Comments
Archer72 says: EyeD3
RE: hpr4644::2026-05-21 Response to comments on HPR4424: Newsboat... by Archer7200:07:08 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi WhiskeyJack,
Cool!
Can't wait to hear it. :)
Whiskeyjack says: HPR4657 - use of comm
RE: hpr4657::2026-06-09 UNIX Curio #8 - Comparing Files by Vance00:14:20 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
comm is actually a very, very, useful program in scripts if you know how to make good use of it.
For example, bash can be fairly slow when used in a classic looping algorithm over a large amount of data.
However, if you can reformat the data so that it can be compared with comm, then you can use comm as a filter without any loops.
As an example, in one application a simple loop took 3.7 seconds to work its way through the data, which was far too long.
However, by using awk and sort to reformat one file, and a combination of find, cut, sort, uniq, and awk on the directory structure to generate a second file and then comparing them with comm, I was able to filter the information down to just the records that had relevant changes, and then use the slower looping algorithm on those.
This cut that time down to 0.150 seconds, which was more or less instantaneous from a user perspective. Despite this method appearing to have a lot more transformations in it, it was 25 times faster. This is because there are actually far fewer calls to commands in the second algorithm, even though more different commands are involved.
So comm is a very useful command to know, and if you have a lot of information to process it should be one of the tools that you turn to when figuring out the best way to do it.
Whiskeyjack says: Response to Archer72 on HPR4644
RE: hpr4644::2026-05-21 Response to comments on HPR4424: Newsboat... by Archer7200:07:08 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
If you want to get the episode title from an HPR podcast episode and use it to modify the name further, then you can do that by extracting the tag information from the MP3 file using "id3v2". On Debian and derivatives, I believe this comes in the eyeD3 package. This hands v1 as well as v2 tags.
I will add this to the episode script that I am currently writing.
Archer72 says: Response to WhiskeyJack
RE: hpr4644::2026-05-21 Response to comments on HPR4424: Newsboat... by Archer7200:07:08 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi,
I tend to go down rabbit holes, and this is one such time. After a quick response to أحمد المحمودي, I decided to try a 'fix'. This is further proof that I am not a programmer and should not be asking too many questions of AI. Still, it was a fun endeavor for me, and see it as useful to see where I went wrong.
Thank you for the constructive critique and hope to hear your next episode. :)
P.S. A useful reason to rename the episodes is a project I may talk about later when use Rockbox on an Ipod classic. A titled show as a file name is easier to see what I want to listen to than hpr1234.mp3.
candycanearter07 says: comparisons
RE: hpr4657::2026-06-09 UNIX Curio #8 - Comparing Files by Vance00:14:20 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
cmp is, while not as useful as it may have been, still quite useful for testing whether two files are bit copies of each other.
Kevie says: Interesting
RE: hpr4656::2026-06-08 My review of musicozy sleep/exercise bluetooth headband by Swift11000:09:49 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I have never heard of these before but think the concept is great. My wife has recently been asking me to research a set of headphones for her to use at the gym: I will suggest these. Thanks for sharing.
Kevie says: Geeks are ahead of their time
RE: hpr4654::2026-06-04 What's in my component Box? by MrXfrom the series Hobby Electronics.00:27:51 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
In an age of recycling and re-purposing items, I find that geeks are always a step ahead as we have been doing this for years. I laughed out loud when you said that you weren't sure why you kept an item and thought: good, it isn't just me.
An excellent show as always MrX; keep up the good work.
Kevie says: Nice episode
RE: hpr4653::2026-06-03 Starting the Habit of Reading by Thaj Sara00:24:59 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Thank you very much for posting this, I've never read any of the Battletech books, but I may keep an eye out for them. I enjoy reading physical books, I've tried ebook readers but I really don't like the experience, although I have found myself listening to audiobooks more, especially in the car or when stuck doing a mundane task.
Thanks for the tip on Openreads, I've never come across it before but I think we will take a look at it for a review on an upcoming episode of TuxJam.
xmanmonk says: Great Show (again)
RE: hpr4657::2026-06-09 UNIX Curio #8 - Comparing Files by Vance00:14:20 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Another great show on these often forgotten commands. Glad to hear you have some more episodes in the works! Looking forward to them!
Whiskeyjack says: Response to hpr4644
RE: hpr4644::2026-05-21 Response to comments on HPR4424: Newsboat... by Archer7200:07:08 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I have been following this saga on downloaded podcast filenames and am still as confused now as ever when it comes to understanding what this is all about. I still don't understand why Newsboat needs to come into the picture.
