2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html>
|
|
|
|
|
<html>
|
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
|
|
|
<title>The Internet Vagabond :: Random Thoughts</title>
|
|
|
|
|
<link type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/feed.xml" title="The Internet Vagabond" />
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name="description"
|
|
|
|
|
content="Rants of a wandering techy, in search of truth, knowledge, and a decent ping." />
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name="author" content="Bill Niblock" />
|
|
|
|
|
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="canonical" href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/2016/03/11/Random-Thoughts-1.html" />
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/src/styles/corrupt_layout.css" />
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/src/styles/corrupt_typog.css" />
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon"
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/src/images/favicon.ico" />
|
|
|
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet"
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/fork-awesome@1.2.0/css/fork-awesome.min.css"
|
|
|
|
|
integrity="sha256-XoaMnoYC5TH6/+ihMEnospgm0J1PM/nioxbOUdnM8HY="
|
|
|
|
|
crossorigin="anonymous">
|
|
|
|
|
<script data-goatcounter="https://theinternetvagabond.goatcounter.com/count"
|
|
|
|
|
async src="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/src/scripts/goatcounter.js"></script>
|
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
|
<div class="cor_page">
|
|
|
|
|
<header>
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/">
|
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="first">T</span>he
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="first">I</span>nternet
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="first">V</span>agabond
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
</a>
|
|
|
|
|
</header>
|
|
|
|
|
<main>
|
|
|
|
|
<article>
|
|
|
|
|
<h1>Disjointed Thoughts</h1>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I'm on vacation this week, which is pretty grand. Thus far I've
|
|
|
|
|
accomplished one of the 4 rather meager goals I set for myself, played
|
|
|
|
|
plenty of games, caught up on some reading and videos and feeds, and slept
|
|
|
|
|
in far later than I should have. In doing the reading, primarily an article
|
|
|
|
|
on 'Wait, But Why' about Elon Musk [
|
|
|
|
|
<a
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/11/the-cook-and-the-chef-musks-secret-sauce.html">link</a>
|
|
|
|
|
], I found my mind wandering across a few different thoughts, that I felt
|
|
|
|
|
were worth jotting down, though I couldn't imagine dedicating an entire
|
|
|
|
|
post to; paragraph-worthy thoughts. So, let's just throw them all
|
|
|
|
|
together!</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Thought 1: Chef and Automation</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>The aforementioned article speaks a lot of the idea of a chef versus a
|
|
|
|
|
cook, and how we should all aspire to be chefs. This coincides mostly in
|
|
|
|
|
name alone, but also by proxy with Chef, the configuration management
|
|
|
|
|
software. We've been implementing Chef at work, and I dabbled in it a bit
|
|
|
|
|
here and there. Actually, the primary impetus behind learning Ruby was
|
|
|
|
|
Chef. A solution Chef was supposed to provide was the opportunity for
|
|
|
|
|
automation. On the surface, I was onboard. Once I learned more, I cannot
|
|
|
|
|
agree with Chef being the proper tool. I should preface any
|
|
|
|
|
computer-related topics I discuss with the disclaimer that I find the Unix
|
|
|
|
|
Philosophy very appealing, that I believe that efficient tools don't need
|
|
|
|
|
fancy GUIs or complicated philosophies or use cases, and that the terminal
|
|
|
|
|
is a very beautiful place. Chef's use is as configuration management:
|
|
|
|
|
ensuring that all hosts managed by it are kept synchronized. With respect
|
|
|
|
|
to automation, this means Chef is ideal for placing the automation files
|
|
|
|
|
onto hosts, ensuring they're current, and accessible. However, when it
|
|
|
|
|
comes to automation, I think a different tool is required. My initial
|
|
|
|
|
thought is using SSH to run the remote commands. I've got a bit of a crush
|
|
|
|
|
on SSH. I think it's an incredible and powerful tool. I think the
|
|
|
|
|
combination of Chef for configuration deployment and SSH for remote
|
|
|
|
|
execution is a pretty dang good couple.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Thought 2: Ayn Rand and Objectivism</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I have taken an unfair and rather ignorant position against Rand and her
|
|
|
|
|
objectivism. I can all but blame my father for the position, since as an
|
|
|
|
|
angsty teenager, hearing him support something, however slightly, meant I
|
|
|
|
|
had to disagree with it. That being said, my experience of Rand is probably
|
|
|
|
|
the same as many other Americans: I read a few of her works in high-school,
|
|
|
|
|
promptly forgot about it, and then learned via blog posts and Wikipedia
|
|
|
|
|
what she was all about. Even writing this I have a bit of a sour taste,
|
|
|
|
|
formed by biases developed in ignorance. I have decided to test my
|
|
|
|
|
assumptions, by reading and analysing Rand's works and philosophy
|
|
|
|
|
first-hand. Look forward (or don't) to a post specifically on Rand, her
|
|
|
|
|
works, and her philosophy. Just... don't wait up for it. This one will take
|
|
|
|
|
me a while...</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Thought 3: Developments</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>A few projects I've been working on that have excited me.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>IRC Bot</h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I love IRC. I think it's still the most powerful chat service available,
|
|
|
|
|
and doubly so for technical chat needs. I can certainly understand why
|
|
|
|
|
HipChat or Slack is chosen over IRC, but I can't agree with the decision.
