dleigh.plan

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +1000


Tryng to improve my workflow by labelling my mail in Mutt.
(Gmail and some other systems might call this "tagging").

I prefer to keep most of my directly addressed incoming mail in the
one inbox, so I can see it all at once. However, I need a way to mark
some messages as for DP, teaching, research, social and other roles.

Mutt has built in support for searching, sorting and filtering on the
X-Label header (using ~y<label> as the pattern) and showing it on the
index view (add %y to the index_format) but there is no handy way to
edit it from the index (without editing the whole mail in the text
editor).

This is the sort of thing that should be easy with a macro that pipes
it through formail, but isn't, because I can't get mutt to replace the
old message with the new one. When I've slept on this hopefully the
solution will come to me.

     -----==========-----

Speaking of mail, as mentioned in my last post, My student email
addresses at RMIT (s30...@student... and dleigh@cs...) will expire in
a few days. Update thy ~/.mail_aliases.

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +1000


Attention all Humans:

My student email addresses at RMIT (s30...@student... and
dleigh@cs...) will expire soon. I know a lot of people are still using
dleigh@cs.

My RMIT staff account is checked daily and will be active at least
until the end of the year; my home accounts should be active
indefinitely (although they are only checked once or twice per week).

     -----==========-----

Proof that Evolution only produces improvements very slowly, over many years.

   https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=328633

(Also, it is not a product of Intelligent Design)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +1100


So long waiting in line at Safeway I had time to rewrite my ModeSelect
app (from my phone). This has been added to my Android code pile on my
site.

Also just added a short script (droid-netifs) to show the IP and name
of all active network interfaces.

   http://www.dylanleigh.net/software/android/

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +1100


I've always said I will keep the .plan going until I graduate from the
double degree. Now that I have... As few if any of you are looking at
this using "finger dleigh" on numbat any more, I'm thinking of
retiring the .plan soon in favour of a new system.

In particular, one which supports tags so I can seperate MLP from
website updates and personal updates. I like the .plan format, so
maybe I will just start a new one with a new microformat for tags,
like the parsed entry headers. Of course, I'll be keeping the old one
online for posterity (like all the other RMITCS relics on my site).

     -----==========-----

My GPU temperature alarm kept beeping at me today, even with just
Firefox running. To keep track of when the CPU is getting hot, I've
written this little perl script to track the temperature and store it
in a RRDtool DB.

   http://www.dylanleigh.net/software/codepile/nvidia-rrd

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100


   RMITCS students/staff:

This Greasemonkey script will let you autocomplete your credentials
when logging it to the new "single sign on" website (which is used to
sign into nothing except inside.cs, replacing its own perfectly
adequate, more accessible, more secure, much faster and more widely
compatible authentication).

http://www.dylanleigh.net/rmitcs/insidecs_credentials_aut.user.js

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +1100



http://www.pcworld.com/article/245493/\
apple_to_samsung_dont_make_thin_or_rectangular_tablets_or_smartphones.html

How to not violate Apple's patents according to Apple (this is not a joke):

- Don't make them rectangular. Squares or round products are OK.

- The front surface should not be black or clear. (That's right, clear
  screen glass is just a copy of our design, its not like people have
  made clear screens before. Or black plastic products).

- The surfaces should avoid being flat, and try to make them as
  cluttered as possible.

- Use thick rims/bezels rather than thin ones. (Thin is the logical
  choice, as you get more screen space, and many products have done it
  that way for decades, but we have patented it now).

- Don't put the speaker above the screen (again, we don't care that
  this is the logical place to put it, being next to your ear. We also
  don't care that phones have been doing this for about as long as they
  have existed).

- The product should not have a thin profile (it doesn't matter that
  people want thin phones or tablets, or that they have existed for
  decades. We have patents!)

Again, not a joke. This is why I despise Apple for strangling the
entire technology industry. They just take other people's ideas, then
by using their undeserved reputation for inventing everything, they
claim to have invented it.

Because they have the reputation they get away with patenting and
trade-marking every single concept, although they haven't come up with
a single innovative idea on their own, and then use it to bolster
their reputation to start the whole cycle again.

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +1100


An excellent overview of security problems with SSL and the CA model,
including a summary of ways-to-exploit at the top.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/how-secure-https-today

Ironically, EFF use Comodo for their own certificates (Comodo are one
of the most insecure CAs - they resell not just certificates to anyone
who will pay, but also their certificate granting authority).

