Hacker Public Radio

Epizode

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  HPR4700: Robert A. Heinlein: The Juveniles 07.08.2026

  Heinlein wrote a series of books under contract to Scribners that were aumed at younger readers, pre-teen and teen. Today we would call them Young Adult, but back then they were called Juveniles. But even an adult reader can enjoy many of these books. Because they were aimed at younger readers, he could not always be as explicit as he might have liked, but if you pay attention you just might noticed he slipped in something subversive. Heinlein: The Juveniles As a boy I read voraciously. I remember my mother organizing weekly trips to the town library, where I would load up on books, and I quickly became focused on Science Fiction, along with the usual stuff kids read, like the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and the Walter Farley horse books. But the idea of going into space grabbed me very early. And one of the first authors I read was Heinlein. He had taken a leave from publishing during World War II, when he was doing research at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. But when the war was over, he set out to move beyond the “pulps” and expand the market for his stories. And one big market for him was what were called “juveniles” at the time, and would today be called “Young Adult”. I was reading adult fiction by the time I was 11 or 12, but before that (and even after that, in fact) I read these Heinlein novels with great relish. Heinlein’s target audience for these novels was teenage boys. He did a few stories aimed at girls, but mostly he wrote for boys. And these were mostly “coming of age” stories where the teenage protagonist has adventures, and as a result grows and develops. They are very loosely related via some internal references, but should really be thought of as stand-alone stories. They also in some cases have references to his other stories, including the Future history stories. He wrote 13 of these novels, one per year, from 1947 to 1959. The series was published by Scribners until the last one was rejected by them. Heinlein then published it with a different publisher, and stopped writing these novels altogether in favor of more adult fiction. The novels roughly form a progression telling the story of space exploration. It starts with a trip to the Moon, then Venus, Mars, Jupiter’s moon, and so on until we reach the Lesser Magellanic Cloud. Rocket Ship Galileo (1947) – While readable, this initial effort was not up to Heinlein’s later standards. The plot concerns three teenagers who assist an uncle to build a rocket ship and go to the Moon. When they get there they discover Nazis have already arrived. The Nazis try to kill the group, but they succeed in turning the tables, stealing the Nazi ship, and returning to Earth as heroes. This novel became the basis (loosely) for the movie Destination Moon (1950), and I personally would consider the movie to be superior to the novel. It is also worth noting that the theory brought up in Blowups Happen reappears in this novel. They find evidence of an ancient Lunar civilization that was destroyed, and theorize that the craters on the moon were caused by the explosion of nuclear reactors that caused the extinction of the civilization. Space Cadet (1948) – This was in part the inspiration for the
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  HPR4699: Sunshine, Moonlight, Playnite !? 06.08.2026

