The New Road

Applescript, Aggghh!!

AppleScript, in case you didn't know, is Apple's operating system scripting language. And through some mad genius science you can now create standalone applications with it through AppleScript Studio. Great! So now I can easily create an application that will automate some of my tasks. Woo hoo!

The only problem is that the AppleScript language itself, which purports to be this laymens language, is actually a convoluted painful nightmare to work with.

For example. I was stuck for an hour on a debugging statement that I had that printing the name of a file that I got from the Open File Dialog. Time after time I tried to print this thing out but I would get some impentrable "NSCouldNotCreateScript" error. What does that mean? So I Googled it and one poor bastard out in Slobovia had it once, maybe, couldn't figure out what it meant and went on. Turns out the secret ju-ju was to add 'as string' on the end of the statement.

Applescript is pure ass. No other language makes a programmer feel so stupid. And what's even more insulting is that it's supposed to be a 'for dummies' type language.

Constantine

Lori and I went to see Constantine on Sunday. Before we went into the theatre we played some air hockey at the local putt putt and she won. Woo hoo!

What a disaster Constantine was. There were a few good scenes that kept me interested in the beginning. But about half way through I started noticing how uncomfortable the chair was, how my butt was getting numb, how big the theatre was, how far away the screen was. These are not good signs. I was definitely not sold on this movie at all. Several times I considered getting up and leaving out of sheer boredom.

I could tell you about the plot and what not, but seriously, who cares? When we got home Lori had a look around the movie sites and found that there was an extra scene in the credits. Apparently it's a big deal. But is it worth two hours of butt-numbing hell to get there. Uh, no.

Constantine is certainly not something you want to see in the theatre. I'm not even sure it's worth your time on DVD. When it comes to HBO on the infinite repeat just watch the first couple of scenes. Those are alright. After that, it's all just boring pap deeply in need of serious editing.

Speaking of HBO. Lori and I are, well I don't know if you can say fans exactly, but watchers of Carnivale. You will think to yourself; "Come on! That's just another David Lynch style dustbowl show where all of the characters are twisted sweaty magical carnies. There are lots of those!" Well, duh, yeah, that's true. And usually there isn't much to talk about. There is the usual episode twist at the end, and then a one-two punch for the finale.

Last night the show just exploded, or imploded, or something. The confrontation we had been waiting on for two years just bam, happened, as if it were nothing, followed by the quick death of another character. Or at least a maybe-death, or something. Hell if I know.

The really strange part is that it wasn't the finale. Damned if I know what they are going to do next week. Maybe drill a whole in the middle of the earth with a giant mechanical carnie digging machine and use their magical powers to get the core spinning again.

Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson, with whom I share a birthday, has died. I went to see Hunter at a book festival in downtown Miami. I was lucky enough to get a seat about three quarters of the way back in the hall. By the time he got on stage, way late and obviously drunk, stoned or both (now called crunk), there was overflow seating on the outside with a speaker setup.

I first read Hunter at the end of high school. He was so groovy, cool and weird I wanted to be just like him. I started throwing in elements of Bill Murray's blurred speech from when he portrayed Thompson in "Where The Buffalo Roam". As I got a little older I started to realize three things. First that I didn't make a good Hunter S. Thompson. Second, that Hunter didn't fit into the 80s at all. And third that Hunter himself was mostly an act. The more I read, especially his weekly column in the new times, the more I found that today's Hunter was just full of it.

The Hunter I liked wrote Hell's Angels, and found himself a somewhat unwilling participant in a story. Hesitantly being drawn into the world of the bikers under the pretense that this was the only way that he could get access. And in so doing he brought us, as the reader, along with him. We would stay in our little cars as the bikers drove past and think about a totally different life on the road. He went up and touched them.

His later books after Hell's Angels are a mess. It's all about himself, and drugs, and more about himself, and more drugs. There as no way for a reader to connect with his world. All I could do is stand back in amazement at his antics. And realize in the end that all that was there was antics.

Hell's Angels took me to my seat three-quarters of the way back in the hall on a hot sunny Miami afternoon. As Thompson stumbled to the stage we all nervously laughed. Would he go nuts? Was he nuts? He talked about crazy things, about being chased by the CIA, about black helicopters. The moderator tried in vain to get straight answers on any topic. It was a mess. He was a mess.

I built up the courage to ask him a question on a microphone that was a lonely walk away into the center of the room. As I walked up the butterflies grew in my stomach. What could I, some live at home virgin ask this man anyway? I waited and waited for the people ahead of me to ask their questions. Nervous. Sweating. Could I just turn around? No.

