+++ More Republic Updates +++ Monday, December 31, 2018 at 16:43 Work on the Republic and the greater circumlunar.space universe continues! Zaibatsu sundog visiblink has setup an XMPP server for use by all circumlunar.space users [0]. This is a really great idea, thanks to visiblink for setting that up. I've tested connections from the Republic to xmpp.circumlunar.space and they work great, using mcabber. (TXT) Continued... +++ Republic New Users & Update +++ Friday, December 28, 2018 at 14:16 The Republic had four new user requests this week (three of them yesterday and today), as I set them up you'll see their gopher holes come online. Lntl was the first, and he has already started updating his phlog [0]. The others will be linked from the Republic's gopher homepage in the next few days. Welcome all! (TXT) Continued... +++ Registration Open for Republic +++ Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 15:55 Registration is now open at republic.circumlunar.space [0]! And just in time as the flagship zaibatsu server is now full and no longer accepting new users. (TXT) Continued... +++ FreeBSD and Republic.circumlunar.space Update +++ Wednesday, December 05, 2018 at 16:26 The new republic server is running FeeeBSD 11.2. I haven't worked with FreeBSD in a long while and I'm enjoying getting my hands dirty again - I used to run my personal email server on FreeBSD, way back on version 6 (or thereabouts). I later migrated my server to Debian where it has run for years, although my last upgrade just a few months ago was to Devuan, as I could not stomach a switch to systemd. (TXT) Continued... +++ Coming Soon - Republic.circumlunar.space +++ Saturday, December 01, 2018 at 03:11 Solderpunk and I have been discussing adding a new server to the circumlunar.space universe (hereinafter called the verse). It would be similar in nature to his own server zaibatsu.circumlunar.space. At first it will offer gopher hosting and shell access, with local email (just among the circumlunar servers), and fairly quickly thereafter a shared or federated bbs, so that users can post and read bbs (gboard) updates from users on other servers in the verse. (TXT) Continued... +++ Email Providers and Pubnix +++ Tuesday, November 06, 2018 at 02:25 Cdmnky talks about email providers [0]. I tried protonmail briefly but deleted my account, it seemed to me to be a bit gimmicky, and less than useful without direct imap support. (TXT) Continued... +++ Cannabis Now Legal in Canada +++ Thursday, October 18, 2018 at 03:51 Well today cannabis became legal in Canada. Here in Quebec, it's legal to possess up to 30 grams for anyone 18 or over. Of course the news has been full of warnings with stories focusing on side effects and kids. I sense a bit of discomfort from certain professionals talking about legally using a psychoactive drug, but I think it will all be fine. My own experience as a paramedic has shown me the evils of alcohol abuse, but I don't see any reason to fear cannabis, which generally makes people mellow and hungry. Not really a recipe for violence. (TXT) Continued... +++ Maps and Bugout +++ Monday, October 08, 2018 at 16:49 Tomasino talks about maps and bugout bags [0]. Paper maps are undervalued as a resource. I've been steered wrong (literally) by google maps many times, due to new construction or just plain bad data. The heavy and ongoing construction around Montreal is a prime example. I've never been sent off course by a decent map, even in cases of construction blockage it gives you a large overview and sense of your position that those small smartphone screens just can't match. And of course topo maps are a necessity for extended wilderness treks. When we travel we always have maps of the areas we are traveling to in the glove box, as a backup. (TXT) Continued... +++ Systemd and Tags +++ Saturday, October 06, 2018 at 22:24 I'm so fed up with systemd. I wrestle with it at work where we have nothing but RHEL7 servers. At home, I tried recently to install gophernicus on my home workstation, Debian 8 (Jesse) - the first release they switched to systemd. Somehow the installer sets up a listening gopher server on IPv6 only, and the systemd interface is completely broken. I don't even want to spend the time to debug it, the CLI interface and config file layout is so awful. I think I'll install Devuan and say goodbye to systemd. (TXT) Continued... +++ Fall Foliage and Thanksgiving +++ Friday, October 05, 2018 at 20:54 It's supposed to be nice tomorrow here in Quebec, sunny and 16. The wife and I will probably head out on our bikes for a bit, or perhaps go on a fall hike. The leaves are already turning, another week or so and we'll be at peak fall foliage. Always my favorite time of year. (TXT) Continued... +++ Gophernicus is Back +++ Sunday, September 30, 2018 I see tomasino posted a bboard request [0] to revert gopher.club back to gophernicus, and also to upgrade it, and it appears that is done now. Very nice! [0] gopher://gopher.black/1/phlog/20180929-sdf-gopher-servers (TXT) Continued... +++ SDF Nuked Gophernicus Again +++ Friday, September 28, 2018 Sigh. It seems gopher.club has changed its gopherd to Bucktooth... again, and with no warning... again... breaking all gopher moles (CGIs)... again. Sdf.org still uses gophernicus, however, which is kind of confusing, especially if you read the gopher tutorial and setup a CGI like it describes there, only to have it fail when your phlog gets listed on gopher.club. (TXT) Continued... +++ Books vs. E-books +++ Sunday, September 16, 2018 My wife and I had a discussion about books the other day. She is reading a large hardcover, a book she got from English section of the