I do not breathe your politics
"Comment is free but facts are sacred." (C.P. Scott)
Sunday, July 31, 2005
The programmer's love of the lightbulb moment
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Ruby On Rails. Very, very nice.
In the last couple of months it has gone from 'nice idea but...' to 'wow'. Until recently it did not me away from Perl, dissuade me from writing a mini-Rails framework in Perl, or provide enough advantages over the nascent Catalyst project (which aims to outdo Rails by making extensive use of the CPAN archive and childish bickering).
The tipping point for me has been the development of the scaffolding generator. Instead of just automagically doing a limited scaffold for you, it can now expand out the scaffolding into a series of templates and modules to adapt, rather than replace, piece by piece.
Until this point the scaffolding just served to deal with the chicken-and-egg nature of writing code that talks to databases. Now the scaffolding provides the basis for the development itself, serves as a handy introduction to coding in Rails, and eases the transition to Ruby from Perl for this jaded freelancer.
(I understand that Catalyst now also has this scaffold generator facility, but what it does not have is the polish and completeness of Rails.)
This afternoon I started actually developing with it, Amazon took more money off me, and the lightbulb moment swiftly followed. (Does anyone else remember Mr Don and Mr George?)
posted by Michael at 7/31/2005 02:06:00 AM 0 comments |
Friday, July 29, 2005
Breakout, Spumco style
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Whoever is responsible for this game needs a little help. Making more.
(via Stylegala)
Update: check out the rest. Particularly 'Happy Pill'.
posted by Michael at 7/29/2005 11:06:00 PM 0 comments |
Google truths
So in a discussion about search rankings in Google, I do a quick search, and it appears that because of my website's hostname, I am the top result. This is not terribly surprising.
What is terribly surprising is to discover I am being traded on eBay at knockdown prices.
There you go. You read it here first. No matter how much I bore you with my endless chatter... I am easy listening.
posted by Michael at 7/29/2005 04:42:00 PM 0 comments |
Glow-in-the-dark Apples
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Over the last couple of months, it seems everyone's been switching to OS X. You only have to watch the Ruby on Rails and Catalyst developers competing to outdo each other with how-to video clips, recorded on OS X, to realise how 'normal' a geek choice it has become. (In particular, the excellent TextMate text editor, which is a joy to use.)
But, just as I was beginning to see them as relentlessly nerd-focussed, an item in my Software Update panel reminded me otherwise. It was an updater to a feature that adjusts the brightness of the little glowing/pulsing indicator light that shows when the iMac is asleep (on standby). It makes the light glow less brightly if the mac is asleep at night than during the day. Yes, really.
Cute, I thought, but then I read this: About the Ambient Light Sensor. Yes, some more recent iMac G5 machines actually have a built-in ambient light sensor which is used (possibly among other things) to control the brightness of the little glowing spot. Now that is overdoing it on the consumer design focus.
In the case of my slightly older iMac, the brightness of the little glowing spot is controlled by the decidedly low-tech use of the system clock. I wonder when it thinks it is time to crank up the brightness? (Probably earlier than I do).
As an aside, it's not a pointless change. The spot was exceptionally bright beforehand. You know how your mobile phone's screen can illuminate your darkened bedroom at night? Dozing off in the same room as my iMac was like falling asleep in front of a flashing neon casino sign.
I imagine.
posted by Michael at 7/29/2005 02:40:00 AM 0 comments |
Thursday, July 28, 2005
Plame Name Blame Game Shame : A difficult choice
Now, faced with the choice of who to jail: one of the people reponsible for connivingly manipulating even the most moderate Americans into supporting the invasion of Iraq, or Karl Rove... well I'd have to think.
Let's face it. Rove's going to get a pardon, he won't see hard time. But maybe "Mrs Chalabi" might be off cheerleading duty for a little longer.
If I'm very very very very good, can I choose both? Can I can I can I can I PLEEEEEASE?
