By David Norris - launched Sunday 17th September, 2023
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, then for every victory gained you will also
suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
Sun Tzu, Chinese military strategist and philosopher
BREAKING NEWS
UPDATE! My old life in the UK finally drew to a close on September 9th, 2024. I departed for Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, China late on Monday 9th. I arrived in Taiyuan, Shanxi province early on September 11th. I have been awarded a contract to teach at Shanxi Normal University starting September. It is counter-signed by the vice principal and finalised. The contract begins in September; I will be saving up for a visit to my lady in Burkina Faso during the summer recess next year. Living costs are low in China; unlike in the UK I can actually SAVE (everything is just so expensive in the UK and it gets worse every year; try looking at rents in the UK and you will get a clue(!) and I will not begin a new family in poverty; it is not my way of doing things!). Here is the website:
=> Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan
=> The story of my fight to get to university, 1995
=> Yougov Poll shows that Labour will win by a record breaking margin. Even the more pesimistic margins suggest a record majority for the Labour party. Yougov Poll shows that Labour will win by a record breaking margin. Even the more pessimistic margins suggest a record majority for the Labour party. Will it be goodbye Tory Armageddon and hello to Tory annihilation? | A total wipeout of the Conservative party? What a sad day for my mother. What a sad day for inequality. What a great day for Britain. Bring it on!!! | The upcoming 'Ipaper' puts the Conservative Party on just over 100 seats, 5 for Reform - however, this will still break records... But I wish Boris the liar would shut up. | Yougov Poll predictions by constituency (Openoffice ODS format) | Yougov Poll predictions by constituency (DBF format) | My own breakdown and analysis can be found here. More details will be added later!
=> The 'Inequality Party of Great Britain' in terminal decline? About bloody time! | And the reason why - Britain is a total dump to live in now. | Which European countries are likely to decline the most this century? | Reveal and scan this code. Let's do what we can to get rid of the Tories and the inequality they promulgate. Help end the injustice on the 4th of July!
=> Shanxi Normal university
=> Reference from Jenny Liu, who organised the exchange visits to the Yancheng Institite of Technology
=> The climate in Shanxi is continental. Record temperatures simlar to the UK; a mixed wardrobe then for this destination! Fewer rainy days per year (85.9% dry long term average) then London (66.35% dry days per year).
=> Briefing for those of us due to teach in China this September
=> Ban on flights over Russia leads to suspension of some routes from October; luckily, I leave late August
=> Why capitalism creates pointless non-jobs
David
=> The UK has descended into rioting for the first time since August, 2011
=> *** For material related to Engilsh (TEFL) and/or engineering tuition, see /teaching ***
Follow me on Linkedin:
=> You can finger me at any time and find up what I am up to: finger@dfdn.info
=> Download finger client for Android
=> DFDN is also available on Gopher
=> My outlook on the future | My business card | James Ekwem, business partner
Contact number in China: +86 19516310819
=> My WeChat ID wxid_mvi5mecug0q922 | New future | The family that time forgot | My family will go international. But the revolution began (and had to begin) with me, not any other member of my family, for a variety of reasons. | The UK is, ostensibly, one of the world's leading economies, and a G7 member. So, why are working families forced to use food banks to feed their children. All is revealed! | Why I have no plans to retire in the UK - and have better plans in the meantime! | I occasionaly mention the idea that I might 'watch the UK crash & burn on CNN'. How so? I explain here. | Who pays if you go into care in the uk? | My mother is self-neglecting. It is no revelation to me - I have known this for years. But what can I do? | The conditions older people risk living in in the UK (.TAR.GZ) | You are British, over 40, divorced and face a life of eternal loneliness? You might be pleasantly surprised! | Romance scams - a warning for those who read the link above | NEW! Contact and policy details for private work | What is means if payment is unsuccessful [decline codes] FAQ | UK default telephone number blocking - what it means for you - VIP! - please read and understand | My new experimental ZeroNet site (requires a ZeroNet client!) | Debt Bondage and the feudal land system: a forgotten scourge, particularly in parts of Asia
My Christmas statements have become something of a tradition. Now here on Gemini for the first time; previous years may be found on Gopher.
