Desarrollando aplicaciones con Ubuntu One
These are the slides (in spanish) of my "Developing apps with Ubuntu One" from last ssaturday at UbuconLA. They filmed it, so there may be a video someday!
Rst2pdf 0.92 released, now has a website.
Just released rst2pdf version 0.92. Rst2pdf is a tool to convert restructured text to PDF without requiring multi-hundred-megabytes of software. It supports styling, multiple page layouts, font embedding, vector images, and much more.
Also, now it has a real website: http://rst2pdf.ralsina.com.ar
Try it out and let me know of the obvious, horrible bug I forgot to fix (happens in most rst2pdf releases ;-)
How I Prepare to Speak
This is the procedure I use to prepare for speaking at conferences. It may work for others, it may not. It may be good, it may be bad.
Sea Moderno, Escriba en Argentino, Jefe.
Sorry, spanish only!
El problema es que el español es una lengua viva, y como todo aquel que ha vivido tanto, se esta poniendo senil.
—Perrito
En Twitter me acaba de decir el amigo Perrito esa frase redonda, cerradita, impecable, cual culo de muñeca Yoli-Bell. Y tiene razón. Por eso yo no escribo en español, ni en su cuñado sectario el castellano, yo escribo en argentino.
Y eso no quiere decir escribir "que hacé cabeza, a cuanto la birra" ni "el alazán se retoba" sino simplemente escribir mas o menos como sueno en mi cabeza, lo que no es tan fácil como parece, pero si no lo pienso mucho me sale. Si lo pienso, sale otra cosa, que será mejor o será peor, pero es otra cosa.
Entonces, venía diciendo que yo escribo en argentino, porque el español está viejo. Porque el concepto mismo de "así se escribe el español", "así se habla en español" es viejo. Es la idea de que hay una mesa en España adonde se sienta una cantidad de gente (¡alguno que me cae bien, incluso!) que decide que de un día para otro decir cederrón está bien y antes estaba mal. Cederrón, oíme, por el codo derecho de Kali (el del medio), es una señal de que el concepto está mal.
Que haya una mesa adonde te dicen que ahora al que nace en Austria hay que decirle austriaco sin acento, es un insulto, es como si en tu oficina un día te ponen un cartel que dice que el edulcorante se abre del lado de la "E" de Equal Sweet, y que si lo abrís del lado de la "t" está mal y sos un burro.
Es legislar la nada, es decretar lo inútil. Es la confesión de parte que me releva de probar que son inútiles de toda inutilidad. Es decir "¡Tenemos mucho tiempo al pedo, hagamos que sólo no lleve nunca acento!".
Repudien eso. Repudien la autoridad autoasignada de vetustos catedráticos de la metrópolis en quiebra, y hablen en argentino. Y si les dicen que hablan mal, mándenlos a la concha del pato, que está bien dicho en perfecto argentino. Y si no sos argentino, bueno, no importa, no te cobramos los derechos.
Speaking at Ubucon-LA on June 2!
I will be speaking at Ubucon LA this next saturday June 2nd. The title is "Developing apps for Ubuntu One" and I expect it will be interesting, awesome, entertaining and full of amazing special effects.
Either that, or a regular talk. Hope to see lots of Ubuntu Users there!
Lenovo Mini Keyboard
The Lenovo mini wireless keyboard and trackball
Just got this today from DX and it's awesome.
So far, really happy with it, will use it for my living room computer/mediathing.
Natalia Oreiro y la Máquina del Tiempo
Sorry, spanish only.
"¿Argentino?" me preguntó la camarera del Fai Fai. Pero claro, cenando solo, en Carmelo, no te conocen, calculo que un 80% de probabilidades de que seas argentino. En fin. Si no te gusta llamar la atención te conviene ir a Montevideo, o por lo menos a Colonia. Pero la cachola es más barata, y para lo que tenés que hacer Carmelo alcanza. Y son las once de la noche, y el hotel no tiene agua caliente, y el único lugar abierto es el Fai Fai, y el carrito de chacho, y está fresco para comer parado en la calle.
