Daily Stream for December 2024
28 Dec 2024 - 23:12
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Yes, I am aware of the irony of using Python to generate Markdown for a Ruby-based CMS. At least I’m not using R here.
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I’m still struggling with Python. I’m now a pretty bad Python programmer: I just don’t know the idioms as well as I (want to used to). But, I will say my sojourn in RLand has helped me be a (slightly) better Python programmer. I do miss the R object model (or lack thereof) but that’s a post for another time.
28 Dec 2024 - 20:12
The sun is out today. This may be the first time I’ve seen the sun since arriving in Iceland. At times it felt like I would never see the sun again.
In one of Terry Prachett’s novels, a plot point was that if something didn’t happen, the sun wouldn’t rise the next morning. In the novel, it’s clear that a ball of light powered by fusion energy would appear, but that is a far, far cry from the sun rising. (The novel is probably Hogfather.) A lot of tourist Iceland is about stories being told, re-told, and changed to suit modern tastes; stories are so valuable.
28 Dec 2024 - 14:12
At Kiki Bar in Reykjavik, which is (I believe) the only gay bar in the country. I’m waiting for a drag show which I think is hosted by Faux News.
27 Dec 2024 - 21:12
No one knew when the chain would start. There were sensors somewhere that decided when the chain would start, and the residents of chainsend would only have fifteen minutes warning after the lights started. Of course, there would be days of speculation as early as late September about it and usually two weeks before there were small betting pools. Chain start took an entire day; but once it was working then there would be several days of celebration.
The chain had always been there. Kate’s grandfather said that when he was young, the oldest person in the village told him a story of when the chain was built. But Kate preferred to believe that the gods themselves had built it at the beginning of the world. Too much of it couldn’t be explained today. Not that the Trucks made any more sense: they just kept going seemingly never needing any power.
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No doubt Kate will sneak on to a truck, ride the chain across the mountains and to the other Land. But that’s a story for later.
27 Dec 2024 - 17:12
And when the EastWest tour lost at least two stars on the inevitable Yelp / TripAdvisor review: at lunch, they were unable to seat two traveling companions together. Now, I know that the tour company isn’t directly responsible for the actions of their suppliers, but they still select their suppliers. When their suppliers (e.g. the lunch venue) falls down it reflects on the parent company. I was going to give the tour guide a decent tip but this was a pretty bad experience for me.
27 Dec 2024 - 15:12
About five minutes later a storm blew in and this was just a white-out condition. This is Gullfoss, the furthest point on the golden tour. Next up is Geysir.
27 Dec 2024 - 13:12
View from the tour van window during a short winter storm.
27 Dec 2024 - 11:12
This is þhingfellur, which is where the Alþing was originally held. In the middle is Silfra: the line between the North American and Eurasian plates. In a bit of a #metauxrhistory, Silfra was the name of the reverse proxy that ran between the dev servers and RStudio, back when we had dev servers and RStudio.
It’s been over six months since I’ve used R. I made the decision that it has to be python from now on.
27 Dec 2024 - 10:12
The line up at tourist bus stop #6. I think this is a marvel of how things just work: 50-100 people line up for any number of small tourist vans and they eventually get on the right one. My traveling companion thinks it’s awful and wants to improve it.
My challenge is that the only organization that has the power to make it “better” is the government. There is a good example that this doesn’t work: airports. The problem here is similar to the airport shuttle problem and there, you have a similar solution: a zone where all the hotels pick up. At best you have some distinction like “zone 1 / zone 2” but it’s still more or less a free-for-all.
I’m not even sure what the metric I’m trying to optimize for here is. It’s likely “tourist confusion,” but how the hell are you going to measure that? In addition, once you know how this works, it’s straight-forward. The TC says it’s time spent, but given arrival times of the vans are not tightly scheduled, that’s not a great metric.
I remain believing that this is the best way unless you want the government to take a very strong hand.
27 Dec 2024 - 08:12
Organ concerts should have either smoke effects or lasers or (preferably) both. The effects should pick out the pipes currently being played - this is not just an effect for effect’s sake. There is a serious point here, letting audience members better understand how the organ works to create the sounds they are hearing.
26 Dec 2024 - 17:12
It looks so typical at the base, where the organ is. Then you look up and it is a creature of nightmares. As well, the lighting is doing this nave no favors
26 Dec 2024 - 16:12
Churches in Iceland. Not looked up if there is a synagogue here.
26 Dec 2024 - 13:12
Bright and early (9:30am) on Boxing Day. Sunrise is still almost two hours away (1:40).
26 Dec 2024 - 09:12
And the main course.
25 Dec 2024 - 19:12
The wine for the main course. I’ve finally read the menu and the beef comes with foie gras and a Madeira sauce. I remember always having a Madeira sauce at Grandma’s house along with an orange cake. I should try to re-do that.
25 Dec 2024 - 19:12
Winter comes fast here: not ten minutes earlier it was clear and while not sunny, at least visible. Then the storm came and a few minutes later it was nearly white-out.
25 Dec 2024 - 18:12
Not quite sunset (15:32 today; sunrise was around 11:20), but dramatic light on the Rainbow road in central Reykjavík.
25 Dec 2024 - 14:12
It’s 29° but feels like 3°. But to the hardy ornamental Brassica, it feels just fine!
25 Dec 2024 - 14:12
An afternoon of some snow and a lot of wind. By the main church in Reykjavik, at a little after one in the afternoon.
25 Dec 2024 - 14:12
To me, this shower control is obviously a pressure / temperature control. However, my traveling companion was convinced it was a hot/cold control, and was deeply confused by the mere existence of a P/T type control. Does anyone else have that reaction? I’m wondering if P/T is a European thing?
25 Dec 2024 - 13:12
In boxes.py, walls do not have to close. Rather than spending hours trying to re-create curveTo using piece-wise segments, just have the wall end, do a .curveTo(…), and then pick up with a proper Boxes.edge(…) to complete the shape.
25 Dec 2024 - 13:12
I had never noticed the similarity between Guinness beer and Irish coffee before. Without labels I’d be hard pressed to tell the difference.
24 Dec 2024 - 18:12
The desert was a rich chocolate cake with blueberry ice cream rosettes.
24 Dec 2024 - 17:12
Christmas Eve dinner in Reykjavík: Mexican. I had a lamb that covered both cultures! Also, nothing is open on Christmas Eve here.
24 Dec 2024 - 16:12
Christmas Eve dinner in Reykjavík: Mexican. I had a lamb that covered both cultures! Also, nothing is open on Christmas Eve here.