Posts by kyle@social.librem.one
(DIR) Post #AUuvODaD7cAUN6tAy8 by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-22T17:32:37Z
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@jebba I used vim and LaTeX.
(DIR) Post #AUuw7LJHEx95MqUA2C by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-22T17:40:45Z
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@ljs @jebba With the help of a few macros (which I'm sure you also set up in EMACS), it is *very* fast to format a book compared to GUI tools or Word/LibreOffice templates. Most of the text for this book was already written other than some front material and chapter intros. Learning LaTex, iterating through formatting, editing, indexing, and waiting for page proofs to arrive took less than 4 weeks from start to book launch.
(DIR) Post #AUuxae9QMtvo9cPj7Y by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-22T17:57:15Z
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@ljs @jebba This is why I like the LaTeX workflow. If you are using a publisher's Word/LibreOffice template, the temptation is to write the book directly in the formatting tool, so your writing ends up being interrupted by formatting.With $text_editor + LaTeX, I can focus on the writing first (I do basic formatting hints in markdown). This lets me write the full draft and keep my focus on the writing before I worry about layout and formatting.
(DIR) Post #AUuxjsTOULmHBC9kf2 by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-22T17:58:55Z
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@ljs @jebba Tell me about it. I'm chatting here instead of working on my new book right now!
(DIR) Post #AUvSzDfv2V1lrKoIpE by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-22T23:49:03Z
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@cavaughan Hmmm, if it's been awhile since you checked, check in with support again. We recently went through a lot of old stock of parts that couldn't be used for refurbs and it's possible we might have something.
(DIR) Post #AUx9heuPXKUoIWQCDw by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-23T19:22:24Z
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This Monroe Model G mechanical calculator was made some time between 1918 and 1920, and is the one I used on the cover of my new book. I also featured non-blurry pictures of it as the background image on each chapter, and in those cases left a little easter egg for keen-eyed readers.#calculators #writing
(DIR) Post #AUxCOybIOnFrjNGPhY by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-23T19:52:39Z
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Back in 1918 machines were designed to tell humans when they made a mistake. Over a hundred years later the roles have reversed. How times have changed.#AI #VintageAds #calculator
(DIR) Post #AUxItmYdp6FH5C5vpA by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-23T21:05:27Z
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@Konqi For Comptometers in particular, professionals received training very similar to professional typists. They touch typed without looking at the keys (eyes and other hand was on the document with the figures).For speed, they not only chorded the keys (an advantage to full-keyboard calculators versus ones that only had a single set of 0-9), they also only pressed 1-5 to keep their hand on "home row" and to make, say, 7, would type 3 then 4. Pros were *very* fast at this.
(DIR) Post #AUxTWJ1iYGmqKTheUa by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-23T23:04:27Z
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@cavaughan I have a pinwheel calculator just like that! But not a Russian model, it is a Brunswiga.
(DIR) Post #AUxVpwy6TPgXcIVWK0 by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-23T23:30:25Z
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@cavaughan Once you know addition and subtraction, then multiplication is just repeated addition, with shifts to the left for each digit in the multiplier. Division is similar, but starts at the left of the dividend, and you subtract repeatedly until it underflows (the machine will ring a bell!) and then you add one back and shift right. Repeat until you have enough digits of precision to suit you.
(DIR) Post #AUxW0WkeHuhrUXG2QS by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-23T23:32:20Z
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@cavaughan I have a Comptometer manual that goes into how to do more advanced things like roots, but it seemed complicated enough that I'd never know if I got the right answer.
(DIR) Post #AUzQ8qxMq3uJ43iIF6 by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-24T21:36:01Z
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(Apologies to Rick Astley)We're no strangers to hacksYou know the column, and so do IA full published book's what I'm thinking ofYou wouldn't get this from any other guyI just wanna tell you what I've writtenGotta make you understandIt's the Best of Hack and /It's a Linux admin classYou can order and real fast send to youHardback's awesome I won't liePaperback is a close tieWith the ebook you can buy on Luluhttps://www.lulu.com/spotlight/kyle_rankin#SelfPublishing #writing
(DIR) Post #AV1CTtRPmmsvoFpI1Y by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-25T18:12:22Z
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@shawnp0wers So exciting!
(DIR) Post #AV1Hvz48xzWX8K9h0S by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-25T19:13:27Z
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@martijnbraam I appreciate your posting a follow-up and analysis of this post. I skimmed (and even boosted) that article this morning because I was curious about the claims and what would come of it after more eyeballs were on it.
(DIR) Post #AV1d2xjKQfwW3TaWTg by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-25T23:10:03Z
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@hehemrin @katherined Thank you!
(DIR) Post #AV4zq0Ufivw1HWP5yC by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-27T14:09:33Z
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Today is my last day at Purism after being there for over five years. I'm marking the event on my Tempus Nectit knitting machine clock with a white stripe.#knitting
(DIR) Post #AV5CoQLvuNCcJ5tLay by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-27T16:34:56Z
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@avanc Yes, I document my whole project here: https://kylerank.in/tempus_nectit/
(DIR) Post #AV5VK70f9vQsl0Cc0e by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-27T20:02:21Z
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@giglioli For the super-near-term I'm going to finish writing a new book I started after my Best of Hack and / book, about how to write a tech book (it's so meta, I know).Beyond that, I don't know. Open to suggestions and opportunities.
(DIR) Post #AV6xR1MjX8m79cZJ7Q by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-28T12:52:03Z
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@leetaur Thank you!
(DIR) Post #AV7Ewe27W77HHFalJw by kyle@social.librem.one
2023-04-28T16:08:15Z
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I host my own email, DNS, website, and many other services, so I figure I should probably host my own mastodon instance as well. Plus as @aral always says, it's good for the Fediverse to have more smaller instances.So I'm going to attempt the Mastodon server migration now, which means if you follow me, it *should* automatically move you. If not, you can follow me @kyle.