Author archives: Mike
In Hairy Fists
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
What a perverse thrill
Holding an artefact of highest technology
Elegant, machined within a hair of perfection
Fragile in its way, destroyed by the slightest shock
Taking it in hand
Not gingerly or tenderly
But with a hand remembering those first rocks
Raised in hairy fists
That, were one to ponder, lead to this artefact ...
I'm a Lumberjack (Logging the night away...)
Written by
on
in
Snaking.
I've just spent the last few hours building event-logging functionality into the VOIP front-end. Turned out to be far less painful than I'd thought it would be. There were a few places where I had to do some funky code to provide a formatted note regarding what had been done, but in most places the ...
Six Billion People Live
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
Somewhere six billion people live
For every scant connection that I make
Six hundred thousand are still-born
I will never smile at them
Never offer them my food
Listen to their problems
Hold them as they weep
Or laugh with them in joy
I fly over some small fraction
Wondering whether to add them to ...
Over Night
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
Quiet whispers
Hushed voices
Nervous giggles
Squeaky springs
Untold things
Lost innocence
Found flowers
Beneath noses
Over heads
Blushing faces
Over breakfast
Hiding smiles
Never mentioned
Guilty pleasures
In guiltless hearts
nVidia finally runs (But no 3D accelleration)
Written by
on
in
Tuxedo.
Well, finally got the nVidia driver to work. Had to choose the nVidia AGP. Also had to explicitly specify the resolutions, I gather it was trying to choose too high a resolution and the monitor was just failing to display. Unfortunately, the 3D performance is pretty pitiful, maximum of 150fps and it slows down to ...
A pleasant evening in with friends (Talkin' the night away...)
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
Interesting energy this evening. The Baha'is were all off at feast, so we secular humanists (and a Pentacostal Christian) spent the first few hours discussing God, evolution, and dating. We actually spent the whole evening in my bedroom (which converts to a second lounging area when the futon goes couch). I've got little pieces of ...
Meeting on a bus (Wherein I find the subject of my best photograph ever)
Written by
on
in
Vindaloo.
I insisted on doing the grocery shopping this afternoon, even though Rosey had volunteered (she was trying to get out of writing a cover letter). Nothing exciting, just getting a few odds and sods for having a few people over for coffee this evening.However, on the way home, who should walk on the bus ...
Another couple of hours down its gullet (nVidia still gives a blank black screen on startx)
Written by
on
in
Tuxedo.
Have now patched the nvidia-kernel drivers with two different x86-64 patches that are supposed to fix various problems, yet no change in the symptom. Takes a very long time for the change-test-reboot cycle on this. Oh well, for now I still have to run with the (flickery, slow) vesa driver. Not pleasant... a few minutes ...
The Path-and-Place metaphor (Why it doesn't satisfy...)
Written by
on
in
Design Theory.
There's always a danger, when you start into describing the operation of the human mind in order to describe how to get something done (e.g. design a building). It's tempting to reduce the entirety of human perception down to a simple metaphor or process, something that can be readily understood. The problem is, human perception ...
Existence, Space and Architecture (an older book by Christian Norberg Schulz)
Written by
on
in
Design Theory.
The first book I picked it up this afternoon sounded fascinating, it's approach sounding very similar to my own, and I figured maybe I had found a kindred spirit. I decided that, rather than read it at the library, I'd keep looking for other books to take along with me, on the assumption that I'd ...
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.