|
|
|
|
|
Regardless of that battlefield, to better make use of IRC, I am creating a
|
|
|
|
|
bot. Thus far I've built it using Cinch [ <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://github.com/cinchrb/cinch">link</a> ], but I think in the
|
|
|
|
|
future the goal will be to refactor Cinch out in favor of my own code.
|
|
|
|
|
Nothing against Cinch, but the fewer dependencies the better. The one
|
|
|
|
|
unavoidable dependency is Gearman, which is a distributed job system.
|
|
|
|
|
Gearman allows me to have a bot written in Ruby, but execute shell scripts
|
|
|
|
|
natively without exposing a shell, and without tying up resources. This is
|
|
|
|
|
very useful considering the purpose of the bot is mostly for operational
|
|
|
|
|
information, such as host health, network quality, and even automation.
|
|
|
|
|
It's been a very fun process thus far, and I look forward to continuing to
|
|
|
|
|
expand and consider functionality.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>Dotfiles</h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>My dotfiles are like a beautiful garden secluded from the world: fun to
|
|
|
|
|
work on, but generally fruitless. In a continuing effort to remove any
|
|
|
|
|
unnecessary dependencies, I have resumed my investigation into using Make
|
|
|
|
|
to manage my dotfiles. I found a fantastic article detailing
|
|
|
|
|
self-documented Makefiles [ <a
|
|
|
|
|
href="http://marmelab.com/blog/2016/02/29/auto-documented-makefile.html">link</a>
|
|
|
|
|
] and some assorted sources of others using Makefiles to manage their
|
|
|
|
|
dotfiles. I'm quite excited about this development, because it means my
|
|
|
|
|
dotfiles should be deployable across any Unix platform.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>Documentation</h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I find myself writing a decent amount of documentation at work. While
|
|
|
|
|
speaking with co-workers about this, and pondering why documentation is
|
|
|
|
|
often so lacking, I've decided on the following conclusions: documentation
|
|
|
|
|
is tedious; and documentation is hard. I've been mulling over the idea of a
|
|
|
|
|
documentation engine build on git and leveraging GitHub technology. When I
|
|
|
|
|
think about documentation, I like comparing it to programming:
|
|
|
|
|
documentation is just code in English. If you follow my premise, then it's
|
|
|
|
|
perfectly reasonable to expect the same services for documentation as we
|
|
|
|
|
have for code: linters, style guides, builders, automated deployments, pull
|
|
|
|
|
requests, etc. Git (and GitHub) already provide version control, which
|
|
|
|
|
should be essential for any documentation engine. Build on top of that
|
|
|
|
|
services which hook into the repositories, and I think documentation could
|
|
|
|
|
be made significantly less tedious, while considerably more standardized,
|
|
|
|
|
accessible, and useful.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2>Thought 4: Guild Wars 2</h2>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I really enjoy Guild Wars 2. However, one unfortunate thing is the state
|
|
|
|
|
of my favorite class, warrior, in the standardized player-versus-player
|
|
|
|
|
format (sPvP). I've been thinking a bit about how to improve warrior, and I
|
|
|
|
|
think I've come up with some interesting ideas. On the off-chance that
|
|
|
|
|
someone from ANet finds this post, let me here and now give you full
|
|
|
|
|
permission to use any and all ideas related to GW2 as you see fit;
|
|
|
|
|
considering it in the public domain. My favorite warrior, WilsonStorm, once
|
|
|
|
|
quipped that warriors don't have any fancy magic to do their stuff with,
|
|
|
|
|
they just hit things. I like this summary: the warrior is a martial master,
|
|
|
|
|
who relies on pure physical capabilities and eschews any magical help. With
|
|
|
|
|
that in mind, I would propose the following 3 major changes:</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p><ul>
|
|
|
|
