Bug in the Works OR Butterfly Workin'

This Golden Gate Park butterfly doesn't appear to be troubled by problems in her code

Go ahead and click on the picture for a more in-depth view of her world

I've been working away with the Objective-C programming language and the piece of software called Interface Builder.  Those are, of course, the  tools used to write apps for ipads, ipods and iphones. In my case, I'm still learning to do that.

I was up against a particularly nasty little bug in my program and finally, huzzah!, I found it. It reminded me of the  story from the old days, I mean the REALLY old days, kids. It dates back to around World War II. It's the origin of why programmers call problems in the workings of their software, 'bugs'. You all know the old story, right? The engineers had been tussling with some problem that was keeping the huge machine from doing it's thing. My college professor, Harry Huskey remembered those days. He had worked on the EINIAC. "Those vacuum tubes",  Professor Huskey told us. "they were always blowing, and we had to run around that huge room, swapping them out."  

So the problem-solvers on this day had been swapping out vacuum tubes, scratching their heads and dismantling things. Finally after days? hours? (depends on who's telling the story), they found the problem. A dead bug was found deep within the recesses of the machine. The programmers were so happy to find the problem, that they pasted the dead bug into the big ledger in which they noted their progress on the project. "Bug in the works", someone noted.

And of course, ever since then, a programmer works to find the bugs in her works. Because surely the problem couldn't be something SHE did.

Do Bee Do Bee Do: The Anti Quiltin’ Bee

Please click on the picture above

to enjoy the beautiful fantasy quilt detail.

“I love these digital quilts I’ve been making, “ I told my friend Marilyn. “No scraps, no batting and a whole lot less time.”

“Yea, but what about all the fun they used to have at quilting bees?”

She got me wondering if quilting bees were as charming and folksy as they look in the movies. Were they real pals’y kind of places, or was everybody looking to see if your stitches were small enough? Did people feel obliged to go even if they didn't want to, like Tupperware Parties, or were they heaps of fun? I 'spose it depended on where you were and who you hung with.

Trying to imagine what a fantasy quilting bee scene would be like, I wrote a little Objective-C code to enable me to travel way WAY back to the time of home made lye soap (have a good time washing that out of your eyes), barn raisings, and quilting bees.

Loading program into debugger…

Program loaded.

run

[Switching to process 14843]

Running…

Welcome aboard PORTAL PILOTS , serving the needs of the time travel community for over three centuries.

Customer LRS531957 PLANNING A TRIP FROM THE YEAR 2010 TO 1893

SO SORRY We are experiencing a slight disruption in service. You will be dropped off at the nearest portal.

PORTAL PILOTS apologizes for any inconvenience to your schedule.

While you're waiting for the next Time Portal to open up in the year ... 1977..., feel free to complete our customer satisfaction survey, and be entered to win a coupon worth five percent off, on your next PORTAL PILOTS trip!

Debugger stopped.

Program exited with status value:0.

My ipod battery is dead and I forgot my charger. (I can’t even remember if we had three pronged outlets back then anyway). What am I going to do here for a few hours?

Hey, the summer of 1977! I remember this! I had just finished up my junior year at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and was living and working with my sister in Yuma Arizona. She had gotten me a junior programmer gig for the summer.

Trisha had gotten roped into going to a Tupperware Party. Her best friend, with whom she volunteered at the “League of Women Voters”, was putting it on, so of course she was stuck with going. I was stuck too but, coming from one of the more alternative U.C.’s in California, I saw it more as a cultural experience.

The nice-lady who ran it showed us a fine new product. A hot-dog bun keeper for the freezer.

The two of us stared at each other in amazement.

“Because, girls, you know the problem you have keeping hot dog buns in the freezer. You KNOW how those darn buns stick together!”

Trisha and I were both thinking the same thing. Don't they have a big knife to whack them apart with?

We drank our carcinogenic diet sodas and after 30 minutes, figured we could slip on out while the others were playing some kind of game with clothespins and a laundry bag that we never did understand.

The nice-lady’s skinny backside was firmly anchored against the door.

“Girls! (toothy grin). Where are your order slips?”

We managed to mumble that we were not buying anything.

She gave us a look of amazement, tinged with horror. “But what about the hot-dog-bun keeper?” (I'm not making that product up.)

The nice-lady swiveled her head slowly back towards the rest of the group, who were now frantically scribbling on their forms amidst a welter of clothespins.

Trisha swung one foot around the screen door. I slithered through, and we lit out like two banditas into the badlands.

Signs of Fall:Pixel Paintin' Pumpkins

I spent much of my day working on creating and debugging self-review exercises in my quest to learn Objective-C. I really like writing and debugging code, but it's hard teaching yourself a new programming language. Over the last few weeks, I've figured out a way to make my self-imposed homework fun, by linking them to my art-journal. I've shared my experiences in this online piece, Reviewing Concepts: Time Travel for the Masses, a piece I wrote at my self-education blog.

