smolZINE - Issue 5

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smolZINE

· 2 months ago

smolZINE - Issue 5

2021-07-01

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Introduction
Hidden (and not so hidden) Gems
Spelunking
Emanations
Word Search

Introduction

Some really fun links this week with a bit of a games theme. Something a little different for Emanations this time around and you may have noticed a new section called Spelunking. This will probably not be a section that appears in every issue but the idea is that this will be a place to focus on something that deserves a more in-depth look.

Hidden (and not so hidden) Gems

The Gonz

Mbays capsule is packed with very neat things to discover. It is the home of the diohsc gemini client, a glog (gemlog) and some gemini related development projects. One recent project is sggs (Simple Gemini Game Server) which is a system for playing turn-based multiplayer games over gemini.

=> gemini://gemini.thegonz.net The Gonz
=> gemini://gemini.thegonz.net/glog/210620-sggs.gmi sggs

Szczeżuja's Capsule

An excellent capsule to check in on frequently as it features a gemlog and tinylog that are very active with many interesting finds. It also has an aggregated feed of the gemini pages Szczeżuja's likes to keep track of.

=> gemini://szczezuja.space/ Szczeżuja's Capsule

0x80

Hackers, this one is for you. 0x80 is a defunct weblog all about hacking resuscitated and now available on gemini.

=> gemini://0x80.org 0x80

Emilog

Emily likes gemini. Emily's gemlog features some tech and linux topics as well as posts about other interests and personal life.

=> gemini://tilde.pink/~emily/ Emilog

Spelunking

Ijirait
by Alex Schroeder

Ijirait is a Gemini-based MUSH. When you connect to the game, it asks you for a client certificate and generates a character for you and ties it to that client certificate. It's your login, basically. If you connect from a different device with a different client certificate, you get a new character. In order to avoid that, you need to find a way to share those client certificates.

A MUSH is a simple game that is similar to text adventures. You're in a room, there are exits that take you to other rooms, and there might be other people, and things lying around. The entire game is Gemini based, so if you're just following the links, you can do the simple things: take those exits to visit new rooms, and examine people and things, and that's cool.

Gemini also offers us the prompt, though. In the game, if you follow the "type" link, you can type commands. Some of them are the equivalent of clicking the links: "go down", "examine tablet", and so on. But you can also do more sophisticated stuff, now: "say Hello and welcome!" or "emote The cold wind blows dry leaves into the tent." These messages linger for ten minutes because the game doesn't stream. Perhaps one day! For now, remember to use "look" every now and then.

As this is a MUSH and not a MUD, there are no weapons to wield, no armour to wear, no gold to take, no monsters to kill. It's all about the interactions with other people, and building the world. Building, you say? Yes, via the "type" link you can create rooms and things, name them, and describe them, offering other visitors a place to explore.

=> gemini://campaignwiki.org/play/ijirait Play Ijirait

P.S.: Gemini clients that aggressively cache results (like Elpher, for example), need a lot of reloading, unfortunately.

Emanations

I know nothing
a poem by Göktuğ

I know nothing
nor do I want to:
a blank brain
is all I want!
I have nothing
nor do I want to:
I want to be,
nothing else do I want!

You can find more of Göktuğ's poetry on their capsule linked below.
=> gemini://cadadr.space/poesy.gmi Poesy

Word-Search

by Jone

Source Material: Slow, by H. Jaffrey

=> gemini://hjaffrey.flounder.online/gemlog/2021-05-28/slow.gmi Slow

``` word search letter grid 
o j x e c y c l i n g o j e 
x v a s a k z x w d a c h p 
c d b w o m m d o z z c a t 
i o o e x p l o r e r i x b 
o d r o h f h e a p s t j e 
c g t o z s w h l f j y k z 
j y k r c h j t l i g h t s 
s d n e y o f w e m h k p b 
s l o w g u g u y b k t k a 
y o o b f l i r w m z q i k 
j s h e i d p a a m p m a l 
y t i a z e u g y s o o f a 
h e u a s r s t f b d c x v 
l m k m o t o r w a y n k a 
```

slow
lost
cycling
alleyway
city
explorer
abort
motorway
baklava
shoulder
lights
dodgy

=> ./wordsearch-solution-issue-5.gmi Word Search Solution

Community Contributions

Please consider taking part in making this zine better and more diverse by contributing your thoughts and finds. If you are interested in contributing a short article or capsule picks email me at: smolzine (at) cyberbot.space.