Theoretically, of course, Miller is not just protecting herself (as the possible source for Rove and Libby) but also whoever might have told her who Plame was. John Bolton, maybe? Something is in those documents that the White House are somehow faulting Democrats for wanting to see... Researching a candidate for high office? How dare you!
And on that note:
Q Scott, on the other files, what should members of -- what should the public glean from what's been released so far? What does it tell us about Judge Roberts and his judicial philosophy? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I actually talked about that yesterday. I think that the files that you're referring to mostly are from about 20 years ago, and I think what those files show is a young White House staffer helping to provide legal analysis in support of the President's agenda, President Reagan's agenda. I think that's what they show. And in terms of the documents, themselves, we were more than happy to expedite the release of all these documents -- it's more than 60,000 pages of documents that we're expediting the release of so that the Senate can move forward on the confirmation process. Q You're not suggesting that the legal views expressed in a document when he was a young lawyer at the Justice Department do not reflect his own legal views, are you? MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you have to look at his record and look at his record on the last -- in the last two years on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. I think if you look at what people have said who know him best, Democrats and Republicans alike, they will tell you that he is someone who will be an impartial judge who is committed to interpreting our Constitution and our laws, and not trying to make law from the bench. Q Right, I understand all that. I've heard that a million times, with all respect. MR. McCLELLAN: Well, maybe people that are watching haven't heard that, so I think it's important -- Q Well, you say it every day. My question -- MR. McCLELLAN: -- I think it's important for them to know about that.But what he means is: MR McCLELLAN: The President would prefer you were blinded by Roberts' short but surprisingly moderate turn on the Appeals court, and asks you not to ask pesky questions that might expose the candidate to be the kind of man who would make Jim Jones look like Jimmy Carter. MR McCLELLAN: Oh, sod it, it's worth a try... (mumbling slightly) Ladies and gentlemen this is Chewbacca. Chewbacca is a Wookiee from the planet Kashyyyk, but Chewbacca lives on the planet Endor. Now, think about that. That does not make sense! Why would a Wookiee - an eight foot tall Wookiee - want to live on Endor with a bunch of two foot tall Ewoks? That does not make sense!(with thanks to Wikipedia) posted by Michael at 7/28/2005 03:10:00 AM 0 comments |
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Misfiled news item
To: Editorial staff
From: website QA team
Subject: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4713323.stm
All,
Please note that the above article has incorrectly been filed in the Science/Nature section. From the headline alone it is clear that this is a Hollywood story, and thus belongs under Entertainment : Film.
Thanks,
The QA Team
posted by Michael at 7/26/2005 08:11:00 PM 1 comments |
Reminiscence and connections
This lovely BBC article reminds me of my childhood, and someone. But the someone it reminds me of is an adult I didn't know as a child. Memories and connections are strange things.
Also, an interesting little item on child development is hidden in there:
All of a sudden, as with all children, it opened up a world of possibilities (although she kept us amused for months with her conclusion that one is one, two is two and anything bigger is logically "TWOOOOOOOOO!")As we Robert Winston fanatics know, this seems to be borne out by science. Very young children, before they even understand the principle of counting or the words to use, can tell the difference between zero, one, two and 'lots'. A simple game where you hide a number of objects, add or take away an object and then reveal them, shows that before a baby can even sit up, they express surprise at changes in number. Add an item to a group of two or three, though, and they lose interest. This is not unlike the process by which US journalists lose interest in a scandal when it involves more than a couple of chiefs of staff. posted by Michael at 7/26/2005 12:57:00 PM 0 comments |
Subtle shift of language
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Blair says Iraq is no excuse for terror. He acknowledged Iraq was being used to recruit terrorists, but insisted the roots of extremism were much deeper.
So, finally he acknowledges what everyone knows deep down: Iraq is why. But, Blairite parsing finds a positive, and he (increasingly bizarrely) implicitly toes the Bush line: we're fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here.
Even though we are.
Mr Blair, you are still a tool. I use the word advisedly.
posted by Michael at 7/26/2005 12:37:00 PM 0 comments |
Monday, July 25, 2005
Would it be cruel to laugh at this?
