http://markus.alyra.org/ dreamer, shaper, seeker, maker en Copyright 2010 Savanni D'Gerinel Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:44:16 GMT Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:44:16 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss TiddlyWiki 2.4.1 Hey, my journal has moved!<br><br>The URL for viewing the page remains the same:<br><br><blockquote><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/" href="http://markus.alyra.org/" class="externalLink">http://markus.alyra.org/</a><br></blockquote><br>The RSS feed address is now at<br><br><blockquote><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/feed/" href="http://markus.alyra.org/feed/" class="externalLink">http://markus.alyra.org/feed/</a><br></blockquote><br>And, in Livejournal, savannirss, which is where you are seeing this article, is no longer going to be updated. The new LJ feed is savanni_rss, which can be found at:<br><br><blockquote><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://syndicated.livejournal.com/savanni_rss/profile" href="http://syndicated.livejournal.com/savanni_rss/profile" class="externalLink">http://syndicated.livejournal.com/savanni_rss/profile</a><br></blockquote><br>I am going to try to get Livejournal to delete savannirss one day. Gryphynkit says that they do not track who creates RSS syndication feeds, so she cannot modify the existing one. Unfortunate, but oh well.<br> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2010%2F03%2F03%3A%20Moving!%5D%5D Wed, 03 Mar 2010 15:44:15 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>Two items of importance, really.<br><br>First, my cleanse ends on the 21st. On the 22nd I will want to celebrate. I have the celebration very clear in my head, and it is very simple.<br><br>I want to meet with anywhere from one to three other people and sit down to enjoy the most magnificent coffee I can find and the most magnificent bar of chocolate I know how to get. The chocolate is very clear to me, and it is something that I cannot finish even when my sweet tooth is in overdrive. The coffee will be either something at Dominican Joe's, or something I brew at home. Both can be pretty magnificent.<br><br>Email me if you are interested. I hope to see a few people.<br><br>Also, one of my friends sent out a link to <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://fiesta.lostechies.com/" href="http://fiesta.lostechies.com/" class="externalLink">a conference</a> that is going to get me out of my retreat early. I really need to network with some other programmers and maybe find a free software project or some such to join. Or just some other <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.haskell.org/" href="http://www.haskell.org/" class="externalLink">Haskell</a> programmers to work with. But I am now signed up for the conference and we shall see what I learn.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2010%2F02%2F12%3A%20More%20updates%5D%5D Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:00:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>So far tonight I have spent the evening browsing <a tiddlylink="OKCupid" refresh="link" target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/#OKCupid" href="http://markus.alyra.org/#OKCupid" class="externalLink null">OKCupid</a> and making both a lentil soup and a mashed turnip. The turnip did not turn out so well. I think I dislike turnips. The <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=30612.0" href="http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=30612.0" class="externalLink">lentil soup</a> was amazing, and was wonderful to have today.<br><br>The cleanse goes on. The lentil soup was something I promised myself I would have as soon as the cleanse allowed it. I also tried a mashed turnip and discovered that I do not particularly like turnips.<br><br>The cleanse has actually been very challenging, but I found a few things that helped significantly in the last few days. One was the addition of lentil soup tonight. Another was finally separating in my sense of taste a sweet potato from the mushed sweet potato <strong>STUFF</strong> that is served at family dinners. I chopped half a sweet potato into thin disks and fried them in a bit of olive oil with rosemary. OMG TASTY!!! And it sat in my stomach like a very heavy rock. As Guen pointed out to me, I've spent nine days eating lots of foods that were mostly water. Gotta treat potatoes a bit differently.<br><br>I am continuing to process. I know that I need to make a quick grocery run tonight, and a more significant one tomorrow, and I shall continue to process about that. I have quite a lot to work on, too. The stuff around romance is starting to congeal, finally. I also finished a book on Alchemy, and I am shocked at how much of it resonated. I am convinced that a lot of the information in here dovetails rather nicely with the work in <strong>Angel Tech</strong>.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#2010%2F02%2F11 Fri, 12 Feb 2010 04:30:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>I have successfully resisted the donuts in the break room this morning.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#2010%2F02%2F03 Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:40:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br><br>First, the feline.