Inner-Workings of a Software Mind

The Art of the Start

2011-02-20T01:49:00.001-08:00

For those of you who are looking to create new products, sites, and building a new company I suggest you see this video first.

How a Browser Works

2009-12-06T17:47:00.000-08:00

Here is a good post that I found on the Internet that describes the specifics of how a browser actually works. I remember getting asked this by a Google interviewer 3 years ago. I never was really curious or learned in school these things and usually took the technical aspects of a browser for granted.

http://cnx.org/content/m12851/latest/

XSLT Transformation Example: Replacing Node Values in XML

2009-09-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a useful tip that I just recently discovered.

If you want to transform the following XML document to hold different values for elements such as name and phoneNumber,

to an XML document such as the following:

Use the following XSLT variation of the identity transform:

Hope you found this useful. Thanks! Sorry for being MIA, if you need me to update the CDT/Eclipse posting please reply back here.

Money brings happiness?

2007-09-11T20:00:00.000-07:00

Although this picture seems to suggest that money won't make you any happier than you are, it is probably skewed towards people who are already living comfortable lives. I think that in dire circumstances money does come into play. Also in some cases, because of the level of anxiety and stress that follows a terrible situation, money will bring a temporary avenue of relief.

The Greatest Software Ever Written

2007-05-05T13:14:00.000-07:00

Read this fascinating article on Information Week about BSD UNIX and its history: What's the Greatest Software Ever Written. I skipped to the end because I didn't feel like reading three pages of fluff to find out the real answer.

US CS Bachelor’s Degree Production Drops in 2004/2005

2006-03-28T00:25:00.000-08:00

Although the statistics might seem quite alarming, I believe that the drop in interest and degrees awarded would be instrumental in promoting the underpaid salaries of software engineers in America.

Link: http://www.cra.org/CRN/articles/march06/vegso.html

HOW TO: Use CDT and MinGW for Eclipse (i.e. develop C/C++ applications in windows)

2005-11-12T21:05:00.000-08:00

I've made these instructions due to the difficulty of finding any documentation that was sufficient enough to help me setup Eclipse using MinGW on Windows. I would recommend using MinGW because of the higher success rate and better compability issues for C/C++. If there are any errors or questions please leave comments.

Step 1:

Download MinGW from mingw.org the following:

Step 2:

Extract the files to the following directory c:\mingw\ and install mingw32-make-3.80.0-3.exe to c:\mingw\.

Step 3:

Add c:\mingw\ to the Paths in System Variables of Environment Paths. Make sure you can run gcc -v in the command prompt.

Step 4:

Install CDT for Eclipse using Help-> Software Updates -> Find and Install -> Search for new Features to Install. Add a new remote site with name "CDT" and URL "http://download.eclipse.org/tools/cdt/releases/eclipse3.1". Accept the license agreements to install both CDT packages.

Step 5:

Create a new Managed Make C Project named "Hello World". I prefer managed make because I like the IDE to worry about the details of a make file.

Step 6:

Create a file called main.c with the following contents:

#include "iostream"
#include "string"
using namespace std;

int main()
{
string yourName;

cout << "Enter your name: ";
cin >> yourName;
cout << "Hello " + yourName << endl;
return 0;
}

Step 6:

You should see an error in the console view. Go to the properties menu for the "Hello World" project and Select C/C++ Build. In the Tool Settings tab, for GCC C compiler and GCC C Linker, set the command to "C:\mingw\bin\mingw32-g++.exe ". In the Build Settings tab, uncheck "use default command" for the build command, and replace the command with "C:\mingw\bin\mingw32-make.exe -k". Also change the Artifact name to "HelloWorld". Press OK.

Step 7:

You should now see a screen like the following in the console (click to enlarge):

Step 8:

There should also be a binaries folder that contains "HelloWorld.exe." Run the program by clicking on Run -> Run... Then click on C/C++ Local Applications and click new. Browse for the "Hello World" project and click on "Search project..." to find "HelloWorld.exe". Click Run.

