From tigger at io.com  Sun Feb  5 19:04:47 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Sun, 5 Feb 2006 21:04:47 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
Message-ID: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>

Like a bunch of people, I'm getting hooked on Sudoku puzzles. While I like 
to solve them myself, I think it'd be a good challenge to build a solver. I 
know a few people have done them, but it might be fun to work on at a 
meeting...

Paul



----------------------------------------------
"We Americans, we're a simple people...
  but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities." 
--------------Robin Williams------------------

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Tue Feb  7 19:18:28 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 2006 21:18:28 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] February Meeting
Message-ID: <20060207211828.79621c42@sovvan>

Next Tuesday night is the February meeting of the Houston Perl Mongers. We
will be continuing with Paul Archer's LibUSB project.

I realize that next Tuesday is also Valentine's Day, so I wouldn't be
surprised if some people get pre-empted. On the other hand, we'd be happy to
have everyone's "valentines" show up for the fun.<grin/>

G. Wade
-- 
Why do your people ask if someone's ready right before you are going to do
something massively unwise?        -- Delenn - "The War without End"

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Wed Feb  8 18:18:24 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 2006 20:18:24 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Perl Advocacy article
Message-ID: <20060208201824.4ddecf8d@sovvan>

The following article popped up on the Perl Advocacy mailing list.

Why Perl is a Valid Choice -
http://www.perl.org/advocacy/whyperl.html

Someone might find it useful in one of those cases where Perl is not being
considered because "no one uses it".

G. Wade
-- 
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters
will eventually reproduce the works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
Internet, we know this is not true.          -- Robert Wilensky, UCB

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Fri Feb 10 20:47:39 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Fri, 10 Feb 2006 22:47:39 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
References: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>
Message-ID: <43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net>


I just looked that thing up.  This site gives a simple
explanation:
http://www.sudoku.com/

I haven't tried it yet, but it looks pretty easy to me.
I can't wait to try it.  Sometimes I'm pretty good
at this kind of thing - sometimes not.

It would be interesting to see how many possible
solutions there are from a particular starting point.
I suspect that would be a long running program -
perhaps days, months, or weeks.  Maybe a candidate
for parallel processing?


Mike


Paul Archer wrote:

> Like a bunch of people, I'm getting hooked on Sudoku puzzles. While I like
> to solve them myself, I think it'd be a good challenge to build a solver. I
> know a few people have done them, but it might be fun to work on at a
> meeting...
>
> Paul
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> "We Americans, we're a simple people...
>   but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities."
> --------------Robin Williams------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Houston mailing list
> Houston at pm.org
> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston


From tigger at io.com  Sat Feb 11 06:56:32 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 08:56:32 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
In-Reply-To: <43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net>
References: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>
	<43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060211084445.S92057@eris.io.com>

Yesterday, Mike Flannigan wrote:

>
> I just looked that thing up.  This site gives a simple
> explanation:
> http://www.sudoku.com/
>
> I haven't tried it yet, but it looks pretty easy to me.
> I can't wait to try it.  Sometimes I'm pretty good
> at this kind of thing - sometimes not.
>
> It would be interesting to see how many possible
> solutions there are from a particular starting point.
> I suspect that would be a long running program -
> perhaps days, months, or weeks.  Maybe a candidate
> for parallel processing?
>
>
I doubt it would take that long. A human can solve even a hard one in less 
than 20 minutes. Check out www.websudoku.com to play some.

I figure the easiest way to solve a puzzle (from a programmatic point of 
view) is to mark all the possibilities for each square. Then, for the 
squares that only have one possibility, mark them as final. Then remove that 
number from the other squares. Repeat as necessary.

Paul


> Mike
>
>
> Paul Archer wrote:
>
>> Like a bunch of people, I'm getting hooked on Sudoku puzzles. While I like
>> to solve them myself, I think it'd be a good challenge to build a solver. I
>> know a few people have done them, but it might be fun to work on at a
>> meeting...
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------
>> "We Americans, we're a simple people...
>>   but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities."
>> --------------Robin Williams------------------
>> _______________________________________________
>> Houston mailing list
>> Houston at pm.org
>> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
>
> _______________________________________________
> Houston mailing list
> Houston at pm.org
> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
>



---------------------------------------------------------
To mess up a Linux box, you need to work at it;
to mess up your Windows box, you just need to work on it.
I know which one I'll trust. How about you? 
--Scott Granneman
---------------------------------------------------------

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Sat Feb 11 07:34:58 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Sat, 11 Feb 2006 09:34:58 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
In-Reply-To: <20060211084445.S92057@eris.io.com>
References: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>
	<43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net>
	<20060211084445.S92057@eris.io.com>
Message-ID: <20060211093458.59b75d66@sovvan>

Kind of sounds like the beginnings of an algorithm.

There's probably lots of approaches. Does anyone else think this would be an
interesting group project?

G. Wade

On Sat, 11 Feb 2006 08:56:32 -0600 (CST)
Paul Archer <tigger at io.com> wrote:

> Yesterday, Mike Flannigan wrote:
> 
> >
> > I just looked that thing up.  This site gives a simple
> > explanation:
> > http://www.sudoku.com/
> >
> > I haven't tried it yet, but it looks pretty easy to me.
> > I can't wait to try it.  Sometimes I'm pretty good
> > at this kind of thing - sometimes not.
> >
> > It would be interesting to see how many possible
> > solutions there are from a particular starting point.
> > I suspect that would be a long running program -
> > perhaps days, months, or weeks.  Maybe a candidate
> > for parallel processing?
> >
> >
> I doubt it would take that long. A human can solve even a hard one in less 
> than 20 minutes. Check out www.websudoku.com to play some.
> 
> I figure the easiest way to solve a puzzle (from a programmatic point of 
> view) is to mark all the possibilities for each square. Then, for the 
> squares that only have one possibility, mark them as final. Then remove that
> 
> number from the other squares. Repeat as necessary.
> 
> Paul
> 
> 
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > Paul Archer wrote:
> >
> >> Like a bunch of people, I'm getting hooked on Sudoku puzzles. While I
> >like> to solve them myself, I think it'd be a good challenge to build a
> >solver. I> know a few people have done them, but it might be fun to work on
> >at a> meeting...
> >>
> >> Paul
> >>
> >> ----------------------------------------------
> >> "We Americans, we're a simple people...
> >>   but piss us off, and we'll bomb your cities."
> >> --------------Robin Williams------------------
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Houston mailing list
> >> Houston at pm.org
> >> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Houston mailing list
> > Houston at pm.org
> > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
> >
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> To mess up a Linux box, you need to work at it;
> to mess up your Windows box, you just need to work on it.
> I know which one I'll trust. How about you? 
> --Scott Granneman
> ---------------------------------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> Houston mailing list
> Houston at pm.org
> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston


-- 
Cannot say. Saying I would know, do not know, so cannot say.
                                  -- Zathras - "The War without End"

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Sun Feb 12 07:11:52 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Sun, 12 Feb 2006 09:11:52 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
References: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>
	<43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net> <20060211084445.S92057@eris.io.com>
Message-ID: <43EF5038.61468E78@earthlink.net>


Paul Archer wrote:

> I doubt it would take that long. A human can solve even a hard one in less
> than 20 minutes. Check out www.websudoku.com to play some.
>
> I figure the easiest way to solve a puzzle (from a programmatic point of
> view) is to mark all the possibilities for each square. Then, for the
> squares that only have one possibility, mark them as final. Then remove that
> number from the other squares. Repeat as necessary.
>
> Paul

I still haven't finished one yet, but from the little that I
have done I suspect the starting point is arranged such
that there is only one solution, or if not just one, then
under 10 or so.  So I guess it wouldn't take that long
to come up with all possible solutions.

