Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

@katherined According to this expert weaver/waulker/folk singer on the podcast, Outlander wasn't too accurate :)

Yesterday I learned via a fiber arts podcast that the surname Walker was derived from the profession of Scottish waulkers who took part in waulking: the process of fulling (felting) woolen handwoven fabric by foot to make them denser/warmer. #weaving

I realized I hardly ever add topical hashtags to posts which probably makes it tougher for folks around the fediverse to see things I write that they might be interested in. I'll try to do better with future posts about #weaving , #calculators , #addingmachines and #Linux #FOSS and #infosec topics.

@goatwildernesscollective It should be possible but someone would have to write GPG integration to unlock that keyring. Once that is there the smart card should "just work".

Before clicky mechanical keyboards in the office were controversial, Toshiba was stirring things up about clicky mechanical calculators to sell their electronic alternative.

@nielsa Welcome!

I plan to merge these mobile changes back to the original repo (https://source.puri.sm/pureos/packages/smartcard-key-luks) once it gets a bit more testing so the same script can work on desktop and mobile.

Someone in the mobile Linux community modified my Librem Key USB smart card LUKS unlock script to also work for mobile. I tweaked it so now it can also use the built-in Librem 5 smart card reader. Now I have 2FA disk unlock on my Librem 5!

So I made some progress with refurbishing the Comptometer this weekend. I freed up many stuck registers, but that revealed an issue with the carry mechanism on a few digits I will have to investigate further.

@garethgreenaway Welcome!

I figured I should change my profile picture on here to match what I used most recently on Twitter, in preparation of people moving over to Mastodon.

@sbeebe Yes I would say that Comptometer and the Curta are great examples of peak mechanical calculators, with a Marchant Silent Speed being another if you include electrically-driven ones.

In 15 minutes (1:30 pm PST) I will be presenting about Snitching on Apps That Snitch on You using OpenSnitch ⁨@lfnw⁩. Drop on by if you are interested in an effective approach to desktop firewalls. https://lfnw.org/conferences/2022/program/proposals/653

@lwriemen I'd consider it praise. I think you can make a strong argument that spreadsheet software in general and Excel specifically is the most consequential and most important single piece of software for business.

@sbeebe The register is in the front of the device lined up with each column of keys. In the picture everything is currently blank but once you depress a key it would add to the corresponding register. I demo a similar (but a few decades older) Comptometer in this thread.

https://social.librem.one/@kyle/107113386138173691

Once I finish cleaning and repairing this one I'll follow up with a thread demoing and explaining it.

This evening I'm cleaning, repairing and refurbishing a Comptometer model 3D11 from the 1950s. This was the last Comptometer the company made and has its final speed and accuracy improvements before the world moved to electronic calculators.

Check out this giant electric accounting machine! It's a combination typewriter and adding machine that is basically the electromechanical Excel of its day.

@Konqi It is a combination of local antique and thrift stores, local sellers, and eBay. It is surprising how much they show up when you start looking for them.