OCTADE or OCTAD is a retro word that means either an octal digit of three bits, or an octal octet or an eight-bit byte. Thus an octade, depending on its historical use, is either 3 bits or 8 bits.

OCTADE was used to specify eight bits, as opposed to BYTE which is not necessarily eight bits as the word BYTE could signify any of several numbers of bits.

This yields the retro 1337 numbers of 38 and 83. The number 38 is one more than 37 so a bit more elite a bit cooler. Thus it owns cardinally shorter byterz.

83 mod 38 equals 7, the highest octal digit. 838 mod 383 equals 72 or 9 times 8 which is 8 squared plus 8.

8338 mod 3883 equals 572 which is 72 times 8 minus 4 or 71.5 times 8.

8383 mod 3838 equals 707 which is 88 times 8 plus 3.

I prefer the old word OCTADE to the word BYTE. OCTADE sports a Euro-peon dignity and gravitas like an Internet serf ready to surf the worknet like pwnd peons. This is very true when pronouncing OCTADE with a thick Pennsyltucky Dutch or Yinzer accent. The Bostonian pronunciation sounds like bad beginner German or muffled mumbling of 'lactate.'

OCTADE or OCTAD was also used to describe a poem of eight stanzas.

OCTADE was also used to describe a period of eight years, or two leap years.

OCTADECANAL is a pheromone found in butterflies. It is butterfly perfume. I would not wear butterfly cologne. But I would sell it. Who would buy and wear my snobby smell? With wordplay we can call it OCTADE CHANNEL No. 8 . All rights reserved, ye French odor snooties.

Historical references for use of 'octade' or 'octad':

Burroughs B5500 Information Processing Systems REFERENCE MANUAL
https://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/burroughs/LargeSystems/B5000_5500_5700/1021326_B5500_RefMan_196705.pdf

Philips Data Systems Product Range - April 1971
https://www.vintage-calculators.nl/Philips%20productoverzicht%201971.pdf

Is there another name for octet that means 8 bits?
https://www.quora.com/Is-there-another-name-for-octet-that-means-8-bits

#octade #octad #binary #byte #jargon #etymology #bytemology #wordplay #wordgames #wordcrimes #history #retro #retronym #retronymous #yinzer #pennsyltucky #humor

@wordplay@lemmy.ml @Vocabulary@lemmy.ml

--

OCTADE | news://alt.flashback | https://soc.octade.net

#Coffee #CowboyCoffee #MorningMudd

Name: Byrl Raze Buckbriar (call me Raze).

Likes: Interested in WORK PRODUCT, inspiration, faith, truth, beauty, nature, self-improvement, encouragement, edification, praiseworthy things, how-tos, beautiful things, artwork, fluid poems, and general human kindness and achievement. See my profile hashtags for technical subjects of interest.

Disclaimer: If I follow your account it does not imply agreement with your views.

Site: Cryptography project site. (https://octade.net)
Publications: https://octade.net/publications.html
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5144-3278
Netnews: Find me on #Usenet in #Newsgroup alt.rhubarb.
Git: https://codeberg.org/OCTADE
Keyoxide1: https://keyoxide.org/0CF7084CF97B85F2ABF97010C6663A42C56F5F0E
Keyoxide2: https://keyoxide.org/B9B2A8EC2C4B20D2011CFEAA07E4A7FFF6585E8F
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/octade.bsky.social
HackerNews: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=OCTADE
Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/@buckbriar

- a neat hack for the properly paranoid -

Your computer is likely generating random noise on your sound card. On some systems you can harvest this noise as true random entropy. This entropy can be diffused and whitened for use in cryptography.

https://www.metzdowd.com/pipermail/cryptography/2026-March/039388.html

#Random #Entropy #Cryptography #Crypto #Hardware #Hacks #Sound #Audio #Chaos

@cypherpunk@soc.octade.net @cryptography@soc.octade.net @crypto@infosec.pub @cryptography@fed.dyne.org @cryptography@lemmy.ml

Alt...

Source code screenshot for harvesting entropy from a sound card. Follow the link to read the source code text.

"Because a lot of grown-ups seem to lack the common sense be able to do this at home."

After the new imperial state taught the Europeans that they needed to help conquer the savages, then the state turned on the Europeans in America and labeled them as savages needing suppressed. Then the state told the Indians, the Europeans, the Africans in America they are all savages oppressing each other, and should appeal to the conquering state for group identity and protection from the enemy or 'other' as defined by the conquering state.

Calloused. Evil. Reptilian.

If you run BIND, you may wonder what kinds of improvements you'll see when upgrading from one version to another. Occasionally we like to publish benchmark test results to help with those decisions.

We've just posted a blog on BIND 9.20 resolver performance compared to 9.18. tl;dr: under mid- to heavy traffic loads, 9.20 has even lower latency than 9.18, particularly while starting up.

Read more about our performance benchmarking at https://www.isc.org/blogs/2026-03-05-bind-resolver-performance/

Thanks for using ISC's software!

Age verification is spreading like the plague. When does it stop? 🤧

https://itsfoss.com/news/age-verification-pandemic/

#privacy #ageverification

California's age verification law empowers malicious actors with a grooming tool to narrow down the hunt for children.

Age Verification Mandates: The ‘Protect the Kids’ Scam That’s Building a Permanent Surveillance Grid

https://youtu.be/lqt5czOckdw

#AgeVerification

Just played a bit of fetch with my cat. He hasn't quite figured out that he needs to always bring it back to keep playing. Sometimes he'll chase after it, but then come back without it, meowing, wanting me to throw it again.

