The Library of Babel

The universe (which others call the Library) is composed of an indefinite, perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries…The arrangement of the galleries is always the same: Twenty bookshelves, five to each side, line four of the hexagon's six sides…each bookshelf holds thirty-two books identical in format; each book contains four hundred ten pages; each page, forty lines; each line, approximately eighty black letters

[keep reading]

[browse the library]
hexagon 233puaxtiy..., third wall, fourth shelf
lq.dl 44

Ecliptic

The plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun is called ecliptic. On Earth, we see the ecliptic defined by the Sun's path in the sky.

The zodiac constellations are the belt of constellations that lie on the ecliptic. The Sun and most of the planets are seen in front of them.

Precession of the Equinoxes

I recommend reading [ecliptic] first

In astronomy, an equinox is a place on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator.

The Earth's rotational axis determines the celestial equator. Since this axis is tilted, the celestial equator and the ecliptic intersect at an angle of 23.4°.

( equinoxes are not just a direction in space but moments )

. . .

Due to some perturbing forces, the Earth's rotational axis gyrates with a period of about 25,800 years. Thus, the equinoxes move with respect to the celestial sphere. This motion is called precession of the equinoxes or just precession. ( animation )

The precession affects the direction of the Earth's axis, but not the angle of its tilt relative to the ecliptic. Thus, precession affects the time of year in which various constellations are visible. The 23.4° axis tilt is constant, and so the seasons themselves continue just like they are now.

In front, are the Queen's Pyramids and the Pyramid of Menkaure. Behind, is the Pyramid of Khafre. In the back, is the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

Cosmic Ages (1/3)

I recommend reading [precession of the equinoxes] first

The zodiac, traditionally, has served as an immense star chronometer in the heavens used to mark the passage of the Cosmic Ages.

The period it takes for the equinoxes to precess through all 12 zodiac constellations was referred to by the ancients as a Cosmic Year, the period it takes to precess through each of them being a Cosmic Age.

The pointer on this giant clock is identified with the vernal equinox: the ecliptic direction where the sun rises on the first day of spring, when day and night are of exactly equal length.

. . .

In our present era, we are said to be nearing the end of the Age of Pisces and the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. The Age of Pisces itself began almost two millennia ago, and before that was the Age of Aries, and so on.

. . .

pisces to aquarius →

The Lion's heart,
starter of Cosmic Years (3/3)

The star Regulus sits very close to the ecliptic, as if marking a key date along this Cosmic Age chronometer.

As the Earth’s axis precesses through its cycle, the Sun eventually rises by passing through Regulus, through Leo's breast, during the vernal equinox.

Fact 1. The Great Giza Sphinx faces the eastern horizon... faces the Sun at sunrise and the Sun will set behind its back.

Fact 2. The bump on the Sphinx's chest is known by Arabs as قلب الأسد (al kalb al assad), meaning, the lion's heart. This is, as well, the name they give to Regulus.

Embellished Lissajous Figures

Open-ended class of mathematically-generated line drawings based on Lissajous figures, but overlaid and sometimes entirely disguised with a variety of embellishments.

Shiny Machop

I like green shinies.

There is a chance of 1 in 8192 to get a shiny pokémon in SoulSilver. Today - 30th June, 2022 - I start to hunt for a shiny Machop in Mt. Mortar. I kill all the Machop I find and run from the rest of pokémon. I started using a level 18 Togepi with Paranormal and now, after 44 non-green Machops, it became a level 22 Togetic.

I will update any progress.

. . .

It is day two - 1st July, 2022. Yesterday I ended up encountering 82 Machop, roughly 1% of 8192. Today I decided to make things a bit more interesting for myself.

I haven't completed the game yet, I only have six gym badges so far and, originally, I was planning to not make any progress until I found a shiny Machop here in Mt. Mortar. However, I created a new rule for myself:

1. Until I find the shiny, for every 82 regular Machop I encounter (1%), I'm allowed to battle one new trainer in the game.

I think this rule might help keep me motivated. Hopefully, I will find the green Machop before progressing too much in the game.

. . .

By day three I have encountered 410 Machops (5% of 8192). My Togetic is level 44 now. Still, no luck with the shiny, as to be expected.

. . .

I changed my DSi shell...

...and it was a painful process that I don't recommend to anyone whose DSi works perfectly fine (as mine did).

It does look good now, but the volume and L buttons don't click as they should. They are still usable but they don't feel right at all. Maybe it is my fault for ordering a cheap shell from AliExpress (15.80€), or maybe I messed up during the mounting process, or maybe I was just unlucky. I don't know.

However, I do recommend trying this if your DSi has a broken shell or if you buy a cheap spare one.

1

cherry✟ @aletiune · Jun 7, 2022
i need [to] see everything

cherry✟ @aletiune · Aug 6, 2022
Everything will be alright.

I bought a MacBook 13' from 2010

I bought it on September 2022 and paid 240€ for it. Here are the specs and original global prices (999€).

The previous owner made some improvements to the laptop. The memory has been buffed from 2 to 16GB and the hard drive is now a 500GB SSD. He also removed the DVD drive and used that space for the original 320GB hard drive, adding up to a total of 820GB of disk space (500GB being SSD). Lastly, he replaced the battery several times - the current one being new from last year.

I'm very happy with the laptop, but there were some steps to be made in order to transform the device into something usable.

The OS installed by default was Mac OS X Lion (10.7), but the latest supported is macOS High Sierra (10.13). Sadly, despite how beautiful I find old systems, Lion is not enough. Most software doesn't support it anymore and I can't even browse the modern web with its version of Safari.

The built-in software update program doesn't allow installing further updates, even though, according to Apple, the laptop is capable of running newer systems. Don't panic though, there is a magic secret method to get there:

1. Open this link using Lion's default Safari Browser.
2. Download and install OS X El Captian (10.11).
3. Once El Captian is installed, open the link again and, this time, select macOS High Sierra (10.13). This should open the App Store and allow you to install High Sierra from there.

Beware! High Sierra is good enough for me in 2022, but it might not be for you! Some modern software is starting to not support it either, I had to download legacy versions for one or two programs. Do your own research for your specific needs.

However - for media consumption and casual use¹ - I couldn't ask for more. The screen is good and bright, the speakers are loud, the keyboard and trackpad are among the best I've tried (it has a better keyboard than some newer MacBook out there...) and the CPU is fast enough if you are not multitasking to an extreme. If you like older hardware, the laptop's appearance could even be called somewhat cute. Last but not least, this is one of the lucky MacBook laptops using the impressively satisfying MagSafe power connector, which I recently discovered to enjoy very much.

1. Built-in macOS apps, Firefox and Safari for browsing, Transmission for torrents, Signal for messaging, YACReader for manga, GIMP for image manipulation, GitHub Desktop and some utility programs.