I also took a little time to create another fantasy quilt and stencil an imaginary pumpkin just like Martha Stewart, or one of her hard-working staff, would. My pumpkin, however, is one I plucked off one of my old photos with the help of Photoshop. And of course every pumpkin needs a quilt of it's own.

As always, if you click on the picture above, you'll see a lot more beautiful detail.

Fine Fruit:Quilt Block, Contest Entry Silicon Valley fusionwearsv

My Fine Fruit entry won FOURTH PLACE in the Silicon Valley fusionwearsv contest!

This garage on Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, is the heart of a story that helped transform the agricultural Santa Clara Valley into today’s technological Silicon Valley. 

When Bill and Dave built their first oscillator in this garage, my husband's family lived just a few blocks away. My father-in-law remembered the area of that time, as a land of cherry orchards. In 1938, my own family was involved in the information technology of the day, as telegraphers. As Silicon Valley grew my family's information skill set evolved with it. My father, sister and myself were computer programmers.

I enjoyed biking over to photograph the restored HP garage that represents an important foundation of the Silicon Valley. I used Photoshop CS4 to alter that and other digital photos I’ve taken, to create my own 1938 vintage-style fruit crate label, honoring the birth of the Silicon Valley. All images are my own. I loved being able to honor the history of the valley by using the technology that it represents.

My FusionWearSV Silicon Valley Technology Quilt Block Designs

Fine Fruit: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/fine-fruitquilt-block-contest-entry.html

Tumbling Chips Quilt Block Design: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/tumbling-chips-quilt-within-quilt-block.html

Tranformations Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/transformations-quilt-block-contest.html

Contours Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/contours-quilt-block-contest-entry.html

Tumbling Chips: Quilt within a Quilt Block , Contest Entry Silicon Valley fusionwearsv

I'm much taken by the spirit of modern day style, versus a vintage design. Here I was inspired by the much-loved 'tumbling blocks' quilt block, to create my own modern-day variation of silicon chips gone wild. These chips dance right out of their tidly-bordered frame. The well-behaved, neatly balanced background checkerboard of chips, is outraged by their bolder colleagues non-standard behavior.

Another one of my original designs for the Silicon Valley fusion wearsv contest.

I used Photoshop CS4 shapes, filters, drawing tools and line art tools, to compose a picture of a silicon chip, inspired by a real-world photograph.

My FusionWearSV Silicon Valley Technology Quilt Block Designs

Fine Fruit: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/fine-fruitquilt-block-contest-entry.html

Tumbling Chips Quilt Block Design: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/tumbling-chips-quilt-within-quilt-block.html

Tranformations Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/transformations-quilt-block-contest.html

Contours Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/contours-quilt-block-contest-entry.html

Transformations: Quilt Block , Contest Entry Silicon Valley fusionwearsv

Some of the most beautiful aspects of writing code is the speedy multiplication and transformation of data. The programmer may start with one element, as I did here, with a picture I created representing one silicon chip. From there she goes on to replicate, concatenate and transform that one element into a thing of beauty.

I used Photoshop CS4 to draw one silicon chip. I duplicated that one chip many times to create a quilt background. I filtered that one background many times and then cut windows through each filtered transformation.

Please CLICK ON THIS IMAGE to see the nice detail in the design

My FusionWearSV Silicon Valley Technology Quilt Block Designs

Fine Fruit: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/fine-fruitquilt-block-contest-entry.html

Tumbling Chips Quilt Block Design: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/tumbling-chips-quilt-within-quilt-block.html

Tranformations Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/transformations-quilt-block-contest.html

Contours Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/contours-quilt-block-contest-entry.html

Voting in the Silicon Valley Quilt Design Contest is on through June 11'th, 2010

Follow this link to VOTE

Contours: Quilt Block , Contest Entry Silicon Valley fusionwearsv

My Contours' quilt block, represents the beauty and excitement the programmer feels when she realizes her power to duplicate, concatenate and transform.

Sparked by the fusionwearsv contest, I created this piece in Photoshop CS 4, using a combination of contour filters worked against the melding of filtered and conglomerated chips, I created for the Transformations quilt block.

Please CLICK ON THIS IMAGE to see the nice detail in the design

My FusionWearSV Silicon Valley Technology Quilt Block Designs

Fine Fruit: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/fine-fruitquilt-block-contest-entry.html

Tumbling Chips Quilt Block Design: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/tumbling-chips-quilt-within-quilt-block.html

Tranformations Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/transformations-quilt-block-contest.html

Contours Chips: http://hepwithtech.blogspot.com/2010/06/contours-quilt-block-contest-entry.html

Voting in the Silicon Valley Quilt Design Contest is through June 11'th, 2010

Please follow this link to VOTE