# Twtxt is an open, distributed microblogging platform that
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# nick        = luke-smith
# url         = https://feeds.twtxt.net/luke-smith/twtxt.txt
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# avatar      = https://feeds.twtxt.net/luke-smith/avatar.png#2e2gdt43hrhyhjxrt2ngkxj3wzuhdwbcceuolpyu2d2jk2vvmuua
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# updated_at  = 2023-02-22T17:11:47Z
#
2021-08-28T14:11:20Z	**Every Web Browser Absolutely Sucks.**
The title explains it all, you don't even have to read.

There are no good, even passable web browsers. None. Not a single one even comes close.

The weird thing is this: _making a good browser should be easy!_ Among the existing web browsers, you could assemble all the parts necessary for a passable (if not perfect) browser. No one has ever bothered to do this, instead, people assembled 90% good stuff and 10% junk.

Here I will list:

1. Featu ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/every-web-browser-absolutely-sucks.html)
2021-08-13T23:40:27Z	**Bringing back old-school web pins and buttons**
Back in the not-quite-as-bad-old-days (at least as far back as the 90's), every good website had a small "ad" gif that fans of the site could use as a colorful link. These are called "buttons" or sometimes "pins."

You can see sites that collect these internet artifacts (both the good ones and boring ones) [here](https://anlucas.neocities.org/88x31Buttons.html) and [here](http://cyber.dabamos.de/88x31/).

Most people would have **do ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/bringing-back-oldschool-web-pins-and-buttons.html)
2021-07-29T19:43:12Z	**Important: LindyPress undergoing some updates**
Although I haven't announced in a video on the YouTube channel yet, I'm glad that there's been a lot of interest in [LindyPress.net](https://lindypress.net). I haven't done a video on it just because there are some details in the site coding we're still figuring out, but books are already printing, shipping and arriving at some of your houses.

Just a couple technical notes:

- I switched the Stripe backend of the site over the week ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/important-lindypress-undergoing-some-updates.html)
2021-07-23T15:11:22Z	**YouTube stream now**
I'll be streaming on YouTube momentarily: [https://youtu.be/Aj6-ASqhSEY](https://youtu.be/Aj6-ASqhSEY) ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/youtube-stream-now.html)
2021-07-22T15:40:36Z	**The classical book reprinting site is live! LindyPress.net**
For a while, I've hinted that I've been contributing to a project to reprint out-of-print classical and medieval texts that are of hidden value, sometimes even in their original languages. I've worked on this project for a while and now it's live and you can browse the first five books available.

See the site at [https://lindypress.net](https://lindypress.net). All works have been reformatted in XeLaTeX so that ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/the-classical-book-reprinting-site-is-live-lindypressnet.html)
2021-06-26T20:58:12Z	**Matrix vs. XMPP**
![](../pix/xmpp.svg) The Chad XMPP

## What are XMPP and Matrix and what makes them special?

XMPP and Matrix are two decentralized and federated free sofware projects for chat, including true end-to-end encrypted chat.

Users can either install the software on their own server if they want, but they can also easily register on any public server—both allow any XMPP or Matrix user to talk to users on their server or on any other one. In essence, it works like email: you might have an em ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/matrix-vs-xmpp.html)
2021-06-19T01:41:29Z	**Late livestream on YouTube ASAP**
Link is here: [https://youtu.be/OU84HrX8D8Q](https://youtu.be/OU84HrX8D8Q)

I'll begin before the top of the hour. ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/late-livestream-on-youtube-asap.html)
2021-06-09T02:53:28Z	**I appeared on Monero Talk**
I was invited to be interviewed on Monero Talk and it's just been released. Monero Talk is a podcast on, well... Monero the actually private cryptocurrency, which [I've written](monero-maximalism-or-how-bitcoin-is-a-coin.html) and [done videos on](https://odysee.com/@Luke:7/bitcoin-will-be-regulated-to-hell-monero:6) in the past.

See the full interview on one of the following:

- [Monero Talk's YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIMw_cI4UsA)
- [Odysee Re ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/i-appeared-on-monero-talk.html)
2021-05-25T13:43:37Z	**Livestream on YouTube right now**
Link here: [https://youtu.be/GZi0gmDcuAc](https://youtu.be/GZi0gmDcuAc) ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/livestream-on-youtube-right-now.html)
2021-05-13T16:34:35Z	**Odysee stream over, worked well!**
Just finished by first stream on LBRY/Odysee. If you missed it, don't sweat it, we didn't talk about anything too interesting, just trying Odysee's new streaming abilities.

