Expecting a topical RFC to be published today…I wonder what it’ll be this year.
Photos (from left to right): Afternoon tea with mum in Goring, three of my favourite people in the world, spring-like weather in London, an anti-Bush event poster in Oxford.
Well, I’ve not updated this blog in a couple of weeks, so here goes a random list:
* Started getting up at 07:00 each morning, thanks to multiple alarms.
* I’ve gone a week without meat now and feel better for it (read: less tired, lost a little weight).
* Started work on “ktop”, a kernel task browser in python (powered by pygtk, glade and simple_glade_app.py to pull in the bits from the glade XML project file). It’s covered in the forthcoming issue of the magazine – so far it’s a graphical front end to gdb magic on /proc/kcore, and as such is a little too slow for general use, but I’ll clean it up and release it properly as a kernel object browser for the curious. It should let people see what’s really going on inside.
* I wrote a couple of hacks for the forthcoming Linux Desktop Hacks. It should be out soon now and I should get some copies. You know you want to buy it.
* I officially need glasses for doing close-up work.
Screenshot: ktop – a kernel task browser
Those who know me (and you probably do somehow, since you’re reading this) know that I can be a wonderful procrastinator in certain situations – especially medical ones. I spent several months in hospital once, and haven’t liked doctors ever since. Ever wonder why I’m so paranoid and scared of blood tests? Try having one or two every day for a while (and eventually in your hand when they run out of places on your arm to jab you with sharp needles). That might be enough to convince you only to go to the doctor when it’s really really necessary…and to avoid talking to medical relatives about whatever medical problems one might have. For the curious, I had a rare blood disorder (very low platelet counts in my blood, triggered by some weird reaction to a virus or other somethingness) which meant that if you so much as hit my arm I’d bruise like crazy and perhaps even bleed – so any falling over on a hard hospital floor would have been not such a great thing.
So, now I’ve put you in a sympathetic mood, maybe it’ll come as no surprise that I’ve been putting off addressing a growing problem with my vision over the last couple of years. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to focus on nearby objects and my eyes are getting tired quite regularly. Finally, I went to Boots and had an eye test last week (picture me in paranoia mode, convinced they’re going to tell me I’ve got glaucoma and every conceivable issue under the sun is wrong with my eyes). Apparently my eyes are medically healthy, but the reason I have trouble working on the computer or sometimes reading music is that I’ve become slightly long-sighted. Hopefully, the glasses which will be arriving soon will facilitate me being much more productive again.
Oh, I’ve stopped eating meat for the time being and cut down on caffeine intake too. Wow! I figured the nasty stuff in the meat was bad for me, and having just watched one too many documentaries on smart pigs and animal treatment, decided I can’t in good conscience continue to regularly consume large quantities of meat. That’s not to say this will last forever – I like the taste of meat and I might not manage to keep this up. But I will try. There are some limits: I’m not going to go 100% crazy (my sister is much more strong willed in this department – Hannah won’t eat somewhere if there’s a risk of contaminated food, more power to her) and if meat is the only viable option then I’ll just have to lump it. I’m also still eating fish for the moment. Time will tell how fadish this is and whether I can keep it up.
I’m in the US next week, for various bits and pieces, and will be visiting friends in Portland and San Francisco. I’ve got a BDI2000 here at the moment and a funky board that’s not yet properly booting ecos, but hopefully will soon. Had to get some US->UK adapters for bits. Built various control stuff for the roboduck project (hopefully more news soon) and hope to have a couple of pretty interesting items of news in the due course of time. I’m speaking at OxLUG next month, and have been invited to give a lightening talk at this summer’s LUGRadio Live. Tonight, I’m meeting some friends in London – call me if you’re about and we didn’t talk.
Jon.