The use of Signal was mainly recommended for communications between staff and people outside the institution. The move to use the application shows that the Commission is working on improving its security policies.
Promoting the app, however, could antagonize the law enforcement community.
There isn't a week where not at least one of my contacts get on Signal. I now have around 200 active Signal users in my contact list, mostly because of my mail footer and the fact that I don't answer my phone very often:
Signal is my secure channel. Telegram is the convenient alternative, since you don't need my phone number. For me it is convenient, because it runs on all my devices. Not giving out your phone number also makes Telegram a very good choice for group chats like vowe's magic flying circus. (Do not enter without a photo and your full name, unless you want to be banned.)
Signal runs on one device only and while it works like WhatsApp, its main focus is security. If you want to use it on your iPad or your desktop, there is an application which talks to your main device.
Yes, I deleted my WhatsApp account and removed the app. No, it won't be as easy for you as it was for me. But somebody has to lead so others can follow.
It seems as though Mozilla is never not in a period of transition. The distributed nature of the organization and community means that teams and offices and any informal or formal group is its own tiny experimental plot tended by gardeners with radically different tastes.
And if there’s one thing that unites gardeners and tech workers is that both have Feelings about their tools.
Tools are personal things: they’re the only thing that allows us to express ourselves in our craft. I can’t code without an editor. I can’t prune without shears. They’re the part of our work that we actually touch. The code lives Out There, the garden is Outside… but the tools are in our hands.
But tools can also be group things. A shed is a tool for everyone’s tools. A workshop is a tool that others share. An Issue Tracker is a tool that helps us all coordinate work.
And group things require cooperation, agreement, and compromise.
While I was on the Browser team at BlackBerry I used a variety of different Issue Trackers. We started with an outdated version of FogBugz, then we had a Bugzilla fork for the WebKit porting work and MKS Integrity for everything else across the entire company, and then we all standardized on Jira.
With minimal customization, Jira and MKS Integrity both seemed to be perfectly adequate Issue Tracking Software. They had id numbers, relationships, state, attachments, comments… all the things you need in an Issue Tracker. But they couldn’t just be “perfectly adequate”, they had to be better enough than what they were replacing to warrant the switch.
In other words, to make the switch the new thing needs to do something that the previous one couldn’t, wouldn’t, or just didn’t do (or you’ve forgotten that it did). And every time Jira or MKS is customized it seems to stop being Issue Tracking Software and start being Workflow Management Software.
Perhaps because the people in charge of the customization are interested more in workflows than in Issue Tracking?
Regardless of why, once they become Workflow Management Software they become incomparable with Issue Trackers. Apples and Oranges. You end up optimizing for similar but distinct use cases as it might become more important to report about issues than it is to file and fix and close them.
And that’s the state Mozilla might be finding itself in right now as a few teams here and there try to find the best tools for their garden and settle upon Jira. Maybe they tried building workflows in Bugzilla and didn’t make it work. Maybe they were using Github Issues for a while and found it lacking. We already had multiple places to file issues, but now some of the places are Workflow Management Software.
And the rumbling has begun. And it’s no wonder, as even tools that are group things are still personal. They’re still what we touch when we craft.
The GNU-minded part of me thinks that workflow management should be built above and separate from issue tracking by the skillful use of open and performant interfaces. Bugzilla lets you query whatever you want, however you want, so why not build reporting Over There and leave me my issue tracking Here where I Like It.
The practical-minded part of me thinks that it doesn’t matter what we choose, so long as we do it deliberately and consistently.
The schedule-minded part of me notices that I should probably be filing and fixing issues rather than writing on them. And I think now’s the time to let that part win.
Today, Firefox began the rollout of encrypted DNS over HTTPS (DoH) by default for US-based users. The rollout will continue over the next few weeks to confirm no major issues are discovered as this new protocol is enabled for Firefox’s US-based users.
A little over two years ago, we began work to help update and secure one of the oldest parts of the internet, the Domain Name System (DNS). To put this change into context, we need to briefly describe how the system worked before DoH. DNS is a database that links a human-friendly name, such as www.mozilla.org, to a computer-friendly series of numbers, called an IP address (e.g. 192.0.2.1). By performing a “lookup” in this database, your web browser is able to find websites on your behalf. Because of how DNS was originally designed decades ago, browsers doing DNS lookups for websites — even encrypted https:// sites — had to perform these lookups without encryption. We described the impact of insecure DNS on our privacy:
At the creation of the internet, these kinds of threats to people’s privacy and security were known, but not being exploited yet. Today, we know that unencrypted DNS is not only vulnerable to spying but is being exploited, and so we are helping the internet to make the shift to more secure alternatives. We do this by performing DNS lookups in an encrypted HTTPS connection. This helps hide your browsing history from attackers on the network, helps prevent data collection by third parties on the network that ties your computer to websites you visit.
