Archived News for July 2005
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Happy Canada Day
P.S.: You sould all download both Celestia and Google Earth. I'm waiting for someone to figure out a way to combine the two. That, and for aerial photos of anywhere in Auckland that's not the North Shore. That said, the imagery in Google Earth (and Maps) is certainly newer than the pics I posted a few months back - you can see construction on Taharoto Rd that's still going on.
P.P.S.: A late congrats to Canada for the 28th.Dominic
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Update
There's been a *huge* update to the SE codebase. Ironically, one of the biggest changes in recent months and the only thing some of you might notice is that the 'Register' link and the 'Login' button have swapped position!
Anyway, the backend changes (accounts now stored on BDC) were made to prepare SE for some new sub-projects; you should be seeing something soon. Anyway, this post is to ask you all to be on the lookout - the error reporting level (E_ALL now. Notices shown too. Fun!) has been boosted to try and debug the whole site. You might see some errors (or even debug backtraces) around the place, in which case I'd appreciate a heads up.
Also, if you see 'CRAPPPP!' as a username anywhere (else), let me know!
I wasn't quite preparedA Mysterious Unknown
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Folding@Home
I was recently looking into putting together a Folding@Home team - I've registered the teamname 'Something Emporium'. But then I realised that Google Compute doesn't support teams, only usernames. Crap.
So, if you want to join in we'll just submit it all under Google (team number 446 for those of you using the proper client), with the username 'SomethingEmporium'. If you are using Compute (part of the Google toolbar) then "to make the change, click on the DNA (double helix) icon and select "Configuration Page". On that page, change the user name
and then click "Save Settings". All your work will be reported under your new user name."
For those of you who need reminding Folding@Home is a distributed computing project which studies protein folding, misfolding, aggregation, and related diseases including many well known diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Mad Cow (BSE), CJD, ALS, Huntington's, Parkinson's disease, and many cancers and cancer-related syndromes.
It's a worthy cause - I can't help favouring it over SETI@home.
I'll meet you thereDominic
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Work
Just thought I'd post a picture of what I do at work:
That's the pile of servers I administer and develop for. It's roughly 6 foot tall. It brings new meaning to the term 'stack'.Dominic
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Canada vs America
Bahahahaha.
Toyota plans to open a new plant in Woodstock, Ontario in 2008 (source). Here's a funny funny quote.
The factory will cost $800 million to build, with the federal and provincial governments kicking in $125 million of that to help cover research, training and infrastructure costs.
Several U.S. states were reportedly prepared to offer more than double that amount of subsidy. But Fedchun said much of that extra money would have been eaten away by higher training costs than are necessary for the Woodstock project.
He said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and Alabama due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment.
"The educational level and the skill level of the people down there is so much lower than it is in Ontario," Fedchun said.
robbie
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Something to read
How to Deconstruct Almost Anything - My Postmodern Adventure
It's a pretty good account, although I think it might be closer to the modernist than the post-modernist - the distinction is pretty vague anyway. It reminded me a lot of the sophists.Dominic
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Ubuntu
My package of Ubuntu linux CDs arrived today - ten of them, provided for free. I didn't even have to pay shipping thanks to their ShipIt program.
Each package is a cardboard wallet with two CDs - an install version and a Live CD. They're really quite spiffy with the printing and what-not. From what I've seen it's quite a nice distro too: Debian/Gnome based - my favourites.
The general idea of the free CDs is that, because shipping is more expensive than the CDs themselves, you order a whole lot and then give 'em away to anyone who wants them - economies of scale. So, I've got some copies floating around. If you want one lemme know - the Live CD means that even if you're not a geek you can't break anything. Hell, even if the only thing you do is play Solitare the price is still right.
I've got five x86 two-CD packs and (for people like me) an AMD64 pack looking for good homes. If anyone wants one after that I can (legally) burn some copies perhaps.Dominic
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Jet Set Lifestyle
I just got back to a weekend in Thames to find I'm going to Adelaide tomorrow. What an exciting life I lead!
