Estimated termination date for this document server:
2026 Autumn
A list of the most recent changes to this document. Also, a list of proposed changes and their progress.
ed with emacs ;
The end of "Content list".
A listing of the most recent changes to this document. Previous calendar years are hidden in the alternate HTM view by means of an iframe with zero dimension and with the attribute hidden. View the document in its original format to read changes for previous years, f.e. with Notepad or TextEdit, or with Ed (GNU.org: Ed) or Emacs (GNU.org: GNU Emacs).
Most of current calendar year is hidden in the alternate HTM view with CSS ("Reveal/hide the change log"). Reveal the complete listing by selecting the checkbox labeled "View prior changes, too". Otherwise, only the final item, t.i. the most recent change, is shown.
Consider saving this document each time, and then using a computer program to compare the differences for a complete listing of differences. For example, the common UNIX program known as diff (GNU.org: GNU Diffutils).
Or, perhaps the features for viewing differences within Emacs, which is a LISP interpreter with a built-in automatable text editor and view management of documents (GNU.org: GNU Emacs).
[ Note that it is possible to use Ed for editing documents within Emacs, f.e. by means of Shell mode (GNU.org: GNU Emacs: 39.3 Shell Mode) or with Eshell (GNU.org: Gnu Emacs: Eshell). See also "Ed with Emacs". ]
The end of introduction for section 1, "Change log".
Revised "artificial intelligence" so the term can be useful (12.2 Terminology about culture: artificial intelligence). Computers are about memory management, t.i. knowledge management, and often are used as tools for applying knowledge, f.e. applying sets of instructions.
Added "intellect" as a term as a distinction from "intelligence" (12.2 Terminology about culture: intellect). Also revised various terms about intelligence, f.e. adding the phrase "adaptive intelligence" or "adapative intellect".
Moved the list of changes for 2023 to a hidden iframe (though, in the mark rather than the srcdoc attribute, like for previous years). Only 2024 changes are readily viewed in the HTM alternate view, as aformentioned in the intro paragraph for this "Change log" section (1. Change log).
Revealed the "Proposal list", previously hidden at end of the "Change log" section (1.2 Proposal list).
Added an address location to the most recent change to this document (1. Change log: most recent change). Must move it each time a new change is added. Also, added the date of the most recent change in the link at the beginning of this document, which must also be updated each time.
Revised "15. Personally helped", about being credited by its author for helping format Writings by Jean Charlot: a bibliography about a decade ago (15. Personally helped).
Uncommented one of the HTM comments at the beginning of the "Preamble". Included a reference for explaining the term "agency" (the book Agency by William Gibson). Might later add the word to the terminology list with personal interpretation and use.
Added a new proposal for listing accented characters that are usually available from a personalizable computer (1.2 Proposals and progress [2024Jan13]). For now, listed in the proposal itself.
Added an address for the location to that specific proposal, for easily linking to the temporary accent lists as a temporary reference. [ Updated link within this change log item to reference that new address location. ]
I was a complete jerk today (Jan 16) to a security guard at a grocery store. It ended amicably, we are on good terms, but I still am unsatisfied with my own initial response. Of course, I am being too hard on myself, mostly because I never want to inspire anyone to feel like they did anything wrong, but I feel like I did do that despite the resolution.
At moments like how I am feeling now, I then begin questioning why I am continuing at all with anything at all. I know how to address that, and I am sure I will address it. For now, definitely avoiding stores that layout everything (setting themselves up for stress of something going missing, suspecting everyone), and try to find what I need from over-the-counter establishments [ A fastfood restaurant is often like that. ].
OTOH, I am too dedicated to never being like that (t.i. a jerk [polite term]), that it seems easiest to simply never set myself up for such a possibility. For example, getting into an automobile is a setup for getting into an automobile accident (and putting on the seat belt is preparation for it); staying out of the automobile means no possibility of being in an automobile accident. Stay away from everyone, then no one has to be suspicious of me, no worries; similarly, nothing for me to worry about (like being in the way of someone else). Cities are so crowded, but I know no other experience, so familiarity becomes false comfort.
I have no real attachment to what little I carry with me, which is all that I have at all (as aforementioned in the "Preamble"). I update this document at times, but I have no need to do so, it has been just an opportunity for passing time with a familiar pastime.
I guess I am saying this might be the final change to this document. Time to move on with some other activity, perhaps, t.i. no more computer stuff. Or maybe no more interests, just personal health and well being from now on with nothing else as distraction. Revising "Preamble" to reflect that.
Revised "homeless" (such a nonsense word).
Added "stray" and a link to that term (in section "12.2 Terminology about culture") to the list of "leftover; misfit; outsider; leaf" in one of the early paragraphs of the "Preamble".
Elaborated on lack of personal connections with the phrase "relationship tree" [ As exemplified in the book Agency (2020) by William Gibson. ] in "Preamble". Additional edits to hidden notes (t.i. HTM comments) within "Preamble", too.
Added an HTM comment for the note about "possibly partly why I have no connections with anyone" in the "Preamble". Also revised the HTM comment that was after it.
Added the quote of Eunice using the phrase "relationship tree"[ Agency (2020) by William Gibson, page 50. ], for reference.
Have been gradually inserting "pebbles" (links to prior sections) for headings and end of sections. That has been occasional for some months now; still more to do. Finally added it to "1.2 Proposals and progress", and added a link to the upcoming stylesheet in progress.
Clarified the paragraph using the phrase "relationship tree" in the Preamble. Also added "castaway" to the paragraph [a couple paragraphs after] listing single words as additional concepts for no longer being needed and such.
Added "castaway" to the first paragraph of "stray" (12.2 Terminology about culture: stray).
Modified address (t.i. <a id=...) for the final item in the "Change log"; updated all links to it.
Renamed "1.2 Proposal list" section to "1.2 Proposals and progress".
Renamed section "-1. Foreword" to section "-1. Preamble".
Clarified "job" and "employment" within the section "-1. Preamble". Also, clarified info about the document server and its domain name, elaborated about conversational topics, and some other edits.
Divided section "-1. Preamble" into (rambling) subsections.
Amended the term "religion" with more perspectives (Terminology about culture: religion).
Added vowels with acute accents to the character symbol list in "1.2 Proposals and progress", f.e. for spelling café.
Revised and rearranged paragraphs in section "-1. Preamble", and merged a couple of subsections (thereby renumbered, too).
Revised various terms in section "12.2 Terminology about culture".
Revised and amended section "15. Personally helped". Additional information about main organizations, the main contacts (though, all are deceased), the tasks, and dates of tasks. Clarification of tasks.
Amended section "15. Personally helped". Elaborated on the guideline when I had crafted the "vault.jeancharlot.org" document server.
Revisement of section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation". An anomaly with family connections; avoidance of shopping.
Additions to section "17. ." (Last words). Influence; "What is put into practice...".
Another link for the initial jump menu, leading to section "2. Preface". It has "some considerations to keep in mind" when reading any part of this document (actually, any document from this document server).
Additional assertions at beginning of section "2. Preface". Typical self-expression in person or in writing.
Revisement of section "15. Personally helped". Converted into a list the note about accessibility guidelines of the 200+ page book "Writings by Jean Charlot: a bibliography" (2014) as an HTM document (2015).
Added note about suspension of book for CWGH (2012 Dec).
Added link list for the four sections at intro of section "15. Personally helped". Added a heading for each section, and pebbles at the end of each.
