i just think that... if Usenet allowed a small image to be
embedded in a post, its appeal would be so much Greater!

Number-dle (Mastermind) puzzle (with 3 digits)

(i just wrote (non-elegant) Python code.)

Could you share a short, VERY Readable Pythonic code that solves this?

Thank you!

https://i.imgur.com/72LGJjj.jpeg

3 digit lock
[682]: One number is correct and well-placed
[614]: One number is correct but wrongly placed
[206]: Two numbers are correct but wrongly placed
[738]: Nothing is correct
[780]: One number is correct but wrongly placed

HINT -- A mark of a great puzzle, this one contains a surprises or two.

On 2024-02-25, HenHanna <HenHanna@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> i just think that... if Usenet allowed a small image to be
> embedded in a post, its appeal would be so much Greater!
>
>
>
> Number-dle (Mastermind) puzzle (with 3 digits)
>
>
> (i just wrote (non-elegant) Python code.)
>
>
> Could you share a short, VERY Readable Pythonic code that solves this?
>
> Thank you!
>
>
> https://i.imgur.com/72LGJjj.jpeg
>
> 3 digit lock
> [682]: One number is correct and well-placed
> [614]: One number is correct but wrongly placed
> [206]: Two numbers are correct but wrongly placed
> [738]: Nothing is correct
> [780]: One number is correct but wrongly placed
>
>
> HINT -- A mark of a great puzzle, this one contains a surprises or two.

That just sounds like mime encoding.. and a lot of people use tui
clients too
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

On 2/25/24 15:14, HenHanna wrote:
> i just think that...   if Usenet allowed a small image to be
>           embedded in a post, its appeal would be so much Greater!

Usenet is perfectly capable of conveying images, and other binary content.

Many Usenet server administrators have made the choice to not carry
binary content on their servers.

If you want binary content, go use a different server. Binary content
is unwelcome on many servers.

--
Grant. . . .

On 2/25/24 16:45, candycanearter07 wrote:
> That just sounds like mime encoding.

Mime is just one form of encoding. Probably the most common in the
email world. But there are others.

> a lot of people use tuiclients too

I don't see how text user interfaces preclude images. Just because they
might not be able to display them natively doesn't preclude the client
from handling image (et al.) attachments.

There are some terminal (emulators) that can handle images just fine;
XTerm and Sixel comes to mind.

--
Grant. . . .

On 2024-02-26, Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:
> On 2/25/24 16:45, candycanearter07 wrote:
>> That just sounds like mime encoding.
>
> Mime is just one form of encoding. Probably the most common in the
> email world. But there are others.

I thought mime was the default for USENET tho..

>> a lot of people use tuiclients too
>
> I don't see how text user interfaces preclude images. Just because they
> might not be able to display them natively doesn't preclude the client
> from handling image (et al.) attachments.
>
> There are some terminal (emulators) that can handle images just fine;
> XTerm and Sixel comes to mind.

Well yes, but some people might prefer another terminal emulator
that doesn't support it. Also some ppl access USENET from a raw tty.
--
user <candycane> is generated from /dev/urandom

Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote in
news:urgusr$eq4$1@tncsrv09.home.tnetconsulting.net:

> On 2/25/24 15:14, HenHanna wrote:
>> i just think that...   if Usenet allowed a small image to be
>>           embedded in a post, its appeal would be so much
>> Greater!
>
> Usenet is perfectly capable of conveying images, and other binary
> content.
>
> Many Usenet server administrators have made the choice to not carry
> binary content on their servers.
>
> If you want binary content, go use a different server. Binary content
> is unwelcome on many servers.
>
>
>

There's a big difference between encoding gigabyte videos into hundreds
of posts, and including a small picture or graphic *as part of a
message* just as one might do in an email. I think it would be very
helpful to allow the second more generally, with sensible limits on
attachment size.

