Thursday, July 30, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
author's software principles
Make software that discusses its methods with the user.
Example:
At the heart of basically every application are functions that draw dots, lines, and other geometries. Are these ever discussed in software documentation? To me, this looks like a market niche.
At present, with little to go on but this idea (very limited knowledge of languages, etc.), what I can do is write about it. Since the idea is to inform, anyway, that might do double duty, informing while developing.
That's one principle with an application of it illustrated. Here's another:
Treat virtual reality not as a computing application but as the essence of what computing is and how it's done.
I want to work on the first principle before I tackle the second. The first principle is an approach to the building blocks of virtual reality. The statement of the second principle can stand, here, as an expression of the next larger goal.
Example:
At the heart of basically every application are functions that draw dots, lines, and other geometries. Are these ever discussed in software documentation? To me, this looks like a market niche.
At present, with little to go on but this idea (very limited knowledge of languages, etc.), what I can do is write about it. Since the idea is to inform, anyway, that might do double duty, informing while developing.
That's one principle with an application of it illustrated. Here's another:
Treat virtual reality not as a computing application but as the essence of what computing is and how it's done.
I want to work on the first principle before I tackle the second. The first principle is an approach to the building blocks of virtual reality. The statement of the second principle can stand, here, as an expression of the next larger goal.
Friday, July 24, 2009
happiness
I'm happy. That's pretty much true 100% of the time. That hasn't always been something I would say, although always leaned towards happiness. It's true, now, though, because of my method. What I do is, I always have something in mind TO DO. If there's a moment when I don't have something in mind to do, that'll make me feel a little bit of unhappiness, or, maybe, more than a little, until I adjust. As soon as I start to feel fretful in that kind of way, I search my thoughts for things to do. If nothing comes to mind, I make something up. If something that comes to mind seems so outrageous as to be impractically difficult to accomplish, I make up ways to get it done. Those things in themselves are often outrageous, but I can feel them beginning a process that will work.
Just that makes me happy. And it has beneficial side effects, too. Things start to happen. Things do happen. The underlying conditions for happiness develop, so happiness and conditions develop together.
It may be that to move from a state of accustomed unhappiness, or even accustomed sometimes moodiness (moving from that within reason), to a state of constant happiness requires more than a logical prescription. One may be in a kind of other space or place from the other. If that is the case, the reader may be able to apply a some supplemental practices. For example, earlier in my life, I pursued happiness by studying macrobiotics. Happiness, its value as a goal, is at the very heart of macrobiotics, explicitly ... "key to health and happiness." Perhaps, though, practitioners have been too serious, treating macrobiotics as about doing something right, and forgetting that well being may be its essence. Still, to me, that essence made complete sense, and I pursued it with complete confidence, and total enthusiasm. One result: I've always had something to do (cooking being the fundamental practice, with philosophizing, gardening, editorializing, teaching, business, being other examples).
You could try that. Just think of it as cooking. Dedicate yourself to cooking and happiness, and you will have health and abundance to support them.
Another story has to do with medicine I took. I'll write about that later.
Just that makes me happy. And it has beneficial side effects, too. Things start to happen. Things do happen. The underlying conditions for happiness develop, so happiness and conditions develop together.
It may be that to move from a state of accustomed unhappiness, or even accustomed sometimes moodiness (moving from that within reason), to a state of constant happiness requires more than a logical prescription. One may be in a kind of other space or place from the other. If that is the case, the reader may be able to apply a some supplemental practices. For example, earlier in my life, I pursued happiness by studying macrobiotics. Happiness, its value as a goal, is at the very heart of macrobiotics, explicitly ... "key to health and happiness." Perhaps, though, practitioners have been too serious, treating macrobiotics as about doing something right, and forgetting that well being may be its essence. Still, to me, that essence made complete sense, and I pursued it with complete confidence, and total enthusiasm. One result: I've always had something to do (cooking being the fundamental practice, with philosophizing, gardening, editorializing, teaching, business, being other examples).
You could try that. Just think of it as cooking. Dedicate yourself to cooking and happiness, and you will have health and abundance to support them.
Another story has to do with medicine I took. I'll write about that later.
deliverables
I went with your "deliverables" topic, and got, I think, interesting results.
I want to do near term deliverables. The conference itself is a deliverable. Then, the first two days are essentially spent working on - planning - deliverables. The thing is, why wait. Anything we do immediately will only add to what we can do at the conference. My awareness swung to the absurd aspect of my plan. I thought "maybe we should plan it for October." Then I thought "let's plan it for August and October and January."
I have long wanted to do a graphics programming environment. We'll use that to build rendering functions. Another aspect of my plan: I want the user to fully understand the code behind the product. I want the product to teach users about itself. I'm seeing the content of our discussions in the course of building the product as a medium for beginning that project of teaching user about the product's methods. I'm mentioned similar ideas in earlier letters. I think I can map out an incremental build that will make the process intelligible for anyone, and everyone.
The next bit is a draft of the beginning step.
I want JavaScript for a page that displays a picture area and surrounds it with controls.
Let’s make the picture area 4 by 6 inches.
A white field.
Make the rest of the window sky blue.
Let’s do a command line!
The command line is a white field in the blue background with a cursor when you click in it, and you type in a command "drawpoint(number between 0 and 100, including decimal fractions if desired, the x value, similar y value, positive number of any size representing the size of the point in pixels, hexadecimal color value)". Pressing enter calls the drawpoint function and passes its parameters.