There was some bandwidth problems on my end, but Odysee itself seemed to handle the stream very well. ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/odysee-stream-over-worked-well.html)
2021-05-13T15:56:05Z	**Testing out the Odysee Livestreaming; Check it out NOW!**
As the title says, see here: [https://odysee.com/@Luke:7/nginx-restream-luke-smith-test:b](https://odysee.com/@Luke:7/nginx-restream-luke-smith-test:b) ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/testing-out-the-odysee-livestreaming-check-it-out-now.html)
2021-05-06T13:42:22Z	**Modern "Freedom" Means Being a Slave to Impulses**
## What does freedom mean?

See this article in video form [here](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/modern-freedom-means-being-a-slave-to-impulses).

Which of the following two people is more free:

1. A drug addict.
2. A average man who is only not a drug addict because he lives in a country where drugs are regulated or shamed in a way to make them hard to obtain.

Most modern people will have a kind of cognitive disson ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/modern-freedom-means-being-a-slave-to-impulses.html)
2021-05-06T03:44:10Z	**Conspiratorial Thinking and "Multiple Outs"**
## How to do magic tricks...

Magicians have this concept called "Multiple Outs." It's actually how you can do simple magic tricks. Suppose you have a person pick a card and say you will guess the suit of their card.

They pick a diamond card and announce it, and you tell them to check underneath their chair to reveal a slip of paper that says, "You will pick a diamond card."

That might sound like a nice trick, but if they had picke ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/conspiratorial-thinking-and-multiple-outs.html)
2021-05-06T02:31:49Z	**The Problems with Utilitarianism**
I originally wrote this essay in 2014 or 2015 in a Chinese buffet in Athens, Georgia. I've changed some of it and am re-adding it here. I talk about the issues with Utilitarianism and a bad book by Sam Harris.

* * *

## Utilitarianism

At a dumb intuitive level, the "ethical" idea of Utilitarianism in principle gets pretty close to what most people reflexively want from social-political affairs: the greatest good for the greatest number of people—who ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/the-problems-with-utilitarianism.html)
2021-05-04T21:52:23Z	**Monero and Other Privacy Coins**
As I said [in other writings](monero-maximalism-or-how-bitcoin-is-a-coin.html) and [videos](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/videos/watch/8ba38c94-e8c2-421f-bb5f-47f4169fa804), no serious cryptocurrency can function **in real life** which is not also a _truly private_ cryptocurrency.

By far, the most popular of all these is Monero, which has already become the _de facto_ currency of the dark web, but also of _all_ cryptocurrency users _who actually use cryptocurrency  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/monero-and-other-privacy-coins.html)
2021-05-03T01:26:56Z	**Livestream on YouTube within an hour or so**
See the link here:

[https://youtu.be/Jq9ZKvsJSJI](https://youtu.be/Jq9ZKvsJSJI) ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/livestream-on-youtube-within-an-hour-or-so.html)
2021-05-01T14:27:03Z	**My searx instance has changed domains**
For those that use my SearX instance (which was formerly `searx.lukesmith.xyz`, I have now relocated it to [searx.cedars.xyz](https://searx.cedars.xyz), so if you use it as a default search engine, remember to change its url.

For those who don't know what SearX is, it's a metasearch engine that polls whatever search engines you want and aggregates the results. It is free software that can be installed by anyone on any server.

Read more about it  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/my-searx-instance-has-changed-domains.html)
2021-04-25T00:58:20Z	**Monero Maximalism: Or, How Bitcoin Is a 💩coin**
![](pix/xmr_maxi.webp)

## The Biggest Problem with Cryptocurrency

Most normal people hear the word "cryptocurrency" and assume that means that they are "cryptic" or "private,"but that's actually a huge, perhaps the hugest misunderstanding of our time and it has some big consequences.The "crypto" in cryptocurrency merely comes from its cryptographic nature.

When it comes to actual privacy, cryptocurrencies are an unmitigated  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/monero-maximalism-or-how-bitcoin-is-a-coin.html)
2021-04-24T17:25:58Z	**Stay frosty: possible test stream on PeerTube and YouTube in a bit**
I'm going to probably be doing a test livestream in a bit. Hopefully I fixed the issue in the previous stream with Pulseaudio and buffering.

I'll probably go live on PeerTube first, test it there, then test it on YouTube. I'm mobile and on limit battery though, so it won't be a super long stream if everything works out.

