Search Results: "abe"

I prefer "LLM" to Artificial Intelligence, as I don't consider models to have "Intelligence" which goes far beyond the analytical traits we train models for. Intelligence requires embodiment and social interaction; machines lack the innate human skills of empathy, feeling and care, which explains a lot of the evils behind the current trends.
It should be noted that Morris also happened to be one of the founder of Y Combinator where he is in good company with other techno-fascists like Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, and so on. Crime, after all, pays.
Probably a good time to watch All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace.

any insinuation that there may have been considerations of having a way to have freshly baked bread in case of a prolonged blackout may or may not be based on reality. But it wasn t the only or even the main reason.
come on! it s made of STEEL. how can it be not good? :D
IKEA 365+ 3.1 glass, the one that is 32 cm 21 cm 9 cm; it was just big enough for the amount of dough, and then I covered it with a lid that is missing the seal.
why did they put a thermometer on it, and not add labels with the actual temperature? WHY???
if you don t have dietary restrictions a bit of olive oil would taste even better.
numbers above 2 are all basically the same, right?

A borderless frame set on a table outdoors, with two sheets of paper a vertical half of which is covered by black paper, while the other half has lines with an ink name and a small filled rectangle, all in the ink itself.

Note

This post will be updated in the next weeks with the test results as they become available.

Note

Most of the images in this post have no real alt-text: they are all scans of the test sheet at various stages through the test, and the results visible on them are described in detail at the end of the post.

Most of the time, what people write by hand will either end up inside a notebook in a drawer or cupboard where it s well protected, or thrown in the recycling where it doesn t matter. There are times, however, when things will be exposed to light: it doesn t matter whether it s a work of artistic calligraphy that you want to frame or a passive-aggressive notice left in the atrium of a building; it is useful to know whether the work will remain legible or it will fade into nothing in a short time. A few inks are tested by the producers for lightfastness according to some established standard, a few others are declared lightfast in a generic way, but a lot come with no indication at all. Proper testing according to the standard scales requires significant equipment to precisely control the exposure, but it s significantly easier and fun to do a simple test to divide the inks into three categories:

suitable for framed calligraphy, i.e. it looks the same after 3 months of direct sun exposure;
suitable for complaining about the way your neighbours deal with the trash, i.e. still readable after 3 months of exposure;
not suitable for either, i.e. has faded significantly in the same time.

In the past I ve done some such tests by taping some sheets to a south-east facing window, and I ve noticed that most of the results were already apparent after a month, and there was basically no difference between two and three months of exposure, but spring equinox to summer solstice is a nice timeframe to use for such a test (and it leaves time for a second test of different materials from summer solstice to autumn equinox), so this is what I ve chosen to do this year. Rather than a window, now I have access to a south-facing covered balcony that is protected from rain but receives quite a bit of direct sun, so instead of taping sheets to the windows¹ I ve prepared a sturdy cardboard panel that I can leave on a table on the balcony, hopefully safe from the rain, but well exposed to the sun. And then made a quick test, and realized that without the window glass in front, the black strip used to cover the unexposed half of the sample doesn t lay flat and lets some sun in, so I used an old cheap² glass frame instead of the panel. The contents of an order from a fountain pen shop, spread out on a table: a couple of cheap pens, a couple bottles of ink, a converter, a small ritter sport chocolate and a bag full of 5 ml vials with 2 ml of ink each, and a thank-you note from the seller (Steffi).

The contents of an order from a fountain pen shop, spread out on a table: a couple of cheap pens, a couple bottles of ink, a converter, a small ritter sport chocolate and a bag full of 5 ml vials with 2 ml of ink each, and a thank-you note from the seller (Steffi).

The next step, already in January, was mentioning in a fountain-pen enthusiasts forum that I planned such a test, and asking if people were interested in having me buy a few samples of more inks when I was buying my next pen. The word enthusiasts is probably a hint of the reason why soon afterwards I received a package with the pen I had planned to buy, its converter, and a couple dozens ink samples. And then a couple envelopes with additional samples of inks that weren t available on the shops, from said enthusiasts. Added to the inks I already had acquired since the last lightfastness test, it meant that they couldn t all fit in one single page, and thus I had some room to add some inks I had already tested: some were requests, and for others I tried to select ones that felt relevant. Since I m changing the test setup, I ve decided I should probably keep doing this until I ve tested again all of the inks I still have available. see below

