• A new finger service

    From Daniel@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, May 17, 2026 03:30:29
    Hey folks -

    Sort of a shameless plug. I've created a finger service that serves as a companion to my BBS. I've been whoring out a friend's finger service to advertise my board and have been epically lazy about doing my own.
    While I'll keep that old finger around, this one is far more than a
    business card.

    The idea came from using the weather finger. It's something I've used constantly for at least the last dozen years or so. When I first
    learned about it, it never occurred to me that finger could be used in
    such a way. So I did some digging. Old, underused protocols doing cool
    shit is hella rad.

    Right now the feature set is limited, but there's more coming soon. Some
    of the features are adapted from doors I wrote for my BBS (hence the "companion" part).

    Others are being spun out of a door currently in development that will
    serve as a baseball portal. For the non-US crowd: baseball is
    our national pastime, whether the rest of the planet finds that
    remotely interesting or not.

    Current offerings:

    dictionary - definitions via API
    movie query - movie info via API
    baseball - schedules, scores, and league standings via API

    The baseball portal will be expanded to include a lot more information.
    The sub-fingers will be updated with the respective triggers as new
    features come online. Once I'm satisfied with that, I'll move on to
    other ideas in the toolbelt. I want this finger to be dope as hell.

    Anyway, if you're a smolnet nerd and curious, 411 below.

    --
    Daniel
    sysop | air & wave bbs
    finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From oldernow@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, May 17, 2026 11:06:05
    On 2026-05-17, Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> wrote:
    Hey folks -

    Sort of a shameless plug. I've created a
    finger service that serves as a companion to my
    BBS. I've been whoring out a friend's finger
    service to advertise my board and have been
    epically lazy about doing my own. While I'll
    keep that old finger around, this one is far
    more than a business card.

    The idea came from using the weather
    finger. It's something I've used constantly
    for at least the last dozen years or so. When
    I first learned about it, it never occurred to
    me that finger could be used in such a way. So
    I did some digging. Old, underused protocols
    doing cool shit is hella rad.

    Right now the feature set is limited, but
    there's more coming soon. Some of the features
    are adapted from doors I wrote for my BBS
    (hence the "companion" part).

    Others are being spun out of a door currently
    in development that will serve as a baseball
    portal. For the non-US crowd: baseball is our
    national pastime, whether the rest of the planet
    finds that remotely interesting or not.

    Current offerings:

    dictionary - definitions via API movie query -
    movie info via API baseball - schedules, scores,
    and league standings via API

    The baseball portal will be expanded to include
    a lot more information. The sub-fingers will
    be updated with the respective triggers as
    new features come online. Once I'm satisfied
    with that, I'll move on to other ideas in the
    toolbelt. I want this finger to be dope as hell.

    Anyway, if you're a smolnet nerd and curious,
    411 below.

    --
    Daniel
    sysop | air & wave bbs
    finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

    No thanks. I've experienced your "finger service"
    before....

    --
    v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v
    | alt.troll.adam-h-kerman: proof that the |
    | internet sometimes gets something right | ^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^v^

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Ben Collver@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, May 17, 2026 13:10:00
    On 2026-05-17, Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> wrote:
    movie query - movie info via API

    I like this feature, thanks!

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From jayjwa@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, May 17, 2026 11:39:30
    Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> writes:

    Sort of a shameless plug. I've created a finger service that serves as a companion to my BBS.
    It's good to keep finger alive. I added you to my H3TEXT > . Looks good
    from ITS, supdup from Linux via CHAOS. It's a lovely day to be a turist.

    *:finger mlb_schedule@bbs.airandwave.net

    [BBS.AIRANDWAVE.NET]

    MLB Schedule / Scores for 2026-05-17 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Miami Marlins @ Tampa Bay Rays
    Start: 9:15 AM
    Status: Pre-Game
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Baltimore Orioles @ Washington Nationals
    Start: 10:35 AM
    Status: Pre-Game
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    Philadelphia Phillie @ Pittsburgh Pirates
    Start: 10:35 AM
    Status: Pre-Game
    ...
    ------------------------------------------------------------
    San Diego Padres @ Seattle Mariners
    Start: 4:20 PM
    Status: Scheduled
    ------------------------------------------------------------

    EMACS?J
    *

    --
    PGP Key ID: 781C A3E2 C6ED 70A6 B356 7AF5 B510 542E D460 5CAE
    "The Internet should always be the Wild West!"

