Yes it is time to start using this CMS in anger to run my blog! Made a good find today. It's an advanced sync program that handles ftp, zip and a zillion other things. It costs a little money but looks well worth it. By a major coincidence it is written in Python and has scripting capabilities. For more info have a look at Xellsoft's homepage.

I am in need of more podcasts. The daily supply runs out by mid morning. How ever did we cope before podcasting. Being a great fan of radio, I would love to have a go myself and am eyeing up a USB headset. It would be nice to base something around LateDecember but I'd like a lot of listener contribution so it is a bit chicken and egg to get started. Okay let's see if this manages to arrive on the web...

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal
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This is good news. The faster we can drop oil the better for the world. BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Tall grasses set to power Europe: "The fields of Europe could soon take on a shimmering silver colour as farmers grow giant grasses to try to mitigate the effects of global warming."

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Energy
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Last night I installed WindowsBlind and my laptop is looking funkier than the Windows Classic Theme. Sadly the hardware acceleration doesn't work on this old laptop but the performance is pretty good. The bundled selection of themes is pretty good but when I get back to my broadband connection at home, I may browse for something thin and compact to make the most of this small laptop screen. Directory Opus seems to have its own style so that doesn't change. Doesn't matter too much as it is usually maximised. Thankfully all Wxpython apps seem to work fine and look nice and slick. Lunchtime is over so I better go.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Software
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BBC NEWS | UK | MI5 head warns on civil liberties: "The head of Britain's security service, MI5, has warned that hard won civil liberties may have to be 'eroded' to protect people from terrorist attacks."

Oh great, this is the thinking of the people supposedly protecting us. Which is worse, the fear of terrorist attack or the fear of imprisonment without trial, charge, etc? Add in some bad law for incitement or being politically incorrect and it is nearly time to leave the country.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Politics
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Sorry no audio post tonight! I did attempt to use my digital camera to record a short clip, however I decided that the recording quality was not good enough. However it was a good rehearsal for putting something resembling a Tech podcast together. Looking out for a good USB headset to take care of the recording side of things. I did learn one interesting thing; Goldwave can open a variety Video files and easily extract the audio track.

I have found a few more Podcasts and been active on Forums again. I used to post daily but I have become rather 'private' on the Internet this year if that makes sense. An early night would be welcome after all the walks in the sunshine today.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Internet
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The CMS GUI has had a heavy update tonight. Mainly I am adding the boring features to edit and delete older posts and the usual housekeeping stuff. The Textarea has some odd behaviour but I can live with it for the moment. Maybe the speech code will be started tomorrow. I may do the picture support first as that is a bit different to the rest of the application.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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BBC NEWS | UK | Fuel giants struggle with demand: "Fuel suppliers say they are struggling to cope with demand for petrol after filling stations saw a week's worth of demand in a single day."

Here's how to cause a panic. Get a suitable senior politician to claim there is no need to stock up on petrol and do nothing about the problem himself. Hopefully it won't last more than a few days. I heard on one podcast the only point where people would reduce consumption is when it is slow to obtain rather than a high price.

I wish I could drive to work on a solar-powered scooter :-) I am not a car lover.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Energy
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IronPython has been keeping me busy of late. This is Microsoft's Python for the .Net platform and it is good even at this early stage. It is very easy to use any part of the framework such as WinForms. As a first project, I worked on a script to load a resource file from Pythoncard and create a WinForms version of it (rather than wxPython). Only a few controls are supported so far and there is a lot to do in terms of making a usable GUI App framework. However the progress has been so fast so far it should get there soon :-)

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, IronPython
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The next step in this CMS is to stop regenerating the entire site and just picking out the changes. Fun!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Ugh.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal
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Okay, it is time to get those redirects in place and get this blog on the move! See you soon with a real post...

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Mood News has been getting the most attention of late in terms of my time. A lot of personalisation features are now there and the filter is much improved. There's been numerous suggestions for User preferences but I am reluctant to have a login system. Also I think it devalues the system if it is all User led. I firmly believe an automated system is more useful. There's a few ideas for updating the layout but that may be split into a seperate project.

