#internet-relay-chat

[blur-from-the-north]

September 2001. Oulu, Finland. Olympus Trip Junior, Fuji Superia 100 (?) film.

This is tolsun, a Sun-3 server that was in use at Department of Information Processing Science at University of Oulu. (TOL, or "Tietojenkäsittelyopin laitos", later "Tietojenkäsittelytieteen laitos", part of Faculty of Sciences). This server was the first ever Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server; the lead developer Jarkko Oikarinen worked there.

This was an exhibit of historic computer gear that was located at one of the corridors of University of Oulu campus, right next to the computer centre helpdesk and Unix laboratories (with Linux and SGI IRIX workstations). The display was removed when the computer centre moved (and much later the whole department moved to a new building). I regrettably don't know where these items are on display nowadays. Edit: Apparently on display in Vapriikki museum in Tampere.

(I originally posted a scan from positive to Wikimedia Commons under CC Attribution 2.5. This is a new scan from the negative.)

[lithium-wakes]

You've reblogged "Self-Debugging" twice in the last 24h; is everything OK?

oh!!! yeah, no worries - I think it just got queued twice somehow while I was farming all the appropriate content from my other blogs.

I don't even really view Self-Debugging as particularly angsty - Washington gets kind and careful advice from the moment they have a problem, and their issues get addressed relatively quickly over the lifetime of the story! It's about dysphoria, yeah, but for me the juice is in the joy of having that kind of support group and the funny/awesome of a bunch of airplanes having irc chats.

Now that I think about it, rude's solicitation in this story was probably the inspiration for Zadie's bodyswap offer in my 'hobbyist technician salvaging a scrapped robot' story. Cool to find that connection!!

[mistfunk]

Mistigram: the topics for this weekend's Blender improvised computer art compo have been announced, reflecting two festive occasions taking place this weekend: RASTAFARIANS / EGG HUNT / JURASSIC PARK. You have 24 hours to cook up some sketchy computer art in any medium including all of the topics and submit it to us, we will announce the winners tomorrow. Compo details at https://mistigris.org/blender/blend.html, countdown at https://lazarusblocks.com/blender/

[canisvesperus]

Discord is cool and all but I miss IRC.

[anyday-happyday]

people will really do anything other than learn about IRC eh?

[irc-internet-relay-chat]

https://www.IRC-Coding.de Diese Seite beschäftigt sich ausschließlich mit der Software-Entwicklung: Fokus IRC ( Internet Relay Chat )

[nasa]

9 Out-of-This-World Moments for Space Communications & Navigation in 2023

How do astronauts and spacecraft communicate with Earth?

By using relay satellites and giant antennas around the globe! These tools are crucial to NASA’s space communications networks: the Near Space Network and the Deep Space Network, which bring back science and exploration data every day.

It’s been a great year for our space communications and navigation community, who work to maintain the networks and enhance NASA’s capabilities. Keep scrolling to learn more about our top nine moments.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Dragon spacecraft lifts off from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, on the company's 29th commercial resupply services mission for the agency to the International Space Station. Liftoff was at 8:28 p.m. EST.

1. In November, we launched a laser communications payload, known as ILLUMA-T, to the International Space Station. Now, ILLUMA-T and the Laser Communications Relay Demonstration (LCRD) are exchanging data and officially complete NASA’s first two-way, end-to-end laser relay system. Laser communications can send more data at once than traditional radio wave systems – think upgrading from dial-up to fiber optic internet. ILLUMA-T and LCRD are chatting at 1.2 gigabits per second (Gbps). At that rate, you could download an average movie in under a minute.

NASA’s InSight lander captured this selfie on Mars on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

2. Data analyzed in 2023 from NASA’s retired InSight Mars lander provided new details about how fast the Red Planet rotates and how much it wobbles. Scientists leveraged InSight’s advanced radio technology, upgrades to the Deep Space Network, and radio signals to determine that Mars’ spin rate is increasing, while making the most precise measurements ever of Mars’ rotation.

TBIRD is demonstrating a direct-to-Earth laser communications link from low Earth orbit to a ground station on Earth.

3. We set a new high record! The TeraByte InfraRed Delivery (TBIRD) payload – also demonstrating laser communications like ILLUMA-T and LCRD – downlinked 4.8 terabytes of data at 200 Gbps in a single 5-minute pass. This is the highest data rate ever achieved by laser communications technology. To put it in perspective a single terabyte is the equivalent of about 500 hours of high-definition video.

A 34-meter (112-foot) wide antenna at Canberra Deep Space Communications Complex near Canberra, Australia.

4. This year we celebrated the Deep Space Network’s 60th anniversary. This international array of antennas located at three complexes in California, Spain, and Australia allow us to communicate with spacecraft at the Moon and beyond. Learn more about the Deep Space Network’s legacy and future advancements.

An illustration of the LunaNet architecture. LunaNet will bring internet-like services to the Moon.

5. We are bringing humans to the Moon with Artemis missions. During expeditions, astronauts exploring the surface are going to need internet-like capabilities to talk to mission control, understand their routes, and ensure overall safety. The space comm and nav group is working with international partners and commercial companies to develop LunaNet, and in 2023, the team released Draft LunaNet Specification Version 5, furthering development.

The High-Rate Delay Tolerant Networking node launched to the International Space Station in November and will act as a high-speed path for data.

6. In addition to laser communications, ILLUMA-T on the International Space Station is also demonstrating high-rate delay/disruption tolerant networking (HDTN). The networking node is showcasing a high-speed data path and a store-and-forward technique. HDTN ensures data reaches its final destination and isn’t lost on its path due to a disruption or delay, which are frequent in the space environment.

The Communications Services Project (CSP) partners with commercial industry to provide networking options for future spaceflight missions.

7. The space comm and nav team is embracing the growing aerospace industry by partnering with commercial companies to provide multiple networking options for science and exploration missions. Throughout 2023, our commercialization groups engaged with over 110 companies through events, one-on-one meetings, forums, conferences, and more. Over the next decade, NASA plans to transition near-Earth services from government assets to commercial infrastructure.

Middle and high school students solve a coding experiment during NASA's Office of STEM Engagement App Development Challenge. 

8. Every year, NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement sponsors the App Development Challenge, wherein middle and high school students must solve a coding challenge. This year, student groups coded an application to visualize the Moon’s South Pole region and display information for navigating the Moon’s surface. Our space communications and navigation experts judged and interviewed students about their projects and the top teams visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston!

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket soars upward after liftoff at the pad at 3:27 a.m. EDT on Saturday, Aug. 26, from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A in Florida carrying NASA’s SpaceX Crew-7 crew members to the International Space Station. Aboard SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft are NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Andreas Mogensen, JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov.

9. The Near Space Network supported 19 launches in 2023! Launches included Commercial Crew flights to the International Space Station, science mission launches like XRISM and the SuperBIT balloon, and many more. Once in orbit, these satellites use Near Space Network antennas and relays to send their critical data to Earth. In 2023, the Near Space Network provided over 10 million minutes of communications support to missions in space.