Why do I use Gemini to host content, or even Gopher, for that matter? To quote the Gemini FAQ - the experience is like entering a library, not a shopping mall or a casino. "The average Gemini page is at least ten times smaller than the average webpage, and a hundred times smaller than worst ones, so they load almost instantly even on old computers or flaky internet connections."
Great of you are in Africa, SE Asia or parts of Latin America and have a poor connection and/or pay by the MB. And it is free of all the rubbish on the web!!! Reading that starts as soon as the page loads, without you first having to carefully click past a pop-up window which actively tries to mislead you into "consenting" to something nobody actually wants or needs, and which continues right to the end of the page without being interrupted by another pop-up begging you to subscribe to a newsletter.
And for an academic like myself...
"Reading in peace because there's no way for a page to play music or make a sound without you actively inviting it to, so you're free to enjoy your own background music, or maybe to just keep quiet if you're reading somewhere with other people around. It's up to you, like it should be; it's your computer, and they're your ears."
You can quietly browse in an office or without any risk of disturbing anyone, without the fear that 120DB music or autoplaying videos are going to alert the boss to what you are doing or wake up evryone in the house.
You can be sure you will not be redirected without permission, tracked, be presurised to install junk (and potentially malicious software or browser add-ons). It is 100% free of cookies (and nagging to accept them on every page you visit), and free of CPU heating, battery draining and mobile data wasting scripts and calls to third party domains.
Young visitors can browse safely, and their parents can be sure they will not be redirected to inappropriate content.
=> Those were the good old days! | The web has become too complex for it's own good. And it makes various forms of abuse far too easy... | Manual for the Lynx browser - text only, but supports many protocols, although not yet Gemini. | Gemini Quickstart | A 'Gemtext' tutorial: writing 'Gemtext' is easy! | Font packs for Lagrange (Adds language packs for Languages other than English/European) | Think no content is available in Geminispace? Think again! Known Gemini hosts - 'capsules'
And yes, in alphabetical order. We (dfdn.info) are there!
=> New Nex protocol - specifications | What security threats does the new government have to face? | Going Dark: Looking for the End of the Internet | IPV4, IPV6... What happened to all the other version numbers? | The 2015 IP address panic
Gopherpedia is a little known mirror of Wikipedia on Gopher. Works well on mobile devices or slow connections, and for the bandwidth deprived.
=> Libre Translate - need gemtext in another language? Translate online for free.
=> A few of my students ask questions such as... Why don't I just use Wordpress? Besides my ethos of being as independent as possible (my plans to leave the UK, my use of open source software, my plans to have a "non-conventional" family structure and run a business overseas are other manifestations of this) - I also want to avoid the multimegbyte crud and over-commercialism that Wordpress promotes. And... their server is blocked in China too - excluding 1.4 billion people. | Further reasons why I do not recommend Wordpress | See also my earlier post on Gopher... | Taking a stand in the war on generl purpose computing | The likely future of computing - not in the best interest of the user if I am homest | Windows bundling and the Micro$oft Windows Tax | Windows update horror stories - and the contempt Micro$oft shows for it's customers | Another Micro$oft Tax campaigner | In 2007, several tried to persuade me to 'upgrade' to Vista. I said, are you joking?
Note to authors - please don't use spaces in file names - they are a real kludge causing endless problems...
=> I am not alone to object to the Microsoft Windows Tax | And do not forget this either please | The fulll history and story behind Linux - a long read - but a source of inspiration!
And keep in mind, that the teaching material I make is created in Openoffice. And PDF is available where required. I do not own the megaexpensive Adobe software before you ask. I am a divorced man without money to burn.
=> Yes, 5.8GHz WiFi is indeed faster than 2.4GHz WiFi. But not for the reasons people assume... | A rare (for these days!) Victory - for "common sense" - which is not so common nowadays
The word "investment" here is about as accurate the the name "The Democratic People's Republic of Korea"...
In the UK, the government dumps the cost of elderly parents onto their descendants, simply because they are of no further economic value...
