I’m designing circuits, come watch!

Story time with a programmer

So, this is one of the many reasons I've been on hiatus. I am now a developer at a tech start-up in my own town. This means some of my RL stuff is NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), which is alright because I don’t usually like to share RL stuff that often. But it also means I have those crazy programming stories, or at least one or two more...

So, naturally as part of the development cycle there comes a point where you get a little too close to deadline. Students call this sort of stuff ‘Cramming for Finals’ programmers and engineers call it ‘Crunch Time’ because it feels like we’re being pressed into getting something done.

Image courtesy of DC and Pede.

My boss and I sat at his house to crunch from an early hour on the day before milestone deadline, All told I spent 18 hours at his house, and he and I both wrote or debugged good chunks of our projects for the milestone.

The code we do is for businesses that are outside the programming domain, so they do not know or care about how much code is written or how complex it is (though relevant code snippets can impress.) “some of the most powerful computers in the planet, and everyone looks at the router” to paraphrase a comic I read.

My code was specifically the first time I've worked in a particular SDK, and the first time I've done some of the parts related to it, all told I thought I was doing pretty well. Then the program’s 3D camera broke. The SDK is Unity, a source of several of my favorite games, but also useful for other applications, despite the fact it’s a game engine. The project I’m doing is to show off CAD models, so it’s a perfect tool.

So there I was, 12 hours into an 18 hour day and it breaks... thing is... I couldn't tell how it broke. Often when programming breaks the how and why are able to be found with enough digging. Due to the fact I’m using Unity, my code is slightly lighter than some personal projects I've done, so it was not hard to trace down where the functions are... Except there’s no way code I hadn't changed could break. I thus started fixing code elsewhere and come back to the camera, the camera itself nagging in the back of my mind... after 2 or 3 sessions of trying to figure it out, I started talking with my boss about the issue. Ideas where bounced back and forth, tried, later I would come back and discuss how it didn't work, and what I've done in the meantime to try and help myself think on the issue.

Around 2 hours into debugging the camera, I start showing signs that I may not be the most stable, I lament that there’s no way the camera should be broken, and wondering if I’m the problem.

Around 3-4 hours in, Boss and I agree that it’s best to come back to the camera after going through the asset import process.

Bit of background about my programming environment, I own 1 computer that can do programming, it’s former life was probably hosting some business’s file server, as it is literally a file-server. This doesn't make the thing light, but it does make it efficient. My other computer is a slightly older 2 in 1 tablet/laptop which is not fast, but is a nice portable form factor, which is nice since I don’t have a car. One of the things I have setup between these two computers is MS Remote Desktop through Windows Terminal Services on the server. What a few Windows geeks and tech geeks out there know is that this is Microsoft’s way to control a computer from another location and it’s actually relatively snappy, but it’s not perfect, as I was to soon find out.

So... copying a file from my machine a mile away to my boss’s spare computer (part of our contract includes data security, so the model assets can’t leave my boss’s network.) The copy fails 3 times via cloud storage before I’m able to get it on the local network. Second I start it up I naturally try the camera and IT WORKS. Literally the following conversation:

Me: “Oh my gods, I’m an idiot.”

Boss: “what do you mean?”

Me: “remember that remote desktop thing a while back, I had it again... 3 hours... on a bug with my environment I should have thought of.”

That’s right, I had this bug before, I was so distracted with deadline that I didn't check to see where the bug was biting.

Two or three hours later, Boss and I have 2 products at a demo-capable state. I’m still kicking myself over a major feature I hadn't gotten to, but in the process of fixing that non-bug I got pieces nearly in place for that and I can get it done later this week and get to asset importing.

Lesson learned: Blame your code after you've ruled out known system issues, not before.

Okay, I finally recovered from reading Timecube... so back to my normal stuff, being a sci-fi future rendition of Time Tunnel with ponies...  Hope you all had fun on your April Fools’ Day.

Art for the joke and this return to normal care of Siz of Siz and Dru Answers.

Today I explain how to convert from those flawed wall clocks to a proper Time Cube time.

Today’s Time Cube fact:

Today I explain how to convert from those flawed wall clocks to a proper Time Cube time. 

Stuff like this is why I became an Engineer, improving the lives of others.

Robert Downy Jr. is an actor, yes, but here he’s invoked his portrayal as Tony Stark in one of the best possible roles, in addition to inspiring people to help a very good cause (Limbitless Solutions, sponsored by Microsoft’s Collective Project) One of the best moments for me is a moment where I kind of feel RDJ did slip out of character just a bit... and let his own awe of the tech slip through, but a very forgivable case here, “Wow, it’s even cooler than I thought.”

Limbitless Solutions works to combine passion for engineering, creating and problem solving with the cause of bringing mobility to children.

There are many technical and social issues related to child prosthetic. They are historically expensive to produce, hard to accept (in the traditional prosthetic designs) due to children’s social stigmas, and difficult to justify, as a prosthetic will be outgrown in a year or two as the child develops. This movement makes the designs approachable for financial backers by being a lower price point than traditional industry designs through innovation and creativity. They are designed with the child’s emotional health in mind (especially a design like the Iron Man armor based design in this video, empowering a child to feel like a superhero) while providing physical assistance. Even Stark talking about how he has to work to perfect it. Something a growing child can get disenchanted with is the fact that the arms are a combination of imperfect technologies and learning experiences.

My real life includes a friend who’s life is improved through prosthesis like these, and it makes me very happy to see organizations work to donate time and effort to provide them free of cost to the families of these children.

No in-character story with this one... but it does have a history.

DC the Cyberpony (NSFW, personal tumblr) started calling me Wata, the nickname evolving from a short video with music another friend, Michi (not sure she has a Tumblr) made of me dancing in Second Life to music. This nickname's stuck for nearly 4 years as of this writing. To be honest, I've had this kicking around on my computers for well over a year, and it is based on one of my old Flash sprites, which kinda got involuntarily retired last year. If memory serves Pede (Ask Blog) made it after a shared project, and well, it's fun but not quite in the 'theme' of my Tumblr. At least not when I pretended this was going to be a full project.

I figured since I've been inactive, I may as well share one of the evolutions of my friends' senses of humor. While I imagine I seem humorless with them a lot, I do appreciate their friendship and their patience with me when I need it.

I've not been on hiatus by choice, merely through frustration at my own troubles. I will always try to reblog any appearances in time and space I can. I will also keep working on getting out of my rut and get stuff out, don't think I will have a full storyline just yet... other projects (which I may have already hinted to) will come Soon™ and until then, I'm afraid I will continue to seem idle here and at least try to show off works friends and cool people have made where I happen to appear.

- Datalink