Step 9:

You should a screen like the following in the console, after you finished running the application:

Google now pays to help spread Firefox!

2005-11-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

It seems that now Google has given the Firefox community a boost of support by paying publishers $1.00 for every Firefox download with Google Toolbar from their website. As Firefox 1.5RC1 is now available for download, the race to gain serious market share in the browser market has now been reborn. At 11% marketshare (read ZDNet news), Firefox is determined to show signs of continued progress. Support Firefox! For more information on how to do add the Adsense Functionality to your site and support Firefox go to the AdSense FAQ or click on one of the buttons under the "Google Stuff" sidebar, on the bottom right, to try out Firefox or Adsense!

Credit: spreadfirefox.com

OpenOffice 2.0 is out!

2005-10-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

Although its been long due, OpenOffice is now poised to be one of the premier office suites with the release of version 2.0. I've made my mind to completely switch to OpenOffice about 6 months ago when betas were rolling out. Surprisingly, I found it very easy to use and intiutive just like Microsoft Office. There are so many new features in OpenOffice that shouldn't be overlooked. One of my favorites happens to be Microsoft Office compatibility. I usually view all my PowerPoint, Excel, and Word documents from Google using OpenOffice. The greatest thing that I believe OpenOffice will have to offer is cross-platform compatibility, in particular Linux compatability. Until now Linux has lacked a legitimate office suite that would allow users to do what could be done with an office suite like Microsoft Office. Sooner or later I wish to transition over to Kubuntu, although I know the maturity of Linux applications is still not comparable to current Microsoft Windows applications. However, Linux still seems to be growing substantially, one giant step at a time. Here are more screenshots of of OpenOffice!

Credit: openoffice.org

Dine for America

2005-09-26T15:02:00.000-07:00

I saw this link on a friend's blog and it seems to be on October 5th, restaurants all across the country are giving up proceeds during the dinefest to the Hurricane Katrina /(Rita?) fund. Click on the link below for restaurants in Austin, TX or go directly to www.dineforamerica.org for details. It seems like a great way to raise money for a special cause. As for the hurricane posts, you can see that there was a anticlimax as Rita didn't even touch Austin and caused Louisiana some more damage. How much more can Louisiana take? It seems like the agony there is unbearable. Please have them in your thoughts and prayers.

Credit: dineforamerica.org

A sigh of relief as the storm shifts its path

2005-09-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

The parking lots are full at my apartment complex as Rita evacuees come in and take shelter. I saw people carrying bags of personal belongings out of their cars. It makes me wonder what these people are thinking right now that they are hundreds of miles away from their home. There is good news however, for the residents of Texas in the Gulf. Rita has taken a shift of course and is heading in a slightly more northern path than predicted. It may make landfall near the border but it seems as though the path would begin to curve more eastward toward the state of Louisiana. Hurricane winds have died down to 140mph but there is an indication that the storm may grow back to a category 5 in any time. However, there is always hope in the face of a tragedy...

Credit: National Hurricane Center

Hurricane Rita is coming to Texas

2005-09-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

In the coming days I will be chronicling my experience of Rita from the city of Austin. As it looms near I can only hope and pray that it will veer off its path and stay away from innocent lives. I know of friends who are affected by this and I ask that everyone keep those who are in Rita's path in your thoughts an prayers. School at the University of Texas at Austin or at any public school has not been cancelled for Friday. The famed Austin City Limits Festival is still on for the weekend. There is a sense of urgency however, as supplies and water are now showing up empty on shelves. I haven't started to prepare but I'm going shopping tomorrow with my roommates. I think we'll be safe in Austin but we still need to prepare for the worst. Hopefully things will start to look brighter soon.

Credit: CNN.com

My Blog has been sent to Outer Space!

