David JONES

Yorkshire He/Him/Lambda • Type designer by day • Making fonts by night • Fonts published as CubicType

Web: https://about.cubictype.com/
Awards: 3rd prize (greetings card class) Totley Show 2022
shop at itch.io: https://drj11.itch.io/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6813593/

Public Key

npub1m67f79fyv2h49ptukh0petytaan52xpzvp8y0cmjdtymd0pwlehqhmnlv3

NIP-05 Address

drj_at_typo.social@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsda0ylz5jx9t6js47tthsu4j977e69rq3xqnj8udex4jdkhsh0umspz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsl4sz38

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1m67f79fyv2h49ptukh0petytaan52xpzvp8y0cmjdtymd0pwlehqhmnlv3

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Last Notes

2026-10-28 11:11:19 UTC

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*angry goose meme* what is the _standard_ editor? What's the standard editor, NetBSD?

2026-10-27 11:52:47 UTC

Did the UK government tell me to buy a portable radio less than six months after switching off Radio 4 long wave? Are they taking the piss?

2026-10-18 19:19:35 UTC

So, the stick works. I got this far. But during the install, the console actual has a flood of messages every second or so as it reports the unplugging and plugging oh a few USB devices, the ELAN touchscreen amongst them (it's internal, and I guess needs some magic, so it keeps soft unplugging itself?). Makes the install menus very difficult to read and the preamble scrolls off. I did get an install, I think. But now it seems stuck at the memory test when installing from the harddrive. Hmm.
#NetBSD
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/463/491/688/757/427/original/87e7c5528675dfb9.jpg

2026-10-16 21:03:45 UTC

i'm encouraged by the #NetBSD movement. I think Linux overestimates the number of users that were reluctant. People like me. People who were exposed to commercial Unix (SunOS, Irix, OSF/1) where on the whole, things worked, were documented, people were serious about standards, and maybe even internal kernel interfaces were documented and stable. People who were exposed to BSD and preferred its stability (and the fact that bash wasn't the default shell). But over time Linux had support for all the newest hardware, because that's where the crowds were. So we adopted Linux. Reluctantly.
But as soon as there's a reason to jump, or go back. We do. I don't suppose the reluctant adopters of Linux are a huge part of the Linux users, but there's enough. It's coming home.

2026-10-06 08:34:17 UTC

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So, sometimes when i have questions like this, which is not often but not never, i type the word or abstract concept into (google) image search. The average colour of the first few images tells you what colour "listening" is. A sort of mix between terracotta and apricot, it seems. Obviously this is somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but can still be an interesting exercise.

2026-10-01 14:00:39 UTC

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this is just like the bit in Wall-E where everyone changes their clothes colour because of an advert.

2026-09-27 09:50:11 UTC

Good morning. Does anyone have any files that begin with the bytes 0x01 0x1E ? They are Sun vfont files (binary bitmap font), and i would like one or two for testing xmbdfed.
The ones in the vfont.tar.gz file from the 4.2BSD distribution https://tuhs.v6sh.org/UnixArchiveMirror/Distributions/UCB/4.2BSD/ being with the bytes 0x1E 0x01; they are the little-endian version and i have those.
Please boost into the 1990s.
#SunOS #bitmapFont

2026-09-24 21:00:03 UTC

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it's provenance. Even if it ends up being an identical patch. Bytes have souls.

2026-09-09 16:46:52 UTC

RE: https://social.coop/@cwebber/117236126658335889
Uh, wow. I recommend reading the Tristan Buckmaster letter directly, the OpenAI side of it is so much more shady than the summaries.
#note10vr…ezs3

2026-09-07 14:01:47 UTC

huh. Despite knowing it for many decades, it never really occurred to me that
env FOO=VAL prog
is a shell portable way to run prog with extra environment variables. That is, it works in csh. Possibly it never occurred to me because i tried to delete csh from my mind as much as possible ever since 1st contact.

