Johnny Rollerfeet's Echo Chamber

I used to have a community on rollerfeet.tumblr, then Tumblr stopped answering support emails. /kvetch

[jaireaux]

Wordle 1,318 3/6*

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨 🟩🟨⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

[jaireaux]

my cool handy bash alias and functions

I don’t know where to put things these days. I’ll put it here and hope that tumblr doesn’t go the way of angelfire and gopher.

I made this alias because I don’t like to scan the whole screen to try to find the top line of the output of the command I just executed. Most of the things I run spit out dozens of lines all at once so I have to fish around to find where it started. It draws a line of equal signs (=) all the way across the screen.

alias l='printf "=%.0s" $(eval echo "{1..$COLUMNS}"); printf "\n"'

So I can type ‘l [enter]’ and then the command I’m running, e.g. ‘exiftool -all dates *jpg’, then I just have to look for the line of equal signs to find the top of the output.

I put this function in my .bashrc as a shortcut to find files without seeing all the “Permission denied” errors. It takes a single parameter, por ejemplo ‘f exiftool’.

function f { find / -name "$1" 2>&1 | grep -v "Permission denied"; } export -f f

I made this function to simplify looking for a command in my history. It takes a single parameter, for example ‘h exif’.

function h { history | grep "$1"; } export -f h

Now these will sit on Tumblr and webarchive, never to be seen again (except by me when I’m working in bash.

[jaireaux]

When is it going to be summer?

[jaireaux]

Muslims Denouncing Terrorists

Here is a short list of media coverage where Muslims speak out against terrorists.

Here’s Your List Of Muslim Leaders Around The World That Condemned The Massacre In Orlando (Think Progress, 6/13/2016)

Muslims Around the World Speak Out Against Terrorist Attacks in Paris (Time, 11/14/2015)

Pressing a Muslim Reformation (US News & World Report, 12/18/2015)

How 70,000 Muslim Clerics Are Standing Up To Terrorism (Huffington Post, 12/11/2015)

How Muslim Groups, Scholars Have Been Fighting ISIS (NBC 4 New York, 12/9/2015)

Why Don’t Moderate Muslims Denounce Terrorism? (Huffington Post, 12/4/2016)

Why don’t more moderate Muslims denounce extremism? (Washington Post, 1/2/2015)

[jaireaux]

[jaireaux]

Cornyn Responds To Letter About Gun Violence

It’s rare that I’ve had good things to say about my congressional representatives. As a left leaning libertarian in Austin, they often don’t consider me as a constituent. 

After San Bernardino, I wrote a letter to my Senators and House Representatives about gun violence demanding that they take action. I wasn’t advocating for a particular action, but I expressed my distress at the lack of actual solutions from conservatives. 

I am happy to post this letter I received from Senator John Cornyn. It lays out a thoughtful response including actionable suggestions, all of which I support. I’m not naive enough to believe this is the end of the discussion, but I see proposed solutions which we should all agree to implement.

Read Senator Cornyn’s response below. (Errors are most likely due to poor OCR software and my inability to copyedit.)

United States Senate WASHINGTON, DC 20510-4305

January 12, 2016

...

Thank you for contacting me with your suggestions for federal firearms policy. I recognize the time and effort that you are dedicating to actively participate in the democratic process, and I am encouraged that you and other concerned citizens are committed to reducing gun violence in America.

Like every Texan, I want to prevent gun violence, and I believe this begins with fully enforcing existing gun laws. Under the current Administration, gun crime prosecutions have dropped significantly. This is a starting point: going after the criminals and those who lie on their background checks.

The federal government has also not adequately enforced the 2007 NICS Improvement Amendments Act, a law that is supported by organizations ranging from the National Rifle Association to the Brady Campaign. Passed unanimously by Congress following the Virginia Tech shootings, this law requires states to submit the mental health records of individuals who are adjudicated as a danger to themselves or others, so that they are prevented from legally purchasing firearms. It is worth noting that Texas has received high marks from the Government Accountability Office for its compliance with the law. Our state has shown how to make the necessary reforms while also protecting Second Amendment rights.

On August 5, 2015, I introduced the Mental Health and Safe Communities Act of 2015 (S. 2002), which would enhance the ability of local communities to identify and treat potentially dangerous, mentally-ill individuals. S. 2002 will help fix the existing background check system without expanding it, increase the use of treatment-based alternatives for mentally-ill offenders, and improve crisis response and prevention by local officials. The bill is endorsed by a diverse group of organizations, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the National Association of Police Organizations. Federal and state authorities alike have criticized the Justice Department's ambiguous guidelines that fail to include many existing mental illness records. Far too many mental health records remain stuck in a bureaucratic logjam. S. 2002 would help to clear that logjam and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I am a member, for further consideration.