local library. She mentioned how much better she likes reading actual books. I agreed, but it got me to thinking why I actually feel this way. E-readers do have advantages, but something is missing that makes reading from an e-reader seem less than appealing. I think it is that e-books are sterile, they don't provide the same sensory experience as real books. With a real book you have the feel of the pages as you turn them. The visible feedback as to just how much of the book you have read, as measured by the thickness of the pages remaining. The smell of the book itself. The ease with which you can hold it while reclining on your couch. Flipping back a few pages to remember a character's name or plot point while keeping your current position secure with a finger. All combine to make a complete experience that e-readers cannot match. (TXT) Continued... +++ Reading List: Ken Follett +++ Wednesday, August 29, 2018 I just finished reading a very good book, 'Eye of the Needle' by Ken Follett. It's a thriller set in WWII England, about the hunt for a German spy. Very compelling reading, Follett is a great writer. Mostly character-driven, but somehow he keeps you wanting to turn the page. If you like historical fiction in particular you'll enjoy it. I read another of his books recently, 'Pillars of the Earth', which was equally engrossing, set in the early middle-ages. There is a sequel to that latter one which is on my "to-read" list. (TXT) Continued... +++ Positive Changes at SDF +++ Saturday, August 18, 2018 I've been away from SDF for a bit, but I caught up on bboard today and notice signs of increased responsiveness from the 'membership' account. It seems to be replying to each and every requests thread, and a lot of the helpdesk ones as well. I see more frequent emails on new features, some like ssh-over-https that were requested by users with a fairly quick turnaround time in implementation. I'm not sure if this is smj or a group of admins (more likely the latter), but the attention is welcome and long overdue. Thanks SDF! (TXT) Continued... +++ Home Ownership +++ Tuesday, July 31, 2018 We've been looking into buying a house recently, two years after we sold our house in the US. We've been renting a house in Canada ever since, and I kind of like it. (TXT) Continued... +++ Reply to Tfurrows on Canada +++ Friday, July 27, 2018 Tfurrows ruminates on Canadian citizenship for himself and his kids [0]. This is exactly the situation I was in - born prior to 2009, to a Canadian father outside of Canada. I was easily able to reclaim my Canadian citizenship. (TXT) Continued... +++ Congrats to Tomasino +++ Thursday, July 26, 2018 Congrats to Tomasino on getting his Italian citizenship [0], and welcome to the US expat club [1]! I have never been to Iceland, but have always wanted to visit, I think it would be a wonderful place to settle. Moving to another country is quite an ordeal, but well worth it. I hope it all works out for you! (TXT) Continued... +++ I'm not Surprised +++ Tuesday, June 12, 2018 I'm not surprised [0], the web has been a mess for some time, but it's really, painfully bad as of 2018. The wholesale move to client-side, dynamic page generation is partly to blame. And for what purpose? Client-side designs are harder to test, and more brittle as far as dealing with odd browser dependencies. They are also slower than generating content directly on the server-side, when you consider that the content still has to come from the server, except now it is coming from dozens of RPCs (add up the network overhead of each request). Let's not forget all the javascript loaded from third-party websites used for tracking and ads, these slow down the sites even more. (TXT) Continued... +++ CLI Translation Utility +++ Sunday, June 10, 2018 I came across a great command line translation utility 'translate shell' [0]. It provides a script 'trans', which is written in pure bash and gives an interface to the most popular online translation sites (by default it will use Google translate). Here is an example of it translating one of my recent French phosts [1]. The translation is pretty accurate, at least enough to convey the meaning. It has loads of options and I could see it being used to facilitate a gopher-based translation site. (TXT) Continued... +++ Finally Spring +++ Saturday, May 12, 2018 It appears spring has finally arrived in Québec, after a bout of unseasonably cold weather. My walks are more pleasant now, with the trees budding and things coming to life in general. (TXT) Continued... +++ Android Gopher Client +++ Thursday, May 03, 2018 I came across a new Android gopher client called 'DiggieDog' [0]. Nothing outstanding, but it works fine as a basic client and even has bookmark support. It has the usual issues with garbled display of ascii-art and line wrap, but I'm not sure it's possible to fix those in all cases in the mobile format. (TXT) Continued... +++ On Losing Weight +++ Monday, April 02, 2018 Txminth talks about his diet [0] - congrats on losing that weight! I, too have been following the "hacker's diet" recently and counting calories. My target is 1800 per day with a brisk walk most days (five days a week). I've lost six pounds in two weeks. I have been doing the walks for about two years, but my weight always held steady until now. Counting calories really makes you aware of how much you are eating. (TXT) Continued... +++ Responses on Attention and Atheism +++ Monday, April 02, 2018 Solderpunk shared a link to an article on getting your attention back [0], I agree it was not very insightful. But it made me think of how digital books can sometimes impact attention negatively, at least for