Installed the #HTPC now the endless software tweaking begins.
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Nate Allen
@mossyfoot@pdx.social
mastodon 4.7.3
#Portland (#PDX) #hobbit. Gaffer of various enterprises including #beekeeping and #infosec. Loves his wife @mandy_allen@pdx.social, friends, #pets, #books, #movies, #ttrpgs, #retrogaming, #camping, #paddleboarding, and comfort. Lifelong #scifi and #fantasy nerd.
Profile picture: A smiling person dressed as the Fourth Doctor from Doctor Who.
Header picture: The Golden Pavilion, a temple in Kyoto, Japan, with its reflection in a pond.
482 Followers
890 Following
50 Posts
Joined January 21, 2025
Pronouns:
he/him
Oh if you are making anything, this is the most amazing hook-and-loop (ie Velcro) ever made. It is strong like bull in all directions.
A little girl pointed out to us that "Millie has A STAR ON HER NOSE!" in an awed voice and, yep. #DogsOfMastodon
Hoping to solve the remaining engineering challenges with my Betamax #HTPC build this weekend: rerouting the Optiplex power switch and LED to the Sony switch (involves soldering fine wires, I am scared haha) and what to do about the cassette door - does it hinge outward now instead of inward and can it, physically, or do I have to remove its pivots and glue it to the faceplate of the Blu-ray drive hiding behind and it pops out? And how to cleanly cut thin lexan...
I am amazed that I am at 150 miles of #bike commuting already this month. I have waved at so many #bike counters (a count of bike riders on major bike routes is done in #Portland every September, it seems, I asked one as I rolled past them). #BikeTooter
Do the #Blazers have the worst and dumbest owner in sports? It's a high bar but they are trying, Jennifer (obscure CJ McCollum reference).
I rode my #bike in the rain for the first time this morning (at least on purpose). I am a bit cold and damp but alive. I need a jacket that's a bit more breathable I think.
I like how normal the back of my Sony Betamax #HTPC build looks even upside-down. There's a Dell Optiplex hiding here.
Haha I am on a Ride with GPS leaderboard.
Replying to
@jcrabapple@dmv.community it does have a double-DIN slot right next to the steering wheel and I have a retro -looking stereo coming from Germany. I have one preordered.
EDIT: It's the only thing I've ever preordered.
During the #WorldCup USA match broadcast, they put the camera on legendary #Thorns captain #ChristineSinclair, and John Strong made an error. He said she'd scored more goals than any other woman, but that's not right. She has scored more international goals than any other person of any gender in the history the world. As a former Timbers announcer he should know.
Replying to
@mattblaze@federate.social I'm just no longer going to vote for a man in a primary any longer, problem solved.
Replying to
@ppossej@aus.social yeah this is another log on my "I am clearly done working in #infosec" fire. And honestly I am not going to miss it. I do feel for all those who are kinda stuck, now, in the industry, and I think y'all should unionize. But everyone thinks they're too important and cool for a union, I think. A million snowflakes when we need those ice balls we used to throw at cars as kids.
Earth to the Moda Center: a bicycle helmet is not a bag. There is no universe where a bicycle helmet is also a bag. They are distinct nouns and one cannot be used for the other. Also get some goddamn bike parking, everyone knows the guy to hire. The Moda Center seems to be actively hostile to people not arriving by car.
One of the reasons I figure this is My Last IT Job is that I am really not willing to run my resume through various slop machines to make it acceptable for other slop machines to read and decide if my quarter century of experience is valuable or not. I am unwilling to play this game. #infosec don't #GetFediHired
Replying to
@jonschwenn may I get introduce to you to #FreeGeek. Both here in #Portland and also #Minneapolis.
https://www.freegeek.org/
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@philip@mastodon.mallegolhansen.com @mattblaze@federate.social @mweiss@infosec.exchange @mike805@noc.social sigh but it's these fake "concerns" that are being used politically and that is why I am angry. I am not angry at anyone in this thread, I am angry at the GOP as usual. And I would say that giving oxygen to these fake concerns plays right into the hands of those who would prevent people from using their right to vote.
Replying to
@mattblaze@federate.social @mweiss@infosec.exchange @mike805@noc.social my wife actually works in my county's election office and the state has been doing this a long, long time. Most of the concerns I hear about our system are total and complete bullshit, which is why I am a little fired up about it. But I assure you that there are a lot of procedures to ensure that all ballots are correctly tracked and counted and even allows one to vote in person should you choose.
Replying to
@intransitivelie@beige.party while I love OpenBSD I don't think I'd run it on my desktop. I suspect you'll have better luck with Mint, honestly.
