Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

Pretty excited to start this book. I've found the quality of translation really matters and this most recent translation of We is supposed to be the best.

"Farmers have already told us that they’re buying older tractors to avoid the software repair restrictions that manufacturers like Deere put in place." https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wxd8wy/the-used-tractor-market-is-far-wilder-than-the-used-car-market

@Thalass Yeah, pushing a safety razor hard enough against my skin to roll that roller runs counter to everything I know about safety razor shaving.

@yaelwrites That was one of the more interesting (and more personally nostalgic) parts of Snowden's autobiography. He, like me, came of age online in the late `90s and observed that the prevalence of anonymous forums and chat allowed him to try out a new idea or belief and be able to abandon it (by switching to a new persona) once he found it didn't hold up. Now such explorations online are tied to your identity and follow you forever.

After doing more research it turns out this razor was known as the King Oscillator and is one of the few safety razors out there that require proprietary blades! No wonder you don't see many of these around anymore...

Today's antique store find: a King razor plated in 22 karat gold. The roller on the top rolls against your face and makes the razor blade move back and forth. I'm actually more nervous about shaving with this than my vibrating Stahly razor.

Dragging the chain and hearing the gears click into place is very satisfying--nice tactile feedback. However, carrying a one across the whole register takes some force. It looks nice and is OK as a small desktop calculator, but subtracting w/ it makes me prefer the Addometer.

Multiplication is repeated addition, shifting left for each digit in the multiplier. Here is 12 x 12. Because of the extended complements for subtraction method, division is possible but not ideal.

To clear the register, you turn the knob on the bottom right side anti-clockwise until all the digits say 0.

The chain only moves in one direction, so to subtract you have to use the complements method. To subtract 42 from 31342, I add 9999958.

These are portable, but are bigger and heavier than other pocket calculators of the time and primarily sat in or on a desk using the kickstand, and were used for quick arithmetic. To add a number, insert a stylus at the corresponding digit and drag down to the bottom.

These are known as chain adders. By inserting a stylus and dragging the chain down, you increment the register. You can see the carry mechanism in this video, which uses a spring-loaded tooth that rides along the outside of the gear and engages with the next gear only after 9.

These are Golden Gem portable adding machines made by the Automatic Adding Machine Company. The chrome one on the left was made around 1910 and the black one on the right, which has its original box, case, warranty card and receipt, was purchased in February 1941 for $9.16.

"If it's free, you are the product" stopped being true once the rest of the companies saw how much money there was in selling customer data. Now you are the product regardless of whether you pay.

It's so profitable to sell customer data that Vizio now makes 2x as much from that than selling TVs. Until the govt outlaws this data collection, your only recourse to protect your ⁨#privacy⁩ is to buy things from the few companies left that respect it. https://gizmodo.com/welp-vizio-now-makes-twice-as-much-from-advertising-as-1848034943

@sohkamyung I admit that it's finding out about the Jacquard loom as I was researching the history of mechanical calculators that is partially responsible for my wanting to take up weaving.

@GirthyChode@fosstodon.org I can do some basic hand-sewing, just enough for simple repairs really, but don't know my way around a sewing machine. I do know how to crochet though and have made large blankets that way, although it's been many years.

New hobby: I'm taking up weaving! The pun possibilities are looming in my warped mind.

@yaelwrites Oh no! Do you write/type notes as a backup normally?

Apple's talking about sideloading this week to shift the discussion away from App Store competition. If it had to compete with other secure iPhone app stores (like ones dedicated to gaming) it would have to lower its fees and improve its policies. It's about control not security.