Lyspio: back to Lyvathon

Two days ago I designed a new business model for my Lyvathon project (new programming language). The project is now called Lyspio.com, which is a web hosting service for websites created using the Lyvathon programming language. If you click on Cash Flow, my business model is presented in visual fashion using a series of sample pie graphs. Lyvathon is open source, and it looks like it will keep me busy for several months (if not years), working on Lyspio. I ordered a book about JavaScript from Amazon (Lyvathon is implemented in JavaScript), but they're temporarily out of stock. Hopefully I'll get it before Christmas, so I can read it when I'm visiting my sister in Victoria for Christmas and New Year's. I've been depression-free for a week, before that I was depressed for 3 days, and before that I had little or no depression for 3 weeks. Tomorrow I have an appt. with my psychiatrist, Dr. Soni. So things are really humming 'round this place. Go, Lyspio!

New project called BasePlace

Yesterday I started a new project called BasePlace (one day before my sister's birthday). BasePlace.org is a web-based collection of online communities. Each community targets a different class of marginalized individuals. The first community to be implemented consists of those individuals with mental health issues (commonly known as "consumer/survivors").

In other news involving my personal life, my dear friend Constance recently moved into a nice bachelor apartment just a 20-minute walk from my condo. It's not too far from the supermarket and it's much nicer (but a bit smaller) than her previous room, which was located downtown, run by Fred Victor, and she had to share a kitchen with 4 or 5 other people. That Fred Victor housing I think was aimed at housing former street people. Constance was homeless for almost 15 years, bouncing around from shelter to shelter. Constance has schizophrenia and all 8 of her fingers (not her thumbs) were amputated due to severe frostbite prior to her becoming homeless. At that time her psychosis prevented her from having the sense to seek shelter during an extremely cold 3-week period one winter. She is from Nigeria and came to Canada as a refugee about 25 years ago.

Rural version of Uber (Highway of Tears)

I just finished reading (at cbc.ca) about the lack of public transportation along the Highway of Tears in Northern BC. Women are forced to hitch-hike, which is dangerous. Starting a shuttle bus would be costly, since the highway is over 700 kms. long. Why doesn't someone start a rural version of Uber? Both drivers (anyone can be a driver) and passengers must have smartphones and PayPal or credit card accounts. In case a driver or passenger commits a robbery or assaults the other party, the police can easily track down the perp, since the perp's ID is in the system.

Lyvathon moving forward again

Yesterday I resumed Lyvathon coding after a break of approximately 3 weeks. I added 2 new fields to the user database: alternate email and phone no., and duplicated 2 existing fields: security question and security answer. Now there are 2 security questions/answers. That task only took a few hours. The next step is to gut most of my reset-password logic, and add a lot of new logic. (I tend to have more depression when I'm not in the middle of coding.) After I'm finished handling the case where the user's password needs to be reset, I can start implementing the image collection manager (in Python), which will eventually be converted into Lyvathon, and become the first real-world project implemented in Lyvathon. I'm going to have a pizza pop for lunch. Tomorrow I must buy groceries. Time to publish and chow down.

Lyvathon: first steps

Today I made a list of the first 5 steps in implementing Lyvathon. After finishing Step 5 I intend to post a help-wanted notice on SourceForge, to recruit Python programmers as well as web programmers who know server-side languages and web development frameworks. Those individuals I recruit will help me transform Lyvathon from a bare-bones language for server-side web programming to a useful tool for professional programmers. Those 5 steps are as follows:

1. Finish user authentication
2. Implement image collection manager
3. Implement Lyvathon (console mode)
4. Combine Lyvathon with Flask
5. Convert image collection manager from Python to Lyvathon

Lyvathon will be developed using Python, Flask, and MySQL. Step 3 is the hardest step, since it involves developing a brand-new programming language which I call Lyvathon. I expect it will take up to one year to implement all 5 steps, and the entire project will be up and running before this decade is out. So that's my own personal moonshot, in a nutshell (said the certifiable techie --I must be having delusions of grandeur once again --nevertheless, at least I'll be busy for some time to come, and that beats vegetating half the time).

Lyvathon: reinventing my oldest project

What used to be my games program years ago is now called Lyvathon. Lyvathon.org is a platform that hosts and monetizes web apps, and includes 2 brand-new open source languages: Lyvathon (similar to Python), and LVM (similar to HTML). Eventually Lyvathon-based web apps will be hosted at Lyvware.com. Lyvathon is implemented using Python, Flask, and MySQL.

