weblog
A means to an end
This blog has moved to cubelogic.org/act.
Here is the meaning of this weblog: this weblog is like a memory, or an extension of my memories, and an attempt to translate meaningful/weird events and the memory of these events into the form of natural language. Translating the memory of something that happened in somebody's life is not a loss less process: it implies losing important - if not vital - pieces of information. The fact is: there're no vital pieces of information in here.
Nevertheless, I feel it's important to keep track of things.
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2004
5th of January, 2004
Il mio amico Geppo mi ha fatto notare, mentre passeggiavamo per il giardino botanico di San Francisco, - un luogo oltremodo interessante, per via della sua elegante trascuratezza - che la base del tronco di alcuni alberi era stata circondata da un preparato di legno e legnetti. Tale preparato di legno e legnetti ha un aspetto presumibilmente umido, se non proprio intriso d'acqua. Lo scopo di tale preparato, e della sua disposizione attorno alla base di un giovane albero, è quella di impedire che eventuali erbe cespugliose - che alcuni illogicamente chiamerebbero "cespugli non ornamentali", o ancora peggio, "erbacce fastidiose", oppure semplicemente "erbacce" - crescano tutt'intorno al giovane albero, e ne ostacolino la crescita.
Ancora, e più in particolare, Geppo mi fa presente che nella lingua italiana esiste uno specifico termine per indicare l'atto di comporre il preparato di legno e legnetti da disporre attorno al tronco di un albero per impedire che le cosiddette "erbacce" crescano tutt'intorno all'albero: tale operazione si chiama infatti "Pacciamatura", ovvero Atto del "Pacciamare". Posso facilmente e presuntuosamente intuire che non possa esistere un vocabolo così perfetto nella lingua inglese.
My friend Geppo informed me that there is a specific term in the Italian language to describe the act of adorning the base of a tree with a composition of small pieces of wood, to prevent the growth of unwanted herbs and grass that could go against the development of the tree: this act is in fact called "Pacciamatura"; the related verb is "Pacciamare", that is, the act of doing the "Pacciamatura". I wonder if the English language can have such a perfect term. My intuition suggests me a negative answer.
"Garrulo" is another perfect Italian word, which of course may be unknown to many Italians. The term "Garrulo" is the perfect term to indicate the last bite one leaves on his plate, during dinner, supper, or breakfast: the most delicious piece of food, the most perfect composition of cream, softness and flavor, carefully prepared during the consummation of the meal, the last taste of heaven before everything vanishes. The Garrulo - pronounced with a very hard "r" - is something noone can miss in its plate.
24th of January, 2004
The turntable arrived! It is my musical rebirth. I made a chronicle of this event.
16th of February, 2004
I developed some bookmarklets, without knowing that those trivial javascripts scripts actually have a name. I took a 3 days break from working on RapAMatics since I was going insane. I guess I should go back soon. I also started experimenting with the turntable and Audacity, which is kind of a cool Free program for audio recording. Time for the weblog is descreasing. Some kind of reorganization of the home page is also needed.
29th of February, 2004
Being very busy during the last few weeks, or few months I should say. Rap-A-Matics and regular work at Oracle is consuming all my time. I just had the chance to see Apple's new flagship store in downtown San Francisco, last saturday - a nice sunny day, which recharged me a lot, with the simplicity of sun light and cool breeze. Waking up, inject the breeze, feel the excitement, go out to meet other geeks in a long line.
Let's summarize Rap-A-Matics project status. So, the prototype is almost complete. During last month I achieved all the basic interaction, and the entire program flow. I solved some of the major GUI frustrating headaches. The major GUI frustrating headaches are due to the quirky Java Swing alignment procedures. I was helped by the use of Sun's NetBeans. I chose it because it is open source. It's quite powerful, but entirely made in Java. This means really slow, not usable on my iBook. But I was able to use just its visual GUI building capabilities, which are light years behind Interface Builder anyway. The thing is, that the way the GUI design goes in NetBeans (and Oracle JDeveloper, and others) is that you still have to manually handle and deal with the quirky Java alignment procedures! And I don't want to! So, for instance, I still have to bother to instantiate a BoxLayout instead of, say, a BorderLayout, and add items to it; and if I make a mistake that needs me to change layout, I am literally screwed: I have to tear the Layout structure apart, and start over.... but I don't want to do that! My mistake infact, is not really a mistake: I might want to move an element over on the other side, just to see how it looks, but that requires me to completely destroy the Layout structure, and so it's a pain, it's a total frustrating pain. Frustration comes from knowledge: I know it is possible to do things in a different way. NeXT did it, 16 (sixteen) years ago. NeXTStep - and now Mac OS X - have Interface Builder, which is a paradise where you design your GUI like you build a LEGO construction. There are no freaking layout to worry about! And if I want to move stuff around, I just do it! The machine takes care of the alignment, which you entirely specify visually, yes, because that's how the mind works when you build a GUI. I also tried Oracle JDeveloper 9.0.3 for the same purpose, with similar quirky results. Anyway, here ends my rant about Swing horrendous alignment features. I remember, designing GUI in Interface Builder was a joy, a pleasure you almost didn't want to leave, because it was so.... soul filling. Swing is a self-inflicted, illogic pain.
