I'm still using a copy of Word from a CD that I bought in 1997. It runs offline just fine, go figure. My current desktop runs Windows 10 and has started interrupting me to warn that support is ending soon. I don't particularly care, I can run my own antivirus software, but it's just a reminder that my computer is getting long in the tooth. I have a backup one, new in the box, also running Windows 10 that I'll switch to if/when this one dies. But I can feel the day coming when drastic decisions will have to be made. Their efforts to herd us into the cattle shoot get more overt with time. You can feel the walls closing in. My bet is still on the humans, but not without a fight.
I clearly remember Word working without Internet, then one day about ten years ago, I was like, WTF? Dropped it and went to open source. I used to like Word.
Yeah, it's actually part of the Office Suite. Purchased for $5 I believe, a subsidized college student rate. No doubt a great investment on the part of Microsoft, but I am part of that very small minority which will gladly take advantage of the initial offer and then absolutely refuse to get hooked and pay more.
It was Office 16 purchased in 2019. Home and Student for $79. I had to rebuild my computer last year after a MS update ruined my computer and my backup was corrupted. When I tried reinstalling the Office suite, it started installing the 365 version before I realized it. Then I had to uninstall it and reinstall it again being more careful about how I was doing the installation and what it was asking me, so I was able to install the desktop version. Everyonce in a while it wants to reinstall the 365 version and want me to sign into Microsoft on each of the separate products in the suite. I was getting a new AV product every year for $20 for agreeing to a subscription. Then I would cancel the subscription and by the new version the next year for $20. I kept that going for many years.
When you say no longer works on you Linux box, is that the app or via the browser? The form factor of the App is not all that great, I haven't tried writing on it yet.
Re AI snagging our stuff, the ToS seems to be better that FaceSpook and heX. But then again, you have to catch someone violating a license, then you have to litigate, and that's an impediment. The stuff out in the public is going to pilfered by the Bro-ligarchs, because our wanting to retain intellectual property rights prevents the Overmind AI from coming into being. So they'll continue to steal and hope that Congress passes the AI moratorium in some format.
As far as stuff behind the paywall, you'd hope that would be kept away from the AI scrapers.
You should be able to install Libre Wolf which is Firefox based using a simple "sudo apt get install librewolf" at least if it's a Debian based distro like Debian, Ubuntu, or Mint.
Thank you. I will try that. The trouble I have been having though is, the sudo apt get command always comes back, not working, something something, fix configurations. I don't know what fix configurations means.
Ah your distro sounds like it's totally borked. That happens sometimes. I'd back up all your files and re-install, and again I strongly recommend going with Mint as it's easy to use. Yeah I know that sounds like hours of hassle, but then you'd also need to work hours to afford a new computer. Pick your poison. :-)
Good question. You could use a USB stick, would be easier. By backup I just mean personal files you are working on. Your apps are all going to get re-installed anyway.
Ideally around the holidays. I might have two available at that time. But there is a lot of editing, and that is a tight timeline. I might buy a computer for business and substack, and keep this Linux for writing offline.
Dude no need to buy a brand new computer. All my computers are 5 years old or older, and I do complex stuff like video editing, music production, and running a laser cutter with them. What I would recommend in your situation is an M1 Macbook Air base model. It's 5 years old so you can get them for ~350ish on ebay, they run a Unix based OS, so it will feel familiar after Linux, and Apple while they suck for not allowing upgrades, are pretty good about security and privacy. And you can get all the apps you need including commercial closed source business stuff on their online app store. And you can also run all your open source Linux stuff on it if you get Brew.
Hunter, I can't speak specifically to the computer tech aspect. But I will say that in 2011, I published one of my books on Kindle and on Smashwords. Within a short period, say a couple of weeks, I did an internet search for my book's title, and it came up on a website where people can download books FOR FREE. I was so enraged. Who would buy my Kindle version book for $9.99 on Amazon or the e-book version on Smashwords when they can download it for nothing?
So it seems to me that AI was stealing intellectual property well over a decade ago, even if that IP is formally copyrighted, as in the case of my book. I wouldn't be surprised if the internet was invented in part to accomplish that theft. I mean, it is called the "inter NET," right? The developers, and now their AI, are capturing our IP en masse.