I have detailed some code for the drawpoint function here. I'm working things out as I go through part of it, but I think at the end I rework it into something fairly rational.
Paragraphs 4 and 5 of another post at my just revived blog respond another issue you raise, and record the emergence of my new process, and the post after that expands on the latter point, and introduces an example (since discovered to be flawed) of it application.
I am going to define the first step even more narrowly and write to you with that shortly.
Virtual Arcosanti is definitely part of my plan ... my version is low tech/no tech. I've just noticed how it fits in with another part of my Arcosanti plan that I'll detail for you shortly.
You could comment for me about how you would do these functions (back to the programming) in Web 2.0. I'd like to know something about that ... up to now, I haven't had a clue.
I want to do near term deliverables. The conference itself is a deliverable. Then, the first two days are essentially spent working on - planning - deliverables. The thing is, why wait. Anything we do immediately will only add to what we can do at the conference. My awareness swung to the absurd aspect of my plan. I thought "maybe we should plan it for October." Then I thought "let's plan it for August and October and January."
I have long wanted to do a graphics programming environment. We'll use that to build rendering functions. Another aspect of my plan: I want the user to fully understand the code behind the product. I want the product to teach users about itself. I'm seeing the content of our discussions in the course of building the product as a medium for beginning that project of teaching user about the product's methods. I'm mentioned similar ideas in earlier letters. I think I can map out an incremental build that will make the process intelligible for anyone, and everyone.
The next bit is a draft of the beginning step.
I want JavaScript for a page that displays a picture area and surrounds it with controls.
Let’s make the picture area 4 by 6 inches.
A white field.
Make the rest of the window sky blue.
Let’s do a command line!
The command line is a white field in the blue background with a cursor when you click in it, and you type in a command "drawpoint(number between 0 and 100, including decimal fractions if desired, the x value, similar y value, positive number of any size representing the size of the point in pixels, hexadecimal color value)". Pressing enter calls the drawpoint function and passes its parameters.
I have detailed some code for the drawpoint function here. I'm working things out as I go through part of it, but I think at the end I rework it into something fairly rational.
Paragraphs 4 and 5 of another post at my just revived blog respond another issue you raise, and record the emergence of my new process, and the post after that expands on the latter point, and introduces an example (since discovered to be flawed) of it application.
I am going to define the first step even more narrowly and write to you with that shortly.
Virtual Arcosanti is definitely part of my plan ... my version is low tech/no tech. I've just noticed how it fits in with another part of my Arcosanti plan that I'll detail for you shortly.
You could comment for me about how you would do these functions (back to the programming) in Web 2.0. I'd like to know something about that ... up to now, I haven't had a clue.
Suddenly ...
Suddenly, the blog is alive.
Suddenly, it fits, as the place for ALL THIS MATERIAL I've been accumulating. I struggled so with photos, earlier, but now I have a plan for that, too, which is putting them up one at a time. It's primitive. It's simple. It's just right.
At the very same time, I find myself embarked upon yet another new adventure with old friends. I begin my document here. I suddenly realized it was vital to capture these screens. Always click the picture for additional information. Always go to the next post to follow the story.
Always click the pictures for more information.
Suddenly, it fits, as the place for ALL THIS MATERIAL I've been accumulating. I struggled so with photos, earlier, but now I have a plan for that, too, which is putting them up one at a time. It's primitive. It's simple. It's just right.
At the very same time, I find myself embarked upon yet another new adventure with old friends. I begin my document here. I suddenly realized it was vital to capture these screens. Always click the picture for additional information. Always go to the next post to follow the story.
Always click the pictures for more information.
Back To The Blog
Christian,
Your comment "deliverables" got me thinking about ... well, first I thought let's you and me begin working on deliverable this very minute. Also, another of your comments has me questioning my inclination towards secrecy.
I worked on some ideas in a draft letter. They turned out overly complicated. Later, I got an idea for something simpler. I found - this was really exciting - that I was working on a long-treasured concept, shelved for some time: a graphics programming workshop. The user can experiment with graphics algorithms.
I then composed a short essay describing something very rudimentary, in the above way, in enough detail to illustrate the basic architecture.
The question is, what will attract users to such rudimentary thing. The answer is, the documentation. The user will come to the product through a series of descriptions of its workings. That series of documents starts to exist (I wrote about this in an earlier e-mail) as soon as we exchange letters about it.
Then, almost to my horror, I was confronted with the importance of getting those documents on line. For a moment, I despaired. Then, to my amazement, I remembered my blog, abandoned for some time, and realized: it will work.
Another question will be, how does this relate to my mapping concept? It is deep underlying structure for that ... is my contention. Here's a logical proposition: the purpose of software is empowerment of the user. The most fundamentally empowered state for a user is being able to write code. The truest software design parameter, then, is to teach the user how to write code. My plan is to integrate this function into all my products, so that the user is constantly learning about the code behind everything she is using. We begin, here, at the opposite end, by building basic components, and documenting the process.
Your comment "deliverables" got me thinking about ... well, first I thought let's you and me begin working on deliverable this very minute. Also, another of your comments has me questioning my inclination towards secrecy.
I worked on some ideas in a draft letter. They turned out overly complicated. Later, I got an idea for something simpler. I found - this was really exciting - that I was working on a long-treasured concept, shelved for some time: a graphics programming workshop. The user can experiment with graphics algorithms.
