Blog: 2009-01

Remember the Bigger Picture

After some huge distractions from my consulting work, I am finally getting re-immersed. This situation reminds me of something that I learned long ago.

When working with software systems -- dealing in abstractions, symbols, numbers, algorithms, etc. -- the architecture and code of the software itself can be elegant and inspirational.

What can also help for inspiration is to reinforce the connection between the abstractions of software and the relatively concrete purpose of the software.

Examples:

• Early in my career, I spent most of my time working on analysis/design models and C/C++ code. I was working on tools for critical mil/aero/datacomm development, but rarely did I learn the exact purposes for which the tools were used. So, for more concrete inspiration than my models and code, I'd hang up printed screenshots and output from the system I was working on.

• If you're developing Web sites, sometimes browsing the evolving Web site itself can be inspirational. Good visual and interaction design helps a lot.

• If you're developing Web sites, but the site itself doesn't inspire, you might take a step back and reflect on the subject of the site. What real-world needs or topics does it address? Where can you find reminders of this that inspire? If it's a site for baseball fans, when was the last time you went to a baseball game or played baseball?

• I once worked with someone who had led a development team for part of a certain anti-missile system. He told me that, at one point, he packed the team into a bus and brought them out to actually see the system they had helped build. Actually, later, they could have seen it on CNN, apparently doing amazing maneuvers to shoot down real missiles with nasty payloads that were being fired by a nasty aggressor. At the time of the initial reporting on CNN, I thought that, even engineers and scientists who avoid working on weapons systems would have felt proud of the purpose to which the system was being put.

Lately, working in "aviation safety," the closest I've been to actual aircraft is flying the occasional mission in Ace Combat Zero on my PlayStation 2. That is, not so close.

At the moment, I'm working with particular aircraft -- purely in computer abstractions and written manuals -- and I was reminded that, in real life, the actual aircraft are pretty impressive machines to behold. So, until I can get my butt to some airports, bases, and air shows, I'm printing out photos of particular aircraft, as I work with their abstractions. Got one here on the 'desk' right now.

I'll just have to hide the photos when visitors drop by, so that they don't ask if I was ever a pilot. :)

(Photo by Tech. Sgt. Ben Bloker, USAF. Used here for decorative purposes only, not to indicate particular aircraft.)

Happy Obama Day

What excites me most about Obama as President is the sheer contrast: an abrupt shift from an administration of some of the most harmful actors ever to affect America in any capacity, to someone of whom we forsee being proud.

Americans, when was the last time you were proud of your President?

This dwarfs even the symbolic Civil Rights milestone of an African-American in the Oval Office.

Concept2 Interval Training

Noel wrote all the way from London to extol the virtues of interval training on the Concept2 rowing ergometer.

Once I was comfortable with continuous-intensity for at least 30 minutes, I started intervals. It does indeed feel like a better workout, although you can't zone out (at least not with the LCD-only prompts on the Model B's PM1).

The Concept2 must be approached as an adversary. To adapt something I once heard about helicopter piloting: from the moment you get on the Concept2, that sonofabitch is trying to kill you. It is an epic struggle of man vs. machine. Man can only clench his jaw and growl, "Then I'll see you in hell!" I might have to remove my homemade baffle, for the whole wind-in-the-hair effect.

I had to cut short today's workout because the occasional squeak from my Concept2 had escalated to a cacophony of squeals and creaking, and my neighbors were probably trying to watch the Obama inauguration events over the racket. Time to open it up. The service manual makes this sound like overhauling a Harley. And should we be surprised.

Your Local Mom&Pop Businesses

Last week, I happened to learn that one of my favorite humble pizza&subs shop is up for sale.

The reason given was something vague about them having done this for many years. I hope that the economic downturn isn't a factor.

While I've been giving this shop a healthy share of my veggie sub business lately, a shop one likes going out of business is reminder to frequent favored shops while one can.

(This is the consumer-centric version of spending time with people while they're alive.)

Advent of the Twelve-Year-Old as Force for Good

American twelve-year-olds, having no discernible purpose since sweatshops were abolished, have in the last decade finally produced something worthwhile: supercomputer graphics in cheap consumer products.

If only the purchasing power of twelve-year-olds could be harnessed to energize other industries. For example, if we could find a way to make twelve-year-olds have good taste in music...

IKEA

I've been slowly populating my apartment with select IKEA pieces, all of them purchased used for no more than half price, and usually hauled across town on a hand truck.

I do a lot of laptopping work from my my KLIPPAN sofa. To prevent myself from getting the DVTs from resting legs on coffee table for hours at a time, I decided to get a matching KLIPPAN footstool. So I spent a couple months acquiring one. Twice, I ordered the footstool from IKEA, but they had unbelievable trouble accepting payments. I also monitored CraigsList and eBay, before finally giving up and yesterday hiring someone to pick up a darned footstool and deliver it.

Now, this KLIPPAN footstool was the first new piece of IKEA I've ever had, and I really wasn't prepared for the shoddy construction and downright broken pieces.

