Greetings List Lurkers,
While the rest of the world benefits from "Blue Sky" research...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_skies_research
Here in Vermont we prefer "GunMetal Grey Sky" research and developement.
My ardent hope that that BOSI represents in the area of GMGS R&D. The
interminable list of projects, some complete and some not so complete
should signify our committment to continuous research and development...
PYRS
A stunningly less-than-successful example of this is last years thought to
make a python library to fill out IRS (and maybe state) forms. Here it
languishes:
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/pyrs
My favorite part is that we apparently went almost as far as to get a
Code for America Fellowship grant going via Jeff Elkner and NovaWeb:
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/pyrs
Meh, this never got done, but maybe there is still hope. God knows that
there are still taxes...
That said there is a bit of success in the offing, and that relates to
off all things...
TECHNORUBBLE
Important news here! Doug Webster has been organizing a Maker Faire
Vermont to be launched as a new Maker Faire, the Barre Maker Faire, being
held in conjunction with the Barre Barbecue Festival Saturday May 13 from
11:00 am to 4:00 pm at the Barre Granite Museum.
We have responded and likely need to fill out the CALL FOR MAKERS at the
meeting tonight.
Additionally Doug has set up a Waterbury Maker Faire to be held July 15
and Rutland July 29. And, the original and great Champlain Maker Faire
which is September 23 & 24.
Besides buying a whole lot of plastic bags, and bagging up more
TechnoRubble, this area has been quiet. The Central Vermont Solid Waste
District seems like a bureaucratic nightmare we do not want to become
involved with. Instead we want to follow up on the interesting angle to
deploy TechnoRubble at Libraries. At the meeting in Feburary, J West came
up with this angle and I would very much like to set up at Kimball and the
Aldrich Libraries and see if this would work. I may also try to get some
traction at the Kellogg Hubbard. The famous Jessamyn West showed up at
our meeting last week and checked out the whole TechnoRubble Project. Hope
she remains interested!
- The Website http://technorubble.org,http://technorubble.com
- The new donation letter has been updated, but not used yet...
Again, we need more TechnoRubble. The TechnoRubble untangling and packing is
part of that effort. Part of this effort was the donation letter. The idea is
to get people to mail their TechnoRubble to us in a USPS Flat Rate Box. I am
going to complete the donation process page as soon as I can and post it.
VISUAL BASH
Stop the presses! Just got word from the program committe that BOSI will
be giving a talk on VisualBash at the The next VM Workshop which is coming
to Ohio State University! Taking place
June 22nd - June 24th, 2017, this will be an almost perfect place for me
to make a fool of myself trying to explain a very obvious framework.
http://visualbash.org/
Note that you can save Vermont a great deal of embarassment by helping me
make a coherant presentation out of my fevered thoughts on software
development. I am open to all suggestions (and panicing!)
As you know the trantor (see below) is currently driving VisualBash, but
several other projects have benefited from VisualBash. These include:
* BOJ - A BeautifulSoup based web scraper.
* Chello - The first VisualBash program to implement seahorse based
Identification and Authorization (I&A).
* MTOC - The second VisualBash program to include I&A. More includes from these
are on their way.
* Graphical Software Dispatch (GSD) amd the bzinga project.
The Secuction of Graphics:
As mentioned previously, I dusted off the Bash-Zenity project with the
thought of adding this to trantor as a GUI based control framework. So
far it is interesting, as GUIs now haunt my dreams looking for the best
way to configure things...
http://bzinga.net/
Block Think:
I continue to meditate on the discussion DTG, now returned from the
restaurants of New Orleans, and I had about how GUI code needs to be
non-blocked. So, the approach I continue to think about for now involves
putting the GUI code in includes that get included only when you need
them. The Visual Bash framework really works. Will this work for adding a
GUI with bzinga? And how does BNF fit into this? Progress is slow based
upon the trantor work.