On the one I am doing, 30 of the 82 squares already
have numbers.  So 52 square don't have numbers.  By
my calculations, there are only about - well never mind -
there are a huge number of possible combinations.  I
still say it's easy to find a solution, but to find all possible
solutions could be daunting.

I think the total number of possible solutions is up
around 1.5E12.  Maybe it's not that high, but that is
probably within 2 orders of magnitude

I see now that the websuboku site gives odds.  Real easy
puzzles have 4E9 combinations.  Really hard ones have
1E10 solutions.

It's interesting that some medium puzzles have 6E9
combination, while some "evil" puzzles only have
6E8 combinations.

They indicate that there is only one solution to each
puzzle.  Interesting.

I looked around some and this is the best page I found
on our topic:
http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/48550?&print=yes
I suspect we would use this article in our endeavor.
I suspect the project is still a big one.  We would
learn a lot doing it, but I don't know that we are
likely to complete the project.

Here is another, less valuable page:
http://forums.dreamincode.net/showtopic14486.htm


Mike



From gwadej at anomaly.org  Mon Feb 13 18:34:10 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 20:34:10 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Meeting Reminder
Message-ID: <20060213203410.42f7ba1b@sovvan>

Just the monthly reminder about tomorrow's meeting. We'd love to have any you
willing(and able) to spend a couple of hours on Valentine's Day at HAL-PC
headquarters.

G. Wade
-- 
"And so it begins"                                -- Ambassador Kosh

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Tue Feb 14 05:31:27 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 07:31:27 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Meeting Reminder
References: <20060213203410.42f7ba1b@sovvan>
Message-ID: <43F1DBAE.87D9634C@earthlink.net>


The script below works fine, I think, but I've only run it twice.
I'm only posting it to see if anybody has any comments
about trivial things that may be wrong with it.  Especially
the "local" statement in MAIN.  I suspect I don't have
that quite correct.

The main recursive routine was obtained from others
long ago.  I now use it for many things - this being
the file name shortening routine.  99% of my scripts
have 'use warnings' and 'use strict', but this one doesn't.
I never took the time to convert it and I seem to get
by modifying it without these pragmas in place.

This script is kinda Windows specific, so those on
Unix may not choose to fool with it.

I won't be at the meeting tonight.


Mike


#
#
# This perl script renames files in the 'C:/Copy2/'
# directory and any subdirectories whose filename
# exceeds the length specificied by $sizemax.
#
# It appends a 6 digit number to the renamed files
# and outputs a list of the renamed files to the screen.
# Just run it with no arguments.
#
#
use English;
use warnings;

print "\n";

sub search_dir
{
        local ( $dirname ) = @_;
        local ( @entries , $entry , $path , @dirs_list , $dircount , @files );

        if ( ! opendir(DIR,$dirname) ) {
                print STDERR "opendir failed for \"$dirname\" : $!\n";
                return 0;
        } # IF
        @entries = readdir DIR;
        closedir DIR;

        @dirs_list = ();
        @files = ();
        $dircount = 0;
        foreach $entry ( @entries ) {
                next if ($entry =~ /\.sys/);
                if ( $entry eq "." || $entry eq ".." ) {
                        next;
                } # IF
                $path = sprintf "%s\\%s",$dirname,$entry;
                if ( -d $path && $entry ne "." && $entry ne ".." ) {
                        $dircount += 1;
                        push(@dirs_list,$entry);
                } # IF
                else {
                        $path =~ s#C:/Copy2/\\#C:\\Copy2\\#i;
                        $path =~ m#(C:\\Copy2\\.*\\)(.*)#i;
                        $pathren = $1 if ($1);
                        $filename = $2 if ($2);
                        if (length $filename > $sizemax) {
                            $countnum++;
                            $countnum = sprintf("%06d", $countnum);
                            $len = $sizemax - 10;
                            ($filenameren = $filename) =~
s/^(.{$len}).*(\..{3})$/$1$countnum$2/;
       $renfull = $pathren . $filenameren;
                            rename $path, $renfull;
                            push
@files,("Renamed\n".$filename."\nto\n".$filenameren."\n");
                        }

#                        push @files,($filename.$space." : ".$size) if ($sizecomp
> $sizemax);
                } # ELSE
        } # FOREACH
        if ( 0 < @files ) {
                print "\n";
                foreach ( @files ) {
                        print "$_\n";
                } # FOREACH
        } # IF
        foreach $entry ( @dirs_list ) {
                $dircount += &search_dir($dirname."\\".$entry);
        } # FOREACH;
        return $dircount;
} # end of search_dir

MAIN:
{
#        open DIROUT, ">C:/Copy2/README - File Listing.txt" or die "$0: open
README - File Listing.txt: $!";
        local ( $dirname , $count );
        $dirname = 'C:/Copy2/';

        $sizemax = 60;
        $sizemax += 4;

        $countnum = 0;

#        print  "Directories under \"$dirname\"\n";
        $count = &search_dir($dirname);
        print "\n";
        print  "\n$count total directories\n";
        exit 0;
} # end of MAIN


__END__


"G. Wade Johnson" wrote:

> Just the monthly reminder about tomorrow's meeting. We'd love to have any you
> willing(and able) to spend a couple of hours on Valentine's Day at HAL-PC
> headquarters.
>
> G. Wade
> --
> "And so it begins"                                -- Ambassador Kosh
> _______________________________________________
> Houston mailing list
> Houston at pm.org
> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston


From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Tue Feb 14 06:19:23 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 08:19:23 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
References: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>
	<43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net> <20060211084445.S92057@eris.io.com>
Message-ID: <43F1E6EB.4DEA27AA@earthlink.net>


Paul Archer wrote:

> I doubt it would take that long. A human can solve even a hard one in less
> than 20 minutes. Check out www.websudoku.com to play some.
>
> I figure the easiest way to solve a puzzle (from a programmatic point of
> view) is to mark all the possibilities for each square. Then, for the
> squares that only have one possibility, mark them as final. Then remove that
> number from the other squares. Repeat as necessary.
>
> Paul

Sounds good.  Then when the square with the lowest possible
options has 3 numbers, pick one and store the other 2 (all numbers
for each square) as whole other games to be played after running
all possible combinations of the current game.  So you are building
up an array of arrays, each items being another game starting point
to add to the possibilities of the running game possibilities.  Of
course each of these other games may spawn other array of arrays
of future games to play.  I guess you could just append those to
the primary array of arrays and only have one.

Now if sounds kinda easy.  Just have a printout that prints the
number of records in the array of arrays and the number of games
that have been completed to show your progress.

If I know you Paul, you've already got something going on this.


