Naomi came yesterday, Edge arrived before her even though Edge was purchased later and they came from the same website Pullipstyle – one of the many, many reasons I hate Fed Ex. Naomi is supposed to be a member of a Visual Kei band, I am not overly familiar with Visual Kei bands but if the ones I seen in concert at Anime Boston were any type of indication of the style I am not particularly a fan ^^;

Naomi herself is actually rather lovely. She has a bold face up and while she does glitter eye make up it is not over the top like Venus’. The unmatched eyebrows are the only slight detraction from her beauty, her light eyebrows kind of detract from the overall effect but she is still really lovely. She is the perfect rock star, she definitely has the stage presence. I decided to name my little rock and roll goddess, Valhalla.

Yop,

un tout petit tour d’horizon s’impose. Le travail sur (et autour de) Enna fait son petit bonhomme de chemin. Le design était sans cesse modifié mais depuis quelques semaines on a enfin quelque chose de relativement stable. Personnellement je n’ai pas beaucoup travaillé sur Enna car je continue à me concentrer sur libvalhalla. Il y a encore deux régressions de Enna qui sont dues à l’utilisation de libvalhalla.

Je parle de régressions, bien qu’il n’y a jamais eu de sortie officielle et stable. Il faut comprendre par là qu’avec toutes les modifications qui ont été apportées à Enna, de temps en temps des fonctionnalités disparaissent simplement parce qu’elle devraient être gérées d’une autre manière.

La première régression que je veux souligner est celle de pouvoir reprendre la lecture d’un film à l’endroit où il a été interrompu. Dit comme ça, il n’y a rien d’exceptionnel. Mais “à l’époque”, l’enregistrement se faisait à l’aide de Eet qui était également utilisé pour stocker les méta-données des fichiers audio/vidéos. Depuis l’arrivée de libvalhalla et donc d’une base de donnée SQLite, Eet n’avait plus beaucoup de sens et cette partie a été simplement supprimée d’Enna. Mais la lib ne permet pas l’écriture depuis son API publique pour plusieurs raisons. Tout d’abord Valhalla ce n’est pas une bibliothèque pour gérer une base de donnée, mais c’est avant tout un scanner de fichiers, des “parsers” et des “grabbers”. Les données sont récupérées par elle automatiquement. Il est donc possible de les lire depuis l’API publique. Lorsque des données doivent être modifiées, elles le sont depuis les fichiers (tags ID3 par exemple), ou alors depuis les site internets qui fournissent des informations (les grabbers, ImDB, Amazon, etc, …).

Mais pour répondre à certains besoins comme la sauvegarde de la position d’un film, il est nécessaire de reconsidérer cette question sur libvalhalla. J’ai donc commencé à travailler sur cet aspect il y a peu de temps. Il y aura ainsi une information qui permettra d’identifier des données venant de l’extérieur (parser, grabbers, …) et des données venant de l’intérieur. Pour mieux comprendre pourquoi il est nécessaire de faire des séparations, l’exemple d’un champ “playcount” est bien adapté. Le “playcount” (donc le nombre de fois qu’un fichier est lu), dépend uniquement de l’utilisateur d’Enna. Si le fichier en question est modifié (les tags par exemple), ce champ doit rester intacte ce qui n’est pas possible actuellement.

La deuxième régression concerne les “snapshots” (ou “fanarts”). Ils servent à avoir une image illustrant une video. Par exemple les images suivantes présentent les résultats pour quatre “trailers” où des données intéressantes ont pu être récupérées par les “grabbers” (j’ai récupéré les “trailers” sur le site d’Apple, merci au blogger en lien <ici> et <ici> pour l’astuce).

Dans tous ces exemples les images de fond ont pu être téléchargées sur le site TheMovieDB.org. Mais il peut arriver qu’aucune image ne soient disponibles et donc une alternative est nécessaire. Actuellement il y a une image de fond par défaut pour ces cas de figure, mais le but est de créer un “snapshot” directement avec le contenu de la vidéo. Cette fonctionnalité était disponible à l’époque où libvalhalla n’existait pas, et libplayer faisait office d’intermédiaire pour récupérer l’image à 20% de la vidéo. L’idée désormais est donc d’utiliser le “grabber” FFmpeg (ajouté il y a peu de temps) pour extraire l’image. Bien sûr, il ne faut pas l’extraire dans les cas où TheMovieDB contient déjà un “snapshot” de bien meilleur qualité.

Il y bien entendu toujours un panneau d’informations pour les vidéos. Il va encore probablement subir des modifications, et donc rien de ce qui est montré dans ces “screenshots” ne peut être considéré comme définitif.

…

Il y a encore d’autres choses qui ont évoluées aussi bien au niveau de l’audio que de la vidéo, mais mon objectif  pour ce billet est uniquement de parler des deux régressions. Du côté de libvalhalla, les “grabbers” tels que Amazon, Allocine et LyricWiki re-fonctionnent normalement (espérons que se sois pour encore longtemps). A part ça, une grande partie des modifications sont internes tel que de l’optimisation et des corrections de bugs par exemple.

A bientôt,

Mathieu SCHROETER

]]> http://riskrapper.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/goldman-sachs-as-social-entrepreneur/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:23:06 +0000 riskrapper http://riskrapper.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/goldman-sachs-as-social-entrepreneur/ http://sum2llc.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/goldman-sachs-the-social-entreprenuer/ Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:23:57 +0000 riskrapper http://sum2llc.wordpress.com/2009/11/19/goldman-sachs-the-social-entreprenuer/

Goldman Sachs’ CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his largest investor, The Wizard of Omaha, Warren Buffett , descended from the mystical heights of Valhalla with some startling news.  They were bearing a new mythical golden ring.  As they held the ring aloft they made a bold proclamation.  They would embark on one of the grandest social entrepreneurial programs of all time by offering some of the rings precious power, about $500 million worth, to capital starved small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs).  The 10,000 Small Businesses Initiative will distribute $100 million per year over the next five years to SMEs through Community Development Financial Institutions.

