Nostr notes by Hank G ☑️

Over on Bluesky they are discussing about whether the network is ...

2026-04-03T22:37:07Z

Over on Bluesky they are discussing about whether the network is doomed because the active user base is stagnating and/or even declining slightly. I would love to see the fediverse have exploding user stats the same as Bluesky users. Why no doom and gloom over here? It's because we don't have venture capitalists that will pull the plug on us if we don't hit the growth metrics. We never had the deep pockets but what we do have is hundreds or thousands of people throwing resources and money here and there to make this diverse network work. That builds in resilience that one funded by VC and chasing ad revenue will never have. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fediverse]fediverse[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Bluesky]Bluesky[/url]

Yeah Zed has its interesting aspects. Previously there was ...

2026-03-24T17:54:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…nv79
_________________________

Yeah Zed has its interesting aspects. Previously there was something about the font selection or rendering that my eyes did not like. That doesn't seem to be a problem with the default configuration now. I never heard of Pulsar. Interesting someone is keeping Atom going along still.

VSCodium flaking out on my after an upgrade has me deciding to ...

2026-03-24T17:29:02Z

VSCodium flaking out on my after an upgrade has me deciding to look around for my "basic" text editor again. I was trying Sublime for the first time and was liking it a bunch. However it seems that it is not open source. I therefore decided to maybe give Zed a try again. It has come a long way from the first time I tried to use it, about a year ago. It is way heavier than Sublime though. So I'm torn between the two options right now. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=programming]programming[/url]

Exhibit Number 135,735 that Megyn Kelly is just fascist trash. ...

2026-01-26T22:08:00Z

Exhibit Number 135,735 that Megyn Kelly is just fascist trash. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url] https://www.mediamatters.org/megyn-kelly/megyn-kelly-minnesota-protesters-are-terrorists-who-must-behave-well-and-submit
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.mediamatters.org/megyn-kelly/megyn-kelly-minnesota-protesters-are-terrorists-who-must-behave-well-and-submit'; title='Megyn Kelly: Minnesota protesters are “terrorists” who must “behave well and submit immediately”' publisher_name='Media Matters for America' publisher_url='https://www.mediamatters.org'; image='https://www.mediamatters.org/sites/default/files/The%20Megyn%20Kelly%20Show%20II.jpg';][/attachment]

[share author='Brad Koehn ☑️' ...

2026-01-23T13:43:03Z

[share author='Brad Koehn ☑️' profile='https://diaspora.koehn.com/u/bkoehn'; avatar='' link='https://diaspora.koehn.com/posts/d167d710d97e013e71b32e42db22d8bc'; posted='2026-01-22 05:12:05' guid='d167d710d97e013e71b32e42db22d8bc' message_id='https://diaspora.koehn.com/objects/d167d710d97e013e71b32e42db22d8bc';]I watched an OSINT demo the other day and I have to tell you, the stuff you see in movies about big scary government? That’s nothing compared to what private industry can do.

And this isn’t even the classified intelligence, this is all stuff you can buy.[/share]

While snacking through Triscuits left over from NYE it occurred ...

2026-01-10T17:00:25Z

While snacking through Triscuits left over from NYE it occurred to me it is basically shredded wheat cereal, which is healthy, with some added canola oil and salt. Neither of those is bad but it gets to the heart of the whole "hyperpalatable processed foods" vs. "ultraprocessed foods" debate. Can I sit there and eat a whole box of shredded wheat like I can Triscuits? Well I'm about to find out. It'll be interesting to see if/how my night snacking changes, if it does at all, with that one-for-one swap out of the same product sans the added salt and fat. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=health]health[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fitness]fitness[/url]

[share author='Christoph S' ...

2025-12-14T21:41:18Z

[share author='Christoph S' profile='https://diaspora.glasswings.com/u/christophs'; avatar='' link='https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/fcf4f3d0bb57013ed6c3448a5b29e257'; posted='2025-12-14 20:18:33' guid='fcf4f3d0bb57013ed6c3448a5b29e257' message_id='https://diaspora.glasswings.com/objects/fcf4f3d0bb57013ed6c3448a5b29e257';][h3]New Study Shows How Paris Pedaled Its Way to a Cycling Revolution | Momentum Mag[/h3][quote]Not long ago, Paris was known for its traffic jams, not its bike culture. The city’s grand boulevards were lined with honking taxis, delivery vans, and inching commuters. Cycling through central Paris meant weaving between buses and scooters—a bold choice reserved for the fearless few.

Fast forward to today, and the transformation is astonishing. The French capital has quietly—and quickly—become one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world. What started as a series of emergency “coronapistes,” or pop-up bike lanes, built during the pandemic has evolved into a permanent cycling network spanning hundreds of kilometres. Paris is now a place where parents ferry kids to school by cargo bike, where commuters glide past the Seine on protected lanes, and where the sound of gears clicking often replaces the blare of horns.

And the numbers prove it’s more than a passing trend. A new study reveals that cycling traffic in Paris has increased by 240% between 2018 and 2023, while car traffic has steadily declined. In central districts, more than one in ten trips are now made by bike—a remarkable shift for a metropolis once synonymous with gridlock.

“Paris is an incredible example of how a city can transform when political will meets smart data,” says one of the report’s lead authors. “We wanted to understand exactly which factors made this happen.”[/quote]
#[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=cycling]cycling[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=paris]paris[/url]

[url=https://momentummag.com/new-study-paris-cycling-revolution/]https://momentummag.com/new-study-paris-cycling-revolution/[/url][/share]

As someone who loves plant based meats and loves seeing the ever ...