Newshounds is an excellent site that announces "We watch FOX so you don't have to."
It is as such a valuable service. From their Monday Unfunnies (hate feedback from dumb Republican internet trolls), comes this gem:
Date: Jul 17, 2005
Subject: damn liberals
think your all smart with your fancy thinkin caps
Which reminds me of a local landmark when I was at university.
I lived in the Donnington Gardens area of Reading for a year as a student. Everyone who has lived in one knows that student areas are pretty much only fun for students (and convenience store proprietors) to live in, and only those who don't particularly value their sleep at the end of any day ending in a Y.
However, the thing that made this area a real pleasure to live in was a huge piece of graffiti on the wall that ran along the top of the various student-heavy roads on the hillside. Just as it joined the main road, was this gem:
STUNDENTS OUT!It was already difficult to decide whether this was an unintentionally funny display of (often justified) local anger, or a wry student joke. Either way, the local students wasted no time in accompanying it with other misspelling variants. posted by Michael at 7/25/2005 10:51:00 PM 0 comments |
Plame Name Blame Game Shame Update: Gonzales
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One time potential supreme court nominee Alberto Gonzales gave the White House 12 hours of unofficial notice before officially notifying them of the Plame investigation. That's a whole lot of deleting time.
Nobody at the White House is officially talking, but Gonzales obviously realises that if he's to avoid the fallout he has to sing now, and sing loudly...
posted by Michael at 7/25/2005 01:59:00 AM 0 comments |
Mighty (scary) mouse
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Have you ever seen a more intimidating mouse than this one? (OK, discounting any horrific Disney flashback nightmares)
My caption for that photo would be:
Small furry rodent says: eat me? screw you!
(Update: this reminded me of the Galapagos 'Vampire' finches: Take a look at the scary birdy photo)
posted by Michael at 7/25/2005 01:29:00 AM 0 comments |
Sunday, July 24, 2005
Mike's patented washing liquid allergy test
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Spill it over the back of your hand. In large quantities.
Guess I'll know soon enough.
posted by Michael at 7/24/2005 08:09:00 PM 0 comments |
Saturday, July 23, 2005
The aforementioned bandstand
I thought I'd use some photos I took of the aforementioned bandstand as a test of this newfangled Blogger Images system (you know, the one that broke everyone's blogs when they rolled it out).
The Pantiles is an odd sort of place - a genuinely old shopping street which is being well preserved, largely by keeping it an odd sort of secret - I mean, it's there, but kind of forgotten about until lazy warm weekends, where it is regularly used by petanque players, sunday afternoon art displays, those visiting european markets, that sort of thing.
Somehow, for me, a bandstand is meant to have a motley bunch of old folk playing wind instruments, surrounded by people half paying attention and half picnicking, and not beat poets and samba bands, so here it is in all its old fogey glory.
(Update: for those who care: Nikon F80, Ilford XP2, scanned with a Minolta SE 5400)
posted by Michael at 7/23/2005 11:30:00 PM 1 comments |
British 'Samba' bands: the sound of the hangover
Today there is some sort of music event at the bandstand on The Pantiles (the little old shopping street just round the corner from my little old house).
After a night of poor sleep, I was finally roused from my midday slumbers by what I thought was a thumping headache. It was, in fact, a samba band. I know that samba 'tub thumping' is now the celebrated music of left wing protest marchers, and it is widely lauded for its power to peacefully (if noisily) motivate crowds, but it is not widely lauded for its ability to ruin my quiet slumbery saturday afternoon. If I wanted a repetitive thumping feeling in my head, I would have got drunk last night.
Later I wandered to the shops (past said music event) and saw the start of a routine by a young-looking, slightly gangly beat poet, who may well have been excellent, but who instantly put me off with the customary free hand 'strumming' of the air, as his other hand clutched crumpled notes to the microphone stand.
