The title is an allusion to a plenary session introduction to Open Spaces yesterday. Our speaker said he bounces around among a lot of computer conferences, many of them FOSS related, and Pycon is the most like Rivendale in Lord of the Rings. He feels like he's discovered an elvyn capital. Of course geeks ate it up.
This same guy referred to the Hyatt lobby as a "fragatorium" i.e. that cliche first or second level any designer of a first person shooter comes up with -- we laughed about that too).
Our benevolent dictator for life (BDFL) Guido van Rossum, is giving a keynote. "I'd like to just stroke your egos and be done with it, but since you've asked me to keep giving a keynote...."
He's making jokes about Twitter, which has changed things. There's a paparazzi aspect to it all, especially if you're an MVP people like to yak about.
Python is 19 years old this year. "She can vote, drive a car... she can't drink yet which is OK with me" -- he's stealing from Larry Wall's talk about Perl (he alludes to Larry. He's looking forward to another 19 years. "We face our demons and come out with a better language, a better community").
He's really interested in the anthropology of what's going on, as Python Nation becomes increasingly global, spontaneously self-organizes in various ways. Pycon is a big part of it.
His parting words were of reassurance: Python is in good shape, isn't in any danger of going away, is just getting stronger, thanks to this community of ours. In that context, he's becoming more retiring, less likely to travel. The nuts and bolts of community leadership are not his exclusive concern (despite his exalted title). We're very fortunate to have such an authentic leader and language designer in one package. Guido is one of Python's best features.
Package distribution, dependencies and revision control remain key issues. There's general consensus that we're moving out of Subversion to something else, either Mercurial or Bazaar most likely. The decision between those two may be reached in the next few days.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
PPS to Kill LEP High?
Thanks to Wanderers for sending a link to this editorial in Willamette Week.
Every generation has a right to start schools. Indeed, all public schools have a charter, so "charter school" isn't very precise. It's more a question of whether your charter is of recent vintage or not (i.e. how old is your charter?).
Having observed LEP's adventures for some years, I've been aware that it was never very popular with the older charters, who feel threatened, suffer from a siege mentality. Alaska seems more enlightened in this respect, as Anna is reporting "The Alaska Charter School Association Conference in Juneau was a huge success this past weekend" (email of March 24). We shall see.
I've been highlighting Portland's FOSS community as leading edge in this conference. LEP High, one of the few to use Edubuntu, other open source tools, has been part of my promotional rap, my boosterism. I should probably ratchet that down a bit: this news comes as a reality check. Portland's FOSS community may be leading edge, but that doesn't keep us from living in the dark ages in other respects.
My thanks to Wanderers for helping me stay grounded. Thanks also to Willamette Week, for taking a sympathetic position.
The school board is set to vote Monday night, March 30, on the recommendation to close LEP. And it is extremely unlikely the seven-member board, with the exception of members Martín González (who is running for re-election) and Sonja Henning (who is not), will oppose the recommendation, which the superintendent supports.I've supported LEP High, as well as the whole concept of charter schools, from the start, as we need that experimental spirit.
Every generation has a right to start schools. Indeed, all public schools have a charter, so "charter school" isn't very precise. It's more a question of whether your charter is of recent vintage or not (i.e. how old is your charter?).
Having observed LEP's adventures for some years, I've been aware that it was never very popular with the older charters, who feel threatened, suffer from a siege mentality. Alaska seems more enlightened in this respect, as Anna is reporting "The Alaska Charter School Association Conference in Juneau was a huge success this past weekend" (email of March 24). We shall see.
I've been highlighting Portland's FOSS community as leading edge in this conference. LEP High, one of the few to use Edubuntu, other open source tools, has been part of my promotional rap, my boosterism. I should probably ratchet that down a bit: this news comes as a reality check. Portland's FOSS community may be leading edge, but that doesn't keep us from living in the dark ages in other respects.
My thanks to Wanderers for helping me stay grounded. Thanks also to Willamette Week, for taking a sympathetic position.
Pycon Lightning Talks
Hbase vs. Voldemort vs. CouchDB. But now: Cassandra -- out of the Facebook community. Another entry in the non-relational database world. Must follow-up.
How to give a Lightning Talk is a lightning talk. We take the 5 minute limit pretty seriously, although you're free to use less time. Have the next speaker setting up if you're lucky enough to have switchable podia.
Git is out as Python.org's version control manager. So Bazaar or Mercurial?
John Hawyard is talking up science. "That's funny", not "Eureka!" is the epiphany in science. The discovery of X-rays is the story he told. He's talking about bugs, the really hard ones, reminds me of The Bug by Ellen Ullman. Science and debugging have a lot in common (is that why it's called "computer science"). This is a talk on chance and serendipity. Knowing what you're talking about and stopping when you trip on something, is the way to find the bug you were not looking for (surprise). Interesting humanities-tradition talk. This is one those deep thinkers he my
Psycopgwrapper: Sean Reifscheider polishing the DB API (for PosgreSQL).