These lords of commerce have heard the cries from endangered SMEs.  In their infinite wisdom Blankfein and Buffet understand that the real economy needs to resuscitate and incubate the critical SME segment as an absolute prerequisite to a vibrant economic recovery.    The buzz about this news in the marketplace ranged from cynical suspicion at one extreme to puzzled bemusement and  ecstatic aplomb at the other.

What motivated Goldman to announce this initiative is an interesting question.  Was it guilt, greed or a sense of corporate social responsibility?  Some suggest it is a master PR move to counter a growing public perception that Goldman Sachs,  the poster child of government favoritism and bailout largess,  has leveraged its unfair advantage to achieve historic levels of profitability.  Thus enabling management to pay obscene bonuses to company employees.  But capital has no psyche,  and half a billion dollars is a tall bill to underwrite absolution for some phantom form of guilt.  True to its nature, capital always  seeks a place where it will find its greatest return.  Goldman and Buffett are casting some major bread on the receding waters of a distressed economy.  As its foretold in the Good Book , doing God’s work will produce a tenfold return.  If the Bible’s math is correct, thats a lot of manna that will rain down from heaven for the shareholders of Goldman Sachs and Berkshire Hathaway.  Looks like our modern day version of Moses and Aaron have done it again.  Leading their investors across the dangerous waters of the global economy to live in the promised land of happy shareholders.

As one of the world’s preeminent investment banks and purveyor of capitalist virtues,  company shareholders must be questioning how Goldman’s managers will realize a return on this investment?  Has management examined the potential corporate and societal moral hazards surrounding the program?  Surely shareholders have asked when they expect to be compensated for this significant outlay of capital.   The desire to realize gain is a more plausible motivator and makes more sense for an enterprise like Goldman and the storied investment Wizard from Omaha.

Its wise to ascribe the best intentions and virtuous motivations to actions that we may not fully understand.  This program should be viewed as a seminal event in the history of corporate social responsibility and social entrepreneurship.  Its important to understand that institutions that practice corporate social responsibility do not engage it solely as a philanthropic  endeavor.  Indeed, the benefits of good corporate citizenship pays multidimensional dividends.  All ultimately accrue to the benefit of company shareholders and the larger community of corporate stakeholders.

Goldman’s  move to walk the point of a capital formation initiative for SMEs seeks to mitigate macroeconomic risk factors that are prolonging the recession and pressuring Goldman’s business.   Goldman needs a vibrant US economy if it is to sustain its profitability,  long term growth and global competitiveness.  Goldman needs a strong regional and local banking sector to support its securitization, investment banking and corporate finance business units.   Healthy SMEs are a critical component to a healthy commercial banking sector.  Goldman recent chartering as an FDIC bank holding company may also be a factor to consider.  This SME lending initiative will provide interesting insights into the dynamics of a market space and potential lines of business that are relatively new to Goldman Sachs.  This initiative might presage a community banking acquisition program by Goldman.  At the very least the community banking sector is plagued with over capacity is in dire need of rationalization.  Goldman’s crack team of corporate finance and M&A professionals expertise would be put to good use here.

Goldman’s action to finance SMEs will also serve to incubate a new class of High Net Worth (HNW) investors.  Flush with cash from successful entrepreneurial endeavors, the nouveau riche will be eager to deploy excess capital into equities and bonds, hedge funds and private equity partnerships.  Healthy equity markets and a growing Alternative Investment Management  market is key to a healthy Goldman business franchise.

Community banks, principal lenders to SMEs are  still reeling from the credit crisis are concerned about troubled assets on their balance sheets.  Bankers can’t afford more write downs on non-performing loans and remain highly risk adverse to credit default exposures.  Local banks have responded by drastically reducing credit risk to SMEs by curtailing new lending activity.  The strain of a two-year recession and limited credit access has taking its toll on SMEs.  The recession has hurt sales growth across all market segments causing SMEs to layoff employees or shut down driving unemployment rates ever higher.  Access to this sector would boost Goldman’s securitization and restructuring advisory businesses positioning it to deepen its participation in the PPIP and TALF programs.

The financial condition of commercial and regional banks are expected to remain stressed for the foreseeable future.  Community banks have large credit exposures to SME and local commercial real estate.  Consumer credit woes and high unemployment rates will generate continued losses from credit cards and auto loans.  Losses from commercial real estate loans due to high vacancy rates are expected to create significant losses for the sector.

Reduced revenue, protracted softness in the business cycle and closed credit channels are creating perfect storm conditions for SME’s. Bank’s reluctance to lend and the high cost of capital from other alternative credit channels coupled with weak cash flows from declining sales are creating liquidity problems for many SMEs.   Its a growing contagion of financial distress.  This contagion could infect Goldman and would have a profound impact on the company’s financial health.

The 10,000 Businesses  initiative will strengthen the free flow of investment capital to finance national economic development and empower SMEs.  It strengthens free market capitalism and has the potential to pool, unleash and focus investment capital into a strategic market segment that has no access to public equity and curtailed lines of traditional bank credit. The 10,000 Businesses initiative  will encourage wider participation by banking and private equity funds.  In the aggregate, this will help to achieve strategic objectives, build wealth and realize broader goals to assure sustainable growth and global competitiveness.  All to the benefit of Goldman Sachs’ shareholders and it global investment banking franchise.

Goldman Sach’s has always been a market leader.  We salute Goldman Sachs’ initiative and welcome its success.