Finally after a year of waiting I asked my question. "Will you be writing a book about you and the CIA?" He gave me a look that was either, "are you so stupid that believed my bullshit?" or "what the hell is this person saying to me?" Either way he used me like a rag doll, he blew off the question then got in a little audience appealing snipe about me. I was crushed.

I walked the lonely walk back to the seat. Watching my shoes to not step on anyone and embarrass myself further. i didn't listen to the rest of the show, I was convinced people were looking at me, marveling at the pointlessness of my question. A few minutes later I got out of the room. Nobody had been looking at me. And in hindsight it's clear that Hunter, like a stand-up comedian, had use the audience and members of it as props in his show. It was all an act.

Though the fundamental idea of Hell's Angels remains a good way to tell a story. Allowing the reporter to enter the world and become the conduit of the reader can create a very engaging read. Too bad he didn't stick with it.

Whales

Megan's new favorite movie is Fantasia 2000. She loves the scene with the whales were they fly off into space. She also likes the segment with the ballerina. At night when she is getting ready go down she says, "Whales! Whales!" which means Fantasia.

If you've never seen the movie it's worth a look. The animators do a fantastic job conveying a complex story with no dialogue.

It's the polar opposite of radio. I was listening to Morning Edition on the drive into work and the reporter was talking about a dinosaur model. He painted a picture of the model with words which I then instinctively drew in my own mind. This is visual radio and it's a hallmark of NPR. If you listen for it you will hear it used continuously.

Creating a visual medium through speech is something that is unique to radio and podcasts. This is interactive listening where the story teller is using words to paint pictures in the listeners minds. In this way radio is a much more interactive experience than TV. In a sense using movie pictures is lazy for both the viewer and the producer.

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That's overly simplified. The right words can evoke far more emotion and introspection than 1,000 pictures. Because having the words or speech alone forces us to create our own imagery. And in so doing we move ourself into the story.

A while back I talked about the Holocaust show on PBS. I was deeply moved by this statement:

"Small children usually cried because of the strangeness of being undressed in this way, but when their mothers or members of the jewishsonderkommando comforted them, they became calm and entered the gas Chambers playing or joking with one another and carrying their toys. Hundreds of men and women in the full Bloom of life walked all unsuspecting to their death in the gas Chambers under the Blossom-Laden..."

This was done as a voice-over of the personal memoirs of the camp commander. The only images were him writing and a small house in a field. It was up to us to create the image of the scene in our minds, and in so doing the effect was greatly magnified.

Wow, I'm not sure how I got from whales to holocaust in five paragraphs. Oh, well, the miracle of blogging.

Mo money, mo money

$82B. That's on top of what we have already spent. Another emergency spending bill for Iraq. Can you say flush? $82B to Iraq and in the meantime Bush's budget cuts police, firemen, schools, and of course, any and all social spending.

I think it would have been more appropriate if they had voted with red ink in Iraq. Certainly indicative of the billions of dollars of nation building that Bush promised he would never do.

What a joke.

Jeff Gannon - part two

The lesson that I see in the whole Jeff Gannon thing is not to run in the aristocracy crowd. Ask yourself this question, if Jeff Gannon was just a regular guy writing articles about the government, why shouldn't he get a press pass? Five days into it or not, that's ok. Right?

Digression: Aristocracy is not quite the right word here. Since that implies breeding. I suppose theocracy might be closer. But in this case it's not quite religious. Though we could call neo-con fascist fervor as a sort of religion.

He was dumped like a hot potato, and dissed by his fellow conservatives because the neo-con movement is an aristocracy. It's about who you are, and not what you have done. Listen to Bush when he makes nominations, he says that these are good people. It's never about what they have done or what qualifications they may have. It's about their perceived worth as individuals. Republicans like the President because he is a good man with a strong heart. Never mind the fact that what he actually does is disastrous.

Rising through the aristocracy cuts both ways. It opens up door for people who are ideologically in-line with the current movement. But it also shuts the doors just as quickly when people, like Gannon, are perceived as not being team players. In this case I think the porn web sites probably did him in. Frankly, I don't have a problem with the porn web sites. It shows some initiative.

What you want is a meritocracy, where you are judged on what you have done and not some perception of who you are. Yes, it's harder to get ahead that way because you actually have to do stuff. But once you are there nobody can take it away. Would they take away Helen Thomas' press pass if she had a porn website? Nope. Because she has earned the right to be there.

