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Alan Horkan's Journal

Below are the 25 most recent journal entries.

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  2007.12.11  01.37
Brevity: Mournes 2007 Climbing Trip Report in Twenty Words

Climbing trip report in twenty words*.

Trinity. Mournes. Soup. Drink.
Flooding. Fire brigade. Four dinners. Mulled wine. Drink.
Pidgeon Rock. Climbing! Hot Ribena. Orange Monster. Drink. Porterhouse. Home.

* twenty unique words is close enough.

  
 


 
  2007.11.24  00.12
As seen on TV!

Late on a Friday evening at the computer and with an episode of CSI Las Vegas playing on the television I unusually didn't switch channels as soon as the advertisements came and on was surprised to see Durex advertising a vibrator on television. Don't recall seeing Durex advertise on television before, so advertising a vibrator seems that bit more unusual and interesting.

Specifically:
http://www.discoverplay.co.uk/dial_up/the_range/vibrations.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e66tPREEHXo





Curiouser and curiouser.

Insert witty comments below about not having a girlfriend...

  
 


 
  2007.11.04  21.12
Bad haiku

sad but true
a knocking on the window
hope it was you

  
 


 
  2007.10.19  23.29
Can't stop the signal

TV-links may be gone (for now) but there are alternatives such as
TV RSS, and
All U C. Efforts to close down TV Links will likely raise the profile of these and other alternatives even higher.

What you might not realise is that streaming is supposed to be a convenience, downloading but in the background and playing at the same time and then disposing of the files when finished. Which would be fine if you aren't interrupted or do not want to watch the stream again, but a horrific waste of bandwidth if you are forced to download it all again. Having said that the convenience provided by this need breed of website is very impressive and hints at how much more the World Wide Web might yet surprise us.

  
 


 
  2007.08.18  00.49
Cyanide and Happiness: Breakup?

Would make a sweet t-shirt:
( Read more... )



Mood: amused 		 
 


 
  2007.06.12  22.48
Climbing in Dalkey Quarry

The weather wasn't in our favour. Just as I left the house I said I hoped the weather would hold it changed from sunshine to rain. By the time we got to Dalkey things had improved but we did get another brief shower and things were generally overcast so things finished up earlier than they could have done enough if the brilliant sunshine of the morning had only lasted into the evening but we still did pretty well. The long days make it a great time of year for climbing if you can get adequate weather otherwise.

As we were gathering we passed John Mehegan who headed much more quickly to the quarry to climb with friends. Jenny, Rachel, Lena, Hamish, and Brian still wearing a sharp suit (and a pink striped tie) formed a separate group. Soon as he finished off work Luke was hot on our heels, and arrived not too long after us.
Although there was talk of climbing Thrust, a route on the upper cliffs, we ended up at Paradise Lost or "base camp" as Brian called it as so many climbing days begin there. Rachel started to lead Levitation, and Brian joked he would race her. Despite Rachel taking an early lead Brian was soon speeding the adjacent route Mahjongg.

Waiting around Alan (me) did some basic climbing and traversing not much more than a metre from the ground, but it felt good to be out there and getting some climbing done again. I probably should have lead Paradise Lost but I was disinterested in leading it again, still convinced it would be much more enjoyable to solo the route with no rope at all and without the hassle and weight of a rack of gear. Alternatively I might have had time to climbing Levitation before Luke arrived had I been a bit more enthusiastic.
Luke soloed Paradise Lost as a quick warm up, then lead a climb nearby to the left called Fragile. Fragile is so close to Paradise Lost it was at times hard to know if we were really climbing a different. Alan seconded Fragile, making a conspicuous effort to keep left, deliberately avoiding the easy line in an attempt to make it a little more challenging but for the most part it was really wasn't difficult.
After a pondering our options and asking for suggestions Luke decided to tackle E-route. The clouds had dissipated enough let through a little sunshine and light the upper half of the route. As Alan began the climb a gentle drip drip of rain began. This brief shower was more than a little off putting, but Alan was able to get started thanks to suggestions from Philip and Dennis and the rest of the climb was good fun from there.