In  September of 2008,  Sum2 announced The Hamilton Plan calling for the founding of an SME Development Bank (SDB).  The SDB would serve as an aggregator of capital from numerous stakeholders to focus capital investment for SME manufactures.   More on the Hamilton Plan can be read here: SME Development Bank.

Risk:  SME, bank, recession, unemployment, credit, private equity

You Tube Music: 10,000 Manaics, Natalie Merchant: Dust Bowl

Mhmm, and I’m ashamed to say I really do suck at commitment, haha. I fear for the day I get married, honestly. I can’t be faithful to a simple blog and YouTube channel, that can’t be a good prediction for my future. So I was reading a friend’s blog and he decided to do a 100 days blogging challenge where he blogs every day for 100 days, he’s on day 12 and going strong. Now, I’m not going to do that by any means, but maybe since I know more people blogging now I’ll get back in the swing of things? I can’t promise anything though, as my last posts have been filled with a bunch of false hopes and empty promises. =/

In one of his posts he talks about an amazing game called Waterball and has some videos, so I went through my files to find a video of my Youth Group playing water ball back in Summer of 2008. It’s not nearly as intense as the videos he posted, but it’s still pretty good. :] If you don’t know what Waterball is, you should really come out from under the rock that’s sheltering you. It’s only one of THE best and, undoubtedly, most dangerous sports. Rugby doesn’t even come close to the thrill that is Waterball. I love playing it, but because I’m so small I tend to get hurt a lot so in this vid you’re about to see I’m the one filming, haha. (I cannot get the video to work in the actually blog, so you’ll have to click on the link, sorry!)

Here’s the wonderful Waterball!

Now go over to the Blog Roll to the right and click on “Brooks’ Blog” to read and follow his blogging challenge. (Maybe this’ll bring you a couple more readers, haha)

For the few people who try to read my stuff,
-Bee-

Rinunzio ai miei castelli e alle mie terre, qui è il mio dominio, DENTRO QUESTA PELLE DI METALLO
E do in pegno tutto ciò che ancora ho: la mia carne, le mie ossa, il mio sangue e il cuore che lo pompa [Lancillotto, Excalibur, 1981, film]

WELCOME TO VALHALLA

http://lapoesiaelospirito.wordpress.com/2009/11/18/metalli-commedia-0-1/

growing a big brown bushy beard chipmunks foraging in it for scraps of food

enrolling in art school getting the nicest looking red-headed girl in the school shuffling down the hall one day wearing frayed khakis & painter’s smock looking like a hobo haven’t changed clothes in a week beer & mustard stains all down the front of shirt smelling like vienna sausage student opening night in gallery jittery nerves show up at the opening drunk no one shows any interest in the painting spent a semester on oh shit thinking what the dickens is wrong with these hoople heads? I am a big deal! van gogh can eat my shit!

but why didn’t anyone even look at the goddamn painting? feeling low after show closes sitting alone in a dark corner contemplating what in the fuck is it really all about ok right fuck it i’ll make a shittin’ statement of life imitating art fuck this misery running out of gallery then breaking into art school running down the halls laughing pounding the vodka hard farting and pissing slobbering and blindingly drunk slurring to self busting down office door and shouting over intercom valhalla hallowed halls of death here I fucking come banging head on receptionist desk leaving skull imprint on hundred year old wood blood streaming down face and into eyes snapping out of daze and breaking into the kiln room fire it up!! beast of a machine comes to life hundred years of toil roaring flames of kiln heats up to 1000 degrees stand there hypnotized by dancing flames one final mental break down screaming for crayons and liquorice childhood coming back oh christ noooooooooo crawling into fiery kiln screaming and laughing insanely a depressed art student’s agony big brown bushy beard goes up singed in smoke

regaining a brief moment of clarity oh my god my big beautiful beard then eyes pop out laughing hysterically into eternity how do you like me now you dirty wine farting peasants stick the cheese up your ass hope you are constipated for a whole lifetime art school mental breakdown crawling into a kiln suicide

Copyright © 2009. the suicide scenarios. All rights reserved.

All material is for ENTERTAINMENT purposes only. We are not responsible for any actions generated from viewing this material. We are not responsible for any views that others may have of the material. We do not condone suicide in any way shape or form and will not be held responsible for any resulting actions.

Bad Luck: Horse or Driver?

Be Afraid For the Third Time This Year! Because there are 7 days in a week, there is at least one Friday the 13th each year. Sometimes there are two and occasionally, there are three. This year must be unlucky because there have been three after today is over. It looks like to me, though I haven’t researched it fully, that whenever there are three it often happens in February, March and November, but not always. The next time the trio of malaise shows up will be in 2012, then 2015 and then again in 2026.

According to the founder of the Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute, “It’s beenestimated that $800 or $900 is lost in business on this day because people will not fly or do business they would normally do. ” Some people are apparently so fearful that they won’t even get out of bed. I guess it’s Friday 13th for me every day because I never want to get out of bed. People won’t buy a house or even buy stocks. They claim that Friday 13th phobia affects some 20 million Americans. They’ll probably get a bailout from the “stimulus bill.” How do you know if you have the phobia? Symptoms are described as ranging from mild panic attacks to huge panic attacks that render the victim pretty useless to the point that they don’t go to work. If I had a job, I wonder if that would qualify as an excused sick day from work. An English psychologist interviewed about 2100 people in 2003 and found that about one fourth associated the number 13 with bad luck. Apparently, people who think of themselves as unlucky are most likely to believe in superstitions.

Deceptive Loki

Apparently, this obsession with the number 13 goes back a ways, as most of these type of things seem to do. This one is blamed on the Norseman that involves a story of 12 gods having a party at Valhalla. Presumably they aren’t talking about the golf course in Louisville. In walked an uninvited guest…a party crasher named Loki. Loki went and got Hoder, the blind god of darkness to fire a mistletow dipped arrow at Balder the Beautiful, the joy and gladness god. I suppose that mistletoe isn’t too good for you because Balder died. With the god of joy and gladness gone, the earth turned dark. Everyone was sad and it has been associated as a bad, unlucky day ever since.