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@philip@mastodon.mallegolhansen.com @mattblaze@federate.social @mweiss@infosec.exchange @mike805@noc.social well I don't want to keep arguing about this but it's easy - I am an evidence guy. I welcome any evidence that this is an actual thing that happens at all. I haven't seen any.
Replying to
@mattblaze@federate.social @mweiss@infosec.exchange @mike805@noc.social I'm not angry at you. I'm just angry that the GOP is trying to kill the most convenient and secure method for voting that exists over concerns that are 100% made up and I just can't let misinformation about it be unanswered.
I don't think I have it in my bones to start an entire #infosec program from scratch again, but there's an interesting Director of Information Security job at a wave energy startup in Northeast #Portland called Panthalassa. They seem to be building data center buoys, essentially, that are powered by wave energy and radiate waste heat into the ocean. Stock options and everything, get rich. Let your dog play in the dog park next door. #GetFediHired #PDX
All this free publicity for Mark Kelly from the GOP is kind of crazy. Rather than harming him, it seems more of a sign of weakness and fear that he can beat them. It makes him more popular with the base. Please continue. I don't want to vote for freaking Gavin.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/11/pentagon-hegseth-mark-kelly-investigation
Replying to
@cstross@wandering.shop @quixoticgeek@social.v.st because Tom Bombadil is an ancient god-like being who is kind while Jar Jar is all bumbling idiot?
RE: https://pdx.social/@PDXThroughTime/116528470328331949
My favorite place in all of #Portland.
Replying to
@Bronwyn@sfba.social I'm not a knitter, but I was able to shrink a pair of wool gloves by soaking them in hot tap water for 5-10 minutes while rubbing and compressing the parts I wanted to shrink, then letting them dry flat. It took a few times but they fit perfectly now.
Replying to
@cavyherd@wandering.shop @yantor3d@mas.to my dad claimed it was a Native American thing but of course he also said great grandma was Cherokee but she was just some mean-looking old one-eyed white lady, it turns out.
Replying to
@voiceofunreason@xoxo.zone bikes were being hooked up to anything that seemed halfway sturdy.
#Bees are hard to photograph. But they are loving the thyme plants and the fireweed (pictured) I planted for them. Fireweed is a native plant that makes exceptionally clear honey.
Replying to
@jaredwhite@indieweb.social @PDXThroughTime@pdx.social and go for one of their special programs like King Fu Theater for the most authentic experience.
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@mattblaze@federate.social @mweiss@infosec.exchange @mike805@noc.social seems like a lot of trouble to require in person voting over a totally non-existent problem to me. There's no tradeoff here because there is no problem here.
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@voiceofunreason@xoxo.zone yeah unfortunately any extra season ticket money I might spend is now going into #Thorns tickets instead. And I guess I am old enough now to write an angry letter to the ownership.
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@mweiss@infosec.exchange @mattblaze@federate.social @mike805@noc.social here's what you do in Oregon if your MAGA husband will beat you if you vote for a Democrat. You let him fill out your ballot and then you sign it and put it in the mail. Then, while he's not around, you go to the courthouse or voting office and ask that they invalidate the mail ballot and vote however you really want in a booth. He never knows. "Problem" solved.
Replying to
@voiceofunreason@xoxo.zone no but I would believe anything. Props to the poor security kid who let an old lady through anyway, in one of the lines I attempted my "hat, not bag" gambit in, if she promised to roll her handbag so it looked smaller for the next security guy, apparently his supervisor. Otherwise people were still coming in at the beginning of the second quarter who suddenly had non-complaint bags/and or other random things considered bag-like not documented anywhere.
Most of Oregon's sheriffs are basically Boss Hogg from The Dukes of Hazzard without the drawl. Totally corrupt, think they are above the law.
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2026/07/oregon-sheriff-and-predecessor-spent-390k-in-donations-on-jet-skis-metal-shop-and-retirement-party-county-says.html
Replying to
@GossiTheDog@cyberplace.social I had to check it was turned off. It will never be turned on in any environment I support. I would just move up the whole "go retire overseas right now" thing and pull the chute.
Replying to
@mattblaze@federate.social @mike805@noc.social can you provide any evidence whatsoever that the risk of coercion is greater for vote-by-mail? I live in the state that invented this and I haven't read a single report about this supposed problem in the twenty plus years I have lived here. It just doesn't happen.
Replying to
@voiceofunreason@xoxo.zone we parked between the two stadiums, against a steel fence. I felt a bit sketchy about it, but they were okay.