AJAX, Canvas, Python, and Web 2.0 goodness
February 26, 2007 at 3:26 pm | In AJAX, Javascript, Python | Leave a CommentEver had to find your way around a huge college campus? How about ever been late for a class or meeting on a regular?
AJAX to the rescue!
WWU Route Finder is a proof of concept of an AJAX map using Canvas and Python. Click two buildings, and the Python back end, accessed using XMLHTTPRequest of course, shows you the shortest path between your start and destination.
The biggest advantage is that the Python back end can access a highly optimized Graphing library and potentially support real time processing of hundreds of thousands of nodes, taking advantage of the server hardware and not relying upon the performance of a browser’s Javascript engine.
Update: fixed broken link.
My Project: Status Update 3
January 8, 2007 at 11:44 am | In My Project | Leave a CommentActual implementation has begun! Going along quite well. Having a design to work from is really helping me avoid stupid mistakes from the get go.
Items to Accomplish / Percent Complete
- Choose Platform: 100% (Done)
- Setup Platform: 100%
- Choose libraries: 95% —
- Integrate libraries into project: 65% — Most libraries are currently in use, one still needs to be integrated.
- Program base algorithm: 65% — Methods are in place, and most of the program logic is there.
- Choose test case: 45% — About half the test cases have been decided upon.
- Program test case: 5% — Stubs in place to latch on to for performing tests.
- Choose performance measurement tool: 15% — Additional research has been performed.
- Integrate performance measurements: 0%
My Project: Status Update 2
December 18, 2006 at 6:06 pm | In Life in general | Leave a CommentOutlined program in further depth, defined what structs are going to be needed, globals, that sort of thing. Strange, only getting a 2% markup for what is a lot of work!
Items to Accomplish / Percent Complete
- Choose Platform: 100% (Done)
- Setup Platform: 90%
- Choose libraries: 65% — Research started on second library, learning about options available
- Integrate libraries into project: 0% — Need to finish choosing libraries first
- Program base algorithm: 12% — Algorithm code outlined
- Choose test case: 5% — Some thought has gone into it, but it needs more investigation
- Program test case: 0%
- Choose performance measurement tool: 2% — I have heard of some of these, but need to investigate them more
- Integrate performance measurements: 0%
My Project: Status Update 1
December 16, 2006 at 1:26 pm | In My Project | Leave a CommentSpent a lot of time researching various aspects of linear computation, at the expense of a headache. The ability to pick up a topic rapidly comes with its downsides as well…
Items to Accomplish / Percent Complete
- Choose Platform: 100% (Done)
- Setup Platform: 90%
- Choose libraries: 65% — Research started on second library, learning about options available
- Integrate libraries into project: 0% — Need to finish choosing libraries first
- Program base algorithm: 10% — Algorithm code outlined
- Choose test case: 5% — Some thought has gone into it, but it needs more investigation
- Program test case: 0%
- Choose performance measurement tool: 2% — I have heard of some of these, but need to investigate them more
- Integrate performance measurements: 0%
My Project: Initial Status
November 28, 2006 at 2:20 pm | In My Project | Leave a CommentI am working on a project, of which I am not going to go into details about. These blog entries serve to mark my progress.
Items to Accomplish / Percent Complete
- Choose Platform: 100% (Done)
- Setup Platform: 80% — Need to finish minor details, but ready to start development if another hour or so does not lead to results
- Choose libraries: 40% — I have one library in mind that I have used previously, but I need to investigate it more to see if it can handle the load I am going to be placing on it. I need to start looking for the second library still
- Integrate libraries into project: 0% — Need to finish choosing libraries first
- Program base algorithm: 0%
- Choose test case: 5% — Some thought has gone into it, but it needs more investigation
- Program test case: 0%
- Choose performance measurement tool: 2% — I have heard of some of these, but need to investigate them more
- Integrate performance measurements: 0%
Good sources for free legal music
November 21, 2006 at 9:16 am | In mp3, music | Leave a CommentLooking for some good music, but don’t want to get sued by the RIAA?
www.live365.com is cool if you want to find a digital radio station that closely resembled a regular radio station, complete with DJs and call in lines (in some cases, other stations just play music, no talk!) Live365 does have ads occasionally, but it typically is just one 30 second ad every four or five songs.
www.pandora.com creates customized radio stations that you customize by telling the site a song or artist that you like, and it starts building a station up based upon that initial artist or song. You than thumbs up or thumbs down songs that play, based on if you want more or less songs of that type. It sounds a bit strange, but it works really well!
Treating Your Acne Part 5: Why moisturize?
November 14, 2006 at 10:55 am | In Life in general | 1 CommentThere is an increasing tendency for acne treatment regimes to include some form of moisturizer. The reason for this is quite simple: If your skin is dry, your body will start to produce more oil.
This is why, that no matter what topical treatment you are using, you should not ever over wash your face. Your skin will become irritated, and may eventually start pouring out oil at an insane rate. This is also why it is not good to wash your face right before you go to bed at 11pm and then again when you wake up at 5am! As a general rule (and this will vary per person), try to leave at least 10 hours between face washings. Even products with moisturizers may invoke a negative reaction from your skin if your skin keeps getting all of its oil stripped off by cleansers.
Remember: your body naturally maintains itself. When you get hot, your body sweats to cool you down, when you get cold, you body shakes to warm you up. When you get sick, your amazingly complex lymphatic system works around the clock to cure you. Cut yourself, your body jumps into action to clot the wound and start healing. This extends to even smaller items. Do a lot of hard work with your hands? Watch your skin get tougher as you develop calluses. Play guitar, and your finger tips will develop calluses as well. Well, no surprise here, if you keep drying your skin out with chemicals, your body works to produce more oil, to help keep your skin moisturized. This means that chemical treatments that just dry your skin out may work for a short period of time, but after awhile your body will adapt and start producing even more oil than normal, possibly making your Acne even worse.
Shaving without the irritation: Corn Starch
November 8, 2006 at 10:16 am | In Life in general, Shaving, acne, health | Leave a CommentHere is an excellent tip that will save your face a lot of problems, and also keep you stylish to boot!
While the “kind of scruffy” 2 days worth of facial hair growth style is mostly dead now, if your gal likes it, here is a way for you to keep your hair at mostly the same length all the time, without having to buy some strange beard trimmer or such.
The trick to all of the above is corn starch. When lightly powdered over a dry face, corn starch removes excess oils from the face and hair. It works amazingly well. It also makes shaving extremely easy.
How easy?
You don’t even need shaving cream.
Powder your lower face with corn starch, then rinse of with water, dry well. Repeat if you feel like you need to (just to be sure). Now, taking your Gillette Mach 3[1], preferably Mach 3 Power, and lightly shave your face, just skimming over top of your hairs. You should not be pushing down or even touching your skin.
Rinse out your razor often, and shake it dry before resuming shaving.
If you want a smooth shave, simply dust with corn starch, rinse off, then shave as normal. Your hair will come off a lot easier and with less irritation.
No matter which style you want, (clean shaven or rugged), corn starch is an excellent way to help reduce the irritation from shaving.
Extra Note: Don’t ask me how I know this, except that I made a stupid bet/promise. But if you are insistent upon sugaring (a form of natural waxing that hurts a lot less) your face, do the corn starch thing first. If you don’t, it will hurt badly and no hair will come off. Maybe I’ll write a separate article on sugaring later if need be, but it is not really related to acne, and as stated, the only reason I know is that I made a stupid promise and ended up with a seriously sore face (after which I found out about the corn starch thing…)
[1] You do have at least a Gillette Mach 3 don’t you? If you are using cheap disposable razors to shave, STOP RIGHT NOW. If you use a cheap razor you do not know how nice a good razor is, and the second you use a good razor, you will never want to go back to cheap single use disposables again! I know that the newer razors cost more, but…. Trust me, they are worth it. With a good razor I can shave with almost no skin irritation.
The ultimate work productivity enhancer!
October 20, 2006 at 11:05 am | In Life in general, Work | Leave a CommentWant to seem like you are ALWAYS up on reading your email? Want to impress people and get that read receipt back to them within seconds of your receiving their message?
Create the following filter in outlook:
Apply this rule after the message arrives
where my name is in the To or Cc box
mark it as read
Your perceived productivity will skyrocket!
(Note: I am NOT suggesting that anybody actually do this! For one thing, everyone will wonder why you have read all of their messages and not responded to any of them…)
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