Mastodawn

Try BentoPDF if you haven't / are unhappy with StirlingPDF

Try BentoPDF if you haven't / are unhappy with StirlingPDF - awful.systems

Not an ad, I’m not involved with Bento [https://bentopdf.com/] (or Stirling, for that matter). I’ve been unhappy with Stirling for a while (why do documents need to be uploaded to the server? That makes it really hard to safely host publicly. Why is it so slow? Plus, too many things are put behind a fucking paywall). Learned about Bento this morning, tried it out, really liked it, spent an hour today packaging it for nixpkgs. It doesn’t quite have feature parity with Stirling yet, but at least for me, everything I need is there, it’s fast, and it keeps processing in the browser. Like, not even joking: the output of the build process/nixpkg are just a couple of static HTML files and some WASM. No server-side components at all. Really refreshing to see.

smiletolerantly Oct 20

Intent recognition for HomeAssistant without an LLM?

https://awful.systems/post/6008914

Intent recognition for HomeAssistant without an LLM? - awful.systems

A while back I played a round with the HASS Voice Assistant, and pretty easily got to a point where STT and TTS were working really well on my local installation. Also got the hardware to build wyoming satellites with wakeword recognition. However, what kept me from going through the effort of setting everything up properly (and finally getting fucking Alexa out of my house) was the “all or nothing” approach HASS seemingly has to intent recognition. You either: - use the build in Assistant conversation agent, which is a pain in the ass because it matches what your STT recognized 1:1, letter by letter, so it’s almost impossible to actually get it to do something unless you spoke perfectly (and forget, for example, about putting something on your ToDo list; Todo, todo, To-Do,… are all not recognized, and have fun getting your STT to reliably generate the ToDo spelling!), or - you slap a full-blown LLM behind it, either forcing you to again rely on a shitty company, or host the LLM locally; but even in the latter case and on decent (not H100, of course, but with a GPU at least) hardware, the results were slow and shit, and due to context size limitations, you can just forget about exposing all your entities to the LLM Agent. - You also have the option of combining the two approaches; match exactly first, if no intent recognized, forward to LLM; but in practice, that just means that sometimes, you get what you wanted (“all lights off” with a 70% success rate, I’d say), and still a lot of the time you have to wait for ages for a response that may be correct, but often isn’t from the LLM. What I’d like is a third option, doing fuzzy matching on what the STT generated. Indeed, there seems to have been multiple options for that through rhasspy [https://rhasspy.readthedocs.io/en/latest/intent-recognition/], but that project appears to be dead? The HASS integration has not been updated in over 4 years, and the rhasspy repos are archived as of earlier this month. Besides, it was not entirely clear to me if you could just use the intent recognition part of the project, forgoing the rest in favor of what HASS already brings to the table. At this point, I am willing to implement a custom conversation agent, but wanted to make sure first that I haven’t simply missed an obvious setting/addon/… for HASS. My questions are: - are you using the HASS Voice Assistant without an LLM? - if so, how do you get your intents to be recognized reliably? - do you know of any setting/project/addon helping with that? Cheers! Have a good start into the working week…!

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smiletolerantly Oct 13

For myself: Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos. I know that I will never be in a situation to do as the question above suggests (nor that I would have the knowledge or skills required), but I am currently re-reading the books (Hyperion, Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, Rise of Endymion), and I can’t stop thinking about a big screen adaptation.

Or rather, Simmons’ writing is so vivid, so vibrant that you can’t help but visualize it in a cinematic way before your inner eye anyways. The alien, but still somewhat familiar environments, the gargantuan forces of nature and expansive backgrounds just as much as the more intimate set pieces, cities, secret meeting rooms, and so on. “Every Frame a Painting” is something I’ve heard said about some movies, and these books are the textual equivalent: “Every page cannot be helped but be turned into a Painting”. The Hyperion Cantos isn’t even my favorite book or anything the like; it’s just something that screams for an adaptation IMO, and a beautiful one at that.

