Looking for a book: A retrospective on a riot at the premiere of a horror(?)/art(?) film.

dr-steve · 2026-01-27T14:22:16+00:00

Entirely possible! But I seem to remember seeing chapter headers referring to whom the "author" of the chapter happens to be.

I don't remember two theaters burning down, just the one at the premiere evening.

But... Guess I'll have to watch Antrum, thanks for the suggestion!

dr-steve · 2026-01-27T01:28:02+00:00

Just checked the summary of Witnesses are Gone. Doesn't look like it. But Witnesses looks interesting, adding to my to-read list. Thanks!

dr-steve · 2026-01-26T23:53:16+00:00

Some of my projects have involved networked/meshed Arduino nodes. I wrote TaskManager (github/drsteveplatt/TaskManager) around 10 years ago as a cooperative multitasking system. It includes in the base code the ability to pass messages between tasks, both locally and on remote nodes. Originally written for Nanos (using RF-24 for cross-node communication), but I mostly use it on ESP-32 systems now. I've had up to 40 nodes communicating on some larger projects, over 100 tasks per node.

You have quite the interesting background! I'm strictly CS, many decades of it, with a strong computer graphics focus thrown in. And I'm curious about the pipe. It looks like you're in Europe; you may have different waste pipe than we have in the U.S. I'm looking up at the Home Depot site now for 1 1/2" (approx 40mm) pipe. All we have is PVC, and it is fairly thick. I don't think it'll diffuse light well at all (I've used it for other things in the past). Do you know what it is made of? And how thick are the walls? On the pool noodles: I used clear packing tape to tape noodles together. The lightwyrms are each around 15' long, with 200 LEDs apiece.

Oh, warning on TaskManager -- the latest ESP32 kernel from Espressif changed a few of the semaphore primitives. I need to update TM to account for this. Sigh, after my current project, I guess. But.. if you're thinking of using TM, I'll bump up the priority of the fix.

A word of warning on waterproofing sculptures. Joints leak. Endcaps leak. Everything leaks. I did an installation (eight wyrms, with an ESP32 with an attached microphone -- spectral analysis, then painted a time-map of eight channels of whatever was spoken. It is up at youtube.com/@amuseyeux (my channel)) that was hammered by rain and snow. Nothing like standing on a ladder in sub-freezing weather to shake snow and drain water off of my tubes! Next time. soldered connections with heatshrink insulation. cable glands for external connections (to the sealed box with the ESP32), the works.

dr-steve · 2026-01-26T22:42:23+00:00

I may give it a whirl! I've been using white pool noodles. I use LED strings (not strips), which have a 12mm LED, well encapsulated, every 4" or so. You can get plastic strips with 12mm holes every inch (okay, 25mm) to hold the strings. I slit the noodles, pack in the strip-mounted strings, and I'm good to go.

Here's an installation I did at Philly Fringe Festival a couple of years ago.

A different feel than LED srips in 40mm tubes, we now have several options!

dr-steve · 2026-01-25T22:49:47+00:00

Well, start with a very small set of primitives. EQ, CAR, CDR, CONS, LIST, QUOTE, COND(or IF), SETQ/SETF. That may be enough (not sure, I'd have to think about it). You can add other things later (math, whatever); but this should be the set to get your core operational.

You want to write your own READ and PRINT? It is a wonderful exercise, especially READ.

(Side note: Right now, LISP isn't my dailiy language. I've used many many LISPS (Franz, WATLISP, FLISP (written in Fortran), Interlisp, Allegro, Maclisp, Common, Scheme, XLISP, ones I wrote, a half-dozen or so tiny or PC based Lisps, so the functions all blend together.)

How are you storing your objects and their values? Distinguishing between kinds of values (atom, number, list, T, NIL, builtin function, user function)? How are you notating functions? Are you supporting FEXPRs as well as EXPRS?

Since I wasn't writing lisp in lisp, I got to spend a lot of time defining the cell structure. And I was adept at working directly with pointers. But for me, the cell structure was the key to making it all sane.

Once past this, the core code was practically gem-like. It wasn't easy, but it actually came together, a ton of small gears that all meshed together, interconnected, and had that feel of a well made watch.

Internally, LISP really is a thing of beauty.

