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Category Archives: Computer

Project Euler

The first rule of Project Euler is you don’t talk about Project Euler.  Ha, ha! just kidding.

I haven’t been blogging much lately.  My apologies.  I’ve found a great new hobby, which has occupied most of my time.  I’ve been solving problems on Project Euler.  Here is a link to my profile there.  Tonight, I just solved my 106th problem, of 222.

“Project Euler exists to encourage, challenge, and develop the skills and enjoyment of anyone with an interest in the fascinating world of mathematics.”

These problems are very interesting and seem tailor-made to someone of my interests.  My major in college was computer science, with a concentration in mathematics.  Actually for Project Euler, a major in math and some comp sci work would probably serve a would-be solver somewhat better.

Most of the problems require some type of computer program.  You’re usually searching for a number with a peculiar property, or adding a bunch of numbers with a similar property.  Many involve prime numbers, which can really stretch a programmer’s technique.  Some are quite unique.  One asks you to evaluate a bunch of poker hands played by two players, asking how many times the first player wins.  Another asks you to programmatically solve a bunch of sudoku puzzles.  One even asks which squares on the monopoly board game are the most popular, statistically.

A new problem has been posted every week since I joined.  I hope they keep this up.  I could be solving these problems for quite a while.  My progress was very quick (several solutions per day) at the beginning.  A couple of weeks ago I had slowed to one solution per day.  Now I have to think about a problem for a day or two before a good solution occurs to me.  I have quite a few I’m thinking about now.

What makes the site so great is that the problems build upon each other.  Knowing how to solve an earlier problem will help solve a later problem.  Efficiency is king, so if your solution takes a few seconds, perhaps the forum for the problem will have a faster algorithm.  This is where the real learning takes place. Some times I’ll wait a few seconds, or even a few minutes for my program to run, only to find that a technique I hadn’t considered gets the answer in a few milliseconds.

Last week I was proud to have solved my 100th problem, which is somewhat of an achievement.  Of all the users that have signed up at project euler, I’m within the top 3%.  My preferred language is python.  Which is good, because while it is one of the most popular languages on Project Euler, it is also one of the most successful.  Soon I’ll write a blog entry about how much I love python.  I just started learning it a few weeks before I started Project Euler.

Users are allowed to submit problem suggestions.  I just sent my first one.  I hope it will be approved, but I understand the approval process is quite long.

Google Reader

I have been toying with several RSS feed readers for several years.  The concept has always appealed to me.  Point the reader to your favorite websites, and you have access to all the new content, as it appears, as soon as it appears on the web.  Watch the news unfold on cnn.com live!  Find the latest gadget announcements on gizmodo.com!  Never miss a daily edition of your favorite web comic!

One of the readers I tried years ago was Google Reader, when it first came out.  It was a reader with a browser interface, which was unique at the time.  So it has all the benefits of Google Docs, like the ability to access it from any computer.I might do some reading while I’m on lunch at work, and when I access it from home, I know which stories I’ve read and which I haven’t.

Another perk is customization.  Google offers many, many settings to let you use this application anyway you like.  And in addition, users have written custom scripts to add even more features and options.  My favorite is the “Better Google Reader” add-on for Firefox from Lifehacker.com.

But my favorite feature by far, and the feature that eventually led me to use it full-time, is the ability to share favorite items with any or all of your contacts.  One-click on the “Share” button, and anyone who views your shared items will see this.  Your GMail contacts can subscribe to your shared items.  I click on things I find interesting most every day.  Your shared items are gathered to a website, which has it’s own feed.  So I’ve added the WordPress RSS Widget to the right navigation bar, so anyone that visits my blog here, can see a glimpse of my shared items.

If you’d rather communicate an entry a little more privately, Google Reader offers one-click integration with GMail, so that you can use your stored contacts to forward any RSS feed entry to only a select person.

The last selling point I have for Google Reader, which has actually been implemented in other readers, is a suggestion feature.  You subscribe to your favorite sites, and Google recommends similar sites at your request.

Swing Project Comic

I thought this was a nice commentary on software the software development cycle, and what testing has to deal with on a day to day basis. Imagine being solely responsible for ensuring consistency here.

Swing Project

Melodyne

Melodyne is a piece of software I was lucky enough to try out recently.  I was blown away with how powerful it is.  It’s a multi-track music recorder and editor.  But it has features that put other multi-track recorders like audacity to shame.

First, the ability to correct pitches within a recording.  Melodyne automatically detects each note, and allows you to correct each, individually.  So if some notes are too high, drag them down.  If others are too low, drag them up.  Also, you can select all and double-click for a “nearest” neighbor matching.  It makes even the worse singer sound exactly on pitch, for example.

Once you have a melody the way you like it, you can duplicate the track and make harmony tracks easily.  One time I made a complete background vocal track by singing “ooo” once into my microphone and duplicating it over and over, adjusting the pitch to the song.  Many of you that know me have already heard it.

I may end up purchasing the full version if/when they ever perfect the polyphonic editor they have been advertising lately.  It is NOT implemented, unlike many of the claims, in the latest version.

Windows Vista

I’ve had some problems in the past with my 64 bit version of Windows XP not working well with some peripherals. When I first started configuring it, I noticed my webcam would not work. Logitech, it seems, will not support 64 bit. Palm is similarly stubborn. I have resorted to syncing my Treo to a laptop I never use.

The Zune software complained about my operating system also. I was shocked, frankly. This is Microsoft! The same people who released Windows XP x64. They at least offered a workable solution. Logitech and Palm didn’t support 64 bit of any flavor. Microsoft said the Zune would work well with Windows Vista 64. So I installed it, and the Zune software is working just fine.

So far, I’m quite impressed with Vista. The new web manager (Aero) is very slick. I love the window preview when I mouse-over a program’s button on the task bar. I’m still learning my way around. I can’t remember the last time I used google so much to learn to do things in windows. Probably never.

I’m glad I have a computer that is able to handle it well. Vista is a behemoth. I’m currently considering upgrading my RAM from 2 GB to 4. Someday…

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