=> The nightmare of selling a house in the UK
=> If only Britain's colonial history were on the curriculum, we would better understand the immigration debate today | Is it true that the country where railways were invented now cannot even run railways, let alone build or modernise them? Yes. | The high cost of technological illiteracy to society | How to minimise the cost of a new computer | One man's clever response to being 'let go' | The Gemini FAQ can be read here. It explains the Gemini ethos if you are new to Gemini. | Search engine for Gemini (replaces Geminispace.info as servce discontinued) | Gopherpedia.com is Wikipedia on Gopher - great for the bandwidth deprived | Ubergeek News - several links to news sites
=> Leaving the web behind. There is more to the internet than the world wide web. And other protocols besides HTTP... | Will the madness ever end? | An excellent, like minded gemini capsule from like-minded author. Well worth a look! | The benefit of running your own web (or other) site, and self hosting it | What is ZeroNet - and why might I test and eveloate it's usefulness | What you learn about the internet if you run your own server... | Why mesh networks are a great idea | Why I use self signed TLS certificates, and embrace gemini's standard use of them | IoT: Rise of the "Internet of things"
=> I am using Apple Filing Protocol to Sync from this server to my mobile devices in China... Here is how. | I also have media available by NFS - Unix Network FIle System. Mount point is /mnt/nfsshare - NFS is port 2049.
=> Christmas statement 2024 on Gemini, for the first time! | Christmas statement 2023 | Christmas statement archive
=> Portfolio for Africa | New life-saving Malaria vaccine available in Burkina Faso | Vaccination against malaria being rolled out in Africa - about time! | Women's rights in Burkina Faso: any progress? | I am very disappointed about Burkina Faso leaving ECOWAS - an economic union in West Africa
=> Proceedure for registering a school in Nigeria
How can you take seriously a country which cannot evn house people?
=> UK Housing crisis (and cost!) One of many reasons I do not wish to start a new faamily in the UK...
=> Grenfell Tower disaster: Final report, 4th September 2024
=> Final report, 4th September 2024 [.TAR.GZ]
=> Increasing numbers of families forced to live in damp homes
=> Why is long term sickness among working age people (16-64) increasing in the UK?
=> Rishi Sunak: Where did it all go wrong?
=> Good reasons to emigrate from the UK...
=> My mother says I should stay here in the UK. I am taking other advisement. Here is why.
=> Another advisor explains why leaving the UK before 2030 is a good idea
=> Is it true that the state pension in the UK is one of the lowest of all developed nations?
=> Should young people emigrate from the UK? A financial nobrainer perhaps...
=> The truth about wage stagnation and UK living conditions. The stark truth.
"There is no such thing as society". Margaret Thatcher.
If anyone were to ask me: "What is your most enduring mamory of the 1980s?" I would not be answering the Rubik Cube, Sinclair Spectrum or BMX bikes. Oh no. My most enduring memory has to be? The godawful grating voice of Margaret Thatcher - all through my formative years. Little wonder, then, that when she appears on television now, I change the channel.
=> Hail the great patron saint of inequality: Margaret Thatcher. And she brought us? Inequality.
=> The Great British Leasehold (er, sorry, don't you mean fleacehold!!!!) Swindle
=> I am beginning to experience age descrimination. Illegal? Yes. Easy to prove? Most certainly, not.
=> What happens to debt in the UK if you move abroad?
=> One family explain how the increased cost of livng is affecting them
=> Department for Work & Pensions support payments (DWPCOL on your statement) | Department for Work & Pensions report into payments and their accessibility
=> The legacy of Margaret Thatcher - impacting young people hardest
=> Are living conditions why young people are leaving?
=> If you are poor, you must suffer
=> I have enough... what I plan to do ASAP.....
Migration risks become widespread as a toxic combination of economic stagnation and surging growth elsewhere lure young people away...
=> China Plus podcast | China Plus schedule | Download ChinaPlus app for Android | Do Hanfu and other suncare solutions really work? | Do expensive private tutors relieve parenting anxiety?
