Done Since 2026-02-22

[mdlbear]

Not a very good week. Lots of anxiety -- my impending trip to Seattle, income tax, events in the world, and phone calls to repair places. We got (scooter)Lizzy back from getting her flat tire repaired, but now she has an electrical problem and won't go. We were supposed to get Scarlett-the-carlet back this week, but she still has an electrical problem. I need to make another call about Lizzy. Tomorrow.

On the other hand, I did go for a walk six days out of seven this week. It's better than usual, and about time. The only way I can do it appears to be going out before breakfast. Any later and I run into deliveries and appointments.

Substack is using Persona for age verification -- that's the same one that exposed 700,000 Discord users' data a while back. So has LinkedIn. There are plenty of good alternatives to Substack -- you're reading one right now. Discord is another matter, but people are looking. In either case, moving a community never goes well.

I've ordered a copy of "The Magic of Code" by Samuel Arbesman. See also, The World Inside the Crystal. I started working on a book based on that idea, a long time ago.

If you're an Emacs user you might want to look at This bad -- it says so on the tin -- version of emacs implemented purely from Unix shell commands I'm not sure I would advise it. If you're a web developer, you definitely shouldn't look at this 8086 emulation written entirely in CSS and HTML5. There are some things...

If you're into sewing, you definitely should take a look at FreeSewing, a collection of free parametric sewing patterns.

Notes & links:
0222Su
  @ 42wim/matterbridge: bridge between mattermost, IRC, gitter, xmpp, slack, discord,
    telegram, rocketchat, twitch, and more with REST API (mattermost not required!)
    (via Open-source Discord alternatives [LWN.net]) (paywall until next Thursday)
  * walk:  10:37 Simon Vestdijkstraat 2: .57km, 6hp, 19mm, 10min, 900st
  @ Age verification vendor Persona left frontend exposed, researchers say
    Discord's First Age-Verification 'Experiment' Alarms Hackers
    Hackers Expose Age-Verification Software Powering Surveillance Web
  : My Minox tripod seems to have gone walkabout.  Pretty sure I had it on my desk...
  * kibbling for lunch (G)
  * hx work session
    * thegetpublishedsummit.com first session.  Brodie Consulting.  $5000; guaranteed best
      seller in _some_ category.

0223Mo
  * walk:  07:33 DSB801 .85km (watch says .98), 12hp, 20mm, 23min
  @ I Can't Believe It's Come To This... - YouTube love song to a cat.  Beautiful.
  * 10:00 - 14:00 WZHThuiszorg leg-wrapping (here) 09:46
  * hx work session
    * learning about author websites in GetPublishedSummit
    @ The Bookshelf author websites as a service
    * web work
    * Dutch

0224Tu
  * set alarms 12:50 and make Uber reservation 13:00 for appointment
  @ Jeff Bezos Is Destroying What’s Left Of The Washington Post To Please Our Dim,
    Unpopular Autocrats | Techdirt (C')
  : heard from TotaalThuisZorg - Scarlett's coming back tomorrow am
  @ Dutch abbreviations: a partial guide for expats | Expatica
  * 13:00 leave for 13:30 Carmen at GP clinic to discuss BP meds
    *-  need bloodwork about a week before
    -> stop D3, increase lisinopril to 10mg (both in am)
    -> appointments next Thursday 0305 before trip
  * hx work session
    * update PHP from 8.1 to 8.4 on 4 sites: rdna.org and penguinsong.*
      (note:  basically a no-op, since they don't _use_ php)
    @  Categories/Day 2/Matt Stone-Turning Your Book Cover Into a Money Printing Machine
    * Dutch
    @ FOSDEM videos FOSDEM 2026 - Schedule
  * SL:  * picoPSU for Nova, since no signal at all.
  * Lizzy is done - 148.50.  No idea when she'll get here but hopefully tomorrow
  @ I Verified My LinkedIn Identity. Here's What I Actually Handed Over.  YIPE!
  * SL:  tweezers, hairbrush cleaner, nuts, niacin
  * load drugs - now 10mg lisinopril (2 tabs) in morning.  Cut out D3 to 2/week (TuFr)
    skip ginko biloba because of interactions with simvastatin, ibuprofen,