Ian Benson is now up in front, waving The Guardian ("twitters and blogs"), thanking everyone who has helped with the rapid progress of AlgebraFirst since this same conference last year. He only took 2.5 minutes, well demonstrating his Python cultural savvy (another deep thinker in my workshop).
We leafleted all the chairs last night, like a thousand, shades of CN logistics (I used to be a super).
Later lightning talks: Brazil is a hotbed of Pythoneers, with the government running several Plone sites. Alexander Limi and Alan Runyan, also Bruce Eckel, have been among the invited international speakers.
How to give a Lightning Talk is a lightning talk. We take the 5 minute limit pretty seriously, although you're free to use less time. Have the next speaker setting up if you're lucky enough to have switchable podia.
Git is out as Python.org's version control manager. So Bazaar or Mercurial?
John Hawyard is talking up science. "That's funny", not "Eureka!" is the epiphany in science. The discovery of X-rays is the story he told. He's talking about bugs, the really hard ones, reminds me of The Bug by Ellen Ullman. Science and debugging have a lot in common (is that why it's called "computer science"). This is a talk on chance and serendipity. Knowing what you're talking about and stopping when you trip on something, is the way to find the bug you were not looking for (surprise). Interesting humanities-tradition talk. This is one those deep thinkers he my
Psycopgwrapper: Sean Reifscheider polishing the DB API (for PosgreSQL).
Ian Benson is now up in front, waving The Guardian ("twitters and blogs"), thanking everyone who has helped with the rapid progress of AlgebraFirst since this same conference last year. He only took 2.5 minutes, well demonstrating his Python cultural savvy (another deep thinker in my workshop).
We leafleted all the chairs last night, like a thousand, shades of CN logistics (I used to be a super).
Later lightning talks: Brazil is a hotbed of Pythoneers, with the government running several Plone sites. Alexander Limi and Alan Runyan, also Bruce Eckel, have been among the invited international speakers.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Bitter Debates
I'm aware of two especially bitter debates these days, one macro, one micro -- letting you decide which is which.
Some neocons don't like the USA's plans to help the Middle East inter-connect its electrical grids, more like in North America, with Texas sort of like Iran in being a source of new power plants. No one wants more weaponized nukes obviously, but as the submarines have shown, it's possible to run these things without going Chernobyl. More hydroelectric might also be usable, depending on grid configuration. I'm not the expert in the room on these topics. Write to GENI maybe?
Likewise, some MIT trained computer scientists are looking askance at what's been happening in computer science at their alma mater. What had been a Scheme based introductory class, a common gateway to geekiness, has turned to Pythonic robotics as more anticipatory of tomorrow's working environment. That may be what industry is planning, but many "old skool" engineers miss that "close to the metal" feel.
The good news is if the new approach is successful in recruiting newcomers to computer science, then there's plenty of time left to dive into LISP and/or Scheme. Just one course does not a meal make. Plus if you don't want to go in that direction, you've still learned some Python, and that's a plus on your resume I'd say, admitting bias.
Some neocons don't like the USA's plans to help the Middle East inter-connect its electrical grids, more like in North America, with Texas sort of like Iran in being a source of new power plants. No one wants more weaponized nukes obviously, but as the submarines have shown, it's possible to run these things without going Chernobyl. More hydroelectric might also be usable, depending on grid configuration. I'm not the expert in the room on these topics. Write to GENI maybe?
Likewise, some MIT trained computer scientists are looking askance at what's been happening in computer science at their alma mater. What had been a Scheme based introductory class, a common gateway to geekiness, has turned to Pythonic robotics as more anticipatory of tomorrow's working environment. That may be what industry is planning, but many "old skool" engineers miss that "close to the metal" feel.
The good news is if the new approach is successful in recruiting newcomers to computer science, then there's plenty of time left to dive into LISP and/or Scheme. Just one course does not a meal make. Plus if you don't want to go in that direction, you've still learned some Python, and that's a plus on your resume I'd say, admitting bias.
Airplane Reading
Walking with Nobby is somewhat frustrating yet entertaining. We get wisps of where a sensitive mind was looking, getting away from Dionysus, but not really, not in NOB's namespace. He allies himself with engineering, mentions both Bucky and Wittgenstein (I'd known that before).He's vectoring towards chance, or luck, but we avoid "synchronicity" because there's allegiance to Freud over Jung in this text and it's not like there's a real theory here, just a meta-politics of some nature, poets feeling their way forward (autopoiesis, dialectic). Dr. Nick had earlier highlighted some of the salient points, especially the link to John Cage, again on the topic of chance, Apollo vs. Dionysus, or system versus not.
