Tis the Season for Horror... Always

Thanksgiving is over so now it's Christmas time! I love me some Christmas. I loves taking the mrs and the cubs to the big city for snowflake lane. Getting peppermint mochas and wandering through a mall, Christmas music in the background. The lights, the snow, the carolling.
 

And the movies. I love Christmas movies. I love the classics, the new old classics, and the new new classics. And of course - Christmas Horror movies! Below are a few of my favorites:

Krampus
This is a new tradition in my family. I love how it isn't a horror movie at all... and then it is. My fav of the genre.

Rare Exports
This one hails from Finland. It's gritty and down to earth. It is super creepy and so well done. I'd say it's nearly tied for first.

A Christmas Horror Story
ACHS is an anthology of Christmas horror. They are all told together, so you get to see each story unfold together as opposed to telling one, then the next...
It's dark and well done.

VIM Shirts, Yay!

For all you VIM lovers out there, here are some shirts I've found:

:w! saves

Faster

Cheat Sheet

Elusive Theme

If you haven't seen or heard of it, BlackArch is an interesting Linux distro. It is designed for ethical hacking and it recently added more tools to its arsenal. I've never run it myself but, oh man, that theme!

I have an MSI gaming laptop, so it is all black and red, just like the BlackArch theme. It would be very cool to customize my OS to match the look of my laptop. So far I haven't found such a beast (Although the Twooten window decorations are pretty sweet). I'll keep looking.

If you haven't seen BlackArch, check it out:

BlackArch

Don't Fear the Reaper

I've been dabbling with music production since about 1994. Even before then I remember putting an instrumental Too Short track in one boom box and writing my own rap lyrics to it and recording my vocals over it using a tape recorder.

I started with a tape four track, bass guitar, and some effects pedals. I toyed with my dad's reel to reel, to get crazy sound effects etc.
 

Then I got an Akai synthesizer and a couple of Ensoniq EPS's. I made gabber and jungle with those, played some amazing shows in Vancouver BC and PDX.

Then I moved on to audio trackers on the computer - namely Psycle. VSTs really opened the door of possibilities. But I wanted to get a legit pro DAW, so I purchased Sonar. Most of my VSTs worked in it, and I was pretty happy with it. Until I decided to pay for an update. Then my VSTs quit working, most of my songs were rendered useless and I was over it.

That was when I encountered Reaper. It was nagware, that claimed to have an expieation, but happily let you continue using it beyond that date.

I was so happy with it I decided to pay for it. A measly $60 for the personal license and I haven't had to renew it yet.
 

Reaper happily loads all my VSTs and when one blows it up while scanning them it smoothly continues scanning.

It is full of great features - sidechaining compression, excellent pitch benders etc. I love the interface, and getting a pro quality DAW for $60 vs $300+ is amazing!

I can't recommend Reaper enough!

Must Reads 20171124

Today's edition of good reads is short,  but I believe a very bright spotlight should be shined on this one.

Modern Javascript Explained for Dinosaurs

I guess I'm a dinosaur (I don't think I would have gone with that title but meh), because this was a perfect explanation of the current state of Javascript development for someone who isn't a JS developer by trade.

When you don't work in JS everyday, it seems like a torrent of hip, new, trendy languages and tools are spewing forth incessantly. This did a great job of walking the reader through why. It is a definite must-read.

Your Python is Old

The other day I decided to update my version of Qutebrowser. I'm really loving it so far, so I wanted to take advantage of any bleeding edge changes to it. I was using apt to install it - mainly just because that's what I usually use. I got stuck on the Python requirements so downloaded a bunch of .debs attempting to get them all.

It was tedious but I was working my way through them. I hit a snag where one package didn't like the version I already had installed so I decided to uninstall my package. Bad. My terminal filled with notices that it was uninstalling core KDE apps. I knew I had just broken my system and sure enough.

I could have troubleshooted the issue, probably, but I just rebuilt it.

