The Rational Druid

I’ve just started playing around with fvwm-crystal on Ubuntu, and I’ve run into an issue that others may have, too. Out of the box, I didn’t have any application menus showing up. It turns out that fvwm-crystal is sensitive to what version of python you are running on your system. Once I changed the symbolic link /usr/bin/python to point to /usr/bin/python2.5 rather than /usr/bin/python2.6, all of the scripts to generate the application menu worked. This should be stated somewhere in the documentation. If you run into this issue, you can simply delete the old symlink with

sudo rm /usr/bin/python

and create a new symlink with

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python2.5 /usr/bin/python

Hopefully this helps other people in the same boat.

Open Circuits provides a site full of ideas and circuits put into the open source community. Using their description:

Open Circuits is a wiki for sharing open source electronics knowledge, schematics, board layouts, ports and parts libraries. This include open hardware Music Players, atomic microscopes, PC, PDA and mobile phones, and batteries.

Visit, and add what you can.

You’ve likely heard of permaculture before. This is the philosophy of agriculture which is capable of being permanent. The idea is that you plant your crops and care for your soil so that it can be sustained indefinitely. I think that it is time for us to start thinking the same way about our technology. A kind of permatech.

The beginnings of a movement are starting to form. An example is the repair manifesto. The idea here is that we should look at the items that we purchase and use in our day-to-day life, and choose items that can be repaired. If an item cannot be repaired, we are effectively just renting the item. When it finally does break, or wear out, we have no choice but to dump it in the trash and get a new one. The manifesto itself is:

1. Make your products live longer!
   Repairing means taking the opportunity to give your product a second life. Don’t ditch it, stitch it! Don’t end it, mend it! Repairing is not anti-consumption. It is anti- needlessly throwing things away.
2. Things should be designed so that they can be repaired.
   Product designers: Make your products repairable. Share clear, understandable information about DIY repairs. Consumers: Buy things you know can be repaired, or else find out why they don’t exist. Be critical and inquisitive.
3. Repair is not replacement.
   Replacement is throwing away the broken bit. This is NOT the kind of repair that we’re talking about.
4. What doesn’t kill it makes it stronger.
   Every time we repair something, we add to its potential, its history, its soul and its inherent beauty.
5. Repairing is a creative challenge.
   Making repairs is good for the imagination. Using new techniques, tools and materials ushers in possibility rather than dead ends.
6. Repair survives fashion.
   Repair is not about styling or trends. There are no due-dates for repairable items.
7. To repair is to discover.
   As you fix objects, you’ll learn amazing things about how they actually work. Or don’t work.
8. Repair – even in good times!
   If you think this manifesto has to do with the recession, forget it. This isn’t about money, it’s about a mentality.
9. Repaired things are unique.
   Even fakes become originals when you repair them.
10. Repairing is about independence.
    Don’t be a slave to technology – be its master. If it’s broken, fix it and make it better. And if you’re a master, empower others.
11. You can repair anything, even a plastic bag.
    But we’d recommend getting a bag that will last longer, and then repairing it if necessary.

Stop Recycling. Start Repairing. www.platform21.nl

Instead of buying the cheapest item, I think that we need to start thinking about the actual quality of the items we are purchasing. And we also need to start thinking about the total value of an item. This includes its aesthetic value. Objects should look good, feel good, be sturdy, and be capable of being repaired. If they worked well, we would actually use the item. If it looked good, we would likely take better care of it, and feel good about having it. If it was easy to repair, we would feel more investment in it.