tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-139643322024-03-07T15:28:18.450-08:00Two AlphaRandom musing on politics and software, mostly.Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-53113967155928356502018-11-11T11:46:00.001-08:002018-11-11T11:46:50.285-08:00Three improvements for elections in the United States<p>How to bust the duopoly that the Democratic and Republican parties have on our politics, and begin to return more control to the actual citizens:</p>
<h2>Ranked Choice Voting</h2>
<p>Also called “instant runoff”.</p>
<p>This is where you vote for several candidates, in order of your preference, ranking them 1, 2, 3 etc.</p>
<p>If any one candidate gets more than 50% of the voters’ first choice votes, they win, election over.</p>
<p>If no candidate wins that first round then the candidate with the fewest 1st choice votes is removed and the second choices from their voters are distributed to the remaining candidates, if someone gets over 50% they win, other wise repeat until someone has over 50%.</p>
<p>See: <a href="https://www.fairvote.org">https://www.fairvote.org</a></p>
<h2>Non-partisan Redistricting</h2>
<p>Do not let the political parties draw their own maps to pick which voters can vote for them for each seat.</p>
<p>This is where the legislative district maps, mainly for the U.S. House of Representatives and for State-level governments, are drawn NOT by the Democrats and Republican parties but by a non-partisan commission. Arizona does this, also California. This reduces the chance that the districts are drawn to perpetuate the power of one or both Parties.</p>
<p>See: <a href="https://www.nonprofitvote.org/nonpartisan-redistricting-citizens-not-incumbents-charge/">https://www.nonprofitvote.org/nonpartisan-redistricting-citizens-not-incumbents-charge/</a> </p>
<h2>Open Primaries</h2>
<p>This is where all voters may choose from the list of all candidates during a primary, instead of only allowing Democrats to vote for Democrats and Republicans to vote for Republicans. The parties can still choose their internal offices however they wish, but people running for public office get chosen by the whole body of voters.</p>
<p>Several States have open primaries for at least some of their elections, for example Alabama, Georgia,Vermont are among the States that have open primaries for Presidential elections, and Arizona has open primaries for all elections except for Presidential elections.</p>
<p>See: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_primaries_in_the_United_States">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_primaries_in_the_United_States</a></p>Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-15677686639243895262018-10-20T11:26:00.001-07:002018-10-20T11:26:28.032-07:00Cyberthon blueprints - a 24-hour Virtual Reality expo in 1990<p>In 1990 the Whole Earth Institute developed the “Cyberthon” one-day-only 24-hour exposition of virtual reality technologies. I was at that time a licensed general contractor in California and volunteered to design and manage the setup of the physical space where the expo was to be held.</p>
<p> Cyberthon was held in the sound stage and other facilities of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossal_Pictures">Colossal Pictures</a> in San Francisco.</p>
<p>My plan was to use the hundreds of decorated theatre flats at the studio to create maze (not a labyrinth! a maze!) where attendees would keep discovering and rediscovering installations throughout the 24-hour period of Cyberthon.</p>
<p>Artists and technologists wishing to participate in Cyberthon had sent in descriptions of their space and technical requirements (light, dark, electrical, etc.) and I designed the “Maze” using an iterative process by creating rough scale paper shapes for every installation and arranging, re-shaping, and re-arranging them on a blueprint of the sound stage until I arrived at a satisfactory layout.</p>
<p>The actual maze was constructed by a team of mainly volunteers in around a day using over a hundred theatre flats, all of which retained whatever decoration they had most recently received for whatever film project they were last used in. Notably, one of the spaces we built (it might have been the space for The WELL, but I am not sure) used flats that had represented Jim Morrison’s Paris apartment in the then-recent Doors movie. The only space that used newly-bought materials was the central “Mom’s Kitchen” which had a floor covered in brand new black-and-white 12” vinyl floor tiles.</p>
<p><a href="https://purl.stanford.edu/kk027hx3684">A high resolution scan of the final version of the Maze blueprint is archived at Stanford University</a>: https://purl.stanford.edu/kk027hx3684</p>
<p>There was extensive video documentation of Cyberthon, including an overhead camera slow-motion camera that produced a few-minute movie of the entire 24-hour event. See: <a href="https://vimeo.com/169075463"> Cyberthon Video Documentation</a> portions of which were used in the video <a href="https://vimeo.com/fabriceflorin/whole-earth-flashbacks"> Whole Earth Flashbacks</a> which covers the history of the Whole Earth Catalog from 1968 to 2018</p>Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-76980761321069828622016-11-23T07:55:00.001-08:002016-11-24T09:32:03.558-08:00Nazis Suck - stop the alt right and make America Great Again<p>American propaganda posters for our times:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.paulsizer.com/blog/2009/01/05/more_black_angel_images/">http://www.paulsizer.com/blog/2009/01/05/more_black_angel_images/</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.paulsizer.com/blog/2009/01/05/more_black_angel_images/"><img title="AxisPoster-sm.jpg" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Umm1Eo-saCmbjvGqR6IESk_wpGZaMv_f87-lz8G9Bw4zmJmA-LZ8qn4euj79zYSme-EmtdxWINZoV5r_SQ4phRCr8rTTSWAhQUkixR7roed2feKW7UQEJkLEfIMqnPtI4AP3KA/?imgmax=1600" alt="AxisPoster sm" width="360" height="490" border="0" /></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>And a whole bunch of Captain America punching Hitler:</p>
<p><a href="http://hitlergettingpunched.blogspot.com">http://hitlergettingpunched.blogspot.com</a></p>Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-10563635196506682662015-06-03T21:32:00.001-07:002015-06-03T21:32:35.279-07:00Flamethrower Shooting Gallery Returns to Burning Man as Last FlamethrowerThe Flamethrower Shooting Gallery art project is returning to the Burning Man Festival this year (2015) under the name <a href="http://www.matisse.net/flamethrower/" target="_blank">Last Flamethrower.</a> The project has the honor of having been chosen as an <a href="http://burningman.org/culture/burning-man-arts/art-grants/brc-honoraria/" target="_blank">Honoraria Project by Burning Man</a>.<br />
<br />
Last Flamethrower is an art installation where Burning Man participants shoot a gasoline-fueled flamethrower in an arcade-style shooting gallery at a garden of contributed targets.<br />
<br />
You can learn more about last Flamethrower including photos and videos of previous incarnations of the Flamethrower Shooting Gallery at http://www.matisse.net/flamethrower/<br />
<br />
Very importantly for the project there are a couple of ways you can help make it a reality:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/288585993/last-flamethrower?ref=card" target="_blank">Back the Kickstarter for Last Flamethrower</a></li>
