Gemini Articles of Interest
A Gemini client* is needed for the following links.
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not much progress today
Yesterday after updating my monolothic python script for generating page content I neglected to check the links created in my atom.xml. This led to a very panicked few moments when I was browsing Antenna later in the day. None of the published links worked. So the first thing I did was symbolic link the published names to the real names. That almost solved the problem. At least content was reachable.
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sleep or code …
I failed to sleep in this morning, so I started reading some of the posts I had opened on Gemini from the previous day. This was a terrible idea because it’s fairly stimulating just to look at a screen, and it can be a bit frustrating to find all the keys on this laptop in the dark, but anyway, the awkwardness of browsing in the dark and exploring a new capsule made me realize that there was kind of an isolated feeling to the experience of browsing a foreign capsule.
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Smartphone Status
In March of 2021 I added a picture to the "Files" section of my capsule, listing every mobile phone I've ever had and when I used them. In that picture, I listed the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 as my current smartphone and the F(x)Tec Pro1 X as my next smartphone.
Today, 21 months later, I'm still using my Galaxy Note 8, and I'm still waiting for my Pro1 X to arrive.
The Pro1 X story has been an absolute disaster, an incessant comedy of errors that would be hilarious if it didn't cause such a blow to the reputation of F(x)Tec. From the initial revelation of a scam by a dubious chip supplier to a rushed and buddy redesign project to a contractual dispute with the company's shipping partner, F(x)Tec has had to overcome one crushing defeat after another. I believe the company truly did want to make a top-of-the-line device that appealed to keyboard lovers and tinkerers alike, but the horrible hand they've been dealt has left them in a likely unrecoverable position.
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Moving Time Functions Off My Phone
I'm not exactly sure how to phrase what I'm talking about so I'll try my best to elaborate. Essentially, I'm trying to reduce the number of times I pull my phone out to look at the screen. As I dug deeper into my phone use habits, I found I use the clock and alarm functions on my phone a lot. I've been a watch-wearer for most of my life, but I am now more inclined to use it more functionally rather than as an accessory.
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Yet Another Blog Engine Rewrite
Granted, the eight line shell script wasn't much of an engine, nor was the 54 line Perl script to build index.gmi and the RSS, plus a few lines of Makefile to hold it all together. Oh, and git. But at least there are now previous and next links on the blog entries?
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What's New
It has been ages since I posted to my gemlog, and unfortunately I also have been much distracted from working on my gemcast as well, to the point where I think that I might as well write something for people who are still reading my Gemini capsule. (Hey, someone is bound to see this.)
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How to get back to GTD if you’ve been off it for a while
First, and most importantly, before looking at your old lists, write down what’s most on your mind right now. If it’s among what you’re worrying most about right now, it needs to be front and center in your new system.
Second, from your old system, move everything to “someday/maybe”, or to a sublist in “someday/maybe”. If it’s on digital, just drag it over there without looking at what’s in there yet. If it’s a paper list, relabel it without reading it yet.
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How I feel about HTTPS
My recent postings on using HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) for my sites reminded one of my readers, White_Rabbit, to send in a link to Discourse on HTTPS [1]. The language may be salty, but it does align with my feelings towards HTTPS—namely, I don't really need it. But as I stated, Google will any day now start with the Big Scary Error Messages on non-secure sites, followed by (possibly—I don't know this for a fact, but a gut feeling) no longer allowing non-secure requests at all. And with Google's Chrome having a ridiculous market share, that's something to be concerned about.
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Finger and Old Protocols
I've been reading about the Finger protocol over the weekend, and I'm quite intrigued by it.
For how much I love the small Internet, I don't know very much about it beyond Gemini and some Gopher. It's always fascinating to me when I read about some old protocol that's been repurposed in to a robust communication system and see a simple but vibrant community build around them, especially when the protocol already exists but was simply forgotten. I'm reminded of urban explorers or researchers digging into the archives of an ancient library: the world of possibilities is already there, just waiting to be discovered.
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How do I control my online life as a digital native (Gen Z) and web developer
Well, basically, almost everything that is online, apps, web, social media, video games, arts—as long as it is connected to the world (or part of it)—
On the other hand, I don't consider technology's use to be a part of it because it represents too many things to me. I was born in the late 1990s and had my first computer at the age of five. Therefore, I grew up with tech and digital things, and it is basically my life. But "online life" represents to me what is connected online, which may seem obvious.
Also, my "rules" seem a bit too much sometimes, but they are what I needed to avoid becoming 100% time-dependent or addicted. I found it perfect for me, and indeed, it has helped me a lot to keep my brain cells alive since I applied it a couple years ago. I still enjoy surfing a lot. I do not even try to leave the web or my presence on social medias, which I still use a lot. I just needed to control my way of consuming it.
* Gemini links can be opened using Gemini software. It’s like the World Wide Web but a lot lighter.