What you can do with a gas forge

[HRM Resident]

Blacksmiths make their own tools whenever possible. Today
I made a twisting wrench. This is designed to put artistic
twist patterns in things like hooks, pokers, etc. I previously
used two sets of vice grips, but this is far better:

https://imgur.com/a/mbONiFg

In the past several weeks I made a few steel hooks that require
less energy than making big stuff. It's easier on these old bones.

https://imgur.com/a/thlaOd2

I think Imgur is a safe place to use for sharing pictures. I
downsized these files to about 900 kb each. I believe Imgur uses ads
to help pay the bills, and they might be JavaScript based or add to the
transfer time. It's 2024, and I can't control everything on the
Internet! :-)

[Mike Spencer]

Post by HRM Resident
Blacksmiths make their own tools whenever possible. Today
I made a twisting wrench.

Good on you!

Post by HRM Resident
https://imgur.com/a/mbONiFg
I believe Imgur...might be JavaScript based...

If you're seeing this message, that means JavaScript has been
disabled on your browser, please enable JS to make Imgur work.

[HRM Resident]

Post by Mike Spencer
Good on you!

It is a piece of 3/8 square bar 3 feet long bent in a
U twice in the centre. Each U is about 3 inches long.
With the bends, the whole thing is about 2 feet and
4 inches long. One U is 3/8 wide and the other 1/4 wide.
Thus I can twist future 3/8 and 1/4 square portions of
things I make.

I drew one end out a couple of inches and made it round
using the square/octagon/round progression. This is bent
into a circle with a curly cue. The circle is just to hang it up,
but it looks pretty nice (IMHO.)

Lastly, I chamfered each end where your hands go. I hope
this makes sense. A picture is worth 1000 words, but I
suspect you have seen similar twisting wrenches many
times.

Post by Mike Spencer
If you're seeing this message, that means JavaScript
has been disabled on your browser, please enable JS to
make Imgur work.

I am defeated! I cannot think of a way to get a picture to
you. Everything I know of uses JS. Even my website does
because the core part of the template (about 1000 lines
of Cheetah Generator code) written by MIT alumni needs
it. The Cheetah Generator takes a mixture of HTML and
Python code and spits out HTML source code that does
include JavaScript. While I modified the source code
extensively, I cannot dump the JS. These guys are retired
PhDs who spent their careers writing stuff like this.

They are eons ahead of me, and because there are roughly
5000-10000 users and 3 of them, their response to being
asked much beyond installing it is RTFM. I do not fully
understand why they need the JS.

All of the above to say it is not easy to stick a .jpg file
on the end of my website URL. I do not think I can do
things like Loading Image... or the
like.

What would happen if you enabled JS in Seamonkey or
Firefox to look at it, and then turned it off? It has not
done anything to my Linux or Mac systems that I am aware
of. I use DuckDuckGo and Firefox with a VPN enabled.

[Mike Spencer]

Even my website does because the core part of the template (about
1000 lines of Cheetah Generator code) written by MIT alumni needs
it.

That's for ve1dx.net? I'm trying to figure out what that means.
ve1dx.net is 159.203.40.152 which has no RDNS but is in Digital
Ocean's 159.203.0.0/16. I gather Cheetah Generator runs on your
Raspberry Pi and reconstructs the web page I see from what your
instruments are reporting every 5 minutes. Somehow, that becomes
ve1dx.net/index.html on the server. (index.html is the default file
that most servers send if it exists and no filename is specified in
the URL. I can visit your page by explicitly asking for
ve1dx.net/index.html.)

So how does that info get to Digital Ocean's server? Your localhost
must open a connection every 5 minutes, upload the new index.html and
delete the old one. Does that use ftp? tftp? HTTP POST? How do you
do that?

Do you not have ftp access to the server? If you do, you should be
able to use an interactive ftp connection to create a subdirectory
called foo, upload files to that dir and access them with
ve1dx.net/foo/filename. That would have no effect on index.html.

There is this: It would be possible (although I have no knowledge of
any cases) that the server might have a prohibition against two
simultaneous ftp connections from the same user. In that case you'd
have 4 minutes to complete an interactive connection between (what I
assume are) the automated ones.

What would happen if you enabled JS in Seamonkey... [to connect to imgur]

As it happens, I get garbage, six iframe panels, either blank or
complaining that it can't connect. One has

The connection was refused when attempting to contact ads.pubmatic.com.