David Koski phoned as I was wheeling my bag towards the bus and shuttle center at O'Hare. Alaska Airlines delivered me on time and in good shape. I wish the hotel wifi was working (and it's only supposed to in the lobby), but you get what you pay for sometimes (hotels.com found me this room). The hotel shuttle's radio was recruiting for cia.gov and advertising mortgage restructuring. I phoned David back once I got to my room to continue the conversation (ongoing). He's working night shift these days, is on his day off.
Ian had a video clip for me this morning, about public key encryption (Diffie-Hellman) as used by Amazon. The segment is apropos given I've queued public key cryptography as one of those Python for Teachers topics, with attached lore (something I went over again with Wanderers yesterday). I'm not suggesting one right way to tell the story but here's a good example of embedding something technical / mathematical within history / mnemonics, complete with challenges and heroes. Or we could use a more fictional backdrop.
If geeks want to pass on their subculture's lore, then it's up to them to figure out how. Outsiders don't know it that well. Getting this UK government secret into civilian use was something of a coup (GHCQ had realized the possibility, but others would eventually discover it and make it public, such that now it's in every web browser).
Ian's flight doesn't get him here until tomorrow.
What I hadn't known about Nobby before was that he served in the OSS as a compatriot of Herbert Marcuse, tasked with discerning the psychology behind fascism. Marcuse's later critique of Love's Body only served to spread its fame. I was impressed with what a strong hiker he was, into his 80s. Dr. Kaufmann didn't think Marcuse was all that great a thinker. Also like Nobby, like Nietzsche, he was a "hard bed" for his friends.
His relationship with Dale includes a lot of teasing, a kind of sparring, yet is based in trust and true friendship. They talk about sex, drugs, rock and roll, especially given Dale's generation's spin on those. NOB, clearly into esoterica yet wanting to be democratic, accessible, is beginning to study Mormonism. I'd not heard of the Oneida experiment but then there's lots I don't know.
Blogging, as a genre, relates to NOB's advocacy around the aphoristic writing style. He was into fragments, letting the spirit connect the dots. As someone highly skilled in the liberal arts, he could commit to memory and use hypertext without any outward http. Thanks to the web, we needn't be that skilled to get some of these same benefits.
Sometimes I found myself taking the part of the grandson defending the grandfather against the son. But then I was right away grateful for DP's staying on target, their unity-twoness. Great coupling guys!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Competitive Gaming?
In a post queued for tomorrow on the CSN blog, I take up the subject of proprietary games, cite a somewhat violent one (Half Life 2). I know cynics are thinking I might be hiding behind AVP talk, using Quakerism as a mask, while giving a green light to tastelessly violent video games of no socially redeeming value. Am I selling out to make money then?
The question is misconceived in the sense that I'm not playing traffic cop, am not some uber-censor handing down edicts on what people might play. Personally, I'm looking forward to cooperative, team-building sports, not necessarily indoors, that make use of new toyz.
Geocaching is certainly a start, already has group aspects.
The question about proprietary games "in principle" is more properly a concern for the CIO probably, but I'm already somewhat aware of his thinking on this issue. Engineers want layers of open source at strategic levels within the chip-to-cloud stack. Closed off, veiled and/or private levels (as in proprietary) are not an anathema. It's only if private interests become greedy and seek to exert some kind of stranglehold on resources held in common, that we must be prepared to defend our freedoms.
I'm so far unable to see Milk, even though it's close by at The Bagdad. Too much happening, no frills allowed. I appreciate getting the invitation though. Someday I'll have a social life again. As things stand, I'm grateful for congenial coworkers. Increasing the supply of qualified personnel remains a top priority. I'm seeing some positive signs, amidst a lot of unrealism.
I'm glad the FWCC meeting went well. I appreciate hearing from attenders Eddy and Leslie, as well as from Nancy herself. Had I not been so immersed in Wanderers Retreat XVII, I might have made at least part of it, even though Canby is a ways (just south of Oregon City).
The question is misconceived in the sense that I'm not playing traffic cop, am not some uber-censor handing down edicts on what people might play. Personally, I'm looking forward to cooperative, team-building sports, not necessarily indoors, that make use of new toyz.
Geocaching is certainly a start, already has group aspects.
The question about proprietary games "in principle" is more properly a concern for the CIO probably, but I'm already somewhat aware of his thinking on this issue. Engineers want layers of open source at strategic levels within the chip-to-cloud stack. Closed off, veiled and/or private levels (as in proprietary) are not an anathema. It's only if private interests become greedy and seek to exert some kind of stranglehold on resources held in common, that we must be prepared to defend our freedoms.
I'm so far unable to see Milk, even though it's close by at The Bagdad. Too much happening, no frills allowed. I appreciate getting the invitation though. Someday I'll have a social life again. As things stand, I'm grateful for congenial coworkers. Increasing the supply of qualified personnel remains a top priority. I'm seeing some positive signs, amidst a lot of unrealism.
