New Web Stie

So I started a new website to display my programs that I like to the world. I also put a about me page, my resume and a link to my blog on the main page. http://williamandrus.tripod.com/index.htm I'm only using 0.3MB so far, which makes me happy. I'm still going to keep the website to a bare minimum, so that my future programs will have room also.

Function Vs. Method a Programming and Mathematical View

I have been thinking about how Mathematics and Programming are basically the same recently, because of the use of the word: Function vs. Method. In C/C++ which is the language I started out learning in, we would call sub programs Functions. While in languages like C# and Java they call them Methods. I remember reading some place that mention that Methods was more of the correct way of describing sub programs.

I of course highly disagreed. I consider programming and mathematics very similar, where in math a function is very similar if not exact to what we have in programming. A function in mathematics can be viewed as a black box where values going in are changed and/or the output may be different. When programming all we do is take in variables and either change them or output a different variable/value that needed the use of these variables.

Now going off topic,
So recently, thanks to digg, I found this website, actually a blog, that deals with mathematics and programming concepts. I like it so far, my math isn't the greatest, since I don't use it often enough.

http://epsilondelta.wordpress.com/2006/01/29/programming-like-a-mathematician-i-closures/
- and -

http://epsilondelta.wordpress.com/2006/01/31/programming-like-a-mathematician-ii-learning-new-languages/

I'll probably check on this guy's blog more often, especially since I like to keep my mathematical sense a-live while trying to become a better programmer.

Tech Pranks to pull off in the office, Maybe

http://www.syncmag.com/article2/0,1895,1882949,00.asp I wouldn't personally suggest trying these, since they kinda go alittle too far. Hey it's your job, do as you please.

Hack: R/C Paintball Shooting Tank

http://www.rctankcombat.com/tanks/T005/

Man this thing looks so cool, I want one.

http://www.rctankcombat.com/

Funny: Freshman 15 Music Video

http://www.heavy.com/browserling.php?vchid=15&video_id=1375

Feds Want Wiretap Backdoor in all Technology

http://www.networkingpipeline.com/blog/archives/2006/01/feds_want_a_wir.html

Man this country is going to end up being a fascist country, without people knowing it. The FBI having control over what can be deemed worthy communication. I just don't see how they could stop open source and other free software. It would end up being similar to the RIAA trying to stop illegal downloading of songs. I thought the FCC improved when Powell left, but I see it is just getting worst.

"An FCC mandate will require that all hardware and software have a wiretap backdoor that allows the government to tap into all your communications.

The mandate expands the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), and requires that every piece of hardware and software sold include the backdoor.

The rule isn't yet final, but once it is, all vendors will have 18 months to comply. And in fact, says Brad Templeton, chairman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), some router makers already include such a backdoor. So your hardware may be vulnerable."

So, any hacker that finds the backdoor will have free access to you stuff. I'm sure several people will find these back doors and post the information in hacker communities. This is such a ludicrous idea with stupidity written all over it.

A good JSP and Servlet tutorial

They discuss how to setup the TomCat Server and everything else about JSP and Servlets. http://www.apl.jhu.edu/~hall/java/Servlet-Tutorial/Servlet-Tutorial-Intro.html

Google: Exec salary for this upcoming year $1 each

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6030190.html

Man google is awsome. They give their employees fun things like scooters, free lunches, toys, etc.. at the office, and now the executives only take $1 for their yearly salary. Of course they are still millionares from the stock options, damn I gotta learn what Google needs, and get a job their someday.

Playing with JSP

So, I've started getting into a little JSP. I still like ASP.Net and C# a whole lot more. Most of my problem is trying to understand some of the errors when they happen, they are some what encrypted. I downloaded Eclipse, didn't like it at all. They make compiling a little tougher then it needs to be. It seems that I always need to have a package name for the programs to run, which is stupid and smart at the same time. To get JSP to run in Eclipse I had to install a plugin: BEA Workshop JSP Editor. There is a free version for the JSP Editor to be used within Eclipse for download at: http://www.m7.com/downloadNitroX.do?banner_bea_bea. Working with Visual Studio.Net has kinda spoiled me. I expect a quick and easy setup and access when programming; however working with JSP has found to be more of a nuisance. Working with these two packages does make life a little easier now, but still not quite as good as VS.NET.

How To: Pinball Coffee Table

http://www.instructables.com/ex/i/E1997D9CD7601028931A001143E7E506/?ALLSTEPS

So, this is cool and would go good in my dad's house with the slot machines.

How To: Shinny Ball of Mud

Source: http://bitsandpieces1.blogspot.com/2006/01/
how-to-make-shiny-ball-out-of-mud.html

So this is cool, don't know if it works, and don't plan on trying it anytime soon.