For the paper, I ve used A4 sheets of Clairefontaine Dessin Croquis 160 g/m , one of my staples that I m sure I will have available in the next years, printed with a dot pattern with a laser printer, using this pdf. And as for the pen I ve used a fresh Brause n 361 nib: loading a fountain pen with all of these inks wouldn t be a reasonable effort, and the 361 is one of the writing implements I use most anyway. I also used a glass pen to fill a couple of squares on the paper with more ink. One side of each sheet was then covered with a strip of 300 g/m black paper (also from Clairefontaine), kept in place with three dots of non-permanent two sided tape, put in the frame and set out in the sun on the morning of 2026-03-20, the day of the spring equinox.

While I was filling the sheet for the lightfastness tests, I decided to also prepare a second set of sheet, for a liquid resistance drop test. On each line, beside the name of the ink, I added five sets of crossing parallel lines, and let everything dry for a few days. Then I used a syringe to put a drop of a liquid on each set of lines, waited for it to be absorbed into the paper and to dry, at least overnight, but sometimes also for a day or two (life happened), and then looked at the results and did the next test. The first liquid was water, with the usual wild difference between washable and permanent inks, and all of the intermediate possibilities. The second liquid was isopropyl alcohol, and I was surprised to see that, with very few exceptions, most inks didn t change at all. I wonder whether that s related to the fact that instead of forming a drop it was absorbed almost immediately into the paper, and dried in a very short time. The third liquid was hydrogen peroxide: beside the individual results I noticed that its column yellowed visibly; I wonder whether that means that the paper I used has optical brighteners, and it will also yellow under the sun: that wouldn t be ideal, but it would also be a surprise, for paper that is acid free and sold for arts. The fourth liquid was citric acid, by mixing a bit less than a teaspoon of citric acid granules in just enough very warm water (heated to 70 C, i.e. the lowest temperature available on my kettle) to dissolve most of the acid. I forgot that I had some old PH strips until one hour after I ve put the drop on the paper, and I don t know whether something had changed, but when I did remember about them it showed a deep red between 1 and 2. I don t think I can trust those strips too much, however. This backfired badly: the drop of citric acid never dried out, but formed a sticky paste that prevented me from scanning the results, and I m not sure whether I ll do the last test, which was supposed to be household bleach. see below

Luckily I had scanned the partial results, and they are shown here.

After one full day with plenty of sun, nothing really had changed, except possibly for a vague hint that the Herbin Bleu Myosotis may have have been a bit lighter than it started, but it may also have been a suggestion.

After three days, however, some results started to show, with the most fugitive inks starting to be visibly changed, becoming either paler or in some case duller.

And the full week showed more of that, with a few more inks starting to show visible change.

After two weeks the paper had significantly yellowed, something I did not expect from drawing paper (and which means that I will probably use a different paper when making similar tests in the future). As for the inks, there were a couple more inks with visible changes, but mostly it was more of the same as seen in the previous week.

Three weeks started to show changes in the black and most irongall inks, and of course more changes in the even less resistant inks.

Week four saw a bit more clouds and rain than the first few weeks, and there weren t big changes, but mostly more of what had already started to happen earlier.

A month didn t change much compared to the four weeks, but I did the scans for completeness, and from now on I m going to update monthly.

These are the inks I ve tested, and here I ll add notes on the results, as soon as they will be available, keeping this section updated. When nothing is mentioned, it means that there were no changes, either under the light or under the various liquids.

