Browsing gems
October 11, 2021
Lately, I've been browsing small articles that I decided to call "gems" for the purpose of this article's title. And in my opinion they are actually gems. It all stems from my recent discovery of Gemini, which is a new internet protocol.
According to the project page, it "is heavier than gopher, lighter than the web, will not replace either". Basically it's like a text-based web experience. It's mostly static and clutter-free, a gemini document looks like a traditional web page after you've activated the "reading mode" of your browser, except with Gemini it's native. Sounds good doesn't it? Among other things I love about geminispace are the absence of ads, or annoying cookie banners, or auto-play videos, or pages that make your laptop scream while loading... I could keep listing things I don't like about the modern web, but I'm sure you've got the gist of it.
By now you may be thinking "sounds good, how do I hop on?". All you need is a Gemini browser really. I use Lagrange on my computer and Elaho on my phone. The Gemini software page lists some clients you can choose from. What I found on Gemini (those links require a Gemini browser):
- I found Korean children songs translated to English and explained
- I found that SimplyNews allows to read the news without being suggested a thousand more articles
- I found a Wikipedia proxy
- I found a good amount of cooking recipes
- I generally found people talking about things that interested me, or sparked new thoughts
If you've got a bit of time on your hands, I highly recommend wandering a bit in geminispace. Within a few hours you'll most likely have found some capsules (what would be sites in traditional HTTP realm) discussing topics of particular interest to you. You can start with these resources which I found great to discover content:
You may have also noticed a new blog layout here, which is honestly inspired by the way gemini documents are rendered in the two previously mentioned browsers. I was having issues with Pelican, which I used previously, so I decided to develop my own static generator. It's all achieved with a Makefile that you can find on my git page. As it is, it's quite bare and I may improve it a bit in the future... Who knows, maybe I'll add some Gemini capsule magic to it ;)