Saw this on +Tekzilla . Would be of half-functionality in Lafayette -- what would you use the second tuner for? -- but I could see using it for the one channel I'd care about.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saw this on +Tekzilla . Would be of half-functionality in Lafayette -- what would you use the sec...
Saw this on +Tekzilla . Would be of half-functionality in Lafayette -- what would you use the second tuner for? -- but I could see using it for the one channel I'd care about.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
This is a spot of foliage on the way to my office. Last year, they planted plots of ... non-stand...
This is a spot of foliage on the way to my office. Last year, they planted plots of ... non-standard ground-cover instead of grass, and they let it go. By August, this sidewalk will be impassable
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
If you wanted to make a box with one button on it, and that button did nothing but pretend it is ...
If you wanted to make a box with one button on it, and that button did nothing but pretend it is a keyboard and send "Scroll Lock" down a USB cable when the button was pressed, how would you start?
Reshared post from Jonathan Strickland It's also a Jonathan Coulton sort of day. What a fantas...
It's also a Jonathan Coulton sort of day. What a fantastic song! Fans of Star Trek in particular should listen to this.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Ran some chunk of 5k with church friends today, then weighed in at 256 lbs, which is the least I'...
Ran some chunk of 5k with church friends today, then weighed in at 256 lbs, which is the least I've weighed in decades. Sure, some if that is water weight and not comparable to my fresh-out-of-bed inputs, but I'll accept it.
Friday, May 25, 2012
This is some tortured SQL. SELECT ( SELECT MIN(weight) FROM weight ) min , ( SELECT weight FROM w...
This is some tortured SQL.
SELECT
( SELECT MIN(weight) FROM weight ) min ,
( SELECT weight FROM weight WHERE id = ( SELECT MAX(id) FROM weight ) ) today ,
( SELECT COUNT(weight) FROM weight WHERE weight = ( SELECT MIN(weight) FROM weight ) ) count ;
I so rarely do sub-selects. Table has three values: id of the entry, weight and date, which is a standard timestamp. First subselect gets me the lowest weight value in the table, second one gets me what today's weight, and the third gets me how many days that's been that weight.
Yeah, I could've read in a data structure into $OB_FAVE_SCRIPTING_LANG, parsed it around, and worked out the same things, but it's faster to get that pre-cut. And with that, I can find days where min == today and count == 1, and if the booleans work out, I can automate a tweet that says "today, I am lighter than I have been in over a decade."
I know there's still a lot in SQL that I don't know, but I feel I've done something cool today.
I have Javascript. I like writing Javascript and jQuery. I'm reasonable at it. I want to combine ...
I have Javascript. I like writing Javascript and jQuery. I'm reasonable at it.
I want to combine several libraries I wrote into one great library, minify it, gzip it, and put that into position. But I can't get yui-compressor to work.
Looks like I shave yaks today.
Thoughts on multiplication in my head. Watched a Big Bang Theory rerun last night, the one with A...
Thoughts on multiplication in my head.
Watched a Big Bang Theory rerun last night, the one with Amy Farrah Fowler's smoking monkey. Anyway, it had this exchange:
Amy: How come if we’re the smart people, we don’t do this every night?
Sheldon: What’s 16 times 14?
Amy: My burps taste like cranberry juice.
Sheldon: And there’s your answer.
And I stopped. (I can do that. I have a DVR. We live in the future.)
I could not quickly do that math in my head. I believe it would be faster for me to write a quick Perl script to do that math (not just pop up a REPL) than for me to think it through. Of course, I could pull out a pad and pencil and do that math faster, but Amy didn't have a pad and pencil.
I know the trick -- n^2 - 1 == (n-1 * n+1 ) -- so 16 * 14 == 15 * 15 - 1 but working through to what 15 * 15 is, that was not quick and easy for me.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
It isn't so much that I want or need the content. With Perl, as with most programming issues, my ...
It isn't so much that I want or need the content. With Perl, as with most programming issues, my first move and often my only move is to Google "my programming issues". It's to keep the chain going.
I COULD say something about the size of the font, or the size of the book, but what I really want to know, +Tim O'Reilly , why did the camel turn her head?
I have always used VirtualBox for my VM needs. As a product, I am happy with it. But VirtualBox i...
