Category Archives: Computing
Relearning PHP
The time has come for me to relearn PHP. When I last used PHP, in 2005, I was using PHP 4.4, which had pretty poor support for classes and objects. Compared to Perl, I found PHP pretty awkward. PHP 5 … Continue reading
Random Shuffle Algorithms
A recent slashdot.org thread discussed how a programmer at Microsoft incorrectly implemented a random shuffle algorithm. The discussion was prompted by an article Rob Weir wrote in which he presented a comprehensive analysis of the problem and provided a correct … Continue reading
Apple’s Tablet Computer
Yesterday Apple Inc. introduced its new tablet computer, the iPad. The best summary of the iPad that I have read is, not surprisingly, written by Adam Engst at tidbits.com. I provide here notes about the features that interest me. The … Continue reading
That Expensive Microsoft Experience
Yesterday I finished reinstalling Vista Business on my MacBook Pro. I say finished, because the reinstallation required two days. I needed to reinstall Vista after I had updated Mac OS X to Snow Leopard (10.6), at which time I had … Continue reading
Solitaire Cryptosystem in “Cryptonomicon”
For the past two or three weeks, I’ve been reading Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon, a novel published in 1999. Much of the story in the novel concerns cryptography, and page 480 contains a Perl script that can be used to encrypt … Continue reading
Waiting for the Next iPod touch Model
Fourteen months ago I traded in my old iPod mini for a new 8-GB iPod touch. I think the price at the time was about $230, but I got a 10% discount for exchanging the old iPod mini. Six weeks … Continue reading
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
I put off upgrading the operating system on my MacBook Pro from Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) to Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6) until I had free time over the holidays. These are my brief notes about how I … Continue reading