Initially I had hoped to have a server to host the program and have it running hourly. That's not happened and arguably the system is not ready for it yet. A daily update handles it fairly well and suits the RSS and podcast generation. There is a Windows dependency in there for the speech generation so a silent Linux box won't do the job sadly.

If you have any comments about Mood News, please let me know.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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This is very experimental but yes here is a comp.lang.python Podcast. I used to read Usenet daily but hardly ever do now. Comp.lang.python is a great resource though so I figured the easiest way was to keep up via a Podcast. The backend is Python of course. There some stripping out of quoted content which is essential but loses context. It would be great to hear some feedback on this one. It is an interesting marriage of old Internet technology (Usenet) and trendy Podcasting. If this idea works then I will consider covering other Python sites via PyTTS. Happy Listening!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Google Base is live. It is a unstructured database with some linkage to the web. Google are hosting the content. Not sure I will actually use it in its current form but there's potential for all sort of third party applications.

Are Google trying to add structure to the web? There are limits to scanning keywords and links, I guess. However their Base needs to be natural (and/or advantageous) for people to bother to add data to. At the moment it is a little awkward. Natural Language Processing is probably the next big step for search but this is likely to be useful only if people search with more than keywords. As people don't type sentences well this would probably need voice input. 5 years time?

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Internet
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When will someone invent a clockwork MP3 player? I'm getting a little fed up rotating batteries for my player. It would be nice to plug in a solar panel too. Nevermind silly postage stamp-size television programs... make it work without the hassle of energy.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Energy
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I've blogged previously about a GUI creator put together with IronPython. This is in DotNet with the GUI being WinForms. The code was getting a little dusty and other projects have taken up my time. I was close to archiving the code labelled 'Interesting but not right now'! I had a quick look at the code at lunchtime today and had to admit is was a very good learning exercise for Python and DotNet. I also realised I was just getting somewhere interesting with the DotNet reflection and other runtime playthings. Part of the fun of a dynamic language are these things so I will try and get something usable released by Christmas. Unless a better idea comes along...

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, IronPython
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The comp.lang.python podcast seems to be getting a few downloads. Would love some feedback! I have been listening to it in the car on the way home from work and it is a handy way to keep up. I don't regularly read Usenet anymore - ah the days of browsing newsgroups with tin on a Unix box. It probably deserves a little homepage which could help promote it. Tell a pythonic friend if you like it!!

Apologies if a few of the old posts from this blog reappeared in your aggregator. This was due to a bug in my home rolled CMS system. The permalinks were incorrect. Sorry.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, Podcast
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BBC NEWS | Business | Gas price surge shows no slowdown: "The UK's cold snap has driven the wholesale price of gas up to its highest level since March."

Will this lead to demand on electricity and greater drive towards nuclear power? Would be good if it sped up adoption of Biofuels or similar.

Note to self - collect more firewood.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Energy
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BBC NEWS | UK | UK Politics | Al-Jazeera calls for No 10 talks: "The head of al-Jazeera is delivering a letter to Tony Blair demanding the facts on reports that President Bush suggested bombing the Arab TV station."

What's the connection with Gas? (Not Gasoline - natural gas). The location of al-Jazeera's main office - Qatar a key US ally who they need to keep on good terms with anyway. Qatar is also booming on gas exports. The energy challenges this winter will mean the US and the UK have some diplomatic hurdles to cool this one down. THEN there is the whole bombing scenario - crude and extreme but who is genuinely surprised at this?

