| Dublin Bikes |
[Ноя. 6, 2009|03:23 pm] |
Therese's birthday is next week but we celebrated it last night with dinner and a Yo La Tengo gig. Traffic getting into town was a mare, so I parked on Fitzwilliam square and started jogging down to the Molly statue. As I came around the corner, I found a Dublinbikes stand, so I decided it'd be a good time to give it a shot. Had already sent off for the smartcard months ago.
Worked out deadly! Bikes are a bit granny-ish and the big basket makes them a tad top-heavy, but everything is in order - bike light which appeared to come on automatically, bike lock included (though I didn't try it - not sure if it was meant to be there), saddle was at the right height, and rental system was easy enough to use. The smartcard was already linked to my credit card, so now payment or anything was needed. Only hiccup was that *it* asks *you* what bike from what stand you want to rent - instead of telling you. Slightly thrown by the question, I had to walk over and make a note of a stand number with a bike and come back. Then the thing goes "Yes, there's a bike there." I knew that, Dublinbikes.
I was still 25 mins late for Tee, so downer, but then I had to drop the bike back. I used Dublinbikes.mobi on my iPhone to get a map of the locations, but it's a hard site to use on a phone, cause the icons are too big and you can't zoom in far enough. The main .ie site is worse, far too many clicks required to get to the 'fo. I cycled up and down Dawson St looking for the stand indicated on the map, but couldn't find it - turned out later it's actually on Molesworth St a dozen metres around the corner, and just out of sight. Larger map resolution would have shown this. Get on the case, Dublinbikes.mobi / Dublinbikes.ie.
I finally found a stand on Stephen's Green East. The drop off is even easier than I expected - you just ram it into the slot (that's what she said), no interaction with the screen required. Then I had to run back to Venu where I'd left Tee. 15 mins delay there.
Must try again when I'm not rushing due to keeping my bird waiting 25 + 15 = 40 fucking minutes. Other blokes get dumped for less. *slaps wrist* |
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| Yet Another Big Hairy Ultimate Model of Reality |
[Ноя. 4, 2009|11:16 pm] |
I've decided to work on Yet Another Big Hairy Ultimate Model of Reality for a while just to amuse myself. I think maybe I've got a good first cut this time.
First of all I want to follow the principles of Test Driven Design. There's no point in creating a model unless you can prove that it's correct or at least useful. I've chosen Java as my modeling language for whatever reason. It's not that important. Anyway, let's proceed:
package reality;
import junit.framework.Assert;
import org.junit.Test;
public class TestReality {
private Self self = new DefaultSelf();
@Test
public void testThatSelfExists() {
Assert.assertTrue(self.exists());
}
}
Uh oh, compile errors.
TestReality.java:[8,12] cannot find symbol
symbol : class Self
location: class reality.TestReality
TestReality.java:[8,28] cannot find symbol
symbol : class DefaultSelf
location: class reality.TestReality
OK, just missing a couple of symbols. Let's take a stab at getting this test working:
package reality;
public interface Self {
public boolean exists();
}
...
package reality;
public class DefaultSelf implements Self {
public boolean exists() {
return thinks();
}
private boolean thinks() {
return true;
}
private void think() {
// whew!!!
}
}
Code compiles. Tests are green bar. Whew!!! So far so good. :) |
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| facebook |
[Ноя. 4, 2009|07:35 am] |
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Where I can't say "holy fuck my back hurts!" |
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| Defenestration. |
[Ноя. 3, 2009|06:53 am] |
| [ | Настроение |
| | cynical | ] | I just had to do a minor flist defenestration. I had a drunken epiphany last night, shortly after talking to morty_baby for the seventeenth time. I realized that I've made some really good friends and admirable aquaintances in real life from the whole cloth of Live Journal. And I realized that those real-life connections are hobbling the freedom I once enjoyed in these pages. So I cut out (most) of the people I've formed and/or ruined real life relationships with. And their close friends, weather I know them or not. Because I'm a narcissist and believe that it's all about me.
I'd like to say that it's not personal, but I can't. This is extremely personal with extreme prejudice...
But even still, if you got the axe, my intentions aren't malicious. Just self-centered and selfish. Because that's how I roll.
(and those of you who I've spent IRL time with who are still around? Draw your own conclusions, because I'm not going to say it.)
In other earthshaking news, I am now officially a resident of Florida. Suck it Rhode Island income taxes!
ETA: I shall maintain my policy of leaving the posts which feel are substantial public. I'm just sick of not being able to whine about personal drama and such. And we all know what a drama queen I am |
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| Timelapse |
[Ноя. 2, 2009|05:51 pm] |
Back in January 2007, they started knocking down an old factory, the McCambridge's Stoneground Soda Bread Loaves factory, in the Sandyford Industrial Estate, so I decided I'd make a timelapse of the construction of the replacement building. Little did I know the huge undertaking this would be.
