does anybody know of instructions on how to light an oil lamp (the kind with vegetable oil) with flint and steel, and no matches (not even the old, non self-igniting, type with sulfur)?
I've found how to light fires (lots of resources), a couple of instructions on how to light candles that aren't going to work with a lamp, articles and videos about oil lamps in general, but nothing on the combination.
I can't believe that before the invention of sulfur matches people had to light a full fire (or ask some fire to the neighbors) in order to be able to light a simple lamp…
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The cowardice of Brave | Butterick’s Practical Typography
More than 15 years after creating JavaScript, Brendan Eich conceded that JS had “a lot of stupid in it.” Mr. Eich, I regret to say that the same is true of your new web browser, called Brave.practicaltypography.com
The aim of the book is to present an overview of current (at the time it was written, in the 1970s, plus an appendix from the 1990s) modern math and it's pretty good at it (that's the reason why it was recommended to me when I was in high school and my math teacher found out I had plans to study math at the university).
Because of this, it is reasonable that it's skipping all math development from cultures that didn't have a direct influence on modern math: it claims so in the introduction, apparently recognizing that those developments were significant, just outside the scope.
But then, every. single. time. the author gives a judgement on something, it's cringeworthy. When the europeans in 1600 and 1700 developed calculus with no formal basis and without even recognizing the need for one it was liberating; when arabs did the same with algebra it was a lack of formal capabilities. No. just no. did you even *read* what you're writing???
Luckily, most of the book is maths and that part is enjoyable, I should just skip the end of most chapters…
(in an italian translation, and I've just realized that the original book only reaches the 1930s and the appendix written in the 90s that brings it a bit more up-to-date is from the italian editor. It was ages since I read it, and right now I'm still at the 1700s :) )
Developer-driven software distribution is a bad idea, which is why I dislike things like Flatpak.
Having distro maintainers involved in the process and installing your software from a free software distribution like Debian or FreeBSD is a much better distribution of power. The packages can be tuned to suit their environment without the developer having to repackage it for every distro, and the distro maintainers can keep out anti-features like telemetry and advertising.
The middleman may seem annoying to developers, but embrace the model and it'll work for you. Landing packages in your favorite distro isn't actually that hard, and the rest of the distros will follow. If you're an end-user who wants to see some software available for your distro, look into packaging and volunteer - it's easy.
I'd recommend following the link to read the full thread
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[...]I certainly wouldn't want to have distributions replaced with Flatpaks.
see:
"How does one manage applications and packages in [Fedora]Silverblue?" https://fedoramagazine.org/what-is-silverblue/
Yes, programs wouldn't have to be patched to work with different versions of their dependencies, but flatpacks would have to be regenerated every time a dependency has a security issue, so I'm not convinced it would be easier for the maintainers.
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Now I found this via lobste.rs. I'll try and I will report back..
I didn't exactly lit a #fire, but at least I got some embers from #FlintAndSteel (I was indoors, so I couldn't light kindling)
I watched the following two videos to get from "one spark every 100 strikes" to "one spark every 5-10 strikes, and sometimes they even get on the char cloth" (sorry for the youtube links)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRR8fQbVYTo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pzGMQkdeFk
The big hints from those videos were:
* keep the flint at 45° to the striker
* if you're missing the flint often, you are using the right movement :)
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Opening raw images with feh
--conversion-timeout 5 (or any other suitable positive number) to the command line to enable the use of external programs.so
feh 141140-img_5195.cr2results into various errors including
feh WARNING: 141140-img_5195.cr2 - No Imlib2 loader for that file formatwhile
feh9 --conversion-timeout 5 141140-img_5195.cr2prints
141140-img_5195.cr2 is a Canon EOS 1100D image. and shows you the preview you wanted :)And this shaves the neck of the yak, now I can proceed with the original task...
A20 and A64 OLinuXino OSHW Linux computers now got OpenElec / Kodi support https://olimex.wordpress.com/2019/11/28/a20-and-a64-olinuxino-now-with-libre-elec-and-kodi-support/
We’ve been challenged by a group of amazing individuals and Private Internet Access to raise a total of $113,093 during this fundraising season -- renew or begin your Conservancy support today! https://sfconservancy.org/news/2019/nov/25/match2019/
kiwec's blog - Beating C with 1 line of Brainfuck
Following on the recent “faster than wc” blogposts, I decided to end this fad once and for all, using the best language ever created : Brainfuck.kiwec.net
Last week I suddenly realized that I “needed” a #fountainPen ink in a similar shade., asked for recommendations on a forum and ended up buying two (online, looking at pictures, because I don't have a shop that keeps a variety of inks nearby :( ): Noodler's Polar Blue and Herbin Bleu Myostosis.
