From 575d6e88239505696f9851e246ceb967d15af734 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Lucian Mogosanu Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 13:26:58 +0200 Subject: [PATCH] posts: 01b, 01c --- posts/y00/01b-some-of-the-things-ive-read.markdown | 107 ++++++++++++++++++++ posts/y00/01c-3d-printing.markdown | 94 +++++++++++++++++ 2 files changed, 201 insertions(+) create mode 100644 posts/y00/01b-some-of-the-things-ive-read.markdown create mode 100644 posts/y00/01c-3d-printing.markdown diff --git a/posts/y00/01b-some-of-the-things-ive-read.markdown b/posts/y00/01b-some-of-the-things-ive-read.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82353e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/y00/01b-some-of-the-things-ive-read.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,107 @@ +--- +postid: 01b +title: Some of the things I've read +excerpt: Previously dubbed "On reading". +author: Lucian Mogoșanu +date: March 15, 2014 +tags: books +--- + +*Inspired partly by [dAImon's laziness][1] (in Romanian).* + +Contrary to popular belief, reading is, I believe, more than simple +consumption. In fact I would go as far as to say that reading is complex +consumption, as it involves not merely going through a text, but understanding +its main ideas, its meaning as a whole, and acknowledging that they have +changed us in some way or another. Of course, very frequently there are texts +which do not change us in any way, but then again we might as well say we +haven't really read anything in that case. + +Reading is also a prerequisite for writing, in such a way that the writer must +continuously train to keep his mind focused on the stream of words that come +and go, while making sure the proper ideas linger. That is why I will always +feel like I am unable to put my words on the paper if I haven't read in a +while, and that is while (from my experience at least) the lack of reading is +bound to turn people into dumb creatures with an extremely limited grammar and +vocabulary. Not to speak of style, which is more than mortals such as myself +can handle. Surely, language has an impact on the human mind, and reading has a +deep impact on the mental mechanism of language. + +Thus I strive to read. I read many blogs' daily writings, but I will leave +these for another time, since I feel that they deserve a separate post. I also +read books, short stories, poems or lyrics and also scribblings which are more +mathematical or scientifical in nature, but nonetheless art. For the sake of +brevity and simplicity, I will focus on the small number of works of fiction +which I have attempted to read in the past ten months or so, some of which I +have finished and some of which I haven't. + +**God Emperor of Dune**: This one's the sequel to the so-called "Dune trilogy" +(also written by Frank Herbert), namely Dune, Dune Messiah and Children of +Dune. I've either had too much of the Dune universe or I was tired with Frank +Herbert's rather difficult style, but the fact is that I haven't managed to get +past the third chapter or so. Maybe it's because, in contrast to other stories +which stretched out over more than two volumes, the Dune universe doesn't seem +to be heading anywhere in particular. I had no problem reading Asimov's full +Robots and Foundation series for example, and these went way longer than six +books. Well, maybe I'll re-start sometime later. + +**The Hobbit**: It's not a coincidence, I wanted to read it before viewing the +movie. I later realized that reading The Hobbit wasn't enough to do a +canon-check on the movie so I had to consult other Tolkien fans to see whether +the movie is true to the books. The Hobbit is definitely a children's book, and +a lovely one if I may say so; I'm now waiting for the right time to get to LOTR +and Silmarillion, which I heard are even more interesting and full of stuff +which is bound to turn one into a fanatic. Hopefully I'll even assimilate some +self-changing ideas from them. + +**David Copperfield**: If there's one thing Charles Dickens is known for, +that's long and extremely boring stories of unhappy children living in the +early industrial England. To be honest, I really enjoyed Dickens' depiction of +those times, but what I enjoyed at least as much was the superb quality of +writing and the beautiful English language, which I rarely manage to find in +nowadays' writings unfortunately. + +**2001: A Space Odyssey**: Now, I might find myself in the position of the +stupid guy here. I watched the movie some years ago and I found it extremely +boring. I know it's innovative and stuff, but I can't say that I liked it, and +let me tell you, I watched Russian movies which looked more static and I +enjoyed those. Anyway, I only managed to get past the first chapter with the +book, hell if I know why. Could it be because I read it in Romanian? No idea, +but I don't see myself attempting to read it again anytime soon. + +**Crime and Punishment**: This is yet another example of a book I haven't +managed to read and I have no idea why. I'm quite a fan of Dostoyevsky: I read +The Brothers Karamazov and it blew me away. I read The Possessed and The Idiot +and very much enjoyed them and found some of the ideas there inspiring while I +disagreed with others. Well, I couldn't follow Raskolnikov's tale. I must be +growing impatient or something. + +**The Trial**: This one I finished, albeit with great difficulty. The plot kept +me hooked, but the lack of continuity ruined it for me. Plus, I didn't manage +to get where the whole thing was heading, so I finished the book more +frustrated than I had begun it. I'll give Kafka one more try sometime, but I'm +somehow afraid that might be the last one. + +Finally, there are a couple of authors whom I haven't managed to read yet. I +feel sorry about this, because they're particularly good writers and/or +speakers and I know I have a lot to learn from them. + +**Cory Doctorow**: While I'm reading his [blog][2], his Guardian columns and so +on, I haven't managed to read any of his novels and I don't recall perusing any +of his short stories. That's too bad, because he's one of the most no-nonsense +public figures living on the American continent, or in the UK for that matter. +He is also one of the few artists who manage to see how much crap +industrialized music, movies and books have brought to the market, including +the whole slew of anti-sharing lobbies pushed by the industries. In other +words, a ray of hope in an ocean of idiocy. + +**Richard Feynman**: I feel ashamed that I haven't read any of his books by +now. Although he's not a fiction writer, he's quite possibly one of the most +inspirational people of our times, and by inspirational I don't mean +"inspirational". Besides, I love mathematics and I still have a thing for +physics, so he's on the top of my list. + +There are others, but I feel that this list is more than enough for now. + +[1]: http://daimon.me/blog/2014/01/14/in-care-arat-c-am-fost-un-lenes/ +[2]: http://craphound.com/ diff --git a/posts/y00/01c-3d-printing.markdown b/posts/y00/01c-3d-printing.