Skip to content

Category: english

The asymmetry of the historical record

Published by Silveira on 2026-05-21

“Yeah, I think that, I think it is important to recognize that much like the present, the past is largely a chronicle of misery.

I mean, people suffer. And the people who suffer the most leave the least evidence behind. And so, any history that begins with what survives has a real challenge to arriving at any proper perspective on the human condition.

I think that is the asymmetry of the historical record, right? The people who were wealthiest and most literate and had the greatest resources, not only left, not only made a lot of records, they managed to have their records preserved. And everyone else disappears and just vanishes, their remains are gone.

And I think it puts a special obligation on anyone who’s trying to write history or tell a story about the past to be attentive, to not give up in the face of the asymmetry and to try to repair the historical record by finding other kinds of evidence, the evidence that does survive, that makes sure that we understand the lives, both of the powerful and the powerless.”

Jill Lepore said in the podcast 99% Invisible: 100 Objects #1: The Century Safe, May 19, 2026.


Treat the elderly as you would your own elders, and the young as you would your own children

Published by Silveira on 2026-03-12

老吾老以及人之老，幼吾幼以及人之幼

“lǎo wú lǎo, yǐ jí rén zhī lǎo; yòu wú yòu, yǐ jí rén zhī yòu”

“Treat the elderly as you would your own elders, and the young as you would your own children.” Mencius (孟子)

Found this quote in this interview of Michael Crook by Dan Vineberg.

There is something similar in the Bible, Paul’s letter to Timothy (1 Timothy 5:1):

“Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers,”

Drawing: chibi in 2 heads proportion

a page that downloads itself

Published by Silveira on 2026-01-09 
<html><head>
    <title>Self-Downloading Page</title>
</head>
<body>
    <textarea id="textArea" rows="10" cols="50">Try writing here then click the button.</textarea><br>
    <button onclick="downloadPage()">Download This Page</button>
    
    <script>
        function downloadPage() {
            document.getElementById('textArea').textContent = document.getElementById('textArea').value;
            const html = document.documentElement.outerHTML;
            console.log(html);
            const blob = new Blob([html], { type: 'text/html' });
            const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
            const a = document.createElement('a');
            a.href = url;
            a.download = new Date().toISOString() + '.html';
            a.click();
            URL.revokeObjectURL(url);
        }
    </script>
</body></html>

misery loves company

Published by Silveira on 2026-01-01

Doctor Faustus asks Mephistophilis why Satan seeks to enlarge his kingdom. Mephistophilis replies with the Latin phrase: 

“Solamen miseris socios habuisse doloris“

This roughly translates to “It is a comfort to the unfortunate to have had companions in woe,” or simply “misery loves company”.

Doctor Faustus, by Christopher Marlowe, written in the late 16th century and first performed around 1594.

3 keys and knob keyboard

Published by Silveira on 2025-12-26

A very useful and also inexpensive mini keyboard found on AliExpress. Mine is the specifically this one. I have added the notes myself using a Brother P-touch label maker.

Here is the drivers and configuration application in a Google Drive. Note to myself: if this share is deleted, search for “3 key keyboard software-20251226T192116Z-3-001.zip” in your own Google Drive.

This is how the “MINI KeyBoard.exe” looks like:

It should display “Connected”. To modify each key, click the green keys (left top corner), it will become red. Then select the operations then click “Download”.

This is my configuration as of today:

  • KEY1: Win L (Go to “KEY”, then select the keys. This locks the computer).
  • KEY2: Win Ctrl V (Go to “KEY”, then select the keys. This is the Windows sound output selector.)
  • KEY3: Mute (Click “Multimedia” then mute)
  • K1 Left (Knob scroll left): Volume- (Click “Multimedia” then “Volume-“)
  • K1 Right (Knob scroll right): Volume + (Click “Multimedia” then “Volume+”)

Notes on Python venv

Published by Silveira on 2025-11-27

Python 3.3 or later comes with venv. For Python 3.* < 3.3 with apt:

$ sudo apt install python3-venv

To create, activate and pip install packages:

$ python -m venv my_venv
$ source my_venv/bin/activate
(my_venv)$ pip install gimpformats

To deactivate the venv:

(my_venv)$ deactivate

This allows to have Python virtual environments with isolation. It’s particularly useful when using systems that don’t allow to use pip directly as WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux).