My Next Prediction: Tesla Model S for the win

The Tesla Model S is the next game changer.

I do not frequently make predictions, but I don't see how the world can stay the same old, same old after Elon & co. rolled this thing out.

Last time I wrote about a game changer was a bit over 3 years ago about Apple's introduction of the first iPad model. http://dlrdave.blogspot.com/2010/02/ipad-will-be-another-game-changer-and.html Was I right? I don't know, you be the judge. Have any computer manufacturers struggled or gone out of business since then? Have millions upon millions of iPads been sold?

Anyhow... the facts now: the Tesla Model S is affordable to richer folks right now, and it runs COMPLETELY and ENTIRELY without using any gasoline. Not one single drop. Fuck you, Exxon-Mobil. Every single mile driven in one of these cars is powered by pure electricity, which could potentially be powered 100% by solar, wind and hydro sources. In fact, with the Tesla provided, solar powered, free (ok, really "included in the rather high sticker price") so-called super-charging stations scattered about the highways of America, you may be able to charge your car entirely on their dime and the constant influx of power from our brilliant closest star. Last time I checked, the sun keeps rising every day.

Personally, I cannot afford one yet. But as soon as I can, or as soon as they come out with a $20k or $30k model, sign me the fuck up. This car's the future, and I've wanted it since I was a kid.

The writing's on the wall. The future is now. The oil & gas companies can kiss the long run goodbye right now. And the other car companies can follow Tesla's lead, or say bye bye real soon. It's a new game, starting now.

Windows Dev and Dashboard Prompt

First set up a cmd file (a batch file with a *.cmd extension) whose sole purpose is to set environment variables.

Mine, called DashboardEnv.cmd, looks like this on one of the machines where I have Visual Studio 2010 Express Edition installed:

    @call "%VS100COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat"
    @set PATH=C:\Program Files\Git\bin;%PATH%
    @set PATH=%USERPROFILE%\DevBox\cmake-2.8.10.2\bin;%PATH%
    @set PATH=C:\Python27;%PATH%
    @set PATH=C:\Qt\4.8.4-vs10\bin;%PATH%
    @set PATH=C:\dev\tools\bin;%PATH%

As you can see by inspecting that file, it sets up the environment just like a Visual Studio command prompt, and then adds a bunch of useful stuff to the PATH environment variable: git, cmake, python, qmake, ninja and jom, to name a few. I have ninja and jom in the C:\dev\tools\bin directory -- they could be anywhere, you just have to add the right directory to the PATH here in this script.

Next, set up a cmd file in the same directory as the environment batch file to display a "developer cmd prompt."

Mine, called DashboardPrompt.cmd, looks like this:

    @call "%~dp0DashboardEnv.cmd"

    @title Dashboard Prompt

    @echo.
    @echo Environment set by "%~f0"
    @echo.

    @call "%COMSPEC%"

If you prefer the "git bash" prompt to the raw Windows cmd prompt, you can change the call COMSPEC line to:

    @call "C:\Program Files\Git\bin\sh.exe" --login -i
After you have both of those setup, double click the prompt cmd file to test it out. Then you can create a shortcut to the prompt cmd file, put it on your desktop, or whereever you like, and then just double-click the shortcut to get a new instance of your customized developer prompt.

Some things I do to make the command prompt itself slightly less intolerable:

• edit the command prompt window properties: with the window open, click on the icon in the top left corner, and choose "Properties" from the menu
• modify the properties of the window to allow "select-and-Enter-key to copy, right-click to paste" behavior by choosing the "QuickEdit Mode" checkbox
• set the screen buffer height (number of scroll back lines) to 9999, the max allowed
• set the window size to something larger so you can see more text at once (120 by 40-50 is nice depending on your usual screen)
• set the font to Lucida Console, and choose a font size large enough to read
• if prompted, check "modify the shortcut that started this prompt" on the way out

Now that you're all set up for an interactive prompt with the right environment... here's the reason why separating it into two scripts is good for you. You can easily run any other script with the very same environment by adding one line at the top of it:

    @call "%~dp0DashboardEnv.cmd"

The %~dp0 there means "drive letter (d) and full path of containing directory (p) without any double quotes (~) of this script file (arg 0) including the trailing '\' character (implicit in p)" -- so if you write a script that references another script in the same directory, using %~dp0 is a reliable way to reference it, regardless of how the batch file was invoked. See the output of "help for" in a Windows command prompt for all the gory details about possible letter codes you can use in such constructs.

So: to run dashboards or other automated builds with the same environment that you use for interactive development, you can write a script that uses your Env.cmd file.

Mine, called RunDashboards.cmd, looks like this:

    @call "%~dp0DashboardEnv.cmd"

    @title Run Dashboards

    @echo.
    @echo Running script "%~f0"
    @echo.  started on %DATE% at %TIME%
    @echo.

