Kurt Stephens

http://www.inthemix.com.au/gallery/snap/21302/photo/127325/The_Oldest_DJ...

Quotes from preface of Abelson and Sussman’s “Structure and Interpretation
of Computer Programs”:

“I think that it’s extraordinarily important that we in computer science keep
fun in computing. When it started out, it was an awful lot of fun. Of course, the
paying customers got shafted every now and then, and after a while we began to
take their complaints seriously. We began to feel as if we really were responsible
for the successful, error-free perfect use of these machines. I don’t think we are.
I think we’re responsible for stretching them, setting them off in new directions,

http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/eScience.2008.141

Abstract:

Software tools have become a central part of the scientific researchers’ toolbox, but developing them can prove a distraction from the central focus of a research team’s investigation. Dynamic languages, like Ruby, can provide an easy platform for rapid development and deployment of software that can be easily shared through SOAP, REST, or even RPC-style API interfaces with fellow researchers across the globe. In this extended abstract we present progress in addressing one of Ruby’s biggest shortcomings, performance. Our technique uses compiler analysis of Ruby’s C-based interpreter and core libraries in order to provide a basis for partial evaluation. The partial evaluator makes use of the results of this analysis along with a running Ruby session in order to evaluate more complex expressions than could normally be handled by traditional partial evaluation techniques, while ensuring that “unsafe” expressions are left for evaluation during run-time.

I’m late in saying so, but here goes:

Chris Skogen has created one of the great century rides in the midwest.

We had a great time grinding the gravel with great people.

Chris and his team of put together a really classy event. The posters, the jerseys, the t-shirts, the cue sheets, even the weather and conditions were awesome!

Looking forward to more rides with him and the crew.

Thanks, Chris and everyone who participated! Turtle’s sandwich was heaven. :)

http://redmine.ruby-lang.org/issues/show/3359

The slides from my ChicagoRuby 2010/5/4 presentation :

http://kurtstephens.com/pub/ruby/ruby_code_tweaks/

All the raw data used to generate the graph should be referenced in the slides.

The code used to generate the slides is here:

http://github.com/kstephens/ruby_code_tweaks

I’m looking to increase the set of code “Problems” to cover other tiny code idioms and platform issues, for example: regular expressions, numerics, etc. If you have ideas, take a look at the code and contact me.

Justin Love gave a fantastic presentation on lambda and closure.

Thanks to everyone who came — hope it was helpful.

Video from the talk:

Ruby Code Performance Tweaks by Kurt Stephens from ChicagoRuby on Vimeo.

Excellent introduction to Ruby MRI’s GC and memory debugging:

http://timetobleed.com/garbage-collection-slides-from-la-ruby-conference...

Interesting video about the relationship of body weight and optimal body position related to generalized center of mass and the angle of the pedal during the top of the stroke. Sheds some light on the KOPS (knee-over-pedal) myth.

I’ve been riding as forward as possible to get my body weight forward of the bottom bracket and over the pedal at the “11 o’clock” position. A more forward position helps keep cadence up in preparation for transitioning to running and makes it easier to get up out of the saddle.

“If you have to steal the bedcovers back from your stuffed animals at night, you’ve got bigger problems than being cold.”