Change of colors

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prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

I thought I would sport a flag of Texas to the general shape of Texas today, in support of andyprough and all the Texans who are idealistically as well as pragmatically fighting for their computing freedom. I have decided that October 31st is Texas software freedom day, and not something else as was mistakenly believed until recently.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

I do feel a bit lone now.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

I can't ever recall having any software freedom issues in Texas. I used GNU/Linux and OpenOffice to finish my bachelors degree, and am using GNU/Linux and LibreOffice as I work through my masters degree. I use whatever my favorite distro is at the time to power my work computers. I have no clue what the local government uses. I know they used to use a lot of Unix terminals in the state offices back in the 1990s. As far as freedom of online expression goes, you really never hear about people in Texas getting censored or canceled. That seems to be more of a California/New York/European phenomenon.

As far as online privacy laws, I would imagine Texas does not rank highly at all, and companies can probably track you freely as much as they want. So that part is probably bad. On the other hand, there seem to be a metric crap-ton of vpn and Tor relays operating in the state.
So privacy focused people would have some options.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

> I can't ever recall having any software freedom issues in Texas.

I would believe software freedom issues are similar for all users who can freely access online resources. By using free software you are already supporting it, and thus helping everyone else fighting for it. Not to mention your multiple how-tos in this forum, and the crazy respins.

Regarding the other freedoms you mentioned, could you send one of your secret mini-submarines to smuggle someone in? I fear my tinkered high-pressure diving suit may not survive the cross. I can do cattleman or ranger, or both, depending on local needs.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

I might have a use for a cattleman soon. We just call them cowboys. Land and cattle are still very cheap here, and property taxes on agricultural use land are almost nonexistent. I've been raising my own egg-laying chickens, if I could get a bit more land and raise a couple of cows it would be really cool to milk them and make my own cheese and butter.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

> Land and cattle are still very cheap here

But who owns the existing cattle? I would not want to set my snail farm on a cheap plot neighboring the massive water pumps hosing the fields for the oil king, frying everything around in the process. Or is that happening in California only?

On the other hand, I could always steal some cheese making secrets from my neighbor and smuggle them to your place. According to some previous intelligence gathering missions, aging temperature and moisture are crucial. That could explain why the cheese is made where the cows are milked, but sent elsewhere to age.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

I researched it - a single adult female cow can give you 2,500 gallons of milk in a single year!!! WOW!!! That's like 2,496 more gallons than my family drank last year. We could make a lot of French and Italian cheeses, maybe even some Greek cheese.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

Wow indeed, that is only 20 years of cheese for the average reasonably cheese eating person.

nparafe

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Joined: 10/20/2020

Greek cheese from cow milk? Oh! the disinformation spreads like a virus in this forum.

This is really insulting to us Greeks... :P

> Feta (Greek: φέτα, féta) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep's milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat's milk.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

Oh dear, I guess I will need at least 1 sheep and 1 goat also. My future farm is getting quite large. I hope Prospero is able to be a sheep-herder and a goat-rustler as well as a cattleman.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

What about Naxos Graviera? (Γραβιέρα Νάξου)
Or San Michali? (Σαν Μιχάλη)

I am ready to manage sheep, goats, ants, snails, horses and camels too, but if we start doing feta and Greek gourmets visit us and ask for Naxos-style graviera, what are we going to tell them? That there is no cow's milk cheese in their country?

nparafe

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Joined: 10/20/2020

This cow loving ex Catholics shouldn't be part of the Greek culture at all.

Now that I think of it... what do Orthodoxs know about cheese?

I go the atheist's way and only drink kefir.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

Ah, I see that I have inflamed the Eastern Roman Empire religious wars all over again with my cheese posts. I fear that I'm going to come back to this post tomorrow and find that the Ottoman Turks have sacked the city of Byzantium again.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

Too late. I have reconsidered my undersea crossing plans and am currently deep into the Mediterranean in full assault gear. Rage, tears, fire and blood. Or beers.

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nparafe

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Byzantium was fallen because the Ottomans had a by far superior way of eating cheese ... Knafeh!

Beer in the Balkans almost certainly leads to rage, tears, fire and blood, although not always in that order.

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

Certainly all things human seem to end that way. That is why I always suggest to start with the beers anyway. That said, I must have taken a wrong seabed turn, I seem to be approaching Cyprus already. It will be halloumi, then. Goat and sheep, and sometimes cow too. What an inclusive cheese.

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andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

Halloumi, make sure you have some lemons!! https://piped.kavin.rocks/watch?v=ldK-ZI0ywjM

prospero
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Joined: 05/20/2022

Surely they know how to fry in Cyprus. I shall use caution.

NB: The piped and rocks thing welcomed me with a spooky 451 "Unavailable For Legal Reasons" error page, so I ran away shrieking in panic and watched it from a safe place on Cloudtube.

andyprough
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Joined: 02/12/2015

>"NB: The piped and rocks thing welcomed me with a spooky 451 "Unavailable For Legal Reasons" error page, so I ran away shrieking in panic and watched it from a safe place on Cloudtube."

Yeah, I've been seeing that "Legal Reasons" page sometimes recently. I've switched most of my viewing to Odysee though, so it's not a big loss if the whole piped thing goes down the tubes. Down the cloudtubes.