We’re enabling DoH by default only in the US. If you’re outside of the US and would like to enable DoH, you’re welcome to do so by going to Settings, then General, then scroll down to Networking Settings and click the Settings button on the right. Here you can enable DNS over HTTPS by clicking, and a checkbox will appear. By default, this change will send your encrypted DNS requests to Cloudflare.
Users have the option to choose between two providers — Cloudflare and NextDNS — both of which are trusted resolvers. Go to Settings, then General, then scroll down to Network Settings and click the Settings button on the right. From there, go to Enable DNS over HTTPS, then use the pull down menu to select the provider as your resolver.
Users can choose between two providers
We continue to explore enabling DoH in other regions, and are working to add more providers as trusted resolvers to our program. DoH is just one of the many privacy protections you can expect to see from us in 2020.
The Dow dropped 1,000 points yesterday, crashed by fears about the Coronavirus. And two screenshots of past Trump tweets spread like wildfire. This is a situation where the urge to share led many astray — and it’s pernicious, regardless of what side of the political divide you land on. Here are the two screenshots that … Continued
Although we’re well into 2020, the changelog-style software progress reports for the turn of the year have yet to be published. Let’s fix that by giving a brief update of what happened in December.
Some of the activities below were already mentioned in their own articles in Purism’s news archive; others will be covered in more depth in future articles. This is just a taste of all the work that goes into making the Librem 5 software stack. You can follow development more closely at source.puri.sm.
Power management
Improvements to Librem 5 battery charging and management, along with work on suspend management continue to help with heat, power and battery life issues.
Work to improve application handling continues alongside improvements to visual aspects that help to show the state of wireless and cellular network connections.
Only show the WWAN icon if a modem is found, hiding the modem when ModemManager does not present one, more in line with the state of the kill switch and to make it look better on laptops without modems.
Some parts of the system need work to ensure that everything works together as intended. These don’t always get the attention they deserve but help to make the system robust, and need to function correctly so that higher level components work properly.
The applications and system components themselves continue to see improvements and new additions. This includes necessary work on upstream and backend software.
The app is a new direction for Moment. The company’s Pro Camera app, combined with its add-on lenses for the iPhone, push the boundaries of what’s possible with the iPhone’s camera. Packed with settings and customizations, the Pro Camera app can create stunning photos and video in the hands of a skilled photographer.
In contrast, RTRO is a video-only camera app focused first and foremost on making fun, short videos for sharing that use filters crafted by photographers to create unique retro looks. It’s those filters, which Moment calls ‘looks,’ paired with a simple, approachable interface that make the app work. It’s easy to get started, fun to use, and the videos the app creates have a unique vibe that makes even the most mundane video more interesting for viewers.
I’ve only had a day to play with RTRO, so this is not a comprehensive review. Even in that time, though, I feel like I’ve gotten a good feel for the app, which is a testament to its ease-of-use.
I’ve seen a lot of retro camera apps over the years, and many are gimmicky apps that I’ve used for a while and discarded. My impression is that RTRO is different. The quality of its photographer-created looks, each of which is designed to evoke a certain vibe, set it apart from similar apps.
RTRO’s free Noir look.
The looks are arrayed horizontally beneath the camera’s viewfinder. Three looks come with the app, which is free to download. Eleven more can be purchased for $1.99 each, or you can subscribe to RTRO+ for $1.99 per month or $14.99 annually to unlock all of the looks, any new looks released in the future, and advanced features, which I’ll get to in a moment.
After picking a look by swiping horizontally among the choices, you can swipe up to learn more about it. To adjust the look’s intensity, swipe up and down in the viewfinder.
Videos are limited to one minute. Tapping the record button starts recording, and tapping again stops recording and deposits a small video clip thumbnail beneath the viewfinder. If there’s a clip you don’t like, you can long-press it to reveal a delete button, but the app does not include any other editing functionality like clip trimming, transitions, or text overlays.
RTRO’s Chromatear look.
If you tap the ‘x’ button in the corner of the screen, you can abandon your recording, change your mind and keep recording, or save the video. What I like most about saving a video is that it’s saved in the app, and you can resume your recording later if your total record time hasn’t exceeded the one-minute limit. That takes the pressure off and lets you compose short films from different locations.
