Mathieu Jobin's Life and Thoughts

my second computer 1991 - 1995 - 1998

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:52:00 +0000

System 32bit ;) 386SX-16 with 1MB or RAM. 40MB hard disk.

I paid around 2000$ including Windows 3.0 which was like 300$ at the time.

eventually, I upgraded it to have a 100MB harddrive and 2MB memory. it quickly filled up.

it's only in 1996 I upgraded it for a Pentium 120 and a 1.2GB harddrive.

then I got the Internet and started learning about Linux. Eventually, my system would not boot because I had no space left in /tmp or something like that. I could have reinstalled but I could have quickly ended up in the same situation, so I bought a 1.6GB harddrive ;)

my first computer circa 1985

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 03:30:00 +0000

This is the first computer I've been playing with. Mostly using BASIC language trying to make something work. Played around with Lotus 1.2.3.

Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer 2

CPU: Motorola 6809E, 0.8 MHz
Memory: 16K RAM; 6K ROM
Display Capability: 32 lines by 16 character text, 256x192 8-color graphics
Operating System: ROM BASIC
Input/Output: Composite color video output; Joystick ports; cartridge port

Find the length of a wav file in Ruby

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 06:52:00 +0000

I needed a way to find out quickly the length of the wav file. in a previous version, I was simply guessing it from the file size, saying that a wav file is about a megabyte per minute. but that ain't the proper way. Thanks to this site giving me the wav file header. I could quickly write my own in Ruby.

def wavinfo(input)



    def bytes_to_int(bytes)
            bytes.unpack("L").first
    end

    # try to load a file form the filesystem unless we got a data stream as a parameter
    unless input[0..3] == 'RIFF'
            file = File.new(input,"r")
            input = file.read(45)
            file.close
    end

    return {
            :filesize => (8 + bytes_to_int(input[4..7])),
            :wavefmt => input[8..15],
            :format => bytes_to_int(input[16..19]),
            :pcm => bytes_to_int(input[20..21]),
            :channels => bytes_to_int(input[22..23]),
            :frequency => bytes_to_int(input[24..27]),
            :bytes_per_second => bytes_to_int(input[28..31]),
            :bytes_by_capture => bytes_to_int(input[32..33]),
            :bits_per_sample => bytes_to_int(input[34..35]),
            :always_data => input[36..39],
            :bytes_in_data => bytes_to_int(input[40..43]),
            :wav_length => bytes_to_int(input[40..43]).to_f / bytes_to_int(input[28..31]),
    }

end

hope this helps you

How to use JustBudget

Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:48:00 +0000

Many people are asking me how to use JustBudget. I must admit there are not a lot of documentations and it can't be confusing at first. But in fact, it is really easy. Here is some explanation.

To use JustBudget properly, you need to understand a few simple facts that lead to proper usage.

JustBudget has been built on the idea that people who can't keep money aside is because they don't know where it all goes.

Well, most people think they know. But fact is; it's very easy to lose track of where you spend how much. This is exactly where JustBudget is meant to be useful.

JustBudget is not following the "envelop" approach where you try to plan ahead and split up what you have in your buckets. JustBudget is asking you to input all of your spending. And after a few weeks of data, it will draw you out some congregated information. Add your incomes if you want to know how much you're saving or you are under. But spending is most important.

Category is meant to be like "Rent, Groceries, TV service, Games, Restaurant, etc". Note that I always split Groceries and Restaurant. Actually, I even split Fast Food from actual sit down restaurant. That helps me see how often I can eat in each of those for the same amount of money.

Location is where you spent the money or the company. Who you pay your rent to, the grocery store you are going, your TV cable service company, where you buy your games, which restaurant you went, etc. This is meant to split up your expenses into a second level of details.

Later, you will see which category and location are "popular" to you. Which one you go to the most and which one you spent the most. You don't have to change your habit too quick. JustBudget will show you a clear image of your situation. Then after a few weeks, you will start seeing what category might be taking too much of your budget than required. Then you will want to apply the changes that make sense to you.

After several months, your stat page will show you an evolution between months. I like this page very much. It shows you all your monthly totals per category and the difference between them. So if you spent more or less in a category than the previous months, you will easy know by a red/green color-coded number.

Inserting a proper date will give you more precise information. And the description can be helpful to you when looking back at your own stuff. I write why something cost more than usual, and gas price for a litre/galon for historical purposes.

Splitting your expenses into several “budgets” is meant as a high level separation. When using a separate money currency or when moving to a new city for example. But in most cases, it should not be necessary.

Remember to input your data as quickly as possible, daily is the best to not lose any precious information.

Hope this helps.

Mathieu

Typo 5.5 upgrade and moved to a faster server.