Mike



From tigger at io.com  Tue Feb 14 07:12:50 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 09:12:50 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Sudoku
In-Reply-To: <43F1E6EB.4DEA27AA@earthlink.net>
References: <20060205205912.H87534@fnord.io.com>
	<43ED6C6B.6B5EE316@earthlink.net>
	<20060211084445.S92057@eris.io.com> <43F1E6EB.4DEA27AA@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060214085943.V78755@fnord.io.com>

8:19am, Mike Flannigan wrote:

>
> Paul Archer wrote:
>
>> I doubt it would take that long. A human can solve even a hard one in less
>> than 20 minutes. Check out www.websudoku.com to play some.
>>
>> I figure the easiest way to solve a puzzle (from a programmatic point of
>> view) is to mark all the possibilities for each square. Then, for the
>> squares that only have one possibility, mark them as final. Then remove that
>> number from the other squares. Repeat as necessary.
>>
>> Paul
>
> Sounds good.  Then when the square with the lowest possible
> options has 3 numbers, pick one and store the other 2 (all numbers
> for each square) as whole other games to be played after running
> all possible combinations of the current game.  So you are building
> up an array of arrays, each items being another game starting point
> to add to the possibilities of the running game possibilities.  Of
> course each of these other games may spawn other array of arrays
> of future games to play.  I guess you could just append those to
> the primary array of arrays and only have one.
>
> Now if sounds kinda easy.  Just have a printout that prints the
> number of records in the array of arrays and the number of games
> that have been completed to show your progress.
>

The key to this would be to use references.
Let's take the third square down, second from the left, for example.

xxx xxx xxx
xxx xxx xxx
xOx xxx xxx

xxx xxx xxx
xxx xxx xxx
xxx xxx xxx

xxx xxx xxx
xxx xxx xxx
xxx xxx xxx

This square is in the second column, the third row, and the first "meta" 
square. So
$column[1][2]
$row[2][1]
$meta[0][7]
should all be references to the same square.

Once you've got all the relationships squared away (pun intended), then 
solving should be a doddle.


> If I know you Paul, you've already got something going on this.
>

Actually, that's about as much as I've got so far. This is right behind 
finishing the upgrade to my MythTV box (0.19 is out!, plus I've got a new 
HDTV card), and working on the Delcom "VI" light and the libusb stuff.

Paul

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Tue Feb 14 16:11:03 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Tue, 14 Feb 2006 18:11:03 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Meeting Reminder
In-Reply-To: <43F1DBAE.87D9634C@earthlink.net>
References: <20060213203410.42f7ba1b@sovvan> <43F1DBAE.87D9634C@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060214181103.6f031a4a@sovvan>

At a glance, I'd say you could replace the 'local's with 'my' variables. Using
'my' or lexical variables is usually considered safer than 'local's.

Using File::Spec to manipulate filenames is cleaner and makes your code
portable to other OSs.

Of course, File::Find is a great module for doing the recursing file thing.

See below for additional comments.

On Tue, 14 Feb 2006 07:31:27 -0600
Mike Flannigan <mikeflan at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> The script below works fine, I think, but I've only run it twice.
> I'm only posting it to see if anybody has any comments
> about trivial things that may be wrong with it.  Especially
> the "local" statement in MAIN.  I suspect I don't have
> that quite correct.
> 
> The main recursive routine was obtained from others
> long ago.  I now use it for many things - this being
> the file name shortening routine.  99% of my scripts
> have 'use warnings' and 'use strict', but this one doesn't.
> I never took the time to convert it and I seem to get
> by modifying it without these pragmas in place.
> 
> This script is kinda Windows specific, so those on
> Unix may not choose to fool with it.
> 
> I won't be at the meeting tonight.
> 
> 
> Mike
> 
> 
> #
> #
> # This perl script renames files in the 'C:/Copy2/'
> # directory and any subdirectories whose filename
> # exceeds the length specificied by $sizemax.
> #
> # It appends a 6 digit number to the renamed files
> # and outputs a list of the renamed files to the screen.
> # Just run it with no arguments.
> #
> #
> use English;
> use warnings;
> 
> print "\n";
> 
> sub search_dir
> {
>         local ( $dirname ) = @_;
  # This is pretty much the standard idiom for getting subroutine parameters.
          my $dirname = shift;

>         local ( @entries , $entry , $path , @dirs_list , $dircount , @files
>         );
> 

If you are using a modern Perl, it's better to use 'my $dir' in place of DIR
in the opendir() and $dir everywhere else you use DIR.

>         if ( ! opendir(DIR,$dirname) ) {
>                 print STDERR "opendir failed for \"$dirname\" : $!\n";
>                 return 0;
>         } # IF
>         @entries = readdir DIR;
>         closedir DIR;
> 
>         @dirs_list = ();
>         @files = ();
>         $dircount = 0;
>         foreach $entry ( @entries ) {
>                 next if ($entry =~ /\.sys/);
>                 if ( $entry eq "." || $entry eq ".." ) {
>                         next;
>                 } # IF
>                 $path = sprintf "%s\\%s",$dirname,$entry;
>                 if ( -d $path && $entry ne "." && $entry ne ".." ) {
>                         $dircount += 1;
>                         push(@dirs_list,$entry);
>                 } # IF
>                 else {
>                         $path =~ s#C:/Copy2/\\#C:\\Copy2\\#i;
>                         $path =~ m#(C:\\Copy2\\.*\\)(.*)#i;
>                         $pathren = $1 if ($1);
>                         $filename = $2 if ($2);
>                         if (length $filename > $sizemax) {
>                             $countnum++;
>                             $countnum = sprintf("%06d", $countnum);
>                             $len = $sizemax - 10;
>                             ($filenameren = $filename) =~
> s/^(.{$len}).*(\..{3})$/$1$countnum$2/;
>        $renfull = $pathren . $filenameren;
>                             rename $path, $renfull;
>                             push
> @files,("Renamed\n".$filename."\nto\n".$filenameren."\n");
>                         }
> 
> #                        push @files,($filename.$space." : ".$size) if
> ($sizecomp
> > $sizemax);
>                 } # ELSE
>         } # FOREACH
>         if ( 0 < @files ) {
>                 print "\n";
>                 foreach ( @files ) {
>                         print "$_\n";
>                 } # FOREACH
>         } # IF
>         foreach $entry ( @dirs_list ) {
>                 $dircount += &search_dir($dirname."\\".$entry);

You don't need the '&' anymore.

>         } # FOREACH;
>         return $dircount;
> } # end of search_dir
> 
> MAIN:
> {
> #        open DIROUT, ">C:/Copy2/README - File Listing.txt" or die "$0: open
> README - File Listing.txt: $!";
>         local ( $dirname , $count );
>         $dirname = 'C:/Copy2/';
> 
>         $sizemax = 60;
>         $sizemax += 4;
> 
>         $countnum = 0;
> 
> #        print  "Directories under \"$dirname\"\n";

To save yourself from the backslashes I prefer qq{} when I need quotes in a
string.
  #       print qq{Directories under "$dirname"\n};

>         $count = &search_dir($dirname);

You don't need the '&' anymore.

>         print "\n";
>         print  "\n$count total directories\n";
>         exit 0;
> } # end of MAIN
> 
> 
> __END__
> 
> 
> "G. Wade Johnson" wrote:
> 
> > Just the monthly reminder about tomorrow's meeting. We'd love to have any
> > you willing(and able) to spend a couple of hours on Valentine's Day at
> > HAL-PC headquarters.
> >
> > G. Wade
> > --
> > "And so it begins"                                -- Ambassador Kosh
> > _______________________________________________
> > Houston mailing list
> > Houston at pm.org
> > http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Houston mailing list
> Houston at pm.org
> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston


-- 
Don't kill him!! If you kill him, he won't learn nothin'!
                                    -- The Riddler, "Batman Forever"

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Wed Feb 15 04:47:42 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 06:47:42 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Last night's meeting
Message-ID: <20060215064742.395308a8@sovvan>

We had a pretty reasonable turnout for Paul's second installment of USB
programming from Perl. As usual, we ranged over several other topics as well.
For those who might have been interested and did not get the various URLs.