I'm glad the FWCC meeting went well. I appreciate hearing from attenders Eddy and Leslie, as well as from Nancy herself. Had I not been so immersed in Wanderers Retreat XVII, I might have made at least part of it, even though Canby is a ways (just south of Oregon City).
Saturday, March 21, 2009
From the Top
The plan in these blogs has been to surround the nonprofit sector, which includes military services (but not to the exclusion of others), with R&D aimed at improving effectiveness, already the norm.
However, our civilian "livingry" in being prototypical of spreading lifestyle options, attracts public focus in the form of reality television with product placements. The entertainment sector serves a bridging function here, helps people participate in the dream weaving.
Concomitant to the above is a recruitment drive for designers, artists, and of course engineers. Finding the right curricula to match our goal spaces remains a challenge. I've been urging a mix of object oriented programming and spatial geometry, with sufficient attention to recent advances in pedagogy and andragogy, including some streamlining metaphysics (philosophy talk).
These kinds of dreams have a long history and track record, especially if you factor in pioneering encampments and deployments of the recent past, along with nomadic and pilgrimage activities (today called "tourism" by the travel industry). The prospect of expanding habitats onto and under the oceans has guided much of the science fiction.
My principal focus has been providing new health care options in the form of remote communities, not "cut off" from the rest of the world, but secluded and therefore more in control of their own influences. These might be clinics, places to work through PTSD, retreat centers for voluntary associations. I haven't tried to be the comprehensive development planner, beyond envisioning a kind of shared context.
Getting a footprint for object oriented mathematics using inspired forms of futurism is a recruiting goal, given the feedback, which suggests we're currently turning off students in droves pre-college, steering them away from engineering and/or technology tracks.
The perception that engineers work in faceless bureaucracies, mostly for Dr. Evil types who plan and build WMDs, is not without basis in fact. We've had an uphill battle so far, countering this PR nightmare. A fleet of "circus buses" was proposed, to tickle the positive futurist fantasies of school kids more directly. Sponsors were sought.
However, our civilian "livingry" in being prototypical of spreading lifestyle options, attracts public focus in the form of reality television with product placements. The entertainment sector serves a bridging function here, helps people participate in the dream weaving.
Concomitant to the above is a recruitment drive for designers, artists, and of course engineers. Finding the right curricula to match our goal spaces remains a challenge. I've been urging a mix of object oriented programming and spatial geometry, with sufficient attention to recent advances in pedagogy and andragogy, including some streamlining metaphysics (philosophy talk).
These kinds of dreams have a long history and track record, especially if you factor in pioneering encampments and deployments of the recent past, along with nomadic and pilgrimage activities (today called "tourism" by the travel industry). The prospect of expanding habitats onto and under the oceans has guided much of the science fiction.
My principal focus has been providing new health care options in the form of remote communities, not "cut off" from the rest of the world, but secluded and therefore more in control of their own influences. These might be clinics, places to work through PTSD, retreat centers for voluntary associations. I haven't tried to be the comprehensive development planner, beyond envisioning a kind of shared context.
Getting a footprint for object oriented mathematics using inspired forms of futurism is a recruiting goal, given the feedback, which suggests we're currently turning off students in droves pre-college, steering them away from engineering and/or technology tracks.
The perception that engineers work in faceless bureaucracies, mostly for Dr. Evil types who plan and build WMDs, is not without basis in fact. We've had an uphill battle so far, countering this PR nightmare. A fleet of "circus buses" was proposed, to tickle the positive futurist fantasies of school kids more directly. Sponsors were sought.
Friday, March 20, 2009
CubeSpace Anon?
I'm tempted to stay with the cube farm today, have some quality time with VPython, which has a lot of new features. However, sometimes it's about damage control 24/7, as when USAers are bitching about their economy yet still spending $10 billion a month or whatever on military bonuses for "doing the wrong thing". It's not like there's much patience or understanding out there, for how to have it both ways.
The analysis coming out of Japan is typically manga-seeming: once Texans saw those homey green-style freeway signs around Baghdad on their televisions, the limbic system kicked in, truckers going "hey, we could drive on those roads, make big bucks", and the rest is history. The truckers invaded (hiding behind neocon fabrications and lies) so they could feed hungry families back home, pay for air conditioning.
There was never any "military strategy" or ideas about "saving face" -- stuff for the Pentagon and diplomats to worry about i.e. "not our department". "Don't mess with Texas" was the main thing to say, seemed to justify everything, Enron included.
Of course Iraqis know how to drive trucks, so there's an easy solution, once USAers decide it's not worth their $10B per month to act out their inner Roman imperial monster truck-driving children (the "superpower" fantasy, driven by Marvel comics). Stick to your own NAFTA highways and I-69 why don't ya?
Like I said, Japanese intelligence has these like "comic book" explanations for everything, lots of shelf space at Powell's.
