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--- newsletters:2024-05 [2024/06/02 21:53] – osnr
+++ newsletters:2024-05 [2024/06/03 00:45] (current) – [New parallel evaluator] osnr
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
       * {{newsletters:img_5525.gif}}
     * Setup at the Clive Davis Gallery:
-      * {{newsletters:img_5505-medium.jpeg?300px}} {{newsletters:img_5508-medium.jpeg?300px}}
+      * {{newsletters:img_8712.jpeg?250px}} {{newsletters:img_5505-medium.jpeg?250px}} {{newsletters:img_5508-medium.jpeg?250px}} {{newsletters:img_8532.jpeg?250px}}
       * Andrés and Omar disassembled the cart system from ITP (in Downtown Brooklyn) and brought it all back to the studio in East Williamsburg:
-        * {{newsletters:omar_andre-s_traveling_back.jpeg?400px}}
+        * {{newsletters:omar_andre-s_traveling_back.jpeg?300px}}
 ==== Small system improvements ====
@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
     * Slightly updated the [[guides:gpu|GPU guide]] to reflect this
   * [[https://mmm.s-ol.nu|s-ol bekic]] added support for [[https://git.s-ol.nu/forks/folk/-/tree/printer-config/|paginating long programs]] so they print on multiple pages! (as well as A4 support) [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/issues/58|we've wanted this for a while]]
+  * s-ol made a lot of [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk-live-build/pull/4|improvements to the live USB setup.folk config file]], so you can set hostname and configure a printer
+    * Omar added persistence of calibration and printed programs, and fixed file permissions for git pull, so the live USB is totally usable as a long-term system now!
   * Omar did a cleanup of the repo, removing the pi/ and play/ folder (preparing for opening the repo more to the public)
     * Inlined hardware interface code into the virtual-programs -- should make it much easier to read since all GPU stuff is in one file, all AprilTag stuff is in one file, all camera stuff is in one file, etc
@@ Line 57: / Line 59: @@
   * Omar has been working a bit on the portable gadget from last month
     * Got a good hand grip, working on and off on CAD for enclosure (need to fit Pi, Pi camera, threaded inserts for hand grip and projector, and be able to physically fit my hand in to assemble all of it; think I need to break it up into panels)
-    * {{newsletters:img_8568.jpeg?200px}}
+    * {{newsletters:img_8044.jpeg?0x300px}} {{newsletters:img_8568.jpeg?0x300px}}
   * Vedran [[https://github.com/FolkComputer/folk/pull/136|fixed a major breakage with printing AprilTags]] (came from changes to generate image to project AprilTag, broke printing)
+  * Omar did a tiny amount of work on RFID localization, fixing some misaligned RX/TX spacing issues -- still trying to get it to reliably run for more than 1 round (not slow down over time, bail/reset properly on fail so it can continue):
+    * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-230133.png?400px}}
 ==== CNC ====
@@ Line 65: / Line 69: @@
-Omar finished porting Owen's gcode parser and tool calibration and preview logic. CNC tool calibration, where you move the machine to the 4 points and type their CNC coordinates in:
+Omar finished porting [[https://owentrueblood.com|Owen's]] gcode parser and tool calibration and preview logic from [[https://github.com/jmpinit/projected-toolpath-preview|the original prototype]]. Here's how CNC tool calibration looks, where you move the machine to the 4 points and type their CNC coordinates in:
-{{newsletters:00-calibration-bed.jpeg?300px}}
+{{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-225922.png?300px}} {{newsletters:00-calibration-bed.jpeg?300px}}
-and tested it with a basic job -- notice the projected preview in green vs. the actual cut in the wood:
+Tested it with a basic job -- notice the projected preview in green vs. the actual cut in the wood:
 {{newsletters:03-after-cut.jpeg?300px}}
@@ Line 89: / Line 93: @@
 Prompted by the portable gadget and the CNC demo, Omar has been picking 3D calibration back up. We're hoping to get it merged next month in a backward-compatible way, so we don't have to port everything from 2D to 3D immediately.