Justin
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OK. A news item to get you thinking. Answers in the comments.
First up, an easy one:
I eee oai o ooa a e ooi eee o oe.
Ths sntnc cntns n vwls nd th prcdng sntnc n cnsnnts.
Also easy:
Siht ekil ti gnidaer eb d'uoy ,werbeH ni erew ecnetnes siht fi.
Even better:
fi siht nes-ecnet erew ni beh-wer dna tes ot um-cis, ti dluow kool tsuj a til-elt ekil siht
And harder:
f u cn rd ths, itn tyg h myxbl cdDominic
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Fugue State
A fugue-state is "a state of mind where a person experiences a dissociative break in identity and attempts to run away from some perceived threat, usually something abstract such as the person's identity." Think David Lynch.
But, see it's more interesting than that. Fugue-state is also used to describe the state of mind of a performer or artist in rapture. It's 'being in the moment' and cut off from other concerns and to me it seems tied up in Zen, koans and the state of un-being.
"Vienna in a fugue-state working on a thing
That, when he finished, it took almost seven hours to sing."
Very interesting.Dominic
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Dynamics and tone in popular music
If you know any of the songs beyond these links you should find it all pretty interesting. At least I did.
Then and NowDominic
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Call me Bozo
I thought I might share with you what happens when a real actual graphic artist draws me:
It's a pic for work - it's going on all my business cards. Don't ask about the clown suit: Alyx already tried to get her hands on the pictures and failed miserably. She didn't realise I sit right beside, well, everyone at my work and I could see her emails asking others in the office for them.
Not that I mind having 7/10 of the news items on the front page, but anytime you guys want to jump on in with some news (even pictures of your pets) go ahead.
This is what I'm currently working on for the site. It's coming along nicely, so I'll probably post again about it in the next few days.
To cherish and install youDominic
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Get your skank on!
robbie
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One death is a tragedy, one million deaths are a statistic..
Sitting there watching the news..bombing in London..bombing in Turkey..fights in Israel..Indian man shot dead..bombing in Afghanistan..flooding.. It's like the fucking apocalypse.
I don't understand. We're supposedly the most intelligent race on earth, but do you see animals blowing each other up?
Why is there so much hate? I don't want or expect the world to be in total harmony - that would be absurd. But this daily massacre of each other for literally stupid reasons.. it makes no sense.
Humans have what - 6000 years of evolution? And yet this is what we are. Savages who will tear another person apart for the sheer colour of their skin. The fact that they were born on another part of the planet? That their beliefs are different to ours? It disgusts me. There are 8 billion of us on this earth.
This is why I'm not religious. I'm not totally atheist either - I'm sure there is another higher power out there somewhere (I find the idea that my existence is because of compounding dust particles a tad hard to swallow) but I don't believe that any God would will this on His or Her people.
Part of me has a morbid curiosity, to tune in every night, to see what the current statistic is. How many innocent people died for which cause today? I suppose that's the part of me that has grown up with death on her television screen.
People complain about violence in movies and video games, but to me the more sickening and disturbing violence is the one we're surrounded by in reality.
I can't fathom a cause for which I would willingly don a bomb with the goal of killing as many innocent people as possible.I don't believe in the death penalty. To kill a murderer is to release him from the torment of guilt. Some may argue that a murderer would go to hell - but they don't know for sure. Surely it is more just and right for somebody who took an innocent life, to suffer for it?
I understand that there are, in some people's opinions, causes worth dying for. Those who died in service, during 9/11 for example. But I cannot understand where in any religious text, it would say that it is necessary to kill another man to gain glory in the afterlife.
It makes you wonder where we'll be in another 6000 years.
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You have to love the American Patent Office
"As the user rotates the crank, the user's buttocks are paddled by flexible shoes located on each outboard end of the elongated arms to provide amusement to the user and viewers of the paddling."
