imnotbored.net

So, I’m three weeks into my computer class right now, and couldn’t be happier. I swallowed my ego and took an introductory course, and I’m glad I did. Ya see, most of what I know I learned from just goofing around and making (then correcting) many mistakes. Experience is a great teacher, but it can be time consuming.

Most of what I know, I don’t really understand. It was never taught or explained to me. I just did stuff. That’s all well and good, but it has left me with some gaps. The course I’m in starts right at the beginning, from the microprocessor right on up. How virtual memory works (other than ‘y’know it’s like, not real, man’), why the binary number system is important, and how and why all the pieces fit together inside the magical, mystical computer. I’m kind of surprised how much I’m digging the hardware aspect.

Most of the applications I run are for music, and they are HOGS! Latency is always an issue, and one I blamed on software. I now see how hardware and cache memory fits into the occasion. I’m starting to think about building application optimized machines as much as I’m thinking about code. In retrospect, I should have replied to all those ” what do you want to be when you grow up?” questions with one answer: Mad scientist. Not something they mention on career day, is it? Police officer? Fire man? Screw that- I want a bunsen burner and a mainframe. Career objective: Raise havoc.

Educated mayhem aside, I lean towards embedded applications. The elegance of doing one thing well appeals to me. The home computer tries to be everything to everyone and complicates itself as a result. I think I could be happy programming toasters or microwaves. Maybe contributing to a Linux build optimized for Grandparents - email, photos, maps & directions, and a simple, secure web browser. Most people simply don’t need a lot of power to do their day to day e-mail and surfing. 4 big icons on the desktop to keep it simple. I think here is plenty of room for growth in making the computing environment simple rather than powerful. At least I do today. ask me at the end of the 11 week course, and I’ll likely have a different answer. By the time I sign up for fall courses, I’ll have yet a different answer.

Technorati Tags: education, computers

Greasy Spoon no more
Quality, freshness, flavour
A great breakfast spot.

Roundel Cafe 2465 East Hastings Street

Technorati Tags: cooking, food, haiku, restaurant reveiw

This post (and comments) over at Schneier on Security on this article doesn’t really surprise me. From the Yale Daily News:

In the wake of Monday’s massacre at Virginia Tech in which a student killed 32 people, Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg has limited the use of stage weapons in theatrical productions.

What do they hope to achieve by banning obviously fake weapons in a play when there is real violence on front pages every morning, and featured heavily in every newscast? I grew up in the 70’s, and was encouraged to be involved, to be a good citizen, to be aware. This meant watching the news and seeing violence everyday for most of my formative years. Footage of the Vietnam war is a childhood memory. Likewise tanks rolling over hilltops in Afghanistan. I grew up with images of international conflict being resolved by violence. Serial killers like Son of Sam and Clifford Robert Olsen made headlines and their images joined us after dinner every night on the TV news.

I really don’t think realistic swords in a stage play will push someone over the edge. This isn’t about security, it is about limiting liability should a post grad student go ballistic. Is there a word for the unreasonable fear of lawsuits?

How did we develop a culture of fear and lawyers? Who thought that would be a good idea? Probably the marketing department.

Technorati Tags: Media, political, Public Relations, puppy, Security

This seemed an appropriate ‘toon for the day (courtesy of xkcd). Y’see. I’ve been spending too much of my days doing OT at work and decided I should enjoy the spoils of war, so to speak.

So, I drop by the local pub on the way home and decompress. Not being much for hockey, I wound up analyzing the frequency of prime numbers in winning Keno draws whilst enjoying a couple of frosty pints and far too many hot wings.

I try to be cool like the people on TV, but it just doesn’t work. For this, I am eternally grateful.

Technorati Tags: Cartoons, humour, prime numbers, statistics

I have been lax on the blogging as of late. Sorry, Jules. Not without reason, mind you, but truant none the less.

I got the wind knocked out of my sails when I lost my February posts, work got busy and I got cranky, and I started making more music, and, and…. Plenty of reasons but no excuses. The only real rule I gave myself when starting this blog was that I wouldn’t whine, which sometimes means not writing.