<li><a href="https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/burningmanproject/campaign/lastflamethrower" target="_blank">Make a tax-deductible contribution through Click & Pledge Connect</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGeuJVCB2zVwgZwo2_xJc1N3U4E-gfqsuSGa7JAsmZLpXLhUoFtSfu7gz-CXFKG-iGAfhOuJm40FNwTY8SYLGbc7eL5goSbZoucA7wVyP5Qxc4qnSjWphQNd2agU_DW0YDDJGUA/s1600/Fire+Example.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwGeuJVCB2zVwgZwo2_xJc1N3U4E-gfqsuSGa7JAsmZLpXLhUoFtSfu7gz-CXFKG-iGAfhOuJm40FNwTY8SYLGbc7eL5goSbZoucA7wVyP5Qxc4qnSjWphQNd2agU_DW0YDDJGUA/s320/Fire+Example.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1988190828"></span><span id="goog_1988190829"></span><br /></div>
Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-56120046843327111252014-12-24T20:03:00.002-08:002015-08-14T22:02:22.943-07:00Mr. Jones and Mr. Bullock: Two Americans stand up to a bunch of domestic terrorists, U.S.A. 1966<div>
I am publishing here a story written and provided to me by Mr. Bill Bullock in December, 2014.
The story concerns events that took place just before the elections of 1966
in Wildsville, Louisiana, which were the first elections held there after the
passage of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act_of_1965">Voting
Rights Act of 1965</a>. I encountered Mr. Bullock in a small corner of the InterWebs in
the discussion section of <a href="http://www.forgottenweapons.com/">Forgotten Weapons,
a wonderful resource which publishes daily technical, historical information about unusual,
unique, and well, forgotten firearms</a>. The discussion (about a job opening for a
firearms designer) had wandered, as these discussions do, and one commenter had asked about
what the motivations are for entering military service. A day or so
later <a href="http://www.forgottenweapons.com/savage-is-looking-for-design-engineers-interested/#comment-1945731">Mr. Bullock offered his personal answer</a>:</div>
<blockquote class="quote">
<div>
<em><span class="small">December 8, 2014 at 7:31 am</span></em></div>
<div>
<span class="small">Allow me to answer “denny's” question about why we join the
military by first presenting my credentials: First, I am a 75-year old member of the
Warriors' Society of the Bear Clan of the Western Cherokee Nation. Members of my ancestral
family have served in every war from the War of Independence to present. I will not bore
you with private details of my service or life except to state that after honorable discharge
I volunteered to serve as a bodyguard for civil rights workers here in Louisiana during the
late-1950s and early 1960s. This entailed more than one gunfight with the KKK. I am a
college graduate and otherwise well qualified to take the job offered by Savage except
for my age. I served for two reasons: first, it is required of me by family tradition; second,
it is in response to the eternal truth that freedom is won and held unerringly with the
willingness of society's members to fight, and if need be willingly die, for that cause.
In this course of personal choice I follow these two dictums; we fight not because we hate
those before us but that we love those behind us and that there are many things worse than
Death and Cowardice is major among them. We do not ask other to fight or lose respect for them
if they cannot, but we never lower our level dedication by refusing to fulfill our obligation
to do so.</span><br />
<span class="small">Bill Bullock</span><br />
<span class="small">First Counterinsurgency Warfare Group, USMC</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
Mr. Bullock's answer piqued my interest and I replied:</div>
<blockquote class="quote">
<div>
<em><span class="small">December 8, 2014 at 8:22 am</span></em></div>
<div>
<span class="small">That's a great answer Bill, thanks.</span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span class="small">By the way, I have never come across any historical descriptions of
gunfights with the KKK and wonder if you and/or others would be willing to write them up?
Maybe a story or two might some day be the basis for the kind of vignette that Ian and Karl
are making. That kind of history of Americans fighting domestic terrorism at a grass-roots
level would probably be fascinating and educating to many.</span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span class="small">Back in the 1970s I knew a fellow (Fredrick Douglas Kirkpatrick [1]) who had
helped start the “Deacons for Defense and Justice” and he used to sing a song called
“That's Why the Deacons Carry Guns” I knew Fred mainly as the founder of a
“Hey Brother, Het Sister” coffee house (really a weekly sing-in) in NYC and
then as a civil rights activist. Once,
as I and a small group were about to be arrested at a protest in NYC Rev. Kirk as we called him
took me aside and told me to make sure to “get three square meals” inside.</span>
</div>
<br />
<div>
<span class="small">While there is some written history about the Deacons I think we could
use more examples of citizens defending themselves against home-grown terrorists.</span></div>
<br />
<div>
<span class="small">References:</span><br />
<span class="small">[1] Article from the Bangor Daily News, March 28, 1973 about a Hey Brother
coffee house in Maine in 1973, mentioning Rev. Kirk</span><br />
<span class="small"><a href="http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19730328&id=NIIzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=azgHAAAAIBAJ&pg=900,4307775">http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19730328&id=NIIzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=azgHAAAAIBAJ&pg=900,4307775</a></span></div>
<div>
<span class="small">[2] Wikipedia article on the Deacons:</span><br />
<span class="small"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons_for_Defense_and_Justice">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons_for_Defense_and_Justice</a></span></div>
<div>
<span class="small">[3] NRA Publications article on "Deacons For Defense And Justice" by Dave Kopel</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/16353/deacons-for-defense-and-justice/"><span class="small">http://www.nrapublications.org/index.php/16353/deacons-for-defense-and-justice/</span></a></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12px;">
</div>
All of the above led to Mr. Bullock writing up the story you see below and generously giving me permission to publish it.<br />
<br />
<div>
My hope is that you will find it as interesting and educational as I.<br />
<br /></div>
-<a href="http://www.matisse.net/">Matisse Enzer</a>
<br />
<hr />
<h2 style="background-color: white; font-family: Helvetica; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Isaiah Jones</span></h2>
<div>
Copyright © 2014 by Bill Bullock, all rights reserved</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In reading this, please remember that this took place in the mid-1960s during the
“Bad Old Days” and that for the most part the beliefs held back then no longer
exist in this area of the South. It is a joy to see how most of our young people of all races
have embraced the acceptance of each other and now are building a New South along the lines
espoused by Dr. King during his lifetime. However, the past must be addressed in order that
it never be allowed to happen again and that prejudice by all races disappear never to return.