PeerTube stream will be at this link: [https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/vi ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/stay-frosty-possible-test-stream-on-peertube-and-youtube-in-a-bit.html)
2021-04-21T13:23:18Z	**My blog system now has tagging (all pure POSIX shell of course)**
This isn't live on the [old blog system's Github](https://github.com/lukesmithxyz/lb), but partially inspired by by [Based Cooking](https://based.cooking)'s tag system which is based on [blogit](https://pedantic.software/git/blogit), I've added in the feature to tag articles.

I've been wanting to write more articles and informational pages on my website, but doing that with no organization is somewhat ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/my-blog-system-now-has-tagging-all-pure-posix-shell-of-course.html)
2021-04-21T12:21:51Z	**The Fragility of Physics**
Physics has a reputation of being a uniquely "scientific" field.In other fields, you might hear of the concept of "Physics Envy" which is supposed to be a deep-seated desire of academics of other disciplines for the rigorousness and elegance of physics.Only physics, so the popular understanding goes, is truly able to abstract away from the messiness of detail and create truly beautiful and solvent models of their subject matters.Physics is thus the queen of the "hard sciences."
 ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/the-fragility-of-physics.html)
2021-04-21T12:20:12Z	**Programs and Equipment I Use**
After many requests, here are the programs I use for everything. I'm only putting here programs I consider tried and true and have used for a while.

## Software I Use

### Priorities

I'm about getting things done quickly and having as little space between my thoughts and actions on the computer.

I like having vim-like bindings and prefer running programs in the terminal for simplicity's sake. That said, I'm very much against the cringey meme that things  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/programs-and-equipment-i-use.html)
2021-04-21T12:17:04Z	**Making Free Money off Credit Cards**
While I've done a video on this topic before ( [PeerTube](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/videos/watch/72cc673c-e2d8-46fc-8c26-d56b9011b874), [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8F9JbUQlWQ)), some people asked me for more information, so here it is.

## Aren't you glad to be an AMERICAN?

![USA](pix/fireworks.gif)![USA](pix/usa.gif)![USA](pix/fireworks.gif)

In America, people are so **notoriously dumb** with credit and money that credit card co ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/making-free-money-off-credit-cards.html)
2021-04-21T11:55:16Z	**Why I Use the GPL and Not Cuck Licenses**
Every piece of software I write I license under the [GNU Public License Version 3](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/quick-guide-gplv3.html) (GPLv3) unless I have forked it from something else.

The GPLv3 is the premiere copyleft license, meaning that it not only allows users to run, modify and distribute their own versions of what I write, but it also requires that no one in that chain of development restrict and close-source that software: it and sof ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/why-i-use-the-gpl-and-not-cuck-licenses.html)
2021-04-21T11:52:20Z	**Notes on Learning Languages**
I get asked a lot about learning languages, so I have a few comments about it here.Hopefully I can awaken you from some dogmatic slumbers about language.

## Vocabulary is the least important part of learning a language.

This is hard for people to understand because I think most monolingual people think that languages are just different word lists that people use.As a result, 101 students will manually look up every word in the dictionary to translate.This actually  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/notes-on-learning-languages.html)
2021-04-21T11:51:04Z	**Academic**
![Medieval sciences](pix/med_arts.jpg)

## Table of Contents

- [Papers and Memories...](#papers)
- [The Indo-European Tapes](#pie)
- [Video Talks](#videos)
- [Audio Talks](#audio)
- [Other Presentations](#slides)

## Papers and Memories...

Here are some old academic papers that I mostly wrote as term papers and such in graduate school. People occasionally ask out of interest.

By the time I got a year or so into my Ph.D. at Arizona, I had pretty much not intention on continuing in t ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/academic.html)
2021-04-21T11:48:02Z	**Reviews of All Linux Distros (That Matter)**
Firstly, once you reach basic competency in Linux, different distributions don't matter. A lot of newbies analyze distros based on what they look like when you install them, often not realizing that it's a pretty simple affair not just to change superficial things like your theme and setup, but entire desktop environments. **Basically all distro reviews online are wastes of time for people who know what they're doing.** When I came to YouTube, all ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/reviews-of-all-linux-distros-that-matter.html)
2021-04-21T11:45:31Z	**Only Use Old Computers!**
[![Dream ThinkPad](pix/dream_thinkpad_small.gif)](pix/dream_thinkpad.gif) The ideal ThiccPad.

If there is a single point of advice I can offer novice computer users, it is _stop using modern computers_.

