Order of operations

2
3 years ago
by Greg in

Sometimes I can be such a buffoon. When programming with threads, one must be sure to lock and unlock in the correct order. Also, one must be sure not to do things explicitly marked as no-nos while in a “critical section.”
I just lost two hours to this, so I felt the need to whine.

Fictional Writings

12
3 years ago
by Greg in

And I mean writing that doesn’t exist, not writing about things that don’t exist.

So I’m working on what feels like a novel, perhaps of slightly shorter than what would be considered a big book, but not so short as to not fall into the novel category. It also seems to want to be a young adult book, through it wasn’t one when it was still rattling around in the cobwebs of my lack-of-brain.

That it exists in its unfinished form means that it isn’t fictional. However it hasn’t gelled sufficiently that I have more than a vague sense where the hell it is going. This frustrates me, and makes me wonder if it exists anywhere other than the vague shimmering of characters and ideas. Not that I have much experience to go on here; maybe this is how The Process always feels.

I do manage to write between a few hundred and a thousand words a day, but it just isn’t going anywhere. My silly characters are muttering to themselves and aren’t getting together like I’d planned. The BIG HONKING event that starts things off doesn’t want to happen.

Anyway, that’s where I am and I’ll keep you informed about where I go from here. This ramble brought to you by Debbie, blog secretary extraordinaire.

Posting…

2
3 years ago
by Greg in

Rab is making me start posting regularly. Rather, he had one of his blog secretaries inform me I would be posting regularly. He has secretaries to do his typing, and he doesn’t even post regularly!

On programming for fun.

2
4 years ago
by Greg in , ,

I wonder if it is the nature of the beast that when someone does something for a living day in and day out, it stops being fun. I’m starting to worry that may be the case with me.

Why am I bringing this up? One reason is due to watching my friend Rab having fun with Python. He’s having fun. He’s doing it for fun, and thus he’s having fun. Doesn’t that sound like fun? It does to me. Yet he’s doing the same thing I do as a job, and I don’t have fun. Maybe it is because he’s writing a game?

Reading his adventures, and talking with him about python programming is fun. It makes me want to start programming for fun too. As it doesn’t make sense to me for the idea of programming to be fun but the programming itself not to be, I suppose I’m just looking at the the wrong way. Maybe all I need to do is adjust my point of view, and I’ll start having fun again. I say again because I did enjoy programming once. I know it is possible for me to do so.

Thus starts the experiment. I’m not sure yet how I’m going to approach this. Perhaps the best method is to just adjust my thinking — find the “game” in whatever I’m doing, cling to it, and use that shape my overall view.

New site!

3
4 years ago
by Greg in

Isn’t is nifty? After a dozen years, I’ve finally updated my personal site to something more modern. Maybe I’ll even keep this blog up! That would amaze and astonish.

Patch, patch, patch!

0
5 years ago
by Greg in

Microsoft has released a record number of patches many of which are of the most critical variety. Please, please, please! Update your system(s) now! Don’t get bitten.

Fall is here!

0
5 years ago
by Greg in

When I walked out of the garage this morning, and felt the cool, dry air around me, I knew that fall was finally here. The sun was just coming up, and everything around me was still and quiet. Mornings like this make me want to spend the whole day outside. The quiet makes me remember how blessed I am to no longer live in a miserable apartment in the city.

 

Influence the Universe

0
5 years ago
by Greg in

In an attempt to alter our reality, we’ve taken to writing the opposite of habitual computer problems on the whiteboard in my office. It is our hope that, through the power of positive thinking, we’ll make them come true.

(more…)

Egad

0
5 years ago
by Greg in

The paper shredders are here today, and they park their truck right outside my office window. Now, I don’t mind that they’ve parked their truck in a way that obscures my view nearly as much as I mind the rumble and noise that accompanies said truck. Woe is me.

rsync.net

0
5 years ago
by Greg in

We needed offsite backup at the dayjob, and after some research, I went with rsync.net. Their support is above and beyond what I expected. I had a small problem with their payment form, and they responded very quickly to my email and even set up the account anyway while they worked on the payment issue. These guys get it and are great to work with. They also provide very easy and secure access in several ways including ssh,ftp and dav. Ssh means you can do some really cool things. For example, using the magic of FUSE, I’ve set up an encrypted filesystem over sshfs. Performance is surprisingly good, and I can use rsync via the local mount point while still having the benefits of encryption. If you need offsite backup, you really should check these guys out.

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