diff --git a/content/blog/2022-01-04-projects-for-2022.gmi b/content/blog/2022-01-04-projects-for-2022.gmi new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d2b9de6 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/2022-01-04-projects-for-2022.gmi @@ -0,0 +1,245 @@ +--- +title: "Projects for 2022" +--- + +I'm not a fan of new years resolutions, but now is as good a time as any to +enumerate some existing projects I'd like to devote a bit more time to this +year, along with some green-field stuff and body projects. It's not all +software! + +## Existing projects + +### Ordoor + +=> https://code.ur.gs/lupine/ordoor Gitea project + +This is my fun 2D game project. All the assets from a 1998 game are just sat +there, waiting for me to decode them and write a game engine that can use them +to replicate one of my favourite retro games. I've made considerable progress +with the assets, and had started piecing gameplay together: + +=> /img/ordoor-main-menu.gif GIF showing current state + +The project stalled because I ran into some issues with my (hand-written) UI +library - in particular, clicks weren't captured by the topmost widget, but +propagated through it to underlying layers as well. This convinced me that I +needed a more featureful game engine than Ebiten, which morphed into a desire to +use Amethyst, which morphed into waiting for the Legion ECS rewrite of that to +complete. That culminated in Amethyst being abandoned by its developers, so it's +back to the drawing board on a way forward. + +=> https://ebiten.org Ebiten +=> https://amethyst.rs Amethyst +=> https://amethyst.rs/posts/amethyst--starting-fresh Amethyst abandoned + +Through an email from Brazil, I learned that the Chaos Gate game engine - with +many customisations - actually serves four different games, and I got somewhat +distracted by trying to get it to load the assets for those as well. Honestly, +decoding the assets is the most fun part for me. The gameplay bit is fiddly! + +I rate my chances of making some progress on this project quite highly; I've +left it at a fun point and I've had long periods of inactivity on it before and +always found it in me to return. I might abandon the rewrite idea and just try +to fix the immediate problem by tweaking the horrendous UI library. + +### Purple Plugin Delta + +=> https://code.ur.gs/lupine/purple-plugin-delta + +I use Delta Chat as my preferred messenger. It's IM over email, and although +that sounds ridiculous, it works really well. When both sender and recipient +have control over their own email servers, the security characteristics are also +really good. + +The official desktop client is an Electron application, which I'm not a fan of, +so I've spent some time working on various alternatives to that. My settled +approach is a libpurple plugin, which allows Pidgin (and several other +messengers, including Chatty in Phosh) to send and receive messages. Support for +multiple clients on the same account is very well-advanced, so this leads to a +great experience where I don't need to use my phone keyboard to chat with +friends when I'm sat in front of my laptop. + +This one is stalled on a Rust rewrite. You might think a trend is forming here, +but the rewrite in this case was more or less forced on me - my plugin is a very +thin wrapper around the deltachat core library, which was rewritten in Rust +recently. It stil has C bindings, but using them introduces all sorts of +impedence mismatches, and I'd really rather be writing Rust than C, any day of +the week. + +For a long time, the OpenSSL license meant that distributing the plugin broke +the purple license. However, with the advent of OpenSSL 3, this is no longer +true; by default, the deltachat build embeds a version and the last bit of work +I did on this in the Rust branch was to get it to embed OpenSSL 3. Switching to +Rust means I can embed that, along with deltachat itself, into my purple plugin, +rather than pidgin needing to find both the deltachat .so and the plugin .so and +just hoping that a non-violating OpenSSL was used in the deltachat build. + +Chances of progress here are also pretty good - I'm using the C version of this +plugin every day, and it has a lot of bugs and shortcomings that grate on me. + +=> https://delta.chat Delta Chat + +### Relocate back to Yorkshire + +This is already well-advanced, but is going to be something of a production - we +have a baby, two animals, our important possessions, and ourselves, to move. The +ferry is already booked - we're locked in for February - and the destination is +sorted. We do have help getting the animals and some possessions down, but it +still leaves a lot to work out in advance. + +Once we're moved, the place we're going to needs no DIY at all. I expect to +enjoy that feeling for about a week before I get an urge to demolish something, +but fortunately, my sister's house needs a fair bit of work, so I'll be heading +pver there to sort that out. We do need to dispose of the Shetland house as part +of this, as well. + +Absolutely a dead cert that this is happening. The only question is how painful +it will be. + +### Parenting + +It's fair to say I'm a rank amateur at this. Right now, his needs are simple, +but he's bound to get more complex as he ages. Language and mobility are key +early learning goals, and I have to keep him clothed, fed, clean, and happy +throughout. + +I get no choice in this one! + +## New projects + +### Stock ticker / Gemserv plugins + +In general, anytime I find myself obsessively refreshing a website, I feel like +finding an alternative or frontend in Geminispace. This is something that I +couldn't find. + +I've written a little about how I want to implement this one in a Gemserv issue; +I could whip it up as a dedicated binary in very little time, but waiting for +plugin support (or adding it myself) introduces a stall. Frankly, I'm just being +lazy about deployment, but I think I'll stick with this approach if I find any +time to work on this one. + +=> https://todo.sr.ht/~int80h/gemserv/9 Gemserv issue #9 + +I rate my chances of picking this up as