Information Thru-Way

Pet Programmer Peeve

2009-07-26T21:45:00.003-05:00

I'm currently working on a new blog, and this one will be deprecated at some point in the future. I'll link to the new one when the time comes. However, I felt I had to stop in to point out one of my greatest C/C++ pet peeves.When a programmer writing a C++ program wants to declare a reference to an integer, he will often write:int& myInt = i;I am here today to tell you that this practice is

Setting up a Pretty Bash Prompt in Linux

2008-11-21T14:21:00.004-05:00

I've been using a command line for a few years now, but only recently did I start experimenting with customizing my prompt. I've built up what I think is a useful and pretty prompt, so I figure it's only right to share it.Normally, this will show the username and hostname in green, followed by the path and the dollar in blue.chris@linuxbox:~/some/directory $If there are jobs running the

Currying in JavaScript: Fun for the Whole Family!

2008-01-29T11:34:00.000-05:00

Files referenced: curry.js 2kbAs I've said before, I'm quite partial to JavaScript. Lately, I've been reading about currying functions, so let's see if currying can be done in JavaScript.The begs the question, What is currying? Currying is a technique to transform a function that takes some number of arguments to a function that takes fewer. The process was named after the logician Haskell

Math Humor

2007-12-05T16:29:00.000-05:00

I heard a funny joke today in my Multi-Variable Calculus class today (at least I thought it was funny):ex is walking down the street when he meets 2x. He says to 2x, "Hey, didn't you used to be x2?" 2x replies, "Yes, but the differential operators are out today. Watch out!"ex keep walking, and just as 2x said, he runs into a differential operator. The operator says, "I'm gonna differentiate

Tonight's Aritcle: “Band of Geeks” - or - “With honors: Smart kid program revealed”

2007-11-14T10:31:00.000-05:00

Yesterday a friend pointed out an article about the UAlbany Honors College in the Albany Student Press, the university student newspaper. Before then I'd never read an article from the ASP, and now I wish it had stayed that way. This morning I took out my pen and corrected everything I saw in the article. I'll scan it tonight and add links so you can see for yourself.As the title of this post

A-Maze-Ing

2007-05-04T12:59:00.000-05:00

Today was my last computer science lab of the semester, so I thought I'd share this problem we discussed...The Problem:Given a grid of empty and filled spaces, find the number of shortest paths from start to finish.Example 1:S 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 00 0 0 0 0 0 FS is start, F is finish, and 0 is an empty space. Programmatically, we can determine that the answer is 84 paths. Now we

JavaScript is powerful, people. Believe me.

2007-04-23T09:00:00.000-05:00

There are many people who still believe that JavaScript is somehow an inferior programming language, and that Java or C++ is somehow better. Today I shall attempt to put some of these beliefs to rest.First a little history. JavaScript started in the Netscape browser as a new feature to combat the competing Internet Explorer (we can see how well that worked out). It was originally called Mocha,

There's No Law of Conservation of Sanity?

2007-04-19T08:42:00.000-05:00

Σ0 = 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + . . .Σ0 = (1 − 1) + (1 − 1) + (1 − 1) + (1 − 1) + . . .Σ0 = 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + 1 − 1 + . . .Σ0 = 1 + (−1 + 1) + (−1 + 1) + (−1 + 1) + (−1 + 1) + . . .Σ0 = 1Has something been created from nothing?

6° (or -14°C) of Separation

2007-04-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

In Linked, Barabási discusses the notion of “six degrees of separation”, according to which any two individuals are connected by no more than 4 other individuals. This is a direct result of our modern society; people are more connected, be it by computers or long distance travel, than ever before.One such connection is the internet; it allows us to instantly communicate with people nowhere near

What's Up at the Rescue Mission

2007-04-16T09:50:00.000-05:00

Since my last blog about the Rescue Mission, a lot more has happened. We've built a new index page for them and have started work on the next batch of pages that need updating. But in this post I would like to focus on Dreamweaver Templates.In Dreamweaver, developers can built templates, which are basically web pages that have no content. Then new pages can be built off of these templates and

Why do I dislike C++?

2007-04-15T21:45:00.000-05:00

Let me count the ways...1. Overloading OperatorsLet's suppose we have the following:std::vector stack;vector::const_pointer iter = stack.begin();This instantiates a vector of integers and an iterator for that vector. So far so good.To access the element at which iter is currently looking, we type:int b = *iter;In other words, it looks as though we dereference iter. So it would follow

The DaVinci Coder (or Thoughts on Leonardo's Laptop)

2007-03-21T09:36:00.000-05:00

In Leonardo's Laptop, Ben Shneiderman writes about “old computing” and “new computing”. Old computing is actually current computing, where programs aren't always designed to be user-friendly. These “old” programs crash too often (and randomly), spitting back ugly and incomprehensible error messages. On the other hand, there is new computing, the knight in shining armor to save us from old

Here's what has happened.