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Lawrence D?Oliveiro@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, May 17, 2026 22:30:20
    On Sun, 17 May 2026 03:30:29 -0700, Daniel wrote:

    Old, underused protocols doing cool shit is hella rad.

    No cap.

    For the non-US crowd: baseball is our national pastime, whether the
    rest of the planet finds that remotely interesting or not.

    Pity you couldn?t get the rest of the world involved in some kind of competitive series ...

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From SpallsHurgenson (NG)@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, May 17, 2026 23:13:51

    Lawrence =?iso-8859-13?q?D=FFOliveiro?= <ldo@nz.invalid> posted:

    On Sun, 17 May 2026 03:30:29 -0700, Daniel wrote:

    Old, underused protocols doing cool shit is hella rad.

    No cap.

    For the non-US crowd: baseball is our national pastime, whether the
    rest of the planet finds that remotely interesting or not.

    Pity you couldn?t get the rest of the world involved in some kind of competitive series ...

    I mean, if you go by polls baseball hasn't been the 'national pasttime'
    in the USA for years, with football far exceeding it in popularity for decades. By 2017, baseball was third in popularity, falling behind
    basketball. And a recent 2026 Gallup poll indicates that baseball's
    popularity has dipped even further, with only 9% of Americans naming
    it as their favorite sport. Which is 1% less than soccer, which now
    is the third most popular sport in the country.*

    Although you know what they say about polls and statistics. Still, it's
    fairly clear that baseball no longer has the same pull on the national consciousness that it once did.

    Which has nothing to do with the utility or coolness of having a finger service recite baseball stats. It's a better use of the tech than many
    other things. ;-)



    * source: https://www.si.com/soccer/soccer-passes-baseball-race-america-favorite-sport



    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Nuno Silva@3:633/10 to All on Monday, May 18, 2026 23:07:45
    On 2026-05-18, SpallsHurgenson(NG) wrote:
    [...]
    Although you know what they say about polls and statistics. Still, it's fairly clear that baseball no longer has the same pull on the national consciousness that it once did.


    I guess you could say people are getting rain checks on baseball?

    --
    Nuno Silva

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Scott Lurndal@3:633/10 to All on Monday, May 18, 2026 22:28:36
    Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> writes:
    On 2026-05-18, SpallsHurgenson(NG) wrote:
    [...]
    Although you know what they say about polls and statistics. Still, it's
    fairly clear that baseball no longer has the same pull on the national
    consciousness that it once did.


    I guess you could say people are getting rain checks on baseball?

    They cannot afford tickets. The prices are ridiculous; a family
    of four might pay $500 to attend a single game (more or less depending
    on the seat and concessions).

    On the other hand, baseball is popular in much of latin america,
    and massively popular in Japan and Korea.

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Daniel@3:633/10 to All on Tuesday, May 19, 2026 16:14:33
    scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) writes:

    Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> writes:
    On 2026-05-18, SpallsHurgenson(NG) wrote:
    [...]
    Although you know what they say about polls and statistics. Still, it's >>> fairly clear that baseball no longer has the same pull on the national
    consciousness that it once did.


    I guess you could say people are getting rain checks on baseball?

    They cannot afford tickets. The prices are ridiculous; a family
    of four might pay $500 to attend a single game (more or less depending
    on the seat and concessions).

    On the other hand, baseball is popular in much of latin america,
    and massively popular in Japan and Korea.

    Baseball is growing back in the US. TV viewership is up. The game was losing interest due to intense time wasting on the mound. but changes with the
    pitch timer among other things have shortened the game. Currently, a
    typical game is shorter than a basketball game. I watched some early
    2000s baseball and couldn't believe how long it took between
    pitches. Holy shit! The 15 second pitch timer has really sped things
    up. 3-5 minute innings are nice. They also shortened the ad break
    between inning shifts.

    My team's stadium is routely packed. So, anyway. I did baseball
    currently because it's early in the season and I didn't know how long it
    would take to develop it. I wanted fresh data returns with the api calls.