Here’s to another year connecting Earth and space.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

[anonymous-chicken-was-taken]

There is a man named Stanford Pines.

Just about anyone in the scientific community knows his name, and most know his face. It would be hard not to. It's plastered on magazines, on websites, on informational guides about the Institute of Oddology. Stanford Pines is synonymous with the word odd, peculiar, strange; it takes very little digging to find that.

Yet, when it comes to actually meeting the man? No matter who you ask, the answer is almost always no, they have not met him. Everyone knows of him, but nobody knows him. They see his face, they hear his name, they read his papers, they know his arguments. A lucky few even converse with him through email, or letters, or phone conversations. However, meeting him face to face seems to be an occurrence even rarer than the beasts he writes essays about.

Sometimes, he makes a public appearance. Sometimes, someone will see him walking about in some small, secluded space. His co-founder follows him like a shadow, never long taking his eyes away, full as they are of both care and peculiar caution.

Even more unheard of, sometimes, Stanford Pines will do something that interacts with the public. Once every few years, he will appear for an interview, or a photo, or something else to please the magazines that fill up his inbox. McGucket will be with him, every single time, and afterwards there will be whispers on the very internet he created from the people he'd spoken to. By all accounts, Stanford Pines is a very subdued, polite gentleman. Someone who is very intelligent and awkward, and attached to his co-founder at the hip. A man who is followed at all times by an army of personal security and NDAs. "For safety," McGucket will say as Pines' face goes dark. No one ever explains who's being kept safe, or from what.

To the students at the Institute of Oddology, it's even stranger. Nowhere does it say that seeing or meeting the core founder is guaranteed -- in fact, in comparison to other institutes, it's hardly even advertised that he's there -- but it's still surprising. If Stanford Pines is seen at all, it's almost always from behind a screen. Some students graduate without ever having seen him in-person. He does not attend events. He does not greet families. He does not make speeches unless he's being projected on a screen, a stark contrast to McGucket and his exaggerated mannerisms as his very real and present form hovers nearby. He holds no office on the entire campus. It is not unheard of to see him taking a walk with his co-founder, but it's rare enough to be shocking.

Rumors fly. Some are silly, absent things that would seem implausible to anyone who hasn't spent time in Gravity Falls. He's a vampire. He's a robot made by McGucket. He's a whole eldritch entity. Some rumors are more serious, whispered when his reclusive nature rings suspicious among the masses. None of them change the facts.

Perhaps it would make more sense if his co-founder was similar. However, Fiddleford McGucket is the polar opposite of Stanford Pines. He responds to interviewers asking about his computers. He makes speeches. He wanders around campus, stopping to chat with anyone who cares to listen. He's amiable and approachable as long as you can get past his rather extreme eccentricities, with an open-door policy and only one question he won't answer. If anyone builds up the guts to ask about Stanford Pines, and why he's so gosh darn reclusive, his only response is a sad, painful smile and a change of subject. In general, however, if one were to ask a given student of the institute where they could find Fiddleford McGucket, the chances are would be they'd be able to relay the information. However, like so much having to do with Stanford Pines, there is always a but.

At least three days a week, Fiddleford McGucket disappears for hours at a time. In theory, this would not be unusual. There's a section of the campus, slightly separate from the rest, dedicated to research. It takes much clearance to get to this area, for it is full of many very dangerous things. Some of the newer students fall under the misconseption that this is where he goes off to. However, there is a secretary at the entrance to this section of the campus, and when McGucket disappears, no amount of asking will get them to respond that he lies within. There is no summary of what he's there for, and there is no estimate of when he'll be back in his office. He is not there. For those hours, it's like he's vanished off the face of the planet.

There is another building seperated from the rest, barely visible through the trees. Tucked far behind the research area of the campus and heavily guarded at all times. No amount of clearance, or ID, or begging, will get anyone in. This place, most know, is where McGucket goes. No one can be certain, but there's a conviction there that this is the truth. It's the same way people know that this is where Stanford Pines resides. In those hours, McGucket disappears to the same nowhere at all that his co-founder lives.

No one tries to get there. Not anymore. There would be no point.

In order to do so, one would have to get into the research zone of campus. Already, this requires more clearance than most students could imagine. From there, one would have to go through a building only staff can open, at the very back of the campus, where only the most dangerous of research is kept. A security officer stands ever-vigilant at a back door leading to a winding pathway, intersected halfway through by a pair of guard stations. Past them lies a towering locked gate, centered in the midst of a towering electric fence. There is no guard station at the gate itself, though guards patrol the perimeter, even though the underbrush is too thick to walk through. There is no visible way to unlock the gate, but if one managed to get through regardless, they would find that the obstacles were still not over. The acre the fences encircle is thick with security, only some of which is human. It's impossible not to get caught, but if somehow, someone did, they would find themselves face to face with the sloped roof and charming wooden exterior so vaguely visible from the more well-trodden paths.

If one were to make it behind the reinforced door and yet one more pair of security guards, they would find nothing of note at all. In fact, were the windows not so thick, and the place not full of rooms with no place in a residence, and the path not so elaborate, and the whole area not so heavily reeking of isolation and uncanniness, one could almost mistake it for a normal home.

Inside, one would find Stanford Pines. Shorter than his head-and-shoulders shot makes him seem, and with a tangible air of melancholy about him that no projection could ever communicate.

Above all, Stanford Pines would appear incredibly alone, with only security, a McGucket Computer, and shelves upon shelves of books for company. If this someone who somehow managed to sneak in got lucky, they would arrive in this not-quite-a-home while McGucket had disappeared to there. They would find the two of them in deep conversation, and Stanford Pines would appear happier and more animated than most any living soul had seen him in decades, content in the company of his one connection; his shadow. Even when they had serious conversations, about the most serious topics in the world, something about him would be just that bit more lively. The visit would end, every time, with McGucket asking the same question. Every time, Pines would shake his head sadly as he responded; would the answer have been different, they both know that McGucket would have been informed long before he arrived.

Upon his co-founder's departure, one would be able to see Stanford Pines either sigh and sink right back into his melancholy, or the energy persist for another handful of hours. One would wonder why he was so reclusive, if he seemed so much brighter when he was among friends. One -- the impressive, unstoppable individual who managed to get into such a heavily monitored area -- would more than likely leave confused.

They wouldn't realize, unless they stayed within the bounds of the not-quite-home until it was far too late, what the hoards of security was designed for. Wouldn't realize that just as much as much as they are meant to keep someone out, they are also meant to keep someone in.

[cy-cyborg]

I swear Centrelink’s goal is to just be the most time-wasting government organisation 🤦

I went into the office in person 3 weeks ago to report income from my commissions, which is how I was told to declare the income last time I asked about it.