Enthusiasm and energy varied and it would have been so much better to go out earlier on my day off but it was a good evenings climbing and I'm glad I made the effort to get out there and just do it.

  
 


 
  2007.05.13  17.16
Trinity Ball Weekend Dalkey Quarry

Geoff Quigley, Luke Stratford, and Alan Horkan (me) went rock climbing in Dalkey Quarry.
Geoff started by leading a route called Delectissimo, seconded by Luke.
Next Luke lead Jameson Ten and Geoff took his turn to follow and seconded the route.

Then Alan made his first and long overdue lead climb on Paradise Lost. Paradise Lost is one of the easiest routes in the Quarry, climbed by practically every beginner who has ever climbed in Dalkey. Things get a little more complicated without the luxury of a top rope to fall back on and with the extra weight of a full climbing rack jingling like a one man band. The achievement of a first lead climb was somewhat diminished by Luke ("Safetly Officer") climbing solo up alongside Alan without any ropes at all but the important lesson was placing gear correctly and setting anchors more than the actual climb itself. Now that I've done my first lead climb I now need make sure to do my next before too long.

Not sure if Luke and Geoff climbed anything else as I had to go to work. Been a long day, and I've been extremely hungry. Better get some sleep, work again tomorrow.

  
 


 
  2007.05.05  23.40
Could've, would've, should've.

Airplane tickets are cheap, cheap enough that going to another country might just be cheaper than visiting parts of Ireland. The cheapest airlines are run much like a bus service only with much more pointless harassment in dubious attempts at security. While I was student I pondered how when I paid off my loans and I had a bit of money I could find cheap flights and do a bit of city hopping. One too many times I've said two of the places I'd always wanted to visit are Anchorage and Edinburgh, and when I mentioned it most recently I was told why don't you just go? Always good to have someone in your life to push you to do the things you have always wanted to do anyway.

March 19th, 20th, 21st, Saturday through Monday, I will be in Edinburgh. I had flights nominally cost two cent, but the actual cost including various taxes comes to more like €60 (think that was actually for two return tickets). Less than the cost of one single Trinity Ball ticket and it is going to be great. I shopped around a bit for a good deal but indecision served me well and when I checked again the prices had dropped even lower, an understanding boss and a flexible timetable certainly helped.

Cannot recall if anyone I know is living in Edinburgh at the moment but if you are do give me a shout. Never been to Scotland before, let alone Edinburgh. Suggestions welcome.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edinburgh

  
 


 
  2007.04.09  23.33
Not suitable for children under 36 months

This month I celebrated(?) my (twenty?)seventh birthday. My big sister bought me a toy called a "Test Tube Alien". I was very careful with the sharp scissors as I did not want to cut myself on the sharp edges of the plastic pack. :P
If you think paper cuts are annoying try cutting yourself on a plastic blister pack, the packaging is more dangerous than most toys.

The toy comes in a plastic "test tube" about the size of an ordinary slim-jim drinking glass, more like a sample jar you might see in a natural history museum than the what you might think of as a test tube. The container has a small opening at the top to allow liquids to be poured in our drained out. At first all you can see is the protective foam egg which you must rinse away to reveal the little plastic alien. Mine is apparently an evil alien by the name of Shako. Inside the alien head a little light emitting diodes flashed on and off inside his hard plastic head to show it is alive, and the colours change between orange, green, or red, depending on his state of health. The body appears to be some kind of compacted foam material and the water is supposed to gradually cause it to expand or "grow". There is a feeding solution which smelled of acetone, which I'm guessing forms a week acid to create a crude battery and help power the toy. I suppose the solution might also help dissolve the body of the creature and help it grow.

The average lifespan of this creature is supposed to be a fortnight but much shorter than that if neglected. Should I write again on the subject the title will most likely be be the obituary of Shako, or probably an "Alien Autopsy".

These seem like perfect toys for Buddhists parents reluctant to give real live pets to children.

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test_Tube_Aliens
http://www.testtubealiens.com/



Mood: amused 		 
 


 
  2007.03.04  23.07
Best things in Life are free

"I'm not even supposed to be here today."

Dante Hicks, Clerks (1994).