I’ve upped my musical activities and I’m itching to throw some new tunes up here. I recently flipped through the collection of pieces I wrote while in school, and have undertaken the task of recording them. It all seems so simple when it’s on the page - then you start playing. I’m doing a lot of the drum programming myself, which is time consuming. At this point,I would like to retract all the drummer jokes I have ever made, except for the following:

Did you hear about the guitar player who locked his keys in his car?
It took him an hour just to get the drummer out.

When things are fun, you can forget that they are hard work, and the hours just slip by. For the next couple months I’ll throw the tunes up here in posts. Eventually, I’m planning to start my own little netlabel for the tunes, and see if I can’t get my composer friends to contribute a tune or seven. We all have libraries of music collecting dust, which doesn’t need to be the case.

In other news, I’m kinda bummed about Kurt Vonnegut. My mom introduced me to his books when I was about 13, and I read them all at least twice. Honestly, I had been expecting his death for a while, simply based on the math. For my money, he was one of the most sensible curmudgeons around. Thankfully, mom introduced me to plenty of worthy authors, and I’ve even managed to dig up a few on my own, so I’ll not go wanting. I will however re-read my Vonnegut collection this summer. Why? Why not.

Technorati Tags: blogging, mp3, music, books

Sorry for sounding like a curmudgeonly fool, but in my book, the TV these days can’t top this:

Technorati Tags: comedy, parody, TV

Having messed about with Linux ( Ubuntu, if you must know) I get the learning curve frustration. It is still rather geek-centric, and this hampers early adoption among the less technical. I eventually packed it in because I spent more time learning than doing, which was counterproductive at the time.I am of the opinion that there needs to be a design and/or interface revolution for the masses to grok Linux. Rather than geeks designing interfaces and program to do technical back-flips and terabyte summersaults, we need to find ways to make Linux boxes useful and angst free for everyday users. I’ve been referring to it as the “Design for Mothers and Others” initiative. And by golly, it is starting to happen.

For a while now I’e been following the One Laptop Per Child program. This is a total re-think of the personal computer. In a way, it is almost a public computer. Designed for use in developing countries, it is made to be rugged, simple, reliable and… prepare yourself for this - co-operative. Built on a Linux kernel and employing Open Source programs, the laptop has an icon based interface you can demo here. Built with built in routers, they form a mesh network when turned on. Even the security got a re-think. I have an interest in cryptography, but I am far from an expert. I point you towards Bruce Schneier’s post and comments, as well as the OLPC wiki.

As if this wasn’t enough, France is getting in on the game, too. In order to increase broadband usage, and therefore reduce cost Easy Neuf has come up with a unique approach. From the International Herald Tribune article:

To Neuf, the issue came down to the difficulty that first-time computer users experience in dealing with Windows.

“Nearly 80 percent of all current customer calls relate to problems with Microsoft Windows,” Charrier said. “We decided it was easier to build our own platform to limit potential problems.”

“We wanted to create something as simple and cheap as the Minitel to reach technophobes and people without much money,” said Frédéric Charrier, manager of the Easy Neuf project, which started its first national advertising campaign last week. “For a slightly higher subscription, customers get a simplified computer with all services they might need.”

“Nearly 80 percent of all current customer calls relate to problems with Microsoft Windows,” Charrier said. “We decided it was easier to build our own platform to limit potential problems.”

“Our promise of customer service forced us to conceive everything from the consumer perspective in order to reduce calls,” Charrier said. “This starts with the instruction book containing many photos, goes as far as the simplified computer interface and goes down to a redesign of the keyboard.”

This is something that intrigues me. Most business models push faster, better, more memory. Here we have the opposite. The idea of an interface modified or simplified to meet the core needs of its users has value. Not the market valuation, shares and dividends kind of value, but end user value. Complexity and power can be barriers to use, and the French have figured it out how they might be removed, or at least lessen their impact. This is key element of the “Design for Mothers and Others” initiative.

These examples give me hope that Linux may one day be on equal footing with Microsoft and Apple for both ubiquity and ease of use. As for my contribution, my classes start next week. Over the next year or so I will be creeping up on IT/coding certification.

Technorati Tags: education, entrepreneur, geek, OLPC, Linux