If you look at "technology YouTube," part of my neighborhood, but I more mean the massive multi-million subscriber channels, nearly all of it is devoted to constantly reviewing and comparing every new computer, processor, graphics card and product. There's big money in it be ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/only-use-old-computers.html)
2021-04-21T11:43:47Z	**Learning European Languages (Michel Thomas)**
[![Map](pix/hensel1741-small.jpg)](pix/hensel1741.jpg) From Gottfriend Hensel's 1791 _Synopsis Universae Philologiae_

I've said on a couple livestreams that the ideal way for an English speaker to begin learning or excel in learning other major European languages (Spanish, French, Italian and German) is to use **Michel Thomas's audiotapes**. They can be found for free on Pirate Bay and other sites, but you can also buy them [on his official ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/learning-european-languages-michel-thomas.html)
2021-04-21T11:41:46Z	**Wanna Learn LaTeX?**
![](pix/animalibus.png)

## Table of Contents

1. [What is LaTeX?](#intro)
2. [Installing LaTeX](#install)
3. [LaTeX Video Tutorials](#tutorials)

**I have a full video tutorial series on learning LaTeX, broken into small sensible parts, [here](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/videos/watch/playlist/48a02be8-115a-4842-9ebf-6e3c6245f290).**

## What is LaTeX?

Basically, it's how big boys write and format documents.Every public brief, scientific article, book, cryptocurrency  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/wanna-learn-latex.html)
2021-04-21T11:40:24Z	**Learn Latin**
![Smug Roman solider](pix/romanpep.gif)

Latin was the first language I learned and has probably been the most useful. Here I'll talk about some of the things it's gotten me and some recommendations for how to learn it well.

## What I've gotten out of learning Latin

### You get multiple languages for one.

Latin, as you probably know is the ancestor of Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, etc. Once you know Latin, it is quite literally downhill learning any of these. In college ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/learn-latin.html)
2021-04-21T11:36:25Z	**Command Line Bibles**
![The Dead Sea Scrolls](pix/deadsea-small.jpg)

I've made a couple very useful command-line accessible Bibles for a quick and scriptable lookup of Bible verses and passages. They exist not only in English, but for Latin and Greek as well.

1. English King James Version (including Apocrypha) —[Github](https://github.com/lukesmithxyz/kjv), [Gitlab](https://gitlab.com/lukesmithxyz/kjv), [Local git server](https://git.larbs.xyz/luke/kjv/)
2. Latin Vulgate —[Github](https://github. ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/command-line-bibles.html)
2021-04-21T11:34:55Z	**Why It's Bad to Have High GDP**
## To put it in other words...

The common way of looking at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is that it's a metric of economic success: more GDP is more wealth.Wealth is good. "Poverty" (meaning low _per capita_ GDP) is bad.Nowadays, pretty much everyone talks about "economics" like this as if this truism was scribbled on the back walls of the cosmos.

This is just looking at one side of the ledger in a kind of global double-entry accounting book.A logically equivale ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/why-its-bad-to-have-high-gdp.html)
2021-04-21T11:31:31Z	**Science vs. Soyence**
![Soyence](pix/soyence.jpg)

There's nothing necessarily _wrong_ with science, reason, knowledge etc. To some degree, they're fundamental for survival in this world in one way or another. But one of the more worrisome problems which have arisen since the Enlightenment, and especially in the past several years, is the fact that whenever scientific knowledge has increased, human arrogance has accelerated even faster. This isn't a metaphysical, moral arrogance; it's one that is more and mor ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/science-vs-soyence.html)
2021-04-21T11:30:25Z	**Hedonism, Asceticism and the Hermetic Answer**
The modern world more or less gives you the philosophical choice of either Hedonism or Asceticism.You never really hear it in those terms, but that's how it is.

**Hedonism living for pleasure.** Your default lifestyle is eating whatever, watching Netflix and playing video games irrespective of how late it is.You watch porn, masturbate, have sex as much as you can and any consequences of any of this are just facts of life which you view a ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/hedonism-asceticism-and-the-hermetic-answer.html)
2021-04-21T11:28:09Z	**Veganism Is the Pinnacle of Bugmanism**
People have quoted me as saying that.I forget where it comes from, probably a livestream, but I definitely stand by it.Since a lot of people labor under the assumption that my channel is about "Linux," I've accumulated a lot of subscribers that are variously nerds, furries, degenerates, coomers, libertarians, communists, trannies and among them are vegans.Some of them (I assume) are good people.

There's a stereotype about vegans that they are annoyin ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/veganism-is-the-pinnacle-of-bugmanism.html)
2021-04-21T11:21:22Z	**Learn Chinese**
![Qing Flag](pix/qing.gif)

Chinese is the hardest language to learn according to normies who have never tried to learn it.

In reality, Chinese is really easy. It has literally no complex morphology: no tense, plurals, gender. It doesn't have irregular verbs or nouns because it has no verb and noun endings whatsoever. It's almost difficult to explain how easy Chinese is.

