A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Alien: Romulus. While many of my friends were disappointed, I actually enjoyed it. In fact, it exceeded my expectations — mainly because I didn’t expect much! :)

Fede Alvarez delivered exactly what producer Ridley Scott asked of him, leaning heavily on the nostalgia of the original masterpiece while skirting the edge of a reboot. The world of Prometheus wasn't ignored, but purposedly avoided referencing too deeply.

The dystopian world of corporate feudalism set a tone even darker than the original, to the point where the xenomorph didn’t seem like the worst thing that could happen. I’m still holding out hope for 90-minute movies as the gold standard, but the two-hour runtime was manageable—though my aging buttocks may disagree. The slow-burn first act was actually the most enjoyable part, as that’s where the fresh world-building took center stage. Even as the familiar plot unfolded, Alvarez delivered memorable suspense and action scenes.

Of course, it’s never going to feel the same as seeing Alien or Aliens as a teenager. I can’t fully dive into my minor criticisms without spoilers, but let’s just say the movie understood that "less is more" — except in one area. Other than that, Alien: Romulus proved that going to the movies can still be a pretty great experience.

★★★★☆

A couple of weeks ago, I went to see Alien: Romulus. While many of my friends were disappointed, I actually enjoyed it. In fact, it exceeded my expectations — mainly because I didn’t expect much! :)

Fede Alvarez delivered exactly what producer Ridley Scott asked of him, leaning heavily on the nostalgia of the original masterpiece while skirting the edge of a reboot. The world of Prometheus wasn’t ignored, but purposedly avoided referencing too deeply.

The dystopian world of corporate feudalism set a tone even darker than the original, to the point where the xenomorph didn’t seem like the worst thing that could happen. I’m still holding out hope for 90-minute movies as the gold standard, but the two-hour runtime was manageable—though my aging buttocks may disagree. The slow-burn first act was actually the most enjoyable part, as that’s where the fresh world-building took center stage. Even as the familiar plot unfolded, Alvarez delivered memorable suspense and action scenes.

Of course, it’s never going to feel the same as seeing Alien or Aliens as a teenager. I can’t fully dive into my minor criticisms without spoilers, but let’s just say the movie understood that “less is more” — except in one area. Other than that, Alien: Romulus proved that going to the movies can still be a pretty great experience.

★★★★☆

The September syslog-ng newsletter is now on-line:

• You can also contribute to the syslog-ng OSE documentation
• The $TRANSPORT macro of syslog-ng
• Rolling RPM platforms added to the syslog-ng package build system

It is available at https://www.syslog-ng.com/community/b/blog/posts/the-syslog-ng-insider-2024-09-documentation-transport-macro-rolling-rpms

Python 3.13 RC2 is now available in Tumbleweed. This new version of the Python interpreter will be released in October 2024.

There is a lot of changes and new features in 3.13, but we’re also bringing exiting experimental features in Tumbleweed.

Experimental JIT compiler

The default (python313) build has the flag --enable-experimental-jit=yes-off. This means that if you want to use this experimental JIT you can enable with an environment variable:

$ PYTHON_JIT=1 python3.13

You can find more information about the JIT compiler and how it can improve performance in PEP-744.

Free threaded CPython (no GIL)

With this new version of Python interpreter, there is an option to build without the famous Global Interpreter Lock, aka GIL. This is a really experimental feature, but why not have this on Tumbleweed? So we decided to build also this new version with a new package python313-nogil.

This new package is an isolated interpreter, so you can install without conflicts with python313. The package is building with the --disable-gil option and it provides the /usr/bin/python3.13t binary. It uses by default /usr/lib/python3.13t/site-packages for third-party libs so, with the default configuration, it won’t use any python 3.13 module.

This means that now you can use threading.Thread in the Python interpreter, and it will be actual threads so, at the end using threads with python3.13t, interpreter should be a lot faster.

There’s no packages for this interpreter in Tumbleweed, at this moment. So if you want to use third party libraries you should use virtualenv and pip for that:

$ python3.13t -m venv free-threaded-env
$ source free-threaded-env/bin/activate
(free-threaded-env) $ pip install requests
(free-threaded-env) $ python3
Python 3.13.0rc2 experimental free-threading build (main, Sep 07 2024, 16:06:06) [GCC] on linux
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>> import sys; sys._is_gil_enabled()
False

It’s been a while since I’ve annoyed you by mentioning drones, but here we are with DJI’s latest creation—the Neo. DJI is a giant, soulless corporation, but they’ve made some clever design decisions with this drone. It’s a flying camera that works without a phone or remote, and for about half the price of a GoPro, you get a self-sufficient, button-operated flying cameraman. Take it out, push a button, and off it goes, capturing footage like it knows what it's doing. It might also just simply be a response to the actually innovative HoverAir X1, just made extremely affordable.

The camera quality won’t blow you away, but it’s solid enough if you can overlook its overly-sharpened aesthetic. The Neo can even play the part of a lightweight cinewhoop or a poor man’s DJI Mini, though that’s only if you own DJI’s latest goggles and remotes—so there’s a bit of a catch. I bought it mainly for the fun shots you’re watching here, and while I’m not interested in keeping up with DJI’s endless upgrades, I must admit the little drone has charm and utility.

Neo’s Follow mode is a standout, tracking you accurately with just its camera feed and no fancy sensors. It tries to follow your path to avoid hitting anything. But beware the Direction Tracking mode in crowded areas—it has a habit of misjudging where you’re facing and wobbling about. The biggest hiccup I encountered? No gesture to make it return home, which left me standing under it after performing a Rocket shot, until the battery ran out. Luckily the pain lasted only about 10 minutes. Overall, it’s a great toy for hikes, casual outings, and occasional public embarrassment.

Soundtrack for the poorly edited video above comes from my 2024 weekly beats endeavors. Looks like I have enough material for a 2025 album. Stay tuned!

It’s been a while since I’ve annoyed you by mentioning drones, but here we are with DJI’s latest creation—the Neo. DJI is a giant, soulless corporation, but they’ve made some clever design decisions with this drone. It’s a flying camera that works without a phone or remote, and for about half the price of a GoPro, you get a self-sufficient, button-operated flying cameraman. Take it out, push a button, and off it goes, capturing footage like it knows what it’s doing. It might also just simply be a response to the actually innovative HoverAir X1, just made extremely affordable.

The camera quality won’t blow you away, but it’s solid enough if you can overlook its overly-sharpened aesthetic. The Neo can even play the part of a lightweight cinewhoop or a poor man’s DJI Mini, though that’s only if you own DJI’s latest goggles and remotes—so there’s a bit of a catch. I bought it mainly for the fun shots you’re watching here, and while I’m not interested in keeping up with DJI’s endless upgrades, I must admit the little drone has charm and utility.

Neo’s Follow mode is a standout, tracking you accurately with just its camera feed and no fancy sensors. It tries to follow your path to avoid hitting anything. But beware the Direction Tracking mode in crowded areas—it has a habit of misjudging where you’re facing and wobbling about. The biggest hiccup I encountered? No gesture to make it return home, which left me standing under it after performing a Rocket shot, until the battery ran out. Luckily the pain lasted only about 10 minutes. Overall, it’s a great toy for hikes, casual outings, and occasional public embarrassment.

Soundtrack for the poorly edited video above comes from my 2024 weekly beats endeavors. Looks like I have enough material for a 2025 album. Stay tuned!

They say you can't forget how to ride a bicycle. Well I don't think it applies to FPV racing. Haven't touched the sticks in a year. But that does not make me not hang out with old buddies at the longest running event in Czechia.