Lyvaic: changes to documentation

I recently made a lot of changes to my Lyvaic.com project, which are summarized below:

1. Simplified business model (see Revenue Sources)
2. Lyvaic.com u/p subdirectory structure (project URLs)
3. Handling inappropriate content posted by users
4. Lyvathon as language for developing desktop apps
5. Table-slides as multi-page documents
6. Desktop apps manipulate documents in previous point
7. Lots of changes to Database Tables
8. Approaching Specialisterne and then the DMZ
9. DMZ connects me with Venture Capitalist
10. VC funds salary of Python programmer
11. Development to take 2 years before going live
12. VC funds salary of CEO after going live

Revenue Sources:

1. Subscription fees
2. Google AdSense ads for non-subscribers
3. Data usage fees for power users
4. LyvAIDE code editor for non-subscribers
5. Royalties: 10 percent of sales of Lyvathon software (user-to-user)
6. Financial transactions: 3 percent (user-to-user)

The next step is to force new users to pick a user name in addition to entering an email address and password, which entails a fair amount of changes to my existing user authentication Python code. I expect to finish that task by Monday. So as far as Lyvaic is concerned, it's full speed ahead!

Lyvaic is the new MoPyica

I changed the name of my project from MoPyica to Lyvaic (took me about 45 minutes). The old name was somewhat awkward, and people might have made fun of me by calling it Myopica. Lyvaic = Lyv(athon) + (mos)aic, which is a mosaic of images and text. Lyvathon = L(isp) + (p)ython + (ja)va, and borrows features from those 3 languages: Lisp, Python, and Java. You can visit my site by clicking on Lyvaic.com. Now I've come full circle, as the first business that I've ever been involved in starting was Mosaic Desktop Publishing in 1991. I was their tech expert, and worked there for 5 years.

Recently I discovered that many images on the Net (and most porn images) are not free, you have to pay licensing fees if you want to post them on your blog or some other website such as MoPyica.com. That discovery made me realize that my porn-based business model was no longer valid, so I changed my business model to hosting websites and charging web hosting fees. That meant that I now have to implement Lyvathon in order to monetize my website. I'm glad that Lyvaic no longer has anything to do with the porn industry.

Later today I must write 3 lines of code to call 2 helper functions: generate random password and set the password of the current user ("forgot password" feature). After I implement the image collection managing functionality of Lyvaic, I must approach Specialisterne so they can help me recruit an autistic programmer who knows Python and/or server-side web programming. He will work for free for 4 to 6 months in exchange for equity, and after that he will be paid a competitive wage. Then I will submit an application to join the Digital Media Zone at Ryerson University, which is an incubator for tech start-ups. If they don't reject my application then I will have to pitch my Lyvaic business plan to the folks at DMZ. I already made 3 pitches to StartMeUp Ryerson, which was affiliated with DMZ but no longer exists. Those 3 pitches were made for older projects at various times in the past 3 years, and for each pitch I received feedback from a panel of 3 industry experts. I must now spend a few months writing code before I'm ready to approach Specialisterne.

Monetizing MoPyica

I feel that my previous plan to invent a new web programming language, along with social networking for MoPyica, is too grandiose. After MoPyica.com is up and running, I intend to monetize it by selling subscriptions to men who want to view porn. All image folder names and image captions that contain XXX will be flagged as porn. Every user has a 3-way setting: enable porn, disable porn (the default), hide porn. Those users who choose to enable porn can access porn folders/images. Those users who choose to hide porn do not see porn folders/images when browsing the image collections of other users. Non-subscribers can only view the top ten porn images of other users, and cannot use the copy command to copy porn images of other users. All images which contain nudity must make use of the concealing bar tool to hide intimate details. Only subscribers can make those concealing black bars disappear when using the locally hosted version of MoPyica (only on their own local drives). I will not approach Josef Nulman of Specialisterne. That's the way the porno cookie crumbles.

No more developing a porn site

I have been advised that developing a porn site is not cool. MoPyica.com is now just a website that lets you manage your image collection online, no more hosting soft-core porn. When that's up and running I hope to monetize it by inventing a new web programming language called Lyvathon.org. Prior to implementing Lyvathon I intend to approach an organization called Specialisterne (they find IT jobs for those on the autism spectrum). I want them to help me recruit a Python programmer, who will pick up where I left off and make MoPyica much more elaborate. Meanwhile I will be implementing Lyvathon. Tomorrow I intend to finish implementing the "forgot password" feature, except I may not get around to writing the code that performs the actual password reset and sends the new password via email (although those 2 tasks are fairly straightforward to implement). Now I'm going to pig out on mini-donuts covered with white powdered sugar, and then I'm off to bed. It's wonderful to have a software project to fill my days. Boredom sucks. Time for a sugar snack.