Beginner information:

http://www.perlmonks.org/
http://www.cpan.org/
Yahoo Group: perl-beginner

USB project:

http://www.delcom-eng.com/
http://www.delcom-eng.com/products_USBLMP.asp
http://www.usb.org/home

PictureLogic:

http://users.consolidated.net/kwolcott/ictchosting/kwolcott/PL/pictlogi.html

I hope to get this written up for real and added to the website this week.

G. Wade
-- 
Don't kill him!! If you kill him, he won't learn nothin'!
                                    -- The Riddler, "Batman Forever"

From tigger at io.com  Wed Feb 15 09:29:32 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:29:32 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Last night's meeting
In-Reply-To: <20060215064742.395308a8@sovvan>
References: <20060215064742.395308a8@sovvan>
Message-ID: <20060215112909.I78755@fnord.io.com>

6:47am, G. Wade Johnson wrote:

> We had a pretty reasonable turnout for Paul's second installment of USB
> programming from Perl. As usual, we ranged over several other topics as well.
> For those who might have been interested and did not get the various URLs.
>
> Beginner information:
>
> http://www.perlmonks.org/
> http://www.cpan.org/
> Yahoo Group: perl-beginner
>
> USB project:
>
> http://www.delcom-eng.com/
> http://www.delcom-eng.com/products_USBLMP.asp
> http://www.usb.org/home
>
Don't forget libusb.sourceforge.net

Paul

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Thu Feb 16 06:23:34 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Thu, 16 Feb 2006 08:23:34 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Meeting Reminder
References: <20060213203410.42f7ba1b@sovvan> <43F1DBAE.87D9634C@earthlink.net>
	<20060214181103.6f031a4a@sovvan>
Message-ID: <43F48AE4.462A0A9A@earthlink.net>


"G. Wade Johnson" wrote:

> At a glance, I'd say you could replace the 'local's with 'my' variables. Using
> 'my' or lexical variables is usually considered safer than 'local's.
>
> Using File::Spec to manipulate filenames is cleaner and makes your code
> portable to other OSs.
>
> Of course, File::Find is a great module for doing the recursing file thing.
>
> See below for additional comments.

snip

>
> > {
> >         local ( $dirname ) = @_;
>   # This is pretty much the standard idiom for getting subroutine parameters.
>           my $dirname = shift;
>
> >         local ( @entries , $entry , $path , @dirs_list , $dircount , @files
> >         );
> >
>
> If you are using a modern Perl, it's better to use 'my $dir' in place of DIR
> in the opendir() and $dir everywhere else you use DIR.
>
> >         if ( ! opendir(DIR,$dirname) ) {

snip

>
> >                 $dircount += &search_dir($dirname."\\".$entry);
>
> You don't need the '&' anymore.

snip

> >
> > #        print  "Directories under \"$dirname\"\n";
>
> To save yourself from the backslashes I prefer qq{} when I need quotes in a
> string.
>   #       print qq{Directories under "$dirname"\n};
>
> >         $count = &search_dir($dirname);
>
> You don't need the '&' anymore.
>
> >         print "\n";

Thanks a bunch Wade.  Now I understand the code
much better.  I didn't realize until now that this code
was not using File::Find.  I guess maybe it borrows
some code from the module - maybe.

I finally got 'use strict' in there.  This is the first I have
tried to get 'use strict' in there.

I guess I should use the 'my's throughout each section
of code, but I put most of the variable as globals.
More work to do later.

Here is what I ended up with so far:


use English;
use strict;
use warnings;

my ($sizemax, $countnum, $pathren, $filename, $filenameren, $len, $renfull, $dir);

print "\n";

sub search_dir
{
        my $dirname = shift;
        my ( @entries, $entry, $path, @dirs_list, $dircount, @files );

        if ( ! opendir($dir,$dirname) ) {
                print STDERR "opendir failed for \"$dirname\" : $!\n";
                return 0;
        } # IF
        @entries = readdir $dir;
        closedir $dir;

        @dirs_list = ();
        @files = ();
        $dircount = 0;
        foreach $entry ( @entries ) {
                next if ($entry =~ /\.sys/);
                if ( $entry eq "." || $entry eq ".." ) {
                        next;
                } # IF
                $path = sprintf "%s\\%s",$dirname,$entry;
                if ( -d $path && $entry ne "." && $entry ne ".." ) {
                        $dircount += 1;
                        push(@dirs_list,$entry);
                } # IF
                else {
                        $path =~ s#C:/Copy2/\\#C:\\Copy2\\#i;
                        $path =~ m#(C:\\Copy2\\.*\\)(.*)#i;
                        $pathren = $1 if ($1);
                        $filename = $2 if ($2);
                        if (length $filename > $sizemax) {
                            $countnum++;
                            $countnum = sprintf("%06d", $countnum);
                            $len = $sizemax - 10;
                            ($filenameren = $filename) =~
s/^(.{$len}).*(\..{3})$/$1$countnum$2/;
       $renfull = $pathren . $filenameren;
                            rename $path, $renfull;
                            push
@files,("Renamed\n".$filename."\nto\n".$filenameren."\n");
                        }

                } # ELSE
        } # FOREACH
        if ( 0 < @files ) {
                print "\n";
                foreach ( @files ) {
                        print "$_\n";
                } # FOREACH
        } # IF
        foreach $entry ( @dirs_list ) {
                $dircount += search_dir($dirname."\\".$entry);
        } # FOREACH;
        return $dircount;
} # end of search_dir

MAIN:
{
        my ($dirname, $count);
        $dirname = 'C:/Copy2/';

        $sizemax = 60;
        $sizemax += 4;

        $countnum = 0;

#        print  qq{Directories under "$dirname"\n};
        $count = search_dir($dirname);
        print "\n";
        print  "\n$count total directories\n";
        exit 0;
} # end of MAIN

__END__



From gwadej at anomaly.org  Fri Feb 17 22:31:36 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2006 00:31:36 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] February Presentation
Message-ID: <20060218003136.383a77cd@sovvan>

A write-up of the February presentation is no on-line. The write-up includes
the latest copy of the prototype code. This code contains a bit more
functionality than we had at the end of the presentation. (Thanks, Paul)

G. Wade

-- 
You write code as if the person who will maintain your code is a violent
psychopath who knows where you live.                -- John F. Woods

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Thu Feb 23 19:52:58 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:52:58 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] LibUSB interface question
Message-ID: <20060223215258.3c7322cb@sovvan>

Paul and I have been collaborating on the LibUSB/Visual Indicator project.
Paul has been focusing on running the Delcom device through it's paces and
I've been working on the LibUSB module.

I have most of the major functionality roughed out, but the iterface is in
need of help. I've got some ideas, and Paul and I have dicussed it some. But,
I thought it would be useful to get opinions from the group. I'm going to try
to attach four different scripts that make use of four potential interfaces.
I'd like to get some feedback on the different approaches.

Hopefully we'll get some interesting discussion going on and improve the
design.

G. Wade
-- 
That's what I love about GUIs: They make simple tasks easier, and complex
tasks impossible.
           -- John William Chambless, <39v25i$2rbc at whale.st.usm.edu>
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From gwadej at anomaly.org  Thu Feb 23 19:55:02 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 21:55:02 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Perl Job
Message-ID: <20060223215502.3fac426a@sovvan>

I've once again gotten a request to post a job on our website. If nobody has
any strong objections, I'll send the message to the mailing list tomorrow
night.