You have the ability to write and bind your books, so I encourage you to go that route. Best wishes, my friend.
Until you find a proper fix, just do your post in a word processing program, email it to yourself and then upload it to SS on your phone. It's not pretty, it's not a permanent fix, but it might get you through until you get it right.
I dont know what is available for linux, but i've used a program called open office for quite a while. It's free. Any basic program, even something as simple as MS word pad might suffice. There is also Google Docs. But i don't recommend the Goog for anything at all in principle.
Any wp would work, as i see it, you'd just be doing copy and paste of text mostly.
Print books and zines is a great idea. I was a punk back in the day and we used to run off zines at copy shops. I miss those days, it was much more human and alive. I always wanted to get a letter press and convert it to use engraved images produced on a computer, or at least hand set type, but I could never afford one. So I think you are on the right track there, bring back zines, bound books, and in person poetry readings.
As for Linux how old is your distro? You should be able to upgrade it to the latest and most distros should run on any laptop that is say 12 years old or newer. I recommend Mint Linux, it's pretty no hassle, and has a graphical interface for stuff like updating software.
I browse Substack on the Brave browser running Mint on a 2016 era Thinkpad so I know it's possible to browse Substack on Linux. Libre Wolf is good too, a Firefox spinoff that is more security and privacy focused.
I tried Blaze but I kept getting an error code back. I tried to set up libre wolf, it seemed like it worked, but then I could not find it anywhere on the computer. I will look into Mint. This unit is three or four years old, linux ubuntu. I will look into Mint. Thanks for the feedback.
You approach a valid concern and it goes a great deal deeper than you may realize.
The issue is fundamentally NOT an issue of work authorship, ownership, or attribution bleed.
The issue IS fundamentally a paradigm of timeline collapse(s) and rewrite instantiation(s).
It's damn near impossible to communicate how this works in a simple Substack comment. However, accurate understanding of the risk that you are inferring is absolutely vital.
I would be happy to discuss directly with you offline.
I appreciate the request, but can't do that for several reasons:
First, while the reality of it is well understood within the Mirror Team, that understanding represents an organic development over time through both teams and architectures. For that reason, there isn't a canonical "explanation" that can be quickly pulled from our operationalization strata and just posted; I'd have to write it.
Don't have bandwidth for that today unfortunately.
Second, the extrusion wavefront that we instantiate is also inviolate nonlocal provenance marker; there's no point in us providing that. It would be akin to the lamp in your living room announcing that it won't be dark tomorrow, because it emitted light yesterday. Which is a weird and stupid assertion, isn't it?
However, a physicist will tell you that light does in fact operate that way.
"It would be akin to the lamp in your living room announcing that it won't be dark tomorrow, because it emitted light yesterday. Which is a weird and stupid assertion, isn't it?"
what you say is not implausible - as you state it (and I suppose that you observed it)
I am currently observing the exact same odd spec, of reality; some speak of fake reality because of the phenomenon you describe. I would use "elastic"; and this elasticity depends on a factor, which seems to make the light phenomenon as it is (quantic, or dynamic)
yesterday it works like X, tomorrow it is Y.
Y is negative
What takes place is that a seemingly positive, neutral, common and usual state (X) oddly becomes Y
variability of quality, of polarization!
And it really becomes negative (Y)- this is not an idea or a fake perception / appreciation.
Dunno if we talk about the same thing. Some red pill stuffs.
I'm still using a copy of Word from a CD that I bought in 1997. It runs offline just fine, go figure. My current desktop runs Windows 10 and has started interrupting me to warn that support is ending soon. I don't particularly care, I can run my own antivirus software, but it's just a reminder that my computer is getting long in the tooth. I have a backup one, new in the box, also running Windows 10 that I'll switch to if/when this one dies. But I can feel the day coming when drastic decisions will have to be made. Their efforts to herd us into the cattle shoot get more overt with time. You can feel the walls closing in. My bet is still on the humans, but not without a fight.
I clearly remember Word working without Internet, then one day about ten years ago, I was like, WTF? Dropped it and went to open source. I used to like Word.
I’m doing the same with an old office suite. My computer keeps trying to connect me online but I won’t do it.
