Lachlan, creator of lemmyunchained.net

  • 47 Posts
  • 18 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
cake
Cake day: June 15th, 2023

help-circle




  • A few years back, I moved into an old farmhouse in the countryside. It was peaceful, except for the noises that would come from the attic every night, a soft thumping like someone walking around. After a couple of sleepless nights, I finally mustered the courage to check it out.

    I climbed up to the attic with a flashlight. It was full of dusty old furniture and trinkets, probably from previous tenants. As I was examining a pile of old newspapers, my flashlight caught something - a pair of eyes glowing in the dark, staring right back at me. I nearly dropped the flashlight in shock. As I shone the light in the direction, I found an old portrait of a woman. The eyes were eerily lifelike. I convinced myself it was just the way the light was hitting it.

    The noises didn’t stop, but I learned to live with them. But the weirdest part was when I left the house a 6 months later. The movers came to get my stuff, and I told them to leave everything in the attic, I’d Grabe those items myself. I mainly needed movers for the big heavy stuff. Later, when I returned to pick up some remaining items, the portrait was gone.

    To this day, I still can’t figure out where it could have gone, why just that. Probably some completely logical explanation, but it still gives me chills when I think about it.





  • You seem on top of everything. No red flags when I look at what you are considering. Any will do great.

    The Topnton i3-n305 Mini PC is a good choice. Intel NUC is another solid option, especially when used with a RAID enclosure for storage. Remember cooling is crucial for these devices, particularly if they’ll be housed in a small space. The importance of a good cooling solution cannot be overemphasized.

    As for the operating system, Ubuntu is user-friendly and well-supported. You can run your desired applications like Plex or Jellyfin for media serving, qBittorrent, Sonarr, Radarr for torrenting, Wireguard for VPN, AdGuard or PiHole for ad-blocking, and Home Assistant for home automation, all on Linux. For managing these services, consider using Docker. It can help keep your system organized and simplify the process of updating. If you’re currently using them in a nas, you’re probably doing so already. But take the opportunity to clean things up, and if you’re not doing so already, use docker compose.

    Foe backups, rsync can be used for local backups and Rclone for backing up to the cloud.


  • Sometimes, it’s surprising how life unfolds. I remember back in my second year at boarding school, we were all set to return for another term, standing on the train station platform. Fooling around, we missed the train.

    With no other options and perhaps a bit of youthful audacity, we took dads old ford and we ended up driving it all the way to school.

    The car broke down, we almost got caught. Then crazily, we crashed into a famous tree on campus.

    However, as wild as that was, missing that train might just have saved us.

    We later found out that the Chamber of Secrets had been opened around the time we were meant to be on that train. A deadly monster, a Basilisk, was slithering around the castle, able to kill just by meeting your gaze.

    Who’s to say we wouldn’t have bumped into it, had we made that train? With our track record of stumbling into trouble, it seems more than likely. It’s a chilling thought.

    Xoxo Ron











  • Finally a thought I am prepared for. Haha

    I’m sorry, I have to disagree. While I understand that the novel can have multiple interpretations, what speaks to me most is the concept of “society” itself being the monster in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

    Consider Victor Frankenstein, whose pursuit of knowledge alienates him from the society that should nurture scientific curiosity. He describes his isolation, saying, “I had worked hard for nearly two years…but now that I had finished, the beauty of the dream vanished, and breathless horror and disgust filled my heart.” (Chapter 5) The societal norms that make Frankenstein’s endeavors “forbidden” and “unearthly” indirectly contribute to his downfall.

    Now, let’s think about the creature. Born innocent, its transformation into a destructive entity is catalyzed by societal rejection. The creature’s interaction with the De Lacey family highlights society’s instinctive fear of physical difference. The blind De Lacey is kind to the creature, demonstrating that without the bias of sight, acceptance is possible. But when his sighted family members encounter the creature, they react with fear and violence.

    Rejection after rejection, the creature finally voices its anguish: “I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me?” (Chapter 17) This lament encapsulates how societal prejudice and rejection can breed monstrosity.

    In reading the novel, I see the destructive power of societal norms and prejudice, where both Victor and his creature, misunderstood and ostracized, spiral into destructive paths. To me, society’s inability to accept, understand, and empathize is what manifests the true monster in “Frankenstein.”

    Perhaps it’s just my own personal experiences with society, feeling like an outcast, or at least not fitting into social norms, coming through in how I interpret the novel. However, I strongly believe that Mary Shelley’s work invites us to question who the real monster is, and I find society’s role in shaping the narrative impossible to ignore.