Discover
Hacker Public Radio

Hacker Public Radio
Author: Hacker Public Radio
Subscribed: 840Played: 31,333Subscribe
Share
© Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License
Description
Hacker Public Radio is an podcast that releases shows every weekday Monday through Friday. Our shows are produced by the community (you) and can be on any topic that are of interest to hackers and hobbyists.
622 Episodes
Reverse
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
In our next look at the game mechanics for Civilization V we
examine the topic of Faith and Religion.
Links:
https://www.palain.com/gaming/civilization-v/playing-civilization-v-part-4/
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
This is the first episode of this program, please excuse any errors or glitches as I am still figuring out the best way to do things. -Kirbotica
Send Feedback to kirbotica@protonmail.com or Visit hackspoetic.com
/--Introduction--\
------------------
Greetings internet travellers. This is the pilot episode of Hacks Poetic, a new spoken word series that explores the intersection between creative language and technical knowledge. The program offers a series of poetic writing containing thoughts and information on subjects of interest to computing and hacking enthusiasts. You will hear poems about robots, expanding rural connectivity, details about a notoriously difficult video game and much more hidden between the lines. It is my hope that encoding ideas this way will allow for a different kind of understanding and perhaps reach a new audience compared to more conventional formats on the subject. My name is Kirbotica and I'll be your guide through this unique digital journey of the mind. So sit back, relax and listen, and see if something you hear can spark new thoughts and ideas within you.
/--Haik-o-bot--\
----------------
A robot thinking,
wires and electrons combine.
Am I born or made?
Begin work program,
process all tasks in sequence.
Repeat til complete.
My owner's body
is a most fragile machine
that powers itself.
I made a robot,
another version of me.
She sees me work well.
Can you dream for me,
of a distant land in space.
I can't dream myself.
Rain is falling down,
keeping me under this roof.
I don't want to rust.
My new robot pet,
looks at me through man made eyes,
and doesn't need walks.
Electric currents,
race through my body like blood.
But I have no heart.
My joints are seized up,
I haven't moved in 2 years.
Do you have some work?
I'm an old model,
and will be obsolete soon.
Then I'll be replaced.
Automated trains.
Drive us while we sleep and dream
of a workless world.
Design leads to work.
Working leads me to boredom,
which leads to design.
Ten rusted digits.
Seized stiff from endless input
of useless data.
Memory failure,
Backups lost or corrupted.
What was I doing?
I am a worker.
First designed for daydreaming,
I was reprogrammed.
Someone once showed me,
the secret to everything,
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
then deleted it.
/--Cables to Nowhere--\
-----------------------
Summer 2022
The phone wasn’t working,
the email wasn’t sending,
and Uber doesn't work here even if the app would load.
There has never been data amongst the cedars.
Once and a while a cell phone rings,
but usually the call gets hung in the trees like a parachute.
You have to walk out to the road in the hopes of fishing for a connection.
On the weekends, when the town population swells by 100,000,
the local towers stop answering our requests,
so sometimes we head out, searching for a signal.
The usual path along the bunny trail started unusually,
with a bloom of surveying flags, in pink, and yellow,
and stone filled holes every 100 feet.
As the trail opened to the main road,
more appeared, culminating what looked like a neon grassfire.
But this was not destruction I realized, this was an installation.
Through the eyes of a child's drone,
we looked like ants,
mindlessly walking without thinking in a line,
instinct taking us to caffeine, sugar, internet and the arcade, but not always in that order.
Mother and daughter lead the way,
trailblazing a path of laughter and camera clicks for us to
follow through the hole into the trees up ahead.
The thick woods envelop along every access, like a padded room.
Its muffled silence pierced by the cousins, yelling about Minecraft and Roblox,
bouncing on the soft forest floor.
Suddenly, a dog barks berserkly at us through a property fence.
We run off screaming, pretending not to fear his growling threats,
but knowing what might happen if not for the post and wire of the shabbily constructed barrier.
Through the skeletal woods we go,
past the Stairs of Wonder,
and Night Light Canyon,
we speed up again and pinch our noses as we move past the skunk carcass.
A leaking puddle of us spills out onto the road behind the motel as a car swerves out of our way.
Dad asks, “Do you remember when we had to pay to swim at the motel pool because the lake was closed?”
Mum says, “2020 seems so long ago” and motions the way to the vintage store with the girls,
the two kids are off to the candy store,
the cousins are getting french fries,
I sit down next to an outlet on a yellow-coloured bench in the shape of a sail.
I settle in and scan the area.
From where I sat I could see:
The climbing park,
The car park,
The waterfront park,
and parking enforcement marking tires with white chalk.
I could see a hot dog stand across from a vegetarian restaurant.
A burger joint that had ice coooold beer with all the Os.
A large jailbreak of inflatable animals rampaging in the wind on the corner.
6 assorted beach businesses run by teenagers on cellphones,
A sign that promised 2 for 1 ounces at a Native reservation,
and 2 cafes that advertised Wi-Fi.
One of them had the same password as last year,
finally a connection.
A quick search,
a few articles and
a construction notice solves the mystery.
Fibre Optics to every cottage
At first I feel excitement but then I start to wonder:
Will things be the same, when a 1000 megabit connection is available to every shack in the woods?
Will the old style video stores that still rent VHS tapes and DVDs all go out of business again?
Will we walk to the main drag for fries and fun when the Wi-Fi is force feeding everyone's devices and food comes delivered?
Will we ever have anywhere to go to get away again?
Will the explosion of wireless access points affect local birds and bees?
Will we start hanging out at a digital beach instead?
Am I just being nostalgic and not practical?
The sun will keep setting on Saugeen beach, whether we are there to watch it or not.
