Alvin Alexander | Java, Scala, Unix, Perl, Mac OS X

One way to meditate without distraction

If you’re interested in meditating but can’t quite seem to do it without getting distracted, I recommend making a game of it. One game I use is, “How long can I take to count to five full breaths?”

The game itself is simple: Just before you begin to meditate, start a stopwatch on your phone. Then breathe in, and as you do so, internally say “one.” Then breathe out and internally (or externally) say “two.” Try to take these breaths as slowly as you can, with all of your focus on the current breath and current number. Keep doing this until you breathe out and say “ten,” and when that breath is finished, stop the stopwatch and see how long it took. The game is to make this time as long as possible.

I think my guardian angel drinks

I saw this “I think my guardian angel drinks” post on a friend’s Facebook page many years ago (2104), and it always makes me laugh. (Sorry, I don’t know the original source of this image.)

Patrón distillery tours (Guadalajara, Mexico)

Here are two good articles on taking a tour of the Patrón distillery in Guadalajara, Mexico, one from traveldistilled.com and a second from distillerytrail.com. (This post is inspired by a tequila discussion with one of my nieces at another niece’s recent wedding.)

A feel-good list (for those very sick days)

These days I generally feel very good, but as I go through some of these medical treatments they can make me feel pretty miserable, especially when combined with the effects of the MCAS. During times like that I usually just meditate in bed or in a recliner, generally not thinking about anything, just breathing, letting the inside and outside become one. I do this almost all of the time.

But other times when I can’t do that for one reason or another, I started to create a little “feel good” list to reflect on. This is something that when I’m not feeling well and I can’t meditate, it helps to remind me that life has generally been very good to me. I think about various things, all of the favorite times I’ve had in my life, meeting my wife, playing baseball, all of the dogs, good vacations, fun with friends, etc.

One thing I hadn’t thought about in a long time that came to mind recently was that when I was 32 years old I worked for a company I called the Evil Empire, and something good happened on my last day there. (That wasn’t their real name, but some of the owners of that company inspired me to give it that name.)

“Truth waits for eyes unclouded by longing”

“Truth waits for eyes unclouded by longing.”

I keep running into various versions of this quote (from sources like the Tao, Ram Dass, and Zen books), so I thought I’d share it here. All sayings like this mean that if you become like a clear mirror and view the world exactly as it is — not how your desires (and fears) want it to be — you’ll see the truth.

Bitcoin is causing CO2 emissions comparable to Hamburg

Per the Technical University of Munich, Bitcoin is causing CO2 emissions comparable to Hamburg.

What meditation can be like (Eat, Pray, Love)

In “Eat, Pray, Love,” Elizabeth Gilbert describes what meditation can be like. :)

Scala.js tutorial: How to start building single-page web applications

Single-page applications
1. Getting started (dependencies)
2. Create hello3.html
3. Create Hello3.scala
4. Run the code!
Summary/Discussion
Resources
More facades
Other tutorials in this series
Bonus!
Source code

Table of Contents1 - Single-page applications2 - 1. Getting started (dependencies)3 - 2. Create hello3.html4 - 3. Create Hello3.scala5 - 4. Run the code!6 - Summary/Discussion7 - Resources8 - More facades9 - Other tutorials in this series10 - Bonus!11 - Source code

In this final, third part of my three-part introductory series on Scala.js I’ll demonstrate a technique that can help you build single-page web applications with Scala.js. That is, the body of your HTML page will look like this:

<body>
    <div id="root"></div>          

    <script type="text/javascript" src="./target/scala-2.12/scala-js-hello-world-jsdeps.js"></script>
    <script type="text/javascript" src="./target/scala-2.12/scala-js-hello-world-fastopt.js"></script>
</body>

After that, your entire application will then be written in Scala/Scala.js, which is converted into JavaScript code in the scala-js-hello-world-fastopt.js file.

Enlightenment is like a free fall

“Enlightenment is like a free fall. It’s like falling off a cliff that never ends, and you’ve acclimatized to it.”

~ Shinzen Young, in this video

Suzanne, by Leonard Cohen

Suzanne takes you down takes you down
To her place by the river

You can hear the boats go by
You can spend the night forever

And you know the girl’s half crazy
And that’s why you want to be there

And just when you want to tell her
That you have no love to give her

She gets you on her wavelength
And lets the river answer

That you’ve always been her lover

~ Some lyrics from “Suzanne,” written by Leonard Cohen in the 1960s. (In terms of a song I’d like to listen to, I prefer the Neil Diamond version.)

A Scala.js tutorial: “Hello, world” with an HTML button click

1. Create a new HTML page
2. Make updates to use jQuery
3. The new Scala code
4. Setting the main class
5. Running this example
Discussion
Summary

Table of Contents1 - 1. Create a new HTML page2 - 2. Make updates to use jQuery3 - 3. The new Scala code4 - 4. Setting the main class5 - 5. Running this example6 - Discussion7 - Summary

In my first “Hello, world” Scala.js tutorial I showed how to get started with Scala.js, including some necessary setup/configuration work. That tutorial ended by showing how to get the string “Hello, world” displayed in a browser.

In this tutorial I’ll take this a little further and show how to create an HTML button you can click that results in the string “Hello, world” being displayed in a JavaScript alert window. When the button is clicked, the alert window will be displayed by your Scala/Scala.js code.

The Trees, Rush

There is unrest in the forest
There is trouble with the trees
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the maples
And they’re quite convinced they’re right
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.

But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade?

There is trouble in the forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the maples scream “Oppression!”
And the oaks just shake their heads.

~ from The Trees, by Rush

Getting started with Scala.js (a “Hello, world” example)

This is the first tutorial in a three-part series on getting started with Scala.js. This tutorial will demonstrate the proverbial “Hello, world” introduction. After this “Hello, world” tutorial, the next two tutorials will show some more powerful things you can do with Scala.js.

When inside and outside become one

When you are able to stay perfectly clear by cutting off all thinking and yet not falling into a trance-like sleep, this is sitting.

When inside and outside become one, and no circumstances can hinder you, this is Zen.

~ Zen Master Seung Sahn (image from the Kwan Um School of Zen Twitter account)

When inside and outside become one — Zen Master Seung Sahn

I would rather have questions that can't be answered than ...

“I would rather have questions that can't be answered than answers that can't be questioned.”

~ Richard Feynman

Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume

I’m surprised that nobody I know knows the story Tiger Eyes, either the book by Judy Blume or the movie based on the book.

Probably the main theme of the book is about people who are afraid. Presumably they’re afraid of dying, and the result is that they’re afraid of living. Meanwhile, a teenage girl who has good reason to be afraid encounters these people who are afraid of life, and eventually realizes that a fear of life is no way to live. Despite a horrific thing that has happened in her recent past, she makes a conscious decision to live her life.

Rocky Mountains between two trees

The Rocky Mountains this morning (June 16, 2019) when I was out looking for a new place to live in Colorado.

Sinner’s Prayer lyrics (song by Sully Erna)

To love the right,
Yet do so wrong.

To be the weak,
Yet burn to be so strong.

Go rider, although your ride has been through lies.
Go rider, see your soul through the devil’s eyes.

My signature looks like my dad’s because ...

True confession: My signature looks like my dad’s because I used to write my own notes to skip high school (and I did that a lot).

(Probably inspired by Juan Epstein.)

Two horses in Kentucky

Two horses in Kentucky, June 1, 2019.