User Authentication

I'm almost finished implementing user authentication for MoPyica.com, enabling the user to log in or sign up (I'm in the middle of implementing the "forgot password" feature). After the user logs in, he is presented with a web page containing 4 buttons and a logout link near the upper right-hand corner. Those buttons are SFW, NSFW, Both, and Help. The Help button toggles on/off the display of the following message: "If you're unsure what the button captions mean, please click on SFW." So as you can see, MoPyica includes both pornographic and more neutral images, competing with Instagram and Picasa.

Why am I developing a porn site?

I am currently developing a website called MoPyica.com, which displays porn. The main purpose of that is to give me a project to work on, and it might make money. If it doesn't make money, I can reuse almost all of the program code for MoPyica in my next project, which is inventing a new open source web programming language called Lyvathon.org. Lyvathon users develop their websites using that language, and I host those websites at a site called Lyvasites.com, which is yet to be created. It turns out that the websites hosted at Lyvasites.com are very similar to the porn collections (in terms of the underlying program code) hosted at MoPyica.com. So that's why I'm currently into developing a porn site.

MoPyica

I've decided to go ahead with the development of MoPyica.com, and abandon my short-lived Drumbeats Tech Services project. MoPyica is a website that lets you manage your image collection. The first MoPyica programming task is to enable the user to register, by entering 3 text fields and a password field: email, first name, and last name. The email field need not be a valid email address, however it needs to be well-formed (all alphanumeric characters, periods, underscores, an at-sign in the middle, with hyphens allowed in the domain portion of the email address). Both of the other 2 text fields must begin with an upper or lower-case letter, and at least one of those fields must contain at least 2 upper or lower-case letters. I may or may not muster enough ambition/motivation to get my ass off the couch and work on MoPyica this evening.

Drumbeats Tech Services

This evening I started a new project, contingent upon receiving funding from West Neighbourhood House (WNH) where I volunteer, and that project is called Drumbeats Tech Services. This afternoon I went grocery shopping and finished reading the Globe and Mail. Last night I stayed up all night editing an autobiography which was written by a student at Bang The Drum, part of WNH where I volunteer as a computer tutor. Yesterday afternoon I registered a domain name for my student's blog (it took me a few hours to troubleshoot), and that blog links to both the English and Portuguese versions of his autobiography. The English version is 55 pages long. Yesterday morning my depression was completely lifted and I took a shower. I hope to go to bed soon and get some sleep. Now it's time for a slice of process cheese and 2 Swiss Rolls (snack cakes), washed down with a glass of milk. Yummy! A song by the Beatles called Rocky Raccoon has been in my head for over 24 hours, and before that it was Bob Dylan's The Times they are a' Changin' (for a few days). Been so busy I haven't read the news at cbc.ca at all today. No rest for the wicked.

The Sweet Life

I have absolutely no worries. In the past 5 weeks I've been depressed twice (not including the depression which lifted 5 weeks ago). My most recent depression lifted yesterday evening, and lasted almost 3 days. My most recent 2 depressions were milder than most of my previous depressions.

I'm not worried that Mopyica.com (my latest project) will fail, since I have 2 backup projects: Lyvathon.org and AppaTeach.org. Lyvathon is a new programming language I invented which is used for web programming, and AppaTeach is a website linking paid and volunteer tutors with those needing instruction.

The 3 main factors contributing to my improved morale lately are as follows: 1) in early July I made a spreadsheet telling me that I need not obtain paid employment as a computer programmer in order to avoid running out of money in my old age, since I am comfortable financially; 2) I have a good project to work on, Mopyica, along with 2 backup projects to fall back on; and 3) I'm no longer too concerned about connecting with the opposite sex, since in the past I suffered disappointment when Robin spurned my advances and Diane didn't get back to me right away. I later called Diane, who hasn't forgotten me, and she may (or may not) contact me to arrange a date (going to the ROM), and I won't be too disappointed if she fails to do so.

Today I met with Luis at Bang The Drum, and registered for him a custom domain name, www.luisbook.com, for his blog. I will meet with him again next week to tie up loose ends with his blog, and on Tuesday I meet with Manza to continue teaching him MS Word. Luis is a nice guy. I must buy computer paper and order online a new toner cartridge for my printer. The Life of Hahnbytes: the saga continues.

Depression visits my abode

I had a spell of depression last weekend, 3.5 weeks after my previous depressive episode. This evening I called Diane the travel writer, and she said she still intends to go to the library to obtain the MAP pass, so we can go to the ROM. Today on FB I stumbled upon a link to an anti-porn website (fightthenewdrug.org), which claims that porn is addictive. In my case I feel that even though I have to keep on seeking new images of different women, it will never escalate to viewing hard-core videos which include violence (I don't watch videos anymore, or rarely). So I probably don't have to worry about acquiring a heavy-duty porn addiction. I've always been dependent on porn, ever since my mid-teens (Playboys in most of my life). In the unlikely event that Diane becomes my girlfriend, I will probably stop viewing porn.

