Blog: May

Draftmasters live

The audio-visual duo The Draftmasters performing with Daniel Iglesia. Jeff Snyder and I control the pen plotters live via the Manta (top half) while Dan captures the drawings in real time and creates 3D projections (bottom half). You need 3D glasses to perceive the effect.

The Draftmasters - I

Posted on:
2009.05.14 -0500

Tags:
art , music

On the connection between justice and utility

[...] there is as much difference of opinion, and as much discussion, about what is just as about what is useful to society. Not only have different nations and individuals different notions of justice, but in the mind of one and the same individual, justice is not some one rule, principle, or maxim, but many which do not always coincide in their dictates, and, in choosing between which, he is guided either by some extraneous standard or by his own personal predilections.

For instance, there are some who say that it is unjust to punish anyone for the sake of example to others, that punishment is just only when intended for the good of the sufferer himself. Others maintain the extreme reverse, contending that to punish persons who have attained years of discretion, for their own benefit, is despotism and injustice, since, if the matter at issue is solely their own good, no one has a right to control their own judgment of it; but that they may justly be punished to prevent evil to others, this being the exercise of the legitimate right of self-defense. Mr. Owen, again, affirms that it is unjust to punish at all, for the criminal did not make his own character; his education and the circumstances which surrounded him have made him a criminal, and for these he is not responsible. All these opinions are extremely plausible; and so long as the question is argued as one of justice simply, without going down to the principles which lie under justice and are the source of its authority, I am unable to see how any of these reasoners can be refuted. [p.55]

Utilitarianism (1861)
John Suart Mill

Posted on:
2009.05.10 -0500

Tags:
texts

Multiple svn repositories

You have multiple projects and you want each to be managed in its own svn repository. At the same time, you want them all served by the same server machine myserver.org: In the server myserver.org that will house the repositories, create the new repositories under the same directory: 

$ pwd
/home/user
$ mkdir svn
$ svnadmin create svn/repo1
$ svnadmin create svn/repo2
Assuming we have two already existing projects project1 and project2 in our projects directory, we now import each of the projects into each of the repositories: 
$ svn import /home/user/projects/project1 file:///home/user/svn/repo1/project1/trunk -m "import project1"
$ svn import /home/user/projects/project2 file:///home/user/svn/repo2/project2/trunk -m "import project2"
Now that our two projects are under subversion control, we can delete the original project files: 
$ rm -rf projects/project1
$ rm -rf projects/project2
Finally, in order to be able to access these repositories remotely, all we have to do is run the svn server svnserve on the directory housing our new repositories: 
$ svnserve -d -r /home/user/svn/
This will run svnserve in deamon mode while the machine is on. Don't forget setting permissions for each of the repositories. The two files to modify are svnserve.conf and passwd under the conf directory or each repository: 
~/svn/project1/conf/svnserve.conf
~/svn/project1/conf/passwd
in the first file you set the permissions anon-access = none, auth-access = write, and point to the password file: password-db = passwd. In the second you set the allowed users and their corresponding passwords. If everything is set properly you should be able to checkout our projects from any other machine: 
$ svn checkout svn://myserver.org/project1

Posted on:
2009.05.10 -0500

Tags:
code

The conception of Blood Moon (Popol Vuh)

[...] And then they [One Hunahpu and Seven Hunahpu] where sacrificed and buried. They were buried at the Place of Ball Game Sacrifice, as it is called. The head of One Hunahpu was cut off; only his body was buried with his younger brother. "Put his head in the fork of the tree that stands by the road," said One and Seven Death. And when his head was put in the fork of the tree, the tree bore fruit. It would not have had any fruit, had not the head of One Hunahpu been put in the fork of the tree. This is the calabash, as we call it today, or "the skull of One Hunahpu," as it is said. And then One and Seven Death were amazed at the fruit of the tree. The fruit grows out everywhere, and it isn't clear where the head of One Hunahpu is; now it looks just the way the calabashes look. All the Xibalbans see this, when they come to look. The state of the tree loomed larte in their thoughts, because it came about at the same time the head of One Hunahpu was put in the fork. The Xibalbans said among themselves: "No one is to pick the fruit, nor is anyone to go beneath the tree," they said. They restricted themselves; all of Xibalba held back. [...] A maiden heard about it, and here we shall tell of here arrival.

And here is the account of a maiden, the daughter of a lord named Blood Gatherer. And this is when a maiden heard of it, the daughter of a lord. Blood Gatherer is the name of her father, and Blood Moon is the name of the maiden. And when he heard the account of the fruit of the tree, her father retold it. And she was amazed at the account:
"I'm not acquainted with that tree they talk about. '"It's fruit is truly sweet" they say,' I hear," she said.
Next, she went all alone and arrived where the tree stood. It stood at the Place of Ball Game Sacrifice:
"What? Well! What's the fruit of this tree? Shouldn't this tree bear something sweet? They shouldn't die, they shouldn't be wasted. Should I pick one?" said the maiden.
And then the bone spoke; it was here in the fork of the tree: "Why do you want a mere bone, a round thing in the branches of a tree?" said the head of One Hunahpu when it spike to the maiden. "You don't want it," she was told.
"I do want it," said the maiden.
"Very well. Stretch out your right hand here, so I can see it," said the bone.
"Yes," said the maiden. She stretched out her right hand, up there in front of the bone.
And then the bone spit out its saliva, which landed squarely in the hand of the maiden.
And then she looked in her hand, she inspected right away, but the bone's saliva wasn't in her hand.
"It is just a sign I have given you, my saliva, my spittle. This, my head, has nothing on it--just bone, nothing of meat. It's just the same with the head of a great lord: it's just the flesh that makes his face look good. And when he dies, people get frightened by his bones. After that, his son is like his saliva, his spittle, in his being, whether it be the son of a lord or the son of a craftsman, an orator. The father does not disappear, but goes on being fulfilled. Neither dimmed nor destroyed is the face of a lord, a warrior, craftsman, orator. Rather, he will leave his daughters and sons. So it is that I have done likewise through you. Now go up there on the face of the earth; you will not die. Keep the word. So be it," said the head of One and Seven Hunahpu-- they were one mind when they did it.
[...] Right away something was generated in her belly, from the saliva alone, and this was the generation of Hunahpu and Xbalanque.

Popol Vuh (translated by Dennis Tedlock)

Posted on:
2009.05.04 -0500

Tags:
texts