#techlog* for late July, 2021

• Figured out how to make USB-MIDI keyboard make nifty sounds on Ubuntu Studio. Can't figure out how to, you know, record those sounds.
• Main project: getting Ferreteria working again. I keep redesigning low-level classes, which of course means lots of fiddly work updating all the calls. Why, brain, why. 🧠 🤔
• Re-repaired left pedal on pump organ: replaced the entire strap this time, rather than trying to attach the new one to the last foot or so of the old one. Hopefully it will hold this time. Required buying very short flathead screwdriver (to fit in the cramped space behind the pedal where the strap attaches), because apparently all of ours have disappeared. Replaced screws with Philips. ...does anyone have repair manuals for a century(ish)-old pump organ? Some of the keys stick, and I don't know how to access the mechanism. (Still looking to see if there's a model number.)
• Trying to figure out how to rearrange my equipment rack and computers and stuff so I have a place to set up the mixer. There are a lot of movable pieces, some more easily movable than others... and I have another two racks (one half-size) in the basement which I could bring into play if it seemed helpful... but more or less negative space (i.e. it's already cramped) in which to work.

(* yes, this is my first entry; going to try using this hashtag as a way of quickly making notes which I can file properly later, and maybe get help with issues)

#OBS is able to receive video and audio from the camera, but won't display video in the main window and there's no video in the recordings.

Any ideas?

...aaand now I've got this happening -- but only in Vivaldi.

Others have confirmed that it seems to be happening in other Chrome-based browsers. The page works fine (albeit sluggishly... when I had the previous deployment working so nicely... 😢) in Firefox and wget, however.

I present unto you another #WTF.

#MediaWiki just seems to have it in for me today.

...or, in other words, "we don't really know what we're doing".

[quote]
Password must contain 8-20 characters, at least one upper case letter, one lower case letter, and at least one number. Password must not match the username, contain spaces, 3 or more consecutive letterrs, characters, or numbers (i.e. aaa) or the following characters: " & / < > [ \ ] { | } ~ ^ !
[/quote]

• Spaces should be allowed and encouraged (it's easier to remember a secure passphrase than a secure password).
• No 7-bit visible ASCII characters should be disallowed; they increase security.
• The maximum length should be more like 127 or 255 characters.

The only reason for limitations like this is if you're worried about injection attacks, and that means you're not properly sanitizing your input.

#softwareGripe #BBVA #securityTheatre

...or even better, this list (on the right)? #Firefox #Ubuntu #MIME

The dialog on the left shows the server presenting a file with my new MIME-type. I select "Open with", then press "Browse", then I get a "Select helper" dialog with no apps listed, from which I can get to the dialog on the right by pressing "view all applications".

Does anyone know how to add a new type to this list? #Firefox #Ubuntu #MIME

🎵 here I am -- stuck in the middle with you 🎵

Fig. 1: an iris getting high tall on in a pot on 4/20

@kestra is 19 this month (approximately) 🎂 🎈

She now frequently wants company when going up the stairs.

CW: direct cat eye contact

#cats #TootCats

I think I need to set up an online tech thrift/share store or something.

I just snagged all this stuff from a place I do some work for -- they're downsizing and moving, and had no interest in keeping this stuff. A lot of it is probably obsolete or not fully functional, but I suspect much of it is quite usable...

It would also be nice to acquire some local apprentices so it's not always me doing this stuff. I wonder if that's possible.

Actually, ten feet is probably better.

Please remain six feet apart in order to maintain your mental health.

Today is international Trans Day of Visibility. I'm trans, so I thought I should be visible! Ask me anything (or "#AMA", as the kids say on Reddit). If I have enough to say in response, maybe we'll do a video!

Here's some background: I discovered I was trans in 2000, but didn't have the funds to begin transition until 2016. I met my cis-female / nonbinary partner Sandy* (on the left in the photo) in 2001, and we have lived together since ~2003 raising her kids from her last marriage.

Did You Know:

1. Some people claim "cis" is a slur? It's not; it's just a scientific term that means "not trans".
2. The "epidemic" of transitioning, especially among trans men, is largely due to the de-stigmatizing of transness in the last decade or so. This is a good thing.
3. Gender is a social construct, and biological sex is a multidimensional continuum. Grade-school biology is accurate as far as it goes, but leaves out a lot of edge-cases; trans people are among those edge-cases.

Hopefully that's enough to get some friendly conversation started. ^.^

* better known here as @Harena

So far, all of the responses have been positive (names omitted for privacy):

1

I saw President Biden's statement this morning. So glad this administration supports all Americans. Thanks for your offer of sharing info!

I'm not actually sure what statement she's talking about, but ok!

2

While I can’t pretend to understand all of this, I celebrate your freedom to be who you are and hope for you a life free of judgement.

3

Thank you for sharing your lives & happiness. Understanding concepts of gender & sex from your perspective is so helpful, Woozle. At least we all can understand the words. "We don't have to agree on everything to be kind to each other." 💞

4 (same person)

For "binary" people, i.e. males & females with a "traditional" perspective, the meaning of words, especially "sex", "gender", and other kinship relations, also have important and valid but different physical, social, cultural and moral meaning(s). I hope we can all negotiate the distinctions in our views, and contextual uses of words and meanings over time, without acrimony. Peace be with you! 🙂🙃😍

5

Thanks for this post! As a parent of a child who has come out as Trans within the past year there’s a lot that I’m learning and I appreciate the awareness you are bringing to this topic.

@kestra
#NotCaturday

Whyizzit that both Kate and KDevelop know how to load a folder when it's on the local drive, but don't know how to load it when it's on a remote?

#softwareGripe

In the words of David Byrne, "So... how do I work this?"

I'm trying to figure out how to bypass the dubious "motion sensor" (the black rectangle with the two circular openings) so the panel will just Go On When There's Power.

The power comes in via the brass-colored contacts just next to that, and goes out to the light via the three white wires (the two that are next to each other on the left are connected together on the light-panel terminal, despite the fact that one of them is labeled "LED+" and the other is labeled "LED-").

I could post a photo of the underside, but it's not very... illuminating.

#electronics

Shouldn't it be, like, illegal to decline a bank account application without explaining why?

It seems to me that this opens the door to perfectly legal discrimination against folks who normally would be legally protected.

This has happened to one or more members of our household with two different banks now (Chime and Simple).

We were trying to find a better replacement for Simple, which is closing down soon, but apparently Chime isn't it.

cc: @Harena @eryn

Cat and Astrocat

(no relation)

cc: @kestra

I feel like this should be a socialist slogan or something.

I mean, I'll admit it's kind of a clever idea -- get all the rich retirees in once place, create a superspreader event which they'll spread to all their rich retiree friends -- and the only people who would care are the ones who don't believe in the pandemic anyway, so you get away with it clean. No guillotines needed, and it's self-selecting for willful ignorance.

I don't know if it's enough to really make a dent, though.

[Context: We used to get these regularly before the pandemic -- they're always for the purpose of attending some kind of information session on managing your finances and retirement, that sort of thing.]