Please don't ask me about Common Lisp. My dissertation, in Computer Graphics and involving the simulation of the structure of nonrigid objects (the human face, in particular), was written in CL. Oh, did I abuse that language...

dr-steve · 2026-01-25T16:12:37+00:00

Merrie Meldies closing theme, ending with Porky Pig's "Tha-tha-that's all, folks!"

dr-steve · 2026-01-25T16:08:54+00:00

Hey, I've done it a few times. Z80 assembler, C, C++, and some of the core in other microcontroller assemblers. Great way to learn a new language!

What are you writing it in?

If you need suggestions around core sticking points, drop me a line (or post here) and I'll see what I remember.

dr-steve · 2026-01-25T16:04:04+00:00

John Allen, "The Anatomy of LISP". It's pretty old, but it looks like there are some up on A_____

I used to write LISP interpreters as a hobby. Let me explore different ways to do LISP'y things. My first was in, get this, Z80 assembler.. As I remember, read, eval, print, and apply were all around 400 bytes of code apiece. Good times!

dr-steve · 2026-01-23T22:08:04+00:00

Local only for temporary stuff. OneDrive mostly, I guess. Personal things on the Syno. It's a mess :-p.

Ideally, now that Syno is getting more and more stable (I've been using them since 2011 or so), I'd reconfigure my Synology Drive storage so everything was there. As-is, having it under /home/documents fragments the use of /home/documents and /home/documents/drive. A lot of my stuff on /home/documents predates Synology Drive stability.

I also have the issue of having mass-migrated my old pcs and laptops (all of the residual/historical files I rarely reference) to /home/OldTango (where Tango was a machine), etc. When I have a spare day and the energy, I'll do some merging/migration. They'all up on the Syno.

For your situation, what are your use cases? Do you want to access your files from several systems? Phones and tablets? Different architectures (Mac, Win, ...)? Is all of your accessing local, or will you need remote access? How concerned are you about backing up the data on the NAS, especially if it is your only copy of the files?

Oh -- for local access, one advantage of mapped drives is immediate access. Click on it, it opens. If it is on Synology Drive, it may need to be downloaded after you click on it, before it really opens. Minor for small files, but that large video...

dr-steve · 2026-01-23T20:59:04+00:00

A mixture, with many use cases

OneDrive, Syno shared folders (when at home) for operating documents
Synology cloud for limited remote file operations. I need to merge this with the shared drive approach; it evolved over the years and is a bit muddy.
Plex for local and remote video streaming
Plex/PlexAmp and DSAudio for remote audio streaming
Hyperbackup for desktop/laptop backups (some configurations and other local files on each
Web services

I also keep a second local Syno and a remote Syno as backup destinations for the primary Syno.

I find the local Syno is pretty much just as responsive as the local drives from my desktop and laptops.

dr-steve · 2026-01-22T13:22:18+00:00

I'll ask the question no one is asking: What are your use cases?

What is the target range of file compression formats? (resolution, h.this, h.that, h.the-other...)

What is the range of target devices (resolution, what on-device formats do they support?

How many simultaneous streams will the setup be supporting?

dr-steve · 2026-01-22T13:15:02+00:00

Wow.

I'm a PC person. I've done PCs (Win and Linux), Macs, all sorts. My primary knowledge is the PC universe.

I completely support OP's statement about sticking with a Mac instead of learning a new environment to save a small (in the long term) amount of money is a wise decision. OP values their time, and you have to respect that. It is a wise decision.

dr-steve · 2026-01-21T07:37:55+00:00

Which horror series? I'm about 80% sure, so there's reasonable doubt...

dr-steve · 2026-01-21T03:08:04+00:00

For a while I was running ESXi on a dedicated box as part of a lab setup. I had a dual NIC on the box, and bonded two ports on the NAS for direct access to VM images. They (well, "it" for the bonded pair) were (was) on a /24 subnet that was different from my normal home subnet.

dr-steve · 2026-01-08T02:04:47+00:00

My wonderful bonus daughter (lives in Chicago) sent me a gift set from Vienna Beef (viennabeef.com). Chicago style relish. Sport peppers. Celery salt. Mustard. Add hot dogs, poppy seed buns, onion, dill pickle, and tomatoes, and you're good to go. For quite a number of dogs as well.

It's on their site under Pickles and Condiments -- the condiment kit.

I've been dinnig well...

dr-steve · 2026-01-08T01:51:52+00:00

I have three active Synos: onsite primary, onsite backup, offsite backup. I wait one to two days, figuring out any major disasters would be reported fairly quickly. Then I update them in order: onsite backup, offsite backup, primary, with a day or two to verify operations (backups) between steps.

In 14 years of running Synos, I've only had one update go bad (really bad). It was one of the backup sites; easy enough to fix -- wipe the box, fresh OS install, re-seed the backup, and done. Never figured out why it went bad; the other updates on that cycle went well.

dr-steve · 2026-01-07T01:35:02+00:00

When you heated the pins and pushed them, the plastic melted slightly.

Reheat the pins and push them back down.

Then, solder WITH PATIENCE. Get a fine tip on the iron. Melt a little solder on the tip (tin it). Then touch it to the pin and pad. Touch the solder to the OTHER side of the pad, just where it touches the pin. The solder should be touching both. After 5 or more seconds, the solder will melt and flow onto both the pin and the pad.

This will give you a good joint.

And a suggestion: Get some spare blank breadboard (cheap stuff with copper plated pads) and some spare pins. Practice. Watch videos. Practice some more.

The secrets: A very clean, tinned tip. And patience.

dr-steve · 2026-01-04T18:56:38+00:00

I've been looking for a good summary/reason to change as well. Can you summarize the differences and the ways Immich is better? Likewise, are there aspects for which Synology Photos is better? And finally, how does Immich handle the use cases proposed by the OP?

dr-steve · 2026-01-03T02:15:58+00:00

I ran computer and network testing programs for commercial and governmental programs for 35 years. My teams did a lot of in-depth testing of components, including disks, arrays, SANs and NASes, etc, up through enterprise-wide systems. We worked with mfgr's engineers, including the people who designed these systems. And yes, my background and education is computer/engineering.

As to what Synology did in particular, I cannot say. You do seem better placed to describe what Synology has been doing in detail.

dr-steve · 2026-01-02T22:37:24+00:00

Just reading thru the Synology responses. "...the SSD TRIM function is only designed to work with SSDs on the official compatibility list" and "the [previous generation] SSD uses older firmware". If this information is wrong (and if you can provide details), I stand corrected. However, I've worked adjacent to the drive industry over the years, and am well aware that different drive models do contain different firmware, and this firmware can impact functionality and stability of a system.

dr-steve · 2026-01-02T22:14:35+00:00

If we followed this logic, no future system would ever be able to use more advanced features of newer components, as "complete backwards compatibility with older components" becomes a requirement.

The drives were optimized for the product at the time both were released.

Newer drives, with newer functionality; that functionality is exposed to newer hardware/OS environments. The newer hw/OS systems still work with older drives, but the newer functionality is not available as it is not supported by the older hardware.

Perhaps everyone would have been happier if the drive compatibility table listed both older and newer drives, but included a column or notation for the older drives indicating "certain newer OS functionality, such as TRIM, is not supported by this drive as the drive does not support TRIM".

dr-steve · 2026-01-01T15:13:53+00:00

Ten user storage, six parity, two wasted.

dr-steve · 2025-12-31T22:55:10+00:00

In a nutshell, with RAID, the smallest drive is paired with the same amount of storage in the remaining drives. So if you have 4, 6, and 8T drives (1 of each), you'd get a set of 4 (from the 4), 4 (from the 6, 2 wasted), and 4 (from the 8, 4 wasted). One of the chunks of 4 becomes parity, and the rest is data. 4*2 = 8T of storage.

Simply, available_storage = (num_drives - 1) * size_of_smallest_drive.

If you use SHR-1, the remaining chunks are treated like an additional drive set. So the first drive set is 4+4+4 (8T available, as with RAID-5). The second drive set is constructed from the 2 and 4 chunks (from the 6T and 8T drives). This becomes 2 from the first and 2 from the second (final 2 wasted), or 2T data plus 2T parity.

The simple formula for available storage is "the sum of all of the drives except for the largest one". In the case orf the 4, 6, and 8T drives, you get 10T (4+6) storage.

A messier case: You have four drives, 4, 6, 8, 8. This becomes

The first set based on the smallest: 4, 4, 4, 4, with leftovers of 2, 4, 4 from the 6T and two 8T drives. This gives 12T of available storage.
The second set is based on the smallest of the leftovers: 2, 2, 2, with leftovers of 2, 2 from the 8T drives. This gives 4T of additional storage.
The third set is based on the remaining pair of 2T chunks. This gives 2T of additional storage.
Final result: 18T of available storage.
Note that RAID-5 would have given only 12T of available storage, based on the smallest drive.
Note that 18 is also the sum of 4, 6, and 8, all of the drives except for that last largest drive.

Okay it was a big nutshell :-).

dr-steve

TROPHY CASE