Vin-Dit.org

home.vin-dit.org offline

Sun, 17 May 2026 16:42:43 -0400

Computer fun

Sun, 17 May 2026 14:18:11 -0400

Was inspired by convos with Linux folk yesterday to mess with AI a little. Installed a recent deepSeek model in ollama on linux. It is pretty remarkable what it can do in terms of converting an english set of requirements into a working little program. This led to attempting to use the higher end graphics card in that Arch/Windows PC from Cory, a graphics card he discarded a little while back. It doesn't seem to work, and I don't really want to devote a ton of time to it. And the Windows / Debian VM problem seems to be sort of intermittent. I should study Spanish and get away from the computers!

Oh, Windows......

Sun, 17 May 2026 08:50:37 -0400

My Windows 11 install on this machine, on another disk, has started refusing to allow my Hyper-V Linux (Debian) VM to be accessed from outside. I have not found the answer. I only really need Windows for Turbo Tax for Business, which is not available on any other platform. (I could use Wine, haven't done that, though). I know there's a whole Windows world and tons of users use it all the time. I just don't see the attraction. Was also curious about how you get access to Windows Server type stuff, as some people (Stack Overflow, for example) run on it. Seems pretty expensive. Maybe you have to have some inside info. (Linux emoji picker is something I don't recall rn.)

The morning sun

Sat, 16 May 2026 06:30:33 -0400

Sometimes, early in the morning, after the sun has been up for a bit, the sunlight is just gorgeous - kind of golden. It's like that right now. (6:31 AM).

2026-05-14

Thu, 14 May 2026 08:29:53 -0400

Watching this on my TV via Apple TV, coming from my iPhone 11. Pretty incredible stuff! Gotta have a sense of wonder. Herbie and Tony look so young!MilesQuintetItaly.mp4

Moral foundations theory

Tue, 05 May 2026 08:51:26 -0400

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_foundations_theory This is interesting. Heard about Haidt from a Barry Magid talk. Why do some things seem right to some people and wrong to others, in a moral sense? This seems to be a relatively recent intellectual idea. I want to look into it, but I'm still working on a long book by Donald Lopez.

2026-05-01.2

Fri, 01 May 2026 12:19:51 -0400

https://www.quantamagazine.org/physicists-discover-the-most-complex-forms-of-ice-yet-20260427/ Can ice-9 be far away? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice-nine

2026-05-01

Fri, 01 May 2026 05:07:22 -0400

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit!!!

2026-04-29.2

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:26:30 -0400

Re FreeBSD: OK, docker containers that need systemD don't work; bluetooth is pretty useless...I did find a workaround for the internal mike on the Thinkpad, which has been a problem with OpenBSD as well. It's kind of like it's OpenBSD but ZFS and the possibility of running Linux programs. ZFS adds a lot of stuff as I used to use, although I doubt I'll get that into it with this.

2026-04-29

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 06:52:28 -0400

April 29 FreeBSD is kind of cool! You can run docker containers with the port of podman. Editing this in Sublime Text via Linux emulation on FreeBSD. ZFS.....almost all my open source faves are here.

2026-04-28.2

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 12:02:23 -0400

Having some time on my hands, I return to putting FreeBSD on an alternate disk for the Thinkpad W520. That's what I bought it for, but FreeBSD and Wifi were very bad at the time, leading to my OpenBSD experimentation. Seems to have gone OK, once I realized what graphics driver to use and read the excellent docs. Connecting to Wifi and switching between Wifi and Ethernet seems a little awkward at the command line, I don't see a GUI tool for network configuration in my beloved Mate Desktop. Restoring a home directory backup from openBSD which will hopefully be close to workable and save some time. (zsh, ssh, borg backup, etc, all nice free software tools). I was pretty obsessive about FreeBSD for some time, in reaction to systemd, maybe I can be a little more "middle path" about it now.

