Computer stuff
I am a keen computer user; I think computers can make various administrative tasks bearable/enjoyable and programming computers has been a pastime I've enjoyed since 1996. I did a Computer Science major and have also worked as a (paid) programmer, but currently it's just a hobby.
I have toggled between using Linux and Windows over the years; I mainly use Windows XP at the moment because it is what is required at work. I find it acceptable but for some tasks Linux is certainly easier and more efficient. My website is now built under Windows with no requirement for Linux to be installed on my computer. The main program to build the site is written in Python which uses msxsl (an XSLT processor) to convert XML into PHP/XHTML. The thumbnails and menus are automatically generated using my limited knowledge of Python and its libraries. I've tried to use CSS more for the styling, in contrast to my previous website designs which were very table-centric.
In case you are interested in these things, some programs that I like are:
- Vim for text editing, including programming and editing these web pages.
- Mozilla Firefox for web browsing.
- Mathematica for intensive Mathematics, especially for graphing functions.
- Winboard to play chess on the internet, or to play against my own chess program.
- Fritz 8 to play chess against on my computer or to analyse my games.
- Latex for typesetting high quality documents, especially maths/logic documents.
- Python for a lot of my programming, especially programs which need to interact well with Excel and Outlook.
I also enjoy using my Palm Tungsten E in conjunction with my computer to keep myself organised. It also has a nice supply of games that I can play at times where there is little else to do.
Most of my programs are designed to perform some specific task that other users would not be interested in. Every so often, however, I write a program that might be of interest to someone other than me and my programmer friends. Some of these programs are listed below.
Enter Calculator (version 1.3)
| Language: RealBasic |
| Date: July 2005 (updated March 2009) |
| Download: Windows Version. |
| Description: This is a program that can be used to estimate ENTER scores for VCE students. The scaling is based on the 2008 scaling reports but hopefully will be reasonably accurate for a few years after. Please note that I only intend to update the Enter Calculator (at most) every few years as it is tedious to convert the published scaling tables into a format suitable for my program. |
Cartesian Drawer
| Language: RealBasic |
| Date: July 2005 |
| Download: Windows Version. |
| Description: This is a program for creating diagrams based on a Cartesian plane with x and y coordinates ranging between -10 and 10. It has a line command and a circle command as well as primitive support for colours. |
Sudoku Solver
| Language: I originally wrote the solver in my favourite language Haskell but I rewrote a Windows version in RealBasic since I wanted to make a nice GUI and my attempts to make a GUI in Haskell all looked fairly ugly. |
| Date: June 2005 |
| Download: Windows Version. |
| Description: This is a program written to solve Sudoku puzzles, of the sort that started appearing in local newspapers during May 2005. My interest in the puzzles didn't last long because I thought that it would be more fun to write a solver for them. |
Fianchetto (Chess AI)
| Language: Haskell |
| Date: 2004-2005 |
| Download: Windows Version. |
| Description: This is a fairly weak chess program written to be used with Winboard. It was originally written for a competition with my friend, Michael Smith, although both of us quickly lost interest. If you do not have Winboard you'll have to type in the commands manually, like "usermove e2e4". |
Blitz (Connect 4 for Windows)
| Language: Delphi |
| Date: 1997 |
| Download: Windows Version. |
| Description: One of many Connect 4 players I've made over the years. This is one of the earlier ones, but it's more polished than some later efforts. |
Potion (Love Calculator)
| Language: Delphi |
| Date: 1997 |
| Download: Windows Version. |
| Description: This program uses the tried and true school-girl method to see how much two people love each other. It also includes the ability to change the verb from "loves" to anything. |