I use a cron job to run a bash script to automatically download podcasts, including HPR. They just appear in a directory that I have set aside for holding new podcasts.
While some podcasts have rubbish audio file names in their RSS feed that have to be fixed, HPR isn't one of them. Their URL is just fine.
What you need to do is to extract the audio file name from the RSS feed using something like basename, and then specify that name to wget using the -O option for output file name. This results in a file with a name such as "hpr4644.mp3" being saved. No after the fact file renaming is necessary.
I'll do an episode on a simplified version of what I use that just does HPR podcasts.The next slot I can use is in July, so I will plan to have it for then.
candycanearter07 says: wishlist!
RE: hpr4656::2026-06-08 My review of musicozy sleep/exercise bluetooth headband by Swift11000:09:49 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
i often listen to podcasts and stuff when i go to bed so using one of these would be very useful!! the only downside would be figuring out how to use it with my mp3 player since it doenst have bluetooth
Archer72 says: Not quite a complete script
RE: hpr4644::2026-05-21 Response to comments on HPR4424: Newsboat... by Archer7200:07:08 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Ken,
I did some more testing, and the script is not quite ready and breaks on some renamed files, leaving i.e. hpr1234.ogg in Podboat
I'll try again.
Cheers,
Archer72
Trey says: Avoid hand soap
RE: hpr4655::2026-06-05 Tips for Glasses by norrist00:09:50 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Great recommendations. I do avoid hand soaps, as many included a lotion residue.
I may check out those mid-range progressives. I use dedicated computer glasses which are great, but I need to remember to change back to my progressive lenses when I get up to walk around and such.
Antoine says: Reading always has been a life-saver for me, this alone makes this show Very Nice
RE: hpr4653::2026-06-03 Starting the Habit of Reading by Thaj Sara00:24:59 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
The books on your list have beautiful covers!
About the Cardio code, I was expecting some sharing of the specifics of the content (so we all could do better cardio!).
Nice to see you accomplishing your audacious (20-a-year) reading goal! Thx 4 'dā' share! \o
Antoine says: #2 Thanks!
RE: hpr4650::2026-05-29 Playing Civilization V, Part 12 by Ahukafrom the series Computer Strategy Games.00:14:30 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hey, Dear Ahuka, Thanks, Help'd understanding!
candycanearter07 says: Re: Love PHP
RE: hpr4649::2026-05-28 What did I do at work today? Part 3 Section 2 by Lee01:03:49 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I think PHP is ok for what it does, but I really don't like the language that much. I've been considering moving my site to Ruby or Go for a while now...
Lee says: Aerials
RE: hpr4633::2026-05-06 Ham Radio Licence by Leefrom the series HAM radio.00:14:23 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Thankfully the foundation exam is multiple choice, but it is important to recognise the following terms:-
- Pointy signal-spikey bit
- Long wire dangly-doo
- Metal pokey-poke
- Linear wave catch-a-me-bob
- Bendy frequency rubber-stub
- Wire stretchy-poo
- Scoping prong-a-me-jig
RJ says: Very interesting as always
RE: hpr4633::2026-05-06 Ham Radio Licence by Leefrom the series HAM radio.00:14:23 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Very interesting show as always. I love your podcasts (I'm new to HPR (just found it a few weeks ago) and you've been one I know I can always go to for an interesting show).
Is 'uppy downy thing' the technical term in the test for an aerial? ;)
Ken Fallon says: Love PHP
RE: hpr4649::2026-05-28 What did I do at work today? Part 3 Section 2 by Lee01:03:49 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Great episode, and I agree with your views on how nice PHP is
candycanearter07 says: busy weeknd
RE: hpr4651::2026-06-01 HPR Community News for May 2026 by HPR Volunteersfrom the series HPR Community News.00:49:24 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
hi! sorry i had to go before recording started i was pretty busy over the weekend/friday volunteering at a convention and i had to go do something. hopefully next community news i can pop in ^^
also things are slowly starting to maybe swing back to going good again so i MAY go record a show again soon
Kevin O'Brien says: That's the algorithm
RE: hpr4650::2026-05-29 Playing Civilization V, Part 12 by Ahukafrom the series Computer Strategy Games.00:14:30 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Itihnk the main reason is that the algorithm at the heart of the game reduces Happiness both as your population goes up and as the number of cities goes up. Now I can tell a story about how large, sprawling empires tend to not pay attention to the desires of average citizens, and that might be plausible, but my recollection is that Rome did reasonably well for a few centuries nonetheless.
