astroprog

[astroprog]

showing @astroprog my poem wips from the drafts like a child showing their parent a macaroni drawing they did at school

[astroprog]

robot girl who runs on linux

(internal monologue: they’re gonna fucking love this one)

[astroprog]

"My son turned out fine." Your daughter uses Arch Linux and it's all she talks about.

[astroprog]

Very double edged sword: on the one hand, online neurodivergence discourse made me realise "wait I should look into this" leading to me finally getting a formal ADHD diagnosis yesterday. On the other hand, now I have to deal with people telling me what their columnist/pundit of choice says about ADHD trenders and explain that No That Panorama Documentary Was Bullshit Actually

i think it's really fun and not at all depressing that the sudden influx of neurodivergence content on social media has led to a few people being able to self-identify with autism and/or adhd without access to formal diagnosis, and infinitely more people writing thinkpieces about how everyone is faking because a tiktok teenager figured out she probably has adhd and is now overzealously declaring, in that way that excitable young people who have just figured out something monumental about themselves are wont to do, that preferring iced coffee automatically qualifies you for an adhd diagnosis, and infinitely more people on top of that gleefully reposting the "you people can't do anything" tweet every time an autistic person tweets that they had a meltdown over an unscheduled team building activity at work

[astroprog]

I think my favorite thing in Marie Kondo's work is the section in The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up where she talks about branding and labels contributing to visual clutter.

She explains that if you go through the whole tidying process and still feel cluttered and anxious in your own home, one thing that might help is looking around to see how much visible text and logos there are in your home. It can make you feel like you're constantly being advertised to, which makes you less comfortable in your living space, because you're basically in a showroom.

She suggests taking labels off of packages, storing items in different containers if you can, and making sure you take every purchase out of its packaging when you bring it home.

I think about that advice a lot when capitalism starts to get to me and I feel like I'm never gonna escape. Taking all the branding and advertising off of things has genuinely helped make my home feel more like my home. Peeling labels off candles, storing envelopes neatly on a shelf in a plain box, putting flour and sugar in canisters instead of leaving them in the bags, creatively covering logos on my tech...it all helps so much. Like, goddamn, it really made me realize just how much we are constantly being advertised to even when we think we're not.

[astroprog]

Speaking of computer security, this is kinda what I have learned about after doing some research.

Really the best way to secure your computer is to use Linux, not Windows with an anti-virus. Part of it is that far less malware is developed for Linux, but more so that Linux systems are more securely designed than Windows in various ways.

You don't need an anti-virus in Linux, and at this point I don't think there are any commercial anti-viruses that sell Linux desktop antiviruses, although there used to be (ESET and Sophos apparently had Linux desktop versions that are now discontinued).

Still there are additional steps on Linux to make yourself safe, like configuring a firewall. I think most distros come with a built-in firewall, although not always with it turned on by default or with a GUI. For example, Ubuntu and its many derivatives (which account for a lot of popular distros) use a "uncomplicated fire wall" or ufw and you can install a gui for it called gufw. Linux Mint, which I use came with a GUI firewall settings by default and recommendations for which settings to use.

To stay safe while using the internet, use Firefox, it has some built-in adblocking and malware blocking by default, but you really should install the ublock origin extension, which blocks not just ads but also malware, and a lot of online ads of course contain malware. The version on Chrome is nerfed at best.

There are malware scanners for Linux, chiefly the free and opensource Clamav, it's command line by default, but the clamtk wrapper can provide it with a gui. Do a quick scan of stuff you pirate for example.

The rest is common sense, be sensible about what programs you download and install, prefer your distro's package manager over stuff you find online, and you should be fine.

[astroprog]

In your average space opera setting there's always a free-trader/smuggler/guy with a space ship stock character, but nobody ever asks where he got the spaceship or who he works for. Not in mine though. In my setting, there's economics and paperwork. There is a Guy With A Spaceship, but he also owns a business, you don't just go randomly going from planet to planet, you need to buy insurance first and such. Few people just own spaceships like cars or such, they are more like planes or... ships, and you need to make bank with them (unless you are some rich asshole and can buy them on a whim)

Anyways. Economics. There's no faster-than-light radio or communication. Communication is done by ultra-fast mail ships that carry data. Even so, they take weeks for getting from one side of the Galaxy to the other. Now that I think about it, life on a planet might seem fast compared to life in the spaceways... In any case, the only connection worlds have to the rest of the galaxy is visiting spaceships.