2025-11-18T01:56:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…pwdl
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As someone who loves plant based meats and loves seeing the ever growing diversity of them I have to say that the valuations they were at 4-5 years ago were ludicrous. They make no more sense than these other meme stock-like valuations like at Tesla, NVidia, et cetera. The concept of a rational market died a long time ago to me. Looks like the big investors treat it more like a casino with each passing year.

I find the technology potentially interesting on its own, ...

2025-11-14T16:14:13Z

In reply to nevent1q…2d0m
_________________________

I find the technology potentially interesting on its own, assuming they have proper privacy protections, good data policies et cetera. Facebook/Meta is one of he last companies I would trust to do an implementation in a non-predatory and ethical way. I have less than zero interest in partaking in anything they ever do ever again. You can throw anything Musk, a16z, Ellison, Thiel, et al are involved with. I won't say no good has ever come from them but no [em]net[/em] good has come from them. It's been quite the opposite.

Over the last 20 years I've become obsessed with beans and ...

2025-09-02T21:07:56Z

Over the last 20 years I've become obsessed with beans and legumes. Back in 2023 I heard about Rancho Gordo and their heirloom bean/produce preservation program. I've been on their waitlist to join their quarterly club until today. Stoked! #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=food]food[/url]
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.ranchogordo.com/pages/about-us'; title='The Rancho Gordo Story' publisher_name='Rancho Gordo' publisher_url='https://www.ranchogordo.com/pages/about-us'; publisher_img=' ; image=' ;]The origins of Rancho Gordo and Steve Sando's quest for heirloom beans, corn and chiles. Products indigenous to the Americas.[/attachment]

I know this is one of those things that dates someone but I found ...

2025-08-29T02:45:52Z

I know this is one of those things that dates someone but I found this very funny :) #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=humor]humor[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=RetroComputing]RetroComputing[/url]

The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the ...

2025-08-25T17:43:22Z

The United States, just months before its 250th birthday as the world’s leading democracy, has tipped over the edge into authoritarianism and fascism. In the end, faster than I imagined possible, it did happen here. The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed...Everything else from here on out is just a matter of degree and wondering how bad it will get and how far it will go? Do we end up “merely” like Hungary or do we go all the way toward an “American Reich”? So far, after years of studying World War II, I fear that America’s trajectory feels more like Berlin circa 1933 than it does Budapest circa 2015. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fascism]fascism[/url]
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-tips-into-fascism-f51000e08e03254d'; title='America Tips Into Fascism' publisher_name='www.doomsdayscenario.co' publisher_url='https://www.doomsdayscenario.co'; image=' ;]Today is different than before.[/attachment]

If President Trump installed a guillotine where the White House ...

2025-08-19T16:36:14Z

If President Trump installed a guillotine where the White House Rose Garden used to be and started kidnapping and then beheading one Democratic member of Congress every day at noon, in a matter of days there would be an article in The Atlantic titled “Beheading Opposition Politicians is Wrong, But Democrats Need to Rethink Their Opposition to the Death Penalty.” #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] https://www.publicnotice.co/p/democratic-messaging-crime-trump-dc
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.publicnotice.co/p/democratic-messaging-crime-trump-dc'; title='Don't listen to centrist Democrats about crime' publisher_name='Public Notice' publisher_url='https://www.publicnotice.co'; publisher_img='https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!d7xc!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F27a23854-104e-4c0d-8b6e-68b082c65a5b_1280x1280.png'; author_name='Paul Waldman' author_url='https://substack.com/@paulwaldman'; image='https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!rG-Z!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F64649cdf-e6f5-4e8c-bb7b-8d506efbaa52_3840x2560.jpeg';]They're wrong on the policy and wrong on the politics.[/attachment]

Sad running news from an inspiring running story. It is ...

2025-07-15T12:18:17Z

Sad running news from an inspiring running story. It is impressive that Fauja Singh ran record breaking marathons into his 100s. It's even more inspiring when you realize he couldn't walk until he was 5 due to weak legs. While he ran in his younger adult years, he stopped in his early 30s. It wasn't until his 80s that he started running again, and 89 years old when he started a serious distance running hobby. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=longevity]longevity[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=running]running[/url] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/15/fauja-singh-worlds-oldest-marathon-runner-dies-road-accident-aged-114?CMP=bsky_gu
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jul/15/fauja-singh-worlds-oldest-marathon-runner-dies-road-accident-aged-114?CMP=bsky_gu'; title='Fauja Singh, ‘world’s oldest marathon runner’, dies in road accident aged 114' publisher_name='The Guardian' publisher_url='https://www.theguardian.com/'; publisher_img='https://uploads.guim.co.uk/2018/01/31/TheGuardian_AMP.png'; author_name='Jamie Grierson' author_url='https://www.theguardian.com/profile/jamie-grierson'; image=' ;]Singh’s east London running club confirms death in India of athlete thought to be first centenarian to run a marathon[/attachment]

Nostr event nevent1qqspcwa89xdel5pvl3zwnuk28pdj9qze45uca45fl6fhnrusp9lluuczyzn3n760tmakjfssd6ep4q5yk2s6krpx65qdguckcxu9sxycwcjnvn48gy9

2025-07-04T12:57:57Z

#[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=IndependenceDay]IndependenceDay[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=FourthOfJuly]FourthOfJuly[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=humor]humor[/url]

Days like this I'm so glad I am on iOS instead of Android. ...