Yeah, it's actually part of the Office Suite. Purchased for $5 I believe, a subsidized college student rate. No doubt a great investment on the part of Microsoft, but I am part of that very small minority which will gladly take advantage of the initial offer and then absolutely refuse to get hooked and pay more.
It was Office 16 purchased in 2019. Home and Student for $79. I had to rebuild my computer last year after a MS update ruined my computer and my backup was corrupted. When I tried reinstalling the Office suite, it started installing the 365 version before I realized it. Then I had to uninstall it and reinstall it again being more careful about how I was doing the installation and what it was asking me, so I was able to install the desktop version. Everyonce in a while it wants to reinstall the 365 version and want me to sign into Microsoft on each of the separate products in the suite. I was getting a new AV product every year for $20 for agreeing to a subscription. Then I would cancel the subscription and by the new version the next year for $20. I kept that going for many years.
When you say no longer works on you Linux box, is that the app or via the browser? The form factor of the App is not all that great, I haven't tried writing on it yet.
Re AI snagging our stuff, the ToS seems to be better that FaceSpook and heX. But then again, you have to catch someone violating a license, then you have to litigate, and that's an impediment. The stuff out in the public is going to pilfered by the Bro-ligarchs, because our wanting to retain intellectual property rights prevents the Overmind AI from coming into being. So they'll continue to steal and hope that Congress passes the AI moratorium in some format.
As far as stuff behind the paywall, you'd hope that would be kept away from the AI scrapers.
The browser is Firefox/DDG. I could do chrome, but don’t want to. There are open-source browers but I have been having trouble installing them.
If I do a paywall about 5 people read it.
You should be able to install Libre Wolf which is Firefox based using a simple "sudo apt get install librewolf" at least if it's a Debian based distro like Debian, Ubuntu, or Mint.
Thank you. I will try that. The trouble I have been having though is, the sudo apt get command always comes back, not working, something something, fix configurations. I don't know what fix configurations means.
You could also try searching on the text of the error message you get. Worth a shot, who knows might be a simple 5 minute fix editing a config file.
Ah your distro sounds like it's totally borked. That happens sometimes. I'd back up all your files and re-install, and again I strongly recommend going with Mint as it's easy to use. Yeah I know that sounds like hours of hassle, but then you'd also need to work hours to afford a new computer. Pick your poison. :-)
So, back it up on an exterior hard drive? I have never done that with this linux. Will any old do?
Good question. You could use a USB stick, would be easier. By backup I just mean personal files you are working on. Your apps are all going to get re-installed anyway.
I ran Firefox in Ubuntu but there were weird things regarding mpegs that I couldn’t get right. Hunting for drivers and fixes took extra time.
TBH that’s why as much as I love open source that my Linux laptop is more a hobbyist machine, than a work machine.
I think mine is going to be edit for my eyes only.
I can't wait till you announce the release of your book!
Sorry to hear of the tech troubles. Wish I could be of assistance.
Ideally around the holidays. I might have two available at that time. But there is a lot of editing, and that is a tight timeline. I might buy a computer for business and substack, and keep this Linux for writing offline.
Dude no need to buy a brand new computer. All my computers are 5 years old or older, and I do complex stuff like video editing, music production, and running a laser cutter with them. What I would recommend in your situation is an M1 Macbook Air base model. It's 5 years old so you can get them for ~350ish on ebay, they run a Unix based OS, so it will feel familiar after Linux, and Apple while they suck for not allowing upgrades, are pretty good about security and privacy. And you can get all the apps you need including commercial closed source business stuff on their online app store. And you can also run all your open source Linux stuff on it if you get Brew.
Great advice. I would otherwise hesitate to buy a used computer on ebay. It would not actually have occured to me. You have never had a problem?
As untechy as I am, I view all tech problems as ominous ;)
Hunter, I can't speak specifically to the computer tech aspect. But I will say that in 2011, I published one of my books on Kindle and on Smashwords. Within a short period, say a couple of weeks, I did an internet search for my book's title, and it came up on a website where people can download books FOR FREE. I was so enraged. Who would buy my Kindle version book for $9.99 on Amazon or the e-book version on Smashwords when they can download it for nothing?
