i+++ Gophernicus is Back +++ null.host 1 i Sunday, September 30, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI see tomasino posted a bboard request [0] to revert gopher.club null.host 1 iback to gophernicus, and also to upgrade it, and it appears that is null.host 1 idone now. Very nice! null.host 1 i null.host 1 i[0] gopher://gopher.black/1/phlog/20180929-sdf-gopher-servers null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/gophernicus-is-back sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ SDF Nuked Gophernicus Again +++ null.host 1 i Friday, September 28, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iSigh. It seems gopher.club has changed its gopherd to Bucktooth... null.host 1 iagain, and with no warning... again... breaking all gopher moles null.host 1 i(CGIs)... again. Sdf.org still uses gophernicus, however, which is null.host 1 ikind of confusing, especially if you read the gopher tutorial and null.host 1 isetup a CGI like it describes there, only to have it fail when your null.host 1 iphlog gets listed on gopher.club. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/sdf-nuked-gophernicus-again sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Books vs. E-books +++ null.host 1 i Sunday, September 16, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iMy wife and I had a discussion about books the other day. She is null.host 1 ireading a large hardcover, a book she got from English section of null.host 1 ithe local library. She mentioned how much better she likes reading null.host 1 iactual books. I agreed, but it got me to thinking why I actually null.host 1 ifeel this way. E-readers do have advantages, but something is null.host 1 imissing that makes reading from an e-reader seem less than null.host 1 iappealing. I think it is that e-books are sterile, they don't null.host 1 iprovide the same sensory experience as real books. With a real book null.host 1 iyou have the feel of the pages as you turn them. The visible null.host 1 ifeedback as to just how much of the book you have read, as measured null.host 1 iby the thickness of the pages remaining. The smell of the book null.host 1 iitself. The ease with which you can hold it while reclining on your null.host 1 icouch. Flipping back a few pages to remember a character's name or null.host 1 iplot point while keeping your current position secure with a null.host 1 ifinger. All combine to make a complete experience that e-readers null.host 1 icannot match. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/books-vs-ebooks sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Reading List: Ken Follett +++ null.host 1 i Wednesday, August 29, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI just finished reading a very good book, 'Eye of the Needle' by Ke null.host 1 iFollett. It's a thriller set in WWII England, about the hunt for a null.host 1 iGerman spy. Very compelling reading, Follett is a great null.host 1 iwriter. Mostly character-driven, but somehow he keeps you wanting null.host 1 ito turn the page. If you like historical fiction in particular null.host 1 iyou'll enjoy it. I read another of his books recently, 'Pillars of null.host 1 ithe Earth', which was equally engrossing, set in the early null.host 1 imiddle-ages. There is a sequel to that latter one which is on my null.host 1 i"to-read" list. null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/reading-list-ken-follett sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Positive Changes at SDF +++ null.host 1 i Saturday, August 18, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI've been away from SDF for a bit, but I caught up on bboard today null.host 1 iand notice signs of increased responsiveness from the 'membership' null.host 1 iaccount. It seems to be replying to each and every requests thread, null.host 1 iand a lot of the helpdesk ones as well. I see more frequent emails null.host 1 ion new features, some like ssh-over-https that were requested by null.host 1 iusers with a fairly quick turnaround time in implementation. I'm no null.host 1 isure if this is smj or a group of admins (more likely the latter), null.host 1 ibut the attention is welcome and long overdue. Thanks SDF! null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/positive-changes-at-sdf sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Home Ownership +++ null.host 1 i Tuesday, July 31, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iWe've been looking into buying a house recently, two years after we null.host 1 isold our house in the US. We've been renting a house in Canada ever null.host 1 isince, and I kind of like it. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/home-owenership sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Reply to Tfurrows on Canada +++ null.host 1 i Friday, July 27, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iTfurrows ruminates on Canadian citizenship for himself and his kids null.host 1 i[0]. This is exactly the situation I was in - born prior to 2009, t null.host 1 ia Canadian father outside of Canada. I was easily able to reclaim m null.host 1 iCanadian citizenship. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/reply-to-tfurrows-on-canada sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Congrats to Tomasino +++ null.host 1 i Thursday, July 26, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iCongrats to Tomasino on getting his Italian citizenship [0], and null.host 1 iwelcome to the US expat club [1]! I have never been to Iceland, but null.host 1 ihave always wanted to visit, I think it would be a wonderful place null.host 1 ito settle. Moving to another country is quite an ordeal, but well null.host 1 iworth it. I hope it all works out for you! null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/congrats-to-tomasino sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ I'm not Surprised +++ null.host 1 i Tuesday, June 12, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI'm not surprised [0], the web has been a mess for some time, but null.host 1 iit's really, painfully bad as of 2018. The wholesale move to null.host 1 iclient-side, dynamic page generation is partly to blame. And for null.host 1 iwhat purpose? Client-side designs are harder to test, and more null.host 1 ibrittle as far as dealing with odd browser dependencies. They are null.host 1 ialso slower than generating content directly on the server-side, null.host 1 iwhen you consider that the content still has to come from the null.host 1 iserver, except now it is coming from dozens of RPCs (add up the null.host 1 inetwork overhead of each request). Let's not forget all the null.host 1 ijavascript loaded from third-party websites used for tracking and null.host 1 iads, these slow down the sites even more. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/im-not-surprised sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ CLI Translation Utility +++ null.host 1 i Sunday, June 10, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI came across a great command line translation utility 'translate null.host 1 ishell' [0]. It provides a script 'trans', which is written in pure null.host 1 ibash and gives an interface to the most popular online translation null.host 1 isites (by default it will use Google translate). Here is an example null.host 1 iof it translating one of my recent French phosts [1]. The null.host 1 itranslation is pretty accurate, at least enough to convey the null.host 1 imeaning. It has loads of options and I could see it being used to null.host 1 ifacilitate a gopher-based translation site. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/cli-translation-utility sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Finally Spring +++ null.host 1 i Saturday, May 12, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iIt appears spring has finally arrived in Québec, after a bout of null.host 1 iunseasonably cold weather. My walks are more pleasant now, with the null.host 1 itrees budding and things coming to life in general. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/finally-spring sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Android Gopher Client +++ null.host 1 i Thursday, May 03, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI came across a new Android gopher client called 'DiggieDog' null.host 1 i[0]. Nothing outstanding, but it works fine as a basic client and null.host 1 ieven has bookmark support. It has the usual issues with garbled null.host 1 idisplay of ascii-art and line wrap, but I'm not sure it's possible null.host 1 ito fix those in all cases in the mobile format. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/android-gopher-client sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ On Losing Weight +++ null.host 1 i Monday, April 02, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iTxminth talks about his diet [0] - congrats on losing that weight! null.host 1 iI, too have been following the "hacker's diet" recently and countin null.host 1 icalories. My target is 1800 per day with a brisk walk most days null.host 1 i(five days a week). I've lost six pounds in two weeks. I have been null.host 1 idoing the walks for about two years, but my weight always held null.host 1 isteady until now. Counting calories really makes you aware of how null.host 1 imuch you are eating. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/on-losing-weight sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Responses on Attention and Atheism +++ null.host 1 i Monday, April 02, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iSolderpunk shared a link to an article on getting your attention null.host 1 iback [0], I agree it was not very insightful. But it made me think null.host 1 iof how digital books can sometimes impact attention negatively, at null.host 1 ileast for me. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/responses-on-attention-and-atheism sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Skiing and a Gopher Mirror +++ null.host 1 i Sunday, March 18, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iWe're having a snowy and cold March here in Quebec, but the clouds null.host 1 ibroke today and it was sunny and -8. It turned out to be a perfect null.host 1 iday for some cross-country skiing - my wife and I got in 8km this null.host 1 iafternoon. The conditions were phenomenal, with minimal wind, nice, null.host 1 icold snow (the kind that makes that satisfying hard scrape as your null.host 1 iskis travel over it) and no ice to speak of. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/skiing-and-a-gopher-mirror sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Remembering Prepping +++ null.host 1 i Wednesday, March 14, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iReading Melton's phlog [0] has made me miss my own experiments i null.host 1 iself-sufficiency and preparedness. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/remembering-prepping sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Resp. to Tomasino and Jynx +++ null.host 1 i Sunday, March 11, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iTomasino moved his gopher hole away from SDF [0], it's no null.host 1 iself-hosted on a RPi. He cites the recent stealth changes to SDF's null.host 1 igopher implementation as his main reason for moving. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/resp-to-tomasino-and-jynx sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Emacs and Remote Editing +++ null.host 1 i Thursday, March 08, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI've been working from the Meta-array (MA) lately since I'm findin null.host 1 iit a bit more responsive as far as editing and savin null.host 1 idocuments. That probably has to do with the heavy use of the cluste null.host 1 iand that fact that you're always working over an NFS mount (althoug null.host 1 iI must say it's better lately on NetBSD 8.0 beta). null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/emacs-remote-gopher-editing sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Text Formatting and Emacs +++ null.host 1 i Wednesday, March 07, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iThere have been lots of interesting posts lately about tex null.host 1 iformatting tools [0][1][2][3][4] (I particularly like the artisti null.host 1 ibent of jynx's and cat's posts with the embedded ascii art). Sinc null.host 1 iI'm an Emacs guy I've used muse mode in the past - this is what null.host 1 iwrote the SDF Emacs tutorial and cheatsheet in. For that they wer null.host 1 iinvaluable since I had one source document and could generate HTML null.host 1 itext, and epub [5]. Speaking of formatting, in Emacs there is null.host 1 iminor mode called refill-mode, it auto-fills paragraphs as you type null.host 1 iwith whatever justification you set ('M-x set-justification-full' i null.host 1 iwhat I'm using for this post). You can also disable refill-mode an null.host 1 ijust manually fill paragraphs with M-q every so often. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/text-formatting-and-emacs sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Response to Solderpunk +++ null.host 1 i Thursday, February 22, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iJust a quick reply to solderpunk, I would indeed be interested in a null.host 1 i80s-themed hotel room [0]. Genius! Alas, I agree modern (wo-)man null.host 1 iwould be intent on just taking selfies with console TVs and princes null.host 1 iphones. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/resp-to-solderpunk sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Woodnotes Guides on Gopher +++ null.host 1 i Monday, February 19, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI love finding new gopher sites. I posted a link to the classic null.host 1 i'Woodnotes Guide to Mutt' [0] in bboard today. After perusing the null.host 1 iauthor's blog, I discovered he uses gopher [1], and his site is null.host 1 imirrored there, including all his tech guides [2]. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/woodnotes-guides-on-gopher sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ I Miss the 80s +++ null.host 1 i Friday, February 16, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iWith apologies to my younger readers. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/i-miss-the-eighties sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Long Live Bongusta +++ null.host 1 i Thursday, February 08, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iJust a quick note to thank Logout for Bongusta [0] and for keeping null.host 1 iit around [1]. I use it every day and I'm sure others do as well. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/long-live-bongusta sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Thoughts on Finding Recently Updated SDF Gopherholes +++ null.host 1 i Saturday, February 03, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI and some others have noticed some issues recently with the SDF null.host 1 iphlogosphere display [0] and the sort order. So you know the null.host 1 ihistory, way back in 2009, smj posted this to the GOPHER bboard: null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/recently-updated-sdf-gopher-holes sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Long-Ass Gophermaps +++ null.host 1 i Wednesday, January 31, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iRegarding Solderpunk's gopher bboard reply, on overly long null.host 1 igophermaps and how VF-1 does not handle them with a pager: null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/long-ass-gophermaps sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ The VF-1 Gopher Client +++ null.host 1 i Monday, January 22, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iSo I took some time today to put solderpunk's new gopher client VF- null.host 1 i[0][1] through its paces. I'm using whatever version is currently null.host 1 iinstalled on SDF. First let me say that I love the interface design null.host 1 idespite it being quite different from lynx and gopher I got used to null.host 1 iit pretty quickly (as in a few minutes). I think anyone with REPL null.host 1 iexperience will feel at home with it. The search facility and null.host 1 iveronica commands are very useful. I particularly like the null.host 1 iauto-generation of menus after each operation, whether that be a null.host 1 isearch or link extraction (and that last is quite handy). null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/vf1-gopher-client sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Pale Blue Dot +++ null.host 1 i Tuesday, January 16, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iI've been keeping a low profile lately as post-holiday work has bee null.host 1 ia bear and I've not had the motivation to write. But I'm catching u null.host 1 ion things today and saw a phost by gunnarfrost that caught my eye null.host 1 i[0]. He mentions the view of earth from space and how this has null.host 1 ishaped our philosophical views of the meaning of life. This made me null.host 1 ithink of Carl Sagan's the 'Pale Blue Dot' [1][2], which is about th null.host 1 iview of Earth from Voyager I, seen as a tiny speck from about six null.host 1 imillion kilometers away. Here is the quote: null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/pale_blue_dot sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Thoughts on Pseudo-anonymity +++ null.host 1 i Tuesday, January 02, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iSolderpunk talks about pseudonymity [0] and the issues surrounding null.host 1 iit. Thankfully I do not recall ever reading that bit of bad advice null.host 1 iby Eric Raymond. null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/reply-to-solderpunk-thoughts-on-pseudo-anonymity sdf.org 70 i null.host 1 i+++ Welcome 2018 +++ null.host 1 i Monday, January 01, 2018 null.host 1 i null.host 1 iWelcome to the new year, fellow gopherites! I notice some phloggers null.host 1 ihave archived their 2017 posts into a sub-folder, with an apology null.host 1 ifor breaking links. I see the most impact to that will be in the null.host 1 i'reply' posts where we link to one another, although the naming null.host 1 iconvention from here on out should prevent that (phlog/ -> null.host 1 iphlog/2017/, for example). When I thought about archiving my posts, null.host 1 iI realized this a good reason to use gophermaps for a phlog - that null.host 1 ione layer of abstraction above raw directory indexes allows one to null.host 1 iarchive posts transparently. In my case, I only needed to copy the null.host 1 i2017 posts into an empty subfolder, with their gophermap: null.host 1 i null.host 1 0Continued... /users/slugmax/phlog/2018/welcome-2018 sdf.org 70 .