You know how you’ve always felt a bit uneasy when you’ve passed a string into javascript’s new Date(), even when you know it’s in perfectly respectable ISO format?

Well it doesn’t work at all on my phone (Android 2.1 running WebKit 3.1).

Bummer.

Give new Date() a timestamp instead. Here’s some dirty python to generate just that:

    import time
    return int(time.mktime(the_date.timetuple()) * 1000)

We’ll fret about timezones later

Ruby Miller

Preparation time

5m

Cooking time

10m

Difficulty

1

Serves

4

The results of xrandr -q will probably be different depending on what graphics set up you have, so adapt it to suit your needs. Compare the output of xrandr -q when the screen is in a normal rotation to it when it’s rotated right (xrandr -o 1 or xrandr -o right) and grep for the difference.

This is really useful when I want to read a long article or admire something in portrait mode. Now just need to work out how to rotate the trackpad input as well…

#!/bin/sh
if [ "`xrandr -q | grep 'current 1024 x 600'`" != '' ]
then
	xrandr -o 1
else
	xrandr -o 0
fi

def docview(fn):
    from docutils.core import publish_string
    from django.http import HttpResponse

    r = HttpResponse(publish_string(
            source=fn.func_doc,
            writer_name='html'))
    
    return lambda rtn: r

Then decorate your method:

@docview
def fast_view(request):
    """
===========
A Fast View
===========

With links to:

 * `An even faster view </faster_view>`_
 * `Somewhere else <http://google.co.uk>`_
 
    """

Which will render something like:

A Fast View

With links to:

• An even faster view
• Somewhere else

#!/usr/bin/env python
import sys, urllib2, twitter

def main(*args):
	try:
		t = twitter.Api('A_VALID_USER', 'A_VALID_PASSWORD')
		f = t.GetFriends(user=args[1])
		if any(u for u in f if u.screen_name == args[2]):
			print 'yup, %s follows %s' % (args[1], args[2])
		else:
			print 'nup, %s does not follow %s' % (args[1], args[2])
	except urllib2.HTTPError, e:
		if e.code == 404:
			print "soz, %s isn't a user" % (args[1])
		else:
			raise e

if __name__ == '__main__':
	if len(sys.argv) > 1:
		main(*sys.argv)
	else:
		print "who follows who?"

A hackity hack to find out if one twittard is following another.

You’ll need python-twtitter and simplejson, just do:

> python twit.py twittard1 twittard2

or stick it in ~/bin and chmod +x it, a la caolan’s suggestion

Being a twitchy geek I was switching Linux distros as soon as it came out of the box. It comes with the perfectly reasonable Linpus on it, which derives from Fedora 8. I switched to Easy Peasy though which is based on Ubuntu and has Debian packagey niceness all over it. You can find it here

It installed off a USB stick and after a moment of mild panic triggered by not being able to see any wireless networks (a reboot seemed to sort this out) everything was peachy.

One annoying thing (which is mostly the reason for this post) is that on reboot, the installer tries to do it’s thing again. This is to do with the Ubiquity installer being left in the session start up. To stop this go to System >> Preferences >> Sessions and uncheck Ubiquity in the start up programs list.

Whilst you’re there, if you want a more classical looking desktop, uncheck Maximus and Netbook Launcher.

But only if you want to you understand.

This is Ru’s cubist masterpiece:

Very Braquian I thought.

Mine should be considered more of a technical illustration, coming up with a plan of attack sort of thing. Okay, so I’ll admit, hers is better than mine:

The idea behind it is, if you have friends or family staying over, you flick a switch and another storey sort of concertinas it’s way out of the roof space.

It was partly inspired by a cartoon I saw years ago, probably by Tex Avery, that described life in the future. One of the gadgets was an instant house that came the size of a matchbox, to which you just added water and pop!

Update: The cartoons were by Tex Avery and they were a series of shorts he did called “…of Tomorrow”.
More here

Updated update: actually try here and you don’t even have to add water.

I came across Russell Davies’ Lyddle End 2050 Challenge the other day and penned him the following (terribly polite) email:

—-

Hi Russell,

Following an extended shamble around the internet the other day, I came across the inspired Lyddle End 2050 project and wondered if I could get involved?

Having just read the latest (15th Jan) post, I understand I might be a bit late for buildings supplied by you, but was hoping you might be able to give some guidance on obtaining the materials myself as well as any particular aspect of future culture that might be missing from the diorama (or at least what has been already created, so as not to repeat efforts).

Yours in anticipation

Ben Miller

—-

He very kindly replied with advice on where to find more information and the only real restriction on materials (anything in the N Gauge, Lyddle End / Hornby range).

So I giddily went out to the model shop on saturday (which, to top it all off, was my birthday) to get me a tiny house!! LOOK AT IT!!

I’ll post some sketches for ideas when I get my scanner working.