iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

Today I officially became a #miller apprentice! I'll be able to mill! With wind! And be a small part of keeping the Netherlands water under control. Yay!

A picture of the Dutch windmill "De Dog".

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

Last year at #FOSDEM I did a talk on writing a Microsoft Bob application. See here if you're interested! archive.fosdem.org/2026/schedule/ev… I'm thinking of submitting a talk this year: "Win16: Write once, run anywhere." A history on […]

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 03/10/2026

Ik heb er inderdaad wel altijd een tering hekel aan als er een getal op mijn scherm verschijnt.

A picture of a page from a Dutch computer book. It reads:

**8.3.2 Probleem: Er verschijnt een getal op het scherm**

*Verklaring.* Het getal wordt meestal voorafgegaan door twee korte piepen. Dit getal is een POST-foutcode. Het is ondoenlijk hier alle mogelijke foutcodes van alle bestaande BIOS'en af te drukken. Dit zou een boek op zich vergen. Tabel 1 geeft een kort overzicht van de meest voorkomende foutmeldingen voor het populaire Phoenix 80286 BIOS. Op die manier hebt u toch een idee van wat u precies kunt tegenkomen. Elke BIOS-maker gebruikt zijn eigen POST-codes. Normaal vindt u deze codes in de handleiding van uw computer. U kunt ook een beroep doen op het programma Post Code Master (zie eerder).

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

Also #psa I'm like... 95% sure that "nail glue" is literally super glue (cyanoacrylate) with a tiny bit of red dye in it. Super glue appears to be a heck of a lot cheaper tho! Not sure if the red dye even does anything. Might just be to make it look more ... cosmetic...ly?

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

@DamonHD is all in an evenly distributed layer of 10 molecules thick across every surface of my house.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

I just fixed my soda stream machine with nail glue and baking soda. The #future is now.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

Wow, I just got a #videocd and what do you know, there's this thing called "DVD" now?! Ripped from the VCD of "Cruel Intentions" I got at the thift store. #retro

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

Wow, I just got a #videocd and what do you know, there's this thing called "DVD" now?! Ripped from the VCD of "Cruel Intentions" I got at the thift store. #retro

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

@CursedSilicon My fork has a dockerfile that just builds the whole thing. I can polish that up a bit ... :)

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 01/09/2026

@CursedSilicon Oh yeah, I have a fork of this that fixes building it on Linux (and generally just building it at all). I tried to PR things but he just redoes them himself and just closes the PRs. I'm not surprised by this.

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Reposted by HP van Braam

Iris Volk @funkvolk.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/08/2025

Tag war gut 😌

Meme, father asks: "Are ya winning, son?"
Son, sitting at the computer, answers: "I'm making 11 people laugh on mastodon"

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Reposted by HP van Braam

Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · 27/08/2026

This is an actual clause in an actual software contract that is currently in force with the Commonwealth of Virginia.

19. BILLING FORMAT
Magnetic tape in IBM EBCDIC is the preferred electronic format.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 27/08/2026

Want to play with atoms?! We just released the August release of MSEP.one, the #molecular engineering platform! Made in #godot and, if I may say so myself, pretty neat! Get it while it is hot! msep.one/download-msep-one #science #opensource

msep.one

Download MSEP.one – MSEP.one – Molecular Systems and Engineering Platform

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 22/08/2026

I got myself a pair of #sony wireless headphones, the #wf-1000xm6. If you have #sensory overload issues, and/or you just like listening to music I highly recommend them. The Active Noise Cancellation is absolutely magical. It makes sitting on a bus sound like sitting in a quiet room. It's […]

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 19/08/2026

If you haven't played the Ur-Quan masters (star control 2) you absolutely should! It's a somewhat strange combination of adventure game, RPG, and space sim. I cannot recommend it enough! I have not played any of the sequels, as far as I'm aware they were […] [Original post on mastodon.tmm.cx]

A screenshot of the Ur-Quan masters title screen.

In the center is an alien with multiple eyes menacingly hovering over a pile of skulls.

It's a bit tacky. Yet effective in conveying that this alien is, perhaps, not a friendo.

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Hacker Memes @i0null.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026

here we observe a partial eclipse of the sun

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Reposted by HP van Braam

Rebane @rebane2001.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

i love seeing creative qr code designs, so i made this guide explaining what tricks you can (and can't!) do with qr codes while still keeping them very much readable have fun and make cool stuff!!

(ADVANCED) Guide to (not) fucking up qr codes
...while still making them look cool asf!
by Lyra Rebane

(1) Just have the QR code as-is, works the best!

(2) But leave some white padding, otherwise some scanners can't scan the code!

(3) Recolor the code using a light and dark color!

(4) But don't invert the colors, some scanners can't handle this.

Everything tested with: GrapheneOS, Samsung, iOS, Binary Eye

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(1) Depending on the error correction you can cover up to 30% of the data in the QR code. This will make the QR harder to scan, but it should still work on all scanners.

(2) But this only applies to the data and ec (green). You can also cover one of the format info parts (yellow)

(3) Counter-intuitively, it also only applies to entire codewords (bytes) at once. Therefore you should make sure to never mess up over 30% of the codewords, even by a single pixel!

(4) For example, I added a sneaky one pixel thick worm onto this QR code, which makes it unscannable!

(5) But this QR code I added that chonky snake with a pride scarf onto remains perfectly readable!

