General

Server Utilities

A while ago I made a few server utility scripts, well I never really tested them much and they did have some issues, so I've updated them.

This time, instead of getting all complicated by shelling in to the server, they are designed to run on the server, this makes the code much simpler.

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Python Parameter Parsing to Array

As I'm new to Python (I've started to use Google App Engine for a project) I might have this totally wrong, but Python doesn't seem to have a nice way to convert the GET/POST request data in to an array.

As I'm from a PHP background, this is a real pain, so I wrote a class to handle it...

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XML Schema Generation

As we add more functionality to the IM Group API keeping up with the documentation changes can be painful. To keep on top of it, I made a useful git pre-commit script which reads and downloads xml data in order to keep the example files up to date.

With more people using the API I've started to receive requests for an up to date schema, so time to automate that as well...

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Git Pre-Commit

With the new Subaru UK site in development we've been expanding on the functionality of the API. Unfortunately, this means updating documentation... boo.. As we've been making many changes with several more to come, I made a simple ruby script to read a yaml config file, fetch and save the files.

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Useful Bash Shell Scripts

Bash is a type of shell; you will find it sitting on almost every nix based computer you can get your hands on. To check if your running @bash@ type in this on your command prompt

I wrote some bash scripts to help with setting up websites; I know the current trend is to use Capistrano but not everyone wants to install all of it's dependancies.

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Version Control

Version control is important... VERY IMPORTANT! I have yet to come across a single university / college course for programmers that even mentions it, never mind teaching it in detail.

No matter what element of computer work you’re in (web, c++, java etc) you need to be using version control of some form. You do one update, say change a logo or adjust the number of centroids for your k-means algorithm, what do you if 3 days later you find out it was the wrong decision? If you’re not using version control its going to be a painful experience and heavy reliance on your memory; after 3 days you might remember it, but what if it was 3 weeks, or months or even years? There is no way you will remember that far back!

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Tesla Starts Production!

At long last the Tesla all electric sports car went in to production today! Huge news for all those petrolheads with a green heart. The Roadster is based on a Lotus Elise chassis so should be a dream to drive and if the published statistics are accurate very fast, hitting 60mph in just under 4 seconds.

The other plus point of the Tesla is the fuel economy of 135mpg! The 2008 batch have already been sold and I’m looking forward to reading the first road test. For now take a look at the pistonheads page or the companies own website.

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MacBook Air

Last week Apple finally released the long awaited sub-notebook that has been rumoured for sooo long. However, it was not the tablet style that has been favoured of late in the rumours. Instead it was the ultra thin lightweight laptop.

On first look its pretty, sleek, looks the business and has some nice built in features. However, on closer inspection there are some issues with it. Lets start with the my main bug bear; the hard drive.

By default it comes with a PATA drive only running at 4200 rpm making slow and already a generation behind normal laptop drives. To get the 64GB solid state drive adds almost £1K onto the asking price!!! I know its the largest of its kind and therefore going to be pricey but that option now puts it in the same region as a top MacBook Pro!

The Air comes with 2GB of RAM, which you cant upgrade. So I’ve just spent £1200 on something that will need replacing in a year or so when the next version of PS and the like requires 3GB to do anything useful.

No built in ethernet port. Yeah its got wireless, but for gaming or any kind of en masse file exchange then you cant beat a good old cat5 cable.

No optical drive. For me thats not a particular problem as I bearly use my drive as it is, but for your standard user this is how they get programs onto their machines. As a solution you can buy a separate drive at an additional cost of course.

Overall I would rather save some money and buy a nicely kitted out MacBook for portability or if I was a bit flush a 15" inch MacBook Pro.

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Dont Look Down!

While scanning though some reddit and digg feeds I stumbled across some photos of very dangerous roads! (seem to have lost the photos, whoops!)

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The Way of The Wii

Good old fashioned playabilty finally strikes back. After many years of graphical improvements, interface development and soaring price tags Nintendo decided enough was enough. Instead of playing the next generation game they took a step back and realised something… Gaming should be fun

Where SONY and Microsoft went about created bigger, meaner machines with high end graphic cards and enough technology to carry such weighty tags as ‘home entertainment console’ and ‘THE home theatre solution’ Nintendo went a different way

Using the existing Gamecube platform Nintendo went about doing what they do best; they changed the way we played games. Instead of using clunky controllers they came up with a small tv remote style controller and then came the killer feature…

Your motions controller aspects of the games! The days of button bashing are over, now to beat some jumped up kid on the Wii you need some muscle in places other then your fingers. After playing 4 player Wii tennis i woke up the next day with sore arm muscles!

Forget the real life graphics, fun and game play wins every time!

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iPhone UK Launch

The time is here, the iPhone is now available in the UK! Now I might be a burgeoning Mac fan boy but even I wont pay the best part of £300 for a phone regardless of how cool it is.

When it gets to a sensible price level (ie free or very cheap on contract like most phones) and has 3G facilities instead of EDGE with a larger hard drive then I will definitely have one!

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Stunning Fully Functional 1:3 Scale Ferrari

There are few if any models in the world to rival the Ferrari 312PB built by Pierre Scerri. This 1:3 scale masterpiece is the real thing in every sense, from its operating 100cc 12-cylinder engine to the exact scale operating Ferrari gauges which are calibrated precisely to indicate rpm, oil pressure, water temperature and oil temperature.

Take a look at the youTube video here.

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New Robot Adapts to Injuries

A newly designed robot can sense and recover from unexpected damages, an ability that is sure to prove handy in dangerous terrain, researchers announced today.

Take a look at the full story here.

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Linus Torvalds officially a Hero

According to TIME magazine, Linus Torvalds is one of the the greatest heroes of the last 60 years

And about time to! Take a look at the full story here.

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Flickr's Desktop Wallpaper Pool

Thousands of Flickr users have posted their favourite wallpaper photos. Some great ones on there that I use on my own machines!

Take a look here.

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My Mac and I

Until recently I’d barely even looked at a Mac. I used to be under the common miss-conception that they were only any good for design and looking pretty.

Plying my trade using mostly Linux, Windows and the odd Unix systemI was always a fan of the stability and security of the ’Nix way. On the other side the compatibility and of course the plethora of games available on Windows is a draw.

With OS X being based on FreeBSD there is a happy third alternative. I know this is a bit behind the times, but I’ve never quite got round to writing this before but this time I was spurred into writing this by my recent purchase. A Mac Mini!

I couldn’t help it, its small, perfectly formed and more powerful then my tower PC! With top class software, great compatibility and some amazing games I cant think of a reason not to own a Mac any more. Especially now you can have two buttons on your mouse!

The fact is I’ve now completely converted, even to the extent where I use an iMac at work and an old PowerBook for a laptop.

Since owning my Mac I’ve really been enjoying using text mate. A truly wonderful piece of editing software, it comes with syntax highlighting and help files for virtually every single commonly used programming language. It even includes utilities for svn!

I know there are some down sides to using a Mac, but they are getting fewer all the time. I am now officially a Mac Fan!

Now where did I put my ipod…. ;)

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