And yes, there remains a small but dedicated prejudice on the part of both races and probably
forever will. Therefore the past must be remembered.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mr. Jones was our neighbor in Wildsville, La. I think his first name was Isaiah, but we
always called him "Mr. Jones" in respect for his age and integrity. His property adjoined
that of my father along the western end of ours and his home was located on Levee Road
bordering the Black River that is formed by the joining of the Ouchita, Tenasa and Little Rivers
at Jonesville, Louisiana, in East-Central Louisiana. Mr. Jones' home was
(still is but is abandoned) at: <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/31%C2%B036'19.0%22N+91%C2%B049'02.3%22W/@31.6052722,-91.8173139,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0">31°36'18.98" N </a><br />
<a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/31%C2%B036'19.0%22N+91%C2%B049'02.3%22W/@31.6052722,-91.8173139,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0">91°49'2.33" W</a>
(<a href="http://www.matisse.net/files/isiah-jones/isiah-jones-house-location.kmz">Google Earth</a>), I then lived
at: <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/place/31%C2%B036'36.7%22N+91%C2%B048'03.9%22W/@31.6101944,-91.8010778,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x0">31°36'36.70"N 91°deg;48'3.88"W</a> (<a href="http://www.matisse.net/files/isiah-jones/bill-bullock-family-1966.kmz">Google Earth</a>).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Mr. Jones was a very interesting person to talk to and like "Uncle" Tom Bowie [1] had many tales
from the distant past. Uncle Tom Bowie was a direct descendant of the slaves freed by Jim Bowie,
the famous knife-fighter and frontiersman when he immigrated to Texas where he died in
the Battle if the Alamo.</div>
<blockquote class="footnote">
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
[1] <em>“Uncle” Tom Bowie was an elderly Black man who was descended from one of
the slaves freed by Jim Bowie (knife-fighter of Bowie Knife fame) just before he moved from
Concordia Parish, Louisiana, to Texas where he died in the Battle of the Alamo. Mr. Tom Bowie
was called “Uncle Tom Bowie” in respect for his age (90+) and for his integrity by
both Black and White people. He and Mr. Lit Currey were close friends of mine. Mr. Lit
lived to be 106 years of age.</em></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
Mr. Jones owned a very desirable piece of farmland where he and his family raised crops for sale
as well as much of their own food. He was also very outspoken and did not hesitate to make his
beliefs known.</div>
<div>
When the Civil Rights movement finally secured the rights of African Americans to vote without
the restrictions of the "Poll Tax" and literacy tests, Mr. Jones declared that he would register
as a voter in Concordia Parish under these new freedom guarantees and forthwith did so[2].</div>
<blockquote class="footnote">
<div style="font-size: 15px;">
<span style="font-size: small;">[2] <em>This would have been some time before the elections
of 1966, to the best of my recollection it was in the summer of that year. The Voting Rights Act
had been signed on 6 August, 1965 and we were registering voters from the time it passed forward.</em></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div>
Almost immediately rumors of planned retaliation by the KKK started to circulate and one night
someone in a pickup truck drove down the levee (there was no outlet on the other end) and as
they drove back fired a rifle shot through his roof as a warning.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Undeterred, Mr. Jones remained steadfast in his determination to vote in the next election.<br />
<br />
I was raised to be neither racist against any person nor to stand idly by while anyone who could
not defend themselves was abused.<br />
<br />
I remembered that my mothers family had been singled out during visits to Oklahoma because she was
half Cherokee and refused to deny her heritage. I also vividly remember that during the mid-1980s
while working near Ponca City in Oklahoma I was told to take my lunch outside and eat it on the
porch of the rural cafe because I identified myself as part Indian and “Your kind”
was not allowed to eat with “White Folks.”<br />
<br />
This, my respect for Mr. Jones, and my reputation of standing by people when no one else would,
brought me to be on his front porch on the evening when the Klan had designated as the time he
would be taught a lesson and made an example for the others in case they wanted to vote.<br />
<br />
At the time I had access to a Thompson sub-machine gun with two drum clips that was owned by
the family of an ex-police officer. This was quite common back then. I borrowed this weapon
and went to Mr. Jones' home to wait. As I had heard from older combat veterans, I tied my
handkerchief around the muzzle to give a better aiming reference in the dark and to hide the
flashes from the compensator. He had his favorite 12 gauge double-barrel loaded with buckshot
rounds as we set waiting beside the elevated front porch of his home. His family had been moved
to homes of his friend for safety.<br />
<br />
At about 11:30 p.m. two pickups trucks with several men in each slowly drove down the levee.