2007-03-19T10:45:00.000-05:00

Jeremy and I have been volunteering at the Capital City Rescue Mission for the past couple months now. They have asked us to do a few things:Import their website to Macromedia DreamweaverFix their layout issuesSet up a blog and show them how to use itThese may not seem like particularly difficult tasks, but updating the website is turning out to be a real ordeal. The company that built the site

The Onion - America's Finest News Source

2007-03-05T12:40:00.000-05:00

The Onion is the internet's finest source for farce news. Here is today's headline story:Unreleased Jimmy Page Guitar Riff To Be Retrieved From Secret Vault To Save Rock And RollGWYNEDD, WALES—Recent developments in the music world, such as the popularity of the Dixie Chicks and Sufjan Stevens, have created a "perfect storm of lameness.".onion_embed {background: rgb(256, 256, 256) !important;

More Math-Related Humour

2007-03-02T13:55:00.000-05:00

René Descartes was sitting at a bar. The bartender asked him, "Will you have another beer?". Descartes replied, "I think not" and promptly ceased to be.

Too good to pass up...

2007-02-26T10:49:00.000-05:00

I know this is old, but let's prove that 2 = 1.Let a and b be equal non-zero quantities a = bMultiply through by a a2 = abSubtract b2 a2 − b2 = ab − b2Factor both sides (a − b)(a + b) = b(a − b)Divide out (a − b) a + b = bObserving that a = b b + b = bCombine like terms on the left 2b = bDivide by the non-zero b 2 = 1Who can spot the fallacy?Works Cited"Invalid proof". Wikipedia.

Reading, Writing, and... Blogging?

2007-02-26T07:56:00.000-05:00

Weblogs, or blogs, are the new digital diaries, and they are gaining popularity quickly. It seems that adolescents are particularly fond of blogs; as much as 51% of blogs are run by teens. (Huffaker) Given this context, should not our educators be using blogs in their curricula?In my Social and Community Informatics class, we have been using blogs (this one, for instance) to write our responses

Death of Computing?

2007-02-12T09:09:00.000-05:00

Since its introduction in the '50s, the computer has gone from scientific instrument to household appliance. What was once used only by scientists to perform complex calculations has become a convenient way to send a message or organize photos. The average user knows next to nothing about programming; he buys and uses commercial products. In the modern computing context, where does computer

Outlook 2007: Pushing E-Mail Ahead -10 Years

2007-02-08T15:59:00.000-05:00

Microsoft has been getting a lot of flack lately over some of its products. There's the Zune, whose DRM makes sharing music (its big selling point) a pain in the neck, and sometimes impossible. Then there's Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft's big chance to jump ahead of the competition (read: Mozilla Firefox), which was received to lukewarm response by the web browsing community. But I don't

Sharing is Caring

2007-02-07T13:35:00.001-05:00

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing UsWeb 2.0 in just under 5 minutes.This is a really cool movie detailing how the Web is changing from an information web to a personal web.Best of all, I'm posting this directly from YouTube. It can do all the heavy lifting for me!Next are some deviations (artworks) from deviantART. I'll probably be posting some of the cool things I see from time to time.

The Digital Divide: Minor Split or Iron Curtain?

2007-02-05T08:27:00.000-05:00

The Digital Divide is often thought of as a split between those who have access to technology and those who do not. However, this is not an adequate definition. Access to technologies such as computers and the Internet are becoming more and more easily accessable. Schools and libraries have computers available for use, and the price of personal computers is much lower than it used to be. So

Charting a Course for Fun!

2007-01-31T12:48:00.000-05:00

To the right is a link to a model of a Socio-Technical Network. Each participant in the network (Designer, Content Provider, User, and Manager) and his or her related ICT is in a corner. The arrows represent the flow of information between participants. This model was created in Macromedia Fireworks (Macromedia was bought out by Adobe), a vector graphics editing program. The image itself is a

Remember I was talking about Internet Explorer?

2007-01-29T19:15:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned in my last post, coding for IE is a bit of a joke; one never knows what code will work and what won't without doing a bit of research. Unfortunately, I can't easily test any of the new features I add to this blog in IE (I'm on a Mac -- the best Microsoft will give us is IE 5). I've tested it extensively in Firefox and Safari (the Apple browser), but I have to log onto a PC to

Thought Answers

2007-01-28T19:39:00.001-05:00

Computing has come a long way since its start back in the early twentieth century (although some may argue that computing actually began in the early nineteenth century). Even so, one of the main goals of computer engineers has always been to make their systems configurable. This is because an ICT's use is not fully defined by its design.When a computer user is given a new piece of software, for

Blog the First

2007-01-24T07:41:00.000-05:00

There is a difference between the ways in which the popular media and scholars discuss technology. There always has been, probably ever since popular media was invented. Newspapers of the time probably glossed over the technical aspect of the light-bulb while the scientific community marvelled at it. But why does this difference exist?The popular media must appeal to a wide range of viewers,