<br><br>Mr. Washburn, though skittish, has started exploring the storm drains. Or maybe he just hangs out in the storm drain right outside of my house. Either way, he went down there Sunday during the day and refused to come back out. Through a very stressful Sunday evening and Monday evening, I tried various techniques to coax him out. I could get him to come out for catnip and for food, but even the slightest approach from me caused him to run right back down into the storm drain. I was truly fearing that he had gone feral.<br><br>Then, this morning he comes to the back door and starts meowing at around 6:30. I'm sleeping downstairs against this possibility, so I let him in. He ate a bit, then meowed quite a lot, then fell silent. I should have been suspicious, but instead I had gone back to sleep. Later, I got up and found a trail of small dried leaves in my kitchen. In my workroom, I found Washburn lying, quite happily, in the midst of the scattered full contents of a bag of catnip that I had left on my desk.<br><br>Well, that explains the silence.<br><br><h1> Cleanse</h1><br>As part of my retreat, I have gone on a food cleanse. This is the Standard Process 21-day cleanse. I am in relatively good health, so I am hoping that 21 days on this will help purge some excess toxins that I have picked up over my life, help out with the little roll of fat around my belly that I cannot explain and rather dislike, reduce some of the unexplained weight gain from the last year, and instill in me some better eating habits.<br><br>Interestingly, former co-worker and his wife just finished the cleanse last Saturday, for the third time. Apparently the results they get from it are pretty incredible, so they redo it every six months or so. They also warned me about some really negative reactions (headaches, nausea) that can happen in the first few days, but so far I have experienced only mild headaches. And that was at the end of the first day.<br><br>So far, the primary result has been Fresh Food Overdose. Geez... However, last night I made a decent soup out of a tomato, a stick of celery, salt, pepper, cumin, and garam masala. The garam masala probably was the wrong flavor. Tonight I took my chickpeas in ginger sauce recipe and stripped out the chickpeas to make it compliant with the cleanse. It was quite tasty, but quite sweet, as well. A little unexpected. But, I have leftovers for tomorrow evening, so no need to spend hours in the kitchen then. Technically, I am supposed to be eating only fresh food or very lightly cooked food, and I am doing a good job of that, but it is damned cold and I want something savory.<br><br>There is a protein shake that I am supposed to drink 2 - 3 times per day. Actually, it's make a shake out of fresh fruits and vegetables, add the protein powder to it. Until day 11 (which will be February 11th), I have almost no other protein source. Yes, I could get protein from avocado, but I rather despise avocado. Anyway, the protein powder adds a rather undesireable flavor, but I figured out tonight that what I find most disgusting is the thick foam that forms as part of running the blender. So tomorrow I'm going to try just fresh juices, no or minimal blending, and see what happens.<br><br>I seem to be craving fat now, because even the microwaved breaded fish dinner that somebody did for lunch smelled really, really, really, really good. Of course, if I am craving fat then that means I am probably also metabolizing my stores.<br><br><h1> Romance (and gender)</h1><br>This is actually something I wrote in an email last week to several people. I am reposting it here largely unchanged, but it is a matter for me to process. Several days after this email I attended a workshop on Romantic Theatre and I have notes that need processing, and then they need to be integrated into the stuff here.<br><br><blockquote>I plan to attend on Saturday a workshop on romance in what sounds to me like a highly ritualized form that derives from highly spiritual traditions. On the other hand, it also sounds like it originates from those spiritual traditions that strongly emphasize the masculine/feminine split in a very heteronormative, two-gendered way.<br><br>I plan to attend in part to prove to myself that I rebel against the two-gender system with my eyes open and that my rebellion has not yet blinded me. I also hope to learn something valuable, but I fear that I may have difficulty assimilating it.<br><br>I have met the teacher several times. Interestingly, I suspect that I may ultimately be a lot like him in about twenty years. I see a lot in him that feels really familiar.<br><br>A few days ago, Crow described to me a "date" that this guy recently conducted with a friend he has known for a great many years. Second-hand description, and I shall elide almost all of the details. She described an event in which he took his friend out to a nice restaurant and conducted the entire date, setting the stage, ensuring the wait staff stayed out of the way, and generally everything that goes into a perfectly masterfully orchestrated romantic evening.<br><br>Okay, all well and good, except that I perceive a great act, one that the man must carry out and that the woman gets to judge.<br><br>I may be over perceiving the gender split. I do not think so, but I may be.<br><br>Maybe sometimes it is not?<br><br>I once had no problems figuring out what was expected of me for a romantic evening. But, I also have to say that it always felt both forced and fake when I did it. Now it feels even worse. I try on occasion, but I feel a constant pressure to "perform" when I do try it, and I do not enjoy that. The best I get is dressing nicely and taking somebody to Casa de Luz, which is not a fancy restaurant, where there are no attendants to take care of every little thing, the environment is comfortable, and where I do not feel that every action I take is being judged. Or maybe I take someone who is judging me and I just fail to care.