A few other notable features are worth mentioning too. You can switch between the front and back-facing cameras by tapping the viewfinder twice during recording or between clips. RTRO+ subscribers can also double-tap and hold to lock focus and exposure on a particular subject in the shot. Subscribers can also pick among several frame rates. Finally, there are settings for selecting the camera lens used and desqueezing video shot with an anamorphic lens too.
RTRO’s SpringBreak95 look.
When you’re finished recording, tap the Next button to finish up your video. Here, you can toggle sound on and off, hide watermarks if you’re an RTRO+ subscriber, and pick an aspect ratio (9:16, 3:4, and 1:1 are supported in vertical mode).
The last step is to save your video, which is saved to your photo library. There’s also a dedicated button for sending the video to Instagram and a share button for sharing using other apps and services via the share sheet.
So far, I’ve only had a chance to shoot a few short videos while I was out for a walk this morning. I didn’t have anything particularly interesting to film, but even so, I feel like RTRO’s looks helped make my otherwise humdrum videos more compelling. It’s possible to go overboard with the looks by cranking them up to absurd levels, but with a little care, you can create entertaining videos that are a lot of fun to share.
RTRO is free to download on the App Store and comes with three looks. Additional looks are $1.99 each as In-App Purchases or you can get them with a $1.99 per month or $14.99 annual subscription to RTRO+, which also includes certain advanced features.
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David Davis tells the FT today that the EU will give Britain a good deal because of German car manufacturers: "The nickname in the German car industry for us is treasure island... we are a highly profitable, very important market."
Larry Tesler recently passed, and Chris Espinosa has a nice thread on Twitter about one of his contributions to the Mac, which was a heuristic for inserting a space before or after a pasted section of text. This was a little piece of magic that I unknowingly benifited from for decades, until I was working on code editing support for one of my projects and I needed to override this behavior.
Larry's heuristic lives on in the Cocoa frameworks via the property smartInsertDeleteEnabled in NSTextView. There's actually a handful of methods related to it, which you can find by searching for "smart" in the NSTextView headers or documentation.
This is Miller. He didn’t pass his drivers test this time but they said he can come back and try again whenever he wants. 12/10 struggled with the parallel barking pic.twitter.com/TGM0C3Iem5
The world of coffee accessories is vast, and it seems to just continue growing. From complex siphons to ultralight drippers, there’s a novelty accessory for everyone. But within that universe of niche tools, the AeroPress Coffee and Espresso Maker is one of the few that will appeal to a wide range of coffee drinkers. The AeroPress is fast, like a Nespresso machine, and easy to use, like a French press, and it makes coffee that tastes almost as great as a lovingly prepared pour-over. Also, it comes in a durable, portable package.
Android 11’s first developer preview has only just arrived, but it already bodes ill for users who like to customize Google’s mobile operating system.
As noted by some users on Reddit, the newest version of Android messes up apps that allow users to tweak the navigation bar. Apps like Custom Navigation Bar and Gesture Plus lets users tweak or replace Android’s default navigation system. However, these apps don’t use root privileges to do it.
Many of them rely on an Android Debug Bridge (ADB) command called ‘wm overscan.’ It allows users to hide the built-in navigation system on a phone so an app can implement a new one. Unfortunately, the first Android 11 preview says overscan is an “unknown command” when users issue it over ADB with a computer.
Without the overscan command, these third-party navigation apps don’t work properly. Some of them display their custom navigation on top of the existing navigation controls, while others crash or have different issues.
Android Police says it reached out to Google to find out if the change was intentional, or if it was a bug in the developer preview. The search giant has yet to respond, but a bug report filed on its official bug tracker had been restricted so you can’t view it.
If Google did make the change intentionally, it would make sense. The search giant has been working to unify Android’s navigation system across devices from different manufacturers. With Android 10, Google introduced a new gesture navigation system, killed the old ‘pill’ gesture system and convinced several manufacturers, including OnePlus, Samsung, Motorola and others to use the same gesture system. It’s also possible Google may have forced manufacturers to adopt its new gesture system with changes to its Google Mobile Services (GMS) agreement.
In other words, breaking custom navigation apps could be part of Google’s plan to unify navigation across Android devices. However, that would be an unfortunate way to go about it. Hopefully, the issue is a bug and not an intentional restriction on Android’s customizability.
