archwizard's recent activity

  1. Comment on Duolingo on Ukrainian and Russian: How do these languages differ? in ~humanities.languages

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    I'd definitely be interested in learning Ukrainian, so if there's a group or something for check ins, let me know!

    I'd definitely be interested in learning Ukrainian, so if there's a group or something for check ins, let me know!

    2 votes
  2. Comment on How should I make my personal website? in ~tech

    archwizard
    (edited )
    Link
    I've been pretty happy with Hugo on my personal site, but I've never really been fond of web design, so I just wanted something where I could just do minimal tweaks to the theme, and Hugo's been...

    I've been pretty happy with Hugo on my personal site, but I've never really been fond of web design, so I just wanted something where I could just do minimal tweaks to the theme, and Hugo's been good for that.

    I'm not fluent in another language (silly American education), but I do know that Hugo, and many Hugo themes have support for translation and multilingual sites/posts. Here's some cool stuff I found: https://gohugo.io/content-management/multilingual/ https://www.regisphilibert.com/blog/2018/08/hugo-multilingual-part-1-managing-content-translation/

    someone suggested using Hugo, which seems like a good option. On the other hand, for something that simple, I wonder what would be the downside of simply coding it from scratch.

    The main reason I like the markdown static site generators, rather than just trying to code from scratch is because I like to divorce the writing from the making of a website. If I try and write a page in HTML, I just get bogged down with the formatting, plus dealing with the header and footer is just a distraction. Whereas, if I write in markdown, it's easier for me to stay focused on the writing. It's also handy, since a lot of the writing I do starts as markdown notes that I take on CTF challenges or other things like that. So often, I can copy-paste my notes into a Hugo page and have a really great foundation.

    5 votes
  3. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    archwizard
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    Now that I'm done with school for the summer, there are a couple of technical projects I'm excited for. First, I've been working on installing Calyx OS on my Pixel 5, since it seems to strike a...

    Now that I'm done with school for the summer, there are a couple of technical projects I'm excited for.

    First, I've been working on installing Calyx OS on my Pixel 5, since it seems to strike a good balance between usability and privacy. It also seems to have a good backup system, SeedVault, that will let me back up my data to Nextcloud. The only hangup I've encountered so far is that my current carrier doesn't support anything other than stock Android (No Beta, no Lineage, no Calyx), so I'm working on switching over to Mint Mobile.

    Second, I'm gonna start self hosting some services, like nextcloud, splunk, synapse, gitea, and shadowsocks. I have a small, cheap VPS in the cloud, but it doesn't have the specs to do everything I want to do, so I'm planning on putting some old laptops on an isolated network in my house and using Wireguard to bridge them to my VPS. Then, I'll be able to use a nginx proxy to expose the services I need to access publicly.

    And I'm gonna reinstall Arch, when I feel like it.

    It's slightly ambitious, but I have the whole summer, so we'll see.

    ~Archwizard

    3 votes
  4. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    I'm so lucky that I found flameshot before doing my OSCP, the annotation features and copy-pasting were a game changer for reporting.

    I'm so lucky that I found flameshot before doing my OSCP, the annotation features and copy-pasting were a game changer for reporting.

    1 vote
  5. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (June 2021) in ~health.mental

    archwizard
    Link
    Things are awfully difficult. It's finals week, and I'm afraid of failing my classes, and I'm not sure what the consequences of that would be, but I just don't have the energy to care. I feel...

    Things are awfully difficult. It's finals week, and I'm afraid of failing my classes, and I'm not sure what the consequences of that would be, but I just don't have the energy to care. I feel socially isolated. I've never been good at making friends, and I haven't really met a new person, face-to-face, in years. I have a few friends, but it's hard to have new relationship dynamics with a 5 person group I've known since I was 15. I know I should just hold on until I go to university in the fall, but I'm not looking forwards to a lonely summer.