2025-06-29T20:23:04Z

Days like this I'm so glad I am on iOS instead of Android. But I fear there will be a day sooner than later that Apple will do this too. Between the two I trust Apple more but if I have the choice I'll go for a phone that doesn't have any of this at all, like a GrapheneOS-based Android or if we ever get one a Linux phone #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=ai]ai[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url] https://www.laptopmag.com/ai/gemini-phone-access-update
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.laptopmag.com/ai/gemini-phone-access-update'; title='Google Gemini is about to control your messages and calls, even if you say no' publisher_name='Laptop Mag' publisher_url='https://www.laptopmag.com'; publisher_img='https://vanilla.futurecdn.net/laptopmag/media/img/laptopmag_logo.svg'; author_name='Luke James' author_url='https://www.laptopmag.com/author/luke-james'; image='https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7iLrvwkvBjHpr3i9H5AqQK.jpg';]Google’s AI assistant is about to get full access to your calls, texts, and WhatsApp — even if you’ve disabled activity tracking.[/attachment]

"Idolising billionaires is like thinking the stripper ...

2025-06-23T13:03:42Z

"Idolising billionaires is like thinking the stripper actually likes you." --poster in a comments section on Elon Musk video that I think totally nails it. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=BillionairesShouldNotExist]BillionairesShouldNotExist[/url]

If it's from politicians that have been doing the fight the ...

2025-06-13T12:46:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…lklu
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If it's from politicians that have been doing the fight the whole time, like the one I got from Rep. Maxwell Frost, I'm more than happy to contribute more if I'm not maxed out. If it is spineless Do Nothing Democrats like Chuck Schumer then fuck no. I only give to people that are doing the fighting not the people feathering their nests.

This article on getting generic Doom running on an old Apple ...

2025-06-01T13:41:55Z

This article on getting generic Doom running on an old Apple Network Server (ANS), which only ran AIX 4.1, and then subsequently on an RS/6000 laptop, is an interesting tour of nuances of differences between AIX 4.1 and later 4.x variants, X11R5 vs X11R6, and the ANS system itself. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=RetroComputing]RetroComputing[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=RetroGaming]RetroGaming[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Doom]Doom[/url] https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2025/05/harpoom-of-course-apple-network-server.html
[attachment type='link' url='https://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2025/05/harpoom-of-course-apple-network-server.html'; title='Harpoom: of course the Apple Network Server can be hacked into running Doom' publisher_name='oldvcr.blogspot.com' publisher_url='https://oldvcr.blogspot.com'; image='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnqfUawyNyYKRGO-01Lk92zV2YGSHzF9NU7_OW2N9sJ6GNjdv601KAOFWTfkEMlNt2Axixub3ZMIIq6RgDP_c-doA5dRLS6LTTKDd1kjvwFSzbB4vcSvbgExXz8DzzascSfa-yqCAxNccr-g_q46voehRUPtQ7TMV9uU3glYMeJMU7JtkA-3Mn9mlcJKc/w1200-h630-p-k-no-nu/PXL_20250527_223741214.LONG_EXPOSURE-01.COVER.jpg';]Of course you can run Doom on a $10,000+ Apple server running IBM AIX. Of course you can. Well, you can now . Now, let's go ahead and g...[/attachment]

Awesome!

2025-05-02T10:36:31Z

In reply to nevent1q…f6na
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Awesome!

[share author='Brad Koehn ☑️' ...

2025-04-10T13:21:23Z

[share author='Brad Koehn ☑️' profile='https://diaspora.koehn.com/u/bkoehn'; avatar='' link='https://diaspora.koehn.com/posts/73b76e70f7d6013d21e906465e8d2dc6'; posted='2025-04-10 01:10:01' guid='73b76e70f7d6013d21e906465e8d2dc6' message_id='https://diaspora.koehn.com/objects/73b76e70f7d6013d21e906465e8d2dc6';]Get. Involved.
[img= ][/img][/share]

As a citizen of the United States, after hearing more and more ...

2025-03-12T13:03:47Z

As a citizen of the United States, after hearing more and more stories like this I have to say it's probably best if people don't travel here. ICE has been bad from day one (created-post 9/11) but it's like horror stories from the Soviet Union I remember hearing as a kid now. It doesn't matter if you are coming from countries MAGA considers "good" like this German lady or "bad" ones. It doesn't matter if you have your documents in order and your nose clean. No one is safe from this sort of secret police style treatment. I'm sorry half my country voted for these monsters and cheer this shit on. We've failed ourselves and the rest of the planet. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]
[attachment type='link' url='https://thetrek.co/a-german-thru-hiker-has-been-detained-deported-and-banned-from-the-us-without-a-hearing-heres-what-you-need-to-know/'; title='German Thru-Hiker Detained, Deported, and Banned From US - The Trek' publisher_name='The Trek' publisher_url='https://thetrek.co/'; author_name='Caitlin Hardee' author_url='https://thetrek.co/author/caitlin-hardee/'; author_img='https://photos.thetrek.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/01025821/Screen-Shot-2023-09-08-at-1.41.59-PM-150x150.png'; image='https://photos.thetrek.co/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/01101040/ice_customs_border_miami_copyright_free_public_domain_CC0_1.0.jpg';]An experienced thru-hiker traveling to the US to hike the AZT last month says she was treated inhumanely and deported without justification.[/attachment]

I ripped them all in and put them into a sleeve binder and then ...

2025-02-16T14:22:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…lvmw
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I ripped them all in and put them into a sleeve binder and then ditched all the jewel cases. I think I have that binder somewhere...

It's shocking to me how much music just drops off on these ...

2025-02-16T13:54:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…mc0m
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It's shocking to me how much music just drops off on these streaming services. Sometimes it comes back. Sometimes it doesn't. It's the price of admission when it comes to DJ remixes and all because buying those sort of tracks in the physical media era was either prohibitively expensive or impossible to find unless the artist made a compilation single. But for other stuff, I miss and am thinking of going back to just using physical media again. They can't take that away from me. I'll then rip it into an mp3 form to listen to it on my devices like in the WinAmp era.

This is the man who is effectively controlling the Treasury ...

