Hickory Services: Making technology work for you

We're going to start by adding a new function to resman.js:


function draw_vertexes(gc, scale, offset, vertexes) {
for (ctr=0; ctr<vertexes.length; ctr++) {
gc.beginPath();
gc.arc(Math.floor((vertexes[ctr][0]*scale)+offset[0]),
Math.floor((vertexes[ctr][1]*scale)+offset[1]),
2,0,Math.PI*2,true);
gc.fill();
}
}


Next, we should probably cover some important concepts related to 3d programming and math. Look at a photograph of a landscape or street scene. The scene you are look at is three-dimensional, yet it appears in a two-dimensional format. Our brains, however, still process the three dimensional information. The reason is perspective. Three things happen that allow our brains to understand three dimensions, even when looking at a two-dimensional format. First, objects closer to us block objects farther away. This is the concept of z-order.

The world of 3d programming, creating interactive worlds and scenes that resemble our own life experience, to many is a land of mystery. Until recently, rendering 3d models or games required either a desktop client or some kind of pre-processing. With HTML5 and browser canvases, it is now possible to develop 3-dimensionally cross-platform via the web. While there are many Javascript toolkits already published for 3d programming, such as Cottage (http://anemonesoft.com/os/cottage/) or jsc3d (http://code.google.com/p/jsc3d/), they are often focused on specific niches.

I hope to continue editing this list over time to get a full collection. Here's a small sample to get started.

- 1 -
10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCkFOZweb48

- A -
Above All by Paul Baloche and Lenny LeBlanc: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwjngVkpuQ4
All in all by Nichole Nordeman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPazwuE9aGI&feature=plcp
Always by Kristian Stanfill: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36iUALXioMw
Amazing Grace (Chris Tomlin version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5dliRiBzGU

- B -

This is an incomplete summary of what's new with SQL Server 2012 as I discover them:

• Data Center edition will be moved into Enterprise Edition.
• Licensing will be based on the number of cores rather than the number of processors.
• A database-level sequence number, similar to identity within a table, will be available for use.
  1. Create the sequence under the Programmability section of the database in Object Explorer, or with SQL:
     
CREATE SEQUENCE DemoSequence
START WITH 1
INCREMENT BY 1;


So what do I want to do for power for this project? The rules say the transceiver must be able to run on a standard 13.8VDC shack power supply; but I wanted to take that a step further and be able to run off field batteries, which may be as low as 6VDC. Most ICs have a wide range of standard values that can be used internally, so I felt that standardizing on 5 volts would be a good way to keep the power requirements low and allow me to handle both scenarios.

Sunday

There have been a lot of things lately that have me scratching my head - the kind of thing that makes a person wonder what this world is coming to. Here are a few examples:

- My mother, and a number of other people besides, have commented of late just how much more hostile everybody seems to be getting, from customer service representatives on the phone to drivers on the road and everywhere in between. It seems that hardly anywhere is friendly territory anymore.

Face it, we all have something in us that wants to be in control sometimes. We want to be the puppetmaster, making the universe bend to our whims. It's what fantasies of all kinds are made of. And, whether we realize it or not, it's what nearly all creative arts. But most people, especially educators, have a hard time associating computer programming with creative arts. Why is that? Perhaps it's because of the domains where computing technology came from - accounting and theoretical mathematics.

I've done blogs before on both personal web sites and aggregators such as blogspot or Yahoo 360. They've mostly been places to put spurious thoughts every so often - nothing that I kept up regularly. As such, I never garnered much of a following even among family and friends. I don't particularly expect this to be too much different, though the topics I intend to cover ought to be more narrowly defined.