This is the debate we should be having -- a debate that focuses on the real root causes of mass violence, and a debate that addresses the perilous intersection of guns and mental illness. We can tackle these problems without curtailing Second Amendment rights, and I will continue to push for effective solutions that protect communities while preserving our constitutional liberties.

I am always appreciative when Texans reach out and share their concerns. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN

United States Senator

[jaireaux]

There Is No War On Christmas

There are a lot of Christians defiantly posting quotes on Facebook declaring they will not succumb to political correctness, or have their right to free speech denied, when they want to wish someone “Merry Christmas”. These statements exclaiming oppression fail to hold up with a little scrutiny.

The easiest fallacy to address is the free speech argument. If a person can continue saying something, i.e. the government has not restricted their ability to say it, they retain their right to free speech. If they are being criticized for saying “Merry Christmas”, or if their employer has instructed them to instead say “Happy Holidays”, they still retain their right to free speech. However, that right does not protect them from criticism nor does it protect their employment. A person can be fired for the things they say, even if what they are saying is based on their religious beliefs. If the expression of their religious beliefs reach a level where they can be mistaken for the beliefs of the company, the company can decide whether to allow that person to continue representing them or they can force a separation (aka “fire them”) to correct the misunderstanding.

When a person says “Merry Christmas” they are saying “I am a Christian.” When a business says “Merry Christmas” they are saying “we are a Christian business.” The implication is “we are not a business of non-Christians.” (It is also easily inferred “we are not a business for non-Christians.”) This is where things are problematic. An as individual, people have the right to associate with or shun other people on any basis. “I don’t want to be near any Muslims” is legal (as an individual), but as a business it is illegal to say or imply “we will not hire or do business based on religious preference”.

As for personal expressions of “Merry Christmas”, Neil Gaiman explained it best when he suggested that any time you see the words “politically correct”, replace them with “treating other people with respect”. Saying “Merry Christmas” to other people is not “politically correct” also means that it is not “treating other people with respect”. A person can say “Merry Christmas” to anyone they wish, but when they do it to people who are not Christian they alienate them. It makes them feel like the other person’s Christianity is preferable to their own religious preference.

For me and my personal beliefs: The very first story about mankind in the bible (of Adam and Eve in the garden) is a metaphor about choice. God gave man the ability to chose, man chose to defy God, thus forcing a separation from God. Almost every story in the bible is about a person (or a group of people) given the opportunity to choose. The choices they make determine the happiness they experience in life. I choose to respect other people. I choose to respect the choice God gave them in picking religious beliefs. If I know someone is a Christian, or if I’m in the appropriate environment (church), I say “Merry Christmas”. If I don’t know the other person’s religious choices, I don’t want to make them uncomfortable, I wish them “Happy Holidays”.

[jaireaux]

Newznab Updates as a Service (Ubuntu)

Disclaimer: I am just a hobbyist, so don’t be surprised if I am unable to answer any questions you have. That said, feel free to ask and I’ll do my best. I am on Stack Overflow, so I would encourage you to ask questions there then leave a link here. That way others could benefit from your questions.

I’m running newznab on Ubuntu 14.04.3 LTS with MySOL 5.6.27, Apache 2.4.7, and PHP 5.5.9-1ubuntu4.14 including SABnzbd with EasyNews.com.

I was using the update script /var/www/newznab/misc/update_scripts/nix_scripts/newznab_screen.sh in a screen session, as recommended by newznab install/configuration sites. it froze all the time and required a lot of management to keep it running, including having to rerun it after every reboot. So, I have been working on creating a solution that runs as a service which allows it to run after reboot, and restarting it from the command line is simpler.

Another goal was to create a process that could be monitored, and could generate an email alert if the script hung. I completed the monitoring and email alerts using Nagios 4.1.1, but I am still working on an automated restart (which should be possible with Nagios.)