=> Left behind: How the online revolution is failing our elderly people
=> Left behind: Intergenerational Unfairness report from the Intergenerational Foundation (PDF)
=> Left behind: Intergenerational Unfairness report from the Intergenerational Foundation (XPS)
=> Left behind: Intergenerational Unfairness report from the Intergenerational Foundation (OXPS)
=> Reasons to leave mentioned (briefly) on LBC
=> The next "brain drain" - only this time, a withdrawl rather than a deposit...
=> Will we see a mass exodus of younger people seeking a better quality of life overseas?
=> The above report - text only, but can be read online.
"For a decent standard of living, we all need security and stability in our lives – secure housing, a reliable income, and support when things get difficult. For too many of us, there is no such security. Millions of people in the UK are struggling to get by, leading insecure and precarious lives, held back from improving their living standards. It’s time to take action on poverty and put this right." Joseph Rowntree Foundation, January 2020. (Before COVID-19 hit, making matters worse! This was followed by the cost of living crisis.).
=> "In work poverty" is on the rise. Let us define what it really means
=> Why most younger British people hate the Conservative Party: They will have nothing to conserve
=> The dark heart of the British Conservative Party
=> What is my official personality type?
=> Unconventional? Maybe. But happy and functional? For sure: An example of a polyamorous family.
=> When I leave here, I intend to campaign against this injustice...
=> I should have thought of this in 2006: How to recognise a toxic person (similar to my former wife).
=> Common tactics used by perpetrators of abuse
=> ...And why I am not a fan of Apple either. Megaexpensive, captive market, consumables? No way!!! | The US has filed a landmark lawsuit against Apple which accuses the tech giant of monopolising the smartphone market and crushing competition.
=> Why do I use Openoffice, and how does it matter to students? An explanation of the 'why'.
=> Some networking books are good, others are a waste of money!
=> The rare and interesting: TCPMUX, the forgotten protocol
=> RFC5335 - Port numbers and services, from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
=> Future of photovoltaic (solar) power
=> Countries most vulnerable to climate change
UPDATE!
Well, I have just returned from my second visit to China on a cultural exchange.
In theory I will be eligible each as an opportunity at a Chinese university if
I complete a third such exchange - so I am told by the organiser of the exchanges.
In the meantime, I will consider my options for English teaching.
If I can manage to get a position doing so, then I can work in a place
where living costs are low.
In the meantime, students who are among my regular core of long term students,
who have been unable to take lessons while I was in China should take advantage
of the opportunity to catch up, and I will have Christmas and new year available.
In the Christmas/New Year period in what should (I hope!) be my last in the UK.
For younger students, you have school holidays so what are you waiting for?
Older students have time off work in the majority of cases also. And when I
have reason to celebrate Christmas again, I will want time off myself. But not
this year. Strike while the iron is hot, as the saying goes! There is a story
behind this..
I have carried out an analysis of which countries pay English or engineering
teachers well? I came down to...
• South Korea;
• Japan;
• China;
• United Arab emirates.
And my conclusions?
After a long and in-depth analysis of which countries paid well, I conducted
extensive analysis of their living costs and demographics.
United Arab Emirates has high living costs, so I will struggle to save.
Japan and South Korea also have fairly high living costs, and initial interviews
in the summer of 2023 revealed a lot of competition;
China stands out as it combines low living costs with good pay for teaching
staff. And - it has the added attraction in that I have now taught (at a
Chinese University!) in person on two separate occasions now; - online on
two occasions back in the days when COVID-19 made it difficult or impossible
to visit in person.
=> After any 'teething problems' I expect to settle in well.
I vitally need to be in a position to relocate and save for the business I plan
to launch in West Africa. See:
=> http://dfdn.info/africa for details!
So... I am likely to teach for one term in 2024, visit Burkina Faso in the
summer break, and complete a year in 2024/2025 to save. I think this will
suffice. I will review this in 2025. Those who know me well know my motto..
"If a vital job needs to be done, do not procrastinate. Give me the
opportunity and the resources, and I will get the job done. No excuses!"
Any questions anyone? David, December 2023
For my pictures from the visit, publiched for the first time on on Gemini:
=> Enjoy! David, December 18, 2023
[Can Gemini (or Gopher) display images? Yes, of course! But not inline. It saves bandwidth for those paying by the MB, a large part of why I use them! Click on the link to display.]