Patent 6,293,874: User-operated amusement apparatus for kicking the user's buttocksDominic
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University is great:
Dominic
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First-years at Auckland, listen up
Not sure if this is old news for you, but here's something you guys should know.
The qualifications restructuring taking place in the University of Auckland will come into effect next year. The biggest transition will be the readjustment of point values assigned to each paper. Instead of your average paper being worth 2 points, it will now be worth 15. Additionally, instead of a standard full-time courseload being 14 points per year (7 papers), it will now be 120 (8 papers). Papers will have slightly lighter workloads than at present.
For those students who are caught in the transitional stage (including me, but this particularly applies to first-years), the number of points you have passed under the old system will be recalculated to equivalent values under the new system, and you will carry on.
There is a bit of a loophole in calculation, so I'll explain it here, using two hypothetical first-years in a 3-year, 42-point degree (e.g. a non-conjoint BA, BCom, BSc etc)
Hypothetical F. Year took 14 points (seven papers) in his first year. 14 old points are recalculated to 120 new points. Hypothetical now has 240 new points (16 papers) remaining to take in his degree.
Diligent F. Year took 16 points (eight papers) in his first year. 16 old points are recalculated to 137.14 new points. Diligent now has 222.86 new points (14.85 papers) remaining to take in his degree, however the powers-that-be in the transition stage decided to round it down to 14 papers.
Summary for first-years:
If you will have passed 7 papers by the end of this year, you will need to take a further 16 to get your degree.
If you will have passed 8 papers by the end of this year, you will need to take a further 14 to get your degree.
Therefore it could well be in your interest, if you are having a slack 3-paper semester at the moment, to enrol for another paper while you still can.robbie
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Update
Users of IE will immediately notice that the site looks a little better here and there. It's still much more pretty in Firefox, but for all those who are too lazy to switch that should be pleasing.
You'll also notice the menu to the left has changed – it no longer does that annoying thing where it wouldn't contract until the whole page was loaded and the javascript could run. In keeping with the general theme of the changes, it looks awesome.
But I saved the best 'till last. Click that comment button to the right. You know you want to. Yep, it's a lovely javascript tree structure that makes groking the whole thread/subthread thing just oh-so-easy – you can expand and contract threads by clicking the plus (
) or minus (
). And if you've got javascript disabled it should still degrade nicely.
Did I mention it's easy to use? When you want to reply to a comment, click the paper and pen (
). This will cause your comment to appear where the icon was. So click where you want to post. Of course, there will be those seasoned SE members out there who want to create subthreads. If you're very sure that's what you want to do, click the grayed out pen (
). If you're not sure what does what holding your mouse over an icon should give you a hint.
As a general rule of thumb you should reply when you want to continue a conversation and start a subthread only when your comments are no longer relevant to the current thread of conversation. So, when you're rebutting you should probably use a general reply, not a subthread. Previously, creating a subthread tended to give people the advantage of being further up the page – they could seem to be interjecting into previous conversations almost. Now this advantage is offset by the fact that you'll be inward a layer and therefore less visible.
The new sleak comment interface meant I couldn't use a combo box for comment moderation. The moderation system is now bipolar – it's either plus or minus (those with sharp eyes will notice it's minus (−) not hyphen-minus (-) – I am awesome). Anyway, this introduced a new problem because there can't be a single form for the entire page. To prevent you from having to load the page for every moderation, the comments now use some simple AJAX to send the request to the server everytime you click a link. The upshot is that (for the next while at least) clicking a moderation link does have an effect, it's just not visible until the next time you visit the page, or until you hit refresh. Also note that it's the first of your clicks that has an effect; clicking the minus link after clicking plus will be disregarded at the server.
The bipolar moderating system meant a review of the karma system. It's now much easier to understand. I works like this: for every minus rating you lose 1 karma, for every plus rating you gain on karma. There are no other rules to understand. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of (mainly Funky's) existing moderations, so if you rated someone greater than zero it counts as a plus, less than zero as a minus. Also, karma has been anti-decimated (it is now a tenth of it's previous value).