2026-09-02 16:03:17 UTC

At the behest of @npub1mzg…l2g4 i added box drawing to Tencon. It was always on the cards, so it was just a matter of priorities. I can now Midnight Commander (not my usual, but it was the first demonstration of box drawing that i could think of).
Now with bundled PSF for Linux console: https://codeberg.org/drj/font-tencon
#BitmapFont
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/117/202/261/404/998/252/original/8fc79d05113c2589.png

2026-08-26 14:10:20 UTC

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Russ Cox is LLM-pilled now? And it's the same Russ Cox that's all over golang? Oh, i see he resigned golang lead 2 years ago. Lol. (Apparently i do not follow tech drama very much)

2026-08-25 15:03:33 UTC

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i tried to make my own patrol cap a couple of years ago. very bad. Do you have an actual pattern that you use, or do you just wing it now?

2026-07-28 09:48:51 UTC

I have a crazy idea and it is that we should have a World Bitmap Font Week, to celebrate the culture of bitmap fonts, and perhaps pay thanks for their work and contributions to society. Also we can make some fonts.
At this stage it is just an idea, but with a few more people i think we could have a few coordinated blog posts, and maybe some tools, tutorials, and even workshops? I suggest the 10 days starting 2026-10-19.
Who is in? Reply saying yes. And please boost :)
#BitmapFont #Font

2026-07-03 14:10:27 UTC

So the NHS is gonna have an app to encourage you to walk 30 minutes a day. I think the idea is actually quite good. Obviously i expect the app to be spamware-riddled dogshit. We'll see.
But i would quite like to have seen some discussion on the sort of postcodes that have reasonable 30 minute walks nearby. Where i live, nice and leafy. Great. Down the road? Oh aye, you can walk round the trolleys in this riverside "pocket park" which takes 2 minutes; or, there's a wood at the back of the factory where you get knifed.

2026-07-02 10:44:36 UTC

Does EMF have a zine swap, and can i pay to have my zine printed out and put there? (i am not attending)
It is not a complicated zine, it is 1 black&white double-sided A4 folded in half. https://drj11.itch.io/crime-zine
Or maybe one of my EMF-attending moots would like to do it (in return for an EMF donation).
#EMF2026

2026-05-27 14:47:56 UTC

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_singer_! not signer. The first must shorter version of this post, led me down a right rabbit hole. To this, for example, a sculpture of signing the Declaration of Independence. https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/plaques-and-statues-in-the-park.htm haha

2026-05-27 14:42:32 UTC

Realised the other day that Varvara is just Barbara with a V/B substitution. Barbara[V/B]
#uxn

2026-05-20 20:20:10 UTC

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I've read both (mostly for bragging rights). Good luck! Once you've read Ulysses, nothing seems impossible.

2026-04-28 18:25:47 UTC

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Nono, fifth! (More practically, you can borrow both on archive.org to check out the differences yourself)

2026-04-28 12:08:20 UTC

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i see (from browsing on archive.org) that for the 6th edition they tacked on a chapter for each of various "clones", including nvi. Any comment on those?

2026-04-28 10:22:53 UTC

I reviewed Linda Lamb’s classic "Learning the vi editor" 5th edition. Still very good:
https://drj11.github.io/2026-04-28/review-learning-the-vi.html
#Unix #vi

2026-02-26 19:43:34 UTC

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you might want to delay reading this one. My mates made a whole-ass computer in wireworld. In 1992. https://www.quinapalus.com/wi-index.html

2026-02-10 15:11:47 UTC

An AI did not write this 1,000 word commentary on the ZX81 keyboard scanning routine. I did: https://drj11.github.io/2026-02-10/zx81-keyboard.html
It includes what is now one of my favourite assembler instructions: `SBC A`
#ZX81 #Z80 #NoAI

2026-02-02 16:34:30 UTC

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ah, the _frons_ paper (i've not read it, but i guess i've seen you post it before). i like papers that are indistinguishable from fever dreams.

