Updates from March, 2009 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • Dark Liquid 6:32 pm on March 28, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    On The Code Again 

    I’m doing some extra-curricular coding for a change. Quite frankly it’s been too long, I’ve always been busy with other things. I like to watch new anime, films and other media, read new books, play and hopefully complete my various video games as well as write at Protagonize.com and roleplay both in real life on Thursday and Friday evenings and on RPoL.net. With all that stuff going on, not to mention the fact that I also code all day at work which mostly satisfies my need to code, I’ve not been working on much outside of work.

    However, I’ve got a couple projects on the go one of which I’ve probably already mentioned before. I’ve finally started on a project that I’ve wanted to do for a while with some friends of mine, namely designing a complete computing architecture from NAND logic upwards. I’ve put together a basic toolchain for the very beginnings of this using Rake and Icarus Verilog up on github as gc-arch (for GeekCoalition Architecture).

    Another project I’m only barely beginning is a basic DSL for describing presentations which can then be processed into backends to target different medias (PDF, HTML, etc). I’ve gotten absolutely nowhere with this as of yet, which sucks because the impetus for this was to write and use it for a presentation on DSLs in Ruby at the next BUNIX meetup, so I have limited time to get something up and running!

     
  • Dark Liquid 12:21 pm on March 19, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Meetups 

    I went to BUNIX yesterday, the Bournemouth UNIX enthusiasts group that is run at Bournemouth University every so often. I heard some cool talks, a demonstration on how to install OpenBSD and what the particular idiosyncrasies in it’s installer actually been to a non-BSD-head. Another talk was given on Cloud computing and what it means, where it’s going and some of the cool things that can be done with it. The final talk was demoing some cool alternative operating systems – GoboLinux, something I’d heard of before which is a take on an alternate file structure and package management system based around grouping things together in obvious to non-techies ways and then making them work with a mass of symlinks behind the scenes. This was followed by two other operating systems coded entirely in assembler which booted lightning fast (sub-three-seconds) and had full graphical interfaces and various cool bits, such as a 3D teapot demo that looked like it’s framerate was somewhere around a billion FPS.

    All in all some pretty interesting stuff. At the end of the meetup I got myself roped into doing a talk on DSLs in Ruby, so I guess I’ve got some planning to do for next month!

    This coming Wednesday, I will hopefully be meeting up with some other Bournemouth Rubyists for the first ever Bournemouth.rb meetup and hopefully some cool stuff will come of that.

     
  • Dark Liquid 12:58 pm on March 12, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Some cool stuff with Ping.fm 

    I’ve been using the awesome ping.fm for a while now for tying all my various social networking stuff together. From a single IM I can update:

    I can also do the same thing via email as well, and by attaching images I can also post to Flickr.

    This all ties together wonderfully with my T-Mobile G1 phone. I take a picture, use the in-built share functionality to send it via email to my secret ping.fm email bot address which then posts it to Flickr and makes a post on all my other services telling people about it.

    It’s awsome and also incredibly easy to setup. Seriously, go to ping.fm and check it out.

     
  • Dark Liquid 12:48 pm on March 12, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Bus chavs 

    A while ago I, among others, were harassed on the bus. Four young boys were yelling verbal abuse at the other riders, spitting at and indeed on them and otherwise behaving in a threatening and antisocial manner. A poor girl sat in front of me got off of the bus nearly in tears, only to have the kids spit at her through the window – I only hope she at least reached her stop and wasn’t driven off the bus early by the savages.

    It was impossible for the bus driver not to notice, yet he did nothing. Noone complained, mostly due to fear of drawings the kids attention, especially since the chances of the bus driver taking action seemed pretty slim given he had done nothing at all so far.

    The system seems so unfair and unjust, innocent riders like myself have no recourse but to ride out such incidents when the bus driver does nothing and retaliation is feared due to being condemned for assault. Who can we go to for help? The police? Could they even do anything? We feel powerless when those in authority do nothing and any chance of defending ourselves is taken away by fear of being branded a criminal. Does anyone have any faith that if they complained the camera footage would be watched and the kids consequently caughr? The answer is no. Most think little would happen and any justice handed out meaningless. Not only that but also the fear of retribution, what if the kids took revenge for any punishment or investigation against them? They surely saw the people they tormented and could recognise them again.