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/visual.bash#ImportingFunctionBlocks
Both the Visual Bash home page as cited above and the git page need to be
organized. We need to reorganize all of the visual bash functions into
functional includes. Possible include files are:
- ianda.shi - Identification and Authorization
- dvdusb.shi - DVD/USB utilities
- sanity.shi - System sanity tests
- maint.shi - Maintenance includes
- ops.shi - Operational includes
- dev.shi - Development includes
- sphinx.shi - Sphinx generator includes
- tiddle.shi - Tiddle includes...
- gui.shi - Graphical User Interface using bzinga
- movingday - Tar up what you need.
The problem is that I cannot resist the challenge of the GUI menu generator
"menubot.sh" that will allow you to test stub your "shi" files with a crude but
working "sh". Who knows where we go from there? Again, the Design questions
remain:
- Do individual functions call for particular software packages
by adding their local requirements to a file or memory variable?
- Should the sanity program try to md5 sum the components?
- Can the sanity program help resolve name-space issues?
Could 2017 may be the year of VisualBash? We have a presentation on the subject
due in June, and I may even begin to treat the presentation as a project. It
has been occupying my mind quite a bit.
KINDLE LIBERATION FRONT
The tale of Brett and the rooted kindle continues,
He got it done, and for this he gets the front page of the Kindle
Liberation Front:
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/kindle
Maybe now I can get the SD cards back with the magic software loaded and
ready to go, as he has two microSD cards, the business of loading a new OS
on the beast should be doable. Brett wrote up a brief working SOP that
needs review, and an operating system image that is blessed by no less
than the Kindlemeister himself. This type of beatitude would no doubt
benefit, in no particular order
* DTG
* Effin
* Flint and of course
* Brett who will achieve fame and fortune.
So if you can you are welcome to follow the chaos here:
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/kindle
At tonight's meeting, I am gonna have to rooting myself. I remain
convinced that there could be a commercial opportunity in customizing kindles.
You would think that maybe Effin would be interested...
Is there anybody out there aware of a version of the Universal Insight
Virtual Realty Glasses or the like for the Kindle? 3d Teleconferencing
and system management could be way cool! Anybody see such a thing? I am
thinking about trying to fabricate one based upon the original cardboard.
IN VENERATION OF SAL DIBLASI
I sorta want to apologize for last weeks featured rant about Sal DiBlasi,
the King of Internet Bathroom Tiling, I was neck deep tiling our
half-bath. The good news (besides substantial completion) is I was able
to tile the damn bathroom without jacking up the toilet (and then
resetting it with a new oversize wax ring yadda-yadda...). This is the
tip:
1. Take a picture of the base of the bathroom fixture.
2. Bring it into GIMP.
3. Using the perspective tool, align the floor tile grid with gimps grid.
4. Trace the curve you need on a new layer.
5. Save this layer as a pdf.
6. Scale it (try libreoffice draw), print it, cut a bolo and...
7. Cut the tile.
This worked three out of three tiles that needed to be curve cut.
TROPES
Due to our other obsessions, I really have not gotten back to
development of Tropes. I really need to meditate on this. As discussed,
Tropes are a trope of Adult Swim... Ever since Jordy started us on the
path to tropes a few seasons ago, they keep popping (pooping?) into our
awareness - kinda like illegitimate children. If they are starting to grow
we need to make room for them. Thus trope may become a feature or it may
die of disinterest, only time will tell.
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/geekland#BOSITropes
So far the patient is weakening...
TRANTOR
It has been a quiet few weeks for the trantor, and I am gonna shorten up
this topic for now.
Summary:
Brother Tom Krasner stopped by the the final DVDs that he has. I will be
duplicating these, checking all the copies and getting this back to him as
soon as possible. This project is still operating in development at the
library and it appears that the powers that be in State Library Land are
the delay factor in our opening Trantor to the world, Hopefully this is
not political struggle but rather a period of waiting to get free software
online in Vermont. Sara Costa said they could get back to us in April.
