by jMyles

A Gittip to the authors of the new auth.User

(though it makes my song obselete)

March 10, 2013

To my gittip I have added Russell Keith Magee, Jacob Kaplan-Moss, Anssi Kääriäinen, Ramiro Morales, Preston Holmes, Josh Ourisman, Thomas Sutton, and Roger Barnes in appreciation of the recent patch to the Django user model.  I'll be giving them a small weekly gift for the next five weeks.

I want to make sure that everybody realizes how significant a change this is.  The technical ramifications are fairly straightforward - one can now define a User model with attributes and methods relevant to a specific project.  No more need for a "UserProfile" model to house the extra fields.  No more joins in your custom methods to access basic user data.

The social implications, however, are difficult to overstate and very important.

For the past 6 years, my primary occupation has been teaching people who think of themselves as traditional "activsts" about the tactics and techniques of the open source movement. 

I am amazed at how quickly (and astutely) people - reading 'code' for the very first time - can identify elements that they find important.  For folks who are concerned about the state of social justice, this usually means an examination of the assumptions made about person-ness and the authority structure.

The Django User model, prior to this change, made certain assumptions about the users of a django app.  I write a song last year (to the tune of Big Rock Candy Mountain) that summed them up:

Many of these assumptions rub up against social and cultural boundaries.  Obviously, most people in the world don't have a "first name" and a "last name," nor does everyone have the same order of given and family name, if they have those attributes at all.

Like clockwork, my students say "wait a minute!" when they come across these assumptions about identity and power.

My explanation is always fairly straightforward:  That Adrian Holovaty, one of my favorite developers on the planet, was trying to build a CMS for readers of an American English newspaper.  He proceeded with the required haste and made a fantastic product in the process.  The lesson is: Adrian got the code written and tested.  It's far from perfect (in this case it's pretty bad), but his efforts are the reason we can even have this conversation now.

With this changeset in the bag, I submit to you that the most powerful and substantial argument against adoption of django is removed.  For those of us that so strongly believe in django's other maxims: that perfection is a reasonable goal, that tests are important, that documentation is even more important, that good code is DRY, and that rapidity and perfection needn't be regarded as mutually exclusive, this is a powerful, deep change.

For those of us who regard django as a community as much as a web framework, this change is the punctuation of an unwritten statement about the importance of inclusivity and human dignity in that community.  And that's the stuff that keeps me and my students involved.

If you too are motivated by these kinds of changes, consider a gittip like mine.  If 100 people give, these folks still won't have been reimbursed for the added value of this awesome framework.

Sadly, I'm not at PyCon this year, but if you are, buy one of these people a drink for me.

by jMyles

The mismatch between 60 Main Street and slashRoot

In what ways can our location be better?

July 3, 2012
With the news that slashRoot is bursting at its seams, a number of educated questions have been raised by folks in the community.  This post is part of a series of answering these questions.
 
The question:
 
What is it about 60 Main Street that is impeding the growth of slashRoot?
 
One of the simplest but most important deficiencies of our current space is that we are unable to hold class and be open for customer-facing services at the same time.  Those who are affected by this problem know that it is difficult to exaggerate its impact on our evening momentum.
 
At 5:00PM, when we switch from code green (open house) to code orange (slashRoot students only), we typically have to kick out at least one person or group who is trying slashRoot out for the first time.  They generally never return.  Tragic as this is for building our customer base, people generally understand that our curriculum is our first priority.  However, this doesn’t need to be a problem.  The former Rhinebeck Artist Shop, for example, has a layout which will allow us to do both.
 
Another problem with the space is the continual need for expensive maintenance.  We have spent some serious time and money fixing and upgrading this space.  We have pushed it to what we believe are its practical limits.  The electrical and plumbing systems were disastrous when we inherited them.  Post our efforts, they’re quite tolerable but still not suitable for some of our basic needs.
 
In retrospect, we recognize that our efforts to improve the space (even at the expense of paying rent) represent a tactical mistake.  We’re now behind on rent payments, despite having poured tens of thousands of dollars into the space.  Unfortunately, the landlord of the building doesn’t prioritize repair and improvement, so we have had to in order to make the space workable at all.
 
Even after the obvious and enormous improvements we’ve made, the space still falls short in several material ways:
 
The outdated electric lines refuse to carry X10 signals, preventing us from doing any kind of serious automation tasks.  The walls, particularly the rear structural wall, act as RF shields, making it difficult to test certain types of wireless signals.  The circuits are frequently temperamental - our servers live in constant fear, even with UPS backup.
 
The front stairs and railing are in a state of utter disrepair.  People routinely have trouble bringing a desktop computer to our front door.  In addition, the gutter above the stairs is faulty, so the ice in the winter is relentless.  This makes it difficult to attract elderly or disabled users to our space, despite our belief that they represent an important and growing part of the user-base for open source software.  
 
It is enormously difficult to achieve any kind of serious airflow in the space, which is bad for humans and electronic devices.  Dust settles readily and easily - it’s not inaccurate to say that we are the final resting place for the dust of a big portion of the New Paltz community, transmitted to us by computer fans and filters.  Despite our rigorous dust protocol, our space is still not allergy-friendly.
 
