Extremes

 I watched the DVD of "The Lives of Others", a film set in 1984 East Berlin.

It struck me that both the far left and the far right don't know how to handle artists and writers.

Another one!

 I have just found out about another programmer with schizophrenia - Terry A. Davis

In other news, my cold is slowly going away and I've had to resort to Paracetamol for a headache.

Progress, I hope

Well, the SSH Mastery Book seems to be unsuitable for my needs. Currently reading Wikipedia articles on public-key cryptography and, later on, its article on SSH.

In other news, I worked out how to get Ubuntu to launch a calculator when an otherwise unused key is pressed!

Monday...

Well, my meds didn't turn up today.

 In the morning I was reading "SSH Mastery (2e)" when I realised I needed to read "Networking for System Administrators". So I started on that.

In the afternoon I bounced around various Traveller sourcebooks, looking to get an idea of more things too read - what and when.

Productive Saturday

Today I

• Did about one and a half hours of Gardening.
• Watched the first two lectures on The Great Courses "Writing Creative Nonfiction".
• Wrote up some recent notes on my reading of "Learning Git".
  

"Learn C++ by Example" by Frances Buontempo

Currently taking part in a study group for the abovementioned book.

I was curious to see if I could write a simple filter. Using cppreference.com for information on the C++ standard libraries, I came up with this, saved into the file irb-filter.cpp:-

/*
  The most basic filter ever, copies cin to cout.

  Ian Bruntlett 5th May 2024

  To check for memory errors, do this:
  $ valgrind --tool=memcheck ./irb-filter <rose.txt

  To see cache performance, do this:
  $ valgrind --tool=cachegrind ./irb-filter <rose.txt

  See valgrind.org for more info on valgrind
 
*/

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

int main()
{
  std::string line;
 
  //std::cout << "line.capacity() = " << line.capacity() << '\n';
  //line.reserve(200); // assume lines typically 200 characters or less

  while ( std::getline(std::cin,line) )
    std::cout << line << '\n';
    //std::cout << line.capacity() << " length " << line.length() << ' ' << line << '\n';
}

I've left in some comments in case the reader want to delve a bit deeper. I've also left in some commented bits of code I used to check my understanding of what is happening when the code is being run.

I compiled the code with my makefile, which in turn ran this command:

g++ -g -Wall -Wshadow -Wconversion -std=c++23  -Wl,-Map=irb-filter.map  irb-filter.cpp   -o irb-filter

Here are the contents of rose.txt:

 The Sick Rose
By William Blake
O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

git update

 OK, so it's taking a while, a lot of effort, but... I think I am getting to grips with git. Still got a long way to go but its doable.

Traveller Update

Well, we are in the third adventure, set in a world of asteroids, mining and... other things. This Traveller supplement was published 16 years ago, supporting Mongoose Traveller 1st Edition, and is still relevant. At the conclusion of the second adventure, the Travellers (aka Player Characters) were rewarded with action figures of themselves.

More Traveller

 I ran a brief Traveller session this week. My OCD kicked in and I turned up late - having door to door salesmen come round twice did not help.

 I've started a new adventure, published by Mongoose Publishing, and it has quite a bit of set up work required before the action gets going.

Tomorrow will be all about studying "Learning Git".

Traveller Update

 I ran a Traveller adventure this week. I think it went well. Will continue playing Traveller.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

This is a long film – about two and three quarter hours and it kept my attention throughout. I’ve always preferred M.I. films that have an ensemble cast and this film has that in spades. Yes, Tom Cruise does get to run around the roofs of tall buildings and ride a motor bike but that was integral to this story. As always, the M.I. team are roused into action by the need to acquire a gadget / MacGuffin – in this case, the ultimate information weapon. Definitely worth seeing.

Good Omens

 One of my meds, Aripiprazole, could have been named after a demon from Good Omens...

 Finished "Learning Modern Linux", currently deep in "Fluent C".

However I bought this book - "Writing Down the Bones" - a book about writing - today.

Design Patterns

My review of "C++ Software Design" has been submitted.

Now I've started "Learning Modern Linux".

Hopefully I'll be able to retain my current levels of concentration.

June update

 I rewatched "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and all the DVD extras today. It hadn't been playing properly. Yesterday I washed it in hot soapy water and rinsed it in hot water. That seems to have done the trick.

My Clozapine has been reduced and I am now experiencing low-level symptoms.

Social Security article

 There is an interesting article, "False ‘Facts’ about Science and Social Security Share Origins" which can be seen here.

Etc...

 Been reading the initial chapters of "Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (2e)" by Grady Booch. Good book, covers C++ and other languages. Not the easiest of reads...

More progress....

 Well, I now know enough UML to be dangerous. Or to use it in "sketch mode".

One of the references in the back of "UML Distilled" referred to a class for teaching Object-Oriented Thinking using small index cards. This is a very useful technique and, if you don't know about it already, take a look here.

UML Distilled

Well, my (second hand) copy of "UML Distilled (3e)" arrived today. It looks promising and I will be devouring it over the coming days.

In particular, the UML notation's quick reference is in the inside front and back covers. Looking good :)

Online C++

Outside the realm of C++ text books, we have an excellent online resource - cppreference.com, the C++ Core Guidelines, and an excellent way to play around with different C++ compilers with Compiler Explorer. Also... there are some interesting things on Bjarne Stroustrup's websire

Awesome!