@mikebabcock@floss.social
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

mikebabcock

@mikebabcock@floss.social

I'm a pretty tall #Canadian computer professional who loves #photography, #cooking and #gaming.
I work full time for a small #database company as a kind of #sysadmin since 1999, configuring and deploying on-site #servers, networks and #VPN as needed, all #Linux as often as possible.
I'm very comfortable writing software in Perl, #Python, PHP and C, I'm quite familiar and handy with C++, Java, PostScript and a few others.
Another underpaid #GenX #geek.
#gaming #INTJ

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

patrickworld, to random
@patrickworld@mastodon.online avatar

Asked a co-worker a question and she touched my screen 4 times. I'm not counting or anything, but 4 times. 4. It doesn't bother me at all though, it's just that it was 4 times. Anyway, I'm just gonna forget about the 4 times she touched my screen. No big deal. It's not like it was 5 times. It was 4

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@patrickworld the first time was too many. cringe

ottaross, to random
@ottaross@mastodon.social avatar

"Bold and Spicy?" I guess the name "Sad and One Dimensional" was already taken? Prob won't buy that again.

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@ottaross Keen's hot mustard all the way.

annaleen, to random
@annaleen@wandering.shop avatar

The United States has been using science and pseudo-science to wage psychological wars for centuries. Psywar as we know it in America grew up during the Indian Wars of the 19th century, where U.S. troops fought hundreds of Indigenous nations and confederated tribes, using battlefield anthropologists to gather information about the enemy. Read more in my latest @newscientist column, or check out my forthcoming book "Stories Are Weapons." https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg26234910-900-how-the-us-used-science-to-wage-psychological-war/

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@sarae so you all but agree with the points made in the article, which was not a 300 page research paper, and felt the need to nitpick at nearly irrelevant points just to brag about your own knowledge?
@annaleen very well written, enjoyed forwarding that to several people who would also enjoy it.

mikebabcock, to linux
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

Once upon a time in 2005 I attended my first symposium in . It was interesting to be surrounded by so many fellow geeks, most of whom made me feel wholly inadequate but that's beside the point. It's a real shame the event eventually failed. If I were better with faces I would tag people but I'm just not that guy.

A group of people seated in a lecture hall

colby, to random
@colby@kosmos.social avatar

I could be overlooking something but I'm pretty sure I can count on two fingers the number of instances where I've heard someone without a CS background use the word "algorithm" without getting it totally wrong.

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@colby except heuristic is much narrower, I'm far less likely to believe they'd use that correctly.

DemocracySpot, (edited ) to Bloomscrolling
@DemocracySpot@mstdn.social avatar

📷

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@DemocracySpot happy spring.

alcinnz, to random
@alcinnz@floss.social avatar

I switched ISPs this morning, & my homeserver is now back up! My websites are back online again, & should remain so for the foreseeable future!

Though for how I'm using it I could probably get by on the Fritz!Box alone...

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@alcinnz I was really excited to transition to ipv6 twenty five years ago. Now I feel like I'm waiting for the next version instead.

sonny, (edited ) to linux
@sonny@floss.social avatar

We need help from users :linux:

We are trying to reproduce and debug an issue with WebKit GTK

If you have rendering issues, specially with colors or blank page please reply with a screenshot, and we'll reach out for details.

Some example apps that are known to exhibit the issue

• Epiphany / GNOME Web
• Tangram
• Newsflash

Thanks for your help!

~Boost welcome :boost_love: ~

UPDATE: We got what we need - thank you all!

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@sonny and by nvidia users do you mean using real nvidia drivers or the included ones with most distros?

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@sonny I don't know if its related, but my screen goes blank on and off as I mouse over the results of image search from duckduckgo such as https://duckduckgo.com/?q=photos+of+scenic+vacation&t=epiphany&iax=images&ia=images

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@sonny strangely, when I tried to record the random blanking of the window using OBS Studio, it didn't happen anymore. When I turned off recording, it happened again.
Fedora 39 Xfce spin, Epiphany 45.2, NVidia 6.7.4 drivers.

mikebabcock, to foss
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

How well do you know ? Very good talk by Scott Chacon:
https://youtu.be/aolI_Rz0ZqY?si=6-GjdWUbS2W7osXp

jon, to random
@jon@vivaldi.net avatar

Question : Do you know how Norwegians fill out their tax returns?
Answer : They don´t.

This is an oversimplification, but years ago Norwegians started to get pre-filled tax returns in the mail. Later they stopped getting them, but instead had to do an OK online. Now even that is not needed. No comment means it is is OK. You can rectify and modify details online, if needed.

The reality is that the government already had most of the data needed for most individuals. Your salary is reported by the company you work for. Your bank details, including anything you have in your accounts, any loans, stocks, bonds, etc., is reported as well. Your kids are known as well. There might be details to add, but most is known. Why waste people´s time filling out details that are already known and risk people making mistakes?

