Chaos Magnet

Docrot

You may have heard of "linkrot", where the sites you link to gradually disappear, and eventually you wind up with a bunch of links to nonexistant pages. For the past two weeks I've been dealing with "docrot". That's when you try to use an API based on the samples and documentation, but it doesn't work because the code's moved on and the documentation hasn't.

Not a good day.

Custom countdown calendar

I've got so many events that I'm looking forward to, that I've decided to go ahead and create a custom countdown calendar. It also lets me add reminders to specific days, and sends me an email so I don't forget. And, I figured if I was doing the work, I might as well release it.

I'll also be adding other features, such as pre-populated, customizable calendars for events such as weddings, the ability to add your own images, downloadable PDFs, and eventually even the ability to order a printed version.

If you've got a minute, please check it out, and let me know if you find it useful.

Programmer How-To additions

OK, I've made some additions to the Programmer How-To:

• Format a date (in PHP)
• Parse an XML file (in Java)
• Serialize an XML document to a file (in Java)
• Read the structure of an XML document using DOM (Java)
• Write to a file (in C#)
• Read from a file (in C#)

I've also made it (I hope) a little bit clearer that when you add a tip, you can add a link back to the page on which it originally appeared, so maybe some of you might have a little incentive to participate...

Thanks, Adam!

Adam Kinney liked the XAML article. Thanks, Adam! Must have gotten it right, because Adam works at Xamlon. :)

Screensaver targets spam websites

Via the Rambling Programmer, Lycos now has a screensaver that sends repeated requests to spam web sites as an attempt to make their bandwidth too expensive. I dunno. I think I'm paying 10 bucks for an extra gig of bandwidth -- or I would, if I had that much traffic. They're talking about sending an extra few gigs a day to these sites. So, maybe ...

Clinton gets environmental religion

Looks like Bill Clinton has finally discovered the environment. As quoted in Grist Magazine, he told an audience "'[T]he decisions we make or fail to make in this area may have a bigger impact on America and the world than virtually all the things that were debated' in the recent presidential campaign, Clinton told a crowd of 900 students and business execs gathered at New York University last week at an energy and global-warming conference." What's more, "The event was convened by the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, an organization established by the former president to help people worldwide deal with the challenges of global interdependence."

Environmental concern wasn't exactly a hallmark of his Presidency, so why the change? "'It basically took him until his second term to get serious about these issues,' a former Clinton staffer told Muckraker. 'I think it was a combination of four years of lunches with Al Gore, who schooled him hard, and pressure from the international community to make some moves on climate change that brought him around.'"

C++ FAQ

I'm teaching myself C++ today. No, really. This C++ FAQ might come in handy.

Programmer Rosetta Stone

I've started a new project: the Programmer How-To. The idea of this wiki is that for the most part, the differences between computer languages are all about syntax and vocabulary. I frequently find myself in a situation in which I need to do something but I have to look up that syntax. This site will (hopefully) provide a kind of programming universal translator, where you can look up how to do a particular task in a particular language. It's also my first public wiki, so I'm hoping to get some participation...

Inventing the future

Here's an interesting thought, from an interview with futurist Ray Kurzweil:

I realized that my inventions had to make sense when the project was finished, rather than for the world that existed when the research project began, and invariably the world was a different place three or four years later. Most technology projects fail not because the inventors are unable to get the thing to work, but because the timing is wrong. So I became an ardent student of technology trends. I now have a group of ten people assisting me to gather data on key trends, and we develop mathematical models of technology evolution that have proven remarkably accurate over the last couple of decades. So this enables me to essentially invent with the technologies of the future.

Working With Avalon Today: Getting started with XAML

My article, Working With Avalon Today: Getting started with XAML, has been posted on DevSource. The blurb:

You don't have to wait for Longhorn to start playing with XAML. Nick Chase shows how to use XAML to create a window, add vector graphics to it, and bind those graphics and their events to .NET code that writes and reads a file on the user's local machine.

Um ... yyyyyeah

I don't even know what to say about this.

Many are cold, but few are frozen

Ever wonder how cryonics works? Actually, more interesting is the accompanying article, which makes the assertion that "death" is a value judgement, a continuous process, and what we call death is actually the point at which a doctor believes that the process has proceeded beyond the point at which technology can stop it.

Fishing still more popular than the internet

Yes, folks, according to a Harris Poll, fishing is still more popular than the Internet. The poll surveyed adults on their leisure habits, and as usual, the top three were "reading (35%), watching TV (21%) and
spending time with their families and children (20%)". Numbers four, five, and six were "going to the movies (10%), fishing (8%) [and] computer-related activities (7%)", making the oh-so-addictive internet less popular than fishing.

Of course, this is a survey of leisure activities, so it doesn't take into account all of the time spent surfing at work. But then, consider how many adults can just turn on the computer when they get home every night; going fishing is typically a major event.

A little bit of a reality check.

Meditation May Bolster Brain Activity

WebMD reports that Meditation May Bolster Brain Activity. Apparently researchers took Buddhist monks who'd been meditating for decades and compared them to college students who had never meditated at all. The monks had higher gamma brain waves, associated with concentration and happiness, and when they were meditating, those levels actually surpassed any that had been previously recorded, ever. Interestingly, the article doesn't mention if the students also experienced an increase in gamma while meditating. Also interesting is that this was "compassionate meditation, which does not require concentration on specific things. Instead, the participants are instructed to generate a feeling of love and compassion without drawing attention to a particular object."

Possibly the coolest audio tool ever

Audacity is the answer to my sound editing prayers. Not only does it enable you to edit tracks, combine different tracks into a single file, and all kinds of effects, it actually removes that incredibly annoying hum that I've always had on recordings off the phone. (The carrier tone? Possibly.)

But the best part?

IT'S FREE.

Yes, Audacity is a Sourceforge project, and I'm a happy, happy camper.

Audio documentary tools

As I gear up to start doing audio, I've discovered (via a link from This American Life) Transom.org, which includes lots of information on tools and techniques for doing audio documentaries. Haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but looking forward to it...

DADA's Little Baby Namer

I hate coming up with character names, especially in SF&F. DADA's Little Baby Namer is a fun little toy in which "Baby Names are generated by performing a Markov Chain analysis of the real baby names in our database, then spewing out statistically similar names based on this analysis. " I like Smaleken and Malig.

Somebody hire this guy

They say you have to get your resume noticed. I'd say you can call this mission accomplished for this guy.

Hehehe...