Lamy Sepia: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After one week it started to be just slightly paler, more so after three weeks.
Sheaffer Skrip Red: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After one week it started to be just slightly paler, more so after three weeks.
Waterman Audacious Red: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After three days it started to be just slightly paler, after a week visibly so. After four weeks it was very pale.
Waterman Harmonious Green: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide drop looks a bit lighter than the one with just water. After one week it started to be just slightly paler, more so after three weeks. After four weeks it was very pale.
Waterman Mysterious Blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide drop is significantly lighter and tends towards green. After two weeks it started to be just slightly paler, after three weeks it was more gray. After four weeks it was very pale.
Waterman Serenity Blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide drop is almost completely bleached to a light yellow. After one week it started to be a bit duller. After four weeks it was paler and duller.
Visconti Blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After one week it was visibly duller, looking darker than the original. After three weeks it was duller, and lighter. After a month it was just a pale gray.
Montblanc Royal Blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide drop is almost completely bleached to a light yellow. After one week it started to be just slightly duller, more so after two weeks. After three weeks it was also paler. After a month it was just a pale gray.
Montblanc Mystery Black: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After three weeks it started to be a bit paler.
Aurora Nero: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After three weeks it started to be a bit more brown.
Online Duft Blueberry: Not resistant to water, the drop looks very washed out, although a hint of the original shape can be guessed; the hydrogen peroxide drop is almost completely bleached to a light yellow. After one week it was visibly paler and duller. After three weeks significantly so. After a month it was a pale grey.
Diamine Forever Ink - Smoky Mauve: After a month it looked a bit more purple.
Diamine Forever Ink - Honey Pot: .
Diamine Forever Ink - Coral Blaze: .
Diamine Forever Ink - Red Ochre: .
Diamine Graphite: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot.
Diamine Rustic Brown: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After three weeks it started to be very slightely paler.
Diamine China Blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide drop is almost completely bleached to a light yellow. After three weeks it started to be paler and duller.
Diamine Inkvent Purple Edition - Glacier: Not resistant to water, there is a drop of uniform colour, but it maintains a somewhat recognisable shade of the original shape. After three weeks it started to be lighter.
Fountainfeder STEVE: Not resistant to water, there is a drop of uniform colour, but it maintains a somewhat recognisable shade of the original shape. After two weeks the base colour had changed to a pink rather than purple.
Pilot Iroshizuku Syo Ro: Not resistant to water, there is a drop of uniform colour, but it maintains a somewhat recognisable shade of the original shape. After four weeks it was very slightely paler.
Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Kai: Not resistant to water, there is a drop of uniform colour, but it maintains a somewhat recognisable shade of the original shape. After two weeks it had become lighter and more purple. After four weeks it was a purple gray.
Rohrer & Klingner IG Ebony: Not resistant to water, there is a drop of uniform colour, but it maintains a recognisable shade of the original shape; under hydrogen peroxide the shade is significantly lighter. After four weeks it was a bit lighter
KWZ IG Orange: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide drop is significantly bleached to a light orange.
Kallipos.de Schwarze Eisengallus-Tinte: Water stains the paper, leaving however the original shape quite visible; is it almost completely bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three weeks it started to be very slightely lighter.
Kallipos.de Blaue Eisengallus-Tinte: Water stains the paper, leaving however the original shape quite visible; is it almost completely bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After two weeks it had started to become lighter and more gray.
Rohrer & Klingner IG Salix: Water stains the paper, leaving however the original shape quite visible; is it almost completely bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After two weeks it had become lighter and significantly more gray. After a month it was a yellowish gray.
Rohrer & Klingner IG Scabiosa: Water stains the paper with a significant purple spot, leaving however the original shape quite visible; is is a bit bleached by hydrogen peroxide, but still quite readable.
Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, but there is a visible trace of the original shape. After three weeks it started to be slightly paler.
Montblanc Burgundy Red: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, with just a hint of the original shape; slightly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three weeks it started to be paler.
Cifra inchiostro finissimo verde alla lavanda: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; quite bleached to a light yellowish green by hydrogen peroxide. After one week it was visibly paler. After a month it was a still readable pale trace.
Sennelier Abstract acrylic ink 917 purple: .
The Feather Pen Ink: .
Eloquentia Inchiostro nero: .
DeAtramentis Document Blue: .
DeAtramentis Document BlueGrey: .
DeAtramentis Document Brown: .
DeAtramentis Document Fuchsia: .
DeAtramentis Document Grau: .
DeAtramentis Document Green Grey: .
DeAtramentis Document Light Grey: .
DeAtramentis Document Moosgr n: .
DeAtramentis Document Orange: .
DeAtramentis Document Purpurviolett: .
DeAtramentis Document Urban Sienna: .
KWZ Sheen Machine: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; the hydrogen peroxide bleached away the red sheen. This was one of the only two inks to react to isopropyl alcohol, which caused a pale cyan halo around the lines. After three days it was still perfectly readable, but had visibly lost some red sheen, after one week the red had completely gone and it looked very dark blue (but still shiny)
KWZ Walk over Vistula: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After four weeks it looked a bit darker and duller.
KWZ Warsaw Dreaming: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After a month it started to be a bit lighter.
Octopus Neon Violett: Water very lightly stains the paper, leaving however the original shape quite visible. The other ink that reacted to isopropyl alcohol, with a pale purple halo around the lines. After two weeks it was paler, more pink.
Octopus Write & Draw Elephant Black: .
Platinum blue black: Water stains the paper, leaving however the original shape quite visible; it is significantly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three weeks it started to become gray.
Pelikan 4001 Brillant-Schwarz: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot. After three weeks it was a bit more brown than black, after a month noticeably so.
Pelikan 4001 Blau-Schwarz: Water stains the paper, leaving however the original shape quite visible; it is significantly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three weeks it started to become gray.
Pelikan 4001 K nigsblau: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, with just a hint of the original shape; significantly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three days it had started to be slightly paler. After three weeks it was significantly desaturated.
Herbin Bleu Myosotis: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform pink spot, significantly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three days it was already visibly paler, after one week it was a pale grey. After a month it was still somehow readable, but as a trace.
Faber Castell Royal Blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, with just a hint of the original shape; significantly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three days it was slightly duller, after two weeks definitely so. After a month it was also quite paler.
Koh-I-Noor Fountain pen ink blue: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, with just a hint of the original shape; significantly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three days it had started to be slightly paler, more so after one week when it had also turned grey. After four weeks it was very pale.
Koh-I-Noor Document Ink Blue: .
Koh-I-Noor Document Ink Black: Water leaves a very light stain, but the original shape doesn t look changed.
DeAtramentis Document Black: .
Waterman Intense Black: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, with a trace of the original shape still visible; very lightly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three weeks it started to look a bit more brown, noticeably so after a month.
Herbin Perle Noir: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot, with a trace of the original shape still visible. After three weeks it started to look a bit more brown, noticeably so after a month.
Parker Quink black: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot.
Platinum Carbon black: .
Rohrer & Klingner Documentus Black: .
Sailor Pigment Kiwaguro: .
Platinum Dyestuff Red: Not resistant to water, the drop becomes an uniform colour spot; very lightly bleached by hydrogen peroxide. After three weeks it was a bit paler.
Noodler s Eternal Polar Blue: .

