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youremyonlyhope · 4 years

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Nikola Tesla’s Night of Terror

BBC-America isn’t working on my tv for whatever reason, so I guess I’m watching this on my computer instead.

Wow, at 7:55pm Spectrum logged me out of BBC America’s website because my brother logged on in Jersey, and my mom has her phone playing the news. I had to get my mom to log off of her phone. Could have avoided this if my TV would just let me watch BBC America.

Also that’s just plain rude that I had Underworld playing in the background of my computer for 30 minutes since that’s what was on before Doctor Who, and then once my brother logs in it decides to log me out rather than just not let my brother log in.

NOW LET’S FINALLY START THIS EPISODE. And pray that no one in my family logs back on before 9:15.

NIAGARA FALLS. Someone remind me to find that old skit. Found it! Slowly I turned... Step by step... Literally goes through my head if someone says Niagara Falls. I love the period dress on the companions. And then Doctor’s just normal. The Doctor fangirling over Tesla is me too. Aww Yaz convincing Ryan to jump. Silurian!? Like. Madame Vastra Silurian? See, I thought the Doctor was calling Tesla a liar because she knows something about the Tesla/Edison rivalry that we don’t or something. I’m glad it’s about something happening currently. I might end up typing less since I want to watch the episode in full screen, so I’m adding most of this during commercials. Normally I just watch my tv and type without looking at the keyboard. Also, I have taken the train from Niagra Falls back to New York, so I love this. “Central Park?” “Yes! Now that has been around for ages.” Um. Has it? What about the black villages that were displaced to create the park? “You don’t belong in America” Things never change. Just the target does. Oh the Doctor’s shirt is red this time. Has that happened before? Did I just not notice? I normally notice costume stuff... “I made it, mainly out of spoons.” Love it. I love Tesla and the Doctor bonding.... Oh no. Ohhh noooo I’m getting Van Gogh vibes. Am I gonna be sad? I’m already sad about Tesla’s story in general. Am I gonna be sadder? Oh Edison sucks. “Who has the patent?” Oh wow he really sucks. Oh god Edison REALLY sucks. Wardenclyffe. I gotta look that up later. Well.... OK. He killed everyone. Great. Her face when she said “...This is your chemical lab... PERFECT!” was amazing. ...It’s a scorpion?... Oh of course they came for Tesla. Oh fantastic. Scorpions everywhere. IS THE COUSIN OF THE RACNOSS?! Well. The Doctor did say ancient people used those orbs... if they’re related then yeah makes sense. I forgot Edison was here... GET YOUR HANDS OFF THE TARDIS. It’s so interesting that aliens would pick a man from the early 20th century over anyone from further in a (hopefully) more advanced future. I liked Graham calling out Edison. Queen of the Skithra this time, Empress of the Racnoss before. The Doctor says she’s messy... didn’t she insult the Master a few episodes ago for being messy too? “The external dimensions transcends the internal.” “Spot on!” Awwwwwwww. I’m suddenly remembering that I can’t remember how Tesla died or if he’s one of the people who history just sort of... lost. Hmm...

Also, I literally did not sleep last night and worked for a full day and just ate a bunch of fried food and it is a wonder that I’m still awake after like 32 hours straight... But even though I am loving this episode I can feel the exhaustion kicking in.

“You do realize that it’s killing Edison that they want you and not him.” LOL “Tesla came up with WiFi?” Oh shut up Edison. “Oi! AC/DC.” Wait. No. AC/DC can’t stand Alternating Current Direct Current can it... no... Ok I gotta google that later. [Update: Yes. That is exactly what the band is named after. AC/DC written on a sewing machine. And I am stupid because there is literally a lightning bolt in their logo.] I guess i’m glad Edison’s helping... but he’s still insulting Tesla while doing it... Oh I really love Tesla. Oooooh it’s blue on the inside of the TARDIS again. “The present is theirs. I work for the future. And the future is mine.” Awwwwwwwwwww. That was sweet. Tesla still deserves better.

JUDOON. CYBERMAN. AND THE MASTER’S BACK?! HEY THAT WAS DEKKER FROM CHILDREN OF EARTH AKA UNCLE KEVAN IN GAME OF THRONES. And... did I maybe see a chameleon arch or did I imagine it... I feel like that was in the series trailer...

I’m scrolling through Tesla’s wiki page, and shoutout to Doctor Who’s set designer. I’d noticed the giant circular thing in the background and thought it was a giant clock or something, but it’s a spiral coil that Tesla really had in his laboratory.

I like that this episode was another historical episode that makes you want to look up the things afterwards. I got a little lost in Tesla’s wiki page there. And then I started dozing off. But I woke myself up enough to proofread this and press send.

I’m glad they didn’t try to pull a Vincent and the Doctor and have the Doctor be like “Tesla, don’t worry, people love you, we all use your inventions” because they don’t love him and we use his inventions without knowing he helped create them. People barely know who Tesla is. I only know who is because of a book I read in probably middle school that was like... historical fiction that was supposed to be sorta based on fact and he was a character in it. What was that book... it took place on the Titanic I think... which I am 99% sure Tesla was not on. But anyway, if it wasn’t for that book I’d have no idea who Tesla was at all. I’d definitely never heard of Wardenclyffe.

Update: Like 4 hours later I realized that I spelled Nikola wrong in the title. Also I still have not gone to bed yet. Well that’s a lie, I’m lying in bed now. But I’m not asleep yet. 37 hours and counting.

#hope watches doctor who #ignore me if you want #dw spoilers #doctor who spoilers #doctor who

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writing-radionoises · 6 years

