Blogging Ottinger (tim)

The power supply for the zoom GFX8 multi-effects pedal is skimpy. It has a tiny, fragile two-conductor cable that runs to the pedal. There is a hard-rubber cover where it goes into the converter box, but it’s too hard and too short. Sure enough, the cable fails right where it runs into the block. It failed at rehearsal on Wednesday night.

I knew it would not last, though it’s made it for a few years. So I figure I can order one from any supply house. I flip it over and look at the specs. It produces (get this) 12VAC 500mA output. Note that it’s AC output, not DC. Also it’s neither nine nor eighteen volts. You are NOT going to find these in ready supply at a guitar store or catalog. In fact, I did not find them in ready supply. There are some about, but the product (Zoom AD0008D) has been discontinued. In a year or two, there probably won’t be any more around.

I hope that the newer zoom effects have standard power supplies, or at least better quality cables. I did order one, and if it’s not back-ordered or out of stock I should get it next week. In the meantime, I’ve lost nearly every effect I own. This is the second time that’s happened. The last time, it was also a multi-effect with a funky power supply. That one later failed from an internal wire break. Ah, the things we skimp on come back to bite us.

I got by on Sunday on just the two channels (clean/dirty) of my Crate “Club” series vintage tube amp, a great little amplifier by the way. That was not too bad, and actually it sounded better and more natural and warm than the effects from my Zoom. That’s to be expected since the Zoom is all digital effects. It has to sound a bit more synthetic than the all-tube genuine analog signal path.

I think I will swear off digital multi-effects. At least if I have individual pedals they will probably die out one at a time. If the power supplies go out I can use standard 9V or 18V DC power supplies which can be purchased at any guitar store. I could even use 9v batteries if I have to. That’s some operational survivability I don’t have now.

With the Zoom I have a boatload of presets that I can tweak and adjust and save, and I can switch between pre-built patch sets with a single button click and banks of four user-defined patches easily. That’s when the unique, fragile power supply is not broken. I really have enjoyed that kind of flexibility and the range of capabilities of this great digital board, and it always sounded good enough to me.

Now I have a friend in a prestigious recording school who can build me great analog effects with true bypass (so I can maintain an all-analog signal path except when I really need to patch in a digital effect). I’ve seen and heard some of his work, and it’s quite impressive. I’ll spend a bit more getting a collection of high-grade analog effects, but they’ll be high-grade analog effects.

The new power supply for the Zoom will buy me some time until I have what I want. Maybe a few years. But once I get my first couple of effects pedals, losing the zoom will be less of a catastrophe and more of an inconvenience. I will be able to patch around it easily.

I have the guitars I want for now. Maybe in my future I will add something with P90s, and some more distant year a nice hybrid. I’m happy with my amps and thought I was in “coasting” territory, but now I will need a bit more gear acquisition. I’m sure it will be really cool when I’m finished, if I’m ever finished. OTOH, it’s a hobby, and a hobby isn’t really supposed to be done and over.

Edison Glass (a very fine young band from New York state) have a new album out: Time Is Fiction. I preordered mine from Amazon already, should see it in Feb.

Here’s a new video from them, in which you can see the cover from the new album:

Let Go

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If you don’t know Edison Glass, you’re missing out. They have such an interesting feel and great guitars. It’s great when the lead singer and the bassist/bgv are just wailing. I’ve seen them live twice, and have tried hard to wear out the MP3s I made from their first album, A Burn Or A Shiver.

Here’s a strange video for a strange song from A Burn Or A Shiver

There are a number of songs from both albums up for sampling at Last.FM. Their home page has a list of links to locations where you can sample the music.

I just wanted to mention this for my musical friends who are interested in something different. Edison Glass is something different.

You know you live in a nerd household when your kids are arguing whether the new pet lizard should be named FinFangFoom or Mohinder. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

By the way, they settled on a Chinese name meaning “great dragon”, which is none of the above.

We have an exciting opportunity for programming fun and networking with the Python community. PyCon is coming to Chicago on March 13, 2008! What is the best way for us to help get the word out?

If you are a personal friend and thinking of attending, we have a couch that sleeps one, and a commuter train station close by. We’re pretty far out from Chicago (1.5 hours by train) but train travel is so unlike driving it’s almost a pleasure.

Quite some time ago, in response to a blog on NUnit I decided to write up some python assertion syntax. More recently I had occasion to go looking through my cod snippets directory and changed some basic implementation.