G. Wade
-- 
Virtual is when it's not but it looks like it is and transparent is when it
is but it looks like it isn't.                      -- Rick Hoselton

From tigger at io.com  Thu Feb 23 20:07:25 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 2006 22:07:25 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] LibUSB interface question
In-Reply-To: <20060223215258.3c7322cb@sovvan>
References: <20060223215258.3c7322cb@sovvan>
Message-ID: <20060223220001.D65612@fnord.io.com>

9:52pm, G. Wade Johnson wrote:

> I have most of the major functionality roughed out, but the iterface is in
> need of help. I've got some ideas, and Paul and I have dicussed it some. But,
> I thought it would be useful to get opinions from the group. I'm going to try
> to attach four different scripts that make use of four potential interfaces.
> I'd like to get some feedback on the different approaches.
>
Along the same lines, we've been talking about the interface to the script 
for the VI device itself.
Traditionally, you'd just pass options, like this:
delcomVI --red on --bflash --gflash 5,2 --gsync 3 --sync --buzzer on --buzzer-repeat 3

But there are so many options that way (there are multiple options for each 
color LED, plus the buzzer, plus different bits of information to read), 
that it gets really confusing.

Wayne suggested a language route:
$ delcomVI
> red on
> blue flash
> green flash on:5 off:2 syncoffset:3
> buzzer on repeat:3

or
$ delcomVI 'red on' blue flash' 'green flash on:5 off:2 syncoffset:3' 'buzzer on repeat:3'

I thought maybe a compromise would be good:

delcomVI --red,on --blue,flash --green,flash,on=5,off=2,syncoffset=3 --buzzer,on,repeat=3

Any suggestions?

Paul

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Fri Feb 24 04:59:22 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 06:59:22 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] LibUSB interface question
References: <20060223215258.3c7322cb@sovvan>
	<20060223220001.D65612@fnord.io.com>
Message-ID: <43FF032A.3BB95150@earthlink.net>


Paul Archer wrote:

> Along the same lines, we've been talking about the interface to the script
> for the VI device itself.
> Traditionally, you'd just pass options, like this:
> delcomVI --red on --bflash --gflash 5,2 --gsync 3 --sync --buzzer on --buzzer-repeat 3
>
> But there are so many options that way (there are multiple options for each
> color LED, plus the buzzer, plus different bits of information to read),
> that it gets really confusing.
>
> Wayne suggested a language route:
> $ delcomVI
> > red on
> > blue flash
> > green flash on:5 off:2 syncoffset:3
> > buzzer on repeat:3
>
> or
> $ delcomVI 'red on' blue flash' 'green flash on:5 off:2 syncoffset:3' 'buzzer on repeat:3'
>
> I thought maybe a compromise would be good:
>
> delcomVI --red,on --blue,flash --green,flash,on=5,off=2,syncoffset=3 --buzzer,on,repeat=3
>
> Any suggestions?
>
> Paul

Well, I'm not sure how often somebody will be typing
these commands, or how many different combinations
there are, but I have 3 thoughts:

1)
If this were a production environment and there was a
very limited number of normal options used, I'd want to
pick the options from a list - option 1-25; delcom 17,
or whatever.

2)
If I had to type this out a bunch, I'd want something like
this:
r=red
b=blue
+=on
-=off
*=flash
z=buzzer
r=repeat
s=sync
c=gsync?

delcom r+ b* g*5,2 c3 s z+ zr3

3)
If I had to make this user friendly for a bunch of minimally
trained people, then your interface or 1) above would
be preferable.


Mike



From gwadej at anomaly.org  Fri Feb 24 05:17:17 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 07:17:17 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
Message-ID: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan>

I've been thinking about adding a page to the Houston.pm site for projects
like the delcom/libusb project. The pages would carry the latest code and any
rationale or discussion of the design that we want to keep.

We currently have ideas floated for several projects. The one's I can think of
off the top of my head include:

* LibUSB/DelcomVI (maybe two projects, maybe just two modules.)
* Sudoku solver
* Wireless Bayou-Cam Network

We could have a page for each project with the project leader/organizer name,
any code available for download, rationale/design documents, POD converted to
HTML for an online manual.

This way we could have multiple projects going at one time. If you felt like
working on one, you could. Members that are new to Perl could get some example
code to learn from and ask questions about.

Any useful modules could be posted to CPAN if we want. Any projects that got
too big for us to handle comfortably on the website (in other words, if I
became a bottleneck) could be moved to SourceForge or something.

Any thoughts? projects?

G. Wade
-- 
Machines take me by surprise with great frequency.    -- Alan Turing

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Fri Feb 24 17:14:22 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 19:14:22 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Job posting
Message-ID: <20060224191422.7ce53715@sovvan>

Since noone screamed about posting the position on the list, here it is.

G. Wade
-----------------------------

I have an immediate permanent opening in Houston, Texas for a Sr.
Developer with the following experience.  If you feel you are qualified
for the position,  please e-mail me your Word resume along with salary
requirements.  Thanks

 

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

o                                Closely interacting with meteorologists
and other analysts to gather detailed specification for required
solutions

o                                Automating plots and other weather data
analysis jobs and making sure they complete in a timely manner

o                                Designing data presentation
applications such as web sites or stand alone applications to help users
interpret analysis

o                                Working with data vendors to ensure
critical data is available and arrives on time

o                                Designing new methods and procedures to
constantly keep companies weather data systems on the cutting edge and
far ahead of our competitors

o                                Maintain and enhance existing solutions
as required by the business

Job Requirements:
SKILLS / EXPERIENCE 

*	Strong understanding of large scale data gathering, management
and analysis. 
*	Some knowledge of IIS web site development and management 
*	Some knowledge of weather data management 
*	At least 7 years of hands-on application development experience.

*	Desired Technology: 

	*	Perl, DOS batch scripting, Unix shell scripting 
	*	SQL (SQLServer or Oracle) 
	*	Tibco Rendezvous or other messaging/publish-subscribe
products 
	*	HTML, CGI, and other web development skills 
	*	Familiarity with GrADS, NCL, Matlab, or other plotting &
analysis software 
	*	Multi-tier application development in a networked
environment 

 

Lisa K. Yensen
Placement Manager
COMSYS Information Technology Services
lyensen at comsys.com
office - 713-547-7019
cell - 832-754-7036
440 Louisiana Street
Suite 1305
Houston, TX. 77002

COMSYS, putting IT to work

From sisk at mojotoad.com  Fri Feb 24 18:14:33 2006
From: sisk at mojotoad.com (Matt Sisk)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 20:14:33 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Job posting
In-Reply-To: <20060224191422.7ce53715@sovvan>
References: <20060224191422.7ce53715@sovvan>
Message-ID: <43FFBD89.6080108@mojotoad.com>

For what it's worth, I heard about this one. It sounds like interesting 
enough work but they were only offering around $40/hr for it.