|
<li style="font-weight: bold">Embrace the Adrenaline</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li style="font-weight: bold">Make Stances Like Attunements</li>
|
|
|
|
|
<li style="font-weight: bold">Make Banners Like Spirit Weapons</li>
|
|
|
|
|
</ul></p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>Embrace the Adrenaline</h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I would like to see more functionality provided by default from
|
|
|
|
|
adrenaline. An example would be decreasing weapon-skill cooldown based on
|
|
|
|
|
the level of adrenaline, 1 second less per level of adrenaline. I like
|
|
|
|
|
keeping some functionality in traits, though, because it encourages build
|
|
|
|
|
diversity and can force critical decisions.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>Make Stances Like Attunements</h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Not as in they become F1-F4, but in the following sense: Only one stance
|
|
|
|
|
can be active at a time, activating stances provides an ongoing lesser
|
|
|
|
|
benefit, and activating the stance again provides a temporary significant
|
|
|
|
|
benefit but ends the stance. Let's take Berserker Stance as an example. In
|
|
|
|
|
its current iteration, it gives you adrenaline every second, and resistance
|
|
|
|
|
every 3 seconds, for the duration of the stance. In my revised iteration,
|
|
|
|
|
you would activate a stance, and have a passive benefit plus a new active
|
|
|
|
|
option. So, you activate Berserker Stance and start gaining adrenaline
|
|
|
|
|
every second (while in combat). Then you can activate it again to gain
|
|
|
|
|
resistance (say, 3 stacks every 3 seconds for 6 seconds). This would remove
|
|
|
|
|
the passive benefit of Berserker Stance, and put it onto cooldown. However,
|
|
|
|
|
you can only have one stance active at a time! So, say you were in
|
|
|
|
|
Berserker Stance, and suddenly you wanted to be in Balanced Stance. By
|
|
|
|
|
activating Balanced Stance, you would deactivate Berserker Stance without
|
|
|
|
|
using it's active ability, putting it onto a shorter cooldown than normal.
|
|
|
|
|
As part of this change, I would probably revisit what each stance does as
|
|
|
|
|
well, since some wouldn't properly fit into the new format.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h3>Make Banners Like Spirit Weapons</h3>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Again, not exactly like Spirit Weapons, but drawing similarities. First,
|
|
|
|
|
instead of banners being bundles summoned at a location, they would provide
|
|
|
|
|
an aura around the warrior when activated. This would be visually apparent
|
|
|
|
|
by the warrior literally having a banner on their back. Each aura would do
|
|
|
|
|
what the current banners do, but would be centered on the warrior. After
|
|
|
|
|
being activated, the banner skill will flip to a secondary skill similar to
|
|
|
|
|
how Spirit Weapons flip after being summoned. This would be the previous
|
|
|
|
|
on-summon ability. So, when you activate Battle Standard, you start
|
|
|
|
|
eminating the passives to everyone around you for the entire duration.
|
|
|
|
|
After being activated, Battle Standard flips to a secondary skill that is
|
|
|
|
|
the AoE revive. Unlike stances (and just like spirit weapons), multiple
|
|
|
|
|
banners can be active at once, so the passives could need adjustment, but
|
|
|
|
|
probably not much. The only downfall to this is the loss of the banner as a
|
|
|
|
|
bundle/weapon, but I can't imagine many people actually use it as such.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>I think the really excited thing about these changes would be the build
|
|
|
|
|
potential. Consider a build that uses a stance and a banner! There's
|
|
|
|
|
suddenly actual use for banners outside of niche builds or one-off uses in
|
|
|
|
|
dungeons! Stances and banners actually require planning and tactical usage
|
|
|
|
|
rather than reactionary button-mashing to break stuns or revive team mates!
