Here’s the rough list of ingredients I often use:

• olive oil
• 500g beef mince (or better: mixed veal and pork mince)
• 2 tins plum tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• the zest of half a lemon
• a splash of Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper
• oregano

Making a sauce with these ingredients is fairly straightforward. I am also partial to Antonio Carluccio’s recipe “Tagliatelle al Ragu Bolognese” which creates a really nice subtle medley of flavours. If you try adding lemon zest to that it’s also very nice.

I love the power of small changes like this. It applies equally to software. Stop and think when your app/website is frustrating you. How can you make it just a little better?

Being an over-thinker when it comes to making any decision regarding spending money, I considered what Apple might change to improve the iPad further. My conclusion was that the only obvious (hardware) improvement would be adding a Retina screen and improving connectivity with peripherals. I was right about the Retina screen — to the layman, it is the only real upgrade of this year’s model — but we are still waiting for a change in physical connectivity. I suspect that with Bluetooth 4.0, currently sweeping across Apple hardware, it may be considered the preferred interface for 3rd party devices. I still use my Camera Connection Kit to import photographs but it is a clunky workflow and I much prefer the idea of using an Eye-Fi memory card.

I watched with interest as Apple unveiled the new iPad a few weeks ago. Ever since investigating the artistic potential of the iPad, my mother has been interested in having her own. My plan, therefore, has been to upgrade and let her take over my old iPad. This fits nicely with my plans for travelling home after Easter as the price is approximately 8% lower in the UK than in Denmark.

Two weeks ago, disaster struck (well, relatively speaking). I accidentally dropped the bag containing both my laptop and iPad. You will probably not be surprised to learn that the iPad emerged unscathed, but the 5 and half year old laptop now refuses to boot with a screen that no longer functions. You may be wondering why this is a disaster, since I get so much out of my iPad and really don’t care for Windows laptops any longer. This is really for another post, so I won’t elaborate now, but essentially being a computer science student at a department which has no student computers (other than a small handful of thin clients) means a laptop is pretty vital to getting assignments done. Thus far these have all required use of Matlab, a rather heavy toolkit. Despite trying to remotely connect and control a computer through the iPad, it is simply no substitute for a laptop. I lasted 2 stressful weeks before borrowing an old Windows 7 laptop which I will use until the exam assignment has been handed in.

Looking back, the decision not to buy a laptop was a rational choice. I was tired of using a laptop as a desktop, and I foresaw always having a computer where I needed one. When you work in an office, they provide a computer; when you study computer science, the department has hundreds of student machines with everything you need. Why carry a heavy laptop around?

I have had the misfortune to embark on my studies in Copenhagen a short while after the last room of student computers was decommissioned. Luckily I decided to bring my old laptop with me; it was a close call and I only brought it because I hadn’t had a chance to clear out the hard disk yet. So what is the way forward with my portable computing needs? I realise I must have a laptop in order to study here, and therefore I am resigned to buying one.

Having gradually converted to the Apple product line, I cannot envision buying another brand of laptop. Using a trackpad on anything but a Macbook is a torturous experience. This is a slight problem when one is a cash-strapped student in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

The plan is to buy a used Macbook, preferably a 13″ Macbook Pro, which will be paid for in part by my mother. It will then become her main computer when I buy a new laptop later in the year. Why am I even considering buying 2 within a year? Because I am stubbornly waiting for the next wave of Apple laptops with Intel’s Ivy Bridge processors (which should increase battery life), and with Apple’s new Mountain Lion operating system which is likely to début in July. The qualities I desire most in a laptop are long battery life (which seems to be the reserve of the Pro models) and light weight (the Air models); it makes sense to wait a little while when you know something better is coming, before dropping a significant amount on a new laptop.

Where does this leave the iPad? It is still my favourite portable device. It is my productivity tool — it allows pure focus on the task at hand and lasts days between charges. I can use it for reading textbooks, checking my calendar, listening to the radio and even calling people on Skype. And more. My hope is to learn iOS app development over the next year and the large touch screen provides an exciting playground for interaction experiments. Having tried the new iPad in person, I don’t think there is much doubt that I will buy one. The main issue of contention is which model to buy; we have 4G in Denmark but not the same standard as in the US. I already have a HSDPA+ WiFi hotspot which is a brilliant thing to have when you travel around with 3 or 4 WiFi capable devices. That settles one choice, but the question remains — how much space?