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Energy
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Domain names are now cheap with plenty of suffixes and subdomains. True they are handy for advertising in the offline world but with people using search engines to find information and the blogosphere becoming more important is there a need for snappy URLs for 90% of sites? I just had a .uk domain expire accidently and it has not adversely hit visitor numbers to the site. As a little expirement, I don't plan to replace it and watch what happens. Interesting to see a lot of longstanding homepages running off .edu servers with /users/staff/~someone that get plenty of hits.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Internet
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Hit an odd problem with Iron Python tonight. The text on WinForm applications controls don't seem to appear apart from on Menus. Very odd. Anyway I have asked the mailing list so hopefully I'll get a solution soon. The code has been reorganised with the GUI Design stuff pulled out from the generic runtime. It would probably be a good idea to get another application using the Runtime - whenever developing anything close to a library or reusable component I like to pull it in two directions. It just helps :-)

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, IronPython
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http://gada.be/g/python

I am not usually a big fan of meta-search but 'gada be' is looking pretty neat. Lots of nice RSS support and results from various places on the net. One to watch.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Can Microsoft kill Python?: "How can Microsoft kill Python?"

Is IronPython Microsoft's J++ of Python? I don't think so. The above article praises IronPython highly but gets all upset because MS describe it as a Dynamic Language. This is more to do with dotNet's current static weakness than Python. Notice Office still uses VBA etc? dotNet needs to grow in the scripting direction - I bet thats one of the objectives of the Iron Python project. Yes they are pushing it as a scripting language at the moment - this is probably due to it being so powerful and easy to do. IronPython still needs some features added so it is more suited to driving other code in its current form. I am sure some showcase application will be on MSDN before too long.

My own simple GUI builder is geared towards IronPython desktop applications. I am sure bigger and better tools for IronPython will come along - maybe from MS or maybe from the community.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, IronPython
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For those not following UK politics this week, one of the main topics has been Pensions reform. It is not too controvesial to say that if we live longer we have to work longer. But what else should that apply to? How about so-called 'life' sentences? Should they be extended? Or if our lives are longer should we spend a bit more time in Education? Should governments spend more time in office? It's a bizarre precedence with all sort of time bending implications for the proportion of time we spend on an aspect of life...

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Politics
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Thanks to Thinkhole for some feedback on the Podcast. The sound of a TTS speech system is just not pleasant to some people and the sound of it reading out code is pretty horrible to everyone! First obvious step is to strip out the code junks a bit more. The MS Speech System seems to work best will full sentences so that will give some improvement. For example the Mood News podcast is clearer than segments of the Python audio. Another step would be to try another TTS system. Audio aspects aside, there has been a postive reaction. The people want Python audio :-)

Moving the whole idea on a bit gave me an excuse to pick up USB microphone whilst doing some Christmas shopping. Okay I am not going to sit and read out Usenet to the world but a few interesting threads, bits from the blogosphere and some listener reaction could make for a worthwhile podcast. Time to script a pilot episode - for now TTS will entertain you!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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On Friday, I picked up a neat USB microphone. Saturday I played around with Audacity and all the mix settings for a sharp sound. On Sunday, I wake up with a sore throat so I can now croak at the world in high quaility :-) Not fair I want to play with my new toy!!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal
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Tonight I have put together a little homepage for the LateDecember Python podcasts. Yes, the pyTTS stuff continues. Hope to get the code into a sharable state (i.e. add more comments). For more auto-podcasts (non-Python) check out this site which uses the Festival TTS engine ( which is from Scotland like myself!).

I hope this sore throat clears up soon as I am keen to get behind the microphone. Would be nice to record a podcast or two before Christmas. I am planning a Python Talk show touching on topical Pythonic issues. It would be based around Usenet and Blog activity plus anything else going on. If you have a suggestion or audio comment, please contact me using the link on the left. Let me know if I can use it in the podcast!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Do it now! Thats what they say so I went and put together a few minutes of Podcast. From a quick listen it sounds okay, I had to record in small sections but it flows together fairly well. I'll give the Python talk a few listens tomorrow and upload if it cuts the mustard.

Hopefully my microphone style will be more natural with a bit of practice. Next (very) serious recording sessions will be stories for my sons to listen to - lots of potential for special effects there. Echo-ey caves and lasers a plenty!!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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I had an idea to convert RSS to PPT for some time now but never got close. Oddly, looking up the Powerpoint object model hardly springs to mind for relaxation! Spent a few moments on a quick hack and here's the result - download the PPT here.

