xinit - Network

I finally got around to watching the first season of Elsbeth. I was unsure with what appeared to be a Columbo act by the main character, but...

I finally got around to watching the first season of Elsbeth.

I was unsure with what appeared to be a Columbo act by the main character, but something changed in how I viewed it. One element is that there's an odd compassion shown for nearly everyone, even the criminals, that was absent from the old befuddled detective series.

Elsbeth's house-warming party is an example of this, with cameos from many of the earlier shows.

"I know a bunch of people died, but we did have a lot of fun."

He speaks of a critical mass having been reached with TV. In hindsight, maybe discourse has been downhill since."They delude themselves...

He speaks of a critical mass having been reached with TV. In hindsight, maybe discourse has been downhill since.

"They delude themselves who believe that television and print coexist, for coexistence implies parity. There is no parity here. Print is now merely a residual epistemology, and it will remain so, aided to some extent by the computer, and newspapers and magazines that are made to look like television screens." Amusing Ourselves to Death - Neil Postman

Oh FFS. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A group of 59 white Afrikaners who have been given refugee status by the Trump administration arrived...

Oh FFS.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — A group of 59 white Afrikaners who have been given refugee status by the Trump administration arrived at Dulles airport outside Washington, D.C., on Monday on a charter flight paid for by the U.S. government.

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/12/nx-s1-5395067/first-group-afrikaner-refugees-arrive

Due to our working in a largely virtual windows world both at the desktop and server end, we can't really deploy with docker. We're...

Due to our working in a largely virtual windows world both at the desktop and server end, we can't really deploy with docker. We're a small team, and setting up hardware to handle the docker nonsense seems like overkill.

So I go looking and find "shiv" which intrigues me for its name alone. It seems to do exactly what we want - manage python applications and deps by deploying a zip file. Maybe LinkedIn has done something good.

I feel like I'm going to be posting a lot of quotes from this 40 year old, possibly more relevant than ever book, and I've hardly...

I feel like I'm going to be posting a lot of quotes from this 40 year old, possibly more relevant than ever book, and I've hardly started.

"...start from the assumption that in every tool we create, an idea is embedded that goes beyond the function of the thing itself" — Neil Postman, "Amusing Ourselves To Death"

#reading #book

Well that's a new annoying spam caller. I don't tend to pickup unknown calls, but it could be from a doctor I saw recently, so......

Well that's a new annoying spam caller. I don't tend to pickup unknown calls, but it could be from a doctor I saw recently, so...

"...als u willen pratten over dit baan, stuur een WhatsApp"

It's like it was playing the message while the phone rang and I was considering whether to risk answering.

So I only got half the message.

Blocked that number.

Good thing the US OPSEC is at 100%.https://apnews.com/article/trump-qatar-gift-jet-air-force-one-7f9afb461c6b3ac16fca3bb0973715ff

Good thing the US OPSEC is at 100%.

https://apnews.com/article/trump-qatar-gift-jet-air-force-one-7f9afb461c6b3ac16fca3bb0973715ff

"For someone fortunate enough to be born wearing the boot, the capacity for mercy may well extend only to how hard one chooses to step...

"For someone fortunate enough to be born wearing the boot, the capacity for mercy may well extend only to how hard one chooses to step on the neck. That anyone should take the shoe off entirely, walk from the site of the trampling, is unthinkable." - ibid

I swear I've highlighted half of this book.

"The director of a literary organization I admire, acknowledging at the start of a reading that so much of what we do right now feels...

"The director of a literary organization I admire, acknowledging at the start of a reading that so much of what we do right now feels so pointless, returns still to the rallying cry issued by the Palestinian poet Rasha Abdulhadi: “Wherever you are, whatever sand you can throw on the gears of genocide, do it now. If it’s a handful, throw it. If it’s a fingernail full, scrape it out and throw. Get in the way however you can.”" - ibid

"For months I’ve watched presidents and prime ministers balk at calling for a ceasefire that most of their electorate supports, for...

"For months I’ve watched presidents and prime ministers balk at calling for a ceasefire that most of their electorate supports, for fear that trying to end a genocide might in some way prove politically disadvantageous. For months I’ve watched this utter moral emptiness, which in such plain, undisguised form often feels so much more insidious than active support of this horror."

One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This - Omar El Akkad,

Is there a good, drm-free ebook vendor in Europe that people enjoy using? I haven't found one that had a good user experience or that...

Is there a good, drm-free ebook vendor in Europe that people enjoy using? I haven't found one that had a good user experience or that had a wide selection at fair prices.

Macron and Starmer talking about how Putin needs to agree to a 30 day ceasefire or else major sanctions.How is there still anything...

Macron and Starmer talking about how Putin needs to agree to a 30 day ceasefire or else major sanctions.

How is there still anything sanctionable? How are they not completely isolated? Yes, I know there's Russian oil, but how have we not found an option by now?

I own the domain 'foo.ca' and have since the .ca registrar opened to regular citizens. I sometimes get emails intended for...

I own the domain 'foo.ca' and have since the .ca registrar opened to regular citizens. I sometimes get emails intended for 'fool.ca' - often angry emails. Sometimes I ignore them, sometimes I answer them telling them they're in the wrong place, and sometimes I toy with them.

Andy wanted to cancel, and I provided both a correct and an unhelpful answer. I did consider offering him the platinum unsubscribe as a service level for $5 per month to remain unsubscribed.

Replaced a 7 year old LG TV with a newer LG TV. Holy hell their software has gotten WORSE?Enter post code for TV guide? I don't want a...

Replaced a 7 year old LG TV with a newer LG TV.

Holy hell their software has gotten WORSE?

Enter post code for TV guide? I don't want a TV guide, but fine. Enter it, and it rejects it without message. No guide to format, but they absolutely require a space in it. Could mention that.

Then there's the app overload, placing apps I install way the hell off in a corner behind all the crap I don't want.

Damn I hate "smart" tvs.

Watching Andor, and I swear Cassian is actually played by 'Marathon Man'-era Dustin Hoffman

Watching Andor, and I swear Cassian is actually played by 'Marathon Man'-era Dustin Hoffman

Making another attempt at watching Andor, and I wonder how many people are watching this, cheering for Cassian Andor between posting memes...

Making another attempt at watching Andor, and I wonder how many people are watching this, cheering for Cassian Andor between posting memes about how it's okay for a real life empire to vaporize children and aid workers.

That's enough. Time for a Pope filter.

That's enough. Time for a Pope filter.

It feels like the solution to climate change (that they don't believe in) some nations are putting forward is a bit of nuclear winter.

It feels like the solution to climate change (that they don't believe in) some nations are putting forward is a bit of nuclear winter.

Brick road repair going on outside the house right now. A bit of a pothole had developed and the city has deployed two guys in a van to fix...

Brick road repair going on outside the house right now. A bit of a pothole had developed and the city has deployed two guys in a van to fix it.

No tar, no jackhammers, no big machines. Just a couple guys with some pry bars and some sand. They might have something to compact the sand.

Saw a TikTok from someone doing a dance to this, and I felt I needed to talk about this. https://youtu.be/gPoiv0sZ4s4#PopMuzik

Saw a TikTok from someone doing a dance to this, and I felt I needed to talk about this.

https://youtu.be/gPoiv0sZ4s4

#PopMuzik