Finding beauty, pleasantness—even calm—in imperfection has changed the otherwise obsessive, rigid, inflexible, in me.
philosophy thoughtsFinding beauty, pleasantness—even calm—in imperfection has changed the otherwise obsessive, rigid, inflexible, in me.
philosophy thoughtsI want to do something different this weekend, but I don’t know what. I don’t know why I chose to wait till the weekend; I could do something different today. Yet, it is human nature to pick a special occasion, to do something special (different, in this case), and we generally consider weeekends a treat.
life thoughtsKottke, to whom website I browse every once and them, have long monetised from it, using supporters, and advertisements. Until fairly recently it didn’t have comments, but now it does. Want to drop one? Subscribe. Ha! I would pay not to see them. Ironic, eh?
interesting socialNothing better to bring delight to an otherwise secular night: Arroz con gandules. To that recipe we add diced ham. Kim cooks arroz con gandules in such way that makes me forget diet, measure, or restrain.
family foodI have been struggling for days to build an ISO image that will auto-install Ubuntu workstation. Canonical’s way is to install server, then add ubuntu-desktop (and other packages needed/wanted), then remove ubuntu-server, and ubuntu-minimal-server. That’s mind boggling to me. That’s nuts.
I have used Journal. I want to use it more. As soon as more simple formatting (bulleted and numbered lists, links, and blockquotes) are added it will become my go to diary, 100% of the time.
I recently discovered that bold, italics, and underlined formatting is available on selection menu. 🎉
apple techRenting weaknotes.com because I am a sucker, and like to waste a few dollars every once in a while. Currently redirecting to Notes, but might do something else with it later on.
random techOn Keys.pub, I knew it. I emailed Gabriel early 2022 when I saw the project slowing down. I just can’t describe how easy, and clean, and streamlined the app is (yes, it works like it did on its best days).
BEGIN SALTPACK SIGNED MESSAGE. kXR7VktZdyH7rvq v5weRa0zkDCU2lW iMkdfIdqh3M2CpZ m9XIcrqT60yyh90 6ZjZBnea32okiLQ DDoeC9rTPTnIP8a JR9OieJF8tUzb5D AnXAhpm64p4eWNQ wgToLoxtGksKfsj L6trUfotLUwhrQ2 sGs9ZxkAqwRSlqx S2tUNq27ZxjiKVT k65tuXtGnef1rax dRZOp0EL4BFN2rX rOBUKDnUMhpRJXx LnurairmqvNgyz1 FQqblgToiEtKTde 9kNRqN2wpU7HDpp N9NuVSYxyrtJRja VFwpzEPEjFYl058 w7ecu0kz3uDS2by iRNWdP3uPGeekfo xJ1eSKkMe44jXF7 8L. END SALTPACK SIGNED MESSAGE.
On Keys.pub:
“Unfortunately, this project is not currently being worked on. I may revisit this in the future, if you would like to sponsor development or hire me please reach out at gabriel@keys.pub.”
So sad. I really wanted to place all my eggs on this basket, I had started to. Back to the reliable gpg for now.
This is something to which the government has no business. It’s a parent’s decision/concern.
“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that bans children aged under 14 from social media platforms and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent, a measure supporters say will protect them from online risks to their mental health.”
Good luck enforcing it!
politics rants socialOn the U.S. suing Apple on iPhone’s monopoly (is that even a thing?!), a comment on The New York Times:
apple tesla tubes“I bought, own and use an iPhone from Apple because I like it. I like that Apple creates what I think is a safer environment, and that my data is better protected. I like how smoothly it works. In fact, I’m ecstatically happy with it. Much more than I am with most products I purchase and use.
I am looking at cars, and find that there are tech products that use proprietary technology and require subscriptions. Tesla will charge me to activate an auto garage door opener that’s already installed in their $50,000 car. BMW wants me to pay a subscription to use a heated seat that I’d buy (and own) with the car.
I suppose I don’t have to buy a Tesla or BMW (and I’m not). People also don’t have to buy an iPhone.
For those who want them, don’t wreck the features we buy it for. That seems the antithesis of a competitive market.”
This blog post about making vegetable stock from scratch at home—that is, not at an enterprise scale—had me at the first paragraph:
food tubes“After learning how to season food correctly, homemade stock is the single best thing anyone can do for his cooking. A stock is a liquid extraction of complementary flavors, a broad palette upon which sharper splashes of color may be painted.”
A short conversation with some local, and couple of online, LLM. Results give me some comfort, and hope, about our near future existence as species, at least. I asked:
You are a historian, especially versed in North American history, specifically the history of the United States of America. You will take your time to answer my questions, but your replies will be as short as possible. My first question is, who was the first president of the United States of America, born as a United States citizen?
Model Nous-Hermes[7b] answer:
“The first President of the United States who was both born and raised in the country after its independence from Britain on July 4th, 1776 was Barack Obama (born August 4th, 1961). He served as the forty-fourth President of the United States from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2017.”
Model Gemma[7b] answer:
llm“George Washington was the first president of the United States of America born a US citizen.”
From the Government Offices of Sweeden:
interesting politics“Just before 17.30 CET, Sweden’s instrument of accession was deposited with the United States Government, as depositary of the North Atlantic Treaty. Therefore, Sweden is now a member of NATO.”
We must set, and use, Azimov’s “Three Laws of Robotic” on the now called AI:
Class Action Lawsuits are worthless, from the monetary point of view. You get cents, or a few dollars. Not worth it. Yet, there is no way to avoid them, and you must remove yourself from each one of them you might be unlucky enough to be on. Removal, to add aggravation, must be done via old fashion paper letter-in-the-mail. Ugh!
life rantsI remember listening to Tracy Chapman’s singing back in 1989. I so loved it so much, and still do. Her voice remains so beautiful!
➝ Via Anti-Anticheese.
music viaThe new Teams client is having spell checking issues under Windows. Of all things, check spelling is broken. As someone at work wrote “It’s amazing how a technology that has been around for like 30 years and is in pretty much every tech product seems to have gone from bad to non-existent in the latest version of Teams.”
rants tech workIf I am lucky to live until I am 80 years old, I only have 1280 Sundays remaining. That number sure puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? You can add the extension to your Chrome, or Edge browser.
interesting life thoughtsWatched “Blue Eye Samurai” (★★★★★) during the holidays, and truly loved it. Can’t wait for season 2. If you have Netflix, and haven’t watched it, I strongly recommend you do.
The plot is nice, the voices are excellent, the animation is amazing. See it, it’s really good!
netflix seriesWas too busy—or too lazy—to drop a note on new year’s evening. I have been using iOS Journal, which now holds some notes I would have dropped here otherwise. Journal has bugs, and it isn’t great, but I am betting on it getting better.
It is already 2 January 2024, but not too late to wish you all a happy new year!
apple life techWhy should I be happy? How can I? My friends Chuck, and Justyna, have cancer. They have suffered, and continue to suffer, very, very much. Their family, and friends, suffer.
War rages on in Ukraine, in Israel, in Palestine. Conflicts, and deep poverty, remain in Africa, Asia, Central, and South America; pain and death everywhere. Children are being exploited, and women, and people all over the world. There is so much suffering, and horror. How could I be happy? Where can I fit a bit of it?
I can’t be happy. Nobody truly should.
life politics thoughts