Requires RSS.py and the Win32All package. Plus Powerpoint.

import win32com.client
from RSS import ns, CollectionChannel, TrackingChannel

tc = TrackingChannel()
RSS10_TITLE = (ns.rss10, 'title')
RSS10_DESC = (ns.rss10, 'description')
RSS10_CHAN = (ns.rss10, 'channel')

RSSFeed = "http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/rss/newsonline_uk_edition/front_page/rss.xml"

tc.parse(RSSFeed)


items = tc.listItems()

channelMD = tc.getMD((ns.rss10, "channel"))
channelname = channelMD[(ns.rss10, "title")]

PowerPoint = win32com.client.Dispatch(r'PowerPoint.Application')
Presentation = PowerPoint.presentations.add()

for item in items:
    item_data = tc.getItem(item)
    ppSlide1 = Presentation.Slides.Add(1,2)   
    ppSlide1.Shapes(1).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = item_data.get(RSS10_TITLE, "(none)")
    ppSlide1.Shapes(2).TextFrame.TextRange.Text = item_data.get(RSS10_DESC, "(none)")

Presentation.SaveAS("C:\\test.ppt")

If you do anything interesting with it let me know! I am not sure if it 'works' but feeding RSS into existing presentation systems seems a compelling idea.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Little Christmas present for you,Mood News for your personalised Google homepage. In true Google fashion, it is very simple! Here's the XML. I've submitted it to the directory at Google.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, MoodNews, IronPython
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Just a few days away from my usual routine, and I have mountain of podcasts ready to be listened to. It is difficult getting a balance between a regular supply of daily material and not having to listen to everything everyday. No doubt my player will fill up soon too.

Batteries are my biggest annoyance with my MP3 player but I see the $100 laptop has a hand crank so maybe I will get my clockwork MP3 player in 2006 after all!!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Internet, Podcast
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Inspired by the Awaretek Podcast's 2006 predictions, I began to come up with my own (and of course blog about them).

Here are my predictions in no particular order:

1. The UK Prime Minister will not be Tony Blair by Dec 31st 2006. Backbenchers are almost in open revolt, the Opposition Tory party is growing stronger and his agenda for Parliament is controversial. However I doubt it will be a simple handover to Gordon Brown though I can't pick out a contender for the crown of New Labour.
2. Google and Apple will collaborate on a mobile hardware product. Doesn't matter what it is - it is bound to cause a huge stir and press coverage.
3. Israel's elections will produce yet another coallition government but stick squarely to the centre left. The issue of Jerusalem will become even more contentious. Peace moves will be made with the PA. As usual any deal will lead to an increase in violence from the terrorist groups.
4. The Cinema will continue to decline. In 5-10 years, I see films being merged into TV production so don't expect movies but more high-quality (I hope) mini-series and franchises.
5. The retail sector will take some tough knocks but a few painful consolidations will strengthen it. Expect less mid-size chains but more mega-stores such as Tesco in the UK.
6. An easy one but Podcasting will become even more mainstream. Video blogs will become more numerous
7. I agree with Ron Stephen's on this one, Python (and other 'scripting' languages) will be the programming language of choice. Classic choices such as C++ and Java will have a strong place but lose favour.

I will keep an eye on these things and at the end of 2006 review each one. Have a great New Year!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal
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I was not expecting this in 2005! IronPython IronPython 1.0 Beta 1. A new release and its become a Beta release. Someone has been working hard over the holidays!

Not sure I will have time to try it out in the next week or so. I dabble in too many projects and web pages an really need to cut down on something to get anywhere. I've started some Python CGI for an online booking calender and have committed to website for a family member. Still, IronPython is handy for learning the .Net libraries for (eventual) use at work.

I am also looking forward to Python 2.5. If wxPython gets going again and Pythoncard does another release then it could be quite a year for Python installs! Hope 2005 was good for your Pythoneering :-)

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, IronPython
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There has been a lot of debate recently about Python Frameworks for the web. Having only really used Plone, I won't comment. One interesting comment was along the lines of non-web applications where Python has been successful such as Bittorrent. This lead me to think why there isn't (to my knowledge) a strong desktop framework in Python or other language.