They also try to drag Christianity into it by pointing out that Judas was the 13th person to show up at the Last Supper and then was the one who betrayed Jesus of Nazareth. If that’s not enough, then there is the Roman story of how 12 witches who routinely would gather together with the 13th who showed up being considered the devil.

A mathematician blames it all on the number 13 suffering the fate of following 12. This guy says that numerologists consider 12 a complete number as there are 12 months in a year, 12 gods of Olympus, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus and 12 signs of the zodiac. If you exceed 12 by one, then you get a little beyond completeness and “the number becomes restless and squirmy, which suggests that numbers are alive. This fear of the number 13 has worked its way into modern culture as the claim is that 80% of all high rises lack a 13th floor.

Was I Cursed on 13th Floor at Jester Hall?

What does that mean for me? I lived on the 13th floor of Jester Hall at the University of Texas. I was a cursed freshman and didn’t know it.

Many airports apparently do not have a gate 13, Hospitals and hotels often do not have a room 13, in Florence, Italy houses between 12 and 14 get an address of 12 and a half instead of 13. French socialites are known as quatorziens or fourteeners so as to make sure they have 14 dinner guests. Wonder what happens if someone gets sick? Do they cancel the party?

Apollo 13 Doomed by 13?

Want proof of the evils of the number 13? Why just look at Apollo 13, the ill fated trip to the moon. It departed on April 11, 1970 at 1:13 pm Houston time. Never mind they launched on east coast time. Anyway, 1:13 pm is 13:13 in 24 hour clock time. April 11, 1970 can also be written as 4/11/70. Four plus One plus One plus Seven plus Zero equals 13. Or you can say 4+11+70 + 85 and 8+5 =13. Their last television broadcast was on April 13. They entered the moon’s gravitational field on April 13 and were scheduled to land on the moon on April 13. The failure of the number 2 oxygen tank occurred on Apirl 13th at 3:08:53.555 UTC which in the eastern time zone would be 9:08:53:555. 9+8+53+555=625 and 6+2+5 =13. If the explosion that caused the damage had occured on earth, it was supposedly estimated to cost $13 million to repair the damage. Seems like someone had a lot of time on their hands.

Gristle Can Cure What Ails You

Now, Friday seems to get suckered into this by going back to Christianity and pointing out that Jesus died on a Friday. What they fail to mention is that Christians ironically call this “Good Friday.” Supposedly, some biblical scholars claim that Cain killed Able on Friday the 13th and that Adam was tempted by Eve on a Friday. How they can know this is beyond me.

If you find yourself believing in all of this and have a fear of Friday 13th, then you should consider yourself a

Burn'em if you Got'em

triskaidekaphobe. But, there is hope for you. Modern psychology says that all you need to do is focus your mind on pleasant thoughts. You haven’t lost your mind, you’ve just lost control of your mind. You should realize that you have the ability to create your own luck and its up to you to decide if that is good or bad.

I don’t like those ideas. Since most of this is folklore, I like the old remedies. One is to climb a mountain or the top of a skyscraper…kinda like King Kong. Once you get there, burn all of the socks you own that have holes in them. What if you don’t have any holey socks. Then you can stand on your head and eat a piece of gristle. If you can’t stand on your head, don’t know what gristle is and don’t have holes in your socks, then I guess you’re just out of luck.

Oh, who doesn’t love drinking beer after work? From the lowliest ragpicker to the most loathsome academic administrator, everyone loves to push the day into the past by downing a few cold pints. Like indifference and suffering, drinking beer is the solution to the problem that is paid labor.

On Monday, this week, after a meeting of the Parts and Wholes group at the Lowenstein Building, the group’s members downed several glasses of beer at Valhalla, a new place on Ninth Avenue, a kind of beards-and-Belgian-beer joint, sort-of out of place in Hell’s Kitchen, but I suppose just a sign of the neighborhood’s more recent immigrants. Their flannel, knit caps, and, yes, beards were present on Monday, where we watched the Knicks come up short against the Jazz on the flatscreen. It was a nice time – the place was quiet enough, the beer tasted clean, and I had satisfied myself earlier with a very nice ham and cheese sandwich from Alan’s (Columbus Avenue at 60th Street), which is across the street from Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, and where the food looked amazing, gleaming in the illuminated glass cases: cheese, meat, egg salad, pasta, salad stuff, and all the rest.

Tuesday was a fine day, work-wise, as the faculty dining room offered breaded pork chops, served with apples and cranberries; Frances, Johnson, and I devoured nearly a score of these at lunchtime, which left me satisfied all afternoon.  (Never trust the faculty dining room, but always be grateful when it delivers the goods.)  Indeed, it was a fine afternoon!  Later on, during my office hours, Grimm and I went for beers at the new Applebee’s at Fordham Plaza, which is now officially the closest bar to Collins Hall, the philosophy department’s building.  I like this.

Tonight was another Knick game; this time I was in attendance.  I still catch myself feeling 1/2 giddy at drinking a familiar, not-extra-ordinary after-work beer at fucking Madison Square Garden. In my brief time this season attending home games, I’ve decided that the best food item is the chicken fingers from the 300-level, which are remarkably tender the juicy, and served with the most lovely seasoned waffle fries. (It remains a pleasant joke that chicken fingers can usually, and ideally, be gotten with a packet of honey mustard “salad dressing,” which would be the perfect sauce for them, if not for the mild unpleasantness of imagining eating a salad dressed with the stuff, which is a thick and spicy glop, entirely inappropriate for salad, in my view.) The Knicks lost again, settling in at 1-and-9, which is not the worst record in the league, hard to believe, but bad enough that irony is going to be required.  Dave and I will manage.  But thank goodness for those chicken tenders, and thank goodness for those beers.