I explained how the income had been acquired (custom artwork via the internet) and why there was no abn attached (if you’re self employed, you’re supposed to have your own, if you have a normal job, whoever pays you should have one). After explaining it they said I don’t really fit in any category they have, so go home and they’ll call me when they know what to do, but it’s on my file that I tried to report so I won’t get into trouble at least.

A week later, they call and said that I need to register as self-employed, but an abn won’t be needed (yet). All they need is a profit and loss statement and a form. Easy, I did the same form for my partner’s door dash income and it’s pretty simple, and there aren’t exactly a lot of profits or losses for 3 digital-only commissions so that’s also simple. However, they told me on the profit and loss form to include things like electricity and internet costs as losses. I don’t exactly know how to calculate that so I decide to go to a tax agent for help, since what I submit to Centrelink needs to match what I will submit to the ATO later anyway, at least roughly, so it’s easier to do that now and get the more accurate numbers.

It takes a week to get in, the tax agent chats with me for 5 minutes and says she’s not entirely sure why Centrelink is asking me to do this, in the ATO’s eyes I don’t qualify to be a business yet and I wouldn’t qualify by centrelink’s definition yet either. I can register now if I really want to but it won’t be worth it until I’m making a more regular income. She also said she can give me a profit and loss statement but once again, it’s not really worth it and she’d have to charge me more than what I’ve made in total, so she highly suggests I don’t do that, and go back to Centrelink. Also they gave me the wrong form because of course 🙃.

I’m getting really confused at this point, and hear my explanations to each person getting more and more jumbled (which happens when I’m overwhelmed) so I wait until my support worker is there to go back in, since she’s helped me with Centrelink before and is getting good at understanding me when I get overwhelmed lol.

We go in, relay what the tax agent said and showed them the documents from the ATO that backup what I’m saying said to the person at Centrelink. The worker sighs, apologises and says that I was right the first time, I didn’t need to do any of this and the income should have just been reported when I came in last time. She confirmed that with her supervisor just to be sure and then wrote me a note with a big offical stamp on it to give to any other Centrelink worker who tries to say this is incorrect in the future, because it will happen again due to some vague wording in the rules they have to follow 🤦 she’s left a note in my file about it but people don’t always check so the paper note is a backup.

It took 3 week but I finally declared my commission income once it was all sorted out and hopefully the next time I go back it will be simpler…

[astercontrol]

IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat.

Inside the computer system, this means the programs participate in a fun little Relay Race to transmit your messages.

Relay races usually involve passing a baton. Owing to the function of batons inside the computer world, this means the relay race is a form of triathlon 

The runner carrying the baton passes it to the lightcyclist, who activates it for the cycling portion of the race. Who then trades it in for a lightjet baton to relay to the pilot, who completes the final aeronautics portion.

[s0s1mple]

BLOSSOM - Yan!Idol!Enha x Reader

Part 4 - Reflection

TW: None… yet (reader is named and gendered) (slow burn)

Masterlist -- Part 1 -- Next Part

Life progressed slowly, but marginally more eventfully. Honestly, an introverted me felt like a champion of social interaction with how much I called and texted these days. While the boys were busy, they made more than enough time to constantly set my phone off. It certainly made the day more eventful during my long shifts at the convenience store, but it was also sometimes a bit tough to keep up with those of them who texted regularly. Entertaining, but tough to flit between chats being updated simultaneously. Granted, it wasn’t enough to be bothersome or cause me to mute or tell them to stop, just the adequate amount of friendly from each boy, but when it was multiplied by five or so…?

I did certainly feel a friendship solidifying, though, and that feeling made the sore thumbs that came from tapping between messages worth it. Being the only worker in the store at a time meant no proper coworkers to socialize with, and with the hours I was working there was little time to go out and find friends outside of work. A bundle of funny people my age falling right into my lap was a godsend, because even introverts needed socialization.

All of the boys had my number and messaged me at least a few times, though some took more time to do so than others. For example, our texts were hardly a page long. I could describe them, but it would be much easier to simply relay them exactly.

‘Is this Haneul?’

‘yeah! who’s this?’

‘Jay from the picnic Jungwon and Sunoo set up. Sunoo gave me your number.’

‘o! o7 hello! yeah, you have the right number! hows it going?’

‘Good, but we’re at practice so I’ll have to get back to you. Have a nice day!’

A two day gap, and then-

‘hey jay do you know what kind of herbs are good 4 sore throat w/ tea and stuff? jungwon said u’d be the best to ask, sry’

‘Ginger, peppermint, chamomile, and a few others. Bunch of stuff to choose from. No worries, glad you asked! Hope you feel better.’

‘thxxxxx ur a life saver!’

A three day gap, and then yesterday a final tiny interaction.

‘Is your store open right now? I’m passing by on the route back and need to grab some milk for a recipe real quick.’

‘no, i’m closing up right now so I can’t rlly let u in sry jay’

‘No problem, have a nice night Haneul.’

‘[IMAGE] but still pass by, i left u a little gift at the front stoop. Free milk, my treat :P hope it doesn’t get warm b4 u grab it’

‘I’ll pay you back. Thanks.’ Followed by a digital transaction with a smiley face emoticon attached.

To sum up our relationship? Associates. Friends through other friends, more generously. It wasn’t like she got the impression he disliked me, more like he had other things going on and wasn’t keen on texting so frequently to begin with. Guy was real proper in his messaging, to my surprise. Punctuation and all. But he was always nice, ending a message with a reassurance or a polite remark. So yeah, Jay was a nice guy, seemingly responsible and with other things on his mind, so while I didn’t exactly know much about him outside of what the others said, I could safely say I felt chill with the guy.

Sunghoon was a step up from Jay, but not by a ton. A similarly dry texter, though with a bit more effort or time to do so. Little greetings here and there, mentions of interesting things he saw or heard that day that might be interesting to me, or simply responding when I myself sent him something. Usually it was the latter, honestly. He seemed more content to entertain whatever it was I wanted to talk about rather than start the engagement. Whether it was out of not thinking about the matter or simply not being a good texter, Sunghoon didn’t often initiate conversation.

I was fine with that, though. I contented herself with scrolling the internet, finding something that made me laugh, and sending it to Sunghoon if I felt it pertained. Things like a penguin skidding over the ice, because Sunghoon had mentioned being a skater once upon a time, or a website link for some article or another.

Usually, Sunghoon’s response would be a simple one word acknowledgment or a reaction emoji to the clip. Maybe even a quick comment relating to it and a ‘ha, thanks for thinking of me’ if he was feeling talkative. Or, uh, text-ative. But, on even rarer occasions, Sunghoon would initiate. He’d either send some clip himself, or maybe take a picture of something cool he saw, or mention something that the other members had said that was funny. Once, he sent a video of the filming of their variety show since I was on a streak of sending cool information about filmmaking. I’d reacted to that with great fanfare, hoping to coax the male into further interactions.