Pero bueno, uno está donde está y hace lo que hace, y eso te preguntan siempre, qué estás haciendo. Y se te ocurre inventar que si tomás las banelco de todos tus amigos, venís acá, sacás pesos uruguayos del cajero, comprás dólares en la casa de cambio, los llevás a Argentina, los cambiás por euros, los traés acá, y los volvés a cambiar por dólares eso te deja un 7.8% de ganancia y es legal, pero sería complicado y no es cierto, y no querés explicar, entonces tenés que pensar algo, y tirás que venís porque sos un viajero en el tiempo.
Que somos todos, porque vamos para el futuro a un día por día, pero que tenés una teoría, que acá no es el mismo momento que allá. Que se llaman igual, en todos lados se llama 25 de mayo del 2012, pero que a pesar de eso, acá se siente como si fuera, ponele, 22 de junio de 1987, pero con wifi.
Si, Carmelo es la década del 80 pero con wifi, esa es la excusa, y no, si no hubiera wifi no vendría, por una cuestión de laburo, ¿viste? y empezás a mencionar las cosas obvias, como que esos sauces llorones en el río son iguales a los que había en la vuelta del pirata cuando eras chico, y que hay bosta en la calle, y que todas las veredas tienen esa capa de tierra que vos no ves desde 1991, y los carteles pintados a mano en las vidrieras.
Pero por supuesto, la evidencia más clara de que en Uruguay no es el siglo 21 es Natalia Oreiro. Porque la Oreiro no sólo está muy buena, si no que es, claramente, una mina nacida en 1950. Alcanza verle la cara, no es una cara de ahora, es una cara de hace 30, 40, 50 años, por eso llama la atención, porque minas lindas hay millones, pero ella es linda como sería tu vieja cuando era joven, si tu vieja era linda, como tu vieja debería haber sido de linda.
Es que las chicas jóvenes son siempre lindas. El chiste es ver cuarentonas lindas. En un lugar en que las adolescentes son hermosas pero las de cuarenta no, es que algo falla, es que algo les pasó en esos veinte años que les sacó lo lindas, ¿no?
Por eso, para saber cual país tiene las minas más lindas no mires adolescentes, no mires modelos, ni actrices, mirá maestras de primaria, ponele, de entre 35 y 50. Si son lindas, es que ese país vale la pena, porque agarró lindas adolescentes, las puso en un laburo jodido e ingrato, pero así y todo no las arruinó, quiere decir que el resto de las cosas que les pasaron no fueron tan malas. Si parecen de 20 sería una cagada, tienen que parecer de 35, de 40, de 50, pero con una sonrisa, con una actitud, de mina linda.
Entonces te decía que eso, que vengo por la máquina del tiempo, y sí, quiero volver a los 90 porque eran más largos, los 90. Fijate, el gobierno de Mendez duró tipo lo mismo que Nestor más Cristina, pero decíme que no pareció el doble, el triple... sería que yo era más rápido en los 90, entonces ahora que soy más lento el mundo se me puso rápido, y se me van los años así, de golpe, entonces si vengo acá, en el área de influencia de la hipotética máquina del tiempo de Natalia, entonces los días se me hacen más largos, y funciona, te juro, llevo 4 horas acá, pero se sienten como 4 días, 4 semanas, claro, 4 días de éstos, no 4 días de los 90.
Pero bueno, sí, de paseo. Un canadiense y una coca light.
Levels of Existence
This sign (the one on the left) is on the Education Council of the place where I live.
Click to enlarge.
There is, really, no such thing as art. There are only artists.
—Gombrich
When I first read it I was shocked by the sheer stupidity of the thing, but hey, let's think it over a bit. I suppose that saying someone is an artist, meaning a person that creates art, and at the same time claim that art, as such, does not exist, sounded like a good idea at the time. It's the kind of counter-intuitive slogan that makes people say "oh, deep, dude" between bong hits.
It's deeply stupid literally, in that it would, of course, make artists people who create something that doesn't exist, which puts them at the level of aspiring unicorn wranglers and theologists in the futility of their chosen profession. But in a way, it is true. Because "art" is not a thing, it has no material existence, although it has many examples.