The analysis coming out of Japan is typically manga-seeming: once Texans saw those homey green-style freeway signs around Baghdad on their televisions, the limbic system kicked in, truckers going "hey, we could drive on those roads, make big bucks", and the rest is history. The truckers invaded (hiding behind neocon fabrications and lies) so they could feed hungry families back home, pay for air conditioning.
There was never any "military strategy" or ideas about "saving face" -- stuff for the Pentagon and diplomats to worry about i.e. "not our department". "Don't mess with Texas" was the main thing to say, seemed to justify everything, Enron included.
Of course Iraqis know how to drive trucks, so there's an easy solution, once USAers decide it's not worth their $10B per month to act out their inner Roman imperial monster truck-driving children (the "superpower" fantasy, driven by Marvel comics). Stick to your own NAFTA highways and I-69 why don't ya?
Like I said, Japanese intelligence has these like "comic book" explanations for everything, lots of shelf space at Powell's.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Animal Planet
Tara and I took some time off yesterday, me to get a haircut, then we headed to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden near Reed College to feed the fauna (water birds, some of them diving underwater).
The geese will eat directly from your hand.
Then we went shopping at Trader Joe's for lunch snacks, bulk supplies (frozen salmon, soy bacon, vino... dog food). The mango sorbet looks like a low fat alternative to some of those other options.
Tinkerbell has a flat and I've been too preoccupied with math wars to mess with it. However, now that spring has arrived...
Today: more MVP from the airport duty (looking forward), Pacific University in play. Tomorrow: beginning of Wanderers retreat (I'll see some of you there).
Speaking of animal planet, I'm glad to see our more minimal TV package (no Al Jazeera) still has the National Geographic channel. We're enjoying it. It's not like there's a shortage of media in this town.
:: pycairo release 1.8.4 is now available ::
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Celebrating Wicca
She was also a spiritual teacher and practiced Celtic disciplines. Her business, Turning the Wheel, a subsidiary of DWA (like 4D Solutions) was all about inviting a few families to our back yard and patio, to do handicrafts, share lore, maybe dance the Maypole if appropriate. We never did the bonfires on this property, however we're not the only family living out these traditions, so yes, bonfires were lit, safely and with no sense of ill will towards fellow creatures, humans included.
Part of the lore is one of non-capitulation to later forms of Christianity that seemed to insist on monopolistic powers (not all Xtians do), with no tolerance for defiance. Some people insist that St. Patrick's disbarring of snakes from the Irish homeland was a thinly veiled dig at Druidic cultures, which found their ways more constricted, less accepted in public with the spread of more Roman Imperial forms of thinking. Writing in counterpoint:
I realize there's some irony in speaking so kindly of Python on St. Patty's day tomorrow but of course in my family we're glad to have Celtic lore alive and well, and besides there weren't any snakes before that so helluva job guy! Might make some fun skits ("did you get rid of the tigers too then?").When Dawn joined Quakers, not just to keep me company but in honest appreciation for the stars she discovered (Teresina Havens for example, who lead a seminar on Buddhism), she wanted her Clearness Committee to understand that she didn't profess to be Christian (Jesus didn't either) yet she was a sincere scholar who immersed herself in his mysteries, studied the people around him (his friends), and didn't this constitute possibly being a Friend of Christ, an Amigo? The Clearness Committee thought yes, Christianity is not a requirement for Friends, Christ's own shining example making that clear.
The girls will be joining a small circle this evening, whereas I'm giving the aforesaid talk, out on the heath, a ghost warrior (these "math wars" I fight are highly metaphysical you've gotta admit), still bearing my Dawn's standard with both pride and gratitude.
Apropos Python, Guido's computer language, the link to snakes is more than a name collision, but the link to Druids might be a stretch. I comment on that in a recent letter to Aimée:
Admittedly, Python (the computer language), is maybe more Dutch than Celtic, but there's more to this battle I'm waging... which certainly have [sic] Celtic elements e.g. this drawing is by some famous Celtic drawer guy:
Fig. 321.01 Universe as "A Minimum of Two Pictures"
Drawings by Mallory Pearce
Drawings by Mallory Pearce
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Manga Code
Computer science (CS) traditionally includes various flavors of pseudo-code, designed to be somewhat agnostic, true (gets one out of the advocacy business), but more important, uncluttered with extraneous detail not relevant to developing the rudimentary level of understanding we're aiming for, i.e. to use a true production code syntax would just bury the lesson in cruft.
This is not about dumbing it down, but of being respectful. You're a busy executive, a FOSS boss between meetings, riding Amtrak both ways, with only so much time for technicalia, best that those sessions be packed and comprehensible, relevant. You don't need displays of snobbery reminding you that you're out of your field, out of your depth. This colloquial, non-patronizing style was pioneered by "for dummies" and "for complete idiots" titles. "Explain it to a caveman why don't ya?". Pretty soon, cavemen were selling us car insurance.
