Listening To: Collate - Medicine b/w Genesis Fatigue

Photo: Gaming with Willy (really, anything with Willy, except dishes. Too much splashing.)

More a crib note than a guide:

Ensure “wine” and “winetricks” are installed via GUI or command line. During all the below winetricks kept notifying about 64 bit. Ignore. Annoying.

Follow the DXVK WINE install section on the archwiki (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wine#DXVK). I used this following string to set up the default prefix:

WINEPREFIX="/home/christopher/.wine" setup_dxvk install

I’ve always installed corefonts and Visual C DLL’s via winetricks. GUI or:

winetricks corefonts vcrun2005 vcrun2008 vcrun2010

Download the latest EVE installer and install via shell or winetricks. The latter created desktop launch icons for me.

wine EveLauncher-blahblahblah.exe

Follow along with eve’s wizard and you SHOULD be good to go.

A final tip: configure Timeshift to run often and add an entry to back up the Eve Launcher directory (Timeshift will exclude home directory content by default). That way if there are issues with an Eve Launcher or Manjaro update you can easily roll back and get playing while you check the forums and figure out the problem. I run once an hour/day/week/month to a second data drive in the system. Boot, hit ctrl-alt-F2 (kick GUI and back to shell) and run…

sudo timeshift --restore

…to start the process.

further reading:

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/User:Mcnster/EVE_Online

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Wine

https://kevandrews.uk/eve-online-arch-linux

Footprint as of this writing:

Operating System: Manjaro Linux KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.5 KDE Frameworks Version: 5.69.0 Qt Version: 5.14.2 Kernel Version: 5.6.11-1-MANJARO OS Type: 64-bit Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-2600K CPU @ 3.40GHz Memory: 15.6 GiB of RAM Video: Nvidia Geforce GTX 970, driver 440.82

Listening To: Little Sprout - Fake Cake

Photo: Stanley supervises Mr Merlot’s performance

Video: Mixed Gems TV Episode 2

Last show of the pandemic. Done. I was hesitant about this one as we are ramping into a third wave due to the slack pandemic response by both citizens and government locally (see: Slow Canada: Here’s How Badly We Muffed the Pandemic).

But we forged ahead with only three performers unmasked and a otherwise (distanced/masked) skeleton crew. This unit is going to stay isolated for a time to make sure it doesn’t spread anything, I hope the others do the same. Chances are low, but it’s better to be safe.

The show, while mostly comprised of pre-recorded submissions went well. A very savvy director and crew made it so that after initial show prep, it was smooth sailing. While the rough and tumble of less experienced staff learning the ropes is the intended goal of the production equipment, considering the timing, it was most welcome.

“STANLEY STOLE THE SHOW” was the overwhelming response. The bugger loves attention SO much that he stayed on stage for the entire thing. And even awake. I assumed he’d wander off for a nap at one point but never did. Even watching the closing act perform and loving the crew afterwards.

Everybody was masked for our bus ride home (I’d had a few :-), which was surprising, as the few other times we’d braved transit it was a nightmare, so bad that we’ve jumped off and walked home.

It’s starting to be nice out and with the wave upon us, expect a slow spring of solo expeditions. Unless we get to the “stay at home order stage” stage.

Well, then I win a bet…

Listening To: Muncie Girls - From Caplan to Belsize

Photo: A Civia Halsted fitted with a open topped dog crate

It’s a warm summer afternoon today. A seasonal tipping point. And time to do something about it.

This year has been a bit different as many of us have become accustomed to driving. Normally it would be biking on good days and the bus during the cold and wet winter weather we have locally. But, despite the “masks mandatory” signs on the local transit, every one I’ve tried has a few to half a dozen no-maskers aboard. Fuck that. It’s not that I’m a weather wuss (and indeed used to bike year round) but hauling Stanley’s ass about has changed that up. I had two spectacular wipe-outs on black ice with him aboard and while we were both (eventually) OK, it’s taught me to be more cautious.

The cargo bike pictured was built to transport Stanley and I between cities (Vancouver to New Westminster) when I commuted to a film lot there. A couple of big hills were too much to ride a heavy bike up manually so the electrics were installed. It wasn’t a low-end job, at thirty three percent assist I could apparently make it a hundred kilometres. It’s my summer transport of choice, and that starts about now. Just needs a bit of regular maintenance and a wipe-down. If doofus isn’t coming along, there is a road bike presently hung on the wall. I don’t love it, truth be told. The Brodie Romulus had a cool name and does work well but my body has never loved the “swoopy” handlebar setup. Crap, they’re expensive now (I paid less than half MSRP), Perhaps trading across for a something with a more upright posture may be in order.