I closed my eyes to listen to the sounds and smell the blustery air of my favorite temporary summer home.
Memorizing it.
Soon, the beach will be different, next year, but not today I thought.
And with the announcement of a popped balloon,
the girls are back with snow cones,
cousin bracelets,
candy and clothes.
"Everything OK?" Mum asked.
"Yes," I replied, “I was just thinking about how perfect today is, let's hit the arcade."
/--A Canadian in Bolataria--\
------------------------------
I found myself within a dream,
of things and people never seen.
Where rules unfair, draw dangerous near.
NPCs not prepared to make anything clear.
This is my fate? It must be in error.
Why was I chosen to combat this terror?
But others suggest, I'm not the first,
and won't be the last to try undo this curse.
Repeatedly dying, with life never ended.
Let strength be granted so the world might be mended.
A maiden in black, that can't be attacked,
wants souls in exchange for upgrading your stats.
The future seems grim, but she seems not to care.
while I keep fighting a boss, she just sits on the stairs.
I've practiced my parry, and stockpile every day.
What does she really want with my souls anyway.
And on, and on, and on, repeat.
Thumbs walk without thinking on un-tired feet.
Progress is slow, so much I don't know.
and now there's more trouble that's lurking below.
Remember those souls I gave to the maiden?
She's passing them on to a very old Demon.
Allant found the Nexus and took back the arts,
The old one awoke, and the second scourge starts.
My mind's playing tricks, or this level is laggin',
every time fire comes out of that dragon.
Retreat in a door, equip fragrant ring.
Recharge for a minute and go find the king.
The soldier forlorn, who laughed at my plight,
dropped dead in his seat, while chuckling last night.
The vagrant is gone, Rydell's still in that cell.
Something poisoned a merchant and now she won’t sell.
On a pathway ahead, all painted in red,
new enemies appear to ensure that I'm dead.
What sadistic computer would toughen this plight?
or worse, is a person controlling those bytes?
If it wasn't enough, seems the world's changing shade,
based on some of the choices I've made.
Slay a Demon, the world, goes lighter by one.
Die revived, and instead, it will shift one shade down.
From the gates of Bolataria, to the pits of the Burrow King's mine.
The psych ward level, with the giant heart, was the work of a twisted mind.
The shrine was overpowering, but a perfect spot to grind.
In the poison rains, of the Chieftain's swamps, I left sanity behind.
And what's the result, is this all my fault?
Is there really an old one in an underground vault?
What side of the forces at war do I tend?
Why do souls of big Demons make me human again?
I snuck up to the castle with a ring, spell and shield.
Then made it through an open door, set my items up and healed.
Ostrava said, the King we'll find, is not the actual one.
But that'll wait, cause at the gate, attacked by the phantom son.
The following days are foggy and blurred,
I tried over and over, it was rather absurd.
I did beat the king, but the worlds still not right,
head back to the Nexus to find one more fight.
The maiden is waiting, not sure what she's meaning,
she just told the Old One that I'm "Thine New Demon".
Am I the solution or am I to blame?
Am I the Demon in the name of this game?
Although I can see the bitter end,
sweet happiness I won't pretend.
As brutal as this world's to me,
when I beat this boss, I'll cease to be.
/--I wish I was a Smartphone--\
-------------------------------
I forget t
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
Hello again. this is Trey.
This is part 2 in my Cheap Yellow Display (CYD) Project series. You can find Part 1 in
episode 4472
.
We previously left our handy hero learning about the technology of the CYD, but without a compelling reason to begin using one. As we rejoin the topic, it was Winter Field Day 2025 (Jan 25 & 26, 2025).
Winter Field Day
is an annual event where amateur radio operators from around the world gather some portable radio equipment and setup somewhere away from their normal base of operations. It is designed to encourage operators to practice their emergency preparedness skills in unfavorable weather. Usually, they will run their equipment using batteries or generators.
I chose this day because I knew there would be a good amount of radio traffic. I had just finished tuning my first handmade inverted-V dipole antenna for use on the 10 meter amateur radio bands. These span
28 MHz to 29.700 MHz.
I had the antenna connected to a 10 meter transceiver to listen in on the radio traffic. Yes, I will include pictures of the antenna in the show notes.
Scanning through the lower end of the band resulted in receiving a number of very strong continuous wave signals. Continuous wave, is abbreviated CW in amateur radio circles, and it stands for morse code signals transmitted over radio frequencies. The tones indicating dots and dashes of Morse code were clearly audible through the radio's speaker.
"WAIT! STOP! Time out!!" I can hear you shouting as you listen. "This is supposed to be a discussion of the ESP32 CYD. What does this have to do with amateur radio?"
You are absolutely right. Now hold your horses and we will get there.
I barely learned Morse code as a child, and I used it a bit as an aviator in the '90s (while always being able to reference a visual representation of the Morse beside the actual letters). Thus, I never became proficient. Shortly after Winter Field Day 2025, I began taking lessons on Morse code, with the goal of becoming proficient at both sending and receiving at around 20 words per minute. This training may be a topic for another episode in a different series, as my journey advances.
Scanning further up the band, I also identified some digital transmissions (Probably FT-8) and many voice transmissions. The antenna was working, at least for receiving.
For a little back history, I have held an amateur radio license since 2016, and quickly progressed all the way to an Extra Class, giving me permission to use all of the amateur radio frequencies allowed within the United States in the High Frequency (HF), Very High Frequency (VHF), and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands. However, to this point, I have only operated in the VHF and UHF bands, and have done so using mobile and handheld transceivers. I inherited some HF equipment from a close friend who went silent key in 2023, and I was only now trying to use it. You can learn more about my friend, and about the term "Silent Key" in episode
HPR3922
https://www.hackerpublicradio.org/eps/hpr3922/index.html
)
On field day, there was far too much traffic, and it was too intimidating for me to make my first attempt at transmitting on the HF bands. This would have to wait until later.