The syntax of the assertions is the same for a user, basically:

	
def Examples():
    ensure(1, Equals(1) )
    ensure(1, Equals(2) )
    ensure(\"hello\", Equals(1) )
    word = \"Elephant\"
    ensure(word, LongerThan(100))
    ensure(word, Contains(\"e\"), GreaterThan(\"Aardvark\"), LongerThan(3))
    ensure(word, LengthIs(4), LessThan(\"Aardvark\"), Contains(\"fred\"))
    ensure(word, LengthIs(8), LessThan(\"Aardvark\"), Contains(\"fred\"))
    ensure(word, LengthIs(8), LessThan(\"Zebra\"), Contains(\"fred\"))
	
    j = 10**-1
    ensure(j, GreaterThan(0))
    ensure(j, GreaterThan(99))
    ensure(\"John\", GreaterThan(0))
    ensure(\"Fred\", LessThan(\"John\"))
	
    x = 1
    ensure(x, GreaterThan(0), Equals(2-1))
    ensure(x, GreaterThan(12), LessThan(200), Equals(100))
	
    ensure(['Ben','timbot','effbot'], HasItems('Tim','Ben','Lundt') )
    python_proggies = 'Tim','Ben','Mike','Charlie'
    ensure(['Ben','Tim','Fred','Eric'], HasItems(python_proggies))

Indeed, some of these are intended to fail, some to pass. Again, I was just playing with the syntax. I didn’t even hook it into the unittest features yet. This sat idle for quite a while, until I realized that I could use a decorator syntax to make these assertions rather than using a class and inheritance. I prefer composing functions to inheriting from classes, and the result looks like this:

	
def ensure(item, *conditions):
    met = True
    for condition in conditions:
        met = met and condition(item)
        if not met:
            print condition.message
            break
    return met
	
def Equals(expected):
    def _equals(item):
        _equals.message = \"Expected %s, received %s\" % (repr(expected), repr(item))
        return item == expected
    return _equals
	
def GreaterThan(expected):
    def _greaterThan(item):
            _greaterThan.message = \"Value %s not greater than %s\" %(repr(item), repr(expected))
            return item > expected
    return _greaterThan
	
def LessThan(expected):
    def _lessThan(item):
        _lessThan.message = \"Value %s is not less than %s\" % (repr(item), repr(expected))
        return item < expected
    return _lessThan

I’m not using the @ symbol for syntax (see examples above) but I get a similar result. I did like using the “*args” so that my list of predicates is variable-length. I think that this could be the way to go for python unittest work. I’ll try to hook that up pretty soon, and see what happens.

I really like my T-Mobile “Wing” (HTC Atlas) phone, at least as far as the hardware is concerned. It’s quite a nice little device, though it has some bad habits like locking up while doing transfers and making phone calls when I holster it. Overall, it’s mostly what I want, but it’s not as usable as a phone from the front panel as I’d like. Some of my complaints were issues with my use of it, more than troubles with phone service. It has good voice quality, though, and a nice form factor.

The slide-out qwerty is ideal. It’s wider than my bberry is/was, and softer. I don’t like how clicky the Windows Mobile operating system is, but there are ways to get around it.

This phone has a touch screen and stylus, but I generally don’t use them. For me, those are wasted features. I played a game on it that was easier with the stylus, but generally will use the buttons.

The cellular data connection could be better, but the wifi is great.

What I really want in a cell phone:

* Must be operable one-handed as a cell phone via front-panel buttons.
* Must work well as a phone (intelligible speech, etc), whether it has other cool features or not.
* Voice activation for dialing.
* MUST have a qwerty keyboard that folds or slides out somehow.
* Key Lock
* Data connection (as reliable as possible): GPRS, EDGE, etc.
* Email
* Must charge from standard USB voltage with standard USB cable.
* IM/IRC Chat
* Web Browsing
* GPS, external GPS support, or MyLocation
* Large(ish) display.
* Alarm clock.
* Case that covers and protects the keys to prevent unintentional calls.
* Should be able to run short distances without the case ejecting the phone onto the concrete.
* Data connection through phone network
* Wifi, which should be preferred over phone network for cost savings on relevant features.
* Lanyard. I’d hate my phone to be jarred out of my hand by a passer-by.
* Keep as much of my personal information as possible on a micro-SD or equivalent.
* The phone shouldn’t lock up, even for a few seconds.