|
|
|
|
|
And warriors gain much-needed viability in a team, due to providing buffs
|
|
|
|
|
to team mates, and better damage output.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- ================================= -->
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- ================================= -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- Notes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sources:
|
|
|
|
|
http://waitbutwhy.com/2015/11/the-cook-and-the-chef-musks-secret-sauce.html
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
-->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- ================================= -->
|
|
|
|
|
<!-- ================================= -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div class="author_info">
|
|
|
|
|
Bill Niblock
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="https://unlicense.org/"
|
|
|
|
|
aria-label="Code dedicated to the public domain under Unlicense">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-cc-pd" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="Code dedicated to the public domain under Unlicense"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a>
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/"
|
|
|
|
|
aria-label="Published to the public domain under CC0">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-cc-zero" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="Content dedicated to the public domain under CC0"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a>
|
|
|
|
|
2016-03-11
|
|
|
|
|
<br />
|
|
|
|
|
[
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/topics/technology">technology</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="/topics/gaming">gaming</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
]
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
</article>
|
|
|
|
|
</main>
|
|
|
|
|
<footer>
|
|
|
|
|
<nav>
|
|
|
|
|
<div><a href="/">home</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div><a href="/topics/all">all</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div><a href="/topics/gaming">gaming</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
2025-01-09 19:43:40 +00:00
|
|
|
<div><a href="/topics/life">life</a></div>
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div><a href="/topics/philosophy">philosophy</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div><a href="/topics/technology">technology</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div><a href="/topics/writing">writing</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</nav>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
|
|
|
|
2024-08-20 16:05:54 +00:00
|
|
|
<div><a href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/now">Life In Progress</a></div>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<hr />
|
|
|
|
|
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
<section class="h-card">
|
|
|
|
|
<section class="footer_about" id="about">
|
|
|
|
|
<div>The Site</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
|
|
|
<a href="https://www.theinternetvagabond.com/feed.xml"
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
aria-label="RSS feed for the site">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-rss" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="RSS Feed"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a> |
|
2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
|
|
|
<a href="https://theinternetvagabond.goatcounter.com/"
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
aria-label="GoatCounter statistics for the site">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-bar-chart" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="GoatCounter Statistics"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a> |
|
2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
|
|
|
<a href="https://codeberg.org/VagabondAzulien/the-internet-vagabond-dot-com"
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
aria-label="Source code repository for the site">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-code" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="Site Source Code"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<a class="u-url u-uid" href="https://theinternetvagabond.com"></a>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
This site is a small slice of internet real-estate that I use for
|
|
|
|
|
occasional writing. Nothing I say is visionary or profound. I
|
|
|
|
|
focus on technology, gaming, and philosophy. All opinions my
|
|
|
|
|
own.
|
|
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
<div>The Vagabond</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<div>
|
2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
|
|
|
<a rel="me"
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
href="mailto:bill@theinternetvagabond.com"
|
|
|
|
|
aria-label="Email Bill at The Internet Vagabond dot com">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-envelope-o" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="Email bill at theinternetvagabond.com"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a> |
|
|
|
|
|
<a class="u-url" rel="me"
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://matrix.to/#/@vagabondazulien:matrix.org"
|
|
|
|
|
aria-label="Speak with me on Matrix">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-matrix-org" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="Speak with me on Matrix"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a> |
|
|
|
|
|
<a class="u-url" rel="me"
|
|
|
|
|
href="https://mastodon.social/@azulien"
|
|
|
|
|
aria-label="Find me on the Fediverse">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-mastodon" aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="Find me on the Fediverse"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a> |
|
|
|
|
|
<a class="u-url" rel="me" href="https://www.twitch.tv/vagabondazulien/profile"
|
|
|
|
|
aria-label="Link to my Twitch channel">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="fa fa-twitch " aria-hidden="true"
|
|
|
|
|
title="My Twitch channel"</span>
|
|
|
|
|
</a>
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
|
My name is <span class="p-name">Bill Niblock</span>. <span
|
|
|
|
|
class="p-note">I'm a computer scientist by education, a technologist
|
|
|
|
|
by trade, a gamer by hobby, and a philosopher by accident. I
|
|
|
|
|
live in <span class="p-locality">Buffalo</span>, <span class="p-region">
|
2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
|
|
|
New York</span>, <span class="p-country-name">USA</span>.<br />
|
|
|
|
|
<br />
|
|
|
|
|
My PGP Key is <span class="u-key" id="key">CCE7 3682 331B 5614 9FAB
|
|
|
|
|
7383 7359 80B2 6381 C91E</span>.
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
|
<section style="display: none;">
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="p-category">Gaming</span>
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="p-category">Technology</span>
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="p-category">Philosophy</span>
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="p-category">Open Source Software</span>
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="p-category">Self-Hosting</span>
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="p-category">Coffee</span>
|
2024-06-20 19:38:41 +00:00
|
|
|
<span class="u-email">bill@theinternetvagabond.com</span>
|
2024-06-18 23:26:12 +00:00
|
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
|
</section>
|
|
|
|
|
</footer>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
</div>
|
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
