Matthew gargargarrick@identi.ca

I like books, anime, cute things, and cute guys. Also pizza.

  • Programs that minimize to tray are like the Hotel California

    2017-02-21T05:08:28Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I press the universally-recognized "minimize" button, they minimize to tray.

    I press the universally-recognized "close" button, they minimize to tray.

    I go to File > Exit, they minimize to tray.

    I right-click and select "close", they minimize to tray.

    I press alt+f4, they minimize to tray.


    By 2020, even running over the PC tower with a monster truck will just minimize to tray.

    File > Exit should never minimize to tray...


    But for the record, pressing the window's close button, pressing alt+f4 (or whatever shortcut your WM uses), and right-clicking a taskmanager's button and selecting "close" are equivalent actions, by which I mean, the program is receiving the exact same input.

    JanKusanagi at 2017-02-21T09:32:21Z

    >> JanKusanagi @ DM:

    “File > Exit should never minimize to tray...

    But for the record, pressing the window's close button, pressing alt+f4 (or whatever shortcut your WM uses), and right-clicking a taskmanager's button and selecting "close" are equivalent actions, by which I mean, the program is receiving the exact same input.”

    This is true, but I've used a few programs that re-bound the key shortcuts and did similar silliness.

    Matthew at 2017-02-23T04:47:04Z

  • "Still This: Please don’t suddenly pretend you care about homeless veterans for just as long as it allows you to op [...]

    2017-01-30T23:58:24Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2017/01/30/still-please-dont-suddenly-pretend-care-homeless-veterans-just-long-allows-oppose-helping-refugees-thats-hurting-veterans-refuge/ Fred Clark knocks it out of the park. 

    “My point here is not to say that you’re a jerk. You are, in fact, behaving like a jerk — acting in jerk-like, dickish ways. And that, I’m afraid, makes you a jerk in training. It’s what you’re practicing for — practicing to become. And that habit will grow stronger until, one day, it may become almost impossible to break.”

  • Teens and copyright

    2017-01-18T13:27:01Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I just saw a social media post that seriously referred to [U.S. Librarian of Congress] Carla Hayden as an "anti-copyright activist" and the efforts of various copyleft communities as "astroturfing". It went on to claim that Ms. Hayden is trying to end automatic copyright for art (a retread of a popular urban legend in the arts community from maybe 10+ years ago) and demanded signatures for a petition against this.


    <sarcasm>Because lobbying from various entertainment industries definitely has no impact on policy at all (that's why nothing expired into the public domain in the United States again in 2017 and pirating Michael Jackson's music has a more serious penalty than killing Michael Jackson); young people certainly align with copyright maximalism for good reasons and not mainly because they have been bombarded by aggressive, manipulative pro-copyright campaigns from those media conglomerates (what do you call fake grassroots activism again?); and current copyright law is in existential peril unless 15-year-olds sign an Internet petition. Of course.</sarcasm>


    More seriously, I am concerned about the future of art when I see how deeply young artists are buying into copyright maximalism. Sometimes it seems like there are no equivalents of David Revoy or Nina Paley in the next generation (that's a scary thought); only "noncommercial reposting with attribution is ART THEFT" as far as the eye can see.


    I guess environment/experience must play a part in it; when I was their age, I was installing GNU/Linux for the first time, getting into Jamendo, and reading Cory Doctorow. These teens grew up on iTunes, Netflix, Kindle, and superhero movies: DRM-encumbered, heavily trademarked media under life+70 years copyright is what they've always known, and that's reflected by what they create now. That does offer a way out: if we keep creating good libre works, maybe future kids won't accept the status quo so easily.

  • Fun with Android TTS

    2016-12-30T23:05:26Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    One of the more amusing bugs in Google's default TTS is that it tries to read all series of numbers as integers (instead of digit-by-digit) no matter how long they are. I just got a FedEx email with a 22-digit shipping number in the subject line, which Voice Notify read as "FedEx tracking nine sextillion two quintillion ..."


    It also reads DemandProgress.org as "demon progress", and before an update it read PayPal as "papal". It's like Hellsing in my inbox!

  • Donate to EFF!

    2016-12-30T22:17:46Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I support @EFF because digital rights are human rights. https://eff.org/donate

  • How to tell the year without a calendar

    2016-12-07T22:23:57Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    Step 1. Find the nearest JavaScript developer.


    Step 2. Tell them you still use jQuery. :)

  • Naming help?

    2016-05-11T17:54:18Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    So my website is divided into sections, namely Text (fiction), Art (illustrations and comics), and Code (programs and games). They're all pretty straightforward. I want to add a section for derivative works I've made based on others' freely-licensed and public domain works, e.g. covers I made for LibriVox, and in the future, some translations of novels. But I'm having trouble thinking of a pithy section title for that. All I've come up with is "Open", which is a bit vague, and "Derivative Works", which doesn't really imply free licensing. Any ideas? I'm going with "Remixes" for now I guess...

    illyria, Arcee likes this.

