lab notes: bruce42

sci-fi computer screens

notebooks

Research Papers - These are mostly intended to be evergreen documents - expect updates. They will include standalone articles but also research for hardware projects, software, and site development.

Blogs - Short form content on various topics.

topics

lab notes: bruce42

The Vanishing Web

2025-01-10 by bruce42

How to disappear completely

The Vanishing Web: What Happened to a Quarter of Our Digital History?

We're losing our digital history. Can the Internet Archive save it?

StackOverflow Usage Plummets as AI Chatbots Rise

This is a new blog page.

You can use multiple tags separated by commas: Tag: example1, example2, example3

Pages use markdown syntax: Normal bold italic ~~strikethrough~~ code

Making a list: * item one * item two * item three

More available on the datenstrom yellow help pages

Supported page statuses: public = page is a normal page unlisted = page is not visible, but can be accessed with the correct link shared = page is not visible, but can be included in other pages

The Year of the Linux Desktop ... or not

2025-01-01 by bruce42

I've been dual booting Windows 10 and Zorin Linux for several months now. As Microsoft's impending support cutoff for unsupported hardware looms, I've worked on adapting to Linux as a daily driver again. My last run was back around 2008. Before that, I was using Red Hat on an old desktop PC to self host the USL website in 2003. And before that I was using Mandrake Linux around the turn of the century. I've been using Ubuntu for my home file server for over 15 years, but Windows has been my day-to-day OS since Windows XP.

But Windows 11 has changed that. I can't afford to upgrade all my home machines. And I don't feel like messing around with here today, gone tomorrow workarounds to get what feels to me like an AI/Spyware/Bloatware/Adware delivery platform than an OS installed on hardware that just meets minimum system requirements.

So I turned back to Linux. Why did I pick Zorin? It looked clean, it's based on Ubuntu which I've been using peripherally for some time, and the desktop is Gnome based - which again I'm used to. The distro choices today are honestly rather overwhelming.

"But how has the experience been?" you might be asking.

Green Dream: Shrink-Wrapped Trash

2007-03-20 by bruce42

Green Dream: Shrink-Wrapped Trash - TransLoad America is building a new garbage disposal system that wraps refuse in plastic and moves it by rail. The ultimate goal? Turning landfills into fuel cells.

At first blush, compressing, wrapping, and stacking trash into piles seems a bit labor intensive, and somehow wrong. However, the modern landfill is just that- a heap of semi-compressed garbage sitting stop layers of plastic and covered by a shield of earth, crushed glass or rubber.

Bioreactors are mentioned in the article- with good reason. Bioreactor Landfills are quickly demonstrating a host of benefits over traditional dry-tomb landfills. Primarily, Bioreator Landfills accomplish what dry tomb facilities cannot- a high rate of decomposition.

This new process is a blend of both- by storing the waste in a compressed anaerobic environment it can be safely stored. Then, when needed it can be easily and efficiently transported to a processing facility that harnesses biogas for energy production. By eliminating loose, underground storage and inefficient transportation, potential sources of waste and contamination are removed- definite pluses.

Pot Smoking Ninjas in the Streets of Des Moines

2007-03-04 by bruce42

Watch your back when you're out at night, Des Moines- reefer crazed ninjas are on the loose. What kind of world do we live in when bands ninja wander the streets accosting the citizenry for drugs and money? One that edges closer to some kind of bizarre anime; and I'm okay with that. lab notes:

Choose the New PBS Science Show

2007-01-09 by bruce42

From PBS|Science :: Watch and Weigh In Here’s the experiment: Throughout January, PBS will broadcast three new science programs. Only one program will become a regular science series on PBS. We want you to help us decide. Watch the programs on your PBS station or, beginning January 1st, visit the companion sites below to watch each pilot show. Then tell us what you think! * Wired Science, airs Wednesday, January 3 * Science Investigators, airs Wednesday, January 10 * 22nd Century, airs Wednesday, January 17 Edutainment at its finest. I am currently reviewing all the programs on the PBS website and will be reserving judgment until I view the complete episode for each program. I will tell you this, however, I crave science content- woosh and flash do little for me.