Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, October 06, 2008
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Options
If in doubt, choose Option 'C'. If you can't think of Option 'C' its best to make a Cup of Tea to help.
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Regaining some of the faith
The other day, well umm, yesterday, I bought the book 'Code' by Charles Petzold. In glancing through most of it, I realised that I knew off by heart most of the content. That is not to say that I am disappointed that I bought it, but rather to admire such a formation of knowledge put in such a way. I am sure that I will learn some things that I did not already know in the process of digesting its content.
Teaching can be so depressing as it is hampered by constant failure from below as well as above. And sometimes (well quite a bit at the moment) I feel as if the purity of the dream that is to love ICT is beaten down by those who have to learn it as well as those who orchestrate its very position within the system.
Computing like most complex things can be both beautiful and frustrating at the same time. Beautiful because of what you see and what it has the power to do. Frustrating because you may not understand its construction or have the perseverance to pursue the disciplines required to comprehend such entities as Software creation. And yet, if you do not persevere with the frustration, how will you ever understand how beautiful something can actually be?
Teaching can be so depressing as it is hampered by constant failure from below as well as above. And sometimes (well quite a bit at the moment) I feel as if the purity of the dream that is to love ICT is beaten down by those who have to learn it as well as those who orchestrate its very position within the system.
Computing like most complex things can be both beautiful and frustrating at the same time. Beautiful because of what you see and what it has the power to do. Frustrating because you may not understand its construction or have the perseverance to pursue the disciplines required to comprehend such entities as Software creation. And yet, if you do not persevere with the frustration, how will you ever understand how beautiful something can actually be?
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Dreaming of what must come.
I know that going to work is comming back soon (despite planning for the last two weeks) because I was 'planning' in my sleep and realised by simulating the lesson in the room it will happen in that I had missed something, so today I need to make a correction to my plan so that I do not. That 'thing' was the need to create a 'cover sheet' by the students for their work wallets. Ouch - scary - but that is the way the mind works.
Did not manage to get Windows SP3 installed. I have given up, will probably rebuild the laptop from scratch at some point.
Did not manage to get Windows SP3 installed. I have given up, will probably rebuild the laptop from scratch at some point.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Computers Eh!
Today I have attempted to install Windows XP service pack 3, three times on my ageing laptop. And three times it has come up with the error 'could not update file' then proceded to rollback the installation! What 'file' do you speak of? I know not, if you were to tell me then perhaps I could do something about it. But no, you decide there is nothing that can be done and rollback far past beyond where I could have done something about it. You then tell me that the installation was partly installed and I should reboot. Well no s**t sherlock. I never would have worked that one out.
The third time, I downloaded the 300 odd MB offline installation to see if that made a difference - uh arr - would you like to go for quadruple jeapody where the fustration can really increase?
I am now going for that illusive fourth install. I have rebooted, turned off the wireless, then the firewall, the anti virus and anything else I can remove off the process list in order to eliminate as much as possible that could be blocking that 'file' - hopefully it will work and I will not have to be kept being reminded that I have to install Service Pack 3 like a repeating DFS Sale advert.
While I am on a rant, what is it with DFS and their sales? Like British Home Stores changing to BHS, and lesser known 3M being Minessota Minerals and Mining, DFS used to be Discount Furniture Stores. So what! We all know that you offer discounts, by now you must have surely exhausted all of the possible advertising scenarios that can be used to sell furniture? But no, every few weeks or so there is yet another DFS Sale that must 'end soon' - the last one was extended - as if I need to worry another will be along soon. DFS Sales are more reliable than a Bus. There must be a Retirement Home for ex-DFS advertising executives who have burnt out at the age of 33.
There we go. Rant over. Just letting off steam about the things out of my scope of control that can fustrate me.
The third time, I downloaded the 300 odd MB offline installation to see if that made a difference - uh arr - would you like to go for quadruple jeapody where the fustration can really increase?
I am now going for that illusive fourth install. I have rebooted, turned off the wireless, then the firewall, the anti virus and anything else I can remove off the process list in order to eliminate as much as possible that could be blocking that 'file' - hopefully it will work and I will not have to be kept being reminded that I have to install Service Pack 3 like a repeating DFS Sale advert.
While I am on a rant, what is it with DFS and their sales? Like British Home Stores changing to BHS, and lesser known 3M being Minessota Minerals and Mining, DFS used to be Discount Furniture Stores. So what! We all know that you offer discounts, by now you must have surely exhausted all of the possible advertising scenarios that can be used to sell furniture? But no, every few weeks or so there is yet another DFS Sale that must 'end soon' - the last one was extended - as if I need to worry another will be along soon. DFS Sales are more reliable than a Bus. There must be a Retirement Home for ex-DFS advertising executives who have burnt out at the age of 33.
There we go. Rant over. Just letting off steam about the things out of my scope of control that can fustrate me.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Methodology Of Existance
In a quiet moment this afternoon I started to watch The Matrix before I fell asleep. And it got me thinking about existance. That is not to say that I believe that the film is actually true, it is simply a vehicle for expressing concepts and ideas to see what happens.
So, what is life? Life is about 'scope' and the choices we are allowed to make within that scope - essentially 'control'. Scope is what we see, hear, understand, have the mental capacity to manipulate. It is often said 'the scope of ones knowledge', 'knowledge' being a collection of known facts and the ability to manipulate them to suit a given purpose.