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 22:17:00 +0000

I just upgraded my blog to the latest typosphere release. no issue at all. work perfectly. please tell me if you encounter any issue or slow down/speed up

Microsoft finally release its Go game for Xbox 360.

Sun, 19 Dec 2010 20:19:00 +0000

Microsoft Research has been working on a computer-go AI engine for several years [1]. But we never knew how strong it was. Recently, Microsoft Research hired the two people that were behind iSheep. The game that won one of the recent XNA contest.

These guys took care of building a decent looking XBLA game around the AI engine Microsoft Reseach had developped.

if you win all the way through the story mode, the dialogs will sound buggy. The story is clearly written for someone who never played Go. But It offers a very good tutorial for new people coming into Go. Blended through a little story. Several culture mix and confusions between China and Japan is annoying for those who the difference. Several things in the background does not fit together at all. but most people won't see anything wrong.

Other than that. its nice to see a good looking Go game for Xbox. The first one I see that brings nice 3D visuals for this awesome game we are playing for over 2500 years. that's nice.

There are several user interaction issues I found annoying. such as why do I need to "Quit" my game, after a win, the term is plain wrong. Another annoying thing is some messages that appears too fast to be read and they seemed more interesting than the one you have to click 'A' your way through.

I don't like Chinese scoring, a choice should have been made. I don't think it make such a difference on a regular 19x19 board. but on a small 9x9 board with 5.5 komi. it gets quite hard to win as black. That said, the AI is not that strong although its play does feel quite natural. But I have yet to try it on a large board.

Setting up a game through Xbox live is a little bit annoying. You don't know how many people are currently online. So, it feels like you are waiting for nothing...

In-game voice chat and or Kinect support would have been nice.

Overall, I recommend the purchase. 400 Microsoft points is not exaggerated. and the 200 achievements gamer score points are easy to get.

long awaited archlinux update overdue. will it pass?

Sun, 14 Nov 2010 00:50:00 +0000

(click read more to view list of packages) posted as a comments because it took too much space ;)

two birds with one stone...

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 19:30:00 +0000

Here is an idea. Canada needs to invest a whole wack of money for his sovereignty over the Arctic. Why not build a prison over there where long-sentenced criminals would do unpaid work for their country.

Kinect: first impressions.

Fri, 05 Nov 2010 00:01:00 +0000

I knew all along I would be getting this new technology and there was no point in waiting for others to review it. So I did not wait any longer than its release date. I bought my Wii right when it came out as well and even though there isn't as many interesting game that came out for the Wii as I first thought. I'm still curious about this sweating gaming trend. Unlike Sony that is coming out with some High Def version of the Wii with their Playstation Move, I find that Microsoft is actually bringing something entirely new to the market. So the choice was a no brainer.

Everybody knows it by now you need a Kinect compatible living room to be able to use it. We can’t really complain about that, this technology is about getting your ass off the couch and move. This won’t be happening on a single foot square. In my case it is slightly more complicated, I have a projector instead of a TV. This brings several issues. I will first cover the three most obvious technical problems I have regarding this and then add some more comments about Kinect itself.

The lighting. My room is quite dark; the only light is the projector. So when my Xbox ask me to turn on the light for face recognition, I can’t. Therefore I could not try this feature so far. Light and projector simply does not quite go well together. I guess I will try to add some lights until I can use the face recognition technology and see how the responsiveness and image quality improve or worsen.

Cable too short. You guessed it, same issue with the Wii. But the Wii does not carry any information from the “sensor bar”. So several wireless options were possible. With Kinect, It needs to be plugged in. In theory the maximum for a USB2.0 device is 15 feet. But I found out you could use at least 25 feet long USB cable without much of a problem. In my case, I had to add a 10 feet cable to the existing one. I did not measure the existing one, so I am not so sure how much it adds up. But I’d say very close to 25 feet. I feared I would lose responsiveness but did not feel any problem when using Kinect.

Always being in front of the projector. Argh, this one is annoying. My projector is located behind me in a high shelf but it ain’t high enough. Moving my projector to the roof requires an investment I had not planned. On the Wii, it was not too much of a problem. Your body would not move so much, only your arm and even for DDR, if sometimes your head or shoulder would hide the screen for a quick second, it never been a real problem for me. When I tried Kinect Adventures, I keep jumping in front of the projector blindly missing all the targets. So if I want to keep playing on the projector, I definitely need to make some adjustments.

Apart from that, the initial Kinect was flawless and everything seems to work perfectly. But I got several other disappointments. I was expecting to be able to watch movies, pause, rewind and resume them with voice command. But Netflix is not supported. Only Zune. That sucks as I don’t use Zune and don’t want to either. Actually I find voice commands quite useless. From the dashboard you can’t select anything but Kinect. Once in the Kinect menu, you have to pronounce “Xbox” again for it to receive a new voice command and then your choice is limited again. After you made your choice, the voice capability ain’t available anymore.