Shortly they returned and as they came in front of the house they opened fire on Mr. Jones'
home with rifles and shotguns.<br />
<br />
We immediately returned fire with both guns. There were screams from the trucks as the occupants
realized that they had fallen into our trap. The occupants were trying to take cover in the
beds of the trucks and the drivers were trying to get into gear and get away. There was a
long stretch between where they were and the nearest cover so both trucks sped down the other
side of the levee for protection, came up the next access ramp and raced for the highway. As
soon as they came back onto the levee, both myself and Mr. Brown opened fire again but they
were more-or-less out of range for effective fire in the darkness.<br />
<br />
We later found out that two men were hit and both trucks were pretty shot up. I only got off
part of one drum before they got behind the earthen levee and most of the rest of my rounds
went into the levee. Another of their number had quite a bit of shattered glass in his face and
right shoulder from the door glass.<br />
<br />
The next day this was the talk of the area with descriptions of 15-20 blacks ambushing several
white men who were only trying to jacklight a deer or two to feed their families. It was a very
tense time as everyone waited for the Black Uprising that the Klan had predicted but
of course never came.<br />
<br />
Mr. Jones voted in the next election without any problems. It was the first time anyone in
his family had ever voted in his recollection. The next year his sons voted for the first
time in their lives as did several of his neighbors and friends.<br />
<br />
Mr. Brown is long gone now and many no longer remember who he was, what he did or where he lived.
His family has moved on. The old house is abandoned and falling in now. But from time to time
I drive down the levee and remember. Recently I took my two grandsons with me and explained
to them what happened there so someone will remember what a
Black Man and a Half-Breed Indian did that night.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Bill Bullock<br />
December, 2014</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<hr />
<h4>
Addendum</h4>
<div>
See also:</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://nyupress.org/books/9781479886036/" target="_blank">We Will Shoot Back, Armed Resistance in the Mississippi Freedom Movement</a></li>
<ul>
<li>Akinyele Omowale Umoja</li>
<li>351 pages</li>
<li>August, 2014</li>
<li>ISBN: 9781479886036</li>
</ul>
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacons_for_Defense_and_Justice" target="_blank">Deacons for Defense and Justice</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-84473991109982219162014-07-02T08:51:00.001-07:002014-07-02T08:51:51.196-07:00Correction targets for pistol shooting (PDF files)<ul><li><a href="http://www.matisse.net/files/targets/right%20hand%20pistol%20correction%20target.pdf" title="PDF file of correction target for a right-handed shooter">Right-handed shooter pistol correction target</a></li><li><a href="http://www.matisse.net/files/targets/left%20hand%20pistol%20correction%20target.pdf" title="PDF file of correction target for a left-handed shooter">Left-handed shooter pistol correction target</a></li></ul><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/shooting" rel="tag">shooting</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-61941291118522532452014-04-20T12:01:00.001-07:002014-07-02T08:52:48.654-07:00Omnigraffle Template for IPSC and USPA Stage DesignSimple Omnigraffle template for designing IPSC and USPSA stages is available for <a href="http://www.matisse.net/files/targets/IPSC%20and%20IDPA%20Stage%20Design.gstencil" title="PDF file of correction target for a right-handed shooter">download</a>.<br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/action shooting" rel="tag">action shooting</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/shooting" rel="tag">shooting</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/uspsa" rel="tag">uspsa</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-42675029729673484532013-04-14T11:53:00.000-07:002013-04-14T11:54:28.141-07:00Flamethrower Shooting Gallery gets 2013 Grant from Burning ManI am thrilled to report that the <a href="http://www.matisse.net/flamethrower/" title="Flamethrower Shooting Gallery home page">Flamethrower Shooting Gallery</a>™ will be returning to Burning Man this year thanks to a wonderful <a href="http://www.burningman.com/installations/art_honor.html" title="Burning Man 2013 Honorarium Installations">grant from the Burning Man organization</a>.<br /><br />The Flamethrower Shooting Gallery is an interactive, fully participatory installation embodying the spirit of American freedom, spectacle, and friendly competition. It was created in 2007 and first appeared to the public in 2008. It is a big thrill to bring it back again in 2013.<br /><br />If you are interested in being part of the Crew this year please check out our <a href="http://tinyurl.com/fsg-volunteer-2013" title="FSG volunteer info">Participation Page</a> at <a href="http://tinyurl.com/fsg-volunteer-2013" title="FSG volunteer info">http://tinyurl.com/fsg-volunteer-2013</a><br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Flamethrower Shooting Gallery" rel="tag">Flamethrower Shooting Gallery</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/burning man" rel="tag">burning man</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-26130575456690729802012-10-13T08:28:00.001-07:002012-10-13T08:29:14.475-07:00Testing Private Methods with KiwiI recently had a good reason to test a private method in an Objective-C class (a delegate method that is only called by a 3rd party framework) and a good reason to keep the method private (only the object for which I am providing a delegate should be calling me.)<br /><br />It turns out that it is easy to test private methods and properties using Kiwi: You use a category in the Spec class to do this.<br /><br />I learned this in Daniel Steinberg's book "<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/test-driving-ios-development/id502345143" title="iTunes Bookstore Link">Test Driving iOS Development with Kiwi</a>"<br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/cocoa" rel="tag">cocoa</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Mac OS X" rel="tag">Mac OS X</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Objective-C" rel="tag">Objective-C</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software testing" rel="tag">software testing</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/unit tests" rel="tag">unit tests</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-88373517906448464202010-10-06T08:36:00.001-07:002010-10-06T08:37:40.339-07:00Just Kids: A story of two young people becoming Artists<a href="http://www.pattismith.net/" title="Patti Smith's web site">Patti Smith</a>'s recent book "Just Kids" is a wonderfully told story of two young people (Smith and <a href="http://www.mapplethorpe.org/" title="Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation">Robert Mapplethorpe</a>) pursuing their dreams and becoming Artists. The story is told in Smith's customary tender fierceness - qualities which we can absorb and future in ourselves as we read along. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in artistic processes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062014951?ie=UTF8&tag=levity&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0062014951" title="Just Kids - Limited Edition on Amazon.com">Just Kids on Amazon</a><br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/art" rel="tag">art</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/artist" rel="tag">artist</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-547228835012232052010-03-06T07:49:00.000-08:002010-03-06T07:50:12.089-08:00RPC - How can you be two places at once when you're not anywhere at all?Recently I've been looking into using either XML-RPC or JSON-RPC to communicate between a Cocoa client and a PHP back-end.