<br><br>Obviously, all of this stuff eats at me. Several contradictory identifiable ideas feed this confusion, but I do not yet know which ones are true...<br><br><ul><li> I may discover that the gender split is real and that I cannot possibly be an androgyne</li><li> If I'm a man I will always be the one expected to perform flawlessly</li><li> Why am I still in circumstances where this is important enough to throw me into this much conflict</li><li> Why is it that when spiritualists talk about "meeting" women (not initial meeting, but relating on the same level), it sounds more to me like "worshipping"?</li><li> ???</li></ul><br>There's a lot more here, but I have kinda run out of words. Clearly I am experiencing a lot of turmoil about all of this...<br></blockquote><br>When (if) I get some resolution, I will post more here.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Spirituality Felines http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2010%2F02%2F02%3A%20Romance%2C%20Cleanse%2C%20and%20Felines%5D%5D Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:19:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>Just so you all know, I will be spending the entire month of February in retreat. This will make me highly inaccessible to just about everyone until I emerge in the beginning of March.<br><br>On the other hand, I may be posting more here. Not that I usually post much of consequence, or that there is really any one reading it.<br><br>I hope to emerge with two things....<br><br><ol><li> A reasonable map of my spirituality</li><li> A couple small but useful pieces of code</li></ol><br>The pieces of code are largely optional, though there is one that I really want to have written as part of a super-secret project. I really want a reasonable map of my spirituality and a bunch of new habits around it and around my overall health.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2010%2F01%2F21%3A%20Retreat%5D%5D Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:00:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>And I managed the ride to work. A stiff headwind slowed my progress considerably. Except for my hands, I managed to dress just right to be comfortable for almost the entire trip. I will attempt to buy some thicker gloves on the way home.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Cycling http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F12%2F09%3A%20Freezing%20but%20dry%5D%5D Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:28:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>Friday night, I went to a party. It was a going away party for a former lover and her boyfriend as they move out to the west coast. They are probably half-way there by now. The party was close to my house, so in my excitement over the new bike, I cycled there. Not quit five miles, but the route is dark with very little traffic and I was totally surrounded by trees for much of it.<br><br>At about 1:30 in the morning I got a text message letting me know that my lovers from Dallas were about fourty miles out, so I said my goodbyes, jumped on my bike, and started the trek home. Understand that with my bike, I am now in a position where I can Truly See the sky. I'm used to being hunched forward and unable to see all that much... now I get to sit back.<br><br>So, on the trip home, I turned north onto a very dark road entering my subdivision, and in the midst of the darkness got to see a brilliant meteor come down. It was very bright, had a beautiful green tinge to it, and lasted a good two seconds. Maybe as long as three. This was around two on Saturday morning.<br><br>This is the second meteor of true beauty that I have ever seen, and is the kind of thing that really stands out in my memory forever. And there is something about cool weather that makes the skies even more distinctive in my mind.<br><br>I have worn a tektite since 2001. I did not know about the energetic influences such a stone exerts until 2008, but even before that I liked wearing a stone that was so closely associated with space and with falling stars.<br><br>Incidentally, here are some <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/images/2009_11_Bike/" href="http://markus.alyra.org/images/2009_11_Bike/" class="externalLink">pictures of my new bike</a>. I will get pictures of me on it soon.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Cycling Skies http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F11%2F17%3A%20Magical%20bike%20moments%5D%5D Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:27:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br><br>Total crash on the programming language front. I thought Clojure was pretty darn cool, but I was really uncomfortable wandering around in yet another "dynamically typed" language. Read "dynamically typed" as "duck typed" or "run time typing".<br><br>I just spent multiple hours today tracking down a type error. It amounted to me passing a number in a very complex data structure where a string was required. I ultimately figured it out by printing out the value of the field that was causing the exception five modules deep. That is just not how to write world class code.<br><br>In my opinion, type errors should be found at compile time. Always. Never at run time. A language that waits until run time to find type errors is broken.