    @echo.
    @echo Updating VTKLargeData...
    @cd "C:\dev\My Tests\VTKLargeData"
    @git pull

    @echo.
    @echo Updating VTKData...
    @cd "C:\dev\My Tests\VTKData"
    @git pull

    @echo.
    @echo Running VTK Release dashboard...
    @cd "C:\dev\My Tests\VTK"
    @ctest -S C:\dev\EasyDashboardScripts\EasyDashboard.cmake,ninja-Nightly-Release

    @echo.
    @echo Running VTK Debug dashboard...
    @cd "C:\dev\My Tests\VTK"
    @ctest -S C:\dev\EasyDashboardScripts\EasyDashboard.cmake,ninja-Nightly-Debug

One nice thing about guaranteeing the right environment is set for running a script like this is being able to just use "git" and "ctest" in the script itself.

Obviously, you'll need to adjust path values according to tool installations on different machines.

For more details on setting up to run dashboards on Windows, see this page over on the CMake blog. (Also published on the Kitware blog.)

Good luck -- tweet me @DLRdave or ping me on G+ if you use this technique.

'Twas the (Charitable Giving) Season

It's that time of year again. A chill wind blowing, long, dark nights, ... balanced by warm fireplaces and Christmas tree lights.

And time to figure out how to spread some Christmas cheer without filling the world with more "stuff."

As with recent years, we are continuing our tradition of donating to charities in honor of our loved ones instead of spending money on "too many" gifts. I encourage you to consider doing the same, and helping those who are less fortunate than we are.

We've donated to the following charities this Christmas season. We would encourage you to do so too, with the charitable organizations that are closest to your hearts. Write up a blog post, or put it on Facebook, or send us a note. We'd love to hear about what charities you love to support.

• Agros, http://oneseed.agros.org, helping the rural poor lift themselves out of poverty (give a goat, a flock of chicks or a can of worms to a family where it will make a real difference in the quality of their daily lives)
• Beads of Courage, helping sick kids and their families
• Big Brothers / Big Sisters, helping kids with mentors and role models
• City Mission of Schenectady, feeding hungry people
• The MAGIC Foundation, helping kids with growth disorders
• Starlight Children's Foundation, helping seriously ill children cope through entertainment, education and family activities

Give generously!

Here's wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

Worn out

Today, Sunday September 2, 2012:

distance: 8.01 miles

time: 94.27 minutes

average pace: 11.77 minutes per mile

calories burned: 1065

fainted after the run: nobody

calories re-ingested at Perecca's after we were done: unknown, but of course, enough to call it brunch with a cupcake dessert...

Here's a picture of the bottom of my shoe:

http://instagram.com/p/PFE08LhqCO/

Think we'll be ordering new Five Fingers on Amazon later today.

Ciao!

Chunk of Change for Charity

Back in February, DLR softWare LLC made its first charitable donation, based on the proceeds from Sgt Fitness sales in 2011.

Thanks to all the Sgt Fitness users out there, and those of you that voted for your favorite charity through the online voting booth at dlrsoftware.com, I wrote a check for $60.00 to The 3-Day for the Cure.

Spread the word: there are those you know who could actually use a dose of discipline from the old Sarge. And every copy sold through the app store adds $1.25 to the next chunk of change for charity.

Stay fit!

 

Birthdays

Got a really cool present from my honey this year for my birthday (and a great card, too!). Thanks, baby! It's a t-shirt that looks like this:

If it seems familiar, it may be that you read this post of mine from August, 2010:

http://dlrdave.blogspot.com/2010/08/cyclists-creed.html

My writing's been immortalized on a t-shirt! And I get to wear it whenever I want!
I'm a lucky man. Grateful for what I do have this month, not so concerned about what I don't have. Tell me, though... what sounds younger: 45 years or 4.5 decades? My grandparents always told me you're only as old as you feel, and you can stay young at heart your whole life through. I always did think they were pretty right-on.

Marching

March, 2012: it was weird around here. It was just as warm as June or September usually is for about two weeks right in the middle of the month.

But that was mostly a good thing: I started riding my bike to work early this year, the week after we changed the clocks to what the Europeans call "summer time." (Stupid time changing. But that's another topic...)

RunKeeper tells me I've made 6 round trips to work on my bike this month. I swear I did 7, though: I must have forgotten to use the RunKeeper on one of my commutes that first week, because I swear I did 2 the first week, then 3, then 2 again. Apparently I only tracked one of those ones the first week, though. Maybe I didn't have enough battery power that day. I can't remember, it was a few weeks ago already.

Proud of this, though: I already cracked 40 minutes on one ride in this month.

Rock on.

 

Hello Leap Day

February 29th. An extra day. But it's a Wednesday this year, so in some ways, it hardly seems like it.

What are you going to do with it?

Just in case you're not sure, Seth Godin has some good ideas.

If none of that sounds appealing to you, you should check out Austin Kleon's new book, Steal Like an Artist. It's chock full of inspiration.