Missing things in RAM are: find a way to make custom dialogs, implement the printing capabilities (already studied), solve some alignment problems on the GUI.
Since I never built an educational application, to me the biggest challenge is to provide a consistent user experience, because I can't rely on the normal way of interaction inside the app. I have to make things easy for a 6 years old kid, not for a geek. And it's not trivial.
11th of March, 2004
During last week I got the CVS server for a project I am working on up on sourceforge. I would eventually need it if Puja starts collaborating. I am finally more confortable in using CVS from the command line. Currently I don't feel the need to have CVS - Xcode integration: basically I can check out a working copy, do all my changes in Xcode, then at the end of the day (when everything magically compiles) check everything in. This means just one CVS command in the shell. I tend to think a CVS GUI would just be overkill and a waste of resources. I guess I must be wrong somehow. Anyway - the first approach with CVS was kind of harsh. After making a mistake in the initial import (sometimes I am just brilliant), I had to do a general clean up, all over the checked-in directory structure. I did all of that through the terminal, and after the first blasphemies directed towards my inner self for doing such a dumb mistake, I kind of got the hang of it and started enjoying all of that.... rm - remove - commit - update - ... : I must say that my mistake was blessed, because at the end of the clean up I felt quite comfortable with the commands.
I also started reading about pure-data, a system for audio and graphical processing in real time. It looks very interesting, open, and could be a way to realize one of my old thoughts, video processing through audio.
22th of March, 2004
Lately I've been forgetting to update my weblog because I am pretty busy at work, anyway I guess I am back for now. R-a-m is still consuming all my free time, but I think I am feeling some sort of gratification thru all this stress. I am looking at the software architecture and now it's getting a abstract shape that I kind of like. In fact, looking at this architecture over time, I see it has changed quite a bit from its original design. I think of it like I've been twisting, twirling, remodeling, and sometimes beating up the abstract shape of my software, coping with the little time I can dedicate on the project, the 15-days iterations/releases/deadlines, the new features requested, the frustrations given by Java/Swing. So this abstract building is been slightly changing its shape, while standing on its own feet, just like a continuous lightly "quaked" house. So I kind of thinking the design was acceptably solid, after all. It's still up, after all. I think the Agile Manifesto pretty much describes what I've been (willing to) doing in the last few months, or at least the attitude. Funny enough, I didn't even plan to comply to the manifesto (which I deeply admire, by the way). I've kind of read-it-with-the-corner-of-my-eye-and-stored-in-my-subconscious.
So, why do I think my design was okay? Because I am adding new features, and features fits right in my architecture. Or vice-versa, the architecture accepts new features. It also accepts changes. And allows me to keep it simple.
Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential
Well, anyway, besides all these considerations, what I really enjoy of my software is finally being able to look at the abstractions of the software and starting to love them. That's what I truly like in software development. And this is why is so difficult to explain people why I love computer programming. Because it's like explaining why a painting is beautiful, but in this case there is no painting to see. The object to behold is hidden into the code. Software programming is making up with abstractions: you love the result, but you also love how it is done. And sometimes you only love own it's done. You love the mechanism and the design that subsumes the mechanism. The inner castle the originally let the mechanism raise its head, and walk on its feet. In the best computer programmes, everything is pure and tidy, but it's still a working object, something that is out there, boldly standing 24/7, producing some output, able to tolerate the mighty blows of unknown persons, even the most ruthless M$ Windows user. And yeah, I sure don't use M$ Windows.
28th of March, 2004
Anniversario
Today is the first anniversary of marriage with Judy! Allé! ;-)
Wish
I wish there were squared monitors.
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16th of April, 2004
Il Gallone di Latte
Today I bought this object: a gallon of milk. I never bought a gallon of milk. A gallon of milk is huge. The biggest container I ever saw in Italy was a liter of milk, which is about 0.26 gallons of US milk. So the container of milk I just bought is about 4 times bigger than the biggest container of milk I _ever_ saw, and bought, in my dear home land.