Finally (although this list of changes is not exhaustive), the lameness filter on comments has been changed. This means you don't have to worry about long words. Also; and this is my personal favourite; it means that urls in comments are automatically converted to links.
So, that's that. Welcome to 4.30.
...disassembles my despair
It never took me anywhere
It never once bought me a drinkDominic
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Hot damn
I didn't see the posters for SJD that appeared on Symonds Street over the holidays until just the other day. Too late now - the gig was on the 12th or so.
When I first heard 'Southern Lights' I was sure I could pick out some familiar voices in the background. Sure enough, now that I've got the album, the notes list Anika Moa and Don McGlashan for a few tracks. Awesome.
"There's a disadvantage in terms of connecting to an audience because New Zealand is a small country and you can't really survive off a cult audience. But having said that, the cultural isolation, and the fact that you probably aren't really going to make it, add an imperative to achieve on a more aesthetic level as opposed to a financial level. If you don't think you can succeed any other way, you've got to try and be true to your heart."Dominic
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IE
If you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer with an unusual screen resolution or shape you might have noticed the strange layout problem SE has been having recently. Well, yeah, I've tried almost everything.
Basically, I've been coming up against two seperate bugs in IEs rendering of 'floats' - a certain type of object in the CSS box model. It's important to note that these are actually bugs in IE - they're not just a lack of support for web-standards - instead, they're where the IE team really fucked up. No two ways about it.
If you're interested in the specifics, they're called the Peekaboo and Guillotine bugs, both of which have been causing me grief. I'm off to look for snow this weekend, so it doesn't look like it'll be fixed anytime soon. See you all Monday.
Edit: By the way: if you've got an MSDN subscription you can go get the beta of the upcoming IE7 - it's got much better standards support so I'll be very interested in how it renders SE. If you're not subscribed there's always the BTDominic
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Lazy Sunday
So I had so much planned for today, but that all went out the window. Instead, I'm sitting at the computer trying to remember how to draw. It's been a long time - much longer than I ever thought. The comic I'm trying in vain to draw won't be the funniest thing you've ever seen, but its something. And something, by definition, is better than nothing. And this isn't Nothing Emporium here.
This IE thing is getting to me. Oh for the days of tabulated layouts, where everything just worked. None of this guillotine or hollyhack. None of this browser inconsistency. Arrgh. If only tables for layout didn't go out of style. At least you knew where they were going to be when you loaded your page. Death to technological advancement.Justin
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IE fix
I've just implemented one of my ideas, my last one, which was to stick some tables back into the code to fix up IE problems. They're user-agent based, so nobody else should see them. If you're an IE user, take some time to click this link, then come back to this page, hold down Control and click the Refresh button near the top of your window. You don't need to know what it all means, but it should make things slightly prettier.
You'll note, along with people using other browsers, that the footer has been moved into the content column, rather than spanning both columns. On Gecko browsers, this is to stop the comment Javascript from moving the footer down without closing the whitespace above it. For everyone else, it just makes things a lot easier.
I'd like to point out that we here at Something Emporium have a proud and noble tradition of IE problems, and this is unlikely to be the last. My problems with tables aren't just motivated by a wish to be cutting-edge or ponsy – CSS has been a standard for eight years, nine in December, and anyone who knows the standards process can ponder how long it was a working draft before that. Tables are slow, they're inflexible, they don't degrade and they don't print nicely. Furthermore, and this is probably the most important reason, they make life a helluva lot harder for people who aren't reading this on a huge 19" monitor – perhaps they're looking at a cellphone screen or listening to their screen-reader software. In these cases, semantic markup makes things Better.
Found that snow I was looking for by the way!Dominic
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The Great Comic Drought Of 2005
So yeah, new comic. Its been a loooooong time, but at least I've broken the drought as it were. Enjoy.
Justin