California Religion

Mundane Lives Matter

In interesting times people escape into the mundane. As missiles fly, people turn to gardening. Out of necessity, I’m back to focusing on my kitchen sink drain. But not in any urgent kind of way. The basement sink works. I’m even scheduling a BBQ not knowing if my clog will be unclogged; prolly not, doesn’t matter.

I had a Zoom call this morning, and another one last night, plus a Signal. I make good use of my optical fiber. 

Some of you reading from a distance might worry if I worry about being replaced, by an Optimus. As the primary caretaker of this estate, I’m expected to use a drain auger, scoop poop, ignite the BBQ, load the dishwasher, do laundry, and many other mundane tasks. 

Won’t I be released from these jobs before long, thanks to Optimuing have god-like powers? Aren’t the dishwashing angels worried about the competition?

Well, yes and no. I would actually enjoy more automation. One of the more popular Python titles was about automating the boring stuff, letting computers do the mundane tasks, such as thinking and estate planning, leaving their owners to focus on watching television or playing computer games. 

To some extent, that’s working out, although hallucinations remain an issue. 

Some people on the couch, wearing VR goggles, dream that something agentic is out there making sure they’ll be taken care of in the style in which they’ve become accustomed. Hit a high bar — a great lifestyle, like that of a celeb politico, an influencer — then lock it in and coast! Passive income! Alimony! Whatever floats your boat! 

You no longer need to work! Watch shows and eat snacks!

For now, that kind of automation seems oversold and unrealistic. The main problem with that vision is it leads to mental and physical atrophy on the part of the couch potato in question. 

Just being a socialite, flitting about, having fun, does not necessarily result in coherent substantive refinements on any level. One’s culture must be cultivated, and that takes time and patience (yes, like gardening). 

That’s why we continue to engage in mundane activities, to stay good at civilian life. When people lose their ability to stay civil (a set of skills), then the missiles fly and those still able to find solace in the mundane continue to do so, with even fiercer dedication.

A Cascadian Capital

A Wicked World

:: Flying Monkey Tableau ::

Jupyter Service Restored

...But for how long? 

When will GitHub's Jupyter service, historically unreliable, go out again?

For me, this lights-flickering sense of abandonment, kinda Langolier-like, is a useful prod, to myself especially, to get School of Tomorrow presenters more adequately equipped in their personal workspaces. 

What's a "Langolier"? Reddit poster: They are the keepers who erase ANYTHING that is irrelevant or no longer has purpose. Stephen King novel. Scary stuff.

To whit: clone the GitHub repo locally (what GitHub is all about facilitating) and then keep pulling my updates to your copy. 

You're free to boldly go in your own direction with my stuff, obviously, however, I'm suggesting a "quiet pool" i.e. a mirrored version, where the only changes in that particular directory are coming from my GitHub repository.  

Having such a "quiet mirror" does not preclude any amount of noisy partying in neighboring directories (different Python projects). Use uv? I don't, yet.

"What's all this geekspeak?" you might be asking. To whom do I suppose I'm talking? Why, other geeks of course; this is how we sound. Geeks learning and teaching Synergetica, using Pythonica, that's what we're up to, among other things. 

We also get into cryptography some, mainly public key (yes, RSA), even if some industries are planning to deprecate what, today, is taken for granted inside of every web browser. My excuse for sticking with RSA is because the literature is mature and features some of the same heros (Euclid, Euler, Fermat...) that we're meeting in other Notebooks. V+F == E+2, right?

However don't think of me as unique in having high school level onramps to RSA via Python. Phillips at Andover used the same playbook, I even met one of the coauthors of their text. My time on edu-sig (a Python listserv) taught me a lot.

Most of my new presenters will be on the younger side, or the quite a bit older side, with a drop off in between. That's my prediction, as a data scientist. 

GitHub's service was part of my Clarusway classes as well, during my tenure as a data tools and skills teacher. I'd help students address perennial challenges in statistics. How to deal with outliers is not new with computers, although yes, computers have helped the science (data science) evolve.

The younger side is adventurous and eager for novelty, whereas elders are ready for that 2nd or 3rd look at the material, and a fresh start appeals. Those in the middle have made commitments and are staying on top of a chosen game. You can't play every part in a Shakespeare play -- unless you're Johnny Stallings.

Like, if you already have a job that involves climbing a ladder (figuratively, as in “corporate ladder”), you don't have the same freedoms as (a) those not yet committed to any ladder in particular and (b) those who've climbed a few in their day.

In sociology, the natural intergenerational alliance twixt the grandparents and grandchildren is well known; these two demographic groups have some overlapping attributes.

Am I saying I do my slides in nursing homes?  Yes, that's how I updated that U of O guy, when he wondered after Wanderers, that time I visited the adult education discussion group in Eugene, a member of the Lanahan party.

Or rather: I'm making my slides available to those in assisted living campuses, many of whom I know, as we're aging out, I'm 68 (but still in my own home). 

So you might be a Wanderer who already participates in revolving Show & Tell programs, an easy format for engaging broad participation, usually a goal. 

Zip through a deck at high speed saying something along the lines of: "for the slowed down version, come to room 180 at such and such a time" where you'll have recruited those few with an honest interest, some former math teachers I bet, and with the stamina for a deeper dive into it.

So am I saying I expect seniors to learn Git, this late in the game? Sure that could happen (hint: it's just typing, like typewriter typing) but let's remember how late it really is: people entering nursing homes have already had a whole career using Git, invented by Linus Torvalds, one of our long time Silicon Forest residents. BTW, I'm no uber-meister when it comes to Git myself. I know enough to get my work done.

Seniors won't have to "learn git", rather they'll be trying to not forget it.  

Enter Pythonica (programming = working out; like in a gym), focusing on Synergetica (right brain intuitive, imaginative).

I dashed out the above video before heading off to a somewhat impromptu catch-up with my primary. She wedged me in. We're jiggering with my blood pressure meds. I'll be seeing her again later in the summer.

Yes, I'm a senior myself. Great discounts!

prompt: 

Seniors in an assisted living facility 

watch a projected slide show 

featuring Pythonica and Synergetica