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Wifi Connection

Hi! I'm Stan Marsh, I'm sixteen, male, and questioning my sexuality! Looking for friends :) He swears he's scrapped and retyped the exact same sentence over and over, wondering if it was good enough for his Instagram as he sat in the corner of his new and empty room, silently. Stan Marsh, sixteen, male, questioning. Stan Marsh, sixteen, male, questioning. Stan Marsh, sixteen, male, questioning. The info is ingrained in his mind, almost wishing he still lived with his dad so maybe he could break in and steal some of his wine or something. Stan Marsh has lived in South Park all his life, his mother eventually divorced his drunk of a father and moved far away from South Park, though. Stan, his mother, and his sister have been living in New York city for about a month now. He starts school next week, and honestly, there is nothing Stan was more scared of currently. For the first time ever, Stan Marsh was about to do something without Kyle. His very best friend, who was stuck in South Park with his dad and all his friends. His entire life, since fucking diapers, Stan and Kyle have done everything together. Hell, the ginger was the reason he began questioning his sexuality. Probably the same reason he even discovered his love for music. After moving, the only contact he has left with his very best friend is through Skype. Even so, it was rare he was able to talk to his ginger friend. And when he did, Kyle was often joined by his little brother, Kenny, or sometimes even Cartman. Sure, Stan was just happy to end to see his friend at all, but really wished he could talk to him in private, or even face to face again. A knock on the door startled the noirette as he looked towards it. "Stan, dinner's ready and on the table. Come down when you feel like," said the soft voice of his mother. "Okay, I'll be down soon," he responded, falling silent until he heard his mother walk away from the door, then standing up. He scanned the empty room, his eyes then landing on the guitar in the corner, then picking it up. It was covering in little stickers, along with a signature from his father and one from Kyle. Kyle's handwriting was curvy, lots of loops and such. His dad's signature, which had been signed with his stage name, is much more messy. It resembles his own handwriting, the lowercase letters looking more rushed, the capital letters barely even looking like letters. Without even realizing it at first, his hands began to half-mindedly pluck at the strings, forming some kind of melody that eventually brought words into his mind. Placing the guitar aside and jumping up, Stan rushed to find a notebook and pen, beginning to scribble down music notes and lyrics. It was a strange feeling to actually be able to write a song, or anything resembling it, for the first time in many, many months. Kyle used to help him, writing down lyrics and guitar chords when he played. They'd look over songs together, Kyle pointing out good things about the songs and such to outweigh the negativity Stan pointed out. It was a nice memory. Laying in the curly ginger's lap, holding up sheet music and blabbering on and on about how bad it was, how he'd never be like his dad or anything, only to be shushed by the other and be told how beautiful his voice was because it was his voice and no one else's. It was well past his normal bedtime by the time Stan actually felt satisfied with the lyrics and music, though he cared not. In the morning, Stan was awoken by his sister, who was saying something he couldn't quite comprehend. Though, he sat up from sitting on the floor, rubbing at his eyes and standing up. He walked downstairs and grabbed the cup of coffee on the table, taking a sip as he looked around the kitchen, figuring his mother was already at work. "Dad called you earlier. I don't know what he want'th, but thoguht you might wanna known," said Shelly, practically ripping her hair out instead of brushing it. Stan nodded, heading upstairs to hole up in his room once again. He opened up his laptop, logging in and quickly regretting so as he saw his background, biting his lip. It was one of the very last pictures he had of his group of friends. Kenny sat on her knees in the snow, her hood down and long, blonde hair a mess as she smiled widely. Cartman laid against Kenny, looking bored as he fiddled with his gloves. Standing above Kenny and Cartman was Stan and Kyle, Stan clinging onto the shorter one for balance. Even though it was likely he was at least tipsy during that photo, it's definitely his favorite. The noirette opened Skype, the app already on Kyle's profile. Super Best Friend // You are you, and that's what's amazing about you <3 A slight smile came to his face as he remember what he set Kyle's name as. The last conversation they had was about how Cartman seemed to be bullying Kyle even more now that Stan was gone, to which Stan quickly ignored the responses to avoid a mood drop. Not Craig's brother: Hey Kyle, you awake? I wanna show you something. After sending this message, Stan looked through his other friends' profiles. Best Girl // You're pretty either way! Stan smiled a bit, he could almost hear Kenny's optimistic and bright voice once again, yelling at Cartman about something. The last conversation being about her saving enough to finally get top surgery. Fat tits // Not sure if I'm mentally or physically ill but it's all good Cartman wasn't the best to talk to, sure, but it was nice to actually see his contact. Though, it's pretty clear he isn't usually active on Skype. When he is, he mainly just spams his contact list with a bunch of memes or something. There was a bing that brought Stan back to reality, quickly going back to Kyle's profile. Super Best Friend: Hey! Good morning :) Super Best Friend: I'm home alone for awhile, so sure! Not Craig's brother: Okay! Give me a moment, I'll call you Stan stood up and grabbed his guitar once again, along with the sheet music he'd written last night. He set the stuff behind his laptop, backing it away from his body as he called the ginger. Kyle immediately answered, a bright smile on his freckled face. His red hair was a mess, as always, though it made Stan want to brush it, run his fingers through the other boy's hair once again in some attempt to tame it. His green eyes glittered with tiredness, yet happiness. Obviously, Kyle had just woken up. He was still in pajamas and clinging onto a pillow. Stan waved. "Good morning sunshine, you obviously look the best right now," he snickered softly, to which Kyle shrugged. "Man, you've seen me look worse. We used to have sleepovers like every weekend, and that included weekends where I felt fucking awful," he answered, Stan nodding in understanding, "Though, good morning to you too." The noirette smiled, suddenly being brought back to reality once again as Kyle asked what he wanted to show him. Stan gave a soft "oh," then grabbing his guitar and sheet music from behind the computer. "I . . . Ended up actually writing something last night instead of trying to drown out my thoughts, haha . . . I'm really used to showing you my work, so I thought you'd like to hear . . ." He drifted off into thought, brown eyes looking off into a distance. The two fell silent for a moment before Kyle spoke once again, "Of course I would, I'm always eager to see what you've done with that guitar of yours." Stan nodded once again, taking a breath before beginning to play the tune he had written down. "I knew you once, and it was nice. I knew your brain and your heart, all your insides. Oh, I could tell, just with a look, what you were thinking. That's all it took. You shared your secrets, and I shared mine. Silence was comfy, without having to try . . . We swapped our smiles, gifted advice . . . Yes, I knew you once. And it was nice . . ." The ginger stayed in awe at the words, his green eyes wide open in slight shock that the noirette even wrote something like that. For about as long as Stan had been doing music, Kyle had known him to do complicated songs, similar to things you'd hear on the radio. Yet, somehow, a song so short and soft seemed to bring more emotion than all his past songs combined. "Stan . . . You should start posting songs on the internet. You could get money out of doing this and maybe . . . Maybe . . ." Kyle drifted into thought, biting his lip as Stan tilted his head to the side. "'Maybe' what?" He questioned. "And maybe you could come back to South Park."

Song: I Knew You Once - Dodie Clark

#south park #south park style #sp kyle #sp stan #sp style #drinking/#meg's concept #south park fanfiction

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tech-battery · 3 years

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The Asus RT-AX86U Is a Wi-Fi 6 Router That Doesn't Sacrifice Looks for Power

Wi-Fi 6 has accelerated its creep into mainstream wireless networking, urged along by the similarly accelerating spread of gigabit internet. Until the last few months or so, purchasing a Wi-Fi 6 device has largely been a decision more about future-proofing and less about immediate gain. That’s quickly changing, however, with all manner of wireless device manufacturers releasing products boasting about blazing this and blistering that, and it’s finally time to take a serious look at 802.11ax routers.

The Asus RT-AX88U was an early entrant in the field, and the company now has several follow-ups, including our best gaming router runner-up: the RT-AX86U. There, I gave it credit for being extremely fast and for its restrained physical design. However, I took issue with Asus’s UI decisions. In the end, I concluded that I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good gaming experience. Now I’m taking an even deeper dive to find out: Is this router worth it for just any old person and not just gamers presumably reading this in a hoodie with some kind of RGB lighting and heat vents? I think so, and you should, too.

As far as the design of the Asus RT-AX86U goes, there isn’t much to say, and frankly, that’s a good thing. It’s neither a slab nor a monolith, neither an ancient alien artifact nor an air freshener chic pod (though it can be a Gundam, apparently). It’s black, it stands upright, and it has three stabby, removable, adjustable antennas jutting from the top. It has four outgoing gigabit ethernet ports—one of which is an auto-prioritizing gaming port—in the back, a gigabit WAN, and a 2.5-gigabit LAN/WAN port for those lucky enough to be able to make use of it. Two USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports give you a fast NAS if you’ve got a hard drive lying around.

Getting it set up is a quick process, refreshingly letting me choose up front whether to separate the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Knowing that I would need to reconfigure some real dumb smart devices, I opted for separation, and my network was up and running in about five minutes.

But it should be noted there are two ways to handle setup and management. One is via a lovely mobile app, and the other is via the browser, and I hate the browser-based UI of Asus routers. It’s just a weird, unfocused, confusing mess. If you’re the type of person who wants deep, granular control of your home network, but don’t want to shell out for expensive enterprise-grade hardware, you could do a lot worse than Asus, but prepare to hunt for the settings you need to adjust. Trudging through the settings reveals menus and submenus that stretch out seemingly to infinity, with an intimidating depth that would have most people regarding it with narrowed eyes and a feigned understanding, muttering, “Yes, I see,” as they slowly mouse up to click the X button on that tab.

The intro screen has a basic network topology map which gives you a diagram of what all is connected, and a section where you can split out your 2.4 and 5 GHz bands or update your network SSID and password. After that, you get the shiny feature-y stuff, the majority of which, like the specific data-type prioritizing Adaptive QoS, Traffic Analysis, and various media modes and security, is powered by Trend Micro.

