Living Code

Just for fun, and because I’m trying out two things:

1. Using Ecto for posting again
2. Blogging more often

Here are my results from the latest craze:

$ history|awk '{a[$2]++} END{for(i in a){printf "%5d\t%s\n",a[i],i}}'|sort -rn|head
139 ls
87 cd
54 python
43 /usr/bin/python
38 less
21 vim
16 clear
12 mate
11 rm
10 ssh

The first python is the one I built from source so I can include it in applications packaged with py2app, the second is the built-in python for Leopard. Both are version 2.5. The mate program is used to open files in TextMate from the command line.

I want to create a new superhero.

He’s going to be exactly like Captain Marvel except that instead of saying “Shazam!” he’s going to say “Zapdoodle!”

And instead of being Aryan he’s going to be vaguely multi-ethnic.

And instead of battling generalized injustice he will fight a specific injustice, like homelessness or suburban sprawl.

And instead of having popular support people will mock him and try to have him arrested.

And instead of having a uniform of red spandex he will have a uniform of random clothes from Salvation Army.

And instead of having a sidekick he will have his sides kicked when he sleeps on the street.

And instead of having a secret identity, people just won’t really care who he is.

And instead of being young, tall, athletic and arguably handsome, he will be short, pudgy, and middle-aged, with a pronounced limp.

OK, so he’s not going to be much like Captain Marvel at all.

But he will say “Zapdoodle!”

In fact, he may not say anything else, ever.