Here's my suggestion for a Python Desktop Framework or (dare I say it) Wizard:

1. Quick to build an application - Minimal Input e.g. App Name and Type
2. Choice of GUI - TCL, WX, .Net WinForms, Wax etc
3. Load/Save of Config - Native storage all worked out e.g home for Unix, D and S for Windows
4. Template Help File
5. Standard Menus e.g File Help
6. Dynamic Options Dlg based on Config file
7. Py2exe etc native compilation script
8. Installer script e.g Inno, Wix, Egg
9. Basic Unit Tests
10. GUI Tests e.g AutoIT

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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It has been quite a while since my last entry. Since then I have been busy with the usual life pressures of family and work. Thankfully there has been time for Python, if not time to talk about it. I have been having some fun and this blog entry are the highlights.

Two cool Python applications I have been playing with and customising lately are:

• TDKU - Cool diskmap util. I working on getting this running as a shell extension.
• Newsfeed - Python RSS aggregator. The author was kind enough to listen to my request to allow it to run from a USB stick. Once I have finished tweaking with a few aspects, it will be resident on my MP3 player.

I have been getting together the first release of a tool written with Pythoncard. To quote the docs "Why another Backup tool? Simple, I wanted something that would suit me and that I could hand out to friends. A batch file and xcopy would probably be enough but friendly a GUI would be worthwhile for the non-techies. I also wanted to be able to update and run it only using the mouse.". Once I am happy with it there should be a test release soon. It is Windows only for now but I like the idea of a Linux and OSX version if people are interested. However I don't know if that is a good market for GUI backup programs as techies seem happy with scripts!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Installed IE7 Beta 2 and I am not impressed. First off was a Syntax Error on their IE page! Mood News runs slow as a dog, in fact slower than ever. Oh its not me! Opera and Firefox have been running nice and zippy from day one. I know it is just a BETA but please wake up and make it GOOD!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Internet
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I really hope no one is hit too bad by the virus Karma Sutra. It is set to strike this week and delete lots of Office files. Backups are *so* important. I have been busy putting together a backup tool that does everything I want it to do and is easy enough to hand out to non-techie friends. Aside from saving your skin if something like a nasty virus deletes your data, backups can be good in that they make you take an inventory of your computer data assets, let you experiment with confidence (after all you can revert back in a few seconds) and they make good use of cheap media e.g. an external hard disk.

There are a few more features to add before I can release the software (and probably the source code). The software was written in Python and has been good fun to write. Not my usual type of program but I maybe see me doing more file based utilities...

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Software
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The Energy category of this blog has been rather quiet lately. Just about the time of my last post energy as a news topic jumped up a notch with high oil prices and Iran's nuclear programme being the main candidates. Normally the topic was relegated to the science section.

Here's one story that you have to dig a little deeper for: Hürriyet: "Turkey is still trying to solve its energy crisis on natural gas, as harsh winter conditions continue across the country. A decrease in Iran's natural gas exports to Turkey was registered during the extreme subzero temperatures that the country experienced in late January. ". Strange that with all those energy/oil rich countries nearby and they are shivering. I am not sure why this getting more coverage. Turkey is a very strategic country for the West and on the verge of EU membership. Suggestions welcome!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Energy
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The podcast backlog is still with me. I can't remember the last time my podcasts folder was empty but I better get it that way soon! I am looking forward to the PyCon podcasts and according to Ron Stephens the recordings should be of better quality this time around. Would be nice to make it there one day. I gave up on the 2005 presentations though the content was good.

The Wxpython mailing list has had an interesting thread discussing Python IDE's. Not an unusual topic but this had the twist of being started by the author of SPE. SPE is my favourite Python IDE which has the right balance between liteness and features. It's code completion is amongst the best I have used. Anyway, the discussion threw down the idea of a common IDE to save repetition between Python projects eg Dabo, DrPython, NewEdit. This sounds very exciting if it happens. Personally I'd like a mix of SPE but made as customisable as DrPython with lots of plugins. If a plug-in for the Pythoncard resource editor could be integrated that would be amazing.