  sunshine / xbox contlers / plex / steam / UWPHook / Bluetoothctl restart / HDMI dongle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FM4FbA4-W_c UGREEN USB C Hub 5 in 1 Multiport Adapter Revodok 105 4K HDMI, 100W Power Delivery, 3 USB-A Data Ports, USB C Dongle for MacBook Pro/Air, iPad Pro, iMac, iPhone 16 Pro/Pro Max, XPS, Thinkpad https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR3M8XHK Detached Command: @ECHO OFF cd "C:backupgamestream_launchpad" c:windowsSystem32HdrSwitcher.exe disable start /MIN gamestream_launchpad.exe 1920 1080 gamestream_playnite.ini .bindkeys rc cat .xbindkeysrc /bin/bash /home/plex/.local/bin/Plex.sh /bin/bash /home/plex/.local/bin/Steam.sh /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer on; /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer brightness 100;xgamma -gamma 1.3 /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer on; /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer brightness 40;xgamma -gamma 1.3 /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer on; /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer brightness 12;xgamma -gamma 1.3 /home/plex/.local/bin/kasa --host 192.168.1.239 --port 9999 --type dimmer off;xgamma -gamma 1.3" cat /home/plex/.local/bin/Steam.sh # requires wmctrl -l and xbindkeys # # xdotool windowactivate ```xdotool search --name 'window name'``` # 0 StartSteamLink(){ echo "restarting bluetooth" sudo systemctl restart bluetooth echo "Waking Game PC" sudo /usr/sbin/etherwake -i enp1s0 -D "d8:bb:c1:a2:2c:0b" echo "Starting steamlink" killall -9 steamlink killall moonlight sleep 20 # /snap/bin/moonlight /home/plex/.local/bin/Moonlight-6.1.0-x86_64.AppImage } StartSteamLink SUMMARY: Speaker discusses technical challenges with Sun Shine, Moonlight, and Play Night setups. IDEAS: Sun Shine and Moonlight enable remote game streaming. Play Night acts as a multimodal launcher for Steam. Resolution changes cause display issues during gameplay. Proper exit sequence is critical to revert settings. Ultra-wide resolutions are unusable in some configurations. Multiple launchers require separate logins for different games. Environment variables can adjust client dimensions. Background commands improve system stability. Cat named Mojo is mentioned during the discussion. 5G networks support slower-paced gaming. Technical glitches include frame drops and latency. Steam accounts are tied to specific game libraries. Detached commands run in the background without user interaction. GameStream Launchpad manages resolution and launcher paths. Magical system behavior simplifies remote gaming. Star Wars and Baldur’s Gate are cited as example games. 22nd Millie thing refers to network latency. Multiple Steam accounts complicate game access. Task killing reverts system settings automatically. Cross-platform streaming solutions are highlighted. RECOMMENDATIONS: Use environment variables for client resolution adjustments. Exit applications properly to revert settings. Set up detached background commands for stability. Monitor ultra-wide resolution
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  HPR4698: ID3 Tags and Vorbis Comments 05.08.2026

  -------------------- 01 Introduction In a response to a post on a previous episode, I said that I would take a look at ID3 tags. ID3 tags are text information that is added to an MP3 audio file, such as the author, date, name, and other information. 02 While I am at it I will also look at Vorbis comments, which perform a similar function for vorbis, the container format for "ogg" audio files. As example audio files, I will use a recent HPR episode, hpr4678 in both mp3 and vorbis formats plus also one from another podcast as well. 03 There is Free Software which you can use to view, edit, or remove both types of tags or comments, and I will describe how to use it in this episode. 04 I will cover how to view tags and extract the text information, as well as how to strip the tags from a file and why you may wish to do so under certain very specific circumstances. I won't cover how to add to or edit tags in an MP3 or OGG file, as that is a more involved subject that I don't have much experience with. 05 I will mainly talk about ID3 MP3 tags rather than vorbis comments for the simple reason that the situation with MP3 files is an utter mess while vorbis comments are very straightforward and so there isn't as much to say about them. 06 As often happens when researching a subject to write a podcast script, I have learned quite a bit that I didn't know previously, and discovered that things that I thought I did know were wrong. I hope that you may learn a few things from this episode that you didn't know previously either. -------------------- 07 Background I won't go over the detailed history of ID3 tags, as I don't have a reliable source for this. Briefly however, so far as I can determine, there is no official independent standard for ID3 tags or vorbis comments. Both seem to be more in the nature of a convention that was created by an unofficial group of contributors rather than something issued by a standards body. 08 However, I don't see the lack of a conventional standards body as necessarily a problem with respect to the use of ID3 tags or vorbis comments. I just am not familiar enough with the industry to know who to regard as being an authoritative source when it comes to the history and development of them Since I am unsure as who to credit with what developments, I will avoid that sort of detail. 09 ID3 Tags There is a web site with the URL of ID3.org that seems to have the best reference material on the topic of ID3 tags. According to this site, the term "ID3" means "IDentify an MP3". 10 Vorbis Comments For vorbis, the reference site seems to be xiph.org. Although the implementation details may differ from ID3, from our perspective as podcast listeners, they can be seen as more or less equivalent in terms of what I am going to address here. -------------------- 11 ID3 Details Versions One of the problems with ID3 is that there are multiple incompatible versions, particularly from the very early days. ID3v1 tags are located at the end of the audio file in the last 128 bytes. This was done for compatibility reasons to allow early MP3 players to simply ignore the tags if they didn't know how to deal with them. The tags would simply appear as a short burst of static from the perspective of these early players. 12 ID3v2 moved the tags to the start of the MP
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  HPR4697: Correcting the Dates of Files 04.08.2026

