initramfs

Thankfully it's nice to know that someone knows how important encyclopedias are and how much prior knowledge is taken for granted as the basis for a functioning society. Consumerism has become so accustomed to acquiring new goods and ideas that it is almost losing its ability to retain the very knowledge of intelligible information-sifting capability. People are not able to think critically to pass down the value of doing so, to tell whether a flood of AI non-sense is real, and no longer knows what to think, because the new products aren't encouraging that at all. I have read that AI is creating a selective pressure, but there's so much a human can do against millions of bots.

I dislike when websites have an "access denied" page when accidentally clicking on an inaccessible or non-existent page. It's like a door hitting you on the way out of a store.

Here is a partially fixed issue https://hatonthecat.github.io/Hurl/404.html

Disclaimer: I do not know lkcl personally. I have interacted with him on Twitter, EOMA68 mailing lists, and e-mail, but not in person.

I had not kept up with his recent NLNet grants or research with RED Semi, but the content of his mailing lists shows a disturbing conflict. At some point (or perhaps even currently), lkcl was living in a van, became involuntarily committed, and even consulted an attorney in the event that he passes away. I am not a crisis counselor, but anyone who is familiar with autism and FOSS might be interested. It shouldn't ever get to this level of desperation. I also am not privy to the events between the IP of the company and the "open-sourceness of it. It could be that the company decided to work on a different RISC-V processor, and did run out of money, but knowing lkcl's committment to free software, it is a tricky balance protecting software development before it is released and meeting the needs of the organization. That said, there is definitely a better way.

awesome. for the other 6 continents, check out: https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2015/10/how-to-build-a-low...

Interesting, I read about neutrinos a while back https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.14995

https://www.universetoday.com/13052/do-advanced-civilization... (I was reminded of this recently after watching the Three Body Problem - Tencent's version, interstellar quantum communication)

Very cool! Practical.

Very cool. Been hoping for something like this. Also check out https://www.modos.tech/

What we really need is to have people on both sides of the pond dress up as green men from outer space and wave to each other with three webbed digits.

I think of another modern angle, in that Neura-link tech is being promoted, which is a path towards indoctrination, and ironically, the AI Safetyists that criticize unregulated AI/unregulated tech are somewhat indoctrinators themselves. I try to avoid using that term (as it suggests too much). It's more out of the question as to when a student has reached the ability to think independently, that they no longer need a basic amount of instruction to work (and self-study) in other fields.

I remember this article. The issue today is that there is so much abundance of digital products that streaming sites like Spotify need to charge extra for content considered premium: https://www.strangeloopcanon.com/p/discovery-is-the-original... I think that with the online marketplace "optimized" for low cost- Amazon and Direct from Supplier available through Drop Shipping, the long tail needs to focus on more basic goods, like housing and transportation.

true, I've heard about "dark silicon" and "binning", although some of that is due to saving on power rather than selling different product segments https://semiengineering.com/knowledge_centers/low-power/tech...

I'd rather not pay extra for silicon I could have someone design something more useful for.

I don't want any AI on any chipset. At the very least, there should be an option to disable hardware and software based AI.

very interesting! Another thing Morse code led to that I didn't think of.

I tend to find more answers on stack Exchange & Overflow.

https://youtu.be/LTmN3N5v0W4?t=1470 (at 24:32) they ask if there should be Capital Punishment for Elephants

"Intel learned a lesson last fall: Don't try to be too clever with your demos."

For something built in 2012, it's amazing that the public lost interest.

"The foundation accepted patches previously that were false:

...

The fact that linux maintainers are volunteering their time may sound like it's an extra burden that should not be placed on them for having to review patches that were known to be incorrect, but it also highlights an aspect that comes with the job.

That the researchers provided correct patches, except for one they appeared to not know was incorrect, suggests they were acting in good faith.

Whether the Linux Foundation needed to review all submissions by the UMN after the fiasco is debatable. If the researchers submitted a few hundred patches/proposals, but but were honest about which ones they admitted were fake, then the experiment was effectively complete. If the entire university submitted (unaffiliated with that particular lab) submitted several hundred more, not-related to the test, then it's questionable as to why the Linux Foundation would ban the entire university, as their actions sound more like revenge. While the university's review board retroactively gave the researchers an exemption to need for consent and ethical research proposal, it is likewise debatable whether the blanket ban is more of a punitive action since it assumes the IRB is actively supporting/will support future stealth projects by other UMN individuals/labs with an indefinite timeline.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27233729

Some of the ycombinator comments think the research is criminal:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27236393

For that to be the case, it would be almost be like equating the Linux Foundation to the same level of authority as a police department: https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/03/politics/the-onion-novak-supr...

I compare their banning of the university from patches, to the Sippenhaft, or collective punishment.