Matt

G. Wade Johnson wrote:

>Since noone screamed about posting the position on the list, here it is.
>
>G. Wade
>-----------------------------
>
>I have an immediate permanent opening in Houston, Texas for a Sr.
>Developer with the following experience.  If you feel you are qualified
>for the position,  please e-mail me your Word resume along with salary
>requirements.  Thanks
>
> 
>
>KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 
>
>o                                Closely interacting with meteorologists
>and other analysts to gather detailed specification for required
>solutions
>
>o                                Automating plots and other weather data
>analysis jobs and making sure they complete in a timely manner
>
>o                                Designing data presentation
>applications such as web sites or stand alone applications to help users
>interpret analysis
>
>o                                Working with data vendors to ensure
>critical data is available and arrives on time
>
>o                                Designing new methods and procedures to
>constantly keep companies weather data systems on the cutting edge and
>far ahead of our competitors
>
>o                                Maintain and enhance existing solutions
>as required by the business
>
>Job Requirements:
>SKILLS / EXPERIENCE 
>
>*	Strong understanding of large scale data gathering, management
>and analysis. 
>*	Some knowledge of IIS web site development and management 
>*	Some knowledge of weather data management 
>*	At least 7 years of hands-on application development experience.
>
>*	Desired Technology: 
>
>	*	Perl, DOS batch scripting, Unix shell scripting 
>	*	SQL (SQLServer or Oracle) 
>	*	Tibco Rendezvous or other messaging/publish-subscribe
>products 
>	*	HTML, CGI, and other web development skills 
>	*	Familiarity with GrADS, NCL, Matlab, or other plotting &
>analysis software 
>	*	Multi-tier application development in a networked
>environment 
>
> 
>
>Lisa K. Yensen
>Placement Manager
>COMSYS Information Technology Services
>lyensen at comsys.com
>office - 713-547-7019
>cell - 832-754-7036
>440 Louisiana Street
>Suite 1305
>Houston, TX. 77002
>
>COMSYS, putting IT to work
>_______________________________________________
>Houston mailing list
>Houston at pm.org
>http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
>  
>


From tigger at io.com  Fri Feb 24 19:03:41 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2006 21:03:41 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] LibUSB interface question
In-Reply-To: <43FF032A.3BB95150@earthlink.net>
References: <20060223215258.3c7322cb@sovvan>
	<20060223220001.D65612@fnord.io.com>
	<43FF032A.3BB95150@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060224205953.F29221@fnord.io.com>

6:59am, Mike Flannigan wrote:

>> Wayne suggested a language route:
>> $ delcomVI
>>> red on
>>> blue flash
>>> green flash on:5 off:2 syncoffset:3
>>> buzzer on repeat:3
>>
>> or
>> $ delcomVI 'red on' blue flash' 'green flash on:5 off:2 syncoffset:3' 'buzzer on repeat:3'
>>
>> I thought maybe a compromise would be good:
>>
>> delcomVI --red,on --blue,flash --green,flash,on=5,off=2,syncoffset=3 --buzzer,on,repeat=3
>>
>> Any suggestions?
>>
>> Paul
>
> Well, I'm not sure how often somebody will be typing
> these commands, or how many different combinations
> there are, but I have 3 thoughts:
>
> 1)
> If this were a production environment and there was a
> very limited number of normal options used, I'd want to
> pick the options from a list - option 1-25; delcom 17,
> or whatever.
>
Hmm...not very intuitive. I like being able to figure out what something 
does without having to go back to the docs.

> 2)
> If I had to type this out a bunch, I'd want something like
> this:
> r=red
> b=blue
> +=on
> -=off
> *=flash
> z=buzzer
> r=repeat
> s=sync
> c=gsync?
>
> delcom r+ b* g*5,2 c3 s z+ zr3
>
Very 'setfacl'. This might work as a shortened form, just like with setfacl, 
where you can say u:joe:6, or user:joe:rw-


> 3)
> If I had to make this user friendly for a bunch of minimally
> trained people, then your interface or 1) above would
> be preferable.
>

Well, I suspect that this is going to be written into and called from 
scripts mostly, so clarity is probably preferable over brevity (although I 
do like the 'setfacl' option).

Paul


------------------------------------------
Q: What is the definition of a tachyon?
A: It's a gluon that's not completely dry. 
------------------------------------------

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Sun Feb 26 06:09:37 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 08:09:37 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan>
Message-ID: <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>


"G. Wade Johnson" wrote:

> I've been thinking about adding a page to the Houston.pm site for projects
> like the delcom/libusb project. The pages would carry the latest code and any
> rationale or discussion of the design that we want to keep.
>
> We currently have ideas floated for several projects. The one's I can think of
> off the top of my head include:
>
> * LibUSB/DelcomVI (maybe two projects, maybe just two modules.)
> * Sudoku solver
> * Wireless Bayou-Cam Network
>
> We could have a page for each project with the project leader/organizer name,
> any code available for download, rationale/design documents, POD converted to
> HTML for an online manual.
>
> This way we could have multiple projects going at one time. If you felt like
> working on one, you could. Members that are new to Perl could get some example
> code to learn from and ask questions about.
>
> Any useful modules could be posted to CPAN if we want. Any projects that got
> too big for us to handle comfortably on the website (in other words, if I
> became a bottleneck) could be moved to SourceForge or something.
>
> Any thoughts? projects?

I didn't see a lot of responses to this - maybe due to lazy
Perl programmers  :-)  I'm one of those.


Mike



From tigger at io.com  Sun Feb 26 08:44:26 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 10:44:26 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>

8:09am, Mike Flannigan wrote:

>
> "G. Wade Johnson" wrote:
>
>> We currently have ideas floated for several projects. The one's I can think of
>> off the top of my head include:
>>
>> * LibUSB/DelcomVI (maybe two projects, maybe just two modules.)
>> * Sudoku solver
>> * Wireless Bayou-Cam Network
>>
>
> I didn't see a lot of responses to this - maybe due to lazy
> Perl programmers  :-)  I'm one of those.
>
>
> Mike

Actually, I remember Wade (or was it Wayne? 8-) mentioning the Wireless 
Bayou-Cam network before, but I don't remember much about it.

Paul

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Sun Feb 26 08:57:41 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 10:57:41 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060226105741.49c4c225@sovvan>

On Sun, 26 Feb 2006 08:09:37 -0600
Mike Flannigan <mikeflan at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> "G. Wade Johnson" wrote:
> 
> > I've been thinking about adding a page to the Houston.pm site for projects
> > like the delcom/libusb project. The pages would carry the latest code and
> > any rationale or discussion of the design that we want to keep.

[snip]

> > Any thoughts? projects?
> 
> I didn't see a lot of responses to this - maybe due to lazy
> Perl programmers  :-)  I'm one of those.

<grin/>I'm choosing to believe that I posted it on a Friday and that
some people won't be responding until next week.

Then again...

I've been talking with a few people about this as a way to give more of the
membership a chance to participate in the group. For various reasons, (many of
them geographic) we haven't had as much attendence at the meetings as I had
hoped.

But, it would not be too hard for us to do some sort of distributed project
development. Paul and I are having good luck with that on the LibUSB/Delcom
project.

I was thinking that the project pages would give everyone a bit more
visibility into what is happening. That may tempt some to help out a bit.

It's worth a shot.

G. Wade
-- 
We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters
will eventually reproduce the works of Shakespeare. Now, thanks to the
Internet, we know this is not true.          -- Robert Wilensky, UCB

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Sun Feb 26 09:01:42 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 11:01:42 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
Message-ID: <20060226110142.74421087@sovvan>

On Sun, 26 Feb 2006 10:44:26 -0600 (CST)
Paul Archer <tigger at io.com> wrote:

> 8:09am, Mike Flannigan wrote:
> 
> >
> > "G. Wade Johnson" wrote:
> >
> >> We currently have ideas floated for several projects. The one's I can
> >think of> off the top of my head include:
> >>
> >> * LibUSB/DelcomVI (maybe two projects, maybe just two modules.)
> >> * Sudoku solver
> >> * Wireless Bayou-Cam Network
> >>
> >
> > I didn't see a lot of responses to this - maybe due to lazy
> > Perl programmers  :-)  I'm one of those.
> >
> >
> > Mike
> 
> Actually, I remember Wade (or was it Wayne? 8-) mentioning the Wireless 
> Bayou-Cam network before, but I don't remember much about it.