We’re also affected by the dark, hot, dungeon-esque feeling of the space.  Our facade, which faces north, accounts for the only natural light available.  This effect is compounded by the dozens of LCD monitors throughout.  We want our members to have better access to natural light and fresh air.  Sometimes our more serious developers can be seen emerging from the space looking zombified from exposure to purely artificial light for hours at a time.
 
While we’re on the topic, our location (ie, the *where* rather than the *what*) of our space is a mixed blessing.  First, the good: 
 
We like that New Paltz has a recognizable symbol, right on its Main Street, of resistance to the corporate media, the feudal DNS, and the copyright industrial complex. We generally don’t mind the crowds of young people who gather outside our space, although we do ask that they keep our facade clear during business hours - a request which is sometimes visibly disrespected.  We like the drumming and dancing at night, the faux-oasis of our flowerbox, the tentacular image of our wires and antennae, and the general in-your-face message that comes with positioning a radical organization on a main street.
 
We have many visitors from the City who excitedly burst in our doors, having seen our sign and logo, wanting to know what we’re about.
 
One of our most poignant fantasies is one that will likely never be realized if we do in fact move: We want to turn the stoop into a radio booth and make it the visual center of our mesh network.  We want to demonstrate that media can be delivered throughout a community without the need for a hierarchical infrastructure at the transport and hardware layers.  This will be sick if we can pull it off, but again, we’re talking about tens of thousands of dollars that we simply do not have in liquid cash at the moment.
 
There are a number of disadvantages to our location as well.
 
The facade of our building fades into invisibility during the day.  Facing almost due north, it is very difficult to appear open and inviting on a sunny day.  It also almost completely precludes the possibility of a photovoltaic node deployment - the only suitable place for solar power is on our rear roof.  We want to be able to proudly display a solar-powered network node in public view.
 
Additionally, our building is effectively boxed-in; we don’t have effective line-of-sight in any direction past a hundred feet.  This is obviously not ideal if we’re going to be at the center of a community-wide wireless mesh network.
 
There is also no fiber transit available at our current location.  A regional network transit company provides service on main street until North Front, but it doesn’t make it to us.  We had an engineer assess the connection costs; we were told it’d be in excess of $6,000.
 
Then, there’s the social dynamic.  Simply put, we sometimes feel overexposed at our current location.  We get an enormous amount of foot traffic, but it comes at a signal-to-noise ratio that is difficult to manage.  For every super-serious software activist who walks in, we get a hundred people on a different wavelength.  We get people looking for ice cream, pet food, car insurance, and even apple-certified technicians!  Like we’d ever get certified by a fruit company!
 
Seriously, we don’t mind the idea of people having to seek us out a bit.  After three years of being on the main drag, we sometimes think we’d be a better fit if we were slightly off the beaten path.  Of course our serious customers come to us; they don’t find us because we happen to be on main street.
by jMyles

Time for slashRoot to move?

Tell us what you think.

June 30, 2012
It is with joy and excitement that I announce that slashRoot, the Hudson Valley’s Innovation  Dojo, has outgrown its bounds at 60 Main Street in New Paltz and is actively seeking next steps.

As our students, clients, fans, and friends know, our Main Street coffee house has been only a shadow of the true nature of our organization.  We have been powerfully blessed by the passion of a membership and community whose unwavering focus has been on cultivating the skill and discipline required for effective citizenship in the information age.

The space at 60 Main Street has not been the driving factor of our income generation or our most notable community activities.  In fact, our storefront has always, in essence, been an act of charity:  while producing far less income than it requires to maintain, our storefront has acted as a portal for people to enter, gather, and learn about the important technopolitical issues of our time.  

We’ve heard from current and potential members about the pitfalls of our current storefront operation.  We know that people are intimidated by it and often uncertain about entering.  We understand that our unorthodox schedule can be confusing if not explained.  We know that some of you simply don’t want to wade through the crowds of young people and travelers that sometimes gather outside our space*.

We need a space that professionals and inventors from around the region will feel compelled to enter and comfortable to occupy.  We need a space that allows us to hold classes and workshops without disrupting our customer-facing services.  We need a space that feels like the future - because we are ambassadors from there, here to spread good news and good code about what’s to come as we fully enter the information age of our species.

However, we have not yet located a space that we think fits us.  We’re not even sure that we’re ready to jump right into another space.  Thus, we’re faced with a difficult decision: Do we stay in this space which we know is distracting us and limiting our potential?  Or do we pack up and continue our work without a storefront until an ideal one appears?  With nearly three years of business lessons to learn and digest, we’ll have plenty to do.  

But first, we need to hear from you.

It will work like this: we’ll do our development work from our homes.  For those in the community who rely on our computer repair and empowerment services, we’ll still be available to work at your location or to pick up your hardware and bring it to our tech deck, which we are modifying to exist in a residence for a few months. 