--
Colin Macleod.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Colin Macleod wrote:

> Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote in
> news:urgusr$eq4$1@tncsrv09.home.tnetconsulting.net:
>
>> On 2/25/24 15:14, HenHanna wrote:
>>> i just think that...???? if Usenet allowed a small image to be
>>> ?????????????????? embedded in a post, its appeal would be so much
>>> Greater!
>>
>> Usenet is perfectly capable of conveying images, and other binary
>> content.
>>
>> Many Usenet server administrators have made the choice to not carry
>> binary content on their servers.
>>
>> If you want binary content, go use a different server. Binary content
>> is unwelcome on many servers.
>>
>>
>>
>
> There's a big difference between encoding gigabyte videos into hundreds
> of posts, and including a small picture or graphic *as part of a
> message* just as one might do in an email. I think it would be very
> helpful to allow the second more generally, with sensible limits on
> attachment size.

Shudder! I'm very happy with text only. Keeping binaries away I think is a
key element to a working usenet.

And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
graphic if it is necessary.

D <nospam@example.net> writes:

> Shudder! I'm very happy with text only. Keeping binaries away I think
> is a key element to a working usenet.

Yip. Let's keep Usenet as is.

But experiments with allowing more should happen.
There is no need to force all this into Usenet.

Maybe use mailing lists gated to NNTP?
Some if them[0] already allow much more.

Launch an own server?
Play with Cyrus-NNTP[1]?

I want it all.
I want everything in the same frontend.
[!] And for me that frontend has to be my existing newsreader.

____________

[0]: I read a lot of stuff via Gmane and Gwene and still sometimes am
surprised over coloured syntax in some code snippets. The images
in Hackaday's feed sometimes fail, but some day someone will find
that bug... ,,X_

[1]: That looks like the ideal small personal NNTP server building atop
an existing IMAP[2] server, but last time I tried, the dependencies
(Debian) were broken and my attention span was not huge enough to
compensate for this.

[2]: IMAP by itself already should have shared and public folders, so
could be a starting point for something with a similar structure.
Depending on the newsreader this may or may not contradict [!] as a
lot of MUAs include NNTP.

--
R || 0 ... Resistance is futile.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, yeti wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> writes:
>
>> Shudder! I'm very happy with text only. Keeping binaries away I think
>> is a key element to a working usenet.
>
> Yip. Let's keep Usenet as is.
>
> But experiments with allowing more should happen.
> There is no need to force all this into Usenet.
>
> Maybe use mailing lists gated to NNTP?
> Some if them[0] already allow much more.
>
> Launch an own server?
> Play with Cyrus-NNTP[1]?
>

Let me add https://cdpxe.github.io/WendzelNNTPd/ to the mix if you want a
personal nntp server. It is small, lacks some features, but I successfully
compiled it last night on opensuse 15.3 without any troubles.

Colin Macleod <cgm@erehwon.invalid> writes:
>There's a big difference between encoding gigabyte videos into hundreds
>of posts, and including a small picture or graphic *as part of a
>message* just as one might do in an email. I think it would be very
>helpful to allow the second more generally, with sensible limits on
>attachment size.

You can just post a Python program to /generate/ the binary.
For example:

with open( 'output202402261208430100ergahei_tmp_DML.bin', 'wb' )as sink:
sink.write( b'\00\01\02' )

. Now, one can run this Python program and will get the binary file
"output202402261208430100ergahei_tmp_DML.bin" with the three bytes
00, 01, and 02.

But be warned: If you already have a file named
"output202402261208430100ergahei_tmp_DML.bin"
on your hard drive, the above program may *overwrite*
(delete) your existing file. So proceed with care!

On 2024-02-26, yeti <yeti@tilde.institute> wrote:

> I want it all.
> I want everything in the same frontend.