I then composed a short essay describing something very rudimentary, in the above way, in enough detail to illustrate the basic architecture.
The question is, what will attract users to such rudimentary thing. The answer is, the documentation. The user will come to the product through a series of descriptions of its workings. That series of documents starts to exist (I wrote about this in an earlier e-mail) as soon as we exchange letters about it.
Then, almost to my horror, I was confronted with the importance of getting those documents on line. For a moment, I despaired. Then, to my amazement, I remembered my blog, abandoned for some time, and realized: it will work.
Another question will be, how does this relate to my mapping concept? It is deep underlying structure for that ... is my contention. Here's a logical proposition: the purpose of software is empowerment of the user. The most fundamentally empowered state for a user is being able to write code. The truest software design parameter, then, is to teach the user how to write code. My plan is to integrate this function into all my products, so that the user is constantly learning about the code behind everything she is using. We begin, here, at the opposite end, by building basic components, and documenting the process.
Monday, May 11, 2009
word file from desk top
doing things
intoxicated
the body almost
actually?
falling away
the next moment
i’m flying around
doing ten things
thinking
about boxing
those pots
what to
do moving
the boxes
from one spot
to a better one
thinking
about
washing the
wall behind the
book case
seeing it’s
brown with
grime thinking
i’ll need to
move the
book case and
(the one thousandth
time)
where are those wheels?
looking
in
the
bin
behind the
boxes and
the laundry
but can’t because
too much clutter
hustle,
forming a plan
to get
cellophane,
tape,
scissors
and lay them out
and i’ll make
a bundle from these
nice old clothes
i’m trying hard
to keep
moving out in
that direction
i think about
cutting some wood
that i had that plan
and that
getting the
saw now
before
wrapping
the old
shirts
so that that
will be waiting
half done
for another opportune
moment
and so will
the saws
my day begins
i take
the basin
of spaghetti
water from
yesterday to the
compost heap
and put the
bowl on the garden
table to re
mind me
which sure
enough it does
sending me back
into
the workshop
for the saws
on the way
back to the
house i think
about clamping
work, how to
and come up
with a slightly
more complete
version of
the rail
i’ve been
contemplating
I put the
Saws in a
Secure spot
put the
file of
printing
templates
in the
assembly area,
and move
the computer
to the office,
thinking it is time
to write
it’s an artist’s
life
making bits
of art
out of
everything
because it’s
where my
training lies and also
if you
know how
to do it it’s a
good
trick
for
making
things
happen
i get right
on the wrapping
project (#1), then
and get it
wrapped
and then
i’m thinking about
the pottery
how to
wrap that
the
girl
mocked my
notion of
advertizing that,
the wrapping
of the
pottery she
doesn’t understand
because in
japan
wrapping
exauisite
little pieces of
pottery in exquisite
little
newspaper
packages
is
nothing
out
of
the
ordinary, whereas
here
but the real
issue is this
i need
to create
that
ad
and when am i going
to do it?
intoxicated
the body almost
actually?
falling away
the next moment
i’m flying around
doing ten things
thinking
about boxing
those pots
what to
do moving
the boxes
from one spot
to a better one
thinking
about
washing the
wall behind the
book case
seeing it’s
brown with
grime thinking
i’ll need to
move the
book case and
(the one thousandth
time)
where are those wheels?
looking
in
the
bin
behind the
boxes and
the laundry
but can’t because
too much clutter
hustle,
forming a plan
to get
cellophane,
tape,
scissors
and lay them out
and i’ll make
a bundle from these
nice old clothes
i’m trying hard
to keep
moving out in
that direction
i think about
cutting some wood
that i had that plan
and that
getting the
saw now
before
wrapping
the old
shirts
so that that
will be waiting
half done
for another opportune
moment
and so will
the saws
my day begins
i take
the basin
of spaghetti
water from
yesterday to the
compost heap
and put the
bowl on the garden
table to re
mind me
which sure
enough it does
sending me back
into
the workshop
for the saws
on the way
back to the
house i think
about clamping
work, how to
and come up
with a slightly
more complete
version of
the rail
i’ve been
contemplating
I put the
Saws in a
Secure spot
put the
file of
printing
templates
in the
assembly area,
and move
the computer
to the office,
thinking it is time
to write
it’s an artist’s
life
making bits
of art
out of
everything
because it’s
where my
training lies and also
if you
know how
to do it it’s a
good
trick
for
making
things
happen
i get right
on the wrapping
project (#1), then
and get it
wrapped
and then
i’m thinking about
the pottery
how to
wrap that
the
girl
mocked my
notion of
advertizing that,
the wrapping
of the
pottery she
doesn’t understand
because in
japan
wrapping
exauisite
little pieces of
pottery in exquisite
little
newspaper
packages
is
nothing
out
of
the
ordinary, whereas
here
but the real
issue is this
i need
to create
that
ad
and when am i going
to do it?
Saturday, May 2, 2009
visualization exercise
Mining deeper and deeper into the official Swiss information web sites, looking for links to speak to me, as well as systematically reviewing lists of pages, all of which are concise and to the point, arrive after a time at the Swiss Embasy. There, after a time, I choose Science, Technology and Higher Education, which are really my field, and I am instantly connected with ThinkSwiss. That's the Science, Technology and Higher Education link at the Swiss Embassy on line, and then look for the ThinkSwiss link.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
4-29-2009
made a tiny little sub-antena for the TV
swept the entire gazebo five times
did three loads of laundry
vaccumed the hall and some corners
e-mailed mostar@...
swept the entire gazebo five times
did three loads of laundry
vaccumed the hall and some corners
e-mailed mostar@...
