Water Damage

Yesterday was definitely not ideal.

We needn’t go into the unfortunate confluence of circumstances that led to my MacBook getting doused between the first and second practical sessions, but the short term consequences were embarrassing — haplessly fumbling through lab 2 on a borrowed laptop — and the slightly longer term ones look bad for poor neoptolemus. He’ll be in the shop for weeks, probably, and it’s extremely unlikely any data will survive that. For the moment I’m back on pyrrhus — a lucky fallback to have, but sadly out of sync.

Most, though not quite all, of my work work is in the cloud or easily recreated from backups, but various side quests are not — in particular, the recently released versions of Vagabond, Frobulator and Quarterjack are all orphaned and need to be painstakingly reconstructed from earlier sources, which is tiresome in the extreme. In some ways the UCL exam template is even more annoying.

There’s a lesson here — I knew perfectly well that my backups were lacking — but mostly it’s just another weary sigh.

Tsk.

Demon Twink

Well, we’re back. JFC yesterday was exhausting. To give the same lecture twice looks suspiciously like carelessness.

In other news, how is it that I only learned today that Sam Altman is gay?

It’s not redemptive, don’t worry. I still abhor that freeze-dried weasel. But is it a coincidence that he’s literally the only even vaguely fuckable tech billionaire?

Frobbing Gristle

Another update, this time to Frobulator. Just bugfixes, but notable by virtue of being prompted by a report from someone at A Tasty Pixel. They’re the makers of Loopy, but more importantly also of long-retired framework The Amazing Audio Engine, which is what encouraged me to make Frobulator in the first place. Long, long ago.

In other news: AAAAARGH! It’s almost October! Teaching starts on Monday! Winter is coming!

I should post more. If only to get that one off the front page before any students accidentally google their way here. JFC.

Updates

New version of Vagabond just dropped. Mac edition available now from the software page, iOS heading to the App Store sooner or later — this one will get submitted for App Review, since the main change was requested by an actual user, of all things. Said change is a preset browser in the AU itself, allowing presets to be loaded in host apps that don’t support this themselves. Case in point Koala Sampler, seen here modelling the new browser:

Also new to the software page is an alpha release of a new generative music app, Quarterjack. Here it is running standalone:

It’s fun. I like it. There’s a reasonable chance it might make it to the App Store too. In the fullness of time.

I like Lapidary and Persiflage and Auxotroph too, but the thought of submitting them all just makes me tired. All of these apps are basically me noodling to myself anyway, so it doesn’t really matter if nobody else gets to see them.

Meanwhile, the new term looms. I am so not ready.

Sadness

Sorry, imaginary interlocutors. And non-imaginary canine proxies. Software users. Old flames. Random drive-by students.

It’s nearly certain that no-one will read this — I’m confident the dogs won’t, anyway — but still. Not supposed to let it show. Not even to an audience of none.

I’m usually pretty good at that.

Sorry.