I will decide which blog to stick with when I've tried out both for a while,
and had some feedback from people saying which is better for
reading/commenting on.
Most of us on debian have (at some point) tried to install something, and it's
not been signed with a trusted key (one used by a trusted person). We then
have to go and get the key from a keyserver, in order to avoid error messages
each time we install a package signed by this person. This is ugly for a few
reasons:
a) How do you know that the key is trusted. You just got it off an arbitrary
webserver. None of your friends told you that it could be trusted.
b) Can anyone *ever* remember the command for importing keys, and telling apt
that they're trusted?
This is also a problem that alexreg and I identified as a requirement for our
windows apt-msi project, if it ever got off the ground. I think I have a
potentially elegant solution to this problem. Read on.
1) Create a package called trust-<name>-<fingerprint>-1.0.deb, which
automatically imports your key.
2) Make all of your packages depend on >=trust-<name>-<fingerprint>-1.0
That way, anyone who installs your package will only get warned once (if they
get warned a second time, then they can start to worry, in the same way that
ssh server keys work). This scheme *should* work without any special support
from apt.
Also, if you know a trusted developer, and they have you on their web of
trust, you can ask them to sign trust-<name>-<fingerprint>, and put it in
their repository. This way, users (or smart package managers) can install the
trust- package first, and proceed without having *any* "unsigned package"
warnings.
One thing that could be a little tricky is trust revocation. It might be
possible to create a package called trust-<name>-2.0 which revokes trust in
the key, but an attacker could create a package called trust-<name>-3.0 that
foils this scheme. On the other hand, getting onto someone's web of trust
generally means that they have seen your passport, so creating a situation
that required a key to be revoked would necessarily involve identity theft.
What do you all think? Could it work?
It seems that I have been struck by the "more girlfriend implies less
blogging" syndrome. I was thinking I could avoid it, but evidently not. There
has even been loads of stuff that I have thought "I should write about that".
I would also like to spew my feelings on here, but I suspect that some people
might have objections to that.
I really need an economist/machine learning specialist to help me build a
model of love based on utility/expected reward. So far, I have
Utility(him) = Utility_0(him) + love(her) * Utility(her)
Utility(her) = Utility_0(her) + love(him) * Utility(him)
So if love(him) = love(her) = love (a constant) then how large does it need to
be for Utility(him) to double? Also, should there also be a "time spent
together" factor in there, and what form should it take?
I've been stupidly busy recently. Probably my own fault for being so
lazy/distracted on the weekend/before. I'm gonna get screwed tomorrow for not
handing in work, and the next day (though I was able to do surprisingly much
of the risk paper in the half hour I thought I had)
In Linux news, we now have a JCR computer, for use with hermes. If you want an
account for more than that, please put something tasty in my (or Rob's)
pigeonhole. Also, if you know a good method for providing authorization
from /etc/shadow to kerberos or radius, please let us know. It would be good
to let all srcf users have un-restricted access onto the system. We'll see
what happens.
For Kopete users: a nice little hack: in the alias plugin, assign
"idle" to "exec dcop kopete KopeteIface setAutoAway"
Now you can type /idle to immediately go "away" until you next move the mouse.
Useful for adding finality to conversations without fucking up your status
for when you actually return.
[1] wget
http://alsuren.blogspot.com/2007/05/dancingthe-fateful-post.html
-o - |
sed -e s/Jill/Gill/
*may have frantically started doing supervision work 10110* minutes before my
risk supervsion.*
*and no, that's not binary.
The Cambridge Lindy Exchange was really good, and I am thoroughly shattered.
Also, Cycling back from the speakeasy with just a sweaty t-shirt on is
probably not wise. I will go to the shops at some point and get lots of fruit
to ward off the customary "I've just been dancing with half of about 80
people from around the world" pestilence.
Sucks to be Stu, who managed to get diseased before they even *arrived*.
To contrast, I have checked my email about 10 times in that period, and my
computer has checked many more times, just to make sure that nothing was
missed, and so that it could quickly give me an error message if the system
failed for any reason.
Then on [last] wed, I went to the intermediates, and was completely dead. I
wasn't leading properly, and I was thinking way too much. Katherine also
reminded me that I was still yanking rather than body leading swing-outs.
Also, I should probably make the effort to get the breaks/half-breaks in the
shimsham. All in all, I really don't feel ready for performance dancing.