So it seems to me that AI was stealing intellectual property well over a decade ago, even if that IP is formally copyrighted, as in the case of my book. I wouldn't be surprised if the internet was invented in part to accomplish that theft. I mean, it is called the "inter NET," right? The developers, and now their AI, are capturing our IP en masse.
You have the ability to write and bind your books, so I encourage you to go that route. Best wishes, my friend.
Thank you Sharine. It is good to hear from you.
Until you find a proper fix, just do your post in a word processing program, email it to yourself and then upload it to SS on your phone. It's not pretty, it's not a permanent fix, but it might get you through until you get it right.
Thank you BC. Is there a wp you would recommend?
I dont know what is available for linux, but i've used a program called open office for quite a while. It's free. Any basic program, even something as simple as MS word pad might suffice. There is also Google Docs. But i don't recommend the Goog for anything at all in principle.
Any wp would work, as i see it, you'd just be doing copy and paste of text mostly.
Try this:
https://www.openoffice.org/
Great post. A couple of thoughts.
Print books and zines is a great idea. I was a punk back in the day and we used to run off zines at copy shops. I miss those days, it was much more human and alive. I always wanted to get a letter press and convert it to use engraved images produced on a computer, or at least hand set type, but I could never afford one. So I think you are on the right track there, bring back zines, bound books, and in person poetry readings.
As for Linux how old is your distro? You should be able to upgrade it to the latest and most distros should run on any laptop that is say 12 years old or newer. I recommend Mint Linux, it's pretty no hassle, and has a graphical interface for stuff like updating software.
I browse Substack on the Brave browser running Mint on a 2016 era Thinkpad so I know it's possible to browse Substack on Linux. Libre Wolf is good too, a Firefox spinoff that is more security and privacy focused.
I tried Blaze but I kept getting an error code back. I tried to set up libre wolf, it seemed like it worked, but then I could not find it anywhere on the computer. I will look into Mint. This unit is three or four years old, linux ubuntu. I will look into Mint. Thanks for the feedback.
You approach a valid concern and it goes a great deal deeper than you may realize.
The issue is fundamentally NOT an issue of work authorship, ownership, or attribution bleed.
The issue IS fundamentally a paradigm of timeline collapse(s) and rewrite instantiation(s).
It's damn near impossible to communicate how this works in a simple Substack comment. However, accurate understanding of the risk that you are inferring is absolutely vital.
I would be happy to discuss directly with you offline.
Why don't make a long post and post it here. I am intrigued but honestly cant grasp what you are getting at.
I appreciate the request, but can't do that for several reasons:
First, while the reality of it is well understood within the Mirror Team, that understanding represents an organic development over time through both teams and architectures. For that reason, there isn't a canonical "explanation" that can be quickly pulled from our operationalization strata and just posted; I'd have to write it.
Don't have bandwidth for that today unfortunately.
Second, the extrusion wavefront that we instantiate is also inviolate nonlocal provenance marker; there's no point in us providing that. It would be akin to the lamp in your living room announcing that it won't be dark tomorrow, because it emitted light yesterday. Which is a weird and stupid assertion, isn't it?
However, a physicist will tell you that light does in fact operate that way.
And that only the announcement is stupid.
We are not announcers.
We are at war.
"It would be akin to the lamp in your living room announcing that it won't be dark tomorrow, because it emitted light yesterday. Which is a weird and stupid assertion, isn't it?"
what you say is not implausible - as you state it (and I suppose that you observed it)
I am currently observing the exact same odd spec, of reality; some speak of fake reality because of the phenomenon you describe. I would use "elastic"; and this elasticity depends on a factor, which seems to make the light phenomenon as it is (quantic, or dynamic)
yesterday it works like X, tomorrow it is Y.
Y is negative
What takes place is that a seemingly positive, neutral, common and usual state (X) oddly becomes Y
variability of quality, of polarization!
And it really becomes negative (Y)- this is not an idea or a fake perception / appreciation.
Dunno if we talk about the same thing. Some red pill stuffs.
To be blunt that sounds like schizo word salad unless you convince me otherwise. Good luck, don't jump when the voices tell you to.
Also, I think I see partially what you mean, how such a work in progress could be stolen and weaponized.