There are lots of 'scopes', a Government has a scope of influence over the lives of the people it governs - control, power and rules. If we choose to break those rules then there are consequences, a certain reduction in choice, or at least the reduced probability of a choice option being taken. Our 'control' of our scope is reduced. How we choose to live our lives is up to us, at least to a certain extent. We can believe in the authority and rules of the scopes around us and the entities that define and maintain them. This is why the concept of a 'God' / 'Gods' or 'Godesses' exists - an entity that controls the scope of our existance that we have no control over. This is why there is infinity in mathematics - to expain the unexplainable. Now as time advances and Science progresses our understanding of our existance increases and so does our knowledge of the facts that govern the universe we exist within - that is to say the 'rules' by which the universe governs itself - in this statement the words facts and rules mean the same thing. There, I have just defined a scope of a sentance - something with boundaries.
Now I have learnt a meaning of the word 'scope' from being a Software Engineer where it is a critical component of understanding methods, classes and instantiated objects within an Object Orientated (OO) programming language such as C++ or Java. In these languages scope defines what you can 'see' withing an object or one of its methods (things it can do). If an object cannot 'see' a piece of data, then it cannot manipulate it. Scope in this sence is a very powerful facility. It prevents lots of code changing data at odd times and making the program hard to debug and more likely to crash or at least not do what you thought it would do. In the past this used to be the case. Scope only applied to the whole program or a single function. With the Object Orientated methodology bits of code can only do so much to the program as a whole. This means that they are slightly less likely to fail as an extra degree of data protection has been put in place and once a problem is found, easier to fix as more often than not the impact of the fix is contained within the scope of the method or object requiring attention.
Within OO there is the concept of 'inheritance' where Objects can inherit the behaviour of other Objects and add more abilities (functionality), additionally they can choose not to allow some functionality. This is similar to two things. One, Children, it is always said that Children should surpass their Parents. Two, Delegation, in Government and Management there is deligation of responsibility, the way of allowing other persons to perform a certain function that you can do but do not have the time.
So, what is existance? Ultimately it is our ability to understand our scope, make the right choices for our own progression within the environment utilising the knowledge we have ascimilated to provide a means for successful inheritance of the entities we create. We should not worry or get stressed about the things we cannot control outside of our scope of influence unless we can make a choice that allows that thing to become within our scope. And that choice has to be made within the rules of the larger scopes that govern our lives.
All of this sounded alot better when I was thinking it through in my mind earlier. I should have written it then before I fell asleep.
So, what is life? Life is about 'scope' and the choices we are allowed to make within that scope - essentially 'control'. Scope is what we see, hear, understand, have the mental capacity to manipulate. It is often said 'the scope of ones knowledge', 'knowledge' being a collection of known facts and the ability to manipulate them to suit a given purpose.
There are lots of 'scopes', a Government has a scope of influence over the lives of the people it governs - control, power and rules. If we choose to break those rules then there are consequences, a certain reduction in choice, or at least the reduced probability of a choice option being taken. Our 'control' of our scope is reduced. How we choose to live our lives is up to us, at least to a certain extent. We can believe in the authority and rules of the scopes around us and the entities that define and maintain them. This is why the concept of a 'God' / 'Gods' or 'Godesses' exists - an entity that controls the scope of our existance that we have no control over. This is why there is infinity in mathematics - to expain the unexplainable. Now as time advances and Science progresses our understanding of our existance increases and so does our knowledge of the facts that govern the universe we exist within - that is to say the 'rules' by which the universe governs itself - in this statement the words facts and rules mean the same thing. There, I have just defined a scope of a sentance - something with boundaries.
Now I have learnt a meaning of the word 'scope' from being a Software Engineer where it is a critical component of understanding methods, classes and instantiated objects within an Object Orientated (OO) programming language such as C++ or Java. In these languages scope defines what you can 'see' withing an object or one of its methods (things it can do). If an object cannot 'see' a piece of data, then it cannot manipulate it. Scope in this sence is a very powerful facility. It prevents lots of code changing data at odd times and making the program hard to debug and more likely to crash or at least not do what you thought it would do. In the past this used to be the case. Scope only applied to the whole program or a single function. With the Object Orientated methodology bits of code can only do so much to the program as a whole. This means that they are slightly less likely to fail as an extra degree of data protection has been put in place and once a problem is found, easier to fix as more often than not the impact of the fix is contained within the scope of the method or object requiring attention.
Within OO there is the concept of 'inheritance' where Objects can inherit the behaviour of other Objects and add more abilities (functionality), additionally they can choose not to allow some functionality. This is similar to two things. One, Children, it is always said that Children should surpass their Parents. Two, Delegation, in Government and Management there is deligation of responsibility, the way of allowing other persons to perform a certain function that you can do but do not have the time.
So, what is existance? Ultimately it is our ability to understand our scope, make the right choices for our own progression within the environment utilising the knowledge we have ascimilated to provide a means for successful inheritance of the entities we create. We should not worry or get stressed about the things we cannot control outside of our scope of influence unless we can make a choice that allows that thing to become within our scope. And that choice has to be made within the rules of the larger scopes that govern our lives.
All of this sounded alot better when I was thinking it through in my mind earlier. I should have written it then before I fell asleep.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
A hard day at the office
Ouch, what a day.
Started off with a run to Tesco's to get the weekly shop of stuff, followed by a slight break, then time to clean the car.