Oggi ho comprato questo oggetto: un gallone di latte. E' un oggetto che non avevo mai comprato. E' infatti molto grande. Non ho mai visto un contenitore di latte così grande in Italia, nei supermercati. Un gallone di latte americano è circa equivalente a 3.78 litri di latte italiano. Quindi il contenitore pieno di latte che ho appena comprato è circa 4 volte più grande del più grande contenitore di latte che io abbia mai visto, e comprato, nella mia terra natia.
30th of April, 2004
I found out that US soldiers tortured Iraqi prisoners in Iraq. Photos should be here and here. I wonder what the horrid US media machine would do if the opposite situation was true - if it was found that US soldiers were tortured, raped, electrically shocked and eaten by dogs, instead of "worthless" Iraqi or stupid Italians. :-( I just wonder what would they do.
9th of May, 2004
The wife and me went on a Las Vegas trip, close to the Mojave desert. I made just a few photos, because I filled all the memory of my camera with a short movie. You can find everything in the phototrips section.
13th of May, 2004
The first roll out phase of Rap-A-Matics has finally come. We are beginning the testing!
13th of June, 2004
Ok. I am back. Quickly:
1. Judy got a new job! She accomplished a career change, which is pretty hard to obtain I think. She will be working to help people who need low-income housing.
2. Recently I finally got some NeXT black hardware (a cube and a station, both 68040@25Mhz). I have some photos here. And also, I have a dimension board! Still untested though.
3. Last night I've put up a simple bug report service for Cubelogic software and other software I developed.
4. Saw "Chronicle of Riddick". Was it horrible. One-man show, too long, empty, boring. Only interesting things were the scenes where they depict the various planets involved in the "story": they reminded me of some classic sci-fi images I have in my mind. But these scenes last a couple of seconds in a 2h15min movie. The other interesting scenes where the ones with some of actresses' cleavages. Again, they are too short.
5. Went to Livermore and Sunnyvale swap meets, where I met Jocelyn and Ron, and got me some of the NeXT hardware. Very nice places to go when you need electronic equipment!
28th of June, 2004
I am getting ready to set up my NeXT cube. Jocelyn gave me a 4Gb HD, and a handy external SCSI box where I can connect the drive (or eventually the floppy drive). Formatting a large drive on the NeXT is not trivial, and I read a whole bunch of documentation over the internet. I think I will prepare a page to document this complex procedure and save myself (and hopefully other NeXT maniacs) the hassle of doing this. I also got a Dimension board for color features on the cube, but for that I need a color monitor that Ron will give me.
Judy made her first acquaintance with the cube, interrupting my FTP session on peanuts.org. She said she likes the click-clack of the NeXT keyboard. I find the feeling of the NeXT keyboard pretty nice too. So, she started typing some various phrases in my shell (in the open FTP session), like "shutdown", "6969696969696969696969696969" (this sequence went on for a few lines), "why dont you talk to me", "dir" (after reading the help), and finally "close". Then for unknown reasons she quickly ran away.
Now Cubelogic is not just a cool name: it is the official entity that represents my software making business. I filed for my business license some days ago.
I recorded something with my turntable, using Audacity 1.2.1. After various attempts, I must say that Audacity is un-usable on Mac OS X as of now. There seem to be serious problems at the interface level. BTW, the GUI is not Cocoa. So, I decided not to use Audacity. I found online a nice little program called "Cacophony", which I intend to use a audio editor. It does the basic things I need, so I won't look anywhere else for now. As for the sequencing needs, well, I guess I found some other alternatives.
Ah sì, la musica..... it was a lot of fun get my hands on the Numark. I played a lysergic Spectrum record which got me very much into the right mood. The lyrics are inspiring, what I remember is "Space, so deep" "feels like I'm slipping away...." between layers of analogue synths (VCS-3). On top of Sonic Boom's tripping sounds I put a Durutti Column flexi. Its shape is squared, and this gave me the opportunity to achieve an easy, yet cool, rhythmic effect by letting the needle (l'ago della puntina) overlap the flexi in its corners. Even if the needle was basically jumping from the vynil below on top of the flexi on regular intervals (4 jumps per turn), the turntable made it possible for it to stay on the same track: in other words, I got the record in a loop, with 4 jumps every loop. Occasionally, the loop was broken, and this unpredictability was a nice thing too. So, after recording and editing the sounds with Cacophony, I should be able to actually compose something. It feels good to finally be able to re-join music after so many years.
Since music is another side of creativity, just like software, I also decided that my future employer should know about my musical creations. For instance, I think during an interview it should be logical to find the space to mention this stuff, along with the software creations. They are basically on the same level: different methods, for the same need.