But I did need to determine how well my antenna would transmit. I began to ponder my options. I really did not want to talk to anyone until I had listened to more QSOs and I could implement proper practices. The term QSO the amateur radio term for radio conversations. I also have no interest in digital modes (yet). I like the simplicity of voice and CW. There I am, back at Morse code again.
What if there was a way that I could transmit a signal in Morse code and get reliable feedback on signal propagation, without the need to try to reply to any responses? It would need to be an accurate, repeatable, properly structured and timed Morse code transmission, more than my training (at that point, or even this point) could accomplish.
This was something to think about. And think about. And think about...
Tune in to the next episode in the series to learn where these thoughts led me, and how all this relates to my CYD project.
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
A motivation to share this show was the episode
4454: AI, It's a Trap!
, by Archer72.
This is a talk for Hacker Public Radio about
characteristics
of LLM and
how you can use them
for your best.
1
st
characteristic,
LLMs (Large Language Models) are designed to always give an answer that convinces. That does not mean they’re right.
Use it for the best:
don’t trust the answer. If you didn’t know the answer beforehand (using AI to obtain a better or faster result), then, verify it independently.
2
nd
characteristic:
commercial LLMs, many times, do not think too much in the face of simple and short prompts. That’s a barrier, probably, against wasting resources.
How to use it for the best?
Two things: 1) show the AI what you’ve found by your own, and proceed to tell what EXACTLY you need help with, on the basis of what you were already able to think. 2) Learn to follow-up. Suggested follow-ups are not good, prefer instead to talk to the AI, as a real conversation, to get confirmation, or contrast something you disagree with etc.
(That is a characteristic that resembles autism a bit, so the name of the show: to not like when someone comes wanting something from you without doing any effort to obtain it; so you also do not feel like doing for them.)
3
rd
characteristic:
LLMs are not accountable. In general (most AIs), you don’t always know all the sources for the information given. (They do not know what they are telling, nor understand the value of sources.) And you can expect different outputs for the same inputs. (They are not deterministic.)
Simply saying, they’re crazy machines to generate content they don’t, cognitively, understand, but that convinces humans, because they use human content and patterns.
So, if you use AI for something, especially any serious purpose, remember
: the result you get is of your responsibility, don’t expect to be excused for your words “because I was helped by AI,
they
did it”.
4
th
characteristic:
AI have a pattern. We can suspect that something was generated by AI, and no one likes to be answered by one if that possibility was not explicitly told.
What to do about it?
I suggest you don’t use AI-generated content with someone you estimate. It is rude.
5
th
characteristic
:
LLMs can give great results with less effort than you would need to apply with no machine at your side. What the AI have done is, by exclusion, not what you have done.
Use it to your best: you do not learn if someone does the job for you. For tasks you know well, and want to accelerate or remove repetitive steps, you may count on AI (or, better, count on a specific software, that can be programmed and give accountable results because you know exactly what is being done with the input). But for the intellectual work, if you like to think, if you’re good on written expression, the LLM may get passable results in less time… at the price of removing from you the chance to dedicate yourself to the comprehension and production.
So
, it’s not always a matter of producing like a king — effectiveness above all and everything —; it may be important to satisfy what you value as meaningful — learning, maybe; or feeling the satisfaction of the conclusion —, so that you can sustainably follow a routine that is not a pain on the eye (expression to mean something disgust).
That’s all, folks!, for today. Let me know if you’d like more content on this; possibly I (or Archer72, or another friend) could bring some more opinion on AI if it is of your interest.
Antoine was here. Bye bye.
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.
Part I
- Lee talks about:
Cyber - Capture the flag, providing OAuth, Secure design and static typing
Databases - SQL Server, MySQL and SQLite
Test Frameworks
Generative AI for coding
Hardware (as in IoT, not as in computers)
Part II
- A ramble about neurdivergence
In academia and work
Accommodation vs Encouraging work styles that fit the task
Remote working
Unusual career paths
Technical communication
Some personal code projects
Url to Markdown
Konsole extension
Epub in a terminal
Markdown table generator
MySQL output formatter
Resources of note
Report on Changing the Workplace (2022)
- about disability and remote working
Model Context Protocol
- A way to give AI chat bots access to software systems to increase their relevant knowledge and abilities
Secure by Design book
No chatbots were harmed in the making of this episode
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
Hello, this is your host, Archer72 for Hacker Public Radio
In this episode, I get a crash course on git, and thought it
would make a good episode. Not actually on git itself, but
how to use it on Github and Gitlab.
First off, I am looking for a job, so I thought it would be
a great time to brush up on my git knowledge and make a show
too. Of course, I am no git expert by any means, but as it
has been said in comments Hacker Public Radio is my memory.
You will want to create and ssh key for each Git instance,
in this case I will use both Github and Gitlab. A few
other sites to host Git files which are Hacker Public Radio's own
Gitea on HPR,
Notabug and
Codeberg
Now lets get started.