Tomorrow I will resume going for walks, and soon I will buy more bananas and apples, which I've been eating lately (but not today). This evening (certainly by Wednesday) I hope to resume educating myself on Flask. My next 2 things to learn are unit testing and Jinja templates. Flask is a tool used along with the Python programming language to develop the server-side code of websites. Lyvathon is based on Flask, and is implemented in Python. Despite a blip in the road caused by a spell of depression over the weekend, I continue moving forward. If I only get depressed every 2 or 3 weeks, that would be a big improvement, and my most recent depression was milder than most. Less depression, more Lyvathon (and healthier living)! I'm on my way, towards happiness and success in my professional life (and maybe even romantically, but we'll have to wait and see).

Back to AppaTeach?

This evening I went through the Flask tutorial and recently I went through the quick-start portion of the Flask documentation. I then came to realize that AppaTeach.org has a higher probability of success than Lyvathon.org, so I might well decide to move Lyvathon to the back burner and resume AppaTeach development. I have been eating fruit every day and going for 30-minute walks almost every day, and intend to continue those healthy habits (also I intend to get into the habit of flossing my teeth every other day). I haven't been depressed in 3 weeks. Last night I went to a free Jann Arden concert with my sister's friend Joyce Penner, at Nathan Phillips Square, and ran into Diane the travel writer at that concert. I'm going to call Diane tomorrow ("Hi Diane... how did you like the Jann Arden concert?") and remind her that she told me that she would obtain a free MAP pass so we could go to the museum (the ROM) sometime. Now after writing the above I am loath to give up my beloved Lyvathon, so that decision is still up in the air. I will have another slice of process cheese and then go to bed. It's wonderful to be enjoying half-decent mental health for a change, over the past 12 months (and especially the past month thanks to Lyvathon and no more money worries). Also my computer's working better since I solved the intermittent Internet connectivity problem. Looks like all systems go 'round these parts.

The Ten Faces of Recovery

Recently I became cognizant of a certain degree of recovery from mental illness on my part. My most recent depressive episode was a week ago when I called in sick to my volunteer job. Apart from that I've been in mostly good spirits lately. I think the reason for what I suspect might well be a significant amount of recovery from the doldrums of alternating between emotional highs and lows is tenfold:

1. Having friends: Max, Main, John Newell. In the past few months I've developed a friendship with Max, brother of my close friend Constance. My friend Main calls me from time to time, and more rarely I visit him at the flea market where he works on weekends, selling perfume. I spent a weekend with my childhood friend John Newell in June, after not seeing him for over 40 years.
2. My close friend Constance used to be homeless and lived in shelters, but not long ago she moved into permanent subsidized housing, and recently it became apparent that it's likely she will be able to hang onto that housing, despite her behavioural issues.
3. I was worried that my cleaning lady quit, and I told my brother, who suggested that I call her. I did so and got no answer, but she returned my call the same evening, and she hasn't quit after all (that was 2.5 weeks ago).
4. I sent an email to a former co-worker named Robin, saying that I had feelings for her, but she did not reciprocate. That was about a month ago and I'm over the disappointment of her lack of reciprocation.
5. I sent an email to Diane, one of my students at my volunteer job where I'm a computer tutor. I am developing a website for her, and I asked her if she wanted to go the museum with me, but she didn't reply. That was 10 days ago, and 3 days after I sent the email was when I called in sick, due to the disappointment of not receiving a reply. Now I'm over that disappointment.
6. I decided to follow my doctor's advice and start exercising, by going for brisk 30-minute walks every day. So far I've done that 3 days in a row, but skipped it today.
7. I decided to follow the other part of my doctor's advice, to eat more fruits and vegetables. I vowed to buy apples, bananas, and stuff to make salad every 8 to 12 days. Today I bought 3 apples and 4 bananas, but haven't eaten any of them yet.
8. I decided to follow my dental hygienist's advice to floss my teeth regularly. So far I've only flossed them once, 3 days ago, but I intend to do that every other day. Today I bought a flosser that looks like a toothbrush with no brush but a hole in the tip that holds a disposable U-shaped plastic thing with a string of dental floss connecting the tops of the U.
9. I made some rough calculations that seemed to indicate that the money I inherited from my mother's estate would last well into old age, even if my future earned income is zero. Prior to that I was worried I'd have to eventually either seek employment as a computer programmer or start a successful dot-com to avoid outliving my money. Realizing that my math was shaky, I created a spreadsheet which validated my rough calculations. Five days ago I met with my financial advisor, who confirmed that my spreadsheet assumptions were valid.
10. Most importantly, after making my spreadsheet I decided to go ahead with 2 software projects: an image collection manager and the implementation of a new programming language I designed called Lyvathon. Just the other day I decided to merge those 2 projects into a single project: an image collection manager that lets you also create websites, and Lyvathon is the server-side language used to create dynamic, advanced websites (not all of the websites created by my users make use of Lyvathon).