+{{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-224725.png?500px}}
+{{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-230714.png?500px}}
 It was in decent shape in December, so work on 3D calibration this month has involved a lot of small/polish tasks:
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       * {{newsletters:pose-1717219170951-0.jpeg?300px}} {{newsletters:pose-1717219207092-7.jpeg?300px}}
     * [[https://social.omar.website/@omar/statuses/01HYNYXKR4XPMGRN75FPR1VNYA|little nice UI thing]] of pointing out the inner tag length that the user should measure in green
-      * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-205816.png?600px}}
+      * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-205816.png?500px}}
   * maybe trying to improve accuracy a little bit
   * performance stuff (actually very related to improving accuracy, it might be the main problem -- the more latency you have, the more time the board position can drift in your hand, reducing calibration accuracy)
@@ Line 112: / Line 120: @@
   * Added support for images
   * Fixed boolean support, array rtype support with C FFI
-  * Fixed some C/library concurrency issues
+  * Fixed some C/library concurrency issues, fixed incorrect locking on Holds
   * Fixed really weird lldb issue with C FFI? Don't really understand this
-    * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-214914.png}}
+    * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240602-214914.png?500px}}
   * Either very clever or a terrible hack: use SIGUSR1 to interrupt arbitrary work on other threads that depends on a retracted statement
     * works for anything in Tcl, even infinite loops, etc. but doesn't interrupt C work (like a C infinite loop) because it depends on the Jim interpreter running its internal signal handler and checking its internal signal flag a lot (which is built-in behavior in Jim)
@@ Line 121: / Line 129: @@
       * maybe desired abort/fan-out behavior needs to be specified for each When? or could dynamically schedule?
     * useful for code that infinite-loops (like the Collect implementation right now) so it can get automatically reaped by the evaluator when the Collect goes away
-  * Thread-local workqueues based on a Chase-Lev deque
+  * Thread-local workqueues based on Chase-Lev deque ([[https://www.dre.vanderbilt.edu/~schmidt/PDF/work-stealing-dequeue.pdf|original paper]]; [[https://fzn.fr/readings/ppopp13.pdf|C11 implementation]]; [[https://wingolog.org/archives/2022/10/03/on-correct-and-efficient-work-stealing-for-weak-memory-models|Andy Wingo's very useful note]] that points out some issues like [[https://github.com/wingo/whippet/commit/56aad402c9504b63d4f7b9f250e7bd931228d7c4|this]])
+    * Replaces global mutex-protected priority queue; should be faster and better at natural load balancing across CPUs/threads, also lets us lock things to threads more cleanly
+    * Also [[http://15418.courses.cs.cmu.edu/spring2017/lecture/progperf1/slide_019|these slides about how to deal with dependencies, scheduling in general]]
+  * Added trace page (like the log we have in mainline Folk) for debugging specific leak or elision issues (why is this statement still around? why didn't this statement go through?)
+    * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240603-004516.png?0x500px}}
 In terms of functionality, it's surprisingly almost caught up to mainline Folk -- the real issues are around performance and correctness :-)
@@ Line 132: / Line 144: @@
     * A lot of playing around with Folk programs / talking to [[https://lord.io|Robert]] about reactivity and spreadsheets and text editing. Andrés put a program on their hat, allowing them to look at things on the table and label them "Hello".
     * {{newsletters:img_8596.jpeg?300px}} {{newsletters:img_8599.jpeg?300px}} {{newsletters:img_8602.jpeg?300px}} {{newsletters:img_8607.jpeg?300px}}
-  * [[https://mmm.s-ol.nu/|s-ol]] set up a new Folk system in Milan, bringing the total to 22 systems:
+  * [[https://mmm.s-ol.nu/|s-ol]] [[https://merveilles.town/@s_ol/112461205136786159|set up a new Folk system]] at his lab in Milan:
     * {{:newsletters:pasted:20240601-142556.png?500px}}
   * [[https://www.forresto.com|Forrest O.]] has been organizing their Folk table -- it's looking really nice:
@@ Line 143: / Line 155: @@
   * We want to do a larger event as 3D calibration and/or the new evaluator and/or a new program count milestone come in. Watch this space
   * Merge 3D calibration into main and start porting decorations/apps to use it natively
-  * More work on the parallel evaluator...
+  * Performance and correctness push on the parallel evaluator...
-  * More work on RFID
+  * Try to get RFID caught up
   * Do another projector gadget iteration
-  * Open up the repo?
+  * CNC + 3D calibration?
+  * Open up the repo? Docs for that?
+  * s-ol working on international keyboard support; need to review and merge
 ===== Links we've enjoyed =====
@@ Line 155: / Line 169: @@
   * [[https://emreed.net/hand-held|The Handheld Is Dead! Long Live The Handheld!]] (via [[https://liuleslie.github.io|Leslie]])
   * [[https://x.com/melodyadjei/status/1793291048363384877|"The angel librarian puts their reviews linked to QR codes and inside each book so they can hear their friends thoughts before checking them out"]]
-  * [[https://opponent.systems|Opponent]]
+  * [[https://x.com/jordanrcrook/status/1796543968395886682|Opponent]]
+  * [[http://15418.courses.cs.cmu.edu/spring2017/lecture/progperf1|Lecture 6: Perf Optimization I: Work Distribution and Scheduling]]
 ==== Andrés ====
   * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Inxp6LY1y_4|Attention Receipts: Utilizing Materiality of Receipts to Improve Screen-time Reflection [CHI2024]]] — cool to see a custom receipt printer used as a persistent utility.