I tried installing the latest QB and had the same issue. So I hit IRC. It turns out LinuxMint has some old Python dependencies deep within the system. It was suggested I install QB using tox. The process was very painless, just a few console commands. I made a script to launch it and made a link to it in bin and I was golden.

I still love LinuxMint but beware of its Python issues.

A Non-Planner's Attack Plan

I am a terrible planner. So I'm constantly just charging forward. If it's a book idea, I just start writing. If it's game development, I start coding. Maybe I ponder the project a bit, get some ideas as to what the end will be like.

This is bad. Unless you're an improv artist or freewriter, some planning is necessary.

I ran into this fact while building Escape Apsis, the demo game for my World Weaver IntFiction game engine. It became too large for me to see it in my head. I didn't have a map of the ship so had to mentally picture where the rooms were, where the vents were, and what I had or hadn't already done.

The game's over all plot seemed to be collapsing. It was time to start fresh, with a map and some planning. So now I have the first 'level' mapped out and basic rooms coded. I'm building up the logic and puzzles now. In doing it this way I am only dealing with a small set of rooms and puzzles etc.

I will begin planning the other levels as I work through the first one. So far I think this is a much better approach.

Bunny Trail : Quantum Computers

I bumped into quantum computing a few years ago. The reading was interesting but at the time I only partially grasped it, not enough to understand the potential power - and damage.

But I recently ran into some videos that have me, once again, interested in the topic. - And some VERY intense related quantum / theoretical physics topics.

Qubits. The amazing quantum bits that can be on and off at the same time, but only until you read them. Then they are more one than  the other.

Deep Dive by James Weaver and Johan Vos

More explanation for average joes (Well for a slow learner like me):

How Does a Quantum Computer Work?

Now dig really deep...

Are we AI living in a simulation or 'game' of sorts? If so, what signs would we have?

What if the Earth Does Not Exist?

Is this evidence we are living in a matrix? I believe it is the hand of God.
However you interpret it it's intriguing!

Social Media Truther

Social media sucks. Of course who am I to talk, I'm on it all the time. However when I am on it, I spend most of my time scrolling past garbage.

90% of y Twitter feed is advertising tweets and tech doomsday. 'If you don't learn how to leverage AI your company will fail'. I have carefully crafted my feed hoping to see nerdy Linux, Java, tech, and Drum and Bass posts. I've failed. Why? because Twitter, and other users are trying to get their ads in front of me to make revenue.

Facebook is FAR worse.
There amid fuzzy kittens and cool posts from people I know in meat space are more ads and - worst of all - politics. Sure I agree with some of them, but that's what groups in Facebook are for. Instead politicians and activist groups seed Facebook with posts designed to get people pissed off and share them. So it really is nothing more than a political soapbox. I liken it to a backyard BBQ where most of us just want to hang out and eat burgers, but 'that one guy' keeps spouting off about politics.

IRC with its tightly controlled concept of channels is so much better. You spew politics in #bbq and you're banned.

I wish the social networks people migrated to were open source platforms, monetized by donations or corporate oriented distros (Slack-like). A place that doesn't cull your information or pummel you with ads or push politics on you. A barebones public arena with groups in which most of the interaction occurs. your feed would be a set of group 'modules' that you have full control over. And maybe it's the social network API that's the real product, so you can chose whichever UI you want to view it in.

Companies can try to sell their own implementations of the API if they like, but open source or commercial, it's all the same back end.

Maybe someday.

So What's Next?

So World Weaver is now out there, sort of. It isn't being promoted yet and is still in sort of a beta stage. But it has a nearly complete proof of concept game shipped with it: Escape Apsis.

So aside from more testing and completion of Escape Apsis, what is next for WW?

So far the next iteration will see improvements and clean up of its fight engine. Currently it is very basic in its functionality and rough in its code base.
 

Also there will be more specialty codes and logic block / inline logic improvements.
 

Elements in the game are currently blind to nearly all of their parent elements so we can't take advantage of them, using relative values to specify them. This will hopefully be changed in the next iteration.