2005-08-12T09:14:00.000-07:00

AJAX to take over the Windows Desktop

2005-08-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

In about maybe 5 years, my prediction is that the Operating System level will almost be obsolete in terms of what will run applications. Long gone will be the constant struggle to develop applications that will run on all platforms and the need to transfer configurations and data so that applications will run everywhere. The web application server (WebSphere, Geronimo, JBoss) will become the new Operating System and the revolution will be complete. The tide is slowly turning and I'm beginning to see the fruits of the work that is driving the rebellion. AJAX applications such as Google Personalized Search, Google Maps, GMail, and others are transforming the way we look at web applications. They have become more flexible, powerful, dynamic, and rich in user interfaces. 5 years is my prediction. Wired has just posted an article about the revolution that is ebbing and waiting to blossom.

The life of a Nigerian scammer

2005-08-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

I remember a while back when I received an email on my Yahoo! mail account notifying me that I had just been chosen as a recipient of $50,000 from a deceased benefactor. I was pretty skeptical about the email itself, so I replied by asking if the offer was legitimate. The response followed with a yes and inquired for my personal information such as my address and my name. I Googled the contents of the email and sooner or later found out that it was a derivative of the infamous "Nigerian Scam". So what categorizes this type of scam as Nigerian? The answer is that most of the Nigeriam scams basically entail the bequeathing of a large sum of money from a benefactor and ask for your bank account information to deposit the money. Instead, the money from your bank account is wired to Nigeria, where the scammers are usually located, and is lost forever. iWon News has posted an interesting article about the life of a Nigerian Scammer and how they have been able to reap the benefits (2 houses and 3 cars in Kele B.'s case) by working with anonymous emails from remote internet cafes.

Apple debuts the "Mighty Mouse"

2005-08-02T13:53:00.000-07:00

Credit: Apple Computer

It is now known news that Apple has released a multi-button mouse dubbed the "Mighty Mouse." ZDNet news says, "the new $49 pointer has a 360-degree scroll wheel and can be programmed to recognize a click on either the left or right side. For Apple purists, it can also act as a single-button mouse." Full specifications can be found at the Mighty Mouse website. Noting from a review by Ars Technica, the mouse is not able to right click naturally. You must lift your index finger, assuming that you are right handed, and then click with the right finger for it to work properly.

Hacking the Hotel through a TV

2005-07-31T18:28:00.000-07:00

ZDNet has posted an interesting article titled "Hacking the Hotel through a TV." The article describes how a hacker named Adam Laurie has hacked into the hotel system and was able to watch premium channels for free, control the minibar, schedule phone calls, and even spy on his guests. It does not note whether this behavior can be deemed criminal and ends with saying, "Next time you check into a hotel, first make sure Adam Laurie isn't staying there as well"." I'm sure this guy will probably be caught sooner or later for trespassing and altering system behavior since now he's formally announced it. I believe you even might be able to find formal instructions on how to do this yourself, but I would not recommend it because of the criminal nature of this work.

Hiring away engineers from top firms

2005-07-30T08:05:00.000-07:00

An interesting article was posted on BusinessWeek called "Revenge of then Nerds - Again." It highlights how Google and Yahoo are luring the young, vibrant, and intelligent engineers from firms such as Microsoft, Ebay, and Amazon. It says, "Indeed, Google -- and, to a lesser degree, Yahoo -- has become what Microsoft used to be: a young, vibrant company working on the bleeding edge of the day's vexing technical issues." I remember talking to a few of Microsoft new hires from UT and they told me how Google set up their own recuriting camp right in front of Microsoft in Redmond so that they could lure them away from the company. So is Google and Yahoo creating a brain drain on the industry? Read more to find out.

IBM bulks up mainframe muscle

2005-07-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Credit: IBM

From ZDNet News, "The new line, dubbed z9, is the ninth generation of IBM's modern zSeries mainframes. Prices start around $1 million apiece. Fully configured, the z9 has 54 chips and 18 billion transistors stuffed into a black, refrigerator-sized box."

Konfabulator is now free!