Together they offer a host of security features in the AiProtection section, promising to block malicious sites, protect you from Distributed Denial of Service attacks, and network vulnerability attacks like Heartbleed, while also monitoring outgoing traffic for suspicious packets from virus-infected devices. Each tab under this section gives you reports of suspicious network behavior, with downloadable logs for your review. In testing at wicar.org, the router blocked all but two of 10 sites, with Safari catching the last two. It seemed to work well, though the experience is barebones, and unlike the rest of the settings for the router, there are no opportunities for customization, just toggles for each of the three categories of protection. But using this, or a few other key features powered by Trend Micro, will bring you eventually to this EULA notice:

It seems that in order to have access to Trend Micro’s features, you must agree to give them access to all kinds of data, which may include your e-mails or your web browsing history. It’s spooky stuff, as usual, but thankfully all fairly easy to opt in or out of, as well—so long as you can bear the ensuing message about the valuable capabilities you’ll lose out on. So, it’s not quite the deal with Ursula the Sea Witch I initially worried it was, and, in the end, the details in the EULA are perhaps not unexpected for security software like this. I reached out to both Asus and Trend Micro for their input on what sort of data they collect and how exactly it’s used, and we’ll update here when we get a response.

Deeper in the menus, you will find a surprisingly pleasant Open NAT section with pre-configured port reservations for specific games and consoles, and NAS options that include support for Apple’s Time Machine backup software. Most people will go wall-eyed looking at options past these, but it’s worth noting that if you want to use features like OFDMA and MU-MIMO, beamforming, and, I don’t know, the actual Wi-Fi 6 standard, you’ll want to push on into the advanced settings—just don’t expect to understand much of what you are presented with here, unless you have studied networking down to a very specific level. That said, if you have time and sufficient grit, you can sift through it and find some truly powerful options.

Now, for all the shade I throw at the browser interface, Asus actually does a pretty decent job with their mobile app. Appearance-wise, it’s far from the tidy design of most of Asus’s competitors; the app looks the way we might have imagined the UI of the future would in the early aughts or late ‘90s—all sci-fi space controls floating against a star field, complete with animations that are just there to look neat. While very silly, it’s a breath of fresh air after using the web interface, with more of the stuff you would want quick access to right there on the home screen, like Adaptive QoS mode switching, letting you quickly switch priority to games, video conferencing software, media streaming, and more.

While not quite as robust as the browser UI, the mobile app is far more user-friendly, even if it isn’t perfect. I greatly appreciated seeing signal noise shown for individual devices—also an option in the browser—which helps a lot when placing them for the best signal, which is especially important for things like smart speakers, which can be made or broken by your choices regarding network topology.

Looking at the feature list, it’s not unusual to wonder why in the hell you would want to command your router with Alexa. But, in the interest of being thorough, I grabbed my long-banished Echo Dot to test, and I did find some genuinely useful bits here—temporarily activating your guest network, for example, or pausing wifi. Perhaps the most useful of the bunch is the ability to change Adaptive QoS modes without going into the app.

The main shortcoming of Alexa Skills remains: Every command must be prefaced with “Alexa, ask my router…”, followed by a prescribed set of phrases you must memorize (or look up every time, defeating the purpose). The pricier RT-AX88U gives you a small selection of more natural-sounding phrases like, “Alexa, pause my wifi.” I tried anyway; not only did it not work, but Alexa pretended not to know who I was.

The rest of my smart home experience on this router, initial difficulties aside, was a good one—lightbulbs flicked on and off, routines ran, and my chosen smart assistant didn’t hesitate to respond to my requests.

The RT-AX86U is powered by a 1.8 GHz quad-core CPU with 1 GB of RAM and 256 MB Flash memory. Theoretically, it can transmit up to 4804 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, or up to 861 Mbps on the 2.4, but you’ll never see those speeds, nor should you expect them. It has four antennas—one of which is an internal, printed circuit board antenna, and works all the way up to the 160 MHz band, which is a key component of Wi-Fi 6, and necessary to reach the fastest speeds the router is capable of. It has a long list of other terms that describe how powerful it is.

As I’ve noted previously, the RT-AX86U is great for gaming. I wanted to take it further, so I decided to stress test the router, streaming music at the highest quality available on multiple devices, watching a 4K nature documentary on Apple TV, which is known for its high-bitrate streaming, conducting a video call with a friend, and playing CS:GO on official servers. This is a realistic scenario in my home, and the RT-AX86U aced it—I saw no sign of buffering or stuttering anywhere, my friend reported clear audio and smooth video, and in-game ping seemed unaffected. In raw numbers, I had to move into my back yard to get anything slower than the max I’m getting from my ISP, finding that I had good, usable internet even at the farthest reaches of my yard, which is about a fifth of an acre.

I tested file transfers with a 734 MB copy of Ernest Saves Christmas—a typical use case for network storage—and found the transfers to be very fast, with the limiting factor seemingly the actual read/write capability of the router. Transfer speeds reached as high as 465.79 Mbps, but averaged between 310 and 350 Mbps, and hardly budged at any distance. Write speeds were about half that.

After determining that the RT-AX86U was gross overkill for my needs, I thought I would look at Asus’s AiMesh, which lets you use multiple Asus routers to create a mesh network. Self-healing and pretty straightforward to set up, an AiMesh network can definitely get you that kind of blanketed internet plants crave.

I tested the mesh capabilities with the addition of an RT-AX82U, and for some reason, setting this up ended up actually being the only way I could finally get my “smart” bathroom light switch to join my new network. I came to this experience with the breezy setup of Eero already in mind and found it similarly easy with Asus. Network performance was as expected, with devices generally connecting to the node closest to them or, at least, with the lowest amount of signal noise, and no real noticeable changeover time. Basically, mesh networking is a revelation to anyone who hasn’t used it, and that much is true here, as well.

In the end, the Asus RT-AX86U is a great router, with speedy performance and easy setup, despite an annoying menu system. Actually getting down and dirty in the settings is a pain, thanks to confusing, incompletely explained technicals and messy organization, but basic and intermediate settings can be easily changed in the mobile app. Security and device prioritization for the router is decent, though I recommend you review the EULA before proceeding to make sure you’re comfortable with the exchange you must make to take advantage. The mesh setup was fairly painless. The RT-AX86U met and, in some cases exceeded, my expectations, at least where it counts. Of course, you’re going to pay for it, at MSRP $250—though you can find decent discounts at the usual online retailers.

Whether you just want lag-free gaming or you need something that can handle a heavy overall load, this router does it with aplomb. We are rapidly approaching the day when recommendations like this one isn’t just about future-proofing, but you will find in the RT-AX86U a router more than capable of meeting the unexpected demands put upon all of us this year. If you’ve got a smaller home that needs a lot of power and would prefer to check out mesh networking at a later date, this is absolutely the router for you.

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thegrimllama · 7 years

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Another Super-Luthor Scandal

Please accept 2.9k of crap as an apology for my miserable mood at the moment. You guys are amazing.

Read below or on AO3

It felt like Kara’s eyes had barely closed when the door to her loft swung open, breaking her from her sleep. It took her a few seconds of panic to recognise Alex’s heartbeat, not that she needed to, with the volume that Alex was hissing angrily into her phone.

“Kara!”

She groaned, rolling out of bed and padding into the kitchen, squinting as Alex flicked on the light and grabbed a beer from the fridge, before putting back. “Wait, I can’t have beer. I’m working right now, thanks to you.”

Kara turned on the coffee machine, clearly Alex was stressed about something and she was gonna need coffee if she was pulling an extra shift at… 2AM? “Good morning, Alex. Not that I don’t love your visits… but 2AM? Really…?”

Alex took two coffee mugs out of the cupboard and turned her glare on Kara. “Don’t sass me, Kara Zor-El Danvers. You fucked up.”