Jake was a lot better than Sunghoon and was the first of the ‘regular texter’ category. He’d text a few times per day, usually little blurbs or memes or something, before disappearing abruptly with a ‘gotta go!’ Or ‘byebyeJung wonwant sme’. Though some of his humor leaned towards the foreign and didn’t always land, even that became something to tease each other and laugh about in quick bursts. Jake was easy to text with like that. Very approachable. We shared photos from life as well, going back and forth with little pictures from the countryside. Jake with his Australian upbringing, and me with the forests around my rural home. We bonded over our pets back home too, with me having a cat named MinMin and Jake a dog named Layla. Overall, I thought I could consider us decent buddies, especially since once and a while he’d even go as far as to send videos of the other members doing silly things or a voice memo of him cooing over a photo of MinMin. A really sweet, grounded guy, I decided, if a bit excitable sometimes about things like animals. Not a bad trait at all.

Jungwon was next. He was a surprisingly frequent texter, though usually it was short bursts of messages giggling about something stupid or asking random questions. Very spontaneous things. ‘yoi, chocolate or vanilla?’ or ‘kekeke, niki fell :3 [IMAGE]’ or ‘what’s haneul up to? o/‘ Jungwon was endearing, a bit more mischievous than I initially thought upon learning of his leader status and meeting him at the shop. Plenty of selfies, the male taking pictures from absurd angles and making silly faces as he showed off his coffee and pastries in the morning. Often, I just responded with a crying emoticon and a picture of an egg cooked so disastrously it barely looked edible.

I learned of his background in taekwondo as a kid, his grandmother- a similarity we had, seeing as I was also often nurtured by my grandparents growing up- and even discussed very briefly some of his frustrations about his role as leader. Nothing bad, but more so stress points like how it felt being the spokesperson or having to keep up with English when he didn’t seem to pick it up at the same speed as some others. Once, he even asked for my advice. I did her best, and luckily according to his later thanks, things worked out well.

Heeseung had shockingly rocketed up my contact list, us most frequently engaging over gaming, unsurprisingly. Things like talking about the Nintendo direct that went live, reviews about if it was worth buying a game the other had tried, etcetera. But eventually that sort of talk slowly lessened as we found more things in common to discuss. Little interesting life tidbits, fun facts, a sort of twenty questions game once, and more. Heeseung was lively, comedic, oddly chatted in quick but small bursts of messages, and more often than not the cause of me snorting out loud in laughter. More recently, Heeseung had actually sent in a voice memo that I was ninety percent sure I wasn’t supposed to hear.

‘[VOICE RECORDING] im helping prod a new track’

‘sneak peek for my favorite gaming buddy’

‘:P’

‘shh, no telling!!!’

‘[GIF]’

Of course, I had complimented the idol on his singing alongside a bit of light ribbing because while it was excellent- perfect pitch, the male had bragged- it was my duty as a new friend not to let his head get too big. Heeseung had sent in a picture of his eyes and forehead, brows furrowed in mock anger.

Riki, my original best Enhypen friend, was as active as ever. Playful teasing and jokes, the younger male unafraid to poke fun and seeming to delight in receiving the same back. This past week, we’d taken to video calls actually. In the evenings, when I got off work and had some time before bed, we’d watch the latest Pokemon season from our respective homes. I would lay out on my stomach on my bed, laptop streaming the episode while the phone precariously balanced on the keyboard showed me Riki similarly lounging. Compared to me, he laid on his side and propped up his face with a palm, hair messy as he snorted at some bullshit I’d said- more than often something stupid because I’d zoned out for a second. “Hush! If you’re going to make fun of me, at least face me when you do it!” I’d scold him.

“I am facing you!”

“The left side of your face sure isn’t. Yah, turn around and stop acting cooler than me!”

Sunoo by far was the most talkative, a super quick texter up to date on all the latest trends and memes. Often times we would help each other with OOTD’s, usually at Sunoo’s insistence. ‘oooo, u look so good in pastels! should I dress the same so we can match today? i look good in pastels too kekeke! wanna see?’ He seemed to love taking photos of himself and asking for opinions, though there wasn’t much feedback to give aside from complimenting his lighting and expressions. Each photo tended to be a trade though, the male expecting a photo back in return and promptly gushing over it excitedly no matter how stupid I thought I looked. I could safely say though that in the short time I’d come into contact with Sunoo my closet and pantry had somehow shifted in contents, and mostly for the better to my surprise. Very trend-savvy, if I had to describe it.

All of this went to say that of all the people to invite me or end up at her convenience store next, I expected Sunoo or Niki or someone of the like. Instead, I looked up as the bell dinged to spy a pair of dark, thick eyebrows and pale skin. I, currently helping a small group of teens check out some ice cream, smiled politely and gave the stock standard greeting as I focused on wrapping up. Sunghoon dipped his head and tried his best to discreetly slip past the teens to shop. Despite his mask and large black overcoat, it seemed his stature and feathery soft hair caught the group of teen’s attention.

“Wahhh, look at him!” A girl whispered, shifting from foot to foot as she sneakily shot glances at him.

“Must be an idol.” The male next to her said, casting a momentary glance before becoming uninterested.

“Do you think we know him?” The other girl giggled conspiratorially.

“I don’t know, he turned away… I can’t tell.”

“Doesn’t look like a YG idol, maybe-“

“Have a nice day and shop with us again!” I cut their whispering off, depositing the change into the boy’s outstretched hand. The girls eyed me, eyed Sunghoon’s figure near the ramyeon, and only actually moved on upon registering my unwavering yet insistent polite stare and smile. The bell overhead dinged. Silence fell over the store. Sunghoon didn’t immediately move to the counter though, instead wrapping up his choices before waltzing over with a bag and a Milkis in hand. He nodded to me and set them down.

“Haneul.” He greeted. He didn’t remove his mask, but he didn’t need to. Despite his quiet tone, his eyes crinkled slightly at the edges.

“Sunghoon.” I tried to mimic his calm demeanor before chuckling and beginning to scan his items. Mostly snack foods, it seemed. “Welcome to my humble abode! Are you going to stay and rest your weary, danced-out bones or keep moving?” Sunghoon made a huffing noise. He eyed the camera in the corner of the store, seemed to draw a mental line to the seating area near the window, and then gauged the level of traffic outside. A small pause, and then a shrug.

“Sure, I can stay for a moment. The guys can wait.”

“Are you on snack run duty then?” He handed over the money and I packed his things into a bag, leaving out the ramyeon as directed.

“Lost rock paper scissors, unfortunately.” Sunghoon dropped the bag unceremoniously onto the table of the eating area and busied himself adding the correct amount of water and seasoning. I leaned onto my elbows and watched him from across the store. “I’m pretty sure Riki cheated. Jokes on him though. I’m going to tell him I went to see you without him.” He snickered softly and leaned against the counter, meeting my eyes.

