@mcc the stickers aren't upside down, the logo is upside down (older thinkpads had the logo the other way round)

The other thing I could do would be to write a DNS server which looks up the domain on multiple DNS servers (one UK-based but low latency, one non-UK-based but high latency) and returns the first result, unless it looks like a geoblock, in which case it waits and returns the second result. The problem is there’s no way to reliably detect geoblocks, but doing it for loopback IP addresses might be enough?

In the case of this specific geoblock, it’s returning an A record for 127.0.0.1, but interestingly it’s doing this regardless of the type of record you requested (if you request AAAA it will still respond with A):

> dig AAAA cdn2.miau.pub

; <<>> DiG 9.19.24 <<>> AAAA cdn2.miau.pub
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: SERVFAIL, id: 43682
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1

;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 512
; EDE: 0 (Other): ([157.53.226.1] Unexpected lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/a in received ANSWER at b-cdn.net for lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/aaaa)
; EDE: 0 (Other): ([109.104.147.1] Unexpected lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/a in received ANSWER at b-cdn.net for lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/aaaa)
; EDE: 0 (Other): ([91.200.176.1] Unexpected lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/a in received ANSWER at b-cdn.net for lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/aaaa)
; EDE: 22 (No Reachable Authority): (At delegation b-cdn.net for lgbtqiaspace.b-cdn.net/aaaa)
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;cdn2.miau.pub.                 IN      AAAA

;; Query time: 19 msec
;; SERVER: 192.168.1.1#53(192.168.1.1) (UDP)
;; WHEN: Thu Aug 28 05:50:05 BST 2025
;; MSG SIZE  rcvd: 464

This makes it easy to fingerprint but that only works in this specific case. In which case I might as well just hardcode a list of domains as I do for my list of IPs to route through a non-UK VPN.

lgbtqia.space changed the way they geoblock the UK and now my method of bypassing it doesn't fully work.
I was adding individual routes for each website I found that blocked the UK to route it via a VPN (and hoping that they never change IP addresses, so this method was already quite fragile), but now the CDN they use (cdn2.miau.pub) blocks the UK via GeoDNS so that doesn't work any more.
I could bypass this by running a DNS server outside the UK (or using another non-UK-based DNS provider that also doesn't do anycast in the UK, but I don't know of any good ones), but that would increase the latency of DNS lookups by at least ~25ms (latency to my VPS in Germany, which itself has ~3ms higher latency to 8.8.8.8 and 1.1.1.1 than my home connection). Would I even notice the difference? I'm not sure

@fun ThinkPad T440p satisfies all criteria (except possibly thickness and weight, it depends on what you compare it to, and my left shift key fell off but I don't know how common that is)

@elly Did you often have to wait long? We don't have benches, but we only have to wait outside classrooms if they're locked (which general-purpose classrooms are not, but those with special equipment are) and the teacher is late

@luana @postmarketOS @dalias @cas It is if the TPM is broken and can't be trusted, like on MEv11: https://mkukri.xyz/2024/06/01/tpm-gpio-fail.html

postmarketOS will never ask for your ID to let users install your app!

@elly @fun @justin Does not having lockers mean that you had to carry everything between classrooms? My school has lockers and gives them on request (plus everyone has a tray for books), but most people don't have one and just leave their bags lying around (I do use my locker, because I worry about the possibility of theft or evil maid attacks). I probably carry more than most people at my school because I bring my own laptop (Dell Latitude E6400, ~3kg with charger) rather than use locked down school chromebooks with censored and monitored internet access, but at least I don't have to carry it that far.

@fun how do you get a laptop so thin it time travels 3 years into the future?

@HiszpanInk @domi That link doesn't work for me, is it down or does it geoblock non-Poland?

@catsalad @ipg You could use ketchup as thermal paste, but why would you put it between the CPU socket and CPU rather than between the CPU and heatsink?

@mcc It probably depends a lot on which Lenovos you buy. I have several (librebooted) Lenovo ThinkPads, and they all have quite good Linux support.

@mcc @seachanger apple the company or apple the fruit?

@Tristan @esm You could, and you can get TLS certificates for IP addresses from Let's Encrypt now, but IP addresses on the internet are ultimately controlled by ICANN/IANA too, so it's not really any better.

if you’re bored: consider irc://irc.libera.chat/#werewolf

@nay run them all as root and find out! /s

@niko @shroomie @nay what does louis rossmann have to do with kiwifarms?

@Codeberg Will this affect software heritage archive?

IP/Port: 79.117.49.141:5900
Hostname: 79-117-49-141.digimobil.es
Client Name: @sz
Location: Aranjuez, Madrid, ES 🇪🇸
ASN: AS57269 DIGI SPAIN TELECOM S.L.
VNC Password: N/A
ID: 20464854
Added to DB: 05/06/2025, 11:28:15 PM (UTC)
Last seen: 05/06/2025, 07:24:47 PM (UTC)
https://computernewb.com/vncresolver/browse#id/20464854