I chose the 32GB model last year because I planned to store photographs on the iPad when on holiday. I now realise this is not a good workflow for me but it is a nice backup to have. If I am once again carrying around a laptop I would rather use that for storing and sorting the mass of images I take when on holiday. Yet with the new iPad’s higher resolution screen many are choosing to buy 64GB so they can fill it with 1080p video and swathes of large apps. The price increase for doubling the storage capacity is £80, but if I am to carry both a laptop and iPad then I don’t think this is worth it — I would rather spend that money on a good case and some apps. This might be a decision I regret but if I am disciplined with deleting unused apps then it should not be a big problem.

As if Apple don’t get enough of my hard-earned cash already, I am seriously considering their iTunes Match service. I have a large collection of CDs at home in England which I have begun ripping to iTunes; I cannot fathom transporting them over the North Sea. Fully legal cloud music storage for £22 a year is almost made for people in my situation. And it means you can listen to your music on the iPad without syncing it from another computer. When I inevitably get an iPhone (yes, it can only be a matter of time) this will be even more useful — I can spend less on device storage, yet have all my music wherever I am.

All this will leave me with less money, but with a very pleasurable, easy to configure computing environment that by and large just works. My only wish is that there would be more alternatives that worked just as well.

Apologies for the sparsity of the notes — they were my attempt at jotting down the talk on my iPad in realtime.

———-

Start with Alan Kay’s vision of objects.

Objects are actually used mostly for code libraries.

Software is a service not a product. It has a business value.

Listen to the tests. Code is so simple there are no obvious deficiencies. Or so complicated there are no obvious deficiencies. (Hoare)

Objects take use cases and blow them up. Algorithms are split up all over the place. Polymorphism makes it even worse. Testing comes along because you can’t understand the code anymore.

Agile techniques are horseshit when it comes to TDD. It (empirically) makes your code worse.

Unit tests make it hard to refactor. Comment out all code so tests fail. Then rebuild. Coverage tests are stupid. Really hard (impossible) to cover all bases.

Test the use cases not the classes. Classes are scaffolding. Architecture is dynamic — relationship between objects changes all the time. Programming in classes is at odds with business needs. This is what DCI is about.

For Ruby and its programmers’ mindset, it is possible once again to do real OOP. Every language apart from Java allows this (!).

Abstraction is evil. It removes information. Don’t use it!! To infer any meaning you must flatten hierarchy. You cannot test a class; you must test an object.

DCI is trying to bring us back to OOP. Modern programming destroyed it.

What is a class? You must flatten the hierarchy to understand it. Inheritance is a fancy way to do ”include” statements. Just hiding stuff which is still there. Worst thing is too much coupling between components. Don’t sweat class size; worry about use case size.

We need to compress: worry about service we are providing, not the classes. Don’t worry about the bricks your building is made from.

You CAN’T TEST A CLASS. what happens in a program occurs between objects not within objects. Methods are simple. A good class is extremely dumb.

Book ”how buildings learn”. About making buildings last a long time. Flimsy = flexible, evolvable.

What is an object about? Object has state (usually), identity (uniqueness), behaviour; it represents a stakeholder mental model; wrappers destroy this.

Models should capture a cognitive concept. A tool sits between the user and computer. Presents a model using a view. The controller coordinates the views. All about people and what they are doing. (Programmers are also people, but that’s another matter).

The interesting stuff happens BETWEEN objects.

Classic OO architecture. Tools at the top. Domain models lie underneath.

Fast evolving stuff should be easy to change. Classes are slow to evolve.

Problem with objects is there is no place to put the interesting functions. ”form follows function”. Does function have form?
’Roles’ are the form of function.

When you call a method on an object from a class hierarchy: How do you know where the algorithm actually is?
You should wrap this in the context. The objects are dumb. Inject the role into the object, just before executing. The object learns or evolves to have the necessary behaviour and when done unloads that functionality. In Ruby these are modules.

Get objects to collaborate. Separate shear layers. Make money by adding new use cases. Simply load a new context. Nothing else has to change. No models need to be altered. DCI is the only real way to do this.

See Fulloo.info

This works — it’s not just research.

Essentially, moving abroad takes a bit of time . I will probably get round to writing or finishing a post at some point but I don’t currently have my own fixed Internet connection. Right now I am typing this on my iPad in a library in Denmark.