That's because I have "127.0.0.1 ads.pubmatic.com" in /etc/hosts

And the line "xeno-soswcrde4a-uc-uc.a.run.app..." appears repeatedly
in the address pane at the bottom of the screen. Seamonkey hasn't
kept up with the pathological exfoliation of js arcana.

...or Firefox to look at it, and then turned it off?

Haven't tried Firefox. Seamonkey handles js correctly on the only
site where I really need it.

[HRM Resident]

Post by Mike Spencer
So how does that info get to Digital Ocean's server? Your localhost
must open a connection every 5 minutes, upload the new index.html and
delete the old one. Does that use ftp? tftp? HTTP POST? How do you
do that?

Try:

Loading Image...
Loading Image...
Loading Image...
Loading Image...

These should work. Regarding the site, you have it pretty well
figured out. The only thing "incorrect" is FTP. FTP is obsolete, as
is HTTP, telnet, etc. Most are moving to TLS-encrypted HTTPS, etc.
Most people use sftp (secure file transfer protocol) because it is
encrypted. In addition to the index.html, it also uploads updated
graphs, etc. This takes 2-3 seconds. There's no limit on download
connections, but uploads need to be sftp only. I don't allow ssh
(the telnet replacement) access.

I use sftp with no password, but rather ed25519 key pairs. The
web page resides on a VPS (virtual private server) that I rent
yearly from Digital Ocean. This is similar to AWS (amazon web
services) except less expensive. I run Ubuntu on it and serve the
web site using apache2. Do I like doing all this? No, and I'm
treading water keeping up with the security/hacker game of leapfrog.
It's a game I will eventually lose.

The web page is generated every 5 minutes as you guessed, by
about fifteen thousand lines of open-source Python3 code, most
of which I can't follow. Nor do I dare modify any of it because
the next release will overwrite any modifications I make. All I
have is a few templates to feed the Cheetah Generator. These I
heavily modified because they are never overwritten on upgrades.

Doing all this taught me HTML programming, Python3, how to set
up Python virtual environments, etc. It's not easy and doesn't
align with my experience with Fortran, C, Pascal, etc.

I learned how to use Emacs for Usenet (when I'm not on my phone)
because it uses 7-bit ASCII. It also is a bit of a tribute to
Richard Stallman and the GNU project. Sadly, this thinking will
dwindle as we die off and the Microsofts, Apples, and Googles of the
world take over.

Anyhow, today I'm going to make some tong clips so I don't have
to hold the reins so tightly. And possibly a few more leaves, etc.
I have to work smarter, not harder.

[Mike Spencer]

Post by HRM Resident
https://ve1dx.net/pics/Twisting_wrench.jpg
https://ve1dx.net/pics/Leaf_hooks.jpg
https://ve1dx.net/pics/With_screws.jpg
https://ve1dx.net/pics/Anvil.jpg

That works just as expected. Great leap forward!

Just asking for https://ve1dx.net/pics/ returns a directory listing,
not normally a problem, makes it handy to see if you're recently added
new pics.

Post by HRM Resident
The only thing "incorrect" is FTP. FTP is obsolete, as
is HTTP, telnet, etc. Most are moving to TLS-encrypted HTTPS, etc.
Most people use sftp (secure file transfer protocol) because it is
encrypted.

Yeah, yeah, I know. Just keeping my post simple by referring to the
basic protocols rather than a tedious list of all possibilities.

Post by HRM Resident
I use sftp with no password, but rather ed25519 key pairs.

Don't know about that. After reading the Wikipedia page, I still
don't know much about that.

Post by HRM Resident
The web page resides on a VPS (virtual private server) that I rent
yearly from Digital Ocean. This is similar to AWS (amazon web
services) except less expensive. I run Ubuntu on it and serve the
web site using apache2.

Well, it all seems to work.

Post by HRM Resident
Do I like doing all this? No, and I'm treading water keeping up
with the security/hacker game of leapfrog. It's a game I will
eventually lose.

Okay so far, though.

Post by HRM Resident
Doing all this taught me HTML programming, Python3, how to set
up Python virtual environments, etc. It's not easy and doesn't
align with my experience with Fortran, C, Pascal, etc.

HTML 4 isn't hard. Starting on Python with an aging brain is a
challenge. C is the only language in which I became really
proficient. A little lisp, AWK & C-shell. So I was nearly 60 when I
tried to beat up Perl. I can't anywhere near exploit the
capabilities of Perl but by now I do have several scripts, chiefly
exploiting regular expressions, that makes my web browsing more
agreeable. And a few other odds & ends.