Note: This is something I originally wrote for the daily newsletter at the Columbia Journalism Review, where I’m the chief digital writer Jigsaw, a unit of Google previously known as Google Ideas, recently launched a digital magazine called The Current, which aims … Continue reading →
Québecor’s Vidéotron argues that mandating wholesale MVNO access would not only be a change in direction but a “regulatory U-turn.”
“Mandating wholesale MVNO access would mean promoting resale-based competition instead of facilities-based competition,” the carrier said during the CRTC’s public hearing.
The Montreal-based carrier says that the CRTC would be making a “historic mistake” with dire consequences. It also argues that the mobile wireless network is already competitive and that facilities-based competition is working due to itself, Freedom, Eastlink and Xplornet.
“The level of competition in wireless services in Canada has improved and continues to improve at a quickening pace,” the carrier said.
Further, the carrier states that pro-MVNO regulation would jeopardize regional carriers because regulation favouring resale-based competition will allow MVNOs to capture a substantial portion of the regional carriers’ market share.
“Secondly, the regional carriers’ loss of market share will lead to a decrease in their revenues, resulting in less investment in network modernization, innovation and service improvements.”
Further, Vidéotron says that the effect of pro-MVNO regulation would be the exact opposite of what it’s allegedly supposed to do. The carrier says that it would not weaken the Big Three’s hold on the Canadian market, and would instead strengthen their dominant position by eliminating the only players that are capable of competing with them.
The carrier says that MVNOs would limit their investments to the bare minimum and be settled into a business plan that is risk-free because it would be protected by the CRTC.
It argued that such a model would not create lasting benefits for consumers in terms of service quality and truly competitive pricing or innovative services.
The carrier says that since 2008, Vidéotron has spent more than $2.5 billion on mobile spectrum and network buildout. Vidéotron says this investment proves that the carrier is committed to facilities-based competition.
Vidéotron challenged the CRTC and questioned whether it, as a regulator, even has the means to implement such regulation. The carrier argued that to implement a regulatory policy based on mandated resale, there must be a delicate balance.
It noted that the rates that the CRTC would set would have to be just high enough to encourage continued investment by network builders and just low enough to create a space in the market for resellers. Vidéotron said that this would have to be pulled off in a fast-moving environment.
“Nowhere in the world has a regulator achieved this feat. And with all due respect, I don’t think you will be the first,” said Pierre Karl Peladeau, the president and CEO of Québecor, to the commission during the hearing.
When asked if Vidéotron believes in competition, the carrier responded saying only when it is “loyal and equitable.”
Interestingly, the carrier rejected the Competition Bureau’s proposal, which the bureau said would benefit companies like Vidéotron. The bureau argued for a facilities-based MVNO model that would benefit carriers with limited networks, but Vidéotron says it’s not interested.
When asked whether the carrier would be interested in expanding its market to other areas, it said that right now its focus is on 5G deployment.
Ich benutze nun seit drei Wochen ausschließlich das Surface Pro X und es bereitet mir große Freude. Absolut lautlos, schlank wie ein iPad, im Design des Surface Pro mit seinem Kickstand. Sehr gut gelöst ist hier die Unterbringung des Surface Slim Pen zwischen Tastatur und Tablet. Da geht nichts verloren und ist stets aufgeladen.
Was man prüfen muss, ist die Verwendung von VPNs und einiger Software, speziell bei der Bildbearbeitung hapert es, weil 64-bit Windows-Software für ARM kompiliert sein muss. 32-bit Intel-Binaries laufen dagegen super, zum Beispiel Microsoft Office.
Mich behindert "fehlende" Software gar nicht, aber Microsoft muss sich schon fragen lassen, wer denn für ARM64 bauen soll, wenn sie selbst nicht voran gehen. Da ist Microsoft noch nicht One Microsoft.
Mittlerweise sind die Preise ordenlich runtergekommen:
Dieses Gerät passt zu Office-Anwendern, die viel unterwegs sind, wenig tragen wollen und unbedingt LTE brauchen. Für mich ist das aktuell gerade die perfekte Reiseschreibmaschine.
Ohne den Wunsch nach LTE fährt man mit einem Surface Pro 7 möglicherweise besser, weil es keinerlei Software-Einschränkungen gibt.
I attended my first THATCamp in 2009, less than a year before I quit my PhD studies. I descended on CHNM that June weekend wavering between: frustration about the hypercompetitive-hypermasculine-hypercynical world of academic philosophy; and resignation to the fact that I was grinding away on a dissertation that no one would ever read.
