The Sojourner Saga

Ever stop to think of the amazing people you know and talk with? I passed the day without giving much thought about the diversity of the people I chatted with.

For starters I exchanged sample code and pointers with the creator of the 4th most popular free game on the iPhone. At the coffee shop I chatted with a photographer that provides most of the prints to the cruise lines and tourist shops in Alaska (ever wonder who shot those amazing post cards of Alaska, I know him). At lunch I met the owner of a popular real-estate web site I use from time to time (I rushed to grab the power outlet he vacated). I messaged with a customer in Texas that grew up in the small farming town in Michigan which is local high school rivals with the small farming town where my Grandma lives (and I live in Alaska, hows that for a small world). I discussed the problems with a new Internet service with a friend who is on a business trip in MN, and I chatted with a friend in India that is also an iPhone developer.

The really amazing part is that this is a routine day for me.

i = (( i << 16 ) & 0xFFFF0000 ) | (( i >> 16 ) & 0x0000FFFF );
i = (( i <<  8 ) & 0xFF00FF00 ) | (( i >>  8 ) & 0x00FF00FF );
i = (( i <<  4 ) & 0xF0F0F0F0 ) | (( i >>  4 ) & 0x0F0F0F0F );
i = (( i <<  2 ) & 0xCCCCCCCC ) | (( i >>  2 ) & 0x33333333 );
i = (( i <<  1 ) & 0xAAAAAAAA ) | (( i >>  1 ) & 0x55555555 );
// What i sees in the mirror

Recently I've become more and more addicted to the Xcode environment. Prior to using Xcode I was strictly a vi (specifically elvis a vi clone) power user. Good old vi served well as a multi platform editing tool, however I am finding that I perform most of initial development on a Mac Desktop (when I first started programming I worked from a Linux desktop) and then copy the source to other platforms (Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, and Windows) for testing and deployment. This usually means that 90% of my time is spent working from a Mac desktop.

Although vi is an invaluable tool, I prefer writing code in Xcode. This has led me to figure out how to write the code in Xcode and compile it using a GNU Autoconf/Automake/Libtool/Make environment. It turns out to be pretty simple. Xcode has the ability to configure an Xcode target to call an external script. The arguments passed to the script can be configured, but Xcode will pass the requested action (clean, install, etc) by default.

To configure Xcode 3.0 to create a target which calls make, follow these steps:

• Right click (or Command-Click) Targets
• Select Add->New Target
• In the new window that opens, select Other from the table on the left and select External Target from the items on the right.
• Click Next
• Type in all apps for the target name and click Finish

This should create a target which defaults to calling /usr/bin/make. If you do not need to call configure, you are now done.

If like me you use GNU Autoconf and GNU Automake to help port projects to different platforms, you need to create an additional target which will create the make file. Follow these steps to create a target which will create the Makefile by running configure:

• Right click (or Command-Click) Targets
• Select Add->New Target
• In the new window that opens, select Other from the table on the left and select External Target from the items on the right.
• Click Next
• Type in Makefile for the target name and click Finish
• Double click on the target Makefile to open the properties window
• In the Arguments box, add -f Makefile-xcode before the $(ACTIONS) variable.
• Drag the target Makefile to be under the target all apps. This should create a "second" Makefile object as a dependency for all apps
• Create a file called the file Makefile-xcode in the root of your Xcode project directory and add the following contents:

  # special make file used by Xcode to run configure 
  
  all: Makefile
  
  Makefile: Makefile-xcode configure Makefile.in config.h.in
  	./configure
  
  clean:
  	test -f Makefile && make distclean
  
  #end of Makefile
      

The second target essentially tells make to use an alternative Makefile (Makefile-xcode) to generate the Makefile used by the rest of the project. Automake, and autoconf can also be run to generate configure, Makefile.in, config.h.in, etc, by using a longer Makefile-xcode. For example the following Makefile-xcode uses autoconf and automake:

#
#   Makefile-xcode - automate Automake compiling from Xcode
#

# GNU build tools
ACLOCAL					?= /opt/local/bin/aclocal
AUTOCONF				?= /opt/local/bin/autoconf
AUTOHEADER				?= /opt/local/bin/autoheader
AUTOMAKE				?= /opt/local/bin/automake


# local targets for building environment
all: Makefile

aclocal.m4: Makefile-xcode acinclude.m4 configure.ac
	$(ACLOCAL)
	touch aclocal.m4

config.h.in: Makefile-xcode aclocal.m4
	$(AUTOHEADER)
	touch config.h.in

configure: Makefile-xcode aclocal.m4 configure.ac
	$(AUTOCONF)
	touch configure

Makefile.in: Makefile-xcode Makefile.am configure
	$(AUTOMAKE)
	touch Makefile.in

Makefile: Makefile-xcode configure Makefile.in config.h.in
	./configure --enable-dependency-tracking

clean:
	test -f Makefile && make distclean

install:

# end of Makefile file

Well that's it for now. I hope this is helpful to the autoconf, automake, Xcode users out there.

Lyrics by David M. Syzdek. Sang to the tune of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."

Refrain:
A cable cut
a cable cut
a cable cut
a cable cut

In the Rack Room, the offline Rack Room,
The hacker sleeps tonight,
In the Rack Room the quiet Rack Room,
The hacker sleeps tonight,

Refrain

Near the network, the server network,
The hacker sleeps tonight,
Near the network, the secure network,
The hacker sleeps tonight,

Refrain

Hush my user, don't fear my user,
The hacker sleeps tonight,
Hush my user, don't fear my user,
The hacker sleeps tonight.

Refrain

My Grandma sent me the following e-mail message today:

Albino Moose somewhere near the border of Wisconsin and Michigan.

Not one, but two ! Truly amazing ! These animals were photographed just north of the Wisconsin border on a highway near Marenisco , MI . The odds of seeing an albino moose are astronomical and to see this in the upper peninsula of Michigan, near Wisconsin, is even greater than astronomical. To see two of them together is nearly impossible. We wanted to share these photos with as many people as possible because you will probably never have a chance to see this rare sight again. This is a really special treat, so enjoy the shot of a life time.

Like the e-mail stated, the chances of this occurring is nearly impossible. It is so impossible that I have an alternative theory.

Those are not albino, they are ghosts of moose that were creamed by a trucker. They came back to haunt the roads and jump in front of their arch enemy, the Big Rig. Once they have caused the last tractor truck to swerve off the road thus making these asphalt crossings safe for their four hoofed brethren, they will transcend to their heavenly rest.

Not only do truckers have have to watch out, but there are rumors of Freddy Cougar, Big Hoof, Frankenswan, Drakeula, The Wicked Wren of the West, Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyena, Cowsper the Ghost, and Hannibal Leopard. So be careful when looking at your local wild life, that cute little bunny rabbit may actually be a blood thirsty mummy rabbit.

It bugs me. You spend one lazy day barefoot working from a laptop at the University in the common area and every day afterwards the girls that walk by check out my feet to verify that I am wearing shoes.

Like it is all that uncommon to see a grown man in public working on a laptop without any shoes or socks.

I am thinking about starting a new activist group, the Barefoot Union of Men (BUM).

Do not call people thick skulled or airheaded. if they truly are one egg short of a full basket you can simply call them "A splendid autonomous being that enjoys a resiliency from data ingress into or data contamination of their granite cavernously bereft cranium."

To a casual listener or some one with a limited vocabulary this phrase sounds like a praise or compliment, however upon closer examination it is clear that it is not.

You are in reality saying, in a more elegant fashion, that they are stone headed, empty minded, and incapable of learning.

I suffer from Wikiploria (Wikipedia Exploration Disease). It is terrible. This syndrome has cost me my family, my friends, and my health. I only have my job because the corporate proxy server blocks the site. I am embarrassed, but I spend all of my time reading from this captivating site and I cannot stop. Wikipedia has information on every conceivable topic, except the remedy for Wikiploria.