On the other hand, There are so many things that I keep getting told that I'm
doing badly, and I see really obviously when I see pictures of myself
dancing. Maybe joining a dance troupe would would provide the explicit
invitation for people to try to help me sort out those things. I think I
would also benefit from seeing a video of myself, and correcting my own
mistakes.
I think I will try to get at least one private lesson before the end of term.
I should ask Matt and Lotte about what's possible though.
I will tag the relevant people in the facebook copy of this when the lindy
exchange is over, and they're a little less busy. I would like to see
people's comments on this. What should I do?
1) Create an account on http://www.scheduleworld.com/
2) install the funambol client for windows mobile on your device
3) sync mobile device
4) export an ical from linux
5) import ical into scheduleworld
6) sync mobile device
The *really stupid* thing is that all of the above is done using open source
software, and yet there is no solution on linux which will let me sync with
scheduleworld. Let's hope this improves for KDE4.
= The Bad =
- Currently, it just picks the first menu entry it finds for each program, and
doesn't prefer working/svg icons over broken/pixelated ones
- It needs a name! Post ideas here:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6107001&postID=663834070309131498
= The Future =
+ I reckon my menu system could be adapted to work with file menus as well
(create a DataEngine that understands KDE's XMLGUI crap). That would be
hardcore (and *better* than MS Office's ribbon, with less manual work).
+ Add an info panel at the bottom, for more verbose info on entries.
+ Make a data engine with a[n incremental] search function that modifies the
scores.
+ Add sub-folders to the menu, which cause the entries within to stand out.
+ Experiment with regions that contain other regions
+ Experiment with highlighting to show newly available/last used entries.
+ Make the data engine thread-safe, and event-driven.
+ Port to Plasma for KDE4
= The Inner workings =
There are 3 components:
* Data Engine
* Layout Engine
* Rendering Engine
The Data Engine is responsible for collecting and ordering data, and assigning
scores. It is also responsible for compiling the data into a 1-D list of
entries.
The Layout Engine takes the 1-D list of entries, and maps each entry into a
region (of one or more squares on a 2-D space). It passes this data to the
rendering engine by calling draw_square() repeatedly. It also calculates the
center of the region, using a bit of GCSE maths.
The Rendering Engine deals with the user interface crap. It draws the squares,
and deals with clicks by sending them to the data engine.
The layout algorithm is a case of "cut parent square into 4 children, and
repeat until there is only 1 entry in each child square, then paint."
The sub-dividing and checking for entries is done in 1-D rather than 2-D, so
it's pretty fast.
The slow bit is the rendering, which is done using C libraries anyway :D.
= "But how do you make it look so pretty?" =
I fudge it. I leave a gap with no information in it. That way, "there is only
1 entry in the child square" happens after only a few sub-divisions. This is
something that I stumbled upon by accident, when I fed it some bad input
data.
To give you an idea of how nasty it *could* look, this is a picture drawn with
the gaps as normal:
< http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~dl325/python/links/map_DTsoSj.png >
and this is the picture with
< http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~dl325/python/links/map_EJjvka.png >
brown=fudge (I decided on fudge_factor rather than blur, as that's what it is)
lines are drawn in the brown by sub-dividing, to create the simplest possible
regions (ie ones with the largest/fewest squares).
Whoever comes up with the best name will win brownie[ point]s, and a mention
in the docs.
Click "Add a Comment" now for your chance to win!
I told some girl I would add her on facebook on Thursday night. I should
probably do that, shouldn't I?
--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasher
- KDE's QuickLaunch toolbar ("Most Popular Application" mode)
-- help:/kicker/launcher-applet.html (not documented)
It can be found at:
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~dl325/python/links/links.py?username=YOUR_NAME
Each time you click on a link, it will become bigger, but everything will stay
in *roughly* the same place. Check it out for yourself. You can add and
remove links using the link in the top right corner (though the interface
need a bit of polishing). Please do, because I would love to see what it
looks like once a few people have been using it for a while.
Replace YOUR_NAME with something memorable, and you will automatically get a
new account, with all of the links imported from everyone else.