Thrown in at the deep end on my first day but things went fairly well. Called up at short notice to fill in for a no-show I was kept plenty busy and things only quietened down as I was about to finish. Technically it wasn't my first day but after a week of training where I had a supervisor to help out if I got stuck or the shop got very busy, it was much more difficult ot work through on my own and muddle through through any problems, always thinking on your feet.
The job itself I should explain is managing a small video store, interent cafe, and tanning salon. Nice to be able to work only one job and be able to put three more jobs on my C.V. adding to my other eclectic jobs such as teaching arts and crafts to children, teaching computers to science students, snooker hall manager, working at an internet startup and working for a major distillery to name but a few.
People are generally in a good mood when they go to a video store, and it makes life so much better to be providing a service people do not need but choose to have. This is a far cry from call centre work, for a company that was not well liked, providing tech support that was at worst fire-fighting poorly designed products the customers inevitably had problems with or at best was helping teach customers enough to be able to make use of the service.
[Details left intentionally vague to protect me from the guilty, enough people already badmouthing the company and there are no shortage of unpleasant companies providing services customers think they need but do not particularly want at over inflated prices, so I think most people can relate.]



Music: Anything by the Beatles 		 
 


 
  2007.02.23  03.16
Cinderella's going to the ball

Blagged myself an invite to the close of festival party. Hell Yeah!



Mood: extatic 		 
 


 
  2007.02.17  11.34
All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players

More Dublin International Film Festival and less time to write about it.
Started the day with The Good German starring George Clooney. Good film.

Ended the day with As you like it another brilliant treatment of Shakespeare by director Kenneth Branagh. This may yet be my favourite film of the festival, excellent film, see it soon as you get the chance.

Other commitments meant I didn't get to see Maggie Gyllenhaal starring in Sherrybaby but I expect she will make it to our cinema screens in due course. Princess, a Danish animated film (not to be confused with Princesses a Spanish language film also showing at the festival) was unfortunately cancelled due to delays sourcing the prints but may yet be shown towards the end of the festival, although I had bought tickets to see Princess it coincided with As you like it so events may yet work out in my favour. There are so many films to see I cannot possibly see them all but I will certainly try.
Sunshine by director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later) had been cancelled before the festival even began and any reappearance seems highly unlikely from what little information I have gathered.

  
 


 
  2007.02.16  11.31
Dublin International Film Festival opening film Jindabyne

The Dublin International Film Festival opened with Jindabyne a film starring Gabriel Byrne and the Dubliner was there in person to introduce the film and open the festival. On the way in I spotted actor Patrick Bergin waiting in the lobby and although I'd be willing to bet there were a few other notable people in the crowd but he was the only other famous face I recognised.

The festival organisers made their obligatory thanks, then an attractive blonde spokeswoman from Jameson introduced the three winners of their short film competition, the top three can be seen on the JamesonFilm website. Michael Dwyer introduced Gabriel Bryne and he gave short introduction to the film, and the difficulty of getting it made as with so many independant films, explaining how funding had been dropped on three seperate occasions before the film eventually went ahead.
The film is based on a short story by American author Raymond Carver called "so much water, so close to home". The story is a serious drama, dealing with a tragic death and the failing marriage of Stewart and Claire Kane played by Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney. Mr. Bryne noted this was their third onscreen marriage, two of which were unhappy. Laura Linney was seen unhappily married in The Squid and the Whale the Surprise Film of the festival last year and it was noted that she had been a guest at the first Dublin International Film Festival. The story moves along at a leisurely pace setting up the characters and scene with care and attention. Stewart Kane and his friends go on a fishing trip only to find a dead body floating by the river. Shocked and stunned by the discovery they are at a loss as what should be done. They decide to leave the body in the water knowing it would deteriorate rapidly in the heat if they brought it ashore, and they use fishing line to tie down the body and prevent it from drifting away. Rather than head back report their find immediately they attempt to get back to normal and continue fishing as planned. On their return to town they receive little sympathy and are surprised by the harsh reaction they receive for not reporting the dead body immediately. The situation only adds to the strain already on Stewart and Claires marriage.