which would be spend the day covered by mostly closed shutters anyway, because they receive quite a bit of direct sun, and we don t want that to enter the house during the summer.
and thus, I hope, not especially UV-filtering.

Before reaching Vietnam Continuing from the last post, Badri and I took a flight from the Brunei International Airport to Kuala Lumpur on the 12th of December 2024. We reached Kuala Lumpur in the evening. After arriving at the airport, we went through immigration. In a previous post, I mentioned that we had put our stuff in lockers at the TBS bus terminal in Kuala Lumpur. Therefore, we had to go there. The locker was automated and required us to enter the PIN we had set. Upon entering the PIN, the locker wasn t getting unlocked. After trying this for 10-15 minutes without any luck, we tried getting some help as there the lockers weren t under supervision. So, I roamed around and found a staff member, reporting that our lockers weren t getting unlocked. They called the person who was in-charge of the lockers. He came to us in a few minutes and used their admin access to open the locker. We were supposed to pay for using the lockers by putting the banknotes inside through a slot. However, as the machine wasn t working, we gave the amount for the use of our locker service to that person instead. We soon went back to the KL airport to catch our morning flight to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. At the flight counter, we were afraid we would have to pay extra as our luggage surpassed the allowed weight limit. This one was also a budget airline AirAsia and our tickets didn t include a check-in bag. Generally, passengers from countries requiring a visa to visit Vietnam (such as India) require going to the airline and showing their visa to get the boarding pass. However, when we went to the AirAsia counter at the Kuala Lumpur airport, they didn t weigh our bags and asked us to get our boarding passes from an automated kiosk. So, we got our boarding passes printed and proceeded to the airport security. While clearing the airport security, a lotion I bought from Singapore was confiscated because it was 200 mL, exceeding the limit of 100 mL per bottle. Had that 200 mL liquid been in two different bottles of 100 mL each, I would have been allowed to take it in my carry-on bag, but a single 200 mL bottle wasn t! I was allowed to keep it in the check-in bag, but I didn t have it included in my ticket. Huh, airports and their weird rules :( The lotion was an expensive one, so having it thrown away did ruin my mood.