It was in this mindset that I first experienced the exhilaration that, in the years to come, I came to identify with THATCamp. The contrasts were stark: Academic life was characterized by gotcha-ism, while THATCamp pulsed with genuine camaraderie. Academic life was rigidly stratified, while THATCamp provided a space where undergrads and grad students and faculty and administrators and career professionals could speak and collaborate as peers. Academic life was deeply conservative in its subject matter and methodologies, while THATCamp felt like an incubator for the new, the radical, the slightly crazy. It was a thrill to be in the room.
The “camp” metaphor was apt. I remember the feeling of being a junior-high-schooler who stifled his creativity and voice during the school year, only to let loose for the week or two spent every summer at music and drama camp. Summer camp brought together individuals who identified as outsiders at home, and provided a platform for them to connect and collaborate, away from the judgmental gaze of the teachers and the cool kids.
The hitch, of course, is that camp wasn’t Real Life. This was part of its magic: When you enter a world where no one has ideas about who you are and the way you should act, and when the cost of failure has been reduced near zero, you experience a kind of freedom and lightness and plain old fun that isn’t possible back in Reality. At the same time, the Unreality of summer camp had a way of setting upper bounds on its ability to directly improve the camper’s Reality – just ask anyone who returned home bragging about their “camp girlfriend”.
THATCamp was unreal in similar ways. The unburdened creativity, the radical egalitarianism, the heartfelt spirit of openness and collaboration – these were able to flourish precisely because THATCamp was an artificial space, away from the structures and strictures of Real Life. This kind of fantasy camp – Unreal as it might have been – had countless positive effects on my non-THATCamp life: friends made, ideas explored, websites built. Indeed, if the only benefit of THATCamp was that it gave us all a chance to blow off steam – to jam – it would have been worthwhile, and totally awesome.
At the same time, the disconnect with Reality had its downsides. The kind of folks attracted to The Technology and Humanities Camp are those who are naturally excited about Technology, and when these people are in a room with their fires stoked, optimism and enthusiasm about technology can ramp up overly quickly. The glory days of THATCamp coincided with – and were typified by the obsession with – the early days of social media; the impending ubiquity of the smartphone; the introduction of the iPad; the mainstreaming of online learning. Considering how these trends have panned out over the last decade (spoiler alert! – mostly terribly) our giddy enthusiasm has not aged well. The pioneer generation of THATCampers was uniquely equipped to think critically and skeptically about the effects of new technologies, on the university and on ourselves. Looking back from the vantage point of 2020, it feels like an opportunity largely missed.
Speaking more personally, the Unreality of THATCamp played a key role in the way my own career unfolded. Those weekends spent in the congenial and optimistic THATCamp atmosphere made it all the more unpleasant to return to the drudgery of Real Life. THATCamp, for me, became one of the lenses through which I could envision a different way of effecting change through my work: the possibility that I might help more people, make a better name for myself, do more good, by building software, rather than by writing philosophy. In time, I came to realize that the Reality of this (alt-ac?) work is not as romantic as THATCamp might make it seem. Yet there is wisdom and beauty in the very THATCamp-y idea that you can forge your own path through – and in and out of – the academic world. For that, I’m grateful to have been a part of it.
A week spent in the French Alpes, having fun in the snow with Y, and hanging out with a group of friends from my university years, with their (by now adult) children. We drove from there to Karlsruhe in Germany on Saturday, and continued on this morning, arriving home shortly after lunch.
This is a RSS only posting for regular readers. Not secret, just unlisted. Comments / webmention / pingback all ok. Read more about RSS Club
Gord Price will be in Australia for the next month, Instagramming and podcasting his way across the country. Follow his coverage here and on Instagram (gordonpriceyvr), as well as PriceTalks podcast when interviews are occasionally posted.
Evidence from the Sydney Morning Herald on how deeply unserious some decision-makers can be after they approve motions and plans to respond to a housing crisis.
Amid concerns about the scale of development, the government’s latest forecast shows 5700 fewer homes are set to be built over the next five years than was predicted two years ago. …
New dwellings at Ryde are forecast to fall by 10 per cent to 8550 over the next five years, compared with that forecast two years ago. The pullback comes after campaigning by Liberal Minister Victor Dominello against the scale of development in his electorate.
“I’m not against development – I’m against over development,” he said.
“If you start multiple villas and multiple terraces in suburbia, where are they going to park on streets? …”
The forecasts show 10 times as many homes are expected to be built at Blacktown (lower socioeconomic-economic status) over the next five years than the northern beaches (higher).
