tinyapps.org / blog

Allow the transcendent to inform the immanent

❧ 2025-02-16

Whenever passkeys are touted...

can't help but recall:

along with reports like these:

Apple

Google

❧ 2025-02-10

Editing annotations in Preview.app after closing and reopening the file

requires starting with a PDF:

Note: If you annotate an image file, you can't edit, move, or delete the annotations after you save the image. If you think you'll need to change annotations later, you can convert the image file to a PDF file, then add annotations to the PDF.

❧ 2025-02-06

Alexander meets his match in Dandamis

“Hail to thee, thou teacher of the Brahmans. The son of the mighty god Zeus, king Alexander, who is the sovereign lord of all men, asks you to go to him, and if you comply, he will reward you with great and splendid gifts, but if you refuse will cut off your head.”

Dandamis, with a complacent smile, heard him to the end, but did not so much as lift up his head from his couch of leaves, and while still retaining his recumbent attitude returned this answer:

“…[W]hat Alexander offers me, and the gifts he promises, are all things to me utterly useless; but the things which I prize, and find of real use and worth, are these leaves which are my house, these blooming plants which supply me with dainty food, and the water which is my drink, while all other possessions and things, which are amassed with anxious care, are wont to prove ruinous to those who amass them, and cause only sorrow and vexation, with which every poor mortal is fully fraught. But as for me, I lie upon the forest leaves, and, having nothing which requires guarding, close my eyes in tranquil slumber; whereas had I gold to guard, that would banish sleep. The earth supplies me with everything, even as a mother her child with milk. I go wherever I please, and there are no cares with which I am forced to cumber myself, against my will. Should Alexander cut off my head, he cannot also destroy my soul. My head alone, now silent, will remain, but the soul will go away to its Master, leaving the body like a torn garment upon the earth, whence also it was taken. I then, becoming spirit, shall ascend to my God, who enclosed us in flesh, and left us upon the earth to prove whether when here below we shall live obedient to his ordinances, and who also will require of us, when we depart hence to his presence, an account of our life, since he is judge of all proud wrong-doing; for the groans of the oppressed become the punishments of the oppressors.

“Let Alexander, then, terrify with these threats those who wish for gold and for wealth, and who dread death, for against us these weapons are both alike powerless, since the Brahmans neither love gold nor fear death. Go, then, and tell Alexander this: ‘Dandamis has no need of aught that is yours, and therefore will not go to you, but if you want anything from Dandamis come you to him.’”

Alexander, on receiving from Onesikratês a report of the interview, felt a stronger desire than ever to see Dandamis, who, though old and naked, was the only antagonist in whom he, the conqueror of many nations, had found more than his match, &c.

From a partial translation of Palladius' De Bragmanibus (attributed to Arrian of Epictetus' Discourses fame) on pp. 124–126 of J. W. McCrindle's Ancient India: As Described by Megasthenes and Arrian (1877). Lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

❧ 2025-01-29

Translating podcasts

For freakishly-good podcast (or other speech recording) translation (including voice mimicking in the new language), check out ElevenLabs' dubbing feature (Products → Dubbing Studio → Create a Dub).

Here's a taste from The Telepathy Tapes (which briefly unseated Joe Rogan from #1):
original English | translated Japanese

❧ 2025-01-29

Retiring Blosxom

After two decades of Blosxom-backed blogging (thank you, Rael!), it's time for a fourth and perhaps final migration, this time to a custom Python script (dubbed "Pyxidium" solely to provide a name on the archive page). The move is largely due to lengthy compile times exacerbated by the hacky post-processing Bash script I cobbled together over the years. Please holler if you run into any linkrot or other usability issues.

❧ 2025-01-29