So, pieces of art exist, but art as a whole doesn't. Art would be the platonic idea from which sculptures, paintings and novels are but a reflection. Which is a metric ton of bullshit but is at least somewhat defensible. And of course whether something is art or not is completely subjective, so art is like a club where objects enter or not based on opinion, and that club exists only in each person's head.
But in any case, that doesn't make it not existing, just because something only exists in your head that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It means it exists in your head, no matter how silly that sounds. So, art does exist, in the same way that imagination exists, or memories exist, or thought exists. Which again goes to show Gombrich was just crafting a silly slogan.
So, we have established that existence is not exactly a black and white thing, because there is at least material existence, and things that don't exist materially? Wrong, because your brain processes are material too. Thought, imagination, and art, all exist materially, in your brain. We just don't have the instruments to measure them, or report on them, except via that unreliable thing called people who just will not shut up about all those things they perceive in their brains. So, art exists, materially.
I know that may sound slightly strange, but what doesn't exist? Do the dragons of Pern exist? Yes, they exist, you can buy "The Dragons of Pern" in Amazon. And yes, specific dragons exist as well, because if they did not, how could we know they are carnivorous, oviparous and warm-blooded? Sure, they don't exist materially in the form of dragons, but I know that because I remember them. How could I remember something that doesn't exist? I remember them because I read about them. I have a memory of their description. There is a description o Pernese dragons as written by Anne McCaffrey, and that's not as good as actual, touchable, warm dragons, but it's the next best thing.
If I mention pink elephants, I am bringing them into existence, not as elephants, but as a description of an elephant, pink. It's an attenuated existence, but is the same one Japan has for me, who have never been there and must make do with notoriously unreliable testimony about their exotic temples, bizarre habits and enormous fire-breathing atomic lizards.
Obviously this is not what people mean, in daily usage, when they say existence, since it would include things people are happy to say do not exist, like Pernese dragons, pink elephants and Gojira. So, in a twisted way, maybe Gombrich is right. Except of course that existence is not a democratic decision. So maybe just people are wrong to say Gojira doesn't exist.
Or maybe existence is not a useful property for things. Maybe what we should use is reality. Because while Gojira exists, he is not real, in the sense that his material form is not that of a huge Tokio-stomping man in a rubber suit. Even though there used to be a guy, dressed on a rubber suit, stomping on a "Tokio", but I digress.
So, art is not real, maybe? Well, no, because noone is claiming art has a physical nature distinct from that representation it has in our heads. Noone claims art is yellow, smaller than a teapot, and covered in purple hair. Art is an abstract concept. And abstract concepts exist.
So Gombrich was full of shit.
Giving Up is a Good Idea Sometimes
Just saw a post in Google+ today by Amanda Blain, where she shows a picture of a book saying this:
Never give up on anybody. Miracles happen every day.
—Someone
Of course, no, they don't happen every day. They hardly ever happen or never happen, depending on how you define miracle. Things that happen every day are not miracles, they are common. It's cheapening the word.
I did reply, though:
If god is almighty, pray for the convergence of the -1^n series, and see how it works. There is no god but math.
—Me
Which is quite a troll, even for my standards, but hard to argue with, I expect. This post is a more serious response to that original quote. And my response is, sometimes, you need to give up. Further, sometimes, not giving up is stupid, painful, dangerous and selfish.
People don't really change all that much. They do it very slowly, when they do. And you are not (usually) the other person's guardian. There comes a point in people's lifes where helping them hurts them. Or worse, hurts the one helping.
Consider an abusive partner. Why should you not give up? Why allow him/her to hurt you further, in hope for a future change? That is just stupid and...
So, give up. Because the path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. But enough is enough. And stupid is bad.
That Box
Everyone has that box, full of mistery USB cables, broken headphones, a mechanical mouse, printer cable and more USB cables. EVERYONE.
—Fede
I answered "I threw it away last friday". But that was a lie. I actually put everything in a bag, and had not thrown it away yet.
So here it is:
An now it's really gone. Including:
And there was one thing I did not throw away. That's for some other day.
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