I will post more updates as I develop more. If someone wants to turn it into a
plasma applet, or a start menu, get in touch. Also, if someone knows how to
use CGI or SQL properly, *HELP ME!*, because my code is a complete mess.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C++0x
as far as
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C++0x#C.2B.2B_standard_library_extension
(std::tr1, which I already know about)
While I know this is quite tragic, a few things have come from it:
function add = <>(x,y) -> int {x+y}
It seems that C++09 is getting pretty much *all* of the cool/useful features
of python (with the possible exceptions of list comprehensions and nested
scopes, which might be possible to implement with some hackery). It remains
statically typed, but you no longer have to be explicit, and you can do duck
typing using 'concept's.
Maybe I will take the time to write a few things using tr1, to get back in
practice. *slightly tempted to try writing a boo/python/rpython compiler that
will output to C++09*
a) Create a Skype connection manager
b) Clean up the telepathy-python bindings
c) Try porting to windows
d) Start work on that package manager idea of alexreg's (a set of MSI packages
with deb-like dependencies, but which can install themselves on windows,
where there isn't necessarily a package manager already installed.)
The idea that excites me most is the skype one. I would love to see what kinds
of hacks people come out with if I manage to get voice and video working on
that. Doesn't seem too hard either: http://skype4py.sourceforge.net/
I have found that having 4 virtual desktops isn't enough for me. I now have 5.
I still have about 3 things in each task bar
I think it's kind-of since I started using Boa-Constructor. Boa takes a whole
desktop of its own, because it needs a debugger window, editor, and shell
window, and some toolbar window at the top that I've never used, but which
can't be closed without closing the whole thing.
I have also started doing a lot of development using a different user for
developing each project, and another for testing, and I find that it helps to
keep each account on its own desktop.[context]Linux (and Mac, I think) allow
multiple users *using* the same machine *at the same time*. This is illegal
on Windows.[/context]
This trend towards increasing numbers of virtual desktops is interesting,
because when I started using linux (SuSE) it only had 2 by default, (this was
enough because I only had 128MB of RAM, so having too many programs open
slowed down my computer). I wonder when I will get to 6, or even 12. When I
start using Virtual Machines, and want a new VD for each VM?
There are a few keys that don't generate events ("zoom", which is a rocker
button along the center of the keyboard, the "customizable" buttons 1-5
and "My Favorites" along the top, and the "spell" button that shares the f10
button (which I plan never to use, as it requires the function keys to be
disabled))
I am really quite fond of how they've put '=', '(', and ')' in the space just
above the numpad. Shame I hardly ever use the numpad... and shame the bracket
symbols don't produce X events :P
I've also noticed something quite good about the linux/kde way of doing
things: you can use ctrl to modify the actions of even non-standard keyboard
keys, so in amarok: next track=ctrl+volumeup, previous=ctrl+volumedown.
One thing I'm not too fond of is how you can only have two shortcuts assigned
to each action, and there are programs *coughAmarokcough* that have actions
that can be mapped to global shortcuts, but not normal shortcuts.
Please comment if there's something in here that looks interesting, or you
want more info on. This is a list of the projects that I am
currently/previously working on, organized by progress. Entries take the
form:
Project name(description):
tasks completed
tasks still to do
cupsandstring.pymsn(text-based msn in <128 lines of python):
works (can send/receive chats, and view a list of online users)
shorten to <128 lines, convert to GNU readline to allow tab completion
cupsandstring.telepathy(text-based multi-protocol in 256 lines):
can list contacts sometimes.
remove references to pymsn. Add incoming/outgoing chats
telepathy-butterfly (connection manager to support cupsandstring):
written a few patches
still keeps doing odd stuff to me, making cupsandstring hard
Windows Vista under QEMU(for development of kde/telepathy under windows):
see previous post (STOP:)
wait for new version of QEMU to officially support it
Windows XP under Qemu:
works, but is unreadable
get a *legal* version which isn't in spanish or portugese
telepathy-tick(DBus: com.Skype.API based telepathy connectionmanager):
not started. the com.Skype.API protocol is well documented though.
start with text chat and presence, then look at concurrent accounts
Left and Right handed mice (so that each hand is using the mouse naturally):
own two appropriate mice
work out how to identify mice *reliably* using evdev in xorg.conf
TheBus(a simplified dbus interface):
discontinued (after I realised how much of a nasty hack it was)
try adding features to existing dbus bindings. see about a pure python lib
Multi-PointerX (multiple people on the same computer at the same time :D ):
got it working a while ago. A lot has happened upstream since then
not tried recently. Doesn't work with nvidia driver. git is a bitch.
KDE4 (once again, just trying it out for now):
works quite well. Even kopete has started compiling and looks swish :D
check up on it periodically. Eventually start hacking telepathy into apps.
