phil@bajsicki:~$
Yet another blog on the intertubes

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About me

Hi, I’m Phil. Professionally, I’ve been a:

  • database engineer - MySQL, large geodesic data parsing in Perl,
  • casual and professional Linux user - a shell script often solves a $3,000 problem,
  • project manager on small projects: service fulfillment and back-end ops,
  • web developer (I have worked extensively with Wordpress, GravCMS, DokuWiki),
  • direct response copywriter and copy editor,
  • social media manager/ writer (for closed Facebook groups),
  • executive assistant (currently),
  • and many other things of lesser or greater relevance to anything I write about.

I speak three human languages - English, Polish and Greek.

For computer languages, I have built insignificant code blocks in Perl, Common Lisp, Haskell, Python, C++, Java, bash, and (naturally) Emacs Lisp. I do find Lisp the most intuitive. That’s not to imply that I am in any way fluent in any. I can parse them enough to understand what programs do and code a little bit, but not much beyond that.

I don’t enjoy small talk or getting into the weeds. I do enjoy getting to the point. I do hope that anything you read here is at least interesting, if not helpful. If you wish to contact me, check out the top of this page.

Contact

If you wish to contact me, the easiest way is through e-mail. See the title of this website, add .com, send.

If you’re sending any sensitive information, please use PGP. E-mail is not secure - messages are sent in plain text (that is, anyone can read it if it goes through their network). Here’s my PGP PUBLIC KEY, or you can copy the block below: 

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My Computer Set-up <2022-10-11 Tue>

(I do plan to keep this list updated as time allows.)

Hardware:

I use a Lenovo Legion 5 ACH6H. Ryzen 5800H, 16GB DDR4, RTX 3060 mobile GPU. It has a nice 165Hz screen. I largely use the laptop because it’s mobile, and I tend to travel every few months - carrying a desktop would be a major, major pain.

I have added a 500GB SSD to the laptop, which carries Windows with Elite: Dangerous and Digital Combat Simulator installed. Otherwise, I do not use that SSD at all.

3 monitors (including laptop built-in screen). I just set them up horizontally with no fancy arms or anything. I don’t mind them being bare-bones because XMonad allows me to work on whichever is most comfortable without having to manually reassign desktops to them.

Other hardware I own/ use:

  • Elecom Huge trackball - very ergonomic, fits my hand well.
  • ZSA Moonlander keyboard - my first split keyboard, I wouldn’t mind it being my last if it does last a lifetime.
  • XBox One wired controller for all my video game needs.
  • Wacom Bamboo Fun size M tablet. It’s still alive and kicking. Not as fancy as newer models, but it’s all I need for the little drawing I do.
  • Lenovo Explorer WMR headset and the Thrustmaster T.14000 HOTAS - the only reason Windows has dedicated space on my laptop. I fell victim to vendor lock-in, believing that the Open Source drivers for the HMD would catch up. They haven’t.
  • I do use a TP-Link powered USB hub for all the stuff I use - a lot of devices.
  • I also use a Chinese no-name USB switch, as I use an old MacBook Pro and Chromebook occasionally. This lets me use the same comfy keyboard and trackball with all my computers.
  • I use a JBL portable bluetooth speaker to supplement the built in speakers in the laptop, if I am listening to music.
  • I use a pair of Anker Soundcore Liberty 3 Pros for the frequent calls I am noting at work - earbuds truly make a difference in the amount of words I can catch and type up clearly. They have some small issues (transparency mode has a bunch of hiss), but they’re definitely worth the expense.
  • I also use a pair of cheapo Flying Tiger branded bluetooth earbuds as a backup.
  • WD Elements external drive for all my files and goodies: 4TB.

Software:

  • Arch Linux
  • XMonad with XMobar - using Derek Taylor’s configuration as a base.
    • The changes I made largely concern adapting keybinds for Colemak and some minor usability things that I have grown used to from my past set-ups with i3 and qTile.
  • KeepassXC
  • Firefox (semi-hardened, I do like being able to use the web occasionally) - I primarily use the following extensions
    • KeepassXC-Browser
    • ClearURLs
    • Dark Reader
    • Decentraleyes
    • Facebook Container & Firefox Multi-Account Containers
    • Greasemonkey
    • HTTPS Everywhere
    • LibRedirect
    • LocalCDN
    • NoScript
    • Privacy Pass
    • Sidebery - can’t live without this one!
    • Terms of Service; Didn’t Read
    • uBlock Origin (I do have plans to set up a Pi-hole, but that’s quite far in the future)
  • Google Chrome - needed for work, and I run a separate profile for all the family/ social things that I must have to stay in touch with people. Of particular note, I use the following for work:
    • ClickUp - decent project management platform with great integrations. Regretfully slow and glitchy when it comes to collaboratively editing tasks and documents. We also use it as a CRM.
    • Systeme.io
    • Welo.space - a great co-working tool that we use to stay in touch and keep the team on task.
    • Google Suite for e-mail and document sharing.
    • Zoom for external meetings.
    • Otter.ai for meeting transcripts.
    • Facebook… because everyone has one and business connections require it.
  • Evolution Mail (migrated from Thunderbird when switching to running my VPS, because it’s lighter)
  • Emacs for pretty much all of my text needs - org-mode is indispensible.
  • Alacritty terminal with fish - I use a lot of aliases, and fish offers an amazing system for creating them.
  • Freetube for YouTube access.
  • Cantata for MPD, and Clementine for just playing files. I’m a big fan of keeping my music sorted by filesystem hierarchy.
  • For video games: I just use Steam, and I rarely if ever find a game which isn’t supported by Proton out of the box.

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Copyright © Phil Bajsicki

I strongly disapprove of republication of the articles I write on proprietary platforms - please do not republish any of this on the likes of scribd, reddit, Facebook, and so on. Please don’t do that, and link instead.

Additionally, no permission or license is granted for the use of the materials contained on this wed server for any purposes related (even tangentially) to training Large Language Models or AI systems.