Ramblings of a Coder

System update for Client

Sunday 07 March 2010 at 04:36 am

Over the past week I’ve been updating a system that i wrong in late 2007, At that time they wanted the “Cart” system to only be available for a single login session, and not to be saved. So that’s exactly what was supplied. Now they want it updated to to be available at any point in the future and have the ability to be saved.

Normally this would be simple, but the entire system has been modified in gradual stages so much that’s an absolute nightmare. First I tried to just modify the code to get the required behaviour, but that failed. So now I was left with the choice of continuing to hack away at it in the hopes of getting it to work as required finally. Or rewrite the whole subsection from scratch.

I choose the latter, and that's been mostly all that I've been doing. Its been a nightmare but I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and its allowed me to future proof the subsystem for the changes I can already foresee in the future.

Downside of it all is I’ve forced myself not to touch any other system within the base system, even though the desire to change quite a bit just to make it easier has been HUGE. But what can i do? I know myself if I started that then I wouldn’t be happy until it was a full re-write and i have neither the time or the patience for that.

Also have a assessment due this month, Not even looked at it yet. Behind on the coursework for it too, mostly theory based coursework and its so dry to read that every time I've attempted to I've fallen asleep. Great for those long nights, bad for assessment time!

Also got a strange project to-do with G for School. Something to-do with a snowman, we really don’t know what's expected though as the school neglected to tell us anything about it. And well G doesn’t seem to know anything about it. We’ve just got some previous entries in this snowman book to go from. Ahh well I've had some ideas and if we can get G to-do them tomorrow then I think his project will be finishable to turn in on Monday. If we’ve got the right idea about it anyway.

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Coding, Education | No comments

What now?

Friday 26 February 2010 at 9:45 pm

Well, the update seemed to go rather well. If i don’t mind saying so myself. Only thing is the comment spam, I noticed a LOT of comment spam appearing in the older entries. So much that i had to enabled the Spam Quiz, Which i have enabled on entries over 14 days old. That seems *fingers crossed* to have cut it down to zero.. for the moment.

Still fighting away with the VS 2010 SDK trying to make the PicKit 2 available directly within the IDE itself. Actually  connecting to the hardware is in, Does that. Now I’m just trying to figure out how to work out various other things. I love that they’ve given a SDK, but i hate that finding information on actually using it is an exercise in pulling teeth solo. I’m sure I'll struggle through and suss it though.

For tonight though i think I’m done, Got a choice of movies to pick from tonight, Funny People or Seven Pounds. Which will be after True blood. I was planning on finishing off Halo 3 : ODST, but i accidentally finished it earlier today. So it’ll have to be movies and TV programs, then if I’m still awake maybe some more work on the project or finish off Prototype. Undecided.

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Coding, Gaming | No comments

Time passing.

Saturday 20 February 2010 at 4:09 pm

Yea, so much for that update. Its not quite done yet to my satisfaction, Can't seem to get the graphics just how i picture them in my head. But I am progressing to that point, just slightly slower than i hoped.

Also been working on a few other projects, some using the Microchip's PIC range of MCU's. One I'm really enjoying that morduun and Shadee though of the concept for, Lots of learning in that one and I've been going REALLY slow on it, mostly because i keep stopping to finish coursework and stuff. But i do keep returning to it.

Also i little side project from the PIC one is putting the PIC C compiler into Visual Studio 2010, Which using the build environment stuff I've managed to-do to some extent. Now I'm working on a add-in for Visual Studio itself to control the programmer directly from within the IDE. Just a time saver and because i never have actually wrote an extension for Visual Studio in my life. So its another learning experience for me. Microchip themselves give C# code on there website for the PicKit 2 Programmer Software. So that side is much easier than I'd initially expected.

Also got some work on doing Updates to certain websites, slow going as always with these. Awaiting feedback etc.. i hate that part.

And course the Degree work, Still working away on that. Just purchased previous exam papers for my end of year exam, Bought the past 5 years. Got them in the mail. no solutions, wtf? Kind of useless without solutions really. I did plan on using them as Mock Exams, sticking to the time limits and materials of the actual exam. But that's kind of pointless now as i can't grade them when I'm finished. Wish I'd know that before buying them.

That's basically what's going on in my life at the moment, Mix in a unhealthy amount of TV and that's it exactly. I must say though, Loving Caprica.  I wasn't to eager about it because of the whole C-Span/BBC Parliament in space that was the Battlestar Galactica remake. But i think they've hit it spot on with Caprica.