I have always used VirtualBox for my VM needs. As a product, I am happy with it.
But VirtualBox is in a class of technologies (MySQL, ZFS, Solaris, Java(?) ) that I like and have good associations with and am willing to use (Java is BARELY on this list) which are owned by Oracle, who I now must treat as patent trolls rather than an honorable technology company. I don't want to feed the trolls, so I want to get away from Oracle products to the extent I can.
I'm not the admin for most of the environments I'm in, so I can't say "Linux not Solaris" on our E4500 and I can't say "PostGRE or MariaDB not MySQL" for the database, but I can choose the VM I run my stuff on.
I use Win7 and Linux, with my Windows boxes being my good machines right now. So, if I need to run a second Windows or FreeBSD on my desktop virtually, what should I use?
A friend made a point yesterday: With Google, you're looking to buy a widget, see an ad for Frank...
A friend made a point yesterday:
With Google, you're looking to buy a widget, see an ad for Franklin Widgets, think "I'll try a Franklin widget" and make a purchase.
With Facebook, you're looking to find out what your friends are up to, see an ad for Franklin Widgets, think "get out of my way, Sue just posted a picture of her cat", and don't make a purchase.
This is why Google is more valuable than Facebook for advertising.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Reshared post from Linus Torvalds Prediction: instead of Oracle coming out and admitting they ...
Prediction: instead of Oracle coming out and admitting they were morons about their idiotic suit against Android, they'll come out posturing and talk about how they'll be vindicated, and pay lawyers to take it to the next level of idiocy.
Sometimes I really wish I wasn't always right. It's a curse, I tell you.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Just got a pair of Evo 4G batteries and a charger from Anker and Amazon. Put the first battery in...
Just got a pair of Evo 4G batteries and a charger from Anker and Amazon. Put the first battery in just now. Will have to head-to-head test them against the one that came with, to qualify what two years of use did to the old one.
OK, Dancer has main.tt, which is a wrapper around all the other pages it creates. In this, I thro...
OK, Dancer has main.tt, which is a wrapper around all the other pages it creates. In this, I throw the <script /> tags which load my libraries.
I want the code to run on some pages and not others. I want as little javascript as possible in the page, as befits coding in the 21st century.
Is the solution the next best thing to <body id="foo">, which is <div id="foo">, then using if ( defined $( '#foo' ) ) { ... } (or however that's written in Javascript) to call it on the page?
When I subscribed to the paper NYT, the NYT got $1000 in advertisements to sell to me. When I sig...
When I subscribed to the paper NYT, the NYT got $1000 in advertisements to sell to me. When I sign on to Facebook, Facebook gets $5 and falling to sell to me. Facebook can't grow fast enough to stay above water. Or at least, that's the position.
Monday, May 21, 2012
If I download this and set it up, would anyone else I know? Because if it is just me, there's no ...
If I download this and set it up, would anyone else I know? Because if it is just me, there's no point.
Recently, we got a second car. Last week I drove to work more than I took the bus, and most of my...
Recently, we got a second car. Last week I drove to work more than I took the bus, and most of my exercise is walking to and from the bus stop.
I blame the plateau on that. I need take the bus more or find another way to re-add that bit of walking to my day.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
+Scott Hanselman , halfway through your talk with the flight director. Talking about looking back...
+Scott Hanselman , halfway through your talk with the flight director. Talking about looking back to Apollo, the Arduino Uno has roughly half the memory (both RAM and ROM) but 8 times the clock speed.
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/leonard/perl/2012/05/extreme-programmers.html
And there are people talking about re-implementing Apollo on the Arduino
http://www.arduino.cc/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1291628541
And, as the source code to the Apollo command and lunar modules is available, I think there's a chance someone will do it.
http://www.ibiblio.org/apollo/
Thursday, May 17, 2012
I'm in the Linux web dev world, and I'm chasing an idea into the Windows desktop development worl...
I'm in the Linux web dev world, and I'm chasing an idea into the Windows desktop development world, and I'd bet money (and planning on investing time) on the thought that out should work with XP. I haven't done Windows dev since Visual Studio Embedded.
Anyone have comment on how to start? Especially since the idea is mine and not supported by someone who can give me VS.NET. At least not yet.