=> Interesting: Gemini seen by a HTTP client developer
One thing I like about Gemini is that is simple and there is no need to render the file to another format, because it is just plain text and is easy to work with. I also like Gopher
for this reason - MUCH quicker and less error prone than writing HTML! Oh, and those not in the know can only dream about an online experience free of all the obnoxious
crap we are only too used to in the world of HTTP(S) - cookies (and being continually nagged to either accept them or change settings for every single site we visit!!!), pop-ups
getting in the way of work, incessant user tracking and invasions of our privacy, and being bombarded with autoplaying audio and video which draw the attention of colleagues (and
the boss!) or wake up everyone in the house late at night... the list goes on and on.
Why am I interested in using Gemini (and indeed Gopher) as part of my operations? Because I want to offer content which is free of cookie questions on every page, and which does not rely on megabytes of resource devouring, browser crashing javascript, request tens of megabytes of bandwith and money costing advertising, and invade the privacy of my visitors in true Orwellian style, to load. That is why. Nothing more to it than that!
=> It's very simple to learn! How to create 'Gemtext' pages | Beyond the web: the rise of the 'small internet' explained | How the "Small Internet" is making a comeback - great news for the bandwidth deprived | Success of the small internet | Manifesto for the small web | Ten Commandments of the Small Internet | WAIS, Wide Area Information System, started as an alternative to Gopher and the World WIde Web. Sadly, it is dead now. | How to protect (or restore) your internet freedom. And what the term "internet freedom" really means | Self signed certificates are recommnded on Gemini (Gemini does not support redirection etc) - but why not the web? | Why the internet of the future may not be the internet we want | Alternative networks to the Web - boldly leave the realm of corporate controlled cyberspace | Known Gemini 'capsules' (hosts) - yes, dfdn.info is there!
The "old web" still exists! It's just drowned in a sea of sites bloated for the purpose of tracking and advertising. What would be nice is a no-bloat search engine, which would only
index sites that don't require 25MB of JS and 425 requests to third-party domains to load.
This is what a typical website does today...
The majority of the slowness comes from steps 2,4,5,6,8,9. Blocking ads helps steps 8, 9. The fact that people are actually using a dedicated Raspberry PI computer for
the sole sake of ad blocking on their network bears testimony to how bad the nightmare has become. However, steps 2, 4, 5 and 6 are just in-fashion bad development practices.
Looking at the above, it is very clear that the whole process is a prodidgal waste of resources - bandwidth, CPU power, memory, and the battery of the device on which the content
is displayed! An application such as Pi-hole uses DNS filtering to selectively block ads and malicious domains across your entire home network. Cool! The advantages of this
approach are clear: you don’t have to install ad-blocking software on each and every device in your household. Moreover, it only needs to be set up once. The only drawback? Of
course, it only protects you within your own network, not when on mobile data, at work/school/university, hotels etc...
Both Gopher and Gemini both are MUCH more bandwidth efficient than the web for the above reasons. Great for clients in places or on limited contracts or where one pays by
the megabyte, as well as for those for whom privacy is important. Trouble is, the less well informed nowadays have a web browser and little else. There is PLENTY more to the
internet than just the mess which they call the web - for the er, less educated, the web is synonymous with the internet. It isn't! See port numbers and services below...
=> Why is bloatware (including web browsers!) becoming an increasing problem?
The Gemini service was launched in September 2023. It has proven a success.. It is here to stay in 2024.
=> For more good reasons to use Gemini, and the motivation of its developers, see here. | Gemini Questions and Answers - MP4 Video | Gemini Questions and Answers - MP3 audio only. | How to protect your privacy online (when not using Gemini) is explained here. But no method is 100% effective.
Users requiring NFS, AFP or (Only over VPN) Netbios access working with us in future must contact me.