<br><br>So, my choices are C, Java, Haskell, and Ocaml. Here's my analysis of the problems of each...<br><br><ul><li> C <span>—</span> uber-primitive. Polymorphism amounts to void *</li><li> Java <span>—</span> carpal tunnel</li><li> Haskell <span>—</span> advanced monad issues in big applications, and a lack of library support, and the parser library is dog slow</li><li> Ocaml <span>—</span> screwed syntax</li></ul><br>However, of the four, Haskell and Ocaml are the two that I am really thinking of the most. I have to decide on one of them. I think I can get over the advanced monad issues, but I am not sure how to deal with lack of support libraries in Haskell other than to hope that other programmers decide to write stuff.<br><br><strong>sigh</strong><br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F11%2F12%3A%20Programming%20language%20exploration%20crash%5D%5D Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:54:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>One of the things that I do when I am exploring a new language is to code up a limited model of some common game that I rather enjoy. Normally I hack out a calculator for Civilization Advances. This time, because I had just bought Chrononauts, I decided to model the Chrononauts timeline in Clojure.<br><br><h1> Clojure</h1><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://clojure.org/" href="http://clojure.org/" class="externalLink">Clojure</a> is a young language in the Lisp family. It compiles code into Java bytecode, essentially runs in a Java interpreter, and has full access to the whole Java library. In Java, there is a library for <strong>everything</strong>.<br><br>I will leave the sales pitch to the website, but I am liking it so far. I am slightly uncomfortable with the lack of static typing, even as an option, and I am quite tweaked at how Java exceptions (which are plentiful) get printout without a stack trace. There may be something in the system that I am forgetting.<br><br>In short, though, you only need three things to execute my code. First, is a java interpreter and a shell to run it in. Mac and Linux users will have no problems, Windows users are pretty much going to have to read the Clojure website to figure things out. Second, you need <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://code.google.com/p/clojure/downloads/list" href="http://code.google.com/p/clojure/downloads/list" class="externalLink">clojure.jar</a>. I recommend the 1.0.0 release. Third, you will need chrononauts.clj and the instructions below. Keep reading for that.<br><br><h1> Chrononauts</h1><br>Chrononauts is a game created by <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.looneylabs.com/" href="http://www.looneylabs.com/" class="externalLink">Looney Labs</a> in which the players are time travellers. Looney Labs owns the copyright for Chrononauts. Further, they own the any copyright which applies to the Linchpin, Ripplepoint, and Patch descriptions that I put into this file. It is a very good game. I recommend you buy it:<br><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Chrononauts/Default.html" href="http://wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Chrononauts/Default.html" class="externalLink">http://wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Chrononauts/Default.html</a><br><br>There are several ways to win the game, but the only way that is relevant for this module is in the "return home" scenario. In order to return home, a player must set the timeline in such a way that his hometime is extant. For instance, one of the characters in the game is named Werner, and his home time exists when these conditions are true:<br><br><ul><li> 1939': Fairgoers Love German Cake</li><li> 1974': President King Takes Office</li><li> 1991: Soviet Union Collapses</li></ul><br>Now, *our* timeline, or normal time, would be:<br><br><ul><li> 1939: Germany Invades Poland</li><li> 1974: Nixon Resigns</li><li> 1991: Soviet Union Collapses</li></ul><br>What happened here? Well, the mechanics will be explained further down. Somebody flipped 1936 causing Hitler to be assassinated at the opening to the 1936 Olympics, flipped 1865 causing Lincoln to survive his assassination, flipped 1963 causing Kennedy to survive his assassination, then patched 1939 and 1974 into the new timeline. How? Read more and enjoy!<br><br>The timeline consists of Linchpins and Ripplepoints. A Linchpin is a point in time that a time traveller can directly change. A Ripplepoint cannot be directly changed but changes in response to a Linchpin. So, "1980: John Lennon Murdered" is a Linchpin. If flipped to "1980': John Lennon Nearly Killed", "1999: Columbine High School Massacre" will be paradoxed.<br><br>Ripplepoints will go into Paradox when their causes have been changed. Once a ripplepoint has been Paradoxed, they may then be Patched. Patching amounts to inserting a new reality which is consistent with the terms of Linchpin that was the cause of the reality. So...<br><br>Once "1999: Columbine High School Massacre" has been paradoxed, it may be patched with the card "1999': Guns Banned" The 1999' card has some extra flavor text to explain what happened: "Senator Lennon's campaign to outlaw guns results in passage of Amendment XXIX, which repeals the 2nd Amendment".<br><br><h1> chrononauts.clj</h1><br>So, that is how the game and the timeline work. Now for how to use the module.<br><br>This module defines events, initial-timeline, and patches. events is simply a dictionary of the events in the game. initial-timeline is a dictionary of the events in sorted order and with the current state of teh event. patches is simply a dictionary of the patches for the game.