RIP Brian Wilson. Another great one gone.
Blather
I can offer no insight into the minds of others. I can only tell you of my own, and even then I cannot be sure.
I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations — they generally produce their worst work when they do that.
— David Bowie
Software development can be an artistic endeavor. But there are few software projects that are free of users, patrons, clients, or customers.
Thus, with apologies to Mr. Bowie, there are two traps that software developers can fall into: building exclusively for their customers, and building exclusively for themselves.
I might be crazy but I think I’m moving my personal programming projects from Ruby and Python back to Smalltalk in both its Pharo and Squeak derivatives. This could get interesting.
Editorial shenanigans aside, I still subscribe to the digital versions of the Washington Post, New York Times, and Minneapolis Star-Tribune, as well as my local paper, the mostly excellent Rochester Post-Bulletin and will continue to do so.
Doing some cleanup and testing. Please ignore my noise for a bit. Thanks.
RIP Spider John Koerner.
Does anyone else add columns of numbers this way?
Backing off of Python back to Ruby and Pharo. I know Python is more popular, but having objects everywhere helps me think more deeply about the nature of programming problems.
I just loaded up KeyboardMaestro a couple of days ago. I have to say it’s slicker than snot.
Tired of getting up at 5:30 to move the thermostat from 65° to 70° so I installed a new Ecobee thermostat I can control while I’m still in bed. It should “learn” our routine over the next few days.
A bit chilly today. Might want to put on a jacket.
Thinking that 2024 might be the year I try cultivated meat.
Pot roast. Cheesy mashed potatoes. Garlicky carrots. Pumpkin cheesecake. What’s not to like?
Chess with my daughter’s SO. He won. I need to brush up.
‘Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the hall
a soft wimpering was heard
The OS failed to install…
Sigh.
A Quiet Christmas
Wednesday, December 20, 2023
Ann and I can’t be the only ones who celebrate a very quiet Christmas. We’ll go to church in the morning – no Christmas Eve services for us – too noisy. My daughter and her boyfriend will be over for dinner. We have a small tree. We don’t exchange gifts. We give each other gifts throughout the year instead. It will be a quiet day. Might not even turn on the TV.
Wednesday, November 15, 2023 →
I should get rid of duplicate apps. Too many do almost the same thing.
Starting to learn Dutch again. I want to be able to understand the relatives when Ann and I visit. Hopefully I can keep it up for a year and a bit.
Nearly ready to put the old place up for sale. It’s been a long road.
The Crazy Days are coming to an end. Our move out of our old place has taken months with Ann pretty much out of commission with her nerve pain and me working. Lots of clean up and repair.
New TVs are too damn "smart"
Sunday, September 10, 2023
Problem: Our new LG G3 TV was turning off after 15 minutes when the HDMI switch is set to the Spectrum DVR. It worked fine when the HDMI switch is set to the Apple TV 4K. It seemed to be some sort of interaction between the TV and the DVR. Configuration: HDMI 4-port switch box LG G3 TV (HDMI port 4 to switch box output) Spectrum DVR (Magnavox) (input port 2 on switch box) Apple TV 4K (input port 3 on switch box) All cabling is Ultimate HDMI, suitable for 8K, in wall rated.
This upcoming week is move week. Ann and I move from our wooded 2-acre lot back into town. Downsizing from 2300 to 1600 sq ft, and from 4 levels to 1 level (no stairs!). Hoping to massively simplify.
Where Have I Been
Monday, May 29, 2023
Following after @manton, @maique, and others. Reminds me a bit of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFRpa81MUAY. Countries Lived United States Countries Visited (in order) Canada Cayman Islands Jamaica Sweden Switzerland Netherlands Belgium Mexico Germany Czech Republic Portugal UK (Scotland, Northern Ireland) Ireland Next Countries (sort of in order) Italy Hungary Austria Poland Spain Morocco Greece Norway Finland Iceland Denmark UK (England) France Fiji New Zealand Australia Argentina Chile States Lived (3) Michigan - 12 years Wisconsin - 11 years Minnesota - 46 years States Visited (40) Several weeks (8) Arizona California Colorado Florida New Hampshire New York North Carolina Washington A few days (25) Alabama Alaska Arkansas Connecticut Georgia Illinois Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Mississippi Missouri Nebraska New Jersey New Mexico Oklahoma Pennsylvania South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Virginia Washington DC (not a state) Wyoming Overnight (4) Indiana Maine Ohio West Virginia Transited by train (3) Idaho Montana North Dakota States missed (8) Delaware Hawaii Maryland Nevada Oregon Rhode Island Utah Vermont Canadian provinces Quebec New Brunswick Prince Edward Island Ontario Manitoba Saskatchewan Alberta British Columbia
I’m finding that I’m using the BBEdit scratchpad and Tot for almost all my #plaintext composition. BBEdit is the second program I install after 1Password on a new Mac.
New tries in the past 24 hours: Ivory for macOS (good so far), Kagi search trial (not sure yet, seems good), latest Quicken for Windows on my dad’s laptop (a vast improvement over Quicken 2015 that my dad was using), back to TunnelBear from ClearVPN, and there are probably more I don’t remember.
What goes? A lot of books donated to our public library. Extra furniture. All the CDs donated as well. Maple and walnut boards I’ve been saving. Woodworking tools. Snowblowers. Lawnmowers. Bicycles. The list is huge. Some sold mostly given away.
Moving soon. Downsizing from 2300 to 1600 sq ft. Good thing I never bought that 3D printer.
Finally getting around to getting and setting up Yubikeys. Fun times!
Ann and I saw Hamlet at the Guthrie Theater yesterday. Excellent!