Continuation of "Add pebbles for sections and subsections" in section "1.2 Proposals and progress". Added pebbles to sections 13, 14, 16, 17. Also updated link lists (if any) prior to intro for those sections.
Expressed a bit of dissatisfaction (well, "concerns") with newspapers in the term "news" (Terminology about culture: news). Some spelling corrections elsewhere in same section; maybe some minor edits there, too.
Tried to neutralize the "plarp" description by adding a note; kind of felt it had implied it meant being (or feeling) fake, but plarp is nothing to do with that. Also amended "plarpification of culture".
Added "someday" as a new term ("12.1 General terminology: someday").
Temporarily imitated some styles from the new stylesheet: the section dividers hr; the "pebbles for sections and subsections".
Intended to be removed once the new stylesheet is finalized, therefore hidden for now. The instructions for revealing them in the alternate HTM view is readily readable when viewed with a plain text editor, of course.
Used the approach [ ...for no particular reason... ] that I demonstrated at "vault.jeancharlot.org/index.html#css": a checkbox for revealing an iframe with the styles, but the checkbox itself revealed only when targeting a specific ID. In this case the ID is "new-css", f.e. add "#new-css" to the address for this document when viewed with a HTM viewer.
[ More explicitly: l8l.info/begin.htm#new-css. ]
Increased the length of section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation". Revisement and amendment, and hidden comments to help keep it shorter in the alternate HTM view. Considering splitting that section.
Stumbled across the new book When we walk by (2023) by Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes (with Amanda Banh and Andrijana Bilbija). Had to set it back down (suddenly felt too emotional) when I read the word "someday" on the second page of the first chapter. Too coincidental, as I had added that term just yesterday; and especially with the topic of the book and the focus of the first chapter (lack of a relationship tree).
Have yet to read anything other the first chapter (sort of skimmed). I prefer reading all of a book before referencing it, but this is going to be one the exceptions; too well written (so far) and too coincidal with my own recent realizations. Added a reference to it in the section "-1. Preamble", the introduction before the subsections, after the "relationship tree" reference of Agency by William Gibson.
Found a paragraph in When we walk by (2023) that speaks for me about the term "homeless", and added it to the term in section "12.2 Terminology about culture: homeless".
Added a very lengthy description of my presence in Hawaiʻi (2008-now) as the introduction to section "15. Personally helped". Sharing a realization from reflecting upon my helping of three individuals, which turned out to be the final years of each one.
Revised the rough draft of yesterday for the introduction of section "15. Personally helped". Also renamed it, hopefully less ambiguously, from "Personal help" to "Personally helped" [ though I did get paid for much of it, rather than volunteered; might change the title again later ].
Revised introduction to section "-1. Preamble". Also revised section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation". Have been feeling more motivated lately (have been reassessing my personal direction), though the full text of "-1.3" fails to consistently reflect that as of yet.
Particularly, have been adding additional links leading to section "15. Personally helped", as I think that shows I am not lazy or irresponsible (and even have worked while living outdoors for several years). Instead, I am just lacking resources and the means for participating in the lives of other people (of which I know no one very well, at the moment).
Changed halves to thirds for the approximate time outdoors and indoors in Hawaiʻi in section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation". Lots of other revisement for clarification, too.
Added reference to the book When we walk by (2023) about alternate phrasing for the term "homeless", f.e. "unhoused neighbors" (section "12.2 Terminology about culture: stray). Also revised the term "homeless" (12.2 Terminology about culture: homeless).
Added quote from When we walk by (2023) about exclusion near the list of alternate terms for "my circumstance" in the introduction of section "-1. Preamble. Lots of revisement and rearrangement of paragraphs, too.
Pretty much revamped the whole section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation" section "-1.3 Current existence and participation". Rearranged several paragraphs, added several paragraphs, and added several more notes.
Updated note about "without family connections". Clarified about currently eating preferences.
Also mentioned in a note in the paragraph about "forgotten how to want" about the hidden HTM comment with having developed a desire to purchase something for keeping my mind active (as puzzle books are no longer interesting) and my spirits up.
Added a quote from Jean Charlot, about a muralist (such as Jean Charlot) without walls. After the paragraph about appreciating "having the opportunity and outlet for my personal interests".
Added the word "final" a couple of times (as in: "waiting for my own final moment") for clarification in the last paragraph of introduction to section "15. Personally helped"
Renamed the section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation" to "-1.3 Current existence and participation". Lots of revision; trying to stay on topic with the new name.
Moved some of the content of the section "-1.3 Current existence and participation" to the section "14. Personal pursuit". Initially sectioned the prior content of section 14. Will likely take several editing sessions, t.i. will be finished someday.
More edits for "-1.3 Current existence and participation". A lot of recollections; I am trying to keep from making excuses or ctiticisms; observations can seem like that though.
Added "perpetual rough draft" to beginning of "2. Preface"
Added brief reference for the phrase "social capital" in No longer homeless (2018) by David Wagner to the introduction (after the text referencing "agency" and "relational poverty") of the section "-1. Preamble". Seems like much of that introduction would likely fit with the "existence" topic of section "-1.3". Too worn out again; someday.
Added dialog from Socrates, Bill Preston, and Ted Logan, which also quotes from a song by Kansas, to the section "-1.3 Current existence and participation".
Added a final statement ("...let us both be comfortable...") to section "17. . (Last words)".
Added an explanation of the short list of links at beginning of document. Have been thinking for a while now about how the document would come across as spoken by a computer, such as when unable to personally see the document.
Referenced the term "social capital" from the book No longer homeless by David Wagner in section "-1. Preamble".
Revealed my interest in obtaining a new portable computer someday, and my interest in someday personalizing it, in the section "14.1 Personal computing tools". What can I say, a video game system is a computer to me; especially if I can get the resources for compiling my own programs.
Revised the note about viewing this document as plain-text rather than merely the HTM alternate view, in the Overview (named it on March 13).
Quoted Bobby McFerrin in the introduction (near its end) to section "-1. Preamble".
Quoted text for "infrastructural citizenship" from the book How infrastructure works (2023) by Deb Chachra in the introduction (after "social capital") to section "-1. Preamble".
Corrected "ain't" to "i'n't" [ A contraction for "is not", pronounced a bit like "init". ] within the text for the term "someday" (12.1 General terminology: someday).
Revised and sectioned the introduction to section "-1. Preamble". That really needs to be moved/sectioned/reduced someday.
Added a reference to the book How infrastructure works (2023) by Deb Chachra, about the term "agency" within a note in the introduction of the section "-1. Preamble". Would like to make that note about "agency" more visible in the HTM alternate view someday.
[ Would also like to reference the term "sociality" from page 282 of How infrastructure works (2023) by Deb Chachra. Yet to decide where to cram it into the current lengthy text. Maybe when I rearrange the paragraphs of the introduction to section "-1. Preamble"? ]
Named the very beginning "Overview", and revamped it. Added links to the stylesheet and guideline for documents from this document server "l8l.info" to the "Overview".
Added an HTM comment with the full content list (without markup) at the beginning of section "0. Content list". It is for quickly identifying the section number, and searching for the ID when viewing this document as plain-text. [ Search is the common approach for jumping to a different part of a document, rather than scrolling. ]
Added links to my notes in the section about (for the primary computer) even though that section was being revamped some time ago and might be a mess. Added links leading to "6.4 Dual-system approach: A personalizable computer" and StumpWM, referencing general and specific software an hardware for putting together a personalizable computer to the summary (too long) for section "-1. Preamble". Trying to inspire using the computer as a tool for repeating our keystrokes, pointer movement, and button presses for us, across the whole system rather than in merely a single computer program.
Added aforementioned (see Mar16 entry) links for sections 6.4 and 8 to the Overview.
The "Overview" seems rather satisfying to me. It starts me off with the key sections of this document, especially the last addition of my most passionate pursuit in the computer medium.
There other thoughts I would like to remind myself, but I am uninterested at the moment in figuring out a section for each of them, as much of the recent revisions are still incomplete.
The recent mention of "long-distance civilization" (section "-1. Preamble", I think) needs explaining someday. It is actually the contrast between long-distance communication and long-distance transportation, the latter of which is what needs remediating by reduction rather than merely changing fuel types. Unfortunately, "buying local" is a red herring.
I would like to address the concept of "undeveloped land" someday. Generally, even land that has an abundance of life is considered undeveloped, for whatever reason. As such, an area of land is cleared of all lifeforms (if any), and the topsoil (if any) is likely destroyed [need better description], and so forth, resulting in pretty much a "blank slate" that I would like to refer to as a "reset". Such complete destruction prior to construction ought to discourage the latter; for whatever reason it does not. Would like to think about that more, because I think owners (especially of land) ought to think about that more. One idea in mind: consider only influencing the area rather than resetting, and particularly influencing minorly in order to observe what happens and learn more about the responsibility of such actions (t.i. such influences).
Anyway, lots on my mind.
I realize the way things are is just the way things have become by people trying to continue doing the same thing (as how could that be wrong?), thereby continuing to maintain the infrastructure for civilization as we currently know it. Consider this analogy: a boat that is filling with water, and people bailing the water out well enough to keep the boat afloat. It could be said the boat is not sinking. Another viewpoint: the boat is sinking, and the people are thwarting the success of that sinking. Obviously, the thwarting should not be accepted as satisfactory. Similarly, people are collecting garbage and setting it outside their homes on the curb, in essence burying the neighborhoods within garbage, but garbage trucks travel about collecting the garbage and moving it elsewhere. Once again, the thwarting should not be accept as satisfactory. [ Curiously, the garbage has been reframed as a "renewable resource" for burning to become electricity, even with the current promotion of anti-combustion (anti-carbon-pollution). ]
IIRC, Peter Drucker wrote the book Post-capitalism a long while back, and referenced Toyota (motor vehicle manufacturer) as an example of applying deep questioning, t.i. asking "...and why is that so?" at least five times. Of course, the answers depend on who is asked, so asking many people can give a broad and deep discovery of the infrastructure leading to the results.
I look around me and see everyone is in the same position as myself, even the politicians and journalists, t.i. I realize each person has its own set of fantasies in its head (12.1 General terminology: WTF). Despite the differences in details, people still get along for the most part. I have no worries about the world, it will be fine, as it has always been. Everybody talks weirdly (f.e. there is no such thing as "the economy" or "the homeless" or "the rich" as those are just a concepts) but everybody gets along with each other anyway. Everybody is going to die as all lifeforms do.
Hmm, what am I trying to say? Oh, right. I think I was trying to get to the part that there is no such thing as suffering. Yes, that was it. But of course, as a concept it certainly can be imagined; and that is the point, that is all in people's heads.
Anyways anyways anyways... These are to be the last notes for now. If I ever get back to this, then I might move these final notes from this change log entry.
This document will likely go unmodified for the next two years or so [today:2024Mar18], as it feels done as a reminder for me, presuming I ever have the resources for my pursuit in the computer medium (f.e. section "6. Dual-system approach" and other sections about personalization).
As such, I think it is time for me to ditch the remainder of the items I have been carrying. I was just keeping them as items "I still have", t.i. as a starting point. These notes will guide me in purchasing decisions for hardware and the locations for software later, though both will likely be different later. Or maybe nothing.
Whatever I do is just until that final moment all lifeforms will have eventually anyway. There are no bonus points, there is no score, all that matters is being comfortable with myself. And I am. And I always address that when I see other people uncomfortable with themselves; first for myself, then I wish it silently for them. Just waiting, and waiting, and waiting... It feels so peaceful. I wonder whether I will think that later when I read this later, if I ever read this again, if I get back to this before the termination date (2026Autumn)... I might will have let go of it all, both in mind and things (thereby less strain on my feet and back, ha ha)...
Hmm, well, that is it. I feel like I am done. Done. Done. (But I am always changing my mind, so... WTF "done" means.)
The end of section 1.1-2024, "Change log for 2024".
This document has the first letter capitalized for some headings, but "help.htm" and "guideline.htm" and notes stylesheet all have lowercase (or used to have it that way). Consider going with lowercase (again) for this document. Prefer capital letters because font size increase is available only with the HTM view.
In progress: gradually capitalizing.
Have been gradually coordinating the headings and subheadings (f.e. H1, H2, and so forth) with the internal navigation ffrom the end of sections and their subsections. See the upcoming stylesheet ("A pebble for the supersection") for details
[ Though the details will likely continue to change until the stylesheet is finalized. ].
There is some difference in appearance and wording of the headings and pebbles (links for returning to prior sections) in this document and the new stylesheet, and more documentation needs writing, as the ideas are still settling.
The end of section 1.2, "Proposals and progress".
The Internet is an international telegramming network, pretty much parallel with the telephone network. It is intended for electronic devices for encoding and decoding the telegrams, thereby no need for people to learn how to manually telegram messages to each other.
A website is a document server, essentially a long-distance copier, hence telecopier or telecloner. The document server is a computer with software automatically responding to requests for copying memory. The copy is telegrammed to the computer that requested it, then the transmission is ceased.
Like a telephone call to a playback of a recording, f.e. press 1 for this and 2 for that, the computers of "websites" are never visited. Even the copy that is received is no visitor, though it might include a computer program (f.e. JavaScript in an HTML doc) akin to the email viruses of lore.
Best to save a document rather than depend on requesting it ever again. Best to audit any computer programs from anywhere regardless of "trust" before breathing electricity into them.
Consider keeping only what matters, or at least paring the non-repurposable.
The end of summary and motivation for section 4, "The realm of the Internet and its misnomers".
These concepts are actually the same as in everyday life. However, it is a good idea to review them, because they often get misused in articles and writings about the computer medium. Too much laziness in describing what actually happened is probably why these terms get misused.
For example, the concern of criminal activity with the computer medium is actually to do with "lack of permission" (unauthorized access) rather than the everyday experience of figuring out how something works ("cracking open a mystery"). Perhaps some day both computer technologists and computer journalists will focus on the activities and speak observationally, rather than playing a role in an event or crafting a story about an event.
A responsibility of knowing something, and the guidelines for whether and how to share that responsibility and that knowledge.
The practice of maintaining personal secrets.
Shared or delegated responsibility, often with taking care of something.
An authority is a person who is knowledgable about a particular topic. Often takes on responsibilities related to that knowledge. Might delegate permisssion to others in helping with those responsibilities.
The practice of permitting and denying access, usually to something other than secrets.
See also Terminology about culture: security.
Figure out what something means or how something works. Learning by means of personally experiencing discovery, rather than only by means of being told about something.
A detective or sleuth might crack a mystery, but a cracker is something eaten with soup.
"The mystery behind the secret-Santa gift has been cracked."
"That person is a hard nut to crack when figuring out what gift to buy for anniversaries."
"Finally cracked that chapter by jumping to its conclusion and reading it first. Re-reading the chapter made so much more sense after that."
Put something together as a temporary resolution, t.i. making due with what is available. Making a prototype is hacking; the prototype itself is a hack. The applying of knowledge; a demonstration of intelligence. Birds hack together various materials when making their nests.
Someone who coughs a lot, especially coughs up phlegm, might be said to be hacking. A cat might be said to hack (cough) up furr balls. A fireman might hack through a door with an axe. There really is no sensible use for the word "hacker".
See also Terminology about culture: intelligence.
Carefully proceed. Minimize personal influence upon the environment. Inconspicuously sleuthing.
A sleuth or detective sneaking around might be referred to as a sneaker, with or without permission from the authority of the premises or facilities.
As nouns, "sneak" is the activity, and a "sneaker" is the participant sneaking during the sneak. A sneaker or group of sneakers might offer services for discovering unexpected approaches for infiltrating the premsises, or facilities, or computer systems, and then sharing those discoveries with the authorities.
"Let us try to sneak through the forest on the hike today, without trailblazing or startling other creatures."
"Odd. Sneaking through the library seems less common than expected."
"That little sneaker! Made it past me without me noticing."
The end of section 4.1, "Core concepts of everyday life for the computer medium".
An analogy (a momentary digression in a discussion) provides an example situation for the sake of introducing a concept. Once the concept is introduced, the example provided should be dropped and forgotten. The concept is then applied to the prior topic.
There are many analogies in discussions about the computer medium that were never dropped. Those analogies obscure and unnecessarily substitute familiar everyday objects and approaches with needless originality and fantasies.
The typical words of the everyday person suffices without the false IT (Information Technology) jargon.
A view.
The term "window" leads to conversational deadends. Compare the question "What are you viewing?" with "What are you windowing?". Or consider: "I will show you another [ view | window ] of the document."
The collective computer programs of an international telegramming network (f.e. the Internet) of computers, such as document servers and auto-responders. Some computer programs are known as "websites" when their addresses begin with "http" or "https". Other computer programs are known as document servers or as file servers when their address begins with "ftp", "scp", "gopher", and a variety of others. Addresses beginning with "smtp" or "pop" usually lead to computer programs for email (electronic mail).
No matter what, all data transferred is simply being telegrammed from computer to computer, and any of it can be thought of as documents, whether files or email or "webpage". Most of the time it is plain text, but sometimes it might be computer instructions describing how to draw a picture (f.e. a photograph) or a motion picture (f.e. a movie).
The analogy of "web" comes from the comparison of a net with a cobweb, because of the cables connecting the computers, or of the lines drawn in a diagram representing a computer network. The term "worldwide" seem means international, distinguishing the network from a local network, such as the local area networks (LAN) in a house or at a company.
On the otherhand, a web is usually associated with a spider or other death-dealing predator. That concept of danger applies to the computer programs (potential automated predators) received from other computers on the same network, such as from the international telegramming network for computers known as "the Internet".
As such, consider keeping in mind at least two thoughts when thinking of the Worldwide Web: (1) the WWW is a sticky net with computerized predators; and (2) never delegate privacy to strangers, which is any company that represents itself on the WWW (Core concepts: privacy).
An automated computer program that responds to requests, f.e. a document server.
Piracy is one of the worst analogies for the computer medium, as piracy is akin to the modern day terrorism of hijacking an automobile or airplane. That involves threatening people with murder, and often following through with the threat or at least kidnapping.
The actual concern in the computer medium has to do with proliferation of information, or of knowledge, or of ideas. Criminalizing communication seems undesirable, especially in the United States of America, but associating the means of information reduplication (what is essentially the heartbeat of cultural knowledge, f.e. teaching) with piracy is ludicrous.
How the analogy of "piracy" ever supplanted that concern, especially in the courts of law of our beloved United States of America, is perhaps the most embarassing misunderstanding of computer technology by lawyers and Justices. If the Judiciary people involved felt less embarassed (or were they blackmailed? or were their jobs threatened?), then perhaps those people (or their successors) would have felt brave enough by now to face up to that prior misunderstanding and correct the course of our culture.
The core principles of the computer medium is "work on a copy", as that is how a computer functions internally and how work can be restored when recovering from computer failure. That has always been the approach of using computers, ever since the beginning (or at least as recent as the late 1800s).
Limited computer memory back in the mid-1900s (and earlier) encouraged writing on paper what would be toggled into the machine. Whenever the machine failed, there was (hopefully) still a piece of paper with the sequence to re-apply to the machine again, after the machine was reset and prepared for input again.
Copies of data or computer instructions are present in permanent removable memory, in temporary memory (f.e. RAM), in the processors, and even in the video memory and video display. That is multiple instances of the same data, f.e. an email, a photograph, a movie or captions of its dialog, a song or its lyrics.
Copying has nothing to with hijacking or murdering, let alone copying with a computer as the tool. The computer medium as been misappropriated for practicing the business of limiting permission of copying, even though copying with a computer is as natural as arithmetic with a calculator, as much as sharing personal experiences by means of exact re-enactment is natural and even more so culturally.
Proliferation of information, or of knowledge, or of ideas includes what someone else expressed nonprivately, and should never have been associated with, let alone equated with, the hijacking and murder from "piracy".
Telling someone to grab a mouse to control a computer has never made any sense.
It is instead a remote control for maneuvering a pointer, often an arrow shape, that is drawn on a computer monitor. The remote control usually has a motion sensor, and how it is moved is coordinated with the position of the arrow on the computer monitor. In short, it is a motion remote.
Sometimes the motion remote control is referred to as a "moshie" (spoken), which has lead to the computer keyboard to be referred to as a "mashie" (as in "button mashing"). These are colloquial terms from experiencing the devices, rather than journalistic terms repeating marketing jargon.
The end of section 4.2, "Analogies taken too far in the computer medium".
For many decades, emacs (GNU.org), a.k.a. Editing MACroS, has provided split-view management of documents (viewing and editing).
Emacs also excels with memory management of any sequence of typing or list of commands by storage in "registers", or complete repetition by a single press of any button desired (a.k.a. keyboard macros). The Emacs command "append-to-buffer" provides a means for selectively transferring content from any view of Emacs (whether a document or otherwise) to any other view, bypassing its own copy/paste or "registers".
On the other hand, the text editor "ed" (GNU.org) reveals any fragments of any number of documents when requested, in any order, gradually filling the screen only as needed. Each line is called forth by its number, so the line number is an intuitive command that shows that line of text. With "ed", there is no need for moving a text cursor, no need for selecting text, and no need for scrolling.
Any comma-separated range of lines is a command for calling forth that range of lines, f.e. 31,35p will "print" lines 31 to 35 on the screen. Line numbers are optionally revealed when requesting lines (f.e. 31,35n), and similarly so in search results.
Specify a generic line number with plus or minus, f.e. -4 for the fourth line before the current line, or for a range of lines, f.e. -5,+5p to "print" the range of lines of text before and after the current line. The last line requested automatically becomes the current line.
Thereby with "ed", views of text emerge naturally from requested fragments of familiar documents: command, lines of text, command, lines of text, etc. That is, the typed command remains visible and serves as an introduction for the lines listed by it (when any).
A document can be viewed one screenful at a time (with z), or by an arbitrary number of lines (f.e. z30 for the next 30 lines), from anywhere within a document (f.e. 42z30n for the 30 lines starting from line 42, and numbered).
Search results are listable, or traversable one at time by line number in any order desired, and repeatable without retyping the search pattern. In addition to mere search and replace, a set of commands can be applied to all search results or interactively queried for each one. For example, search for a pattern, but also specifiy a different pattern for replacing in the results, all as one command, and either immediately or selectively.
As aforementioned, the editing commands typed in "ed" remain visible, thereby keeping a history of how a document was edited (optionally with the lines of text before and after they were modified) would be possible... if only there was a means for saving those proceedings.
By using "ed" for its naturally emerging document views within the "shell-mode" of Emacs, the "ed" program gains a separate dedicated buffer from Emacs recording that history of all editing with "ed", along with robust command editing (from the text editing commands of Emacs) when typing its own commands.
Of course, the aforementioned keyboard macros from Emacs means commands within "ed" are automatically added to any recorded sequence of tasks, and naturally so. No special effort needed, nothing new to learn, automatically incorporated.
Evoking "ed" within shell-mode with sudo (super-user do) means the ability to edit restricted system documents without having to do "sudo emacs", thereby the super-user role remains optional within Emacs.
With the "!" command provided by "ed", evocation of external commands are possible from within "ed", and their results optionally read (r) into that document wherever desired. Evoking "ed" as super-user (t.i. "sudo ed") also means there is no longer any need to type sudo for each and every command that requires super-user privileges, because the "!" command of "ed" will invoke external commands with the same privileges by which "ed" itself was invoked.
The split-view management of Emacs provides the opportunity for multiple full-screen layouts of several such instances of "ed" and "sudo ed" in shell-mode, intermixed with any other activities within Emacs, f.e. email, web browsing, directory listings, etc. As each instance has its own dedicated buffer, the editing history of commands used in "ed" or "sudo ed" can be saved for review or potential selective restoration of edited documents (for when lines were listed before and after editing them).
And of course, repetition of super-user tasks, editing or otherwise, becomes possible (and naturally so) by means of the aforementioned keyboard macros of Emacs.
Using "sudo ed" within shell-mode of Emacs enables responsible, recordable (t.i. record keeping), and administrative editing of documents or evocation of commands with access to copious amounts of copy/paste access (a.k.a. "registers"), and ridiculously easy on-the-fly record/play of any sequence of typing and commands... readily assigned to any button desired, as many as needed.
Writing and reading is the basis of the computer medium. Freedom of expression, t.i. the result of a person taking on the responsibility of speaking for itself, is what has been curiously missing with the commodity computers sold to the everyday person. Choice is often the only opportunity given to the purchaser of a computer, choosing amongst decisions already made by the software developers.
The skill of writing and reading has been impressed upon as many people as possible, and has become an expected means of learning and communicating. However, the computer medium is sold as a means of looking and pointing at options thought of by somebody else, failing at integrating with the flow of thoughts and actions of the everyday person implementing the computer medium. Paying money for a computer and then having applications do what somebody else wanted to do can only be a novelty, merely entertaining a person whose desires were never asked.
A computer application, a type of software, is an example of grouping basic commands for a specific task. Obviously, that is very useful for the person who groups them, and less so for a person when they are grouped by someone else.
Sometimes a single command is a group of other commands rather than emerging from new computer programming. A list of commands can be saved for later recall as a single command, f.e. by repeating the sequence of commands the person has just done.
Arbitrary actions with a pointer are prone to misinterpretation when part of automating repetitious activities. A shared command whose composition can never be explored, whose list of subcommands is forbidden from discovery, is an insincere gift that will fail to support the everyday person to correct it, simplify it, or adapt it for personal comfort.
Ultimately, personal expression is supported by writing and reading, impeded by insincere sharing, and essentially neutralized by having only choices. Sharing an approach inspires and supports the emergence of new approaches, with dissimilarity possible though unrequired.
The computer medium is inferior (f.e. when compared with pen and paper) for promoting self-education and cultural growth when it is distributed as an unexplorable trade secret providing a kiosk of choices rather than unrestrictedly adaptable by the everyday person for each moment of life.
A personal computer (PC) is a computer for one person in an office at work rather than a shared computer like a data terminal. A company provides the PC for use by the employee in the office, and the "home PC" for working from home. The everyday person was never supposed to have a home work computer.
Curiously, many operating systems provide no place for typing a command from personal recall or personal notes. Buttonboards usually have no dedicated "prompt" or "command" button for immediately specifying commands.
Instead, an abbreviation or pseudonym for a command is typed, though without any place to type it. That typically involves holding one or more buttons, a randomly logical concoction at the bottom of the buttonboard.
With no dedicated buttons on the buttonboard for all commands and nothing displayed on the screen when typing the abbreviations, there is only hope of what command will be invoked.
Conventionally, pre-categorized menus gradually reveal sublistings of commands. The aforementioned invisible typing of their abbreviations have been the only means for bypassing the interminable spelunking of those labyrinthine menus.
Silly, but that is how a home personal computer has been since forever it seems. But then again, it is work.
A personal computer can be repurposed into a personalizable computer (...no need to change the world) for the everyday person. The personalizable computer can then be an impromptu interface for other computers by means of VNC or remote desktop programs.
Everyone is an everyday person, even a computer programmer. A computer personalizable with a few computer instructions rather than book-length computer programming is less busywork for everyone, and immediate ease for any pursuit.
An approach is a recipe or pseudocode, and its application is the result.
A recipe declares an intent by means of a list of ingredients and events that have been effective for producing a desired result. An application is the result of the recipe, a final presentation either palatable or inedible.
A computer application is typically an approach applied by someone else for the results desired by that other person. With a computer, an application of an approach is invariable, but pseudocode is by definition a recipe and therefore an adaptable approach. The pseudocode is the gist and intentions, the springboard for a variety of forms, thereby distinct from any specific attempt.
Life is variable. The predefined results of applications are inapplicable to the ever changing flow of events. On the other hand, an approach is guidance for transitioning through a moment, retaining opportunity for adaptation with each jump.
Too often computer programs have been said to be lacking documentation, but it is also without expression of intent. Without intent and motivation, there is no pursuit, there is no follow through. Without well thought out desires recorded, a set of computer program instructions are without a foundation.
Code is, by definition, ambiguous. Documentation of the code that emerges is the recording of decisions for using certain computer instructions, experiences with alternatives, or suggestions of potential alternatives.
A computer programming "language" is merely a list of symbols or codewords. A computer is simply a machine, a piece of hardware, there is no possible communication with it. Instead, such a lexicon is merely a writing system for abbreviating a set of instructions. Computer programming without documentation is as informative as a quote taken out of context.
Ingredients are fabricated within the computer memory, or perhaps parts of the computer hardware are activated with it. Even then, the phrases and terms need to be interpreted as a specified sequence of toggle switches within the circuitry of that machine, typically a barebones coding with only two letters in its alphabet and no phonemes because it is never spoken.
In other words, the computer is just a tool chosen for applying an appoach. Punctuation symbols and code words of computer programming record mere gesticulations of the person applying the approach. Therefore, the approach or purpose is inherently underivable from the computer coding, as it is no more than the pattern on a wall of toggled switches.
An approach must be recorded before or as it is applied if it is ever to be known by anyone else, as many archeologists have lamented. Minimizing it by shedding its context of intent and motivation deprives everyone of its meaning, even the later self of the person applying it.
To reiterate, there is no communication possible with a "computer language", for it is only a writing system intended for toggling switches for a result rather than sharing an understanding with another person. A computer program is merely one adaptation of an approach, one choreographed dance for a feeling, forever unrevealing of its own inception.
A computer is a medium for writing and reading, with the writing reduced to mere presses of labeled buttons for each letter of an alphabet. There is no other skill needed for operating a computer, though there are sometimes other means besides a buttonboard.
A computer is operatable, and automatable, when it is capable of restoring what has been recorded within its medium. That is, a computer recording the actions done with it in the moment and then repeating those actions upon request is being operated.
A system of programs operating on their own, especially when unmodifiable, is an "operating system". Somebody else's program is somebody else's operation of a computer, recorded from some other moment for that other person.
As a computer program is a proxy for the person who created it, vetting a computer program is the same as trusting the person who wrote it, perhaps a complete stranger. A computer virus is merely a computer program. A system readily operating on its own, t.i. an operating system, is operating for the interests and intentions of the people who wrote the programs.
In contrast, an "operatable system" does nothing until it is operated, so known programs can be the only programs ever activated or automated, per the decisions made by the person operating the computer.
There is no denying the various computer mediums are archeologically unsound. That makes it all the more important for using the computer medium as freely as possible during this transition beyond the computer medium itself for more sustainable, sharable, and perusable recording mediums. The medium of pen and paper (as an example of the latter) preceded the computer medium, and is destined to continue beyond the computer medium during the search for other millenially persisting recording mediums like pen and paper, clay tablets, and stone structures.
The unadaptable predetermined decisions of the operating-system/application paradigm is worthless for the everyday person, who is the core of any people, the core of any culture. This is evident by companies creating applications for their own use, with the employee (an everyday person) making do with what is available while waiting for those applications.
An operating system is non-functioning without its applications, and developing an application is a tangent away from the flow of the moment. Without documentation, there is no hope of adapting someone else's program for the current moment. There is only choice of the decisions made by someone else, without opportunity for freedom of expression by the person choosing.
A core characteristic of the computer medium is that of immediate and exact duplication of any of its recordings, thereby the freedom for trial and dismissal without loss or corruption of the original version. That is the opportunity of self improvement with the freedom of saving and reviewing inspirations and influences, and sharing those with the community for discussion and accelerating cultural development.
Voting is choosing amongst a set of pre-made decisions. A decision is inherently presumed acceptable, regardless of whether it is desirable. Choosing from someone else's menu is choosing from someone else's comfort, perhaps a selection of someone else's abilities. A vote or a choice is at most the wiggling of a toe tag, nothing like personal expression as there is no opportunity for a personal decision.
Design is a set of decisions. Somebody else's design is somebody else's decisions. Ultimately, a design is a past, foreign to the present, an opportunity for reflection and release. The adaptation of a set of decisions is the conversion of it into a new approach, perhaps a setup for a eventual spin-off or even a prequel.
Punchcard is a recording medium readable by computers and people, a type of memory card, t.i. a memcard. A punchcard can be a piece of cardboard with holes made from a holepunch tool, by either a person or a machine. The holes and the lack thereof are arranged along rows and columns of a grid, and can be detected by either machinary or a person feeling a card, or by a person visually perceiving the arrangement of the holes in a card.
A "graphical user interface" (GUI) is an oblique phrase for any object with drawings on it, essentially for only visual interpretation rather than physical or aural. For example, a sheet of paper, or a sheet of glass, or a grid of lights. Text and other shapes are drawn with lines or with dots, perhaps by coloring each square of a grid.
Obviously, shape is visibly noticeable only when there are at least two distinctive colors; corollarily, there are no distinctions with only one color. Text and other shapes can be drawn with only two colors available, commonly referred to as a foreground color for the most important areas and a background color for less important areas. Additional colors allow for more distinctions, thereby more variety of lines and dots for text and other shapes. Notably, an extraneous use of distinction is distracting or muddling.
A drawing, t.i. a graphical recording, using more than two colors on a grid bound by having only a single color per square (t.i. a dot) can record a greater variety than a punchcard using only one hole shape. Similarly, more than one physically distinguishable hole shape would increase the variety for a punchcard.
Notably, the raised dots of braille pressed into paper are the inverse of a hole, and provides such a variety potentially detectable by machines, too. Furthermore, the eight-dot version of braille is equivalent to the eight-bits of a byte, thereby suggesting bytes might be readily perceived visually and physically. The million symbols or characters of Unicode is one step away from that, each represented by one or more bytes, f.e. with the UTF-8 or UTF-32 formats.
A touchscreen is a transparent overlay for a graphical display, such as on top of a sheet of paper or on top of a grid of lights. The drawings of text and shapes, or the lack thereof, beneath the screen are coordinated with the same areas of the transparent screen overlaying them. The transparent screen detects physical touch, and those touches are related with the areas on the graphical display. While that physical action with the overlay is imitative of recording information on a punchcard, an unshapable graphical display remains unreadable physically.
A company respectful of the local inhabitants, of the local ecology, and of the participants of the company itself purposefully plans for eventual dispersal of the company itself.
[ This is eventually for a section of notes about the wastefulness of products from any company, and the characteristics of a careless company of people. ]
Some factors:
An assembly of ingredients or components is a product, device, or contraption.
A product, device, or contraption is worthwhile when it can be disassembled by anybody into reusable components for customizing the device, or for personal crafting.
A product on a shelf is the same as something left out on the curb of a street.
The end of section 11, "Responsibilities of a company".
This is a mixture of interests and non-interests, with some clarifications.
Food from biodynamic farming or biodiverse farming (a.k.a. intensive farming) because that goes beyond organic farming. Otherwise, certified organic food.
Preferably food grown locally, very locally.
No food from sick animals; proper microbial care, no antibiotics.
No food art, f.e. restaurant food products, bakery food products, frozen meal food products, and so forth.
Prefer single ingredients rather than a food product.
No food extracts because they are too concentrated, f.e. sugar, oil, juice. Similarly, neither tea nor coffee as beverages.
Prefer no caffeine.
No oxidized fats nor oxidized cholesterol (Kristin Lawless, 2018, pp. 30-31). That means no roasted nuts or seeds; no homogenized milk (Kristin Lawless, 2018, p. 29); no pasteurization or only low pasteurization.
No restaurant food, mostly because of the aforementioned conditions.
No plastic packaging for food.
All plastics have what is known as "estrogenic activity", meaning they can mimic or interfere with the hormone estrogen, potentially altering our bodies in unknown ways.
—Formerly known as food, Kristin Lawless, 2018, p. 28
Filtered water; neither chlorine nor other antimicrobial substances; no additives.
No exposure to non-nutritional substances, f.e. alcohol, "medications".
No fiction, no "based on a true story", no journalism.
Non-fiction is generally personal understandings and personal observations from other people, essentially parallel to science reports. Nonetheless, no interest in accounts of vengence nor justifications of harming other people.
Prefer sources of information supportive of pursuit of personal interests. (Note that is different from saying "support personal beliefs".)
Prefer reality. No interest in personality larping.
Personalized furoshiki, a sort of cloth origami by folding or making knots. A backpack made with a couple of knots can be easily untied and washed more thoroughly as a sheet of cloth than a sewn backpack, and drys faster, too.
One of the simplest is by tying two corners of a bandana to a belt loop and then the other two corners to another belt loop.
The end of section 13, "Personal interest".
[ The following content was moved from the prior section "-1.3 Pursuit and motivation". The paragraphs will someday be assessed for sectioning and revisement. ]
Heading into my next half-century, I have come to realize somewhen along the way I have lost the mindset for being a generic human resource, f.e. for "employment" or busy-ness. Reflecting on that, I have never really fit well into the paradigm of that type of employment anyway, but somehow made it this many revolutions on a ball of rock flowing around that ball of fire in the sky [ ...according to some stories... ].
As for employment in general, I think I usually just did "gigs" (if I understand that term correctly) for Em.Prof. John Charlot (d.2022) of the Jean Charlot Foundation (JCF) for over a dozen years (15. Personally helped). That different type of "work" experience for so many years has felt very fitting with my computer interests and pursuits.
Briefly, I am without much of any means to do anything other than survive, so that is my job for now. That is, I have no income, no storage, no gadgets, essentially nothing. So, I realize there is no point at this moment in anyone thinking of me as potentially helpful (other than conversation and this document server "l8l.info"), nor at this moment in my trying to be a human resource for employment [ Nonetheless, around Autumn 2023 I did sincerely put in an application for employment (my first in over 15 years; I was very choked up about it, trying to find my confidence) at the Little Caesars on Beretania, because I had yet to realize how insensible it was for me (being without the means to help others) to offer anyone help as of then (or even now). [ Nice people there at that LC, though I had very rarely stopped by before or after applying, as I pretty much never go to any restaurants because I seemingly can never order from a menu. Working at a Little Caesars was something I enjoyed for several months three decades ago while attending a university in New Mexico. I ended up loving the branding of Little Caesars (pizza! pizza!), but I must admit I do have a loyalty tendency with those who I have helped out for an extended period of time, f.e. Em.Prof John Charlot (d.2022), Dr. Janine Richardson (d.2015), and Catherine Hughes (d.2019) [ All three deceased now. ] ] ].
My helping someone else (t.i. a "job") would be inappropriate to my own well-being until I cease experiencing so much self-deterioration, as well as acquire the means and resources to help others. On the other hand, conversation about computers or other personal interests my be helpful to others. There is also this document "begin.htm"with various topics, and this document server "l8l.info" it is from. Perhaps the information will be helpful so someone. At the very least, I hope it will be helpful to me whenever I obtain permission from the community to participate again, obviously along the lines of my personal interests with computers (15. Personally helped).
Similarly, asking someone else for help would be offering them a job to do for me, and I have no means of incentive for anyone to do so.
Sometimes casually read computer documentation (f.e. GUIX, Guile, uLisp, the Kernel Programming Language (kind of LISPy), USB protocol) and historical papers (f.e. www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/: Recursive functions of symbolic expressions and their computation by machine) and sometimes source code, but only at publicly accessible internet devices, f.e. a computer at a public library. No device or Internet access of my own, as it has proven impracticable with my lack of a permitted location (as aforementioned).
Trying to write up flexible plans towards an introductory Lisp-based management system (f.e. LISPy kernel access). Focusing on opportunity rather than computer science ideals, therefore a mindset bridge between the experience of everyday life and the experience of mainstream computer programming. In other words, endeavoring towards fitting the computer medium into everyday common sense.
Initially promote a text editor (something like Emacs, t.i. adapatable by scripting), then a view management approach (f.e. split-view management), and eventually towards an operating-system substitute (operatable as a tool), while being approachable by the everyday person with only reading/writing skills. Plenty explanation prior to writing the code, because "code" by definition is ambiguous, thereby must be made approachable by the curious everyday person eventually using it.
A lot of prior personal exploration has already been recorded within this document, and I hope it will still be accessible for refamiliarizing myself when perchance I ever have the means to continue my pursuits and curiosity. I am unlikely to add much more to this document while without the means to maintain and use a personalized computer of my own (currently a stray), as it is that first-hand exploration with computers I have been recording. Regardless of my impedences, perhaps the ideas and observations might inspire others to begin personalizing computers for themselves, and share what they learn. See Recipes, programs, and formulas.
The end of the introduction for section 14, "Personal pursuit".
Personalization with computer hardware or computer software, especially in ways that can be easily spoken about by everyday people, ideas readily shared and applied rather than the mystical computerized novelties.
[ Anne Sullivan ]I am beginning to suspect all elaborate and special systems of education. They seem to me to be built up on the supposition that every child is a kind of idiot who must be taught to think. Whereas, if the child is left to himself, he will think more and better, if less showily. Let him go and come freely, let him touch real things and combine his impressions for himself, instead of sitting indoors at a little round table, while a sweet-voiced teacher suggests that he build a stone wall with his wooden blocks, or make a rainbow out of strips of coloured paper, or plant straw trees in bead flower-pots. Such teaching fills the mind with artificial associations that must be got rid of, before the child can develop independent ideas out of actual experiences.
—"May 8, 1887". "Anne Sullivan's letters and reports (1887–94)", Anne Sullivan. The story of my life, Helen Keller. Unabridged, with supplementary accounts by Anne Sullivan and John Albert Macy. Edited by Roger Shattuck, with Dorothy Herrmann. 2003. Page 153.
With that in mind, consider the possibility that manufactured products are as worthwhile as manufactured education.
As of mid-Feb 2024, I have developed a desire for a gray Nintendo Switch Lite, about $200 for the new-in-box experience; because it is the experience that matters, not merely having possessions. Of course, need a case to protect it from the rough and tumble of my furoshiki bag, likely the official one from Nintendo for about $40. I plan to play only the classic games, which are available for "free" from Nintendo, by means of a yearly subscription (about $20/year). Yes, wonderful nostalgia, and at a flat fee.
That would be a low cost way to keep up my spirits, as the equipment is cheap and a one time cost, and I have no interest in the new games. It would also keep my mind active, as I lack the resources for my other pursuits in computers. I would probably also make notes about my gameplay as I always do in order to figure out the games, but in different documents than this one.
I am also hoping to get approval for developing for the Nintendo Switch; supposedly even individuals can gain access to the software development resources. [ Requested 2024Feb21. Denied 2024Mar18. ] Though, I would need to obtain a computer system after that in order to follow up on my ideas for developing for the hardware, f.e. installing a LISP interpreter, typing with both analog sticks (alternately for each character), and so on. [ Denied. Email received 2024Mar18. ] I am thinking I have gone far enough with the Raspberry Pi for now, as crafting hardware and coordinating the needed software any further for the Raspberry Pi is beyond my current means while outdoors.
What can I say, a video game system is a computer to me; especially if I can get the resources for compiling my own programs.
So, If I save up for anything it will be for the gray Nintendo Switch Lite (and supplemental resources). However, at the rate I receive money (as I never ask for it), I likely will be spending money on only fresh clothing or bandages with nothing much left over. So, yes, I realize that might never happen, but it is of no matter. It is just an idea for furthering my exploration with customizing computer hardware, especially portable computers.
The end of section 14.1, "Personal computing tools".
Non-metallic electronics, such as salt water, or glass with wool.
For example, sport fencing (f.e. usafencing.org: USFA) has electrically conductive clothing. Either metallic thread is woven with the cloth, or the cloth might be infused with an ionized chemical.
Non-metallic electrical capacity, such as potatoes or grape juice.
Leyden jars and Faraday cages sound interesting, but where are the nitty gritty details and instructions?
Electronics from repurposing common everyday materials. For example, aluminum foil (conductive) from chocolate candy, or paper (non-conductive) from junk mail. As another example, a chewing gum wrapper folded in half with the shiny side inside becomes an insulated flat wire.
A piece of paper layered with a piece of aluminum foil becomes a capacitor (t.i. a battery) when rolled into a tube. Smaller pieces for a smaller capacity. Perhaps consider rolling or folding a chewing gum wrapper, as it has both a shiny condicutive side and a paper non-conductive side.
The end of section 14, "Nonconventional electronics".
Some tidbits of techniques or remarks that have been effective, or inspiring.
[ Helen Keller ]Now I am as much up in arms against needless poverty and degrading influences as anyone else; but at the same time, I believe human experience teaches that if we cannot succeed in our present position, we could not succeed in any other.
Unless, like the lily, we can rise strong and pure above sordid surroundings, we would be moral weaklings in any situation. Unless we can help the world where we are, we could not help it if we were somewhere else. The most important issue is not the sort of environment we have, but the kind of thoughts we think every day, the kind of ideals we are following—in a word, the kind of men and women we really are.
How I would help the world, Helen Keller (1880–1968), 2011, p. 37–39.
[Seems along the lines of the personal development Keller promoted over the increasing entertainment activities of those days (f.e. sports) and perhaps the recent great wars. Need to locate the original context; it was quoted in the introduction by Ray Silverman without a specific source.]
That is most fitting for the individual assessing oneself. It is rather unfitting for a fish out of water, or a train off its tracks. How people are relating with each other and helping each other was likely the concern of Keller, rather than everyone living the same way or with the same amenities.
Generally, a person is heading in a personalized direction of self development, and that path might seem less fair weathered than would be comfortable while still yielding the results personally desired. Nonetheless, a dead end might be personally unaddressable without help, such as after Keller experienced loss of sight and hearing at 19 months old. Several years later, Keller was welcomed back into the world by being helped with communicating within the means that Keller still had.
Communication shares understanding thereby establishes relations between people. Thus, each person becomes an extension of each other, and of personal development for each other. Hence, Keller was able to continue personal development without sight and hearing in that personal environment along the way of a personalized direction.
[ John Macy ]It is fitting that Miss Keller's "Story of My Life" should appear at this time [1903]. What is remarkable in her career is already accomplished, and whatever she may do in the future will be but a relatively slight addition to the success which distinguishes her now. That success has just been assured, for it is her work at Radcliffe during the last two years which has shown that she can carry her education as far as if she were studying under normal conditions. Whatever doubts Miss Keller herself may have had are now at rest.
—"The writing of the book", John Macy. The story of my life, Helen Keller. Unabridged, with supplementary accounts by Anne Sullivan and John Albert Macy. Edited by Roger Shattuck, with Dorothy Herrmann. 2003. Page 9.
Further participation and communication inherently influenced personal development of others, as concisely listed by Roger Shattuck.
[ Roger Shattuck ]Because the original edition of The Story of My Life appeared in 1903 [Keller at age 22], my commentaries here will not deal with Helen Keller's later writings, with her long employment raising money for the American Foundation for the Blind, or with her travels throughout the world on behalf of the blind and the deaf-blind.
—"Afterword: A mind of one's own", Roger Shattuck. The story of my life, Helen Keller. Unabridged, with supplementary accounts by Anne Sullivan and John Albert Macy. Edited by Roger Shattuck, with Dorothy Herrmann. 2003. Page 429.
The end of section 16.2, "Perspectives".
The CSS styles have been moved from the top of the document to here, for the sake of having the content of this document seen more immediately when viewed in a text editor. That means this document is now its own stylesheet, in addition to the other stylesheets it also references. [ See explanation at very beginning of this document (an HTM comment, so consider using a plain-text viewer), or stylesheet.css.htm. ]
To clarify, yes, editing the styles that are viewable in this section does change those styles for this document.
And yes, that is contrary to most (all?) other documents available on the Internet, if only because they are usually computer programs masquerading (supposedly non-nefariously) as documents. Nonetheless, this works within the official recommendations for HTML and for CSS.
Revealing the styles and explaining why they were added is also more transparent about how this document is affected by the CSS it declares for itself, rather than needlessly mysterious. However, this document is still just an ordinary document, hence still its authentic self.
None of my other documents I am sharing from this domain had a change log for them, so the relevant styles remain in this document for itself. There are perhaps no other documents with any (narrow) diagrams, so the pseudo min-line-length approach remains in this document for now.
I prefer changes listed in ascending order by date for the change log, just like a calendar ("Change log"). It is very simple to view the final item in the change log listing: just go to the section after it and then scroll back a a few lines. However, there are ways of using CSS to hide all the prior items, effectively eliminating the forethought for skipping to the section after the change log.
Diagrams are in many sections about StumpWM, such as lists of links, as menu/button listings, or as other interface replications ("StumpWM + PC"). The section about dual-system approaches has a narrow diagram, too, narrow enough to fit nicely with nearby paragraphs (Dual-system approach for discrete computer experiences).
The end of summary and motivation for section A, "Appendix: Document style".
Summary: The change log is visually truncated for revealing the most recent change for immediate review. All log items can be revealed by selecting a labeled checkbox.
ID: changelog.
Ideally, the change log is the very first section, before the content. Of course, the "Content list" for this document is first (uhm, except for the "Preamble" which comes before a "Content list"). This makes accessing the recorded changes more immediate for when the document is accessed by only a little bit of data at a time.
As a visual convenience of the HTM view of this document, the whole change log listing except for the last item is hidden when CSS support is available. A checkbox (with id="changelog") enables revealing the whole change log. Both the checkbox and its label have been hidden with the hidden attribute for when there is no CSS support.
*/
/*Reveal the checkbox
and its label*/
#changelog
,#changelog
+ label
{display:inline}
/**/
/*Hide all list items for change log,
except for the last item.*/
#changelog
+ label
+ ul
> li
{display:none}
#changelog
+ label
+ ul
> li:last-of-type
{display:list-item}
/**/
/*Reveal all change log list items
when the checkbox is checked.*/
#changelog:checked
+ label
+ ul
> li
{display:list-item}
/*The end of section A.1, "Reveal/hide the change log".
Summary: Ensure a minimum width for text near floated diagrams or images.
Class: post-lateral-diagram.
Preferably, a lateral diagram is floated to the right (rather than left) because text flows left-to-right. Thereby, each line of text always starts from the left edge rather than traversing an obstacle course around the diagram.
The width of a floated region reduces the line length of later regions for the full height of the floated region. Ideally, a min-line-length property would assert the minimum line length within a region. That would lead to a region shifting beyond a floated region that reduced its line length beyond its minimum.
As the min-line-length CSS property is nonexistent, the current hack asserts the minimum line length for a region (f.e. a paragraph or a list) with em-space characters (Unicode 2003 or  ). They are added to the content property of the ::before pseudo-region of the classed region, and with zero line-height it is thereby innocuous as text and by its dimensions. No need to class later regions.
For example, a diagram might be ASCII art marked as a pre region, and followed by a paragraph classed as post-lateral-diagram. The paragraph is classed because it is after (t.i. post) the diagram. Consider styling a later paragraph with "clear:both" to assert full width for text after a long diagram.
[ Book width is about 40em; magazine/newspaper column width is about one-third (13em) to half (20em) book width. ]
Fauxmin-line-lengthfor the region of text (f.e. a list or paragraph) after a narrow diagram (f.e. image or ASCII art)*/ .post-lateral-diagram::before {/*An em-space character (Unicode hexadecimal id: 2003) for every em of minimal width (13em).*/ content:" " ;font-size:1rem ;line-height:0 ;display:block} /*
The end of section A.2, "Minimum text width near diagrams".