There are some restrictions to biking in general, Vancouver is a high-crime city which features a significant amount of bike theft, no matter how you secure them. Luckily our studio communal space is empty now so I can store it and go about my business. Otherwise it’s a lovely ride down to the waterfront and along it even all the way out to “Spanish Banks”, which is on a peninsula by the local university. There’s a dog beach that has shade and lets Stanley dig holes to his little heart’s content.

Just walked to the grocery store in shorts and a T-shirt. Awesome.

Listening To: Hacked Podcast - The Year Double Zero

Photo: “BOO”. Another one of my old medical fosters. I’ll write about her on day. And cry doing it.

Just listened to the Hacked podcast linked above. It’s about the Y2K bug. The issues with computers had when hitting the year “Double Zero” and the chaos it caused society.

Somewhere in the late 90’s I had cause to rent some office space, and found it in a place chock full of what could only be described as “grey beards”. Lovely bunch. They were a group of COBOL programmers who came out of retirement to fix some of the problems computer code had with… time. And make stupid amounts of money doing so. Sometime about 1997 governments and corporations around the world woke up and started throwing serious cash at the problem. The rent was cheap and the company good. Learned a lot from those folks.

Millennium New Year’s Eve itself was spent in Germany. The media had not been so “doom and gloom” about the issue and, frankly, I’m not sure your average German would care. I remember standing on a elevated railway crossing, beer in hand (no such prudish rules there) and watching a 360 degree panorama of fireworks being set off across the city. It was awesome.

Early the next day we headed out for a walk and found a dance band still playing in a city square at 8:00am. A few slow dancing couples still at it. I sat there nursing a hangover and watched bulldozers get to work as the number of bottles strewn about had made the roads impassible.

A very good start to the millennium.

Listening To: No Means No - Wrong

Photo: Having a coffee while the Main St. Fire is doused.

I got a comment the other day that using our Linux-based video streaming system was “non-standard”. All they had to do was enter their username and password then click on a icon to run an application. The exact same application that runs on all the major desktop platforms. Yes, I rolled my eyes.

The ironic thing is that most people use Unix or Linux on a daily basis. It’s behind many of the devices we interact with. Apple uses it for all their products and even Windows now includes the ability to run not only command-line Linux but full desktops. Desktops that resemble other operating systems and some that are quite unique. There is a lot of choice (Plasma is my go to).

I’m going to use “Unix” and “Linux” interchangeably here and while a purist may want me to note the various distinctions between the two it really doesn’t matter to those using them with any sort of graphical interface.

Here’s a short random list of things that use one of the two underneath:

• Android/ChromeOS (1)
• IOS (1)
• macOS (1)
• Amazon Kindle (1)
• Sony Playstation (1)
• The Internet (1)
• The Top 500 supercomputers (1)
• Roku (1) and Tivo (1)
• NASA (1)
• “Smart Things”: Your Fridge, TV and Light Bulbs (1)
• Teslas (1) and many other cars (2)
• Intel Processors (1)

Look at that last one. Arguably the most popular operating in the world is something called MINIX. And it’s used by much of Intel’s processor line as a management engine.

So, “Normal”.

Listening To: Klaus Nomi - Total Eclipse (Video) - Another from Urgh! He once backed up Bowie on SNL performing “The Man Who Sold The World”

Photo: Every night I go to bed with this inches from my face. Drooling.

The main boxes around here almost all run a Linux distribution called Manjaro. It’s based on Arch linux, one of a few base types about (Debian and Red Hat being the other two major options).

Manjaro is very much bleeding cutting edge, updating often with the latest (and presumably, greatest) packages. Which, while not leaving it unstable, leaves it sometimes prone to some niggles after any major release. Bugs happen and occasionally slip through when your OS is changing so quickly. Here’s how I update for safety’s sake:

• Get notification of update. Do not initiate. Check the release notes (here for Manjaro).
• Wait a day or two. Check the release notes again for any major stumbling blocks and solutions in the “New issues:” section (I had a run of them with an outdated Nvidia card at one point).
• Make sure the system is backed up. We mainly rely on a snapshot tool called Timeshift but any way of restoring the system will work. I’ll often take this as a sign it’s time to image the drive off-site too.
• perform the update. I prefer to watch things scroll across the screen, so use the command line (“sudo pacman -Syyu”). Parse the log for any major errors.
• since the kernel is usually updated, it’s usually time for a reboot.
• When the system comes back up, you’re usually back in business. If you do run into a major issue, you can either restore the entire system or fix the issue (often listed in the forum linked above). If it’s a single package you find misbehaving, simple downgrading that to a previous version often works for me (though this is rare)

This may all seem like a bit of a hassle, but in practice it’s usually a smooth ride. Just double checking your snapshot is current (which is usually automatic) is the only real step in the process. If that’s fine, you’re golden.