For the next 2 years, I occasionally took new pictures from the 7th floor of my building. You're ideally supposed to take *loads* of pics, like at least daily, but this was more like weekly or even once a fortnight. The next fatal error was that I used to photograph by just walking up, snapping an image, and head back to my desk. No, no, no! This results in every picture looking slightly different which has to be manually corrected afterwards. Potentially *hundreds of times*. In addition the original building was single-storey and the finished one nine storeys, so I had to aim the camera higher and higher as time went on. This also had to be corrected for. Also did I mention that I used a camera phone?
I noticed that the builders slowed waaay down towards the end of last year and the beginning of this, in response to the downturn and the fact that there now wouldn't actually be any demand for what they were creating. They finally finished around March. The daunting task of editing all 100 images was next. Since the camera was located and oriented differently for each one, I had to manually line up each image with the last like an animator for a cartoon. Most images had to be rotated slightly to the horizon line too. There was at least 30 minutes of manual processing needed per image. The sheer tedium of it meant I only finished about 2 weeks ago. It had taken around 5 months.
Finally I wisely didn't use Microsoft Movie Maker to put it together, plumping for a freebie app off the web instead which was about a thousand times better than the MS one.
Lessons learned:
- Use a better camera - Take each photo from the exact same position - Anticipate where the top of the finished building will be and aim the camera that way - Learn how to use Photoshop and get that to do the fancy bits
Of course an even better way is to just get hold of a PC that faces out the window, lash a webcam on that, and use a script to take a photo every day for a year - though of course it isn't always possible to get your hands on a setup like this. |
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| #256 - "Shiunji & the Suicide Girl X" |
[Ноя. 1, 2009|08:43 am] |
#256 - "Shiunji & the Suicide Girl X"
Still more Shiunji, and someone who hasn't appeared in the strip for a while. This will be the last Shiunji strip for a couple of months as the Sexy Losers Christmas Special will begin shortly. Special thanks to David S. who sent a donation that will go towards nib money, and of course, to all of you who are still tuning in despite snail-pace updates!
Whew, it was hard to get Tomoe right in this strip. Although she had a new hairstyle in the previous strip she appeared in, it wasn't working for me so it drifted back to her original look. The idea that Tomoe would use wild dogs in her quest to get Shiunji isn't a new one -- she had been mulling over the idea since she heard of it in #190, and was training them in #210.
Speaking of drawing characters who haven't been in the strip for a while, I have finished penciling and inking the 4th strip in the CHAFED DICKENS storyline, feating the ghost of the future. Haven't drawn THIS one in a while, and never thought she'd appear in the strip again, but hell. I hope you enjoy it. Here's the fourth strip.
Oh yeah, Happy Belated Halloween! |
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| Codger-googoo |
[Окт. 31, 2009|04:02 pm] |
Was reading a while back on the web about the reunion gigs of Kajagoogoo. Seriously, this band reunification thing has got to stop! Back to your retirement home, guys.
Why am I picking them out for extra criticism? Well, The Kaj for me really epitomised the sense of youthful optimism that the early 80s was all about - note their jaunty facial expressions and brightly-coloured, non-matching clothes - not to mention the bloke that looks like a girl on the right. The 80s saw music overhauled as it went electronic and digitised, the music video became an artistic expression almost as valid and important as the music itself, and fashion went ballastic as hairspray allowed for gravity-defying quiffs and clothing was no longer limited to the colours of the primary pallette.
So when I saw the grey skin, crows' feet, jowls, silver birch hair and physiques skinny not from young fitness but age, it was a like a vision of death. There's no way I could ever go to a gig like that. Music should be about vitality and new discovery, it shouldn't make you cry for lost youth.
I had a disturbing vision of my own death a few years ago. I was in a science museum in Vancouver, Canada and they had a display where you had your photo taken and it would digitally age you to any age you specified. Innocently, I got it to age me to 65. Then a picture of an old man came up on the screen. He looked remarkably like my dad. The full horror that this was in fact me started to set in. It was an old man, but he definitely had my eyes. They were filled with sadness as of a life marred by regret. It was like seeing the end of my life.
I'm still fucking traumatised. By Kajagoogoo, too, mind. |
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| steps towards clarity and efficiency |
[Окт. 27, 2009|11:20 pm] |
make the hidden assumptions obvious make the obvious assumptions implied explicitly define the context of the implicit assumptions ... lather rinse repeat |
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| RIP Common Sense |
[Окт. 28, 2009|01:39 pm] |
I just recieved this via email from
peanuthorst. Funny, but scarily true.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who
has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was,
since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape.
He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:
Knowing when to come in out of the rain
Why the early bird gets the worm
Life isn't always fair,
and maybe it was my fault.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more
than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in
charge).
His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place.
Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a
classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch;
and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened
his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers
for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining
their unruly children.
He declined even further when schools were required to get parental
consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student, but could
not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an
abortion.
Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses and
criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense
took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your
own home without the burglar suing you for assault.
Common Sense finally gave up the will to live after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, spilled a little in her
lap and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust, by
his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son Reason. He
is survived by his 4 stepbrothers: I Know My Rights; I Want It Now;
Someone Else Is To Blame; and I'm A Victim.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and
do nothing.
(Printed in the London Times)
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