I’ve been getting questions about my WordStar clone (WordTsar). Some people want to know if it’s ready for beta testing yet… when can they get their hands on it.

Not yet. Summer is never a great time for me to be coding or writing, and I’ve fallen behind.

I did refactor the display engine, and I need to do more work in there. Also, almost none of the dot commands are implemented yet. None of it’s overly difficult, but it is time consuming.  The application currently runs on Linux (very good), Windows (so so), OSX (mediocre).

Here’s a little teaser:

I was introduced to WordStar many, many moons ago.  I built myself a Ferguson BigBoard CP/M based computer (the system came with a board and parts.  I had to buy my own soldering iron), bought a Hazeltine 1400 terminal and two 8 inch floppy disk drives.  The terminal is so old, I can’t even find an image of it on the Internet.  That computer eventually fried… don’t ask.

The one thing I truly got from that system, was a deep love for WordStar from MicroPro.  I took to the command sequences like a fish to water.  Even after the BigBoard died, I stuck with WordStar and it’s command sequences.  Turbo Pascal used the WordStar keys, one of the text editors I use today has a WordStar mode (joe).

I’ve even remapped my Caps Lock key to be a Ctrl key to make keyboard navigation easier. That being said, I do seem to have gotten into the habit of using the cursor keys for navigation.  Hmmm.

I missed my WordStar.  Oh, I always had a DOS or CP/M Emulator available that would run WordStar, but then I couldn’t print quite right.  The files couldn’t be read by other apps for printing.  It was generally a pain.

So, I decided to double my pain… I wrote a WordStar ‘clone’.  It’s got most of the command sequences in it, it’s missing most of the dot commands, and has only rudimentary formatting support.  Still, it’s getting there.  I can pretty much read and write WordStar 4 and under files.  Wordstar 5 and up is coming.

My next steps from here (once I get out of novel revision mode) is to

1. complete printing
2. complete the command keys
3. complete the dot commands.
4. add RTF read/write abilities (write for sure).
5. read and write all WordStar files

Then I’ll look into adding macros.  I’ve never used WordStar macros, so it’s a new one on me.

WordTsar (yeah, bad name) isn’t a WYSIWYG wordprocessor, but it does try make things look close.  For example, the screen width is the printer width (hard coded to 8.5 x 11 for now).  The screen shot above uses Times New Roman as it’s font, so variable width fonts are displayed correctly.  Bold, italics, etc are displayed as is as well.  The main code base can deal with font changes and display the correct font, but a user can’t change the font yet.  These font styles do not yet follow the WordStar font table.  I’m not sure if they will.  I’ve added a full screen mode, since I hate distractions when I write.  The program is UTF-8 throughout, except reading and writing of WordStar files, that’s still 8 bit ASCII.

It’s currently at version 0.0.1 Alpha, but it’s pretty stable and usable.  It has one crashing bug that I’m working on (weird delete problem).

I use wxWidgets to code it, so it’s cross platform: Windows, Linux, and OSX.  I currently only have the Linux version running, but next month, we’ll see.

Ahh, what I do to keep my programming skills up while I write!  Fun fun fun.

I recently had a failure on my 4 TB RAID5 array.  It happened when I moved the server from the rack to my office, in preparation for converting it to a desktop system.  It would still host the RAID array, but it would no longer be running all the virtual machines.

During the move, I also upgraded the RAM.  Shortly after powering the server on, I noticed that any access to my harddrives (RAID or not) was extremely slow.  The kernel showed high load, with 98% being in system.  Wow.  Before I had time to realize it was the RAM I added, I lost a drive on the RAID array.  I pulled the RAM, and things went back to normal.  I added a new drive and started rebuilding the array.  At 97.1% complete a second drive got a permanent read error.  Good bye array.

I managed to get the array back up degraded, but I couldn’t rebuild it.  Now I know I could probably have used dd to copy the disk to a new one, get another new drive, and rebuild that way.  Oh well, hindsight is 20/20.

I needed to get my data off the degraded array.  There was no critical data on it, so it had never been backed up.  How am I going to back up 2+ TB of data anyway.  It mostly contained over 1000 recordings from MythTV, some audio and video, and pictures.  Still, if I could save the data, I really wanted to.  So, I went out and purchased a Drobo.  Drobo’s don’t really like Linux that much, so I hooked it up to my Mac Mini and started copying data over via rsync.  Wow, was that slow!

It turns out the Drobo is a really. slow. device.  Although it can handle watching live TV via MythTV, it barely keeps up.  Anything else done on the Drobo kills the TV.  Granted, the Drobo is a Firewire 800 device, but it still slower than that would imply.  Knowing that I will be recording and watching 2 HD streams at the same time, I knew the Drobo wouldn’t cut it for me.  For example, a Drobo rebuild could take days, and it’s all internal to the Drobo, no firewire used.  But, during rebuild, live TV was impossible to watch.

I built a new 4 disk 2.8 TB RAID5 array under Linux, and started transferring live TV and recording to the RAID5 array.  Things got much better  I decided to do some tests.