When Python came along as "executable pseudo-code" i.e. as very non-crufty, even economizing with whitespace, the new possibility was to write "manga code" as I'm calling it, a kind of comic book or cave painting version of a more complicated production environment. Or call it the "open source" version (thinking back to Linux and its citations to computer science texts, its monolithic kernel with modular plug-ins extension architecture).
Manga code has the advantage of actually running in other words, meaning the runtime environment, not just the compile time source code, has andragogical significance.
Buried in my specific example of "manga code" for Coffee Shops Network (CSN), is vendors getting the proceeds above a "worthy cause" waterline, as if your heroic idealist is now suddenly co-opted, Marcuse style, is now shilling for Mars. Here's a screen shot:
>> compare with circuit <<
I'm proposing a different gestalt however: having topped out for your worthy cause (e.g. AFSC, FCNL... QUNO), you're now a company MVP taking a victory lap, adding luster (and profit) to your proud back office sponsor. Yes, you're "carrying Mars on your back" so to speak, but not as a slave, as a hall of fame friend of the sponsor, like on Facebook. Let your vendor glow in your limelight. Then on to the next game.
But doesn't the model show the vendor benefiting from your loss or failure to star in whatever practice session? The house got some compensation just for booting the game, but we'll say the vendor bonus was simply "unexpressed" i.e. the players working for this product don't yet have the strength to intercept its game loop and start feeding their resumes. The trophy goes back to the warehouse, unclaimed. Better luck next time, takes practice, takes patience.
The vendor wants star players because that's better advertising than always winning your bonus back, because your games are simply unplayable, don't help the worthy causes or anyone but yourself.
If we picture the CEO of Mars coming in to CSN and playing for a favorite cause, then the victory lap might feel like "income to me!" i.e. "I've earned good will and now I'm getting paid for so doing, best of both worlds". However, the manga code above makes "Me!" compete with the other worthy causes, another way of netting a reward, then effectively mailing a negative bonus (cutting in to vendor territory, claiming turf) which the company actually celebrates, as now you're their champion (one of many we hope).
Put another way, at the hardest levels, it's between you and the vendor (who may be the game author). Innocent bystanders (worthy causes) don't get caught in the crossfile. It's the difference between "their product" and "their product with your name on it" i.e. those high level points are yours to win. Games without winners tend not to have takers. Like sure, a vendor could put out a game that says Game Over right out of the gate, but who'd wanna play it?
I'm not claiming to get all of the above across in my manga code. This is additional description. The culture already has the pattern ingrained, so once I point to it, I don't have to work too hard to sketch in the details.
People know what its like for a company to put someone out front as their figurehead (could be a fictional or cartoon character, like Popeye). CSN is offering miniature versions of that, each game an experience, but also a toting system for adding your gains, should you, the paying customer, wish to keep a tally or track record of your feats.
That's a way to find matching players, other coworkers, to strut your stuff in other words, whatever that may be in your case. "Showing what you're made of" is not sinfully prideful (i.e. vain) necessarily, just an honest labeling of ingredients, lets people know what they're getting. Social networking software wasn't born yesterday, especially if you factor in all the pre-computer analogs.
This is not about dumbing it down, but of being respectful. You're a busy executive, a FOSS boss between meetings, riding Amtrak both ways, with only so much time for technicalia, best that those sessions be packed and comprehensible, relevant. You don't need displays of snobbery reminding you that you're out of your field, out of your depth. This colloquial, non-patronizing style was pioneered by "for dummies" and "for complete idiots" titles. "Explain it to a caveman why don't ya?". Pretty soon, cavemen were selling us car insurance.
When Python came along as "executable pseudo-code" i.e. as very non-crufty, even economizing with whitespace, the new possibility was to write "manga code" as I'm calling it, a kind of comic book or cave painting version of a more complicated production environment. Or call it the "open source" version (thinking back to Linux and its citations to computer science texts, its monolithic kernel with modular plug-ins extension architecture).
Manga code has the advantage of actually running in other words, meaning the runtime environment, not just the compile time source code, has andragogical significance.
Buried in my specific example of "manga code" for Coffee Shops Network (CSN), is vendors getting the proceeds above a "worthy cause" waterline, as if your heroic idealist is now suddenly co-opted, Marcuse style, is now shilling for Mars. Here's a screen shot:
>> compare with circuit <<I'm proposing a different gestalt however: having topped out for your worthy cause (e.g. AFSC, FCNL... QUNO), you're now a company MVP taking a victory lap, adding luster (and profit) to your proud back office sponsor. Yes, you're "carrying Mars on your back" so to speak, but not as a slave, as a hall of fame friend of the sponsor, like on Facebook. Let your vendor glow in your limelight. Then on to the next game.
