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Since long long ago the military has used maps and graphic symbols to plan and implement combat plans. So to plan a mission, you need a MGRS topographic map, a blow up of the same map covering your Objective, and enough laminate overlays to fill a small car.
I love arts and crafts just like the next guy, but is the sales guy at the mall gets a touchscreen tablet, why cant we get planning software.
My list of needs:
-a topographic version of Google Earth with Military Grid ref System
-variable zoom and contour intervals
-ability to capture snapshot the desired map
-several tabbed 'layers' that I can toggle on and stack as needed
-simple drawing tools
-a tactical symbol database, one that recognizes the symbol I'm trying to fat finger and inserts it for me.
That is all. |
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tags: #military, #maps, #planning
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While arguably probably not my best work, it only took me all of a couple hours, I present a listing of all the Texas Historical Markers. I don't know why I never linked to it before. Maybe I'm not too proud of it, but I wanted to give you access to it. What features do I need to add?
I discovered one evening that Texas has a database of all historical markers in the state freely available online in a comma separated value file (among other formats). What's a geek to do but grab the file and throw it in a MySQL database!
I whipped up a quick drop-down list of all the marker names and used AJAX to show the marker's text. A couple of simple URLs allow you to see, generally, where the marker is located. I have the location information in the database, but it's not Lat/Long which would make for easy map-making. Perhaps that will be my next step. Found a supporting .txt file that has most of the Lat/Long. A simple JOIN from the database fixed that problem. (though, to be honest, some of the coordinates are way off. Unless Texas has markers in Mexico.)
At any rate, take it or leave it, there it is: http://n5dux.com/histmark/ |
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tags: texas history php database
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Ok programmers and code monkeys, it's time for Programming Challenge 2. Nothing overly complicated this time. I was just messing around and thought you'd like this quick little brain teaser.
It's a "just for fun" challenge. Choose your favorite language for this one. Here it goes:
Part A: Display/print a vertical sin wave using * characters.
Part B: Display same sin wave horizontally using * characters.
Part A should get you going in the right direction (esp. if you've never played with the sin functions in your language), but Part B is a bit more tricky. No graphics libraries, cheater.
Post source in comments (must be logged in to comment).
Winner to receive 1 small shot of self satisfaction of completing trivial problem through useless challenge on obscure blog. |
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tags: programming sin_wave
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To say that there is extensive documentation on Apache and its various plugins, including mod_rewrite, is to grossly understate the term. Documentation is voluminous to the point of beginning to wonder if the various authors had a combined total of more than five dates with actual girls in the history of their lives.
Disgruntled, then, was I to discover that on the entirety of the Internet, there was no documentation surrounding what I needed to accomplish. I've since come to realize that this is likely due to the obscurity of the issue or the availability of other commonly known tools to accomplish the task I had before me.
That task: Rewriting and redirecting a URL from my local environment using Apache and mod_rewrite.
Without delving into specifics, I needed to take an HTTP request generated by a page viewed in my browser and direct that request to another location, including a change of domain.
Now, the more seasoned among you may resolve that the very purpose of mod_alias is to perform this task. However, just because I'm a glutton for punishment, in this particular case, I also need to change the value of a query string parameter in the URL having its domain changed. Gaze upon the domain of mod_rewrite, ye mighty, and despair.
While mod_alias is designed to handle the translation of domains, mod_rewrite is designed to handle that and query string parameters (as well as a bunch of other stuff that I have no idea about). Before we can start directing URLs to and fro, we must first setup Apache.
I'll not regale the reader with the riveting tale of that process as it is rather well (and usefully) documented. The mod_rewrite module must be included in httpd.conf and the Apache instance must be configured to run as 127.0.0.1 on port 80. Do be wary of configuring the server value as localhost because sometimes the value does not translate, especially in Windows.
Continue reading... |
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tags: Apache mod_rewrite URL modification redirection cake pie howto
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Most of the students where I teach have time in their computer labs to surf the web or play flash games. The IT department, in order to conserve bandwidth and filter "inappropriate material", need to block most games. Since most games are just mind-numbing wastes of time, most teachers support this. Students looking for games will scour the web searching for game sites that aren't blocked. As soon as one game site is discovered, the URL spreads like wildfire before the site is blocked in the next few days. The cycle repeats itself ad nauseum.
Seeing the problem from both sides, I decided to make an "approved games list" of games that at least feature some academic merit. I understand that games can be beneficial and educational while still being enjoyable. I asked my Computer Science class to find games they enjoy and add them to my games list. They needed to list the educational lessons found within the game and the supporting TEKS on my games list.
The end result has grown into "Mr. Gober's Games". Several students use the site daily and it has received the approval of administration.
Ideally, the next step will be to house the site on the school network to reduce the bandwidth load and increase response speed for the user.