Most of all, whether it is a PDA phone or smart phone or whatever, is item #1. It is a phone. If I didn’t want a phone, I’d buy an ultraportable PC or a PDA. I need to operate it by voice or by one-hand, especially if I have to receive and make calls while driving. I shouldn’t have to look down at the phone, but I should say “call home” or maybe I could move the clickmouse and hear contact names.

Cameras, video playback, and audio are all cute tricks. I don’t much care, though if I can install an audio file as my ring and a photo as my background, that makes me happy. The important customization is to move the things I do *most* to the welcome screen (like winMob “Today” plugins).

Yes, I want too much. But that’s why I still want it. The cell phone design problem is interesting because it’s essentially untenable — the display and keyboard are never large enough, and the phone itself is never small enough. At least with the smartphone/pda-phone thing going on, people are willing to accept bigger displays and keyboards. Cell phone designers are smart people, and they keep coming up with impressive new hardware.

This was the work of true ubergeeks. Not only did they realize that they could vary the pitch, they programmed in a song.

Was that nuts or what? It would have been better without the interjections of the onlookers, but there you go. At least it has that “live” feel. I suspect it was killer loud.

We are unapologetically a Linux-only household. That is generally a very good thing. I don’t have a lot of the troubles that Windows households have, and I get a lot of powerful software for no cost whatsoever. I would happily accept a new Mac into the fold, but have intentionally stayed away from Windows for about seven years. My kids have grown up with free software. This only causes problems when people don’t realize that there are non-windows households. Sometimes people expect us to have the latest version of Word and Excel (we never will, we use OpenOffice.org . Someone might try to give us windows software, or winPrinters, or winScanners, or winModems or similar nonsense. We can at least give them away and make other people happy though.

The latest reminder of this difference is that my music-loving son was given an iTunes gift card. It’s pretty thoughtful, because he’s always carrying around his CDs, and an MP3-capable CD player. We typically will rip a CD and burn an MP3-CD with the music so that he doesn’t have to carry around dozens of CDs to have dozens of hours of music. He has an iPod, but likes his CD player better (going against the cultural flow is apparently a family value). He loves a lot of styles of music, and would keep the soundtrack going 24/7 if he could.

However, the card is not useful to us because we don’t have a Mac, nor a Windows PC. We can try to get the windows iTunes working under Wine, but he’s not going to be able to burn the music to a CD in wine or transcode it to mp3 or ogg. Nor will we spend a few hundred dollars to buy Windows so he can use a free gift card . If we installed itunes with wine, the music would have to live on the shared family desktop machine, where it can be played when there’s nothing else going on. It’s not portable, and it’s not convenient.

Also, my son and I both signed a petition saying that we would not intentionally buy DRM “enriched” music. We’ve stayed true to that, so he isn’t interested in breaking his word even with the gift of iTunes music.

My thought is that he should probably thank the giver, then sell the gift card to a buddy and spend the money it brings on whatever he wants. Even if he sells it under face value, it is still a gift and he has money he did not have before. Ah, if only it were eMusic or Magnatune, maybe an online vender like CdConnection or Borders or Amazon, it would be fine. Likewise, it would be fine if it were to a brick-n-mortar store like Target (where we do a lot of business) or Starbucks or a even a more cash-like gift card rom MasterCard, Visa, etc. The problem is that iTunes is iTunes, and you need windows and mac.

It was kind to give a gift of music to a music lover, and a good idea to let the very eclectic gift-receiver make his own choices. The real issue is that the iTunes store is dealing in DRM-polluted music, and only certain platforms and devices can play it. If it were free of DRM (like emusic and magnatune) we would have the freedom to download, play, and even convert audio formats. The gift-giver just didn’t realize that the whole world is not populated by Windows and Mac users. It was simply a matter of not understanding our computing setup, which reflects the philosophy we live in a practical way.

PS: He agreed that the correct thing to do is to sell the card to someone who feels differently about DRM and has Windows or Mac at home.

According to an article at SeattlePi.com Linux is the operating system of choice for small, simple devices such as the new micro-laptops we see coming out now.

However, in a number of cases, companies creating the machines are opting instead for Linux, the open-source computer operating system, created by a worldwide community of software developers. Although Asus has begun to offer Windows XP as an option for the Eee PC, the main focus is Linux.