Antoine says: Puppetting and Happiness
RE: hpr4650::2026-05-29 Playing Civilization V, Part 12 by Ahukafrom the series Computer Strategy Games.00:14:30 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
If I could ask: why pupeting other States (City-states) reduces internal happiness? Could it be explained by the perception of wasting internal resources for power, without benefits to the population?
If I could note: marvelous exclusive little Building for Austria, the Coffee House!: increases in 25% the generation of Great People! This tells a lot about the reality of coffeee! (or about the perception of the developers.)
Here is a non-player. The size of the episodes, and the cadence, make them a pleasure to learn even without prior knowledge.
It. Thanks, Ahuka!
candycanearter07 says: thoughts
RE: hpr4647::2026-05-26 UNIX Curio #7 - Compression by Vance00:18:27 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
It's always annoying when a good technology is locked behind a patent, but at least this time it backfired.
I'll miss this series, its one of my favorites
Antoine says: Some watched!
RE: hpr4567::2026-02-03 Movie Recommendations for Hackers by Deltaray00:30:44 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
From this show, and because of this show, I came to watch (1) Gattaca, (2) Surrogates, and (3) Matrix.
The first, oh - wow, what an epic. s2 :)
The 2nd, loved a lot too. A bit "melo" dramatic in the message it aims to inspire, but very well done.
The 3rd, at first I lost interest in the beginning and stopped, seemed that the movie aged bad, but tried again days later and loved to know Matrix. Very worth it, thanks for the recommendation. (The 1st only, the 2nd I didn't like from the beginning so no.)
Ah, also (4) The lives of others. Applauses to it.
In a few weeks, I came to watch more movies than I had for many months, and it was very enjoyable. I may come here futurely, when wanting to see something, to check another recommendation. Thanks!
xmanmonk says: Great Series
RE: hpr4647::2026-05-26 UNIX Curio #7 - Compression by Vance00:18:27 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
This has been a great series, and I hope you do find more topics to cover. If I can think of any, I'll add another comment here.
candycanearter07 says: my opinion of mobile gaming
RE: hpr4646::2026-05-25 Mobile Gaming by Elsbeth00:56:26 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I used to play a lot of mobile games back in the day but nowadays I really can't stand most of them due to the predatory nature of them and every single one using the same freaking artstyle that feels like a 3d version of corporate artstyles
Technically, I do actively play the desktop ports of 2 mobile games being Progressbar95 (a really simple old-computer themed game about filling a progress bar, im going for 100%) and Balatro (because im actively developing a mod), but besides those I haven't played one in years...
As for the ADHD stuff, I usually have my laptop or a mp3 player with me to help with that, but also i sometimes play 2048 or solitare on my laptop as well
Steve Barnes says: Thanks for the context!
RE: hpr4627::2026-04-28 UNIX Curio #5 - Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! by Vance00:14:35 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
It's great not just to learn new commands, but to hear someone explain some of the history and fundamentals behind UNIX.
Archer72 says: Morse code
RE: hpr4502::2025-11-04 Cheap Yellow Display Project Part 3: Reverse beacon network by Trey00:07:52 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
Hi Trey,
I heard this episode on Morse code, and thought this link would be useful.
https://www.whiskeytangohotel.com/2025/09/graphing-average-speed-wpm-of-morse.html
Cheers,
Archer72
Kevin O'Brien says: I enjoyed doing it
RE: hpr4640::2026-05-15 Robert A. Heinlein by Ahukafrom the series Science Fiction and Fantasy.00:10:48 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
As you can tell I am a big fan so it was pleasure to start writing about him. But I am a fan of many of the older science fiction writers, and I have more to come on Heinlein as well as some other writers.
Whiskeyjack says: At and batch in HPR4637
RE: hpr4637::2026-05-12 UNIX Curio #6 - at and batch by Vance00:11:06 Listen in ogg, opus, or mp3 format.
I happen to have a number of VMs set up that I use for testing, so I was able to do a quick check to see which distros have "at" and "batch" installed by default.
It turns out that Debian, Ubuntu, Raspberry Pi, Suse, and Alpine do not have it by default. Alma (a Red Hat clone), FreeBSD, and OpenBSD do.
While they can be installed later, it may be that they are not more commonly used now because you cannot rely on them being there as a standard feature.
I was struck by the thought that "batch" may be useful for things like testing software by being able to kick off a long series of tests that are run in the background while you get on with doing other things without these background tests affecting whatever else you are doing too much. Audio and video processing may possibly be the same.
Perhaps some other listeners could think up some creative ways of using "at" and "batch" and tell us about it in an episode in future. This sounds like it could lead to some interesting ideas.
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