" “Granting the officers qualified immunity does not mean their actions were justified or should be condoned,” the appeals court wrote. “Indeed, it is cases like these when government officials have particular obligation to act reasonably. Was Novak’s Facebook page worth a criminal prosecution, two appeals, and countless hours of Novak’s and the government’s time? We have our doubts.”

Viewed from the lens of satire (even though the research is trying making a serious point and fix or improve real problems e.g. https://twitter.com/SarahJamieLewis/status/13848800341465743...), it could be said that with the amount of browser tracking and advertising analytics, it's debatable whether many linux maintainers (except for those using ad-blockers) are not being hypocritical in the idea that their visitors' information is not being experimented on without consent. Visiting linuxfoundation.org, I was presented with a pop-up that says "this website utilizes technologies such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as for analytics, personalization, and targeted advertising purposes" (in other words, no simple way to turn them off). "To learn more, view the following link: Cookie Policy." It's not very clear how much data is being measured, and how much of it is really necessary for the security of their website, but it's clear the experimenting begins before the option to turn it off is displayed. The top maintainers make an income, while the volunteers do not. The university has paid researchers, but at a level probably not any higher than the top maintainers.

My response wasn't so much in response to your comment but in supplement to any other negative downvotes and as to why I selected AteTheOnion for the original post. Thanks!"

The link is truncated and reaches a different page. This is the full URL:

PDF https://archive.org/download/20181002-Mike_Nayna-Academics_e...

txt https://archive.org/stream/20181002-Mike_Nayna-Academics_exp...

I guess it depends. I've always liked this phrase, and it's not exclusive to the Christian Bible- it's in other Abrahamic faiths:

"“Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because ‘they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.’ Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled in them… But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.” – Matthew 13:11-14, 16"

Though I have to say, what is in the ten commandments isn't the most terrible advice. :)

I also recommend Don Delillo's Mao II, which covers the Moon cult and the deprogramming of one of the ex-followers.

And Ted Patrick! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzlNrWlakmA

Cults are fascinating- some appear to be by opportunists, and others true believers, but all are dangerous. I feel that the word cult is sometimes given a bad name, and it is overlooked in the word culture, yet I think it is a great way to examine modern-day dictatorships and nuclear powers, which still use some some of that power (maybe not so much in the west) to broadcast a cult of personality.

At least I got a free t-shirt with all the Amazon bucks. ;)

I would say almost more than relatively business friendly :)

The above commenter's link mentions the Chancery Court: "The Delaware Court of Chancery is the oldest business court in America, uses judges instead of juries (which speeds up legal proceedings considerably) and maintains the most advanced and up-to-date case law, which corporate lawyers in Delaware rely on and refer to. This means that Delaware LLCs and corporations owners/shareholders will have decreased liability and litigation."

Also, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Court_of_Chancery

"Since 2018, the court consists of seven judges. The court is known being a hub for corporate governance litigation in the United States, as two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies are incorporated in Delaware."

"The history of the Court of Chancery stems back to the English common law system, in which separate courts were established to hear law and equity matters. English law courts included the Court of King's Bench (or Queen's Bench when the monarch was female), the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of the Exchequer. The sole English court of equity was the Court of Chancery."

I completely agree here. I would say that POSIX is to software and OSI layers as the PC/104, ATX standards are to hardware design.

Software designers, being the privileged bunch, wags the hardware dog, when the limitations of hardware previously limited software decadence prior to the late 90s. I'm not advocating for dominance of one over the other, but great design requires coordination. I wanted to say "platform independent", but that can sometimes introduce its own issues. I don't think there is such a thing as "too platform agnostic" until it runs into performance and compatibility issues.

A few months ago, Hackaday wrote on the Single Board Computer ecosystem, and lamenting the lack of standards (some which have more to do with connectors that dimensions of the board): https://hackaday.com/2022/10/05/the-state-of-the-sbc-interfa...

I would add to that, that SBCs are little more than glorified motherboards, with major developers- Raspberry Pi, Beaglebone, Orange Pi, Rock Pi, not all discussing their form factors, feeling a $25 board is too cheap to require a discussion on mounting holes, similar to ITX and ATX. I've built PCs since the 2000s. My first was a VIA C7 with integrated CPU. I still have an integrated ASROCK AMD E-350 in an ITX form factor (E350M1), Which I can use in an ATX case, or a tiny MBox 350 case. A never adopted mobile standard, such as Mobile-ITX, and EOMA68, allows hand-me-down boards to be repurposed into laptop cases, such as the Pi-Top v3. Most buyers of a RPi 3 have a desktop PC, or laptop, and might not use it as one, but at the same time, someone in the 3rd world might, and the laptop form factor isn't going away anytime soon (despite the interest in VR/AR glasses).

