Sunday 30 December 2007 @1:02
Yesterday was a bad GNU/Linux day. I was getting angry, and I rarely get angry. Every once in a while, I type “apt-get upgrade” and everything goes to hell. Like the print server’s ability to print from PDF. Right when I’m trying to print last-minute boarding passes, confirmation pages for hotels and rental cars, directions from the airport, etc.
I of course found workarounds, then in some cases had to work around the workarounds. But in all it took about 3 hours to figure out what was going on and get 10 pages printed. Something was broken in how CUPS talks to ‘pdftops’, causing it to hang. There were recent security updates to CUPS, but when I downgraded it, the problem persisted. It’s still not fixed, but I found and subscribed to a probably-relevant entry on bugs.debian.org.
I guess I use Debian ‘stable’ so that this sort of thing happens very rarely. The frustration had me questioning my commitment to GNU/Linux and other free software. But of course it’s not that simple: what I treasure is the hackability, and so some instability is inevitable. Even on a Mac, I’m likely to access unsanctioned functionality with “sudo vi /etc/cups/cupsd.conf” or whatever, but this kind of customization rarely survives updates.
I suppose the solution is to take updates more seriously, evaluating them the way a business would: apply them only when there’s sufficient time to run a systematic set of regression tests.
Friday 21 December 2007 @14:43
A few months back, I was at a workshop on campus where some other staff member noticed my Mac and remarked (disapprovingly) on how quickly some hackers had gotten the latest OS X release running on stock (non-Apple) x86 hardware. “Why do people do that… why not just buy a Mac?” he asked. “They’re good computers.” I offered that I might like to have such skilled hackers as students (or employees). This seemed to surprise him, but I think it’s actually true.
For the moment, let’s set aside arguments supporting the morality of digital restrictions circumvention (legal or not). Just assume that the hack is ethically dubious. Assume also that it’s non-trivial. Then, I maintain that I would aim to recruit the hacker. Why? Ethics can be instilled, but raw technical talent is so rare that it’s still a net win. 
Friday 21 December 2007 @10:00
Thanks to changedetection.com, I noticed this morning that our RNGzip paper went up on the site of Academy Publisher — JCP volume 2, number 10. JCP is open-access, so the full text can be downloaded by anyone.
I also decided to post my own full-text version of the graph-theory paper to appear in Congressus Numerantium. I believe that’s acceptable according to the copyright terms, but I suppose I ought to read the fine print. See my publications page.
One other paper (on CS education) is under review right now, and there’s a draft (on types in compilation) that’s nearly ready for submission. I hope to hear about the former and work on the latter over winter break.
Thursday 13 December 2007 @14:37
Chicklet
A baby picture
Action shot
Kitty the hacker
On return from hospital
I regret having to report that Chicklet died at 10:05 Thursday morning at home, with both of us beside her. She had been ill for a while but that last night was the first she seemed to suffer. We set up the air mattress so she could sleep between us once again (but stay near the floor). At 3 AM she got up to visit her favorite hiding place in the closet. Later in the morning she moved next to the radiator and I gave her some water. We just got off the phone with the vet’s office (scheduling her final appointment) when she cried out, had a tiny seizure, and passed. A diva to the end.
Please enjoy this collection of photos, and leave your thoughts below. Chicklet (aka Kitty) came to live with us in 2000 — Art’s first year of med school. She previously belonged to Art’s brother’s family, so we have some baby pictures too. In student housing, she enjoyed her perch atop the air conditioner vents, looking out the 28th floor window at the Whitestone Bridge and the landing planes at LGA.
She moved with us to Yates Ave, and although she missed the air conditioning, she appreciated the deeper closets and the wider variety of furniture on which to sit. She traveled with us when possible, as much as six hours away by car. She loved sitting on the shelf beneath the car’s rear window, relishing the attention from passing travelers. When she couldn’t travel with us, she was watched over by a pack of caring friends, who she often tricked into giving more than her usual serving of food. Although some may think of us as jet-setters, we’re actually well-traveled homebodies. Usually upon boarding a plane for some exciting destination, our first thought would be “I miss Kitty.”
Kitty was always… er… big-boned. We tried restricting her diet, but she just became less active. A year or two ago, she started showing signs of kidney disease in her blood. (Most cats will get this, if they live long enough.) We switched her to specially-formulated food, and eventually added some daily medicines. Shortly after Thanksgiving this year, she began behaving strangely, and her vitality noticeably deteriorated.
She spent four full days in the kitty hospital the week of December 3rd, on intravenous fluids and medications. On returning she was more responsive, although she looked pitiful with her shaved forearms. For the next 5 or 6 days, we tried nursing her back to health with subcutaneous fluids, and cajoling her to eat with syringes and baby food. It was a difficult time, but we were glad to have her back and she clearly enjoyed the attention from us. We thought that if she could resume eating, she’d last weeks or maybe months. Then, everything changed Wednesday night; suddenly, she was clearly very ill and suffering. We’re glad this stage did not last long.
For seven years, Chicklet was an integral part of our lives and our relationship. We’ll miss you, baby.
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