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
into the fray
stalled out for a few. didn't know what to do. wrote about haters, everybody against me, got mopey but didn't yell, all this after two, three weeks of intensely constant activity which i described. didn't update my correspondence or even read my mail for more than a week. finished the plumbing job and went out to lunch with the guy, drinking beers before and after noon, twice what even i'm accustumed, practicing kung fu for a change, and meditating a little, working towards routine, alone, discussing solitude
monday, the guy stopped by, we had lunch, drank, talked, i had slept, then did the dishes, then made cookie batter, baked them in the toaster while we made lunch, crispy buttery choco chips from Joy of, black and white chips, then after he took off, did a chore, wrote about math, then busied myself with dinner, cooking, said nothing while we ate, so as not to bother anybody, just watched my thoughts inside me, feeling ok, all pleasant, a bit woozy, but you gotta deal
tuesday
following plan, woke and got up when she was leaving, saw her off, hustled myself ready, dressed, things together, bounced 300 times, and out the door, radio on, driving, slow route, 5 miles south and two east, cafe, pancakes, they gave me lemon ricotta bonus, wrote ten pages on math, sat in slightly hot car doing my accounts, drove to ikea, dropped off battery and bulb for recycling, bought set of pans, stainless with thick bottoms, glass lids, three nested together, ten dollars, that i'd promised her, and basket for index cards, shallow, wide, and grey muslin napkins, four for seven dollars, parked at the end of the lot for walking, headed for home depot, parked at the end of sam's club lot, in a nice bit of shade, like being in the forest, took a bag in with me, bought drawer rails, rejecting the fifteen dollar set, buying the six dollar set, which is like a puzzle, the whole project is, grommet set, seemingly the third time i've bought one, planning a place to put it where i'll be able to find it, buying jumbo size over medium or small, for making bags from old pants, bought the bulbs for the lamp in the kitchen
broke from writing to do morning bounces, update links on web map, sweep spiders, noted while bouncing
bought iron stakes for fence work, per the guy's excelent suggestion, big honking ones with holes already drilled for bolting things on, and heavy black coating, and i'll see if the guy has a big hammer for that, but i'm sure he does, in his neat as a pin workshop. headed for a break at starbucks, hesitating in the parking lot for five, not sure what to do, settled in after parking under another tree (radio: hot for a day, then cool again for a good long spell) with a smallish coffee (one day it's huge, the next it's small, as i always ask for a china cup and, causing the kids endless confusion, but they soldier on) and an apple fritter, and write a poem. stopping to wash the carriage, then over to whole foods fascist market, but it's where i shop, bulk chocolate chips so i don't buy a bag (at home, the receipt says "malt swtnd" ... true?), three wines after being tempted by sale, so, two nice bottles at 4.99 each (at good old trader joe's all the wines are less than that), a real bottle of cream from sonoma, butter from same dairy, a fancy shmancy salami, a magnum of christmas ale marked down now, still a few of them left, guys, a big bottle of cheap but good vinegar for cleaning, three dollars, and seven stunning red potatoes, also from the nocal hills, total bill a not so cheap eighty dollars
home, then. multipple trips up filthy berry strewn path with bags. moving stuff around on cluttered kitchen counter to make room, storing items in garage, on gazebo, it takes me an hour to get everything stashed, trying all the while to organize my index cards, with all my to do notes in various categories, constantly moving from one thing to another, thinking, this is more than interesting, and i should write about the hundred things i just did, but now, writing, can't remember what they were. all done, it's late, and i'm starting dinner, putting mirin in the skillet, and soy sauce, and water, and bringing them to a simmer, and adding sliced shiitake, and slices of tofu, and she's home, and she adds bits of kombu, and two dried fish, and pretty peas from her garden, and they all simmer, and the leftover rice is warming in the pan, and the precious new year black soy beans, cooked with syrup, in another, and she's saying "this is really, really japanese," and i'm drinking kirsch because i've had two beers already and can't find my apple jack, and it's smooth (straight from serbia, tasting of bubble gum), and she washes up while i make desert and chatter, and we have our bath, and i stay up finishing my accounts, and the two boy cats are on my bed, and i sleep. then, towards morning, i dream i am in a round house, with my folks, everybody, and pearce, too, and this guy, who has build a dam in the massive river, heroically, not to impound the waters of inundation, but for a sacred purpose, and, looking at his work, i'm weeping, and everyone is sympathetic, then the guy goes outside and sets up a big hullabaloo (for all his heroism, he's a big goof), about the big party across the way, how it must be countered, and there are beautiful colors on the big tent, so i'm wondering why, but i go over there with them, and the guy's pissed i won't make a fuss, but i leap all the way down into the arena, in one bound, and start helping the folks and calming them down. "next to the i section," i observe, "is the iY section." means nothing, but fun. i remember now: completely on impulse i went into action and did the full tai chi set, noting the time, and thus that it took me - concentrating - 15 minutes. that's why i was able to make that big leap, in my dream
monday, the guy stopped by, we had lunch, drank, talked, i had slept, then did the dishes, then made cookie batter, baked them in the toaster while we made lunch, crispy buttery choco chips from Joy of, black and white chips, then after he took off, did a chore, wrote about math, then busied myself with dinner, cooking, said nothing while we ate, so as not to bother anybody, just watched my thoughts inside me, feeling ok, all pleasant, a bit woozy, but you gotta deal
tuesday