The Herbin is more periwinkle, which is not really me, but I love it and it's very me-playing-old-lady (only missing some lavender scent…), and the bottle with a pen holder is very nice.
The Noodler's is a problematic ink, but the shade is just as I wanted (and I've managed to make it behave with #dipPens by adding some gum arabic: that's the sample in the middle of the picture).
Also, I've managed to open a Noodler's bottle without spilling ink everywhere, and I consider this a personal achievement :) (there is a reason why other producers leave some air in their bottles…)
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NEVER!
(sometime I just give ink samples with no other reasons :D )
Debian GNU/Hurd 2019 released!
Debian -- Debian GNU/Hurd -- News
Ports / Debian GNU/Hurd / Debian GNU/Hurd -- News It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2019. This is a snapshot of Debian "sid" at the time of the stable Debian "buster" release (July 2019), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an offici...www.debian.org
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Two shebang papercuts and a thimble | Tom Jakubowski
Tom Jakubowski, Friday, 2019-11-08 You’ve written a Ruby script on your Mac. The script demands great performance, so you add --enable=jit to its shebang: You test on your Mac and the program greets everybody in record time. Ship it! Some time later, a user reports a problem. When they run the script, it seems rather slow; in fact, they’ve wait...www.crystae.net
I'm hearing more people at coffee shops ask "Do you take cash?"
Every time I hear it, I scream into my head, "What kind of world are were creating FFS where only people with access to the right technology can buy shit!!!"
I know of one restaurant in town that is cashless. They're completely fucking proud of it, how futuristic it is. And, honestly proud of how it keeps certain people out.
Know what's super futuristic? Technology that doesn't enable discrimination.
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Holding cash on site opens you up to the possibility of being robbed, sometimes violently.
If people weren't terrible, that wouldn't be a concern.
It isn't all that though, there is, at least in Australia, laws stating you MUST be paid into a bank account (not cash) for your labour. That is the Tax Dept making sure they keep their fingers in your pie.
OTOH, places with a lot of cash flow do have ways not to keep too much inside the premises, at least not in a way where it can be accessed on demand (time-based deposit safes, people regularly moving cash away to a bank, etc.). Maybe it's helped by the fact that those who have that need really have a lot of money around (and thus can afford paying to keep it safe).
OTOH, since recently we also have laws that state that payments above a certain amount can't use cash, but at least that's quite above a typical restaurant bill, even for large groups.
I'm releasing the sources of the Pepper&Carrot eShop's product for #ThankYouPatrons day! Prepare your printer, transfer paper, sticker paper to hack, tweak and derivate your own DIY creation 🙂 E-shop sources link: https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/static6/sources&page=eshop
IBM, sonic delay lines, and the history of the 80×24 display
What explains the popularity of terminals with 80×24 and 80×25 displays? A recent blog post " 80x25 " motivated me to investigate this. The ...www.righto.com
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> Bits were stored as sound pulses sent into a nickel wire, about 50 feet long. The pulses traveled through the wire and came out the other end exactly 5.5545 milliseconds later. By sending a pulse (or not sending a pulse for a 0) every 500 nanoseconds, the wire held 11,008 bits. A pair of wires created a buffer that held the pixels for 480 characters
That is so punk.
Watts also suggested that the police should wear baby blue uniforms because, he asserted, this would make them less likely to commit acts of police brutality than if they were wearing the usual dark blue uniforms. This proposal was never implemented.
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_blue
I guess it can't hurt?
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devo preoccuparmi?
Publishers Should be Making E-Book Licensing Better, Not Worse
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2019/11/publishers-should-be-making-e-book-licensing-better-not-worse
#hash(0x187a550) #hash(0x187a628)
Macmillan, one of the “Big Five” publishers, is imposing new limits on libraries’ access to ebooks—and libraries and their users are fighting back.
Starting last week, the publisher is imposing a two-month embargo period on library ebooks. When Macmillan releases a new book, library systems will be able to purchase only one digital copy for the first eight weeks after it’s published. Macmillan is offering this initial copy for half-price ($30), but that has not taken away the sting for librarians who will need to answer to frustrated users. In large library systems in particular, readers are likely to experience even longer hold queues for new Macmillan e-book releases. For example, under the new Macmillan embargo, the 27 branches of the San Francisco Public Library system, serving a city of nearly 900,000 people, will have to share one single copy right when the demand for the new title is the greatest.
