Notices by Kyle Rankin (kyle@mastodon.kylerank.in)

Weaving finds me everywhere I go. In this case the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan where there is a reproduction of da Vinci’s automatic loom design, and the ultimate automatic loom: the punch card-controlled Jacquard. #weaving

Burnout in the FOSS community is real, and I'm glad that it's something that is being talked about more in blogs and conferences. There is a different flavor of burnout and emotional toll when you are sacrificing for a cause you believe in (especially in FOSS where people are often working for free or at below market rate). Working for a cause you believe in brings the highest highs when things are going well, but the lowest lows when they go badly.

#FOSS #burnout

The Linux desktop is a house owned by an amateur DIY home improvement person. Floor boards squeak, the back door doesn't latch unless you close it a certain way, you have to jiggle the toilet lever, and there's tape on a light switch controlling an outlet that needs constant power.

The homeowner doesn't fix these things, because they know to jiggle the lever, how to close the door. Working around these flaws has become second nature so they don't even realize they are doing it.

1/2

I really want to like a laptop like this because I love the small form factor. However, after my experience with a GPD pocket laptop, I learned just how critical keyboard layout is with small laptops. This is something the Toshiba Libretto got right.

In this (and the GPD pocket) case, it's the ;' and \ keys. You don't realize how much you use those keys until they are in a completely different location.

https://3.14.by/en/read/RISC-V-Sipeed-Lichee-Console-4A-Alibaba-T-Head-TH1520-review

I'm really enjoying the "Dummy 13" 3D printed model. The sheer number of options, poses and accessories makes this a really fun print, and makes for some really expressive models.

https://www.printables.com/model/593185-dummy-13-printable-jointed-figure-beta-files

#3dprinting

Marie Kondo, but for jankiness: removing things from your life that spark jank.

Rite Aid was just banned by the FTC from using facial recognition software because of how they abused it (and their customers). I'm hopeful that this will create a precedent that gets applied beyond retail.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/20/rite-aid-facial-recognition/

#privacy

@golemwire Heddles are the vertical metal bars the yarn threads through. It is a lot like threading a bunch of large needles. Depending on which harness the heddle is inside, when you press food pedals called "treadles" the yarn is lifted and sits above the perpendicular "weft" yarn you pass under it. The yarn that sits above vs. below defines patterns and colors in the fabric.

I tend to underestimate just how much longer it takes to thread the heddles when I have a wide, dense project. In this case I'm maxxing out my ~40" wide loom with a 12 ends per inch warp. I've now threaded 240 heddles, which means I'm halfway through.

#weaving

Just rewatched the classsic animated Frosty the Snowman, and I find myself empathizing with the magician who had his hat stolen and just wants it back, not the snowman who stole the hat and takes a child with him as a stowaway on a $3000 train ride to the North Pole.

@golemwire Thanks for getting the book! I'm glad you are enjoying it.

How's your day going? I'm outside having a ball (joint replacement).

#cars #ShadeTreeMechanic

Done! It took longer than I expected, but I did it all without the benefit of power tools. In the pictures you can see the failed ball joint and the new one I replaced it with. I used the Jeep to drive back to the auto parts store to return the tools I rented to make sure everything is in order.

My son wanted to be a white knight chess piece this year. We typically make his costumes and I decided to tackle this one. The result is in two pieces. The base is made from foam pipe insulation covered in an old bed sheet. The head is foam core with internal pool noodle scaffolding.

#halloween

I don't have much hope that new cars will be less invasive of my privacy any time soon, but this sort of project gives me hope that when the time comes to replace my car (hopefully a decade from now), that I might be able to convert it or some other pre-privacy-invasion car to electric.

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/10/09/alexander-burton-revr-electric-car-conversion-kit/

#privacy #ElectricCars

I started reading Anna Karenina for the first time today. War and Peace might be my favorite novel so I can't wait to see how this compares!

#books #reading

In retrospect, starting a Tolstoy novel two days before @kashhill 's new book arrives was probably a mistake. I might have to break my one-book-at-a-time rule.

After five years of helping to build hardware and software that protects people's privacy, security and freedom, at the end of the month I will no longer be at Purism (I'll still be helping out as an advisor).

For the near term, I plan to spend my time promoting my new book (coming very soon), writing yet another book, and thinking about what's next for my career.

If you have any suggestions for what I should do next, email me at next@kylerank.in (DMs are disabled on this instance).

Now that I have a printer that can print flexible filaments again, I've been able to try out a few TPU cases for my Librem 5 (I modified a Librem 5 slim model to remove most of the back). I tried printing face up and face down with supports to see what worked best for my printer.

I think I'm leaning toward the red case, although I do have some old black Ninjaflex I might try out later.

#3dprinting #Librem5

Since Purism, I have written and published two books, attended OpenSSF Day, FOSSY, and DEF CON, traveled 9000 miles coast-to-coast in an RV, and completely reorganized my garage.

Now I'm bored.

There's just no substitute for pouring my energy and skills into a day job and collaborating with others. I'm eager to dive back in. I've worn many hats and open to many types of roles and industries. If you know of a role you think I'd be a good fit for, DM me or email at next@kylerank.in .