I want as many painfully difficult hoops to jump through as
necessary to discourage the descendents of marauding Eternal
September hoards from participating - yea, to the point of
rewinding USENET space to its pre- Eternal September
glory.... ;-)

--
oldernow
xyz001 at nym.hush.com

ram@zedat.fu-berlin.de (Stefan Ram) wrote in news:binary-20240226121322
@ram.dialup.fu-berlin.de:
>
> You can just post a Python program to /generate/ the binary.
> For example:
>
> with open( 'output202402261208430100ergahei_tmp_DML.bin', 'wb' )as sink:
> sink.write( b'\00\01\02' )
>
> . Now, one can run this Python program and will get the binary file
> "output202402261208430100ergahei_tmp_DML.bin" with the three bytes
> 00, 01, and 02.
>
Hmm, I don't think we need Yet Another Encoding System :-)

--
Colin Macleod.

oldernow <oldernow@dev.null> wrote in
news:slrnutou0s.diu.oldernow@oldernow.jethrick.com:
>
> I want as many painfully difficult hoops to jump through as
> necessary to discourage the descendents of marauding Eternal
> September hoards from participating - yea, to the point of
> rewinding USENET space to its pre- Eternal September
> glory.... ;-)
>
I feel your pain, but...

The current situation seems to have driven away most of the well-
intentioned users, while doing little to discourage the spammers and cranks
:-(

--
Colin Macleod.

On 2024-02-26, Colin Macleod <cgm@erehwon.invalid> wrote:

>> I want as many painfully difficult hoops to jump through as
>> necessary to discourage the descendents of marauding Eternal
>> September hoards from participating - yea, to the point of
>> rewinding USENET space to its pre- Eternal September
>> glory.... ;-)
>
> I feel your pain, but...
>
> The current situation seems to have driven away most of the
> well- intentioned users, while doing little to discourage
> the spammers and cranks :-(

Yeah, I know. I guess I follow just a few lower-traffic newsgroups
anymore, and therein can it seem like maybe just <holds thumb and
index finger of right hand a millimeter apart> "this far" from the
pearly posting gates.

But that - not to mention intelligent, civil society - has long
been an impossible dream for so predominantly moronic a species.

--
oldernow
xyz001 at nym.hush.com

D <nospam@example.net> wrote in
news:92fdfc81-d367-3adb-58b6-88f3c5f6cd4d@example.net:
>
> And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
> graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
> graphic if it is necessary.

That's not a bad idea. I might try to put that in the usenet web client I'm
working on, once I get the basic functionality sorted out.

Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to illegal or
objectionable images being posted, that needs some thought.

--
Colin Macleod.

candycanearter07 wrote:
> On 2024-02-26, Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:
> > On 2/25/24 16:45, candycanearter07 wrote:
> > >
> > > That just sounds like mime encoding.
> >
> > Mime is just one form of encoding. Probably the most common in the
> > email world. But there are others.
>
> I thought mime was the default for USENET tho..

Yes, since RFC 5536:
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5536#section-2.3>
|
| 2.3. MIME Conformance
|
| User agents MUST meet the definition of MIME conformance in [RFC2049]
| and MUST also support [RFC2231]. This level of MIME conformance
| provides support for internationalization and multimedia in message
| bodies [RFC2045], [RFC2046], and [RFC2231], and support for
| internationalization of header fields [RFC2047] and [RFC2231]. [...]

On 2024-02-26, Colin Macleod <cgm@erehwon.invalid> wrote:

> Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to
> illegal or objectionable images being posted, that needs
> some thought.

Indeed does it seem that most human problems boil down to "how to
deal with and/or work around assholes".

To me, the workarounds seem procrastination from the real work
of eradicating assholism - aka egoism - which for me begins in
the mirror.

--
oldernow
xyz001 at nym.hush.com

Michael B�uerle <michael.baeuerle@stz-e.de> wrote in
news:AABl3H0u5ScAAANx.A3.flnews@WStation5.stz-e.de:
>
> Yes, since RFC 5536:
> <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5536#section-2.3>
>|
>| 2.3. MIME Conformance
>|
>| User agents MUST meet the definition of MIME conformance in [RFC2049]
>| and MUST also support [RFC2231]. This level of MIME conformance
>| provides support for internationalization and multimedia in message
>| bodies [RFC2045], [RFC2046], and [RFC2231], and support for
>| internationalization of header fields [RFC2047] and [RFC2231]. [...]
>

Interesting, so software support is actually *mandated*, of course using
this also depends on group and server policies.