following plan, woke and got up when she was leaving, saw her off, hustled myself ready, dressed, things together, bounced 300 times, and out the door, radio on, driving, slow route, 5 miles south and two east, cafe, pancakes, they gave me lemon ricotta bonus, wrote ten pages on math, sat in slightly hot car doing my accounts, drove to ikea, dropped off battery and bulb for recycling, bought set of pans, stainless with thick bottoms, glass lids, three nested together, ten dollars, that i'd promised her, and basket for index cards, shallow, wide, and grey muslin napkins, four for seven dollars, parked at the end of the lot for walking, headed for home depot, parked at the end of sam's club lot, in a nice bit of shade, like being in the forest, took a bag in with me, bought drawer rails, rejecting the fifteen dollar set, buying the six dollar set, which is like a puzzle, the whole project is, grommet set, seemingly the third time i've bought one, planning a place to put it where i'll be able to find it, buying jumbo size over medium or small, for making bags from old pants, bought the bulbs for the lamp in the kitchen
broke from writing to do morning bounces, update links on web map, sweep spiders, noted while bouncing
bought iron stakes for fence work, per the guy's excelent suggestion, big honking ones with holes already drilled for bolting things on, and heavy black coating, and i'll see if the guy has a big hammer for that, but i'm sure he does, in his neat as a pin workshop. headed for a break at starbucks, hesitating in the parking lot for five, not sure what to do, settled in after parking under another tree (radio: hot for a day, then cool again for a good long spell) with a smallish coffee (one day it's huge, the next it's small, as i always ask for a china cup and, causing the kids endless confusion, but they soldier on) and an apple fritter, and write a poem. stopping to wash the carriage, then over to whole foods fascist market, but it's where i shop, bulk chocolate chips so i don't buy a bag (at home, the receipt says "malt swtnd" ... true?), three wines after being tempted by sale, so, two nice bottles at 4.99 each (at good old trader joe's all the wines are less than that), a real bottle of cream from sonoma, butter from same dairy, a fancy shmancy salami, a magnum of christmas ale marked down now, still a few of them left, guys, a big bottle of cheap but good vinegar for cleaning, three dollars, and seven stunning red potatoes, also from the nocal hills, total bill a not so cheap eighty dollars
home, then. multipple trips up filthy berry strewn path with bags. moving stuff around on cluttered kitchen counter to make room, storing items in garage, on gazebo, it takes me an hour to get everything stashed, trying all the while to organize my index cards, with all my to do notes in various categories, constantly moving from one thing to another, thinking, this is more than interesting, and i should write about the hundred things i just did, but now, writing, can't remember what they were. all done, it's late, and i'm starting dinner, putting mirin in the skillet, and soy sauce, and water, and bringing them to a simmer, and adding sliced shiitake, and slices of tofu, and she's home, and she adds bits of kombu, and two dried fish, and pretty peas from her garden, and they all simmer, and the leftover rice is warming in the pan, and the precious new year black soy beans, cooked with syrup, in another, and she's saying "this is really, really japanese," and i'm drinking kirsch because i've had two beers already and can't find my apple jack, and it's smooth (straight from serbia, tasting of bubble gum), and she washes up while i make desert and chatter, and we have our bath, and i stay up finishing my accounts, and the two boy cats are on my bed, and i sleep. then, towards morning, i dream i am in a round house, with my folks, everybody, and pearce, too, and this guy, who has build a dam in the massive river, heroically, not to impound the waters of inundation, but for a sacred purpose, and, looking at his work, i'm weeping, and everyone is sympathetic, then the guy goes outside and sets up a big hullabaloo (for all his heroism, he's a big goof), about the big party across the way, how it must be countered, and there are beautiful colors on the big tent, so i'm wondering why, but i go over there with them, and the guy's pissed i won't make a fuss, but i leap all the way down into the arena, in one bound, and start helping the folks and calming them down. "next to the i section," i observe, "is the iY section." means nothing, but fun. i remember now: completely on impulse i went into action and did the full tai chi set, noting the time, and thus that it took me - concentrating - 15 minutes. that's why i was able to make that big leap, in my dream
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
charting standard
One of three general standards to apply to build a truly user friendly stock charting program: by the nature of the interface, users will review all the information they need or can use to asess a stock every several seconds.
poems
I spent two hours looking at photos.
Sort of a day off.
Working.
I swept. I am going to bake the bread.
Sort of a day off.
Working.
I swept. I am going to bake the bread.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
work day photos
I went ahead and framed this.
It had been sitting on the floor for weeks, with a couple of other sculptures
I took the photos during the last two days working around the studio. I thought "they document the work surface."
And one work surface I spend time with is the computer desktop.
Somehow, the onion I sliced magically fell into this perfect image of a flower.
working notes
Gorm media center.
Formal photo of that other sculpture in the group. This one has been around for some time.
coaster, $1000
Another view of the work space.
The object that looks like a wooden horse is a shelf I need to append to the ikea shelving in my closet. I hustle to take care of it now.
tea
This seems like just an amazing deal to me, at Amazon. I didn't realize it (Amazon) was for deals.
Monday, March 23, 2009
on line retail cncpt
The idea is to free customers from needing to drive around on errands.
It's also one thing to shop on line, but another to receive a constant stream of packages in the mail ... not so great. So, we let you assemble, over time, on bigger delivery.