The story is dramatic and serious tragedy but with enough moments of light comendy not to be too oppressive. The acting is strong and subtle, the film has already having won several acting awards. After the film Gabriel Bryne was presented with a lifetime achievement award, the first of a new series of awards called Voltas (in honour of the first Irish cinema) given out by the festival.


April films official website for Jindabyne
http://www.april.com.au/jindabyne/
Wikipedia Page for the film Jindabyne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jindabyne_(film)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382765/maindetails


P.S. The quality of photographs taken by camera phones is poor enough to begin with so if any experts know how to prevent Nokia phones from down-scaling photo's before sending I would really like to disable this intentionally crippled functionality or learn of other ways to get better quality pictures out of a camera phone. If I can figure out some way to do this you can expect more pictures to go with my writings.

  
 


 
  2007.02.07  23.51
Sunshine on a frosty day

Climbing in Dalkey Quarry with Jack, Jenny, Luke, Colin, Ursula, and Alan.

Routes climbed: Paradise Lost, and F Route
(and an icy scramble down a corner of the quarry)

Jack was not attacked by a ravenous mountain goat but a gremlin did steal his crabs (aka carabiner).
Coly was hugged by all. Not because anyone likes him, just because his legendary blue jacket is so warm.
Luke went back and reclimbed Paradise Lost successfully completing his first outdoor lead climb.
Alan "milkbottle" got (more) sun burnt, in Ireland in February, with frost, snow, and ice, on the ground.

Luke, Colin, Ursula, went to 'casa de Alan' (as Coly put it) and enjoyed a meal of Chili con Carne.
Many laughs were had, good climbing, excellent day.

  
 


 
  2007.02.04  23.34
Trinity Climbers in Glendalough

Summary:
Trinity Climbers trip to Glendalough, County Wicklow, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, February, 2007.
Another excellent trip, made especially pleasant by the blessing of fine weather.
Saturday: Acorn Buttress. Three routes. From right to left, Fascilis Descendus (HS 4b), Provo (VS 4c), and one other route (most likely Inferno).
Sunday: Expectancy. Two routes. An abseil route to the right us was also put to use by our group and several others passing by.

( Much more detailed description follows... )

  
 


 
  2007.01.27  20.05
Rice - Suitable for vegetarians

Thank you captain obvious. Believe it, the packet of rice I cooked this evening really does explain rice is suitable for vegetarians. It begs the question is there rice that is unsuitable for vegetarians?

Cooked dinner for the parents this evening, Thai Green Chicken Curry. Nothing fancy, three chicken breasts, sauce from a jar, and a little bit of sweetcorn. Diluted the sauce a bit thin with the milk I used to rinse out the jar and the other cooking juices but after a long time simmering it thickened back up nicely, and the sweetcorn made a nice difference without changing the flavour too much.

Next on the list is cooking some biscuits (no not cookies, biscuits) from our childhood favourite the Mr. Men Cookbook. Haven't done much cooking in years and although I'm as capable as ever progress is much much slower.

  
 


 
  2007.01.07  19.47
How could you not like Disney?

Some people might wonder why Disney gives me the creeps and why I am much slower to say favourable things about them or buy their products (including their takeover of Pixar, and aside even from the issue of the quality of their products). Sure dont they make cute cartoons and family films? Take a look at an example of them throwing their legal weight around in attempt to stifle freedom of expression and fair use so as to distract from hate speech. There are no shortage of examples of their litigiousness if you care to search, and their rabid protection of their copyrights is in stark contrast to their plundering of the Public Domain for inspiration.

  
 


 
  2006.12.27  14.53
Software Development: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Been taking some of free time to read through various mailing lists of projects which I am no longer involved (a project from which I was so rudely and unceremoniously and unilaterally banned). Not only are the same questions reoccurring but also the same condescending replies and complaints about the questions are reoccurring. Even if the people involved are not likely to read this I feel it is worth writing a little about the problems [and possibly make updates to this document in the future] so that others may learn from their all too obvious mistakes.


Question: Why do users keep asking the same questions?

