the RG552 is sort of an odd-ball machine - it can boot into Linux or Android, it has a sort of odd 6-core CPU (RK3399, 2 big 4 little) that runs kinda hot, and 4GB RAM - and it was sort of expensive, but it can be had cheap now and it has a 1080p-ish screen, a usable USB-C port, and HDMI out so it can reasonably be a little "actual computer" too

neat, I can now run Docker containers on (one of my) little retro handheld things.

this moderate amount of stupidity involved:
- an Anbernic RG552 (https://anbernic.com/products/anbernic-rg552)
- Velvet OS (https://velvet-os.github.io), which happens to have a build for this sort of odd-ball device (Rk3399-based)
- umm.. just installing Docker normally, because it's just Debian Trixie on here

was about to get rid of this Keychron M6 Lite mouse I got a month ago because the vertical scrolling kept breaking.. but there was a software update and now it works great. glad I can update it through a Web interface, that's pretty handy

no, no no no no. not like this :NotLikeThis: https://codeberg.org/jyrki/cmake-mastodon

Stewart Cheifet, R.I.P.

https://obits.goldsteinsfuneral.com/stewart-cheifet

got an echo show 5 - a first-gen one, because a few weeks ago or so, hacking them to run Android (LineageOS) became pretty simple to do. but first it needed a software update, so set it up like I was going to use it normally..

I don't regret skipping over these things. I have had it on for 5 minutes and have already gotten like 20 ads based on my recent purchases.. which means I have gotten multiple ads for sponge bath wipes. (lately I've bought a bunch of medical recovery stuff.)

Good news you might have missed: Researchers in South Korea have developed a new eco-friendly recycling process that recovers more than 95 percent of nickel and cobalt from old EV batteries with almost perfect purity. https://interestingengineering.com/energy/recycling-nickel-cobalt-ev-batteries

If you listen to Dodgers games on the radio or drive on CA freeways you’re constantly exposed to ads about child health services that are free for all kids under 5 in California. I had no idea that program started with Rob Reiner pushing for it, then doing the work.

Well screw that I guess I started up the scanservjs Docker container and hey usable scanning interface. Now I’m done. Just sorta works.

Set up SANE and AirSane to scan using my ScanSnap ix500. Even the shitty rudimentary web interface works better than the Fujitsu/Ricoh software and I’m not limited to only one computer at a time… but we’ll see how stuff works when I dig into configuring it fully (it’s not duplexing right now)

Best Buy had a 14” ASUS VivoBook for $250. Core i3-1315 (2p4e), 8GB RAM, 128gb disk, 1080p screen. Picked it up. Pretty solid laptop. Decent enough keyboard and the screen is nice enough. No USB-C charging which is a bummer. But… the ram and ssd are upgradable. So now mine has 24GB and will slot a more reasonable SSD in. Prob a good upgrade for my Thinkpad x280 or a travel laptop

in today’s stupidity: I am working from my moms house to coordinate other work being done there. I have my (new, literally) laptop set up and all that, and started getting back to work, and the machine keeps randomly locking my session. No rhyme or reason. I futz with the power settings, I remove RustDesk, no help.

Then I realize… I am wearing a watch band that is basically made out of magnets.

Removed watch and it is fine now. Oopsie.

I have a couple UltraSparcs and a SunPCI around here somewhere…

Do you ever get a #retrocomputing intrusive thought?

This is #wordperfect 7 (ish, all from 1996 and 1997)

* Native #solaris #unix version (bottom left)
* Native 32bit windows in SunPCi (bottom right)
* #macintosh system 7 in MAE (top left)
* Windows 3.1 (16bit) in #wabi (top right)

All of this was supported by at least one vendor at the time!

And you can actually copy/paste between all of them, and it just works!

I know I have some Canadian people in my feed and/or as followers.. one of you, send this to Rich Terfry @ CBC: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/oct/22/florian-schneider-kraftwerk-equipment-to-go-on-sale-expected-to-fetch-up-to-650000

@feoh i keep an extra set in every bag i own

also amzn has the CMF buds 2a wireless doodads for like $30. they have ANC (not very good ANC, but usable more or less). I got 'em at $20, still worth it at $30, easy to throw in a bag as emergency backup. https://a.co/d/6BOOO4R

“It’s all gone sideways!” - crabs celebrating another successful project

had a weird experience today in which the battery on a device I have has gone all to shit in less than a year, and getting a warranty replacement meant talking to a chatbot, and well let’s just say I groaned about it a lot and then did it and now I have a warranty replacement on order in like 2 minutes. so that was weird, since usually having to use a chatbot is awful

also oh boy after a month plus in Pacific time I have no freaking clue what time it is now, as someone who lives in Central and works in Eastern

whew. I have spent almost 40 days in British Columbia, mostly getting a front-seat view to BC emerg medicine. also, a bit of first-hand experience! and it has been interesting to see the system work.

unsurprisingly it also makes it totally infuriating that the US has the system it does.