I probably won't send that email I referred to in an earlier post, with the subject line: "Mental illness: a thing of the past". By Friday I should be finished developing Diane's website, so I can work on Lyvathon.org this weekend. Now I'm going to have an evening snack of 2 slices of processed cheese. Life goes on; no more depression for me, or at least a lot less of it, thanks to the above 10 reasons for my recovery.

Winning the Battle with Mental Illness

I am tentatively declaring victory in my battle against mental illness. As soon as I get into 4 new habits (walking every day, flossing my teeth every other day, buying fruit/salad stuff every 8 to 12 days, working on Pixtrium.com most days) then my victory declaration will no longer be just tentative. Instead I will send an email I wrote yesterday and today to 13 people, most of whom I am close to, and that email will in fact declare victory over mental illness. I expect to continue being mildly depressed every now and then for up to a day. I will also forward my victory declaration to 2 other people who each work for organizations which have helped me, so a total of 15 people will receive my victory declaration (which includes a link to this blog). I didn't get around to working on Pixtrium today, but hope to do so tomorrow for at least 2 hours. Guess I'll publish this and go to bed soon. I love the smell of napalm in the evening -- it smells like... victory!

The Decade Ahead

Today I met with my financial advisor, who confirmed the assessment I previously made about my financial situation: I am comfortable and can survive on investment income alone. I plan to implement Pixtrium.com, and then implement Lyvathon.org. Pixtrium is a medium-sized project which will enable me to learn Python, Flask, and server-side web programming. Lyvathon is a very ambitious project: implementing a somewhat experimental new programming language. It won't be as powerful as either of the 2 existing programming languages it is most similar to: Python and Java. However it introduces elements of a very old (only Fortran is older), rather unconventional language called Lisp, so in that respect Lyvathon is creative, even, dare I say it, innovative. Implementing Lyvathon will enable me to learn Java and Android app programming. Eventually, when Lyvathon development is fully underway, I intend to get a Google Nexus 6 smartphone from Wind, which costs $600 plus $35 per month. At that time I probably won't need a landline anymore. I probably won't bother implementing AppaTeach.org, my tutoring website.

Five days ago I asked Diane (in an email) if she wanted to go the museum with me, but she didn't reply to my email. I probably won't date Diane, for whom I am almost finished developing her website. Having a girlfriend is not a big priority for me. Nevertheless, I am more self-confident now than in my youth, so a girlfriend might well land in my lap, you never know.

Tomorrow I'm going to go for a brisk 30-minute walk after breakfast and my first cup of coffee in the morning. I've been meaning to clean up my act, health-wise, for years now, but this summer I really must follow through on that. I have to get into the habit of flossing my teeth every other day, going for walks, and making a special trip to FreshCo to buy fruit and salad stuff, in between my larger grocery shopping trips once every 8 to 12 days (so I would instead go there once every 4 to 6 days). I believe in the ascetic life: no smartphone, no TV, no Netflix, little or no reading non-computer books, going to my volunteer job 2 hours a week. Lots of lying on the couch, which may be reduced once my software development projects are underway (starting tomorrow after lunch and my 3rd cup of coffee). So anyway, that's my 3-paragraph plan for the next decade of my life. More lying on the couch until bedtime, after I publish this.

Network Troubleshooting

My Internet stopped working yesterday but today I was successfully able to troubleshoot it. I called tech support at my ISP (Internet provider), and he helped me get the Internet working on my Windows laptop, but it still didn't work on my main Linux desktop. He suggested that I upgrade the firmware of my modem, and search a Linux knowledgebase to find out how to restore my Internet connectivity. I then uninstalled a tool called Flask, which I'd installed yesterday right before my Internet stopped working, and that restored my Internet but it was very slow. I then called Erjon at tech support, telling him in a voice mail about my success with restoring the Internet (but it was slow), and that I had the wrong modem version (3.2 as opposed to 1). He then called me back and I told him I had both wired and wireless connections enabled on my Linux desktop, and he suggested I try to narrow down the problem to either wired or wireless, and suggested I buy a new modem. I then disabled the wired Internet connection on my desktop and that solved the problem of slow Internet, and then I emailed Erjon about my troubleshooting victory.