“Doesn’t surprise me. Wanna take a selca then? Rub it in?” I slid my phone out from my pocket and waved it enticingly. Sunghoon perked up, walking over in a few long strides, and I raised up the phone for a selfie. The angle was a bit awkward though. Sunghoon was leaned awkwardly over the counter to meet me, and with me being shorter than the male it was a bit tough to get a good view going. “Hold on, I’ll adjust. Sunoo would be pissed if I let you show a bad photo after all his lessons…” I muttered, mostly to myself. I turned, leaned backwards to where my back was to Sunghoon, and held my phone at a high angle. In the viewfinder I could see Sunghoon’s shoulders shake with silent chuckles at the way I craned herself backwards so he could be to scale in the photo.

Next thing I knew Sunghoon was gently pushing at my shoulder so I was more upright and he himself leaned his torso as far forward as he could to where our faces were almost level in the field of view. He pulled down his mask to his chin, and held up a peace sign. I took the photo and then inspected it. I tsk’d. Sunghoon cocked his head. “What? Did it turn out bad?”

“Stop trying to look handsome. It’s a silly selca, not a modeling job.” I snorted. Sunghoon’s brows knitted together.

“I wasn’t trying to look handsome.”

“Oh really, say that to brooding face number five.” I showed the photo. Sunghoon peered at it and, reluctantly, saw what I was talking about. Maybe it was a habit for the male to resort to a pose befitting an idol whenever a camera appeared… He hummed to himself, mulling over the idea.

“Fine, let’s retake it then.” We got back into position, me grinning stupidly wide.

“Say cheese!”

“Chee-“

“CHEESE!” I practically screamed at the top of my lungs suddenly. Sunghoon spluttered, taken aback. But the ridiculousness of it had him finally smiling. I snapped the photo with a stupid look on my face.

“Good?” Sunghoon asked, brow arched as his face returned to its normal calm expression and his soft chuckles died down.

“Perfect!” I gave a thumbs up and quickly sent the photo to Sunghoon’s number. “See? Looks so much better. A smile looks so much better than the brooding model look, in my opinion. Much more handsome than trying to be handsome.” I said. The male’s lips curled up just barely at the ends.

“Maybe.” Sunghoon turned, pulling his mask back up, and checked it right as his ramyeon finished cooking. Hand on the microwave door, he paused for just a moment to stare at his phone before abruptly jolting back into action and shoving the device into his expensive coat pocket. “So how’s life been? Hopefully not too back-breakingly tiring, right?”

He took a seat with his food and adjusted himself around to where his face wasn’t angled at the window. The mask was tentatively pulled down again. “Ah, it actually has been.” Sunghoon replied after a moment. I frowned. He caught the motion and shrugged. “Is what it is. Lots of variety content filming to do, but it means we should at least have a decent break in the upcoming week with the backlog all handled.” He slurped up some noodles, somehow managing to look both elegant and slightly silly at the same time.

“Oh, well that’s good. Means there’s some balance to work schedules at least. I’d hate to hear you guys were overworking yourselves.”

“The idol industry is like that sometimes, but we’ve been given more breaks lately. Work is work, I guess.” Sunghoon waved off the worry. His eyes darted to mine again. “But how about you? You haven’t been overworking yourself either, have you?”

“No more than usual.” I rapped my fingers against the register for emphasis, chuckling dryly. “Real party in here, so it sometimes feels like I spend more time here than I actually do, haha.”

Sunghoon took a few more bites, seeming to mull something over, before speaking up again. “And how much time do you actually spend here, then? Every time you text me it seems to be because you’re bored at work.” He asked. I sighed.

“Uh, a lot, unfortunately. Rent is expensive these days, haha.” I smiled, but it was a bit weak. Regardless I cleared my throat and continued despite the sudden pang of shame in my stomach. “Well, I work six days out of the week and make sure to take the nine hour shifts, doesn’t matter what time to me personally. Luckily I’ve worked here long enough I get to pick what day of the week I want off at the beginning of the week.” I cheered a bit. Sunghoon looked at her blankly for a moment. His chopsticks droop, ramyeon seemingly forgotten as his lips purse.

“So that day in the field, the picnic… you used up your free day to spend time with us?” His tone is strangely flat, not really betraying anything, and I became a bit antsy. Had I said something wrong?

“Yeah, I did. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a planned thing for me, but since I was invited I figured it would be good to meet new people.” I forced that weak smile back on my face. “It was a good change of pace.”

“I see. Sorry we disrupted your day off.” Sunghoon is oddly solemn all of a sudden, as if he feels a bit guilty at the notion. I laughed incredulously.

“Did you not hear what I just said? I enjoyed my time with you guys. You’re a funny bunch. A bit silly and boyish, obviously- I mean duh, you are boys, I’m being dumb- but still really sweet overall.”

“But with how little time you have off-“

“Sunghoon.” I cut him off with a kind yet disbelieving scoff. “I’m an adult. It was my choice to hang out with you, and I don’t regret it. I made seven friends out of it, which is something I really needed. Us introverts need people to rely on too, right?” I cocked my head at Sunghoon, brows raised conspiratorially. A pause followed, Sunghoon seeming to search my face before nodding slowly.

“Ok. In that case, I’m happy to have spent my time off with you as well.” A slight smile. I relaxed and smiled right back, suddenly feeling as if some little barrier between us had been knocked down.

Sunghoon spent a little longer there finishing his food before rising to his feet. Our last few minutes together were spent chatting sporadically about our personal preferences on how to prepare ramyeon and various snacks we liked. A natural, comfortable feeling dialogue, nothing special. The tall idol threw out his trash, pulled out his phone; and tapped something. Within seconds, his phone was buzzing. Sunghoon let loose a laugh, smiling that same bright smile from earlier, and turned the screen to me.

Riki was calling. I snorted and covered my mouth to hide my matching grin. “Sent the selca, huh?” Sunghoon nodded and declined the call with a chuckle. His eyes, crinkled with mirth, lingered on me for a moment.

“I’d better be going then. And… let us know the next time you’re free. I don’t mind spending my days off with you either.” Coming from his calm, cool, reserved demeanor, the words felt oddly warm. My lips curled. I gave a thumbs up, and Sunghoon pulled up his mask and set back off towards the dorms.

[oacest]

Noel Gallagher Slams Industry Sex Offenders, Chats Oasis’ Future & Bringing His ‘Scissor Queen’ Down Under

December 18, 2017

By Emmy Mack

Everybody knows that Noel Gallagher is not a known giver of fucks. That’s why interviewing the Oasis legend almost feels like a music journalist’s rite of passage. Especially in today’s climate of knee-jerk outrage where saying the wrong thing can see you attacked on social media faster than your shitty NBN connection can load the latest trending hashtags, most interviewees tend to guard every word that comes out of their mouths with the snarling vigilance of Cerberus guarding the gates of hell (and honestly, in 2017, who can blame them?).

