I like to write stuff, so here is my blog.
28 June 2009, 1:42 UTCRevision 2000 of 2Geom
I just committed a patch to allow roots to take a domain interval rather than the default 0,1 to improve numerical stability in MGS and JFB's toposweeper routine. It was revision 2000, surely a milestone of merit for a project that has perhaps an average of 1 developer year/year.
18 June 2009, 23:44 UTCbeer assimilation
14 June 2009, 4:39 UTCAmp Frame Assembled
I made my lovely aluminium frame for my amp project. It fits perfectly in the wicker box. Sadly, the subwoofer plate amp that was to be mounted inside it doesn't fit by 3mm. I'm loath to cut the frame as I only have hand tools and it seems like a lot of work. A least the 8+ smaller 50W amps will fit comfortably, as will the controller beagleboard and display.
Here you can see how it slots into the case:
14 June 2009, 4:38 UTCOfficially Dr Hurst
I ordered hickory daiquiris as suggested by Jiri. They didn't have any hickory, so I stuck with strawberry.
11 June 2009, 6:42 UTCAV pods
Here are some African violet pods I invented. No soil, and much easier to maintain. They can grow like this in full sun, and flower easily. I add a drop of AV food every now and then.
The bottles are apple juice bottles. Put a leaf in the bottle, wait a month. Instant plant! The problem is that once they start growing new leaves they can get stuck in the bottle. Instead, we want to mount them on a surface.
Solution, a felt box pod: cut two slots and feed some acrylic felt through. Fill with water, cut a slit in the middle of the felt and thread the roots in.
6 May 2009, 18:11 UTCA nice guide to git
Dr Alex sent me osteele's git workflow blog post which I've found very helpful, and clarified some random weirdness I just wasn't getting. Linus may be a supergenius, but he's terrible at explaining himself (almost a requisite I think?), and choosing to change all the common naming conventions makes things horrible indeed.
4 May 2009, 17:14 UTCRAIP: redundant array of inexpensive people
It's surprising how often cheap labour beats advanced technology. Is this RAIP? Should there be People In Low Labourcost Areas, Globally Exploited.
1 May 2009, 2:39 UTCMetro user fees pay more of expenditures than corresponding highway system
Overhead wire just posted this testimony to the House.
I found it interesting that highway user fees (gas tax) as a portion of expenditure was 20% whereas metro user fees as a portion of expenditure was 32%. public transport is more self funding than highways. (and whilst the Metro provides its own policing, the highway patrol is paid for separately)
23 April 2009, 3:42 UTCWhy Conservatives Should Care About Transit
The Overhead Wire pasted this wonderful article on car dependency.
As the market diminishes for these specialized stores, so too does opportunity for small-scale entrepreneurship. If opening a small business were a viable option in more markets, more Americans would be interested in starting them. The current situation, where only very large stores can compete in most retail environments, makes starting a business impossible for the vast majority of Americans.
Libertarianism is predicated on lots of small players, but with the field tilted so far towards big business this can never happen. Family values can't happen if the family is constantly driving in their own cars everywhere.
Parents must shuttle their children to school, soccer practice, and even their friends’ houses until the children can shuttle themselves (at peril to their lives) in late adolescence. Not only does this overburden families themselves, it prevents the participation of community members in sharing the burdens of child-rearing.
31 March 2009, 4:52 UTCShooting stars, and machines for shooting stars
We went up to the Lick observatory and made lots of lick jokes. (A lick sense of humour or a sick lens of humour?) Mt Hamilton, upon which it rests, is about the same height as Mt Donna-Buang. But they are very different, despite the bay area's similar climate. Donna Buang gets 2m or more of rain, Hamilton only 600mm. Donna-buang is covered in cool temperate rainforest, snow gums and alpine ash to 80m or more. Hamilton has some stunted oaks and ground hugging plants.
Both however have a nice road up to the top and both have spectacular views. Both are popular with cyclists.
Death ray, with the unnecessarily slow roof opening mechanism
Earthquake or land slip?
Delphiniums blue, shooting stars red.
A Californian buttercup
The great dome.
The rare alpine mushroom, telescopus optica
The road was made for ox and dray.
Bambi
We saw shooting stars. Mum says "Shooting stars look like wild cyclamen . Very pretty". Well the leaves are very different, but wikipedia says "Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of flowering plants, traditionally classified in the family Primulaceae, but in recent years reclassified in the family Myrsinaceae." whereas the shooting stars are "Dodecatheon is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the Primrose family Primulaceae." So in fact mum were not the only person to link the two :)
Me chilling out
Lynne less chilling out (she remembered her jumper)
21 February 2009, 4:10 UTCPassive hot water bleeder circuit
15 February 2009, 2:26 UTCNick BASIC to python converter
4 February 2009, 18:06 UTCa sign of the times?
21 January 2009, 6:43 UTCJabberd
17 January 2009, 7:09 UTCPerhaps Ringworld is stable
10 January 2009, 3:40 UTCHuman scale railway stations
7 January 2009, 5:22 UTCInkscape founders
7 January 2009, 5:16 UTCA corkscrew
6 January 2009, 4:19 UTCTehachapi
31 December 2008, 21:13 UTCPhone interviews
31 December 2008, 3:00 UTCPeak oil?
28 December 2008, 22:24 UTCBottleworld
25 December 2008, 22:04 UTCWhy Ubuntu's bug tracking is useless
25 December 2008, 2:56 UTCThe dobble
23 December 2008, 3:26 UTCtrams emit no e-gas - sage, on time, smart!
22 December 2008, 5:45 UTCGlobal cooling (little ice age) caused by small pox?
20 December 2008, 21:37 UTCHigh speed rail in the US starting to look serious
19 December 2008, 5:29 UTCe2 environmental economies
16 December 2008, 5:59 UTCROAD DIETS
16 December 2008, 5:09 UTCHanded in my thesis