Our networking project will continue, with node development and deployment continuing throughout the community.  We’ll still hold live events, but they’ll be at other venues as appropriate.  We’ll still gather on the New Moon and still celebrate on the Full Moon.

I won’t mince words: We believe that the space and location at 60 Main Street is preventing us from getting the respect locally that we are getting regionally and nationally.  The recent letter from our Town Supervisor effectively telling parents to keep their children away from our part of town was particularly hurtful and confusing.  That her tirade made no mention of our successful efforts to bring young people off the street and into a career track of technological empowerment was nothing short of mind-boggling.  

It’s hard to reconcile the amount of regional and national praise we have received with xenophobic reactions like this one - my sense is that some people simply do not want the Hudson Valley to become a tech sector because they fear that their power will be reduced by the introduction of an industry that they wrongly believe they can’t understand.

Fortunately, most of our local leaders have supported us and taken time to learn about our organization and movement.  

The bottom line is that the excitement and growth of slashRoot continues to outpace our ability to accommodate it at 60 Main Street, and this shortcoming is costing us time and money every day.  We believe that moving our operation is a clear and necessary prescription for is growth.  

The question we put before you:  Is now the time?

-Justin Holmes, Chief Executive Llama Trainer, slashRoot



*To my way of thinking, the role of New Paltz as convergence center for many travelers and young people is a blessing.  If these people are shewed from our community, I think that their vibrance and music will quickly be missed.
by jMyles

Caleb James Delisle on CJDNS.

Author of CJDNS talks about his software at slashRoot

April 18, 2012
by jMyles

Sponsors, Speakers confirmed for Northeast US Mesh Summit

cjdns author among presenters, open-mesh.com to sponsor event

March 27, 2012

SlashRoot will host engineers and developers from amatuer to expert at a summit on the subject of “mesh” networking this Saturday, March 31.

“Mesh” is a style of computer networking that uses a series of small devices, called “nodes,” to pass information through local areas.  It is sometimes referred to as “neighbor-to-neighbor style” networking.  Some prominent network engineers have suggested that it may soon drive much of the infrastructure of the Internet.

“Although mesh is very new in terms of mainstream attention, the technology and techniques are fairly well tested - we’re going to be ready to deploy in New Paltz by the fall,” said Justin Holmes, SlashRoot’s founder.  “As such, we’re obviously overjoyed to bring internationally known experts to New Paltz to convene on the future of this technology.”

Among the attendees registered for the summit is 24-year old Caleb James Delisle, a Massachusets engineer and author of cjdns, a popular and quickly-growing routing software.  “If you were going to make a short list of the rising stars in network programming today, I think you’d have to include Caleb,” said Holmes.  Delisle’s software was recently selected by “darknetplan,” a reddit-based group of 25,000 mesh enthusiasts, as their software of choice.  Delisle will be entertain a one-hour internet-broadcast interview by Holmes at 1:00PM.

The event is sponsored by open-mesh.com, which bills itself as a provider of “ultra low-cost, zero config, plug and play wireless mesh networks.”  Open-mesh will provide the networking gear for the event as well as coupons for registered attendees.

WHAT: Northeast Mesh Networking Summit

WHEN: Saturday, March 31 from 10:00AM - 6:00PM

WHERE: SlashRoot Coffee House and Tech Dojo, 60 Main Street, New Paltz, NY 12561

WHY: Up-and-coming network technology being discussed and developed in the Hudson Valley.





here is Caleb James Delisles interview from the event.



by jMyles

My interview on Slice of New Paltz

March 18, 2012

Slice of New Paltz Slash Root from don kerr on Vimeo.

by jMyles

SlashRoot member asks Newt Gingrich question about Hemp

Jan. 4, 2012
by jMyles

My Django sprint patch has been committed!

Bloody TemplateSyntaxError will now occur only upon... errors... in... the template syntax...

Sept. 15, 2011

Have you tried to sit down and teach anyone Django lately? Maybe run them through the tutorial?

Have you then watched as they made a slight mistake, including but not limited to: Typing the database host name incorrectly, bugling the queryset syntax, mis-typing the name of a variable in the view, etc? All the while with a perfectly fine template?

....and have you then watched as Django raised TemplateSyntaxError?

This problem was very annoying for us at SlashRoot - it was a major hurdle in making new django developers feel empowered and informed about the state of their app. On a daily basis, one can hear shouts of "but the template looks fine!" coming from our dev stations.

I made this problem my mission at the sprint at Djangocon.us 2011. With a great deal of help from the very patient Carl Meyer, I banged out a fix. You can see the ticket here.

This is SlashRoot's biggest contribution so far to Django, and we're super proud and happy to help.

by jMyles

I'll be volunteering at Twiliocon!

Sept. 14, 2011

I just got the word that my application to volunteer at Twiliocon has been accepted - the standards must be pretty low these days! :-)

Anyway, I get to help put on a great conference for one of SlashRoot's favorite service providers! And I get a free ride for doing it! Woo!

60 Main st. New Paltz, NY, 12561 845.633.8330
60 Main st. New Paltz, NY, 12561 845.633.8330