Way down the line, the database will be cloud based as well as local, so multiplayer games will be possible. - A multiplayer Intfiction game, crazy.

World Weaver Website

The World Weaver project has been published! It is still in testing and the Escape Apsis game is not complete yet. However it can be played and reviewed. Feel free to let me know what you think and report any issues you have with it.

It is currently being hosted on byet host:

http://worldweaver.byethost7.com/

Where You Should Be - IRC

Welcome to the first installment of Where You Should Be. Here I tell you where I think you should be, cause anyone cares where I think they should be. But maybe I've stumbled on something you've forgotten about. Or didn't know about. Anyway...

Today's installment is IRC. I've written about IRC a bunch already, and have most likely already mentioned some of the places below, but I'll gather them into one place for you.

irc.freenode.net
 

I lurk exclusively on this IRC server. Why? It has 'free' in its name (And it was the first one I remembered from back in the day), of course.

#linux

You have to be registered and ident'd to join most of these by the way. I mention Linux first because it is less of a niche audience than the others below. I thought I'd be way over my head when I first started hanging out there - and I pretty much am - but there are moments here and there where I can contribute a '+1'. Hehe. But everyone there are great and welcoming.

#vim
For anyone obsessed with VIM this is your channel. I've picked up some great links and information. It's great to read other people's questions etc and hear the solutions and answers offered. Everyone is very patient and willing to share their vast stores of knowledge.

#qutebrowser
I love the QB channel. Here you can not only ask questions but also offer suggestions or ideas etc. So far this is the most personable channel I lurk in.

#java
This channel is great for knowledge, but so far not so personable. If you have questions or comments, you better come correct.

IRC On Your Phone

If you're like me, you miss the good old IRC days. If you don't know, IRC is a powerful and refreshingly utilitarian social network that has been around forever.

While MySpacers were blinging out their homepages with horrible gifs that tanked everyone's AOL dialup, IRC was quietly doing its thing.

When the 'get rich by blogging' thing happened, IRC was still there doing its thing.

While Facebookers politick and generally piss each other off, IRC is still alive doing its thing.

If you're sick of bloated apps and websites hosing your CPU and or battery, ditch those social feeds and jump on the text-only IRC networks. I'll talk more about IRC itself in the future. Here I just want to give you some tools to get you started IRC'ing on your phone. I've only used a couple different tools on my phone so I will start with those. Surely in the future I will be sharing more.

For the Faint of Heart
(In other words, the sane ones)

AndChat for Android is a great IRC client. I tried a couple others but AndChat seems to be the best, so far, at keeping and re-establishing IRC connections. The connection is the roughest part when using IRC on your phone. Its interface is clean and clutter free. You can set up multiple saved servers and auto join channels etc. I am kind of a basic IRC user so I haven't explored its other tools. I just do my work manually, in IRC.

For the Nerds
(me)

IRSSI. I love me some IRSSI. It is a console based IRC client that has been around forever. It's powerful and can be extended with scripts. Minimalists can run it without any tweaks etc and enjoy its scant interface, but I believe it can be tweaked to have more GUI elements. I'll have to research that.
It isn't going to be native to your phone so you're going to have to find another way to run it (This is - in part - why I say it's for nerds). I personally use GnuRoot Debian and install IRSSI via apt, just like I would on a desktop.

Enjoy checking out IRC. And watch for future IRC topics!

Why HTML, Why?

I am actually getting close to code freeze on the text-based game engine. For the initial release at least. So it is time to put together a website for it. It's been a long time since I've done web work. So I fired up VIM, grabbed a simple single page template, and started tweaking etc. I just need a nice looking site. I don't want to have to work on it forever.

I apologize in advance to my web developer friends, but HTML is so horrible. Especially given it was born in the days, where code file sizes actually mattered. I realize that there are other ways to lay out web UIs etc. I'm just talking about HTML itself.