=> Home | Frequently Asked Questions | Think "The Internet" is just the corporate web? Think again! | Known Gemini servers | Philosophy behind the Gemini Protocol | The podcast referred to in the document above | Installing a server | Site content | F-Droid is an alternative app store for Android - you can obtain useful apps such as Fingerlist (for the finger service) and Lagrange (client for Gopher and Gemini, update uere also) | Finally the EU's Digital Markets Act forces Apple to allow rival app stores (Similar moves are afoot in the UK). The EU's Digital Markets Act is effective from March 2024. | General downloads including Gemini/Gopher clients and beta apps for Android (the above EU legislation may, in time, make veta testing feasible on IOS) | Best Gemini Practices for content providers | Freqiently asked questions about the Gemini protocol | Port Numbers & Services | Complete RFC listing - updated via rsync - on Gopher | What is that kludge known as network address translation? | Network protocols explained | Why is net neutrality important - and why some countries hate it! | Very important: use rsync to back up your system - either manually, or better, automatically! Here is how. | Good practice when naming files
=> Avoid the devestating question: "er, you did make backups, er, didn't you?!"
=> Interesting review - Preply versus Italki - the truth revealed | Preply's preditory pricing plan revealed - why I tried - but sadly failed - to get onto iTalki
Indeed I tried unsucessfully to get onto Italki. I was declined. Age descrimination is everywhere I look. You should gather by now that I am a firm
proponent of human rights - and fully behond those standing up for their human rights...
=> How housing costs in the UK outstrip real wages (a few years old, but even more pertainent now than when it was published!). | What in the name of the lord is wrong with the UK housing market? | Countless governments have barked on about "leveling up". But what's the reality? A shovel full of B*******! | It makes me feel ashamed to be British: "If Britain is so wealthy, then why are people forced to use food banks?" | Poverty could push the UK back to the Victorian era of sociual divides
I love listening to James O'Brien. He is on LBC on 97.3 FM in London. Elsewhere, you can listen online. You can stream from their website, or try apps you have already. And here are some programs. Let us see how streaming on Gemini works. Try these examples (Lagrange for example supports MP3 streaming. See the two following links.
=> Worst UK government policies of all time - two hours isn't enough! | As if I did not have enough reasons NOT to begin a new family in the UK... | A tale of two nations: there are the 'haves' and the 'have nots'. | Would I sacrifice my own life for my country in 2023? My position revealed. | Post Covid-19, most people do not want to return to the office. At least full time. Why has there been such a regime change? | The nature of inequality in the UK | If Boris Jhonson is the world's most infamous serial liar, who is the great social Darwinist? Meet the infamous 'lady' herself, who took the Wizard of Oz song "The Witch is Dead" to number 1 in the charts when she did the best deed in her life... | Rishi Sunak: Do the one and only honourable thing. We had the dress rehearsal. Time to get on stage, and accept defeat! | If only Margaret Thatcher could die twice....
The people trafficing gangs tell you the UK is the promised land; just hand us your life savings, and we will give you an unseaworthy boat to reach it.... The streets of London are paved with gold (as in Dick Whittington). The 'government' talk of a strong economy. And my conservative party supporting (and niave, tragicommic mother, who has not worked since I was born) says this is the best country in the world. Oh, and by the way, Happy Christmas.
=> So why, then, in the year of the lord 2024, does this happen??? The reality, per head of population, is that inequality is worse on 2024 than when Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist. No, I m not making this up. By god, do I wish I was. | Oh, and this too...
=> When the Nightmare Came - My book to be published after I leave the UK | The Sequence of events which changed my life forever... | The strange and unusual things people put in their wills
=> The 'Partygate' scandel exposes the social misfits "representing" us | "If" the Conservative party wins the next generl election, will we see a return to the Cameron era No thanks...? | Is Russia (at least in its present form) a dying nation? | Why I am drafting a contingency plan to evacuate my daughters to Africa - as a Christian man, I pray it will never be needed
=> Complete list of transport layer protocols which run over IP | List of OSI protocols by layer | International calling codes | Five biggest pitfalls of international money transfer (PDF)
Note that unlike Gemini, Goper and HTTP are not encrypted - these pages are public access however.