    I myself feel guilty. I might have done something, but one can not help but feel one is making oneself a target for these thugs when you do, and when you have such little faith or hope of a good outcome, fear is a powerful motivator to sit down and hope things don’t get worse.

    When did bus drivers stop caring about their passengers wellbeing? When was it ok for things like this to go on unchallenged? When was it that even retaliation and self defence were things to fear, afraid our own protectors would mark us as criminals?

    In fact, I asked this very question of the bus company themselves and their response wasn’t very helpful.

    Essentially it boiled down to “We can’t do anything and nor can our drivers, call the police and have them deal with it.”

    Now, I can understand that they can hardly make it company policy to put their drivers in harms way, nor would I want them to, but the driver is in a position of authority and at the very least, if they don’t want to get into a confrontation they could perhaps call the police themselves from the relative safety of their concealed seating.

    The main problem with calling the police as a passenger is that you are in full view of the assailants and you don’t know how they will react. Will they steal your phone and beat you up? Will they stab you? Will they leave and remember your face to come and get you at a later date? You don’t know. There is the additional worry of phoning. Most people don’t know the number for the police directly, they only know 999 and nobody wants to phone 999 so they can essentially say “someone’s picking on me on the bus”. Doing that in and of itself feels like a crime that could put a ‘real’ emergency call at risk of being answered too late and no-one wants to be told of by the emergency services for wasting their time, which I think is actually a crime.

    It’s shit like this that fuels my misanthropy.

     
    • Devo 1:00 pm on March 12, 2009 Permalink

      The bus company ought to hire security for their buses. Granted, whatever incidents do break out might only be made worse than they would have been otherwise, but at least it should deter hoodlums from starting up other such incidents in the future. Just an idea, might not work, but better than leaving the situation alone, don’t you agree?

    • Lorcian 2:15 pm on March 13, 2009 Permalink

      Happens to me alot, came back last friday evening on the bus after seeing watchmen at the cinima, a couple chavs got on the bus, it was obveous even before they got on they were a) drunk and B) morons.

      the journey was predictable – Shouting at people and gerally being arseholes. Made the hole bus feel uncomfortable.

      I had to stop myself from kicking the shit out of one of them after they insulted Stephen. I was furious! But I just ended up putting in my ear phones and ignoring them.

      I can’t believe there isnt a solution to this! The bus company can’t just say “Meh! tough shit” the safty of the passengers has to be their priority! and if they refuse to accept responsibility, as they are cowards, they should at LEAST ensure systems are in place so that the police can resolve the issue. It makes no difference if it’s on a bus or in the street – It’s still illegal.

      peronsally I’d drown them at birth! wow I’m angry today….

    • Lorcian 2:20 pm on March 13, 2009 Permalink

      Excuse the typos, wrote that while I was on the phone at work. :)

    • Chav Hater 2:58 pm on April 12, 2009 Permalink

      Throw the feckers off the bus – preferably while it is still moving.

      Gob shite little bastards are everywhere these days.

  • Dark Liquid 1:34 pm on March 9, 2009 Permalink | Reply
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    Quick update. 

    Well, a few things have been happening recently.

    Mum had a stroke. She’s fine now, especially since it was a minor one, but those kind of things are always a bit of a scare.

    I’m doing an internet radio show. Go to gamingradio.net on Mondays 1900-2200 GMT to hear me and some friends make an arse of ourselves between bouts of music. It is meant to be a sort of general geek-out show but at the moment it’s mostly us talking bollocks and swearing until we establish ourselves properly ;) We also have a tendency to spew hatred and bile directly at our listeners on account of us all being bastards.

    I’ve been watching anime again. So far watched all of Ergo Proxy, now watching my way through Speed Grapher.

    I’m developing more of an interest in politics and government action. Not a huge amount, but it’s a surprising departure from my usual apathetic tendency to dismiss anything that doesn’t instantly and immediately effect my life directly in an obvious way. I think I like it. I’m hardly an activist now, but I’m at least trying to keep myself informed about some things now.

    That is all for now.

     
    • Dan 12:11 am on March 10, 2009 Permalink

      With regards to becoming politicised, try listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 on the way to work, or PM on the way back. Both have me quite happily shouting obscenities at the radio most days, much to the amusement of my fellow road users.

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