My first step was creating a file the script could touch before every cycle. There are probably files that could serve this purpose within the standard newznab configuration, but I struggled to find one that was easy to identify. I created this:

user@server:/$ touch /var/www/newznab/misc/monitor.txt user@server:/$ vi /var/www/newznab/misc/monitor.txt   > This file will be "touch"ed to show updates are happening. user@server:/$

Next I edited this script:

user@server:/$ more /var/www/newznab/misc/update_scripts/nix_scripts/newznab_ubuntu.sh #!/bin/bash # # Ian - 16/11/2011 # /etc/init.d/newznab: start and stop the newznab update script # # run update-rc.d newznab_ubuntu.sh defaults ### BEGIN INIT INFO # Provides:          Newznab # Required-Start:    $remote_fs $syslog # Required-Stop:     $remote_fs $syslog # Default-Start:     2 3 4 5 # Default-Stop:      0 1 6 # Short-Description: Start newznab at boot time # Description:       Enable newznab service provided by daemon. ### END INIT INFO # Newznab variables NN_PATH="/var/www/newznab/misc/update_scripts" NN_BINUP="update_binaries.php" NN_RELUP="update_releases.php" NN_OPTIMISE="optimise_db.php" NN_UPDATETV="update_tvschedule.php" NN_UPDATETH="update_theaters.php" NN_SLEEP_TIME="60" # in seconds . 10sec is good for 100s of groups. 600sec might be a good start for fewer. NN_PID_PATH="/var/run/" NN_LOGFILE="/var/log/newznab_ubuntu.log" PIDFILE="newznab_binup.pid" LOOPCOUNTER=0 test -f /lib/lsb/init-functions || exit 1 . /lib/lsb/init-functions case "$1" in start) [ -f $NN_PID_PATH$PIDFILE ] && { echo -e "$0 is already ruNNing.\n"; false; }       echo "Starting Newznab binaries update" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1       cd $NN_PATH ( set -e LASTOPTIMIZE=`date +%s` echo "Last optimize is $LASTOPTIMIZE" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1       while : do echo "Touching ${NN_PATH}/../monitor.txt" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 touch ${NN_PATH}/../monitor.txt LOOPCOUNTER=$((LOOPCOUNTER+1)) cd $NN_PATH echo "Updating binaries" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 php $NN_BINUP >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 echo "Updating releases" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 php $NN_RELUP >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 echo "Sleeping for $NN_SLEEP_TIME" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 sleep $NN_SLEEP_TIME CURRTIME=`date +%s` echo "Current time is $CURRTIME" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 DIFF=$(($CURRTIME-$LASTOPTIMIZE)) echo "Last optimize is $LASTOPTIMIZE" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 echo "Difference is $DIFF" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 if [ "$DIFF" -gt 43200 ] || [ "$DIFF" -lt 1 ] then echo "Last optimize is $LASTOPTIMIZE" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1        LASTOPTIMIZE=`date +%s` echo "Optimizing stuff" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 php $NN_OPTIMISE >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 php $NN_UPDATETV >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 php $NN_UPDATETH >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1 fi echo "Loop $LOOPCOUNTER" >> $NN_LOGFILE done) &       PID=`echo $!`       echo $PID > $NN_PID_PATH$PIDFILE echo "pid is $PID" >> $NN_LOGFILE 2>&1       echo "Started Newznab binaries update"       ;; stop)       echo "Stopping Newznab binaries update" | tee -a $NN_LOGFILE       kill -9 `cat $NN_PID_PATH$PIDFILE` rm $NN_PID_PATH$PIDFILE       ;; *)       echo "Usage: $0 [start|stop]"       exit 1 esac user@server:/$ sudo ln -s /var/www/newznab/misc/update_scripts/nix_scripts/newznab_ubuntu.sh /etc/init.d/newznab_ubuntu user@server:/$ sudo update-rc.d newznab_ubuntu defaults user@server:/$

One thing to note in the script above: I set NN_SLEEP_TIME to 60 seconds. This seems to decrease the number of script freezes.

Be sure to set the right parameters for the script:

user@server:/$ sudo chmod a+rwx /etc/init.d/newznab_ubuntu user@server:/$ sudo chown root:root /etc/init.d/newznab_ubuntu 

This script will create a log file, /var/log/newznab_ubuntu.log. If you want this log to get rotated and compressed daly (and you probably do want that) you need to create this file:

user@server:~$ more /etc/logrotate.d/newznab_ubuntu /var/log/newznab_ubuntu.log {       missingok       notifempty       compress       size 20k       daily create 0666 root root }

     echo "Stopping Newznab binaries update" | tee -a $NN_LOGFILE      kill -9 `cat $NN_PID_PATH$PIDFILE` rm $NN_PID_PATH$PIDFILE

To start and stop the service use:

user@server:/$ sudo service newznab_ubuntu start user@server:/$ sudo service newznab_ubuntu stop

I think that is enough to get you to the same point I’m at. If I get Nagios to start stop the service, I’ll update this post.