    I've expanded my baseball triggers and getting close to done. After I
    finish with that, I'll be looking at creating a huge rss news aggregator.

    Soccer is in full swing so I'll get to work on that too. Rugby,
    basketball and football api endpoints will all be included. Then RSS news aggregation. Already got baseball news spitting out full stories, so
    that was my test bed.

    Using finger as an information service has been a hoot.

    --
    Daniel
    sysop | air & wave bbs
    finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.14
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From f6k@3:633/10 to All on Thursday, June 11, 2026 21:18:50
    Hello,

    On 2026-05-17, Ben Collver <bencollver@tilde.pink> wrote:
    On 2026-05-17, Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> wrote:
    movie query - movie info via API

    I like this feature, thanks!

    I like it too. But actually I have a question. Is it possible
    to query info for two movies that has the same title? For ins-
    tance I tried to query info about The Girl Who Leapt Through
    Time, the 1983 Japanese movie, but it gave me information about
    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the 2006 Japanese anime version
    of this story.

    To formulate it differently, if I

    $ finger the_girl_who_leapt_through_time@bbs.airandwave.net

    I have all information about the 2006 anime version. How can I
    get information about the live action movie of 1983?

    Thank you very much Daniel for this very appreciated service :)

    -f6k

    --
    ~{,_,"> finger f6k@huld.re <",_,}~

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Daniel@3:633/10 to All on Sunday, June 14, 2026 12:49:33
    f6k <f6k@huld.re> writes:

    Hello,

    On 2026-05-17, Ben Collver <bencollver@tilde.pink> wrote:
    On 2026-05-17, Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> wrote:
    movie query - movie info via API

    I like this feature, thanks!

    I like it too. But actually I have a question. Is it possible
    to query info for two movies that has the same title? For ins-
    tance I tried to query info about The Girl Who Leapt Through
    Time, the 1983 Japanese movie, but it gave me information about
    The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, the 2006 Japanese anime version
    of this story.

    To formulate it differently, if I

    $ finger the_girl_who_leapt_through_time@bbs.airandwave.net

    I have all information about the 2006 anime version. How can I
    get information about the live action movie of 1983?

    Thank you very much Daniel for this very appreciated service :)

    Thank you for the suggestion. I spent some time modernizing the original program since it was one of my first tests for this finger service and
    it wasn't employing many features of my other fingers.

    It's been a nice weekend, and thanks again for the suggestion. I can't
    thank my nephew enough for helping raise my skills to a higher level
    with this monster project.

    I am thrilled you are enjoying it. Do try using my wikipedia finger if
    you also need more information.

    I just added a podcast feature after two days of coding. You can search for podcasts, lists the episodes, and output the episode data. Each
    feed comes with the url to stream/download the content with your media
    player. Until yesterday, I had no other way to consume podcasts other
    than with a podcast app my tablet.

    I added search results, with a guide on how to call the exact
    movie. I just tested it with 'the_girl_who' and got this result. Should
    work better from now on.

    ~ $ finger film:the_girl_who@bbs.airandwave.net

    Film Search: the girl who
    --
    1) The Girl Who Played with Fire (2009) [movie] tt1216487
    2) The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (2009) [movie] tt1343097
    3) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006) [movie] tt0808506
    4) The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (1976) [movie] tt0074806
    5) The Girl Who Got Away (2021) [movie] tt11859012
    6) The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story (2023) [movie] tt25602750
    7) The Girl Who Killed Her Parents (2021) [movie] tt10605812
    8) The Girl Who Believes in Miracles (2021) [movie] tt9098454
    9) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (1983) [movie] tt0086456
    10) The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (1999) [movie] tt0196848

    Choose one:
    finger film:the_girl_who:1@bbs.airandwave.net

    Direct IMDb ID lookup also works:
    finger film:tt0092099@bbs.airandwave.net

    ~ $ finger film:the_girl_who:3@bbs.airandwave.net

    Movie Lookup: The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
    --
    Year: 2006
    Rated: TV-PG
    Released: 15 Jul 2006
    Runtime: 98 min
    Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
    Director: Mamoru Hosoda
    Actors: Riisa Naka, Takuya Ishida, Mitsutaka Itakura
    Awards: 12 wins & 2 nominations total
    IMDb ID: tt0808506
    IMDb: 7.6 / 10
    Votes: 75,341
    Metascore: 66
    BoxOffice: $188,265

    Plot:
    A high-school girl named Makoto acquires the power to travel back in
    time, and decides to use it for her own personal benefits. Little does
    she know that she is affecting the lives of others just as much as she
    is her own.