Windows package manager (like apt for .msi files rather than .debs)
Not started: Relies on me getting windows working in a vm.
Feedback/questions welcome. We love questions.
One way to approach the problem is "How would I design this item?". My friends
will be able to pre-empt my answer: "unix", but when is this valid?
"Simplicity of implementation is more desirable than simplicity of interface."
This goes directly against the modern consumer's way of thinking: "If I can
buy something that is easier to use, why should I reject it because it is
more complicated to make? Let me give a few examples:
"Serrated knives vs straight bladed knives"
Serrated knives are often slightly more effective at cutting when they are
first bought, but have you ever tried sharpening one? I would go for a
straight knife, and buy a knife sharpener. It is possible to get a
microscopically serrated knife with just a single stroke of a knife
sharpener.
"Manual doors vs Automatic doors"
When I was in america, they had some busses with pneumatic doors, and some
that the driver had to operate by hand using a simple lever. The busses all
looked about the same age, and the doors on many of them were failing. The
difference was that the failing pneumatic doors were deathly slow, because
the driver pushed a button and waited. The manual doors were often just as
slow to close, in the wrong hands, because they often closed with the wrong
door on the outside, but the more experienced drivers could get them to open
and close in maybe a tenth the time of the pneumatic ones.
So when is it beneficial to pick the unix design in these cases?
"When people will be working with it for a long time". The reason being that a
complicated interface can be learnt over time, while a complicated
implementation will often get warn out, and be very difficult to fix.
Annoyingly, a commercially successful product must aim for the opposite
ideal.
In the case of products like the bus door, the products last longer because
the operator has more subtle control over them, and can optimise them to make
them work better for longer. I could sharpen a knife so that it could saw
through meat, or I could sharpen it to give me a nice fine shave. I enjoy
that kind of thing. I think that learning subtle control of simple tools like
that could be automatically done by machines in the near future. Obviously,
it will be the electronic tools that get tuned first, and I can't wait for
zigbee devices to come out and for standards to emerge to enable remote
controlled machine learning systems.
Footnote:
Those who know me will know that I have a long history of being dreadful at
buying clothing: it takes me ages, and I often buy items that I quickly tire
of. This is mainly because I don't have much practice: I buy new clothes very
rarely.
I'm sure I could have phrased this better...
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000069.html
It reminded me very strongly of Alex and his obsession with re-inventing the
wheel. He seems to be the founder of way too many projects that re-implement
things. He would do well to read the above page very carefully.
Note: another post is coming shortly, but I thought I would put this as a post
on its own, as the two audiences differ greatly
*skips*
cat hp7.txt | sed -e %s/round/around/g \
| sed -e %s/[.][^.]*(that had nothing to do with)[^.]//g \
> hp7_slightly_less_annoying.txt
I'm halfway through, and I'm off to bed now. I will doubtless finish it
tomorrow.
Dad: Do you want to day's work on Tuesday? Terry [project manager] is on
holiday and I can't get the guys
Me: I'd really rather not, but if you can't get anyone else...
-- Tuesday --
Dad: So I've quoted for 6 man-days. That means 3 of us for 2 days
Me: ...
-- Wednesday --
Dad: Don't worry. We're on schedule
Me: No we're not. We're never going to finish by tonight.
Dad: I know. I'm not coming back tomorrow, but you guys are.
-- Thursday --
Me: Dad. Have you got a new annor T-shirt? I've been wearing this sweaty one
two days already.
...
- Later -
Dad: We've got a job in london tomorrow. It's only half a day, but Tom can't
do it on his own.
Me: Fuck off. I'm going dancing tonight. I'm not going to be up for working
tomorrow... And anyway: If it's only half a day, there's no point in all 3 of
us wasting time travelling.
Dad: Then I'll pay you for a whole day's work... Well make up your mind. I've
got to call the client now to tell him what time we'll be there.
Me: Well if you can get me a T-shirt, I will go (secretly knowing that there's
not a chance in hell that he will have an annor t-shirt washed.)
Dad(on phone to client): We'll be there between 9 and 10
Me: *rushes out to the bus stop, and buys a sandwich for dinner on the way to
dancing*
- 20:15-11:30 -
Dancing was... It's a different experience to cambridge: A lot more
performance than social, and no Matt and Lotte :'( (we love our Matt and
Lotte *hugs*). Also, the teaching is more of a one-way process, mostly
general derision of the entire class. No questions there (even though we
loooooove questions) because the class is so much bigger.