Saw some cool Fords at Purdue's Spring Fling Car Fair. Some other cars, too, but I was raised For...
Saw some cool Fords at Purdue's Spring Fling Car Fair. Some other cars, too, but I was raised Ford, so I mostly took pictures of them.
I have a table, displaying tabular data. Therefore, it is okay. In that, there's a list of errors...
I have a table, displaying tabular data. Therefore, it is okay.
In that, there's a list of errors, which come in as DIVs. I can CSS DIVs into inline elements. That's simple. But the list of errors makes each row big. I already make the error row pink with red text, so "rhere is a problem with this row" is already communicated, and there's a page where you can see and modify each row.
So, what I want is to overflow the text in the error TD, so that it says "This is a probl...." or something, no matter how long the text is. I think I've seen CSS do this, but I don't have those mad skills.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Been getting come-ons from Oracle to look into the newest Solaris. I used Solaris before I used L...
Been getting come-ons from Oracle to look into the newest Solaris. I used Solaris before I used Linux, and I still have fond memories of the ENAD Sun labs. But, Solaris, like MySQL and Java and ZFS, is now Oracle, and Oracle has gone from the standard by which relational databases are measured to a SCO-like patent troll, and it isn't good for society to feed the trolls. So, I keep thinking "maybe I should", but I end up not.
Remote controls use communication analogous to UDP, which means the zapper doesn't know the curre...
Remote controls use communication analogous to UDP, which means the zapper doesn't know the current state, but only that the button wants it to send the "toggle_on-off" message. And that's okay, but....
I would so want a TCP style interaction with "query_state", "query_input" and the like, to go along with not only "toggle_on-off" but "turn_on" and "turn_off" (which would not change the current state if the current state is desired) and "set_input( 'HDMI1' )" or "set_input( 'USB' )" or "set_screen_image('custom.jpg')".
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
The future home of the Drug Discovery Building, where hundreds of Facebook pictures of undergrads...
The future home of the Drug Discovery Building, where hundreds of Facebook pictures of undergrads wearing Bob Marley t-shirts will be taken.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Reshared post from Thomas Baekdal I created this simple graph to illustrate why I think the Fa...
I created this simple graph to illustrate why I think the Facebook IPO is the result of a 'bubble'.
Ford vs Facebook:
- Ford has 36 times higher revenue
- Ford has 8 times higher profit
- Ford has 8 times as many assets (including a much larger cash reserve)
- ...but Ford is valued at only 41% of Facebook's expected market cap.
More to the point. Ford's market cap is valued at 70% of their total assets. Meaning that if Ford where to closed down today, the investors could just sell the assets and get their money back.
But Facebook is valued 1,370% higher than what they have in assets, meaning that if Facebook closed down today, we are talking serious financial loss.
This is the dot.com era all over again. Value is being determined based on activity (page views, ad impressions, users), instead of real things like... you know... money and assets.
.
Friday, May 11, 2012
+Doug Couch got me looking at instructables again, but this one specifically came from +Lifehacke...
+Doug Couch got me looking at instructables again, but this one specifically came from +Lifehacker
I gotta make one.
My friend Patrick says that much of this list has been replaced by the smart phone, which we bare...
My friend Patrick says that much of this list has been replaced by the smart phone, which we barely use as a phone. His preferred term? Magic Internet Pants Rectangle.
A while ago, I wrote something that takes direct messages to a Twitter account (which, remember, ...
A while ago, I wrote something that takes direct messages to a Twitter account (which, remember, can only accept DMs from people it follows) and shoves it into a database, then once every once and a while, as set by crontab, sends it out. The benefit is, you have the main account follow several members of a group, you can have those people post for the group without giving them the login and such.
If I was trying to do that today, knowing what I know now, I would have used ifttt to take the DMs and put them into Buffer, and put the tweet schedule in Buffer. Alas, I have working code so I don't wanna change it. But +Doug Couch , that's seriously the way the +Lafayette Makerspace should go.
The other night at +Ji Soo Yi pointed me to two Javascript visualization libraries. I went with H...
The other night at +Ji Soo Yi pointed me to two Javascript visualization libraries. I went with HighCharts because it was quickest and easiest for me to get to what I wanted to do with it, but I feel I must point out D3, which stands for Data Driven Documents.