Happy new year to those who are still subscribed!

It is not simply a desire not to do the same as everyone else. I can definitely understand the attraction of having such a versatile portable computer, camera, music player and phone in one’s pocket at all times.

My general philosophy (if it deserves such a grand title) is to carefully evaluate any non-essential purchase with a long term view. I’ve gradually come to the realisation that everything is a compromise, and that is true of mobile phones as much as any technology.

The advantages of owning a smartphone for me are fairly obvious to anyone who sees the collection of equipment that one could replace. I will write in terms of the iPhone here because that is the product which I have spent the most time considering. When I visited York last weekend, I had a MiFi supplying fast wireless Internet for my iPod Touch and iPad. I also carried my current mobile phone, which continually frustrates me with its slow reaction times, small memory and lack of Internet, apps and so forth. Whilst I am a keen photographer, I did not bring my camera as it is simply not practical for me to carry. Having an iPhone I would be able to do away with the iPod touch, terrible phone and would not miss a camera. I would not spend so much time looking up mobile numbers on the iPod and typing them in to the sync-less phone. I would be able to share Internet with the iPad and not need the MiFi. I would gain GPS navigation and never again miss the ability to tweet or take an opportunist photo.

Whilst these advantages are attractive, do they justify the cost? It is worth considering alternative devices when cost is of importance. Unfortunately the gap in pricing between Apple’s latest model and the rival Android devices is not that great. I don’t find the larger screens necessary, if they are accompanied by an inferior software experience (hopefully someone will eventually prove to me that there are high quality equivalents to my most used iOS apps). No smartphone camera is as good as my current camera except in portability. This is the matter on which I feel most likely to be swayed in the future. Inevitably I desire to take photos when I don’t have a camera available and this frustrates me, but I would get far more enjoyment and use from a camera costing significantly less than a smart phone.

What annoys me about the iPhone 4S is that I would fairly swiftly run out of space and regret not spending more on a larger capacity model. Here is one point I concede to the myriad of Android and other non-iPhones with their expandable memory. This helped justify not buying the iPhone when I was teetering a few weeks ago. I could buy a perfectly good iPod Touch with 32GB storage for less than half the cost of the 32GB iPhone, and while it doesn’t do as much it does enough to satisfy my needs.

Here is my real reason for not buying any smartphone yet: I don’t want to be permanently attached to the Internet. I don’t want to be always available, ready to respond to any email, constantly up to date with news. I find life more interesting when I have my head up, observing. I get more time to think when I am not absorbed by a little touch screen. I can actually have a conversation with someone next to me, and not waste time playing a silly little game. If I want to take photographs, I can plan ahead and bring the real deal. I still have my iPod touch to play music and apps when I feel the need.

This freedom from digital communication is becoming rarer, and it’s something I want to cherish. I am never more than a few hours from the web, so I don’t see the need to be 10 seconds from my inbox. When I eventually earn enough that an iPhone would cost me a relatively small amount, I will probably own one and enjoy it. But for now, a device that I cannot afford to replace and the costs of replenishing mobile Internet bandwidth every month, are not something I feel are worth the financial burden. I am about to begin a masters degree funded by my own savings, and for now I’d rather have great experiences and nice food than be able to check my email wherever I am.

This coming week I won’t be posting every day. I will try to write something but I don’t intend to subject myself to a daily posting schedule just yet. I’d like to write something about my quest for a new mobile phone and perhaps a discussion on creativity and procrastination, but we shall see if I can avoid the latter ;~p.

I am back at home for the weekend, and whoever planned the tree planting around here in the 1980s certainly designed a colourful autumn show for us.

It was tough to think of what to do today. Fridays are always tiring and involve a rush to get things finished before the weekend, then a 3 hour trip from Hinxton to home. This image is of the last thing I see before my Friday night slumber (no, my vision is not that bad, I just thought I’d deliberately not focus so you can’t really tell what it is).

I wanted to draw a “thing” today. I tried to draw my iPod using just 2 colours, but that was a little dull. So I skimmed through the photos on my iPad and was inspired to try a mushroom and continue with Monday’s theme of smallish natural objects. This was a chance to practice using the brushes and smudge tool in my favourite drawing app, Procreate. I don’t feel it’s quite finished, but it might be interesting to come back in the future and improve things.