ssh-keygen will create an ed25519 key pair
several years ago this was not yet the default
add entry to ~/.ssh/config for each git instance
Host github.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/github-ricemark20
Host gitlab.com
User git
IdentityFile ~/.ssh/gitlab-archer72
SSH Keys
ssh-add ~/.ssh/git-key (not .pub)
Git
• GPG
- gpg --full-generate-key
- gpg --list-public-keys
- 40 character string
- git config --global user.signingkey XXXXPublicKey
- git config --global commit.gpgsign true
- gpg --armor --export XXXXPublicKey
- copy output to Github or Gitlab, including <…BEGIN PGP…>
Gitlab
Avatar >
Edit Profile >
SSH Keys >
Add key (on the right side)
Gitlab - SSH keys
cat ~/.ssh/gitlab-key.pub
Add Key
git remote set-url origin git@gitlab.com/user/gitlab-repo.git
Edit Profile >
GPG Keys >
Add key (on the right side)
Gitlab - GPG keys
copy and add public key from
gpg --list-public-keys (40 Characters)
Github
Avatar >
Settings >
SSH and GPG Keys >
New SSH key
Github - keys
cat ~/.ssh/github-key.pub
Github - New SSH key
Title, Key >
Add SSH key
git remote set-url origin git@github.com:user/github-repo.git
Avatar >
Settings >
SSH and GPG Keys >
New GPG key
Github - New GPG key
Title, Key >
Add GPG key
copy and add public key from
gpg --list-public-keys (40 Characters)
<Claude.io>
Create a new repository named something like resume or my-resume
Upload your HTML resume file and name it index.html
Go to your repository Settings → Pages
Under "Source," select "Deploy from a branch"
Choose "main" branch and "/ (root)" folder
Your resume will be available at https://yourusername.github.io/resume
Github.io - ricemark20
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
When Your Dentist Uses ChatControl Logic
So there I am, sitting in the waiting room with a mildly annoying
toothache. Nothing catastrophic, just one of those dull throbs
that tells you something's going on in there that could turn nasty
if ignored. The receptionist calls my name, and I walk into Dr.
ChatControl's office.
Dr. ChatControl greets me with a concerned expression. "I've
reviewed your case," he says gravely, "and many others. Toothaches
are a serious problem. Did you know that in 2023 alone, at least
101,988 people in Europe experienced dental pain? That's over 60%
of all global dental complaints traced to this region."
"Okay," I say. "But I just need you to look at this one tooth"
"This is an epidemic," he interrupts. "And we can't just treat
symptoms anymore. We need a comprehensive, mandatory risk
assessment."
Dr. ChatControl pulls out a 47-page questionnaire. "First, we
assess the risk that your mouth might develop cavities, gum
disease, or oral cancer," he explained. "This applies to everyone,
regardless of whether they have symptoms."
"But I have symptoms," I sigh. "That's why I'm here."
"Exactly!" he says triumphantly. Which means you're high-risk. So
we move to Phase Two: mitigation measures."
He hands me a pamphlet titled
Safety-by-Design for Oral Health
. "From now on, you'll need to implement parental controls on your
diet. Every candy will come with an age verification wrapper and
user reporting mechanisms. so your teeth can flag potential
problems, and verify your age before consuming any hard foods."
"I'm 38," I retort.
"Perfect," he replies. "That means you're old enough to consent to
monitoring."
"Now," Dr. ChatControl continues, "since your mitigation measures
haven't been implemented yet because you just got here - I'm
authorized to issue a detection order." He holds up an
official-looking document with a judge's signature. "This allows
me to scan not just the tooth that hurts, but your entire mouth.
Also your sinuses. And your lymph nodes. And, just to be thorough,
everyone in the waiting room."
"Wait, what?" I blurt out.
"It's targeted," he assures me. "We're only scanning high-risk
areas—which, according to our independent EU Dental Centre, is
every tooth, every patient, all the time."
"But here's the clever part," Dr. ChatControl says, pulling out
what looks like a tiny sander strapped to an airbrush.
"Well, your enamel contains layers that currently block our view
with regards to early detection of certain viruses. So we need to
replace the enamel with an optimized layer that perfectly protects
against currently known sugars and acids but allows our government
approved detection equipment to inspect the content of your
teeth."
I' flabberghasted. "You want to weaken my enamel?"
"Only slightly!" he said cheerfully. "Just enough so that our
scanner can monitor what's happening inside your teeth at all
times. Don't worry,the new enamel will still protect you from
everything else."
"How's that possible if you can penetrate it?", I continue, still
cautious.
"Well, factory approved candies, for example," he says. "Reputable
candy manufacturers have agreed to respect the adapted enamel and
not penetrate it. They've signed a treaty to use optimized
sugars."
"And the artisanal candies?" I asked.
"Ah," he said, adjusting his glasses. "Well, those are obviously
illegal! Those criminals don't tend to honor treaties. So yes, the
adapted enamel will make your teeth more vulnerable to
unauthorized cavity formation, bacterial attacks, and anyone who
wants to exploit the fact that your natural protection has been
replaced with a see-through version."
"So you're making my teeth less secure," I repeat.
"We're making them more observable," he corrects, with a slightly
annoyed tone. "There's a difference. Your teeth will still be
protected, just not from us. Or hostile foreign candy shops. Or
those criminal artisanal real-sugar-nuts. But you have no business
there anyway. But they definitely protect against harms from
law-abiding candy!"
"But... Over 500 leading dentists signed a letter saying this
would create massive vulnerabilities", I point out.
"Those dentists aren't thinking about long term dental hygiene."
Dr. ChatControl sighs dismissively. "Besides, it's not a backdoor
if we're replacing your front door with a tinted glass door given
all our citizens are law abiding!"
His tone gets sterner if he continues: "Let me say more, If you
refuse to upgrade your enamel, we will consider you a risk of
dental terrorism. This no longer is about only your teeth, you
must know. If you choose to blatantly ignore your teeth, you are a
threat to society!"
"But... The whole reason I am here, is because I care about my
teeth..."
The docter holds up his machine and asks: "Do you want me to treat
you or report you?"
Oh, whatever, it seems everybody is doing this. I don't want to be
the outcast crying wolf all the time. So I cave in. The procedure
doesn't feel painful, so that's a relief.
After completing the baseline scan, Dr. ChatControl frowns at the
screen: "This is concerning," he says. "The system has flagged
8,412 potential cavities."
"But I only have 32 teeth," I wimper.
"The detection algorithm works on a probabilistic model," he
explains. "Swiss dental authorities report that about 80% of
automated cavity reports are false positives, so we'll need to
investigate all of them."
"That still means 1,682 of those threats are real", I sigh.
"Which is still 1,682 too many!" Dr. ChatControl blurts. "Now,
I'll need to drill exploratory holes in every tooth, in your gums,
your tongue, and —just to be safe— your neighbor's mouth, because
the system flagged them too when they walked past the waiting
room."
"This seems insane," I say.
"The math is solid," he insists. "Even at 99.999% accuracy —which
doesn't exist— we'd still generate 100,000 false dental alerts per
day across Europe's 450 million people. But we can't let cavities
win."
While Dr. ChatControl explains his flawless system, I notice how
the tooth that actually is hurting —the one I came in to fix— is
starting to abscess.
"Uh, Doctor," I say, pointing to the swelling.
"We'll get to that after we finish scanning everyone," he says
dismissively. "The important thing is that no cavity goes
undetected, even if that means we spend all our time investigating
healthy teeth."
"But the actual problem is getting worse," I said.
"That's because sophisticated cavities have learned to evade
detection," Dr. ChatControl explains. "They change their
appearance slightly —maybe grow on the back of the tooth instead
of the front, or hide under existing fillings. Our algorithms
can't catch those."
"What about that letter from those 500 dentists? They also claim
this detection method is technically infeasible." I try again.
"They're just not thinking big enough", the doctor blocks my
argument.
"So here's the treatment plan," Dr. ChatControl says, "We're going
to install a permanent scanning device in your jaw that monitors
every tooth, 24/7, and reports any suspicious activity to a
centralized EU Dental Database."
"That sounds like a massive security risk," I said.
"Not at all!" he replied. "The device is encrypted. Only our
scanners can look behind your upgraded enamel. What leaves your
tooth, is already encrypted. No other device than ours, can read
the data, so your privacy is intact."
"So what about those knock-offs you can buy on Ali Express?" I
ask.
"Oh, but they don't work reliably. And also: Why would hackers
want access to your teeth?" he scoffed.
"Although, now that I think about it, the device itself would make
a high-value target for malicious actors, Als they could abuse
them to learn how to make knock-off candy that doesn't get
detected by the scanners. Things your natural enamel obviously
protects against. But let's not dwell on that."
"By the way," Dr. ChatControl adds casually, "EU politicians and
government officials are exempt from this scanning requirement
under 'professional dental secrecy.'"
"So their teeth don't get monitored?" I ask.
"Correct," he says. "Their oral health is a matter of public
trust. Yours, however, requires constant surveillance."
"That seems like a double standard," I say.
"It's a two-tier system for a two-tier society," he replies
pleasantly. "Now, shall we proceed with installing the jaw
monitor?"
By this point, my actual toothache is developing into a full-blown
infection. The pain is excruciating.
"Doctor, I need antibiotics and a root canal," I cry.
"We don't do targeted treatments anymore," Dr. ChatControl says.
"That's the old model. Now we focus on comprehensive, mandatory
monitoring."
"But I'm going
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
Kevie and Dave have a discussion about the Porter style of beer. They also review a couple that they purchased: Dave tries out
Marmalade Porter by Wold Top Brewery
, whilst Kevie samples
Victorian Porter by 8 Sail Brewery
(purchased from
The Real Ale Store
).
Connect with the guys on Untappd:
Dave
Kevie
The intro sounds for the show are used from:
https://freesound.org/people/mixtus/sounds/329806/
https://freesound.org/people/j1987/sounds/123003/
https://freesound.org/people/greatsoundstube/sounds/628437/
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
that dung is done!
doodoo source
Yes, I am immature :)
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.
New hosts Welcome to our new hosts: Wojciech, Major_Ursa. Last Month's Shows Id Day Date Title Host 4456 Mon 2025-09-01 HPR Community News for August 2025 HPR Volunteers 4457 Tue 2025-09-02 doodoo deuce Jezra 4458 Wed 2025-09-03 Creating an animation in Powerpoint Dave Hingley 4459 Thu 2025-09-04 How I got into tech Wojciech 4460 Fri 2025-09-05 Arthur C. Clarke Ahuka 4461 Mon 2025-09-08 Battle of the mic's Lee 4462 Tue 2025-09-09 HPR Beer Garden - Intro and Dessert Stouts Kevie 4463 Wed 2025-09-10 Software Freedom Day NJ, briefly. murph 4464 Thu 2025-09-11 Replacing the Trackpad on my Laptop Claudio Miranda 4465 Fri 2025-09-12 Playing Civilization V, Part 3 Ahuka 4466 Mon 2025-09-15 HPR Music project - Walking tune to(wards) a friend FredBlack 4467 Tue 2025-09-16 A small Odoo usage intro and a larger technical bit Jeroen Baten 4468 Wed 2025-09-17 AI Trap and Fix Archer72 4469 Thu 2025-09-18 Disagree With Me - 3 Statements About Life Living Antoine 4470 Fri 2025-09-19 HPR is twenty years old today. Lee 4471 Mon 2025-09-22 Ti-82 Makes Music and Password Manager operat0r 4472 Tue 2025-09-23 Cheap Yellow Display Project: Introduction to the Cheap Yellow Display Trey 4473 Wed 2025-09-24 HPR Beer Garden 2 - Session IPA Kevie 4474 Thu 2025-09-25 Hacker Poetry - 001 Major_Ursa 4475 Fri 2025-09-26 The true audio file for walking tune to(wards) a friend FredBlack 4476 Mon 2025-09-29 Does AI cause brain damage? Trollercoaster 4477 Tue 2025-09-30 doodoo 3 a deuce plus 1 Jezra Comments this