[babble] Also, there was a lot of really shit lead-follow: Early on, I noticed
a lot of guys stopping their partners and forcing them to do a move in a
certain way. Then later (when all those "advanced" guys left) I had a dance
with with some (possibly drunk) girl who kept forcing moves upon me. I knew
it was going to be a bad dance from the way she clamped my arm under hers. I
ducked out pretty quickly, and she said something like "I've taken way too
many lessons to just do the basic stuff: It's too boring".
If anyone says that to me again, I think my response will be "If following is
boring, DON'T DO IT! and save the rest of us the pain of dancing with you,
you back-leading bitch!"
Note that I quite enjoy trying to follow (though I will complain quite loudly
about not being able to do it). The problem is that when I'm leading, I will
always start off simple to get a feel for how the girl moves (and if she
struggles with the basic steps, I'm happy to just dance basic for a song or
two). If she does something un-expected(like back-leading) then I can't get
an idea of what she can follow, and it all goes to shit. Of course, if I've
led something already with someone, and the second or third time results in
something un-expected, I enjoy the variation.[/babble]
-- Friday --
- 00:30 am -
Me(silently, after missing the last W16 bus without realising, and letting all
other even remotely useful busses pass him, then desperately getting on the
next bus going along the road): This is why I don't use the busses.
*walks from <a
href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/index.html?mlat=51.5815&mlon=0.002&zoom=16">Whipps
cross round about</a> to <a
href="http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=51.6079612627822&zoom=14&mlon=0.01">home,
which is... erm... about here (*makes a note to update that*)</a> * (google
maps seems to say 2.6 miles, but I doubt I took the shortest route)
- 01:30 -
*dies*
- ~07:30 -
*gets woken up by neighbour mowing lawn, and parents aren't here*
Me (silently): Oh wow: My dad must have left without me.
*prods mouse to get computer to display the time*
*curses and curls up in bed*
- 08:30 -
Dad: You getting up?
- ~09:15 -
Me (staggering into shower): You got that T-shirt then? Didn't think so. [note
for future reference: should have used that excuse as soon as it presented
itself]
- 09:45 -
Me(through a breakfast of chocolate cake): Dad, can you phone Tomasz and tell
him we're going to be late?
Dad: Whose fault is it that we're late? You ring him.
Me: You know, I'm doing this as a favour for you. The more you piss me off,
the less likely I am to *ever* do this again
- 10:00 -
Tom(on the phone to me): Where are you?
- 13:00 -
*has the first non-[sandwich/cake] meal out of the last 5*
- 18:00 -
*leaves the site, after doing a really shit job of a frustrating install
between two equipment cabinates (why can't the English just use Hubbel
I-Frames like the rest of the civilised world)?
-- Saturday --
*punts among the tourists, and gets sunburn and cam-water in his cable-tie cit
from yesterday*
I also installed qemu (and kqemu, which is now Free, contrary to all the
out-of-date articles I found on the net) so that I can run
vista/gutsy/freebsd without rebooting. It's actually surprisingly simple
(especially when you have 3GB of RAM), but freebsd's "tar" is a bit slow
under qemu. I expect this is something to do with disk access. There is also
a problem with the liveCD of Kubuntu gutsy, so it stops working before it
reaches the desktop. I will get the alternative CD shortly and try again.
I'm still looking for a *legal* version of windows vista that I can use for
free. I don't see why I should have to pay for an operating system that I'm
not even running on real hardware, and which will only be used for testing
Free software.
Ideally, I would like a 30 day trial that I can keep re-installing, and a
little powershell script that I can use to get the system how I need it each
time. For now, I guess I'll have to make do with my copy of Vista Ultimate
that "fell off the back of that truck" :P.
I also want to install MPX now ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MUOn_nJmRA ),
because I have 2 mice (one left handed, and one right handed(currently both
set up as left handed)) and two screens (one of which is a bit temperamental,
but didn't cost me anything(give me a multimeter and a power supply and I'll
soon fix that)). I will also have a HUGE room next year, so having two
[keyboard/mouse/screen]s could be useful at parties if someone wants amarok
and someone else wants to check emails (or if we have a film running on one
screen, etc.)
Much love.
This is so that I can run Vista.