<br /><br />I came across Samuel Sutch's <a href="http://samuraiblog.com/wordpress/2009/11/06/json-rpc-in-objective-c/trackback/" title="JSON-RPC in Objective-C">Objective-C implementation of JSON-RPC</a> and saw what to me is a curious pattern: methods with no name that take any object (id) as an argument and return an object of indeterminate type (id)<br /><br /><span style="font-family:monospace;font-size:11pt;">- (</span><span style="font-family:monospace;color:#aa0d91;font-size:11pt;">id</span><span style="font-family:monospace;font-size:11pt;">):(</span><span style="font-family:monospace;color:#aa0d91;font-size:11pt;">id</span><span style="font-family:monospace;font-size:11pt;">)arg {<br /> // do stuff<br />}<br /><br /></span>While this is legal in Objective-C it sure is difficult for me to follow. That said, I'm not an expert in ObjC so I consider this a learning opportunity.<br /><br />I suspect that the reasoning behind this has something to do with the fact that the author is implementing a version of the <a href="http://twistedmatrix.com/documents/current/core/howto/defer.html" title="Deferred docs at twistedmatrix.com">"Deferred" pattern</a>. Still, it seems like code that is very hard to maintain. I'm hoping to get in touch with the author and learn more. At a minimum I hope to become better educated.<br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Mac OS X" rel="tag">Mac OS X</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Objective-C" rel="tag">Objective-C</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/open source" rel="tag">open source</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software development" rel="tag">software development</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-2510903587265025142009-07-23T16:35:00.001-07:002009-07-23T16:35:41.667-07:00Apple Professional Apps Documentation Goes on the WebThe <a href="http://documentation.apple.com/">complete documentation for Apple's professional apps is now available on the web</a>.<br />Links to the individual products are:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/appleloopsutility/">Apple Loops Utility Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/appleqadministrator/">Apple Qadministrator Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/appleqmaster/">Apple Qmaster Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/batchmonitor/">Batch Monitor Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/cinematools/">Cinema Tools Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/color/">Color Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/compressor/">Compressor Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/dvdstudiopro/">DVD Studio Pro Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutpro/">Final Cut Pro Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/finalcutserver/">Final Cut Server Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/impulseresponseutility/">Impulse Response Utility Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/logicpro/">Logic Pro Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/mainstage/">MainStage Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/motion/">Motion Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/soundtrackpro/">Soundtrack Pro Help</a></li><li><a href="http://documentation.apple.com/en/waveburner/">WaveBurner Help</a></li></ul>Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-6226895359944107752009-07-18T13:02:00.001-07:002009-07-18T13:02:14.001-07:00Josh Keppel reviews some Oakland California Burning Man cultural
spin-offsFlamethrower SHooting Gallery crew member Josh Keppel is also a writer for NBC Bay Area - a San Francisco Bay Area local news and events web site. <a href="http://www.nbcbayarea.com/around_town/the_scene/From-Beach-to-Burn-West-Oakland-Has-it-All.html">Josh recently wrote a review of some Oakland-based hot-cultire events</a>. Have a look.<br />Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-35291348282158965782009-02-28T09:49:00.001-08:002009-02-28T09:55:16.754-08:00Why Technical Debt Should Be More VisibleRecently my colleague <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreythalhammer" title="Jeff's Linked-In Profile">Jeffrey Thalhammer of Imaginative Software</a> sent me a pointer to Steve McConnell's article on Technical Debt: <a href="http://blogs.construx.com/blogs/stevemcc/archive/2007/11/01/technical-debt-2.aspx" title="Link to Article">http://blogs.construx.com/blogs/stevemcc/archive/2007/11/01/technical-debt-2.aspx</a><br /><br />Instead of sending Jeff an email with all my notes, I'm sending him a pointer to this posting.<br /><br />Overall I thought the article plus the comments were very good. The comments and back-and-forth really add a lot of value the the article and I suggest anyone reading the article make their way all the way through the comments.<br /><br />I think we should write a version of this aimed entirely at non-technical people.<br /><br />McConnell does acknowledge that estimating the "interest payments" is very difficult. One of the (maybe not so obvious?) reasons is that involves calculating the expected lifetime of the system, because as the article says:<br /><blockquote><em>When a system is retired, all of the system's technical debt is retired with it. Once a system has been taken out of production, there's no difference between a "clean and correct" solution and a "quick and dirty" solution.</em></blockquote>So having a realistic estimate of the expected lifetime of the system make a huge difference it the expected cost of the debt.<br /><br />I also like the attention that the article and comments gave to the issue of why different people may have different attitudes towards technical debt. For example, the article says:<br /><blockquote><em>The reason most often cited by technical staff for avoiding debt altogether is the challenge of communicating the existence of technical debt to business staff and the challenge of helping business staff remember the implications of the technical debt that has previously been incurred.<br /></em></blockquote>and commenter Robin Barooah said:<br /><blockquote><em>This might further explain why business people are prepared to accept technical debt - they aren't the ones who are going to have to pay it off. The developers suffer real consequences because they aren't learning or growing by having to rework code that they knew was being done to substandard quality in the first place.</em></blockquote>I think Barooah's comment is spot-on and indicates an often unarticulated and under appreciated difference between financial and technical debt.<br /><br />The article summarizes some of this by saying that:<br /><blockquote><em>The main issue seems to be that, unlike financial debt, technical debt is much less visible, and so people have an easier time ignoring it.</em></blockquote>I would amend that to say "so <strong>some</strong> people have" cf. Barooah's comment above, but I basically agree: making the "technical debt" more visible is fundamental to improving how it is handled. That means means finding ways to make it visible to people with different perspectives: Finding indicators that are equally meaningful to both business and technical staff would be a big help.