HTML defines presentation / layout. It really should be like Markdown and JSON had a child. At the very least make it more concise. If you read my posts about Norman Notation, you know that I moved my game engine definitions away from XML to what essentially is a very slimmed down sort of JSON - it at least has a kind of similar feel. That was the best thing I could have ever done to the game engine! Defining games is so much faster and far more enjoyable now.

No more dumb angle brackets all over the place. Just the bare minimum of code.

*ahem*HTML

Hacker's Punishment T-Shirt

Another official rm -rf shirt!

Check out the Hacker's Punishment shirt.

Via Zazzle

Selecting Text

Is it just me or is selecting text on a phone a major headache? Surely there must be a better way. It seems like a good idea in theory. A start and stop node appear and you can drag them to highlight what you want.

But your fingers obscure the very nodes you are dragging. In many cases the selection is erratic and selects unwanted blocks of text etc. It is difficult to get text at the edge of the screen selected.

It isn't just me. And the issue isn't a new one. Look at this topic, and the interesting 'smear' idea. I kind of like it!

Via Android Forums

Oh great, here comes my mobile OS rant again:
If the future of personal commuting is tablets and phones etc, mobile operating systems have a lot of work to do. And the linux?? is hopefully as open as standard distros. I shouldn't have to hack into my own computer and root it just to use it - for something more significant than popping bubbles or crushing candy.

Revisiting SCHelp

As part of the website for my text-based game engine I want to have an online version of the api help that is built into the admin utility. I personally like treeview and search driven help systems and didn't want to have to write my own (More on that in a second) so I looked around for a decent open source web/html help generation tool. Nothing that was quite what I was looking for.

So last night I dusted off a js/html based help system I built years ago (Called SCHelp). The interface is decent and bug free - but the admin tool for it is a nightmare! And being purely js you have to write your topic, generate the data and copy it into the Data.js file then refresh the admin. And the tree editing is wonky and buggy and terrible.

So I created a Java command utility that uses a toc.txt file and other plain text files to build the Data.js file. So you just write your table of contents. It uses indenting to determine the tree structure, and it points to the topic file it will open. The toc spec becomes json in the Data.js file, and the topic files become the js array used by the help system to display them (Huge help systems are probably not gonna work - sorry MSDN).

Here is an example, where we have a home directory, a couple levels of child directories, then an Introduction node that would show that topic.

TOC:
Home
  Getting Started
    Introduction@@topics/general/intro.txt

Topic (in this case intro.txt):
This Is An Introduction

Welcome to our <strong>amazing</strong> help system!

Run the Java utility with the root directory (where the toc.txt is) and it's done. My js help system uses the Data.js as its data.

At Least Give Us A Choice

I'm a fan of minimalism. I like the console, I like little to no GUI. Just give me the basics. Keep it light and flexible. Give me the ability to customize my tools, or the apps I use every day. What I like is the polar opposite of the web. On the web everything is flashy and bloated with whatever trendy eyecandy is the 'it' thing. Not to mention all the ads and spam. Ugh some sites are utterly unusable due to the piles of junk heaped on top of their content.

And phone apps don't seem to be any better. It's pathetic that I can take a phone charged to 100% and in 15 minutes of Facebooking etc it's been drained to less than 80%. What a jerk thing to do. Why would you build something so bloated it tanks people's phones or other devices?

Man at least give us choices. Let us choose slimmed down versions. Let us customize your site or app. Instead of wasting time on the eyecandy you're going to abuse us with, think about performance and efficiency and our experience.

Man, just give us some options. Quit treating us like sheep and let us choose how we want to use your site or app. Or, I for one, will just stop using it.

Bunny Trail - Generative Adversarial Networks

In reading about AI generated photos I came across Generative Adversarial Networks. It is the idea of having a generative process that submits its results to a discriminative process that attempts to determine if it has received 'learning source' or generated output. Kind of an iterative test driven AI.

Let's start with an introduction:
Via Aylien
Via Cornell University

And of course:
Via Wikipedia

This led me to Adversarial Networks vs Adversarial Training:
Via Quora

Oh! And what's a Convolutional neural network?
Via Wikipedia

 These should keep me busy for a while!