Recently I have added a page to add games, a method to report broken or inappropriate games and a new ratings system. The ratings system was my first successful foray into AJAX. I've attempted AJAX before but came up short. Fortunately jQuery made the effort much easier by abstracting most of the work for me. So, take a look at Mr Gober's Games and have fun - don't forget to vote for your favorites! |
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tags: games flash php ajax school
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I had no idea. Well, I guess I had never looked. I found Freelance-projects and elance this morning, after being told by friends. They're connection points for posting freelance software jobs and finding freelance programmers to do it. It's definately an international thing (quite a few are from asia) so the pricing can become very competitive.
I just missed a simple "PHP/MySQL export to Excel" job by a few minutes. The bidding was already closed. So if you have any online tech skills and figure you have some free time, pick a fun project and pick up some extra cash. |
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 I was rolling the idea around in my head how I'd do it (database structure, features, etc.), but I was considering making a Christmas wishlist that you could log into and edit/update, etc.Sure, Amazon does wishlists, but you can only link to items sold on Amazon, what if I want something they don't carry? Yeah, how about that? So, as all real programmers do, I started coding before I had a finished concept. I didn't get too far into it before I got distracted and hassled with schoolwork.
So, I stalled out. One day, whilst on Digg, I came across this lovely site: wishlistr.com. I guess they're trying to stay with the whole Web2.0 naming convention wherein you drop the "e" from an "-er" name, ala Flickr. Anywho, the site does just what I was planning to do. You create an account and start in on your list, you can reorder the list and add/remove as you wish. (here's my list)
One notion that I'm not sure if they captured is to scan the users' URL, if it links to Amazon or some other site that gives referral bonuses (like 10% of the sale), then pass the user through your referral link transparently, therein resulting in a nice pull for your time/effort. That's the only thing lacking in their design, that and no ability to include a thumbnail of the item on your list. Otherwise it's a solid site, wish I'd thought of it sooner ...or is it spelled "soonr"? |
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 I posted this in the shoutbox the other day, but I can't get over how helpful and informative these are. Yahoo posted some tutorial/introduction videos called the Yahoo! UI Library. It's basically a collection of videos that were (mostly) shot at Yahoo internal workshops on the JavaScript language and using JavaScript tools with the Yahoo User Interface Library (YUI).
The videos I've finished watching so far is the introduction on the ins-and-outs of the JavaScript language by Yahoo JS Architect Doug Crockford. With sites like Yahoo and Google using JavaScript to create great webapps and sites like Digg with it's great user interface, which is powered by AJAX, I knew it was high time I finally put a saddle on JavaScript. For much too long I thought JavaScript was a PHP wannabe and I poo-poo'd it for quite a while. After seeing the "big dogs" like Yahoo and Google put it to good use, I realized I was mistaken. I've tried to read and understand JavaScript syntax and structure before from different books, but I've found these videos to be super helpful in explaining the usage of JavaScript and the structure of the DOM.
So, if you're at all interested in learning more about JavaScript or what Yahoo's doing with it in the form of the YUI, check out these videos.
update: I found this interesting and pertinent enough to be added here. O'Reilly.net has a good article on migrating PHP applications to AJAX. It covers a bit of AJAX terminology and it's associated technologies (JSON, XMLHttpRequest, et al). |
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I finally figured out why I couldn't get XBMC to stream Frontline shows anymore, it turns out PBS has changed the URL of their media server from a static IP to a real hostname. The script was originally written to use the static IP, so I fixed it. I also noticed they changed the URLs slightly so I allowed the script to handle that as well.
If you have XBMC running on your Xbox, make sure you're running a relatively recent install. (The one on Slayer's won't cut it.) You can grab the script and extract it in your XBMC/scripts directory. Once you run the script it will grab the listing of all of the Frontline episodes available on the web along with a description of that episode. (This isn't to say if you don't have an Xbox you can't watch Frontline, the videos are made to stream to your PC, it's just more comfy to sit on the couch and watch them!)
Update: I've submitted my updated/fixed version to xbmcscripts, and it has been posted. You can download it here, or just grab it from my files sections here: pbs-v.0.2c.zip. |
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Prepare the the onslaught of new web-clients, new client releases/updates, plugins, website AIM widgets, and countless computer magazine articles on how to write your own AIM client. AOL has released the AOL Instant Messenger SDK for public use. This is just one of thousands of articles hailing its release. It's been a long time coming, several years that I've been watching for it. When IM clients decided to use one protocol last year sometime, I thought the released of the SDK would be right along side the protocol decision.
I haven't looked at it yet, but I'll probably wait til someone else reads the documentation and comes up with a more friendly HOWTO. (Besides, I really don't care to write my own IM client anyways.) |
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I recently got a BASIC Stamp microcontroller project board from Parallax, Inc. (that's a mouthful). Microcontrollers (µC) have been my latest interest. I've wanted to get my brain wrapped around how they work for some time, and I used some money I got for Christmas to buy one.
