Accidental Mycology

This houseplant has been looking unhealthy for a while, but I didn't know it was this bad:

I'm lame enough to post update pictures, so my non-existant readers can look forward to watching these mushrooms grow in near real-time. (PS: Bren should get credit for this one; she noticed the growth and took the picture)

Quick link: Knoppix on a USB jump-drive

Everyone's favorite bootable Linux CD can be written to a USB simply by running the flash-knoppix command:

  http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/knoppix62-en.html

It worked on an off-brand USB stick, but my SanDisk Cruzer refuses to play along. SanDisk implements their encryption via some weird juju that makes their USB drives very uncooperative; I wouldn't recommend them.

Banksy?

Bren with a potential Banksy.

(And it seems that blogger strips EXIF tags from uploaded files.  No fun!)

Python debugging quickie

I've gotten into the habit of using pdb to interactively debug python code. I'll plug import pdb; pdb.set_trace() into the middle of an uncooperative function in order to examine machine state as the code runs.  (Note that I don't need to full capabilities of a debugger here; I'm not stepping through the code line-by-line.)

iPython is a much better choice, as this posting lays out:

import IPython.Shell; IPython.Shell.IPShellEmbed(argv=[])()

That's all you need to drop out of your function and into an iPython shell. When you're done twisting knobs, ctrl-D will exit iPython and return to your function.

Inchoate musing: what does it mean to own a device?

There's talk that the DoJ is looking into antitrust action against Apple for their recent decree that iPhone / iPad developers only use Apple-approved tools, ie, C/C++/Objective-C under Xcode.

I don't really know how antitrust law works, but it's not clear to me that Apple's move violates it. Microsoft was only prosecuted for bundling IE because they already had a monopoly on desktop OS's; it would be hard to argue that Apple has a smart-phone monopoly.

But I still think Apple's wrong, and government intervention is probably right.

In my mind, this falls under the broader problem of technology companies prescribing some narrow range of approved uses for the products we buy. A pernicious example is the license shipping with every camera that records video as MPEG or h264, which forbids making any money off any video you record with a consumer-grade camera, because that would make your work "professional." So if you've ever uploaded a video to YouTube, you probably violated your license.

I think I'd like to see something like a Gadget Owner's Bill of Rights: if I buy it, I can use it as I see fit. The vendor can eschew support for altered devices, of course, but I can't be legally prevented from modifying the device, and third parties can't be prevented from helping me.  (And let's pass laws to keep the 'Net neutral, while we're at it!)

Only moderately tangential update:  Reddit links to another great example of the kind of legal machinations that enable device manufacturers to claim excessive control over what you do w/ your device: a 92 page Terms of Service agreement.