If you run with the perception crowd the rise can be meteoric and so can the fall. Best to pay your dues in a system that rewards hard work and achievement.

Apollo panoramas

These panoramas from the moon landings are incredible.

Flikr

I've heard so much about Flikr I decided to try it myself. Still not quite sure what the point is.

Jeff Gannon

This Jeff Gannon story is amazing. The dude starts a website and five days later is given a White House pass (possibly permanent) to join the press pool. Whereupon he uses the position to make long conservative rants and throw softballs to the President and the press secretary.

Now he is gone. But these, what, four or five recent stories of media manipulation by the White House definitely show a pattern of disregard for the sanctity of the fourth estate. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised though since this administration is also blurring the lines between church and state in the same manner.

The security administration

Yeah, the current administration does a great job at keeping us safe. Especially Condi Rice who was warned about al Qaeda right after taking the job, but who completely ignored the warning until just days before the attack, and still did nothing with it.

This is the same administration who ignored and downplayed information that would have kept us out of Iraq. The same administration who is doing an awful job managing Korea. And the same administration which is now barking up a tree about Iran.

Why should we ever trust these people? They are completely incompetent.

New code generation article

I've got a new article out on code generation on IBM's Developerworx site.

Lawrence Lessig

If you were watching West Wing last night and wondered who the fascinating character was, it turns out he is real. Lawrence Lessig is indeed the author of the Future of Ideas and several other books. I'm not sure why last night he was played by Christopher Lloyd, since he is very much alive. But I'll definitely pick up a copy of the book to put on my will read if I ever have time stack.

Update: I've made up my mind to get an interview with this guy. He is at Stanford, I can do it face to face and that will make for great sound. I'm totally on this.

Baby name wizard

If you were impressed with Google Maps, check this puppy out.

North Korea

Well, the Bush administrations negligence on Korea has finally come home to roost, now that North Korea is publicly admitting to having the bomb. Good work Bush and Condi! Ignore the country which is an actual threat. Which actually has the weapons. And instead invade a country that isn't a viable threat, and get us into a quagmire that is going to force a draft if we want to sustain and extend military operations into hotspots that actually do matter.

Arrogance, ignorance, incompetence. It's the Bush trifecta and it's endangering us all.

Two ends of the spectrum

Turns out Tanya Harding was more serious about boxing than it seemed originally. She's making a career out of it. In her uniquely cheery way she went on to tell us that it was better than selling her body. Ok.

Google Maps

The new Google Maps service is just freaking ridiculous. The way that you can drag the map around... fantastic.

Mr. Tea

Because I don't have enough to do I'm going to shatter the myth that tea is just for wussy Europeans with my new line of tea from Mr. Tea:

Our exciting new flavors; Big Earl Grey, and Mean Green.

Back in black

This is really just a test post to see if the system still works. Turns out we were well over our 200MB quota so I wasn't getting mail and the database was getting corrupted. After some checking it turns out that the quota on this type of account had already been pushed to 1,000MB so they upgraded us to 1,500MB. Nice. Podcast city, baby!

Random thoughts

Oh well, so much for the whole Eagles thing. I caught up with the game occasionally until the end of the third quarter where it went tied into the fourth. At that point I moved to the living room and watched the rest of it out of the corner of my eye. McNabb really needed to hurry up late in the fourth. There just wasn't enough intensity. The eye of the tiger that I thought they would have was definitely not there. Certainly the best part of a Super Bowl I sorta watched in some time.

Another thought from this morning, California drivers can't handle the rain. They either go at 25 in a 55 with white knuckles and cause a traffic jam. Or they go at 100 and give you this look of; What is this rain of which you speak? I was reminded of this when I drove past an accident scene on my way out of Union City this morning. A Honda had wrapped itself around a light pole on the drivers side. The entire drivers side of the car was caved in to the midline. It was bad. The entire UC fire and police were out.

And on another note, I got an iPod yesterday. Went to my local Apple store and picked one up so that I could actually podcast and listen to podcasts properly. ;-) As I was checking out a father was in line with his two teenage daughters buying them both iPods. As the sales guy discussed the Apple Care coverage plan one of them asked about if it covered damage from drops. The guy gave her this knowing look and said; Don't do that. Sage advice.

Superbowl pick

I'm probably not going to get to see much of the game. But my pick is the Eagles. I think they have the drive. The Pats have been in it three times in the last ten years. This is just another day at the office for them.