[General] Controlling what I hear

I've been taking better care of myself recently, in that I've been spending less time on activities and people that don't have a positive contribution to my life.  I don't reckless withdraw from people, as they're sensitive creatures and hurting them unnecessarily is undesirable.  Perhaps the bigger issue is with me and not them.  However, it was with great relief today that I remove myself from earshot of a very negative and hateful voice.

[General] Biocomputers

http://kliv.com/Stanford-engineers-create-computer-than-can-work-i/15919259

I'm just going to quote the entire item:

A team of Stanford engineers have created a small computer that can function inside a living cell.
    According to a report in today's issue of the journal Science, the biological computer can detect disease, send warning of toxic dangers to the cell, and even self-destruct an infected cell if needed.
    The computer culminates 10 years of efforts by researchers to create a biological computer, and is the latest step in the field of synthetic biology.
    Other things the internal computer can do is engineer small changes like a cell's smell or color, and count cell divisions.

That's awesome.  I look forward to applications.

It basically starts to fulfill hopes and dreams in my imagination regarding nanotechnology and supporting biological functions.  When I have time, I hope to read more on this, to see whether it can be used for cancer treatment.  I wonder whether it's the type of work that they could insert into cells of a living adult.

[Technology] Amenities

One nice thing that will come shifting away from Google web services will be the ability to define <tt> as a quick formatting function (shortcut key or toolbar button) for the blogging interface.  Hooray!

[Technology] Vala and simply returning structures from functions

So, earlier today I was working on binding malloc_stats and mallinfo from malloc.h for Vala by hand-writing a simple .vapi file.  Interestingly, mallinfo () returns a structure, struct mallinfo.  Apparently, Vala doesn't like having a method and a structure with identical identifiers, so I renamed the struct to Mallinfo.

[CCode (cheader_filename = "malloc.h")]
public Mallinfo mallinfo ();

[CCode (cname = "struct mallinfo", cheader_filename = "malloc.h")]
public struct Mallinfo {
  ...
}


However, with that, my calls in Vala to mallinfo,

Mallinfo info = Malloc.mallinfo ();

were transformed into C code like

mallinfo (&_tmp26_);

when in reality, it should be

_tmp26_ = mallinfo ();

After googling a little, I found this, https://mail.gnome.org/archives/vala-list/2010-April/msg00051.html

Basically, I wanted to add the attribute [SimpleType] before my structure's definition.  Whoops.  I had spent a fair amount of time studying the [CCode] attributes, hoping that there was one that controlled how a return value was returned (parameter or simple return).  Oh well!

[Technology] Using GMail from Evolution: labels and folders

I'm testing out using GNOME's mail client, Evolution, to manage my GMail. I've been uncertain how GMail labels would play with Evolution's folders, so reading this guide helped me out:
http://thegreyblog.blogspot.ca/2009/06/configuring-evolution-for-gmail.html

• Basically, every label becomes a folder.  
• You can label a message by copying it into the corresponding folder.  
• If you move a message, you remove the label from the originating folder and replace it with the destination.  
•  Inbox is a label and a folder.  
• To archive something from the inbox, just move it away from the Inbox folder/label, which can easily be done by deleting it, moving it to the Evolution trash (but not the GMail Trash label/folder).  
• Deleting a message only removes it from the folder you're immediately deleting it from (removing that label), and because all mail arriving in GMail is automatically labelled with All Mail, you still retain a copy there.  
• If you want to truly delete a message, you'd label it with GMail's Trash label (move or copy it into that folder).  
•  It will actually stick around in your other labels/folders for 30 days (unless you remove it from each one), but then be completely purged from GMail (and thus the other labels).

[Photos] Birds in flight

Birds in flight

[Photos] Little Chickadee

in the Arboretum

[General] Definitions

li·brate

[li-breyt] verb, li·brat·ed, li·brat·ing.
verb
1. Academia: to engage in libration.  To study in a library.
2. Astronomy: the apparent oscillating of the moon.
Origin:
2007; Modern English; from libra(ry) + te

li·bra·tion

[lahy-brey-shuh n]
noun
1. Academia: the act of studying in a library.
2. Astronomy: an apparent or real oscillation of the moon, by which parts near the edge of the disc that are often not visible from the earth sometimes come into view.
Origin:
2007; Modern English, 1300–50; from libra(ry) + tion.  Early 17th century (denoting an oscillating motion, or equilibrium): from Latin libratio(n-), from the verb librare, from libra 'a balance'

Related forms
li·brate, verb

[Microblog] Materialism and me

I really hope that HTC continues their design trend with the HTC One until I need to replace my phone.  If I was more reckless and my Galaxy Nexus lacked a crack, I would consider selling it and replacing it already! 