<br><br>timeline is a mutable reference storing the current state of the timeline. s-flip and s-patch are the methods that flip Linchpins and patch Ripplepoints, respectively. Finally, tl-print will print the entire timeline as it currently appears. Use the functions as so:<br><br><pre>(s-flip 1865 *linchpin-states* *patch-states*) (s-patch "1868'" *linchpin-states* *patch-states*) (tl-print *timeline* @*linchpin-states* @*patch-states*) (tl-print *timeline* *initial-linchpin-states* *initial-patch-states*) </pre><br>Note that tl-print is not designed to take a reference. There is nothing stateful about it, so dereference the timeline, first.<br><br>Anyway, find the code here:<br><a target="_blank" title="External link to src/lisp/chrononauts.clj" href="src/lisp/chrononauts.clj" class="externalLink">chrononauts.clj</a><br><br>Load it up in clojure with...<br><br><pre>java -cp clojure.jar clojure.lang.Repl (use 'chrononauts) </pre><br>Then start running the commands above. Have fun!<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Programming Games http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F10%2F29%3A%20Clojure%20and%20Chrononauts%5D%5D Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:40:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>But, perhaps they should be documented.<br><br>So, there is a lot of information out there about syncing an iPhone with Linux, but it turns out that all of it is either limited or obsolete or both. So, here is the solution I found for iPhone OS 3.0.<br><br>First of all, I probably have to keep iTunes on my Windows machine around just to be able to save my applications and application data. This synchronization method covers my calendar, my contact list, and my music, which is really my day-to-day concern.<br><br><h1> Calendaring and Contacts</h1>In order to do calendar and contact list, you have two options (with some suboptions):<br><br><ul><li> <a tiddlylink="MobileMe" refresh="link" target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/#MobileMe" href="http://markus.alyra.org/#MobileMe" class="externalLink null">MobileMe</a></li><li> Microsoft Exchange</li></ul><br><a tiddlylink="MobileMe" refresh="link" target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/#MobileMe" href="http://markus.alyra.org/#MobileMe" class="externalLink null">MobileMe</a> is a $99/year service provided by Apple. On the desktop side, it seems to be entirely a browser-based service. Maybe there is a way to get that data into native applications, but I did not research this route.<br><br>Instead, I went the Microsoft Exchange route. And the secret here...<br><br>My "Microsoft Exchange" server is Google. Yes. Google.<br><br>Start out with <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=138740" href="http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=138740" class="externalLink">Calendar and Contacts Sync</a>. That one tells you how to set up the synchronization between the phone and with Google. It also tells you how to get your *contacts* uploaded to Google.<br><br>It might tell you how to get your calendar uploaded, but I had to go the hard way. I do not have any calendaring application on my Windows machine, and my old Mac could not sync with Google. (Apparently Google sync is a feature of OS 10.5, not a feature of iTunes 8.x).<br><br>Anyway, my procedure was this:<br><br><ul><li> Use iTunes to upload my contact list to Google.</li><li> Manually enter my calendar in Google calendar.</li><li> Get my iPhone to sync with Google.</li></ul> * When I enable Google sync, tell it to delete the data from my iPhone.<br><br>That last step there ensures that *all* of the data I have is totally synced with Google. No local files. And that finishes off the iPhone side of things. The synchronization is totally automatic.<br><br>After that, there is the Linux side.<br><br>If you are running Thunderbird, I can help. Get the Google Contacts plugin. Configure the plugin, entering your Google login. Then tell it how many contacts to download. I told it to download 500, but I have only around 250 contacts. All of these contacts go into a new address book locally. After that, I deleted my Personal Address Book (I had no new data there). In the Thunderbird Preferences I told it to use local address books, and then I told it to put all new outgoing email addresses into my Google address book.<br><br>That has been handled. *whew*.<br><br>I started running Sunbird to keep track of my calendar, and it has a Google Calendar plugin. After starting Sunbird and getting the plugin, I went to my Google calendar in my browser. Once on the calendar page, find the list of calendars and click on "Settings". Find the calendar that you want in Sunbird, and click on its name. Then scroll down until you see the subscribe options. Those options pop up a URL that you can enter into Sunbird when you add a New Calendar.<br><br><h1> Music</h1><br>(never completed...)<br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F07%2F24%3A%20iPhone%20%2B%20Linux%20%3D%20Weird%20contortions%5D%5D Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:09:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>Cycling season is well upon us.<br><br>What does it mean when 18mph no longer feels like bat-outa-hell-fast? It means I have to work harder to get the same rush.