me. (TXT) Continued... +++ Skiing and a Gopher Mirror +++ Sunday, March 18, 2018 We're having a snowy and cold March here in Quebec, but the clouds broke today and it was sunny and -8. It turned out to be a perfect day for some cross-country skiing - my wife and I got in 8km this afternoon. The conditions were phenomenal, with minimal wind, nice, cold snow (the kind that makes that satisfying hard scrape as your skis travel over it) and no ice to speak of. (TXT) Continued... +++ Remembering Prepping +++ Wednesday, March 14, 2018 Reading Melton's phlog [0] has made me miss my own experiments in self-sufficiency and preparedness. (TXT) Continued... +++ Resp. to Tomasino and Jynx +++ Sunday, March 11, 2018 Tomasino moved his gopher hole away from SDF [0], it's now self-hosted on a RPi. He cites the recent stealth changes to SDF's gopher implementation as his main reason for moving. (TXT) Continued... +++ Emacs and Remote Editing +++ Thursday, March 08, 2018 I've been working from the Meta-array (MA) lately since I'm finding it a bit more responsive as far as editing and saving documents. That probably has to do with the heavy use of the cluster and that fact that you're always working over an NFS mount (although I must say it's better lately on NetBSD 8.0 beta). (TXT) Continued... +++ Text Formatting and Emacs +++ Wednesday, March 07, 2018 There have been lots of interesting posts lately about text formatting tools [0][1][2][3][4] (I particularly like the artistic bent of jynx's and cat's posts with the embedded ascii art). Since I'm an Emacs guy I've used muse mode in the past - this is what I wrote the SDF Emacs tutorial and cheatsheet in. For that they were invaluable since I had one source document and could generate HTML, text, and epub [5]. Speaking of formatting, in Emacs there is a minor mode called refill-mode, it auto-fills paragraphs as you type, with whatever justification you set ('M-x set-justification-full' is what I'm using for this post). You can also disable refill-mode and just manually fill paragraphs with M-q every so often. (TXT) Continued... +++ Response to Solderpunk +++ Thursday, February 22, 2018 Just a quick reply to solderpunk, I would indeed be interested in an 80s-themed hotel room [0]. Genius! Alas, I agree modern (wo-)man would be intent on just taking selfies with console TVs and princess phones. (TXT) Continued... +++ Woodnotes Guides on Gopher +++ Monday, February 19, 2018 I love finding new gopher sites. I posted a link to the classic 'Woodnotes Guide to Mutt' [0] in bboard today. After perusing the author's blog, I discovered he uses gopher [1], and his site is mirrored there, including all his tech guides [2]. (TXT) Continued... +++ I Miss the 80s +++ Friday, February 16, 2018 With apologies to my younger readers. (TXT) Continued... +++ Long Live Bongusta +++ Thursday, February 08, 2018 Just a quick note to thank Logout for Bongusta [0] and for keeping it around [1]. I use it every day and I'm sure others do as well. (TXT) Continued... +++ Thoughts on Finding Recently Updated SDF Gopherholes +++ Saturday, February 03, 2018 I and some others have noticed some issues recently with the SDF phlogosphere display [0] and the sort order. So you know the history, way back in 2009, smj posted this to the GOPHER bboard: (TXT) Continued... +++ Long-Ass Gophermaps +++ Wednesday, January 31, 2018 Regarding Solderpunk's gopher bboard reply, on overly long gophermaps and how VF-1 does not handle them with a pager: (TXT) Continued... +++ The VF-1 Gopher Client +++ Monday, January 22, 2018 So I took some time today to put solderpunk's new gopher client VF-1 [0][1] through its paces. I'm using whatever version is currently installed on SDF. First let me say that I love the interface design, despite it being quite different from lynx and gopher I got used to it pretty quickly (as in a few minutes). I think anyone with REPL experience will feel at home with it. The search facility and veronica commands are very useful. I particularly like the auto-generation of menus after each operation, whether that be a search or link extraction (and that last is quite handy). (TXT) Continued... +++ Pale Blue Dot +++ Tuesday, January 16, 2018 I've been keeping a low profile lately as post-holiday work has been a bear and I've not had the motivation to write. But I'm catching up on things today and saw a phost by gunnarfrost that caught my eye [0]. He mentions the view of earth from space and how this has shaped our philosophical views of the meaning of life. This made me think of Carl Sagan's the 'Pale Blue Dot' [1][2], which is about the view of Earth from Voyager I, seen as a tiny speck from about six million kilometers away. Here is the quote: (TXT) Continued... +++ Thoughts on Pseudo-anonymity +++ Tuesday, January 02, 2018 Solderpunk talks about pseudonymity [0] and the issues surrounding it. Thankfully I do not recall ever reading that bit of bad advice by Eric Raymond. (TXT) Continued... +++ Welcome 2018 +++ Monday, January 01, 2018 Welcome to the new year, fellow gopherites! I notice some phloggers have archived their 2017 posts into a sub-folder, with an apology for breaking links. I see the most impact to that will be in the 'reply' posts where we link to one another, although the naming convention from here on out should prevent that (phlog/ -> phlog/2017/, for example). When I thought about archiving my posts, I realized this a good reason to use gophermaps for a phlog - that one layer of abstraction above raw directory indexes allows one to archive posts transparently. In my case, I only needed to copy the 2017 posts into an empty subfolder, with their gophermap: (TXT) Continued...