What can I say? If you can read this thank a teacher. If you are alive, thank a Veteran!

Veterans Day

Il manquait une illustration pour libvalhalla. C’est toujours plus sympathique de pouvoir faire référence à une bibliothèque par l’intermédiaire d’images. Ce n’est pas non plus pour rien que je lui ai donné ce nom. Contrairement à celle que j’avais fais pour libplayer, cette fois j’ai choisi un style un peu plus classique et complètement monochrome.

Les personnages représentent des Valkyries à la recherche de vos fichiers multimédias perdus dans les champs de batailles de vos disques durs.

C’est sûrement le billet le plus court que je n’ai jamais publié .

A bientôt,

Mathieu SCHROETER

Baruhara Combi ~ Bakemonogatari E06

ANN : So are fantasy stories a particularly good way of talking about dark aspects of the world?

Yoshiyuki Tomino : That’s the nature of fantasy stories, because fantasy stories were originally told to give people hope. They’re pure fiction, but fantasy is a way of creating a story which gives people hope even though they know it’s not true. Even for people who know it’s fiction and a dream, it’s a story of hope.

(In English) I have one example, thinking of fantasy. British people believe the stories of dragons…

(Continuing in Japanese) That is, they believe the stories about the knight who slays the dragon. Because of that, in the colonial era, the British had the heart to go and take control of colonies on the other side of the world.

The stories of knights and dragons express the hopeful heart of the British people. Fantasy can express things in such a way, so it’s not always fiction. In other words, these old myths and legends may be fiction, but they express the hearts of the people who tell them… their “origin spirit.”

And so I think a fantasy like Gundam can show a dark future in a light way.

Interview: Yoshiyuki Tomino, ANN, Mark Simmons, Oct 23rd 2009

Via: acidolatte.blogspot.com.

Maskerna kan köpas här.

On the passing of a warrior, Gen. George Patton once said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” This week, however, we do mourn the loss of a Patriot — the father of one of our Senior Editors, Jonah Walton. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943 and served in the 41st Division in South Pacific combat zones from New Guinea to the Philippines. He was a Patriot who honored his oath and served his country well. To Jonah and other family members he leaves behind, we offer our condolences and prayers.

SOURCE

• Aloha; (1) 160′. Brigantine.  1899. Des. Clinton Crane.  Blt. J. N. Robins

• Aloha; (2) 218′. 3M Bark.  1910.  Des. Clinton Crane.  Blt. Fore River Shipbuilding Corp.

• Apache; Originally built as White Heather, 198′ LOA. 3M Bark. 1890. Des. &  Blt. J. Reid & Co.  Finished Last in the Trans -Atlantic Race of 1905.

• Illyria, Malaina; 147′. Brigantine. 1928. Des. Gielow.  Blt. Marco Martinolch.

• Intrepid, Sylph; 205′. 3M Barkentine. 1930. Des. Arthur B. Raymond.  Blt. Geo. Lawley & Son.  Became Sylph in U. S. Navy during WWII.

• Hussar, Sea Cloud, Antarna, Patria, Sea Cloud; 316′. 4M Bark.  1931.  Des. Cox & Stevens. Blt. Krupp.  Now a cruise ship, sailing on the Med. Summers, Carib. Winters.

• La Cigale; 122′. 3M Sq Foretop  Sch (4 Yards). 1915 (or previously) Des. Chas. E. Nicholson  Blt. Camper & Nicholson.

• Modwena; 136′ 6′. 3M Bark.  1908. Des. &  Blt. J. Reid.  Commercial after WWI.

• Seven Seas; 168′. 3M Full Rigged Ship. 1912. Des. & Blt. M. V. Atkieb.  Built as the Swedish Training Ship Abraham Rydberg.  Converted to yacht 1929.

• Valhalla; 245′. 3M. Full Rigged Ship.   Des. W. C. Storey. Blt.  Ramage & Ferguson.  Finished third in the Trans-Atlantic Race of 1905.  Some think she was one of the most beautiful very large yachts ever built.

• Xarifa; 192′.  Steam Aux. Brigantine.  1894.  Des. & Blt. John H. White.  Bought in Britain by U. S. govt. during WWI.  Owned in U. S. after.  Was tender to Vanitie.

Amanda and Wayne were married at Valhalla Vineyard. What a magnificent view! It was a gorgeous day for a wedding!

a gorgeously composed, brief novel about grief and loss and haunting, if imperfect, memories.  if you are in it for the plot, you might say that reading this book is about exciting as watching paint dry; if it’s beautiful writing you’re after, same analogy, but now the paint is that of a master painter, dripping slowly and smoothly into place.  or perhaps, more in line with the spirit of the book, it would be akin to the horrible beauty of watching a masterpiece melt.

one more lengthy quote:

I have ever held the conviction, resistant to all rational considerations, that as some unspecified future moment the continuous rehearsal which is my life, with its so many misreadings, its slips and fluffs, will be done with and that the real drama for which I have ever and with such earnestness been preparing will at last begin.  It is a common delusion, I know, everyone entertains it.  Yet last night, in the midst of that spectacular display of Valhallan petulance, I wondered if the moment of my entrance might be imminent, the moment of my going on, so to say.  I do not know how it would be, this dramatic leap into the thick of the action, or what exactly might be expected to take place, onstage.  Yet I anticipate an apotheosis of some kind, some grand climacteric.  I am not speaking here of a posthumous transformation.  I do not entertain the possibility of an afterlife, or any deity capable of offering it.  Given the world that he created, it would be an impiety against God to believe in him.  No, what I am looking forward to is a moment of earthly expression.  That is it, that is it exactly: I shall be expressed, totally.  I shall be delivered, like a noble closing speech.  I shall be, in a word, said.