  I recently had an experience where UNIX tools proved very useful. A relative had an old mobile phone running Android that stopped connecting to the carrier's network and bought a new one to replace it. I took on the job of trying to copy their files (consisting of just photos and videos) off of the old phone. Google's software was desperate to convince me to upload everything to the cloud, but I wasn't interested. It offered the option of copying the files over to an SD card, but failed on repeated attempts to do that. The option I tried next was to transfer them to another device via Bluetooth—that one did actually work, although it was slow and would only handle sending about 100 files at a time. They came over to my laptop OK, but the problem with that method was that all of the file times were set to the time when they were transferred. I'm not super familiar with how mobile apps manage metadata, but would presume that they look to file times for organizing photos by date. Fortunately, the names of each of the files included the date and time they were created. I recognized that I could write a bit of shell script to parse the filenames and set the file times accordingly. While there were over 800 files, the good news is that there were only three different categories of filenames, so the logic to extract the information needed was relatively simple. Each file had eight numerical digits representing the date and six digits representing the time. It would definitely be an option to come up with a more sophisticated parser that could handle a wide variety of filenames, but I went the lazy way and just handled those three cases. Another nice aspect was that none of the filenames contained spaces, which allowed me to be a bit less careful when using them in command lines. I didn't need to worry about time zones because my laptop was set to the same time zone as the phone—also, if a time was off a by a few hours it wouldn't make a practical difference. Examples of the three different types of filenames I had to deal with, labeled with the relevant values: YYYY=year, MM=month, DD=day, hh=hour, mm=minute, and SS=second. 00001IMG_00001_BURST20250525140124.jpg YYYYMMDDhhmmSS IMG_20220223_124023.jpg VID_20221017_095024.mp4 YYYYMMDD hhmmSS 20191224_195939.jpg 20161021_122620-1.jpg 20191130_134317_Burst01.jpg 20200129_223612_010.jpg YYYYMMDD hhmmSS I considered awk as an option (see Whiskeyjack's comment on HPR episode 4657 ), but realized it has no built-in way to change file times, so I set it aside. Don't worry, I will come back to that later. My approach was to use an if-then shell construct to choose how to treat the three categories of filenames. For the if condition, I fed the filename into the grep -q command with an appropriate regular expression to test whether it matches. The -q option to grep causes it not to output anything—it returns a zero exit status if there's a match and a status greater than zero if there isn't. Then, there is an elif statement with another grep -q test for the second category of filenames. Finally, an else statement is followed by the command to run for all other filenames. The whole thing is wrapped in a for loop that runs over all the files in the current directory. The touch
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  HPR4696: HPR Community News for July 2026 03.08.2026

  New hosts There were no new hosts this month. Last Month's Shows Id Day Date Title Host 4673 Wed 2026-07-01 First contact conversation Archer72 4674 Thu 2026-07-02 Audiobooks Ahuka 4675 Fri 2026-07-03 Yard Inflatables operat0r 4676 Mon 2026-07-06 HPR Community News for June 2026 HPR Volunteers 4677 Tue 2026-07-07 UNIX Curio #10 - Checksums and Hashes Vance 4678 Wed 2026-07-08 High Resolution Elapsed Time in Shell Scripts Whiskeyjack 4679 Thu 2026-07-09 HPR Beer Garden 15 - Double IPA Kevie 4680 Fri 2026-07-10 Robert A. Heinlein: The Future History, Part 2 Ahuka 4681 Mon 2026-07-13 My Disabilities Antoine 4682 Tue 2026-07-14
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  HPR4695: Try not to buy a phone 31.07.2026

