If you aren't Happy
Which Dwarf Are You?

I've been exploring Perl6 since Rakudo-star was released in late July. There's a lot of exciting things to learn about Perl6, and you have to start early to figure things out. I've been working on implementing a simple sudoku solver, as something to do. My conclusion is that I'm delighted with what's been done, and what's coming ... and frustrated waiting for what's coming to turn into usable features! Sudoku In case you've been on Mars the last few years, sudoku is a puzzle with nine rows and nine columns. That block is also divided into 3x3 regions ... like a tic-tac-toe board subdivided into tic-tac-toe boards. When solved, each row contains the digits 1 to 9, without repetition; so does each column, and each block. Each puzzle begins with a certain number of cells filled in, your job is to figure out the rest. You know that cell A1 can't be a 1, because there's a one already in that row, it can't be a 2 or 4 or 6 or 7 or 8. From the othe...

Visited Niagara Falls last weekend. Everyone was busy proving they had been there.

There was a gathering of tall ships in Toronto Canada / Independence Day weekend, and while I found some interesting shots of rigging and hardware, I especially liked this rope hanging off the stern of the German ship, so swimmers could climb back aboard. The ship was steady, being tied to the dock, hardly any motion at all, so the movement of the water expressed itself relative to the monkey's fist knot at the bottom of the gently swaying rope. This one is scaled down; click on the picture to go to my photo website gallery of animations and see it full size.

Toronto's Gay Pride parade, last Sunday, July 4th. How do they arrange a HOT day, year after year? Do they have special arrangements with the man upstairs? or is it the hot guy downstairs? Either way, it was a day for super-soakers, especially the humunguous one on the fire enging bringing up the rear.

The Ray Flash is a piece of plastic that fits onto a on-camera-flash to provide the effect of a ring flash. Ring flashes are essential for certain macro photography, common, for example, in medical photography. When you're in close, an ordinary on-camera flash is shadowed by the lens itself, so only a portion of the subject is illuminated. As well, the ring flash is soft, because the light comes from a large area, compared to the relative point-source of an ordinary flash. Not as soft as a softbox or umbrella, but better than on-camera flash. So it combines the full-on lighting of on-camera flash, without the harsh shadows, and retains some texture thanks to the softer light source. Click on the photos for a large version. The trunk of my car, including the white Ray Flash box and the brown shipping box. ISO 400, 1/200 @ F/8.0, 24mm on EF 24-70, Canon 5D mark II. Those military families are trying to invade my bookshelf. Notice how the soldiers are essentially shadowless, yet the d...

When cars were new, a hundred years ago, each had different arrangements for the controls. There were hand throttles, foot throttles - originality was more important than consistency. Those were the days when a European automobile executive foresaw a market for a million automobiles, since that was his estimate of the number of peasants intelligent enough to be trained as a chauffeur! The consistent user interface observed in all cars is a prerequisite to their omnipresence. Imagine getting into a rented or borrowed car and needing to figure out where the controls are. In the late eighties I remember being unable to use a friend's car, unaware you have to push a button to turn the key. But muscle memory is even more important. Driving on British highways is not a problem, you stay in your lane with all the other people. But when you're going down a narrow country lane with hedges either side, and a lorry comes around a corner up ahead, my Canadian instincts take me the wrong wa...

We had our company holiday party recently, where I work. I set up a photo booth, to get some practice in doing studio type portraits. Lesson one: I should have taken my own backdrop, instead of using the net and painted background of the indoor driving range. I thought it would go darker and more out of focus, but not quite enough. I do like the portraits, all the same.