<br><br>I attached toe holds onto my pedals today. Distinct from clips in that clips are special pedals requiring special shoes. These are sorta handles that go over the shoe. Muscles that I never knew existing are now very unhappy with me.<br><br>Last night at Trudy's, I saw a drool-worthy recumbent. The wheel base on an ordinary bike, pedals out in front of the front tire. An adjustable tube to move the pedals into the ideal position. Lights that were wired into in-hub dynamos. A comfy-looking seat, though leaned too far back for my taste. Oh, yeah...<br><br>I've got the recumbent bug again.<br><br><hr>In other news, properly done, one hard drive yields two magnets. Given the right tools, it can also yield six platters that can be glued together for an object with non-trivial rotational inertia. The magnets are attached to my bike for safe transport home.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br> journal Cycling http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F06%2F10%3A%20Cycling%20season%20and%20mad%20scientisty%20work%5D%5D Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:21:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>So, if you are trying to avoid excuses for buying an iPhone (you know who you are)...<br><br><strong>Stop Reading Now. Move On. Just hit the close button on this entry.</strong><br><br>Last night I discovered an iPhone/Touch app that turns the phone into an ocarina, along with a very active community that works on sequencing music into "ocarina notation".<br><br>I proceeded to spend four hours browsing and playing. They have "Still Alive", "Hoist the Colors", "The Inner Light", and many other songs.<br><br>...<br><br>Yeah.<br><br>On the other hand, I think the program has some fingering that a real ocarina does not. I am pretty sure that "all holes covered" is the lowest note an ocarina can play, but certain patterns in the program play lower notes. I will experiment, on a real ocarina, tonight.<br><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://ocarina.smule.com/" href="http://ocarina.smule.com/" class="externalLink">http://ocarina.smule.com/</a><br><br>Yes. In the upper right corner is a Youtube video of one guitarist and four people with iPhones playing "Stairway to Heaven".<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br> journal Music http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F03%2F26%3A%20Something%20totally%20delightful%5D%5D Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:54:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>Detritus on the internet is something that leaves me really uncomfortable.<br><br>Specifically, user accounts. Like... how many do I have?<br><br>Not even counting various e-commerce websites I have ordered from (which require that I create an account... WHY???), I have...<br><br><ul><li> One personal website</li><li> 2 email accounts (one for each of my identities)</li><li> 2 active AIM accounts, and one ancient one whose password I forgot ten years ago</li><li> 1 MSN account</li><li> 2 Yahoo accounts (one for each of my identities)</li><li> Jabber.org</li><li> 1 active Okcupid account, one probably permanently disabled but not deleted</li><li> Livejournal</li><li> Polymatchmaker</li><li> Gaia</li><li> Gaia Soulmates</li><li> <a tiddlylink="LinkedIn" refresh="link" target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/#LinkedIn" href="http://markus.alyra.org/#LinkedIn" class="externalLink null">LinkedIn</a></li></ul><br>Bloody hell...<br><br>Is it any wonder that I resist joining new systems??? I have to keep track of all of these things. Then I have to decide how to let new people contact me.<br><br>And no, the latest and greatest thing does not interest me as more than a curiosity. It is usually crap. It is usually designed to harvest my information, own everything that I send through it, and refuse to work with any other part of the internet out there. The worst part is that lots and lots of people join it, then try to get me to join it, and thus validate the business practice of Not Playing Nicely on the internet.<br><br>Many years ago, I wanted to get everyone moved over to Jabber (or XMPP, as the protocol is known by). Turns out that Google is doing that by creating <a tiddlylink="GTalk" refresh="link" target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/#GTalk" href="http://markus.alyra.org/#GTalk" class="externalLink null">GTalk</a>, which speaks XMPP and thus runs on the global Jabber network.<br><br>I get the feeling that one day, some section of the internet is going to really collapse under the weight of all of this historical detritus that NEVER EVER gets deleted.<br><br>In my ideal world, that list above would look like this:<br><br><ul><li> One personal website. Maybe a professional website. Maybe a clear delineation between what is professional and what is personal. Maybe a refusal to live in a culture that requires such a delineation.</li><li> 2 email accounts (one for each of my identities... unless I end one of those identities)</li><li> 1 little script that shows whether I am currently available for chatting.</li></ul><br>Note what is absent.<br><br>No social networking websites. No IM systems. Not that I disapprove of social networking or IM, I just want it done in a particular way.<br><br>IM: contact me by email. Make it okay to, in the morning, post "good morning" to a social mailing list.<br><br>Social Networking: all of my data is on my website in both visual and microformat form. You have a program that crawls the web looking for this stuff. The program works very well because there is a standard format for posting my personal information, and then designating what is part of my dating profile and what is part of my professional profile. It actually happens that the formats already exist, but there are few programs that read them. So far. Oh yes. So far.