[jaireaux]

Lovemilla - Fantastic Fest 2015

Lovemilla is a Finnish “romantic comedy”...in the manner Fantastic Fest presents romantic comedies. A young couple, Aimo and Milla, live in a cramped apartment with her zombie parents, while they strive to make a better life working in Aimo’s cafe. Metaphors, sarcasm and sundry oddities might distract from the meandering script, but Lovemilla is a lot of strange fun.

[jaireaux]

Fantastic Fest 2015 (Second Half)

I made my triumphant return to Fantastic Fest this year after taking three years off from a back injury. I chose a Second Half Badge since I wasn’t confident I would be able to sit for that many movies. In all I was able to sit through 14 movies over 4 days, which is respectable. (I would have made one or two more but a bit of family drama kept me busy.) I’ll post reviews here (and let them flow out to Twitter, Facebook, and my blog through the magic of linked accounts. 

[kestergoestogradschool]

The Least I Can Do

[jaireaux]

The irony that this is posted as an image, and therefore is not indexed and cannot be searched for...

[proteean]

Visit Original Link

[nosdrinker]

[cutthroatx-deactivated20200625]

Sum 41 is the only band that matters. Every other band is stupid and talentless

[jaireaux]

How many music styles were created to say F you to the music before it, and as it got refined it lost the F.

[jaireaux]

Sesame Street in the morning. http://gifshop.tv/m/1EUPQXS7MH/

[sunfoundation]

[canisfamiliaris]

Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?

The answer is NO.

The “fact” that junk food is cheaper than real food has become a reflexive part of how we explain why so many Americans are overweight, particularly those with lower incomes. I frequently read confident statements like, “when a bag of chips is cheaper than a head of broccoli …” or “it’s more affordable to feed a family of four at McDonald’s than to cook a healthy meal for them at home.”

(via sunfoundation)

[alithea]

this bullshit fills me with a very specific kind of rage. so, TIME TO DEBUNK!

that meal from mcdonalds takes virtually no time to acquire AND is available almost anywhere.

the second meal? that “salad” is lettuce … with nothing else, not even dressing unless its just olive oil or some milk i guess? gross.

also thats the price of each serving, not an entire loaf of bread, a bottle of olive oil, etc. that stuff adds up which means you have to have a lot of money at one time to buy it all.

that meal probably took an hour and a half to make, which is a long fucking time when you work multiple jobs or are caring for a lot of people or dont have help! seriously, if you are a single parent of three who works, is spending an hour and a half every night preparing a meal a likely option?

same with beans and rice! also, you know whats a fucking bummer? eating beans and rice every night because you are poor. ask any person who has done it and they will tell you (you can start with me).

there is a “nutrition” argument here that lacks a follow up: poor people are more likely to be doing physical labor and need more than 571 calories per meal.

you know who is less likely to know how to bake or prepare a chicken? people without access to the internet, or libraries, or who werent taught how to by their parents because their parents worked all the time. access to healthy foods is a classist issue and classism is cyclical, you fucking morons.

seriously, these sorts of infographics make me want to fucking flip tables. do you know why people don’t eat more fresh fruits and vegetables? because fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive, because they take a long time to prepare, because they dont live near a grocery store that has a decent produce section, because they dont have reliable transportation to get groceries to and from the grocery store, because they dont have the energy to plan all of the shit that is involved in making healthy, intentional, filling, balanced meals. basically: poor people get fucked, and then we get BLAMED for being lazy.

eating “healthy”, aka access to fresh fruits and vegetables, is a privilege, first, foremost, always. so fuck you new york times and your ignorant goddamn infographic.

there are SYSTEMATIC REASONS that we do not have equal access to fresh fruits and vegetables. they are very REAL problems. besides, you know, systematic poverty in america, the total mis-distribution of farm subsidies is a perfect place to start. read about that, then either get bent or start working on the actual problem.

[lianalikestowrite]

Why I need feminism

*driving home*

Me: Let’s see what’s on the radio.

DJ: “It’s a tragic day for all men today—Leonard Nimoy died. Most boys had a Star Trek phase growing up. You girls probably have trouble telling the difference between Star Wars and Star Trek, but trust me, it’s a big deal that he’s gone.”