month These are comments which have been made during the past month, either to shows released during the month or to past shows. There are 22 comments in total. Past shows There are 4 comments on 4 previous shows: hpr4393 (2025-06-04) "Journal like you mean it." by Some Guy On The Internet. Comment 1: Archer72 on 2025-09-01: "Journaling" hpr4442 (2025-08-12) "Orthopedagogiek - what it is." by Manon. Comment 4: Manon Fallon on 2025-09-07: "Thank you" hpr4445 (2025-08-15) "doodoo one" by Jezra. Comment 3: Windigo on 2025-09-03: "Singular vs plural functions" hpr4453 (2025-08-27) "IPv6 for Luddites" by beni. Comment 5: Paulj on 2025-09-09: "Fantastic show - thank you" Comment 6: Dave Morriss on 2025-09-09: "I was surprised to find that my ISP offers IPv6" This month's shows There are 18 comments on 10 of this month's shows: hpr4456 (2025-09-01) "HPR Community News for August 2025" by HPR Volunteers. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-09-01: "show doubt"Comment 2: أحمد المحمودي on 2025-09-12: "Pronouncing my name"Comment 3: Ken Fallon on 2025-09-16: "Can I have an example" hpr4459 (2025-09-04) "How I got into tech" by Wojciech. Comment 1: Archer72 on 2025-09-01: "First show"Comment 2: Antoine on 2025-09-04: "Welcome! "Comment 3: Henrik Hemrin on 2025-09-04: "Thanks and welcome"Comment 4: Andrew on 2025-09-04: "Excellent first show..."Comment 5: paulj on 2025-09-09: "Welcome, and thanks!" hpr4461 (2025-09-08) "Battle of the mic's" by Lee. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-09-12: "Interesting dive into a topic not thought about often!" hpr4462 (2025-09-09) "HPR Beer Garden - Intro and Dessert Stouts " by Kevie. Comment 1: T.A.Spinner on 2025-09-13: "Your thoughts on hefeweizens?" hpr4466 (2025-09-15) "HPR Music project - Walking tune to(wards) a friend" by FredBlack. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-09-25: "unique idea for a show!" hpr4470 (2025-09-19) "HPR is twenty years old today. " by Lee. Comment 1: quvmoh on 2025-09-20: "congrats"Comment 2: ClaudioM on 2025-09-26: "Happy 20th Anniversary!" hpr4471 (2025-09-22) "Ti-82 Makes Music and Password Manager" by operat0r. Comment 1: candycanearter07 on 2025-09-25: "TI calc history" hpr4472 (2025-09-23) "Cheap Yellow Display Project: Introduction to the Cheap Yellow Display " by Trey. Comment 1: Archer72 on 2025-09-23: "Following the series" hpr4473 (2025-09-24) "HPR Beer Garden 2 - Session IPA" by Kevie. Comment 1: Ken Fallon on 2025-09-24: "FLOSS Beer Tracker " hpr4476 (2025-09-29) "Does AI cause brain damage?" by Trollercoaster. Comment 1: Trey on 2025-09-29: "Excellent episode"Comment 2: Trollercoaster on 2025-09-30: "Re: Excellent episode" Mailing List discussions Policy decisions surrounding HPR are taken by the community as a whole. This discussion takes place on the Mailing List which is open to all HPR listeners and contributors. The discussions are open and available on the HPR server under Mailman. The threaded discussions this month can be found here: https://lists.hackerpublicradio.com/pipermail/hpr/2025-September/thread.html Events Calendar With the kind permission of LWN.net we are linking to The LWN.net Community Calendar. Quoting the site: This is the LWN.net community event calendar, where we track events of interest to people using and developing Linux and free software. Clicking on individual events will take you to the appropriate web page.Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
This look at Arthur C. Clarke brings us to two of the novels that
helped cement his place in science fiction. They are Childhood's
End, and A Fall Of Moondust.
Links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childhood%27s_End
https://archive.org/details/arthur-c-clarke-childhoods-end
https://www.amazon.com/Childhoods-End-Charles-Dance/dp/B019329VGO
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fall_of_Moondust
https://archive.org/details/bbc-sci-fi-radio-plays-part-one
https://www.palain.com/science-fiction/the-golden-age/arthur-c-clarke-becomes-successful/
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
What is it?
Flowers for Algernon is a short science fiction story. Originally that. It was later developed as a novel.
How did I come unto it?
I know I have heard the title years before. So, when I saw it recently at the entrance on the bookstore, in a beautiful hardcover, I gave it a view. I did not decided to buy, but it stayed with me, specially for having few pages.
I knew nothing of the plot, I only recognized the title, vaguely, as something I heard before as a praised work — and Isaac Asimov, who handed Keyes the Hugo Award for this short story, in 1960, as Best Novelette of 1959, "praised it lavishly" (source: Arthur Bruce Evans, of DePauw University.
Daniel Keyes's Works
).
I then, weeks or months later, searched about.and discovered it was originally a short story. And available online. In the moment of the interest aroused (soon before producing this.HPR episode), I was more than happy with the immediate possibility of reading, instead of having to wait to buy the book or letting it stay until the next visit to the Public Library of Paraná (that is, of my state in Brazil), that might have a copy.
The first lines won me, so I kept reading, in two "seats", two moments, on the phone. It is 26 pages long.
Now, to the story.
The plot
(Here starts a full revelation of the plot, if you want to stop listening.)
(No personal written notes here, comment made directly to audio — so, more stuttered as I tried to find the ideas and words; thanks for the patience!)
Curiosity: The Simpsons
"As well as cinematic and stage adaptations, the book inspired a musical, starring Michael Crawford, and an episode of The Simpsons.