At least for this dork, it’s worth it to be able to access all the latest tools and resources. If that’s not for you, a LTS (long term support) version of a Linux distribution may indeed be a better option. And that’s what many will normally install for a non-technical user. There are so many, it’s not worth getting into here but I’d recommend something based on Ubuntu for most use cases. From Kubuntu to Elementary and Mint, there is something for anybody. All great.

If you do run into a problem you can’t solve, don’t panic. Most of “us” are super friendly and actually like helping. Reach out.

Photo: Otto Von Bismark and Audrey Hepburn (aka “the buns of destruction”) - rescue rabbits from VRRA

Listening to: Joe Jackson - Awkward Age (it should come as no surprise that this one resonates with me):

“You look at me like I know what’s going on
I’m looking back and I wonder what went wrong
I really thought by now a few things might just clarify
I got a mind that goes out to lunch for days
And a body that sometimes disobeys
I get into the parties but I hate them ‘cause I’m shy
Oh my
I’m still at an awkward age”

One of the few disadvantages of using external services for communication is that on occasion, they don’t last, whether they be commercial or community supported. Alas, I just received a message telling me my Matrix server of choice is being taken off-line before the end of the month.

In an effort to turn adversity into advantage, an effort is underway to set up my own server (the software is called Synapse). That way this never has to happen again as the entire system is under my own control. I may even host it from home as texting takes next to no bandwidth.

Presently I’m experimenting in a non-destructive environment with a server on Linode. The advantage is that you can create snapshots, screw up, create and destroy servers at a whim. And it only costs about $0.007/hour. Seven cents. Ha.

Failure is part of the learning process (or so I keep telling myself).

Photo: “Hush Box Project” by Chaz

Listening to: Nina Hagen - Live at Rockplast 1978 and Herman Brood - Live at Rockplast 1978 . The movie they co-starred in, Cha Cha, was released the next year (it was a hot mess with an really awesome soundtrack album).

A hush box would neat to build. Especially since my studio space is full of sawdust and scrap wood anyway with some ongoing renos.

A hush box channels air around baffles in order to quiet a projector’s cooling fans (which can be annoying after awhile, especially in a small space). Having recently acquired a Bomaker Parrot to watch movies on, I need one.

Figure wood will be free, it will just need some hardware (hinges, corner braces), optic glass, fans and power supply. Then a thin coating of acoustic foam. We’ve previously used thin layers of acoustic bat insulation for such things but the proper foam will be easier to handle. If I use industrial velcro to attach the baffles, it can be reconfigured for a different unit down the road.

Ya, will be fun.

Probably take me a month to decide what colour to paint it thou…

Hush Box project at hackaday.io

Photo: “Instant Messaging Chart” by Niboe (CC BY-SA 2.0) Scaled to fit page.

Listening to: Dalbello - Live at Rockplast

Niboe published and translated an interesting chart about various messaging platforms. It’s normally Matrix around here, but perhaps time to look at the “serverless” options for communicating with local friends.

Chart Pooped Popped up here so I can refer some folks to it.

See original image.

Listening to: Yuka Zolo - Bleed

Photo: the “cookie tree” in Pacific Spirit Park. Any dog who made it up got a treat. Stanley would run off and just sit in it until forced off. Greedy bastard.

Mobian is running well on my Braveheart Pinephone. I’m still going to order the updated motherboard when it comes available again, but stick with this for now. Besides the camera not yet working, the only other gotcha is that it’s easier to install new software and update via the command line. Not a problem for me, but I could see it turning off your non tech-savvy user. There is a GUI-based software hub but it doesn’t appear functional yet (or perhaps it’s my older hardware). Time to move over all my RSS feeds, podcast feeds, songs and contacts. Snagged a 128 gig SD card so I can fit all my music. The trials of a Bandcamp junkie with boxes full of albums and CD’s.

ps. If you’re upbeat and hopeful today, don’t read Pharmaceutical giants not ready for next pandemic, report warns