I also think that the story is exceptionally well suited for either a limited series (Hyperion & Fall of Hyperion) or a movie (Endymion, Rise of Endymion). In fact, I am convinced that if this had been made into a series back in the early/mid 2010s, it could have had a genre- and generation-defining impact akin to (the early seasons of…) Game of Thrones. Today… I’m not sure a studio would spend the required amount of money to make this good.

(Also yes I made this post simply because I had nowhere else to put this comment.)

smiletolerantly Oct 13

What one book or piece of literature would adapt into a movie/TV series if given the funding and full creative control? Why?

https://awful.systems/post/5933754

What one book or piece of literature would adapt into a movie/TV series if given the funding and full creative control? Why? - awful.systems

Your choice whether you are writing the screenplay, directing, … or hiring someone for these things. Also assume permission from the original work’s author(s), of course.

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smiletolerantly Jul 24, 2025

Update: seems to me tuwunel is drama waiting to happen. See updated post for details.

smiletolerantly Jul 21, 2025

`continuwuity` vs `tuwunel`: where to go from `conduwuit`?

https://awful.systems/post/5029223

`continuwuity` vs `tuwunel`: where to go from `conduwuit`? (Update: probably `continuwuity`.) - awful.systems

If you’ve been selfhosting conduit or conduwuit, you probabl are aware that the conduwuit project was discontinued a couple months back. I’ve been holding out on updating my matrix homeserver until it becomes clear which fork(s) will survive long term. I feel like I can’t put off updating for much longer now, plus the tuwunel nixpkg and -module were merged yesterday, so now the two most promising forks are both options for me. Still, I’m unsure what route to take. Here’s my thoughts: - not going through another round of this in a couple of months from now would be great, so stability and long-term maintenance promises would be great - I assume incompatibility between the forks, if not now then very soon; this is a “pick an option, then stick with it and pray” situation - tuwunel [https://github.com/matrix-construct/tuwunel/] apparently has a full-time paid dev working on it now, which is great; at the same time, that means features will follow the priorities of the (as of now unknown) sponsor of the project - it is, however, the officially endorsed successor - it also seems like few other people are actively involved, putting in question development practices, reviews, and what happens should the lead dev throw in the towel - lastly, while there’s been a lot of apparently rapid progress (with releases 1.0.0, 1.1.0, and 1.2.0 at quite a fast pace), the repo itself seems… empty? Few issues, few PRs, commentlessly-deleted issues - on the other hand, continuwuity [https://forgejo.ellis.link/continuwuation/continuwuity] seems more active by commit/contributors count, but is seemingly 100% volunteer work - they do seem to backport tuwunel changes and features, which is great! - they are not officially endorsed In short: I fucking hate community drama. What fork did you go with? Is there anything else to consider? I just want an up-to-date matrix homeserver, and not to have to tell my users “sorry, starting from scratch because we picked the wrong fork…” Update: there’s been some back and forth on the nixpkgs PR, esp. one user who posted a lot of receipts here [https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/pull/420740#issuecomment-3111902374]: > @scvalex @queeek180 @Askhalion you wanted links, here’s some links :) > > claim legitimacy over or de legitimise other projects: > > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$V9aN1Wn0pId-JWbxH1WV5I8PAVMajooX7WMFKmDyh6E [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$V9aN1Wn0pId-JWbxH1WV5I8PAVMajooX7WMFKmDyh6E] > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$IsfOfe8anRYqbRAwj7OdlX_hS-kBbHUJTVhQW-32Etk [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$IsfOfe8anRYqbRAwj7OdlX_hS-kBbHUJTVhQW-32Etk] > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$-Bswk96jj3ns8xpSISKH0Y24pXZ2Xcd6Rwl8mRZQIaM [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$-Bswk96jj3ns8xpSISKH0Y24pXZ2Xcd6Rwl8mRZQIaM] (ironic) > https://matrix.to/#/#meowlnir:maunium.net/$zOmf7-NIHfQ_f_Ku9Q794GeKyu8n9v2MAvPtYjlGJIE [https://matrix.to/#/#meowlnir:maunium.net/$zOmf7-NIHfQ_f_Ku9Q794GeKyu8n9v2MAvPtYjlGJIE] (ironic that he asked https://matrix.to/#/#meowlnir:maunium.net/$nE57Bi_DmvodZJe7JDPS7NxUBlxeDLUBhYIWNzgNk0g [https://matrix.to/#/#meowlnir:maunium.net/$nE57Bi_DmvodZJe7JDPS7NxUBlxeDLUBhYIWNzgNk0g] despite having cherrypicked a bunch of fixes from continuwuity already) > https://matrix.to/#/#tuwunel:grin.hu/$svIUeuWfm2VWuHGSUMeT5VWWcZclraKcmUaDK3NiYEM [https://matrix.to/#/#tuwunel:grin.hu/$svIUeuWfm2VWuHGSUMeT5VWWcZclraKcmUaDK3NiYEM] (“June and I dealt with another “continuwuity” called “grapevine” last year”) > > threats against the project: > > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$o27P102ebbFa9U80e-FK-DxGTupy8IJ3TSWFYJm6hIs [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$o27P102ebbFa9U80e-FK-DxGTupy8IJ3TSWFYJm6hIs] > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$priRlTsBuH2YfTo_pb04xHUJpTeU2DKXdJ7tAVrR5w4 [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$priRlTsBuH2YfTo_pb04xHUJpTeU2DKXdJ7tAVrR5w4] > > personal threats: > > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$5YefXN_uVR5WiGfj32j3Po9Q1JMKuTTfxve_8IHp1J8 [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$5YefXN_uVR5WiGfj32j3Po9Q1JMKuTTfxve_8IHp1J8] > https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$L-dXYMXucfJiLkyc5dvv4t7pQqUKMwnLEd9zzLjZlu0 [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$L-dXYMXucfJiLkyc5dvv4t7pQqUKMwnLEd9zzLjZlu0] > > attempting to get security details released early (knowing only he and three other servers have finished implementing): > > https://matrix.to/#/!NasysSDfxKxZBzJJoE:matrix.org/$_d2wJk45JtwblMHRVBdfeEV1cAU5flPuRebTAvfOr-s?via=nexy7574.co.uk&via=matrix.org&via=element.io [https://matrix.to/#/!NasysSDfxKxZBzJJoE:matrix.org/$_d2wJk45JtwblMHRVBdfeEV1cAU5flPuRebTAvfOr-s?via=nexy7574.co.uk&via=matrix.org&via=element.io] > https://matrix.to/#/#tuwunel:grin.hu/$mgi2dDGnL-L9Jqjm_YZPhu4NoAx8q3OMF9KIfRiGwFs [https://matrix.to/#/#tuwunel:grin.hu/$mgi2dDGnL-L9Jqjm_YZPhu4NoAx8q3OMF9KIfRiGwFs] > > other trivia: > > Jason getting his server ACL’ed from all foundation rooms: > https://matrix.to/#/!WuBtumawCeOGEieRrp:matrix.org/$u8YRBq_s-OrOpl4IGt15iUHPBKubKa4A_n-u_WbgqAU` [https://matrix.to/#/!WuBtumawCeOGEieRrp:matrix.org/$u8YRBq_s-OrOpl4IGt15iUHPBKubKa4A_n-u_WbgqAU%60] - zemos.net [http://zemos.net] ban > https://matrix.to/#/!WuBtumawCeOGEieRrp:matrix.org/$l8pKC-mR0tjLFnbnmi_8xSXbHGA3vgew-QTRWAk-kCs [https://matrix.to/#/!WuBtumawCeOGEieRrp:matrix.org/$l8pKC-mR0tjLFnbnmi_8xSXbHGA3vgew-QTRWAk-kCs] - wildcard ban on his domain > > if any of these events get redacted, feel free to reach out and I will provide the original events - unredacted. just as another layer of certainty, when i provide the events, you can verify the server signing keys yourself, fairly trivially, as well as calculate the event ID (which is a hash). fetching the event from your $CONDUWUIT_DESCENDANT homeserver is as simple as running @conduit debug get-pdu $id in your admin room, as well as checking validity with @conduit debug verify-json or @conduit debug verify-pdu. > > UPDATE: i’ve just been informed json signing is based on the redacted event, not the full input. Honestly, that first link [https://matrix.to/#/#ping:maunium.net/$V9aN1Wn0pId-JWbxH1WV5I8PAVMajooX7WMFKmDyh6E] is all the info I needed. Keep reading, <100 messages and it becomes clear that I do not want to put the continuation of my homeserver into Jasons/tuwunels hands. Going to migrate to continuwuity later today.