"How to Make Shiny Dorodango

Pack some mud into your hand, and squeeze out the water while forming a sphere.
Add some dry dirt to the outside and continue to gently shape the mud into a sphere.
When the mass dries, pack it solid with your hands, and rub the surface until a smooth film begins to appear.
Rub your hands against the ground, patting and rubbing the fine, powdery dirt onto the sphere. Continue this for two hours.
Seal the ball in a plastic bag for three or four hours. Upon removing the sphere, repeat step 4, and then once again seal the sphere in a plastic bag.
Remove the ball from the bag, and if it is no longer wet, polish it with a cloth until it shines."

Knoppix 4.0

So, I downloaded and got the newer version of Knoppix yesterday. I'm sad to see that the development folder is smaller, but everything else is very cool. I'll go check out whats different from the DVD vs. CD. If the development is on the DVD then I will attempt to download the 3.8GBs. Ughhh, maybe paying for the DVD to be shipped might better.

The games work a little bit better. GAIM works, fianlly, YEAH. It is very cool how I can see how long I have had AIM. I've been a memeber since Thu Sep 24 13:10:54 1998. WOW, it has been awhile. <^-^> I would like to try out the tv-card later and see if I can get it to work with broadcast.

Google: says no to DoJ search request.

I just keep loving google, for what they stand for, their philosophy of simplicity, and their expansion into other areas. Of course, the reason that Google said no is because of the amount of data that would have to be transferred over, but the request in my opinion is for ridiculous reasons.

"Google has refused to comply with the subpoena. A motion has been filed this week by US Department Of Justice to force Google to hand over the data. In particular, the Bush administration wanted one million random web addresses and records of all Google searches for a one week period. The government apparently wants to estimate how much pornography shows up in the searches that children do. Here's a thought. If you want to measure how much porn is showing up in searches, try searching for it yourself rather than issuing privacy alarm sounding subpoenas. It would certainly be more accurate.
Getting a list of all searches in one week definitely would let US federal government dig deep into the long tail of porn searches. But then again, the sheer amount of data would be overwhelming. Do you know every variation of a term someone might use, that you're going to dig out of the hundreds of millions of searches you'd get? Oh, and be sure you filter out all the automated queries coming in from rank checking tools, while you're add it. They won't skew the data at all, nope.95

Moreover, since the data is divorced from user info, you have no idea what searches are being done by children or not. In the end, you've asked for a lot of data that's not really going to help you estimate anything at all."

Source: http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/19/_doj_search_requests.html
Source: http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/060119-060352

Reinforcement Learning Tic Tac Toe Game

Well, I finished my first version of my Reinforcement Learning Tic Tac Toe Game. I made a Yahoo Briefcase so people can collect from it, if they wish to try it out.

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/andrus_wj/
lst?.dir=/Reinforcement+Learning+Tic+Tac+Toe&.view=l

Of course, you'll need a Yahoo account, I guess to download from it, however, if you want, email me at andrusw [at] gmail.com, and request the program.

In the next version I expect to add some computer vs. computer play, where the different techniques of Reinforcement Learning can be used against each other.

Free: e-File sites for your fun with your friendly IRS momements.

http://www.irs.gov/app/freeFile/jsp/index.jsp?free



So it is beginning to be that time of year to file for some (hopefully) returns. I wish everybody a happy tax day, and a lower tax bracket. <^__^>

Urban Myth?: Smoke Detectors, Antiques, and Surplus Lanterns = Radioactive Device

http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=340

So a boyscott uses a smoke detectors, antiques, and surplus lanterns to make a radioactive device? He uses americium-241 from the smoke detector, and after some other simple house hold items, he ends up with neutron gun and some scared people at the EPA and the NRC.

Cool: Oragami CD Case

Try it herehttp://simonlooker.com/images/instructions.pdf

-or-

PDF: http://www.merrimack.edu/~thull/CDcase/cd.pdf
GIF: http://www.merrimack.edu/~thull/CDcase/cd.gif

I always need extra cases for CD's now I can put my crappy CD's in these orgami CD cases, and save the hard jewel cases for my more precious CDs.

Funny: Street Fighter Ultimate Fighter Edition

Interesting: How to detect a two-way mirror

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blmirror.htm

1) Pressing your finger against the mirror would look different compared to the two-way mirror.

2) The molding of the mirror, is that like a window.

3) Hitting and making a sound, where a two-way mirror would sound like hitting a window.

4) Turning off the lights in the room, or cupping your hands while looking through them, to cut out the light from behind you, would reveal the other room.

Hmmm, good to know.