HTC One [engadget.com]

[Microblog] Going places

I suppose I am going to Anime North.

I'm not sure whether I actually want to, but enough people have bugged me that I'll plan to attend for now.

[Technology] Computing Independence Project

That's not a real project name (well, it might be, but it would be someone else's).

Largely due to the inevitable Breaking of Trust between Google and myself (that is, their cancelling of Google Reader), I'm compelled to re-establish my technological independence, which is to say I need to shift myself towards open source solutions that I control.

In the short term, it will mean finding or creating open source software that handles my common tasks.  One interesting challenge is, because I now use a mobile phone, I can't rely simply on desktop applications, of which many exist.  I can't simply use Evolution for my calendar, or Liferea for RSS reading, because I want to be able to have that information available and synchronised with my phone.

I don't think I'll find a perfect solution in a timely manner, but I need to at least start moving in that direction.  It's not just for my benefit; I feel like it's preferable for users to not be at the mercy of a distant party who controls both access to your data and access to the software you use with it.  Very importantly, it needs to be easy to switch to and use.  A solution isn't a good alternative if a user has to read a manual and spend half a day setting something up.

Here are some things that I want

• a personal data store that I can host myself
• needs to store calendaring data, mail, contacts, tasks, RSS items, perhaps even photos, and basically the state of any application information
• needs to be "secure"
• a set of mobile apps that can access my data
• they need to be open source
• right now, run on Android
• a set of desktop/web apps that can access my data 
• right now, run in GNOME or Firefox
• ideally, they should be able to replicate all my favourite functionality

Task Management

I've been surprised that after a decade of waiting, Google still hasn't released a good task/todo list manager.  In some ways, I've been holding back my digital management of tasks because of this.  I've used a few different apps, but they haven't had good synchronisation between my desktop experience and my phone experience.   Google provided a token Tasks pop-up in Gmail and hasn't done much since.  I'm generally better off e-mailing myself to-do items, using the calendar to schedule some, and a spreadsheet to collect long term goals. It's a mess.

Photo Sharing

PicasaWeb has already been scheduled for sunsetting, but that was nominally alright because Google+ subsumed that functionality.  I was initially wary that G+ would be cancelled soon (like Wave) but as it became more integral to the identify portion of Google, I thought I'd be safe. Given that Reader has been cancelled despite having more active users than G+, I'm not sure my photos are really safe there.

One problem with hosting my own photos is bandwidth.  I'm with TekSavvy, but I'm not sure what experience running a webserver sharing my photos will give.  I'm not sure how to make albums easily sharable on existing social networks.  I'd like photo to still be instantly uploaded from my mobile device to the photo sharing service.

At the very least, I could back-up regularly all my album information from G+/PicasaWeb right now, so I could recreate them later when I absolutely had to.  I wouldn't really need to re-download most photos because they're generally already saved to my hard drive, save some that were web-edited.

Blogging

Oh boy.  I really do like Blogger.  Ah well!

Mail, Calendaring, Office, etc.

Basically, I need to do a lot of research for existing options.  Of course I don't want to create anything new or large.  I just want to identify major entities that have promising futures.  (At least with open source, if they're future collapses, what you've already had isn't taken away from you.)

Let me know if there's any sort of web activity that I might want to re-evaluate.  I'd be happy to hear your suggestions.

[General] Playing with cats

I sort of wish I had the time to build a prototype robotic stimulant for the cats I'm currently living with.