=> Sister site on the web | Teaching ralated pages | An example of a "student from hell" - no prizes for guessing, I won't be teaching her... | Sister site on Gopher | A demonstration of my electronic design work. Most designs are however secret. (Note: will crash Windows version of Lagrange (use other client pending bugfix) | Cambridge Advanced Dictionary of the English Language | Files related to amateur radio, scanning and shortwave listening. | So who's listening in on you?: Hugh Cornwall tunes in to those who scan the airwaves (Those were the days!) | Review of the AOR AR-DV1 Scanning Receiver (from 2015; the world's first, published 24/12/2015!). | A trip down memory lane: UK Scanning Directory as it was in 2009. | Guide to UK radio spectrum - complete, but allocations may change from time to time. | Pirate Radio Survival Guide - from the 1990s | How to be a radio pirate (old, but still interesting; from the days of BBSing. | Parliament debate: pirate radio in the United Kingdom, 2006. | History of Amateur Radio - I have been licenced since 1995. | Chatter heard on Scanner leads to criminal charges | History of CB Radio - one of two entries for me into the radio hobby (Amateur radio licenced July 1995; my callsign is G7VDI) | UK parlienment debate on CB radio, 1979 | A compilation of articles from an expert. Well worth a read! | Evolution of the universe from the big bang to its eventual heat death | My pictures from my second visit to Yancheng in December 2023. And how the visit went!
Amateur Radio related pages:
=> AOR - My viewpoint before the latest digital receivers came in 2015! | Former UK Home office Radios | Teaching the Icom IC-R3 new tricks | Review of the Misumi WCS99xii Video Scanner | Preamps - the best thing since sliced bread? Not necessarily! | The story of Britain's fight for legal CB | The UK Radio Spectrum | DMR, D-Star or Fusion - which is right for you? | My own comparison of "the big three" from 2016. After my review of the Amazing AR-DV1. | My Review of the AOR AR-DV1 completed 24/12/2015 as promised. In the final complete year in the marriage which almost killed me. | What is RF (radio frequency) propagation? | RF propagation is at it's most fascinating within the high frequency range (3 - 30 MHz). A brief description of the HF amateur band's charactoristics.
The last two links testify to how I am able to succeed in the face of adversity - and you ain't seen nothing yet! David, G7VDI
=> Brexit: Idiots rejoice | What others think of a post Brexit Europe | A little bit old (!) - 1987 - but it has stood the test of time | Beginners guide to Unix - old, but good. | So, you need to keep your Unix system secure, do you? | General guidance on how to make your computer more secure than most | Beginners guide to computers, from the good old days of DOS. Still informative, and a trip down memory lane! | An early guide to the internet. Oh, how I long for those bygone days. | An early hitchhikers' guide to the internet | A history of the internet: how it all began | The unexpected value of IPV4 (Internet Protocol version 4) address space | Computer Archive history of Unix | Hacking for Dummies - I wrote this in 2002 [EPUB] | Hacking for Dummies - I wrote this in 2002 [PDF] | Yes, it happens, is unethical, bad for the environment, and wrong. Oh yes, and a way to make me an ex-customer. Planned obsolescience. | Why do I use Linux on all devices but my teaching laptop (and I would use Linux here too if I could). And why do I plan to promote Linux in Africa in particular? | Automatic updates (expecially Micro$oft) - blessing or a curse??? | Software killstitches (- see also planned obsolescience!!!) and how to avoid devices which secretly contain them. Is there no level of depravity companies won't sink to!?). | Another history of the Unix operating system | The life of Alan Turing - Huge achievements, great injustice | Electricity supplies around the world - important for our business, PDF | Electricity supplies around the world - Postscript | What if your neighbour is using your electricity? | Nightmare products which seem destined to last forever!!!
=> How to backup your entire system using Rsync - a must read!
=> Exceptionally well written - but a true complaint letter!
=> NOORo3 Solar power thermal power plant, near Ouarzazate, Morocco. | I just designed a PWM inverter. What is digital pulse modulation anyhow? | See here for an explnation of PWM in power electronics.
=> Chemical Elements Infographics (RSC, PDF, ZIP archives)
As I am interested in Photovoltaic (solar) and other forms of renewable energy, I would certainly like to visit Quarzazare, Indeed,
I am intending to base a business in this in West Africa in years to come.