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(1) To scan QR codes, scanners will first find the three locators (blue) and then use the zebras (red) to create a grid over the code.

(2) This means that you can stretch, skew, or rotate your codes because the grid still stays intact!
Don't go too overboard with this, as some scanners can't handle extreme transformations.
Pretty much just make sure that straight lines can still be drawn!

(3) However, transformations that don't retain the grid - such as bends - can make the QR code unreadable. Keep this in mind when putting your QR codes on curved real world objects, such as posts and pipes.

(4) If you need to draw curved lines for a grid, the code cannot be scanned.

Note: the GrapheneOS stock Camera app might struggle with certain skews/rotations

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(1) QR code scanners use the grid to pinpoint the center parts of pixels, which means that the rest of the pixel does not matter!

(2) This means that you can shape your pixels however you want, provided that the middle stays unchanged.

(3) Or you can fill the rest of the QR code with a different image or even pure noise!
Note that a QR code like this could break after resizing or image compression, so use with caution!

(4) As with the other tricks, this reduces scannability, so make sure to test it with multiple devices, especially if you’re combining all of the tricks into one ultra QR code!

(5) This example still scans, but may not work properly or reliably everywhere!

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026

@rebane2001.bsky.social truly only the most cursed tech from you! 5/5 stars

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026

@Migueldeicaza only in that there's AC here! This is the first time I've ever experienced heavy winds that are also hot. I'm not a fan. 😭

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 12/08/2026

It's my birthday! But I'm stuck in a hotel room in Austin for work. Quick! Send retro computing memes, it's an emergency!

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026

@sterophonick yeah that's a bit much, 10% out is generally fine. But 20%? I wouldn't risk it

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 11/08/2026

@sterophonick there shouldn't be but you should make sure you get a decent USB charger. What these do is instruct the charger what voltage it wants via a tiny chip in the plug. If the chip requests the right voltage it's no more dangerous than any other charger. Now if you're getting these […]

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026

UPDATE; I'm just really dumb. But the compiler's messages were real unhelpful. Both clang and GCC. But it's done. That's something. 😅

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Reposted by HP van Braam

rar is win @xyla.zip · 10/08/2026

OH: there is no shower in the republic of gamers 🙄

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026

This'll be easy I said. I'll be done in 5 minutes I said.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 10/08/2026

I've been having a 2 hour long #c++ moment. Send help.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 08/08/2026

Answer my riddles three if you want to get in the building. #computers #bios

A picture of a building entrance system. The screen is showing a BIOS setup screen for a PC.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 25/07/2026

For #intel #processors If the 586 is the #pentium then: 286 Duonium 386 Trium 486 Tetrium 686 Hexium 786 Heptium And the Pentium Pro is 686, then the proper name of the Pentium 2 is actually the Hexium 2, as it's the second 686 chip! Pentium 4 was netburst, so it would be the Heptium 1 […]

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

You could buy a device today from a company you trust, that company can be sold tomorrow, and then they can install whatever they want on your #windows computer. #Microsoft is basically saying that it's up to you, the consumer, to figure out if the brand of the equipment you bought LAST YEAR is […]

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 21/07/2026

I'm tired of the headlines about #lg monitors installing #adware on #windows. The problem is that #microsoft made a system that lets vendors install random software when something gets plugged in. OF COURSE someone is going to use it to install ads. Microsoft had to know this, TVs, computers […]

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David Penfold :verified: @davep.infosec.exchange.ap.brid.gy · 11/07/2026

You meet a man on Oregon Trail. He tells you his name is Terry. You laugh & say its a girls name. He shoots you. You have died of dissin Terry.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

This is what everyone's mastodon permissions look like on #firefox, right? #gopher #retrocomputing

A screenshot of a Firefox permissions tab for "mastodon.tmm.cx" on my local system.

Permissions for mastodon.tmm.cx
* Autoplay: Block Audio
* Send notifications: Allowed
* Open applications
- gopher:// links: Allowed

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

An interesting result of how "cheap" words and code have become in the age of LLMs the Blaise Pascal quote "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time." has gotten a whole new meaning. It used to be when I saw a PR with a long description it was an indication that […]

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 08/07/2026

Have you noticed that in shows from 10 years ago they use flip phones to indicate people using old phones as a joke. They still do that today! Phones have looked like shiny rectangles for so long now.

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

@CursedSilicon now I'm a patron. Do you feel patronized?

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

They really knew how to do packaging in the 80s. #retrocomputing

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 05/07/2026

"You just think that because of your #political beliefs". Yes, that is how beliefs work. Why do you think that? Because it ISN'T what you believe?

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 03/07/2026

Don't you hate the cleaning sprays that only clean vertices?

A label of a bottle of cleaning spray. It reads

Hygienic.cleaning spray
Bio alcohol 69%

For surface cleaning
Fresh floral fragrance

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HP van Braam @hp.tmm.cx.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2026

[SHAUNATHAN NO (bad joke)] @CursedSilicon COWARD (I laughed out loud)

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Cursed Silicon @cursedsilicon.treehouse.systems.ap.brid.gy · 02/07/2026

[SHAUNATHAN NO (bad joke)] I made a Hans Reiser joke in my Discord A friend goes "The developer that got convicted for murder?" And I have to resist the intrusive thoughts to blurt out "GOD FORBID MEN HAVE HOBBIES" because I'm too committed to the joke already

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