Algorithmic Problem Solving

Book Excerpts:

In historical terms, the digital computer is very, very new. The science of computing is yet newer. Compared to its older sister - mathematics - which is thousands of years old, it is hardly in the embryonic stage of development. Yet, computing science is already having a major influence on our problem-solving skills, amounting to a revolution in the art of effective reasoning.

Because of the challenges of programming (which means instructing a dumb machine how to solve each instance of a problem) and the unprecedented scale of programming problems, computing scientists have had to hone their problem-solving skills to a very fine degree. This has led to advances in logic, and to changes in the way that mathematics is practised. This book forms an introduction to problem-solving using the insights that have been gained in computing science.

http://www.freetechbooks.com/about373.html

Posted in Books & Reviews, Computers & Technogy, Open Source | No Comments »

Nice Techie & Geekie Blog on PHP

Martin Brampton has an interesting Web tech and PHP related blog at
http://blog.guru-php.com/

i.e. take a look at Helpers are unhelpful.

Overall, highly recommended bookmark.

Also, take a look at Martin’s book on PHP CMS Frameworks;

click for details…

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Severus Snape: The Unlikely Hero of Harry Potter book 7

I didn’t bother reading this article, but the lovers of the Harry Potter boy may find this interesting.

By Dave Kopel

Don’t read the rest of this article unless you’ve finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The predictions for book 7 will necessarily involve the revelation of some important plot details from book 6.

………

http://www.davekopel.com/Misc/
Mags/Severus-Snape-The-Unlikely-Hero-of-Harry-Potter-book-7.htm

Posted in Harry Potter, Stumbling Upon | 1 Comment »

Top 100 Science Fiction Short Stories

It’s strange that nothing recent made it in Top 10.

The rest of the list is at http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/topscifi/lists_short_stories.html

Posted in Books & Reviews, Fiction | No Comments »

Transfer Video to Tivo

I am not a big TV fan, but Chad’s recent article on OpenSourcePenguin.net might be valuable to some.

Written by Chad Auld
Apr 11, 2008 at 09:02 PM

Every so often I have the need and/or the desire to move some local videos on to my Tivo. These could be home movies, videos I have downloaded off the web via bittorrent, etc. I’ve messed with a variety of solutions over the years, but for my own records and perhaps for your benefit I thought I’d just document it here.

The tools I am using the most these days for this task are Galleon and VLC.

Galleon is a free open source media server for the Tivo DVR which allows you to enjoy many kinds of content and interactive applications right on your TV. The server runs on your home computer and organizes your media collection so that they can be viewed on your home network. Galleon also brings Internet content and applications to your TV.

VLC media player is a highly portable multimedia player for various audio and video formats (MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, mp3, ogg, …) as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

……

The rest is here.

Posted in Computers & Technogy, Stuff | No Comments »

VISUWORDS

 Visuwords™ online graphical dictionary — Look up words to find their meanings and associations with other words and concepts. Produce diagrams reminiscent of a neural net. Learn how words associate.

http://www.visuwords.com/

Posted in Computers & Technogy, Linguistics | No Comments »