... about programming, growing up in the 1970's and 80's, games, science fiction, working in a charity book shop, films, spending too much time watching television, living in Basildon and Essex, and whatever else emerges from my fevered imagination. If you're reading this, it's your fault you clicked on the link: I am not responsible for your actions.
I turned up again to do my annual stint of picking up litter at the Rhythms of the World music festival at the Priory in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. My mate John has finally settled in gay Paris and so was not present. There were the usual aging punk bands:
and the new punk bands (sorry I don't have the names of the groups as I forgot to get a programme):
There was also a rather sweet sounding girl band:
There was also the traditional mural in progress, which looks pretty impressive:
After a tiring four hour shift, during which I got soaked to the skin, despite the waterproof coat, I treated myself to the latest festival must-have, a fruit slushie in an odd platic glass:
On Monday, 1st June, I went to an evening presentation given by Pawel Szulc at Skillmatter regarding Monads in Scala (the videocast of it is here).
It's an obscure subject and not one I really understand, and this presentation didn't help much (too many cognative leaps, like reading a technical book with most of the pages stuck together).
Monads are a kind of contract or pattern, encapsulating a data type in a consistant interface. The interface consists of two functions: a "bind" or "flatMap" function that, given a translation function, allows another monad to be created from the first; and a unit function which creates the monad from the original type in the first place.
Pavel's got a thing about monads and tried to explain how they can be used as a design technique, but I think it's something that going to take a bit more than a presentation to explain. A monograph on the subject, perhaps. Clever bloke, though.
I've been a little busy of late doing an online course in Scala, so I'm doing a bit of catching up.
First up, The Unknown Known, a strange documentary from Errol Morris about the former U.S. Secretary of Defence and Neo-Conservative Donald Rumsfeld.
This can be contrasted, explicitly, with the documentary that Morris did previously about another Defence Secretary, Robert McNamara. Whereas McNamara seemed to be an active participant in the decisions made by himself and the presidents he served, and suffered accordingly, Rumsfeld seems to have merely been an observer, unengaged, just a place-holder until a real decision maker turned up. Intriguingly, Nixon thought of him as unreliable and so he escaped the Watergate scandal.
Next, Dracula Untold, the story of Prince Vlad Tepes (Luke Evans) and his struggles to save his people from the Ottoman Emperor Mehemed II (Dominic Cooper).
A ripping yarn, and an attempt at blending real history (Prince Vlad did defeat the forces of Mehemed in night battle and impaled 20,000 prisoners) with the Dracula story of Bram Stoker, this is a really good pizza movie and worth the watch.
Lastly, Officer Down, a cop movie starring Steven Dorff.
Based on a true story, it's not a bad little film, hampered only by the initial flash-backs, which just confuse rather than add style. The acting isn't bad, with good support by Walton Coggins and James Woods. Better than you would think.
Oooooo, on TV over in the 'States is a new series about us IT people. Called Mr. Robot, it's about a dysfuctional hacker (so no cliches there then) who finds himself embroiled in a shadowy world corporate intrigue.
Yeah, it sounds like clap-trap, but, in the absense of anything better, it might be worth a watch (assuming you can find it amongst all the dross on our networks).