2025-02-03T00:24:57Z

This is the man who is effectively controlling the Treasury Department, payments disbursed by it, infiltrating systems at the State Department, etc. He is an unhinged disconnected from reality maniac. Trump turned over the keys to the kingdom to him. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=ElonMusk]ElonMusk[/url] https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1886129005759262964

Wasn't a big part of the info they released about how they ...

2025-01-29T13:08:56Z

In reply to nevent1q…xjuh
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Wasn't a big part of the info they released about how they used Llama to create training data sets? Is he claiming they used OpenAI instead of Llama like they stated? As you say though, after spending years telling us stealing people's content is fine and legal I don't see why training on data sets from a tool would be illegal all of a sudden.

[share author='Joyce Donahue' ...

2025-01-15T16:45:04Z

[share author='Joyce Donahue' profile='https://diasporasocial.net/u/joyce_donahue'; avatar='' link='https://diasporasocial.net/posts/9ce9b2c0b58d013d4e912af54f44308c'; posted='2025-01-15 16:42:20' guid='9ce9b2c0b58d013d4e912af54f44308c' message_id='https://diasporasocial.net/objects/9ce9b2c0b58d013d4e912af54f44308c';]
[img= ][/img][/share]

I can't stand Steve Bannon but the energy and tone he uses ...

2025-01-13T22:29:20Z

I can't stand Steve Bannon but the energy and tone he uses against Elon Musk is [em]exactly[/em] the style I want to see out of Democrats, left-of-center media/orgs, etc. This equivocation and milquetoast nonsense out of them is why we are losing to these sociopathic assholes #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=ElonMusk]ElonMusk[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]

It is crazy and pathetic that if Silicon Valley techbros hadn’t ...

2024-12-27T14:14:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…58a2
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It is crazy and pathetic that if Silicon Valley techbros hadn’t pushed crypto and LLMs US electricity usage would be 5% lower than it is today. The fact each of these technologies will conservatively reach double digit percentages of our electricity usage in the next few years is even more outrageous.

Out of habit I generally use fixed release distros but I'm ...

2024-12-24T12:15:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…0pds
_________________________

Out of habit I generally use fixed release distros but I'm always paranoid about the big version upgrades. All my experiments with rolling release distros have gone pretty much flawlessly. So currently I run rolling style distros on two of my on one desktop (NixOS) and laptop (Garuda) and fixed release on another desktop (Linux Mint). Inside VMs, where I spend most of my time, it is primarily Linux Mint or Ubuntu.

The firehose of bad news about our national situation the past 24 ...

2024-12-11T22:45:02Z

The firehose of bad news about our national situation the past 24 hours has me wanting to completely unplug for a little while. It's going to be a long long four years. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]

I love to see Forgejo getting a big win like this. A couple ...

2024-12-07T02:53:58Z

I love to see Forgejo getting a big win like this. A couple projects I contribute to use it instead of GitHub. I've thought of switching from GitLab to it for my FOSS projects too. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=programming]programming[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=git]git[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=forgejo]forgejo[/url] https://fedoramagazine.org/fedora-moves-towards-forgejo-a-unified-decision/
[attachment type='link' url='https://fedoramagazine.org/fedora-moves-towards-forgejo-a-unified-decision/'; title='Fedora Moves Towards Forgejo - Fedora Magazine' publisher_name='Fedora Project' publisher_url='https://fedoramagazine.org/'; publisher_img='https://fedoramagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/fmag-ribbon.png'; author_name='Akashdeep Dhar' author_url='https://fedoramagazine.org/author/t0xic0der/'; author_img='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/eba3058f529195e3b87d3383ada41661?s=96&d=retro&r=g'; image='https://fedoramagazine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Forgejo.jpg';]Numerous factors were involved in the decision to move to Forgejo and this article will discuss them, present some background on the process, and invite one more chance for feedback.[/attachment]

I have a lot of very small running/hiking/fitness podcasts in my ...

2024-11-25T12:55:12Z

I have a lot of very small running/hiking/fitness podcasts in my queue. I have one less now. One of them, which I won't Streisand Effect, is by a guy who claims to be apolitical generally that had a supposedly apolitical guest on. When asked about the election he started going off on "both sides are crap" (ugh) so "didn't vote for either" (ugh). Then went into examples of crappiness like "Democrats (didn't use that word) calling people names and looking down on them" (umm...okay) and "prejudices against people based on sexual orientation, race, gender" (okay maybe looking up), such as "You are discriminated against nowadays if you are a straight white guy and told to feel bad about yourself..." (vomit). Host just "mhmmm along". So that's a giant unsubscribe to me. I'm had almost started mentioning it to others since the guy seems nice enough. Indulging in that sort of bullshit though is a deal breaker for me. Just a reminder to me how we don't live in a shared reality any longer and things are irrevocably broken in this country. Maybe the guest just has economic anxiety or something, he did mention the price of groceries...(sarcasm). #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]

I had never seen this method signature format before. I ...

2024-11-21T21:09:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…kcfg
_________________________

I had never seen this method signature format before. I haven't done regular C++ coding since the early-2000s. I don't think I've seen any code I've looked at in recent years using the new declaration syntax either. For those unfamiliar with this and the why, I found this article explaining its usefulness. https://www.cprogramming.com/c++11/c++11-auto-decltype-return-value-after-function.html

RIP Thomas Kurtz, most famous for being the co-developer of the ...