...in VMware.
Saturday morning:
Got a hug from Aaron. Awwwww! :D
Mess-ups regarding dinner meant that we had dinner in an interesting,
No network until after lunch on sunday (right in the middle of the keynote speech)... Caused lots of interesting problems, and geeks with withdrawal symptoms. Also caused a cheer to go up.
I will do a proper review later, but for now, I'm just happy to be on the net.
It would seem that I have written an MSN client in about 150 lines of code.
I say about, because I'm currently counting blank lines and comments and $HOME/cupsandstringrc as 'code'.
Check out voip/cupsandstring on my srcf home for the most current version. I'm making the effort to keep the source revision controlled, and publicly available.
* mouse-over text doesn't show... because you have no mouse. I now have an
urge to re-read xkcd in konq.
In other news, I only have 2 ethernet cables, so I can't have both working
wifi and a working computer at the same time. (yes: I have a really
disgusting cascade of linksys devices in the corner of my room)
Luckily, I have borrowed Phil's wifi card for testing, so I can neatly
sidestep the problem, and get phone and computer working at the same time :D
http://www.xkcd.com/c230.html
-- is it just me that wouldn't have left the room in the first place if someone was describing a routing algorithm that was provably optimal in all cases?
http://www.xkcd.com/c184.html
-- only maths revision I'm doing for tomorrow
As it was, I only had 1 gift question (maximum torque), and I was a bit pushed for time.
I think I'll go to the one next week, then at the start of next year, I'll go, and get her to clarify *everything* she says. I might even force her to get everyone doing ['inner thigh back', 'hips level in all 3 planes'(and not level in all 3 planes), 'lumb[ae]r spine [collapsed|engaged],...]
It would seem that controlling (or recognising) dreams is not a skill I always possess.
I just can't wait for it to be over.
Now annoyingly, I'm not actually tired, but I want to get an early night, so I can be up for tomorrow.
What's interesting is that I've not really done any written work in the morning all term. I expect my 3 morning exams will be of a comparable magnitude to the sum total of all other work.
I also need to tune my body. I expect I could perform better mentally if I got myself in shape a bit more. I might take yoga or something next year, and get a rigid routine put together. Could even do it over the summer, weaving hacking and learning German into the mix.
We'll see.
It also feels like I've not done enough past papers (I've not been able to concentrate this year. Even worse than last year), and I've not gone through enough cribs to absorb the correct methods. This might have something to do with the fact that we have 8 exams this year rather than 4, so I would need to have done twice as many papers as last year to feel like I've done enough.
Hopefully, I'll be able to scrape together at least a third (yes: I know I was looking to punish, but that's obviousy not going to happen), and carry on to do some interesting subjects next year, with exams at the end of each term. I'm not in as dire a situation as some, because I managed a 2:1 last year, which will earn me some grace, and I've revised the subjects that I enjoy, so I should be able to pick up marks in some papers. Also, it seems like Jacqui and Rob are less prepared than me (somehow). Digby won't be too pleased with me though, because it's structures and mechanics that will be worst.
*will be jumping his blues away tomorrow (sunday) on jesus green to savoy jazz*
(8)Don't drink no whiskey
Just jump your blues away(8)
*needs to organise something for next weekend on parker's piece*
(8)Spring cleanin'
Gettin' ready for love(8)
*Such* a missed opportunity!
Seems we have more petrean dancers (Mike's girl and her friend)
We learnt to switch lead/follow in Lindy today. I want to do swing-outs as a follow now too.
Gill didn't seem too happy tonight. I asked her about it after, and she said it was that she doesn't like steal dances, or dancing as a lead. I hope that's all it was, but... *shrugs*. She asked me for a hug, and said she was going in search of beer. I would have joined her for one, but I have a supervision tomorrow at nine... so I spend until midnight on facebook instead. It's really odd when I hug her, because we almost feel like a couple. I quite like it.
I'll do something with my life after exams. I promise.
In other news, I am forming a better idea of what I want to d over the summer. A PyKDE telepathy client would be a good larf. I would also like to see how many lines of code I can write an IM client in. It might be in the style of sparrow IM, if that's any good, but probably more likely to be in the style of the 'ed' text editor (possibly with sound). I would also like to get into the back-end stuff, and help with the MSN connection manager, but probably only if it would simplify the creation of a feature-complete IM client(a command line client with voice/video support would be a comprehensive win :D).