<br><br>The crazy thing about standards: you code to the standard. So did everyone else. Everything Just Works because we're all speaking the same language. Wow. Whoda thunk it?<br><br><h1> Notice</h1>I guess... do not be too surprised if, when I go to decluttering my internet experience, I drop a lot of those above accounts, starting with many of the IM accounts.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br> journal Internet http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F03%2F19%3A%20Internet%20Detritus%5D%5D Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:54:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>WNYC's Radiolab has an episode with Zoe Keating (apparently of Rasputina), who is showing off playing Cello with a computer recording and replaying her work on the fly.<br><br>The episode is here: <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2008/08/25/quantum-cello/" href="http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2008/08/25/quantum-cello/" class="externalLink">http://blogs.wnyc.org/radiolab/2008/08/25/quantum-cello/</a>. I strongly recommend the section from about 5 minutes in until she stops playing... maybe 12 minutes into the episode. It is... *magnificent*.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F03%2F17%3A%20Quantum%20Cello%5D%5D Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:53:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>On Friday, March 6th, I will be testing for Nikyu (2nd-degree white belt) in Aikido. What this means is that I have been training for six years and plan on putting on a good show. I invite all of my friends and family to attend this event, and I would love to have a lot of support.<br><br>The test will happen in the ballroom at the <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/hancock.htm" href="http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/hancock.htm" class="externalLink">Hancock Recreation Center</a>, from 6pm - 7:30pm. If you arrive late, please slip in quietly through one of the side doors.<br><br>There will then be thirty minutes of general socializing while the instructors decide and then announce my fate, followed by either a celebration party or a condolences party.<br><br>And go to the <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.stillpointaikido.com/" href="http://www.stillpointaikido.com/" class="externalLink">Still Point Aikido Center website</a> for more information on what we are about.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br> journal Aikido http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F03%2F02%3A%20Aikido%5D%5D Thu, 26 Mar 2009 20:53:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.austingenderweird.info/" href="http://www.austingenderweird.info/" class="externalLink">http://www.austingenderweird.info/</a><br><br>A new community website started by Yours Truly!<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Gender http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F02%2F17%3A%20Austin%20Gender%20Weird%5D%5D Mon, 16 Feb 2009 19:09:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>This is a short book, around 160 pages long, by Andy Looney of <a target="_blank" title="External link to http://www.looneylabs.com/" href="http://www.looneylabs.com/" class="externalLink">Looney Labs</a>. The book's claim to fame is that it is the book which birthed the idea of Icehouse pieces and the game Icehouse, a product line at Looney Labs.<br><br>The book is relatively short, very whimsical, quite fun, but otherwise unimportant. Mind candy, which made it a good book to read in between the other heavier books that I am reading at the moment.<br><br>So, I recommend it for fun. Ask me if you want to borrow my copy.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Book Reviews http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F02%2F12%3A%20The%20Empty%20City%5D%5D Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:44:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>I recently spent some time thinking about ki and its uses. I find that categorizing things makes them easier to understand, even as categorization creates divisions that may separate me from unity. Then again, if I can understand nothing, reaching a unification of consciousness with anything is significantly harder.<br><br>I had originally intended for this to be one massive article with lots of information. Turns out, that was a bit much and I keep being delayed as I think about what to write. So, here is the first in a series.<br><br>To summarize, here are ways in which I know that ki can be used:<br><br><ul><li> Healing</li><li> Pleasure</li><li> Communion</li><li> Protection and Attack</li><li> Changing narrative</li><li> Self-transformation</li><li> Teaching</li></ul><br>I want to explore all of these things. They all fascinate me. They all seem to be a good use of my time and attention. These pages are mostly to spread my understanding so that other people who may share my understanding will more easily find me. I invite dialogue here, and I would definitely like people with whom to practice.