I have a number of hobbies. Thank goodness I'm retired and have a lot of time on my hands to procrastinate with each one.

Gemini is a new web protocol similar to gopher. It doesn't have much penetration yet and is still cumbersome. The command line gemini clients I have tried are: bombadillo and amfora.
  • March 11, 2025 - After experimenting with both the Mac Mini M4 and the RPi 5, I definitely prefer the RPi. The Mac is just a little too polished and restricts things that you can do. For one, you cannot boot the Mac M4 into a terminal, only a windowing environment. The terminal that you can log into is cumbersome to configure just the way I like. It has lots of options, just none that suit my tastes exactly. The Mac Mini M4 is VERY nice and extremely fast. I just prefer the RPi 5. Go figure... ;)
  • March 11, 2025 - I have been a fan of Fox News since their inception. Recently though, the garrish screen filling ads on the news page have become unbearable. I tried blocking the ads but then they blocked my access. They are also blocking some of their content requiring a membership subscription. Things have changed now that Rupert Murdoch has allowed his liberal heirs to take over. Oh well, if it smells fishy, choose another dish. :( Newsmax is a great alternative!
  • March 9, 2025 - Gemini Web Protocol
The Gemini web protocol offers a simplified web interface that is limited to text based browsing and linking that offers a distraction free user experience with security and the elimination of pop ups and advertising. To me, it looks very promising.
Bombadillo full featured terminal based browser - Info
Bombadillo has vi like text navigation.
Amfora - minimal terminal base browser - Info
Amfora has a 'tab' navigation.
Note: bombadillo and amfora browsers will typically run on any unix like operating systems, ie. linux and Raspberry Pi.
  • March 8, 2025 - While experimenting with my RPi CM5 setup, I found that the wifi system can get overwhelmed and freeze up. Going back to an ethernet connection solves the problem. Curious. Troubleshooting necessary.
    March 11, 2025 - Follow up: The problem wasn't due to wifi. Even though the CM5 developer's kit that included a case and fan, overheating turned out to be the problem. I added a heatsink to the CPU and it settled down. RPi now makes a heatsink with a built in fan. It is not yet available but should solve the overheating and slow down/freezing problem.
  • March 7, 2025 - I have been 'playing' harmonicas for a number of years, actually decades. Even so, I consider myself a rank amateur. I can play single notes and even play a few scales and simple songs. I am now seriously trying to get better. I have always enjoyed playing a Hohner Marine Band. Now that I have begun to study harmonicas, I have found that the venerable Marine Band my no be the best choice. It's price is significantly above $50. It's wooden comb (the central part of the harmonica) is a disadvantage even compared to inexpensive harmonica's. When exposed to water (saliva), it can swell throwing the instrument out of tune. The Marine Band is also fastened together by the use of nails rather than screws and nuts making it difficult to disassemble and reassemble when deep cleaning, repairs or tuning become necessary. This must be the Marine Band harmonicas legacy construction that Hohner retains for the sake of authenticity.
At this point in my studies I have several harmonicas including the Marine Band, a Fender Blues Deluxe, a Hohner Old Standby, a Lee Oskar, a Hohner Marine Band Crossover, which I consider my finest and a Hohner Special 20 all in the key of C and pretty similar.
The Marine Band Crossover is significantly more expensive that all of the others. Instead of mundane wood like the standard Marine Band, it is triple lacquered bamboo which is supposedly impervious to swelling. I must say, it is very comfortable and plays well. However, all of the other harmonicas also play well and are comfortable. The Crossover is just somewhat better but I really like it.
They all play about the same. I purchased the Special 20 and the Lee Oskar based on recommendations from online harmonica tutorial sites. Both are very good quality and play and sound well. I purchased the Old Standby based on its modest price. I bought the Fender due to, well, its name. The Fend also claims the lowest price at $11 at the big box store in the cloud. The Fender is great for beginners. It has good quality and plays and sounds pretty much like the others. The Fender is my knock around harmonica because I can replace it for one third or less than the price of each of the others. What a deal.
  • February 23, 2025 - I enjoy having a Mac computer again. It has been awhile since most Mac computers are beyond my retired budget. The Mac Mini is very nice even on a budget, and FAST.
However, I was looking for a less complicated OS system to use with a braille display. While Mac OS is better than Windows it is still too “busy”.
I’m now setting up an RPi 5 Compute Module dev system. I am able to setup just the software that I actually use minimizing the “busy ness”.
So far I have TTS and magnification working with the Orca app and eSpeak. I haven’t setup the braille display. That is next. I have an old Freedom Scientific display from a PacMate 40 setup and working. It follows text entered into LibreOffice Write word processing and terminal programs including VIM and Emacs. What fun. I'll post more as I continue development.
If suitable, the RPi is very economical. If I get all of the kinks out, sounds like a good presentation / paper for accessibility organizations.
  • February 19, 2025 - As I cogitate on my retired life, "I am amazed"! I frequently take for granted that we have so many conveniences and comforts. In historic times, even wealthy and powerful individuals would not likely had what we consider ordinary. ie. running water, air conditioning and ready access to medical assistance, for example. I am fortunate to have a good life!
  • February 18, 2025 - I have my HumanWare Brilliant BI-20X braille display working on my new Apple Mac mini M4. Wahoo!
  • February 8, 2025 - I have pretty low vision. I just received a pair of Meta Rayban sunglasses. The meta's have an app called Be My Eyes available. I have used the Be My Eyes with an iPhone app. Now I can use it with a wearing a pair of sunglasses. Very nice. Now I can get immediate assistance with navigation while traveling in new locations such as airports at the touch of a button. Very nice!
  • February 5, 2025 - I have been experimenting with the Star5 - Vision5 RISC-V SBC (single board computer for the last six months or so. I have found it to be very capable and an excellent platform to try the new RISC-V processor and assembly programming. The available Debian distro provides a development environment very similar to a Raspberry Pi 5. Without overclocking, it is a little slower than the RPi 5 but very acceptable. It is available on Amazon as a complete package: Vision 5 Package.
  • February 5, 2025 - For Memory Development => Active Recall @ Spaced Intervals
  • February 4, 2025 - I'm actively working on FosMUD. I am developing a user permission level to facilitate user's capability to build rooms and objects.
  • February 3, 2025 - Back into the 80s during the day and 60s at night, in early February. Crazy weather!
  • January 21, 2025 - We have two inches of snow in southeast Texas. I'm not stepping off my dry front porch!
  • January 12, 2025 - Still working on RISC-V development using a StarFive - VisionFive SoC computer. RISC-V assembly programing is well documented in the text RISC-V Assembly by Steven Smith. Hopefully, RISC-V, an open source architecture, will become mainstream in a short time.
  • January 1, 2025 - Happy New Year everyone. We live in challenging times. We need to hit the ground running!
  • December 22, 2024 - Listen to HAM Radio Online - Firefox Browser Only
  • December 21, 2024 - Today is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year and traditionally the first day of winter. Cool... ;)


Page last modified on March 12, 2025, at 12:41 pm