“Al, it’s so early.” She sat heavily on the barstool, careful not to buckle the legs as she rested her face on her hands.

“When were you gonna tell me…?” Alex fumed, pacing the kitchen while her coffee brewed, “I get it… it was probably fun, keeping it a secret… But…”

“Alex!” Kara sped over to her sister, holding her in place by her shoulders. “What’s going on?”

Alex sighed and reached for her bag that had been dumped onto the counter. “You and Lena.”

“Me and… What are you talking about?” Kara knew exactly what Alex was talking about. She was just unsure as to whether Alex actually knew what she was talking about.

“I’m talking about three images leaked by an as yet unidentified source…”

Kara felt the blood drain from her face, “Like… Photos…?”

A few keystrokes and Alex was connected to the building wifi, and logging into her external DEO server, “Yes. Three. Taken from an elevated angle, through the window of a unused office across the street from L-Corp.”

Kara sighed, “Fuck.”

“Yeah, I’d say that’s exactly what Supergirl was doing with Lena Luthor… On her desk… With her hand, God knows where...”

She needed to make sure Lena was okay. Alex was still searching the server for the files that Winn had put together for her, so Kara sped back into her bedroom, composing text after text to Lena. “Does she know?”

“Know what? She’s got a 24 hour PR team, I’m guessing she does.”

Alex shook her head, “Kar… Does she know you’re Supergirl?”

Kara groaned, “No. I just… we started this thing a few weeks ago and I just… Never had the chance? And everytime I did, I chickened out.”

Alex took her coffee cup and handed Kara the hot chocolate. “This… I’m just… I know this isn’t… neither of you are at fault here. And Winn is searching for the person who leaked the images, and you can assure that they will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But I need you to understand that this is going to be rough for the next few weeks, especially for Lena.”

Kara ran a hand over her face. Poor Lena. Kara could hide behind her persona, but Lena…? She was going to be on the receiving end of everything. She needed to come clean, needed to take some of this burden off Lena’s shoulders. “Alex? On a scale of 1 to Cadmus building a Kryptonite death ray, how bad would it be for Supergirl to give a statement to CatCo regarding the images?”

Alex’s groan was enough of an answer.

***

It was supposed to be fun. Not to say that Lena regretted her actions… Supergirl was the best lay she’d ever had. However, she knew from the start that it was a bad idea. She had no curtains in her office, no blinds, just floor to ceiling windows overlooking National City. No wonder she was now sneaking into L-Corp via the back door, with oversized sunglasses covering most of her face. Hell, in hindsight, it was shocking that it took this long. Thank goodness for her private elevator.

The ride up to the fifty fourth floor gave Lena plenty of time to scroll through her phone. She’d turned off notifications the second her phone started blowing up with mentions on twitter and calls from her PR team.

Kara: I tried to call but clearly you’re busy or just screening calls.

Kara: I just saw the leak.

Kara: Cat will try to bury it.

Kara: Are you okay?

Kara: Call me when you can.

Kara: I need to know if you’re okay.

Lena sighed, Kara didn’t deserve Lena shutting her out, but honesty, Lena was sure that if Kara answered the phone, Lena would break down. So she settled for a text.

Lena: Why would I screen you…? Lunch at my office? I could use a friend right now.

The response was instantaneous.

Kara: I’ll be there at twelve with comfort food <3

The doors to Lena’s floor slid open, revealing Jess standing in front of the desk. She looked shorter, probably due to the fact her shoes were tucked under her seat.

Lena barely made it two steps before Jess swept her into a tight hug.

“I’m so sorry.”

Lena snorted, quickly wiping the tears that had pooled in the corners of her eyes before they ruined her secretary’s blouse. “Did you leak the photos?”

“Yeah, figured it was payback for every time I had to listen to National City’s resident hero slamming you against the desk.” Lena let out a wet laugh, sounding much more like a sob than Jess was comfortable with, “Too soon?”

“I can’t… Jess, what if she doesn’t know…?”

Jess laughed, “Lena, she has ties to the DEO, of course she knows. But if you’re worried, maybe Kara will pull some strings if she hasn’t shown up by close of trade.”

Lena snorted, yeah, Kara... “You’re right... Um… How bad is it?”

Jess frowned, grabbing her tablet from the desk, “#Supercorp has been trending since last night, every major newspaper and gossip rag in National City, that isn’t owned by CatCo, has written their own take on it.”

Lena groaned clicking on the NC Times article at the top of the feed. The image, in full colour, graced the space under the large block letters, LUTHOR AND SUPER: THE NEW SCANDAL!

If it wasn’t such an invasion of their privacy, Lena would compliment the photographer. It was clearly taken from an adjacent building, with a lens strong enough to show Lena’s smudged lipstick. Supergirl’s back was to the camera, cape hanging from one shoulder, one hand hidden beneath the bunched fabric of Lena’s skirt, while the other pulled Lena’s neck closer to her mouth.

Lena felt a familiar heat furling in her abdomen, causing a swell of annoyance. Now was not the time to be thinking about the way Supergirl could turn her knees to jelly with one well placed smirk.

She scrolled down, noting that the article was complete trash, and the first photo was the worst of three images. She pushed the tablet back at Jess, “You’ve cleared today?”

“Yes, aside from the PR department in twenty minutes that you can’t really cancel.”

“Okay. I’m going to prepare myself. This meeting is going to be a nightmare.”

****

Cat: Kara, my office. 8AM don’t be late.

Kara: Yes, Miss Grant. Want me to bring you a latte?

Cat: No.

Kara was dreading her early morning meeting with Cat. They had skirted around the fact that Cat knew Kara was Supergirl for last year. It was a convenient Don’t ask, Don’t tell, type relationship that made Kara’s sneaking about a lot easier, now that Cat was providing her alibis for Snapper.

CatCo was a flurry of excited energy when Kara arrived. It seemed like everyone had decided that today’s breaking news required an early start. Kara was stopped four times on her way to Cat’s office, each time, politely mentioning her meeting with Cat, to save herself the embarrassment of hearing her colleagues opinions on her sex life.

Cat was at her desk, typing furiously when Kara entered. There were two coffees and a plate of cupcakes on her desk, along with a manilla folder that gave Kara a vague idea about the contents. Cat stopped typing, and looked up over her glasses.

“Shut the door.”

Kara followed the instruction, feeling dread welling inside of her at the steely glance that Cat was delivering. She closed the lid on her laptop and walked around the desk, handing Kara the plate of cakes and one of the coffees.

“Balcony?” Kara nodded and followed her mentor out onto the balcony. “So, I awoke to a remarkable amount of emails this morning regarding so images that were leaked overnight. Emails regarding pitches for stories, articles… None of them with any context other than some pictures taken without either party consenting. Unless I’m mistaken.”

Kara kept her face neutral as she sat across the table, “You’re not.”

“Well, you can assure that if I find out that any staff member of CatCo was involved in this invasion of privacy they will be terminated immediately and handed over to the authorities.” Cat reached over the table and placed a hand on her arm.

Kara frowned and glanced across the city, “Thank you, Miss Grant.”

“How is she…?”

Kara shrugged, “She… she’s been quiet. I’m meeting her for lunch today.”

“Quiet?” Cat took a sip of her coffee and pushed the plate across the table, “Kara, I’m not going to force you to talk about it, but I’m here if you need it okay?”

Kara sighed, Cat was trustworthy. She’d proved it time and time again. “Here’s the thing… Lena… She doesn’t… know…”

Cat placed her cup gently back on the table, “Are you telling me that your best friend has no idea that you’re…”

“Nope. And I’m having lunch with her today, because she needs a friend, because she has been outed by some asshole with a camera who thinks they have the right to be snooping into someone else’s private time. I have to tell her.”