2026-04-28

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 09:38:39 -0400

If Michael J. Fox can show this gratitude then maybe I, we, can too:

HT zoom UI of Sublime Text

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 12:08:11 -0400

for hi-res Linux users especially

Walkin'

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 10:09:13 -0400

EmmetCohenWalkin.m4aEmmet Cohen and his quintet playing Miles' "Walkin'" in Santa Cruz, possibly as recently as 3 days ago. Just some solid straight-ahead jazz, live, by current players.

Good news!

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:14:54 -0400

https://theconversation.com/the-end-of-oil-as-fuel-shocks-cascade-53-nations-gather-to-plan-a-fossil-fuel-phaseout-280263 This is really cool!

Coltrane Moment's Notice

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:47:27 -0400

The master: ColtraneMomentsNotice.m4a Original Moment's Notice from Blue Train album (Lee Morgan, Kenny Drew, Philly Joe Jones, Curtis Fuller)

Keith Jarrett Moment's Notice

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 09:39:09 -0400

JarrettMomentsNotice.m4a Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette - Moment's Notice -from album After The Fall. (Live)

2026-04-13

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 10:18:39 -0400

I like this: notstainednotpure.html - a piece by Barry Magid. I had a little programming fun making it so you can display it in one of two ways.

2026-04-10

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 15:25:51 -0400

a note on having a desktop slideshow on MATE

Mary Don't You Weep

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:30:10 -0400

MaryDontYouWeep.mp4

Apologies to James Taylor...

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 10:30:10 -0400

Hopefully James Taylor can laugh at himself..... LeeSklarJamesTaylor.mp4
MethadoneMaintenanceMan.mp4
Reality is for those of us who can't handle drugs......

Bork!

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 08:08:00 -0400

Hah! We've all seen Windows BSODs on public screens, now Linux takes a turn: .

Security, supply chain, etc.

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:52:00 -0400

Been looking into some Linux,etc., stuff a bit. These supply-chain attacks are really concerning. I remember when I first discovered open-source / Free Software and the idealism of it-that these clever people did their work to build these systems just for the fun of it and for getting credit where it's due. So now, we have things like the xz utils backdoor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XZ_Utils_backdoor) - I really don't like people ruining our Free Software Utopia.

So, I have my Linux machines, and my homebrew software, and even an OpenBSD laptop - what can be trusted? It all increases my paranoia ("It increases my paranoia ....Like looking in my mirror and seeing a police car" as David Crosby said in "Almost Cut my Hair"). Sort of related to this, I was trying to make sense of the firewall settings on my Arch Linux machine. It seems that both iptables and nftables can be operating, although I crudely turn off nftables as it breaks things. So, it seems that my use of Docker causes some things that are a little concerning from a security perspective; it has its way with iptables, and it seems difficult to figure out how to lock down the machine in terms of a software firewall on it. Probably more concerning is the constant updating of packages, in light of the supply-chain stuff happening. Maybe the answer is to realize perfection is impossible, the perfect is the enemy of the good, etc. What's a poor ex-programmer to do? 🙄😀🙏

First of the month

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 05:17:59 -0400

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit!

more of Emmet Cohen live

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 19:54:32 -0400

Another one: IfIWereABell.mp3

2026-03-29

Sun, 29 Mar 2026 16:40:21 -0400

Emmet Cohen et al, bootleg recording from the tour (we saw them at Strathmore). Was a great show! EmmetCohenMomentsNotice.mp3

2026-03-24

Tue, 24 Mar 2026 13:06:54 -0400

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt37660887/?ref_=fn_i_1The movie "Cover-up". Just watched it. Shows how the world really works, I think. Laura Poitras co-directed it, of Edward Snowden fame. Highly recommend it. Look, this is on Netflix - this is mainstream.

2026-03-19

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 07:37:27 -0400

168victims.mp4

Because

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 09:44:58 -0400

Because.m4a

Random Thoughts

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 07:35:08 -0400

Posting some thoughts here, even though I get like zero acknowledgement that anyone ever reads them. Doing it on OpenBSD -- sort of a Hector Salamanca of an OS.