2026-01-31 14:53:13 UTC

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did an AI write your sloppy Alt text?

2026-01-13 16:22:21 UTC

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is this just a "forkiverse Georg" fact? because when i do the maths, 6098 ÷ 4169 is bigger than 1. (obviously that can be the case and "most of the signups haven't posted" can also be true).

2025-12-09 16:19:01 UTC

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haha, of course. Oh, does that make it a _monad_? (half-kidding, but also half-curious)

2025-12-09 08:38:35 UTC

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it's nice. and funny too. Why is (print) true? what does it return?

2025-12-04 11:34:34 UTC

I see that Inkscape has abandonded the traditional but hopelessly outdated metaphor of a Floppy Disk for saving, and has replaced it with the much more modern metaphor of a Filing Cabinet Drawer.

2025-11-12 11:46:24 UTC

It is my pleasure to announce my font Typewriter B now has support for Welsh. And Slovenian, Māori, and Ento. And a bit more punctuation and fractions.
Wikipedia suggests the following pangram in Welsh. I like that "jac codi baw" apparently translates as "Jack digs dirt" and is a backronym for JCB (the digger).
Download the early access from https://drj11.itch.io/font-typewriter-b
Please boost to your typewriter font-nerd friends :)
#TypewriterB #FontDesign #Welsh
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/536/529/762/130/001/original/82463385354d7a54.png

2025-10-15 14:09:02 UTC

New font release. Today I'm launching Omega VI as early access. I checked the first drawings for this, and i started it almost 4 years ago. So, welcome to my 4 year font that doesn't even have accents or a lowercase yet.
Fun facts: i stole the O and extended it to a whole font; the font includes the roman numeral Ⅵ which is used in this graphic, but no other roman numerals.
Available to download from itch.io https://drj11.itch.io/omega-vi-font
Please share and enjoy!
#FontDesign
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/378/522/305/317/232/original/2ce9a411450521b5.png

2025-10-08 07:06:28 UTC

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your programs look more like "computer code" than any language I've ever programmed in

2025-10-01 13:05:40 UTC

Official release day for my font Typewriter B! If you lend a type designer a typewriter, they turn it into a font. This font is a Pica font, with just a little bit quirkyness. The repertoire is limited to what came on the typewriter, plus the Fediverse Symbol ⁂.
It's monospaced, and available in two pitches: original 10.9 cpi and true pica 10 cpi. Except not quite, there's a sneaky half-width space character.
Please enjoy and please boost!
https://drj11.itch.io/font-typewriter-b
#TypewriterB #Font
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/299/022/023/951/901/original/e2b8ebd280871697.png

2025-09-22 16:46:42 UTC

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ah, it's like one of those click-illocutionary performatives. The act of making the link pushes one way, and the act of clicking on it pushes the other.

2025-09-19 10:34:55 UTC

Dragon Data logo (who made the Dragon 32 computer) is kinda cool. This is from a scan of a schematic.
#Dragon32 #Retrocomputing #LogoDesign
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/230/501/291/717/415/original/78fb746b75924c86.png

2025-09-11 08:33:01 UTC

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A few people have said kind words about my new font Clive, and kind words are always appreciated. But for this release i would say that they are particularly appreciated, because while i was preparing the release of Clive i had a massive crisis of confidence (more so than usual :) ) and imagined that there was no way this font was any good: it was just a pile of ZX81 graphics that wasn't entertaining or interesting in any way. So thank you for your kinda words and support.

2025-09-10 13:06:30 UTC

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Clive is the second font that is built using entirely my own tools (the other is Dorothy Norma). At least, second released font; i have a few more unreleased. The pipelines are mixes of Python, text files, SVG, and Go tools. No font-editors like Glyphs or Fontra. Even the final TTF binaries are compiled using my own Go programs.
Clive: https://drj11.itch.io/clive-font
Dorothy Norma: https://drj11.itch.io/norma-font
Norma is likely to lose this status soon by moving to `fontmake` (like Fifteenel).