Rigged up an extension lead and started to hoover. Fourty five minutes later and progress had been made - I do not normally find time for this job, so it has been a while. Hoovered everything inside. Then soapy water for the plastic surfaces, followed by a complete wash of the outside. Next up T-Cut to sort out the fading red paint - some time later, in fact, more than some with extra elbow grease and superb stuff - the best the car has looked in years.
Next up, the outside Elecy door, has been fading with green growing stuff for ages, so with the brushes and black weather sheild purchased earlier, I set to work. By about 14:45 I was done and a little tired. Time for the salad and a film or two on the Telly.
The other day, I found a Sat Nag, really funny, which got me thinking today whist painting - which for the most part is boring - if you can have a Sat Nav or a Sat Nag, what about a Darth Vader Nav? It could have such sayings as:
Turn left at the next junction Luke.
Use the Force to reach your destination.
You have made a mistake, I will now starve the engine of oxygen.
I am your vehicle's Father.
Be at one with the Motorway.
More to follow?
Started off with a run to Tesco's to get the weekly shop of stuff, followed by a slight break, then time to clean the car.
Rigged up an extension lead and started to hoover. Fourty five minutes later and progress had been made - I do not normally find time for this job, so it has been a while. Hoovered everything inside. Then soapy water for the plastic surfaces, followed by a complete wash of the outside. Next up T-Cut to sort out the fading red paint - some time later, in fact, more than some with extra elbow grease and superb stuff - the best the car has looked in years.
Next up, the outside Elecy door, has been fading with green growing stuff for ages, so with the brushes and black weather sheild purchased earlier, I set to work. By about 14:45 I was done and a little tired. Time for the salad and a film or two on the Telly.
The other day, I found a Sat Nag, really funny, which got me thinking today whist painting - which for the most part is boring - if you can have a Sat Nav or a Sat Nag, what about a Darth Vader Nav? It could have such sayings as:
Turn left at the next junction Luke.
Use the Force to reach your destination.
You have made a mistake, I will now starve the engine of oxygen.
I am your vehicle's Father.
Be at one with the Motorway.
More to follow?
Climbing the Matterhorn
Another early morning posting, as I have just finished off some late night crumpets with my Mothers home made blackcurrant jam.
Spent most of Friday recreating my website in Dreamweaver and using some Flash to help. Nearly there, but not quite, need to polish off the layout and fully test before going live. Has been quite a hard slog, like climbing a mountain. ICT never stands still, and nor should its Teachers. Other subjects are not so prone to changes in their fundamental structure and content, but are rather subject to circular repetition in policy and evolutions in teaching techniques that follow the pulse of demographic change. ICT has all this as well as the rapid evolution of the industry causing concepts, methodologies and tools to evolve faster than the span of a two year GCSE's stability requirements.
In thinking about my last post, there is an identifiable economic need for having a reduced spread of different syntax's and semantics as complexity costs money - what ever way you look at it - specialisms - additional training and associated time. The evolution of object orientated mythologies should continue as we all deal as humans with an object based world. We understand the capabilities of any such item, its properties and what it can do. Will we ever get to a 6GL? Do we need to or do we need to rationalise and consolidate what we have achieved in order to distill what we have into a better quality product?
Spent most of Friday recreating my website in Dreamweaver and using some Flash to help. Nearly there, but not quite, need to polish off the layout and fully test before going live. Has been quite a hard slog, like climbing a mountain. ICT never stands still, and nor should its Teachers. Other subjects are not so prone to changes in their fundamental structure and content, but are rather subject to circular repetition in policy and evolutions in teaching techniques that follow the pulse of demographic change. ICT has all this as well as the rapid evolution of the industry causing concepts, methodologies and tools to evolve faster than the span of a two year GCSE's stability requirements.
In thinking about my last post, there is an identifiable economic need for having a reduced spread of different syntax's and semantics as complexity costs money - what ever way you look at it - specialisms - additional training and associated time. The evolution of object orientated mythologies should continue as we all deal as humans with an object based world. We understand the capabilities of any such item, its properties and what it can do. Will we ever get to a 6GL? Do we need to or do we need to rationalise and consolidate what we have achieved in order to distill what we have into a better quality product?
Thursday, August 21, 2008
3GL V2.0
I have been learning how to use ActionScript for Adobe CS 3 Flash this afternoon, and the thought has occurred to me that Third Generation Languages (3GL's) as in programming language should now evolve to the next level. That is not to say that they should become 4GL's in the traditional sense. This will take some explanation...
Firstly my understanding of the 'Generations of Languages':
1GL - A language based entirely on bits, bytes and hexadecimal representation - i.e. 4F 3D 10 3A 0E 35 6B and so on, the pure numbers that represent the Op codes and associated data (if any) that tell the CPU what gates to open and close (via Microcode) in order to perform the operation that the hexadecimal number represents. Each 1GL language is purely dependent upon the architecture of CPU for which it is destined. So a 1GL for a Z80 will not be the same as an 8086 or a 68000 - which incidentally is the only processor I actually programmed using its 2GL form.