I solved another network-related problem today, after fixing my Internet. I was unable to access the Flask-based web server on my desktop from my laptop (even after reinstalling Flask once my Internet was working again), but using Google I found out I had to use something called iptables to fix that problem. Then I had to use Google again to find out how to make my changes to iptables permanent, so they would work after system shutdown and restart. Now everything's working beautifully. I was depressed yesterday and spent most of the day in bed, but today I wasn't depressed. Tomorrow I'm going to continue learning about Flask, which I will use in the process of implementing web-based server-side Python code for my Pixtrium.com project. I had a late dinner this evening so I won't have an evening snack. Bedtime is in one hour. Mission accomplished: my Pixtrium project is back on track.

Pixtrium

I designed a tool called Pixtrium.com, which is a website that lets you keep track of your image collection. These images are usually pictures of attractive women. I am currently learning a tool called Django, and when I'm finished that I will begin implementing Pixtrium.

Tomorrow I'm going to ask Diane out (she is the woman for whom I'm developing a website), to the museum. She previously said she would obtain a MAP pass, which lets you get into museums for free, but then she forgot about it. I'm almost finished developing her website. Now that I've started Pixtrium, my other 2 projects, AppaTeach.org and Lyvathon.org, have been moved to the back burners.

All Systems Go

I've been in good spirits since the beginning of this month, especially the past couple of days. My financial situation is in good shape. My cleaning lady stopped coming, and I told my brother, who suggested I call her. I did so and there was no answer, and then she called me back a while later. Yesterday I had dinner at her place and she's coming 2 days from now to clean my condo. She had stopped coming (temporarily) because she's had a lot of worries and problems lately. I will suggest to her that if it's a burden for her to clean my condo, then she only has to come half as frequently. The vacuum cleaner bags I ordered for my cleaning lady arrived a couple of days ago. I intend to date a woman named Diane, whose website I've almost finished developing. She had previously agreed to go to the museum with me, but she is a very busy person and it must have slipped her mind.

The most important thing is that this afternoon I resumed going through my Django tutorial, which is the first step in implementing my AppaTeach.org tutoring website. After dinner I intend to finish Part 2 of the tutorial. I enjoy using Django and Python a lot more than using PHP, which I had used for the original version of AppaTeach. I abandoned that version after implementing user authentication and initialization/display (not editing) of the Subject Tree.

I have kind of settled into a routine of eating breakfast, drinking coffee, visiting cbc.ca and reading the news, having lunch, drinking more coffee, and then (more recently) working on AppaTeach. In the future I will spend less time lying on the couch and vegetating, however I intend to take it easy until after dinner, when I will resume the tutorial.

Drop shipping website

On this coming Friday I will meet with my supervisor at West Neighbourhood House, Tom Namgyal (I'm a volunteer computer tutor). I have offered to help him develop a website for his drop shipping business venture. Drop shipping involves being a middleman between suppliers and consumers. I will offer to do the website for free, in exchange for two favours (the second favour is optional). The first favour is that when I approach Tom's employer, after the development of my AppaTeach.org website is a little further along, he must tell his boss that I'm a good tutor. He already told me that I'm one of their most talented tutors. The other favour is that he has first dibs on the AppaTeach Co-Founder position. Since that favour is optional, he doesn't have to become the Co-Founder unless he wants to. If he does become the Co-Founder, he can keep his present job at WNH if desired and even do his drop shipping business on the side. If he becomes the part-time Co-Founder than I will be running the day to day operations of AppaTeach and I can come to him for business advice when needed. I want WNH to help me hire the Core Curriculum Developer, who will write the AppaTeach literacy (and optionally math) curriculum based on the existing WNH literacy/math curriculum.

Correction: Tom having first dibs on the Co-Founder position is one of two favours I am offering him; the other favour is doing the drop shipping website for free. In exchange he has to tell his boss that I'm a good tutor, and he must forward my initial email approaching WNH to his boss. He is of course free to turn down my job offer.

Going with AppaTeach

Today I started learning something called Django, which is used along with a programming language called Python (which I already know) to create data-driven websites like AppaTeach.org. After I get up to speed with Django I intend to implement AppaTeach, regardless of whether Robin wants to be my co-founder. So I won't be implementing Lyvathon.org, which is a new programming language that I designed. Assuming that Robin declines my job offer, I will implement the AppaTeach website and then approach West Neighbourhood House (where I work as a volunteer computer tutor). After the core curriculum is developed, I will then approach Progress Place, and then I will recruit the co-founder. That involves sending emails to a bunch of organizations that employ volunteer tutors, asking them to post the attached job ad (for the co-founder) on their job bulletin boards. Bye-bye, Lyvathon.