Funny, but true: I'm A Programmer, Not A Computer Guy

http://blogcritics.org/archives/2006/01/13/213613.php

This is so true, but even though I'm not a "computer guy", I still know more then the average person would. This gives me great power in bull-shitting an answer out that could satify the normal non-computer personel.

His analogy here is funny:

""Did you watch the Raiders game?"

"No, I don't follow football ------"

"What do you think of the new quarterback?"

"Really, football's not my thing. I don't know."

"I thought that you said that you're a sports fan?"

"No, I said that I watched tennis."

"Right, so what did you think of the penalty called in the Raiders game?"

"I watch tennis."

"Why would they call a penalty like that?""

This reminds me of two quotes:

"Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes." - Professor Edsger Dijkstra

"Beware of programmers who carry screwdrivers." - Brandwein, Leonard

Interesting: Oprah's Favorite Non-Fiction Book A Lie????

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/0104061jamesfrey1.html

One of Oprah's favorites books:

In "A Million Little Pieces," a crack-fueled Frey runs down a cop in a small Ohio town and a wild melee ensues. The Granville Police Department report on the 1992 incident tells a markedly different story.

So basically Smoking Gun is researching his statements in the book, and finds it full of lies. Frey's lawyer then sends Smoking Gun a Cease and Desist, because smoking gun can't find any proof that Frey is telling the truth, and that Frey has a lot of money to lose with movie deals, etc.. If they come out with this story, then Frey would basically sue for the potential money lost, but I'm thinking if they sue, then they must show proof. Now they state in their letter that their are witnesses, but where is the paper trail?
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/jamesfrey/freysides/singerfrey1.html

How To: Reverse Engineering

http://www.acm.uiuc.edu/sigmil/RevEng/index.html

Read it, while you can and it becomes illegal or something. <^-^>

Cool: Draw Ball

http://www.drawball.com/
This is cool, there this, huge black round circle, just go pick a empty spot and draw some graphitti. (Hint: Remember to read the agreement/disagreement)

Here is the location of what I have drawn: http://www.drawball.com/6heew7

How To: C# and ASP.Net Menu

Ok, so I figured that I start putting some of my personal programming feats up here on my blog. Recently, I have been working on a simple menu system. I wanted to do something similar to the menu system that is on MSDN, but they use an xml file which would make me do more work. Here is how I got my menu system:

I made small square buttons with text either a + and - to represent a menu that can be expanded and colapsed, or a * for a menu button that can't be expanded.

So here is an example of one of my buttons that represent this:

<asp:button id="Button_Project" runat="server" tooltip="Click here to view my programs" borderwidth="1px" size="Smaller" backcolor="Transparent" names="Garamond" bordercolor="RoyalBlue" height="15px" width="15px" borderstyle="Solid" forecolor="RoyalBlue" text="+"/>

I then put another button to the right of this with no borders. I didn't want to use a label, so that the user can also click on the name to have the menu expanded.
So here is the button that looks like text to the right:

<asp:button id="Button_Projects" runat="server" size="Smaller" backcolor="Transparent" height="20px" width="53px" borderstyle="None" forecolor="RoyalBlue" text="Projects"/>

Now when any of these buttons are clicked, I will want to expand and show the inner menu options. To do this I made a string variable, in this case ProjectsBR, to expand within the aspx file. This is done by:

<%=ProjectsBR%>
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

I use the spaces to represent a shift to the right, so that the inner menu options look like a tree.

In the aspx.cs file I assign the global variable:

protected string ProjectsBR;

In the Page_Load function I have the following:

if(this.Button_Project.Text == "+")
{
ProjectsBR = "";
}
else
{
ProjectsBR = "<br>";
}

If the button's text is a expanded then I want brackets, else I want nothing.

So on the aspx file I have several more buttons that represents the inner menu. These button's visiablility are set to false, so that they don't show unless I ask them to. So, when the button is pressed, I change the text to either + or -, then show or hide the buttons, and set ProjectBR to the necessary string value.

private void Button_Project_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
{
if(this.Button_Project.Text == "+")
{
this.Button_Project_ASP.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_ASP2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_C.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_C2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_CGI.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_CGI2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Csharp.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Csharp2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_DB.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_DB2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Java.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Java2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Misc.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Misc2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Paper.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Paper2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Python.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project_Python2.Visible = true;
this.Button_Project.Text = "-";
this.ProjectsBR = "<br>";
}
else //if(this.Button_Project.Text == "-")
{
this.Button_Project_ASP.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_ASP2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_C.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_C2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_CGI.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_CGI2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Csharp.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Csharp2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_DB.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_DB2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Java.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Java2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Misc.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Misc2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Paper.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Paper2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Python.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project_Python2.Visible = false;
this.Button_Project.Text = "+";
this.ProjectsBR = "";
}
}

Thats' basically it, all in a nut-shell

Flickr Account

Created a Flickr account to hold some of my favorite pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/14521699@N00/

Go check it out, and comment on them if you want.