Not old mate Noel, though. Possibly because of the fact that — as he tells us — he doesn’t “surf the internet” or “read the newspapers”, or perhaps because he’s been elevated to the untouchable status of ‘Godlike Genius’ (and has an award to prove it), the High Flying Birds frontman still retains a zero per cent capacity for bullshit, and DNGAF about the repercussions of his straight-shooting word bombs.

So, needless to say, getting the chance to sit down for a pow-wow with the Brit-pop icon was as refreshing as it was insightful as it was deadset farking hilarious.

And despite this interviewer’s initial jitters about what to expect from going toe-to-toe with one of the most shamelessly egomaniacal and loose-lipped slaggers in rock n’ roll, please note that he was also a genuinely lovely guy to boot.

In the midst of chatting to Music Feeds about the High Flying Birds’ freshly landed ‘cosmic pop’ album Who Built The Moon?  and plans to bring the ‘Birds back down under with their newly-appointed scissors player (whom, Noel relays, we must henceforth refer to as the ‘Scissor Queen’) the frontman got in some absolutely classic sledges on his brother Liam, Guns N’ Roses, Australia’s own The Amity Affliction and more, and even spoke candidly about his past and (seemingly non-existent) future with Oasis (for the record, he went there before we did).

But possibly most notable of all, Noel also shared a fiery condemnation of the kind of disturbingly rampant sexual misconduct we’ve seen come to light in the entertainment industry of late, along with the men who perpetrate it.

Catch our full chat, in all of it’s F-bomb-riddled glory, below.

Music Feeds: G’day Noel. I heard you’ve been a bit unwell, are you feeling any better?

Noel Gallagher: Ummmmm… Nah, I’ve had a stomach bug for a while. It’s just goin’ round. You know how it is when you get to my age, these little things fuckin’ annoy you for a while but nah, I’m alright.

MF: Well it’s good you’re on the mend. I have to ask, when you get sick, do you just pop down to your local GP like the rest of us?

NG: Oh yeah, I go see the doctor [laughs]. Yeah, I go like everybody else and sit in a waiting room with lots of fuckin’ other people, quietly shuffling around. And then someone comes up and says, [whispers] ‘Mr. Gallagher, the doctor will see you now.’ And I say ‘thank you’. And then I sit there and he says, ‘What seems to be the problem?’ And I tell him what the problem is, and he’ll just say to me, ‘Hmm… have you been, uh, shall we say… in a period of… consumption… lately, Mr. Gallagher?’ And I say, ‘Well… yes. I have been consuming.’ And then he’ll say, ‘Well I suggest you go home and have a fuckin’ lie down and stop wasting my time.’

MF: One thing I wanted to ask you straight out the gate was whether you saw that an Aussie band called The Amity Affliction put you on one of their T-shirts recently?

NG: No. Unless I see somebody wearing it outside my front door it’s never liable to reach me because I don’t surf the internet. I have no idea who they are or what indeed you’re talking about.

MF: Basically they’re a band selling shirts with a picture of you on the front and a quote from a review you gave one of their songs — “sounds like a dead turd” I believe it says.

NG: ‘Sounds like a dead turd’? Sounds like the kind of thing I may have said. Who knows? Who knows? Who cares? [Laughs] Are they any good? What are they called?

MF: The Amity Affliction.

NG: What is it, metal?

MF: Well sort of, yeah.

NG: Clearly bound to be shit then.

MF: Now I read you’re not a huge fan of the Australian band DMA’s either, but I wanted to ask… are there any Aussie groups you are actually vibing on at the moment?

NG: Groups? No, but my favourite group is a band called Jungle, and they’ve disappeared off the face of the fuckin’ earth. But I’m more into tunes than artists if you know what I mean?

MF: What’s on your playlist at the moment, then?

NG: Well I bought a volume of albums the other day that has all of these early ’70s glam singles, like from around ’74–’75. Other than that I can’t tell you, I listen to everything, apart from that band you just mentioned, apart from them, jazz and, like, modern pop music.

MF: Yeah it’s interesting that you mention the early ’70s because it feels like the new High Flying Birds record has a bit more of that early ’70s kind of psychedelic rock flavour to it.

NG: Please don’t call it psychedelic because ‘psychedelic’ conjures up images of moustaches and wizards hats and flared ladies’ trousers. Can you refer to it as ‘cosmic pop’?

MF: Uh, sure, that’s one I haven’t heard before!

NG: Well I’m inventing new genres as I go along, it’s fucking unbelievable. When you get to my age and you’re still inventing musical genres! I mean, crikey.

MF: Well NME gave you their ‘Godlike Genius’ award five years ago, probably for that very reason. And I just saw Liam’s gotten it this year. How’d you react to that news?

NG: You know, like, when a team wins the Premiere League and they give the third choice goalkeeper a medal just for being there? It’s like, ‘You didn’t do fuck all, right? You’ve done nothin. But you just happened to be there in training, so have this medal.’ That’s what that’s like.

MF: [Laughing] Well let’s talk more about the High Flying Birds, because you were down here in Australia last year for Bluesfest. First of all how was that experience? I know you were initially a bit shocked at getting invited to play a blues festival.

NG: Well as I’m one of the world’s most prominent blues artists, I was honoured to go down there and [puts on Southern American accent] do some shreddin’ on the geetar. But as I remember it, it wasn’t too painful. I’m not sure what I remember of it, I remember thinkin’, ‘A blues festival? What? Is there another Noel Gallagher fuckin’ doin’ the rounds or somethin’? Possibly in a cowboy hat?’ But no, it was me.

MF: Well now that you’ve got the new record out, can we expect to see you back down here any time soon?

NG: I would have thought so, yeah. I mean, I’m not sure I’ll get there next year, probably the year after. Don’t quote me on that though, I mean, I’d be the fuckin’ last to know. I could well be goin’ there next week, who knows?

MF: Well if so, would you be bringing the illustrious scissors player?

NG: I’m afraid so. I’m afraid so, yes. The Scissors Queen, she’s not a scissors player. We’ll be referring to her from now on as the Scissor Queen. If we go to Australia, she’ll be coming, no doubt.

MF: Excellent. Although I fear the name ‘Scissor Queen’ might be a dangerous thing to type into Google…

NG: Well, one would hope.

MF: And adding the Scissors Queen to the mix isn’t the only experimental thing you’ve been doing recently, it definitely sounds like you’ve gone in a bit more of an adventurous direction with this new record, was that a deliberate choice?

NG: To be honest, the record does sound different to what I’ve become famous for, but it’s not different for different’s sake, you know what I mean? My attitude going into this wasn’t, ‘I want to make something that’s really different,’ I had no idea what record we were gonna make on the day that we started it, no fuckin’ idea. I hadn’t written any songs, it was just gonna happen in the studio. And it ended up sounding quite different because there were moments of inspiration in the studio when David [Holmes] my producer would point me in a completely different direction than the one I’d been used to going in.