Instead of treating the web store shopping cart or basket (or bag, as I saw it described at one site, yesterday) as a pure symbol, we treat it literally, as a virtual reality construct. As you add items to your order, you pack them, in a virtual reality environment, into a box - which you select from a display of alternatives. Naturally, as your order changes, you can choose different boxes, and re-pack any way you like. And, of course, you can pack several boxes at once, and then we will do our best to deliver them all at one time.
There's a certain amount of planning required to make such a project, on the part of the customer, really work, so we support that, too, the key question being "what items will make my life wonderful this (week, month, year, etc.).
(This is more than asking just which items we need ... it's about how we can assess products for superb quality and "fit." More on that elsewhere ...)
It's also one thing to shop on line, but another to receive a constant stream of packages in the mail ... not so great. So, we let you assemble, over time, on bigger delivery.
Instead of treating the web store shopping cart or basket (or bag, as I saw it described at one site, yesterday) as a pure symbol, we treat it literally, as a virtual reality construct. As you add items to your order, you pack them, in a virtual reality environment, into a box - which you select from a display of alternatives. Naturally, as your order changes, you can choose different boxes, and re-pack any way you like. And, of course, you can pack several boxes at once, and then we will do our best to deliver them all at one time.
There's a certain amount of planning required to make such a project, on the part of the customer, really work, so we support that, too, the key question being "what items will make my life wonderful this (week, month, year, etc.).
(This is more than asking just which items we need ... it's about how we can assess products for superb quality and "fit." More on that elsewhere ...)
story?
I checked my mail. There were comments from Dad about the blog. I was glad to get something. Then there was an invitation to read Narrative's Story of the Week.
I clicked through. The way they do it, there's a title, and a line or two, and an author's photo. It's always exciting.
I didn't click through to the story, though. I felt too much in a hurry. Maybe if it had sounded just a little easier to read, I might have. It wasn't that it sounded less than mesmerizing, just that it sounded a hint difficult.
Then, below that, there was a poem ... poem of the week. Poet's photo. I thought I recognized the name, a big name. There was the poem. Three lines, seven words. It was, actually, fantastic.
Below that, "story writing contest."
But, I don't write stories.
Do I know how to write stories?
Next morning. After breakfast, I find myself hustling. First, I'm tidying in the studio. Walking fast, first to the back, then to the front, this way, that way, back and forth, moving things from one spot to another, into new groups, new places. It's a thrill to be moving. Following the plan I formed at night, I photograph the steps, in considerable detail. (But I've also been studying how to be selective, when I'm shooting.) I'm going over in my mind my plan for assembling a little book, which I want to complete this morning.
I clicked through. The way they do it, there's a title, and a line or two, and an author's photo. It's always exciting.
I didn't click through to the story, though. I felt too much in a hurry. Maybe if it had sounded just a little easier to read, I might have. It wasn't that it sounded less than mesmerizing, just that it sounded a hint difficult.
Then, below that, there was a poem ... poem of the week. Poet's photo. I thought I recognized the name, a big name. There was the poem. Three lines, seven words. It was, actually, fantastic.
Below that, "story writing contest."
But, I don't write stories.
Do I know how to write stories?
Next morning. After breakfast, I find myself hustling. First, I'm tidying in the studio. Walking fast, first to the back, then to the front, this way, that way, back and forth, moving things from one spot to another, into new groups, new places. It's a thrill to be moving. Following the plan I formed at night, I photograph the steps, in considerable detail. (But I've also been studying how to be selective, when I'm shooting.) I'm going over in my mind my plan for assembling a little book, which I want to complete this morning.
essence of the great life
Once a year, I see Chris, when he and Laura visit Curtis from Chicago, so we get to catch up just a little. Whatcha doin, Chris asked me. How's things, I asked him. Oh, ok, he said. Hmm, I'm ok too, though, to tell the truth, my life is rather exciting. Exciting? he asked. Um, are you a secret agent? I took my time with that, not wanting to say no. It's sort of similar, I said. I'm playing journalist.
The thing to understand about journalism is, it's not what you're documenting that creates the excitement ... well, that's half of it, but not all of it ... it's that you're documenting. Even if what you're documenting is small stuff, or meek and mild stuff (there's no shortage of interesting stuff), describing it makes you a journalist, i.e., a secret agent.
The thing to understand about journalism is, it's not what you're documenting that creates the excitement ... well, that's half of it, but not all of it ... it's that you're documenting. Even if what you're documenting is small stuff, or meek and mild stuff (there's no shortage of interesting stuff), describing it makes you a journalist, i.e., a secret agent.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
media concept
Generally: a magazine whose every page is designed to be used, for some definite purpose.
Specifically:
1) Doesn't the word, magazine, mean a store. Pages are order forms which can be mailed in to buy specific items, which are illustrated. Another part of the page is designed to be saved as a record of the purchase or just of the offer.
2) Articles are formatted to be clipped and saved, in an index card or trading card type stack, and as clip-art for collage, and so on.
(Both concepts imply a definite relationship between front and back of a page.)
Specifically:
1) Doesn't the word, magazine, mean a store. Pages are order forms which can be mailed in to buy specific items, which are illustrated. Another part of the page is designed to be saved as a record of the purchase or just of the offer.
2) Articles are formatted to be clipped and saved, in an index card or trading card type stack, and as clip-art for collage, and so on.