2005-07-26T00:35:00.000-07:00

From the MacWorld website - "Yahoo! Inc. on Monday will announce the acquisition of Konfabulator, a Macintosh and Windows application that allows users to run mini files known as Widgets on their desktop -- the same model used by Apple for its Dashboard application. Yahoo! company executives said they would also be giving Konfabulator away for free, completely doing away with the US$19.95 currently charged for the product." Download it here.

The War on Terror as viewed from a Bourne Shell & The real story about how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader

2005-07-25T23:01:00.000-07:00

The War on Terror - Craig Bender, Sun Blogs
The real story about how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader - Kirill Grouchnikov, weblogs.java.net

If you don't get it, read The War on Terror - For Dummies for an explanation. For the second link, you can learn Java or just ask me.

Hitachi Deskstar 7K500 500GB SATA-II Hard Drive

2005-07-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

This is an interesting review from BigBruins.com on the latest and greatest hard drive known to man. The Hitachi Deskstar 7K500 500GB SATA-II Hard Drive. If only storage of such proportions would soon be available for laptops and digital electronics of the like.

Blogging as murder evidence in boy's Xanga site

2005-07-24T13:38:00.000-07:00

I know this is kind of old news, but visit ToTo247's Xanga site and you will see the post that police used on May 17, 2005 to identify his and his sister's killer. It is kind of eery and sad, but brings to the forefront how powerful of a tool blogging can be.

Lance Armstrong wins 7th Tour De France

2005-07-24T12:43:00.000-07:00

Credit: ESPN.com

Its got to be a feeling like no other to win the 7th Tour De France. There probably will never be another cyclist like Armstrong since his dominance in the sport has made him a legend. I'm not sure if any other cyclist has ever achieved such a status. It does make sense to step down when you're at your best, but will he ever want to make a comeback, like perhaps Michael Jordan did? We'll just have to wait and see.

Blog Syndication

2005-07-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

So you know how Xanga allows you to view subscriptions to blogs using their Subscription reader? You can sort of do something like that for Blogger using NewsGator. Make sure that when you allow you blog to send out a site feed, then I can read your blog using a syndicated web application. For example my Atom file http://yongshin.blogspot.com/atom.xml basically contains the content of my blog but in a site feed form. Adding this to my NewsGator feeds allows me to view the posts whenever a new or changed post comes out. You can also use special formatting services from Feedburner so that your xml feed might also contain ads for example (note: You need to apply to for feed Adsense through Google). There's also lots of technology through which you can promote your blog. Blogdex and Technorati are two great examples.

My Movie Reviews for Summer 2005!

2005-07-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Apres Vous, *** of *****

A good French movie that dissects into the life of a man who wants to help another after the latter attempted to commit suicide. A very funny romantic comedy but only worthy of amusement. Don't take this movie too seriously because it basically is twisted in a sense.

Batman Begins, ** of *****

I wasn't fond of the acting nor was I fond of the story line. Some things didn't fall into place and some scenes should've been remade so it falls into place with the movie. I felt that the entire plot was forced instead of drawn out.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, ** of *****

This movie would've better if the movie wasn't too weird and if the script and the plot were reworked. It seemed like everyone was trying too hard to make this movie more different than the original, or even better. I don't think I would call this a classic.

Crash, **** of *****

I really like this movie because it was beautifully made. The actors in here make the movie come alive and the storyline is great! You won't be disappointed. Its not as powerful as I thought it would be, but the message is clear and thought provoking.

HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy, **** of *****

The best movie I have seen this summer! Hilarious and intelligent plot. I loved the way things just sort of happened in this movie. Somehow everything just falls into place and it becomes quite of a spectacle.

Star Wars Episode III, *** of *****

Its a Star Wars movie! This movie was better produced than the others and it actually seemed like a decent movie to me. Although it didn't meet my expectations of a great movie, you should watch it because this is a George Lucas classic.