The 1950 new dwellings predicted for the northern beaches represent a 26 per cent fall on the government’s target for the area in 2017. In contrast, Liverpool in the south-west is forecast to have 12,750 dwellings built over the next five years, a 72 per cent rise on that predicted two years ago. …
Bill Randolph, the director of the University of NSW’s City Futures, said the change in forecasts for new homes likely reflected a slowdown in the apartment market, adding that it would still be a “big ask” to deliver about 41,000 dwellings annually in Sydney over the next five years.
Professor Randolph said a reduction in large industrial sites meant it would become harder to develop high-density areas in inner and middle suburbs of Sydney.
“It’s getting harder now to win the local political battle in getting urban renewal through now that we are running out of the big old industrial sites,” he said.
How many members most communities need to be successful.
The numerous problems with chasing engagement.
The kind of behaviors you need from your members.
The type of strategy you might want to adopt.
If you have a spare 8 minutes and you’re looking for an argument to explain to your boss why you should stop measuring engagement, this post might help.
Since I have gradually drifted away from coding regularly over the past few months (something I hope to fix soon), I have been trying to find something to keep my wits sharp. And, preferably, as low level as possible.
This last bit may well be my trying to compensate for the mega-complex stuff I am into during working hours, given that dipping my toes into tiny, manageable problems that I can tackle in one sitting has always proven to be very satisfactory.
And I quite enjoy doing low-level programming, preferably in tiny machines and as close to the metal as possible.
The only significant issue around that these days is in what language I should be doing it in.
Picking The Next C
I don’t really feel like doing Rust (I might be a little optimistic here, but I never had any trouble with C), and I’ve always been a sucker for dead simple cross-compiling, so I keep circling around Go.
People who find Go “weird” are often unaware of the connection to Plan9, Alef and Limbo (the core language of Inferno, which shares similar quirks).
But even if you’re aware of the heritage and keep the stated goals of Go in mind, there are a few things I actively dislike and find to be perennial downers:
Error handling forces people to add lots of noise and often unreviewed boilerplate code, all of which feels like a rather pointless chore.
Dependency management is downright weird if you want to use it on internal projects. I really don’t care if it’s go get, vendoring or modules, I just wish packages weren’t namespaced to GitHub and that this was done right from the start1.
Data serialization. Marshaling data via structs feels incredibly kludgy and is painfully ugly to write.
I have a few more complaints, but those are the ones that put me off the most.
My Little Success Story
Still, I have written a few interesting things in Go. In particular, I had a Python daemon which did the following:
Every half an hour or so, fetch metadata from a bunch of URLs to compile a list of files to collect from various places.
Reliably authenticate and download each (sizeable) file as soon as possible, but throttle the transfer to avoid saturating DSL connections (whose uplink is often a much smaller fraction of downlink speeds).
Drop each download into the closest-matching folder (measured by Levenshtein distance).
(Optionally) send out a progress notification.
The challenge I had was that the hardware it was supposed to run in was severely constrained (I had much less than 128MB of RAM to work with), and it was an ancient ARMv5 device, so CPU usage was also a concern (the script would take up well over 50% CPU in occasion).
So I decided to port it to Go, which took me a weekend (and change, since I eventually wrote a new configuration file parser for it as well). The code was already largely functional in nature, but I changed it to be an almost pure CSP implementation (spawning a goroutine for each URL or file at various steps in the process, and piping the results onwards to a single channel at the end).
And guess what? CPU usage went down to 5% (effectively zero), and RAM footprint was negligible as well. Better still, I built the 9MB binary on my Mac2 and deployed it via ssh in around 10 seconds, so the turnaround time was really quick.
This ran for at least a thousand days without a hitch, until the whole system was overhauled and we had to change how things were moved around, but it just worked for the entirety of the time.
Good thing I didn’t need to update it, though, since ARMv5 support has since been dropped–although the last build I did was generated from a container image I can still run if needed be.
And, in general, I’ve found Go to be a great replacement for many of my Python projects.
The thing is that when you’re always pressed for time, you start to value enjoyment as well as performance and features, and I just don’t enjoy writing Go (which is one of the reasons why piku, for instance, is written in Python).
Epilogue
Serendipitously, as I was writing this, Dave Cheney wrote about the Zen of Go, and borrowing heavily from the Zen of Python in the process. That caused a bit of cognitive dissonance in my mind, for as I read it I found myself generally agreeing with the issues, but not the way Go tackles them.
Circling back to the initial section, it’s too early to say that I’m going to have a serious go at Rust (pun intended) since I don’t think I could enjoy it either.