Hello,

avec les projets GeeXboX parfois j’ai l’impression de ne jamais arriver au bout. Quand quelque chose se termine, il y a toujours autre chose à faire. On ne risque pas de s’ennuyer. Mais il arrive qu’on fasse les choses à double, triple ou pire. Tout ça pour dire que les fonctionnalités présentées dans le billet précédent (“force-stop”, “on demand” et “events”) sont implémentées.

Je vous invite à lire l’article à ce lien si vous ne comprenez pas de quoi je parle; reste aussi à être intéressé par ce genre d’article .

En quelques phrases

force-stop

Je ne vais pas revenir sur les détails. La réalisation du “force-stop” a introduit de nouvelles tables dans la base de donnée. Une table pour sauvegarder les “grabbers” et une table pour sauvegarder les contextes du “downloader”. En résumé, lorsqu’un fichier a été traité par un “grabber” et que les données ont été sauvegardées, la relation avec ce “grabber” est également introduite dans la base de donnée. Ça évite ainsi au prochain démarrage de “regrabber” les même données. Pour le “downloader” l’idée est un tout petit peu différente. Lorsque Valhalla se termine, il sauvegarde toutes les listes de fichiers à télécharger dans la base de donnée. Au prochain démarrage, quand le scanner tombe sur un fichier où il y avait encore des données à télécharger, il réintroduit les listes dans les structures.

ondemand

Pour le “ondemand” le travail s’est montré un peu plus compliqué que je le pensais. Étant donné que le “ondemand” peut se passer à n’importe quel moment il y a de nombreux cas à considérer. Par exemple, vous faites une requête “ondemand”, le fichier de la requête n’a pas été vu par le scanner. Le “ondemand” se met en branle et ce fichier se retrouve dans le mécanisme, puis le scanner voit le fichier et l’introduit presque en même temps dans le mécanisme. Du coup vous vous trouvez avec deux paquets différents pour un même fichier. Il y a ainsi deux-trois astuces pour gérer ce cas de figure ainsi que beaucoup d’autres (je vous épargne le plus tordu sur lequel je suis tombé). Aucune nouvelle table a été introduite pour cette fonctionnalité, uniquement un nouveau champ dans la table des fichiers, pour savoir si le fichier existe dans les chemins du scanner, ou pas.
Grosso modo le “ondemand” se passe ainsi: pause de tous les threads en aval au scanner (donc depuis le DBManager); il attend que tout le monde s’en dort; il cherche dans les queues si le fichier à traiter existe déjà; en fonction de ça il créer un nouveau ou il modifie l’existant; puis il réveille tout le monde. Les paquets “ondemand” ont également une haute priorité et sont donc traités le plus rapidement possible par les différents threads de Valhalla.

events

Concernant les événements, il y a simplement des retours au “front-end” pour lui signaler quelle étapes ont été réalisées, via un callback. Les événements sont possibles uniquement avec les requêtes “ondemand”.

L’architecture

Deux threads ont donc fait leur apparition (en rose pâle). L’architecture n’a donc pas été modifiée, mais étendue. Au lieu de n’avoir que le scanner comme intervenant pour l’ajout de fichiers, il y a donc le “ondemand” en parallèle. Les événements sont traités exclusivement par le DBManager.

Comme toujours, ces diagrammes sont un peu simplifiés. Par exemple, les commandes “ondemand” ne sont pas bloquantes. Et donc en réalité il y a une queue devant la flèche entrante du “front-end”. Mais ça n’apportait rien d’intéressant à la lecture de ce diagramme. Il suffit de lire la documentation Doxygen pour connaître ce genre de précision quant a l’utilisation des fonctions publiques.

La base de donnée

Les modifications sur la base de donnée concernent les tables grabber, dlcontext, file ainsi que la table d’allocation pour les relations (n,n) avec les “grabbers”. Les champs interrupted__ et outofpath__ ont intégrés la table file. Notez bien que les champs terminés par __ sont utilisés uniquement comme données internes pour le bon fonctionnement de Valhalla.

Mais encore …

Comme je le disais au début, on aime faire du travail à double et même à triple. Écrire des “grabbers” dans Enna pour ensuite les porter dans Valhalla. Et le meilleur c’est quand le fournisseur d’un service utilisé par un “grabber” aime se foutre du monde. Amazon par exemple, un jour il décide de dire que toutes les requêtes pour le service doivent être signées HMAC-SHA256 (c’est limite ridicule mais ça n’engage que moi). Ou alors la MPAA/RIAA qui aime emmerder les petits (et dire qu’ils sont payés pour ça) et qui empêche ainsi Lyricwiki de fournir une WebAPI pour les paroles des chansons. Du coup deux “grabbers” cassés, le “grabber” Lyricwiki qui a été fixé d’une autre manière mais qui s’est vu à nouveau être inutilisable (je crois, je ne m’en suis pas occupé).

En ce qui concerne Amazon c’est pas une grosse affaire mais j’ai la flemme. C’est fatiguant de devoir toujours revenir sur ce qui a déjà été fait, encore et encore. Imaginez le jour où il y a une release. Vous aurez deux-trois “grabbers” de morts en à peine quelques semaines.

Finalement avant de fixer des “grabbers” mieux vaut attendre le dernier moment.

Mais encore …, …

Il manque (et oui) des moyens depuis l’API publique pour modifier des méta-données; un exemple: le “play-count”. Vous pouvez imaginez d’autres types de champs dans cette idée. mais qui dit modifier les données dit aussi de considérer deux cas de figure:

1. Modifier uniquement dans la base de donnée
2. Modifier également dans le fichier en question (avec FFmpeg)

Selon les méta-données et le type de fichier, seul le cas (1.) est envisageable. Mais pour par exemple un OGG et l’artiste, il peut être bien de pouvoir directement l’écrire dans le fichier. Tout ceci reste encore sujet à réflexion.