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smiletolerantly Feb 26, 2025

Haha wurde gerade aus der Lases Gemeinschaft entfernt weil zu politisch. Ich fühl mich wohl mit euch hier.

smiletolerantly Feb 26, 2025

ich 🌶️🌶️🌶️ iel

https://awful.systems/post/3627801

ich 🌶️🌶️🌶️ iel - awful.systems

Danke!! Endlich sagt wer was!

smiletolerantly Jan 5, 2025

Devin, the "$2 Billion AI software engineer" turns out to be a complete scam. Who could have thunk!

https://awful.systems/post/3221639

Devin, the "$2 Billion AI software engineer" turns out to be a complete scam. Who could have thunk! - awful.systems

Schadenfreude 🙂

smiletolerantly Nov 25, 2024

How would I go about gaining access to a locked-down Linux device I own.

https://awful.systems/post/2924606

How would I go about gaining access to a locked-down Linux device I own. - awful.systems

Five years ago, I bought a Supernote A5. It was (and mostly still is) a great device for reading and writing on an eInk display, and it runs plain old linux. The deciding reason I went for this device instead of the competition is that I was “under the impression” that they were about to enable full SSH access to the device! Awesome! “Why were you under that impression?”, I hear the skeptics ask. Well, their spokesperson has stated that they would do so. Via mail, and on reddit, publicly, multiple times. I was still torn, so sent them a DM, asking if this was ineed factual. “Yes”, they said, “the next quarterly update will enable SSH access!”. Great! Well, it’s been 5 years. They did not follow through. A couple updates were published, none contained the promised functionality, the spokesperson stopped answering questions about SSH. The last software update I received is from 2.5yrs ago. Mentions of the original Supernote A5 have largely been scrubbed from their website. Let me be clear, the device still functions perfectly. But it is in danger of becoming e-waste because it is so needlessly complicated to get stuff on the device. I’m currently in need of an ebook reader with (ideally) OPDS capability, and I am pretty confident I’d be able to get something like koreader running on this, or at least just run a script to sync files over SSH. Also, I frankly feel wounded in my pride having a Linux device in my possession which refuses to do my bidding (I’m joking of course, but also I am 100% serious). Here’s all I know: - plugging it in via USB, the device reads as an MTP device, with access only to the documents/books/… stored on it - you can place an update.zip file (obtained from the SN website [https://support.supernote.com/change-log/how-to-update-your-supernote]) into the root of that MTP directory, and upon reboot, the device will update. To me, this appears to be the most promising route of gaining access. - unfortunately, the zip file is encrypted. The decryption key clearly has to be known to the device, but since I have no access to it,… I’m a software engineer, but I have zero knowledge of the “dark arts”, so to speak. If anyone could help me (or point me into the right direction!), I would really be grateful. I don’t want this (generally nice) product to turn into a paperweight instead of a paper replacement :(