Kevin McGuire

I use the Google Reader RSS reader. Its a great reader, easy to use and clearly presented. Its awesome that if you read from several different machines it keeps track of what you’ve read.  Of course, its Google!. I read a few feeds (not as many as Mcq, wow, he’s a pro) so a reader is a nice way to keep up with the changes. Much more sensible than going to a site just to see if anything has changed.

When you use a reader though, you lose so much of the formatting of the post. Its like, “all that matters is the text content”. OK you get the pictures too (generally, but not always), but what you lose is the art of the site. I spent a lot of time choosing a template for my blog site, which like many of you acts also as my home page, and further time tweaking it. For example, I widened it a little so the posts would sit with nicer proportions and accommodate a larger picture easily. And I did some novice CSS hacking so all the posts were automatically fully justified. I like the look of my site and appreciate the look of others’.

Funny, when I first starting learning about RSS and readers, I assumed they’d just inform you of a new post but that you’d always go the site to read, or that somehow the site would be embedded in your reader.

Well I guess its the same as using a book reader for a PDA vs. the actual book. Me, I like the tactile nature of books, the smell and weight of the paper, the way you can flip to find where you last left off because the binding naturally tells you. I like magazines so you can sit in a comfy chair or in the tub. I’ve tried reading from a laptop in the tub but its uncomfortable, and despite the fact it was on batteries, Patti thought it just looked dangerous (at least for the laptop!). I marvel at font choices. I love the art of presentation.

The substance must be there too, but must we throw away the aesthetic connection for convenience?

I’m always interested in different approaches to ergonomics, especially for sitting at a computer, which I do too much of and which is mean to my body. The “normal” task seating position just isn’t normal at all, resulting in forward head carriage (as you get tired especially), poor circulation, and for me certainly, adaptive shortening of the muscles because my legs are usually bent.

Current research has focused on so called “open postures” which increase the angle between the torso and the hips. This increases circulation because the body is in a more natural position. Another approach gaining popularity is one which provides the ability to move, also known as “sit to stand” seating. The notion is that the body is not meant to be stationary for long; its evolved to be constantly in motion. Extended time in the same posture tires the same muscles, inducing poor postural habits. Because those muscles tire out, circulation is reduced, inflammation starts, and “adhesions” set into the soft tissue as your body attempts to compensate and protect. This is what leads to RSI. By moving around more, you distribute the load to different muscles, in addition to helping circulation through movement and shifting of pressure points.

I’ve always figured that something approaching a dentist’s chair (minus the drilling) would be the most comfortable for long periods. But hey check this out, its pretty close!

I’ve seen a version of this notion before but it was klunkier and didn’t have casters so you could move the whole rig. That’s gotta be exciting! Of course, you’ll either need the funky keyboard+monitor tray shown, or a “sit to stand” desk.

Another more stylish approach is a chair that offers continuous movement, like the Freedom chair. The notion is that its balanced, no springs to tighten or buttons to lock in place, so as you move it reclines and opens up naturally to match you. It has a nice look (the more observant may have spied it in the President’s “situation room” in Season 2 of 24). I tried one of these for a few days some time ago and while I very much appreciated the design intent, I found the back to be a bit too hard shelled, but more importantly, the design just didn’t work for computers because as you recline you need the computer monitor and keyboard/mouse to go with you!

To me, the ultimate version of the Freedom chair is one which acts as an exoskeleton with secondary muscular support; moving with you but helping you fight gravity. I may try to sketch something out sometime.

Eclipse bookmarks have always been one of those things that seemed in theory to be useful but in practice are pretty well ignored. Does anybody actually use them? I’ve been learning a new area of code with the aim of making a few strategic changes. Inherent in this task is the need to identify a few key classes and methods, which you invariably end up referring back to over and over. Bookmarks seem the obvious mechanism.

I have to wonder if the lack of use of Eclipse bookmarks comes down to the simple fact that the bookmark view by default appears in the bottom area where the Problems view, Console, etc. go. First off, it gets buried behind other views. But more-so if I think about navigational workflow in Eclipse, it really aught to be top left, with the Package Explorer or Navigator, since that’s where I initiate browsing from.