Since retiring, I've had some health adventures, and tried different things to devote myself to. There's so much wrong with the world, I'd like to help fix it. Not sure what would make a real impact. I guess lots of people practice religions and probably believe that if everyone followed their beliefs, the world would be so much better. My religion is sort of pseudo-Zen Buddhism and also a lot of atheism and secular humanism. I've been vegetarian (more or less) for a long time. I'm averse to violence and domination.

I grew up thinking common monotheistic religions were all nonsense. I think the idea that there is an "us" and a "them" (thanks to Roger Waters) is one of the core delusions that drives the horrors in the world.

I devoted a lot of time to writing code,etc., now it seems like that's being automated away as a human endeavor.

I think people really want the same things - to have them and their families thrive, to be in a community, to enjoy the arts, sports, physical pleasures, good food. People who want to wreak vengeance or be sadistic are deluded in my opinion. They need to "wake up".

Science, as I understand it, as a way of trying to understand "reality" (if there is such a thing) has been "unreasonably effective".

Mad props to everyone in the healing professions.

2026-03-12

Thu, 12 Mar 2026 07:42:27 -0500

Straightened out the RSS.

2026-03-11

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:42:27 -0500

Doing this on OpenBSD, because reasons. Haven't posted for a bit, just don't know what to say. I'm recovering from my mitral valve repair (heart surgery). Pretty amazing that doctors and their teams can do what they can do. Downloaded this video of Esperanza playing Overjoyed for Obama just to see that is possible on OpenBSD....Overjoyed.mp4. I had my issues with Obama but consider this, and what we have now.....
Mourning the 175 innocent girls killed by our military. God help us. People are so deluded. Maybe trying to end delusion/ignorance is the most important thing. So ashamed of what my country has done to those people.

Looking into George Martin and Meninas Cantoras de Petrópolis

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 17:42:27 -0500

more info, from looking at the Portugese wikipedia entry, Internet Archive has their website: https://web.archive.org/web/20160708073544/http://www.meninascantoras.com.br/historia.htm Right there, there's a quote from George Martin (in a graphic, but easy to extract) "Só os anjos cantam assim..." -- Google translate says it is "Only angels sing like this...". So I think there's more to this story than the Instagram post had. Maybe someday I'll look at his autobiography (I think he has one) and find out.

2026-03-04

Wed, 04 Mar 2026 17:25:32 -0500

During a visit to Brazil, George Martin was surprised at Rio de Janeiro’s airport by a performance from the Meninas Cantoras de Petrópolis choir. The group sang “Because,” a song he produced for The Beatles, and the reaction was immediate: Martin was visibly moved by the a cappella performance. Composed exclusively of girls, the choir stood out as one of the most important in the country in this format and ended its activities years later. GeorgeMartinInBrazil.mp4
That's what it said on the Instagram post, but Wikipedia discusses other (earlier?) connections between Martin and the group. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meninas_Cantoras_de_Petr%C3%B3polis.
I trust Wikipedia.
Also, see Chris Cron breaking down the harmonies

First of the Month

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 05:03:35 -0500

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit!

2026-02-26

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 05:45:31 -0500

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitral_valve_repair A supposedly fun thing that I'll (hopefully) never do again......

Jesse!

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:20:42 -0500

RIP Robert Duvall

Mon, 16 Feb 2026 15:19:36 -0500

Charlie Don't Surf.

addendum

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 16:00:03 -0500

re previous post: also needed GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash video=hyperv_fb:1920x1080" in /etc/default/grub, and sudo update-grub

FOSS Fun

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 15:45:57 -0500

This command in admin powershell on my windows 11 machine enabled my hyper-v debian to have a decent resolution: Set-VMVideo -VMName "debian-wireguard-restore" -HorizontalResolution 3840 -VerticalResolution 2160 -ResolutionType Single

This file: /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/30-hyperv.conf (name doesn't matter, but it needs to be in that dir) also critical

 Section "Device" Identifier "HYPER_V Framebuffer"                                                                                        Driver "fbdev" EndSection

These things, installing lightdm and dependencies, and mate-desktop, enabled me to have X11 debian in hyper-v at a reasonable resolution. So then I set to installing xscreensaver. JWZ warns about debian, and correctly; however, in the source tarball there is a debian directory with instructions. With some tinkering and adding other packages, I was able to get a debian package of current xscreensaver that is working nicely.