<br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/agile" rel="tag">agile</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/estimating" rel="tag">estimating</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/programming" rel="tag">programming</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software development" rel="tag">software development</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-10284640138400349022008-09-29T12:15:00.001-07:002008-10-01T15:39:07.760-07:00http://documentation.apple.com/ launched.My team launched a<a href="http://documentation.apple.com/" title=" "> website with all the documentation for Final Cut Server</a> this past Monday.Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-7405839086654644572008-09-23T08:44:00.000-07:002008-09-23T08:45:09.358-07:00JavaScript Best Practices, or "JavaScript: The Good Parts"The book, "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Good-Parts-Douglas-Crockford/dp/0596517742%3FSubscriptionId%3D02ZH6J1W0649DTNS6002%26tag%3Dws%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0596517742">JavaScript: The Good Parts</a>" will be useful to both beginners and experienced JavaScript programmers who want to create better JavaScript code.<br /><br />"JavaScript: The Good Parts" is a slim volume (153 pages) that clearly explains a number of best practices for JavaScript giving the "why" and the "how" for dozens of issues such as creating objects, using JSON securely, dealing with regular expressions, <a href="http://www.jslint.com/" title="JSLint web site.">checking your code using JSLint</a>, and avoiding "attractive nuisances" such as "implied globals." I only wish the author had included something on setting up unit-test frameworks for JavaScript (see for example, <a href="http://github.com/madrobby/scriptaculous/wikis/unit-testing">Scriptaculous</a>.)<br /><br />JavaScript is a programming language growing in importance every day - increasingly complex systems such as <a href="http://google.com/gmail/">GMail</a>, <a href="http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=piazza+il+campo,+italy&ie=UTF8&ll=43.318457,11.3317&spn=0.00537,0.00765&t=h&z=17">Google Maps</a>, and <a href="http://www.apple.com/mobileme/">MobileMe</a> depend heavily upon it.<br />The guy who wrote this book, Douglas Crockford, is a "senior JavaScript architect at Yahoo!" and is the fellow who introduced JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) and created JSLint, a JavaScript style-checker (static code analyzer.)<br /><br /><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Mb1xCr7CL._SL75_.jpg" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Good-Parts-Douglas-Crockford/dp/0596517742%3FSubscriptionId%3D02ZH6J1W0649DTNS6002%26tag%3Dws%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0596517742">"JavaScript: The Good Parts" (Douglas Crockford)</a><br /><br />See also:<br /> <br /><img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lfmfQ79CL._SL75_.jpg" /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Perl-Best-Practices-Damian-Conway/dp/0596001738%3FSubscriptionId%3D02ZH6J1W0649DTNS6002%26tag%3Dws%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0596001738">"Perl Best Practices" (Damian Conway)</a><br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/javascript" rel="tag">javascript</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software" rel="tag">software</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software development" rel="tag">software development</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/static analysis" rel="tag">static analysis</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-41370889533103308142008-09-04T20:35:00.001-07:002008-09-05T07:50:14.746-07:00Flamethrower Shooting Gallery Most Dangerous Interactive Installation
on the PlayaThe <a href="http://www.matisse.net/flamethrower/">Flamethrower Shooting Gallery</a> was a big success at Burning Man 2008.<br /><br />I asked <a href="http://blog.burningman.com/?author=23">DaveX</a> (head of fire safety for the Burning Man organization) for his view and Dave said:<br /><blockquote>"... heard nothing but good things about how you guys ran it, and I think it's the most dangerous thing out there."</blockquote>Thanks Dave!<br /><br />The Flamethrower Shooting Gallery was the only installation on the playa that combined horizontal flame effects with liquid fuel and was controlled by participants. The fire safety team measured the facial skin temperature on shooters at 130 degrees Fahrenheit  while the flamethrowers were in action.<br /><br /><a href="http://flickr.com/photos/yegg/2823762847/" title="Shooters preparing to fire.">This photo</a> shows some shooters getting ready to fire with the assistance of the Range Safety Officers.<br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Flamethrower Shooting Gallery" rel="tag">Flamethrower Shooting Gallery</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-4583720100597947532008-07-16T22:22:00.001-07:002008-07-16T22:22:21.652-07:00Flamethrower Shooting Gallery listed on Laughing SquidA little alternative press coverage at <a href="http://laughingsquid.com/flamethrower-shooting-gallery-by-matisse-roxie/">Laughing Squid</a>. Also, here's a bit of <a href="http://www.ktvu.com/video/16839647/index.html" title="KTVU.com">television news coverage of the Fire Arts Festival</a>, at <a href="http://www.thecrucible.com/">The Crucible</a> where the Flamethrower Shooting Gallery had its world premiere.Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-1889594794341022702008-06-22T10:55:00.000-07:002008-06-27T07:41:01.428-07:00Herb Meyer World Economic Forum Paper could be a FakeDid Herb Meyer really write and/or present the paper attributed to him as having been presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland?<br /><br />There are a lot of copies of this paper on the web - variously titled "Four major transformations of the New Century", "A global intelligence briefing for CEOs", etc.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.weforum.org/" title="Web site of the World Economic Forum">web site of the World Economic Forum</a> does not seem to contain Herb Meyer's name at all, and certainly <a href="http://www.weforum.org/en/knowledge/contributors/index.htm?alpha=M" title="Alphabetical ">not in the their list of contributers as of late June 2008</a>.<br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/economics" rel="tag">economics</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/politics" rel="tag">politics</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/puppy" rel="tag">puppy</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-73839622108862275792008-05-26T10:05:00.000-07:002008-05-26T10:07:35.353-07:00Modern Web MVC FrameworksIt's now mid-2008, and there are a fair number of open source web application frameworks that use the Model-View-Controller approach. They all provide built-in support for automated testing.<br /><br />Here is an (incomplete) list of widely used frameworks:<br /><br />Groovy<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.grails.org/">http://www.grails.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grails_(Framework)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grails_(Framework)</a></li></ul>Java<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.springframework.org/">http://www.springframework.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Framework">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_Framework</a></li></ul>Perl<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.catalystframework.org/">http://www.catalystframework.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalyst_(software)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalyst_(software)</a></li></ul>PHP<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.symfony-project.org/">http://www.symfony-project.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symfony">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symfony</a></li></ul>Python<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.djangoproject.com/">http://www.djangoproject.com/</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_(web_framework)">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_(web_framework)</a></li></ul>Ruby<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.rubyonrails.org/">http://www.rubyonrails.org/</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_on_Rails">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_on_Rails</a></li></ul><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/open source" rel="tag">open source</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/MVC" rel="tag">MVC</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/unit tests" rel="tag">unit tests</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-78309752143918963362008-02-17T22:49:00.001-08:002008-02-17T22:49:33.210-08:00Releasing software under an Open Source License to Increase Business