Three things you never want to see made:

1. Sausage

2. Legislation

3. IKEA

QuikWood = Godsend

The new KLIPPAN footstool, besides missing its cover, had damaged threads on one of the feet. This caused the anchor to turn into the wood and strip the hole it was in.

Not having a tap&die kit, I tried unsuccessfully to fix the threads with a metal file, then I filed them down so the anchor could be screwed on permanently with a pliers. The hole in the soft wood was stripped and not deep enough with the anchor fixed to the end of the foot bolt, so I drilled it a bit deeper, and cleaned it out. Then all that was left was to acquire a goo to cement the anchor in.

As soon as I remarked to someone I needed goo, I recalled I had some QuikWood epoxy left over from 2008-11-14.

Worked like a charm. Amazing stuff.

Rice Milk Cocoa and Other Winter Beverages

This winter, I'm getting a sizeable percentage of my caloric intake form rice milk cocoa.

Ahead of time, mix cocoa powder, sugar, and a little cinnamon together, to fill a tabletop sugar-pouring container. It won't clump in the container. On demand, nuke a cup of rice milk and then pour in a tablespoon or so of the mixture. It'll stir in a couple second.

For the cocoa powder, I've mostly been using Valrhona or Bensdorp, which can be found at Christina's spice shop (Inman Square, Cambridge, MA, US). Sugar is turbadino, from Harvest. Cinnamon is currently from Trader Joe's, though in the past I'd found a tastier one at Harvest or Whole Foods. Rice milk is Westsoy or Rice Dream, vanilla or plain. I tend to alternate between the Westsoys, and now that I've gotten accustomed to their more oaty taste, the Rice Dream has a hint of metallic by comparison.

Also good is nuked vegetable juice, so long as you get the low-sodium variety. Harvest carries R.W. Knudsen Very Veggie, which has only 35mg of sodium per 8 oz.

And there's herbal teas, of course. My long-time favorite is Celestial's Bengal Spice, with rice milk added, but with all the cocoa I've been drinking, I've been gravitating mostly towards Celetial's Mandarin Spice and Cinnamon Apple Spice. None of them needs sweetener. Available everywhere.

Adding Non-Debian Packaging of Firefox to Debian

I like to track the official Firefox release pretty closely on my Debian laptop. One way to make Debian cooperate with this is to do something like the following:

1. Uninstall other Web browsers.

2. Install your Firefox as a self-contained tree for the version, under /usr/local/. For example, /usr/local/firefox-3.0.5/.

3. Make /usr/local/bin/firefox a symlink to the Firefox version that you installed. For example, to /usr/local/firefox-3.0.5/firefox.

4. Optionally install a Flash player.

5. Add your /usr/local/bin/firefox to the Debian alternatives system, and make sure that it is configured as the default:

   update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/x-www-browser \
       x-www-browser /usr/local/bin/firefox 99
   update-alternatives --config x-www-browser
   

6. If you're using Gnome tools, do the same for gnome-www-browser as you did for x-www-browser:

   update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/gnome-www-browser \
       gnome-www-browser /usr/local/bin/firefox 99
   update-alternatives --config gnome-www-browser
   

Now, when you click on links in various programs, they should open in Firefox.

To install a new version of Firefox, make a new self-contained tree for that version under /usr/local/, update the symlink to point to the new executable, and optionally install a Flash player. Once you're satisfied that it works, you can remove the tree for the old version. Or keep it around, if it's a version you need for testing.

Concept2 Ramp-Up

It's important not to get discouraged.

My first two workouts on the Concept2 rower lasted only 10 and 5 minutes, respectively. I just didn't have the right combination of condition and energy to put in a respectable showing.

Today, I did 30 minutes. I think I could've pushed myself to do at least another 10, but I decided to save some for tomorrow.

I don't know whether the ramp-up has anything to do with an email I got from a friend who I haven't seen in a couple years. She used to be a coxswain (don't pronounce it correctly), and would know what a Concept2 is, so I sent her an excited message about my new machine. Her reply included:

"That thing'll really get you back in shape."

Ahem.

DIY Air Baffle for Concept2 Rower

In the corner of my living room, my new Concept2 Model B rowing ergometer (2008-12-30) was blowing a lot of air into my face, which is not so welcome in the winter. And my houseplant was getting blown about.

Fortunately, I had a sheet of black corrugated plastic on hand, so I present to you the Mk. I prototype Corrugated2.

I'd just intended this to be a quick prototype, which is why the sloppy taping, but it works well enough thus far, so I'll just pretty-up the tape a bit and not bother iterating on the design for now.

Note that the baffle partially blocks the adjustable vents on the side of the wheel, so I imagine that might affect resistance.

Retroencabulator

Here's a new link to the Rockwell Automation Retroencabulator video, since the link I posted a while ago is now dead.

See also Wikipedia's Turboencabulator article.

Who says engineers don't know how to party.

Weather Advisory

If you're in the metro Boston (MA, USA) area this morning, your sidewalks are probably covered with a thin layer of very slippery ice.

It might not be too late to pick up some traction aids (see 2008-12-24) if you have not already done so.

This advisory was not brought to you by the weather Web sites that post hundreds of big red severe weather warnings for your city per year, when really you only only need a few. The rest must be weathertainment.