After all, whether or not I can put up with another programming language that looks like line noise is actually a better question–Clojure and LISPs have spoilt me in many regards (readability, sane concurrency and functional programming being the top 3 things I love about them).
But I find myself wanting something that will be really efficient on ARM hardware, so it might well happen. Given time, of course.
Also, $GOPATH is the epitome of opinionated environment definitions, and I find it untenable. ↩︎
This was before support for older ARM processors was removed. ↩︎
I made some drawings. Then I cut them in to pieces. Finally I glued them back together.
I'm still not sure whether or not I like this drawing. Shortly after I took this photograph it was splashed with drops of water so I guess it doesn't matter what I think about it, anymore.
I definitely have mixed feelings about this drawing. I will keep it around for a while longer to see how I feel about it beyond the moment, so to speak.
Gord Price will be in Australia for the next month. Follow his coverage here and on Instagram (gordonpriceyvr).
More evidence from the Sydney Morning Herald on how deeply unserious some decision-makers can be, even after declaring a climate emergency and living through a national trauma that validates the urgency. It is the gap between lack of action and the desire for strategic change that makes this story extraordinary.
The world’s largest coal port wants to transition away from coal – but because of government policy, can’t do it.
The head of the world’s largest coal port says it must transition away from the fossil fuel and diversify Newcastle’s economy before it’s too late, but controversial NSW government policy is stopping it.
As the government worked to improve its climate policy following a summer of drought and bushfires, Port of Newcastle chief executive Craig Carmody said $2 billion of private investment was waiting for the green light to develop a container terminal and move the Hunter away from coal.
However, a once-secret facet of the Baird government’s 2013-14 port privatisation deal – which would force Newcastle to compensate its competitors if it transported more than 30,000 containers a year – could keep the local economy tethered to coal for decades.
Mr Carmody said the port had about 15 years to transition away from the resource, which makes up more than 95 per cent of its exports. He added that a changing climate and struggling regional sector compounded the situation.
Here’s the kicker:
“It doesn’t really matter what governments in Australia want to believe, the money we need to do what we need to do have already made their decisions,” Mr Carmody told the Herald.
“There is a reason why businesses, particularly in the energy space in Australia, are saying, ‘Well, if the government won’t provide a policy direction, then we’re going to go off and do it ourselves’.”
On Vulture and in New York Magazine, Molly Young muses about the garbage language that functions as the glue in companies. But what do these tiny dialects say about the clans we all belong to? Molly Young’s article “Garbage Language: Why do corporations speak the way they do?” delves into buzzwords and the role they … Continued
by Liam McCabe, Tyler Wells Lynch, Alex Arpaia, and Kori Perten
Most dishwashers are good cleaners, but it’s also worth paying a little more for a model that’s quiet, reliable, and easy to load. After putting more than 120 hours of research into 230 models over since 2014, we’ve learned that the Bosch 300 Series SHEM63W55N is the best dishwasher for most people right now.
Writer and blogger Stanley Woodvine @sqwabb has posted this photo of a construction site in the 1400 block of Broadway that swallowed an entire sidewalk as its own. You can see in the photos that there is no guidance or safe way to get around as a sidewalk user, able bodied or disabled.
City sidewalks are never to be blocked, and if they are impeded there is supposed to be signage and an alternative route offered, which can include a coned area in the parking lane adjacent to the sidewalk.
In the case of a construction area that has a sidewalk blocked, there has to be signage and an alternative place to safely walk, with a clear Traffic Management Plan approved by the City that are set to the Province’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure standards. Such a plan also must comply with the Motor Vehicle Act.
If you encounter a blocked sidewalk, let the City know the block and street through the VanConnect app or call 311. If you have a contact in the Engineering Department, call them and ask them to follow up.
Some ideas of how sidewalk traffic diversions can be handled are in the photos below. These photos were taken in Knightsbridge in London England.
The first photo shows a temporary covered walkway in place while the adjacent building is being constructed. The second photo is of a temporary barrier that is placed when a sidewalk needs to be closed for a construction truck, and sidewalk traffic is diverted around the vehicle.
While the London examples can be considered luxury treatments, there’s a lot that can be accomplished by the placement of simple traffic cones ensuring that sidewalk users have a safe, separated place to walk.
For a good part of human history food didn't taste so good. That's why spices from the Far East were such treasured commodities in the West.
In the seventeenth century sugar imported from New Guinea and India became more easily available in England and started becoming very popular. One of the prime reasons was that it made tea taste a lot better.
But Brits went overboard on it. They couldn't get enough. In 1700 the average Brit consumed about 4 pounds of sugar a year. By 1900 the annual per capita consumption was 90 pounds.