Even if some laptops are getting much slimmer than a PiTop v3, there are still many gaming laptops keeping up the bulky form factor alive. One of the failures of the OLPC was the battery life, and that it wasn't really repairable or upgradeable. This isn't to say there needs to be a laptop for everyone, but that a lot of the obvious issues have already been addressed with truly solar powerable computers, such as the Ambiq Apollo 4, which run at 6uA/mhz (and they have plans to develop a linux-capable chip in an Apollo4 like energy footprint). The Raspberry Pi is already a household name, for over 10 years, and yet they are more ignorant of competing boards. If you see all the boards out there- Pine 64, Caninos Loucous, it's like "Join my platform!" We're the virtuous developers, using all GPL software.

But honestly, I don't think someone who has no PC really cares about that- they might, if they had the time to read about the differences between open source, BSD and GPL, but I think the engineers at Broadcom and RPi seem to think that, the environment is an inevitable victim, and not much effort should be spent on component design when it seems like such a low priority in designing something for only 3-4 years of product support, and they aren't even going to think about it after its official End of Life. To that , I say, if someone handed me a bunch of salvaged parts- an empty laptop case, a Raspberry Pi 3, I could put it together. But if someone just handed me a Rpi 3, and a keyboard, and a mouse, and a USB power, and a 720 monitor, and I live in a country with no power, that's not a really practical solution. It's more future proof to develop a form factor that can outlive its individual components. so that while a LCD display on a modular laptop might only be 13" and use 2 watts of power today, it could be designed today, and a future one that can be retrofitted, like a large SHARP Memory in Pixel one, that uses 30mW, could be solar powered. And it wouldn't require buying a new laptop case. (For reference a 4.4" MIP uses around 5mW)

At the very worst, SBC makers would have to allocate more empty PCB space to fit a form factor, when they could get by making a smaller one (or at least having to pay for developing 2 form factors, one "universal.")

Yet, it wouldn't be as embarrassing as Walmart's $200 Linux PC in 2007, which used an embedded VIA C7 in a Mini-ITX motherboard, in a Mid-ATX case, to keep up the appearance of face. https://www.wired.com/2007/10/200-everex-gree/ (And there isn't really anything wrong with having an ITX in a full-ATX either, esp if installing a 3-slot RTX 4090.

At best, more users might be willing to buy a universal form factor because they could easily adapt it to components they already have.

Of course, I'm only addressing a very specific issue/request, and it isn't suggesting that technology is going to solve everything. There is a book written on the OLPC that already addresses its failures "The Charisma Machine". In my opinion, though, a computer is a tool that can serve more as an appliance than a service, much like TI-Solar calculators were useful tools. Software as a Service and Apple (Hardware as a Service), are not always practical solutions, because not everyone can afford the security updates (and sometimes, the application might not even require it, like a public kiosk for general information). I think computers reaching their "end-of-life" have a utility at the very least, as an offline encyclopedia, and e-library.

Pot calling kettle black in 3,2,1:

"Examining Piranesi’s excited dreams of ancient Rome 170 years later, the young Le Corbusier was appalled: “Porticos, colonnades, and obelisks!!! It is crazy. It is horrible, ugly, and idiotic.”

From what I've read, Le Corbusier was known to make some of the ugliest Brutalist architecture, so I found it somewhat amusing that he thought the same of Piranesi's Rome. Also interesting is that there is no mention of the word "Brutalist" on Le Corbusier's Wikipedia page, even though it is featured in the introductory section of the Brutalist Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brutalist_architecture

"The style, as developed by architects such as the Smithsons, Hungarian-born Ernő Goldfinger, and the British firm Chamberlin, Powell & Bon, was partly foreshadowed by the modernist work of other architects such as French-Swiss Le Corbusier, Estonian-American Louis Kahn, German-American Mies van der Rohe, and Finnish Alvar Aalto.[5][13]"

Many individuals seek to avoid association with certain terms- and perhaps Le Corbusier signaled late in life that he didn't want his architectural style to be labeled "Brutalist", and his most fervent supporter/biographers on Wikipedia perhaps took notice.

[5] https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/features/list/a-loo...

[13] https://www.phaidon.com/agenda/architecture/articles/2016/ma...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit%C3%A9_d'habitation (1952) https://99percentinvisible.org/article/unite-dhabitation-le-...

Obviously there is some subjectivity involved, and perhaps constructing anything after the post-WWII era was probably good for the economy, so I won't completely write him off. But seriously, the amount of exposed concrete in his works are quite drab slabs.

i just uncovered this gem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KDdU0DCbJA

holey moley I was that 10 year old in 1995 using the IBMs Thinkpads at Best Buy. I just made a video the other day on my Packard Bell. Thankfully, youtube has a transcript if it's too long https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vurK1m5Zz-g

technically they've added an electric option, and postponed the gas option indefinitely. Part of the reason it isn't popular enough is that there isn't enough demand. The gas option could use an opposed piston for even better fuel economy than 84mpg.

Except Elio has struggled for 15 years to release a car. It needs a receivership, not one that permanently owns it, unless they are just deliberately playing with investors.