I went to the ChiPy meeting tonight. It was 1 1/2 hours each way by metra, plus I drove for 1/2 hour each way to get to a station that had a workable train schedule. My train line doesn’t run many trips, so I travel by car to travel by train. On the way down, I tested my active noise cancellation headphones. They work wonderfully. I also got to work on the Python version of infinitest and I think I made some improvements. I arrived at Union Station, which actually surprised me. I expected to go to ogilvie. I should read more carefully. Union Station was the better choice, though. It was a shorter walk.

The meeting was easy enough to find. There were a few people (mostly the organizers) there, but the room quickly filled up. I was surprised by the quantity of food set out by the caterers. If we’d all made pigs of ourselves, there would be food left over. It was beautiful, and delicious.

The meeting had a number of lightning talks, each about 15 minutes long. We explored the pickle package and protocol in some depth, the uno API for scripting OpenOffice.org, the joys of pyStage (which can help you propose to your future wife), and a fun game in Pyglet written by a doting uncle and his young neice. The talks were all good.

I’m not the best guy when it comes to “working a room” and I really didn’t try too hard, but I met some nice folks. In a room of python people, you can always hear someone bashing perl, just as a room full of Java programmers will bash on C++. I mostly avoided those conversations, though I did indulge once.

It seems that there is a lot of Python going on in Chicago, and I hear that web hosting companies are seeing more python all the time. One sys admin told me that he’s read that there’s more Python than Perl on the web now. He supposed he still sees more PHP than Python, but the python is there and growing. Oddly enough, he doesn’t see that much Ruby/Rails. I was surprised by that.

The room was full of developers, and that means that just about everyone had either a Mac or a standard PC laptop running Ubuntu. One presenter had a Mac running Ubuntu. I guess he wins the geek prize. I also saw an XO from the OLPC project, and that was pretty exciting. There was also a neat assortment of cell phones in the room.

All in all, it was a good evening, even factoring in over 4 hours of transit and the snow and sleet. I think I’ll try attending again next month, and I may end up volunteering at the Chicago(land) PyCon this year. I might put a talk together after I get a little polish on infinitest.

When is copying piracy and when is it fair use? See the Recut/Reframe/Recycle article and the attached report for information on Fair Use.

Especially Tal Wilkenfeld. She looks like a little kid, but she doesn’t play like one.

She was at the 2007 crossroads guitar festival (organized by Eric Clapton for the sake of the Crossroads Centre, Antigua for the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions). Tal played with Jeff Beck, who is a favorite guitar player. Videos are available in the Crossroads DVD (recommended) and also on YouTube, which is embedded here:

Before someone jumps on me for being sexist or ageist or something, the “girl bass players” line is courtesy of a young lady bassist I know (Hi Andrea!).

Years ago I wore glasses because of my slight nearsightedness. It was no big deal, and when they were lost/destroyed (I forget which) I didn’t bother to replace them. My eyes self-corrected as I got older, and I had great eyesight for a number of years. It was grand.

As we get older, that same change-of-shape that causes us to correct mild nearsightedness continues. I’m now on the wrong side of that correction and becoming far-sighted. I’m also losing some of my sensitivity to light, so reading menues at restaurants is harder, and reading books is more strain than ever before. Nearsightedness was actually handy for computer work and reading. I just didn’t realize that.

Now I notice that I’m getting a lot of eyestrain and having trouble reading instructions, menus, and even printed books Looks like I will need some reading glasses to deal with my far-sightedness. I also can’t deal with low light conditions, and though my laptop provides its own illumination I will end up reading print under electric lights more.

I suppose that’s the new milestone that goes with my 19th anniversary and my 45th birthday in the old year. The new year will find me dealing with the vagaries of age in new ways. I’m not worried about it, but I am forced to acknowledge it in my slowness to recover from this crazy respiratory thing (now starting its third calendar month) and the diminishing faculties.

I saw something Kent said in a mailing list, and wanted to put it here for reference (and because my friends would appreciate it).

When secrets are easy to keep, keeping secrets is a power position. When
secrets are hard to keep (as they increasingly are), keeping secrets becomes
a position of weakness–you never know when someone is going to reveal what
you have been hiding. When secrets have a short half-life, transparency
becomes the power position […]

This is something that has a strong resonance with things I have learned. I have nothing to add to this.