I’ve found this simple change of layout to suddenly make them quite useful! You’ll note I’ve hidden all the stuff you usually don’t care about, like the resource name, line number, etc. The description strings are all I need to remember which ones I care about. The only annoyance is that clicking on the description puts it into edit mode whereas I am relying on that to trigger the editor change, so must learn to click on the far left empty space before the description string.

When art has passion behind it, one cannot help but be moved by it in some way. Today I want to celebrate three artistic endeavours:

1. Gustavo Dudamel, Conductor

On January 31 we enjoyed a most amazing concert conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, a young (24!) Venezuelan conductor. I’ve always loved Barber’s Adagio for Strings, which you are likely to recognize, a particularly memorable use being in the movie “Platoon”. This had to be the most sensitive treatment I’ve ever heard, with the conductor almost caressing the piece tenderly. The sophistication was surprising given his relatively young age as a conductor. The orchestra played with a quiet passion which I’ve never quite heard from them before.

2. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique

Patti introduced me to this, her favorite orchestral piece. Berlioz wrote it to demonstrate to an unrequited love just how deeply passionately he felt for her. Appropriately, it was scheduled for Valentine’s day. And what a performance it was! Of particular note is the last movement, where the violinists were literally jumping right out of their seats. The orchestra must’ve been exhausted by the end. I left the performance completely excited by the magnitude of what they were able to convey.

I should mention that the performance that same evening of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini by pianist Jon Kimura Parker was also exceptional.

3. General Fuzz

Thought I was going to list another classic piece didn’t ya? Ah, there’s so much wonderful kinds of music in the world.

I can’t remember how I came across this guy, and I’ll admit that I was drawn in by the lovely flash animation header on his site. It is really quite excellent, highly listenable and enjoyable electronic music. It happened to come up on shuffle in my office while someone was talking to me and they remarked, “That’s some very nice grooving music you’ve got going there”, without knowing it wasn’t some expensively produced pro album.

His music is free to download and listen to. I encourage you to check him out. He has a “real” job that allows him to write music just for the pleasure of making and sharing it. I’ve included him in this post because, to make such great music and give it away, with no expectation of anything in return, is surely an act of passion for art. And if a bit of recognition fuels his efforts, then I want to encourage that! He says he’s “on the cusp of releasing” his fourth album, so watch his site or join his mail list.

I had to bring my car into the shop for a recall on the software. Cars have become such complex pieces of technology, and mine in particular (BMW330i) has tons. Unfortunately that did not go smoothly and I have a rental for a few days.

My rental is a little Toyota of some kind. One thing I discovered driving the rental is just how much driving stability my car’s been providing for me. It has all this sophisticated stability control that I’ve grown to take for granted. Every once in awhile a little yellow light on the dash would come on to tell me, “Hi, just giving you a hand here!”. I discovered just how much its been doing as I took the off ramp from the Queensway, in the same way I always would, and the rental started sliding. Luckily I was able to correct and regain control, but it was scary for a few seconds there. In two winters with my BMW, I’ve never had a single moment like that.

I’ve always though it was good that the little yellow light came on because otherwise you can’t tell, it does such a good job. Sooner than you think you’ll hit the critical point where the physics suddenly changes and the car can no longer help. With such great technology we lose the cues to predict proximity to that critical point. I guess its our nature to always run the system as close to the edge as we can, yet we don’t have good intuition to where that is.

Like my suggestion for mandatory accidents for tailgaters: that’d teach you at a brain stem level to be more careful! A friend had an even better suggestion: a big spike in the middle of the steering wheel to make you appropriately afraid.

Once upon a time, humans were hunter/gatherers. We never stayed in one place for very long; as the food was used up or the herds moved on, so did we. But then we discovered agriculture and settled down. It was the start of civilization.

One of the side effects (other than modern obesity) was that we were able to start to collect things. Before then, all you could have was what you could bring with you. Like camping from hell, if you ask me. I hate camping.

It also happens to be the start of what we’d consider war. Prior to that it was basically skirmishes (“Hey, give me that caribou back!”); nobody really had anything worth fighting over, and worse case you could just leave. The bible claims we lost our innocence over the apple. Close, in my books it was the orchard.