low, though. Designing the plugin +architecture is a big chunk of work. + +### Gemini traffic statistics + +I'd quite like to know how much traffic my capsule gets. Gemserv is great and +outputs logs that are pretty close to commonlog format, but I expect it's not +*quite* close enough to use existing tools for the job. + +Rather than being a Gemserv plugin and picking up a stall as a result, this can +simply be a daily cronjob that processes the log and writes the statistics +somewhere. + +I'm a privacy-conscious person, but even I don't begrudge site admins the +ability to see what level of traffic they're getting. Chances of working on this +are reasonably high - it's a nice, low-effort project, and well-bounded. + +### Masters degree + +I got my undergraduate degree in 2008, and was accepted onto a masters course, +but was unable to actually take up the place due to impending homelessness - +and unlike previous times where this threatened, there wasn't a save available. +My only option was to decline the MSc and enter the world of work. I still +want a postgraduate qualification, though. + +My degree was biology; I failed to enter that field in 2008, so fell back on my +hobby of linux administration and software development to get an entry-level job +at a local ISP. I've never wanted to do software or computers in an academic +sense, though. I'm also far too rusty in biological stuff to consider jumping on +an MSc in that field, with the possible exception of a computational biology +topic - but to me, that's just software. + +Instead, I went off-piste last year, and signed up to an MSc in Green Building +with the Centre for Alternative Technology. I pushed back my entry by a year +when it transpired we were getting a child, so I'm now due to take up a place in +September 2022. + +=> https://cat.org.uk/courses-and-training/graduate-school/courses/green-building/ MSc Green Building +=> https://cat.org.uk/ + +I'd love to build my own sustainable house sometime, in true Grand Designs / Ben +Fogle's New Lives In The Wild fashion, and I view this as a concrete (or straw +bale?) step in the right direction. + +I already have the place reserved for this, so my chances of doing it are high, +but not guaranteed - if parenting is too difficult, I may have to give it a +miss. + +CAT also do a range of short courses, and I'm hopeful I can take on at least one +practical one before the MSc begins; the academic side of it doesn't worry me +too much, but I'm definitely under-educated in construction generally! + +### Trip to Cuba + +I've been talking about this one with a couple of comrades since before the +pandemic. 2022 feels like it might be my best opportunity in the next decade. + +The Cuba Solidarity Campaign organises trips that could be described as touring +the revolution, handled through a company called Havanatour UK. + +=> https://cuba-solidarity.org.uk/tours/ Cuba Solidarity Campaign tours +=> https://www.havanatour.co.uk/ Havanatour UK + +I've done a lot of reading about Cuba, and spent some time chatting and hanging +out with Cubans - both in favour of, and against, the revolution - and seeing +it for myself has been a priority for a few years now. It will also make for a +very nice holiday on its own terms! I love to dance salsa, hot beaches are a +huge win, and I'd love to go see the Escambray mountains where my coffee is +grown. + +=> https://www.cubadirecto.com/cuba-coffee/exotico-green-cuban-coffee-beans Cuba Directo + +One can do all those things in less-controversial places, but a trip to Cuba +will help me to learn more about the reality there. I'm also very interested in +Cuban agriculture and the organopónico system - I've been involved in some +organic growing in the UK with Transition Turriefield, up here in Shetland, and +it would be very interesting to compare approaches and learn some lessons. + +=> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organop%C3%B3nicos Organopónicos +=> https://www.turriefieldveg.co.uk/ Transition Turriefield + +Of course, life in Cuba is hard, and it won't be a traditional tourist +experience, no matter how hard the operators try. I'm hopeful that I can +contribute more than I take away while I'm there, but if nothing else, people +will finally stop asking me, triumphantly, "if you love Cuba so much, why don't +you go?" + +I'll rate this one medium. A lot depends on the continuing pandemic, after all. + +### Español + +He estado aprendiendo español hace dos años - principalmente en linea, aunque +unos clases antes del pandemico. Quiero continuar en 2022 y leer y escribir más en +español también. ¿Tal vez unos articulos en español aquí? + +## Body projects + +### Losing weight + +This one's always at the back of my mind. I'm fat, and I'd rather not be. I've +had success addressing this in the past with running, dancing, cycling, and +roller skating; for one reason or another, I've not managed to get any of those +going while in Shetland. A diet-only approach doesn't work well for me; I grew +up in a starvation environment, and my input controls are not good. + +This is another one for "once I'm back in Yorkshire". Chances of making progress +are probably in the medium-low range also. + +### Laser eye surgery + +This one's been on my radar for years. I'm short-sighted and astigmatic. Without +glasses or contact lenses, I just can't function at all right now, which is not +a state I enjoy being in. + +Several needle-free techniques appear to be available these days - no need for +injected anaesthetic - and I now have the money to do this without feeling +guilty, so as soon as I'm relocated to Yorkshire I'll be looking into this. It's +pretty much a dead cert, as long as my prescription is amenable to the process - +I just have to decide between a bunch of ridiculously named variants of LASIK, +and find a surgery that isn't going to blind me. + +Real shame it's not available on the NHS. diff --git a/static/img/ordoor-main-menu.gif b/static/img/ordoor-main-menu.gif new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06202f3 Binary files /dev/null and b/static/img/ordoor-main-menu.gif differ