But doesn't the model show the vendor benefiting from your loss or failure to star in whatever practice session? The house got some compensation just for booting the game, but we'll say the vendor bonus was simply "unexpressed" i.e. the players working for this product don't yet have the strength to intercept its game loop and start feeding their resumes. The trophy goes back to the warehouse, unclaimed. Better luck next time, takes practice, takes patience.
The vendor wants star players because that's better advertising than always winning your bonus back, because your games are simply unplayable, don't help the worthy causes or anyone but yourself.
If we picture the CEO of Mars coming in to CSN and playing for a favorite cause, then the victory lap might feel like "income to me!" i.e. "I've earned good will and now I'm getting paid for so doing, best of both worlds". However, the manga code above makes "Me!" compete with the other worthy causes, another way of netting a reward, then effectively mailing a negative bonus (cutting in to vendor territory, claiming turf) which the company actually celebrates, as now you're their champion (one of many we hope).
Put another way, at the hardest levels, it's between you and the vendor (who may be the game author). Innocent bystanders (worthy causes) don't get caught in the crossfile. It's the difference between "their product" and "their product with your name on it" i.e. those high level points are yours to win. Games without winners tend not to have takers. Like sure, a vendor could put out a game that says Game Over right out of the gate, but who'd wanna play it?
I'm not claiming to get all of the above across in my manga code. This is additional description. The culture already has the pattern ingrained, so once I point to it, I don't have to work too hard to sketch in the details.
People know what its like for a company to put someone out front as their figurehead (could be a fictional or cartoon character, like Popeye). CSN is offering miniature versions of that, each game an experience, but also a toting system for adding your gains, should you, the paying customer, wish to keep a tally or track record of your feats.
That's a way to find matching players, other coworkers, to strut your stuff in other words, whatever that may be in your case. "Showing what you're made of" is not sinfully prideful (i.e. vain) necessarily, just an honest labeling of ingredients, lets people know what they're getting. Social networking software wasn't born yesterday, especially if you factor in all the pre-computer analogs.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Stress Tests
You might see where China is getting impatient, if the long term plan is to avoid any storyboard and just talk about how to jump start moribund industries, to force a return to business as usual, a losing proposition. They're investing in Pepperland, not Blue Meanies, if that makes any sense. This will require "imagination" as Spongebob might say (remember viiv?).
Fortunately, the art community is striking the flint, rubbing two sticks, trying to get something going. The Bucky exhibit, recently at the Whitney, is moving to Chicago. I hope to take it in during my stay, given 4D Geometry is integral within my Portland-made brand of Pythonic Math. My two XOs already trace to friendly ties with Hong Kong (XOs run a Python GUI atop Linux, known as Sugar). I wasn't a direct participant in G1G1, although I admire that campaign.
Speaking of Bucky, there's a new book coming out that I somewhat expect to fall in the "Bucky as Britney" genre (soap opera stuff), given I was at no point contacted about the hard core Synergetics aspects (bleeped over by Whitney as well). Anyone claiming "due diligence" will at least cite my work in this area. That's likely not the focus though, probably something more tabloid.
Fortunately, the art community is striking the flint, rubbing two sticks, trying to get something going. The Bucky exhibit, recently at the Whitney, is moving to Chicago. I hope to take it in during my stay, given 4D Geometry is integral within my Portland-made brand of Pythonic Math. My two XOs already trace to friendly ties with Hong Kong (XOs run a Python GUI atop Linux, known as Sugar). I wasn't a direct participant in G1G1, although I admire that campaign.
Speaking of Bucky, there's a new book coming out that I somewhat expect to fall in the "Bucky as Britney" genre (soap opera stuff), given I was at no point contacted about the hard core Synergetics aspects (bleeped over by Whitney as well). Anyone claiming "due diligence" will at least cite my work in this area. That's likely not the focus though, probably something more tabloid.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Matrix of Sytes
:: honeycomb of Rites (a kind of Syte) ::by Claudio Rocchini
GNU Free Documentation License
:: Three kinds of Syte, ways to face-bond two Mites ::Copyright © 1997 Estate of R. Buckminster Fuller
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 09, 2009
HB2U Barbie
I can't resist passing one on from Greg Palast today (a Facebook friend):March 9, 2009 -- Barbie's 50 years old today - so I thought I'd share with you one of the weirdest memos I've unearthed in my years of investigating corporate maledictions. Passed to me from inside Mattel, the toy company, with an August 12, 1997 time stamp. "TAR" stands for Tibet Autonomous Region
Anyway, the marketing department is very wrong about the DL not having accessories. I watched Katie's analysis of the Barbie phenomenon on CBS News, excellent scholarship, lots I didn't know, such a pro she is.Palast adds: Please friends, note the humor.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Friday, March 06, 2009
Shipping Jobs Overseas?
