Once again, my professional recommendation in response to the latest Linux kernel vulnerability in the news is that you should gather up all your electronic devices, cast them into the sea, and retreat to the woods.

Each night, gather your children and tell them tales of the Before Times when the hubris of humanity grew so large that we made idols of sand and spoke to them as equals. Remind them that the sand, of course, did not speak or think, but we imagined it could, and let it guide us to folly.

Should a stranger ever come to your village with a glowing rectangle, encourage the youth to beat them with sticks.

#infosec

@da_667 @Viss

The Space Shuttle missions carried HP 41C calculators

https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/calculator-hand-held-hp-41/nasm_A19890003000

#HP41C

Howdy folks, we're back. However right out the gate, I want to add some context to what to expect with BSidesTC this year. First, this winter was hard, exceptionally so. ICE's attack on our home and our neighbors took a toll on all of us in many ways. The prolonged effect of this has been a level of exhaustion in taking on tasks, and the organizing of this event is not immune to that.

Nonetheless, we want to continue the silver lining of this happening; the incredible amount of community engagement and collaboration. To this end, we are dedicating BSidesTC 2026 to the following theme - Building Resilience.

Call for Papers(CFP) will be opening up soon. As we approach that, think back over the past few months and what you or others did to help do just that, build resilience. How did we support each other? How did we push back against the occupation? We ask you to take those considerations, and encourage you to come and speak at BSidesTC.

More to come.

Thanks,
Parker Seaman

https://events.humanitix.com/bsidestc-2026?c=mastodon

Replace “gods” with “billionaires” and I think I see what Sir Terry was getting at here…

“Gods are not very introspective. It has never been a survival trait. The ability to cajole, threaten, and terrify has always worked well enough. When you can flatten entire cities at a whim, a tendency toward quiet reflection and seeing-things-from-the-other-fellow’s-point-of-view is seldom necessary.

Which had led, across the multiverse, to men and women of tremendous brilliance and empathy devoting their entire lives to the service of deities who couldn’t beat them at a quiet game of dominoes. For example, Sister Sestina of Quirm defied the wrath of a local king and walked unharmed across a bed of coals and propounded a philosophy of sensible ethics on behalf of a goddess whose only real interest was in hairstyles, and Brother Zephilite of Klatch left his vast estates and his family and spent his life ministering to the sick and poor on behalf of the invisible god F’rum, generally considered unable, should he have a backside, to find it with both hands, should he have hands. Gods never need to be very bright when there are humans around to be it for them.”

- Small Gods, by Terry Pratchett

#TerryPratchett #discworld

The nyckelharpa is a folk instrument from Sweden 🇸🇪 with a long standing tradition there. "Nyckelharpa" is a Swedish word, "nyckel" meaning "key" and "harpa" being a general term for a stringed instrument. Its key features (hah, see what I did there?) are the sympathetic strings and a keybox full of wooden keys. Some translate it into English to "keyed fiddle" 🗝️ 🎻 "viola de teclas" in Spanish or "viola d'amore a chiavi" in Italian - although it is not a fiddle or viola ;)

How it works: I produce the sound with a bow on the strings, like on any other bowed instrument, but instead of touching the strings with the fingers of my left hand and pushing them down on a fretboard or fingerboard to play a melody, I press a key. The key moves a little wooden tangent to the string and tada, the note changes 🎉 The magical sound of the nyckelharpa is created from its sympathetic strings (usually 12) which are enhancing every note I play on the four melody strings.

If you want to hear some nyckelharpa music, you're welcome on my duos bandcamp https://aklejafolk.bandcamp.com or search for "Akleja" wherever you like to stream music. More names you can look for there are Josefina Paulson, Hazelius Hedin, Emilia Amper, Väsen, Daniel Pettersson / Sotali, Erik Rydvall - there are so many FANTASTIC players out there! 😭

The instrument pictured here was made by Mats Wester.

#nyckelharpa #musiciansofmastodon #folkmusic #instrument #acousticmusic #music #luthiery #stringinstrument #sweden #violin #viola