     -----==========-----

   http://9to5mac.com/2011/10/25/slide-to-unlock-patented/

Despite being done by Neonode phones first, Apple has been granted a
(US) patent on slide to unlock. In the Dutch Apple vs Samsung case
this patent was already ruled invalid by the court (for being both
trivial and the idea copied from someone else). Unfortunately the
USPTO approval process doesn't even extend to doing a google search on
the subject.

More anti-competitive, non-innovation:

   http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/04/why_not_buy_an_iphone_5/

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +1100


More website updates:

   - C/C++ notes:
      - Fixed operator precedence bug in bitflag testing (thanks to
        Miki Abulaffo for pointing it out).

      - Added a note on using constant lvalues to avoid accidental
        assignment operator bugs.

   - Fixed links in sidebar headers to subsection pages.

See the previous 3 .plan entries for more updates.

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +1100


More website updates:

   - Changed style to a more conventional look.

   - Trimmed the sidebar down. I'm considering replacing it with a
     completely trimmed one, devoid of descriptions, and adding a Site
     Map page with the descriptions.

   - Added Android software section (not much there yet).

   - Index page for all subsections.

See the previous 2 .plan entries for more updates.

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +1100


More website updates:

   - Trimmed and updated links page.
   - Updates to timetable.c mentioned on codepile page (and here!)

Actually fixed a while back but not mentioned:

   - Print version of each page just contains the main body, no
     sidebar (done solely - and easily - via CSS).

   - Updates to timetable.c:
      - Now takes a -f <filename> argument.
      - Can allocate codes (chars like #$%!) to fill in the busy-plots
        for that timetable entry.

        E.g. use ! for teaching, $ for work, # for class, % for
        meetings etc... and your timetable may look like:

                      |14 |15 |16 |17 |18 |19 |20 |21 |22 |
                  mon | | | | | | | | | | | |!|!|!|!| | | |
                  wed | | | |#|#|#|#| | | | |$|$|$| | | | |
                  thu | | | | | | | |#|#|#|#| | | | | | | |
                  fri | |%|%|%| | | | | | | |$|$|$| | | | |

        Can be toggled with the -c option.

See the previous .plan entry for more updates.

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +1100


Website Update! Finally got my old repositories restored and
resynchronized, and transfers from my new PC to Dreamhost fixed.

So, future .plan and website updates will be quick and frequent.
Theoretically.

Done this morning:
      - Syntax error in C notes on enumerations fixed (thanks
        Azhar Desai for pointing it out!)

      - Updated .plan (as you can see)

      - New codepile script: vodausage.py - calculates usage
        information for Vodafone Australia mobile customers on a
        plan, because the Vodafone website doesn't calculate it
        the same way the bills do.

      - Some other items in codepile were updated to more recent
        versions (this isn't reflected on the index page - I need
        to do something about that...)

      - Footer updated to 2011.

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100


   Reminder to the Ios fanboys that you still have to play Apple
   $99 each year to host your free app. If you stop paying your
   yearly fee your apps get pulled.

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100


Happy Pi day everybody!

     -----==========-----

http://www.instructables.com/id/Bluetooth-Glove-Talk-to-the-Hand/
 ^ (via Alison Keen)
   - this would be ideal for my on-the-tram phone calls.

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100


Winifred Jean Leigh - talented chemist, farmer and grandmother -
passed away Wednesday 2nd of March. She is highly missed. Every
day I think of things I want to ask her.

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100


Back at uni and trying to return to full-time-student mode.

http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-lear-iana-timezone-database-02.html
 ^ How to tell you're awesome: IANA have to develop a transition
   strategy when you retire.

Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1100


>>> I cried because I had no sweater, until I met a sheep
>>> without any wool.
>>>
>> I cried because I had no sweater, until I met a man who had
>> no torso. So I took his sweater. Seriously, what the fuck
>> does that guy need a sweater for anyway?
>>
> He's been selling sweaters so that he can save up enough money
> for a prosthetic torso.
>
He should quit while he's a head.
                                          -- groo, alt.fan.cecil-adams

Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1100


  "To paraphrase one of my favorite movies, why not go jack off to some
   snowboarding videos and let us "dweebs" worry about keeping this whole
   internet thing up and running for douchebags like you."     -- Mordok

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +1100


http://vicpolicenews.com.au/more-news/6089-bakery-burglar-fails-to-rise.html

   "He landed in a store room and searched the immediate area
   before realising that he was trapped in the locked room. The man
   then attempted to exit through his original entry point by
   stacking up various containers and shelving. Some of these
   attempts have been unsuccessful and the man has fallen from roof
   height a number of times."