    --
    Daniel
    sysop | air & wave bbs
    finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.16
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From f6k@3:633/10 to All on Monday, June 15, 2026 09:25:52
    Hello,

    On 2026-06-14, Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> wrote:
    I am thrilled you are enjoying it. Do try using my wikipedia finger
    if you also need more information.

    I just added a podcast feature after two days of coding. You can
    search for podcasts, lists the episodes, and output the episode
    data. Each feed comes with the url to stream/download the content
    with your media player. Until yesterday, I had no other way to
    consume podcasts other than with a podcast app my tablet.

    Great! I've read about your wikipedia service on finger (I can't
    remember where, maybe on your personnal finger?) but didn't had the
    chance to try it yet.

    I added search results, with a guide on how to call the exact movie.
    I just tested it with 'the_girl_who' and got this result. Should
    work better from now on.

    That is super great! Thank you very much for the hard work :)

    I live with a very limited data plan 4G uplink to the internet, so
    browsing the surface web is not really an option for me. Finding
    services and ressources like the ones your propose to retrieve usefull informations is a gem for me. Needless to say that the fact all is
    served via finger is clearly a plus for me.

    So thank you very much, it is very appreciated.

    -f6k

    --
    ~{,_,"> finger f6k@huld.re <",_,}~

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)
  • From Daniel@3:633/10 to All on Monday, June 15, 2026 22:30:19
    f6k <f6k@huld.re> writes:

    Hello,

    On 2026-06-14, Daniel <me@sc1f1dan.com> wrote:
    I am thrilled you are enjoying it. Do try using my wikipedia finger
    if you also need more information.

    I just added a podcast feature after two days of coding. You can
    search for podcasts, lists the episodes, and output the episode
    data. Each feed comes with the url to stream/download the content
    with your media player. Until yesterday, I had no other way to
    consume podcasts other than with a podcast app my tablet.

    Great! I've read about your wikipedia service on finger (I can't
    remember where, maybe on your personnal finger?) but didn't had the
    chance to try it yet.

    Give it a try. It is listed on the root finger under 'reference'

    I added search results, with a guide on how to call the exact movie.
    I just tested it with 'the_girl_who' and got this result. Should
    work better from now on.

    That is super great! Thank you very much for the hard work :)

    I live with a very limited data plan 4G uplink to the internet, so
    browsing the surface web is not really an option for me. Finding
    services and ressources like the ones your propose to retrieve usefull informations is a gem for me. Needless to say that the fact all is
    served via finger is clearly a plus for me.

    This is the main purpose of doing it. I was inspired by the weather
    finger over at graph.no. I've been using it for years to get quick
    weather forecast and thought I should be able to do the same thing. I
    even have weather on mine. So I don't use graph.no anymore.

    In the bbs world, I am among many sysops focused on providing instant
    online information on our systems for our users. With a broad use of
    API's across the internet, it's not hard to avoid the bullshit of the
    open web and get the meat of the information. Once you get over the need
    for images, adverts, and autoplaying videos you realize that the meat of
    the net, information, is still there. No browser required.

    As I get older, the less dependent I've been on newer technology and
    have worked toward digital minimalism wherever I can. My wife is onboard
    with the whole concept and she's far ahead of me. She even reads the
    newspaper. I abandoned my cellphone eight years ago in favor of my
    landline. Got a small data tablet onhand for text messages. It often
    collects dust since most my friends would rather hang around and smoke
    cigars with me on my patio. I am also looking into LORA but waiting for
    the technology and software to stabilize.

    You fill the exact use case of the service. At some point my bbs will be aligned with the finger. That's why I called it the bbs companion. The
    bbs versions will be more colorful and dynamic.

    I dream of a day when I can return to dialup.

    So thank you very much, it is very appreciated.

    You are welcome.

    --
    Daniel
    sysop | air & wave bbs
    finger | info@bbs.airandwave.net

    --- PyGate Linux v1.5.17
    * Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)