[tech] text explanation (was Re: [tech] /.well-known/capability ehlo)

[Petite Abeille]

> On Dec 21, 2020, at 18:07, Philip Linde <linde.philip at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Regarding the parts about retrofuturistic goldilocks, Saint-Exupéry, my progressive grandma and her samizdat poetry etc.:

Perhaps this deserves further text explanations.


> On Dec 21, 2020, at 10:36, Petite Abeille <petite.abeille at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> retrofuturistic goldilocks


/retrofuturistic/ Retrofuturism (adjective retrofuturistic or retrofuture) is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era.

This refers to the very description of this mailing list: "A protocol that is slightly more complex than gopher, but significantly simpler than HTTP" 

Gopher being the "retro" part. HTTP the futuristic one;  from the point of view of gopher (circa ~1991). 

This term has been used previously on the mailing list to describe the Gemini protocol, notably by Jason F. McBrayer on December 9th 2020 in  "Some reading on IRIs and IDNs".

/goldilocks/ The Goldilocks principle is named by analogy to the children's story "The Three Bears", in which a young girl named Goldilocks tastes three different bowls of porridge and finds that she prefers porridge that is neither too hot nor too cold, but has just the right temperature

This also  refers to the description of this mailing list.

Too hot: HTTP
Too cold :Gopher
Just right: Gemini

Therefore, the Gemini protocol  is looking for that retrofuturistic, but elusive, goldilocks nirvana.

/elusive/ difficult to find, catch, or achieve.

/nirvana/  (in Buddhism) a transcendent state in which there is neither suffering, desire, nor sense of self, and the subject is released from the effects of karma and the cycle of death and rebirth. It represents the final goal of Buddhism.

Hopefully this is now crystal clear.


> On Dec 21, 2020, at 10:36, Petite Abeille <petite.abeille at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Would make Saint-Exupéry proud.

/Saint-Exupéry/ Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, comte de Saint-Exupéry, simply known as de Saint-Exupéry, was a French writer, poet, aristocrat, journalist and pioneering aviator. 

This refers to Solderpunk quoting Saint-Exupéry -without unnecessary attribution- in the context of "[Spec] Spec (un)freezes and the spec's future", circa December 20th :  “Perfection is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.”,  (Transcriptions may vary)


> On Dec 21, 2020, at 10:36, Petite Abeille <petite.abeille at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Your progressive grandma could whip it up in no time and run it out of her trusty gramophone to share haikus without much ado.

/your/ belonging to or associated with the person or people that the speaker is addressing 

So, not "your" as in Philip Linde own grandmother specifically, but "your" as everyone's. A generic grandmother. 

/progressive/ an advocate of social reform

In this case, synonym for ""modern", "forward looking", "hip", "edgy". Like how the Gemini crowd like to think of itself. Previous art by Little John in  the introduction to  "The Saturday Morning Gemzine": ' ... a technology cannot be said to be "for hipsters' unless someone is using it to run an e-zine"...

/grandma/ informal, one's grandmother.

This denotes  two concepts: old age (gopher), and tech savviness. Or lack therefore. This is meant to convey how easy Gemini is meant to be, as in "Even Your Grandma Can Use It". 

/gramophone/ 	old-fashioned term for record player.

/record player/ an apparatus for reproducing sound from records, comprising a turntable that spins the record at a constant speed and a stylus that slides along in the groove and picks up the sound, together with an amplifier and a loudspeaker.

old-old-fashioned like gother. Additionaly, there is quite a bit of retrotech going around in the Gemini milieu. Not judging, just saying. 

/haikus/ a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.

Synonym for poem: short artistic text of sort. The Gemini commune seem to like poetry. Not judging, just saying. 

The rest of the sentence should be clear enough to comprehend. Do tell otherwise.


> On Dec 21, 2020, at 10:36, Petite Abeille <petite.abeille at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> And there is more to life than publishing samizdat poetry.

/samizdat/ the clandestine copying and distribution of literature banned by the state, especially formerly in the communist countries of eastern Europe.

This refers to another aspect of the Gemini commune: a bit underground, a bit anti-establishment, a bit alternative. 

In conclusion, Gemini is meant to be a retrofuturistic goldilocks to let a hip grandma enjoy some underground poetry.

All in all, my editor tells me this is a technically accurate, if obscure, description of the Gemini sphere. Your milage may vary.

HTH.