Tue, 25 Jan 2011 00:00:00 +1100


   The irksome part about the police using agents provocateur is that the
   police are always complaining that they have insufficient funds to
   police the streets. If the police can spare a man to infiltrate a
   bunch of hippies for a number of years, how many undercover police are
   there in all the more disruptive groups? The figure of Â£250,000 a year
   was mentioned as the cost of running one agent, which is infuriating
   to anyone who has been told that the police have insufficient
   resources to visit their house when it has been burgled.
                                                            -- zmollusc

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100


http://www.curioustaxonomy.net/puns/puns.html

Compilation of Punny biological taxonomy. I particularly like the
Kamera Lens, the Heerz Tooya, the Gelae bean, and the Pieza kake.

     -----==========-----

  "Wikileaks is taking the data of large organizations and putting it in
   the hands of the public. Facebook is taking the data of details of the
   public's lives and putting it into the hands of private organizations."
                                                -- Fractal Dice

  "In 1959, he matriculated to Yale University, where it was thought to
   be impossible to flunk out. After flunking out, Cheney returned to
   Wyoming in 1960."

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100


On the discovery that hornets absorb solar energy:

Guess that would make one a "green" hornet...   -- mswhippingboy

Ouch, that one stung.                           -- MarkRose

"Green" does seem to be a buzzword these days.  -- Anne_Nonymous

They couldn't get enough energy from pollen, so they moved to plan bee.
                                                -- cvnautilus

Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100


What troubles me most is the fact that for the first time in my life,
I am literally afraid of my government if I go to see a website and
that I fully expect to be traced, put in a database, and labeled as
some subversive. For going to a web address.
                                                -- SuperCharlie

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100


A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude
and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted,
"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an
hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied, "You are in a hot air balloon hovering
approximately 30 feet above the ground. You are between 40 and 41
degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "Everything you told me is
technically correct, but I have no idea what to make of your
information, and the fact is, I am still lost. Frankly, you've not
been much help so far."

The woman below responded, "You must be a manager."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "You don't know where you are or where you are
going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot
air. You made a promise, which you have no idea how to keep, and you
expect me to solve your problem. The fact is you are in exactly the
same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

     -----==========-----

After the Flood, God commanded his creatures to go forth and multiply.
The next day, a pair of adders came up and shamefully admitted to Noah
that they are adders, and thus can't multiply.

So, Noah felled a tree, split it into planks, and assembled a sturdy
table. He commanded the adders to multiply, but they were only
confused at how this changed things.

Noah then patiently explained that "even adders can multiply using a
log table."

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100


http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1891668\
&threshold=-1&commentsort=0&mode=nested&cid=34408742

The jesus analogy works better I think... he made some copies of fish
and bread and distributed it free of charge.
                                                -- md65536

That's actually a very good point -- did Jesus pay the baker and
fisherman for every copy of their work that he distributed?
                                                -- shish

Let's be honest, the fisherman didn't create the fish to begin with -
it was in the public domain. The baker, on the other hand, may have
something to sue over, if cakes were something protected by copyright
(they would not be).                            -- AC

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +1100


Final forensics mark: 93%.

     -----==========-----

http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1887980&cid=34376462

  "iFans would shit a golden brick if Microsoft banned iTunes from
   Windows 7, yet they apparently have no problem rationalizing the
   wielding of the mighty App Store banhammer against information about
   (not even an ad for) someone elses platform."      -- jeffmeden


http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1887980&cid=34376476

  "[Amazon sell the] Nook, Sony reader, and so on. They certainly
   don't go out of their way to promote them (though if you search for
   them they'll show up as recommendation on the front page, along with
   the Kindle) but they don't ban them just because they happen to
   compete with a product Amazon makes.

   While I don't expect a company to promote or help a competitor, I
   don't expect them to be dicks either. How would people react if
   Windows refused to install iTunes and Safari because Apple competes
   with them? I imagine the whargarbl would reach critical mass in about
   5 seconds, and a lawsuit would follow not long after."   -- Sycraft-fu