A bientôt,

Mathieu SCHROETER

(Excessive listening to Amon Amarth songs got me interested in Norse mythology xD. This is about Ragnarok, the end of the world in Norse Mythology which I found at an website.)

Ragnarok, in Norse mythology, was the predestined death of the Germanic gods. A three-year winter led to a final battle on the Vigrid Plain, where the gods and the frost giants fought the epic final battle. Ragnarok marks the end of the old world, and the beginning of the new, current world.

Odin, who had previously attempted to prevent Ragnarok from occurring, led the gods. They were assisted by the heroic dead, those who had died in glorious battle and had been taken to live in Valhalla and await the final battle. The frost giants were led by the fire god Loki and assisted by the unworthy dead who came from Hel, and by other monsters.

Two humans, Lif and Lifthrasir, hid in a sacred tree called Yggdrasil during the battle and didn’t return until after the battle. When they emerged, they repopulated the Earth. Other survivors of Ragnarok included some of the gods, particularly Odin’s brother Honir, Odin’s sons Vidar and Vali, Thor’s sons Modi and Magni. Another of Odin’s sons, Balder, was revived from the dead after the battle.

The Vikings were particularly interested in Ragnarok, and many of the Germanic peoples believed that the same type of battle would again occur. Even when Christianity began to take over their belief system, many of them still explored the idea of a Judgement Day in the same light as Ragnarok.

(Taken from here.)

terminology:

Balder:The God of beauty whose death was triggered by Loki.

Hel:Realm of the dead. The destination of those who did not die in battle (i.e, old age, disease, etc)

Loki:The trickster God and the God of Fire.

Odin:The chief Norse God.

Thor:The thunder God

Valhalla:Hall of the heroic dead. Destination of those who fell in battle.

Vigrid(Vígríðr):The large plain where Ragnarok will be fought.

Yggdrasil:The world tree. The nine worlds exist around it.

I was watching cartoons one morning about thirteen years ago when the phone rang.  Naturally, I was hesitant to answer, thinking it might be a bill collector seeking to address the small matter of my then- unpaid student loans.  I winced, but picked up anyway.

The caller asked for me by name.

“Speaking,” I replied, bracing myself for the barrage of script-driven guilt, while preparing a litany of excuses as to why I still hadn’t made good on my debt.

There was something different about the speaker’s voice.  It was slow and heavy, as though laboring beneath a weight.  Like a man who’d lost something very dear to him.

“This is Chad Matteson’s father.  We got your letter a few days ago, and we read it.  I’m afraid Chad’s not going to be able to get in touch with you.  He was killed in a motorcycle accident back in October.”

My legs went all noodles and I slid down the wall; receiver in one hand, cradle in the other.  For a moment, time stood still.

Randal was dead.

With his stoner shuffle, perpetual squint, high-top Nikes, feathered hair, ever-present blue flannel shirt, and Ugly Kid Joe ballcap turned backwards on his head, Chad Matteson was the spitting image of Randal, the wise-cracking, über-slacker

Here are a bunch of facts: Chad and I had served two years together in the Navy as Minemen while stationed in Macrihanish, Scotland.  The era was 1992-93.  I was working in the component test facility on the far side of a Royal Air Force compound, testing Cold War instrument racks and batteries for underwater mines.  Chad worked in the supply department in a separate part of the base, a job which gave him the time and means to wander.

Don’t get me wrong.  Chad was a damn hard worker, and we both understood the importance of pulling our weight.  But life is short and there are far more important things than work.  Like joyriding around the base, sharing a box of microwave egg rolls, and blaring Pantera CDs from a boom box strapped between the seats of a surplus steel pig.  He’d pull up in the deuce-and-a-half stake truck on loan to us from the RAF, and feed my supervisor some bullshit story about “needing my help for some unspecified job somewhere on the compound.”  That was pretty much the morning wasted.  Used sparingly, the ploy always worked – which meant we didn’t always have to.

Life was simple then.  We’d show up to work, do our jobs, knock off at 1600, and head to town for drinks.  In the lull between paydays, we’d go for a drive in his piece of shit Honda, a rusted out freedom bucket, in which was installed a CD player that was worth three times the value of the car, which was eventually pushed off a cliff when he couldn’t find a buyer to take it off his hands when he was transferring to Hawaii.

Wait a second.  Focus.  Randal is dead. This is important.

I’ve got a terrible memory, for whatever reason.  I should be paying very close attention to what his father’s telling me.  This is, after all, the single most important phone call taking place anywhere on the entire fucking planet at this instant.  It’s bigger than atomic secrets, the price of tea in China, the questionable mating habits of venture capitalists, the location of compromised Russian launch codes, or whether Van Halen really hired teenage girls to pick out the brown M&Ms.  (That’s half true.)

The voice on the other end of this line belongs to the man who first sired, then raised, then buried one of my best friends and, was gracious enough to pick up the phone and relate the very personal details of his son’s demise to a complete stranger.  But there are memories blocking my ears, preventing the facts of the matter from taking root.  Was this some form of denial?

Randal is dead.  I mean…

I should be paying very close attention, but right now all I can think about is the five-day road trip to Glasgow that Chad and I took with fellow cohort-in-crime Ian Conway to see Tool open for Rage Against The Machine, and also to catch up-and-coming Blind Melon in a tiny venue called “King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut.”

(Did you hear what I just said?  Did we even bother to pack?  We filled the backseat with Doritos, Jim Beam and a few paperbacks.  I seem to recall bringing a toothbrush and using my leather jacket as a pillow.)