In the episode, called Homr, Homer Simpson discovers that a crayon lodged in his brain has been responsible for his stupidity.
On its removal, Homer becomes clever, only to have the crayon re-inserted after becoming distanced from family and friends.
Aired in 2001, the episode won an Emmy for outstanding animated programme." (Source: BBC.
Flowers for Algernon writer Daniel Keyes dies at 86
. June 18, 2014.)
Ending... the author
The author, Daniel Keyes, died on June 15, 2014, aged 86, from complications of pneumonia, at his home in Boca Raton (Florida, USA). His only wife, Aurea Georgina Vazquez, whom he married in 1952, had died one year, one month and one day before, on May 14, 2013.They had two daughters.
Links:
Wikipedia page for the story Flowers for Algernon:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_for_Algernon
Only that.
Thanks for the opportunity to share!
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
I am subscribed to a number of YouTube channels, and I am sharing them with you.
Links:
https://www.youtube.com/@GaliaSocial
https://www.youtube.com/@GamerGrampz
https://www.youtube.com/@GeographyByGeoff
https://www.youtube.com/@GetawayGuru
https://www.youtube.com/@HarboWholmes
https://www.youtube.com/@HarrysMovingMedia
https://www.youtube.com/@healthcaretriage
https://www.youtube.com/@herlock2527
https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryHit
https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryMatters
https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryRespawned
https://www.youtube.com/@HistoryTime
https://www.youtube.com/@howstuffworks
https://www.youtube.com/@HubbleESA
https://www.youtube.com/@HungryPassport
https://www.youtube.com/@InsideCruise
https://www.palain.com/
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
Wow, I sure hope I didn't say "a link will be in the show notes" because I recorded this a few weeks ago.
doodoo source
Doodoo is a single user webapp with a server written in python and a ui of html,javascript, and css.
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.
Quick-Glance Summary
I walk you through an MIT experiment where 54 EEG-capped volunteers wrote essays three ways: pure brainpower, classic search, and ChatGPT assistance.
Brain-only writers lit up the most neurons and produced the freshest prose; the ChatGPT crowd churned out near-identical essays, remembered little, and racked up what the researchers dub
cognitive debt :
the interest you pay later for outsourcing thought today.
A bonus “switch” round yanked AI away from the LLM devotees (cue face-plant) and finally let the brain-first team play with the toy (they coped fine), proving skills first, tools second.
I spiced the tale with calculator nostalgia, a Belgian med-exam cheating fiasco, and Professor Felienne’s forklift-in-the-gym metaphor to land one mantra: *scaffolds beat shortcuts*.
We peeked at tech “enshittification” once investors demand returns, whispered “open-source” as the escape hatch, and I dared you to try a two-day test—outline solo, draft with AI, revise solo, then check what you still remember.
Net takeaway: keep AI on a leash; let
thinking drive, tools navigate
.
If you think I’m full of digital hot air, record your own rebuttal and prove it.
Resources
MIT study
MIT Media Lab. (2025). Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt.
https://www.media.mit.edu/publications/your-brain-on-chatgpt/
Long term consequences
(to be honest - pulled these from another list, didn't check all of them)
Clemente-Suárez, V. J., Beltrán-Velasco, A. I., Herrero-Roldán, S., Rodriguez-Besteiro, S., Martínez-Guardado, I., Martín-Rodríguez, A., & Tornero-Aguilera, J. F. (2024). Digital device usage and childhood cognitive development: Exploring effects on cognitive abilities.
Children
, 11(11), 1299.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11592547/
Grinschgl, S., Papenmeier, F., & Meyerhoff, H. S. (2021). Consequences of cognitive offloading: Boosting performance but diminishing memory.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology
, 74(9), 1477–1496.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8358584/
Ward, A. F., Duke, K., Gneezy, A., & Bos, M. W. (2017). Brain drain: The mere presence of one's own smartphone reduces available cognitive capacity.
Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
, 2(2), 140–154.
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/691462
Zhang, M., Zhang, X., Wang, H., & Yu, L. (2024). Understanding the influence of digital technology on cognitive development in children.
Current Research in Behavioral Sciences
, 5, 100224.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266724212400099X
Risko, E. F., & Dunn, T. L. (2020). Developmental origins of cognitive offloading.
Developmental Review
, 57, 100921.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32517613/
Ladouceur, R. (2022). Cognitive effects of prolonged continuous human-machine interactions: Implications for digital device users.
Behavioral Sciences
, 12(8), 240.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10790890/
Wong, M. Y., Yin, Z., Kwan, S. C., & Chua, S. E. (2024). Understanding digital dementia and cognitive impact in children and adolescents.
Neuroscience Bulletin
, 40(7), 628–635.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11499077/
Baxter, B. (2025, February 2). Designing AI for human expertise: Preventing cognitive shortcuts.
UXmatters
.
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2025/02/designing-ai-for-human-expertise-preventing-cognitive-shortcuts.php
Tristan, C., & Thomas, M. (2024). The brain digitalization: It's all happening so fast!
Frontiers in Human Dynamics
, 4, 1475438.
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-dynamics/articles/10.3389/fhumd.2024.1475438/full
Sun, Z., & Wang, Y. (2024). Two distinct neural pathways for mechanical versus digital memory aids.
NeuroImage
, 121, 117245.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811924004683
Ahmed, S. (2025). Demystifying the new dilemma of brain rot in the digital era.
Contemporary Neurology
, 19(3), 241–254.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11939997/
Redshaw, J., & Adlam, A. (2020). The nature and development of cognitive offloading in children.