There was a moment of silence, before Cat nodded in agreement and got to her feet. “While I don’t know your reasoning for keeping this a secret from her, I am going to side with her on this one. You need to tell her. Preferably today, because you need to work through this together. This isn’t something you can just skim over with your usual clumsy charm. Lena deserves better than that.”

Kara nodded, Cat was right. Cat was always right. “I’ll tell her...”

Cat held up a hand, cutting off what was probably going to be a lengthy, stuttering speech from her protege, “You will also tell her that CatCo has put a bar on the photos as best I could from our end. And should she want to take ownership of the narrative, I will help her… and you… personally.”

Kara stood up and hugged Cat tightly, well… as tight as she could without breaking a rib or two. Cat somehow always knew what Kara needed to hear.

***

Lena pinched the bridge of her nose as she listened to the head of her PR department running through damage control methods. Yousef Marsh had walked into the office ten minutes before speaking at a speed that made Lena wonder if he was actually breathing. She wondered if he actually realised that she hadn’t intended for this to happen, because with the way he was ranting at her, he seemed to think this was an ill attempt at publicity.

Thankfully, the door to her office swung open, revealing Alex Danvers, in full DEO tactical gear, Jess rushing behind her with an exasperated look on her face.

“Were you Danvers girls on the state track team?” Jess groaned, Lena felt a chuckle break free which earned her a glare from Yousef.

“Miss Luthor, I need a moment of your time please,” Alex said, completely ignoring Jess and Yousef.

“Miss Luthor, we need a plan of action! You are under enough scrutiny as a female CEO without your extracurriculars being spread across the internet!”

Lena sighed, “Mr Marsh, I have already told you. I am not the only involved party and I will not consent to any further action until I have had contact with her. So please, head back down to your office and give generic replies stating that when I am ready, I will address the situation myself. Thank you for your time.”

Yousef groaned, “Lena… You… I’m advising you against this, but as a friend, I think this is the right decision.”

Lena gave him a curt smile and nodded as he left the room. She dismissed Jess and motioned for Alex to sit on the couch.

“Is she okay, Alex?” Lena took the seat next to Alex, who had dropped her face into her hands.

“She’s worried about you. Really worried.”

Lena took a deep breath and held it for a moment, wondering if Alex had any idea before the pictures were leaked, “Did you… Was this a shock for you…?”

Alex laughed, “You could say that… There are some things you just can’t unsee.”

Lena felt the mood lighten a little, “I didn’t… A lot of people are saying things… about me… my motives…”

“I know. She was furious this morning. She heat visioned my favourite mug when that rag tried to accuse you of seducing her. ‘I started it, Alex!’”

“To be entirely truthful, I may have goaded her into it…”

“Gross Lena…” Alex sat back and pulled a laptop out of the bag she’d been carrying and set it up on the coffee table. Lena quickly tapped out a message for Jess to bring copious amounts of coffee as soon as possible. “So, we think the photographer was in either of these two buildings, judging from the angle of the photographs….”

Lena glanced at the interactive map on the screen and touched the second address on the map.

“That’s the Lord Tech building.”

Alex groaned, “Of course it is. Can you give me some more information about the proposal you sent us?”

Lena nodded, “Max tried to talk me into helping him with a military contract involving a synthetic form of Kryptonite. I thought about being polite but ended up losing my temper and telling him to go fuck himself.”

Alex nodded, “That’ll do it.” She groaned and took a moment to email Winn, telling him to hack the Lord Technologies servers to see if they could pull any correspondence regarding the leak.

“Lena…” Alex silenced as Jess delivered the two cups of coffee, along with a reminder that Kara would be arriving within the hour. Jess didn’t need to be privy to the conversation that was about to happen. Once Jess left she turned back to Lena, “I don’t agree with how she’s handled this… I don’t know if you want to know her identity, but I feel like this never should have happened with you not knowing…”

Lena watched Alex’s face. She knew what Alex was getting at, she’d known for a while, in fact. She was just too scared to admit that she knew. “Say I did know… obviously, I haven’t had my suspicions confirmed but…”

Alex nearly dropped her coffee on the floor, “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Lena shrugged, “I’m sorry, I’m not an idiot but they kinda smell the same… and the glasses, Alex? Come on.”

Alex shook her head and took a long draught of coffee, Lena was surprised it didn’t burn her mouth on the way down. “Not an idiot? Lena…. You’re both idiots! She’s been dreading telling you because she thinks you’ll hate her for deceiving you!”

Lena rolled her eyes, “She’s a drama queen, I’ll give her that. I’ve been dropping hints, but she’s…”

“Almost as oblivious as you are.”

***

Alex left fifteen minutes before Kara strode into the office. Her arms leaden with bags of what was probably alien amounts of junk food.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked, watching Kara drop the bags to the table.

She looked up, a look of surprise on her face. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

They stared at each other, Lena silently daring Kara to say something, “I wasn’t the only party involved, Miss Danvers.”

Lena watched a range of emotions cross Kara’s face, she honestly didn’t have the capacity to dissect them all at that moment but when Kara dropped onto the couch, much like Alex had, Lena felt a surge of triumph, “I was going to tell you. I’m sorry that I didn’t.”

“And I’m sorry that I let you believe that I didn’t know.”

Kara sighed, “We suck at this.”

Lena let out a laugh, “Yeah, just a bit.” She reached out and pulled Kara into a hug, “Is this okay?”

“Well, I feel like we’ve basically been dating for the last three month… So yes. This is fine.”

Kara pulled Lena onto her lap, “Cat wants to help.”

Lena nodded, “How? The entire world has seen us fucking on my desk Kara. How do we fix it?”

Kara winced, Lena’s words just made everything feel so much more real. Their private bubble of happiness that they’d slowly built over the last few months had been shattered by some idiot with a camera and no regards for their privacy. “We turn the story around. Cat writes an article about your whirlwind romance… Star crossed lovers sneaking around… I don’t know. They don’t call her the Queen of Media for nothing Lena.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap,” Lena said, burying her face in Kara’s shoulder. “You trust Cat?”

“With my life,” Kara replied. She hugged Lena tightly, “We’ll work it out.”

For the first time that day, Lena felt hopeful that they’d come through this unscathed.

#grims fics #this is definitely not a mini #supercorp #fanfic tag

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cathrynstreich · 4 years

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Tips for Your Next Virtual Happy Hour or Party

(TNS)—We have all suddenly and somewhat unwillingly been ushered into the age of the social video call.

Yes, we’ve all been on a few video conferences for work here and there—a necessary evil of remote teams and global businesses. But this is the first time we’ve all found ourselves celebrating birthdays, baby showers, engagements and even weddings with our friends and family compacted into boxes on a screen. The ink was barely dry on the shutdown orders last month before people started organizing happy hours, game nights, book clubs, watch parties, brunches and other gatherings online.

The age of social distancing has proved to be remarkably social. But there’s a bit of a learning curve to using video conferencing, even if you’ve done it for work before. The etiquette and expectations are a little different when you’re just vibing with your friends— but they still exist.

There’s a lot of overlap between pro tips for using Zoom, Skype or Google Hangouts for work and with your friends.

If you’ve never joined or set up a video call before, our ultimate guide to hanging out with your friends online has instructions. Once you’re ready to attain the next level of video-conferencing capabilities, come back here.

Using your laptop is better than your phone. You’ll quickly discover that holding a phone up at face height for an extended period of time is no fun. The video and sound quality tend to be lower coming from your phone. Also, if you have your laptop set up on a table in front of you, it’s easier to eat and drink. It also makes it feel a little more natural if you need to get up—like you’re just pushing your chair back from the table at a dinner party instead of making everyone else stare at your ceiling as your phone sits face-up while you refill your drink.

