Under the Beret

WisSched on iPad

November 6, 2012 BC Holmes Geek One comment

Yesterday, I submitted a new binary to Apple: there’s no WisCon 37 content, but I don’t want to wait until the last minute to get functional changes in place. There are a few new features, but the primary changes relate to iPhone 5 support and iPad functionality.

Here’s my favourite new piece, specific to the iPad:

The layout is dynamic: that is to say, that given all the panels, rooms, and timeslots, I’m able to lay it all out programmatically. There are tricky elements: multiple rooms that act as one room for certain events. The Gathering is sometimes considered to be multiple events that all take place in one room. And I want to do a second pass on my algorithm for time labels (what do you show when multiple time slots overlap?) But I’m mostly happy with the final result.

It’ll probably take 2 weeks before Apple approves it.

Thought for the Day

November 4, 2012 BC Holmes Uncategorized No comments

And her voice is a string of coloured beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.

– Edna St. Vincent Millay

A phone for each hand

October 29, 2012 BC Holmes Uncategorized No comments

In Haiti, people who can afford it often carry multiple phones because the reliability of cell service is so awful. Over the last few weeks, I’ve also been carrying two phones. My reasons are different: I’m a mobile developer, and I’ve been wanting to improve my familiarity with the Android platform. So here are my phones:

The one on the left is a Galaxy Nexus running Jelly Bean; the phone on the right is an iPhone 5 running iOS 6. Strictly speaking, the iPhone 5 is the newer phone; I’ve had the Nexus a few weeks longer than I’ve had the iPhone 5, but the 5 just replaced my three-year-old 3S (that’s 21 in mobile years!).

Invisibility and visibility are indivisible

October 25, 2012 BC Holmes Trans One comment

Antinomy, I learned from Spider Robinson, is the contradiction between two opposing principles or conclusions that are equally held. Robinson’s example was the devout Catholic who learns that his fiancée wants to become a nun. At the same time, as a devout Catholic, he should feel good about someone entering a life of service, but as a jilted partner, probably feels devastated. I confess that I’ve always found that to be a somewhat cerebral example — perhaps because I’ve never really met that kind of Catholic.

But a much more visceral example, for me, is the example of famous trans people. I’m thinking, at this moment, about Lana Wachowski; I just watched a video of her speech at the HRC and I’m fascinated that she’s trying to tackle, head on, the antinomy of visibility. There’s a part of me that doesn’t even want to point out her speech: I hate how trans lives have to be so public, and when you couple that with fame, even more so. You can’t be a normal person, and be openly, publicly trans. Part of me acutely perceives what she’s given up: she’s gone from “One of the directors of The Matrix” to “That trans director.” And I have never wanted to exacerbate that, so I’ve mostly avoided talking about her.

iPad Mini

October 24, 2012 BC Holmes Uncategorized No comments

Apparently, Engadget writes:

It’s still not “small,” though. While a fully outstretched adult hand can generally grasp it without help from the other, you’ll still want both for typing and using apps. It’s still too big for your average pocket, and it’s not going to save you a heck of a lot of room in your knapsack compared to the 9.7-incher.

Me, I think, my current iPad is just a touch heavier than I want in my purse. I do carry it in my purse, but I think it’s a bit heavy. The Mini would probably be perfect.

Apparently Engadget doesn’t imagine purses.

Word Balloons as Art Form

October 22, 2012 BC Holmes Comics 2 comments

I’ve been taking this course for the last few weeks: Writing For Comics Part 1, taught by Ty Templeton. Ty used to do this gig as part of the Toronto Cartoonists Workshop, but he’s now put out his own shingle that reads “Comic Book Bootcamp” at the new Comic Book Embassy in Chinatown.

The course has challenged me, I must confess. Not in the sense that “it’s hard” but rather that what he’s teaching feels very formulaic. His style is very much about teaching these template structures for different story types: Plot-driven stories, Character-driven stories, etc., and then explain to us how to fill in the details. For my part, I find that my brain wants to resist these structures as somehow a dumbing down of the writing process.

Canada’s first black MP dies

October 19, 2012 BC Holmes Uncategorized No comments

Alexander, Canada’s first black MP and cabinet minister, was lieutenant governor from 1985 to 1991.

Lincoln Alexander had tears in his eyes, touched by the emotional farewell, the kind words and the two standing ovations.

“I feel so sad at this particular time,” he said in his Zeus-like baritone.

That day marked an end for the man who commanded one and all to “call me Linc.”

That goodbye was more than 30 years ago, when he retired his Hamilton West seat in the House of Commons, having been the first black Canadian to serve as MP, and a cabinet minister.

He was closing in on 60.

— “Lincoln Alexander dies at 90”, Toronto Star

Toronto Traffic

October 12, 2012 BC Holmes Uncategorized No comments

A new survey shows Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto parked among the top five cities in North America when it comes to traffic delays.

Vancouver is second only to Los Angeles in the 26 cities tallied in a traffic-congestion survey from GPS firm TomTom covering the second quarter of this year.

— “Worst traffic list puts Vancouver, Montreal before Toronto”, CBC

I would like to suggest that these survey-makers have never been to Pòtoprens.

MINUSTAH: Not sure if protecting is their job

October 9, 2012 BC Holmes Uncategorized No comments

UNITED NATIONS, October 8 — Long after Mario Joseph and other lawyer had petitioned the UN for introducing cholera to Haiti, six months ago a block from the UN Inner City Press asked Joseph what he thought of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s responsiveness.

Joseph replied, surprisingly diplomatic given the delay, that immunity should not mean impunity.

Last week the UN’s top envoy in Haiti Mariano Fernandez told Inner City Press that he could not answer on cholera, since a legal claim– Joseph’s — remains pending.

Now, Mario Joseph and other lawyers including Newton St-Juste and Andre Michel are facing death threats in Haiti for their work.

So Inner City Press on Monday asked Ban’s spokesman Martin Nesirky if the UN’s mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, had within its mandate to offer protection to human rights lawyers under threat in the very city the UN has hung around in for years, Port au Prince. Video here, from Minute 8:24.

Nesirky replied that “we’re certainly aware of the report” — it would be hard not to be — but “if I have anything further on that, I’ll let you know.”

— “While Lawyer Suing UN Is Threatened in Haiti, MINUSTAH Is “Aware” But Nothing More”, Inner City Press

Wait. What’s MINUSTAH’s mandate, again?

Toronto Women’s Bookstore to close