As I wandered around Sainsbury's, I heard the Mike Myers beat poetry refrain in my head:
Woman! Woaaah, man!Quickly replaced by: HEEEEED! PANTS! NOOOOOW!And I smiled the scary smile of psycho shopper. Not that it made people get out of my way. As I type this, another band is delivering a very competent version of One Step Beyond through my open window, and samba-induced anger is fading. posted by Michael at 7/23/2005 07:48:00 PM 0 comments |
Randomness not always the spammer's friend
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Humour from my held log:
From: "Sarah" posted by Michael at 7/23/2005 06:32:00 PM 0 comments |
Quick Plame Name Blame Game Shame update
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Bolton talked to the Grand Jury.
posted by Michael at 7/23/2005 04:51:00 AM 0 comments |
Why is he worried about them investigating if it isn't happening?
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Daily Kos: Bush Threatens to Veto Attempts to Regulate, Investigate Abu Ghraib Torture
Sometimes I just don't know what to think. I mean, do they really expect me to find a new level of exasperatedly angry every week? It's wearing me out.
The reason Bush doesn't want this investigated is abundantly obvious: a majority of americans now think he lied in order to take the country to war. I guess photos of them raping and torturing family members of inmates to make those inmates talk, won't go down well. If people see this, who knows, they might actually start Questioning The Legitimacy Of The War.
And then maybe some of them will ask about that shiny new oil pipeline that the Iraqis are building. You know, for all the oil the President wasn't invading for, at all. Oil that will soon be flowing out of the country at last. To Iran.
You've got to wonder. If these people were not, in fact, invading to find WMDs, or dispose of a credible threat to the US, but were, as Noam Chomsky suggested, intending to create a permanent dependent client state from which to influence Iran and Syria, and have it financed by Iraq's own oil wealth, why are they making such a complete and total HORSE'S ARSE of the job?
I mean, it's not as if they haven't been planning it for about a decade.
If any Republican voters are reading this: do you still think you got the government who promised not to offer legalese, parsing of words, and scandal? Are they talking straight enough for you? Or is it time for you all to pretend you were really just Libertarians all along?
posted by Michael at 7/23/2005 03:58:00 AM 0 comments |
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Easy for him to say
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[from article in The Register]
Tony Blair this afternoon met the Cobra committee and later made a televised statement in with Australian PM John Howard during which the latter praised Londoners' steadfastness and determination to carry on as normal. For his part, Blair expressed his personal determination to get on with his life.
Surrounded as usual by his dedicated ARMED POLICE GUARD.
Later, he thumbed his nose at Londoners, saying "if you had a bulletproof car like me you wouldn't be using the tube anyway, don't expect me to take you into consideration when I go to war against another Arab country."
"Not that it is the government's position that Iraq had anything to do with this, of course."
posted by Michael at 7/21/2005 10:13:00 PM 0 comments |
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Just a little idea
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All of you in the UK know, I hope, about MPS - the Mailing Preference Service. (You might not know about the excellent, though-provoking 'Baby MPS' service - check it out).
I have a little idea. How about a LPPFPS. Local Pizza Parlour Flyer Preference Service.
I just want them to STOP with the photos of tasty junk food, OK? Is it too much to ask?
posted by Michael at 7/20/2005 04:14:00 PM 0 comments |
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Three police cars and A ****ING HELICOPTER
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OK, so I've been looking for a dustbuster for this blog for the last few days, and today, I found it.
I read a BBC article about this, and headed on over to Google to find out more... I am utterly gobsmacked by this.
My one question would be: will they now commit to that kind of comprehensive policing for everything bad that happens in Fresno, or do they only take the helicopter when there's absolutely no chance of it getting scratched? (How will they ever be able to justify poor response to a criminal act in the future if they _don't_ denounce this as an overreaction?)
Surely Governor Schwarzenegger, who needs a little good PR, could go rescue this girl.
Oh, and on the whole Rove thing: this makes interesting reading. I still don't get why the president decided to simply blank-stare people who ask if he has confidence in his staff, but this hints at the reasons why, perhaps...
posted by Michael at 7/16/2005 10:47:00 PM 0 comments |