The Drobo, connected via Firewire 800, writing a 16GB file took 628.89 seconds (10.48 minutes) ~25 MB/s
The Linux RAID 5, writing a 16GB file took 135.59 seconds (2.26 minutes) ~121 MB/s

25 MB/s is doable for two HD channels, except for the issue that nothing else could use the drives at the same time.

I then tested the connection via the network.  My MythTV Server is a simple Pentium M 1.5 GHz system, and it uses remote Samba shares for it’s storage, over GB ethernet.

The Drobo via OSX SMB share, same 16 GB file took 1451.37 seconds (24.19 minutes) ~ 11.3 MB/s
The Linux RAID5 via Linux SMB share, same 16 GB file took 459.08 seconds (7.65 minutes) ~ 35.7 MB/s

Ummmm.  Ouch!  The Mac Mini is a Core2Duo at 2.6 GHz, the Linux is a Core2Quad at 2.6 GHz.  Neither used any noticeable CPU during the file transfer.

Tweaking the OSX smb.conf file didn’t help any.  What did help was specified here.  That alone changed my speed to 16 MB/s.  Still not good enough, but better.

The Drobo is a cool device, and has it’s place.  But not in  a media streaming type environment.  I’ll use the Drobo to store my audio, pictures, and movies, but not my live TV recordings for MythTV.

A good friend of mine, Rob Peters, posted in his blog some pearls of wisdom he gleaned from Jennifer Kornelsen, Ph.D. :

1)  The simplest explanation is the best. (i.e. the most likely, the most accurate, the most truthful)

2)  The data is what it is. (trust it, let it be…)

3)  If you’re nervous and think you’re going to puke, eat something colourful! (at least then it will be Spectacular!)

Rob found these pearls to be as true in Design as in Neurophysiology.  I’m here to say they also apply extremely well to Software Design/Development, and IT work.  It’s unfortunate that, in software and IT at least, a lot of people forget item number one.

However, in the writing of fiction, I’m not so sure (well, except for item 3), at least not on the surface.  For item 1, when the reader reaches the end of a book, the final explanation of event should be clearly evident and obvious, and yes, even simple.  But during the reading of the book, the simplest explanation of the events occurring is usually the one you want the reader to follow, but should not be the true reason.  You gotta keep ‘em interested.

In writing fiction, item 2 closely correlates to item 1.  This can be especially true when reading a first person narrative, where everything presented to the reader is viewed through the eyes of a single (or potentially multiple first person) characters.  If the character looks at the world through rose colored glasses (cliché), then that is how the reader will interpret the events (data) in the book, and therefor, the data is tainted.

Perhaps I should re-phrase my original statement.  To the reader of fiction, the above pearls should not be true, but to the writer, they probably should.

I had a wonderful opportunity today.  I was able to take off and spend the day alone.  I brought my laptop, worked on The Courier and started working on the undo/redo code for my WordStar clone: WordTsar (though I may change that name).

I also brought some free range chickens to Ev and Rob in Winnipeg Beach, and spent some time on the shores of Lake Winnipeg.  A wonderful and restful day.  Thanks Marnie!

I’ve had my iPhone for quite awhile now, and I’ve been adding and removing apps as I needed them.  Before each removal, I synced the phone, and made a backup of the device, just to be sure.

Well apparently that’s not enough.  First, syncing the phone does not, by default, sync the apps that are on the phone.  Okay, that’s my bad.  I should have looked at all the other tabs in iTunes, and figured out what was going on.  Now that I have ‘sync apps’ checked, they still don’t sync since my Mac doesn’t have rights to the apps.  Great, thanks.

However, backup doesn’t actually backup the phone.

My phone had been getting slower and slower as time went on.  I did some research, and apparently a reset of the phone would fix the issue.  So I dutifully did a backup of the phone, did a full reset, and then a restore of the phone.  BLAM!  I lost almost everything.  The only thing that stayed was my email and calendar settings (oh, and my contacts list).  Everything else was gone.  Wiped out.  Not to be seen anywhere.  That included, of course, my handy dandy ‘Password Wallet’ that stored all of my passwords for the various systems I use and admin.

I’m not sure I have a copy of those passwords.

The iTunes App store keeps a list of the software I’ve downloaded, so I’ve restored all my purchased apps.  But c’mon.  Really?  A backup that doesn’t actually backup?  What the hell are you guys thinking?

Now some Apple dude (or dudette) is probably going to tell me what I did wrong, and why backup does what it does (my guess is something to do with DRM bullshit).  But that’s not going to bring back my lost data, or the lost time I spent getting my apps back (and I’ve only gotten back the paid apps so far).

All-in-all, I’m not a happy camper.

edit: But my iPhone is fast again!  LOL

The new software for the iPhone is available today.  iPhone 3.0.  Get your copy today!

edit: 8:40 AM – I just tried to update, and it’s not available yet.

edit: 4:18 PM – Apples servers are being hit hard, and I can’t authenticate for the update.

edit: 4:47 PM – Update in progress.

I figured I’d write a post about what I accomplished in 2008.  This is it.  I’ll also add what I hope to accomplish with each item in 2009.

What are some of your accomplishments this year?