Answer: Some users will always ask the same questions and never make any attempt to figure out the answer for themselves. It is easier and better to say nothing than respond rudely to these users, or failing that provide a short response that developers are aware of the issue. There are ways to reduce the number of questions asked but the sooner you accept the inevitable the better things will be for all involved.


Question: Why do developers keep asking why users keep asking the same questions?

Answer: Every question is an opportunity, questions often highlight various problems of some kind or another. Not all developers realise this. Many think they do but only understand it on a very superficial level.
If a project does not have good documentation and a clearly marked section for Frequently Asked Questions then developers should not be at all surprised when the same questions get asked over and over again. At the very least it is important to back link to previous discussions because it increases the chance of search engines leading users to the right answers.
If features of a program are difficult to find or understand then further testing and usability review may be needed. I know this sounds so obvious as to be patronising but all too often developers blame the user and fail to consider ways in which the software could be improved to make things even more obvious and questions avoided. If bug are known or features are missing long enough for the same questions to be asked frequently then once more it is worth expanding the list of Frequently Asked Questions or even creating a separate list of Known Bugs


Question: What to do? This isn't very encouraging!

Answer: Always try to create new contributors.

A collaborative system like a Wiki makes it easier to encourage users to help answer questions and write up the answers for future reference.
With more technical problems users should be encouraged to submit patches. Telling users to fork the project is not encouraging, not only that it is actively turning contributors away, and failing to instead of compromising and finding something mutually beneficial for them to work on.
Not all (not many in fact) users will be in a position to submit patches and even those who do may submit work that is more hassle than it is worth to maintain.
Expecting them to write patches with a very low chance of being accepted is not encouraging either. A project with clear goals where users get a sense of what is beyond the ordinary scope of the project can help reduce the number of unrealistic requests and proposals which would be too difficult to maintain.


I would hold up Inkscape and Abiword as projects which often do a good job of these tasks. Inkscape has been particularly successful in incrementally documenting problems, making it increasingly easier for the next brave soul to solve (case in point: better support for Macintosh users). Bullying unsuspecting users might amuse some but pointing people in the right direction is far more productive in the long run. There are far too many projects which fail to understand the need for maintainers to manage and guide as much as develop. Creating more contributors should create a self sustaining cycle and more active contributors should mean more time to work on the problems which really interest you.

Here's looking to the New Year and doing things a little differently, hopefully better.

  
 


 
  2006.12.06  15.22
Dead Horse

American Pie was a crude but funny and fresh take on a tired genre, teen sex comedies. The franchise was stretched out to three whole films, although the third film was thankfully better than the second and we all thought it was finished off nicely. Then came along the unwanted direct-to-video fourth installment "American Pie Band Camp" which barely managed to get two of the original cast to put in an appearance, although it did feature the lovely Arielle Kebbel.

Little did I know the horse was in for another flogging, a fifth American Pie title "The Naked Mile". It seems American Pie is trying to become a franchise and be like National Lampoons and churn out endless barely related sequels. Speaking of which National Lampoons are releasing a sequel to Van Wilder, with the Indian guy set in England.

It could be worse, someone might decide to make a sequel to the awful film Tenacious D, The pick of Destiny. A terrible film which forces me to reevaluate how I ever found Jack Black amusing but still only the second worst film featuring Tenacious D. The prize of worst film featuring Tenacious D still goes to the Pauly Shore film Biodome, blink and you'll miss them but Tenacious D do make an appearance.

  
 


 
  2006.12.01  20.33
Beer and Crisps

If you aren't Irish or have not lived in Ireland at least for a while the following entry may not make much sense.

Crisps

Tayto is synonymous with crisps in many part of Ireland and it seem strange how only now have the released the deceptively simple "ready salted" flavour. The package resembles an Argentinian Football player, light blue and white vertical stripes. The crisps themselves are fairly predictable, my only complaint is a more lightly salted crisps would make it easier to eat excessive quantities but in the long run that is probably for the best.
Not only have Tayto released this new flavour but they have released Podge and Rodge branded crisps for culchies. The crisps are rippled and seem suspiciously like existing varieties but I've only tried the Buffalo Breath flavour so far.

North Side Guinness
Guiness must have realised that any new product would cannibalise their existing market so for a little over a year now they have run the Guinness Brewhouse Series releasing variations on the traditional Guinness Stout. The most recent Northstar stout has been entirely underwhelming and for my money you may as well drink Beamish. The previous Toucan brew was nice enough, less heavy for the summer months. Still I'd much rather go to the Porter House and drink their various stouts. For such a nation of drinkers it is a shame we have such limited variety in our beers.

  
 


 
  2006.11.28  09.18
IFI French Film Festival - Cyrano De Bergerac

Saw Cyrano De Bergerac at the IFI as part of the Cafe Noir French Film Festival. Classic.
Will probably go see Horseman on the Roof later in the week, maybe others too if I have the time.

  
 


 
  2006.11.19  10.26
Climbing Photos: Irish Bouldering League - Galway 2006

A gallery of photos from the Irish Blouldering League (IBL) was posted on the Climbing.ie website. These things are always more fun with captions which unfortunately the site doesn't allow so instead I will add a few comments of my own and point out some of the photos which may be of more interest to Trinity climbers.

I will only link directly to one image, as it not polite to hot link other peoples images. I should also warn that because it is an outside link it could easily break or be changed and I cannot take any responsibility for any of the links breaking or images looking any more horrific than they already do. Other links will be normal links to the Climbing.ie website.


Call the Exorcist: Paddy Clarke Possesed
Call the Exorcist: Paddy Clarke Possesed.
Paddy Clarke climbing in a snowstorm. Maybe it wasn't snowing indoors and there was just chalk everywhere but I like my explaination better. Paddy starts from sitting, watched by Brian and Tanja.

Watching and waiting. Crowds of climbers await there turn and puzzle out how to approach the problems. Hamish can be seen in his orange/red top with Brian standing beside him, and Heather on the right at the middle. Katriona can be seen back centre wearing her pink top and Tanja is on right wearing a blue top. Heather climbing problem 11 jamming foot hard in the corner. Hamish watches Heather scoring, I mean keeping score, clipboard in hand.
You can tell by the shirt it is Brian, if that is in fact his real name! Brian and Brian again.
Photos of peoples backs are not particularly interesting and it can be difficult to tell who is who, I only recognised my own photo by the hoodie I was wearing. Not the guy climbing, but on the left Alan (me) can be seen trying to figure out climbing problem 14, the one with the odd stickey outey bit. Got quite close and I know I could have done it on a good day but couldn't get it in the required three attempts.
Katriona climbing in her pink cardigan. Tanja stands up to start on problem 9. Looks like Leena.

Message scrawled on the grey masking tape on the wall instucts climbers to start from a seated position. It is not a suggestion to wear your own ass for a hat, easy misunderstanding to make. The climber reaches for the first bonus point on problem 9.

  
 


 
  2006.11.05  23.34
GIMP developers in Copyright Violation scandal!

Now that I've got your attention I actually want to mention Google code search. Google code search was released a while back and people found various funny things to do with it. The obvious thing for any geek to do is an ego search, and amongst the results of the google code search for Alan Horkan the following comment jumped right out at me: 
;; Alan Horkan 2004.  Copyright.
;; I'll fix it and license it differntly later if anyone cares to ask
The comment (spelling mistake and all) is from a gimp script to insert a guide by percent.

Okay so maybe not a huge copyright violation scandal but it gives you an idea of how little code review gets done. No wonder big corporations have serious concerns about where code comes from and SCO were able to create so much fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Be afraid, be very afraid.
Without explicitly asking first the developers committed code I had never intended to be included. Scripts were an easy fix for my own use and I had attached them to a bug report as a good way to show what I thought was needed. I had hoped for a better properly integrated solution written in C instead of several smaller scripts cluttering up the menus (see also Inkscape). Rather than argue it I took the easy out and decided to let them continue on, one less argument I didn't need. In truth I did argue the point, this was just one of several scripts, and I did repeatedly ask them to correct the copyright information on at least one of the other scripts (which they eventually did) but it seems this last one slipped by.
If I were a litigious person where would the responsibility lie, the developer who committed the code, the maintainers, or the distributors? Not only did the GIMP developers fail to adequately review the code but none of the distributors reviewed the code either, contributory infringement anyone?