War of the Worlds *** of *****

I actually liked this movie because I heard many not so good things about it. I thought the acting was great but the ending was too abrupt. There should have been more explanation and screenplay, although it seemed like a movie that had a smooth plotline going all along. Some parts of the movie are kind of dark and eery. But I guess that's expected in a movie of this nature.

Texas Sales Tax Holiday August 5-7, 2005

2005-07-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

Sales Tax Holiday

2005-06-23T21:44:00.000-07:00

I really didn't see much of Game 7 because I went around Dave and Buster's playing silly games but all I remember watching the last 3 minutes and seeing Bruce Bowen swat Chauncey Billups' three pointer shot attempt. I think that sealed the game. I wish there was more NBA to watch but I liked this series a lot.

Spurs win in Overtime! Horry is clutch.

2005-06-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

This was an awesome Game 5. Horry came off the bench and scored 21 points nearly all in the 4th and in Overtime. He was dunking, making layups, and shooting treys like he was 18. I've never seen Horry light up like this until now. So Big Shot Bob won the game. However, on the the Detroit side I would have to blame Chauncey Billups for his poor decisions that might have cost Detroit the win. Billups was trying to take control of the game by himself when he needed to pass the ball more and create some shots for his teammates like Hamilton and Prince. Once he can learn to pass I think he will be a great player.

Maybe a bigger brain does make you smarter?

2005-06-18T11:46:00.000-07:00

VCU Study shows big-brained people are smarter

Why polygamy shouldn't be allowed...

2005-06-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

Swazi king waits two weeks for wife No. 12

The Spurs win game 2!

2005-06-12T21:16:00.000-07:00

The Spurs are winning the series now 2-0, and there may be no turning back. Their mental toughness and their poise is oustanding. I never wanted the Spurs to win the Finals, but now that I'm rooting for them mostly because I like their team chemistry. It was nice to see Duncan get up and pick up Arroyo when he got hurt, showing that the Spurs are not just about winning. They are a great team. Go Spurs!

Let the NBA Finals begin...

2005-06-09T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yea so the Spurs won today. Whopdee doo. It was kinda weird looking at the scoreboard during the 4th quarter and realizing that both teams had only scored 50 points each. I guess this is somewhat better than the Pistons-Lakers matchup last year but I'm not too impressed. Ginobli is the man, although he plays lop-sided all the time. And Timmy is just Timmy. However, my leaning is toward Detroit because they are the defending champions and they're just a more interesting bunch to watch. I forgot who lost/won $10 on this game (either Abe or James), but it was fun watching it.

Cold Fusion in the works!

2005-06-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

Coming in out of the cold: Cold fusion, for real

Old post but very intriguing story about Google CEOs

2005-06-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Google chiefs agree to work for $1

Funny how Google CEOs can work for less money. I like the idea that corporate managers make less money but still I believe they should be paid more than $1, considering how well their company is doing. I don't know if the same devolutes to other parts of the Google employment structure, but I heard that some Google employees don't make as much as what other employees would make in large tech firms since they are just happy enough to be working at Google. Anyways, I probably would take a similar approach to develop a company if I had a billion dollars to spare in the bank. Go Google CEOs.

Google Talk on Information Retrieval

2005-05-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

I went to a Google talk on Aritificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in Information Retrieval. The speaker Mehran Sahamai was quite interesting. He talked about a whole range of applications that in which they use Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning against the entire Internet to produce results that would improve searching mechanisms. I thought the talk went quite well and it was one of the best CS talks to that I've been to in my undergraduate career.

Blogspot is getting better

2005-05-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last time I checked I couldn't really comment to my own blog. But seems like blogspot is getting a lot better these days. I guess Google is paying them well or something. I hope to start using this as my own blogspace soon because you can actually upload pictures to this site instead of uploading it to a different site and then linking to it like I usually do on xanga. Anyways, nice to be back. Blogspot rocks!

This is my first entry

2004-10-25T01:16:00.000-07:00

Blogspot is kinda cool. I think I like this better than xanga because of its features.