Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

@yaelwrites Nice! Here's one of mine. It was used to teach touch typing, that's why the keys are colorized:

https://social.librem.one/@kyle/106841485305774125

@yaelwrites Pics!

@yaelwrites There are of course a lot of them on sites like ebay too, but they are so heavy that shipping becomes expensive (and you risk damage) so it's often better to source locally.

@yaelwrites Some I found in antique stores or thrift stores, but the majority have been from individuals posting on craigslist who were getting rid of their (or their deceased spouse's) collection. There's some crossover from folks who collect vintage typewriters (I have a few of those too).

@yaelwrites I find them really fascinating. Most of them I've gotten so far aren't fully functional when I get them but I've found they are also pretty fun to work on and restore. Plus taking them apart means I can watch the machinery in action.

I plan to catalog them, print out placards and essentially have a small museum in my office.

@yaelwrites Check out my timeline on here to see my collection. I started collecting antique mechanical calculators in earnest earlier in the year and I've been featuring about one per week with descriptions and photos and videos of how they work. My current collection spans from about 1908 (Burroughs Class 1 Type 7) to the 1950s.

@yaelwrites I really liked the piece! Granted all of my favorite calculators are 80-100 years old and have gears and levers, so this is a bit fancy for me, but I'm definitely going to keep it in mind for when my son needs a calculator for school.

@danialbehzadi It's optional, the idea is like w/ scanning /boot files, to try to detect attacks against root files that occur while the system is running and / is unlocked.

Rootkits can evade attempts to detect from within the infected kernel/file system, so you want to scan from the trusted PureBoot environment.

Some people would run a scan every time they boot. Others would only do it when their computer is out of their custody.

@danialbehzadi We do encrypt the root disk with LUKS, but not /boot (where kernel, initrd and grub config are), for two reasons:

1. PureBoot must store the HOTP counter somewhere for initial tamper-detection of the firmware itself. Currently /boot is the best location. We don't want to prompt for a LUKS secret before you can trust the firmware.

2. For users who don't want to scan the root partition, leaving /boot unencrypted allows them to scan /boot w/o prompting them for secrets.

@yaelwrites Kentucky originally. The only good Memphis BBQ I get out here in California is what I make myself.

@yaelwrites I miss good TN BBQ...

How do you fund free software sustainably? In this post I talk about some of the main approaches, the problems with some funding models, and specifically how (and why) Purism takes the approach we do. https://puri.sm/posts/how-purism-funds-free-software/

"the hackers did not appear to have reached a Sinclair system called "the master control," allowing Sinclair to replace local feeds with a national one." The proof is that there were no surprise broadcasts of The Outer Limits this weekend. #hacktheplanet https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/10/18/sinclair-broadcasting-ransomware-attack/

@Konqi It underscores how much of what seems intuitive comes down to what you have already experienced. I bet in 30 years current calculator interfaces will seem hard and confusing, as people will be used to asking voice assistants instead.

@Konqi It has the advantage of an electric motor to take the place of levers and cranks. It also seems easier because the UI is closer to modern calculators we are more familiar with, which makes sense, since electronic calculators started coming out a bit over a decade later.

While they aren't as pretty as Burroughs adding machines, Comptometers are *fast* and functional (you can calculate square roots on them!) and are my favorite from this era. There's a reason they stuck around with only minor tweaks until the age of electronic calculators.