The harms to libraries and their patrons during these two months go far beyond wait times. E-books are a critical resource for library users with vision impairment, dyslexia, and other physical or learning needs. An embargo on new e-books disproportionately harms these readers who rely on digital formats, and violates the principles of equitable access at the core of library services.
After the two-month embargo period ends, libraries will be welcome to purchase additional copies of the e-book under normal terms, which aren’t great to begin with: typically, a $60 price tag for an e-book that can only be lent out to one user at a time for two years or 52 lends, whichever comes first. After that, the library has to license another e-book. On top of that, libraries tend to have different agreements with each of their publishers and vendors, all of which are subject to change.
This is a significant mark-up over what a consumer might expect to pay for a new e-book, and a falsely restrictive model compared to libraries’ rights for physical books. When a library purchases a physical book, the purchase is covered by first sale doctrine, which means the library can lend it out freely, repair it, give it away, or resell it. But libraries don’t have any of those protections when it comes to e-books.
So why is Macmillan imposing additional burdens? In a July memo, CEO John Sargent says the publisher’s move is motivated by “growing fears that library lending was cannibalizing sales” of new e-books and a need to “protect the value of your books during their first format publication,” but fails to present any evidence to back up his claims. (He also ignores existing, consistent evidence to the contrary.)
In response, libraries across the country have boycotted, or at least strongly denounced, Macmillan e-book purchases. In another extraordinary step, the American Library Association has invited library users to sign onto a petition against the new embargo. The campaign, called #eBooksForAll, had over 160,000 signatures before the embargo started last week. Since then, the signature count has climbed to nearly 200,000.
All of this does not mean that Macmillan has it wrong on e-books across the board; for example, Macmillan publishes Tor Books, the only DRM-free imprint in the Big Five.
But of all the Big Five publishers to change e-book terms in the past year, Macmillan’s e-book embargo for libraries is by far the most contentious. The other four—Hachette, HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, and Simon & Schuster—are surely watching the backlash. We urge readers, and authors who like to be read, to sign the ALA’s petition and let Macmillan know that the embargo is a mistake.Publishers Should be Making E-Book Licensing Better, Not Worse
Macmillan, one of the “Big Five” publishers, is imposing new limits on libraries’ access to ebooks—and libraries and their users are fighting back.Starting last week, the publisher is imposing a two-month embargo period on library ebooks. When Macmillan releases a new book, library systems will be...www.eff.org
I was working on #3dprinted #enclosure for @olimex #Lime2
The SATA port does not fit as neatly as it could and the board is actually attached to the box with just one screw, but it works. 🙂
If anyone would like to print their own box or even better improve it, move the holes for ports and screws by a few milliliters, so they will fit more tightly, let me know and I will upload the #STL and #OpenSCAD files on GitLab, FramaGit or somewhere.
@Gruppo Linux Como @LIFO
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(it is missing e.g. HDMI audio, but HDMI video does work)
The ones I have around all run standard debian, from the official installer (not a precooked image), and that must be able to run from the upstream kernel.
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This was my first big #MYOG project, and I've been using it almost daily as my “handbag”.
Componible Backpack
A few years ago I bought a backpack from IKEA made of two backpacks connected by a zipper that promised to be a versatile solution to easily change from carrying a few essential to having room for more things. Sadly it didn't work…www.trueelena.org
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With @David Revoy and paper copies of Pepper and Carrot, of course.
No, I'm not volunteering to run it, sorry.
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la mattina dopo ci ha incontrati, salutati, e anche augurato buona giornata a noi altri tre, ad esclusione del suddetto, quindi credo che nei nostri panini non avesse sputato :)
¹ del tipo che è anche negozio di alimentari generale
Debian Donates to Support @GNOME Patent Defense https://bits.debian.org/2019/10/debian-donates-support-gnome-patent-defense.html
@Gruppo Linux Como @LIFO anche Debian ha donato alla campagna che citavo durante il #LinuxDay
To reach the fireplace they had to be carried for a bit of a walk, so for the first attempt we only brought 3 different whorls, one tiny vase and a round sample bit; one of the whorls (the thickest one) broke near the beginning (and we could only find one piece), but the rest came out decently, even if we accidentally let the fire slow down earlier than planned (they remained at temperature for something like a hour and a half).
The mini-vase is currently sitting on my kitchen sink, half-full of water and at 5 °C less than its surroundings. Before the next summer I want to make one of those refrigerating flasks…
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La biblioteca universale del software trova casa a Bologna https://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2019/10/22/news/la_biblioteca_di_alessandria_del_software_trova_casa_a_bologna-239210264/ via @repubblica
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