I'm Helvetica

<h2>I'm Helvetica ⇢</h2>

You exemplify the modern urbanite. You are minimalist in style, committed to "clean lines" and restaurants with names in all lowercase. You aspire to live in an urban loft, and when the lease expires on your Jetta, you plan to get a Prius. Each time you fly, you have someone plant a tree to offset your carbon footprint. Yet, you smoke like a chimney, because it's "Hollywood."

Does Helvetica really mean Environmentalist now? Did I miss the memo? Also, I'd rather have my hydrocarbon spewing, 50mpg motorcycle, than a Prius.

Syndicated 2008-05-13 06:51:31 from RedProcess

Motorbike Nightmare

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What I imagine it would be like if everyone gave up their cars and started riding motorcycles. I'd be more scared than I am already.

Syndicated 2008-05-11 08:54:37 from RedProcess

Reload

I think I tinker with blogging software more than I actually do any blogging. I get urges to write, but get slightly irritated by the interfaces blog software provides. Of late, I've been using TextMate's blogging bundle to write with and interface with WordPress. This ultimately makes WordPress transparent, I just have to deal with its theming and plugin system.

One also has to bear with its horrible, twisted spaghetti internals. It works, lest you attempt to look at anything in wp-includes to see exactly how it works. I like to know how things operate, such is the kind of nerd I am.

I'm the kind of nerd that's interested in not only the speed and freedom of a motorcycle, but also the dynamics of grip, traction, and gyroscopic forces. It's all terribly fascinating.

So I've ditched WordPress. I use it every day at work, and that's quite enough, thank you. Instead, with the help of Django, I've done what I've been considering doing for years, and built my own web log platform. Using some obvious tumble log ideas... <h3>Python</h3>

This project is my first real foray into Python, after resisting it for so many years. I never quite grokked it before, with its strange customs of colons and whitespace. Not that whitespace is a concern to me, I've always embraced code indenting. The language of code importing often turned me off. And, most importantly to me, what appeared to be a completely half-hearted object orientation, compared to Ruby, was very upsetting.

I've been a huge proponent of Ruby over the past few years. I have a fetish for anything inspired by Smalltalk (Objective-C is fairly awesome in this regard). Python definitely isn't Smalltalk inspired. Somewhere along the line Python just started making sense. I overcame the way method calls return variables in a different manner to Ruby. Not every method can be chained, and that's OK. I will have to use functions in the same way I would chain objects. Fine. I can live with that for the speed and memory use you give me, compared to Ruby. <h3>Merb</h3>

For the better part of a week I tried Merb, as a lightweight alternative to Rails. Unfortunately for me, it felt like an utterly castrated version of Rails. The modular structure was great, I could pick and choose features. Unfortunately it really missed a lot of features I used in Rails, and poor documentation meant I was never really sure of what was available. <h3>Django</h3>

Instead of running back to Rails, I took a look at Django, the completely modular nature of it made sense, I could pick and choose features! In a small way it helped me understand Python, and accept the way it works. I had looked at Django once before, but it didn't make sense, I couldn't get a feel of how any of it fit together. Now I see anything I need is just one import statement away.

So here I am, with a fast, lightweight, blog application. Over half the size of anything comparable in Ruby. Perhaps I'll write more, now I have an interface I actually want to use. I just need to finish the quick blogging bookmarklet doodad...

Syndicated 2008-05-11 01:14:39 from RedProcess

Moved

Well it’s official, I am now an East Bay resident. In a little under six hours, with tremendous help from my friends, I moved my existence from the extremities of San Francisco to the well fortified center of Alameda.

I’d take a photo of the living room, it’s the most complete looking room, but it appears my camera has wandered off — or trapped in a box somewhere.

My cat moved her extremities from the existence of San Francisco in a little under an hour. And now she is wandering around, wide eyed, trying to figure out exactly what just happened to her little world.

The EssVee was greeted in the resident parking by a pair of raccoons. I hope they refrain from stealing, eating, or otherwise peeing on it during the night. Must get a cover, ASAP.

So here I am, in a new flat, in a new city. The old flat looks like a bomb hit it, and my cat is bloody confused. Things appear to be going well so far.

Syndicated 2008-03-02 06:22:17 from Red Process

Moving

With a flatmate and a kitty now gone, my apartment is now bigger and emptier. And in just under two weeks my own kitty and I will be leaving this apartment, and San Francisco. After almost five years of living within the boundary of SF County, I’ll be moving to the land of slightly cheaper rents. Alameda County.

A large one bedroom in Alameda itself. Apartment 101. The Ministry. I’m probably more excited about the flat number, than the flat itself…

With a change in living, I also have plans for changes here. A blog engine, some new features, and in my ideal world, much more new content. But the emphasis is definitely on new engine. WordPress is a pig, and everyone knows it — most refrain from pointing it out.

Syndicated 2008-02-20 06:48:10 from Red Process