For those of you that don't know what a microcontroller is, it's simply a chip that acts as a self-contained computer which you program to your liking and hook into a circuit you've constructed. The BASIC Stamp µC is about the size of a postage stamp and the code is written in BASIC (hence the name). BASIC is used over assembly (like the PIC and AVR micocontrollers) because of its easy syntax. It allows a much shorter learning curve and gets you up and going with the basics of µC use.
The particular setup I got is a complete kit from Radio Shack (which they're going to stop carrying soon) which includes a BS2 chip on a programming board, with a breadboard area, 9V battery hookup and a serial port. The kit came with the serial cable, a copy of the "What's a Microcontroller?" book, software, and a bag of basic electrical components to experiment with. The book steps you through lessons (designed for those with zero knowledge of electronics or electric theory). It also explains simple programming concepts and walks you through several projects. My only regret is that the board's µC is built into the board. To create a µC-based project, I will either have to use this entire board with its connections, or purchase a seperate stamp (~$30) and a programming board for it. However, this is not a big problem at the moment since I'm still learning.
If you're interested in getting into this field of electronics/computers I recommend considering the Parallax line for its ease of use and great instructional material.
Continue reading... |
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This site has a nifty tweak which is located at Devnulled here. Apparently you can customize Firefox to load pages a little faster. I noticed quite a bit of a speed boost after I had loaded this in. |
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I was searching the Internet for a way to get Firefox to play embedded AVI's and BEHOLD, there is a way. Some guy in some forum posted these 2 lines of nifty code to add to your config file in firefox...
Edit the file
Appdata%/mozilla/firefox/pluginreg.dat
There's two of these files; make sure you get the one that is in the firefox sub-directory.
"
G:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\npdsplay.dll|$
|$
1091573676000|1|5|$
Npdsplay dll|$
Windows Media Player Plug-in Dynamic Link Library|$
10 <-- HERE IS THE 1st CHANGE from 9 to 10
0|application/asx|Media Files|*|$
1|video/x-ms-asf-plugin|Media Files|*|$
2|application/x-mplayer2|Media Files|*|$
3|video/x-ms-asf|Media Files|asf,asx,*|$
4|video/x-ms-wm|Media Files|wm,*|$
5|audio/x-ms-wma|Media Files|wma,*|$
6|audio/x-ms-wax|Media Files|wax,*|$
7|video/x-ms-wmv|Media Files|wmv,*|$
8|video/x-ms-wvx|Media Files|wvx,*|$
9|video/x-msvideo|Media Files|avi,*|$ <-- ADDED THIS LINE
"
Make sure firefox is closed before you do this. After this is done, you can play all the avi's you want. |
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Perl pwnz j00. It is amazing.
As I said before, most automated tasks at work are scripts written in Perl. It is highly important that everyone on the team be proficient in the scripting language. I've been allowed time to grow accustomed to its usage and syntax. I think that today I finally broke into understanding the power of Perl.
It's extremely easy to implement complex routines through the use of CPAN modules. They are essentially extensible libraries for use in a script. They are very easy to add to you system, they are only loaded when you invoke them from within your script, and can do many powerful things.
Things that would take a C/C++ programmer much longer to do. Granted, C/C++ create smaller/quicker binaries, but Perl is easy to maintain and easy to develop a "quick and dirty" fix.
Skaven has been preaching to me to get into Perl, I think I have finally started to truly break ground. I thought I had made some progress before, but it wasn't until this afternoon that it really hit me - with the force of 2 sumo's colliding at full-speed.
Sorry it took so long Skaven, I'm awake now. |
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Expect is a great utility for automating sys-admin tasks. It's been on my to-do list for learning for some time now. I've seen it used by one of the admins where I used to work and was amazed at what it can handle.
To quote the Expect website, "Expect is a tool for automating interactive applications such as telnet (ssh), ftp, passwd, fsck, rlogin, tip, etc. Expect really makes this stuff trivial. Expect is also useful for testing these same applications."
O'Reilly books has a great book on the subject, Exploring Expect, and has been a title I have been searching for, but this year it's high on my wishlist I got it for Christmas.
Expect is based on the Tcl ("tickle") scripting language, combined with the Tk extensions, Tcl itself is pretty nifty. Here's one example of what you can do with Tcl/Tk. (and that's one example i use quite a bit when i'm at a console!) |
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I'm taking a C++ and COBOL class at SFA State this semester.
I already know C++ to the point that I am fairly comfortable with it. I hope to expand on this knowledge during the semester, and to learn the "right" way to code.
As for COBOL? I'm not too sure how enjoyable it will be.
This cool link shows how each language differs by presenting the most simple "hello world" program. There are some very odd-looking programs/scripts listed on there, I'm sure you havent heard or seen at least 75% of the languages listed on there. |
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I've been learning Regular Expressions lately. I must say, they are very nifty. Knowing them will save you alot of time if you're trying to match a word or string of characters from an outside source. I found this page that seems to be pretty easy to understand and geared towards those that are learning regex's.
If you are learning, try using them in vi or awk. |
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