I’ve been tilting at windmills, recently.
Windmill, actually.
It’s a Python program that lets your computer drive a web browser, without any human interference. We use it at Akoha to run tests that make sure that our website works with Firefox.
We use it to help us test our site with Internet Explorer. So I dutifully set up a Windows machine and tried to get it to run our test suite. I quickly realized that our software was going to need something more Unix-like.
Cygwin is the answer to that problem. It provides a full POSIX environment inside Windows. I built all our software and tried to fire up Windmill.
ImportError: No module named _winreg
Uh oh! Windmill needs to access the Windows Registry. According to the winreg documentation, it’s only available for Windows. Apparently, Cygwin doesn’t count as Windows. So I spent the weekend writing a library that fills in the gap.
cygwinreg allows you to read, write, and explore the Windows Registry from inside Cygwin. Whenever you want to use winreg, use cygwinreg instead.
import sys if sys.platform == "win32": try: import winreg except ImportError: import _winreg as winreg elif sys.platform == "cygwin": import cygwinreg as winreg
After I did that, I plugged it in, stepped back and ran my tests. They worked!
Download cygwinreg
or install it with
easy_install cygwinreg
If you’re interested in Python but have never shown up to a Montréal Python session yet, you really should.
At Montréal Python 5, we saw some really cool presentations.
One of which was Alexandre Vassalotti’s talk on Porting to Python 3.0.
Alexandre Vassalotti
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Serving drinks
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Jen and Clint
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Watching the slideshow
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
We found this cake hiding in the Akoha freezer.
We think it was about three months old before it was pulled out.
The warning sign had no apparent effect on the cake’s desirability.
Really old cake
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Steak flambé
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I highly recommend dining at Le Champlain.
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girl_tm and I were fortunate enough to get reservations for Valentine’s Day!
But perhaps that is because I’m a sucker for tableside service?
The filet mignon was very, very good.
So was everything else!
Vestacular
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Going to Macy’s
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
girl_tm has returned from her globe-trotting adventure.
The first thing she said when she stepped outside?
“It’s not that bad.”
Buried cars
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
This is what happens when you mix:
- four stuffed toys,
- three little kids,
- two sister startups,
- and a swiss ball in a big room.
Janina Szkut
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Michelle Blanc
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Every year, the Kokoromi Collective throws a wild party.
A wild party involving video games!
GAMMA 3D was a wild ride of stereoscopic fun.
There were tons of people in 3D glasses.
It was like going to an old 3D drive-through.
An interactive 3D drive-through.
Without cars.
And if you own a pair, you can play too!
Download the games!
Red and cyan
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Double vision
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
3D spectacles
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Fireflies
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Excitement
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
Last week, girl_tm and I were in Toronto.
To everyone we saw, it was so nice to see you again!
To everyone we missed, alas, we will have to arrange something next time.
It was the first time I threw a party with Flora.
It was amazing to have her friends and our friends meeting each other.
Plus, I got to meet Flora’s new beau.
I’d like to add that Vecchio Frak was very, very nice and very, very accommodating.
And the cocktails were pretty good too!
We shall return.
Rob, Aleece, and Flora
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
I just bought one-sixteenth of a cow. Cows are pretty big, so there’s plenty of beef.
I conspired with diluvienne to cook some of her share.
We made huge pots of boeuf bourguignon and beef chili. Our plan is to have some of it for lunch tomorrow.
I have no photos of this wild culinary excess. Instead, here is a picture of something completely different.
Crème brulée
Originally uploaded by sfllaw.
or
The curious mind of Nicole Picard.
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