The only different thing is the writing system which is I hesitate to say anachronistic. The Chinese character system i ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/learn-chinese.html)
2021-04-21T11:19:00Z	**The Parable of Alien Chess**
_A parable on the Logical Postivist "interpretation" of scientific models._

 [![Alien](pix/alien_pepe_small.gif)](pix/alien_pepe.jpg)

## The Parable

Suppose an alien race comes to Earth and wants to observe our games.They are very interested in chess, despite the fact that they have eyes with properties that make it impossible to make out what actually happens on a chess board.(The whites and blacks and squares all blur together.)

They can still learn about ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/the-parable-of-alien-chess.html)
2021-04-21T11:17:36Z	**We Want Our 4 Causes Back!**
[![](pix/aris_med.webp)](pix/aris_med.jpg) Aristotle, a medieval depiction

Aristotle, in his _Physics_ argued that there are four causes behind everything that exists. These causes answer the question of "How" or "Why" something is the way it is.

The Material CauseThe material from which something is made. E.g. the stone of a statue.The Efficient CauseThe external force that causes something to be made. E.g. the artisan and his tools who make a statue.The Formal Cause ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/we-want-our-4-causes-back.html)
2021-04-21T11:16:07Z	**Hating Brave is Cool!**
[![](pix/leshilllion.png)](https://brave.com/luk005)

I like and use the Brave Browser.It's a **free and open source browser** with features like:

1. Ad-blocking by default.
2. Tracker-blocking by default.
3. Anti-fingerprinting mechanisms to prevent you from being monitored.
4. Built-in Tor windows.
5. Run by a based Christian and not furry leftists.

As far as I'm concerned, Brave is indisputably the best general-purpose browser out there.There are other okay brows ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/hating-brave-is-cool.html)
2021-04-08T13:12:47Z	**Livestream on PeerTube ONLY at 10AM New York time**
As the title says, I'll be livestreaming today on PeerTube only [at this link](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/videos/watch/b77c97ff-08ac-496a-91a0-d5414a5e14cb).

I'll talk about finishing my book reptinting project that you're going to want to know about and perhaps "recent events" (several weeks late)
for example, on Richard Stallman.

I'll read [donations I get](https://lukesmith.xyz/donate) if you want to talk about other things.

If you haven't already, subscribe to my PeerTube's RSS feed to get up ... ⌘ [Read more]()
2021-04-03T20:09:50Z	**Bringing back blog system.**
For the benefit of RSS users, I'm going to bring back the blog feature
on my website, which is done with [lb](https://github.com/lukesmithxyz/lb),
a minor script I wrote a while ago.

This is where I'll be posting updates. Old blog entries, while not on the RSS feed
still exist via their permalinks and can be accessed
from [lukesmith.xyz/blog](https://lukesmith.xyz/blog.html). ⌘ [Read more]()
2021-03-26T19:01:11Z	**YouTube Channel Deletion (updated)**
For info, I've added a list of the striked videos so you can see how innocuous they are. ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/deletion.html)
2021-03-26T18:15:11Z	**YouTube Channel Deletion**
# YouTube Channel Deletion

by [Luke Smith](../index.html)

* * *

Google is prepping to delete my YouTube channel.
As of today (March 26, 2021), I now cannot post for another two weeks.
YouTube "strikes" which are functionally unappealable (automatically rejected) last for 3 months.
If they give thee concurrent strikes, you channel is permanently deleted.


If YouTube Jannies delete my YouTube channel, remember that
**100% of my videos are still easily viewable, includi ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/deletion.html)
2021-03-13T13:47:51Z	**Emergency: re: YouTube**
Hi everyone.

YouTube has given an arbitrary strike to one of my videos.
I am temporarily blocked and banned from posting on YouTube for a week.


I mentioned in a stream that I was planning to wean myself off YouTube as a platform in 2021,
but now I might have to move faster, only three strikes means a permanent channel deletion.
Considering how inconsistent and ambiguous YouTube's pretended rules are,
I expect to wake up every day with those final strikes.


Frankly, YouTube shouldn't be  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://donate.lukesmith.xyz)
2021-03-10T18:22:41Z	**https://Based.Cooking (non-bloated, non-soydev recipes and more)**
Well, I figured that it'd be best and I go ahead and start a recipe site, since it came up. I'll go ahead and tell you RSS chads.
It's [based.cooking](https://based.cooking) (yes, apparently `.cooking` is a TLD nowadays).

