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.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
tom's home service
I've made some slight progress documenting my approach to "the home," which is to say, for example, carpentry, tree care ...
I've been idly thinking of offering a service, consulting, as much as contracting, if you want to talk to me about a project. I'd better state what I do, which is all rooted in sketching work to be done. This makes an ongoing decision making process possible, too ... if we don't get the work done now - often because we need time to think it over -, we can re-visit the plans any time, and start the project up again.
I've been idly thinking of offering a service, consulting, as much as contracting, if you want to talk to me about a project. I'd better state what I do, which is all rooted in sketching work to be done. This makes an ongoing decision making process possible, too ... if we don't get the work done now - often because we need time to think it over -, we can re-visit the plans any time, and start the project up again.
re code literature plan
I think I can distill something interesting out of those musings on software architecture from the previous post:
Let's build software that is more forthcoming about its methods in the interface.
Definition of terms:
An application uses methods, or algorithms, to do what it does, when we ask it to do something. Runtime activity can be logged in the general form "the program is running this method ..." Someone could "ask" and the software could explain something about how the method works. This is probably just two examples of ways a program can report on its methods.
The interface is a graphic which shows what the program does. It also commonly does report, to some extent, on what the program is doing. My proposal: build interfaces that show a lot about 1) how the program does a thing (beyond what that thing is) 2) what the program is doing 3) what the program has done in the past.
This doesn't replace what I described earlier, rather, it's another separate (related) practice.
Let's build software that is more forthcoming about its methods in the interface.
Definition of terms:
An application uses methods, or algorithms, to do what it does, when we ask it to do something. Runtime activity can be logged in the general form "the program is running this method ..." Someone could "ask" and the software could explain something about how the method works. This is probably just two examples of ways a program can report on its methods.
The interface is a graphic which shows what the program does. It also commonly does report, to some extent, on what the program is doing. My proposal: build interfaces that show a lot about 1) how the program does a thing (beyond what that thing is) 2) what the program is doing 3) what the program has done in the past.
This doesn't replace what I described earlier, rather, it's another separate (related) practice.
business plan
I showed my counselor the post on filing system protocols. He got sort of a panicked look. We were supposed to be talking about how to have "something to show" to potential investors, and he had no idea what I was writing about, or how it was supposed to be relevant.
I explained that creating operating system features is one of the lines of business I want to be in.
More generally, I think, one thing I want to do is publish software that readers assemble themselves. I'll explain ... and here reader really implies that this is a literary product. I want my customers to build their own operating systems by typing code in on the keyboard, and I want them to fully understand every line of code they type in.
This is not typically attempted because of the perception that software is far too complicated for the average user to understand. Is software inherently complicated? I'm not sure it actually is. I envision code that creates simple broad structures. Components are then added within that structure, in an unhurried way. Components are similarly structured, too, or can be, so that the component can be modified by adding elements within its structure. Yes, a certain amount of care is required to avoid conflicts and unexplainable events, but that's just life. (As long as the structure is rational, it's possible to minimize such things just by thinking about it.)
The idea that "software is a mistake" is tempting. In a way, I'm saying what people need is programming interfaces, which are vastly or infinitely more versatile than "applications." That's extreme, though. What if more conventional kinds of software were built and marketed with more respect for the architecture in which they will operate? But that's another topic.
I explained that creating operating system features is one of the lines of business I want to be in.
More generally, I think, one thing I want to do is publish software that readers assemble themselves. I'll explain ... and here reader really implies that this is a literary product. I want my customers to build their own operating systems by typing code in on the keyboard, and I want them to fully understand every line of code they type in.
This is not typically attempted because of the perception that software is far too complicated for the average user to understand. Is software inherently complicated? I'm not sure it actually is. I envision code that creates simple broad structures. Components are then added within that structure, in an unhurried way. Components are similarly structured, too, or can be, so that the component can be modified by adding elements within its structure. Yes, a certain amount of care is required to avoid conflicts and unexplainable events, but that's just life. (As long as the structure is rational, it's possible to minimize such things just by thinking about it.)
The idea that "software is a mistake" is tempting. In a way, I'm saying what people need is programming interfaces, which are vastly or infinitely more versatile than "applications." That's extreme, though. What if more conventional kinds of software were built and marketed with more respect for the architecture in which they will operate? But that's another topic.
vac parts
This shows how I was able to order the parts I needed for my fifty year old vaccum cleaner at Ultimate Sew and Vac, http://sewingandvac.com/.
photos
stacks of nice plates are essential to any great restaurant ... and eating like you're eating in a great restaurant is one way to describe the health practice ... i put the shelves in ... careful to do it neat, at the same time it's simple, rustic ... in the space left by removal of a crappy "modern" combo oven
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
this is a proposed revision to the file manager standards
I understand that there are all sorts of alternative file managers available, for instance, to run on Windows and perhaps replace Windows File Manager. Maybe a document that reports on their features would be useful, especially if it conforms to the standards for such documents I've been promoting here.
As for the standards I want to apply to Windows File Manager (xp), which I like, and would only change here and there, I want File Manager to list the files in a folder in the order in which I left them, and let me move a file anywhere I like in the list. (More familiar alternatives such as by date, etc., are still available, and there's a back button to take you through various arrangements that you've used in that folder.)
The principle involved can be extended beyond just individual folders to encompass the whole file structure and all the symbols it manifests in a File Manager representation.
As for the standards I want to apply to Windows File Manager (xp), which I like, and would only change here and there, I want File Manager to list the files in a folder in the order in which I left them, and let me move a file anywhere I like in the list. (More familiar alternatives such as by date, etc., are still available, and there's a back button to take you through various arrangements that you've used in that folder.)
The principle involved can be extended beyond just individual folders to encompass the whole file structure and all the symbols it manifests in a File Manager representation.
kirk's natural
This kind of ultra pure, old fashioned, hand made, no trash product is a foundation of ultra-healthy living.
link
Monday, March 9, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
friday
after morning session on the computer (impromptu, and meditation) until 9:30 headed for town saw neighbor tony we were both in our cars exchanged a jest come over later i'm headed out for beer drove all the way south to starbucks, ate, wrote letter, adjusted tires filled gas made notes drove to ray and price listening to story of phenology on radio before and after put money in market suits ties round bellies cars galore hit freeway up to 40th and southern, animal shelter dropped off things looked around very very nice
headed to asu offered putting foot in mouth extra starring in Carried Away back home printed 10 photos of the trees for tomorrows work (which i posted in the morning) replied to emails headed over to tonys, left a note, went back for card to take to Kip (my email is tom@atempenote.com) tony arrived shortly i was back from my walk we drank beer and had a rioutous time over slices of pizza from Otto Pizzaria, salad from the garden, which tony analyzed and showed it is absolutely amazing, girl, fed cats, washed dishes, bags, swept, washed, swept thought about the people i want to allert with cards and hit computer again 10:58
headed to asu offered putting foot in mouth extra starring in Carried Away back home printed 10 photos of the trees for tomorrows work (which i posted in the morning) replied to emails headed over to tonys, left a note, went back for card to take to Kip (my email is tom@atempenote.com) tony arrived shortly i was back from my walk we drank beer and had a rioutous time over slices of pizza from Otto Pizzaria, salad from the garden, which tony analyzed and showed it is absolutely amazing, girl, fed cats, washed dishes, bags, swept, washed, swept thought about the people i want to allert with cards and hit computer again 10:58
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