Me: …

Me: Seriously? What year is this?

[usobukii-deactivated20170126]

Leonard Nimoy is rolling in his fucking grave

[zigraves]

Fake geek boys don’t even know that women are why Star Trek got on air to begin with (Lucille Ball of Desilu productions!), women are why it stayed on air (fangirls writing letters to Paramount & NBC keep it from getting dropped!), women ran the first conventions (Joan Winston!) and women wrote the first guidebooks (Bjo Trimble!).

Fake geek boys don’t know that Leonard Nimoy was an outspoken feminist who campaigned to get equal pay for the female actors on the show, and who after his Star Trek days continued to advance feminist goals like fat body acceptance.

Star Trek is women’s territory. Get the fuck outta my sci-fi, fake geek boys, and take your ignorant sexism with you.

[pensees-ecrites]

Uhhh okay this is probably going to be long. And sad, I guess. I took a photo because I’m on mobile and I can’t hashtag it if I replied on mobile.

Anyway, the only thing I can remember that truly traumatized me the worst (especially for me to remember it even now) I think it was about six or seven years ago. I was a second year in college and was taking an old school photography class. I’m talking about old cameras, none of that digital stuff. We’d have to develop our own photos in the darkroom.

There was this room where no light is allowed in at all and you literally cannot even see your own hands, because it’s that dark. You’d have to be able to rely on your sense of touch.

Anyway, being HOH, I am.. Terrified of the dark. Terrified. It may seem childish or stupid because “there’s nothing to be afraid of, it’s just darkness.” I’m terrified due to the fact I have no sense of direction when it comes to sound. I’ll hear things but where is it coming from? Am I walking towards it or away from it? Then I tend to scare myself even worse because of that.

We had weekly projects and one time we had this one project where we had to talk about our fears and put it in a photo. I did that. I got a great grade, from what I remember. About a week later, I had to stay after class with a couple other students to finish another project. The instructor told us she had to leave due to personal reasons and I didn’t know that. I think she forgot I was there because she said it out loud apparently when my back was turned. We’re allowed to use the darkroom even if you don’t have class atm as long as you clean up and lock up.

Okay well, I was developing my photos, I had one last photo to develop so I had to go into the dark room. I’m already scared enough, and to make things worse, as I opened the door, I was shoved inside, and the door slammed behind me. Someone or maybe a group of people was banging on the walls and I was banging back, trying to open the door. I remember screaming my ass off to open the door.

I should probably state that cellphones are not allowed in dark rooms. They mess up the developing process. So my phone was in my backpack in the classroom.

I remember crying too. When the banging stopped, I thought they gave up. So I found my way to the door, only to find myself locked in. I started banging even harder, hoping for someone to open the fucking door and let me the fuck out but nobody ever did. I stopped banging and screaming after a while I don’t know if it was minutes or an hour. I have no idea. I ended up curling into a ball weeping. I was stuck.

Then suddenly, the door opened. It was another instructor who was about to start her class, she heard me crying and asked me what happened, why was the door barricaded. They locked me in with a lot of stuff so I couldn’t get out. I didn’t say anything. I just ran out crying and grabbed my shit and went home. Later, I found a note in my backpack that said, “Stay in Special Ed, dumbass.”

I skipped the next few classes after that. My instructor was worried, she sent me an email and told me the other instructor that let me out, told her what happened. I went back to class, and it was like nothing ever happened. No one made eye contact with me, just like normal. Everyone keeps to themselves in that class. None of us talk to each other. At least, I’ve never seen anyone talk to each other. But it was awkward for me. I ended up running out after thirty minutes. I emailed my instructor and told her I wanted to drop the class. She begged me not to, and instead, arranged for me to have private lessons with her and develop my photos with just her and nobody else.

I never told anybody about it.

I still don’t know who did it, but it still scares the hell out of me knowing there are people like that.

I’m still terrified of the dark, if not more since.

But I think that’s that moment that changed me the most. I know not everyone is an ableist but I’ll probably always have my guard up around hearing people because of that. It fucked me up for a really long time. I don’t hate hearing people, just the assholes.

I think this is why whenever I see someone wearing HAs or CIs or even BAHA, I go up and introduce myself just so they know they’re not alone. But I’m not as nice as I used to be towards people.

[jaireaux]

wtf? college age? they should've gone to jail.

[shutupzainab]

but its ‘just a film’ right?