hallettj @ hallettj @beehaw.org

Programmer in NYC

---

Read more

Posts

3

Comments

163

Joined

2 yr. ago

I recommend Borg with a CLI frontend like Borgmatic. It's efficient for running frequent backups, storing only changes since the last backup. It gives you snapshots of each backup. You can mount any snapshot using a virtual filesystem without having to copy everything over.

This points to an interesting feature that appears in English: phrasal verbs. This is where a verb is made up of a verb word used in combination with one or more prepositions or "particles". For example in the phrase "put cheese on the pizza" the verb word "put" combines with the preposition "on". (There is no particle in this example.) Even though the words "put" and "on" are not consecutive, and even though "on" has its own function as a preposition, "put on" together form a verb that is lexically distinct (has different meaning and rules) from "put" used with a different preposition or particle.

IIUC you even get a different meaning if you use the same words with a different function. With "on" as a preposition you get, "put cheese on the pizza". But with the particle form of "on" you get a different verb with a different meaning: "put on a coat".

The use you posted, "put cheese", looks like a transitive form of "put" which would be distinct from both of the phrasal verbs I described. My guess is that this is dialect-specific: maybe some English speakers perceive transitive "put" as valid, while others only use "put" as part of a phrasal verb.

Language is messy, and there is no authoritative set of rules for English so you'll find lots of cases where people disagree about correct grammar. One of the classics is whether "where" substitutes for a prepositional or a noun phrase. Lots of people feel it is correct to say, "Where is that at?" while others think that sounds wrong, like saying, "It's at by the corner." (I think this might be the basis for the made-up rule, "don't end sentences with a preposition".)

Maybe a better case study would be figs since people actually eat those. From what I'm seeing in search results there is some difference of opinion, but maybe the prevailing opinion is that figs are fine for vegans because they are not intentionally exploitative or cruel to animals.

Fungi are more closely related to animals than plants.

I bring this up too. What my kid asks, "what is vegan?", and my wife says, "someone who eats plants", then I shout from across the room, "and fungi!" Tbh no one is amused but me.

There's nothing hypocritical about eating fungi! I just want recognition for the fungal contribution.

There are specs for that!

For system-wide installation the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard essentially says:

• put it in /usr/local/bin/ if you want to drop a script somewhere
• or put it in /usr/bin/

Both should be in the default $PATH for most systems.

For single-user installs the XDG Base Directory Specification says,

User-specific executable files may be stored in $HOME/.local/bin. Distributions should ensure this directory shows up in the UNIX $PATH environment variable, at an appropriate place.

Those locations will work in 99% of cases.

Nothing will work for every case because Linux systems are many and varied. For example I'm on NixOS which doesn't adhere to that particular provision of XDG, and doesn't adhere to any of FHS.

There are a few history channels I enjoy:

• History Buffs
• History Matters
• Extra History

For the rise and fall of modern empires: AntsCanada

If you're interested in history, but specifically in relation to painted works of art, I very much enjoy: Art Deco

For in-depth social justice analysis: ContraPoints

For gamers: TierZoo

I think the takeaway from that episode is that many carbon offsets are scams, not necessarily all. So don't take corporate claims that they offset their emissions at face value, and consider carefully before you buy offsets.

Take a look at my other comment about Wren and Wendover Productions. (This John Oliver episode happens to include an excerpt from the Wendover piece I mentioned.)

Yes, I use Wren. The best endorsement I have is from Wendover Productions - after doing a piece on how many carbon offset programs are scams they later said that Wren seems to be better. But that statement did come in a message sponsored by Wren. My hope is that Wendover would not have accepted Wren as a sponsor if they thought it was garbage.

Here is the carbon offsets piece: https://youtu.be/AW3gaelBypY

Here is a comment from Wendover on their ads for Wren: https://www.reddit.com/r/WendoverProductions/comments/11ubsfu/is_wren_as_good_as_wendover_says/jcnlunq/

Edited to add links

Thanks for looking that up! I could be wrong, but I think that boards with N-key rollover generally do use a matrix but with the addition of diodes to prevent ghosting. (Details on Deskthority.) The only designs I've seen that don't use a matrix are small split boards with fewer two dozen keys per side/controller where it's practical to get a controller with enough IO pins to use a separate pin for each key.

It's likely fixable. It might need some switches replaced, or there might be some damaged circuit board connections or traces that could be re-soldered or bypassed. I think any fix is going to require soldering, and maybe a multimeter. Whether fixing it is cheaper than buying a new board depends on whether you can borrow tools, and the cost of replacement switches if you need those.

I know the switches are not hot-swappable, but you can de-solder switches on just about any mechanical keyboard. Add a solder sucker to your tools list if you need to do that. There are guides online for replacing keys on the specific board you have.

More details would be helpful for diagnosing the problem:

• Are there rows or columns of keys that don't work? (This could indicate a problem with the circuit board, or maybe a diode that needs to be re-soldered or replaced. I don't know if the Blackwidow has diodes or not. In any case it's multimeter time.)
• Or is it a key here and there that doesn't work? (This is more likely to be a problem with switches. The might need their solder joints touched up, or they might need to be replaced.)

Yeah, with those options it's easier to back up your whole home directory, and then daily backups only take a minute or so and a small amount of additional space to back up what's changed since the day before.

I'm seeing some hints that Wezterm can be built for Android. But l haven't found specific instructions, and I don't think it has a feature to sync hosts and keys.

Deep Space 9 is a different animal. It's fantastic if you like a political drama. There is less space adventure than the other series.

give me something

Give Me Something to Sing About - Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Steam Decks run Linux. (The specific DE is KDE Plasma I think.) So you can find answers by searching for "Linux" if searching for "Steam Deck" doesn't get results.

One way is to enable the "Compose" key which lets you enter special characters or sequences by typing switches of more commonly-available characters. I think the Steamdeck OS has a setting for this; but I don't have one so I can't check.

For letters with umlauts you press (and release) Compose, then type a double quote (need to hold shift for this part), then type a vowel.

For reference Wikipedia has a list of Common Compose Combinations

Alternatively if you can map an AltGr key I've read you can type umlauts by typing AltGr+[ and then typing a vowel. There might be a setting for this too.

Huh, I hadn't heard about any of this. I guess that's because I use Google Voice, and none of the features going into the Messages app have made it over to the Voice app.

It looks like it's made by the same team that made Journey

No, but I've now heard it recommended enough times that I think I'll check it out. It looks like it's a free download for the Switch. Are there micro transactions, or subscriptions, or some such thing?

I'm finding this mess interesting: the MAGAs vote and debate like a third party, which kinda gives us a House with no majority party which is something we usually don't get to see in America. And we're getting the deadlocks that come from a chamber that isn't willing to form a coalition - or at least not a reliable one.

I just hope the next speaker candidate doesn't try for the same Republican-MAGA coalition. Although I'm prepared to be disappointed. Do you think there's any chance a Republican would offer to sideline the MAGAs to get support from Democrats?

Under this analysis the Democrats have a plurality. How does that tend to work out in governments with more than two parties?

But Flatpak has its fancy "portals" to connect each app with the specific resource it needs which you don't get with Docker.

Also if the goal is to limit access of apps you don't want to fully trust, I think Docker doesn't have the appropriate security properties. Here's a quote from the readme for Bubblewrap (the sandboxing tool that Flatpak and Nixpak use),

Many container runtime tools like systemd-nspawn, docker, etc. focus on providing infrastructure for system administrators and orchestration tools (e.g. Kubernetes) to run containers.

These tools are not suitable to give to unprivileged users, because it is trivial to turn such access into a fully privileged root shell on the host.