Stuff you need:

sudo apt-get install build-essential
sudo apt-get install libexpat1-dev zlib1g-dev libssl-dev
sudo apt-get install m4 libncurses5-dev

Erlang:

wget http://www.erlang.org/download/otp_src_R12B-3.tar.gz
cd otp_src_R12B-3
./configure
make
sudo make install

Ejabberd:

wget http://www.process-one.net/downloads/ejabberd/2.0.1/ejabberd-2.0.1_2.tar.gz
tar -xzf ejabberd-2.0.1_2.tar.gz
cd ejabberd-2.0.1/src
./configure
make
sudo make install

With that done just edit the config in /etc/ejabberd as required, generate or otherwise obtain an SSL certificate, and you’re ready to go.

To make matters worse, she took ‘her’ train set. And my wife. And the dog. It’s just me, the chickens and that pesky cat. Oh, and the fish - don’t forget to feed the fish. And the tomatoes, don’t forget to water those. Good thing I decided to write this.

code_swarm - Apache from Michael Ogawa on Vimeo.

I suggest viewing it in full-screen mode.

There are several other examples available at the project page. Impressive though it is, I can’t help thinking that an interactive version of this would elevate the concept from eye-candy to something extremely useful.

Update: Ok, an interactive version like this perhaps. Wow!

Secondly, a more serious use (it’s all relative) of the same setup, namely providing a guided tour of the grapevine:

The camera shoots the video in MPEG format, so I used Riva FLV Encoder to convert them to the more web-friendly FLV format, and also to reduce the resolution and bitrate a bit. This Wordpress plugin made it easy to embed the videos into the post. Although it was a bit more effort, I much prefer this approach to relying on an external service to encode and host the video as I did here.

Yep, as of this morning, I consider Java as malware. Having put up with the JRE updater being used as an advertising platform for some time now, the final nail in the coffin came this morning with JRE 6 Update 5. This attempts to install a stinking “Yahoo! Toolbar for Firefox/Mozilla”, and while there’s a checkbox to turn it off, it’s enabled by default.

As far as I’m concerned, this is totally unacceptable and Java and Sun just went down an awful long way in my estimation.

1. Create lots of overloaded versions of the same function. Only use one.
2. Copy and paste code. For bonus points, change the pasted versions slightly.
3. Leave chunks of commented out code (”Green Code”) lying around.
4. Don’t use existing core logic. Reimplement it within the user interface using your own strange methodology. Make sure it behaves subtly differently. No need to check that, it will.
5. Check several unrelated changes in at once. Only mention one in the check-in comment.
6. Never use 5 lines of code where 50 will do.
7. Never use 50 lines of code where several classes that almost resemble a GOF pattern you misunderstood will do.
8. Invent your own naming conventions.
9. Never fix a bug - hide it. For example, deal with null reference problems by simply sticking an if-not-null around the offending code. This saves you having to look for the real source of the problem, and also ensures the bug will come round again in a more subtle and interesting manner.
10. Leaving out documentation is too obvious. Much better to document it, but make sure the code doesn’t do what the documentation claims.

Finally sunshine is upon us. This means gardening, and during the week the ability to work in the garden, at least when it’s possible to angle the laptop away from the sun so the screen is still visible. The orchard is a mass of blossom at the moment. The apple tree pictured right is probably the best apple tree in the world. When they’re ready, which will be around mid-September, they’re enormous, deep red, and pink in the middle. The picture below is a close-up of the blossom from the same tree, hacked about with using qtpfsgui to make it look arty farty. For once I’m quite pleased with the results.

Having said that, I did the processing in the garden with the sun on my dirty laptop screen, so it might well be hideous for all I know.

While we’re out here, some more garden-related stuff you’re not interested in. To the right, vegetable patches all planted up and surrounded by netting to keep out the cat (thinks it’s a litter tray), the puppy (learning to dig) and Mia (big clompy welly boots). Below, Mia feeding the chickens in the aforementioned boots.

Brimham Rocks has been on my list of favourite places for a long time, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I realised we’d never taken Mia there. We’ve put that right more than once recently.

It was also another opportunity to dabble with some more HDR photography. I’m loathe to use the word photography when I just point the camera and press the button, but anyway, the results are on the left. I think this (arguably overprocessed) stuff looks both nice and fake at the same time, but on the other hand, fake or not, I think it captures a much better idea of what it was like to be there. The main downside is that having to take three images at different exposures means that you don’t want things to move. Fine for rocks, but if you click the image and look at the top-left corner you’ll see that trees sometimes refuse to oblige.

If you’re in the area and hungry or thirsty, I’d recommend The Wellington in nearby Darley. As well as good food and ale, it’s child-friendly, which was just as well as our party on one occasion consisted of 7 children to 6 adults. Mia took advantage of the friendliness by filling all the candle holders with salt, something I’ll take this opportunity to apologise for, since I didn’t at the time.