2GL - The human readable form of a 1GL - Assembly language that is converted into 1GL by the Assembler. For example 'MOV AX, BX'. Again, completely tied to the architecture of the processor - this can mean a whole family, 8086, 8088, 80286, 80386, 80486, Pentium, Pentium 2 ... Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo E4600 ... and so on
3GL - Semi-architecture independent human readable programming language. That is converted into a 2GL by a compiler or interpreter, then assembled (with an assembler) into one or more object files that are then bound together by a linker to form an executable file (or library) which can then be run by the 'loader' of the operating system for the architecture of computer you have - I must state that library files are useless without an executable to 'call' functions within them. Examples: C, C++, Java, Ada, Modula 2, Logo, Pascal, COBOL, SmallTalk, ALGOL, BASIC, Lisp, Fortran etc. And despite arguments, HTML is not really a 3GL in my eyes, it is really a set of symbols and data that 'configure' a web browser to display something. HTML does not really make 'decisions' or can be used to make an entirely new piece of software - it is dependent on the web browser. Given this, Java could be in the same camp for being interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine - which is the nearest 3GL I am aware of to being Architecture / Operating System independent.
4GL - Human readable, capable of inferring logic. Having only done a bit of ProLog, this is where my knowledge is a bit hazy.
So, that is a definition, not fully complete, but should be sufficient for this post. Right, what I am getting at is the need to move 3GL's on so that they have more and more common syntax and semantics. I have been able to get to grips with ActionScript because it shares common traits with C++ and Java with the concept of Objects and dot notation. But again, it is subtlety different. This is becoming 'frustrating' for an aging man who's powers of assimilation are not what they used to be, despite having programmed since the age of ten on and off in: Basic, COBOL, Pascal, Modula 2, Ada, 68000 assembler, C, C++ and Java with a bit of ProLog chucked in for good measure. And has learn't to create web pages in pure HTML with CSS - having a go at PHP too.
The foundations for modern Object Orientated 3GLs have been established (thanks to SmallTalk), so, I believe it is time to standardize the syntax and semantics across the languages to make the process of Software Engineering easier to perform. I am not advocating a language to 'rule them all', because each language has its place and main purpose in solving a particular set of problems - targeting specific needs of the user.
Firstly my understanding of the 'Generations of Languages':
1GL - A language based entirely on bits, bytes and hexadecimal representation - i.e. 4F 3D 10 3A 0E 35 6B and so on, the pure numbers that represent the Op codes and associated data (if any) that tell the CPU what gates to open and close (via Microcode) in order to perform the operation that the hexadecimal number represents. Each 1GL language is purely dependent upon the architecture of CPU for which it is destined. So a 1GL for a Z80 will not be the same as an 8086 or a 68000 - which incidentally is the only processor I actually programmed using its 2GL form.
2GL - The human readable form of a 1GL - Assembly language that is converted into 1GL by the Assembler. For example 'MOV AX, BX'. Again, completely tied to the architecture of the processor - this can mean a whole family, 8086, 8088, 80286, 80386, 80486, Pentium, Pentium 2 ... Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo E4600 ... and so on
3GL - Semi-architecture independent human readable programming language. That is converted into a 2GL by a compiler or interpreter, then assembled (with an assembler) into one or more object files that are then bound together by a linker to form an executable file (or library) which can then be run by the 'loader' of the operating system for the architecture of computer you have - I must state that library files are useless without an executable to 'call' functions within them. Examples: C, C++, Java, Ada, Modula 2, Logo, Pascal, COBOL, SmallTalk, ALGOL, BASIC, Lisp, Fortran etc. And despite arguments, HTML is not really a 3GL in my eyes, it is really a set of symbols and data that 'configure' a web browser to display something. HTML does not really make 'decisions' or can be used to make an entirely new piece of software - it is dependent on the web browser. Given this, Java could be in the same camp for being interpreted by the Java Virtual Machine - which is the nearest 3GL I am aware of to being Architecture / Operating System independent.
4GL - Human readable, capable of inferring logic. Having only done a bit of ProLog, this is where my knowledge is a bit hazy.
So, that is a definition, not fully complete, but should be sufficient for this post. Right, what I am getting at is the need to move 3GL's on so that they have more and more common syntax and semantics. I have been able to get to grips with ActionScript because it shares common traits with C++ and Java with the concept of Objects and dot notation. But again, it is subtlety different. This is becoming 'frustrating' for an aging man who's powers of assimilation are not what they used to be, despite having programmed since the age of ten on and off in: Basic, COBOL, Pascal, Modula 2, Ada, 68000 assembler, C, C++ and Java with a bit of ProLog chucked in for good measure. And has learn't to create web pages in pure HTML with CSS - having a go at PHP too.
The foundations for modern Object Orientated 3GLs have been established (thanks to SmallTalk), so, I believe it is time to standardize the syntax and semantics across the languages to make the process of Software Engineering easier to perform. I am not advocating a language to 'rule them all', because each language has its place and main purpose in solving a particular set of problems - targeting specific needs of the user.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Land of Hope and Glory
Had a good lye in this morning, made breakfast and watched Dad's Army - the film, for nostalgia. Really good to relax and forget all about the stresses of life. Now according to another episode of the television version of Dad's Army, Walmington-On-Sea is approx 20 miles from Dover and near Dymchurch, and as it is on the coast and has a pier to be guarded, that puts it around 'here'. Now, in searching for links for this post I came across this 'website' - which appears to have a host of information.