Most civilian spaceships are from these:

Big shipping corporations: These are the ones who have monopolized most of the big routes and the great lucrative contracts (like say, food for sprawling city worlds or transport of rare materials) Many are centuries old, others more recent (many times from state interventions that breaks them down in smaller companies) They are big, bad, and you are beneath their notice.

State shipping: Interstellar states, of course, own their own merchant marines (a bit like national airlines actually) for domestic purposes. There are socialist states where interestellar transport is completely controlled by worker's cooperatives: corporations are constantly trying to undermine them. Of course there's also state science, industrial, etc. interests, though some are contracted to corporations.

Relativist Clans: Before aetheric FTL travel was widespread, all interstellar travel was done by nomadic generation ships. In modern days, they have mostly settled in orbits (though some are still roaming around) and have spawned many smaller shipping companies and families that remain connected. They are in an interesting middle ground between company, nation, and institution. The so called "free-traders", ships that do work outside the main routes (like Our Heroes) mostly come from this background)

Belters: Space miners is the thing that most people think when they hear Belters, but in established systems, asteroids can be gardened palaces managing huge space factories. They usually don't care about interestellar affairs unless there's the promise of a mining rush in another star; in a way, that keeps the Belter exploring spirit alive. Many descend from relativist clans.

Mercenaries, bounty hunters, pirates, corsairs, guerrillas...: The idea of the single "elite" space-fighter facing against their enemies is an invention to sell holos. To maintain a single spaceship is a costly task; groups that kill for money (a profitable business, unfortunately, whatever the name) are often large by sheer logistics. Of course, what are dismissed as pirates or gangs might actually be well-organized revolutionary groups.

Starters: Named because they only remain around a single star, they are the ones who pilot the planet-to-orbit shuttles, maintain the spaceports, do in system mining and research, etc. They are space people too, though they don't travel across the galaxy like others, so a few assholes don't really consider them "astronauts".

Rich people who buy like, yatchs: there's plenty of these around.

There's actually a lot of other stuff you can find in space, I haven't even gotten into the space whales yet (of course there are space whales) but these are the main economic players so to speak.

[astroprog]

My compromise between personal covid responsibility and the lack of government safety nets has been to get a high-quality mask, double-mask during spikes and new variants, allow myself to go to a single large outdoor event back in January, and hunker back down as new variants start to spread. I do small get-togethers with people whose exposure can be traced, so we can isolate the germ trail if it becomes a concern. We don't go to restaurants or movie theatres or bars or cons.

So the cognitive dissonance with the people whose compromise was, "eh, fuck it, let's just go back to normal" is fucking baffling and extremely infuriating.

Y'all posted "haha I'm never taking my mask off" memes and then just...stopped wearing your masks. What the fuck kind of hypocrisy??? Were you genuinely not serious when you shared those memes?? Am I just overly literal, here?

Why the FUCK are so many of you not wearing masks anymore???????????

[astroprog]

the dehumanization of high-risk people at almost year 3 of the pandemic is so enormously scary and painful.

“high risk people will protect themselves” how? did you think about that? are we able to go grocery shopping? are we able to see loved ones? are we able to access lifesaving medical appointments? no! you refuse to protect us!

“I think you’re taking covid too seriously” I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I’m a human, too, and I don’t want to die! Look at me — I’m a human!

[astroprog]

my cover art for galactic, a game of "rebellion, relationships, and war among the stars", by riley rethal! you can check it out here

[astroprog]

Thought it was about time for a new Tumblr/Twitter header.

[astroprog]

my wife: you're the only person who uses the computer correctly

me: what do you mean

my desktop:

[astroprog]

[astroprog]

my wife: you're the only person who uses the computer correctly

me: what do you mean

my desktop:

[astroprog]

My tinnitus got better after I bought good IEMs

I used to listen to complicated prog rock on apple earpods. Had to turn it right up to hear even a fraction of the intricacies of the music

Now I have decent in-ear-monitors with good imaging and soundstaging and I can hear it all at safe volumes

Worked for me!

sometimes you just gotta listen to music at a volume that you know will be part of the cause of your hearing loss at the age of 28

[astroprog]

ok i downloaded qbittorrent. now what

lmao can anyone teach me* to pirate

*i mean i know how to do it I think im just nervous jhsakjdhsaj

[astroprog]

lmao can anyone teach me* to pirate

*i mean i know how to do it I think im just nervous jhsakjdhsaj