Overview We started our Vietnam trip from Ho Chi Minh City in the south on the 13th of December 2024 and finished it in Hanoi in the north on the 20th of December. We traveled from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi mostly by train, except for a hundred or so kilometers by bus, in chunks. On the way, we visited Nha Trang, Hoi An, and Hue. The distance between Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi is 1700 km. For your reference, here are those places labeled on Vietnam s map.
A map of Vietnam with points of places we went to labeled. CARTO MAPTILER OPENSTREETMAP

Ho Chi Minh City We landed in Ho Chi Minh City early morning on the 13th of December 2024. I was tired and sleepy as I hadn t gotten a good night s sleep. After going through immigration, we went to a currency exchange counter to get Vietnamese Dong. Unlike other countries on this trip, money exchange counters in Vietnam didn t accept Indian rupees. Therefore, we exchanged euros to get Vietnamese dong at the airport. After getting out of the airport, we took a bus to the city center. It was 15,000 dongs approximately 50 Indian rupees. Our plan was to meet Badri s friend and stay the night at his apartment. So we went to a caf nearby and bought a coffee for each of us for 75,000 dongs. We went upstairs and sat for a while. The Wi-Fi password was mentioned on our bill. During the trip, I found out about the caf culture of Vietnam. They have their own coffee brands (such as Highlands Coffee), and you can sit down at any of the caf s for work or wait for the rain to stop. It rained a lot while we were there, so we did use these caf s for that purpose. Badri s friend met us there, and we roamed around the area a bit, which included roaming inside a beautiful park. Then Badri s friend took us to a restaurant. Because I do not eat meat, he took us to a vegan restaurant. Having been to four Southeast Asian countries at this point (excluding Vietnam), I was under the impression that there wouldn t be a lot of things for my diet in Vietnam.
A picture of the park we roamed around in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
However, I was pleasantly surprised at the restaurant. I found all the dishes to be tasty, especially their signature noodles called Pho. I liked another dish so much that I tracked down the restaurant again with Badri using the geotagged image of the bill I had taken earler to have it again. As a tip for vegans coming to Vietnam, the places having the letters Chay (without any accented letters) in their name are vegan only.
This is the restaurant Badri s friend took us to. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

One of the dishes we had in the restaurant. This one was especially tasty. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

One of the dishes we had in the restaurant. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

These noodles are called Pho and are very popular in Vietnam. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
In the night, we went to a supermarket where I got myself some oranges and guavas. Then, we went to a Japanese restaurant where I didn t have anything, as there was no vegetarian option available for me. Then we took a free bus to the place to Badri s friend s apartment. The construction company that built the apartment also runs this free bus service from their residential area to different parts of the city as a way of promoting their apartments. Anyone can take the bus, not just residents. The next day, we took the free bus back to the city center and checked in to a hostel for a night. We took two beds in dormitories, which were 88,000 dongs (270 rupees) for each bed for a night. In Vietnam, if you can spend around 300 rupees per night, you can get a bed in a decent hostel.

Train from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang On the night of the 15th of December 2024, we boarded a train from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang. The ticket for each of us was 519,000 dongs (1600 Indian rupees). The train name was SNT2. When we reached the Ho Chi Minh City train station, we noticed that the station was rather small by Indian standards. After entering the train station, we went inside to the first platform, where the tickets were checked by a staff member. Ho Chi Minh City was the originating station for our train, so our train was already standing at the station. We had to cross the railway tracks on foot to reach the platform our train was on. Then we located our coach, where a ticket inspector was standing at the gate. He let us in after checking our tickets. In all these instances, we just had to show our digital boarding pass which we had received by email. Unlike Indian trains, the train didn t have side berths. Additionally, I liked the fact that it had a dedicated space to put our bags in, which was very convenient. The train departed from Ho Chi Minh City at 21:05 and arrived in Nha Trang at 05:30 in the morning.
Interior of our train coach. Trains in Vietnam don t have side berths, unlike India. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

A picture of the berths from our coach. It had three tiers, similar to a 3 AC coach in Indian trains. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