The Collection Grows:
I need to update the state of Tom Kastner collection, as it no longer
starts with LXFDVD100 and goes to LXFDVD128 with some blank spots, but it
is about 20 DVDs longer... The additional 70 or so disks he go us would go
a long way to making the collection complete. I now must complete moving
and checking these iso images on the drives so what remains is to
duplicate the new DVDs, check the copies, capture the cover art using sexy
Xerox scanner at the Aldrich.
Complete The Collection:
With the current reStructuredText Web Site, we shall soon have online a
complete set of disks starting from LXFDVD100, as we mentioned previously,
we sent Neil at Linux Format, an email in an attempt to expanding trantor
to include all the Linux Format DVDs since they started publication. He
writes back and says the first 19 issues of Linux Format had a CD. The DVD
was introduced from issue 20, when there was a choice of the DVD or dual
CD edition. From around issue 71, it was DVD only. So we have about a 104
CD/DVD gap in the beginning of the collection.
Development and Test Systems:
Right now we are, using two of the original Gates Foundation grant based Dell
machines. One is the development and one is test. Aldrich is donated four of
these to the club.
Production:
Once we get connectivity, we will then deliver the Trantor Production machine
to the Aldrich, swap it with the existing 0.015 system, set up static IP, avahi
bonjour and things may actually be accessible via DNS for the world. Well a
fellow can dream...
With connnectivity, we will switch to the excellent hardware platform that
Marius delivered. This production case contains both USB2.0/3.0 and and a
DVDRW.
Software Development:
From a software standpoint, the first, second, third and forth(pun :^) passes
for Trantor are done. The third development pass, is in the Aldrich Public
library for evaluation, and the latest feature is there is a new include that
actually rebuilds the index.rst from the existing sub-rst files.
Last month I concentrated on developing a VisualBash program to automatically
generate the individual and now seasonally colored ".rst" reStructuredText
files at the base level. I went a little nuts and decided to add a seasonal
background color to each base rst file, I had no idea how involved I would
become. While this may have seemed like a very good idea at the time,
implementing this in reStructuredText was no picnic. The base "rst" files based
upon a csv manifest. A good thing, but cleanup needs to be part of the
process.
Development Cycle:
With a working version of enki, the vision of a reStructuredText website is
accomplished:
- Take existing reStructuredText (.rst) files
- edit them with enki, a restful editor almost built for the job.
(a most difficult to install but rewarding bit of software)
- add the changes to the visualbash build files. Propagating the change
using this shell script framework (thank god for sed and awk)
- run "ctrantor.sh mkitso" which builds
-- new base .rst files from a manifest,
-- a new index.rst from the existing stuff, and then
-- builds new web site based upon this index.rst
- check out the result...
- lather, rinse repeat...
Note that having each DVD's "front porch" html be opened as a separate tab was
beyond the current capabilities of sphinx. Good old sed takes care of adding
some code as a postprocess, and adding color backgrounds to each individual
requires a reSturcturedText "Raw" directive.
Further Development:
The trantor project now uses the new VisualBash include function to load up
various scripts with a suffix of ".shi", full-o-functional goodness.
Menubot is a program that generates a crude menu for a given include ".shi"
type file. The scary part of this program is that in the final analysis it may
contain both a cgi and a gui capabililty, thanks to bzinga.
The line between bzinga and the Menubot function gets fuzzier all the time,
maybe the menubot program has a way of generating coefficients that the GUI
system can use to autogenerate GUI menues. Maybe using Backus–Naur form (BNF
or Railroad Notation). After some playing around with bzinga, I am more
convinced to use bash with zenity for a gui interface, (see the Bash Zenity
Integration page: http://bzinga.net/ :^). Beyond this we really need to clean
up the VisualBash page. Now that we have the "include" function that is
similar to the one in python (C and a lota other languages :^) we need to git
this.
We need to write an include calle "movingday", that works with "sanity" to
allow you to move only the relevant components of trantor into a tar ball for
installation at another system. This might tie into the sanity script.