Anyway, one of the things we could have was kilns, because prior to the Coleman’s you just couldn’t bring those suckers with you. As time passed we learned to make hotter and hotter kilns. This history of technology is the history of harder and harder metals, which required hotter and hotter kilns, from copper, bronze, all the way to steel.

The combination of agriculture and technology meant we could start to gain efficiency over our food collection, preparation, and storage. This led to more free time, which eventually led to the cruise ship vacation. Somewhere in between it led to art.

Why art? Who knows. With this free time, we starting making things. Some were useful, but others served no other purpose than self-expression and exploration. Because we had the time, and the desire.

A recent event at work has reminded me of this deep need we have to create. Much of what we do is of immediate practical benefit. A better scythe for the crops. But there is this other aspect which is purely aesthetic. We argue for its value in terms of usability, product identity and differentiation, keeping relevant in the competitive industry. That’s all true. Yet underneath it all is something else, an inate need just to make something pleasing, whose real purpose is nothing more than the successful act of creation. It is so intrinsic in our existance that we cannot take that away. We’ve been at it for about as long as there’s been a “we”.

And for that, I’d like to thank our friend Michael Van Meekeren, who left the software industry to be an apple farmer. Because without it, we’d have no art, and I’d be stuck with camping.

I love interactive environments. We have all this incredible sensing and computational power but so far the quality and nature of interaction in our our built environment has remained about the same. Cheap and plentiful RFID tags are a promising avenue for low fidelity sensing in a standardized package.

Enter the RFID Audio Bar at the The Museum for Contemporary Art Roskilde in Denmark. Artist Mogens Jacobsen was recently commissioned to present the museum’s “vast archive of sound-art”.

“Care for another glass of Drum and Bass?”. Of course the problem with interactive environments is that they are impossible to discuss without actually first experiencing. Interactivity alone is not enough, it needs to create a new experience, encourage exploration, or allow discovery and learning that otherwise would not have happened. Off to Denmark!

When I was a kid, I loved my mom’s toast. She made the best toast in the world, not too dark, not too light, just perfect. I once told her how she made the best toast. She just smiled.

A tradition in our family was that, on your birthday, you could pick whatever you wanted for your dinner and desert. I happened to love these little store bought cupcakes, from one of those big companies. They were a dozen to a box with either white, red, or brown (chocolate) icing. Didn’t like the chocolate. My mom would ask me, “Are you sure you don’t want something else, something fancier?”. Nope, that’s what I liked, a little, cheap, cupcake with a candle.

Funny how, as kids, we could more easily recognize things for what they were. My mom’s toast was the best! Now it has to be a hand made Sacha Torte with imported chocolate from an elite bakery. Our minds are too cluttered with expectations. We’ve been trained to be so discerning (so that nobody rips you off by giving you a substandard X, or because it shows refinement to know why X is better than Y). We’re impossible to shop for. We’ve optimized our lives to the point where there is only one, narrow path forward.

So in the spirit of simpler pleasures, some links, on toast!

1. Your name on toast (Get yourself in a jam)
2. The Roller Toaster (I love the possibilities, think “toasting a baggette lengthwise”)
3. Ceramics for Breakfast (social toasting is under appreciated, but personally I prefer to toast in private)

Check out Aleksandra Domanovic’s music view “D, E, G, A” (note: look for the “play” link bottom right of the header text). Very cool blend of generative image and music. I especially like how the generated graphics clearly have a strong relationship to the music but in a non-obvious manner. Funny how even an indirect reference to the human face always promotes engagement on the part of the view.

In the basement of my condo building there is a sign up that says, “Refuse”. I’ve often pondered the message it was trying to convey, in its somewhat oblique conciseness. Refuse what? Something in particular? Or more generally, refuse to just believe everything everyone says? Was it intended as a moral lesson? A political statement? A protest certainly, but directed towards what?… perhaps that is for us to determine. Deep.

And who put it there anyway? Some anonymous, socially conscious do-good’er it would seem. Its been there for as long as I can remember. Its a nice sign too, engraved into plastic, clearly someone went to effort to make it. Seems to make personal reflection even more imperative.

But then I realized, its on the door to the room with everyone’s garbage. I’m such an idiot for missing the obvious!

Its an environmental thing!