MF: And do you always work that way? Heading into the studio with no material prepared and just seeing what comes out? As opposed to going in with a bunch of songs already written?

NG: Well no, ever since the day I first started to write songs I’ve always written songs at home and then gone into the studio and the producer would pick the best ones and we’d make a record and that’d be it. This is the first time I’ve ever, ever, ever gone into the studio with nothing. I found it really, really exciting because you don’t really know what it is you’re fucking doing until you’ve done it.

MF: Do you imagine you’ll end up doing the same thing for the next record?

NG: Well, I haven’t really thought that far ahead, my focus right now is just on touring. But I mean, I write at home. I’ve got so much fucking songs that I’ve written that I haven’t used. Me and Dave have spoken about making a follow-up to this record because there’s a lot of stuff left over that is of equal quality I think, so I think we’d be stupid not to try and make another record, but I’ll do whatever I feel is right at the time.

I certainly won’t be making a record for anybody else next time I go in, I’ll be there to please myself. You know what I mean? I’ve spent a lot of time and effort down the years being in Oasis, writing for the people. And I’ve done that. And I’m, you know, doing somethin’ else now.

MF: But do you ever write a song and think, ‘Actually, shit, this would make a pretty good Oasis track,’ or are you just not in that headspace at all?

NG: Wow [laughs]. No, I’m not there anymore, and I’ve not been there for nine years now. I’m only ever forced to think about Oasis when it’s brought up in an interview, or when we did that documentary because I guess there was a nostalgic thing going on, or when I’m on stage singing ‘Half The World Away’ or something, you know what I mean?

But no, I don’t think about that at all. I know that people will not fucking let it go, alright. I’m not saying you, I just mean people in general. I mean, it’s quite flattering in a way because it means that you did something of real worth. But you know, I did it. I’m done with it. It doesn’t enter my thoughts at all.

MF: What about when you see a band like Guns N’ Roses absolutely conquering the world after reuniting after so many years? It doesn’t tempt you at all with Oasis?

NG: Well, if Axl Rose or Slash or any of those guys were as good as me, they wouldn’t fuckin’ be in Guns N’ Roses.

MF: [Laughing] The quintessential Noel Gallagher response right there.

NG: Well I’ve conquered the world enough, I’ve got enough money. In fact I’ve got too much fuckin’ money. Do you want some? I’ll send you some. How much do you want? I don’t need any more glory, I don’t need to be a stadium rocker anymore, I did it when I was in my 20s and 30s and 40s and I was good at it. I don’t particularly want to be a stadium rocker when I’m 50, I think it’s undignified.

MF: Well Noel, while I’ve got you I actually wanted to ask your opinion on all of this sexual misconduct stuff that’s been happening right across the music and entertainment industry at the moment—

NG: [Stern voice] Now listen! I don’t know what people have been saying, I don’t know what people have been fuckin’ sayin’, but those animals — those dogs and cats that I fiddled with — they deserved it! They were there, we were all drunk, things happened, none of us are proud of it, can we just move on?

MF: [Laughing pretty much uncontrollably] Mate, well as long as it was consensual! You know, once this goes to print that quote’s probably going to be plastered on headlines all over the internet, right?

NG: Oh, I don’t give a fuck. What about sexual misconduct? I haven’t done any, have I? Please tell me not.

MF: Oh god [laughing] well, not that I know of!

NG: Great, so I’ve managed to get away with it so far [laughs].

MF: I actually just wanted to hear your thoughts on everything that’s kind of happened since the whole Harvey Weinstein bombshell.

NG: To be honest, I don’t really read the newspapers. I know what’s going on, but I don’t know the details of it, or the ins and outs. I’m aware of the Kevin Spacey thing, and the Harvey Weinstein thing. But I will say this: men in power who take advantage of women are the fucking lowest of the low. And they can’t really be considered to be men, do you know what I mean?

You have to question these guys, how they were fuckin’ brought up. It’s difficult to comment on because if you’re not in that way of thinking… I just don’t understand it. I don’t understand it. I mean, I don’t understand men at the best of times, men that objectify women and take advantage of women like that is so alien to me. They’re not men, you know what I mean? They’re boys, really, they’re just like little boys who are somehow unfulfilled. I don’t get it.

MF: Have you ever heard any troubling stories from your female peers in the music industry?

NG: I haven’t heard of anything, I haven’t heard of anything. I guess in the film industry, a lot of the time the females need the male bosses to get them further up the ladder, you know what I mean? Whereas in the music industry, if a girl writes a great song, it’s still a great song. It seems to me to be a bit more… equal, in the music industry?

Now, I’m aware that girl… Keisha? Kesha? What’s her name? Something went on there. But from where I’m looking at it, I know Rita Ora very well, let’s just take her for one. She’s fucking amazing, and I’ve been at festivals with her when we’re around record company executives and she’s treated — and I would imagine people like her are treated — with the same reverence as their male counterparts. Whereas in Hollywood, that would not seem to be the case.

MF: Well it’s definitely heartening to hear that your experience of the industry has been so positive, as far as women are concerned.

NG: Well look, I’ve got three girls in my band, who are going to be on tour with me for the next however many years –

MF: Including the Scissor Queen!

NG: Yeah, you know, you can’t afford to be a misogynist in the music business. I mean, I write songs about the glory of women all the fuckin’ time, you know what I mean? I’ve gotten my fuckin’ career out of that. I love being around women, and not to objectify them, they’re funnier than most men half the time.

And in any case, if my fuckin’ wife… You know what, I’ll tell you a little something for instance, this is my wife, right? She was having some of her friends around one night, and they’re all downstairs in the kitchen – you’ve been in this scenario many many times, I’m sure, when they’re all pissed around the kitchen table cacklin’ like fuckin’ insane nannas, right? And I’m kind of downstairs getting a drink and they’re having a conversation about feminism, right? And I’m kind of like, ‘Ha! Feminism? Whatever.’

MF: Uh-oh.

NG: And then my wife listed about 12 reasons why I was a feminist. And I was like… stunned into silence. She was like, ‘You’re a feminist! Because of this and because of that,’ and I was like, ‘Oh… Well I suppose you’ve got a point there.’

MF: Yeah, I reckon I can get behind that statement. Unfortunately that word seems to have some negative connotations for a lot of people. But really, anyone who just respects women — and anyone who isn’t a misogynist — probably should consider themselves to be a feminist.

NG: Yeah, I’ve never understood misogyny. I was brought up by women, my dad was not very present at all, and that’s just been my life, you know? I’ve always had female tour managers up until very, very recently, I kinda trusted that they’re not gonna fuckin’ run off with all the money. I’m in my office here, right, in London, I’m in my office that runs my ship, I think there must be [starts counting] I think there’s a dozen people in here? Eight of them are girls. They’re amazing.

You still can’t get a fuckin’ decent cup o’ tea out of any of ’em though. For fuck’s sake. Unbelievable.