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | default | No comments

Blogging Update

Sunday 23 August 2009 at 6:28 pm

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | default | No comments

Well that month passed

Wednesday 13 May 2009 at 02:21 am

Previous month passed by rather quickly, I never did get to the point of releasing any of the stuff I'd programmed. Mostly because i haven't been playing any subscription games at all lately. Its been refreshing actually. I finished both assessments, One of them i was finishing off with hours to go before the submittal deadline. Purely my own fault too, i just kept putting it off and putting it off. And suddenly the deadline was upon me. But they're done and both passed. Got 2 assessments left on the computing course and that's it done for the year. Basically finished one of them just need to cleanup the written parts and format the code. Other is a multiple choice paper, which I'll do in the coming days. Then its 100% focus educationally on the mathematics course till October when i start the next computing course.

I did make some changes to the cramped computer room, I added some shelving. Trying to work out a way of adding more actual desk space without cramping my movement room to much, but i have some ideas. I'll get round to it, The shelves alone gave me plenty of room to move, and they're well out the way of the two smaller people i live with. So its not so much of an issue right now as it was at the time of the last post. Still haven't built G a computer area yet, but i really want to take a decent amount of time on that and do it 100% correctly and make sure it'll last as long as the ones I've built for myself at least.

On the project side, I've been making some headway. Collected a metric ton of research materials and schematics, started slowly building up my parts inventory too, Checking over my current equipment and see what needs replacing/updating before i really get started in earnest. Nothing worse than starting something and having to stop to wait on a part or something to be delivered. There was a lot more to learn though than I'd actually considered, So it may take a bit longer than I've estimated to myself but that's not going to stop me! Its just a matter if finding a good starting point, or even several starting points. Once i get those i'll rush onwards.

On the coding side for the above mentioned project, I do love C#, but when it comes down to it I'm still i Delphi man, and its hard hard work to not switch back just due to how easy i find good ole Pascal to use, especially when it comes to breaking completely new ground for myself. But i think I'll soldier onwards with C# anyway.. or maybe a bit of both depending on how it all goes. Getting ahead of myself here anyway.

Anyway, its damn late as i write this, so i think I'll finish up right here.

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Education, Electronics, Random, Coding | One comment

Badly researched Articles

Wednesday 01 April 2009 at 03:02 am

As well all you know, my son is on the Autistic Spectrum.

And well a pet hate of mines is to be looking through information Autism, new research etc. and Occasionally you come across posts like this one
http://treatments4autism.blogspot.com/2009/03/tips-for-managing-autistic-children.html

Which are just so badly researched, and so outdated in there views it completely shocks me. Especially as to me that article is aimed at new parents probably just starting to cope with the fact that there child is autistic. Then they're going to come across just things like that. From the very onset the article starts by saying there's no cure, and you can only manage the symptoms. Cure for what exactly? Autism isn't a disease!

Anyway i posted a comment back on this article but i kind of doubt it'll see the light of day. So i decided to post also post it here :) That way i can vent and know at least someone beyond myself has read it.

I'm really surprised by the arcane stereotypical view of autistic children being "Generally Aggressive" in this article.

Quite shocked that someone supposedly writing tips on managing autistic children can pigeon hole such a wide and diverse spectrum as aggressive. This inaccurate and outdated view is something that should be fought against at all costs. It hinders ASD children and can cause negative feedback against ASD children in the community in which they live.

Also the dietary tip.. its yet to be proven that any specialist diets actually work in controlling or altering the "Symptoms".

My honest view, is that its unfounded and badly researched articles like this that hinder public understanding and awareness of the diversity of Autistic Spectrum Disorders. And cause undue stress to the parents of children recently discovered to being on the Spectrum.

And well yes, that's my view.. I'm still unbelievable annoyed and shocked that someone can so casually include the biased view of aggression and pin it to the entire autistic population. That really pisses me off. Its something that we as parents have to deal with a lot when telling people that G's is autistic. And it'd be so much easier for strangers to understand if piebald idiots like this would really just shut the fuck up about their mercury rising experience of autism. The need to go away and watch a few of the Documentaries on the subject. Then they might get that they're unfairly labelling all autistic people as aggressive.

*end rant*

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Autism | Three comments

Snow finally comes!