When will the US get there?

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@jon this is being discussed in Canada; have the system automatically file your taxes for you and if you think they're going to screw up, you're free to file them yourself (or through a tax preparer) instead.
Here it means many people who aren't receiving government benefits based on tax filing would suddenly receive them automatically.

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@ottaross @jon I don't bother with mine either as my wife does tax prep professionally so I gladly let her do mine too.

mikebabcock, to security
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

Well hopefully this is patched on major instances soon. Well, all instances really.

"Mastodon vulnerability allows attackers to take over accounts"
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/mastodon-vulnerability-allows-attackers-to-take-over-accounts/

mikebabcock, to diy
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

I was sorting through old drives recently (as geeks do) and wondered if anyone has pulled out the insides of a few old SSDs and combined them into one franken-SSD drive by physically linking them with a new controller chip.

thelinuxcast, to random
@thelinuxcast@fosstodon.org avatar

Screen capture on Wayland is still shit.

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@thelinuxcast can it game on Nvidia properly yet?

happygeek, to infosec

By me at Forbes:

Security researchers discover a leaked data compilation containing 26 billion records.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2024/01/22/massive-26-billion-record-leak-dropbox-linkedin-twitterx-all-named/

mikebabcock,
@mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

@happygeek well credential stuffing is certainly going up this week.

cakeisnotalie, to random

deleted_by_author

    •
    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @cakeisnotalie @Sfwmson I'm pretty sure the onus is on the claimant to prove their case. Feel free to show citations that make your point, otherwise I'll consider it a rant I can ignore.

    alcinnz, to random
    @alcinnz@floss.social avatar

    Today I learned that bash has hashmaps - Xe: https://xeiaso.net/notes/2024/bash-hashmap/

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @alcinnz yup. Dictionaries are the best.

    sonny, to Blog
    @sonny@floss.social avatar

    So let's say I wanted to start a blog

    0 maintenance effort
    Use my own domain
    RSS/Atom support
    ActivityPub support for comments
    Markdown

    Not required but using a git repo to source the articles would be nice.

    I like to share screenshots and (highlighted) code snippets.

    What should I use?

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @sonny I know the ActivityPub part can be done with scripting because of some work here: https://carlschwan.eu/2020/12/29/adding-comments-to-your-static-blog-with-mastodon/

    jake4480, (edited ) to webdev
    @jake4480@c.im avatar

    Tiny websites have always fascinated me, along with internet web portals (which haven't been a thing for many years-- at least in the way we used to know them). I'm talking a simple HTML page with just a graphic or two, and a bunch of links. Something that might resemble the early days of Yahoo, etc.

    The idea for this site I made has been buzzing around in my head for a while now. It is NOT responsive, there is NO JavaScript, and there's just a TINY bit of CSS. The whole site (one HTML page) is only about 9kb!

    A simple site like this one might look primitive compared to some of the huge, complicated websites we see as standard on the internet today, but this site is guaranteed to work on any browser or device.

    I used links for sites/documents that I frequent or use a lot, and mixed in my own personal projects for fun. It's a super simple page-- mostly for my own usage. But I really love the design of it!

    I call it 'Mr Beamer's Old Timey Web Portal' 😂

    EDIT: I moved it to Neocities! ⬇️

    http://oldtimeywebportal.neocities.org

    #html #simplesites #webportal #webportals #htmlmostly #css #bareboneshtml #weirdweb #personalsites #personalwebsites #indieweb

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @jake4480 this is still my favourite kind of website. The number of moving parts to keep track of on a modern reactive site is just way too high to secure well in many cases.

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @jake4480 let's be fair, I love Gmail and Google maps and related "apps as a website" ... And still find it a little remarkable what some people have done with JavaScript (mostly Google), but for websites I prefer some HTML with CSS.
    That said, CSS has also become crazy: https://youtu.be/CG__N4SS1Fc

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @jake4480 PS hello to one of the very few other people who had a website in 1994 👍

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @jake4480 I had a website hosted by my local ISP (for whom I also worked) about the merits of PGP and digital privacy in general. I also did fan work for a band I loved who allowed and thanked me for ripping their CD to MP3 for download. Imagine.

    mikebabcock,
    @mikebabcock@floss.social avatar

    @jake4480 it's a little upsetting tbh how insanely creative some people can be with a tool that is completely not originally designed for this type of work.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • megavids
  • thenastyranch
  • magazineikmin
  • everett
  • InstantRegret
  • rosin
  • Youngstown
  • slotface
  • love
  • khanakhh
  • kavyap
  • tacticalgear
  • GTA5RPClips
  • DreamBathrooms
  • provamag3
  • modclub
  • mdbf
  • normalnudes
  • Durango
  • ethstaker
  • osvaldo12
  • cubers
  • ngwrru68w68
  • tester
  • anitta
  • cisconetworking
  • Leos
  • JUstTest
  • All magazines
    •