I can't take credit for that one. Matt Sisk suggested it back in August.
Unfortunately, (like many of the best projects) it is the sort of thing that
requires either fanatic dedication from from an individual or a group of
people that are interested in putting in some time.

If we can get it written up and some interest in the project, we could be the
group that starts it.

G. Wade
-- 
"I can only conclude that I'm paying off karma at a vastly accelerated
rate."                             -- Ivanova, "Points of Departure"

From tigger at io.com  Sun Feb 26 18:33:25 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Sun, 26 Feb 2006 20:33:25 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <20060226110142.74421087@sovvan>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan>
Message-ID: <20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>

11:01am, G. Wade Johnson wrote:

>> Actually, I remember Wade (or was it Wayne? 8-) mentioning the Wireless
>> Bayou-Cam network before, but I don't remember much about it.
>
> I can't take credit for that one. Matt Sisk suggested it back in August.
> Unfortunately, (like many of the best projects) it is the sort of thing that
> requires either fanatic dedication from from an individual or a group of
> people that are interested in putting in some time.
>
> If we can get it written up and some interest in the project, we could be the
> group that starts it.
>

So, Mike, what's this project all about again?

Paul



---------------------------------------------------------
"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Since my co-pilot
and I both took harsh chemical laxatives before take-off,
this should be an interesting flight."
----- Visit Dr. Fun at http://metalab.unc.edu/Dave ------

From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Mon Feb 27 04:39:54 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 06:39:54 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan> <20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>
Message-ID: <4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>


Paul Archer wrote:

> >
> > I can't take credit for that one. Matt Sisk suggested it back in August.
> > Unfortunately, (like many of the best projects) it is the sort of thing that
> > requires either fanatic dedication from from an individual or a group of
> > people that are interested in putting in some time.
> >
> > If we can get it written up and some interest in the project, we could be the
> > group that starts it.
> >
>
> So, Mike, what's this project all about again?
>
> Paul

The cam project?  I'm not sure.  It was to install some web cams
someplace in the city.  Bike trails someplace, I think.  At the
time I assumed the cams were outside cams, and I thought it
was too expensive for the club to take on.  But maybe I'm
wrong.


Mike



From gwadej at anomaly.org  Mon Feb 27 04:45:42 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 06:45:42 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan> <20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>
	<4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060227064542.434ad471@sovvan>

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 06:39:54 -0600
Mike Flannigan <mikeflan at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> Paul Archer wrote:
> 
> > >
> > > I can't take credit for that one. Matt Sisk suggested it back in August.
> > > Unfortunately, (like many of the best projects) it is the sort of thing
> > > that requires either fanatic dedication from from an individual or a
> > > group of people that are interested in putting in some time.
> > >
> > > If we can get it written up and some interest in the project, we could
> > > be the group that starts it.
> > >
> >
> > So, Mike, what's this project all about again?
> >
> > Paul
> 
> The cam project?  I'm not sure.  It was to install some web cams
> someplace in the city.  Bike trails someplace, I think.  At the
> time I assumed the cams were outside cams, and I thought it
> was too expensive for the club to take on.  But maybe I'm
> wrong.

Since we have no income and no budget, the group can't pay for much. But, it
would be possible to design/build a system and talk with some businesses or
clubs to see if they would be willing to fund the hardware side.

G. Wade
-- 
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good
with ketchup.                                      -- C. Titus Brown

From gwadej at anomaly.org  Mon Feb 27 04:45:42 2006
From: gwadej at anomaly.org (G. Wade Johnson)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 06:45:42 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan> <20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>
	<4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060227064542.434ad471@sovvan>

On Mon, 27 Feb 2006 06:39:54 -0600
Mike Flannigan <mikeflan at earthlink.net> wrote:

> 
> Paul Archer wrote:
> 
> > >
> > > I can't take credit for that one. Matt Sisk suggested it back in August.
> > > Unfortunately, (like many of the best projects) it is the sort of thing
> > > that requires either fanatic dedication from from an individual or a
> > > group of people that are interested in putting in some time.
> > >
> > > If we can get it written up and some interest in the project, we could
> > > be the group that starts it.
> > >
> >
> > So, Mike, what's this project all about again?
> >
> > Paul
> 
> The cam project?  I'm not sure.  It was to install some web cams
> someplace in the city.  Bike trails someplace, I think.  At the
> time I assumed the cams were outside cams, and I thought it
> was too expensive for the club to take on.  But maybe I'm
> wrong.

Since we have no income and no budget, the group can't pay for much. But, it
would be possible to design/build a system and talk with some businesses or
clubs to see if they would be willing to fund the hardware side.

G. Wade
-- 
Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good
with ketchup.                                      -- C. Titus Brown

From tigger at io.com  Mon Feb 27 06:04:40 2006
From: tigger at io.com (Paul Archer)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 08:04:40 -0600 (CST)
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan> <4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan>
	<20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com> <4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <20060227080253.M1136@fnord.io.com>

6:39am, Mike Flannigan wrote:

>
> Paul Archer wrote:
>
>>>
>>> I can't take credit for that one. Matt Sisk suggested it back in August.
>>> Unfortunately, (like many of the best projects) it is the sort of thing that
>>> requires either fanatic dedication from from an individual or a group of
>>> people that are interested in putting in some time.
>>>
>>> If we can get it written up and some interest in the project, we could be the
>>> group that starts it.
>>>
>>
>> So, Mike, what's this project all about again?
>>
>> Paul
>
> The cam project?  I'm not sure.  It was to install some web cams
> someplace in the city.  Bike trails someplace, I think.  At the
> time I assumed the cams were outside cams, and I thought it
> was too expensive for the club to take on.  But maybe I'm
> wrong.
>
>
> Mike
>
OK, apparently whatever language skills I used to possess regarding names 
have gone completely out the window. First I type Wayne when I meant Wade, 
then I type Mike when I meant Matt.

So...Matt (the guy who suggested the project), what's it all about?

Paul

From sisk at mojotoad.com  Mon Feb 27 08:45:20 2006
From: sisk at mojotoad.com (Matt Sisk)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 11:45:20 -0500
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <20060227080253.M1136@fnord.io.com>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan>
	<4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net> <20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan> <20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>
	<4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net> <20060227080253.M1136@fnord.io.com>
Message-ID: <20060227114520.xbfkg8scoggkcs8s@webmail.spamcop.net>

I wouldn't call it a thoroughly thought-out idea. :) More of a brainstorm after
I'd just returned from a ride along Buffalo Bayou.

My first thought was a bat-cam. Not everyone knows it, but there's a bat colony
residing beneath the Waugh St. bridge over the bayou. I don't know if it's even
possible to catch footage of quick airborne critters such as bats using web-cam
technology, but it struck me as interesting to try (whether it be 'see the
flock leave at dusk' or a macro-view up in the roost somewhere).

But once I started thinking about that, I started thinking about all the other
interesting bayou watching that could be done -- flood stages, flotsam/jetsam
watch, dog-parks, festivals, etc.