The train had a cabin to put the bags in. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Nha Trang train station. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Nha Trang Nha Trang is a coastal place, and we planned to go to a beach. We figured out that the bus to the airport goes can drop us near the beach. Therefore, we went to the bus station to get to the airport bus. The bus station was walking distance from the railway station. So, we decided to walk. On the way, we stopped at a small shop for a coffee. The shop also gave a complimentary cup of green tea along with the coffee. I found out later that it is common for local shops to give a cup of complimentary green tea in Vietnam.
I got a complimentary cup of green tea along with coffee in Nha Trang. In this trip, Badri and I found out that this is customary at local places in Vietnam. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Soon we reached the bus station and took a bus to the beach. It was 65,000 dongs ( 200). After getting down from the bus, I had coconut water and some eggs at a small local place.
Eggs being cooked on a pan for my order. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Then we went to the beach, but nobody else was there. We spent some time there and went back to the place where the bus dropped us as it started raining. We couldn t find a bus for some time. A taxi driver approached us and agreed to take us to the city center for 200,000 dongs ( 650). For reference, the place where he dropped us was 35 km from the place we took the taxi. Taxi fares in Vietnam were also cheap!
The beach we went to in Nha Trang. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Nha Trang was a beautiful place, and so we roamed around for a while. Then we stopped at a Highlands Coffee branch for a while. Since Christmas was coming up, the caf had a Christmas tree, and I liked the Christmas vibes. They were playing Mariah Carey s All I Want for Christmas Is You.
This one was shot in the city center. In this trip, Badri and I found out that this is customary at local places in Vietnam. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Inside a Highlands Coffee cafe in Nha Trang. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

A coffee I got from Highlands Coffee in Nha Trang. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
During the evening, we went to a local place to eat. The place mentioned Chay in its name, and you know what it means it was a vegan place. There was a man there and no other customers. I don t remember the names of the dishes we ordered, but it was a bowl of soupy noodles and a bowl of dry noodles. They were very tasty. To top that off, the meal was a total of 55,000 dongs ( 180) for both of us. The host was welcoming and friendly. We had a nice conversation with the host. In Vietnam, restaurants give chopsticks to eat noodles. While Badri was good at using them, I wasn t. So, the host of this restaurant helped me in using chopsticks. Although my technique was not perfect and I take a bit of time, I could now eat solely with chopsticks.
The restaurant we went to in Nha Trang. The word Chay in the name means it was a vegan restaurant. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Soupy noodles we got at that restaurant. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Dry noodles we got at that restaurant. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Our plan was to take a night bus to Hoi An, and we were hoping to find a bus stand. However, we couldn t find one. Asking around about the pickup location of the Hoi An bus led us to many different locations. Finally, we ended up at a bus booking agency s office where we found out that there were no tickets available for Hoi An. At this point, we gave up on booking the bus and searched for trains instead. As we didn t have a local SIM, we asked the agency to let us connect to their Wi-Fi so that we could look for trains. They were kind enough to let us do that. It also seemed like they were going to close the office in like 10 minutes. Unfortunately, all the sleeper berths were booked from Nha Trang till Hoi An on the next train with only seating berths being available. It takes around 10 hours, so I wasn t comfortable traveling on seating berths. Here I came up with the idea to look for sleeper berths from an intermediate stop. Fortunately, there were sleeper berths available from the next stop, Ninh H a. Therefore, we booked a seating berth from Nha Trang to Ninh H a and a sleeper berth from Ninh H a to Tr Ki u (the nearest railway station from Hoi An). The train name was SE6, and it was a total of 500,000 dongs per person ( 1600 per person). So, we went to the Nha Trang railway station and boarded the train. We had to spend 40 minutes seated for the train to reach the next stop before we could go to our sleeper berths. Badri had some friendly co-passengers on that trip who gave him Saigon beer and some crispy papad-like thing. They offered me as well, but I thought it was non-veg, so I declined it.