Until experience kicks in you never know what the effects are going to be. At first, they didn't know about the effects sugar had on teeth.
It is reported that Queen Elizabeth's teeth turned black from sugar. Not that long ago, many women in England had their teeth pulled in their twenties.
The point is, when something comes along that magically satisfies a craving there can be harsh and unintended consequences.
In the 20th century the advertising industry had a gaping hole. We had very little scientifically reliable information on the efficacy of advertising. Mostly what we had were anecdotes and case histories - in other words, bullshit tarted up to look like facts.
The 21st century brought us technology. And with technology came the promise of science and an enormous appetite for data, measurement, and mathematics.
Data, measurement, and mathematics are important aspects of advertising when consumed in reasonable quantities. But when the craving for numbers becomes a mania, there are sure to be unintended consequences.
We humans are emotional creatures. The release from deprivation tends to create an obsession for that of which we have been deprived. Ask any sailor.
We ad humans have been kicked around for so long because our discipline has been devoid of the benefits of reliable science, that when technology came along we went from 4 pounds to 90 in about three seconds. We are swallowing all the technology we can stuff into our mouths as quickly as we can regardless of its relevance, reliability, authenticity, or the detrimental effects (corruption, fraud, scandals, political and social disruption, the deteriorating quality of our product) it is having on our industry.
Desperately hungry for the gratification of science, we are gorging on technology and finding that our frenzied indulgence is rotting our teeth.
Apple could release a new Mac with a processor designed in-house, according to a report.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has reliably predicted upcoming Apple products, released a note to investors detailing the company’s product plans for 2020 and early 2021. Obtained by MacRumors, the note simply states Apple will release a Mac with an Apple-designed processor in the first half of 2021.
“We expect that Apple’s new products in 12-18 months will adopt processors made by 5nm process, including the new 2H20 5G iPhone, new 2H20 iPad equipped with mini LED, and new 1H21 Mac equipped with the own-design processor. We think that iPhone 5G support, iPad’s adoption of innovative mid-size panel technology, and Mac’s first adoption of the own-design processor are all Apple’s critical product and technology strategies. Given that the processor is the core component of new products, we believe that Apple had increased 5nm-related investments after the epidemic outbreak. Further, Apple occupying more resources of related suppliers will hinder competitors’ developments.”
Interestingly, Kuo’s note also links an ARM-based Mac closely with a 5 nanometre (nm) process for chips. Apple’s A13 Bionic, which powers the iPhone 11 series, sports a 7nm process. Apple is reportedly ramping up research, development and production for 5nm chip technology.
Rumours of Apple working on its own chips for Mac have circulated for some time. Specifically, rumours point to ARM-based processors, which would allow Apple to license core designs from the U.K.-based company and implement them in its own designs similar to its A-series chips found in iPhones.
Switching to ARM would bring benefits and significant hurdles
A move to ARM could potentially bring several benefits to Mac, such as lighter form factors, cellular connection and better battery life. Additionally, ARM chips could bridge some gaps between iPhone, iPad and Mac, allowing apps to more easily work across all three platforms.
Finally, this wouldn’t the first time that Apple introduced a custom chip into a device. The iMac Pro, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac Mini and Mac Pro all feature the Apple-made T2 security chips.
Ultimately, the biggest benefit of going with ARM would be that Apple wouldn’t need to rely on Intel anymore. Intel has struggled the last few years and had delays in chip releases, which then impacted Apple’s Mac release cycle.
Despite all the potential positives, moving from Intel’s chips, which rely on the x86 instruction set, could prove problematic. Look no further than Microsoft’s own efforts to move to ARM with the Surface Pro X. The new 2-in-1 from Microsoft struggled with professional audiences due to a lack of app support. A Mac with an ARM processor would likely have the same issues.
While Kuo’s investor note didn’t provide any other details about the ARM-based Mac, I’d expect Apple to implement the in-house chip in a thin-and-light form factor first and leave the MacBook Pro line on Intel chips for the immediate future. Apple recently discontinued its ultra-thin MacBook line, but it could release something similar running on ARM first.
You mean the @RoksandaIlincic who said this? “The majority of my fabrics and my workforce are from the EU, but I can’t change my systems or put new strategies in place because we don’t know what is going to happen. Brexit is going to have consequences for us all.” twitter.com/tradegovuk/sta…
Our trade deal with the US will ensure more brands in the creative industries have increased opportunities to break into the US market.
mrjamesob on Twitter.
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