After a long line outside the theater, I saw Fahrenheit 9/11. In the line there were all sort of people, old couples, teenagers, us, pseudo-alternatives, blacks, whites, latinos, italians. The show was sold-out. It was worse than Lord of The Rings. The movie was overwhelming. It's incredible the US troops go to war with music in their helmets, listening to "Let the motherfucker - Let the motherfucker, die". But after you think about it, it's not so weird. It's war. A war with no reason. In Oakland the Grand Lake Theater decided to not enforce the absurd R Rating for the movie.
Last but not least, Euro 2004 soccer tournament. Beside the fact that the Italian team sucks, we are able to admire a great example of modern soccer, thanks to the Czech Republic team. They are an excellent group of players, who are both excellent ball-jugglers and physically strong. Their coach is more than 70 years old. They run from the 1st minute to the last. They don't lose their minds if they are 2 goals below, they still reason and logically play football. Non si abbattono. Palla a terra, come i brasiliani; riprendono a giocare, veloci, in diagonale, creando lunghe linee mozzafiato. E corrono. Tirano da 35 metri. Una specie di sinfonia sportiva, un coro di strutture metafisiche. But most importantly they are a team, where everyone is not selfish, and seems to have fun playing. They strike from 35 meters, even if it's absurd. That absurdity will let them score a goal, at a later date.
5th of August, 2004
A few weeks ago Lynette contacted me for taking care of the Rap-A-Matics installer. I am actually happy to do it, because it is true the current installation process was sort of complicated on Windows. On the Mac, it has always been a no-hassle operation, involving the simple opening of a .dmg file. On Windows, instead, there are many things I have to take care, like conditionally install JRE and QuickTime, copying the file to a specific location, eventually install icons on the desktop and Start menu, and something else. Originally I was not going to take care of this. But really, I never felt okay in shipping an app that doesn't give the user a smooth experience, comparable to the other applications. So, my mission would be to hide the implementation details from the user, just like it happens on the Mac, where the user deals with the application just like any other application, with no need to know it is implemented in Java.
As a consequence, I also added a couple of additional reusable classes to the application code base to detect the current version of Java and QuickTime, and eventually inform the user that she needs to upgrade the installation. These classes are completely independent from Rap-A-Matics, and could be reused in other Cubelogic projects. I dedicated one night to this effort, which seems reasonable to me.
Now I should go back to the development of the Windows installer. I am considering using NSIS, the installer/scripting language developed by NullSoft and used in the packaging of WinAmp. NullSoft made the use of NSIS completely free (as in freedom) to private and commercial use, which is really nice.
Judy came back from Mary's wedding. I missed the occasion of visiting Mary and Indiana, something I was looking forward to. Well, whatever. The wife told me Indiana sort of sucks. I guess I wanted to see it with my eyes. And also, the wife brought me back a super cool soccer game, with the absurd title of "World Tour Soccer 2005".
28th of September, 2004
I am back. Went to Italy to visit my family and friends, and came back with many ideas and thoughts and other non-material objects. I feel the need to organize them, but it's kind of hard. I re-started programming in C and it is a lot of fun. I have a musical composition to finish, a video project to investigate, the amazing Max/MSP system to explore, various computer language to study/improve/apply, and a general sense of disgust for the state of the world right now. In particular, there's a bunch of things that amaze me - and depress me as well - about the US of A. Let's enumerate some of them:
- the way information is delivered to people in the US;
- The use of genetically modified food;
- (lack of) food culture
- the corporation driven world: everything is a private business
- the corporation driven world: do we care for who we work for? What does our employer actually DO? Is it okay to work for _anyone_ to pay the bills? Is it okay to work for a gun-making business (just an example) to pay the bills?
- Oil is running out. And then? How will we make all the nice plastic objects?
- to what extent Americans know what is going on in the world? I mean, _outside_ the US.... Does anybody tell them how other societies run?
- why this mess?
The thoughts subsumed by the list above will (or should) eventually grow into something bigger. I can't stand this stuff anymore. I am thinking to do something. My humble idea would be to elaborate some writings about these issues, do researches, publish collections of resources about it, and spread the word, starting with my friends, for example. I don't know what to do otherwise. This idea of "action" came into my mind while talking to Luca. Hopefully Luca and I will collaborate. Hopefully my friends will collaborate. Hopefully other people will collaborate. I need to think about it.
13th of November, 2004
This blog will move to cubelogic.org/act. I finally decided I needed a faster and more powerful tool to keep track of all the things that I want to remember. I found in WordPress a nice ally. It is full of features, easy to use, and is free software. I hope the new blog will be useful to other people too. As I said earlier, I wish to form a collection of resources to carry on between the absurdities of this corporation-driven world.
Now, go to the new blog.