--
Colin Macleod.

Colin Macleod wrote:
> Michael Bäuerle wrote:
> >
> > Yes, since RFC 5536:
> > <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5536#section-2.3>
> > |
> > | 2.3. MIME Conformance
> > |
> > | User agents MUST meet the definition of MIME conformance in [RFC2049]
> > | and MUST also support [RFC2231]. This level of MIME conformance
> > | provides support for internationalization and multimedia in message
> > | bodies [RFC2045], [RFC2046], and [RFC2231], and support for
> > | internationalization of header fields [RFC2047] and [RFC2231]. [...]
>
> Interesting, so software support is actually *mandated*,

And even Xnews can support it with "Mime-proxy":
<https://web.archive.org/web/20150923091912/http://www.lamaiziere.net/mp_pagen.html>

Example article from german test group:
<news:urhrhi.ieo.1@barghahn-online.de>

> of course using this also depends on group and server policies.

The MIME features to support languages, that require non-ASCII encoding,
should be usable nearly everywhere.

Such policies should only target binary attachments in most cases.
But yes, embedding an image is the topic of this thread, and this will
not work on many servers.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Colin Macleod wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> wrote in
> news:92fdfc81-d367-3adb-58b6-88f3c5f6cd4d@example.net:
>>
>> And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
>> graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
>> graphic if it is necessary.
>
> That's not a bad idea. I might try to put that in the usenet web client I'm
> working on, once I get the basic functionality sorted out.
>
> Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to illegal or
> objectionable images being posted, that needs some thought.

I see two options for that problem.

1. Caveat emptor.

2. Prefetching and either matching against a database or some kind of "AI"
classification magic. Either way will increase the complexity and/or
depdendencies of your software a lot.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Colin Macleod wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> wrote in
> news:92fdfc81-d367-3adb-58b6-88f3c5f6cd4d@example.net:
>>
>> And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
>> graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
>> graphic if it is necessary.
>
> That's not a bad idea. I might try to put that in the usenet web client I'm
> working on, once I get the basic functionality sorted out.
>
> Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to illegal or
> objectionable images being posted, that needs some thought.

Another question, since you seem to be one of the guys wise in the ways of
(computer) science!

I wonder if you know of any software or script that syncs usenet messages
from the server to Maildir?

The reason I am asking is that my newsreader works directly against the
server, and only caches certain operations. It is fairly fast, but, I
would ideally like to be able to sync all the news groups I read to local disk
(in Maildir, since my email client (alpine) supports that) so that I can
read and respond to them offline, and then send them once I'm online.

I wonder if Maildir would be capable of "holding" the messages, or if that
would just be trying to hammer the square peg through the round hole?

Best regards,
Daniel

D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Colin Macleod wrote:
>
> > D <nospam@example.net> wrote in
> > news:92fdfc81-d367-3adb-58b6-88f3c5f6cd4d@example.net:
> >>
> >> And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
> >> graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
> >> graphic if it is necessary.
> >
> > That's not a bad idea. I might try to put that in the usenet web client I'm
> > working on, once I get the basic functionality sorted out.
> >
> > Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to illegal or
> > objectionable images being posted, that needs some thought.
>
> Another question, since you seem to be one of the guys wise in the ways of
> (computer) science!
>
> I wonder if you know of any software or script that syncs usenet messages
> from the server to Maildir?
>
> The reason I am asking is that my newsreader works directly against the
> server, and only caches certain operations. It is fairly fast, but, I
> would ideally like to be able to sync all the news groups I read to local disk
> (in Maildir, since my email client (alpine) supports that) so that I can
> read and respond to them offline, and then send them once I'm online.
>
> I wonder if Maildir would be capable of "holding" the messages, or if that
> would just be trying to hammer the square peg through the round hole?
>
> Best regards,
> Daniel

IMO it's more like reinventing the wheel.
Why not just use an offline newsreader?