AppaTeach or Lyvathon

I recently approached Robin, my former co-worker, asking her if she wants to be my co-founder (for my AppaTeach.org project). AppaTeach is a tutoring website. She only checks her email at the library about once a week, so I may not get a reply right away. If she declines, then I will implement Lyvathon, and put both AppaTeach and Captographics.com (a photo organizer) on the back burner.

Last weekend my brother and I went up to his cottage, and my friend John Newell and his partner Barb visited us there. I haven't seen John in over 40 years. That was a nice weekend, and all 4 of us went swimming. Yesterday I went with my friend Constance to Home Hardware to buy her a 2-door organizer (a cupboard), and I'm going to assemble it next week. The last time Constance and I went to the grocery store she peed on the floor, so she's not allowed inside that store anymore. Constance used to be homeless but she obtained permanent housing recently. I doubt very much that I will move to Vancouver, since I'm happy with my current housing and moving is a hassle. Today I must transfer money to my chequing account, cancel my next weekly meeting with Diane at Bang The Drum, reschedule my dental appt. (removing a wisdom tooth) for 2 weeks in the future, and remind my sister via email to check my blog once a month. Hi Cathy!

Moving to Vancouver

I may rent out my condo this summer or fall and rent a condo in Vancouver for a year. If I like it OK, then I will sell my condo and buy one in Vancouver, say in New Westminster, so long as it's at most one bus ride from a Skytrain station (I won't own a car). My brother (who has a tenant in his self-contained basement suite) can help me find good tenants and he can fix things if something goes wrong, like a clogged drain. If my tenants move in their own furniture, then I will put my furniture in storage in case I decide to move back to Toronto. If I buy a condo in Vancouver then I will sell the contents of the storage locker and buy new furniture. All I need when I'm renting is a bed, a computer table, an office chair, a kitchen chair, and a kitchen table. Cathy said I can use movers to move my desktop computer, printer, monitor, and clothes to Vancouver (just a partial truckload). Hopefully my Lexografix.com idea won't bite the dust, and will eventually be profitable (it's only about 24 hours old, so who knows?). Keeping my fingers crossed.

I thought it might be nice to live somewhere other than Toronto, where I've lived all my life except I went to school mostly in the Philadelphia area. Vancouver seems kind of trendy, almost like the Silicon Valley of Canada, although that's probably true more or less just for the gaming industry. Susan said Vancouver is nicer than Toronto, and my sister's family lives there and in Victoria. What the hell, my condo is 10 years old, having moved into a brand-new unit. Why not have some adventure in my life, for a change? This evening I will work on Lexografix. Today I started getting into the habit of going for 30-minute walks, hopefully every other day, and tomorrow I'll floss my teeth, also doing that every other day. Even though it's less than the minimum amount of recommended exercise, at least I will feel more responsible that I'm taking better care of my health, as I am 55 years old. Can making special trips to the supermarket for fruit, lettuce, and tomatoes be also within my grasp? Only time will tell. Hopefully at least depression will no longer darken my door as frequently (just 2 days, recently, in the past 5 weeks). So as they say, à votre santé.

Project name change

I changed the name of my new project from Pixxshow to Lexografix.com. Much easier to implement than Lyvathon, and a big improvement on Pixmiles and the others before it. After lunch I will drink coffee and work on a bit more project documentation. No worries 'round here.

NSWICH has been enabled

Once again I'm in full-blown NSWICH mode: New SoftWare Idea Creator's High (didn't sleep last night). I thought of a way to monetize Pixxshow, and since it's now meant for a general audience, the potential to make a lot of money exists. It may end up falling apart like a house of cards (OSWICC: Old SoftWare Idea Creator's Crash), like most of my previous bouts of NSWICH. But you never know, since I have had 3 software ideas in the past in which I avoided OSWICC: Lyvathon (used to be my games program), Psybercity (database of mental health resources), and AppaTeach (tutoring website). I never actually finished any of those projects, and only with Lyvathon did I get a large amount of work done on it (not too much code, though).

In case the unthinkable happens, whereby OSWICC is avoided, I succeed in implementing Pixxshow, and thousands of users download it, I just might face a not at all very shabby dilemma. That is, if Pixxshow turns out to be very useful, then Google or Facebook may offer me a million dollars to buy my company. They have deep pockets and no major Big Data outfit worth its salt would waste time reinventing the wheel in order to duplicate the thousands of lines of code I will have written developing Pixxshow. In that happy event, my only dilemma is deciding whether I should hold out for someone to offer me ten million dollars. I can always ask either of my 2 previous supervisors: Arvin Daljeet or Stephen Bates, to advise me. Arvin's company develops software and Stephen is a VP of Risk Management at BMO. Or I can seek legal advice from a lawyer. Or even ask Ralph, my sister's ex. I might take a break now from Pixxshow. Tonight I have to make a phone call, and tomorrow I must make 2 medical appointments. Soon I must go for a walk. Some fresh air will do me a whole lot of good, methinks. Implementing Pixxshow can wait til tomorrow. I do love my Linux-based desktop machine, but must log off real soon now. Golly!