The site isn't much of a looker now. Just simple CSS, so feel free to open PRs with elegant improvements.
I don't have much time today, so I'll leave it to other people.
I might record a video on the site this evening or tomorr ... ⌘ [Read more](https://github.com/lukesmithxyz/based.cooking)
2021-03-09T19:03:06Z	**Livestream momentarily**
On YouTube at this link: [https://youtu.be/uYDfdeySis0](https://youtu.be/uYDfdeySis0) ⌘ [Read more](https://youtu.be/uYDfdeySis0)
2021-02-13T17:57:10Z	**We Want Our 4 Causes Back!**
# We Want Our 4 Causes Back!

 [![](pix/aris_med.webp)](pix/aris_med.jpg)

Aristotle, in his _Physics_ argued that there are four causes behind everything that exists.
These causes answer the question of "How" or "Why" something is the way it is.


The Material CauseThe material from which something is made.
 E.g. the stone of a statue.The Efficient CauseThe external force that causes something to be made.
 E.g. the artisan and his tools who make a statue.The Formal CauseThe f ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/causes.html)
2021-02-12T19:44:31Z	**Wanna learn LaTeX?**
# Wanna learn LaTeX?

## What is LaTeX?

Basically, it's how big boys write and format documents.
Every public brief, scientific article, book, cryptocurrency whitepaper or even outline written by people who know what they're doing is written in LaTeX.

If you want to see examples of documents made with LaTeX, you can see [my Master's thesis here](../dox/papers/luke_thesis.pdf) or [another paper here](../dox/papers/prelim2.pdf) that shows some diagrams and other features you can have in LaTe ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/latex.html)
2021-02-11T23:18:27Z	**Veganism is the Pinnacle of Bugmanism**
# "Veganism is the Pinnacle of Bugmanism"

* * *

by [Luke Smith](../index.html)

People have quoted me as saying that.
I forget where it comes from, probably a livestream, but I definitely stand by it.
Since a lot of people labor under the assumption that my channel is about "Linux," I've accumulated a lot of subscribers that are variously nerds, furries, degenerates, coomers, libertarians, communists, trannies and among them are vegans.
Some of them (I assume) are go ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/vegan.html)
2021-02-06T18:53:51Z	**Wallpaper gray on LARBS?**
If after a recent update, `xwallpaper` isn't setting your wallpaper on boot in LARBS, it's because `xwallpaper` is giving an error with the recent version of glibc.

There's already an issue up about this on [the `xwallpaper` Github](https://github.com/stoeckmann/xwallpaper/issues/28) and hopefully it will be fixed soon. Out of my control.

You can spend a little time learning alternate ways to set wallpapers in the meantime, or learn to love gray. ⌘ [Read more](https://github.com/stoeckmann/xwallpaper/issues/28)
2021-01-22T20:00:10Z	**Why it's bad to have a high GDP**
# Why it's bad to have a high GDP

by [Luke Smith](https://lukesmith.xyz/index.html), originally a blog post in November 2018, rewritten for this website.

## To put it in other words...

The common way of looking at Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is that it's a metric of economic success: more GDP is more wealth.
Wealth is good. "Poverty" (meaning low _per capita_ GDP) is bad.
Nowadays, pretty much everyone talks about "economics" like this as if this truism was scribbled on the  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/gdp.html)
2021-01-07T14:25:24Z	**PeerTube v3 is now live with Live Streaming abilities**
PeerTube has recently released version 3.0.0, which has added many things, including the ability to livestream. I've already updated by PeerTube instance to version 3 (it is linked from this RSS entry), but the link is just [videos.lukesmith.xyz](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz) .

I'm not sure if I'll end up immediately using the livestream ability, but it is certainly nice to have a non-YouTube option which is, in fact, self-hosted.

Aside from that, I **strong** recommend you ... ⌘ [Read more](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz)
2020-12-29T22:18:17Z	**Short Notice: Appearing on Millenniyule TONIGHT at 7PM New York Time**
Sorry for the short notice, I've been busy for the holidays, but I've been asked to be interviewed on Millenniyule in less than two hours from when I'm posting this. I'm scheduled for 7PM to as late as 9PM New York time.

The livestream will be on [this channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/MillennialWoes) (i.e. not my own due to bandwidth issues).


If you miss it, you can get it [at the bottom of this playlist](https://www.youtube.com/ ... ⌘ [Read more](https://www.millennialwoes.com/millenniyule?y=2020)
2020-12-11T23:02:48Z	**New website**
Got a new simplified website. Real old school, no CSS sheet. I'm going to make it more text-based and have more writings.

I've also rolled over this RSS feed.