=> See my portfolio for details. Currently available in English and French. | Long before I had international plans, I was heartily sick of the UK job market. Hundreds chasing every job, lack of experiance, no job security and parents not on my wavelength... and the years of bullying. Next came the abusive marriage and then the CMS ordeal. None of these factors did me any favours. And now, age descrimination. I did follow advice such as in this article. But to no avail. I am now a fully fledged international man... Time for pastures new.
External links (I am not responsible for the content of external sites).
=> Those who have visited http://dfdn.info/radio will know I am a licenced radio amateur since 1995. | Directory of "Geminispace" - I hope to be there soon! | Shared capsules - want to add mine there. | List organised by topic. Useful! | Gemini Related software (clients, servers editors, etc) | International ISO 4217 currency codes (PDF)
Gemini search engines currently available:
=> Getting started with Gemini | A Gemini search engine. Like google on HTTP, Archie on FTP, Veronica on Gopher... | Another Gemini space search engine | Search engine acclaimed to use minimal computing resources.
The following are here for reading practice and for general interest. For confident English students only!
=> Rules made by the I.T Syndicate | Use and misuse of computing facilities | Authentication issues | Reports of the I.T Syndicate | The web is dead. Long live the internet
=> Update Lagrange (my recommended client for Gemini and Gopher).
Note: all available except IOS (Sorry, Apple policy not mine, Lagrange available on testflight only):
To test beta versions of apps and App Clips using TestFlight, you’ll need to accept an email or public link invitation from the developer and have a device that you can use to test. You’ll be able to access the builds that the developer makes available to you.
If you’re a member of the developer’s team, the developer can give you access to all builds or certain builds.
Required platforms:
iOS or iPadOS apps: iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch running iOS 14 or iPadOS 14 or later. App Clips require iOS 14 or iPadOS 14, or later.
macOS apps: Mac running macOS 12 or later.
tvOS apps: Apple TV running tvOS 13 or later.
visionOS apps: Apple Vision Pro running visionOS 1 or later.
watchOS apps: Apple Watch running watchOS 6 or later.
Gemini clients include:
Name Platform License Written in
Amfora Terminal (TUI) GPL 3.0 Go
AmiGemini GUI (Intuition) MIT C, Intuition
asuka Terminal (TUI) MIT Rust, ncurses
AV-98 Terminal (CLI) 2 Clause BSD Python
Bollux Terminal MIT Bash
Bombadillo Terminal GPL 3.0 Go
Buran App (Android) GPL 3.0 Kotlin
Castor GUI (GTK) MIT Rust, GTK
Castor9 GUI (Plan 9) C
Deedum App (Android and iOS) GPL 3.0 Flutter, Dart
Diohsc Terminal (CLI) GPL 3.0 Haskell
dillo-gemini Plugin (Dillo) FSFAP Shell
Elaho (gemini-ios) App (iOS) MPL 2.0 Swift
Elpher GUI (Emacs) GPL 3.0 Emacs Lisp
Eva GUI (GTK) MIT Rust, GTK
Fafi GUI MIT Racket
GemiNaut GUI (Windows) GPL 3.0 C# for Microsoft Windows
gemini.filter.dpi Plugin (Dillo) MIT Go
Geopard GUI (GTK) GPL 3.0 Rust, GTK
gmni Terminal (CLI) GPL 3.0 C
gplaces Terminal (CLI) GPL 3.0 or later C
Jimmy App (macOS) MIT Swift
Kristall GUI (Qt) GPL 2.0 C++, Qt
Lagrange GUI (Windows, macOS, Linux) 2 Clause BSD C, SDL
wMoonlander GUI (GTK) MIT Rust, GTK
Offpunk Terminal (CLI) 2 Clause BSD Python
Rocketeer App (iOS, macOS) Swift
Seren App (Android) Kotlin
Starfish GUI (elementary OS/Linux) GPL 3.0 Vala, GTK
Telescope Terminal (TUI) ISC C
Twin Peaks GUI (Windows) GPL 3.0 C#
VIRGIL99 Terminal (TI-99) Assembly language
© David Norris, DFDN.org
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