Saving our democracy

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 20:25:44 -0500

https://actionnetwork.org/letters/email-your-state-reps-and-support-marc-elias-recommendations-for-state-level-action-re-2026-midterms?source=direct_link& I created a campaign to send emails to state reps regarding Marc Elias' recommendations about safeguarding the 2026 midterms. Give it a whirl; share it!

2026-02-09.3

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 09:40:17 -0500

SoWeWontForgetLyrics.html
TAKE_A_CHANCE_lyrics.html

So We Won't Forget

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:53:53 -0500

Another song I was just playing along with. "So We Won't Forget" by Khruangbin. Here's the video: SoWeWontForget.mp4 This video seems incredibly sad to me. I have my interpretation of it but I'll let you make your own. Really beautiful music.

TAKE A CHANCE

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 08:53:51 -0500

DOMi and JD BECK and Anderson .Paak have this nice song, "TAKE A CHANCE" I was just playing along with. It has a video, which is here: TAKE_A_CHANCE.mp4. Not sure what it's all about. The last part, which is different musically, seems to show the three of them presenting immigration agents with bribes. Then they get something good in return (residency?). That seems sad, now, thinking of Trump and so on. Really sweet music, though. Such talented young people!

Bad Bunny Show tonight!

Sun, 08 Feb 2026 17:57:34 -0500

Chuck The Monk

Sat, 07 Feb 2026 17:57:34 -0500

It's getting pretty geeky in here.......

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 17:57:34 -0500

Geeking out a little. Here at vin-dit.org command center, I have my web site hosted on a computer in my house, which is a way it would be nice if the world worked. That machine dual boots Windows 11 and Arch Linux. When it's running Windows 11, it has a VM running Debian. That's where the home copy of the website lives, when that machine is running Windows. I slowly figure out solutions to things...just now, I was looking into the IPv6 access to it. I now have IPv6 from Verizon, which is also something it would be nice if the world worked that way. So, for fun, I have an IPv6 only URL, home2.vin-dit.org. But....: The MAC address of the Debian VM is different than the MAC address of the machine when running Arch, so the IPv6 address changes. Solution: created a DNS record for home3.vin-dit.org !

So, long story short, you can get your vin-dit.org fix over IPv6 from home2.vin-dit.org or home3.vin-dit.org, depending on my whims. Caddy seems to be a wonderful solution to web serving, it just gets the certs from Lets Encrypt or something automatically. Also enjoy zsh, and oh-my-zsh, MATE Desktop, and other FOSS stuff. This post and the previous one done on my ancient Thinkpad running OpenBSD. Just for the fun of it!

Jitsi

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 17:57:34 -0500

https://jitsi.org/ I found my way to this a little while ago, I have it running. In fact, it's working in a Hyper-V VM on Windows! I found instructions on doing it with Docker-it consists of four Docker containers that work together. It's interesting to me, we're all using Zoom now, and zoom has become the accepted word for computer-based videoconferencing over the Internet, like xerox or google are the words for what they do. The idea that you can host this yourself, for free, and that it is FOSS, is really cool, though! I haven't done any actual meetings on it because I don't want it to fail on some normal person who might not have the patience to deal with it. It seems to work fine, though, I've tested it with connections to it from multiple devices.

Thinking about "computer security"

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:44:54 -0500

"I'm root, and you're not." -- Somebody in the local Linux community, about fancy "security models". I remember someone asking for help with the old rw-r--r-- style UNIX permissions stuff, at a job long ago. Then you find out about multiple group membership, ACLs, setuid, and all that stuff. I think it's even more involved on NT-based stuff. MacOS nowadays, even as root some things are like "nope-you're not changing this". SELinux. Sometimes "the old ways are the best ways". Just don't type "rm -rf *" as root! 😂

2026-02-01

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 04:43:56 -0500

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit!