Gunnar Wolf - Nice grey life - page 14

Our university, among the largest in the world and among the most important in Latin America, had an unexpected and traumatic event last September 3rd: A group of students from one of the high schools our university operates, peacefully protesting, demanding mostly proper study conditions and better security for their area, were violently attacked by a large, organized group. Things are still very much in flux, and we have yet to see what this really meant, and what are its consequences. But in the meantime, I cannot but take as mine the following words, by Comité Cerezo. I am sorry...

After a long rant with a nice and most useful set of replies regarding my keyboard, yesterday I did the mistake –and I am sure it was the first times in five years– of touching my Power key. Of course, my computer (which I never shut down) obliged and proceeded to shut itself down, no questions asked – Of course, probably because I don’t use a desktopesque WM, so it exhibits the same behavior as the system’s actual power switch. I was limited to powerelessly watch it cleanly shut down… It didn’t make me very happy. That key should not...

As most of my readers, I am a heavy keyboard user. Most of my computer usage is mediated through the keyboard, not the mouse as it seems to be the norm nowadays (and don’t even get me started on touchscreens – When I talk about computers, I am not talking about phones. Ever.) In the past, I suffered a lot of upper back pain. It has thankfully improved, but in big part due to changes in the way I interface with the world. Again, if I do most of my work sitting and in front of my computer, being comfortable...

So… Everybody I’ve interacted with along the last couple of weeks knows I’m basically just too busy. If I’m not tied up with stuff regarding my privacy/anonymity project at the university, I am trying to get the DebConf scheduling, or trying to catch up with my perpetual enemy, mail backlog. Of course, there’s also my dayjob — Yes, it’s vacation time, but I’m a sysadmin, and it’s not like I want to give software updates much of a vacation! Of course, my family goes to Argentina for a couple of weeks while I go to DebConf, so there’s quite a...

Hi friends, Thanks to the work I have been carrying out with the “Derechos Digitales” NGO, I have received ten Raspberry Pi 3B computers, to help the growth of Tor nodes in Latin America. The nodes can be intermediate (relays) or exit nodes. Most of us will only be able to connect relays, but if you have the possibility to set up an exit node, that’s better than good! Both can be set up in any non-filtered Internet connection that gives a publicly reachable IP address. I have to note that, although we haven’t done a full ISP survey in...

Having followed through some paperwork I was still missing… I can finally say… Dates I’m going to DebCamp18! I should arrive at NCTU in the afternoon/evening of Tuesday, 2018-07-24. I will spend a day prior to that in Tokio, visiting a friend and probably making micro-tourism. My Agenda Of course, DebCamp is not a vacation, so we expect people that take part of DebCamp to have at least a rough sketch of activities. There are many, many things I want to tackle, and experience shows there’s only time for a fraction of what’s planned. But lets try: keyring-maint trainingWe want...

I started teaching at Facultad de Ingeniería, UNAM in January 2013. Back then, I was somewhat surprised (for good!) that the university required me to create a digital certificate for registering student grades at the end of the semester. The setup had some not-so-minor flaws (i.e. the private key was not generated at my computer but centrally, so there could be copies of it outside my control — Not only could, but I noted for a fact a copy was kept at the relevant office at my faculty, arguably to be able to timely help poor teachers if they lost...

I came across Kernighan’s 2017 book, Understanding the Digital World — What You Need to Know about Computers, the Internet, Privacy, and Security. I picked it up thanks to a random recommendation I read somewhere I don’t recall. And it’s really a great read. Of course, basically every reader that usually comes across this blog will be familiar with Kernighan. Be it because his most classic books from the 1970s, The Unix Programming Environment or The C Programming Language, or from the much more recent The Practice of Programming or The Go Programming Language, Kernighan is a world-renowned authority for...

Gregor’s post made me think… And yes! On April 15, I passed the 15-year-mark as a Debian Developer. So, today I am 15.010958904109589041 years old in the project, give or take some seconds. And, quoting my dear and admired friend, I deeply feel I belong to this community. Being part of Debian has defined the way I have shaped my career, has brought me beautiful friendships I will surely keep for many many more years, has helped me decide in which direction I should push to improve the world. I feel welcome and very recognized among people I highly value...

I love flexibility. I love when the rules of engagement are not set in stone and allow us to lead a full, happy, simple life. (Apologies to Felipe and Marianne for using their very nice sculpture for this rant. At least I am not desperately carrying a brick! ☺) I have been very, very happy after I switched to a Thinkpad X230. This is the first computer I have with an option for a cellular modem, so after thinking it a bit, I got myself one: After waiting for a couple of weeks, it arrived in a nonexciting little envelope...