(Both concepts imply a definite relationship between front and back of a page.)
travel center
Speaking of fundraising, I want to place a travel center in every home, unless someone really doesn't want it. What? It's like a big wardrobe with room for all your bags and gear, stowed in a completely tidy way, completely ready for packing at any moment's notice, and with convenient bench and table space for packing, built in. This is more or less a research project, which is to say, if there are instructions on how to organize such a thing - in every different circumstance - then everyone can do that, so our job is to develop those instructions, through a process of trial and error, couched on a subsidized, marketed (planning, visualization, promotion) design and construction service whose customers get to test endless prototypes. (All prototypes are modular and portable for easy moving and adaptation to new testers' locations/purposes.)
inside head
Voice #1: I want to travel luxuriously for several months this year ... six months, even.
Voice #2: Where are you going to get money for that?!
Voice #1: I want to get grants for it.
Voice #2: Who's going to give you grants to go around enjoying yourself?
Voice #1: Why not? I mean, sure, most people will have all sorts of reasons, but there could be takers.
Voice #2: You have to offer them something.
Voice #1: Sure. It's a journalistic venture.
Voice #2: That's it?
Voice #1: That's the first draft.
Voice #2: Where are you going to get money for that?!
Voice #1: I want to get grants for it.
Voice #2: Who's going to give you grants to go around enjoying yourself?
Voice #1: Why not? I mean, sure, most people will have all sorts of reasons, but there could be takers.
Voice #2: You have to offer them something.
Voice #1: Sure. It's a journalistic venture.
Voice #2: That's it?
Voice #1: That's the first draft.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
saturday (morning)
Added description to Manga-Dialog title panel.
Discovered the option while studying Blogger Settings tabs in search of insight into workings of Blogger archiving. (Figured out archiving, too, at last. It simply is not explained, except in the abstract, which is either an oversight, or a kind of elegance, since, when you figure it out, which is, ultimately, possible, it is a) self evident, and, b) thrilling.
Woke early again, for no apparent reason (except perhaps extremely early bed-times while backpacking this week). Feeling quite refreshed, was delighted to realize I might be able to follow annoying directions and meditate for a minute. First, spent time tidying things here and there. Meditated. K. is up by that time. We feed cats and prepare breakfast of tamales and eggs together. Dish is completely delicious. (Tamales are from El Bien Sabor, and they take the name of their restaurant very seriously. They are wrapped in corn husks, not paper. We heat them in the steamer. Eggs are best we can get, too, organic, from Whole Foods, cooked in organic butter in a heavy enameled iron pan, sprinkled with sea salt and tasty salsa. Organic coffee (ultra-dark French roast, hand ground, drip in melita filter with water from kettle) with organic heavy cream that comes in a returnable glass bottle from Strausse, in Sonoma. After breakfast, had a thought, and decided it was best to record it immediately, so, started up internet, blogger, and went to work for fifteen, while K read paper. (See today's first post.) Had a little fight as K left for work. Laundry, dishes, all this additional blogging, day is zooming by!!!! Must check e-mail.
Discovered the option while studying Blogger Settings tabs in search of insight into workings of Blogger archiving. (Figured out archiving, too, at last. It simply is not explained, except in the abstract, which is either an oversight, or a kind of elegance, since, when you figure it out, which is, ultimately, possible, it is a) self evident, and, b) thrilling.
Woke early again, for no apparent reason (except perhaps extremely early bed-times while backpacking this week). Feeling quite refreshed, was delighted to realize I might be able to follow annoying directions and meditate for a minute. First, spent time tidying things here and there. Meditated. K. is up by that time. We feed cats and prepare breakfast of tamales and eggs together. Dish is completely delicious. (Tamales are from El Bien Sabor, and they take the name of their restaurant very seriously. They are wrapped in corn husks, not paper. We heat them in the steamer. Eggs are best we can get, too, organic, from Whole Foods, cooked in organic butter in a heavy enameled iron pan, sprinkled with sea salt and tasty salsa. Organic coffee (ultra-dark French roast, hand ground, drip in melita filter with water from kettle) with organic heavy cream that comes in a returnable glass bottle from Strausse, in Sonoma. After breakfast, had a thought, and decided it was best to record it immediately, so, started up internet, blogger, and went to work for fifteen, while K read paper. (See today's first post.) Had a little fight as K left for work. Laundry, dishes, all this additional blogging, day is zooming by!!!! Must check e-mail.
business plan
Look at the bottom of a post for "labels." Some posts may not have labels, and you won't see the labels section, but many do have one or more links so marked.
Click on a label id to display all the posts associated with that label.
In this way, labels create blogs within the blog. Thus, this post is labeled "business plan," and clicking on that label will display, in effect, my business plans blog, which remains and always is still part of the manga-dialog.
Click on a label id to display all the posts associated with that label.