Pillows are far too big. Should be half the size. I've never seen anyone with a head the size and shape of a pillow

I've broken down the risks and potential response to California's new(ish) Digital Age Assurance Act. It has a giant open source gap that, if fixed, could allay many concerns.

https://taggart-tech.com/ab-1043/

Lmao.

Alt...

This is a linux meme with a MS employee on a stage in front of a large screen. At the top txt reads: Time traveller: moves a chair The timeline: On the large screen behind the MS employee is the Windows logo and the text reads, "Windows The most open operating system". The meme talks that a small change in the past has resulted in a parallel reality where Microsoft Windows traditionally a closed source spyware system with crazy amount of AI added to the Windows is now the most "open"

Lots of renewed talk about static site generators 'round these parts (which is awesome), so let me do a little shoutout to Pelican https://getpelican.com @pelican

I chose this over 11ty (which I did try!) because it's written in Python, which is one of the few (the only?) languages I know(ish), and because I'm more comfortable with their upgrade schedule (more like yearly instead of what felt like weekly with 11ty - that just stresses me out - YMMV, of course).

Anyway, it's a great little SSG if the other ones out there don't float your boat. It powers my site at: https://mitten.lol

does beard stroking improve thinking

How do I get some?

#CrazyPill

"While the [age verification] bill moved through the legislature, the OSI, FSF, Software Freedom Conservancy, and Linux Foundation all sat it out — no testimony, no public analysis, no formal opposition on the record."

California's computer age verification law is poison. The new California age verification law is a version of INGSOC's telescreen watching you. And the usual self-proclaimed software freedom fighters are AWOL as this attack on your freedom is executed.

Don't listen to apologists who claim this isn't a big deal. It is a huge deal. This law is not about protecting children. The California law is a ruse for laying the foundation and precedent for mandatory remote control of all operating systems. They are using children as a shield for their true intentions. It's called a 'subterfuge' or a 'pretext' to hide the real rationale. And in politics subterfuge is very common. These politicians don't care about your children. They care about control and information is control. Compliance with California's new law is highly corrosive to free software and deadly to personal privacy.

With the mandatory age verification API in place, legislators can later add more laws mandating retrieval of even more privacy-invasive information just to install and use any operating system. This is Big Brother's telescreen in your living room. And the Linux community is nearly silent on the matter, instead focused on artificial intelligence investment.

Where were the software freedom organizations when California was mandating installation of #spyware in all free and open source operating systems? Did they oppose it? Or did they support it by silence? The California age verification law is the greatest threat to software freedom in recent history., striking right at the root of software installation for all users. Yet (((crickets))).

Is silence really tacit support?

"While the [age verification] bill moved through the legislature, the OSI, FSF, Software Freedom Conservancy, and Linux Foundation all sat it out — no testimony, no public analysis, no formal opposition on the record."

Where were they when this mandatory spyware infrastructure was being shoved down our throats? Where were the self-proclaimed software freedom fighters? Where were the calls to action? I didn't see any.

Is silence golden ... or is gold buying silence?

Let these organizations know that you oppose California's age verification spyware law and that you expect them to rally in defense of true software freedom--freedom from government oversight of your software systems. Parents--and not the spyware state--should protect their children. The government is neither your parent nor your god nor your savior and the people should send a clear message stating that.

California, stay out of my operating system! And stay the hell away from children!

@eff@mastodon.social
@linuxfoundation@social.lfx.dev
@fsf@hostux.social
@osi@opensource.org
@conservancy@sfconservancy.org

#AgeVerification #Linux #EFF #OSI #LinuxFoundation #FSF #Privacy #Cybersecurity #Surveillance #Spyware #OpenSource #OperatingSystems #FreeSoftware #SoftwareFreedom #Panopticon #BigBrother #Government

CC: @laffer1@bsd.network @leo@twit.social @MichaelRoss@social.linux.pizza @rms@mastodon.xyz @thenewoil@mastodon.thenewoil.org @TechDesk@flipboard.social @remixtures@tldr.nettime.org

Alt...

A crowd of sillouettes of people stands in front of a giant telescreen depicting a single giant eye watching them.

Ubuntu Linux is planning to comply with Age Verification law.

On the unfortunate need for an "age verification" API for legal compliance reasons in some U.S. states

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2026-March/043510.html

I've made the difficult decision to limit use of MidnightBSD for desktop use in the state of California effective January 1, 2027.

This is due to https://legiscan.com/CA/text/AB1043/id/3269704

"California residents are not authorized to use MidnightBSD for desktop use in the state of California effective January 1, 2027. California law CA AB1043 requires a complex age verification system implemented for operating systems with no exceptions for small open source projects. At this time, we don't have development time or a plan in place for this."

Alt...

California residents are not authorized to use MidnightBSD for desktop use in the state of California effective January 1, 2027. California law CA AB1043 requires a complex age verification system implemented for operating systems with no exceptions for small open source projects. At this time, we don't have development time or a plan in place for this.

Filtering out so many topics my mastodon feed is just top to bottom asses and retro computing now 🐴 🕹️

#asstodon #c64

When I got home from school the computers were off and the UPS was beeping. I guess we had an outage.

Fortunately everything came back up and here I am typing on Gamer+.

-- the cloud, as in, the digital one.