Also relaxed last night by watching 'Every Which Way But Loose' and looking forward to watching the sequel 'Any Which Way You Can' this evening whilst drinking Coffee and Drambuie even though I am normally a Tea drinker. This concoction of liquids used to be called 'Liquid Sugar' buy my former Archery Club, and was used to keep going whilst teaching Archery at the Three Counties Show in Worcestershire. A rather dubious club as they once removed articles from the Crime Prevention Tent that could be used for the benefit of the club - I was fortunate that this event was before my time. In addition to shooting a Hot Air balloon - in the basket. Although taking out the Tractor plate glass door was sort of my fault, well, umm, really my fault, but the owners Wife did say to him that he should not have left it (the Tractor) there in the first place.
And, now, I know what you are thinking - too much time off for a Teacher - well humm - I did additionally manage today to install a WAMP server on my PC and a copy of Wordpress MU (bad pun as this is a Blog Post) so that I could try it out and then get it installed at school so that the A Level Media Students can Blog for their course and get marks. Also installed extra themes and plugins of i3theme, lightbox and Role Manager.
Also relaxed last night by watching 'Every Which Way But Loose' and looking forward to watching the sequel 'Any Which Way You Can' this evening whilst drinking Coffee and Drambuie even though I am normally a Tea drinker. This concoction of liquids used to be called 'Liquid Sugar' buy my former Archery Club, and was used to keep going whilst teaching Archery at the Three Counties Show in Worcestershire. A rather dubious club as they once removed articles from the Crime Prevention Tent that could be used for the benefit of the club - I was fortunate that this event was before my time. In addition to shooting a Hot Air balloon - in the basket. Although taking out the Tractor plate glass door was sort of my fault, well, umm, really my fault, but the owners Wife did say to him that he should not have left it (the Tractor) there in the first place.
And, now, I know what you are thinking - too much time off for a Teacher - well humm - I did additionally manage today to install a WAMP server on my PC and a copy of Wordpress MU (bad pun as this is a Blog Post) so that I could try it out and then get it installed at school so that the A Level Media Students can Blog for their course and get marks. Also installed extra themes and plugins of i3theme, lightbox and Role Manager.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Odd day
Odd day really. Got a new cooker installed after the other one went fuzzle fuzzle pop - was not worth replacing the element for - installers did a good job but could not get the RCD back on - not their fault as oldish - I tried and then turned another one off leaving me with no power! A few expletives went through my mind but not my mouth. Then one of the guys suggested WD40, worked a treat, both went back on easily. Had to leave the box to breath for a while as WD40 is flamable and the RCD's are rated to 32 Amps.
Then internet connection has been playing up all day with only a 160Kbps download speed on an ADSL connection, well tempremental, only waited nine hours to sort out completely - changed everything - including using the spare modem - still back to normal now.
Whilst on the Train on Sunday to meet Mum in London, I continued to read a book on Turing I have bought - well hard! Read three pages and then need a cap nap to let the brain cool down. Still it is worth while reading as you can start to understand where all of this Computing lark came from. I do realise that Alan Turing is not the only person involved, but it gives a good insight into Finite State Machines for without it TCP would not be able to implement Sliding Window and no internet, and therefore no blogging. Although reading Wikipedia's definition, perhaps Sliding Window is not state based, however the TCP Protocol must so it can function. And I think should be 'Circle Free' so that it never stops working.
On that note, Charles Petzold has written a really good book - even though I am not at the end of it yet. Turing does state that it not possible to create a decision machine that will tell you if another machine will fail - i.e. 'crash' in modern times. Now if you consider all possible decision machines, then you can consider humans as decision machines. After all, I decided that I wanted Salad for lunch. In my experience of writing software, it is possible to determine if a piece of code is going to work or not before it is actually executed - either as you are writing the code (Sofware Engineering) or as a part of some sort of testing process such as a structured walkthrough - Wikipedia describes this process as a Software Walkthrough. And yet it is stated in the book that Decision Machines that perform this function of determination cannot exist. It also states that Alan Turing has something to say on the matter - more reading to do!
Then internet connection has been playing up all day with only a 160Kbps download speed on an ADSL connection, well tempremental, only waited nine hours to sort out completely - changed everything - including using the spare modem - still back to normal now.
Whilst on the Train on Sunday to meet Mum in London, I continued to read a book on Turing I have bought - well hard! Read three pages and then need a cap nap to let the brain cool down. Still it is worth while reading as you can start to understand where all of this Computing lark came from. I do realise that Alan Turing is not the only person involved, but it gives a good insight into Finite State Machines for without it TCP would not be able to implement Sliding Window and no internet, and therefore no blogging. Although reading Wikipedia's definition, perhaps Sliding Window is not state based, however the TCP Protocol must so it can function. And I think should be 'Circle Free' so that it never stops working.
On that note, Charles Petzold has written a really good book - even though I am not at the end of it yet. Turing does state that it not possible to create a decision machine that will tell you if another machine will fail - i.e. 'crash' in modern times. Now if you consider all possible decision machines, then you can consider humans as decision machines. After all, I decided that I wanted Salad for lunch. In my experience of writing software, it is possible to determine if a piece of code is going to work or not before it is actually executed - either as you are writing the code (Sofware Engineering) or as a part of some sort of testing process such as a structured walkthrough - Wikipedia describes this process as a Software Walkthrough. And yet it is stated in the book that Decision Machines that perform this function of determination cannot exist. It also states that Alan Turing has something to say on the matter - more reading to do!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Silver
Have you noticed? As I look at car in Britain today, they are all silver! I have an eleven year old red car which has done over one hundred thousand miles, and despite loving it, there may come a time when the replacement parts and labour come to more than the car is worth. Therefore, I have been looking for a replacement. Something that is just as curvy, fun and vibrant - something that makes the distance between A to B more than a lost moment in time.
There are cars out there that fullfil this criteria, but they have all one litre engines and so would not satisfy my need to perform some of the motorway trips I make. A good car has the ability to get you out of trouble just as fast as it got you there in the first place.
I am currently interested in the new BMW Mini - having initially owned an original Mini as my first car, again, curvy, fun and vibrant. My Mini being built in Britain, had a lot of faults with it, that it is not to say that everything made in Britain is bad, it is just that sometimes things are done on the cheap simply because the money is not there. Perhaps a little more effort could have been put in to improve the build quality. In any case, I still have the tools I purchased to help with the head gasket replacement, the most useful of which is a Torque Wrench that comes in very handy in changing wheels - I definately recommend carrying one as however strong you are, they just make the process easy. However, back to the original point, well sort of, the BMW Mini is really cool, small but cool and has a 1.4 litre engine which is big enough for the size of the car. The price is the main issue, at over twelve thousand pounds for a new one, it is a little on the expensive side, so I need to look at the second hand market and ensure that my Bow Box (as in Archery not Ribbons) fits in the boot.
So, uh hum, why are most cars these days Silver? Is it because we are becoming more lazy and do not want to wash our cars more as Silver hides the dirt more? Looking around a the £7.5k to £9k market, the products on offer are all boxy and mostly boring and the good stuff has the speedometer in the centre of the dash - really annoying - even if the Mini does too, but it is 'well big'. I drove a mini-bus on a Midas test and that's speedometer was in the middle of the dashboard - really annoying and actually takes longer to read when you could be spending vital time looking at the road.
So, what will happen, who knows, I need to spend more time investigating options.
There are cars out there that fullfil this criteria, but they have all one litre engines and so would not satisfy my need to perform some of the motorway trips I make. A good car has the ability to get you out of trouble just as fast as it got you there in the first place.
I am currently interested in the new BMW Mini - having initially owned an original Mini as my first car, again, curvy, fun and vibrant. My Mini being built in Britain, had a lot of faults with it, that it is not to say that everything made in Britain is bad, it is just that sometimes things are done on the cheap simply because the money is not there. Perhaps a little more effort could have been put in to improve the build quality. In any case, I still have the tools I purchased to help with the head gasket replacement, the most useful of which is a Torque Wrench that comes in very handy in changing wheels - I definately recommend carrying one as however strong you are, they just make the process easy. However, back to the original point, well sort of, the BMW Mini is really cool, small but cool and has a 1.4 litre engine which is big enough for the size of the car. The price is the main issue, at over twelve thousand pounds for a new one, it is a little on the expensive side, so I need to look at the second hand market and ensure that my Bow Box (as in Archery not Ribbons) fits in the boot.
So, uh hum, why are most cars these days Silver? Is it because we are becoming more lazy and do not want to wash our cars more as Silver hides the dirt more? Looking around a the £7.5k to £9k market, the products on offer are all boxy and mostly boring and the good stuff has the speedometer in the centre of the dash - really annoying - even if the Mini does too, but it is 'well big'. I drove a mini-bus on a Midas test and that's speedometer was in the middle of the dashboard - really annoying and actually takes longer to read when you could be spending vital time looking at the road.
So, what will happen, who knows, I need to spend more time investigating options.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
YAPL
I have been using some of the holiday to start learning Adobe Flash and Dreamweaver CS3 - Yet Another Programming Language! But ActionScript has similarities with other thrid generation languages. It is Object Orientated like C++ and Java with an Event driven mechanism built in.
In hunting for help in learning Flash and Dreamweaver, I bought this book and this book from Amazon. Then did a hunt and found 'Goto and Learn' and from the first book 'Adobe'.
In hunting for help in learning Flash and Dreamweaver, I bought this book and this book from Amazon. Then did a hunt and found 'Goto and Learn' and from the first book 'Adobe'.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Moments of silence and addiction
Holiday's are a wonderful time to relax, to put your mind at rest and concentrate on the fun things that you do not get to do normally. Silence can help from the everyday hustle and bustle.
Last Thursday, I purchased a copy of Rail Simulator, and became addicted - hence not so many recent updates! Really additive. I am not a train spotter! Just enjoy all things transport based.
Last Thursday, I purchased a copy of Rail Simulator, and became addicted - hence not so many recent updates! Really additive. I am not a train spotter! Just enjoy all things transport based.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Moodle is the new 'black'.
Remember when the saying 'is the new black' refers to when a colour comes into fashion? Well, I have moved my school into using Moodle as its Virtual Learning Environment (VLE - or whatever Three Letter Acronym (TLA) is in fashion), and now everybody else I seem to know is also moving in the same direction.
I did a test install on my own PC the other day, turning it into a WAMP server, only took less than thirty minutes for the whole thing - now I can test out ideas and more importantly addons (modules) with out affecting the main system.