A cat, napping

My concept on pets is that they're often a bad idea, because many people's lives don't really allow them to attend and stimulate the cats as much as they deserve.  They're living creatures originating from a state of freedom, and to circumscribe their existence to confines of one safe house and one consistent routine sadly limits the extent of their experience.  I generally think that as intelligent, emotional creatures, they deserve comparable attention to, say, children, in that both are living entities that deserve a degree of respect but who are dependent on their owner/parent to provide many things for them.  We don't let them be self-sufficient, because we don't trust that they'll behave in a way that's acceptable by society (dogs that run into your yard and chase your cats and bark and bite) and we don't want them to risk their lives (cats getting into fights with raccoon). (I thought my browser didn't know the plural of raccoon had an -s.  It turns out "raccoon" is an acceptable plural, though.  Procyon Lotor, you old raccoon.)  I would generally approve of life styles that integrate a pet more deeply than my family ever did.  Take them out with you whenever possible, inconvenience yourself for their benefit (they're generally not the ones who chose this existence, so you owe them a bit to give them a good existence, even if you have to compromise what you'd want a bit), try to ensure their life is worthwhile and interesting (perhaps cook for them, rather than just giving them kibble; in theory you could eat a kibble-like diet and be healthy, but would you want to?  (well, maybe)), make sure their litter box is clean or that you don't make them wait on your TV show to go outside when they need to go (what if your bathroom experience was dependent on the whim of others? Yikes!).

Twinkle Toes and Buzz

I am currently living with two cats and sometimes a dog.  Also, a fish and a bird, but I rarely see those (though I used to babysit them at my old apartment).  I wouldn't elect to have such pets myself right now, because I'm currently barely able to take care of myself (I'm doing fine), let alone another living creature, especially the way I'd want to take care of them.  Still, I'd like to do what I can to contribute to these cats' lives.  So far, that's meant being very prompt in dealing with their litter and providing them with some pets.

I feel a bit bad, though, as I'm not willing to take steps to make their nourishment more interesting, as they're carnivores and I'm a vegan.  Also, I don't provide very much stimulation at all.  Hence my desire for a robotic friend.

About two years ago I had aspired to get a Roomba for my household.  I thought my then-partner and I could also treat it a bit like a pet and enjoy some materialistic technology.  I never got one, but I still think it would be useful, and I think it's a neat basis for a robotic companion for a cat.  It's cool because it's autonomous and moves around and reacts to its environment.  It's also useful, and cute.  There's a lot of cat hair that accrues here (oh, my next plan is to get a cat brush and in the mornings brush down the cats to prevent uncontrolled shedding throughout the day!), so that would help the floor situation a bit.

Ultimately, though, I'd want a bit more from the robot.  I'd want it to have more meaningful interactions with the cat, have a concept of play.  Be willing to at times chase the cat, and at times flee and hide from it.  Importantly, it would want to make noises as reactive feedback, and not just randomly.  It would be cool if it had something like a laser pointer to distract the cats with.  I know such a robot would be a poor substitute for a human companion in most ways, because it would be relatively stupid, predictable, and meaningless, but at least it would be something that I can't provide right now myself.

Technology isn't perfect, it's not even great; it's all quite awful, even when it does what it intends well, but given that I'm fairly invested in it future-wise, I might as well try to make the best of it.

[Technology] Playing with technology

Last year I acquired a nice, free Sanyo television from the OCUS lounge.  It is a CRT, but it's 36" and has good picture and sound quality.  It did not come with a remote control, but I seldom used a television, except to watch the occasional film or anime episode with friends, so I never really minded.

TV Usage

Recently, however, I moved to and now have a housemate or two, and I have discovered the YouTube app for Wii.  Also, over the past two years, I've finally interested myself in Internet video, largely in part to Nerdfighteria (Vlogbrothers, the Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Crash Course, SciShow, the Brain Scoop, etc.)  So, now the TV has two new uses: feeding a housemate's insatiable urge for Netflix, and becoming a preferred way to enjoy my YouTubery.

One issue that's been had is variable volume.  A video is too quiet, so we turn it up, manually, and then afterwards, the television is too loud.  Or, we turn off the Wii, but then the TV is still on, and people leave it on.  An unused, on TV is a tragic waste of energy.

Dollarama

So, today I was in Dollarama and saw they sold a $2 Universal Remote, the Electra RM-V301 (which supposedly works identically to Sony's RM-V301).  Since I hadn't found one previously at the local thrift stores, I acquired it.  Also, I found that Dollarama now sells $2 pairs of rechargeable batteries branded as Sunbeam.   Despite traumatic memories of the portable phone battery I had purchased from a dollar store in the Quebec St. Mall which started smoking once used (and instantly killed the portable phone), I decided that Sunbeam (and Dollarama) were just reputable enough that I would risk their rechargeable batteries in my battery charger and this universal remote.  What's the worst that could happen?  Death?  Pa!