<br><br><a tiddlylink="2009/01/22: Big changes" refresh="link" target="_blank" title="External link to http://markus.alyra.org/#2009/01/22: Big changes" href="http://markus.alyra.org/#2009/01/22:%20Big%20changes" class="externalLink null">Read this article to understand how I use the word "ki"</a><br><br><h1> Healing</h1>This one is, in some ways, familiar. Most everyone has encountered stories of prayer or positive thinking or meditation being a useful cure for various ailments. Many people have encountered Reiki as another means. It all amounts to the same thing. Setting an intention and then directing ki towards meeting that intention. The difference is in the focus, how the intention is set and how ki is directed to operate. In prayer, the intention is usually set by invoking at least one and possibly multiple deities. In Reiki it is set by creating a meditative space and asking that ki flow into that space to heal whatever problems are present.<br><br>The idea is the same. It is to ask that the universal healing power be sent to a recipient for a particular purpose, whether that power comes from a deity or is an intrinsic part of the cosmos.<br><br>The general effect, though, is to balance the ki intrinsic to the person being healed.<br><br>An effective theory of illness is that illness occurs when the body's ki is out of balance, or if the body's flow is disrupted. This disruption might happen from a variety of causes. Viruses and bacteria are one set of possible causes. My implication is that they do not directly cause the illness, but that they attack the body and throw it off balance, or focus the entire will of the person on destroying an unwelcome invader. Following this theory, bringing healing in helps to re-balance or strengthen the body's ki, which aids in either destroying or making a truce with any parasitic invaders.<br><br>Another cause of imbalance is stress. This one is more subtle because stress starts affecting cognition before the body starts breaking down. At a small level of stress, I start to feel pressured in a particular direction. If the stress becomes too great, I feel out of balance. I cannot focus my thoughts, I cannot escape from the encroaching time. I feel physically crushed and have no support to help. This is the point at which my ki field is so out of balance that it will have to be healed before the rest of me can be healed. If this state goes on long enough, there is nothing left to support the body, and I believe that without this life-based energy, the body just slowly loses the will to live.<br><br>When applying ki in this manner, intention is vital. What we want is less important than the will with which we shape our world. Touch someone with ki on a trigger point, particularly the chakras or the meridians, and your intention to heal or to harm will take form. The exception is with Reiki which is apparently shaped by the will of the cosmos and the recipient, not by the channell. That apparently cannot be used to harm.<br><br>I have heard stories of amazing things happening through a highly knowledgeable application of ki. I have heard of one man who attacked a doctor of internal medicine, specializing in meridian work. The attacker later wake up in the hospital with complete internal organ failure and no explainable cause. He and the hospital had to hire the same doctor to come in and undo the damage.<br><br>I have heard of dislocated joints being healed immediately in a healing circle.<br><br>I have heard of a cancerous tumor being destroyed with a direct (and possibly a bit... brutal) application of ki.<br><br>I do not know how far this practice can be carried. Maybe it can be carried all the way to the point of curing any disease or mental illness present. Maybe... there are risks that I am unwilling to run, even with a tool like this possibly available. Maybe that holds me back from fully realizing what this skill can provide. Or maybe it keeps me from reaching beyond what I am ready to handle.<br><br><h1> Information gathering</h1>My ideas on gathering information is, at best, vague.<br><br>My only experience has been in trying to sense ki flows in another person, particular to find the boundaries of eir aura or to look for chakras that want attention.<br><br>In theory, this is also what is happening in divination. Communicating with my higher self or with my guides also involves ki flow, but I do not perceive the flow directly. The same applies to astrology. My guess is that when I enter a more receptive state, I will notice such flows more readily.<br><br>In the most dramatic example of this, I have heard of a Buddhist monk who sat silently holding a woman's hands for an hour. He just silently listened to her, and she silently lay there. He then walked into another room and told her doctors exactly the same diagnosis they had already made but kept secret.<br><br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Ki Energy Work http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F01%2F28%3A%20Ki%20--%20healing%20and%20information%20gathering%5D%5D Wed, 28 Jan 2009 17:13:00 GMT <span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span><br>This entry is temporarily gone. I said some things in it that were hurtful, and so I want to revise the entry to remove such topics.<br><br>But for now, I want to sleep.<br><span tiddler="JournalNavigation" refresh="content"><hr><br><a target="_blank" title="External link to mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" href="mailto:savanni@alyra.org?subject=title" class="externalLink">Feedback</a><br><hr></span> journal Relationships Spirituality Transformation Ki http://markus.alyra.org/#%5B%5B2009%2F01%2F22%3A%20Big%20changes%5D%5D Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:05:00 GMT