Grease Monkey

I just started using Grease Monkey with Mozilla Firefox. Grease Monkey ends the debate for me. Until Google Chrome supports Grease Monkey (I don't know that Chrome does yet), I'm going to be using Firefox. Java Scripts and Grease Monkey are ultra useful. For example, I just installed a script that allows me to highlight any text, press a key for instance 'w' that automatically wikis the highlighted text or if I press 'g' the highlighted text is googled in a new tab. I had to modify the script a bit since the searches were in French. I even added my own search key to the script to translate any word I highlight in English to Spanish at wordreference.com.

Programming for Phones

I would like to learn how to program for cell phones. I was just reading John Carmack's blog where he talks about his whole journey into programming games for cell phones. I like the idea of programming for cell phones for pretty much the same reason John Carmack likes programming for cell phones: cell phone programs are easier to show off. I'd like if I could port the scrabble cheater program I'm working on to cell phones.

Scrabble Cheater is not an amazing deal of a program but fun to have around just in case anyone wants to play scrabble and you are in the mood to win unfairly.

Youtube for Learning or Brain Deterioration

I've seen so many videos on youtube but most of them were a complete waste of time. I suppose laughing and having fun is healthy but sometimes youtube videos are plain retarded(e.g. fred, blue berry pie). On the other hand, youtube can also be used for educational purposes (e.g. calculus, how to moon walk). I used antiRTFM's channel on youtube to clarify some C++ concepts. The reason I wanted to write about youtube and educational purposes is because of an article written by a specialist in the future that explains how in the future education won't be classroom-centered. Sometimes we're just bored of reading a textbook; having a voice explain difficult concepts while you lay down in bed is relaxing. Recently professors at MIT have had their lectures uploaded onto youtube. If you want an alternative to learning from the textbook, something a little more personal, youtube is a great place to go.


see response to internet education by biology professor at U of Toronto, Larry Moran
http://sandwalk.blogspot.com/2009/04/will-universities-survive.html

Gmail This!

I just discovered the awesome bookmark Gmail This. Just drag Gmail This into your bookmarks bar and click it whenever you want to G-mail someone the current website you're visiting. I wish the Gmail This bookmark had Google Reader's bookmark Share This feature where any text you highlight is what users you are sharing with on Google Reader see before they decide they want to view the full website or article. In the case of Gmail This, users would highlight text, click Gmail This and any text highlighted would appear in the G-mail. Another feature that would be nice for Gmail This would be automatically embedding youtube videos or pictures.

Working in Steps

I learned an important lesson about programming from a yahoo answer. If only I could find that one yahoo answer that taught me the ways of the samuri in terms of programming. Some chick posted a bunch of code and copy pasted her debugger output and said "where's the problem?" The best answer in my opinion then explained that programming doesn't work that way. You don't define and impliment 10 different functions into a program and then run it through a debugger. No, you're supposed to run each function or at least the basic idea of the function through the debugger to see if it works before you go on defining another function for the program.

Today I decided to stop procrastinating or puttning off the Scrabble Cheater project. Well, I decided to work ont he project sooner after I discovered some solutions as I meditated over the problems as a bed time story. I guess I'll talk about some of those solutions on my C++ blog. So far, my program consists of only a couple functions and I'm about to turn some code I've been testing into another function which migh turn out to be the most important function in the program - the function that compares the characters from the input to the characters of words in an array.

Another concept I had a hard time with was working with a project. I always used to work on a single source file. I knew what the include statements meant but I didn't know who to "make my own files to include". On DEV-CPP making a project is very easy. I recently downloaded Code Blocks but I'm just not used to the idea of using it as my default IDE yet. I have tried Microsoft Visiual CPP Express but I'm not used to it either. That's my update for now.

Yahoo Answers vs. Forums

I used to usually only use Yahoo Answers and the Gamedev chat whenever I had a question about C Plus Plus, and lately a debate has been floating in my mind. Is posting questions on yahoo answers better than posting questions on forums that are related to the subject of the question?
There are a lot of cons to posting a question on Yahoo Answers:

• There's the possibility that nobody will be interested in your question and in about three days Yahoo Answers shuts down your question for no further answers.
  
• You have to request an extension to the amount of time your question is up for answers.
  
• I take back the first con, what really happens is that someone answers your question extremely poorly and after a certain amount of time, since that person is the only person that answered your question, his/her answer gets chosen as best answer and then the question is shut down for no further answers.
• You can't argue about another persons' answer and why its wrong. You just answer.
  

The pros to posting a question on Yahoo Answers:

• There is a reward system. I don't know if it's true that the people that answer questions on Yahoo Answers are in it for the points, but this reward system is supposed to reward those with the best answers. Therefore, yahoo answers pressures a strive for good quality answers that forums don't necessarily.
  

What are the cons and pros of forums then?
cons

• There isn't a reward system? There is usually no pressure to make anyone give a quality response to your question. There is only pressure of being right and having a good reputation on a forum for being right. I totally disagree with this con because I've been to many forums for answers to questions and people do try to give quality answers even without the points.
  

pros

• You can edit your questions or arguments in the post. Want to bold something, add a picture, maybe an embedded youtube video? You can't do this on yahoo answers, but you can usually do it on a forum with HTML editing capabilities.
  
• There is room for discussion. If one user on the forum disagrees with another about some answer, forums make possible a debate where the questioner has a chance to see why a particular answer may not be correct and to keep the heads up for new answers that could be more accurate or correct.
  
• You're question will never expire and will always be there for more answers.

I've been thinking about forums and yahoo answers lately because I just discovered Orkut communities which are much like forums. I joined the C/C++ community they have there with already 150,000 members. I'm also a member of several other forums that have been very useful: CPP for Beginners, Game Dev, and C Plus Plus.

Going to the Movies

Some classmates invited me to go to the movies today to see some movie I could do without. I want to go but not for the movie. I just want to go to see my classmates again and socialize with them for a while. One of my classmates said we would be watching Slumdog Millionaire, and I don't care much for a movie about romance unless I'm with my girlfriend. I hope they were just joking about the movie choice in case I do change my mind about going to the movies.

The main reason I don't want to go is because of the expense. Costs 4 dollars to see a movie here, and I know if you're from the States or Canada you're probably thinking "That's so cheap! I'd go if I were you!" Sure, it's cheap but you can do many other useful things with 4 dollars than watch a movie. Just yesterday I spent 43 dollars on getting an application sent to University of Central Florida by Fed Ex. I think of the 4 dollars I would have spent going to a movie as a fraction of the 43 dollars I spent yesterday.