Remote programming

Once home, I was initially disappointed to discover that none of the codes for a Sanyo television worked correctly.  The first would do things to the TV, but all the wrong things, and none of the others had any response.  I ended up doing the code search technique, which after going through 120 codes or so had no reaction (even though I should have encountered some reaction when I hit the one that worked incorrectly).  I remained hopeful that I could find a code set for the remote that could effectively control the TV, though, as I've had good luck in the past with remote controls working across brands.

Eventually, I started applying the stupid brute force method of attempting them all starting from 000 and going up.  Eventually I found a working code: 025.  Much to my chagrin, though, the code was one of the ones originally listed for my television.  I clearly recall trying it a few times.  I believe it may have failed because my attempts to push the buttons were inaccurate; they're these floppy rubbery things that leave you doubtful of whether the press registered, and there is no red light to provide feedback either.

Thoughts

So, that might seem pretty boring, but it leaves me with some thoughts.

It's interesting that televisions all end up with their own sets of infrared signals to control them, though one brand will reuse a small set of them. It's interesting that some brands will use compatible sets, which is probably intentional.  However, there's no apparently attempt to standardise the codes.  I would imagine you could create a code set that was extensible for the future but mostly standard, and yet there's no real pressure for it.

If there was a standardised control set, then people could more easily substitute controls, which would be nice.  The universal remote market would probably shrink, but it would also be simpler, and perhaps people could have fewer remotes in their homes to begin with.

I also find it interesting that universal remotes are primarily simple, dumb, closed devices.  I briefly tried to search for discussion on how to reprogram the codes on a universal remote.  The first code that I had tried that did not correctly work but had a response was 054.  I can imagine having a mode on the phone to calibrate a remote for a particular TV.  Perhaps first you'd program power, and you'd press power, and it would send a signal, and then you'd affirm or deny it whether it worked, and then after finding the signal for power, you'd move to channel up and down, volume up and down, numbers, and then perhaps a few other common ones.  It would end up requiring a lot of time for the user, but it would help guarantee that the device could remain useful for many more cases and scenarios than were originally anticipated. 

Alternatively, it would be nice if modern universal remotes could interact with a computer and be reprogrammed from there.  A little USB port, or bluetooth, or even IR (two of my old computers could do IR, though not my current one).  Perhaps you could then program them to do many more things involving IR, like controlling a garage door.  Basically, increasing usefulness by not restricting the device to a single purpose, and allowing the willing to use the technology as they like.  Perhaps some already do this.

For a brief while, I had considered acquiring a Nintendo Wii U, as its game pad can operate as a Universal Remote apparently.  Unfortunately, IR isn't as popular as it once was, or perhaps more smartphones would have IR blasters/transmitters.  I feel like installing an app to your phone to use it as a remote control for electronics would be very natural.  I haven't paid too much attention to new televisions, but since many of them are basically a giant monitor with a tiny computer built in, hopefully that's possible.

I basically enjoy programmable devices that can be used for a broad range of functions, rather than simply having single-purpose devices.  I also enjoy open devices where the user is allowed to go beyond the original intent.  I was thinking about how neat it would be if I had the equipment readily available to reprogram existing universal remotes.  I sort of expect it might be possible to remove the casing and flash the ROM inside, if there is one.  I think that's why I've never gotten too in to hardware: the cost of equipment.  Software, thanks to Open Source, allows you to go many places very inexpensively.

So, hooray for technology.  Hooray for users.  And hooray that my household can now switch content and be able to adjust for the shocking variations in volume. :)

[General] Nerdfighters among us

I was sitting on the grey steps in the UC as I am wont to do when I saw a couple levels below me William Darcy and Lizzie Bennet chatting on a girl's computer screen.  Why, she was watching the Lizzie Bennet Diaries!  Later, I glanced again to find Emily Graslie of the Brain Scoop distinguishing between horns and antlers!  This warranted a DFTBA and the hand sign.