ValueReleasing software under an Open Source License can increase the business value of that software.<br /><br /><strong>Why License as Open Source?</strong><br />As a developer when I create software and license it to a customer there are a number of reasons why I might want that license to be an Open Source license. That is, that are a number of ways in which Open Source licenses increase the value of the software to me, the original author. This value points should be weighed against the value created by Closed Source licenses.<br /><strong><br />Open Source Need Not Equal "Free of Charge"</strong><br />Software can be Open Source and fee-for-use and it can be closed-source but free-of-charge.<br /><br />Examples:<br /><br /><ul><li>Embedding the MySQL database in your product: It is Open Source, but you must pay for the right to embed MySQL in your product.</li><li>Microsofts' Internet Explorer web browser is free-of-charge but is Closed Source.</li></ul>Releasing software under an Open Source license does not automatically mean you are allowing all use to be free of charge. Indeed, crafting good Open Source fee-for-use licenses is an area of law which would benefit from more creative efforts.<br /><br /><strong>Value From Increased Networking Utility</strong><br />Many of the value propositions listed below derive from the idea of increasing the human networking utility of my software - that is, as under an Open Source license my software can be used to help create and maintain my connections to other people: developers, potential clients, collaborators, pundits, marketers, etc. and a great deal (maybe most?) of the business value available ("Total Value Available") is obtained through connections and relationships, so anything that promotes good connections to other people has potential business value which should be considered.<br /><br />Closed Source software licenses act in some ways as barriers to creating and maintaining connections to people. Healthy relationships require boundaries, so this is not a question of all-or-nothing but rather one of degree and kind. A lot of what a Closed Source license does is to try and prevent a loss of value, as opposed to providing utility that can lead to an increase in value.<br /><br />The value that a Closed Source license seeks to create or preserve is based on scarcity and secrecy. The Closed Source License seeks to create a barrier to understanding how the software works, and making it harder for others to reuse or modify the software. The Closed Source License is addressing the creators' fears that if someone can read the source code they will have an easier time creating a competing product, that it will be easy to copy portions of the code and reuse it without payment and that t will be hard to detect such violations. These are real issues and should be considered before releasing source code in any form.<br /><br /><strong>Specific Kinds of Value Created or Increased by an Open Source License</strong><br />Using an Open Source License for software I create increases its value to me by:<br /><ul><li>Ensuring that I have the right to re-use the software for another project/client.</li><li>Increasing the likelihood that my software will be widely used, and thus I will be known to a wider market, and possibly gain market-share and "mind-share."</li><li>Increasing the likelihood that my software will be improved. I gain by being associated with the higher-quality experiences the users have, even though some improvements are made by others, as the original author, some of the goodness rubs off on me.</li><li>Making it easier to use my software as a marketing tool - I can show the code to prospective clients and collaborators and partners. Increasing the human-networking utility of my software is a</li><li>Making it easier to incorporate other Open Source Software into my product, thus giving me a much wider range of options for adding features and making improvements, so I can respond to change requests and new opportunities much faster than if any change had to be implemented <em>de novo</em>.</li><li>Providing an effective avenue for the widest possible expert review of the softwares' security. For example, Open Source software that handles vote counting will likely inspire higher confidence and thus have a greater value.</li></ul><strong>Some Ideas For Open Source Licenses<br /></strong>What can/should one put in a License that is part of a Software Development Contract? I am thinking here of things that specifically relate to adding value for the licensor, for example:<br /><br /><ul><li>Non-exclusivity. Licensor can use the software for other projects.</li><li>Licensor has the right to list the Licensee in marketing materials (e.g. a web site) as a Licensee of the Software.</li><li>Prescribing a mechanism for Licensee to "post-back" changes to the software.</li></ul>There are probably a lot more things to consider along these lines - how releasing software as Open Source can increase the softwares' value to the releasor.<br /><strong><br />SEE ALSO</strong><br /><br />Some widely used Open Source Licenses:<br /><ul><li>apache <a href="http://apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">http://apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0</a></li><li>artistic <a href="http://opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.php">http://opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.php</a></li><li>bsd <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php">http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.php</a></li><li>gpl <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php">http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-license.php</a></li><li>lgpl <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-license.php">http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-license.php</a></li><li>mit <a href="http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php">http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php</a></li><li>mozilla <a href="http://opensource.org/licenses/mozilla1.1.php">http://opensource.org/licenses/mozilla1.1.php</a></li><li>perl <a href="http://dev.perl.org/licenses/">http://dev.perl.org/licenses/</a></li></ul><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/marketing" rel="tag">marketing</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/open source" rel="tag">open source</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software development" rel="tag">software development</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-45086747034862480352008-02-07T06:50:00.001-08:002008-02-07T06:52:42.897-08:00Markets are not mathematical creatures.Stock markets look like mathematical phenomena, but they are not. Stock markets are psychological phenomena.