  IDEAS: Using a cheap phone plan with SMS for authentication. Mighty Text as a free SMS solution. Google VoIP number for shared accounts. Issues with SMS verification blocking VoIP numbers. Avoiding carrier-specific number blocks. Multiple SIM cards for cost-effective SMS. Rooting a phone to manage apps. Security concerns with third-party apps. Limited data usage for minimal phone plans. Challenges with app compatibility on rooted devices. Short-term phone solutions for SMS needs. Shared Google accounts for streamlined access. Avoiding premium SMS services like $15/month plans. Using Wi-Fi for data instead of cellular plans. Importance of SMS for MFA (multi-factor authentication). Transitioning from old phones to new setups. Balancing convenience and cost in phone plans. Reliance on SMS for banking and insurance access. Difficulty finding non-blocked SMS verification options. Preference for minimal, low-cost phone solutions. RECOMMENDATIONS: Use a shared Google account for SMS access. Opt for a cheap phone plan with unlimited texting. Try Mighty Text as a free SMS alternative. Avoid premium SMS services with high fees. Use Wi-Fi instead of cellular data for minimal plans. Choose carrier numbers over VoIP for critical services. Root a device to manage app settings. Test SMS compatibility with banks and providers. Consider multiple SIM cards for redundancy. Prioritize SMS for MFA over other verification methods. Monitor app updates for compatibility with rooted devices. Select phones with flexible data plans. Use downloaded content instead of streaming. Check for SMS blockages with new services. Explore low-cost phone options for minimal use. Maintain backup SMS methods for emergencies. Simplify phone setups to reduce costs. Verify SMS support before switching providers. Combine Wi-Fi and SMS for reliable connectivity. Share accounts to streamline digital access.
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  HPR4694: HPR Beer Garden 16 - Belgian Blonde 30.07.2026

  Dave and Kevie are back with another HPR Beer Garden and this time they turn their attention to Belgian Blonde Ales. Kevie samples Leffe Blonde , whilst Dave opts for La Chouffe . 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/ The next 3 beer styles to be reviewed: DDH IPA Amber Ale Lager
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  HPR4693: Amateur Radio Field Days 29.07.2026

  Hi, this is Archer72 for another episode of Hacker Public Radio. In this episode, the ARRL Field Days was in the past month, so I thought this would be a good time to highlight events in the US as well as around the world. Field Day (amateur radio : edited on 4 June 2026, at 13:51) Experience the power of ham radio at 2025 ARRL Field Day Harrison County Amateur Radio Club Jun 12, 2025 Updated Jun 17, 2025 Amateur Radio Club to host annual field day By Keith Clifford Harrison County Amateur Radio Club Jun 15, 2026 Harrison County Amateur Radio Club Field Day Jun 22, 2026 Preceding collage used with permission by Keith Clifford of the Harrison County Amateur Radio Club (K4HSN)
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  HPR4692: Noise Music Tutorial 2: Using Audacity to Make Noise 28.07.2026

  Links to a more in depth way to do the musique concrete method and harsh noise wall (they don't use audacity, but it all can be done on audacity, just gives you an idea what I'm talking about) visual of generating noise on audacity (for harsh noise, you want to have a larger amplitude or any thing that makes the noise louder) https://youtu.be/CkZS1C7JUmM?si=qGe7g94lrBE-fAh6 Musique Concrete https://youtu.be/hvI0URwiCJc?si=l_7N3DASLu4Cw7qQ Harsh Noise Wall https://youtu.be/_zwgleyfBgQ?si=IgtK3ydM0queuHBX
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  HPR4691: Viva la Coda 27.07.2026

  C++ is a high-level, general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup. First released in 1985 as an extension of the C programming language, adding object-oriented (OOP) features, it has since expanded significantly over time adding more OOP and other features - from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Serenity OS - https://serenityos.org The C Programming Language, Kernighan and Ritchie - https://colorcomputerarchive.com/repo/Documents/Books/The%20C%20Programming%20Language%20%28Kernighan%20Ritchie%29.pdf C++ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%2B%2B The Ghost of Unix SVR4 - https://github.com/macsplit/unix_doc