It has taken me a while to get round to listening to it, but Mood News was discussed on a Values Hacker podcast on the topic of Fear - the guys had an interesting application for the system. I won't spoil it for you here. Have a listen. Graeme (one of the show's voices) has asked to do an interview which will be fun. I'll email you soon Graeme if you are reading this!

Mood News is in need of a makeover. I think all the ideas (podcast, filter, rss) work but the page is too cluttered. I'd like a improved summary, more podcasts, improved chart,bookmarkable pages and User keywords and RSS feeds for Good-Bad-News. Any feedback appreciated!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Whoosh! What was that? That was one sixth of 2006 flying by. A lot has happened and there is much to do. On the positive side I have a new job lined up. I have a strict 'no blogging about work' policy (self-enforced) so I won't link to my new company's website but the work is more in the direction I want - SQL and web (ASP,COM, .NET) and the business domain is very similar to the company where I've worked for over 5 years. Besides that I need to get a new car and a new house with the former being the most urgent. This is supposedly a good time to get a car in the UK before the 06 registrations come out. This time I may buy new for the peace of mind of a warranty. Let's hope at least one of those is solved in the next 2 months!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal
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Sleep becomes a topic of obsession when there is a little one in the house. My youngest wakes a little early but apart from that sleeps regularly and solidly. The experts say it is not possible to get a sleep surplus but a sleep deficit is something everyone has probably experienced. I had a very very late night which has taken 2-3 weeks to feel anything like normal again. Even a big cutback in caffine did not help. (For non-techies, software developers are 75% caffine powered.) In the end, early nights and routine were the only 'cures'.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal
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The wxPython mailing list has been very active discussing the unifying IDE project. I am planning to volunteer as a tester (initially). The website is up at PYxIDE. Good to see the website is Plone based.

With all this discussion I have an IDE Wishlist - I'll post it here as the mailing list thread is trying to stay away from this. Aside from the usual features (UML, python interpreter, code completion etc) I would like:

1. Run from USB.
2. Be a good showcase for Python.
3. Be a good showcase for OpenSource. Reuse existing components such as ConfigObj, Scite, wxPython and bits from the existing Python IDEs.
4. Return Find Search results in a GUI list or Tree.
5. MP3 player (seriously - some my code generates MP3's so it would be nice to play them back in the IDE!).
6. TTS Support.
7. Come with Python Compiler in a bundle.
8. Logging support.
9. Auto-Update Feature or at least notification.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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SLOC counts are not the be all and end all of software metrics but I find them handy. Working in VB6, I had a little tool which worked from the IDE to give a quick set of stats on the current project. It was also handy when picking up a new bit of code. At the weekend (with the help of PathUtils) I set about putting something together for Python.

Sample output so far...

Please let me know of any similar packages out there!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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I love visualisations even when the output isn't useful :-) If you have a decent browser with canvas support (Firefox, Safari etc) and javascript enabled, try the preview. No legend as yet but a different colour is a different type of line (comment, import etc).

The next step for the Python stats script is to find multi-line strings - comments and pydoc strings rather than data. After that it needs packaged up, maybe becoming a plugin for a future IDE. It should be fairly easy to extend this tool to other languages but of course Python comes first!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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Well the first go a visualisation got a few hits! This one is much better (as it is zoomed in) and has a little legend. Next step will possibly be reflecting the line length in the length of the line. Oh and those pesky multi-line strings :-)

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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This is no great political essay but I would like to defend Google and other companies operating in China. As a democratic individual, of course I have many criticisms of the Chinese Government and many of the UK and Scottish Parliaments. I am also extremely concerned about the suppression of Christians in any part of the world but China is high on the list.