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9a9121d --- /dev/null +++ b/posts/y00/01c-3d-printing.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,94 @@ +--- +postid: 01c +title: 3D printing: what you (probably) haven't considered (yet) +excerpt: A few predictions regarding the future of open hardware. +author: Lucian Mogoșanu +date: March 22, 2014 +tags: asphalt +--- + +A couple of days ago I was reading an article called "[The Hardware Hacker +Manifesto][1]", in which the author laments on the sorry state of user freedoms +in regard to hacking devices. He makes a fine point, but he only barely +scratches the surface of the problem with the tip of his finger; because let's +face it, "hardware hacking" wouldn't be possible without the help of actual +open hardware, as well as "software hacking" wouldn't be possible without +actual "open software", be it "open source" or "free software". + +In a fashion quite similar to software, hardware offers various degrees of +freedom. The main difference between the two lies in the nature of the +restrictions which get to be applied upon users or hackers: while software +artificially imposes a so-called "license" which allows or disallows the user +to modify, redistribute or sell a given program, hardware restrictions are, +well... hard. Vendors could in theory come up with a piece of silicon on a PCB +along with a schematic of said PCB, and market it as "open"; this already +happens in practice with the Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Galileo and other wonderful +pieces of hardware. There's only one tiny problem about them: they're not open, +or rather, they're not fully open. + +So at this point you find yourself in the rather nasty situation of trusting +the chip producers[^1]. Even more, you find yourself in the even nastier +situation of trusting the chip designers[^2]. So what's all this nonsense about +"trust" anyway? + +Well, for example Intel implement this neat instruction called [RdRand][2], +which is supposed to provide users with a "trustable" source of random numbers. +There is however a non-zero, and most probably non-negligible, probability that +Intel, being an American company, are politically influenced by parties which +are anything but trustworthy, namely the NSA, nowadays hated by most people who +have an interest in security. The same goes for any other hardware +manufacturer, which begs the question: are we going to implement our own +pieces of hardware anytime soon? + +This isn't news; open hardware enthusiasts have been thinking about this for +[more than a year][3] now. The goal is attainable not only with a CPU, which +can be easily designed by a second-year Computer Engineering undergrad, but +also with GPUs and other high-performance hardware that would catch highly +secretive hardware makers such as Nvidia off-balance. This is doable, in fact +[MIPS cores][4] have provided a starting point for years, while [OpenRISC][5] +has the true potential of becoming the Linux of hardware. Still, there's only +one tiny problem about that: we don't have the technology to brew our custom +pieces of silicon at home; not yet. + +Surely, FPGAs are a fairly good solution, although their cost can go at least +one order of magnitude higher than the Raspberry Pi. Still, FPGAs are more +trustable than a Pi, while ASICs are even more trustable and expensive as shit. +Otherwise if you're looking for security at the expense of large-scale +integration, then you might as well go solder your own stuff, just like dad +used to thirty years ago. + +Now consider the following idea: at the time of writing, the costs of 3D +printers vary about the same as FPGA costs. Printing electronics is still a +[hot research topic][6], so by the time this goes mainstream, FPGAs will +probably cost less than the Raspberry Pi does now. Single-board computers will +probably cost less than $5. A couple of decades later everyone and their dog +will be able to print custom phones, or even better, hire robots to design +their favourite tech junk according to some informal specification. + +I'll admit that I'm sounding like an over-optimistical prick right now. But as +a science and technology enthusiast and a person with an educated view on the +subject, I predict without even the slightest hint of optimism that this will +certainly happen. Mark my words, there's no way around it; it's either this or +the dark ages. + +More in the news: + +* [The $12 Gongkai Phone][7] +* [Debian Ported To OpenRISC Architecture][8] + +[^1]: Intel, Texas Instruments, Samsung, Freescale or some other more or less +American hardware manufacturer. + +[^2]: Intel, ARM, IBM, Nvidia and that's kind of where the story ends. See how +they're all western? Even if we take ex-designers such as Sun (now Oracle) or +MIPS Technologies (now Imagination Technologies), we still remain on the "left +side" of the world. Also, the list is pretty short. + +[1]: http://daeken.com/the-hardware-hacker-manifesto +[2]: https://lwn.net/Articles/453651/ +[3]: http://lkcl.net/articles/fsf_endorseable_processor.html +[4]: http://opencores.org/project,plasma +[5]: http://www.openrisc.net/ +[6]: http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/engineers_pave_the/ +[7]: http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=3040 +[8]: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTYxNzM -- 1.7.10.4