Tonight on GeekNights, we muse a bit on the problem of discoverability. Nearly all experience is mediated, and this includes deciding what web site to look at. In the news, Rym is back from Zenkaikon, Moon Zooz is continuing to rock it, the cosmological constant might not be, niri is a scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor, and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a dangerous idiot.

• The Discoverability Problem

• The Discoverability Problem

• The Discoverability Problem

• Rym - I Drove to Every McDonald's in America
• Scott - FamiTracker

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about MIDI. The Musical Instrument Digital Interface, which is still in use today. In the news, Donkey Kong ‘94 is re-released on Switch, Youtube adds translated dubbing, and Ontario (rightly) taxes Americans using their energy.

• MIDI

• MIDI

• MIDI

• Water your yard FOR FREE !!!
• Rym - Sound Blaster AWE32 2MB (MIDI bank)
• Scott - Heated Driveway in Buffalo

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider Windows 11 and the fools who refuse to upgrade. In the news, the iPhone 16e arrives, Gmail is (correctly) dropping SMS two-factor, Twitch is capping uploads for 0.5% of streamers, and Germany represents a profound realignment of global politics.

• Windows 11

• Windows 11

• Windows 11

• Rym - SS United States — finally — departs South Philly
• Scott - Dragonsweeper

Tonight on GeekNights, we discuss electronic payments. We grew up in a world where credit cards were imprinted on carbon paper and cheques were on physical paper. In the news, the Baltics have disconnected from the Russian power grid, Football Manager 25 will be skipped, and there's one weird trick to stop Google's terrible AI summaries.

• Electronic Payments

• Electronic Payments

• Electronic Payments

• Rym - Sounds between the Crowns (2020)
• Scott - Destroying and Reprogramming the Sprite Engine of Ghosts 'n Goblins

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider all the ways to sell software. From shareware to software-as-a-service to "just buying it" it's evolved quite a bit over the years. In the news, CES happened, Republicans killed net neutrality, and Pornhub is blocked in the entire US south. Also we will be live at MAGFest, which is imminently about to sell out.

• Ways to Sell Software

• Ways to Sell Software

• Ways to Sell Software

• Rym - Rondò Veneziano - La Serenissima
• Scott - Blade Runner-Electric Unicorn fan release- deleted scenes

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about Terminals. From the VT100 to any modern Terminal Emulator, they are still a part of the computing world and are worth knowing about. In the news, Jimmy Carter has died at 100, Chinese state-sponsored hackers attacked the US Treasury, and a hero has defeated a fake Nintendo lawyer.

• Terminals

• Terminals

• Terminals

• Rym - Line
• Scott - Natural Number Game

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about drones. In the news, the common clay of the New West think they're seeing nefarious drones everywhere and we have WordPress vs WP Engine.

• Drones

• Drones

• Drones

• Rym - 1-900-490-FREAK
• Scott - Elevator Music

Tonight on GeekNights, we consider blogging. In the news, Roblox is making a closed ecosystem Discord competitor, the US gave Intel a pile of money, and Intel's CEO hit the bricks. Rym has also consolidated all of his social media into rym.social and talks about how he set up cross-posting across microblog, Mastodon, and Bluesky.

• Blogs

• Blogs

• Blogs

• Rym - Staring at Rupees for 17 hours
• Scott - The Network of Time

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about widgets. Mostly status and telemetry widgets that people like to put on their desktops or their phones. They have their uses, but are usually useless. In the news, Cloudplane is shutting down in December, Adobe's Project Turntable is stunning, and Tesla's robots were (obviously) fake.

If you are able to vote in the United States, make a plan to vote. You can't sit this one out. You can't vote for a "third party." It's frankly unethical to do anything but vote straight ticket for Democrats.

There are two power-seeking coalitions in America. Choose the one that you want setting the rules for the next election. The Democrats are the literal best option we have. Do the right thing.

• Widgets

• Widgets

• Rym - An undulating thrill
• Scott - Asian Hockey Card Collection

Tonight on GeekNights, we talk about cores and concurrency and threads and such. Also Rym and Emily fought a bear. In the news, Intel's chip instability saga has concluded, and Python 3.13.0 is pretty good.

• Multicore Multiprocess Concurrency and Such

• Multicore Multiprocess Concurrency and Such

• Rym - How Mei Blows Up the Game
• Scott - Popular Science (May 1872)