--
^Ï^. Sn!pe, PA, FIBS - Professional Crastinator

My pet rock Gordon just is.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Sn!pe wrote:

> D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
>
>> On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Colin Macleod wrote:
>>
>>> D <nospam@example.net> wrote in
>>> news:92fdfc81-d367-3adb-58b6-88f3c5f6cd4d@example.net:
>>>>
>>>> And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
>>>> graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
>>>> graphic if it is necessary.
>>>
>>> That's not a bad idea. I might try to put that in the usenet web client I'm
>>> working on, once I get the basic functionality sorted out.
>>>
>>> Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to illegal or
>>> objectionable images being posted, that needs some thought.
>>
>> Another question, since you seem to be one of the guys wise in the ways of
>> (computer) science!
>>
>> I wonder if you know of any software or script that syncs usenet messages
>> from the server to Maildir?
>>
>> The reason I am asking is that my newsreader works directly against the
>> server, and only caches certain operations. It is fairly fast, but, I
>> would ideally like to be able to sync all the news groups I read to local disk
>> (in Maildir, since my email client (alpine) supports that) so that I can
>> read and respond to them offline, and then send them once I'm online.
>>
>> I wonder if Maildir would be capable of "holding" the messages, or if that
>> would just be trying to hammer the square peg through the round hole?
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Daniel
>
> IMO it's more like reinventing the wheel.
> Why not just use an offline newsreader?

Because I like my mail client and can use the same scripting
functionality, keys etc.

On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, D wrote:

>
>
> On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Colin Macleod wrote:
>
>> D <nospam@example.net> wrote in
>> news:92fdfc81-d367-3adb-58b6-88f3c5f6cd4d@example.net:
>>>
>>> And regardless, your usenet client is free to implement some kind of
>>> graphics handling. The least you can do is to include a html link to a
>>> graphic if it is necessary.
>>
>> That's not a bad idea. I might try to put that in the usenet web client I'm
>> working on, once I get the basic functionality sorted out.
>>
>> Of course you then have the problem of how to respond to illegal or
>> objectionable images being posted, that needs some thought.
>
> Another question, since you seem to be one of the guys wise in the ways of
> (computer) science!
>
> I wonder if you know of any software or script that syncs usenet messages
> from the server to Maildir?
>
> The reason I am asking is that my newsreader works directly against the
> server, and only caches certain operations. It is fairly fast, but, I would
> ideally like to be able to sync all the news groups I read to local disk (in
> Maildir, since my email client (alpine) supports that) so that I can read and
> respond to them offline, and then send them once I'm online.
>
> I wonder if Maildir would be capable of "holding" the messages, or if that
> would just be trying to hammer the square peg through the round hole?
>
> Best regards,
> Daniel
>
>

And I received an answer in another group. The answer is leafnode.org.
This does (based on a glance at the documentation) exactly what I was
looking for! =)

D <nospam@example.net> wrote:

> On Mon, 26 Feb 2024, Sn!pe wrote:
>
> > D <nospam@example.net> wrote:
[...]
> >> The reason I am asking is that my newsreader works directly against the
> >> server, and only caches certain operations. It is fairly fast, but, I
> >> would ideally like to be able to sync all the news groups I read to
> >> local disk (in Maildir, since my email client (alpine) supports that)
> >> so that I can read and respond to them offline, and then send them once
> >> I'm online.
> >>
> >> I wonder if Maildir would be capable of "holding" the messages, or if
> >> that would just be trying to hammer the square peg through the round
> >> hole?
> >>
> >> Best regards, Daniel
> >
> > IMO it's more like reinventing the wheel.
> > Why not just use an offline newsreader?
>
> Because I like my mail client and can use the same scripting
> functionality, keys etc.

A perfectly valid reason. I'm wedded to my 'reader too.

--
^Ï^. Sn!pe, PA, FIBS - Professional Crastinator

My pet rock Gordon just is.