[link]

[debian-official]

What is IRC? <3

Internet Relay Chat! Ask your local Old Nerd about it and their eyes will light up and they will tell you stories about magical times in the olden days. You'll also see it a lot in hacking related movies & TV series

It's being used a lot less now (even for CTF hacking competitions), but a lot of communities are still active on there.

If I'm not mistaken Hexchat comes preinstalled on @ubuntu-official but you can use any irc client to sniff around & join channels that seem interesting

[technosigils]

building an opensource collection of 'net services

hi there! im mia :) im a computer nerd with too much time on her hands.

im making this post to bring a project of mine into the world; a fully opensource and collaborative collection of online tools. this will grow over time, but for now, there is one thing active and two planned. (read on below)

CalicoDrive

a nextcloud instance! currently offering a bunch of very useful things:

50GB of free cloud storage

a Markdown notetaking tool

a shareable, open calendar

a photo gallery

web bookmark storage, and

some organisation and collaboration tools.

many of the cloud storage services we rely on are corporate, and require exorbitantly priced subscriptions. alongside that, data on them is often subject to a huge array of impenetrable terms/conditions.

what makes this different? firstly, your data is controlled by you. it is entirely encrypted on disk and can only be decrypted with your selected password. you own the data the same way you would were it on an external hard drive or flashstick.

secondly- its free! while you can pay 20$ once off or 5$ a month to upgrade storage quota and support the project, the core of it is entirely and utterly free to use.

matrix.calicocore

(full disclaimer- this service isn't online yet. it's planned to be active within the next month at the very maximum, very likely sooner.)

what's matrix? i am absolutely sure you've heard of IRC- internet relay chat. im also sure you've heard of discord.

matrix is a modern federated chat protocol- if you took the best of IRC, and you took the best of Discord, and combined them into an opensource and *free* protocol for real-time messaging? that's matrix, baby!

matrix functions similarly to the fediverse (more on that later). when you sign up, you select a homeserver, which is the infrastructure your account is hosted on. your homeserver determines who you're federated with, your most easily accessible spaces, and the little tag at the end of your name.

so what's matrix.calicocore going to be? a homeserver! the idea here is to bring communication and community into our hands, and away from the hands of big tech corporations who really don't care about us. it'll be federated with other spaces and servers, and run collectively.

fedi.calicocore

if you've ever used mastodon, fedi.calicocore will be a server compatible with it. this is still in the very very early stages as a project, so i cant detail much, but stay tuned.

things to note, disclaimers, etc

this project is in its early days. i cant guarantee perfect stability, though it has been tested and run for a few days already. please don't expect a perfect replacement for existing services YET.

secondly, in regards to calicodrive; your data is fully encrypted in two ways, both within the nextcloud instance and on the physical spinning rust. this means if you majorly forget your password, there's a possibility of losing it- but that trade-off is worth it for the security.

this all sounds great! how can i sign up?

for now, this is the link to the nextcloud:

https://drive.calicocore.space

in the very near future, there'll be a central discussion space on the matrix, too, which you're encouraged to introduce yourself on!

lastly:

who is this for?

these services and tools are made by a disabled trans woman. they will prioritise people vulnerable on the current internet, and focus on building a safe space for trans, non-binary, and queer people; as well as disabled people and people of colour.

you can sign up if you are not one of these, however you will be expected to defer to the marginalised members and be generally respectful of the purpose of the space!

[hidden-clue]

more nitpicks over The Seven Keys (mild spoilers, mentions of getting stuck):

When a puzzle annoys me or exhausts my mental capabilities, I need to be able to walk away, play a mini game, cool off, annoy some characters, then come back and work on it with a fresh outlook on the world. Except in this game when I try, the doors are LOCKED, I am TRAPPED with an impossible PUZZLE that won't let me WALK AWAY the crystal puzzle got to me okay that wasn't good for my self esteem

I got STUCK for HOURS because in the real life, when you get a piece of paper, with a handwritten web address on it, you can't just click on it, because it's HANDWRITTEN. on a PAPER. you can't hand me a LINK on a piece of paper. So HOW was I to understand that if I click on a piece of paper, it would open a website on my phone?? On what grounds? I was looking for a freaking computer, trying to steal the one someone left in the cafe trying to reach this freaking website because my phone didn't even offer a browser or any browsing options (which, it would have been so helpful if it had!) because there was no indication my phone could even open a web address, there was certainly no way to open any kind of browser or internet app. There were no signs!!!! I thought the game was bugged!!!

they won't let me CALL PEOPLE WHEN I WANT. All phone calls are timed! Even text messages! Even NED won't pick up unless it's important for the plot in that moment for me to have a conversation with him! Also I assume they couldn't get the voice for Carson in the game even though he was necessary for the plot so they play it like he's too busy to talk to Nancy but not to busy to relay all messages trough Ned which is difficult to believe, just have him TEXT NANCY. And let me call my friends at me leisure!!! Maybe I wanna chat about my day!!! Maybe I wanna ask them what they're up to! If I want to make a call I don't want to hear Nancy say 'it's not the right time' IT'S THE RIGHT TIME WHEN I SAY SO

since I'm complaining about calls and texts, they're triggered by absolutely nonsensical triggers. For example, you can't get Ned to text you back until you pick up the alchemy book in the cafe. The game can't progress until you do get that text, but you won't, unless you know specifically to go to the cafe, browse all of the bookcases which there are many of, and pick up inconspicious brown book.  Is this Stay Tuned For Danger again? I thought we learned this lesson before? Don't make the triggers ridiculous so people don't get stuck forever without understanding what they did wrong? Everyone is referencing STFD too, it's like they went back to that game and decided 'we need more like this'. The game at one point tells you to grab a laptop charger, and then if you haven't talked to the repair-shop owner, you can't pick up the charger from the cafe. On what logic? How would you know thats what you need to do in order to extend your hand a grab a physical object in front of you? It's nonsense.

I am in love with the environment, so much so that I explored every nook and cranny, every detail, and the copy-pasting of elements is killing me. I was so damn excited to enter the puppet repair shop and see all of the old-timey radios, tape recorders, video recorders, telephones, until I realized they copied each one of them about 3-4 times, and it's not even like they're next to each other like they're being sold, they're scattered to make clutter. And okay fne I would forgive them that. But THEN they also copied all of the tools from that shop, directly into the Marionette Theater, which, why would all that be there? Identical tool board but apparently Radek doesn't fix those dolls. Why does he have a saw? And then, as if this wasn't an insult enough, there was an identical SAW in the EXHIBIT. How do you expect me to suspend my disbelief there HER interactive? You couldn't find a way to create different clutter so you put a copy of the SAW in the CASTLE EXHIBIT? It didn't even belong there it was just there to make clutter! I am literally trying to figure out if this is something that has plot reasons or it was just randomly done with no thought to it, just for visual clutter reasons. My love of exploring has come back to hurt me.