To my faithful reader (singlular),

I apologize for the lack of posts.  I’ve had a contract job since early this year, and on top of putting in 6+ hours a day on that, I’ve also kept up my stay-at-home dad responsibilities.  This week, I’m doing 16 hrs a day on the contract, and Grandma is taking care of the boys.  Thanks Grammy!

Next week I’m of to Albequerque to visit my clients clients, and hopefully make a delivery.  The week after that is 3 weeks of camping with my boys, and a chance to rest.

I’ll try to post something sooner next time.

Sincerely,

Gerald

Here it is, well into the month already, and I’m not sure where the time went.

Let’s see what I did:

1. A lot of work on WordSlinger. I broke it adding folders to the draft/scene area, but it’s almost working now.
2. Tore apart our bathroom and started rebuilding it. The previous owners of the house glued linoleum 4 feet up the walls, and trying to take it down destroyed the plaster and lathe walls. Doh. I also found rotten wood and some mold. Not nice.

Well, that’s it. Two items. Granted, both took a fair amount of work, and neither are finished, but still… Time to get back to a regular schedule.

I’ve moved this web site from a Gentoo based/Apache 2 install to a new Ubuntu Server/LiteSpeed install. We are experiencing some difficulties with the transfer. If you see anything wierd not already mentioned in the comments, please leave a new comment with the particulars.

I’m still running on a virtual system, but response times should increase dramatically.

Well, after a few mishaps and backtracks (yes, 2 years of being a stay at home Dad can effect ones software development skills), I've decided that my latest application is ready for Beta testing.  It took a bit longer than I thought to get to this point, but that's the way it is.

I'm now moving my current WIP into it, and we'll see how it goes.  I really wanted to get snapshots into it, but that can wait a bit. 

Watch the Video: wordslinger-010.htm

 Images:

December has turned into one of the busiest months I've had in a long time.  With all the Christmas stuff happening, include school concerts, shopping, etc, it was tough.  On top of that, I stopped writing novels and wrote some software instead. 

My previous post showed a screen shot, and things were actually working pretty good at that point.  But, the devil is in the details.  I now have something to send to Linux beta testers, but the Mac and the Windows version have a bug or two.  One of them may be related, but I have a Mac bug I'm not sure what I can do about.  At this point, I'm dieing to get back to writing, so progress on the code will slow down.  

Still, the Linux version is in a state I can use it, and that's why I wrote it.  I'll use it to outline and write my next novel.  I'm also thinking of moving my current WIP (work in progress) into it, and see how I can use it for revision.  Hmmm, I'll have to add snapshots…

Anyway, that's taken a lot of my time as well.  Oh, and my wife noticed that when I code, I tend to get very snappish and angry, which bleeds over into regular life.   When I write, that doesn't happen.  Cool. 

When NaNoWriMo was over (for me), I didn't know what to do.  I'd been in 'the groove' for so long, my days felt empty.  I had a lot of normal work to catch up on, but once I did…

So, I decided it was time to write some software.  I wrote what I consider an Integrated Development Environment for writers.  Previously I looked at Scrivener, Writer's Cafe and yWriter.  All of which looked good, especially Scrivener.   Still, I wanted my own thing, it's what I do.  I also use Linux for my day-to-day work, and none of these products run on Linux (except Writer's Cafe).

I now have a basic application that is character/scene oriented.  Here's a screenshot: (click for larger image)

The user basically enters characters and their related information.  You can also enter locations where your scenes take place.  Once a user is entered, they get a 'timeline' on the corkboard.  As a scene is added and given a characters POV, they are given an index card on the corkboard.  Each card has information related to the scene associated with it, including the text of the scene itself.  Also, each card can be moved to anywhere on the timeline, and even to another character.  The entire novel can be rearranged at will.

When editing a scene, the text editor can be made full screen, with no outside distractions.  I used Q10 for this during Nano, and I loved it. 

All information is stored in standard files, so if a user decides not to use the software, no data is lost.  Also, the entire novel can be exported as a whole, for import into a word processor.

It's not done yet, but it's getting usable!  All this runs under Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X.

This weekend, on top of all the other things, I tried to get a Video Chat system going with my brother in Calgary.  I thought it would be neat to have him at the family party for the kids.  Well.  Let's just say we need to work on it. 

There are multiple apps that do video chat, MSN, iChat, Skype to name a few.  So here's the breakdown:

MSN: Video on Linux, no Video on Mac
iChat: Not on Linux, Video for Mac
Skype: No Video on Linux, Video on Mac

So there are some of the 'easy' solutions. 

Then we started trying some of the SIP applications.  Our best result was Ekiga(Linux) and xMeeting(Mac).  We had video and voice working most of the time.  But, we could only make a connection with H261, and the video quality really sucked.  Big time. 

We also had partial success with aMSN on both platforms.  Unfortunately, the Mac software needed to be upgraded to work properly, and as soon as that occurred, aMSN refused to sign in to MSN.  Hmmm, what's wrong with this picture?

The end result is… cross-platform video chat is still in the dark ages.  A lot of work needs to be done to get it to work.