[General] Sensitivity

When I see web pages, I can tell that some creators are totally insensitive to the many biases that plague more "discerning", "professional", and "mature" designers.  Often, they seem to lack any sense of aesthetic design, rather than just having a bad one.  They're simply oblivious to the idea that some combinations and forms and restrictions can increase a viewer's pleasure.

Similarly, I'm working late at a Tim Horton's (they have power outlets and wifi these days!  I remember just five years ago when they didn't all accept debit!), and over the store speakers is playing standard pop music, but then the employees have another radio playing at a low quality a country music station.

I'm fascinated that they are used to and presumably enjoy their country music in this atmosphere, and don't seem to mind (or notice) the interference caused by the pop music.  To me it's like having a very cluttered room, which is distracting to me.  Also, the sound quality on the radio is below that of the speakers on my own laptop, in that there's a whining (whinging? I should look up the difference) noise coming from the radio and a bit of static; my laptop only sounds "tinny".

In the same way they enjoy their music more easily than I do, I am aware that friends of mine might wonder how I ever manage to enjoy my own music.  A few friends have Very Nice to Excellent sound systems, over which I have found my own music collection to sound much nicer.  I must seem like a savage to them. :)

I wouldn't say these Tim Hortons' employees seem savage to me, and I've made a point of broadening my sphere of appreciation recently, to better enjoy lo-fidelity and gritty situations, to eschew snobbishness.  But I still know that I viscerally prefer a clean audio experience, a tidy room, and a well structured and planned web site.

[Microblog] Google Flight Search considered Amazing

For example,
https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=YTZ,YHM,YYZ;t=YYT;d=2013-04-20;r=2013-04-26

[Microblog] Transient Eavesdropping

People next to me are talking about all the verified FBI reports of alien presence in the US.  I'm going to refrain from interrupting them to ask for copies. ;_;

[Microblog] Contagion

Today I get to work beside an inaudible but clearly heard enthusiastic spirit whose vivacious energy inspires my own.

[General] Overthrowing my masters

So, I've traditionally been a champion of Google services, because I generally love Google's approach to them.  However, a few years ago Google started retiring less used services, and that made me nervous.  I knew that some day, they would come for me.  They're retiring Google Reader.

    First they came for the communists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a communist.

    Then they came for the socialists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn't speak out because I wasn't a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me,
    and there was no one left to speak for me.

    - pastor Martin Niemöller

This reminds me of one of the major reasons why I enjoy Open Source.  I don't need to rely on a third party to even continue the status quo.  It wouldn't help to change to Readability or Feedly, because I'm still at their mercy, for however long they wish to exist.

[General] Life's Layers

I'm pretty sure they discussed this in Psychology, but I don't remember the details. 

I like to think about myself as layers with different time scales, all overlayed together as with Fourier transforms, or any good polynomial equation.  There are elements of me that exist over very brief periods and elements over very long, and in between and beyond.

Events in my childhood have visible effects that linger decades later.  Events within my day have visible effects that linger for a few hours, or until I sleep.  One good example is in habit building.

During a given practise in iaido, I might be told to swing my sword slightly differently; I will try it a few times and succeed, until next day, by which time I've forgotten.  Slightly longer has been some times when I start a new routine; I enjoy and am motivated to do it the first day, but the motivation wanes over time and I drop it after a week.  Sometimes it's with some type of exercise or cooking routine.  The original cause of motivation disappears into my past, and the resultant behaviour with it.  Other times something will last for a few months; a new interest in botany, motivation for my Masters.  Sometimes for years, like a reduced prioritisation on old ambitions.  Sometimes, forever.

It applies to my moods, too.  I have hour-long, day-long, week-long, months-long, and years-long elements to my mood.  I have been fundamentally happy for years despite a couple months of depression here or there, and I've had an underlying depression for a long period despite being happy most days.  One of the clearest tests is when a stimulus that makes me happy exits: what do I default to?  Do I default to happy between tense situations, or do I default to melancholy after having a happy day with friends?  Basically, how consistent is a mood between events.

Today was good; the warm 10°C environment, bright day and spring smells helped cue in me an old optimism that I used to carry with me daily.  I even ran up Gordon St. hill in practical euphoria.  Lately, I've felt re-motivated to exercise and to work.  I don't know what phases I'm in with my layers of mood and identity, but I hope it's in a positive direction. 