It is really flexible and easy to use - well for most people. I have been struggling teaching older teachers as they come to terms with another 'technology' whilst still attempting to keep up with improving their own IT Skills - ultimately - this is the real hurdle. However, the VLE we were going to be with (no names mentioned to protect the not so innocent) is absolutely 'pants'. I can accomplish in five minutes with Moodle that took me forty five with the other - and at least there is regular bug fixes and releases with improvements. This is not because it is buggy, it is just because with any piece of software there are bugs. There is a software engineering saying along the lines of 'There is not enough time left in the Universe to test all but the simplest programs to the point where you would be 100% certain that they would never fail'.
Still, back to the point, Moodle is Open Source, which in this case makes it flexible and powerful. And in case you are wondering, Moodle stands for 'Modular Object Orientated Distributed Learning Environment' - say that after a night on the town.
I did a test install on my own PC the other day, turning it into a WAMP server, only took less than thirty minutes for the whole thing - now I can test out ideas and more importantly addons (modules) with out affecting the main system.
It is really flexible and easy to use - well for most people. I have been struggling teaching older teachers as they come to terms with another 'technology' whilst still attempting to keep up with improving their own IT Skills - ultimately - this is the real hurdle. However, the VLE we were going to be with (no names mentioned to protect the not so innocent) is absolutely 'pants'. I can accomplish in five minutes with Moodle that took me forty five with the other - and at least there is regular bug fixes and releases with improvements. This is not because it is buggy, it is just because with any piece of software there are bugs. There is a software engineering saying along the lines of 'There is not enough time left in the Universe to test all but the simplest programs to the point where you would be 100% certain that they would never fail'.
Still, back to the point, Moodle is Open Source, which in this case makes it flexible and powerful. And in case you are wondering, Moodle stands for 'Modular Object Orientated Distributed Learning Environment' - say that after a night on the town.
Something old into something new.
Quiet day today. Fixed(ish) the car's exhaust with the putty stuff I bought, only to find more rust! Urgh. I think that I am going to face up to the fact that I have to replace the car in the medium term, even though I love it so much.
Watched the Colditz Story (again but for a long while), good as I could not remember what happened, but the Jamaica joke is still going strong. I tell it to my students and they look confused.
Almost finished rebuilding my old PC so that I can give it to a mate's daughter, even though he does not know it yet - a surprise. The one she has at the moment is really pants, so this one should help with her school work. If only all students could have access to a computer, it would really help them to attain the skills for life.
Whilst doing this, recorded 'Up Periscope' off the telly to watch later - the old films are really good for a proper feel good feeling.
Flash book did not arrive, I hope it does tomorrow. Only six more weeks left of the holidays. One week down and still thinking about work. Lots of preparation to do between now and then. Lots of people think that working in a school with lots of holidays is a walk in the park. It is most definitely not - it has taken me the best part of a week to recover from my exhaustion - and this year I have not had a cold at the end of term (yet). I worked it out once, that with all the hours I work in term time and the holidays (yes, them too) - I get about four weeks off in total, and only 2 - 3 will actually be without doing anything work related at all. And even though at this point in time I have six'ish weeks to go, I still have that 'list' in my head of the things that need doing.
Watched the Colditz Story (again but for a long while), good as I could not remember what happened, but the Jamaica joke is still going strong. I tell it to my students and they look confused.
Almost finished rebuilding my old PC so that I can give it to a mate's daughter, even though he does not know it yet - a surprise. The one she has at the moment is really pants, so this one should help with her school work. If only all students could have access to a computer, it would really help them to attain the skills for life.
Whilst doing this, recorded 'Up Periscope' off the telly to watch later - the old films are really good for a proper feel good feeling.
Flash book did not arrive, I hope it does tomorrow. Only six more weeks left of the holidays. One week down and still thinking about work. Lots of preparation to do between now and then. Lots of people think that working in a school with lots of holidays is a walk in the park. It is most definitely not - it has taken me the best part of a week to recover from my exhaustion - and this year I have not had a cold at the end of term (yet). I worked it out once, that with all the hours I work in term time and the holidays (yes, them too) - I get about four weeks off in total, and only 2 - 3 will actually be without doing anything work related at all. And even though at this point in time I have six'ish weeks to go, I still have that 'list' in my head of the things that need doing.
Another quiet night
As the immersion heater gurgles away and the road is quiet, I try to keep awake to write this. Not such an expensive day. Car exhaust repair kit £14.95ish, hair cut £8, PC Game £20 - cycled instead of taking the car, so saved on petrol and money. Book came on Alan Turing, hope Flash book arrives later this morning.
Zzzzzz.....
Zzzzzz.....
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ouch
Finally got the car in (Yesterday) as another early morning posting. Just heard one car go by, still nice and quiet though. A new catalitic converter - 225 quid, only to find that there is a small hole in the exhaust quoted at 190 quid. So down to Halfords to get some exhaust tape to seal it until its MOT, if really bad, then I will have to give it up and get something new - I cannot keep spending more and more money - I simply do not have it.
Still, I was able to read a Dreamweaver book I have bought whilst waiting - really good, so have ordered the Flash CS3 version too. Along with a book on Alan Turing, I have always wanted to know this initial foundation ever since understanding the Fetch, Decode, Execute, Store process of a CPU - from "The MOTOROLA MC68000. An Introduction to Processor Memory and Interfacing. Jean Bacon". The MC68000 has a really good instruction set that is easy to understand and an architecture that is simpler to address than the Intel 8086+ type series. In Uni, I once wrote a Fruit Machine program, but got called up for cheating when a friend at the time used the same 'mulu' operand (multiply unassigned) to solve a problem in the program - I had done the work and she had copied me. I am now writing this blog on an Intel Dual Core E4600 CPU - how things have moved on in fifteen years. The younger generation cannot seem to understand a World without Mobile Phones, CD's and the Internet. Still, it is the same for all generations as technology progresses, so do new sets of humans appear to embrace it.
