gauntlet's microblog

[05:18] I already knew the story of the first webcam, but I recently learned only recently about the second one. (via)

[21:59] PORTAL is a project that plans to build Stargate inspired screens that visually link cities. A pair of portals already exists in Vilnius (Lithuania) and Lublin (Poland). (see also)

[23:24] An Atari ST in use since 1985, helping to run a camping ground in the Netherlands. (via, see also)

[13:17] Talking about computers and music: in the 2010s, Argentina supplied kids with low cost netbooks which "sparked a musical renaissance".
[13:05] Here's a guy who made his C64 sound like a church organ. This is beautiful.
His website is worth a look, too.

[22:31] Here is a set proposed at Lego ideas that I will definitely buy should it be released: Women of computing (similar to Women of Nasa, which I already have).

[11:59] CAPTCHAs exist to "tell computers and humans apart". In order to prove one is human, one could either identify pictures based on their description, solve mathematical equations or ... shoot demons. Apparently shooting at living things is considered a definitive human trait. (see also)

[23:26] The "Johanniter Unfallhilfe" is part of the emergency medical services in Germany. They currently experiment with patterns on their vehicles and backpacks that include QR codes which, when someone points their smart phone camera at it, will display a notification (literal translation "rubbernecking kills"). This is what it looks like (german voiceover about emergency personnel's experience with onlookers, also pointing out that taking photos of accidents and rescue operations is illegal in Germany as of 2021). (primary source also in german, a translation service of your choice might help).
[22:09] I bought a graphics tablet from a friend. I've never really been good at drawing or sketching, but I love toying around with stuff like that, and it gives me the opportunity to get more experience and maybe get better at this. We'll see.
And, as I expected, it was usable out of the box, no tinkering with additional software needed. I love Ubuntu.

[00:58] If a device has a function that will even remotely resemble pixels, people will run games on it. Snake on a split-flap display this time. (see also)

[22:10] I know that xkcd reenactment is not unheard of, but it seems it is also a thing for street view.

[14:30] Talking about solar power, it turns out installing semitransparent solar panels on greenhouses has no significant impact on the plants.
(I came across Solarpunk a while ago, which might be the reason I have increased interest in this topic at the moment.)
[14:15] Solar Protocol is "a web platform hosted across a network of solar-powered servers set up in different locations around the world". The web sites are served depending on where the highest amount of solar power can be generated. Very cool idea.

[17:26] I consider any third party scripts on websites tracking, which is one of the reasons I'll not use anything like Disqus or any similar tool here on gmb. But I never checked just how bad it really is. Well, someone else did. And it is actually worse than I thought.

[20:32] I like it when people build things just for the fun of it. Here is a Mac in a shed, telling visitors how cold it is around. (Yes, the domain is of a commercial service so this is kind of in the PR realm, but I'd like to ignore this for a moment.)
I also like that old hardware is kept alive here instead of being trashed, even if "only" for a little side project. While ten years are a very long time when it comes to hardware, this Mac is about the same age as my old Thinkpad that died on me not too long ago. Some of these computers last quite some time, and if the demand is low, there is no need to dump them.