Remember standing in line for hours to see Rage, fending off hackneyed scalpers and having an all-around hellacious time?  (It was my first time seeing Tool and they blew my mind from chord one. I’ve been a fan ever since.)  And remember how, just a few days later, we met Blind Melon and got our CDs signed by members of the band?

Remember it?  Jesus, we didn’t shut up about it for days!

Remember the time I turned Chad onto industrial act ‘1000 Homo DJ’s’, and he dragged me all over Glasgow on a holy quest to find the ‘Supernaut’ CD single?

Remember the weekend the three of us drove to Glasgow for tattoos?  I got my first piece, the spiderweb on my left elbow.  Afterwards, Ian and I watched a poor, drunken-down wretch piss herself on a street corner in broad daylight.  Be careful what gets into your head, little ones.  It’s not easy to get those things back out again.

Remember the time Chad got turned around in UK city traffic, misjudged a turn, and entered a one-way street?  Instead of turning around, he gunned it, heading straight down the throat of the beast – 50 mph headed south in a northbound tunnel in the heart of Glasgow during rush hour traffic, cackling his fucking head off, white-knuckling the wheel and swerving to avoid some very pissed-off drivers.  I thought I was gonna die right then, sure as shit.

When we got the word from on high to close the base, we spent hours throwing rocks through the windows of the now-empty warehouse where he’d once labored.  Like the Babe Ruth of vandalism, Chad could hit any window he called.  We grabbed the keys of the 5K diesel forklift and rammed the tines into the side of the rain-soaked blast revetments, chalking off our best depths and earning points for records bested.  We got the CO’s ‘personal’ vehicle stuck atop one of the blast revetments, and had to jump out quick like a bunny to rock it loose before someone saw us.  Youth is full of dumb moments.

The Randal I knew wanted nothing more than a hut on the beach, eternal sunshine, pretty girls, his motorcycle, his CDs, and his surfboard.  All day, every day, end of fucking story.  Maybe he would’ve wised up and gotten serious later in life; less Randal, more Chad.  And maybe Chad would have left the beach, got a job, bought a truck, found himself a blue-eyed girl, and raised a family.  Maybe not. I guess we’ll never know either way.  Maybe it’s not even fair to think of him this way; stuck in time, forever young, perpetually partying, and eternally laughing.  Seems kinda one-dimensional, if you think about it.  No parent should ever have to outlive their child. Time goes by, you do some healing.  Then out of nowhere you get a call and have to explain things all over again.  How he’d found the love of his life, how your high-speed son was inexorably drawn into motorcycle racing, how “faster” was his greatest passion, how he lost control on a qualifying run and laid his bike down on turn 10, and how his injuries sent him into a coma from which he never awoke.

This flashback takes place while Chad’s dad is still talking.  My eyes are watering, and my throat feels like it’s been bricked over, but I need to say something appropriate, only I don’t know what.

Struggling to speak, I told his dad how sorry I was.  “I’m.., *ahem*, I’m really very sorry for your loss, sir.  Chad was a good kid, uh, the best, a really good friend.”  I sounded like a babbling jackass, and made little to no sense.  I wanted to be able to say something meaningful, something appropriate.  Something that summed up all the good times and laughs I’d had with his son.  I owed him that much.

Come on!  We’re talking about “Front-flip-down-the-sand-dunes, got-your-back-in-a-barfight, more-girlfriends-than-I-can-clearly-remember, bourbon-swilling, whip-your-ass-at-pool, speed-metal, laugh-now-regret-later” Randal!

“Yes, sir.  Chad was the best.”  The best?  What the fuck does that even mean?  I hate it when people end their letters with ‘best’.  It seems a lazy, Los Angeles, phony baloney sun tan sort of thing to do, yet it was the only sentiment I could offer.

It suddenly occurred to me how cruel the whole thing was.  You get a call, your child’s been injured.  Wait by their side, hoping they’ll wake up from the coma they’ve lapsed into.  When they don’t, you make a very painful decision and watch your flesh and blood being lowered into the ground.

Randal is dead.

I’m barely aware of the fact that my mouth is still flapping, but my brain’s not engaged.  I have no idea what I’m saying.  Hopefully I’m not making an ass of myself, or sharing uncomfortable intel.  (Did you know your son could turn over a bottle of Jack in one night?  Did you know he had two beautiful girls in his birthday bed while we were roommates in A-School? Do you know how generous a friend he was, and much we still miss him?)

Meanwhile, Chad’s father continues to speak.  ”Yeah, we heard about the time he and Ian rolled the car.”  He gave a weary but admiring chuckle for his son’s misadventures.  (What am I thinking?  He probably knows way more about the real Randal than I ever will.)

They were coming back from seeing Faith No More at the Barrowlands.  It was two in the morning, and Chad was drinking hot salsa straight from the jar in an effort to stay awake.  Exhausted, he nodded off.  His driver-side mirror high-fived that of a car headed in the opposite direction, and suddenly they found themselves upside down in a ditch.  Dark of night, and who knows where?  When Ian told me the story later, he said Chad looked around, sniffed once and said, “Right on. Got a cigarette?”  They laughed about it, mentally adding it to their litany of good time stories to be recanted later, like epic tales related by helmeted heroes seated around an oaken slab in a modern day Valhalla.  Or something.

The call wrapped to a close.  I thanked his dad for his time, put the phone back in its cradle and just sat there for awhile, staring at the television.  The sound was turned way down on a cartoon mouse eviscerating a cat.  The light licked the walls and cast contorted triangles across the ceiling.  Outside, a bird made some stupid noises.

Randal was dead.

Tears blurred my eyes, and my throat was still constricted.  Which was good, seeing as there was no one to call, no one who’d understand.  I got up, fixed myself a very strong drink, and went back to watching the cat get his revenge.

Goodbye, Randal.