At the very least, I can perhaps bend my mind to encouraging healthy habits long enough that they become natural routines, as I have with iaido and jodo practise this in the past year and a half. :D

[General] Life

I feel as though I could afford to document more of my life here, for the sake of my future memory.  So, my past week.

• cool night walks, nice snow falls
• my colourful lab coat has replaced my winter coats
• "a diversity of colour and a steel heart"
• budo
• jodo: seitei and tanjo
• iaido: 
• koryu: Omori Ryu, Eishin Ryu, and today Okuiai
• (for spelling, I found this page, which I just want to note amuses me because their dojo's ceiling is low and I'd probably stick my blade in it all the time)
• the jujutsu of iai (so much fun!)
• SDK anime club: 
• more Gundam Wing with irreverent commentary
• I love protagonists who never succeed in their goals, but don't realise their ineffectiveness (see French Military Victories)
• Voices of a Distant Star
• atypical; art style looks partially like storyboarding, only 30 minutes, but I love the concept explored; I like the idea of a commitment strong enough that each side could wait 8 years for a message; you're just going to die some day anyway, so don't worry about missing out on stuff
• school
• TAing is great; still one of my favourite parts of University, especially since I've always had a lot of responsibility and allowed a lot of discretion over marking, labs, and seminars.
• my thesis productivity ever increases, and my thesis with it.  I've been able to formalise and smooth out a lot of stuff recently, which has made working on it much nicer
• GSETA
• I'm less and less involved, shedding almost all responsibility, focusing on my thesis instead
• activist element has increased, which isn't really my preferred strategy, due to concerns of alienation and potential for confrontation, so the timing of my withdrawal is convenient
• veganism
• vegan potluck with Planet of the Apes and a Raspberry Pi
• I baked my standard cookies + cocoa
• housemate has remained vegetarian for over two months; w00t
• I brought another cute cookie jar (it's shaped as a giant acorn house for chipmunks that surround it) full of cookies to campus to share while working; yay
• asking at the UC for them to get vegan cheese worked for my friend Mike, so I've been bugging different stations to start using it as an alternative; hooray!  Cheesy vegan pizza at the UC
• Metro has a vegan margarine under their Irresistables brand; saves a dollar versus Becel; yay!
• hung out with E at an art gallery; interpretation has never been that un
• hung out with E again to watch Sherlock, chatted for half a day instead
• hung out with M and I at the library
• and more

[Microblog] Transient Thought

Waiting in the cool, moist evening air tonight reminds me of so many evenings at BC Ferry Terminals.

[Microblog] Transient Tasks

I want to write letters.

[Microblog] The Beast in Our Tracks

It's out as of today!

[Microblog] Crisis

I just realised that I do not have Josh Ritters' album "The Animal Years" because it is not offered on emusic.com. I have a few tracks from it from singles, but, I know not how I can carry on.

[Technology] HTML5, CSS, and the web of the future

So, I've been a bit too busy with my Masters to keep up with all the neat innovations happening everywhere, but Google has a recent blog post talking about some new stuff that Chrome is supporting, and I'm delighted by two of them.

Templates
Basically, you can include a snippet of HTML that won't be displayed; that way, the rest of your page can make use of it later when it wants to.  So, for example, I might build a table in JavaScript, but I don't want to define the HTML for the rows in the JavaScript (because it's a bit clunky that way), so I get to write it naturally inside the template, and then just query for the row's template later, customise it, clone it, and append it.  Yay.

In fact, I already basically do this by including elements whose display is set to hidden, so I guess this just more formal.

Calculations inside CSS!
Now attributes can be set to a value like "width: calc (100% - 10em);".  I've been dying for something like this for a while.  Currently, I just tamper with sizes with JavaScript once the page is loading

[General] What shoes!

A point, frozen almost perfectly in time and space.

http://btlondon2012.co.uk/pano.html

An incredibly high resolution photograph, so high resolution I was able to zoom in on a fellow's shoes and identify them as Converse All-Stars. O_O

Oh, and individual leaves on trees.

This must be what Sauron sees as a great, lidless eye, wreathed in flame.

[Microblog] My dad

This is my dad.  My dad is amazing.