0225We
  * walk: 0809 DSB801 .85km, 13hp, 18mm, 24min, 1444st
  * ~11:30 WZHThuiszorg leg-wrapping (here).  Greek; spoke English well; explanations!
  * hx work session
    * Dutch lessons (Duolingo)
    * website improvement planning - see meta/boilerplate.html
    ~ nova:  installed new power supply, light goes on, makes disk noises, but nothing on
      the display.  And no ethernet nearby to connect it to.
    -> nova is working.  No idea what the problem was; possibly that I hadn't pushed the
       reset button hard enough.  But it's on the bookshelf, with ethernet, and working.
  ~ am: TotaalThuisZorg is bringing Scarlett back
    -> 15:09 called to say she's still broken; taking it back
  ~ called about Lizzy -- apparently they were expecting us to pick it up.
    -> she'll be delivered tomorrow morning, for another 60 EUR.
    -> payment link didn't work when received, but was ok about 30min later.
    -> Mi-Scoot, Oude Middenweg 241-D, 2491 AH Den Haag.  An hour each way by bus.

0226Th
  [ & awake -
    * up 7ish; S=6:51/7:30, 08:45 BP=124/68, P=74 (after walk)
    * litter boxen;  o Dutch
    * drugs:  am1 7:20; am2 08:25+naproxen; coffee; pm 19:04+naproxen ]
  * walk:  7:52 H. Marsmanplantsoen 1: .70km, 10hp, 15mm, 13.5min, 1340st; good pace
    ! aerobic -- noticed just after turning around.
    % almost too far.  Some R hip/QL pain p=~4.5?; R knee slightly unstable.  -> brace? 
  * am:  Lizzy - -to be- delivered
    -> not working.  Error code 08.  Sent email to info@hallovitaal.nl which I think is
       where we bought her, and info@skylinemobility.com, referenced in the manual.
    -> from skylinemobility: They code can trigger several things and not one specific.
       Therefore, it’s better to contact a retailer for inspection of the scooter.
       For miles ->km you should press and hold light button + speed button for a couple
       of seconds. You hear a beep and it will go on km again.
    -> from skylinemobility (reply to my reply) Could be malfunction for communication
       between controller and battery.
    -> also sent email to (mfr)contact@relync.com and (repair place)info@mi-scoot.nl
  @ The Other Red Hat - Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance
    " The use of red top hats has increased so much in recent times that it is now
      considered a demonstration. The use of these hats is therefore prohibited as of
      Thursday, February 26, 1942. "
  @ Mystery Math Whiz and Novelist Advance Permutation Problem | Quanta Superpermutations
  @ Cool Jobs: Math as entertainment
  @ The Magic of Code a book by Samuel Arbesman (via _Am Sci_ March/April 2006)
    -> hardcover purchased from American Book Center abc.nl
    "The Magic of Code" and the Humanistic Computation Project
    "The Magic of Code" book website
  @ What do Christian fundamentalists have against set theory? - Boing Boing
  @ Not sure I want to know.   jordanhubbard/bad-emacs:
    This is a bad version of emacs implemented purely from Unix shell commands
  * hx work session
    * time put in about The Magic of Code -- because of the connection to the book I once
      started to write, and hadn't thought about in years.

0227Fr
  * walk:  Simon Vestdijkstraat 2  .57km, 6hp, 23mm, 1250st, 
  @ historic drystone sheep dyke: "What’s the dewey decimal code for this..."
    ... picture of a cat on a bookshelf.  636.8.  probably 636.83
  @ Anthropic ditches its core safety promise in the middle of an AI red line fight with
    the Pentagon | CNN Business
  @ x86CSS (via Hackaday)
  * 11ish WZHThuiszorg leg-wrapping (here) 11:29
  * SL:  kibble
  * hx work session
    * Dutch
    * scooter research.
      @ TopMate ES35 Foldable Electric Trike for Adult 

0228Sa
  * walk:  7:58 DSB804: .65km, 10hp, 17mm, 9min, 919st
  . laundry: G: wraps & washcloths
  @ Saturn’s Rings and the Secret of the Moon Titan - YouTube
  & message GP's office via mijngezondheid.net asking them to send my latest lab results
    to (hospital)Haga.  I'd really like them to be in sync.
  * hx work session
    * websites - catch up with tasks in websites.do  -> Kaleidofolk
    * Maybe also reasonable to start US taxes (Block discount ends Sunday)
      <- where is my residence???
    * Sewed a button back on one of the shirts that have been sitting in my closet for at
      least three years.  Maybe more.   And it was a pretty sloppy job, but _I did it_!
      % accomplished.   Counting it as hx because fabric and Colleen's Closet.
    @ Free Bespoke Sewing Patterns | FreeSewing (FOSDEM
    @ Ada & Zangemann - A Tale of Software, Skateboards, and Raspberry Ice Cream|FSFE
    * Dutch - Duolingo