2024-11-18T14:10:37Z

RIP Thomas Kurtz, most famous for being the co-developer of the original BASIC programming language at Dartmouth. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=ComputerHistory]ComputerHistory[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=programming]programming[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=BasicLang]BasicLang[/url] https://computerhistory.org/blog/in-memoriam-thomas-e-kurtz-1928-2024/
[attachment type='link' url='https://computerhistory.org/blog/in-memoriam-thomas-e-kurtz-1928-2024/'; title='In Memoriam: Thomas E. Kurtz, 1928–2024 - CHM' publisher_name='Computer History Museum' publisher_url='https://computerhistory.org/'; publisher_img='https://computerhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/chm_logo_400x400.jpg'; author_name='hhackford' author_img='https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/c1fd3f93d12db9d6e9a636cd1412c477?s=96&d=mm&r=g'; image='https://computerhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Thomas-Kurtz-memoriam.png';]CHM remembers the remarkable career and contributions of 2023 Fellow Thomas E. Kurtz, who passed away on November 12, 2024.[/attachment]

Because Musk's overly lackadaisical approach to "self ...

2024-11-18T01:30:20Z

Because Musk's overly lackadaisical approach to "self driving" at Tesla hasn't put enough people in harm's way and lead to enough injuries and death while regulators did practically nothing. This shit is enraging to me. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=ElonMusk]ElonMusk[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=tesla]tesla[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=BillionairesShouldNotExist]BillionairesShouldNotExist[/url] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-11-17/trump-team-said-to-want-to-ease-us-rules-for-self-driving-cars

Portrait of Republican Jesus Spreading the Good Word Door to ...

2024-11-15T00:00:38Z

Portrait of Republican Jesus Spreading the Good Word Door to Door... #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=satire]satire[/url]

Good news, this is really ringing a bell about some stuff I did ...

2024-11-14T03:47:30Z

In reply to nevent1q…7we0
_________________________

Good news, this is really ringing a bell about some stuff I did back in college. Bad news, no matter how much I rack my brain it's still just out of reach for me to recall it completely.

...equally and more disturbing are some of the other cast of ...

2024-11-07T18:57:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…s2jr
_________________________

...equally and more disturbing are some of the other cast of characters that are already prominent like Musk, Steve Bannon, and Michael Flynn.

I’m done with MSM: no subscriptions, no clicks, no views. I’m ...

2024-11-07T03:05:41Z

I’m done with MSM: no subscriptions, no clicks, no views. I’m not supporting the organizations that have continued to fail us in this era. New media like 404, ProPublica, individual newsletters is all I’m subscribing to. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=msm]msm[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]

I like it! Which character did that?

2024-11-06T14:57:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…4kh8
_________________________

I like it! Which character did that?

I wouldn't touch Nostr with a ten foot poll for multiple ...

2024-11-03T01:41:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…q7cd
_________________________

I wouldn't touch Nostr with a ten foot poll for multiple reasons, both architectural and the temperament and political persuasions of some of the contributors I ran into in discussion forums over the years.

My follows on Mastodon/AP fediverse: "Bluesky is so stupid. ...

2024-11-02T23:26:08Z

My follows on Mastodon/AP fediverse: "Bluesky is so stupid. Neener. Neener."

My follows on Bluesky: "Mastodon is so stupid. Neener. Neener."

Lets keep our eye on making federated/decentralized systems the norm again. Let's try to avoid internecine battles. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fediverse]fediverse[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=bluesky]bluesky[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]

Finishing off the Halloween season with my first viewing of the ...

2024-11-01T01:22:39Z

Finishing off the Halloween season with my first viewing of the British classic horror movie The Wicker Man. It was the subject of the Lives Less Ordinary BBC podcast last week. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=halloween]halloween[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=horror]horror[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=movies]movies[/url] https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/16307-the-wicker-man
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/16307-the-wicker-man'; title='The Wicker Man' publisher_name='The Movie Database' publisher_url='https://www.themoviedb.org/'; image='https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/53uHO73C09SrRzmcHvex3wY8gM6.jpg';]Police sergeant Neil Howie is called to an island village in search of a missing girl whom the locals claim never existed. Stranger still, however, are the rituals that take place there.[/attachment]

More Halloween movies: The original Poltergeist. I don't ...

2024-10-19T00:57:41Z

More Halloween movies: The original Poltergeist. I don't recall ever seeing this before so it might as well be a first for me. The Hitchcockesque stuff still works great. Many of the special effects didn't hold up but it's been over 40 years so grade on a curve. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=movies]movies[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=horror]horror[/url] https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/609-poltergeist
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/609-poltergeist'; title='Poltergeist' publisher_name='The Movie Database' publisher_url='https://www.themoviedb.org/'; image='https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/bvkPno6U02lLyvPWCnmibq4eIaN.jpg';]Upon realizing that something truly evil haunts his home, Steve Freeling calls in a team of parapsychologists to help before it's too late.[/attachment]

DistroTube YouTube channel just posted an RMS apologia piece. See ...

2024-10-17T17:52:33Z

DistroTube YouTube channel just posted an RMS apologia piece. See all his shit isn't that crazy and is NBD because he helped birth FOSS, FSF, and GPL. I was uncomfortable reading the report excerpts in public it was such sick shit RMS wrote. So not going to indulge that shit by giving DistroTube any more clicks, view minute money, etc. Unsubscribe. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=StallmanReport]StallmanReport[/url]

Nostr event nevent1qqs804nmapp6gmw3e2nlsu2ekd86c9g2x3s7yk4rhrrtsvk04fsk35gzyzn3n760tmakjfssd6ep4q5yk2s6krpx65qdguckcxu9sxycwcjnvwypgv7

2024-10-11T01:30:47Z

#[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=halloween]halloween[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=humor]humor[/url]

The longer I've been into working on my own health the more ...

2024-10-10T16:40:56Z

The longer I've been into working on my own health the more skeptical I've become of the whole "wellness industry". Why? Seeing how the compute lack of regulation lets snake oil run rampant, being burned by people that turned out to be quacks or grifters, watching people fall into quackery more and more, etc. It not only leads well intentioned people down bad paths but undermines faith in scientifically grounded lifestyle choices, medical interventions, et cetera. Yeah big pharma has lots of warts and even with regulation we have people like the Sacklers who get away with murder. It still pales in comparison to what is going on in the alternative health/wellness industry. It's not that there aren't good things in there it's that the singal to noise ratio sucks and the most viral content is more often than not at best misleading and many times dangerously wrong. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=health]health[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=rant]rant[/url]

[share author='Susan ✶✶✶✶' ...

2024-10-09T21:11:32Z

[share author='Susan ✶✶✶✶' profile='https://diaspora.glasswings.com/u/psychmesu'; avatar='' link='https://diaspora.glasswings.com/posts/6473efa068ac013db7b8448a5b29e257'; posted='2024-10-09 20:38:40' guid='6473efa068ac013db7b8448a5b29e257' message_id='https://diaspora.glasswings.com/objects/6473efa068ac013db7b8448a5b29e257';][strong][url=https://mstdn.social/@Npars01/113279165262675428]https://mstdn.social/@Npars01/113279165262675428[/url][/strong] Npars01@mstdn.social - @GottaLaff

As of August, 150 billionaires have spent $14.5 billion on the 2024 election.

Wonder how much the wealthy paid the GOP for those "rule changes"?
[url=https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaires-buying-elections-congressional-races-report/]https://americansfortaxfairness.org/billionaires-buying-elections-congressional-races-report/[/url]

They got a Supreme Court Justice for the bargain basement price of $4.2 million.

[url=https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/nearly-4-2-million-in-gifts-and-even-that-wasnt-enough-justice-thomas-took-3-undisclosed-trips-with-gop-billionaire-on-luxury-private-jet-new-documents-reveal/]https://lawandcrime.com/supreme-court/nearly-4-2-million-in-gifts-and-even-that-wasnt-enough-justice-thomas-took-3-undisclosed-trips-with-gop-billionaire-on-luxury-private-jet-new-documents-reveal/[/url]

The GOP hopes that more tax cuts will send even more money their way.
[url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-rep-complains-it-s-ridiculous-for-harris-to-ask-billionaires-to-pay-their-fair-share/ar-AA1rYHrT?cvid=73AC4E281C454FD4BBB8390E8C7855C2&ocid=windirect]https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gop-rep-complains-it-s-ridiculous-for-harris-to-ask-billionaires-to-pay-their-fair-share/ar-AA1rYHrT?cvid=73AC4E281C454FD4BBB8390E8C7855C2&ocid=windirect[/url][/share]

Yet another app sacrificed on the alter of Kafkaesque app store ...

2024-10-09T13:31:56Z

Yet another app sacrificed on the alter of Kafkaesque app store bureaucracy. Granted unlike iA Writer they are going to only pull the Google Drive feature not the whole app. Another lesson why I never want to rely on Google for the back end #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=programming]programming[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=google]google[/url] https://blog.panic.com/end-of-the-road-for-google-drive-and-transmit/
[attachment type='link' url='https://blog.panic.com/end-of-the-road-for-google-drive-and-transmit/'; title='End of the Road for Google Drive in Transmit' publisher_name='blog.panic.com' publisher_url='https://blog.panic.com'; image='https://blog-cdn.panic.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/street-ends-scaled.jpg';]We never like removing functionality from our apps. We especially don’t like doing it when it’s due to circumstances beyond our control.[/attachment]

Another Halloween movie. Reviews say it wasn't as good as the ...

2024-10-07T00:44:26Z

Another Halloween movie. Reviews say it wasn't as good as the book. I didn't read the book. So far I've enjoyed it very much, maybe enough to watch the original mini-series and read the book. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=horror]horror[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=movies]movies[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=StephenKing]StephenKing[/url] https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/748230-salem-s-lot
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/748230-salem-s-lot'; title='Salem's Lot' publisher_name='The Movie Database' publisher_url='https://www.themoviedb.org/'; image='https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/hJpTWcFlucIOOo5WEuYN0w69fJi.jpg';]Author Ben Mears returns to his childhood home of Jerusalem's Lot only to discover his hometown is being preyed upon by a bloodthirsty vampire.[/attachment]

Because of "the scene" I never brought myself to watch ...

2024-10-05T23:33:09Z

Because of "the scene" I never brought myself to watch this movie except the very last scene. No time like this Halloween month I suppose :). #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=horror]horror[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=movie]movie[/url] https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1700-misery
[attachment type='link' url='https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1700-misery'; title='Misery' publisher_name='The Movie Database' publisher_url='https://www.themoviedb.org/'; image='https://media.themoviedb.org/t/p/w780/cgo3OmF84touDrrLkQ1DQ3MRFyO.jpg';]After stalking and saving the life of her favorite fiction author in a car accident, his manic obsessor holds him captive in her remote Colorado home then forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.[/attachment]

A far right party founded by former SS members wins the largest ...

2024-09-29T17:22:47Z

A far right party founded by former SS members wins the largest voting block in Austria. We’ve made progress fighting the fascists in some places but so many battles ahead. I see like in the US we’ve allowed the far right to co-opt the word “freedom” and probably others like “family” as exclusively their own. Gotta put a stop to that shit like yesterday #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=politics]politics[/url]

Thank god for this magical device...otherwise I would have been ...

2024-09-19T18:14:53Z

Thank god for this magical device...otherwise I would have been so bored I would have been forced to go outside way more as a kid... :) #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=humor]humor[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=RetroComputing]RetroComputing[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=RetroGaming]RetroGaming[/url]

"IPV4 addresses are like diamonds, IPV6 addresses are like ...

2024-09-16T12:27:29Z

"IPV4 addresses are like diamonds, IPV6 addresses are like sand...", this is a very neat IPv6 writeup for trying to get your brain wrapped around IPv6 from a practicality perspective. (H/T @[url=https://mastodon.cloud/users/LateNightLinux]The Late Night Linux Family[/url] ) #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=networking]networking[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=IPv6]IPv6[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=IT]IT[/url] [url=https://gist.github.com/timothyham/dd003dbad5614b425a8325ec820fd785]https://gist.github.com/timothyham/dd003dbad5614b425a8325ec820fd785[/url]

We can quible with whether humans will [em]ever[/em], like on ...

2024-09-16T10:40:35Z

We can quible with whether humans will [em]ever[/em], like on scale of hundreds of thousands or millions of years, will ever permamently live on other celestial bodies. Whether we will do it in the foreseeable future is easy though: no. Musk's claims of doing it by 2050 are complete and utter bullshit. It isn't even cartoon physics level of realism. So why do so many people take it seriously, or if not seriously at least literally? Because the one thing Musk is actually a genius at is generating FOMO and getting others to throw their money into it even. Some ideas can be good, like electric cars, others can be incredibly stupid, like the hyperloop. This falls into the latter category. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=space]space[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=ElonMusk]ElonMusk[/url]
[attachment type='link' url='https://defector.com/neither-elon-musk-nor-anybody-else-will-ever-colonize-mars'; title='Neither Elon Musk Nor Anybody Else Will Ever Colonize Mars | Defector' publisher_name='defector.com' publisher_url='https://defector.com'; image='https://lede-admin.defector.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2024/09/mars.jpg';]Mars does not have a magnetosphere. Any discussion of humans ever settling the red planet can stop right there, but of course it never does. Do you have a low-cost plan for, uh, creating a gigantic active dynamo at Mars’s dead core? No? Well.[/attachment]

I want to get one of these signs even though I live in a ...

2024-09-15T14:10:01Z

I want to get one of these signs even though I live in a neighborhood that strictly prohibits putting up political signs ever, even near elections. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=humor]humor[/url]

The latest beta of the Relatica mobile and desktop Friendica ...

2024-09-03T21:08:27Z

The latest beta of the Relatica mobile and desktop Friendica client (v0.12.0) has just been released. This has some big updates including: being able to reshare Bluesky posts, a "focus mode" that lets you lock down the UI to only let you post/edit/comment on your own posts, and fixes for stuff that changed in the latest Friendica release from last month, and some other smaller bugfixes/tweaks. It is in review in the Apple Testflight for iOS and macOS as well as in the Google Play beta system. Downloads for Android, Linux, and Windows are on the install page of the main project. See the CHANGELOG on the project page for more information about this release too. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=relatica]relatica[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=friendica]friendica[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fediverse]fediverse[/url]

Great photo and great double meaning in the description too :)

2024-09-03T14:51:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…a038
_________________________

Great photo and great double meaning in the description too :)

Wait, did they name Dominic West's character McNulty after ...

2024-08-31T04:36:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…az55
_________________________

Wait, did they name Dominic West's character McNulty after this character or is that just a coincidence?

There seems to be a huge spike of users on Bluesky with Brazil ...

2024-08-30T23:11:12Z

There seems to be a huge spike of users on Bluesky with Brazil shutting Twitter down in that country. Are we seeing a similar surge on other parts of the social web/fediverse like Mastodon? #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=mastodon]mastodon[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fedistats]fedistats[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=bluesky]bluesky[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=twitter]twitter[/url]

I was so pleased to see Friendica Groups being used for the ...

2024-08-25T12:28:43Z

I was so pleased to see Friendica Groups being used for the Friends of Kamala Harris. Besides the Friendica support forums I never saw Groups being used so pervasively and none ever as active as that. It clearly has shortcomings on moderation, notification noisiness, and other things that hopefully we can take forward as improvements to Friendica in the future. Some of it may be the limitation of Mastodon and how its going to render a Friendica Group but I bet there is some improvement available there too. Groups, like the Post/Comments UI idiom, is another thing that makes me gravitate towards Friendica over Mastodon. Groups are more theoretical though due to it not being used pervasively to date. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=friendica]friendica[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=fediverse]fediverse[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=mastodon]mastodon[/url]

Because my husband was purged from the mail in voter option I ...

2024-08-20T03:58:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…z8mq
_________________________

Because my husband was purged from the mail in voter option I voted in person in the primary. I happened to have brought it in with me with notes on it. They cancel it. Like literally stamp "cancelled" all over it.

Umm I don't think that is correct. I got a physical ballot.

2024-08-20T03:55:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…k6r7
_________________________

Umm I don't think that is correct. I got a physical ballot.

Unironically using a Generative AI image in a post criticizing ...

2024-08-19T11:32:54Z

In reply to nevent1q…50vl
_________________________

Unironically using a Generative AI image in a post criticizing the AI push and as the OpenGraph preview image humors me :)

We are on Day 2 of JD Vance reviving unfounded [i]19th ...

2024-08-16T20:17:28Z

We are on Day 2 of JD Vance reviving unfounded [i]19th Century[/i] anti-immigrant sentiments about the Irish, German, Italian, and Polish migrant waves. I often have to bring these up as sober reminders to friends/family that our families too were smeared by the exact same unfair and unfounded brush we smear today's non-white immigrants with. For the record apparently he did this too as he cast his nose down an poor people of "Appalachia" in Hillbilly Eligy and some other right wing commentators did too about Walz's ethnic background as justifying why he'd support supposedly "communist" government policies (it's mind-bendlingly stupid don't ask). Perhaps JD could push for a renaming of the GOP after a 19th century political party that pushed this stuff the hardest: The Know Nothing Party. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Election2024]Election2024[/url]

It took an extra day but the fridge stored starter that hasn’t ...

