This is my blog, where I'll post website-related and personal updates. Want to be notified of new posts? Subscribe to my RSS feed.
I support Richard Stallman's return to the FSF board of directors. His contributions are innumerable, as are the dangers of cancel 'culture'. We owe so much, from the software we use to the license it's published under, to Dr. Stallman. If one doesn't agree with something he says, then that individual is free to ignore him and/or fork any software associated with him. I urge everyone to sign this letter in his support.
I redid the site to make it look simpler and lighter, and I plan to add more content related to 3D printing, robotics, and other topics. My printer (MP Select Mini) has been out of order for over a month because one of the bowden tube connectors shattered, but I ordered a new one from GigDigit in the U.S. and it just got here today.
I've been trying to get into chiptunes lately. I've purchased (via Bandcamp, which I consider to be ethical since it allows you to download the songs you buy) Power Supply by Anamanaguchi and Information Chase by Bit Shifter, and have quite enjoyed both! Power Supply was definitely my favourite, though. If you have any recommendations please e-mail them to me at <planethaywalk@aol.com>!
I've made some changes to the site's style, to make it simpler. The navigation menu is gone now and has been replaced with lists on the homepage. Who needs a navbar, except to mindlessly click through pages?
As Advent begins today, I've decorated the site for Christmas, with a lovely GIF of Christmas lights at the top of the page. That GIF has become a tradition, and I've used it to decorate my various sites for Christmas since 2016.
In other news, I made a new page dedicated to the importance of free software. Check it out!
Yesterday at noon, Apache stopped working and did nothing but give me cryptic error messages. I purged it and every related package and managed to get it to work again. All the sites are still fine but not all are re-enabled yet. I'm going to spend today making sure everything works as it did before the outage.
I've been working on a sun-tracking solar panel for school, and I put the code on my Git server, which you can view here.
I've also started building a Robodyssey ESRA III, using a 3D-printable design by Patton Robotics, which is available on Thingiverse under a CC BY 4.0 license.
I've been running my 3D printer (a MonoPrice Select Mini V1) all day and overnight since yesterday, and I'm almost done making the parts. I ordered the (oddly hard to find) screws, springs, and eyes from Patton Robotics' website, and I ordered the servo motors from Tayda Electronics.
Now it's a matter of waiting for packages to arrive; I hope the parts I ordered from the US don't get held up at Canadian customs, either due to COVID-19, or a civil war breaking out after tomorrow's election.
I just finished setting up my new Git server, which you can view here. I'm using GitList as a frontend, and I'm happy with how it's working.
Nowadays, it's more important than ever to be independent of companies. Now all my code is hosted locally, so I don't need to worry about GitHub. I plan on setting it up so that I can push to both my local Git server and GitHub simultaneously, too.
From releasing it in late April to yesterday, my blog script hadn't changed at all. But last night I made some big changes to make the blog system infinitely better.
The new update allows users to view individual posts, and it makes posting easier. Before, one needed to add all kinds of tags inside the post to make it work, but that's automated now. Now the only work the user has to do is to name their post file correctly.
I've launched a demo blog that shows what the default install looks like; it can be found here.
When you install it, instructions can be found on the homepage. If you want to make your blog the root of your site (i.e., www.example.com is a blog), put the folder's contents in your site's root directory. If you want it at www.example.com/blog, put the folder titled 'blog' in your site's root directory. Incredibly easy!
If you want a blog like this one, check out my blog script here!
Anyone with half a brain shouldn't like the way the Internet is at the moment. Dry, corporate, bloated, ugly, and politically sterile. Complaining about this usually yields a response along the lines of "well, that's just the way she goes". But that's false - you can escape the clutches of big tech incredibly easily - by starting your own website. Not a pre-made site from some company, but your own. Here are some resources to help you go that.
Tips for running a website are available on this server's wiki and its main website. As for how I did it, I found Luke Smith's tutorials to be helpful, as well as just reading manuals. It's really not too hard.
As far as web servers go, the giants are Apache and Nginx. I use Apache. Nginx is getting more popular by the day, but I've never used it and don't have a reason to switch.
More details about software are available in the above resources. Just jump right in - you can get a webserver up in under an hour.
I added a page about cool lights! I also changed the file structure of the site, so you'll notice things like /essays/ and /misc/ in the URLs. I added redirects for old links/bookmarks, so no worries about anything breaking!
Just set up an RSS feed for my blog, as well as one for updates about the server over at www.spacehippie.ca. Subscribe to both!
Very happy to now have HTTPS, both on this site, and on www.spacehippie.ca!
I got my certificate using Certbot. Having HTTPS makes me feel more comfortable about hosting other people's files and homepages. Also, my DuckDuckGo privacy rating went up because of it!
I just moved all services (IRC, ZNC, Minecraft, etc.) over to www.spacehippie.ca because I thought having them named after me was weird. That site is hosted on this server, too.
I'm also looking at giving people user pages. If you're interested, send me an E-mail!
Replaced ircd-irc2 with hybrid-ircd. Also got operators working, and set up a full-time operator, running on the server.
I also want to set up livestreaming on this site, but haven't been able to find good software for doing that. If you have any suggestions, email me at <planethaywalk@aol.com>!
Today I found out that my name was on the membership registry for the International Society of Mad Scientists! I'd forgotten that I'd applied! Apparently the last site update was 5 April, so I assume I was added then.
Otherwise, I've been working on a replica of the Berlin-Uhr, but haven't made much progress recently. Still working on my German, though! Using a combination of Duolingo, Anki, and the Dino Lernt Deutsch series.
I have the urge to get one of my old robot projects working. I never finish those things.
Just finished setting up this blog - using a (very) simple PHP script that I just finished. Once I'm happy with it, I may put it on github.
It basically works by iterating through a directory of text files (which contain posts) and displaying their contents, separating each with a line. May make it more advanced in the future.