Pixxshow

I'm going to develop an Android app called Pixxshow.com that lets you create 3-panel slide shows (2-panel on smartphones), thereby managing your photo collection and syncing it across multiple devices. Admittedly, my target market consists of teenage boys and men who are single and unattached. Porn is part of the equation. Most people think that porn is sleazy, but I say, why not harness the male sex drive and make a buck while doing it. I can finish it in under 6 months, as opposed to 2 years for Lyvathon, and I don't have to team up with other programmers.

Mr. Earbrass Writes a Novel

All non-IT encumbrances are now out of the way, and I am faced with the task of starting to implement Lyvathon. My vacation is over, my 2 days of post-vacation depression are over (no other depression has occurred in over a month), and I'm all set for next weekend when my brother and I go up north to his cottage. Up there we will meet up with my childhood friend, John Newell (and his partner, Barb), who I haven't seen in over 40 years. Tomorrow evening I must make 2 phone calls, and later I must make 2 medical appointments.

Back to the present, I am faced with the software coder's equivalent of a hazy idea of what to write, along with a working title. Unlike a typical writer of fiction, I've spent the past 20 years (working sporadically) on the predecessors of Lyvathon, but have written very little code until now. Last winter I wrote a few hundred lines of code, but I can reuse only a very small portion of that code. Most code I must now write will be brand new.

Like Mr. Earbrass, I must find a way to get over the initial hurdle of being faced with a blank page. I could write, say, "It was a dark and stormy night," but my Java compiler would take a dim view of such a feeble effort. I could instead write several lines of code which would all boil down to the following-- 'system.out.println("It had begun to snow.");' --and would be rewarded with a clean compile, but of course it wouldn't do anything useful. At some point I must take the bull by the horns and start modifying my top-level code, deciding which low-level code to keep, gutting everything in-between, and get busy writing new code.

Having read the Saturday Globe and Mail, I will probably end up reading the news at cbc.ca (a daily ritual) before doing any work today. At least I've written a blog post about my current project, without getting any actual work done. Despite my getting-started woes, I'm lucky to have the financial freedom to do what I want. Most people are forced to do whatever their boss tells them to. Those who are self-employed are weighed down with responsibilities and must put in long hours, locked in a Darwinian struggle of survival of the fittest business venture. So I really can't complain. Hi ho, hi ho, my code is what must grow, da da, da da, da da, da da, hi ho, hi ho! Hopefully most of these posts will make more use of brevity, as unfortunately I can be long-winded at times. Pardon me while I continue my procrastination.

Doubly-linked list

Today I made a design decision to use a doubly-linked list to keep track of pages (each page has 256 nodes, and each node consists of 12 bytes) in my Lyvathon project. I will modify the pseudocode later today or tomorrow. In a doubly-linked list, each member of the list points to both the next and previous members of the list.

Recently I helped my friends Max and Main with computer tasks. I helped Max apply for a security job at the Pan Am Games, and I wrote 2 ads in Kijiji for my friend Main. The first ad was meant to hire someone to work at his perfume booth in the flea market on weekends, and the second ad was advertising that same perfume and cosmetics booth, including 10 images of different brands of perfume. I am currently helping Diane, one of my students in my volunteer job as a computer tutor, develop her website. She is a travel writer.

Yesterday I went to my brother Dave's place for dinner. His wife and son were there, and his wife's friend Irene. Irene is from the Czech Republic, and she's moving back there in a few weeks. After dinner the drain in the kitchen sink was clogged, but Dave fixed it with the help of a snake that he had to go out and buy that same evening. I always enjoy my visits with Dave.

Introduction

Welcome to my new blog. I am 55 years old, have mental health issues but no cognitive impairment, and I love computer programming. I have recently finished designing a new programming language called Lyvathon and I'm going to begin implementing it this week. I might decide to also get into web design/programming as a sideline. This blog is about my adventures in the world of Information Technology (IT).

I have a sister named Catherine (Dave and I call her Cathy), a brother named Dave, a sister-in-law named Susan, a former brother-in-law (my sister's ex) named Ralph, a niece named Riel, and 2 nephews named Jesse and Alex. I have 3 friends named Max, Main, and John Newell. I have a close friend named Constance (Max's sister), and 2 women I have previously dated or might date in the future: Robin and Diane, respectively. My psychiatrist is Dr. Soni. I hope you enjoy my blog!