IronPython has settled into Codeplex (Link) ''IronPython is the code name of the new Implementation Running on .NET of the Python programming language. It supports an interactive interpreter with fully dynamic compilation.''

It is a while since I have touched it. Good to see Python in the .Net world - hopefully be able to sneak (or is that snake) its use into work at some point

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-09 20:56:50.
Categories: Software, Python, IronPython Tags : IronPython Python .Net
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Further up the coast is the interesting Montrose Basin and Arbroath Harbour. Sadly the level of detail is still pretty poor (though you can make out the shape) though I am sure Google are working on it. Another historical ship of interest (though not local to me!) is the Cutty Sark a famous tea clipper which is in a dry dock in Greenwich, London.

Please leave a comment and a link if you know of any more historical boats on Google maps, UK or otherwise.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-09 13:10:44.
Categories: Internet, General, Angus Tags : Montrose CuttySark Harbour Arbroath Basin Boats
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The reaction to this film has been rather interesting to watch. Some good and some bad. The opportunity to tell the real [1] story has been taken but sadly the existence of the book, game and film has been challenged.

Looking at the Apostle Paul's writings [2], he wrote *rejoice* if someone preaches Christ even out of contention. Doesn't measure up to the Dan Brown backlash seen in recent weeks. There are so many efforts to make Christ 'relevant', get attention of busy people, travel the world etc that the DVC should be seen as a great opportunity rather than a threat.

Clearly China must see it a some sort of threat going by this story : BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Chinese ban Da Vinci Code movie(Link)''China has ordered cinemas to stop showing The Da Vinci Code, weeks after it was released in the country.Officials in the country said the move was to make way for local Chinese films to be shown during the peak summer viewing period.''

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-08 13:16:10.
Categories: Christian Tags : Paul DaVinci Jesus DanBrown Reaction preaching religion christian
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This is rather fun - I won't reveal my score. Lateral Thinking Problems - Preconceptions(Link)

''Lateral thinking problems that challange your preconceptions.''

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-08 13:09:37.
Categories: Fun Tags : Mindhack puzzle lateral thinking
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Michael Ford posted my Bookmarklet for Firedrop to his blog. However it looks like ReST messed it up so here it is (this is a HTML post). FiredropThis!

For more info about Bookmarklets, try this site

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-08 12:53:30.
Categories: Internet, Software, Python Tags : Blogging FireDrop Bookmarklets
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The latest version of Firedrop2 is out including some code by little ol' me. There's some more interesting stuff coming in future versions.

Firedrop2 the Python Blog Client(Link) ''Firedrop2 is a free, cross-platform blogging tool written in Python. It keeps your blog source files on your computer, making it a clientside tool. This means you control your blog, and can easily move it from one server to another, with no risk of losing data. It also means you can manage your blog offline.''

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-07 22:13:16.
Categories: Python, Software Tags : Firedrop Blogging Blog Offline OSS OpenSource
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BBC NEWS | Scotland | Highlands and Islands | Thieves steal 8ft carpet python(Link) ''Thieves have stolen an 8ft snake from the home of a reptile rescue volunteer in the Highlands.Lorna Watt, 27, was fostering carpet python, Diesel, when it was taken from her flat in South Kessock, Inverness.''

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-07 22:02:03.
Categories: Python Tags : Scotland Highlands Islands Python Snake Kessock Inverness
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The nearby city of Dundee (where I grew up) has some interesting nautical sights and best of all you can see them thanks to Google.

First is the RSS Discovery which Scott took to the Antartic or as we tell our kids, its a pirate ship. Secondly is the Unicorn which I used to give tours on many years ago. The Unicorn is more interesting as a ship as it is one of a few metal/wood hybrids. Yes it has a roof and no masts. It was in use by the Navy still during World War II.

Finally the sea defence of Broughty Ferry Castle.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-07 21:01:24.
Categories: Angus, Personal Tags : Discovery Dundee Unicorn Castle Nautical Antartic Pirate Sea
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Comparison Table

Anyone know any more alternative databases? Note : As with most stats, SLOCs can be a bit misleading. For example Kirbybase has a high SLOC due to a lot of comments.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-06 13:08:30.
Categories: Python, Software Tags : Database Kirbybase Comparison buzhug pysqlite
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This one made me laugh. Geek Humour!

The Daily WTF(Link) ''It'll be a long while before Donnie will forget about March 5th, 2004. Early that morning (during one of the ungodly hours), Donnie received his first off-hours support call. Naturally, one of the "mission critical" applications (more specifically, one that Donnie knew only by name) was completely broken and needed to be fixed right away. With the primary and secondary support guys unavailable, Donnie was on his own.''

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-06 12:45:06.
Categories: Software, Fun Tags : Joke Database WTF Support
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Other ways to avoid MySQL, MSSQL and Firebird...

pysqlite is a Python wrapper to a compact database SQLLite and should be standard in Python 2.5 which is appealing from a deployment point of view. The core is written in C and it implements a lot of standard SQL

A newcomer to the scene is buzhug which has similar goals to Kirbybase in being pure Python and data is stored on disk. It claims higher performance. The interface is Pythonic (no SQL) and makes use of list comprehensions and generator expressions.

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-04 20:34:55.
Categories: Python, Software Tags : Python Databases SQL
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My new job has meant a lot of database work but I have used Kirbybase for personal projects such MoodNews for quite a while now. This Python recipe caught my eye as it is slightly different. It works in memory rather that off disk which is the Kirbybase way of working so the trade off is memory for speed. It is only 200 lines of pure Python and files are stored as binary (though an export routine to XML or CSV would be pretty easy to code).

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-03 11:40:05.
Categories: Python Tags : Python
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This idea hit me late last night. Hope it works. Firedrop

Posted by Davy Mitchell on 2006-06-03 07:22:26.

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