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● 06.19.23

Gemini version available ♊︎

● Gemini Links 19/06/2023: Tale Of Two Unknowns and Perfect Home Lab

Posted in News Roundup at 8:41 pm by Dr. Roy Schestowitz

Gemini* and Gopher

Personal/Opinions

=> ↺ Three variations on a feedback theme

• It shouldn’t need pointing out that positive feedback can be a terribly bad thing. Let’s consider some very different cases.

• [..]

• Mais oui, it still would be a problem even if the users had the full ownership of this technology. The scenario that comes to my mind is that people already use their headphones to mask out an undesirable, harsh sonic environment. In response to this shielding, I suppose, sound signals and announcements have to be made louder to reach even those listening to music in their headset. Anyway, I can think of no equally plausible explanation for the absurdly loud announcements of the next stop at the regional train, occasionally also on busses. Yes, the population’s hearing is also gradually deteriorating by frequent exposure to loud sound levels, so the signals that must penetrate the noise have to be made louder again.

• The Acoustic Ecology movement (R. Murray Schafer and others) would ordain increased awareness of our sounding surroundings instead of trying to block them out. Which is not to say that a noisy city dominated by the diffuse persistent motor hum and rubber decks against roads, mixed to a blur of vehicles at all distances, is an ideal or particularly fascinating soundscape. Schafer would prefer a quiter backdrop in which delicate sounds are given a chance to be heard, a rural, pre-industrial soundscape.

=> ↺ A few photos from a river walk last week

• From the trails along the Tanana River…

=> ↺ Garden Photos

• A few photos from last week, from the garden in front of our apartment.

=> ↺ More river trail photos

• I believe this flower is the same as the Northern Bluebell mentioned in this Wikipedia article…

=> ↺ The Pursuit of Less: Anyone Else on This Journey?

• Just finished another marathon with my two little whirlwinds, and while I was tidying up their battlefield, a thought washed over me. The thing is, I’ve been trying to simplify life lately. Has anyone else been wandering down this less-trodden path?

• I look around, and my life is cluttered with possessions; objects I once craved, but now merely collect dust. Unopened Blu-Rays, video games whose titles I’ve long forgotten, gadgets I’ve barely touched. They’re all silent reminders of a time when more was exciting. But, as of late, my desire seems to be shifting towards the exact opposite – less.

=> ↺ The Nightfall Express

• Looks like the renovation work on Main Street’s metro station is finally over. points out. There’s a new train too, The Nightfall Express, that supposedly takes you all the way across Nightfall and beyond. The next one leaves at 19:00

• (Send me an email at m15o at posteo dot net if you’d like some to help test this new protocol out! Would love to get your feedback :))

=> ↺ Music Is a Time Machine

• I’m sure this has been brought on by my upcoming move and new job, but I’ve been finding myself listening to my nostalgia playlists more often lately.

• Most of these songs are ones that I haven’t listened to in years, but when I hear them I’m instantly reminded of memories from a specific year, couple of months, or even a particular event.

=> ↺ Weekend Update

• My partner’s birthday was last week. For the next little while, we’re the same age. Then, my own counter ticks up.

• Her parents came in late last week for her birthday. We got ice cream on Thursday. My partner and her mom went to the spa on Friday, and then afterward we all went to a 50s-style diner in a nearby small town. Burgers, fries, hot dogs, ice cream, milkshakes. Our booth done up in vinyl and metallic red paint.

• We had a BBQ with her folks and a couple of friends on Saturday. Steak (well done; my father-in-law won’t eat meat if there’s a hint of red), baked potatoes, a couple different kinds of salad, potato chips, Hawkins cheezies. Good beer for those who wanted it. And lots of games.

Science

=> ↺ Tale Of Two Unknowns

• “Solaris” the book is quite interesting. I can see why a movie would be problematic, especially in 1972, or even now, in the likely event the audience finds Crazy Ocean boring or has any sort of need for closure, as most humans do. This is probably why the filmmakers added something more than “I guess it’s time to go,” the End.

• “Rendezvous with Rama” is comparatively dull: the alien vessel is encountered; characters and technology precise for the next situation arrive like clockwork; please buy the sequel. There, a set of three.

=> ↺ realizing limits

• I have always been used to doing things alone and having to handle crises alone; I grew up an only child, rest of the family far away, parents unreliable and neglectful. Asking them for any help would end in judgement, using the info against me, or never letting me forget about the time they needed to help me. It seemed like a huge burden to them and they would dramatically sigh and act annoyed throughout it all. Peers were nothing to rely on as well, especially for more complex issues.

Technology and Free Software

=> ↺ My Perfect Home Lab — An Antithesis

• After reading about the new home lab subspace on BBS, it’s time to write a little about my ideas of the perfect home lab, which I wanted to do for a long time.

• [...]

• I’ve had this situation for three years, but then needed to have a wired Internet connection for remote work during and after COVID-19 to improve latency. While my connection is now much better than before, my LTE Internet speed was okay for ordinary web browsing and the occasional download and cloud sync.

• In the last 20 years before that, I’ve always owned a second computer as a backup computer and server at home. For a couple of years I’ve connected an external RAID 5 to my server. In the last years before cancelling my wired Internet connection, I only owned a NAS, which had a single SSD installed to avoid any noise, and I did online backups. My DSL connection was always the fastest available and I always got the maximum connection rate.

=> ↺ I just want to fucking play Call of Duty on my day off

• Me: I finally get to play this brand new copy of Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 on my day off

• Me: [Puts disc into PS5 and clicks play]

• PS5: MUST INSTALL UPDATE FOR THIS APPLICATION FIRST

• Me: ok

• PS5: IT’S 63 GB

=> ↺ No, i am not from the future…

• .. i am just too stupid to enter the correct date in my feed.gmi

• But this whole “timetravelling” thing reminded me of a story i read a while back about the “John Titor” persona that emerged some time around the early 00s…

• That i never heard about it back in the day (even as someone who frequented UFO and conspiracy forums quiet extensively) is quiet interesting… perhaps another proof of how more diverse the internet back then was. So, as it was way too hot to sleep last night i crawled into this rabbit hole and spend many hours reading and digging deeper.

=> ↺ Using git bundle to synchronize a repository between Qubes OS

• In a previous article, I explained how to use Fossil version control system to version the files you may write in dom0 and sync them against a remote repository.

• I figured how to synchronize a git repository between an AppVM and dom0, then from the AppVM it can be synchronized remotely if you want. This can be done using the git feature named bundle, which bundle git artifacts into a single file.

=> ↺ Maybe it’s time to post something again

• We need more of Richard Stallman, not less

• Ego can’t listen. It can pretend to. Quite convincingly, too: whatever it takes to keep the other egos a combination of misinformed and guessing so as to be a fine mix of lesser and behind.

• Ego loves seeing other egos as whatever form of lesser (e.g. “dangerous maniac”) being/personhood/individuality necessary to feel, um, more-er.

Internet/Gemini

=> ↺ Announcement: Weather CGI Fixes

• In the early days of my capsule I implemented a weather forecast CGI. A visitor can enter a five-digit US ZIP code, and the CGI will present a one-week weather forecast from the National Weather Service. That CGI is still online today.

• The original script was written in Bash, but in July of 2022 I converted all my CGI content to Python. In preparation for that change, I compiled a database with a list of ZIP codes, their corresponding cities and states, and the NWS weather stations and grid numbers needed to get the ZIP’s forecast via API. This required me to first find a source that gave the latitude and longitudes of each ZIP code, then querying the API with the list of coordinates to get the stations.

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