Post by HRM Resident
I learned how to use Emacs for Usenet (when I'm not on my phone)
because it uses 7-bit ASCII. It also is a bit of a tribute to
Richard Stallman and the GNU project. Sadly, this thinking will
dwindle as we die off and the Microsofts, Apples, and Googles of the
world take over.

It's been said that general purpose computers for consumers was the
worst step the IT industry ever made. Whaddya mean, yer gonna let the
*user* be in control? Whatever for?

Back in the 80s, Nicholas Negroponte (co-founder of MIT's Media Lab)
opined that in couple of decades, we'd all be using "agents" that we
would send out onto the net to do stuff for us. In fact, that is now,
at least potentially, a crime. But we've become accustomed to on-line
services/institutions sending us *their* agents to do stuff on *our*
computers that *they* want done -- javascript. Never mind the
comforting notion that browsers "sandbox" js. The js authors are so
hyper-enthusiastic that browser authors can't keep up with correctly
interpreting js code so you never know what some aliquot of js might
be doing.

It was long a byword that you don't install any software unless you
can verify (or are at least convinced) that it's non-threatening and
does what *you* want. Now, "Just download the app and..." is
something that squillions of phone users do without a second thought.

Post by HRM Resident
Anyhow, today I'm going to make some tong clips so I don't have
to hold the reins so tightly.

I keep small rings of several sized hung near the forge. If I need to
constrain tongs, one of them will usually fit and hold the workpiece
well.

[HRM Resident]

Post by Mike Spencer
That works just as expected. Great leap forward!
Just asking for https://ve1dx.net/pics/ returns a directory listing,
not normally a problem, makes it handy to see if you're recently added
new pics.

Keep an eye on it. That's where I'll put any relavent pictures.
This may be of vague interest to you or anyone else. At least it is
some sort of data on the topic:

<https://ve1dx.net/power/>

Post by Mike Spencer

Post by HRM Resident
I use sftp with no password, but rather ed25519 key pairs.

Don't know about that. After reading the Wikipedia page, I still
don't know much about that.

I've not internalized it but have a vague idea how it works. The
math is far beyond me. Here is a Wikipedia article that is a smidgen
simpler, but again, it's too much for me to get my head around.

<https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliptic-curve_cryptography>

[HRM Resident]

Post by Mike Spencer
Just asking for https://ve1dx.net/pics/ returns a directory listing,
not normally a problem, makes it handy to see if you're recently added
new pics.

Couple of new ones today. "Bending_jig.jpg" and "1st_with_jig.jpg"
in the pic directory. Using the jig shaves a lot of time off getting
the loop and leaf right. I was fussing with it on the horn of the anvil
and a cone mandrel for 30-45 minutes to get things to align properly.
That part is now 10 seconds.

The jig could look better, but it's hard to weld it with a flux core
welder. The post is part of a 1-inch bolt. No doubt a MIG welder would
make it look better, but I ain't got one. Ain't getting one, neither.
Unless one is selling the stuff, this can become a sinkhole for money.
Those hooks seem popular if you give them away.

[Gurpster]

Post by HRM Resident
Blacksmiths make their own tools whenever possible. Today
I made a twisting wrench. This is designed to put artistic
twist patterns in things like hooks, pokers, etc. I previously
https://imgur.com/a/mbONiFg
In the past several weeks I made a few steel hooks that require
less energy than making big stuff. It's easier on these old bones.
https://imgur.com/a/thlaOd2
I think Imgur is a safe place to use for sharing pictures. I
downsized these files to about 900 kb each. I believe Imgur uses ads
to help pay the bills, and they might be JavaScript based or add to the
transfer time. It's 2024, and I can't control everything on the
Internet! :-)

Gorgeous hooks... I just love the organic feel of seeing leaves and
vines wrought from steel.

John

[HRM Resident]

Post by Gurpster
Gorgeous hooks... I just love the organic feel of seeing leaves and
vines wrought from steel.
John

Thank you, John. You ought to see the things Mike Spencer created
some years ago. According to the members of the Maritime Blacksmith's
Association's experts, he was the best artisan smith they ever saw.

Comparing my work to his is like comparing the work of a 1st grade
toddler to a university graduate! I am having fun learning, and that's
all I'll ever be . . . someone who tinkers in the craft.