yeroc @yeroc@qoto.org

Introducing the Tinker WriterDeck OS!

Convert any laptop and most chromebooks into a writer deck: A device designed solely for writing.

No distractions.
No internet.
No apps. No games. No social media.

Just writing.

The Tinker WriterDeck is very light weight and specifically seeks to lower the barrier of entry to creating writer decks. It converts older, reused, refurbished, or inexpensive laptops into a dedicated writing machine.

A digital typewriter.

The Tinker WriterDeck sits on top of a "headless" Debian Linux image and boots directly into a console based text editor.

We're using the Tilde Text Editor because it is a simple text editor, has an intuitive User Interface, and allows for customized color schemes for light and dark modes.

Operating System download and instructions on how to convert your laptop into a dedicated writer deck for free are found here: https://tinker.sh

See below for an example of the writer deck in light mode and dark mode.

If anyone has any questions or needs any help setting your laptop up, let me know here!

#solarPunk #linux #writerDeck #bookstodon #writing #writingCommunity #author #libraries

Happy #AprilFools day to all who celebrate

Thank you to the Daily Show, we need this right now

We've put .CA domains on sale for the next little while to give Canadians the opportunity to add a digital Canadian flag to their online presence at a much lower price. Trade up to the .CA version of your existing domain, or register a new .CA for your next big idea.

https://www.hover.com/tld/buy-ca-domain

#domains #canada

OMG. Based on Wozniak's comments, I would hate driving a #Tesla too. I'd be cursing out #Musk and Tesla constantly. It sounds just horrible. Is it really this horrible?

https://fortune.com/2025/03/07/steve-wozniak-says-tesla-is-worst-at-improving-driver-tech/

This is a pretty good approach to communication by the Canadian Liberal party, regarding Pierre Poilievre's refusal to get security clearance. Describes the issue, describes why it is important, stays on target, isn't ridiculously dramatic or extreme about the subject, 4 minutes, nice and direct.

Good example for future election communication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvVDFdvaO3Y&t=4s

As always, I implore you to read everything Melissa Martin writes. And today is no exception, although I will add that today I think her essay is even more important, to Canadians and our partners in the world.

Read this. Every word.

https://open.substack.com/pub/melissamartin/p/on-the-cliff?r=4iztn&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Google has been threatening to remove support for Manifest V2 extensions for a while now, and users who want useful, powerful ad and malware blocking in their Chromium-based browsers have been dreading every release since.

Today appears to be that day.

I finally wrote the blogpost I planned to write for so many months. My thoughts on the future of Java on non-cloud systems. It has 2 parts:
1) the imho better system
2) the pragmatic approach

https://johanvos.wordpress.com/2025/02/25/java-everywhere/

In the world today, we must change hearts and minds, but most people are so preoccupied with being right that they have lost the ability to connect, understand, and communicate.

This is *the most malicious, brutal* malicious compliance I've seen in quite some time, possibly ever, and I am HERE FOR IT. Thank you, @jwz

https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/google.html

#privacy #security #infosec #Android #screensaver

You can back up all your Kindle books using this script - https://federatedfandom.net/@villainousfriend/114009999021828439

A lot easier than manually downloading them all.

After that, install the Calibre eBook Manager https://calibre-ebook.com/

Install the noDRM plugin for Calibre https://github.com/noDRM/DeDRM_tools

Give the plugin your Kindle's serial number.

Import your Kindle books into Calibre.

Done.

You now have a DRM-free copy of all your purchased eBooks.

You can copy them to your eReader, convert to ePub, save on a backup disk, etc.

The end of End-to-End? https://statusq.org/archives/2025/02/16/13063/

Also, Pro Tip for Mac users: Spotlight is good at doing conversions. As someone who lives next to the country that most eschews international measurement standards, it can be quite useful (even if I can do rough conversions in my head at this point). Try typing these, for example:

-25°C
40” as mm
32 fl. oz. in mL

Clever attack against Signal and others, locate any user by revealing their closest CloudFlare datacentre. https://gist.github.com/hackermondev/45a3cdfa52246f1d1201c1e8cdef6117

Disappointing response from Signal, which is unusual.
“Signal has never attempted to fully replicate the set of network-layer anonymity features that projects like Wireguard, Tor,…”

This isn’t a classic network layer attack: it doesn’t require a privileged network vantage point to carry out. Whilst it’s a CloudFlare feature that’s being abused, it’s Signal that chooses to use it in this way.

Feels like CloudFlare could make this header configurable so you could still benefit from caching without leaking information?

<< “Do something.” He gave me three rules: make it simple, immediate and collaborative.
–
That’s how, a week later, I found myself in Victoria Park in Ashford, Kent, fishing old carrier bags out of the river. In subsequent sessions, our band of volunteers put up bat-boxes, created new paths, renovated the dried-out pond and surveyed for amphibians.
–
Psychologists call the mental boost from volunteering the “helper’s high” [1]. And boy, did I get high. >>

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jan/13/i-was-in-despair-about-the-environmental-crisis-then-i-volunteered-to-clean-up-my-local-park

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30424992/
#EcosystemCollapse #GlobalWarming

Bambu's firmware shenanigans are making me rethink ever recommending one again.

They have to backtrack on it, or lose the goodwill of the 3DP community that is "open source but willing to give on value sometimes", which is not an insignificant sector.

Well, well, well...

"#Allstate ... used data from apps like #GasBuddy, #Routely, and #Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies."

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/01/allstate-sued-for-allegedly-tracking-drivers-behavior-through-third-party-apps/
#privacy

Wolf Moon Engulfs Mars

Image Credit & Copyright: Imran Sultan

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250115.html #APOD

A study from the Berlin Senate showed that highway lights have no measurable influence on collision statistics. After this result, and further improvement of retroreflectors and other markings, the Berlin highway lighting wil be almost entirely extinguished step-by-step during 2025: https://viz.berlin.de/aktuelle-meldungen/beleuchtung-auf-den-stadtautobahnen-wird-abgeschaltet/

Belgium also turned off a huge fraction of its highway lighting two years ago without incident.

#RoadStandards #LightPollution #Safety #GlobalEnvironmentalChange