I think I *might* do a bit of linux-on-my-phone stuff, but probably more as a way to give myself a second machine for test purposes than anything else I'm more likely to just wait until it gets a bit more mature, and use it then. If I can get a flash disk image off George Wright, I will probably do that.
Okay: chances of me going dancing on jesus green in this weather?
Slim to none.
I really need to clear out my room so I can work there instead... But then I can't have the cribs. Rubbish!
Mouthwash list of warnings:
"Not for children under 6 years of age.
Do not swallow. Avoid contact with <s>eyes</s>
plastics containing polystyrene."
Who else wants to try that, just for the lolz?
We learnt a cool move called an RJ, which might make swing-outs easier to lead/follow. Georgie missed out on it though.
Everyone was tired (myself included), and I wasn't leading very well at all
I really need to work on my posture... What I really need is for someone to take a picture/video of me whenever I look crappy, and show me so I can see what I look like... Which brings me onto my next point: I thought of a really good idea for a 4th year project: a webcam-like thing that can record someone doing a dance move, and listen to the music, then play back the video with 4,6,8(or multiple thereof) count delay, such that it is still in time with the music, and also keeps it so that it stays on the same step of the basic as you were just on. That way, you could do a swing-out, and then watch yourself, while you are still dancing. Listening to the rhythm to count the beats seems do-able, especially if you limit the genre of music. Settng the number of beats to delay by hand would not be too cumbersome, but it would be cool to make it recognise feet, and work out whether you're in a 6 or 8 count basic. Eventually, getting it to do grouping of dance moves in an N dimensional space, so that you can tag them would be really cool.
You get the idea though.
Alright, so I've not posted in a while. I also haven't been on msn for a while. This may or may not be because I haven't turned on yet this term. I'm currently posting from my phone, which is no doubt costing me an extortionate amout, but I feel obliged to post anyway.
Friday night was Jazz at Johns. 'twas great fun, and there were lots of petreans about (and lots of dancers. We pretty much took took over the Big Band room, and got a shout or mention after about every 3rd song).
I have decided that Jill (with the black converses and hardcore knitting) is my favouritest girl in the world at the moment. I always feel comfortable when I dance with her, because she's always smiling (as if at some private joke) whenever I dance with her, and she doesn't surprise me too often (though she does sometimes look a sorry sight when she's sitting out for a song... but that just makes you want to pull her up for another dance.)
The majority of people fit into one of the following categories:
Serious Beginner(Often has a look of intense concentration on her face, as if she's dancing for the practice rather than the fun. She looks annoyed if you do something she hasn't seen before, so don't over-do it. One or two new simple moves per dance is enough. If she manages to follow it, her expression becomes one of self-congratulation. It's often good to dance with her becuase if something turns out the way you wanted it to, you _must_ be doing it right.)
Fun-loving(even if you can't get her to follow everything you're doing, it doesn't take long to work out what will work and what won't, and she won't get annoyed at you for trying things. Simple variations on what she already knows will often get a laugh. Over-the-top movements like massive/miniture/bouncy/low-down steps done to a familiar rhythm are easy for her to follow, but if she doesn't notice you dancing them, it doesn't spoil the dance, becaue you're still dancing the same rhythm. She is the most fun to dance with.)
----And here ends what I could be bothered to save in the shitty faves, because there was no guarantee it would have worked. I now think I have a method for recoving things in future----
Serious Advanced (normally sports a polite smile, and is well drilled at saying "thank you" after a dance. She will occasionally be made to laugh appreciatively if you can do something interesting that works particularly well with the music, but she has been to all of your classes(and more), so there aren't many *moves* that will surprise her.
She will often work in her own quirky variations on what you're leading, which earn her either a laugh or a slightly confused look. It can be hard to tell whether this is her being [flashy | confused | bored | just comfortable dancing with you]. As a result, dancing with her can be quite intimidating. This is why steal dances are so good, because all you have to do is lead a few swing-outs, and she'll probably get stolen long before she gets bored.)
I only really felt like I was dancing well with Maria for the first time a few saturdays ago. I think her inherent flashyness and love of air-steps and jumps makes her one of the hardest people to dance the simple stuff with, but it seems that all you have to do is get her into a swing-out, and she's pleased as punch.
The rest of my original entry was concerning swing-outs, and why they're so hard to learn in classes, and why flash-gits like Maria are good at them. That will have to wait though.