    It's worse because I've been taking a break from one of my best friends because I couldn't bear having unrequited feelings . I'm happier now that I'm not subjecting myself to them, but there's a hole in my heart that's aching.

    In just a few weeks, I'll turn 20, and I can't help but feel like I've wasted, or messed up the social life a teenager should have, and that's weighing on me. Maybe the solution is to join a club or other activity, but that's not really an option because of Covid. I wonder if maybe I should embrace the solitude and take up solo hiking or something.

    Anyways, thanks for listening
    ~Archwizard

    9 votes
  6. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    archwizard
    Link
    Well, a little while ago, a friend recommended that I play the Portal series, and I had a great time with that, since I really enjoyed the story and style, my friend recommended that I continue...

    Well, a little while ago, a friend recommended that I play the Portal series, and I had a great time with that, since I really enjoyed the story and style, my friend recommended that I continue into Black Mesa and Half-Life 2.

    I've only played Black Mesa for a few hours, so this is still subject to change, but I'm having a good time with it. It's definitely darker and scarier than Portal, but I'm still enjoying it. I've also noticed that it's more difficult than most games I've played, where you can't just blast your way through every area. It reminds me of Diablo 2.

    I've also played a fair amount of D2. I've been trying to get my Zealot through Hell, but it's very very challenging. The monsters are just damage dealing tanks, so it's a slog to get through some areas, especially when there are physical immunes. If I can finish with my Zealot, it'll only be the second time I've beaten the game in my, maybe 10 years, of playing it. I think D2 is a masterpiece. It's hard to point out places where the game is bad (although it might just be rose-colored glasses in my case). The classes are interesting, the story is fun, and beating the game feels like a real accomplishment. Especially when the remaster comes out, I'd recommend y'all play it.

    Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
    ~Archwizard

    4 votes
  7. Comment on What did you do this week? in ~talk

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    Just got mine today, and I'm definitely feeling the soreness in my arm lol. Also not very excited for the second shot, but I'm definitely glad to do what I can to reduce transmission. Hope you...

    Just got mine today, and I'm definitely feeling the soreness in my arm lol. Also not very excited for the second shot, but I'm definitely glad to do what I can to reduce transmission.

    Hope you feel better soon!

    3 votes
  8. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

    archwizard
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    I've started reading Creating True Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh after a conversation with my Dad. It outlines a beautiful philosophy of compassion and reducing suffering that I'm definitely going to...

    I've started reading Creating True Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh after a conversation with my Dad. It outlines a beautiful philosophy of compassion and reducing suffering that I'm definitely going to try to bring into my life. What I thought was particularly interesting is how well many of the ideas from the book compliment some of the ideas from Aristotelian virtue ethics, especially the idea that we all have seeds of violence or peace, and when we take actions, we water certain seeds and they grow. It reminds me a lot of the idea that repeating actions, or building habits can reinforce character traits within us, such as generosity.

    I'm looking forward to finishing the book.

    3 votes
  9. Comment on Share your linux desktop/setup in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    Boy, your setup looks great! I really like the simple background and the small bar. Is that surf showing the tildes website? How does it perform as a browser for you?

    Boy, your setup looks great! I really like the simple background and the small bar.

    Is that surf showing the tildes website? How does it perform as a browser for you?

    3 votes
  10. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    That hasn't been my experience actually. Probably because I don't keep the server online 100% of the time, and because I don't normally play with many people at once. Normally, There's about 10GB...

    That hasn't been my experience actually. Probably because I don't keep the server online 100% of the time, and because I don't normally play with many people at once. Normally, There's about 10GB out per month, and that's with roughly weekly playing sessions, so at 9 cents per GB, it's typically under a dollar a month. Now the real budget killer is accidentally leaving the server up lol

    1 vote
  11. Comment on Share your linux desktop/setup in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    Dang, those menus look amazing and useful. I think I'm gonna try doing something similar with rofi. I used to use i3, but I never heard about its scratchpad. It's making me think about switching...