2025-09-10 12:12:46 UTC

Announcing Clive, a new font inspired by Clive Sinclair's ZX81.
https://drj11.itch.io/clive-font
(please boost)
#Font #ZX81 #semigraphics
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/179/929/402/461/049/original/a837268b97bc8bc7.png

2025-09-10 11:59:17 UTC

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I think there are some Jevons-type effects too. When busses are free i can use it to for small journeys for which i wouldn't (or might not) pay GBP 5: volunteering for a two hours in town; a part-time job that is 3 days of 4 hours; buying a single drill-bit/brush/postcard from a place in town. More money spent goes into the local economy.

2025-09-09 11:21:08 UTC

Re-reading the ZX81 manual, spotted a reference to POP-2, a programming language i had somehow not heard of. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POP-2:
the function call
f(x, y, z);
can be written as
x, y, z; f();
(commas and semicolons being largely interchangeable) or even
x, y, z.f;
or
(x, y, z).f;
(Because of the stack-based paradigm)
@npub1e9y…vdd5 and @npub1z8r…mrq6 might want a quick look if they haven't come across it.

2025-08-07 13:24:36 UTC

I am today releasing Fifteenel on itch.io https://drj11.itch.io/fifteenel-font
A 1x15 pixel "font" that can be used to draw little icons and pictures (you may have seen me mention it here before). CC0.
Based on an idea from [@nina_kali_nina](https://tech.lgbt/@nina_kali_nina )
#Fifteenel
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/987/693/655/964/845/original/5f5ba15d4ab2c9e4.png

2025-07-07 10:27:14 UTC

There are surprisingly few fonts based on, or used by, actual typewriters. In the interests of finding out the right answers by posting wrong ones:
Prestige Elite, Typewriter Elite (balls and fillets), Courier (no balls, slab serifs), LTC Remington Typewriter (wavy seven).
A2 Typewriter, 1403 Vintage Mono, and Orator feature in the next post.
Please boost (to increase the rage replies).
(samples from identifont)
1/
#TypewriterFont #font #Typewriter #Monospace
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/811/415/044/180/226/original/d2fa44236c8a6cbd.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/811/427/312/128/239/original/240050ff422a7621.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/811/437/170/326/206/original/6f2927f38944c64d.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/811/449/439/490/531/original/44d30b4952ae92bd.png

2025-06-12 10:04:20 UTC

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Fans of the @npub1tzj…dfrk and the wider fediverse should be pleased to note that my newly released Rainbow Rocket font (see up), not only supports the fediverse symbol, ⁂, but also has the colour palette Fedi based on the 5-node fedigram (which i think works better with darker backgrounds).
#FediverseSymbol #Font
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/669/806/646/860/389/original/c53f0523f568d4d2.png

2025-06-12 08:04:34 UTC

Rainbow Rocket is here! A self-striping colour font family with 21 colour styles, some for free, some paid for. Shapes based on Arugula (an earlier font of mine that also means "rocket"); colours based on a variety of mostly found things.
Here i show examples from my Garden, gifted toys, and a font specimen i found at the Letterform Archive.
Share and Enjoy! (please boost)
https://drj11.itch.io/rainbow-rocket-font
#itchio #font #RainbowRocket #CubicType #ad
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/669/286/229/279/735/original/47045c63e33f3c4f.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/669/310/152/072/385/original/e4c2627c08bf97d6.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/669/328/190/664/688/original/e9484716af4fe9df.png
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/669/339/916/322/096/original/ec52bde7c6b459be.png

2025-05-07 18:06:48 UTC

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are you writing a coroutine?

2025-05-06 14:29:21 UTC

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yeah, it's probably not available and substituting a different font (one of the wide coverage STIX ones?).