My problem manifested itself three or four years ago when I started using this snow ball of information. Initially I would only look up things occasionally and would not follow cross references. As this tar pit of facts grew and cross references became more numerous, I started spending greater amounts of time reading topics of interest and following links. I eventually reached the point where I would lose myself in this labyrinth of data for hours on end completely forgetting the original topic I was researching. I only manage to break out of this suction cup of knowledge I follow an external link link into a uninteresting subject.

As an example, yesterday I tried to find the caloric content of an Avocado. After hours of perusing I learned that an avocado has 60% more potassium than bananas, has the highest fiber content of any fruit, and is toxic to many animals. I never did find out the caloric content of an avocado, but I did learn that Wendigo is a mythical North American cannibal, Donner Pass is where the Central Pacific Railroad crosses the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and that tallow was used to lubricate the engines of steam locomotives.

I have talked to a therapist about my condition and she recommended that I retrace my steps and analyze my weaknesses in order to help me over come this disability. Following my quack's advice I retrieved and summarized the following session from my browser history:

• Avocado: Possibly co-evolved as a food for the now extinct giant sloth
• Ground sloth: Proposed to be the basis for the South American mythical forest creature mapinguari
• Mapinguari: Many have dismissed this creature as a folkloric creature much like the North American Wendigo
• Wendigo: a malevolent cannibalistic spirit
• Cannibalism: a famous instance of Cannibalism is the Donner Party
• Donner Party: settlers that were trapped at Donner Pass
• Donner Pass: The location where the Central Pacific Railroad passed the Sierra Nevada Mountains
• Central Pacific Railroad: Was leased until 1959 when it formally merged with Southern Pacific Railroad
• Southern Pacific Railroad: The Souther Pacific Railroad painted the majority its steam locomotive fleet black
• steam locomotive: Enginemen used tallow as a lubricant for the pistons and valves.
• Tallow: is rendered form of beef or mutton fat.
• Mutton: I realized that I have a Wikipedia problem.

In retrospect my therapist is correct. I can clearly see the error of my way. I should have followed the links to either "traction engine" or "Steamroller" from the steam locomotive page. Tallow was clearly a bad path to follow since it ended in a mundane topic like mutton. In actuality this analysis does not help me to resist my vice, rather I now want to look up traction engine.

Until a cure is found, I will have to resolve myself to a life as an e-bookworm.

My name is David Syzdek and I am a Wikipedia addict.

P.S. The traction engine article is very interesting.

No computer Geek can honestly claim that a vehicle is theirs until said computer geek has transported computer equipment with it. Here are a few pics of the christening of my newest vehicle:

Here is a front view picture of my Harley loaded with computer gear that I was carrying to the post office.

Here is a side view picture of my Harley loaded with computer gear that I was carrying to the post office.

Here is a rear view picture of my Harley loaded with computer gear that I was carrying to the post office.

The Last Frontier's Guide to Marriage is written by a bachelor living in the harsh winter isolation of Alaska. Most Alaskan males are experts on maintaining lasting relationships due to the incredibly low odds of getting a second chance (or a first for that matter) at a relationship with a women in the predominately male population. Unlike the equally popular Alaskan methods of either enslaving a bride in chains or living in remote isolation so the loving bride can not escape, the author details methods that help the groom weave golden threads of love into his bride's heart. His philosophy is that a wife can always learn to pick a lock or charter a plane, however no woman is capable of breaking the binding embroidery in the cloth of love.

You will enjoy the author's entertaining tales of miscommunication such as the time he chased his date around the kitchen with a broom after she declared her longing to be swept off her feet. Another time he took Mary Jane to the local national guard's armory so they could stargaze from the torrent of a battle tank after hearing she was hoping for a night in shining armor. After reading this book you will be awed at the authors comical dating snafos and his amazing lack of experience.

Other works by the author include the theoretical thesis Catching a Girl with a Fly Fishing Rod, the documentary Why Clam Digging is a Bad First Date, and the revolutionary and incredibly limited catalogue Mail Order Brides for the Modern Alaskan Male.

Editor's Note: This book has been printed on extra large pages and is safe to be consumed, making it an excellent liner for your hamster's cage.