What programming/technical projects have you been working on?

I got my Framework laptop yesterday, and I wanted to play around with it, so I started installing Gentoo on it. I got a minimal working system, rebooted into it, tried to continue installing stuff onto it... only to realize that I forgot to install the programs that help manage wifi connections, basically leaving me unable to continue normally. I'm going to boot back into the live USB later today to add those on and try again. My goal is to at least get a Steam game running on it, probably Factorio (Linux native) or Deus Ex (because Deus Ex).

I'm not sure whether I'll keep it installed long-term, or move on to Arch or PopOS afterwards. I'm leaning towards Pop if things don't work out, mostly because I heard they have sane defaults for laptops and require little low level tweaking. Yes, I do realize the irony of saying that and having Gentoo/Arch being the alternatives.

Resuming work on my alternative to ssh, written from scratch in golang with a focus on using post-quantum KEM. Looking at adding more intelligent 'chaff' worker logic to obscure interactive user activity over open channels. https://gogs.blitter.com/RLabs/xs

Recently I coded a series of Python scripts to archive and organise ebooks written in the minimalist conlang Toki Pona. I've always wanted to start archiving them not only because it's a fledgling body of literature in a language that developed entirely in online communities, but because written works in Toki Pona are scattered all over the place and are often in danger of disappearing off the internet altogether.

Informally downloading the books is unsatisfactory for a few reasons.

• Books are often available in different file types AND in multiple writing systems
• You not only need to credit the author and/or translator, but cite your source for the author credit because author names can be unclear and authors will often use multiple pen names or evolve their pen name over time
• All books need to be saved locally as mentioned above, as previous collections relying on hyperlinks have had issues with link rot
• The collection needs to be highly browseable and aid discoverability as much as possible, because potential readers will not generally not be looking for a specific book - the body of written works isn't that well known.

The result is a kind of 'database' that stores various editions of the book titles in a file structure, with metadata stored in csv format, and a simple tkinter UI that allows you to browse a catalogue complete with thumbnails. Currently it has 130 titles, which I add to from time to time as new material comes out, or as I locate old stuff on some abandoned personal blog.

I managed to learn how to use Twine, a software that facilitates the creation of text, browser-based interactive fiction. It took me one day to read the guide for Twine, and two days to read the guide for the Chapbook story format, which is targeted at beginners with no programming knowledge. I loved text adventures when I was a kid and always wanted to make one myself. The Twine editor allows me to visually create my story with very little coding. In any case, this seems like a great way to learn something about programming.

First I tried creating a story based on my own concepts, but that was boring, so I decided to make an episode of Star Trek. Right now it is basically "crazy lawsuit game", but I'll remove the copyrighted stuff and make everything generic at some point. I think it looks cute :P.

EDIT: things I noticed. (1) This tool seems to attract literary folks, and many games feel more like pretty short stories with hyperlinks. (2) The way to make branching dialogue seems cumbersome, basically every derivation has to become a scene in itself. This discourages dialogue, so the stories are very straightforward. (3) Most games are fairly short, less than 5 minutes for sure. I'll try something with more of a text-adventure vibe, hopefully I won't break Twine much.

I've been slowly exploring audio programming using notebooks on Observable. Currently I'm looking into pitch detection.