2025-05-06 14:14:31 UTC

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Yes, along with U+204E LOW ASTERISK and U+2051 TWO ASTERISKS ALIGNED VERTICALLY

2025-04-16 20:17:45 UTC

Relief printing using Lego. This is lots of fun. Designs are pretty quick and easy to try out.
#Lego #printmaking
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/349/476/554/548/516/original/c0f332b9421c5988.jpg

2025-03-19 17:30:14 UTC

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hehe, how does it work? Does it assign random palettes or something more tasteful/inspiring/clever?

2025-02-07 13:18:27 UTC

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shouldn't this be a unix surrealism post?

2025-02-02 19:30:17 UTC

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pretty sure you would enjoy Ptashne's "A genetic switch"; it's about self assembly and switching in Lambda Phage (a very minimal biological organism).

2025-01-03 16:11:41 UTC

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the inside is kinda crudely finished. so i wonder if it's just been cleared like that for firing, and the outside is actually the important bit. Like could you use it like a thimble to adjust thread or clay in motion?

2025-01-03 10:02:14 UTC

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it's not round on the inside (you can't really tell from the pictures), it's more conical. But your comment makes me wonder... as if it might receive a cylinder with a conical termination? Like, a piece of graphite or a charcoal stick? It doesn't look like it's designed to grind charcoal or similar, and it doesn't look like it ever has, but i might give it a go. (i think ink is usually ground on nearly flat ceramic dishes)

2025-01-01 11:01:39 UTC

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Maybe I could sell it to an American to hold an egg (it's not an eggcup, but they, having never seen one, would never know)

2025-01-01 10:57:58 UTC

What's this? (Small pot flared truncated frustum container)
I genuinely don't know, so boosts welcome.
#AskFedi #Pottery
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/752/733/703/044/678/original/ab73b5aefb4de7c8.jpg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/752/734/580/616/189/original/b3c3d2c4499cc2a8.jpg
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/752/734/630/605/300/original/846315060e3edd5e.jpg

2024-12-31 12:04:28 UTC

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Wilding by Isabella Tree, about the Knepp rewilding project. The history and scope of the rewilding is fascinating and quite hopeful. But the lack of self-awareness of the author (who is very much aristocracy) is hilarious and provides a fair bit of unintended amusement. (their neighbour farms are cousins, holiday flats and Polo courts in the estate). One reference to frogs going brekekekex coax coax gave away that she did classics at Oxford (London actually, when i checked).

2024-12-31 09:29:23 UTC

(following @npub1e5f…x7jr )
I have finished 52 books in 2024, toot me a number between 1 and 52 and I'll tell you something about that book.
[edit: 33 has gone, so don't pick that]
#bookstodon

2024-10-06 19:12:52 UTC

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reminds me more of Red.
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/262/061/390/522/643/original/4a6c6f2820b13397.jpg

2024-10-02 10:59:30 UTC

Do you have this classic text The Unix Programming Environment? (still one of my faves). It's very commonly reproduced with different covers; at various times, i think i have owned 3 different covers. If you have it and it has a different cover do you mind taking a picture or linking to one on the internet?
#Unix
[please boost]
https://typo.social/system/media_attachments/files/113/237/458/108/567/073/original/cd2dbc18865347e5.png

2024-09-21 19:28:06 UTC

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oh I thought this was Venice, but I think it's the same designer, right?

2024-09-17 11:38:34 UTC

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get lost. That is the least appropriate response to this post.

2024-09-11 11:50:54 UTC

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does the kindle run a version of it?

2024-09-02 09:41:05 UTC

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Did the ASR33 really use a slashed oval for the letter O and an unslashed oval for the number 0? Or has yours had its type band/basket/wheel taken apart and reassembled?
#ASR33

2022-12-05 11:56:53 UTC

Do you developer the softwares? Do you avoid "fashionable" glamour sites like github and PyPI? Do you avoid using other peoples code because "in the long term it will be better to learn how to do it myself"? Do you create packages on your kitchen table using saved giftwrap and found sealing wax? Do all your fave people hang out in an obscure corner of itch.io?
You are not alone and i have a new term for this: Goblin Mode Software Development
#GoblinMode #Programming