An AFL/CIO canvasser just came to my door, working the neighborhood. I shared some of my worries about finding people with "the right stuff", echoing some recent correspondence with other math teachers:
My point: in many cases, we're attempting to lure opportunities to our region, in areas where our candidates either already match the job qualifications in terms of skills, or would be affordably trainable.
Like other developing economies, we seek long term investors, collaborators, partners in development.
We're looking to bring jobs from overseas, not keep them from leaving i.e. they're not here to begin with.
We know K-12 is terribly broken and is in the control of know-nothings, but there's nothing much we can do about it except take jobs overseas. Obama wants to punish us for doing that, whereas I say let him deliver that "world class education" he promised, and start using FOSS on commodity hardware and throw out those stupid hamster-brained TIs...Of course that's just an insider joke about the Governor of California. I do tend to rant about calculators a lot, as a bottleneck in developing new curricula around STEM subjects (cite Chicago Talk, Pycon 2008).
Out here on the Pacific Rim, we just can't afford to stay in the 1900s sucking our thumbs, although they're trying that in California, given that girly-man governor they've got.
My point: in many cases, we're attempting to lure opportunities to our region, in areas where our candidates either already match the job qualifications in terms of skills, or would be affordably trainable.
Like other developing economies, we seek long term investors, collaborators, partners in development.
We're looking to bring jobs from overseas, not keep them from leaving i.e. they're not here to begin with.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Storyboarding Tomorrow
Autonomous living unit, 1949Buckminster Fuller
© Buckminster Fuller Institute
I admit getting a little testy with Sunanda today, when he called me at Fine Grind, where I was manning a comm center with Andrew and Derek.
Yes, I think Recode Oregon sounds like a fine idea: decriminalize collecting rain water (like in Brazil right?), make it legally OK to engage in environmentally sound self preservation type practices, permaculture and whatever, all good.
But I'm impatient with any solutions involving 'this old house' so exclusively, much as I treasure having a roof over my head.
Somewhere, somehow, we need to stop relying on "art colonies" to do all the hard work for us. When do we transition from prototypes to civilian product lines not subject to waterboarding by the mortgage industry? That's what our Medal of Freedom guy was after.
The idea of an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) was a good one. But again, it's not all up to The Mouse in Orlando. As FOSS capital, we hope to contribute in some way.
Why the Dymaxion House was so special, wasn't so much that it hung on a mast (although that was cool) but that it was built by engineers from Beech Aircraft.
Once you have an enclosure of sufficient size, you're able to garden and get by with more "movie set like" structures, for privacy and compartmentalization, but not for primal defense against the elements (the job of the shell).
That's one of many possible factory designs, check your catalog for more options (what catalog?).
What TV channel was this again? The taxpayers' channel? Everything else is a rip-off maybe?
Or let's just talk about money instead, how there isn't enough to go around (and never will be the way it's set up).
Why focus on engineering projects in the midst of a credit freeze? Why indeed.
Are FEMA trailers really the best we might do?
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
From a Cult HQS
I'm simmering down, practicing consilience, having entered one of our temples to Athena.
Over on Synergeo, I've been practicing my Great Rambo Head strut and puffery, amping up the decibels on my air guitar, the better to kiss my purple private sky. My fans expect it. Tarot deck: the Jester Jihadist. Beatles on the speakers here, covered by another group, sounds religious (shades of Sun Ra).
Here's a conciliatory paragraph from my outbox, hyperlinks added:
Speaking of Visa, I had the friendly waiter guy bill me in advance, as I have to bolt at a moment's notice, as on-call chauffeur, ISEPP escort etc. Yes, we could use computer science to harp on Incompleteness, but why not capture video directly from the philosophy department, where we know this stuff cold?
Over on Synergeo, I've been practicing my Great Rambo Head strut and puffery, amping up the decibels on my air guitar, the better to kiss my purple private sky. My fans expect it. Tarot deck: the Jester Jihadist. Beatles on the speakers here, covered by another group, sounds religious (shades of Sun Ra).
Here's a conciliatory paragraph from my outbox, hyperlinks added:
I'm not fighting Coxeter though, think he was gracious enough to step aside and see what the younger generation would do, and what they did is what we did: we developed a really decent body of work, complete with Chakovian coordinates, elastic interval geometry, flextegrity, tensegrity, your modular studies, Hargattais' stuff, Yashushi's and so on and on, i.e. we were stellar, and all took inspiration from Fuller's stunning success.I slam dunked my plane reservation for Chicago today, looking forward to a reunion of sorts. Although I was instantly approved for the new Expedia credit card, I won't be eligible for the discount on this purchase, used the usual business Visa.
Speaking of Visa, I had the friendly waiter guy bill me in advance, as I have to bolt at a moment's notice, as on-call chauffeur, ISEPP escort etc. Yes, we could use computer science to harp on Incompleteness, but why not capture video directly from the philosophy department, where we know this stuff cold?
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