Permacomputing

Permacomputing is a term originating from the demoscene, known for squeezing the most out of very restricted computing resources, such as the 4k intro with a maximum executable file size of 4096 bytes.

Permaculture uses methods that lets nature do the work, minimizing the reliance on artificial energy. Heikkilä sees similarities between how both permaculture practitioners and hackers find clever solutions to problems. He writes that the existence of computers can only be justified by their ability to augment the potential of humans to have a strengthening effect on ecosystems.

Greyjays in beta right now but it already looks like it has better data sovrienty than youtube, with easy access to other platforms as well.

From the video description:

In this session, I will explore some playful low-power, sometimes analog, computation systems and esoteric programming languages, designed to work offline, on salvaged devices, advised from spending the past 7 years sailing around the Pacific Ocean.

No seafaring experience required.

Devine Lu Linvega
Hundred Rabbits, Crew

Devine Lu Linvega is a designer and musician living aboard a sailboat somewhere on the foggy shores of the Pacific ocean. Devine has been developing and teaching livecoding environments all the while fending off the rising tide of noxious modern software and operating systems.

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Recorded Sept 22, 2023 at Strange Loop 2023 in St. Louis, MO.

Couldn't post a direct link, this is hosted on a gemini capsule and Lemmy accepts only http.

gemini://misfin.org/

💌 manifesto

Email is just as bad as the Web. It's grown to be complex, secure only with other protocols bolted onto it, and it supports all the nasty misfeatures that the Web does, like cookies and tracking beacons. Even worse, it's seeing active hostility from the major players of the Internet. Most ISPs block traffic on port 25, and you can't deliver mail to any of the big names (like Gmail) without jumping through hoops - and even then, it's a coin toss.

A good piece on the topic.

I would love it if there was a way around this, a standard way for people interested in the small web to communicate. Something like Gemini, which can be grokked and implemented by one person. To that end, I've been working on a replacement - but I need some feedback.

📰 the details

I've written up specs for a protocol named Misfin, named after the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN). It's spartan, but not overly so. It's only concerned with sending messages; mailbox management and relaying are out-of-band. Neither does it do much to combat spam - it probably won't be used by enough people to matter - but it avoids the worst of SMTP's security gotchas.

📝 the protocol: less is more

Maybe we should just worry about text. Maybe we don't want to accept big huge messages from strangers. Maybe we should be asking people nicely if they want to receive an attachment, rather than just sending it to them. Consider the following protocol. We send a single request, no more than 2048 bytes, and with an assumed mime of text/gemini:

misfin://mailbox@hostname.com Everything after this is the body of the message.\r\n

And the server tells us if it was accepted:

20 \r\n

Message sent, ezpz. Misfin is limited, but not crippled. Want to send a binary file? Throw it up on a Gemini server (you have one of those, yeah?) and link to it - you get the fingerprint of the receiver's certificate, so you could even gate it for them if it's eyes only. Can't fit your message into 2K? Send two, or maybe write less. (Most of the emails I got on the Gemini mailing list were smaller than that anyway).

🔭 but is there a better way

Maybe. That's why I need your feedback. Download the reference specification and shoot me a Misfin letter (!) at rfc@misfin.org

Or, make a ticket on Sourcehut, or Github, or post about it on Station. Up to you. But you could be the first to send me a Misfin letter...

Let's say, one is in need of a replacement of its PC (something went horribly wrong with it, exploded or something), would it be more "permacomputable" to replace it with a new Raspberry Pi (as a daily driver of course), or a used PC?