With Zoom, gallery view is better than speaker video. With speaker video, the person who’s making the most noise is a big picture, while everyone else is in a little bar at the side or along the top. Speaker view makes sense when you’re watching a work presentation but feels less natural in a group setting. Sometimes, more than one person is talking, or some other noise prompts the camera to switch over, like sirens outside or a dog barking. Gallery view gives you the “Brady Bunch”-style grid where you’re all in the same sized window. To change which view you’re seeing, go to the top right of the screen and click “Gallery View.”

Muting yourself still applies. In a get-together with a couple of other friends, sure, leave yourself unmuted. But when five or more people are joining the video call, it’s polite to mute yourself when you aren’t speaking. Laptop and phone microphones pick up sound differently than our ears do. What sounds to you like the normal hustle and bustle of making dinner in the background while you listen to your friends talk might be a magnified banging and clashing to them.

To look your best, put your laptop on a stack of books and check your background before you go live. I covered this in my complete guide to working from home, but it all still applies here. Put your laptop on top of a stack of books so the camera is at about eye level while you’re sitting down. Otherwise, you risk incurring the dreaded down-facing double chin.

Your friends are going to care less about what your house looks like than your boss might, but it’s still good to tidy up before guests come over, even if they’re only in attendance virtually.

“In a sense we’ve all become set designers,” said Mark Marino, who says he’d used Zoom a handful of times before coronavirus but now uses it regularly in his job as a professor who teaches writing at USC.

Just double-check that people aren’t staring at a mountain of dirty laundry or empty cans before you click “join meeting.” An alternative: Queue up some good virtual backgrounds.

Be the host with the most.

If you’re hosting the meeting with Zoom, you’ll need to upgrade to a Pro account or have to restart the meeting every 40 minutes when the free version runs out. Google Hangouts and Skype don’t set time limits. Try to start your gatherings on time so people aren’t left hanging on the hold screen.

Also, if you’re setting it up, plan some games that take advantage of the technology instead of trying to work around it. For more on that, keep reading. OK, we’re on the call. Now what?

Social events via video conference require a bit more planning and finesse than a casual hang.

Plan things to do other things than just talking.

In a normal party setting, you’d split off and have side conversations among a few people and migrate around to different groups. Here, you have to keep a conversation going among everyone at once. That’s challenging. If you’re hosting, it might be more helpful to set an agenda so people know what to expect: “We’ll chat from 6 to 6:30-ish, then I was thinking we could (play some games / do a scavenger hunt / watch the new season of “Nailed It!” on Netflix / work on our separate crafting projects simultaneously.)”

We have a ton of ideas for that in our ultimate online hangout guide. A few to get your started: Jackbox games, virtual card and board games on Playingcards.io, or tabletop RPGs—either standbys like Dungeons and Dragons, or ones designed specifically to be played virtually, like the #ZoomJam games Mark Marino’s students have been challenged to make. Party classics like Charades, Pictionary and Bingo are easily transferable to a video call.

Another idea: Be apart, together.

Pull out your Nintendo Switches and play Animal Crossing (the ultimate game for this moment in history) at the same time. Do crafts or a DIY project. You don’t have to be actively engaging with one another the entire time to feel together. Jennifer Peepas, who writes the advice blog Captain Awkward, called it “parallel socializing.” She and her friends have logged onto Zoom to knit together.

Scavenger hunts can take advantage of your separate locations and be a fun opportunity to move around a bit. The host names an object and everyone else has a certain amount of time (say, 30 seconds) to find it in their own house. A coffee mug with writing on it. A twist tie. A sock in a color other than white. A roll of toilet paper. (Credit where credit is due: I first heard of this idea on Twitter and vowed to steal it. Mission accomplished.)

PowerPoint Parties take advantage of digital screen-sharing technology. Everyone prepares a short presentation on a topic they’re enthusiastic about, whether it’s sourdough discard recipes or obscure unsolved mysteries or reality TV contestants. Then you take turns sharing.

Know when to say goodnight.

You aren’t the only person who feels totally worn out by these. A video call requires you to be “on” and maintaining conversation and eye contact in a way you don’t have to if you’re all meeting up at a bar. Marino likened the psychic exhaustion to “encountering a dementor in Harry Potter”—it’s just a weird, soul-sucking experience. And the fact that you can see your own face all the time is frankly perturbing. Feel free to have a sticky note on hand to keep yourself out of your line of sight.

So don’t plan an all-nighter. The general rule of thumb is that the more people on the call, the shorter it should be. I have found that the one-hour-to-90-minute range tends to be the sweet spot for most online gatherings that involve more than one or two other people.

Excusing yourself from the call can be a little tricky. Most of the reasons we give to leave a social situation no longer apply. You don’t need to beat traffic. You don’t have to get home to let the dog out. You probably don’t have somewhere else you need to be (though more and more people are finding themselves double-booked for Zoom hangouts these days).

“Just say, ‘it’s time for me to take off,’ ‘time for me to go,’ that’s it,” said Lizzie Post, the president of the Emily Post Institute. She said to resist the urge to pretend you’re having technical difficulties or the WiFi is going out. Your friends will get it and probably be relieved to have an excuse to say, “You know, I’m gonna get going too.”

“Most people are going through waves of being in weird headspace of wanting to connect or not wanting to connect or needing to get things done,” Post said. “Have confidence saying things like, ‘Hey, guys, I’m gonna take off, it’s been really fun chatting with you all, see you soon.”

Peepas, the Captain Awkward advice writer, said if you don’t feel comfortable being that assertive, use some outside help: an oven timer.

“If you’re trying to keep in touch with people, you do want to talk to them but you know you don’t want to do it for an hour, set a timer in another room (for however long you’d like to talk), and then enjoy your call,” she said, “and when the oven timer goes off, just say, ‘Oh, that’s my timer! I’ll talk to you next week.'”

It creates an invisible external force that the person you’re talking to likely won’t question. Up to you whether you decide to put something delicious in the oven to bake first.

The post Tips for Your Next Virtual Happy Hour or Party appeared first on RISMedia.

Tips for Your Next Virtual Happy Hour or Party published first on https://thegardenresidences.tumblr.com/

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faizrashis1995 · 4 years

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Alpine makes Python Docker builds 50× slower, and images 2× larger

When you’re choosing a base image for your Docker image, Alpine Linux is often recommended. Using Alpine, you’re told, will make your images smaller and speed up your builds. And if you’re using Go that’s reasonable advice.

But if you’re using Python, Alpine Linux will quite often:

Make your builds much slower.

Make your images bigger.

Waste your time.

On occassion, introduce obscure runtime bugs.

Let’s see why Alpine is recommended, and why you probably shouldn’t use it for your Python application.

Why people recommend Alpine

Let’s say we need to install gcc as part of our image build, and we want to see how Alpine Linux compares to Ubuntu 18.04 in terms of build time and image size.

First, I’ll pull both images, and check their size:

$ docker pull --quiet ubuntu:18.04

docker.io/library/ubuntu:18.04

$ docker pull --quiet alpine

docker.io/library/alpine:latest

$ docker image ls ubuntu:18.04

REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID SIZE

ubuntu 18.04 ccc6e87d482b 64.2MB

$ docker image ls alpine

REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID SIZE

alpine latest e7d92cdc71fe 5.59MB

As you can see, the base image for Alpine is much smaller.

Next, we’ll try installing gcc in both of them. First, with Ubuntu:

FROM ubuntu:18.04

RUN apt-get update && \

apt-get install --no-install-recommends -y gcc && \

apt-get clean && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

Note: Outside the specific topic under discussion, the Dockerfiles in this article are not examples of best practices, since the added complexity would obscure the main point of the article.

Want a best-practices Dockerfile and build system? Check out my Production-Ready Python Containers product.