Oh so good. It's like they took R's ggplot2 and reimplemented it in Javascript. It's beyond Processing. It's magic. Wow.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Just got done with the initial +Lafayette Makerspace meeting, with +Doug Couch and a few others. ...
Just got done with the initial +Lafayette Makerspace meeting, with +Doug Couch and a few others. Good time, making me hopeful for the future of the thing.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Just started this. Don't know if the video is REALLY worth my while, but I love her accent. OK, a...
Just started this. Don't know if the video is REALLY worth my while, but I love her accent.
OK, as time goes on, I begin to hear the Buzzword Bingo counter go off, and the usable-content meter go silent, but there might be some value in this.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I've heard this, but I've also heard from a person who works in aviation that the radar that pilo...
I've heard this, but I've also heard from a person who works in aviation that the radar that pilots use when they land to tell them how close to the runway they are during takeoff and landing can be bolloxed by radios.
I'm inclined to believe the against-it voices, like Ken, but I'm not 100%.
Monday, May 7, 2012
I spent my college years and many years after living what this would call an intermittent fast li...
I spent my college years and many years after living what this would call an intermittent fast lifestyle, where most days I would get up at 7 or 8 am (depending if this was during academia or post-academia) and not eat until after 10pm.
During this time, I got up to 330-350 lbs. (I wasn't documenting, so I don't know my real top weight.) This morning, I weighed myself at 259.
I'm interested in the book, as I'm interested in more control over my body, but right now, it strikes me as unlikely that I'll ever follow an intermittent fast.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Wanting this or something like this. Because, when most people talk about computers in their cars...
Wanting this or something like this. Because, when most people talk about computers in their cars, they're talking about Facebook or texting or email or browsing or media playing, and I'm not. Well, I kinda am, but not really.
For me, it's mostly been 1) tap that engine info. 2) watch the GPS. 3) correlate the two. 4) modify driver or vehicle behavior based on those correlations. Everything else is gravy. So, I want this, and I want a car PC that I can plug this into, then send the data someplace every time the car stops. Let the machine where the data is sent munge the data, I say.
So, who has made a car computer?
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Reshared post from Mike Elgan UC Berkeley student automates his dorm room. His system is call...
UC Berkeley student automates his dorm room.
His system is called the BRAD, for "Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm."
I start with this image. Then point out that not every problem churned out by the ProblemFactory ...
I start with this image.
Then point out that not every problem churned out by the ProblemFactory is a technical problem.
Google's technical problem was that it was distributing Android across a potentially huge heterogeneous hardware base, but wanted everyone to be able to get apps, so it went with Java. But not in the way Java's owners approved of.
I've gone Google. My phone is Google. My browser is Google. My email is Google. My office suite is Google. My social networking site is (among other things) Google. My [insert thing here] is likely Google. I don't have a GoogleTV (yet). Last but certainly not least, my search is Google. I'm not nearly as invested in Oracle: I use MySQL because it is everywhere, but a) all of MySQL left to fork to MariaDB and b) Oracle doesn't seem to be growing what they have. My workplace has Sun gear from before the purchase and runs SunOS on it, but all our newer servers are Linux. And I only write Java when forced, which thankfully has been over a decade, with the exception of getting to HelloWorld on an Android app.
But the truth of the issue might run counter to my favorites, and I'm for that truth. But you must admit that dealing with Java in Android has put the ProblemFactory in high gear.
My friend +Patrick Fitzgerald suggests that it might be better if Google just bought a controlling interest in Oracle, and that Oracle's suit is a SCO-like search for relevance. I like both, even if I can't necessarily agree. I think that just because you stop saying "Don't Be Evil", that's any reason to lock yourself in your lair with your white Persian cat, your phalanx of lawyers and your exotic bodyguard with a tattoo on her face, while clothing all your minions in face-obscuring identical body armor.
(I'm getting an image of an angel in a black turtleneck saying "Why do you think we kept with Objective C?")
He suggests that the likely outcome is that Oracle gets a chunk out of the sale of every future sale of an Android-brand "Magical Internet Pants Rectangle" (tm). And I think we can agree that this is a problem.
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