1---
 2date: '2019-09-17'
 3subtitle: A brief on what happened last week
 4template: text.html
 5title: 'Weekly status update, 09/08--09/17'
 6url: '2019-09-17'
 7---
 8
 9This is something new I'm trying out, in an effort to write more
10frequently and to serve as a log of how I'm using my time. In theory, I
11will write this post every week. I'll need someone to hold me
12accountable if I don't. I have yet to decide on a format for this, but
13it will probably include a quick summary of the work I did, things I
14read, IRL stuff, etc.
15
16With the meta stuff out of the way, here's what went down last week!
17
18My discovery of the XXIIVV webring
19----------------------------------
20
21Did you notice the new fidget-spinner-like logo at the bottom? Click it!
22It's a link to the [XXIIVV webring](https://webring.xxiivv.com). I
23really like the idea of webrings. It creates a small community of sites
24and enables sharing of traffic among these sites. The XXIIVV webring
25consists mostly of artists, designers and developers and gosh, some of
26those sites are beautiful. Mine pales in comparison.
27
28The webring also has a [twtxt](https://github.com/buckket/twtxt) echo
29chamber aptly called [The
30Hallway](https://webring.xxiivv.com/hallway.html). twtxt is a fantastic
31project and its complexity-to-usefulness ratio greatly impresses me. You
32can find my personal twtxt feed at `/twtxt.txt` (root of this site).
33
34Which brings me to the next thing I did this/last week.
35
36`twsh`: a twtxt client written in Bash
37--------------------------------------
38
39I'm not a fan of the official Python client, because you know, Python is
40bloat. As an advocate of *mnmlsm*, I can't use it in good conscience.
41Thus, began my authorship of a truly mnml client in pure Bash. You can
42find it [here](https://github.com/icyphox/twsh). It's not entirely
43useable as of yet, but it's definitely getting there, with the help of
44[@nerdypepper](https://nerdypepper.me).
45
46Other
47-----
48
49I have been listening to my usual podcasts: Crime Junkie, True Crime
50Garage, Darknet Diaries & Off the Pill. To add to this list, I've begun
51binging Vice's CYBER. It's pretty good---each episode is only about 30
52mins and it hits the sweet spot, delvering both interesting security
53content and news.
54
55My reading needs a ton of catching up. Hopefully I'll get around to
56finishing up "The Unending Game" this week. And then go back to
57"Terrorism and Counterintelligence".
58
59I've begun learning Russian! I'm really liking it so far, and it's been
60surprisingly easy to pick up. Learning the Cyrillic script will require
61some relearning, especially with letters like в, н, р, с, etc. that look
62like English but sound entirely different. I think I'm pretty serious
63about learning this language---I've added the Russian keyboard to my
64Google Keyboard to aid in my familiarization of the alphabet. I've added
65the `RU` layout to my keyboard map too:
66
67    setxkbmap -option 'grp:alt_shift_toggle' -layout us,ru
68
69With that ends my weekly update, and I'll see you next week!