<br /><br />See "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Our-Own-Design-Innovation/dp/0471227277" title="amazon link">Demon of our own Design</a>."Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-30091427750483889142007-12-29T01:27:00.001-08:002008-01-17T08:16:27.053-08:00BuildBot: Continuous Integration SystemI've spent some of this holiday season learning how to set up BuildBot (<a href="http://buildbot.net/" title="BuildBot main web site">http://buildbot.net/</a>) which is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Integration" title="Continuous Integration page at Wikipedia">Continuous Integration</a> system that is especially aimed at open-source style projects: You set up a central "build master", and one or more "build slaves" - and it is very easy for someone to set up a new build slave, so if you have some new platform you want to test a project on you can add a build slave. The build-master admin has to add your slave on the master side, and the slave needs to be able to access the source code repository (CVS in my case.)<br /><br />I've got three of my Perl projects from my CVS repo running under BuildBot now, and it's all working, except email notification of build status - no email is getting to the mail server, and i have yet to learn how to debug that.<br /><br />When I commit a change to my CVS repository for one of these projects that kicks off a build on one or more build slaves, which checks out the latest code, and runs all the unit tests. The build master shows the results in a web page.<br /><br />I've got about 9.5 hours into it, (out of an initial estimate of 12) include various yak-shaving activities.<br /><br />For now I have the build status pages for the three projects at:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://buildbot.eigenstate.net:8010/" title="Perl::Metrics::Simple buildbot page">Perl-Metrics-Simple</a> - Building using both MakeMaker and Module::Build. This distro provides modules for a utility program to count lines, packages, subs and complexity of Perl files.</li><li><a href="http://buildbot.eigenstate.net:8020/" title="DBIx::Wrapper::VerySimple buildbot page">DBIx-Wrapper-VerySimple</a> - Simplify use of DBI.</li><li><a href="http://buildbot.eigenstate.net:8030/" title="Text::TagTemplate buildbot page">Text-TagTemplate</a> - Lightweight flexible template parsing module.</li></ul>See also my <a href="http://twoalpha.blogspot.com/2007/12/continuous-integration-improving.html">earlier posting with a review of a book on Continuous Integration</a> and a link to a comparison of several CI systems.<br /><br />2007-12-29 update: Starting to add notes to the <a href="http://perl-qa.hexten.net/wiki/index.php/Buildbot" title="BuildBot page on the Perl QA Wiki">Perl-QA Wiki.</a><br />2008-01-06 update: The email issue was caused by a typo in my master.cfg file.<br /><code>subject='%(builder) BUILD STATUS',</code> WRONG<br /><code>subject='%(builder)s BUILD STATUS',</code> CORRECT<br />Note the missing 's' after the closing parenthesis - it is part of a Python extended printf statement.<br />Also, I have now added a fourth buildmaster which builds the Parrot project. All my buildbot configurations are now at: <a href="http://www.eigenstate.net/buildbot/masters.html">http://www.eigenstate.net/buildbot/masters.html</a><br />2008-01-17 update: The open source <a href="http://webkit.org/" title="webkit project home page">webkit</a> project uses buildbot - you can see their build status at <a href="http://build.webkit.org/" title="link to webkit build page">http://build.webkit.org/</a><br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/continuous integration" rel="tag">continuous integration</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software development" rel="tag">software development</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software testing" rel="tag">software testing</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-41947255764680789822007-12-01T16:32:00.001-08:002007-12-30T17:58:14.125-08:00Continuous Integration - Improving Software Quality and Reducing RiskPaul Duvall, Steve Matyas, and Andrew Glover have written a fine book describing the value and practice of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_Integration">Continuous Integration</a> or CI for short. If you have heard of CI and want to learn more about it, or if you want to help educate others about it, this book is a very good place to start.<br /><br />Continuous Integration is a software development practice intended to notify the development team as soon as possible when a defect is introduced. Typically when CI is being used there is an automated system which the builds the entire project many times each day from its source code to its complete form, and all its automated tests and other automated quality assurance tools can be brought to bear.<br /><br />The authors of "Continuous Integration" repeatedly emphasize the role that CI has in reducing risk in software development and constantly provide examples of specific practices that support and benefit from CI, for example frequent commits to a version control system, automated tests, automated code analysis (test coverage, code complexity, duplication, etc.)<br /><br />I think this book would be great for a leader that is trying to convince their team or their management of the value of CI, as well as for a team implementing CI for the first time as an aid to deciding what system to choose and what aspects to implement first.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.bookpool.com/sm/0321336380" target="_blank" title="link to Bookpool.com">Continuous Integration: Improving Software Quality and Reducing Risk</a><br />by Paul Duvall, Steve Matyas, Andrew Glover<br />Paperback: 336 pages<br />Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (July 9, 2007)<br />Language: English<br />ISBN-10: 0321336380<br />ISBN-13: 978-0321336385<br /><br />See also:<br /><ul><li>Codehause.org has a <a href="http://docs.codehaus.org/display/DAMAGECONTROL/Continuous+Integration+Server+Feature+Matrix" target="_blank" title="link to codehause.org CI comparison matrix">side-by comparison of many Continuous Integration systems</a>.</li><li><a href="http://perl-qa.hexten.net/wiki/index.php/Continuous_Integration">Perl QA Continuous Integration wiki page</a>.</ul><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/agile" rel="tag">agile</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/continuous integration" rel="tag">continuous integration</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/extreme programming" rel="tag">extreme programming</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software development" rel="tag">software development</a>, <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/software testing" rel="tag">software testing</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13964332.post-62283162820357504862007-11-19T19:26:00.001-08:002007-11-19T19:28:01.164-08:00Time Machine Very Slow on LeopardTime Machine will run very slowly if an anti-virus utility such as Norton is scanning each file as it is written or changed on the backup disk.<br /><br />The fix for this is to go into the Norton Auto-Protect Preference Pane of System Preferences and add your backup disk in the SafeZones tab.<br /><br /><!-- technorati tags start --><p style="text-align:right;font-size:10px;">Technorati Tags: <a href="http://www.technorati.com/tag/Mac OS X" rel="tag">Mac OS X</a></p><!-- technorati tags end -->Matisse Enzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03736762585596345292noreply@blogger.com0