A lot of the site is still unfinished, so notify my of anything I've missed so far.
I want to keep old links more or less in place. I haven't decided if I want to keep using my old blog script (this entry is RSS only).
I feel like I had neglected the blog for a while, and my new site is more conducive to browsing as I add even more. ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz)
2021-09-03T12:37:30Z	**Obscenities are symptoms of weak minds.**
Over the past few years, I made the decision to totally cut obscenities out from my speech. You might actually be able to find recordings of me cursing four or five years ago, but as of now, I really stand by my decision.

Obscenities are the linguistic equivalent of an trashy emaciated person entirely decked in tattoos, smoking cigarettes and wearing a shirt with nudity on it. They'll defend what they do on the idea that it's someone "their right," or "e ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/c/obscenities-are-symptoms-of-weak-minds.html)
2021-11-14T19:46:17Z	**Important notes for LARBS users**
Two notes for [LARBS](https://larbs.xyz) users:

1. Xorg went through some updates last week that changed how it calculates dots-per-inch (DPI) on screens. There's a chance that you might update and find your font extra large or small. If so, you can just manually add`xrandr --dpi 96` to the beginning of your `xprofile` to set the DPI to the typical 96 (or whatever number looks best).
2. I have no switched new installs of LARBS from using Pulseaudio to Pipewire as an  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/c/important-notes-for-larbs-users.html)
2022-02-10T15:22:17Z	**Livestream brought you by Starlink**
I got Starlink/Soylink and I might, _might_ be able to do a livestream from my house.

Come see if it works here:

[https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/w/6HaEr5NtP61H1fZC3FdXC9](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/w/6HaEr5NtP61H1fZC3FdXC9)

I will start sometime soon once I get things set up. I should have a chat module open now on my PeerTube instance now. ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/c/livestream-brought-you-by-starlink.html)
2022-02-10T15:44:43Z	**Livestream brought you by Starlink**
I got Starlink/Soylink and I might, _might_ be able to do a livestream from my house.

Come see if it works here:

[https://youtu.be/iobvWRL9loM](https://youtu.be/iobvWRL9loM) ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/c/livestream-brought-you-by-starlink.html)
2022-05-04T13:26:42Z	**Monerotopia Presentation and Website News**
Just a note that within two hours (11AM NY time), my edited Monerotopia presentation with slides and all will be premiering [here on the Monero Talk channel on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVpeZMLaliE).

I did already do an extended commentary and explanation of my talk [here on my PeerTube channel](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/w/eHVrtr7FXrWoeSjHAv2au3), and I might put this an the edited talk onto my YouTube channel if I feel like it. You shou ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/c/monerotopia-presentation-and-website-news.html)
2022-05-27T12:32:47Z	**Based.Cooking has become more grandma-usable.**
Over the past month, I’ve taken some off-time to tinker with
[Based.Cooking](https://based.cooking), the cooking site I/we made a year or so
ago as a proof of concept for a simple and unintrusive recipe website. There
have been over 250 recipes submitted, but the hobbled-together static site
generator originally used proved unable to keep up and with all the
submissions, there was a big issue of content organization.

There have been two big changes. Firstly, I port ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/updates/based-cooking-hugo-search/)
2022-05-28T03:11:04Z	**I will be at Southeast Linuxfest 2022 (June 10-12) in Charlotte, NC.**
Title says the gist.

In 2018, I went to [Southeast Linuxfest](https://southeastlinuxfest.org/) and gave a presentation [which you can see here](https://videos.lukesmith.xyz/w/uxiCWDTRHYstoeTQfCg2Fa) or [![](https://lukesmith.xyz/pix/yt.svg)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnCXJn2cRf4).
It was nice meeting the (shockingly normal) people who knew me from the interest last time.

I’m going to be attending again this year, as the title says Ju ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/updates/linuxfest-2022-announcement/)
2022-07-12T20:16:31Z	**The hardest technical solutions are right in front of your face.**
Nassim Taleb had this old anecdote of the sheer absurdity that while the suitcase and other bags had existed for lifetimes, it was only in the 1990’s that people had the idea to put wheels on the things so they didn’t have to haul them around airports all day with their strength.

It reminds you of the fact that while children in the Incan Empire did indeed have some toys with wheels, apparently no one thought to use the wheel to make a simple  ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/obvious-technical-solutions/)
2022-07-16T16:10:08Z	**Minimizing Liabilities Is Making It.**
The default way to look at financial “independence” nowadays is to think that means “making a lot of money.”
That’s understandable.