I have a similar complains with gesture control. You hop into a menu option and it forgot you were using your hand; you have to wave again to take control. I feel like I have to wave my hand before every single click. This is very bad usability.

Anyway, I did not give this more than one hour so far. So I will keep you posted for updates.

small update

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:59:00 +0000

Hi everyone,

just to let people know I fix the help system, some might have wanted to email me but unfortunately it was broken for some time. this is now fix.

if you encounter any issue. please post your questions/comments into the help system.

for new users, please keep in mind justbudget has been thought as an "expense tracker". You write down what you spend and then it gives your a clear picture on your habits. When you see Starbuck in your top 5 popular locations with total spent amount of 2000$... you're thinking maybe I had prefer getting a new computer instead of this bad coffee.

happy budgeting

Good news never come alone.

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:43:00 +0000

Sorry everyone. it is really not on this note I wanted to write this message today.

But Lets start with the good news. a few days ago, I spent the time fixing the issue with the calendar. you can set your expenses date and time again. I also fixed the QFX import function. it should work as expected for everyone(tm). please let me know if you encounter any other problem.

And just because good news never comes alone, I made a small mistake today causing the lost of one full day of transaction. All new expenses/transactions you might have entered between April 19th 2010 17h15 New york time and April 20th 17h15 is lost.

How sad as justbudget just entered his 61th month of activity...

Again, very sorry. it won't happen again. And happy budgeting.

Perl weirdness 2010#001

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 14:11:00 +0000

Perl keeps impressing me (negatively) with weird stuff such as implicit context and so on....

but that one is really out of the ordinary...

prompt~/ perl 
print "-------\n\n";
my $x = 'hostname1.foo.net';
$x->{'datacenter'} ||= '__';
use Data::Dumper; 
print Dumper $x;
print "x".$x->{'datacenter'}."x\n";
my $y = 'hostname1.foo.neT';
print "y".$y->{'datacenter'}."y\n";
my $z = 'hostname1.foo.net';
print "z".$z->{'datacenter'}."z\n";
-------

$VAR1 = 'hostname1.foo.net';
x__x
yy
z__z
prompt~/

first, I thought calling ->{} on a scalar/string would crash. to my surprise, my program passed. so I wrote this test only to learning something even crazier about perl. couldn't this be a security issue?

my Blog is back up !!!!

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 21:41:00 +0000

After several server "hick ups" my blog is now back online ! Well, it never got offline, but dreamhost is not so generous on RAM and my blog was asking for more and more, thus I had to move it. I still think dreamhost is a nice place for hosting your stuff but I am sure you know that, at some point, you might need something more dedicated to your business... So my blog is now running on my own server, I also upgraded it to the latest typo (from 4.0.3 to 5.4.1) and it feels good to be able to type here again without fearing crashes....

And just so reading this is not entirely a waste of time, here is for your viewing pleasure one of my favorite Internet classic video....

dont know what svn revision to restore?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 08:24:00 +0000

I simply fell on that blog post and wanted to reply to the comment asking how to find out which version to copy....

but I could not reply... unfortunately so I am posting it here for my own selfish joy....

Q: Steve Wick said 24 days later:

How do you know what revision number to restore?

A: Mathieu Jobin

a sapient process is required to decide which version. a good guess is the one just before the delete. if the svn removal was committed on -r1235, then -r1234 is the one to restore. in some circumstance you might want an even earlier version. physics laws on file removal and temporal continuum states you might not be able to restore at a later revision due to nonexistence of matter.

kind regards,

How to make Rails ActiveRecord::Migration default to MyISAM

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Some people perfer InnoDB, other MyISAM. This post ain't about a MySQL-Engine flame war but about letting people choice.

Fact is, the excellent Migration system shipped with rubyonrails and ActiveRecord is defaulting to InnoDB. The doc shows how you can specify the engine on each create_table statement. but then your migration are mysql-only because these engine options will not be supported by sqlite or MSSQL. and I dont want to copy/paste these options to all of my create table. I want to change the default.

unfortunately Rails supply no options for it

fortunately Rails is built on Ruby.

so you can simply overwrite the proper method by adding it to your config/environment.rb

module ActiveRecord
        module ConnectionAdapters
                class MysqlAdapter < AbstractAdapter
                        def create_table(table_name, options = {}) #:nodoc:
                                super(table_name, options.reverse_merge(:options => "ENGINE=MyISAM"))
                        end
                end
        end
end