TITLE OF PAPER: Two Impromptus, or How Python Helped Us Design Our Kitchen
URL OF PRESENTATION: _URL_of_powerpoint_presentation_
PRESENTED BY: Andrew koenig
REPRESENTING: _name_of_the_company_they_represent_

CONFERENCE: PyCON 2004
DATE: 20040324
LOCATION: _venue_and_room_in_venue_

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
REAL-TIME NOTES / ANNOTATIONS OF THE PAPER:
{If you've contributed, add your name, e-mail & URL at the bottom}

Kitchen remodel with flexible builder.

Didn't change much, extended kitchen, changed counter, easy tile cleaning, no particular design in mind.

Counter:
    was laminated plastic over particle board
    had to be simple to fab, no pointy bits, new one of synthstone
    how to improve shape?

Shape: 'superellipse' from 09/65 sci am
Curve: x^n + y^n = r^n
        n -> inf => square
        n = 2.5 => piet hein curve, 'nice' shape

But, would that curve work? How to fab it?

Problem:
    - gen shapes, display shapes, output paper template
    - get reliable implementation w/min investment/effort

Solution:
    - pic->troff->dpost->ps-preview
    - dpost can enlarge/crop to page

Why Py?
    - rapid dev cycle
    - 5s to build/viz results in c++
    - Rapid prototyping is one of the core reasons for using python

Program:
    - ~90 lines
    - 'intersting' code was counter symmetry to gen other side from first.
    - tuples in param lists useful

Problem 2:
    - tiling behind stove
    - how not to use an extra box of $$ tile

How to design tile:
    - use markers & graph paper traditionally
    - knew of tkinter, created a simple ui w/buttons with it
        - tile == button
        - clicking a tile sets it to current color
        - addl button changes cur color
        - button management apparently a pain. schelp of code to show how prob solved
            - created a closure for each button to be the callback for that button
            - since callback takes no args, this is how he kept knowledge of which button was clicked while writing only one callback func
        - output as screenshots

Lessons learned:
    - surprisngly small problems solved with tools/programming
    - fast turnaround encourages experimentation (5s too long if interrupts you)
    - tkinter simple, easy to learn/use
    - higher-order fns useful for passing hidden info via callbacks

Questions:
    q: any suboptimalities in this project/experience?
    a: would like better way of producing sheets (large page-spanning output)
       wants package to take large drawing and chop it up by-hand
       tcl/tk knowledge made tkinter easy

    q: num pieces in countertop?
    a: 2 pieces, glued together (pix might be useful here)
       when assembled, discovered sink holes to small, cut glue joint w/diamond saw
       counter got shorter

    q: anyone recognize shape?
    a: nope, but people like it, and fit more people

    q: any unit tests? 
    a: hehe. trick question. observed @ breakfast that couldn't test, since
       acceptance criteria was aesthetics.

    q: cat skinning question (no cats harmed)

    q: why not use large plotter? how did you explain writing software to wife/contractor?
    a: no plotter avail, give ps to kinkos? no idea if work.
    a: wife a geek too, dug. contractor said they were 'interesting' clients.

    q: kitechen cab design software sux0rs. 
    a: responses to this (koenig) project somewhere between impressed and bemused
    
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quotes:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
REFERENCES: {as documents / sites are referenced add them below}
paper: http://www.python.org/pycon/dc2004/papers/52/main.html
pic: http://www.gsp.com/cgi-bin/man.cgi?section=1&topic=pic

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTRIBUTORS: {add your name, e-mail address and URL below}
Bob Kuehne, rpk@blue-newt.com, http://www.blue-newt.com
Russell Finn, rsf@sprucehill.com, http://www.sprucehill.com/rsf/blog [future]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
E-MAIL BOUNCEBACK: {add your e-mail address separated by commas }
rpk@blue-newt.com


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOTES ON / KEY TO THIS TEMPLATE:
A headline (like a field in a database) will be CAPITALISED
    This differentiates from the text that follows
A variable that you can change will be surrounded by _underscores_
    Spaces in variables are also replaced with under_scores
    This allows people to select the whole variable with a simple double-click
A tool-tip is lower case and surrounded by {curly brackets / parentheses}
    These supply helpful contextual information.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright shared between all the participants unless otherwise stated...