    Face, Face, Arcee, Arcee shared this.

    Call it "Not Integral Works" ;)


    ...


    Nah, seriously, maybe something along the lines of "Libre Derivatives". Depending on the audience, the "libre" word could be commonly understood in this sense.


    Maybe "Libre Remixes"? I'm not sure if that word matches the kind of "derivative works" you have there (or at least most of them).


    My 2 cents =)


    P.S.- "Copylefties"? xD


    EDIT: Interesting. Your edit with "Remixes" came at about the same time as my comment =)

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca at 2016-05-11T23:59:28Z

    >> JanKusanagi:

    EDIT: Interesting. Your edit with "Remixes" came at about the same time as my comment =)”

    Haha, it's funny how these things work out. Thanks for your advice!

    Matthew at 2016-05-12T00:05:07Z

    How would "symbioses" or "synergisms" fit?

    Here are a couple of CC works you could make covers for or translations of.  It's the first two novels in my Green Comet trilogy.  Ebooks and recordings.  I would love to see respins, remixes or synergisms or any kind.

    Green Comet website.

    Jim Bowering at 2016-05-13T17:44:07Z

  • You know it's time to log off and sleep when...

    2016-04-02T04:51:50Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    ...you misread it as TOR noodles. What in the world would that be?

    That'd be when you eat a noodle that goes to someone else's mouth =)

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca at 2016-04-02T12:59:37Z

  • Pwning Tomorrow

    2015-12-18T04:30:20Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I donated to defend rights and freedoms online with @eff and got this awesome, free science fiction anthology! https://supporters.eff.org/donate/pwning-tomorrow

    Dana likes this.

    Dana shared this.

    that's a weird cover XD

    Dana at 2015-12-18T12:50:31Z

  • OCD isn't a synonym for "fastidious"!

    2015-09-18T04:23:29Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    http://www.vox.com/2015/1/28/7917079/obsessive-compulsive-disorder "7 things I wish people understood about OCD - Vox.com"

    illyria likes this.

    Arcee shared this.

  • "Protecting ‘our Christian values’" - slacktivist

    2015-09-15T14:39:14Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2015/09/12/protecting-our-christian-values/ "That is an amazing question — almost eloquent in its obtuse blasphemy. Over here, in one distinct category, is this matter of helping refugees. And then, way over here, is a wholly separate and distinct category of “our Christian values.”" #religion

  • #translatorproblems

    2015-09-12T10:39:23Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I've been translating the Jethro Tull song "Cup Of Wonder" into Japanese to keep my language skills from rusting, but I'm having trouble finding a way to render "the cup that's ever-filling with the blood of all that's born" in a way that doesn't sound like it involves the slaughter of literally every living thing on Earth.

    >> Matthew:

    “[...] in a way that doesn't sound like it involves the slaughter of literally every living thing on Earth. [...]”


    Isn't that what it's saying? xD

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca at 2015-09-13T15:54:36Z

    >> JanKusanagi:

    “>> Matthew:
    “[...] in a way that doesn't sound like it involves the slaughter of literally every living thing on Earth. [...]”

    Isn't that what it's saying? xD”

    It's a song about Beltane, which is a fertility festival...so, probably not. I interpret the cup as a reference to the metaphorical cauldron of life that things are *born* from, so it's not life-blood, but rather the blood and pain that come with all acts of creation. But, that is a bit difficult to render accurately.

    Matthew at 2015-09-13T16:07:35Z

  • "Little Brother" film optioned

    2015-09-09T01:20:58Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    http://boingboing.net/2015/09/08/little-brother-optioned-by-par.html The book had the most accessible and simple explanation of public-key encryption I have yet read. If it gets made, it may well be worth a look.


    Back in the day Doctorow had a program where if you downloaded one of his freely-licensed ebooks and wanted to support his work (and that of his editors, making a direct donation button less than ideal) but didn't want an additional copy of a book you'd already read just lying around, you could buy a copy to donate to a middle or high school that had requested one. It worked out grandly for the publisher, the author, the booksellers, and the schools, and was an all-around cool system that I wish more YA authors would employ. I seriously doubt Paramount would do the same with the film, but it would certainly be interesting, wouldn't it?

  • Herb-an development

    2015-09-04T21:55:13Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I've been collecting and drying a second round of kitchen herbs today. I don't have a good spot to hang them in, so I press them between towels, which seems to work fine. (Of course I make sure to wash them off first to make sure I'm drying herbs and not bugs and bug poops; I usually put them in the microwave for a bit, too.) This year's crop has been spearmint, lemon balm, lavender, and basil. And now I smell like basil, of course...next year I'd like to plant spinach and cilantro, and I've been considering getting ahold of a stevia plant as well.