The "Sanity" script remains born but without love. Right now the vision is
that "sanity.shi" may be tasked with some combination of the following:
- Check that all the components you need are in place in terms of program
- Possibly check at to the validity of the includes and functions using MD5
- checking for variable conflict within functions. This is a big thing, but on
the other hand, so it sanity...
Github Transporter Include?
Maybe sanity and moving day also have to do with keeping this up properly on
github. We are attempting to maintain the Trantor project on Github, but we are
really not up to date, mostly because I don't appear to be using git to it's
fullest potential:
https://github.com/flintiii/trantor
As discussed, I continue to hack this into some type of organized format to put
up on git hub. Getting this up on git is something that will please God, Chris
Yarger (is there a difference?) and Kevin Cole. I really am gonna get to
commitment and update soon. Am I resistant to commitment? I did get married...
With the bzinga project (see below) there is most likely to be a fifth pass,
with a bzinga based gui. Through bzinga I have become convinces of adding a
GUI control capability to the trantor control program.
Connectivity:
As it is installed at the Aldrich, next trick is to get trantor on the public
web, and the bad news is that looks like it may not happen in the immediate
future.
It seems that the Acting Head Librarian wants to wait on our request, and while
the email said rejected, what it meant according to my discussions with Sarah
Costa was that is is delayed till the politics stabalize. Meh.
Sarah the librarian still wants a press release. I hope that the concept of
Library Based Local Destinations has not been completely wiped out. The
entrenched powers would so much prefer that to raise revenue by concentrating
everything in the very expensive DII Data Center at National Life, likely for a
hefty monthly fee! I may still do a press release, and after talking to her
will no doubt have a draft for her to review on the Trantor web site shortly.
Other Digital Collections?
I am getting interest from some parties in contributing more stuff to trantor.
Do not be bashful (pun?). let me know if you want something faithfully curated
and The real question here is should I simply rebuild bosivt.org based upon
sphinx? Or, we could do it all in reStructuredText...
The hard part of this turns out to be getting:
1. Getting a State bureaucracy to recognize
Free Open Source Software (what's in it for them?)
2. getting the visual bash complete, with appropriate features.
3. making the system "sane" - a menu choice. Design questions include:
- Do individual functions call for particular software packages?
- Should the sanity program try to md5 sum the components.
- Should sanity also include operating and support system sanity?
- When does sanity become Configuration Management?
Hopefully these will be discussed on:
https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts/_/flint.com/tada
Which with any luck this teleconferencing will start at 6 PM EST today. Maybe
the future holds promise for these languishing projects. Oddly enough projects
come and go...
To summarize, the meeting today is again at 40 Washington Street, Barre, VT
05641.
Topics for discussion as usual remain:
- Open Source Educational Human Development
I am working on an idea... I am changing the priority of our
eternal needs, and placing education first.
- Maker Movement A Maker Space in Barre? Why not? Could it be that the
commercial power centers do not yet appreciate the value? I need to
revise my paper on this subject and get it out. Here it is:
http://docbox.flint.com:8081/bb
who has good ideas about a Barre Maker Space. Why not do digital stone?
- Move BOSI towards reStructuredText. I am seriously considering a
tiddly2rest converter. This would allow us to become more git
centric... avoid the need to change to gittlywiki...
We still need to convert... Yea buddy... Shut up Effin.
- Blue Sky R&D, but in Vermont it will be Gun-metal Grey Sky(c) R&D.
- I fought the DREK and the DREK continues to win. Remember, What
really is holds us back is DREK!!! DREK is what happens to your
workspace (both hardware and software) when you fail to put stuff
away, or you let your friends or relatives use it. This is a cosmic
law. I am still fighting the DREK. How to get over it? The secret
may be empty pellet bags. Is TechnoRubble organized DREK?
These five points are quickly becomming more than our policy, and more like a
prayer...
Anyway, we have the technology and we will have Pizza tonight 5-7 at Hedding
UMC.
