Author archives: Mike
Evening on Turbogears (Refactoring doesn't go well...)
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
I'm planning to spend tomorrow on the long-term Open Source project for a general ISP billing system. So tonight I reviewed the code and tried to get some refactoring done. Basically I split out the various sub-schemas into separate modules so that it's easier to follow which pieces are logically connected.
But now TurboGears doesn't ...
Making mountains (Molehill demo not working...)
Written by
on
in
Snaking.
Working a bit on OpenGL-ctypes as I wait for Soni. The molehill demo, which renders a multi-coloured NURBS surface with "plastic" lighting is rendering the surface (that is, is creating the nurbs shape) perfectly well, but isn't managing to display the colours.
Crossing the nodal point (Risk-free to ever-so-tiny-risk...)
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
Today marks the first day where my expenses for each day of work are greater than the income that I personally produce during that day. From this point I have to always get work from my subcontractors sufficient to pay part of their fees. I'm not particularly worried about that, it's just something that hit ...
Vacant Demons
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
Why do you keep me waking
When I would be abed
Leave me vacant demons
Full of puzzles full of cares
I would sleep when I lie there
Please Hold my Heart
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
Someone hold my heart for me
It's grown to large to bear
Trapping unsaid
What should be sung
Cherishing pains
Long ago stung
Waiting on bells
That once might have rung
Those I Love
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
Soon I will lose those I love
For they are merely mortal
Mortal life however long
Is bounded in hard measure
They will pass as I know shall I
Possibly before they know
That they are those I love
Little traction this afternoon (Bouncing around between tasks...)
Written by
on
in
Snaking.
I was fully intending to spend the evening on porting OpenGL-ctypes to Win32. However, I realised that the workstation doesn't have the Toolkit compiler set up, which always takes hours, so I thought I'd try wrapping some of the more advanced extensions (vertex shaders, pixel shaders, that kind of thing).
Of course, I don't have ...
On fixing taps (Don't do it until there's a real problem...)
Written by
on
in
Snaking.
Friday I tried to fix the (Windows XP) 3D rendering on the laptop. Now XP simply can't boot (crashes trying to load the AGP module). I need to use an XP Pro disk to repair the installation, but I don't have one of those (the XP instance is the one that came pre-installed on the ...
On $250/month coders (Outsourcing and other operations...)
Written by
on
in
Knight Errant.
We were having a debate this evening on the issue of outsourcing to "developing" countries, particularly discussing a case where apparently a business aquaintance has hired a 4-person programming team for $1000/month. The question is, is this going to be a good deal for the money?
My take on it is this; in a global ...
Eyes at Midnight
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
I looked into eyes at midnight
Black and sparkling in the light
In the smiling face of a gentle heart
Open to all and granting each a part
The angels savoured that high moment
Yet I was troubled as we stood
I think had I stood longer
I would have had to cry
Remembering this ...
Mike C. Fletcher, the VRPlumber, is a philosopher of design turned computer programmer based in Toronto, Canada. He works primarily in the Python programming language, and maintains a large number of Open Source software packages. You can reach him at: mcfletch@vrplumber.com.