Hoi An On the morning of 17th December 2024, we got down at the Tr Ki u station at around 09:30. Our hostel was in Hoi An, which was around 22 km from the station. There was no public transport to get there. Instead, there was a taxi driver at the train platform. We told him the name of our hostel, and he quoted 270,000 dongs (around 850). We said it was too expensive for us, so he agreed to bargain at 250,000 dongs. At this point, we told him that we could give him no more than 200,000 dongs, but he didn t agree. Badri tried a trick. He asked the driver to show us prices in the Grab app (a popular taxi booking app in Southeast Asia). Unfortunately, the Grab app showed 258,000 dongs, which was more than the fare the driver agreed to. So we walked away as if we had so many options (we didn t!) to reach the hostel. We got out of the station and stopped at a small shop outside to have some coffee. As is customary in Vietnam, we got a complimentary green tea here as well.
This was the place we had our coffee in Tra Kieu. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
That taxi driver also joined us and sat in that shop. He started talking with the locals in the shop in the local language. The taxi driver was insistent on taking us to Hoi An for 250,000 dongs. At this point, Badri told the taxi driver (by the use of translation software) that we usually use public transport during our trips, and we aren t used to paying high prices to get around. So, he can drop us somewhere in Hoi An for 200,000 dongs as we don t mind walking a bit to reach our hotel. After reading this, the taxi driver agreed to take us to our hostel for 200,000 dongs ( 660). He also had me take a picture with Badri after this. I think such a bargain tactic would not work in India.
Photo of Badri with taxi driver. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
The nice thing we noticed in Vietnam is, once bargaining is done and the deal is settled, people don t try to bargain more or keep on talking about the subject. Before the deal, the driver was being somewhat insistent and argumentative, but after the deal was done, it was as if no argument had happened at all.
A picture of Tra Kieu area near the train station we got down at. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
We were treated to some beautiful scenery on the way to our hostel. Soon we reached our place and completed all the formalities for checking-in. During the time our room was being prepared for check-in, we had an egg sandwich with coffee in the hotel. I found the egg sandwich very tasty. The bread looked like the French baguette. The hostel was 240 per night for each of us. The name of the hostel was Bana Spa. We liked staying here and we can recommend it if you find yourself there. It is operated by a family.
Our breakfast in Hoi An. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

A photo of the hostel we stayed in Hoi An. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
We also rented a bicycle for each of us 25,000 dongs per day ( 80) and explored the old town during the evening. Hoi An is popular for Vietnamese silk. Tourists come here to buy fabric and get it done by the tailor. The buildings here looked old, and they were painted in yellow with a gabled roof.
Typical yellow house with gabled roof in Hoi An old town. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Here, I also had egg coffee for the first time, and I liked it. Egg coffee is a delicacy of Hanoi, but you can get it in other parts of Vietnam. If you find yourself in Vietnam, then I recommend you try egg coffee. We also bought some cool T-shirts and other souvenirs, such as a Vietnamese hat, from here.
Egg coffee I had in Hoi An. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Hue The next day the 18th of December 2024 we went to Hue by bus. As we could not take a bus on our own in Nha Trang, we asked the hostel to book it for us this time. We booked it a day before, and they told us to be ready by 07:00 in the morning. At 07:00, a minibus arrived, which took us to a bus agency s office. There we waited for a few minutes and got into the bus to Hue. The bus had sleeper seats, so I took the opportunity to catch some sleep. The ride was comfortable, so I am assuming the roads were good. In a couple of hours, we reached Hue. Again, we went to Highlands Coffee to have some coffee, charge our phones, and use the internet, not to mention using the bathrooms. During the afternoon, we went to a local restaurant named Qu n Chay Thanh Li u. It was a vegan restaurant (remember the thing I mentioned earlier about Chay being in the name?). On the way, we had a steamed dumpling shaped like a momo called banh bao from a street vendor. It wasn t very good, but I found it worthwhile.
Bahn Bao in Hue. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
At the restaurant, we ordered a hot pot. First, they brought noodles and a gas stove. Then came the stock and our gas stove was turned on. The stock was kept simmering on the stove. Then, we had it bit by bit with the noodles. A big hot pot at this place costs 50,000 dongs ( 170). Then we had b nh cu n. These were steamed rolls made of rice flour for 10,000 dongs ( 33).
Hot Pot. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Added soup to the noodles. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Steamed rolls made of rice flour. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Restaurants in Vietnam usually add photos of the meals in their menu or write a description in English. So, even though the dish names were Vietnamese, we had no problems in ordering food there. In addition, all the places we went to provided free Wi-Fi. They either mention the Wi-Fi password on the bill, on the menu or paste it on the wall. This made our trip smoother without getting a local SIM.
Menu from a restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City with detailed description of the food. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Then we slowly walked towards the railway station, as we had a night train to Hanoi. We had egg coffee in a cafe. Near the railway station, we had a b nh m (egg sandwich). As for sightseeing, we had plans to visit a couple of places in Hue, but we ended up spending all our time inside sheltered spaces due to heavy rain. We had booked the train SE20 for Hanoi, which had a departure time of 20:41 from Hue. This one was 948,000 dongs ( 3100) for myself and 870,000 dongs ( 2900) for Badri. My ticket was pricier than Badri s because I got a lower berth. Our train was late by half an hour, so we waited in the common area of the station. After the train arrived, we got inside and took our seats. The cabin had four berths two upper and two lower, similar to India s First AC class. The ticket inspector came to us and offered us the whole cabin (two additional berths) for 300,000 dongs ( 1,000), which we declined. However, this hinted at the other two seats not being reserved. Eventually, we had the whole cabin to ourselves, as nobody else showed up for the other two berths. It was a 14-hour journey, and I got a good sleep.
Our berths in the train. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Hanoi On the morning of the 19th of December 2024, we reached Vietnam s capital, Hanoi. We had booked a private hotel room for 800. It was 1 km from the Hanoi Airport. However, it was pretty far from the railway station. So, we roamed around in the city and went to the hotel in the evening. First, we walked to a place and had egg coffee with egg sandwiches. Then we went to Hanoi Train Street, which was walking distance from the train station. After clicking some pictures at the train street, we went to a museum nearby. Upon reaching there, we found out that it was closed.
Egg coffee in Hanoi. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Hanoi train street is a tourist attraction in Hanoi. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Then we went shopping for jackets, as Hanoi was cold compared to other parts of Vietnam we had been to, and since many of them are manufactured in Vietnam, we thought they would be cheaper. I liked some jackets, but they were not my size. Eventually, we didn t buy anything at the clothes shop. In the evening, I bought a Vietnamese-styled phin coffee filter and coffee powder from Highlands Coffee. We spent a lot of time in their cafes, so it made sense to buy some souvenirs from there. Badri bought a few coffee filters for his family at Trung Nguyen, where I also bought another filter. We had dinner at a local place where we had pho and banh it. Bahn it was served packed in banana leaves and it was made of sticky rice.
A picture of pho we had in Hanoi. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Bahn it is served packed in banana leaves. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.