Monday 02 February 2009 at 5:31 pm

View Full Album

As per the BBC have been going on about all day, the UK finally got some decent snow. And most people are complaining, but not me. Its a great time to be out in the garden with Garion and having a blast. as i have been. Snowball fights a plenty and a perfectly aimed snowball to the lug for Kirsty, I even managed to get a shot that went behind her Glasses. ROCKIN!
Course she wasn't happy about that, but no one that gets smacked with a well aimed snowball ever is.

I even managed to get lots of photo's and some "Artistic" shots which is very very rare for me. my photo's are usually blurry and shakey and just plain bad. but i like these two. One taken with my Digital camera and the other taken by my Nokia N70 phone. Hope you like them.

More snow is on the way supposedly with the worst due tonight and tomorrow. which is great as we got about 1ft this morning and a i'd say probably about another foot this afternoon. though its hard to tell cos the drifts and the fact we've been in and out all day with Garion playing in the snow.

Anyway, Enjoy it if you've got it folks!

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | default | One comment

Not so long fable

Thursday 15 January 2009 at 09:10 am

So, the downloadable content for Fable 2 was released, YAY cos we were awaiting that release eagerly. So last night there i was, bought my 1000 MS points and paid 800 for the addon. waited forever for the 500+mb thing to download, for some reason it kept stalling was rather annoying. But i finally got it and fired up the game. and off i went to the new Island

Flick forward an hour or two later, and the questline is finished. 

I feel cheated, sure it was a complete new zone. But it just wasnt long enough to warrent buying it, Tried it out on multiplayer with Daniel (Kerouac).. and god the multiplayer is a major disappointment too. A static camera view that really really gets in the way. We lasted about ooo 5mins max, and we both went back to our single player games.

Flick forward another hour or two, and i've not only finished the quest lines but also got all the achievements. Now Fable 2 really is a great game, but this addon was such a BIG let down. I was just absolutely no where near long enough. Containing basically 3 quests. Disappointed.

*additional note* i've changed the address for the blog, basically removed the /blog/ from the url. I never did what i was planning with the rest of the domain. so umm update yer bookmarks to just http://www.specis.me.uk/ *end of note*

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Gaming | One comment

Speech Recognition

Friday 19 December 2008 at 6:38 pm

So, who out there hasn't actually watched them using there computer in Star Trek and though "If only!".

The strange part is though that the software for this kind of control exists and is available. Sure it can make mistakes, but people still fart in crowded elevators too. We're not perfect either. Anyway with that bit of humor over i turned my sights to some voice commands in Linux, Not many applications out there for this kind of control. Which really shocked me actually as Linux usually attempts to keep up and/or surpass with features of the Windows, But Windows has had a full system of voice control since early XP, possibly before too. This isnt saying linux doesnt have speech recognition tools, the Sphinx library is pretty damn nice. But actual applications that use it? not very many it seems beyond some plugins and stuff. Disappointing, especially when things like KDE have been massively overhauled and almost completely rewritten. Strange that someone at the start didnt think to include an accessability feature like that.

Anyway, I've decided to give making a simple voice control app myself a go. Not the first time i've played with this idea either, if i remember correctly when i got my Bluetooth headset i also toyed with the idea. But that headset lasted a whole 3 weeks or so before the battery died and stopped charging. Right now im using a Superbeam Stereo mic setup through the rear Mic input and a headset with Microphone through the Front Mic input, and i also have a desktop microphone too. With the 3 of them you can get some good effects when capturing from them. Produces some intresting echo too which i cant seem to get to go away, But PocketSphinx which is the one im currently playing with still has about a 99% accuracy on the simple commands i've setup so far. And its working from all over the room, so thats also a pleasant surpise. Lots of reading up todo though. as it seems to be a complex subject and the documentation is very sparse on it. Which is problem why its a technology thats not really present.

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Coding | One comment

Xbox360

Thursday 20 November 2008 at 06:43 am

Anyway the dashboard update is a major change to the existing system

Only one game really available at the moment that allows me to use my avatar fully in game, but I'm sure we'll see loads soon.

Sad side of the fully 3d avatar's is that for some ungodly reason your not allowed to use them in community XNA games, but certified games seem to be allowed access to them. Ah well I'm sure in the next few months you'll see something on this front. Or we'll see it when XNA 4 comes around. which going by the previous development cycles will be in 6 to 9 months.

Charles McCrimmon (Specis) | ¶ | Coding, Gaming | One comment