Disable webcam autofocus on Linux when plugin it in

/etc/udev/rules.d/99-logitech-webcam-c525.rules

# Disable auto focus for a Logitech C525 Webcam
#
# The focus keeps being off, so I have to set up to infinite. This requires to
# first disable the automatic focus, wait a bit and then set it to infinite.
#
# Attempt to disable and set the focus at the same time will fail with:
#
#   "invalid or incomplete multibyte or wide character"
#
# Which is the bug somewhere in the stack. A sleep works around it.
#
#
# For the udev conditional, you can get all variables using:
#
#   udevadm info -a -p $(udevadm info -q path -n /dev/video2)
#
# I have picked the device name rather than the identifier. Else for a Logitech
# HD Webcam C525 the rule would be:
#
#   ATTRS{idVendor}=="046d", ATTRS{idProduct}=="0826",
#
ACTION=="add", \
  SUBSYSTEM=="video4linux", \
  ATTRS{name}=="HD Webcam C525", \
  ENV{ID_V4L_CAPABILITIES}==":capture:" \
  RUN+="/usr/bin/v4l2-ctl -d $env{DEVNAME} -c focus_automatic_continuous=0", \
  RUN+="/bin/sh -c '/bin/sleep 1 && /usr/bin/v4l2-ctl -d $env{DEVNAME} -c focus_absolute=0'"

Picking a favorite condiment

What is your favorite condiment asked a coworker? I would probably pick Currygewürzketchup.

I have discovered that on my second trip to Berlin a decade ago. After landing at the old Berlin airport I headed up outside for some fresh air and encountered a food truck. Being a little hungry I headed in that direction,, hoping I could discover a bit of the local cuisine. It was around 3pm which is an unusual time to pick up food in France. Unless your a young hipster or are clueless of France strict eating schedule, we observe a strict timing 7am, 1pm, 4pm, 8pm without snack in between.  Being in the vicinity of an airport it smelled like a tourist trap and my expectations were not that high.

As approached I noticed the waiting line was entirely composed of people in their very strict business attires (fancy suits for men, skirt suite and blouse for women with brief cases). It set me on alert, their outfits indicate they are most probably well educated and those people would probably not fall for the usual tourist crap food. I thus entered the line and the truck chef, in a perfect English, recommended me their classic: the currywurst.  It is pork sausage with a spiced tomato paste topped with curry powder.   It has been a revelation, and a few days later I went to walk more than one hour to head to the best currywurst place in Berlin since I needed my fix.

What does senior means in a job title?

Copy pasted from a writing I have done in a chat. I haven't proofread the text.

our American colleagues have Craigs List a website with a minimalist layout on which people can post announces.  France has a similar thing (though the layout has really improved over time): Le BonCoin.  Literally it means "the good corner" , a corner meaning a good place to be at.  So think about it as an online garage sale on which you can find anything

I had just started at the Wikimedia Foundation, the grand pinnacle of my existence and went to intend an open source conference in Paris with a few acquaintances from my home city (read: geeks drinking beers in an underground coffee). I have just transitioned from a telco career to a "software developer", so even if my few months tenure at the WMF was enough to impressionate anyone, I kept a rather low profile since I was really just a newbie (and still am).

So the freshman developer I was got introduced to a way more senior person. Well technically we are the exact same age, but he had an actual degree in computer science and had done all of his career in a rather niche field that nobody really want to have to ever have to deal with. He was a senior DBA.

So I am here working for that tiny little non profit has a junior dev facing one THE dba of one of the biggest website in the France ecosystem.  I could not say much but I could definitely learn a bunch of lessons.

How I knew he was a senior DBA? He gave me his visit card and upon reading his fancy title I asked back: "why are you senior?"

To which he replied: "you had a computer since childhood, you have done a ton of mistakes, probably lost your disk data entirely, had a computer wiped in production, deployed on a late friday and ended up your work week at 6 am on a Saturday as a result"

Me: "oh sure that is experience"

Him: "being a senior his having done enough mistakes that it is unlikely you will do mistake again"

A post I have send to Wikimedia Foundation internal communication system. I have lightly edited it for public publishing.

When I was around ten years old (the age of my oldest kid today) I have stepped upon the front page of a scientific magazine: "the highways of information". I was supposed to intend a class at the music school but time has flown as I was busy reading the lengthy article describing what will become the world wide web and the internet. It was roughly in 1988.

I have been lucky to have an internet connection as early as of 1995 and internet became my second home. Sometime in 1999, someone introduced me to the concept of wikis. The internet bubble had not busted yet, blogs were barely a thing and neither Wikipedia nor MySpace existed. The conversation went more or less like: 

Anonymous: "it is a revolution, a site that anyone can edit" 

 "A site that anyone can edit?" I repeated. 

And I quickly continued: "That is dumb, it will never stand the script kiddies defacing website for the lulz".

I just have turned 21 and I was definitely a fool but did not know about it at the time nor I could expect the so called web 2.0 that will be put the world in the digital era. 

A few years later I was browsing Usenet (more or less the equivalent of Quora/Wikipedia/Facebook/Twitter at that time). People used their post signature as a little advertisement place. Often for their personal website or for little projects they wanted to show case to the world. You expect it: that landed me on an article of the french Wikipedia. 

 

One never knows where a link can lead you too. It could be the best, the worse or simply a life changing experience. Previous exposure to the term wiki kicked memory as it was showing in the Wikipedia domain name. It has struck my curiosity and I obviously had to hit the site. Page loaded and I promptly clicked `[edit]` in order to deface it and prove my point. Instead I felt I could contribute fr a change and improve the text following the path of Diderot and d'Alembert (french encyclopedists). It was in October 2002, a few days after I have turned 24 years old and the start of my wiki adventure.

For almost twenty years Wikipedia has been part of my life, if not my life. When I have joined the foundation (thank you Sam Reed, Chad Horohoe, Rob Lanphier and others), my family, friends and acquaintances had a relief: Antoine will finally stop talking about Wikipedia from the time I wake up to bed time. Little they knew it would make things even worse. On top of being a hobby .... It became my job. 

 

Wikipedia has been half of my life. It is the closest thing I can think of when it comes to my personal values, my view of the world or the kindness I try to push when I act. One might see it as bragging, but Wikipedia is definitely the most important thing that ever happened to me and the world. It is a guidance to me. I am sure it will be my companion for the rest of my life and I have great hope it will outpass me. Much like a good book can be passed from a generation to another one. 

The world had turmoils in the last couple years, but we have a cap that is above and beyond those: collect the sum of all knowledge. If you like Wikipedia, please take some minutes this week-end to do a few edits on our favorite website and feel free.I am turning 43 years old today (Oct 15th), and this week-end I will celebrate my ten years tenure at the foundation and an edit on Wikipedia will be a great gift to me.

WikiLove

Gerrit mail header X-Gerrit-MessageType

Values for the field X-Gerrit-MessageType based on my email inbox and Gerrit source code (gerrit-server/src/main/java/com/google/gerrit/server/mail/send/* classes):

• abandon
• addkey
• comment
• deleteReviewer
• deleteVote
• merged
• newchange
• newpatchset
• registernewemail
• restore
• revert
• setassignee