We can then build and time that:

$ time docker build -t ubuntu-gcc -f Dockerfile.ubuntu --quiet .

sha256:b6a3ee33acb83148cd273b0098f4c7eed01a82f47eeb8f5bec775c26d4fe4aae

real 0m29.251s

user 0m0.032s

sys 0m0.026s

$ docker image ls ubuntu-gcc

REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE

ubuntu-gcc latest b6a3ee33acb8 9 seconds ago 150MB

Now let’s make the equivalent Alpine Dockerfile:

FROM alpine

RUN apk add --update gcc

And again, build the image and check its size:

$ time docker build -t alpine-gcc -f Dockerfile.alpine --quiet .

sha256:efd626923c1478ccde67db28911ef90799710e5b8125cf4ebb2b2ca200ae1ac3

real 0m15.461s

user 0m0.026s

sys 0m0.024s

$ docker image ls alpine-gcc

REPOSITORY TAG IMAGE ID CREATED SIZE

alpine-gcc latest efd626923c14 7 seconds ago 105MB

As promised, Alpine images build faster and are smaller: 15 seconds instead of 30 seconds, and the image is 105MB instead of 150MB. That’s pretty good!

But when we switch to packaging a Python application, things start going wrong.

Let’s build a Python image

We want to package a Python application that uses pandas and matplotlib. So one option is to use the Debian-based official Python image (which I pulled in advance), with the following Dockerfile:

FROM python:3.8-slim

RUN pip install --no-cache-dir matplotlib pandas

And when we build it:

$ docker build -f Dockerfile.slim -t python-matpan.

Sending build context to Docker daemon 3.072kB

Step 1/2 : FROM python:3.8-slim

---> 036ea1506a85

Step 2/2 : RUN pip install --no-cache-dir matplotlib pandas

---> Running in 13739b2a0917

Collecting matplotlib

Downloading matplotlib-3.1.2-cp38-cp38-manylinux1_x86_64.whl (13.1 MB)

Collecting pandas

Downloading pandas-0.25.3-cp38-cp38-manylinux1_x86_64.whl (10.4 MB)

...

Successfully built b98b5dc06690

Successfully tagged python-matpan:latest

real 0m30.297s

user 0m0.043s

sys 0m0.020s

The resulting image is 363MB.

Can we do better with Alpine? Let’s try:

FROM python:3.8-alpine

RUN pip install --no-cache-dir matplotlib pandas

And now we build it:

$ docker build -t python-matpan-alpine -f Dockerfile.alpine .

Sending build context to Docker daemon 3.072kB

Step 1/2 : FROM python:3.8-alpine

---> a0ee0c90a0db

Step 2/2 : RUN pip install --no-cache-dir matplotlib pandas

---> Running in 6740adad3729

Collecting matplotlib

Downloading matplotlib-3.1.2.tar.gz (40.9 MB)

ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1:

command: /usr/local/bin/python -c 'import sys, setuptools, tokenize; sys.argv[0] = '"'"'/

tmp/pip-install-a3olrixa/matplotlib/setup.py'"'"'; __file__='"'"'/tmp/pip-install-a3olrixa/matplotlib/setup.py'"'"';f=getattr(tokenize, '"'"'open'"'"', open)(__file__);code=f.read().replace('"'"'\r\n'"'"', '"'"'\n'"'"');f.close();exec(compile(code, __file__, '"'"'exec'"'"'))' egg_info --egg-base /tmp/pip-install-a3olrixa/matplotlib/pip-egg-info

...

ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1: python setup.py egg_info Check the logs for full command output.

The command '/bin/sh -c pip install matplotlib pandas' returned a non-zero code: 1

What’s going on?

Standard PyPI wheels don’t work on Alpine

If you look at the Debian-based build above, you’ll see it’s downloading matplotlib-3.1.2-cp38-cp38-manylinux1_x86_64.whl. This is a pre-compiled binary wheel. Alpine, in contrast, downloads the source code (matplotlib-3.1.2.tar.gz), because standard Linux wheels don’t work on Alpine Linux.

Why? Most Linux distributions use the GNU version (glibc) of the standard C library that is required by pretty much every C program, including Python. But Alpine Linux uses musl, those binary wheels are compiled against glibc, and therefore Alpine disabled Linux wheel support.

Most Python packages these days include binary wheels on PyPI, significantly speeding install time. But if you’re using Alpine Linux you need to compile all the C code in every Python package that you use.

Which also means you need to figure out every single system library dependency yourself. In this case, to figure out the dependencies I did some research, and ended up with the following updated Dockerfile:

FROM python:3.8-alpine

RUN apk --update add gcc build-base freetype-dev libpng-dev openblas-dev

RUN pip install --no-cache-dir matplotlib pandas

And then we build it, and it takes…

… 25 minutes, 57 seconds! And the resulting image is 851MB.

Here’s a comparison between the two base images:

Base image Time to build Image size Research required

python:3.8-slim 30 seconds 363MB No

python:3.8-alpine 1557 seconds 851MB Yes

Alpine builds are vastly slower, the image is bigger, and I had to do a bunch of research.

Can’t you work around these issues?

Build time

For faster build times, Alpine Edge, which will eventually become the next stable release, does have matplotlib and pandas. And installing system packages is quite fast. As of January 2020, however, the current stable release does not include these popular packages.

Even when they are available, however, system packages almost always lag what’s on PyPI, and it’s unlikely that Alpine will ever package everything that’s on PyPI. In practice most Python teams I know don’t use system packages for Python dependencies, they rely on PyPI or Conda Forge.

Image size

Some readers pointed out that you can remove the originally installed packages, or add an option not to cache package downloads, or use a multi-stage build. One reader attempt resulted in a 470MB image.

So yes, you can get an image that’s in the ballpark of the slim-based image, but the whole motivation for Alpine Linux is smaller images and faster builds. With enough work you may be able to get a smaller image, but you’re still suffering from a 1500-second build time when they you get a 30-second build time using the python:3.8-slim image.

But wait, there’s more!

Alpine Linux can cause unexpected runtime bugs

While in theory the musl C library used by Alpine is mostly compatible with the glibc used by other Linux distributions, in practice the differences can cause problems. And when problems do occur, they are going to be strange and unexpected.

Some examples:

Alpine has a smaller default stack size for threads, which can lead to Python crashes.

One Alpine user discovered that their Python application was much slower because of the way musl allocates memory vs. glibc.

I once couldn’t do DNS lookups in Alpine images running on minikube (Kubernetes in a VM) when using the WeWork coworking space’s WiFi. The cause was a combination of a bad DNS setup by WeWork, the way Kubernetes and minikube do DNS, and musl’s handling of this edge case vs. what glibc does. musl wasn’t wrong (it matched the RFC), but I had to waste time figuring out the problem and then switching to a glibc-based image.

Another user discovered issues with time formatting and parsing.

Most or perhaps all of these problems have already been fixed, but no doubt there are more problems to discover. Random breakage of this sort is just one more thing to worry about.

Don’t use Alpine Linux for Python images

Unless you want massively slower build times, larger images, more work, and the potential for obscure bugs, you’ll want to avoid Alpine Linux as a base image. For some recommendations on what you should use, see my article on choosing a good base image.[Source]-https://pythonspeed.com/articles/alpine-docker-python/

Beginners & Advanced level Docker Certification in Mumbai. Asterix Solution's 25 Hour Docker Training gives broad hands-on practicals.

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alifeenrouteblog · 6 years

Text

72 hours in havana, cuba

Why I went to Havana

My obsession with getting to Cuba is convoluted. My Uncle Mike was sick for well over a decade; a heart transplant led to lung cancer for the 63-year-old nonsmoker. His wife, my Aunt Suzanne, unexpectedly died in the summer of 2015, which was very hard for everyone in the family. But of course, it was the hardest for Mike; they had been married for 40+ years. We all saw how a part of him died the day Suzanne died.