2024-08-16T01:27:42Z

It took an extra day but the fridge stored starter that hasn’t been fed for three years made a good Tartine country loaf after three days of restarting. I think I will do a fourth year of this experiment after all. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=sourdough]sourdough[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=bread]bread[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=baking]baking[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=YeastMasters]YeastMasters[/url]

I forgot about Three’s A Crowd!

2024-08-14T01:33:26Z

In reply to nevent1q…lq5a
_________________________

I forgot about Three’s A Crowd!

How have I not seen this before? LOL ...

2024-08-10T13:57:04Z

How have I not seen this before? LOL #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=geekhumor]geekhumor[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=humor]humor[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=LordOfTheRings]LordOfTheRings[/url]

Are there political/pop poll accounts on the fediverse? I'm ...

2024-08-09T01:29:49Z

Are there political/pop poll accounts on the fediverse? I'm thinking something like the old PollingReport account. If not I think I'm going to create and curate one. I like seeing those snapshots in the timeline and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=uspoli]uspoli[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Election2024]Election2024[/url] #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=polls]polls[/url]

I'm glad to see Democratic candidates finally, and ...

2024-08-07T01:47:31Z

I'm glad to see Democratic candidates finally, and effectively, taking back the messages of freedom, family, and patriotism which we all have allowed the Republican party to have the marketing monopoly on for too long; which they always misused to try to try to turn back the clock for so many of us

I guess it was inevitable that this would be considered an ...

2024-08-06T15:43:36Z

I guess it was inevitable that this would be considered an interesting factoid in a home remodeling show. Although I'd say it should have been prefaced with "up until the late-20th century." Wait till they find out we had massive books of phone numbers you had to flip through to try to locate a business or a person.

[share author='𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕒 ...

2024-07-29T23:18:29Z

[share author='𝕕𝕚𝕒𝕟𝕖𝕒 🏳️‍⚧️🦋' profile='https://diasp.org/u/diane_a'; avatar='' link='https://diasp.org/posts/ba767ea0302d013dee6028a1592b385a'; posted='2024-07-29 23:10:53' guid='ba767ea0302d013dee6028a1592b385a' message_id='https://diasp.org/objects/ba767ea0302d013dee6028a1592b385a';]I want to tell a story. This is the story why I started using #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Linux]Linux[/url]. And why I had no Microsoft products in my house since.

That year was 1997. Computers on the manufacturing floor at work were mostly open hardware Z80 controlled GE/Fanuc PLC's... or PC's running a several kilobyte assembly language program connected to parallel port I/O boards. And that older stuff worked like a top 24/7/365 unless the power went out or someone accidentally blasted the steam seals near the desktop computer. They were controlling large production lines long as football fields.

Then some engineer who I will never forgive decided to rewrite all the production machine systems in Visual Basic for Windows 95. Windows and other proprietary systems were crashing like crazy. Remember, this is when Windows didn't use memory page protection and was filled with kernel bugs. It was unreal. If a machine had to be restarted, the production had to be restarted and that made a lot of scrap. There were about 30 active production lines running at one time, limited to the 1.6 megawatt agreement with the utilities. If all the Windows machines crashed, it took about 80,000 pounds of raw materials to restart the production lines. Forklifts would be filling up the dumpster on the back dock.

Every night at midnight, proprietary software known as BackupExec would start at midnight. After about half an hour, the load average would increase on the Oracle database and crash it. Every production machine would routinely push the production report and would crash the entire production line if it wasn't there to sync. The whole plant would shut down shortly after midnight, every night. After a week, this got old, fast.

One night, I had a life changing event with a Windows machine. An operator called on the radio that a plastic extruder was on fire. It was a 330,000 kilowatt PVC extruder and the Microsoft Visual Basic computer was showing zero degrees on every heat zone. Obviously with the fire from the barrel heaters, it was at least several hundred degrees. A few moments later was a loud explosion and the plant floor went dark with chlorine gas. I could see light to the right of me and that's where I ran. When smoke cleared, I could see the extruder barrel had shot the thousand pound head across the plant floor like a canon. Fortunately I was only several feet away from being in front of it, so I lived. Visual Basic had an interesting feature where malfunctions like that happened a lot.

That week, a copy of Redhat Linux 4.1 arrived in the mail. I installed it on my new laptop. It was crazy fast. It did everything I wanted. I compiled the kernel. I compiled everything. It could play mp3 music. And it was reliable. It was all fun and games until some years after the IPO. Google did the same thing. I would soon learn we had a term for this. #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=enshitification]enshitification[/url]

So this is why I love free open source software and despise walled gardens of software companies. I remember #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=RMS]RMS[/url] on #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=UseNet]UseNet[/url] was a bit crazy then, but he made the #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=GNU]GNU[/url] software license that made this possible.

That's my Linux story. And how #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Microsoft]Microsoft[/url] almost killed me. Other people have #[url=https://friendica.myportal.social/search?tag=Microsoft]Microsoft[/url] horror stories, but this one was mine.[/share]

OK I take back all the bad things I've said about generative ...

2024-06-28T23:13:32Z

OK I take back all the bad things I've said about generative AI...LOL

Not really though but that's funny #ai #StarWars #LotR #funny

If you want proof that how people act on the internet is pretty ...

2024-06-04T02:19:14Z

If you want proof that how people act on the internet is pretty much the same as it's ever been, back to ARPANET in 1984 no less... #humor #computer #RetroComputing

[bradford-delong.com/2013/07/ho…](https://www.bradford-delong.com/2013/07/how-jerry-pournelle-got-kicked-off-the-arpanet.html )