    Dang, those menus look amazing and useful. I think I'm gonna try doing something similar with rofi. I used to use i3, but I never heard about its scratchpad. It's making me think about switching back over.

    Great setup!

    4 votes
  12. Comment on Share your linux desktop/setup in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link
    This seems fun! Here's my current setup bspwm(Xorg). I'm fairly happy with it, but I'm planning on starting over once I'm free of school, since everything has become a mess. Like DMBuce, I'm using...

    This seems fun! Here's my current setup bspwm(Xorg). I'm fairly happy with it, but I'm planning on starting over once I'm free of school, since everything has become a mess.

    Like DMBuce, I'm using Flameshot, since being able to easily take screenshots and annotate on them is really handy, especially when I was working on my OSCP.

    The most fun parts, I think, are the music display and the background. I normally listen to Spotify (I used to just have mp3 files, but Spotify is just so convenient) , and the Linux player supports playerctl, so I have a little script that reads the currently playing song and displays it using skroll on Polybar. I don't change background images, since I like having the background fit the colors, and I haven't played with pywal yet to update colors automatically, but I do have a script that uses Image Magick to replace the quote on my desktop every ten minutes with something from the fortune command.

    I'd share a link to a dotfiles repo, and I used to track my dotfiles using Stow, but over time, and as I've switched software, my git repository has become really out of date, but if y'all are interested in anything, I can share any of my configs.

    Looking forward to seeing y'all's setups!
    ~Archwizard

    5 votes
  13. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link
    There are a few projects I've been working on. First, since the beginning of Covid, I've been using AWS to spin up Minecraft servers for my friends and I to play on. I've found that Minecraft...

    There are a few projects I've been working on.

    First, since the beginning of Covid, I've been using AWS to spin up Minecraft servers for my friends and I to play on. I've found that Minecraft while voice-chatting has been the closest thing to physically hanging out with them. Recently though, I've decided to migrate to Dreamhost, since I'd rather not support AWS more than necessary. So I need to rewrite my scripts in Python to work with the OpenStack API, which will be a little bit of a challenge, but I think I'll learn a bit.

    Second, I saw someone mention a pubnix that they set up recently using the Shizaru server, so I looked into it and saw that it blocks <script> tags. So I'm trying to use HTML entities to get a react page running, despite the blocking. I think it'll be a fun project that'll help teach me more about XSS and its limits.

    Anyways, glad to hear from y'all.
    ~Archwizard

    3 votes
  14. Comment on Why I’m switching to raised beds for my survival garden in ~enviro

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    Thank you! That's really great advice! The pausing thing is something I've noticed about some of my cold hardy plants like kale, but I never really connected it to winter harvests. I'm looking...

    Thank you! That's really great advice! The pausing thing is something I've noticed about some of my cold hardy plants like kale, but I never really connected it to winter harvests. I'm looking forwards to implementing that. Thanks again!

    2 votes
  15. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    archwizard
    Link
    Well, recently I switched the theme on my Hugo site. I learned a lot about custom templates and layouts while I added the analytics script and completely redid the footer. I even used gitlab ci/cd...

    Well, recently I switched the theme on my Hugo site. I learned a lot about custom templates and layouts while I added the analytics script and completely redid the footer. I even used gitlab ci/cd to automatically deploy the site after I make changes. I guess the next step is actually writing posts :)

    I also have been working on a series of scripts to back up and sort pictures. I've heard that there are two types of people in the world: those who have backups and those who wish they did. Unfortunately, I'm definitely in the latter camp. In February, the phone I'd had for years completely died, and I lost everything in the internal storage, including a lot of pictures, so I'm making sure that from now on all of the pictures I take are archived correctly. So far, I'm using Syncthing to get the files off my phone, then a series of bash scripts to add files to a git annex, add metadata, and help me tag them easily. Next step is probably gonna be setting up a few remotes so that if something happens to my computer, I still have access to the files.