In this way, labels create blogs within the blog. Thus, this post is labeled "business plan," and clicking on that label will display, in effect, my business plans blog, which remains and always is still part of the manga-dialog.
tools
plan: a line of re-innovated hand tools for wood and metal plus
simply engineered clamp turns ordinary table or counter into fully functional bench
jig guides hand saw for effortlessly precise resawing (i.e., cut 3/4 inch plank into three 3/16 inch inch near-veneers, or any thickness as desired, stock or cut)
dovetailing jig that requires no bench for effortless operation, and works great on very thin stock too
hand powered router with rails and utra-controlled cutting for effortless grooving and tongueing, etc., which requires no bench to operate
completely innovated ripping saw runs along guides for long, ultra-precise cuts, fully hand powered, cuts delicate, flaky plys, composites, veneers, with complete facility, requiring no bench, and storing into entirely portable case
guide turns hand powered drills and braces into precision drill presses, clamps to stock, even wholly eccentric shapes, stores ultra-compact
lightly powered, inexpensive, light, compact robotic saws and drills that can churn away quietly for hours for high precision unattended shaping operations
small, light, stowable, adaptable cranes, manually operated through gears, levers, and hydraulics, for controlled heavy lifting around shop, work site
miniaturized, remote controlled "heavy equipment" for controlled digging, tunneling, heavy drilling, etc.
compact, lightly powered or hand operated sheet metal stamping and turning equipment allows user to manufacture such things as pots and pans, custom parts, in a small shop or even a residential environment
just to be completely outrageous: compact, environmentally self contained (non polluting) smelting and refining plants for small scale metal making
quiet, slow, solar powered, fully automatic textile milling tools and looms enable production with limited effort in a back yard, barn, or spare room factory
kits enable complex sewing and mechanized knitting operations, with marketing, in the microfactory environment, with limited/no prior knowledge, such as underwear and sock production, as well as finely finished high style apparel of every kind
simply engineered clamp turns ordinary table or counter into fully functional bench
jig guides hand saw for effortlessly precise resawing (i.e., cut 3/4 inch plank into three 3/16 inch inch near-veneers, or any thickness as desired, stock or cut)
dovetailing jig that requires no bench for effortless operation, and works great on very thin stock too
hand powered router with rails and utra-controlled cutting for effortless grooving and tongueing, etc., which requires no bench to operate
completely innovated ripping saw runs along guides for long, ultra-precise cuts, fully hand powered, cuts delicate, flaky plys, composites, veneers, with complete facility, requiring no bench, and storing into entirely portable case
guide turns hand powered drills and braces into precision drill presses, clamps to stock, even wholly eccentric shapes, stores ultra-compact
lightly powered, inexpensive, light, compact robotic saws and drills that can churn away quietly for hours for high precision unattended shaping operations
small, light, stowable, adaptable cranes, manually operated through gears, levers, and hydraulics, for controlled heavy lifting around shop, work site
miniaturized, remote controlled "heavy equipment" for controlled digging, tunneling, heavy drilling, etc.
compact, lightly powered or hand operated sheet metal stamping and turning equipment allows user to manufacture such things as pots and pans, custom parts, in a small shop or even a residential environment
just to be completely outrageous: compact, environmentally self contained (non polluting) smelting and refining plants for small scale metal making
quiet, slow, solar powered, fully automatic textile milling tools and looms enable production with limited effort in a back yard, barn, or spare room factory
kits enable complex sewing and mechanized knitting operations, with marketing, in the microfactory environment, with limited/no prior knowledge, such as underwear and sock production, as well as finely finished high style apparel of every kind
weather blog
If a post on the blog has "labels," they are displayed at the bottom of it (with a "labels" label). Click on a label (some posts have several) and you can see all the posts so labeled, making it, in effect, a blog within a blog. Thus, running through my blog, is a "weather blog." Find this link (weather blog) on my links list, and it will take you to a weather blog post, and from there you can display the whole weather blog as just described.
desert squal
Yesterday the equivalent of a little squall blew through the sand sea
Here for an hour, then gone
A puff of moisture
That is, some clouds, like a light blanket
And muggy, hot, in the garden
And then it was gone
The sky clear, the heat not abating for another several hours
But cool days forecasted in the morning
Here for an hour, then gone
A puff of moisture
That is, some clouds, like a light blanket
And muggy, hot, in the garden
And then it was gone
The sky clear, the heat not abating for another several hours
But cool days forecasted in the morning
Friday, March 20, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
a changing desktop
I want the desktop to change, dramatically. (I might as well be involved in creating that change, by the way, since I'm thinking about it.)
It's not, by the way, that I don't like the desktop as it is, and pushing for change is going to be met with resistance, for one specific reason: loosing the desktop as it is is a bad thing. Thus, the way to achieve radical change is to retain the desktop as it is, as the changes are implemented.
Note that one characteristic of the desktop today is that it hasn't changed much - only at the margins - for a long time. The science of trends suggests, based on that, that change is imminent, or, more properly, that there is a ready potential for it.
It's not, by the way, that I don't like the desktop as it is, and pushing for change is going to be met with resistance, for one specific reason: loosing the desktop as it is is a bad thing. Thus, the way to achieve radical change is to retain the desktop as it is, as the changes are implemented.
Note that one characteristic of the desktop today is that it hasn't changed much - only at the margins - for a long time. The science of trends suggests, based on that, that change is imminent, or, more properly, that there is a ready potential for it.
Friday, March 13, 2009
music wish
I want a folder with all my songs in it. (Each file is a song.)
Once I've got that I can figure how to browse it.
Tech support request: how can I get copies of all the songs on my hard drive into one folder?
Tsr2: how can I just view a list of all the songs on my hard drive? (In other words, how can I search for all music files?)
Note: I want to include video files in above.
Once I've got that I can figure how to browse it.
Tech support request: how can I get copies of all the songs on my hard drive into one folder?
Tsr2: how can I just view a list of all the songs on my hard drive? (In other words, how can I search for all music files?)
Note: I want to include video files in above.
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