Bahn it. Photo by Ravi Dwivedi, released under CC-BY-SA 4.0.
Next, we went to Hanoi railway station to catch a bus to the airport since our hotel was 1 km from the airport. The locals there helped us take the bus. It took like an hour to get to the airport. We saw on OpenStreetMap that we can take a bus from there to the hotel, but we could not find it. So we walked to our hotel instead. It was a decent hotel room for 800 for a night. We went outside to explore the area and had egg sandwiches and egg coffee at a local place. Again, we were given a complimentary green tea. We went to this place like three times. We had practically become regulars by the time we left. The next day 20th of December 2024 we took a bus to the airport and boarded our flight to Delhi. Credits: Thanks Badri, Kishy and Richard for proofreading.

Series:	White Space #3
Publisher:	Saga Press
Copyright:	June 2025
ISBN:	1-6680-7812-0
Format:	Kindle
Pages:	483

Series:	Sector General #7
Publisher:	Orb
Copyright:	1987
Printing:	May 2003
ISBN:	0-7653-0663-8
Format:	Trade paperback
Pages:	252

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15 July 2026

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Debian Contributions: 2026-03 Contributing to Debian is part of Freexian s mission. This article covers the latest achievements of Freexian and their collaborators. All of this is made possible by organizations subscribing to our Long Term Support contracts and consulting services.

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Test xdebug with a PHP command inside the container Run `XDEBUG_SESSION=PHPSTORM php occ status` inside the container and check `/var/log/xdebug.log`.

Install the browser extension Install Xdebug Helper (Firefox/Chrome). In its preferences, set the IDE Key to PhpStorm. It will set the `XDEBUG_SESSION` cookie when toggled to Debug. Click the Xdebug Helper icon in the browser and set it to Debug.

VersioningAs I modified the script I found interesting to use CalVer-based versioning (the version variable has the format `YYYY.mm.dd-r#`) so I added a subcommand to show its value or bump it using the current date and computing the right revision number.

Changes in RcppArmadillo version 15.2.4-1 (2026-03-17)

Upgraded to Armadillo release 15.2.4 (Medium Roast Deluxe)

Workarounds for bugs in GCC and Clang sanitisers (ASAN false positives)

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