Anyway -- I think it was a valid observation that this sort of thing would cost
money for hardware. Also, a survey of the bayou for open wireless access points
would be of use. (on that note, does anyone know if the Houston wireless group
has any info on whether Houston has plans to offer wireless in city parks like
they do in Austin?)

Also, it's not necessarily perl related. It could easily be, but doesn't have to
be. :)

Cheers,
Matt

From flbaker at sbcglobal.net  Mon Feb 27 18:53:10 2006
From: flbaker at sbcglobal.net (Fraser Baker)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 20:53:10 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <20060227114520.xbfkg8scoggkcs8s@webmail.spamcop.net>
Message-ID: <NEBBLFJBMPJJDFOEDPEBOECHFAAA.flbaker@sbcglobal.net>

Hi Y'all:

I am a Houston Perl Monger lurker. Been to a few meetings, and wanted to
respond to this post. Within the context of a project, which includes a
previous interetst in doing a CAM project along Buffalo Bayou, I may be
interested in participating. I have paddled the Bayou a lot, am a prominant
member of the Houston Canoe Club and we have an active interest in the
Bayou. I am positive that support from the Buffalo Bayou Partnership and the
Houston Canoe Club could be generated for a Web CAM along the Buffalo Bayou.

If interest builds, I will pass this along.

Fraser
Webmaster and Purser
Houston canoe Club

-----Original Message-----
From: houston-bounces+fraser=pobox.com at pm.org
[mailto:houston-bounces+fraser=pobox.com at pm.org]On Behalf Of Matt Sisk
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 10:45 AM
To: Houston.pm located in Houston, TX.; Paul Archer
Subject: Re: [pm-h] Projects


I wouldn't call it a thoroughly thought-out idea. :) More of a brainstorm
after
I'd just returned from a ride along Buffalo Bayou.

My first thought was a bat-cam. Not everyone knows it, but there's a bat
colony
residing beneath the Waugh St. bridge over the bayou. I don't know if it's
even
possible to catch footage of quick airborne critters such as bats using
web-cam
technology, but it struck me as interesting to try (whether it be 'see the
flock leave at dusk' or a macro-view up in the roost somewhere).

But once I started thinking about that, I started thinking about all the
other
interesting bayou watching that could be done -- flood stages,
flotsam/jetsam
watch, dog-parks, festivals, etc.

Anyway -- I think it was a valid observation that this sort of thing would
cost
money for hardware. Also, a survey of the bayou for open wireless access
points
would be of use. (on that note, does anyone know if the Houston wireless
group
has any info on whether Houston has plans to offer wireless in city parks
like
they do in Austin?)

Also, it's not necessarily perl related. It could easily be, but doesn't
have to
be. :)

Cheers,
Matt
_______________________________________________
Houston mailing list
Houston at pm.org
http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston


From mikeflan at earthlink.net  Mon Feb 27 19:34:43 2006
From: mikeflan at earthlink.net (Mike Flannigan)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 21:34:43 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan>
	<4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net> <20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan> <20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>
	<4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net> <20060227080253.M1136@fnord.io.com>
	<20060227114520.xbfkg8scoggkcs8s@webmail.spamcop.net>
Message-ID: <4403C4D3.CC5A694C@earthlink.net>


For those that care, here is a map of the Waugh St. bridge:
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=29.76160&lon=-95.39834&datum=NAD27&s=24&size=l
http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=29.76160&lon=-95.39834&datum=NAD27&s=50&size=l


Mike


Matt Sisk wrote:

> I wouldn't call it a thoroughly thought-out idea. :) More of a brainstorm after
> I'd just returned from a ride along Buffalo Bayou.
>
> My first thought was a bat-cam. Not everyone knows it, but there's a bat colony
> residing beneath the Waugh St. bridge over the bayou. I don't know if it's even
> possible to catch footage of quick airborne critters such as bats using web-cam
> technology, but it struck me as interesting to try (whether it be 'see the
> flock leave at dusk' or a macro-view up in the roost somewhere).
>
> But once I started thinking about that, I started thinking about all the other
> interesting bayou watching that could be done -- flood stages, flotsam/jetsam
> watch, dog-parks, festivals, etc.
>
> Anyway -- I think it was a valid observation that this sort of thing would cost
> money for hardware. Also, a survey of the bayou for open wireless access points
> would be of use. (on that note, does anyone know if the Houston wireless group
> has any info on whether Houston has plans to offer wireless in city parks like
> they do in Austin?)
>
> Also, it's not necessarily perl related. It could easily be, but doesn't have to
> be. :)
>
> Cheers,
> Matt
> _______________________________________________
> Houston mailing list
> Houston at pm.org
> http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston


From sisk at mojotoad.com  Mon Feb 27 20:21:22 2006
From: sisk at mojotoad.com (Matt Sisk)
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 22:21:22 -0600
Subject: [pm-h] Projects
In-Reply-To: <4403C4D3.CC5A694C@earthlink.net>
References: <20060224071717.032eefd7@sovvan>	<4401B6A1.E11D0F8F@earthlink.net>
	<20060226104244.M1136@fnord.io.com>	<20060226110142.74421087@sovvan>
	<20060226203242.L3404@eris.io.com>	<4402F319.4E862B18@earthlink.net>
	<20060227080253.M1136@fnord.io.com>	<20060227114520.xbfkg8scoggkcs8s@webmail.spamcop.net>
	<4403C4D3.CC5A694C@earthlink.net>
Message-ID: <4403CFC2.9020603@mojotoad.com>

Here's google (glyph, satellite, and hybrid, respectively):

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=29.76160+-95.39834
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=29.76160+-95.39834&ll=29.761602,-95.398343&spn=0.006343,0.010214&t=k
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=29.76160+-95.39834&ll=29.761602,-95.398343&spn=0.006343,0.010214&t=h

That last one, hybrid, is pretty cool, btw. The big black rectangle is 
the shadow from America Tower.

Cheers,
Matt

Mike Flannigan wrote:

>For those that care, here is a map of the Waugh St. bridge:
>http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=29.76160&lon=-95.39834&datum=NAD27&s=24&size=l
>http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=29.76160&lon=-95.39834&datum=NAD27&s=50&size=l
>
>
>Mike
>
>
>Matt Sisk wrote:
>
>  
>
>>I wouldn't call it a thoroughly thought-out idea. :) More of a brainstorm after
>>I'd just returned from a ride along Buffalo Bayou.
>>
>>My first thought was a bat-cam. Not everyone knows it, but there's a bat colony
>>residing beneath the Waugh St. bridge over the bayou. I don't know if it's even
>>possible to catch footage of quick airborne critters such as bats using web-cam
>>technology, but it struck me as interesting to try (whether it be 'see the
>>flock leave at dusk' or a macro-view up in the roost somewhere).
>>
>>But once I started thinking about that, I started thinking about all the other
>>interesting bayou watching that could be done -- flood stages, flotsam/jetsam
>>watch, dog-parks, festivals, etc.
>>
>>Anyway -- I think it was a valid observation that this sort of thing would cost
>>money for hardware. Also, a survey of the bayou for open wireless access points
>>would be of use. (on that note, does anyone know if the Houston wireless group
>>has any info on whether Houston has plans to offer wireless in city parks like
>>they do in Austin?)
>>
>>Also, it's not necessarily perl related. It could easily be, but doesn't have to
>>be. :)
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Matt
>>_______________________________________________
>>Houston mailing list
>>Houston at pm.org
>>http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
>>    
>>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Houston mailing list
>Houston at pm.org
>http://mail.pm.org/mailman/listinfo/houston
>  
>