But then you see stuff like this:

![60% of millennials earning over $100,000 say they're living paycheck to paycheck.](https://lukesmith.xyz/pix/millennial-paycheck.jpg)

Or this:

![](https://lukesmith.xyz/pix/net-worth.jpg)It takes until 30 for a person to be as rich as they were when they were born. (And this is average net worth ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/minimizing-liabilities-is-making-it/)
2022-07-29T11:53:20Z	**'Based' Paganism vs. Christianity**
I’ve been meaning to write about Paganism recently. I will frame it as a response to an email I received within the past day or so:

> Hey Luke,
>
> First off, I would like to thank you for all your efforts in making everything
> you know accessible to everyone. You have exposed me to some of the most
> thought-provoking people on the internet and Varg is one of them. I was
> wondering if you can write an article or make a video on what you think about
> Varg’s Paganism in r ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/christianity-based-paganism/)
2022-10-30T00:00:00Z	**Blockchain Blasphemy**
[![](https://lukesmith.xyz/pix/akashic.webp)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqaxQmjsb2A)

There’s a meme YouTube video by Leonardo of Biz ( [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqaxQmjsb2A)) where the villainous Bogs refer to their desire to attain something called **“The Akashic Records”** using blockchain technology.

This random aside not just shows the attention to detail Leonardo gives what would otherwise be silly videos, but articulates something deeply troubling about a war unfoldin ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/blockchain-blasphemy/)
2022-12-10T00:00:00Z	**Blockchain Blasphemy and the Technological Antichrist**
[![](https://lukesmith.xyz/pix/akashic.webp)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqaxQmjsb2A)

There’s a meme YouTube video by Leonardo of Biz ( [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqaxQmjsb2A)) where the villainous Bogs refer to their desire to attain something called **“The Akashic Records”** using blockchain technology.

This random aside not just shows the attention to detail Leonardo gives what would otherwise be silly videos, but articulates something deep ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/blockchain-blasphemy/)
2022-12-16T15:35:42Z	**Retiring My Fiat Donation Portal**
I’ve decided to retire my fiat donation portal at [donate.lukesmith.xyz](https://donate.lukesmith.xyz), where people could donate to me via debit and credit cards.
**This will happen by the end of this calendar year.**

It’s more in keeping with my principles of free software, self-ownership and everything else to only allow cryptocurrency donations.
This also is a subtle nudge to people who want to donate in streams to get into Bitcoin and Monero, as opposed to using fiat o ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/updates/retiring-fiat-donation-portal/)
2022-12-23T23:18:40Z	**Why I Won't Go to Restaurants in 2023**
[![](https://lukesmith.xyz/pix/nighthawks.webp)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Nighthawks_by_Edward_Hopper_1942.jpg)

I’ve decided after some consideration **to not go to restaurants at all in 2023**.
You can call this a New Year’s Resolution.
It’ll require at least some sacrifice, pain, annoyance to myself and perhaps others, but I’m going to stick by it and I think it will have a good effect.

Restaurants are a drastically over-used creature comfort of ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/no-restaurants-in-2023/)
2023-01-16T13:05:18Z	**Consciousness and Materialism**
## Hume’s Parallel

David Hume has often been quoted for his _“Is” vs. “Ought”_ distinction.
The argument is that fact and morality are two different domains, and from no accumulation of statements of fact alone can we ever jump to a statement of morality.

We can say statements of fact such as:

1. To be murdered is potentially painful.
2. To be murdered is irreversible.
3. Murder causes social dysfunction.
4. _Etc._ …

By merely my collecting these, we haven’t proven that _M ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/articles/consciousness-and-materialism/)
2023-01-29T04:25:49Z	**I'll visit South-East Europe (Greece, Albania, Montenegro, Constantinople) this Summer**
I’ll be in south eastern Europe this summer (of 2023) in late June and early July.

Specific plans are still in the air, but I’ll be visiting Greece, Albania, Montenegro and possibly the European side of Turkey.
I’ll also be in Kosovo, and while I know I have some fans in Serbia, I’m not sure I can cross into Serbia proper easily since the US accepts Kosovo as independent, but I believe that being there would be a ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/updates/greece-albania-montenegro-2023-summer/)
2023-02-22T17:04:07Z	**Lindypress Bug Fix**
Just a brief note that for the past couple of days, you might’ve been unable to buy books on [LindyPress.net](https://lindypress.net) if you are in the United States, Canada or Australia (which is a lot of you). **This has now been fixed, so you can place your orders now!**

The issue was that there was a silent API update that kept addresses from validating states and provinces. _Note that if your order placed, it’s all okay, this is only for people for whom the site would not let place an order._
 ... ⌘ [Read more](https://lukesmith.xyz/updates/lindypress-bug-fix/)