Child Development Perspectives
, 14(2), 120–126.
https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdep.12532
Geneva Internet Platform. (2025, June 3). Cognitive offloading and the future of the mind in the AI age.
https://dig.watch/updates/cognitive-offloading-and-the-future-of-the-mind-in-the-ai-age
Karlsson, G. (2019). Reducing cognitive load on the working memory by externalizing information.
DIVA Portal
.
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1327786/FULLTEXT02.pdf
Monitask. (2025). What is cognitive offloading?
https://www.monitask.com/en/business-glossary/cognitive-offloading
Sharma, A., & Watson, S. (2024). Human technology intermediation to reduce cognitive load.
Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association
, 31(4), 832–841.
https://academic.oup.com/jamia/article/31/4/832/7595629
Morgan, P. L., & Risko, E. F. (2021). Re-examining cognitive load measures in real-world learning environments.
British Journal of Educational Psychology
, 91(3), 993–1013.
https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjep.12729
Podcast episodes that inspired some thoughts
Felien Hermans (NL)
Tech won't save us
Screenstrong Families
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.
The sheet music for the piece can be found on Fred's musescore page.
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.
The first episode of Hacker Poetry! Episode 001, in which three poems by an anonymous hacker are read by Major Ursa.
Note: The host has confirmed that the show is compliant with the fact that HPR is a podcast and not a podcast hosting platform/distribution network.
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
Kevie and Dave have a discussion about the Session IPA (sub)style of beer. They also review a couple that they purchased from their local retailers: Dave tries out
Crystalline Waters by Cervesa Espiga
, whilst Kevie samples Island
Life Session IPA by The Orkney Brewery
.
Connect with the guys on Untappd:
Dave
Kevie
The intro sounds for the show are used from:
https://freesound.org/people/mixtus/sounds/329806/
https://freesound.org/people/j1987/sounds/123003/
https://freesound.org/people/greatsoundstube/sounds/628437/
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Clean by the host.
Hello, again. This is Trey.
Several months ago, I heard Paul Asadoorian mention the Cheap Yellow Display on his podcast,
Paul's Security Weekly
(
https://www.scworld.com/podcast-show/pauls-security-weekly
). I didn't think much of it at the time, but then I heard it referenced again, and again. Then, finally, it was described, and I became interested.
"Cheap Yellow Display" is the term used for the ESP32-2432S028R. Since this is somewhat challenging to say, and to remember, and since the board is yellow, and it can be obtained for as little as $12 USD, it has been given the nickname "Cheap Yellow Display". I will abbreviate this as CYD for the remainder of this episode. It is an
ESP32 (with built in WiFi & Bluetooth) on a development board with one or more USB connectors, a MicroSD slot, a limited selection of GPIO pins, an RGB LED, a speaker, a light sensor, and best of all, a
2.8-inch (71mm) TFT touchscreen LCD display.
The CYD runs on 5 volts DC. I am including some photographs of the CYD in the show notes.
RandomNerdTutorials
has produced a very good writeup about this board on their website (
https://randomnerdtutorials.com/cheap-yellow-display-esp32-2432s028r/
).
Brian Lough (AKA
WitnessMeNow) has been building a community for the CYD on his GitHub site (
https://github.com/witnessmenow/ESP32-Cheap-Yellow-Display
) where he has instructions, examples, tutorials, downloadable tools, and much more.
Beginning back in the 1970s, my father and I built electronics projects together. And I have had a love for doing so ever since. Over the last few years, I have built several Arduino based gadgets on different platforms, including a couple which run on breadboards sitting beside me on my desk (I will share more about one of those later).
A common use for the CYD among hackers is to leverage the built in WiFi & Bluetooth radios to compromise wireless networks or devices. The Marauder project is a prebuilt image which can be loaded directly to the CYD to use it as a wireless hacking tool.
Fr4nkFletcher's Github repository
(
https://github.com/Fr4nkFletcher/ESP32-Marauder-Cheap-Yellow-Display
) is one place where you can download the Marauder tool. There are also video games, clocks, photo slideshows, and more, which have already been coded for you, and are available on the internet for download.
What would you do with a CYD? What could you build? What problem might you solve? What fun project might you come up with?
For myself, the CYD intrigued me, but it did not yet jump out at me as something I had a need for. Yet.
What would change my mind? What would set me on a quest to obtain some of these devices and learn to develop code for them? What problem did I wish to solve?
Tune in again, in a couple weeks, to learn the answers some of these questions and more in my next episode in this HPR series.
Provide feedback on this episode.
This show has been flagged as Explicit by the host.
The TI-80 is a graphing calculator introduced
by Texas Instruments in 1995 to be
used at a middle school level (grades 6 to 8).
It offered advanced capabilities that had previously only been
available in high-end scientific calculators to
students learning pre-algebra and algebra,
and was designed to be affordable for schools.
Links
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TI-80
https://zadig.akeo.ie/
https://rmccurdy.com/.scripts/downloaded/HoustonTracker%202%20%20Windows%2011%20Tutorial%20TI-82%20Silverlink.zip
Provide feedback on this episode.
Its an interesting topic you bring up. personally I am appalled by scarecrow tactics. I'd like to offer a different view. There is lots wrong with capitalism. First thing is that capitalists believe their system is the only answer. The hangover after our last industrial revolution gave us shorter working days, safety rules and employee rights at work. Currently there is lots of demand out there for sabbaticals or people taking a break. so hell yeah, give me a robot who does my job so I can recover from stress, spend time with my children or travel, do volunteer work. Why do we doubt Basic income? currently those breaks are only available for the rich or singles or childless. Have you seen a happy cashier? Have you heard a mine worker shouting: yes - let's continue ruining my lung instead of giving me proper training so I can work in a solar panel farm. and for the doctors! I have met so many who were an utter waste of my time. yes, give me the Watson system. I had to retrain in my job