This is the official notice of the Barre Open Systems Institute (BOSI) Adult
Swim. For those coming in via the Google Plus and the Internet, and there are
folks who are gonna try, the swim stars at 6:00 PM EST.
Our ongoing major objective is to continue to try to figure out how to invest
the time and resources to turn the Barre Open Systems Institute into more than
just the Adult Swim technical clinic and more into a real learning facility,
and figure out where our good chairs went. One direction we have been working
on is to begin thinking about classes. The curriculum that I am most interested
in is teaching documentation.
Once again, the goal of the meeting shall be as usual, to get organized and try
to get the various projects moving forward, despite DREK. We continue to wonder
about how to build the BOSI curriculum to this webpage:
While http://bosivt.org/classes, does not work,
http://64.5.53.104:8080/bosivt.org/classes does.
Any idea why?
Take a look if you dare...
Remember, the BOSI Adult Swim is essentially about helping out fellow users of
open source products in a clinic environment. Despite my very best of
intentions, the Adult Swim is really almost a perpetual Linux install-fest, and
only secondarily a learning environment,
The ever growing list of projects (now on our web site :^) includes:
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/vm - A Docker copy of VM370
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/kindle - The Kindle Liberation Front
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/pyrs - A pythonic interface to Income Tax?
- http://ledroid.org - Ok, this is a real project eh?
- http://bzinga.net - What happens when you combine Bash and Zenity?
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/nodejs - ok, it is on the list.
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/snobot - jesum they love this robot
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/furmon - monitor that pellet furnace
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/arduino - moving in the arduino groove
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/javajive - to get better at Javascript
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/tsp - Temperature Sensors Project
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/robotsrules - The quest for Roberts Rules -
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/visual.bash - Yea, I am not kidding...
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/mrtg - remedial raw mrtg for the slow...
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/raspberry - all versions
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/strembot.org - maybe a very cool project.
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/organized - oh please let me be organized!
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/music - this may be the least organized
site ever!
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/bb - A big noble idea.
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/grantbot - A less noble idea to feed the
big idea...
- http://docbox.flint.com:8081/gitlywiki - is tiddlywiki5 the answer?
Otherwise, Barre indeed remains a great venue for a Linux and Open Source
Software discussion and general system rejuvenation. Expect to be remotely
preached at on the various topics of Open Source and how I am confident it
shall cure all the evils and ills of this wicked world. In a perfect meeting,
people would come in, sit down, see the stuff we have been doing and hopefully
help us get the DIY stuff we are doing done, or maybe just fix a laptop.
So, do not forget that the Barre library stocks "Linux Format", and the latest
issue is on the shelf, and it is good. The DVD's are available to checkout and
copy, we shall to continue provide copies and isos of each and every one. I am
continuing to duplicate about a years worth of DVD's which is quite a task. You
may want to watch this space for developments.
Anyway, come and do open source stuff. For more information about the BOSI
Adult Swim meeting time and location try this:
*** Note this is broke as of this newsletter ****
http://bosivt.org/directions
Show up at Hedding UMC if you have questions or are interested in Linux or the
concept of free and open systems. Again, we are in the basement of the Hedding
UMC facility which is actually working out pretty well.
Somehow we need to make progress not more projects!!!
If you wish to be included on the "Linux_adult_swim" mailing list, send a
response to this note.
This is Flint signing off... I gotta go and get trained as a Justice of the
Peace, and maybe catch the flue from the City Clerk.
I will continue to refactor this newsletter at some point in the future (do not
hold your breath :^)...
Kindest Regards,
Paul Flint
(802) 479-2360
(802) 595-9365 Cell
/************************************
Based upon email reliability concerns,
please send an acknowledgment in response to this note.
Paul Flint
Barre Open Systems Institute
17 Averill Street
Barre, VT
05641
http://www.bosivt.org
http://family.flint.com/flint
skype: flintinfotech
Work: (202) 537-0480