    (Title pun credit to my sister.)

  • Terminology reminder

    2015-08-28T23:41:50Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    "PC" stands for "personal computer". It is a generic term that implies nothing about a specific computer's hardware or software. There are PCs that run Windows, Mac OS, many different distributions of GNU/Linux, assorted varieties of BSD, and countless other operating systems.

    Certainly "Mac" is shorter than "Macintosh-branded hardware that runs Macintosh OS", but drawing a distinction between "Mac" and "PC" is inaccurate because Macs are generally a type of PC. And "for PC/Mac/Linux", as one game developer wrote, is nonsense in about five different ways.

    If what you mean is "Windows", you should say "Windows". Save yourself some misunderstandings!

    Roman likes this.

    But saying you own a "Mac" is so much cooler, man! xD

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca at 2015-08-28T23:44:42Z

    @gargargarrick@identi.ca I SO get your point and am frustrated by it too, but this is one of those cases where we need to bend to common parlance. Just like Kleenex actually refers to a specific brand of facial tissue but has come to be used to refer to any facial tissue, replacing the mor correct term 'tissue'.

    It is also important to remember the many, many people using computing devices have zero idea that the OS can be switched out.

    Also its not the job of the person marketing the game to educate but to get the game on as many machines as possible. And that mean using common parlance to make it more "friendly".

    Freemor at 2015-08-29T00:21:57Z

  • On article filenames

    2015-08-21T23:30:11Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    Although I know contextually that the article's author bears the surname "Lie", naming the file "LIE.doc" -- especially when it is not even a DOC, but a PDF -- does not inspire confidence in its reliability.

    Doesn't sound trustworthy, no xD

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca at 2015-08-21T23:32:00Z

  • HDD problems continue

    2015-08-21T15:42:25Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    I am on Mageia 5 MATE. Ever since Mageia 4.1 or so, I have not been able to mount certain USB media:

    • USB thumb/flash drives work fine.
    • Mobile smartphones, music players, etc. are not able to mount. (Confusingly, my Android phone is accessible through ADB.)
    • External hard drives and backup drives are also not mountable.

    This is true irrespective of the USB port or hub they are connected to, or the cable that is used to connect the devices. They are sometimes listed by lsusb or usb-devices for a short period, but this is highly inconsistent. (I should also add that these devices work fine on other distros, so they aren't failing.) I have /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/old_scheme_first set to true.

    As one example, when I attempted to access my Sansa Clip+, it briefly mounted but immediately unmounted. I got the following message in dmesg:

    [754311.731015] usb 2-10: device not accepting address 93, error -62

    [754312.026019] usb 1-10: device not accepting address 91, error -71 

    Attempting to mount the device again brought up a "could not mount, file not found" error.

    Any advice would be appreciated.

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca shared this.

    >> Matthew:

    “[...] Mobile smartphones, music players, etc. are not able to mount. (Confusingly, my Android phone is accessible through ADB.) [...]”

    WRT this point, those phones and music players are probably not offering a Mass Storage interface, but an MTP interface, which requires specific software supporting that protocol to be used with them.


    As for your dmesg output, I've only seen that in cases where either the USB port/controller or the USB device/cable were broken. Not saying yours are.


    >> Matthew:

    “[...] I should also add that these devices work fine on other distros, so they aren't failing. [...]”

    Other distros on that same machine?

    JanKusanagi @identi.ca at 2015-08-21T16:36:36Z

    >> JanKusanagi:

    Other distros on that same machine?”

    Yes-- Mint and a few other distros that I tested on this machine were able to handle these devices without any trouble. This is part of why I believe the ports and cables are working correctly. The problem seems to be limited to Mageia only. (Thanks for the response, btw.)

    Matthew at 2015-08-21T17:44:49Z

  • Names I frequently call my favorite fictional characters

    2015-08-09T00:30:47Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    • "fucker"
    • "asshole"
    • "little shit"
    • "bastard"
  • Windows 10 defaults to keylogging, harvesting browser history, purchases, and covert listening

    2015-08-04T11:42:55Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    http://boingboing.net/2015/08/03/windows-10-defaults-to-keylogg.html As if anyone needed another reason not to use Windows! #windows #security #privacy

  • New picture book from Nnedi Okorafor!

    2015-08-02T06:32:23Z via Dianara To: Public CC: Followers

    http://nnedi.blogspot.com/2015/08/origin-of-chicken.html I don't have any kids (or plans for same) but I may pick this up just for myself! #literature