If you're still not inspired, you're gonna have to write your own blog. That's all I've got for today. :-)

 

Bye bye "Big Money"

Can big money buy the Internet? No, I don't think it can. The Internet's simply too big to buy.

Here's a brilliant idea: let's eliminate money from the political campaigning process. We could eliminate "big money" completely, and take back Capitol Hill. Can you imagine: regular people being elected, and staying regular people for their entire duration in D.C./Albany/Sacramento/Olympia? And then going back to regular lives after their one or two terms?

Joel Spolsky got me thinking along these lines this morning with this Google+ post, and call me crazy, but I think he's got some valid points there.

In fact, I'd suggest taking it even one step further than simply giving away ads on the Internet for free: let's figure out how to ban the *sale* of TV, radio and Internet advertisements for anybody who's running for an elected position. And let's say that anybody who owns an outlet that contains advertising in their stream must provide 5% of that advertising time *for free* on an equal/rotating basis to *anyone* who wants a piece of it that is running for elected office.

It would soon "not work" -- because there would be so many candidates with so many free messages that the channel would be swamped, and the channel "owners" would simply not be able to show as many ads as they were receiving, let alone rotate through them on any sort of equality basis.

But, if we did this, even though we recognize in advance that it would not work well once a certain volume of candidates is reached, the people with money would have to figure out another way to influence the vote rather than simply spending a ton of cash on ads.

Of course, the people with money would still have an advantage. They'll be able to afford to actually physically go to many locations and appear in person in front of people. But for every other medium (aside from an actual physical presence) where money can buy influence, I think we should make the sale and purchase of such influence illegal. We should hold the SuperPacs, the TV stations, anybody who's involved responsible, and be able to charge them and proseucte them for violations. Possibly even taking things so far as to invalidate election results when violations occur.

What if we lived in a world where anybody could advertise their own political campaign free of charge in online video snippets? How would that change things?

Worth some thought, worth some discussion... even worth some action.

All is Quiet

Happy New Year!

2011 is over. Welcome, 2012.

2011 was ok. It wasn't the worst year ever.

It was my bloggingest year ever: 35 posts. Not quite once a week. I'm going to aim for at least once a week this coming year... It helps that I had something I wanted to talk about publicly this year: Sgt Fitness.

Sgt Fitness. The first app I've done that I would consider "potentially useful to lots of people" up on the iPhone app store. Only dozens have bought it and downloaded it so far, but there's still more to come. Still hoping for an audience of thousands and more eventually. Turns out the hard part about selling an app is communicating about it, promoting it, marketing it, and actually getting the word out to the people who'd be interested in it. Building it and putting it up there is easy.

Looking forward to doing some updates to those apps in the coming days and weeks.

Make a resolution to get more fit this year. And, oh yeah: buy Sgt Fitness and let him help you keep your resolution.

So: Cheers to your health! And crank the U2 today, on New Year's Day.

All About Info.plist Keys

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/General/Reference/InfoPlistKeyReference/Introduction/Introduction.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009248-SW1

You're welcome.

Do Not Follow

I was driving down the usual road, on the way home from work yesterday, following two cars in front of me, and they were following a big dump truck in front of them.

On the back of the big pine green dump truck was a big orange sign with black block lettering. I'm sure you've seen it. It said:

    CONSTRUCTION VEHICLE
    DO NOT FOLLOW

What are we supposed to do, pass you? Even with double yellow lines? If you don't want us following you, then GET OFF OUR ROAD!!

I feel like mounting a sign on the front of my car that says:

    PLAIN OLD CAR
    PLEASE DO NOT DRIVE IN FRONT OF ME

or maybe:

    COMMUTER TRANSPORT
    PLEASE PULL OVER IMMEDIATELY
    MY WIFE HAS CHRISTMAS COOKIES WAITING FOR ME AT HOME
    (THANKS, BABY)

I would put it in mirror writing, so the drivers in front of me could read it in their rearviews. I would even say "please." I really would.

Those big orange signs are sort of like the TSA, a completely stupid waste of our money, time and mind share.

If you're on the road, and you're headed to where you're going... please, feel free to follow whatever vehicle happens to be in front of you. Sometimes "the signs" are better off ignored.

Solstice

Solstice.

Longest night of the year.

We've got the travel itch again. We're gonna need to go someplace soon. A change of pace is on order. Hopefully it arrives pretty soon. They forgot to send me a UPS tracking number on this one, though.

Sleep well, mein freund.

The Sgt Fitness Report, November

Steady and un-earth-shattering as she goes. Recap of month seven selling Sgt Fitness on the app store...

Weekly sales numbers for weeks 27 through 30: 2, 2, 1, 1
Monthly sales, November 2011: 6
Funds earmarked for charitable donation: $7.50
Votes for favorite charity: 0

Running totals: 45 units, $56.25 raised for charity