Looking at the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, much of this was achieved through working inside the system. Google won't extend the current administrations lifespan even if it blocked and censored everthing those in control would want to. If the situation is compared to spam, it is a little clearer. Even smart filters won't stop the flow of 'free' information, just as spam still arrives at your email address. So I am happy to see Google there as it means the Chinese people are connected to the Internet and the rest of the world. That's my simple point in this post, isolating China will just isolate its people and lose any subtle positive influence. However I am not advocating anything goes and there are limits. I am fairly sure as Western companies deal more with the Far East they will become smarter when working within the rules.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Politics, Internet
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Set your podcasters to the Mood News Good News Podcast for (hopefully) a burst of positivity in you audio life. I am still using the MS speech enignes but I would like to find a better quality voice output. There must be one out there. Please get in touch if you have any suggestions. I now have 4 podcasts using pyTTS and the comp.lang.python is the most popular so I will try out any new engine on that one first.

Tonight no Pythons, instead I am with the horses of Hidalgo.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, Podcast, MoodNews
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Well it turns out my favourite IDE of the moment, SPE, has some code stats build in. Move your pointer to the source code tab and it will instantly give you line counts and a few more figures. Also there is a very comprehensive and professional package called pyMetrics. Thanks to Peter Harkins for blogging about that last one.

I took a little detour to learn some TKinter so I've not polished off my stats script quite yet. However I do have a third attempt at a visualisation. The idea is to possibly use Tkinter Canvas rather than the HTML Canvas tag.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python
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I do enjoy putting a wordsearch together! Young and old seem to like them. Free Download of Carnoustie Christian Fellowship's Easter 2006 Wordsearch (PDF Document) for you to print and share.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Personal, Christian, Angus
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Things have changed somewhat. I have a new job, Python 2.5 looks (good) different, wxPython puts out another version and a book and Python 3000 is underway! Oh and something about XP on Macs...

My Dell laptop is also 'different' in that it is now running Ubuntu. The Wireless network was a little bit of work to get going but I got there in the end thanks to a good guide. I have been dabbling with Tkinter which compliments wxPython neatly in my toolbox. I had hoped to crank out a GUI for the Python source stats script I wrote last month. Using the canvas tag in html was a bit awkward so I should be able to get a similar effect with a scrolling canvas in Tkinter.

Finally, yet another reason Python rocks... it is the best language for copying snippets and examples of the web. It is so quick to copy a few lines off comp.lang.python and have it running. In many other languages you would create a project, add the code, compile etc etc. In Python it is copy, paste, maybe add a tab or two and run. Think and act different!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, Software
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I have been busy with pyTTS again. This time it is another newsgroup being read by 'robot voice' as some have described it. Anyway the link to the feed is here. Once I am happy with the content it will be added to my Python homepage here. In theory it should me more ordered than comp.lang.python and so be better in audio form.

Feedback welcome but I *know* TTS isn't everyones cup tea... Thanks!

Whoops - Podcast URL now updated!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, Podcast
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I need a catchier title for this proggy :-) Anyway, here's what it is looking like in Tkinter. Hoping to use Python Mega Widgets to finish off the scrolling canvas and replace the listbox.

Click to enlarge.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Python, Software
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The Internet is still about cool free stuff. I found this at the weekend; Marvel Super Heroes Exhibition "Want to bring a little bit of excitement to your computer's desktop? Choose your favorite character to download onto your desktop." These wallpapers are well drawn with a neat 3D look. Spiderman has to be my favourite though my eldest son likes the Incredible Hulk best.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:04.
Categories: Internet, Fun
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The Lifespring Podcast really stands out from the crowd. It is on its 83rd show and has high production values and content. Great music, interesting talk and Steve Webb is an excellent presenter. I like it - 100% recommended!

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:30:03.
Categories: Podcast, Internet, Christian
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Mood News is undergoing a fairly big update. You can see the preview here. I am particularly pleased with the Pie Chart - easy to code but adds a lot to the page.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-05-02 21:03:01.
Categories: Internet, Python, MoodNews Tags : news mashup bbcnews mashup bbcnews mashup bbc
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