoffs)
They count and cut the losses
This Looks Like the End of XBox, the Console
Sharma has become the "fall man" of Microsoft
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: A Consummate Master of the "Rigged Game"
"single-candidate shortlist"
Attempts to Change Focus and Change the Subject as IBM Shares Dwindle. Buying Revenue to Mask the Rapid Decline One More Time.
IBM used to be good at engineering, not financial engineering
Down 848% Year-on-year, Negative Cash Flow, Growing Debt (Richest Man on the Planet or Shrewd Scammer?)
The latest for Tesla is more of the same
IBM Falls Below $200, Expect $199 or Less Today (Panic Threshold)
Will this be enough to topple the managers?
Gemini Links 23/07/2026: SharePoint Rants and “Junk DNA” in Commented-Out Code
Links for the day
Links 23/07/2026: RIP John C. Dvorak, Organisation Weaponised Against J.K. Rowling
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Wednesday, July 22, 2026
IRC logs for Wednesday, July 22, 2026
Freexian & Debian: antitrust, unfair competition against joint authors and volunteers
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
IBM in the Red After Bad Results (Shares Down in After Hours)
Will the CEO step down, retire, of what else?
Gemini Links 22/07/2026: Fault Lines, the Dark Web and Beyond, and Why Substack is Awful
Links for the day
Insult and Injury: Getting Banned, Not Just Sacked, by Microsoft
A former insider spoke about this in public 5 hours ago
Links 22/07/2026: "Dumb Phones" Not Enough to Tackle Harmful Addition, "MPEG-4 Visual's Road to Being [Software] Patent-Free"
Links for the day
IBM's Press Release About Results Mentions "AI" 10 Times, "Quantum" 4 Times
Blah blah blah AI"
Top secret: Cults inquiry submission concealed from public
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
An Hour Ahead of Alleged 'Results' (Amid Investigation Into Fraud) IBM Falls Back to New Lows
Only cents away from a 52-week low
IBM Headed for Lowest "Value" in 2 Years
In a nutshell, Krishna "can't keep it up" and IBM is now investigated for fraud
Investigation Progressing
There is nothing "funny" about receiving mortal threats for merely reporting information in a civilised country
Things We Could Do More Than Half a Century Ago But Can No Longer Accomplish
Newer is not always better
Anupa Ann Joseph & Debian defamation gang
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
State of the Invidious Project
Never forget how hostile Google can be towards freedom
Prioritising the Safety of Women is the Best Approach to Foster Diversity in Technical Communities
Debian was never "normative", but that does not mean Debian should have such low standards
IBM Will Report 'Results' Tonight (CET), It's Already Investigated for Securities Fraud
"Five of the biggest US tech giants are carrying $1.65 trillion in debt that does not show up on their balance sheets"
Hardware Has Gotten a Lot Worse, Not Just Far More Expensive
prices go up fast
Amid Claims of Microsoft Bing Layoffs It Seems Like Bing Cannot Even Hold on to Second Place
Yandex is sometimes bigger than Bing
Wikileaks Does Not Publish New Material Anymore, But Wikileaks Still Changes the World
Wikileaks has a legacy that will soon turn 20
Links 22/07/2026: Postal IRCs, PlayStation Kills Discs, Union Action Against Microsoft, "Judge Considers Tossing Databricks Patent Suit Under California anti-SLAPP Law"
Links for the day
Same 'Journalists' Who Published Fake News for IBM (Pump and Dump) Now Write Puff Pieces About the Stock Falling
the media is so compromised
They Called It "Social" and "Media", But It Turned Out to be Slop and Child Porn
Why do any sane people still use social control media?
Age of consent: DebConf26 registered sex offender in Argentina?
Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
European Patent Office (EPO) Series: In the Pole Position Despite a Dismal Track Record
António Campinos is an old hand when it comes to such high-level institutional intrigue
Site a Bit Slower Due to Visitors' Load
We'll try to work out better speeds
Gemini Links 22/07/2026: Emacs, Astrology Clock, Arduino, and Rogallo v1.0.0
Links for the day
After Involvement by the Free Software Foundation (FSF) LibreTech and Quibble Gain More Participants
RMS expressed gratitude for people who worked on Quibble and improved LibreJS after many years of inactivity
The Lessons From the Assange Saga
This will not end well
Linux Foundation an Enemy of the Planet, Proponent of Pollution and Global Heating
"could the "polluters pay" model be extended to the computing environment and used to take on Microsoft and Microsofters?"
Apple Will Increase Surveillance of Customers, Record Verbal Communications Under the Guise of "Hey Hi"
Apple now drinks that same Kool-Aid
Dave Winer, Blogging Pioneer, Sells Out, Spews Out LLM Slop to Readers
Another one bites the dust [...] Now it's a slopfarm of sorts
Not Everything Can be Automated
not a new thing
GNU/Linux OS in ComorOS
Now, as in recent years or the last year, the GNU/Linux "signal" is growing significantly
Microsoft Redefines "Layoffs" to Give Smaller Tallies
It's not just calling them "buyouts" or saying people are merely "leaving" or "retiring"
IBM is Not Done Destroying Red Hat, Wait Till October 1st 2026 (More Layoffs and Bluewashing)
It's not bluewashing 'til it's 100% done
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Tuesday, July 21, 2026
IRC logs for Tuesday, July 21, 2026
"LF Sex", Nothing to Do With Linux
a lot of explaining to do this week