One of my favorite programming tools is J. In skilled hands J is a spear in a world of bent spoons. In my day job I rarely encounter programming problems that cannot be brutally dispatched with a few dozen lines of J. Most accomplished J programmers laud the elegance and power of the language and … Continue reading A C# .Net Class for calling J
Category: Reviews
The Reports of Library Death are Exaggerated
Not so long ago the pundits were predicting the Internet would kill public libraries. Boy were they wrong! Libraries have become the biggest and most successful Internet cafes around. I’ve been to Internet enabled public libraries all over the country and they are extremely busy. The downtown Los Angeles library has an entire room devoted … Continue reading The Reports of Library Death are Exaggerated
Why I Still Use my Ten Year Old Garmin GPS
Last year I joined the swelling ranks of Smartphone users. My device belongs to the BlackBerry or BB clan. There are many things I like about the BB but my favorite feature is simply that my employer picks up the tab. Every month I get a corporate guilt report listing my BB charges and every month … Continue reading Why I Still Use my Ten Year Old Garmin GPS
WordPress to LaTeX Hack
This post is obsolete. Look here for details on converting WordPress to LaTeX. I have stumbled on another coding nuisance. Last weekend I spent a few moments exploring ways to export and print this blog in a nice typeset fashion. I first tried Blurb's book making software. It has a nice feature that automatically downloads blog … Continue reading WordPress to LaTeX Hack
SmugMug Duplicate Image Hunting
One of the many things the developers of Thumbsplus got right was a proper normalized database schema. When I first inspected the layout of a Thumbsplus database I knew I was in good hands. In Thumbsplus image files get unique keys and image galleries are simply lists of image keys. Images can appear in any number … Continue reading SmugMug Duplicate Image Hunting
Command Line C# SmugMug API Metadata Download
I have a skeleton in my photographic closet! I enjoy hacking pictures as much as I enjoy shooting them. Before digital photography I got my jollies the old fashioned way with chemicals: dark room chemicals. I still get all emotional when I remember the scent of a fixer. Ahhh --- those were the days. Now, … Continue reading Command Line C# SmugMug API Metadata Download
Why Code when you can Steal
I am learning C#. Two years ago I swore a blood oath not to learn anymore programming languages. It’s been obvious for decades that you seldom find any new and important ideas in programming languages. What you typically find are old ideas renamed and wrapped in a new syntax. Virtually all key concepts in programming are over … Continue reading Why Code when you can Steal
F# Sirens are Seducing
For the last few days I have been playing around with an early release of F#. F# looks like it might be a .Net language that I can stand! The alpha-geeks at Microsoft Research have convinced their corporate masters that the world needs a functional programming language that can be compiled and executed as efficiently … Continue reading F# Sirens are Seducing
Google Earth Image Touring
In a scientific poll of one, (I sampled myself), Google Earth was voted the greatest free program on Earth. The brilliant developers at Google have managed to turn the most unlikely subject, geography, into a video game. And what a game it is! Google Earth doesn’t troll around in an adolescent make believe world. Google … Continue reading Google Earth Image Touring
Lens Lust
I suffer from a common and debilitating condition commonly referred to as NEM: Not Enough Money! NEM imposes all sorts of conditions and hardships on its victims. In my case NEM limits my lens lust. Without NEM I would have warehouses full of the finest cameras and lenses but as a lowly NEMite I am … Continue reading Lens Lust
Analyze the Data not the Drivel 