Funny: Accident Feature

Accident Feature
Originally uploaded by coolnewspics.

Anyone who has been to Utica, NY knows how bad the drivers are there. They are worst then Colorado drivers. I saw this pic, and just made me laugh.

Hack: Quick Vibrating Lockpick

http://www.inventgeek.com/Projects/lockpick/lockpick.aspx



This is a very cool, and simple project, plus it is very cheap. ($9 - $15)
Just get your self a Oral B Hummingbird toothbrush, lockpick, and a 9V battery and plug.

WTF?!?!: anonymous annoying not aloud anymore.

Source: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6024695.html

"It's no joke. Last Thursday, President Bush signed into law a prohibition on posting annoying Web messages or sending annoying e-mail messages without disclosing your true identity.

In other words, it's OK to flame someone on a mailing list or in a blog as long as you do it under your real name. "

Man, that just sucks. Why should we use our real names?? I don't see the harm of some anonymous people, expressing their inner feelings without recourse.

Hack: Use old Saves for Xbox 360

http://www.xboxhacker.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=83&Itemid=2

Interesting, but since I have no Xbox 360, this isn't useful for me yet.

Cool: Use Cooking Oil instead of a Fan for your PC

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/09/strip_out_the_fans/


Click on the image to view the picture

How To: Add Google Map to your website

Source:

1)Get Google Maps API key, which is free at http://www.google.com/apis/maps/.

2)Follow the instructions to "Sign up for a google API key". You'll need a gmail account, and to enter your domain name. If you need an invite, just comment to this blog entry with an email address. I'll delete the comment afterward.

3)Get the google script to help you:

<script src="http://maps.google.com/maps?file=api&v=1&key= [YOURKEY]" type="text/javascript"></script>


<div id="map" style="WIDTH: 500px; HEIGHT: 400px">
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
//<![CDATA[
window.onload = showMap;
function showMap()
var map = new GMap(document.getElementById("map"));
map.addControl(new GSmallMapControl());
map.centerAndZoom(new GPoint(-122.1419, 37.4419), 4);
//]]>
</script>

In the CDATA the first two lines tells IE to wait before loading all the images.

"The [third] line instantiates the map and assigns it to the map div. The [fourth] line adds the little pan and zoom controls. Finally, the [fifth] line centers the map on a point and sets the zoom level."

4)Change the values to your default map:
Ex:
http://maps.google.com/?ll=45.484206,-122.499447&spn=0.031833,0.069523
then change: map.centerAndZoom(new GPoint(-122.499447, 45.484206), 8);
the last number is the zoom level.

5) To add a point just add the following javascript:
map.addOverlay(new GMarker(new GPoint(-122.499447, 45.484206)));


I like this simple tutorial, I see how I can write a php or perl script to make my site somewhat interactive. Of course I would also need to read up more on google api when I get a chance, so I could connect the dots, etc....

Greeley, CO

Looking at Microsoft's Windows Live Local, it is interesting to see how the place looked before our house was even built on the location:

http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=40.411351~-104.793558&style=h&lvl=17&scene=1915335&sp=adr.1740%2070th%20Ave%2c%20Greeley%2c%20CO%2080634


There are no houses, just mounds of dirt. Alot of the businesses haven't even developed. Greeley, CO is one of the fastest booming cities I have personaly seen. This of course isn't saying much, but it is still just an amazing site to see how much construction is being developed around here. Everywhere I look there are new homes being built, new freeways, new businesses, etc...

Funny: Student using F5 attack against school.

http://www.wkyc.com/akron/akron_article.aspx?storyid=45721

"Police say the student, created a website which connected to the school's system.

When enough users logged on and hit the F5 button, it overloaded the school's system."

I just find this more on the funny side. I guest this is the dummy version of DOS attack. LOL

I still don't think the student should get into to much problems, it's hard to take this serious IMHO. Hey maybe this was his way of getting on one of the MTV shows that dealt with high school pranks.

Interesting: Plug and Pray???!???!!!

http://www.plug-pray.org/ENG/Home.html

"For all eventualities -
Plug'n'Pray kits are equipped
with everything you need
to get converted quickly. Feel
free to choose the most suitable
and convenient religion for you!"

Cool : 18 Tricks to Teach Your Body

http://health.msn.com/menshealth/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100119940&GT1=7538#1



Number 17, I know well from my swimming days in Highschool, so I know that one is somewhat old. 10 extra seconds without breathing defently increases your speed in the water.

Hack: Emulating magnetic stripe cards

http://www.valhallalegends.com/docs/magcards.htm

"Human" by Carpark North