Still, I was able to read a Dreamweaver book I have bought whilst waiting - really good, so have ordered the Flash CS3 version too. Along with a book on Alan Turing, I have always wanted to know this initial foundation ever since understanding the Fetch, Decode, Execute, Store process of a CPU - from "The MOTOROLA MC68000. An Introduction to Processor Memory and Interfacing. Jean Bacon". The MC68000 has a really good instruction set that is easy to understand and an architecture that is simpler to address than the Intel 8086+ type series. In Uni, I once wrote a Fruit Machine program, but got called up for cheating when a friend at the time used the same 'mulu' operand (multiply unassigned) to solve a problem in the program - I had done the work and she had copied me. I am now writing this blog on an Intel Dual Core E4600 CPU - how things have moved on in fifteen years. The younger generation cannot seem to understand a World without Mobile Phones, CD's and the Internet. Still, it is the same for all generations as technology progresses, so do new sets of humans appear to embrace it.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Early Morning Posting
Its early in the morning and I am still online thinking. It is almost quiet outside, most of the road noise has gone, sometimes there is the odd vehicle.
I love this time of day. You can think to yourself. Contemplate the world and the life that you live in it. Wondering what is going to happen next. Life is so stressful - can I get my car fixed, will my boss ever know I really exist, will I ever get any answers to the questions I pose or will there just be unending silence because the answers do not want to be told to me. Will I ever find somebody who understands me? I keep searching - but it has been and continues to be a very long search. Sometimes I feel as if I am shouting but nobody can hear me, oblivious to the words spoken in frustration. The Sam Lowry in the film 'Brazil' had the same problem.
Time to redefine myself and look beyond the now. Time to put the past to bed and look to the future.
I love this time of day. You can think to yourself. Contemplate the world and the life that you live in it. Wondering what is going to happen next. Life is so stressful - can I get my car fixed, will my boss ever know I really exist, will I ever get any answers to the questions I pose or will there just be unending silence because the answers do not want to be told to me. Will I ever find somebody who understands me? I keep searching - but it has been and continues to be a very long search. Sometimes I feel as if I am shouting but nobody can hear me, oblivious to the words spoken in frustration. The Sam Lowry in the film 'Brazil' had the same problem.
Time to redefine myself and look beyond the now. Time to put the past to bed and look to the future.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Would you have ever believed
When I was growing up as a Child (English is so silly as you would never grow up as an Adult) and spent many an afternoon pondering over all of the contraptions bought by Wile E. Coyote in order to catch the illusive Road Runner, I never would have imagined that you could sit at a computer and watch the same cartoon as I was on the Telly - see this YouTube search. In those days, I started of with a 16K ZX Spectrum with a Z80 8 bit microprocessor - the 48K was too expensive for my Mum to purchase.
Or indeed, I never imagined that I could write about it for anybody in the world to read and comment on.
Or indeed, I never imagined that I could write about it for anybody in the world to read and comment on.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Longbow Shoot
I performed the scoring at a Longbow Shoot yeasterday. As you can see, the arrows pack quite a punch. The ones shown were fired from a distance of 60 yards away. I normally shoot Recurve, but would like to try Longbow at some point in my life.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
That White Van Man
I drive a rather nippy car (red), and yet I am still amazed as I drive along minding my own business how fast that white brick appears in the rear view mirror.
So, after a bit of thinking, I have deduced that it is because of the colour of the van, based upon the following transport associations:
1. Space Shuttle, fastest aircraft - white.
2. Concorde, fastest passenger aircraft - white.
3. Saturn V moon rocket - white (with bits of additional black go faster stripes).
4. Bullet Train, Japan - white.
5. ICE 3 Train, Germany - white.
6. Eurostar, EU - mostly white.
7. Amtrak Acela - mostly white.
8. Ariane 5 rocket - white.
9. N1 Russian Moon Rocket (wikipedia) - white.
But like with everything, there are exceptions to the rule:
1. Thrust SSC - fastest land car - black.
2. Ice burg that sank the Titanic - very slow moving - white.
3. Cheetah - fastest land animal - yellow with black go faster spots - see 3 above.
So, after a bit of thinking, I have deduced that it is because of the colour of the van, based upon the following transport associations:
1. Space Shuttle, fastest aircraft - white.
2. Concorde, fastest passenger aircraft - white.
3. Saturn V moon rocket - white (with bits of additional black go faster stripes).
4. Bullet Train, Japan - white.
5. ICE 3 Train, Germany - white.
6. Eurostar, EU - mostly white.
7. Amtrak Acela - mostly white.
8. Ariane 5 rocket - white.
9. N1 Russian Moon Rocket (wikipedia) - white.
But like with everything, there are exceptions to the rule:
1. Thrust SSC - fastest land car - black.
2. Ice burg that sank the Titanic - very slow moving - white.
3. Cheetah - fastest land animal - yellow with black go faster spots - see 3 above.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Holidays
A Holiday for a Teacher is an opportunity to catch up on all the work you do not have time for in term time.
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