    4 votes
  16. Comment on Why I’m switching to raised beds for my survival garden in ~enviro

    archwizard
    Link
    Yeah, I put in a set of raised beds last spring and they've been really nice. And since I live in a mild climate, I'm wondering if I'll be able to put rings over them to have salad greens...

    Yeah, I put in a set of raised beds last spring and they've been really nice. And since I live in a mild climate, I'm wondering if I'll be able to put rings over them to have salad greens year-round. Are there any PacNW gardeners that have had success with keeping salad greens, like spinich and lettuce alive through winter?

    3 votes
  17. Comment on Hi, how are you? Mental health support and discussion thread (April 2021) in ~health.mental

    archwizard
    Link
    Honestly, things are real rough. I've been a student of Zoom university for a year now, and it's been a struggle every day. Zoom just sucks the energy out of me. It takes so much willpower just to...

    Honestly, things are real rough.
    I've been a student of Zoom university for a year now, and it's been a struggle every day. Zoom just sucks the energy out of me. It takes so much willpower just to get out of bed and turn on the computer. I haven't seen the faces of any of my friends since last summer, so I've never felt more lonely.

    I've also been trying to set myself up to go to a four-year school in the fall, and the whole process has been anxiety inducing and draining. Furthermore, a few painful rejections have really crushed my self-esteem.

    I guess its not all bad, even though it feels like it sometimes. The weather's been nice enough that I've been able to work in the garden, and that always lifts my spirits a bit, and I'm definitely a better guitar player than I was at the beginning of quarantine, so that's good, I suppose.

    How's everyone else?
    ~Archwizard

    9 votes
  18. Comment on Encrypted messaging app Signal blocked in China in ~tech

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    I would hope that in addition to a first amendment argument, they would also try a second amendment argument, saying that U.S citizens have a right to bear encryption technology, which is...

    I would hope that in addition to a first amendment argument, they would also try a second amendment argument, saying that U.S citizens have a right to bear encryption technology, which is classified as a munition by the government.

    3 votes
  19. Comment on Democraciv: Fake government plays Civilization in ~games

    archwizard
    Link Parent
    Yes we have! Last time we played as four civilizations, but unfortunately our community was a little too small to have full governments with active voters in every civ, so it wasn't as exciting as...

    Yes we have! Last time we played as four civilizations, but unfortunately our community was a little too small to have full governments with active voters in every civ, so it wasn't as exciting as we all hoped.

    There was also some weirdness in keeping things kinda secret from other civs, while still being transparent enough that new players could get involved and understand.

    Regardless, I know there are several people who are super excited to try multiciv again, and I'm hoping we'll be able to learn from our mistakes and make a super fun game.

    4 votes
  20. Comment on Democraciv: Fake government plays Civilization in ~games

    archwizard
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    This is a little bit of self-promotion since I moderate this community, but I figured at least one person here might be interested, and now is the best time to check it out if you have a little...

    This is a little bit of self-promotion since I moderate this community, but I figured at least one person here might be interested, and now is the best time to check it out if you have a little time to kill. I'd say we have about 30 very active people on the discord, and 70ish who only check in for elections. We've been featured a few times in Kokatu, PCGamer, and PCGamesN.

    We, Democraciv, are a gaming community on Reddit and Discord who plays Sid Meier's Civilization games using model governments. We've been around for a long time (since 2016), but we're still chugging along. We're just about to start our eighth game, where we'll play a single player civilization game as a parliamentary republic. The vote for what civilization we will lead through the ages starts this coming week.

    Our legislature will pass bills to guide the Prime Minister as they play the game. There will also be state level governments, led by governors can control specific issues in their states. And
    the Supreme Court will settle disputes between the government and its citizens.

    Anyways, feel free to check us out, and feel free to remove if this doesn't fit on Tildes, but if you're interested, find us at https://reddit.com/r/democraciv

    9 votes