Comparesoft (founded by Michael Robertson) also appear to have violated my copyrights by distributing two of my scripts. Mostly I am unimpressed by their failure to ask or inform me of their intention to use my scripts and distribute them to users. Not sure how to proceed or if I should do anything about it at all. My scripts were marked as copyright, not GPL and were not intended for redistribution beyond personal use and I had expected people to ask before doing anything with them. Irregardless it is common courtesy to ask and vigilant lawyers usually insist on their clients asking (as can been seen from frequent letters from magazine publishers requesting permission) even for software released under the GNU General Public License (GPL). Comparesoft are well within their rights to distribute rebranded open source software but I do hope their customers understand that they are really only being charged for the technical support and the same software is freely available from other sources.

The ego search reminded me of quite a few projects I had contributed to and where some of that copious spare time spent on Open Source software had gone to. It gave me a good feeling to realise quite how many different projects I have managed to have even a small influence on. A million monkeys on a million typewriters?

Update: Comments no longer allowed on this entry.

  
 


 
  2006.11.04  02.10
Good old Dublin town: Traditional Singers

Sometimes you see things and it feels obvious they must exist only you may not have noticed them before. Dublin has plenty of live music, more than the tourist trap music of Temple bar. The trick is knowing where too look.

After several failed attempts to meet my old friend Jonathan Tennant for a pint - he running around like a mad thing trying to sort out his show for Radió na Life - we eventually decided to meet in Mayes pub on North Fredrick Street. He mentioned there would be a session, of the musical not drinking variety, but I didn't realise it would be signing only, unaccompanied by any music.

It was different and very entertaining. Singers take turns and perform old tunes people seemed to know and original tunes, including a humourous tune one about the alcohol induced misadventures of a certain Aussie Rules football player after the compromise rules match against the Gaelic football players.
Not knowing any of the songs I remained more quiet than I have ever been before in any pub, but with some of the easier tunes I made an effort sing along at the chorus as did most people. Perfoming is welcomed and encouraged but not a requirement.

Next time you are in the mood for traditional Irish music perhaps you will check out the Góilín singers club, most Friday evenings from 9 o'clock, upstairs in Mayes pub.

  
 


 
  2006.11.02  00.37
If you do not understand English you will not know what this means

Reading through bug reports and feature requests I saw yet another user who wanted to use a program in a language other than the default language of their Operating System. I have seen this request many times. The usual answer is to move or remove the .po language file and allowing the American text to show through. There is also the more complicated old school approach of mess setting command line variables, which as you can imagine is lots of fun for beginners who have never ever used the command line before.

As with most requests there is an underlying problem users are trying to solve and developers have to figure out what the real underlying problem might be if there even is one. Imagine a doctor being asked for a prescription of Viagra and trying to figure out if the patient has health problems that need to be dealt with. At least part of the problem is that translations are crappy, but translation is hard work so I mean no disrespect to the translators. Even then there are languages for which no translation exists and users have no option but to use English and struggle through as best they can. This means the original interface needs to be as clear and simple as possible, as a rule of thumb if you cannot translate out of English and then back again and still make sense then things need to be simplified even further. The complexity of the English only makes translation work harder and the frequent use of slang and over-complicated jargon or un-translatable acronyms certainly does not help. For example the acronym URL cannot be translated but the words address, or link, or resource, can easily be translated. I have been told Dutch translators end up using the equivalent of "URL Address" to crudely work-around the problem. In truth this is two problems, depending on the context the original word should have been Address in the first place and the translators should not have taken the easy option but instead made sure the original mistake was corrected. Unfortunately that almost never happens, understandably translators would rather translate than try to swim upstream and become programmers.

No doubt many applications already do offer such a feature, each in their own unique and horribly inconsistent manner. The idea of ever application providing an option to change the language independent of the Operating System doesn't feel right to me. Perhaps what is needed is a small application allowing users to easily launch an application in another language? Maybe such a thing already exists but is hidden away as a tool to help test translations?
Anyone intersted in taking on the challenge of creating a tiny application to start a program in a langauge other than the current default?

  
 


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