I could go on and on about how amazing the two of them were but I'll keep it quick. After Suzanne passed, Mike became more obsessed with traveling. I think the depression of losing his one true love drove him to want to do some very ambitious travel. He wasn't well and probably should not have traveled internationally at all, so it took us all for a surprise when he told everyone we would be doing a family trip to Cuba the Christmas after Suzanne died. He wanted to do it before he died. A newly opened country to the US does not sound like the best place for a man struggling to beat cancer. But that was Mike.

I'm not sure if my Dad talked him out of it or if Mike just forgot about it or what exactly happened, but I know the conversation about Cuba stopped after Christmas. Mike passed away that June. Four days after my Uncle Mark (his brother and roommate) died. Yes, that is correct. We lost two uncles/brothers in the span of four days. I wouldn't say I was extremely close with either one of them. Mostly because they were far across the country. But both of them were amazingly kind and loving people. I admired them very much. And I loved them deeply. When they died, I silently went into a deep depression.

At first, it was the pain of seeing my Dad in so much pain. Other than my brother and I, Mike and Mark were his only living immediate family. His parents have both died. The fourth brother David, passed away in an accident in 2005. His brothers were his best friends. Seeing my Dad lose everyone made me want to scream. It was so incredibly painful. My Dad's great at keeping it together but I knew how much he was suffering. And probably still is.

When I got home from the joint funeral, and for the rest of the summer, anytime I got home from the bar or had a couple of glasses of wine in my apartment, I would sob in my bed. For hours. Sometimes, I'd drunk dial my brother and cry to him about how much I missed them. But other than that, I never told anyone how much I was hurting. If you don't understand this next statement, I don't blame you, but it's all I can do to explain the dark place I was in at the time - I had a survivor's guilt. I didn't think I deserved to live while the two best men I knew died in their early sixties. I hated it. At the time, I wasn't proud of anything I'd done. I wasn't suicidal but I just felt like the world would have been better with Mike and Mark than with me.

I know that's not logical thinking and I eventually healed. I still miss them but I stopped that survivor's guilt thinking. I did want to feel closer to them though and I thought the best way was to do what they always wanted to do - go to Cuba.

A little less than a year after Mike passed, I went to Cuba - alone, and having done little research. Only for about 72 hours. And about 20 additional hours of travel. I didn't do enough museums, tours, etc. Because I was too nervous about the language barrier and not having enough cash. But fuck it. I did the best I could. It was worth it. 100%.

I cried on the cab ride from the airport to my airbnb. Just seeing this magical, forbidden place and thinking about Mike and Mark. The whole trip was profound. The buildings are beautiful and colorful. When I walked around early in the morning, the streets smelled of men's cologne.

I cried a lot there. I cried because it was so beautiful. I cried because I was grateful to be there. And I cried because I missed Mike and Mark. But I wouldn't change anything. I'd love to go back and spend more time and do the right things.

This was only my second trip alone. My first solo trip I just read on the beach in a sleepy fishing village in Nicaragua. But in Havana there is so much to do and see and I wish I did more. I wish I went to the beach or the museums or some of the tours. Unfortunately, I had a lot of anxiety there. I was too scared to ask for directions or help. But I left that trip with so much confidence and I went on the next trip much more able to navigate big city travel alone.

I didn't wait for the perfect trip, where I was there for 10 days, practiced Spanish, and planed every day’s itinerary. I saw a small window of opportunity and just went for it. Even if I missed a bunch of stuff while I was there.

I don't have all the best advice on what to do there but I think walking around Havana for hours aimlessly is the best. It’s so beautiful. You'll see things there you won't see anywhere else. The smells and sounds are once in a lifetime.

Here is some logisitical info you might find helpful:

Getting to Cuba

I planned for a five days trip to Havana. I was flying from a client engagement in Minneapolis to Havana, so that my flight there was paid for by my client. One of the few things I miss about consulting. I ended up cutting my trip short when I was asked to do another client engagement in San Francisco the following week. I just cut the trip to three days and flew straight to San Francisco from Havana. It was so much travel and I was exhausted but well worth it.

I flew Spirit to Havana. And American Airlines for my return. When I booked my ticket online through Spirit, the airline asked why I was going, giving a list of 11 choices. I chose education purposes - I was there to learn more about the Cuban culture to better US/Cuban relations. Its not as scary as everyone made it seem. Basically, you can't be there to get shit faced and celebrate your friend's bachelor(ette) party.

After I purchased my flight, I has to go to a separate website to apply for a Visa for about $75. Spirit Air provided me the link to the company they go through for Cuban visas. I heard confirmation from the company a few days later.

From my confirmation email from Spirit: TRAVEL TO CUBA: We noticed you're traveling to Cuba. Que bueno! There are very important rules & regulations for travel to Cuba relating to visa requirements, permissible travel reasons, Cuban health insurance (which has already been included in your ticket price) and more. Please be sure to review those details here and take care of all paperwork beforehand to ensure that your travel to Cuba is authorized. Customers who don't meet the legal requirements to travel to Cuba will not be allowed to board their flight.

I flew via Fort Lauderdale. Before my flight, I had to go to a Spirit counter and get the physical visa. The company sent Spirit the information so I just had to provide my Passport and I got my visa, which I needed to board the flight.

From Airline Brokers, the company who issued my Visa: Dear Travelers: Your visa has been accepted !!!!! passengers who are departing to HAVANA, CUBA your visa's will only be given to the person who requested and paid for them in advance through our website , they will be handed at the SPIRIT AIRLINES DEPARTURE GATE INSIDE the FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT FOLLOW THE SIGN THAT SAYS CUBA VISAS.

What I Did in Havana

Customs at the Havana airport was pretty normal, but at the time, very busy. Mostly with young Americans. You're supposed to keep receipts and a log of what you do during your time in Cuba, proving you were there for educational purposes, i.e. receipts from a msueum.

Don't plan on using debit or credit cards on the island. I brought about $200 with me and exchanged it at the airport. There are two different types of currency in Cuba. The Cuban Peso (CUP) and the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC). You want to exchange most of your money to CUC. But apparently, its handy to have some small denominations in CUP for busses, etc. If your debit card is from the US, you probably won't be able to use your cards but might be able to use it at an ATM.

I stayed in a private room at an airbnb in Old Havana, near the Spanish Embassy. If you don't want to stay at a hotel because of price or any other reason, I recommend getting a room in an Airbnb in a family's apartment/house - Someone that speaks English. (Obviously, a hotel would have this sort of amenity too). Because you probably won't have cell or internet service and staying with someone who knows Havana and speaks English is key.

I called both AT&T and Verizon (personal and work phones) and both said I would have service but I did not. You need to go to a government office when you get there and get an internet card, then you can use public wifi like at a hotel.

I walked around the city for 8 to 12 hours a day. it's the most beautiful place in the world. A lot of the city is in ruin too. But I think it adds to the beauty. The people were so kind. Surprisingly, everyone, I spoke with loved Americans.

Havana is extremely safe. Tourism is one of their only imports and I heard that the government has strongly impressed upon its citizens to not fuck with tourists for that very reason. The most you'll have to deal with is the hundreds of cab drivers asking if you need a ride.

Be prepared for less than great food. Especially if you're a Cuban food fan. It might have improved since I went, but when I was there it was still clear that the country couldn't get a lot of good food imported.

Things I didn't do but wish I did. Go to the beach. The Museum of the Revolution. Like I mentioned above, I did not do enough tourist things. It was only my second trip alone and the first one was on the beach exclusively. Again, solo travel was new to me.

So I don't have all the best advice on what to see and do there. But I hope I helped with

Whenever I travel alone, I listen to a lot of podcasts as I walk around. I was doing this on my last day when a woman, probably a few years older than me, stopped me and asked where I was from. Then she told me not to have my ear buds in. I should be listening to the sounds of Havana. People chatting. Music playing. Because that's what makes it so special and beautiful.

#Cuba #havana #travel

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