belief monitor

belief: I can create a web game
20% external: (*70%) = 14%
50% amount of spare time available (*80%) = 40%
50% ability to work on it productively (*60%) = 30%
80% internal: (*100%) = 80%
100% ability to program the game (*100%) = 100%
final outcome: 94% belief

simplified point of view

external:
0% - pure pessimism - person believes that the universe is their enemy and everything happens exactly opposed as to what they want
100% - pure optimism - person believes they are in charge of the universe and everything happens exactly the way they want

internal:
0% - person believes that he is capable of nothing and can't do anything right
100% - person believes that he is capable of doing right anything, anywhere, anytime

balance:
0% - person believes that external factors will decide the final outcome no matter what
100% - person believes that he can always overcome external factors with his actions

'external' consists of all external factors that influence the person's actions.
'internal' consists of all personal factors that influence the person's actions.

PHP event listener C# way example

Beware as it is untested.


// The event object

class DelegateObject
{
public $InvocationString;
public __construct( $InvocationString )
{
$this->InvocationString = $InvocationString;
}
public Invoke( )
{
eval($this->InvocationString);
}
}

class EventObject extends DelegateObject
{
public $EventSource;
public $Listener;
public __construct( $EventSource, $Listener, $InvocationString )
{
$this->EventSource = $EventSource;
$this->Listener = $Listener;
$this->InvocationString = $InvocationString;
}
}

class EventDispatcher
{
public AddListener( $EventName, $Listener, $FunctionName )
{
$e = new EventObject( $this, $Listener, '$this->Listener->' . $FunctionName . '($this->EventSource)' );
$ListenerProperty = $EventName . '_Listeners';
$this->$ListenerProperty[] = $e;
}

public FireEvent( $EventName )
{
$ListenerProperty = $EventName . '_Listeners';
foreach($this->$ListenerProperty as $Listener)
{
$Listener->Invoke( );
}
}
}



// the Classes:

class SmokeAlarm extends EventDispatcher
{
public $Location;

public __construct( $Location )
{
$this->Location = $Location;
}

public Smoke( )
{
$this->FireEvent( "Smoke" );
}
}

class HouseAlarm
{
public Fire( $SmokeAlarm )
{
echo 'Fire ' . $SmokeAlarm->Location . '!';
}
}

$SmokeAlarm_2ndFloor = new SmokeAlarm( 'on the second floor' );
$SmokeAlarm_LivingRoom = new SmokeAlarm( 'in the living room' );
$HouseAlarm = new HouseAlarm( );

// Binding the listener
$SmokeAlarm_2ndFloor->AddListener( "Smoke", $HouseAlarm, "Fire" );
$SmokeAlarm_LivingRoom->AddListener( "Smoke", $HouseAlarm, "Fire" );

// test
$SmokeAlarm_2ndFloor->Smoke( );
$SmokeAlarm_LivingRoom->Smoke( );

Rob Gee - Ecstacy, you got what I need

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Super Interpreter

This is just a random idea I was having.

I am a big fan of programming language features such as reflection, inheritance and traits.
The reason for this is that it makes your code a lot more structured and easier to use.
However, usually, overusing these features also results in a huge drop in performance and memory usage spikes.

I assume this is because the processor has to continuously switch contexts, which requires a lot of memory and computing power (ie. the processor likes large stacks of code statements the most)

In order to solve this problem, there should be one program that has knowledge of this programming language features, and can also convert code to assembly.

Now what this program should do, is foresee which code is going to be executed.
Then it has to pick all the code from the functions, traits and whatever and build assembly code.
It should then merge several fragments of code into one long list (much like js-minify or css-minify) and execute it.

Anyone having thoughts about this? Feel free to reply.

CSS stealing

If you have to deliver a proof-of-concept quick, it can come in handy to borrow CSS from other websites.
Just visit the sites with a layout similar to what you are looking for and use Firebug to inspect on the elements you want to copy.
Then just select all the css in the right part and copy it to your css file.
Then you can remove the obsolete styles and clean it up a little.
Save your file and tadaa! View your brand-new goodlooking website :)

Favourite articles

Just one yet, but more will come :)

Moleskine Hacks

PHP eval
Great source code!

Creating a PHP Loading screen

Here is an example of how you can add a loading screen to your PHP page.

The main reason for doing this is when your PHP code will take a long time when executing. Things that will slow your code down enough to consider using a loading screen:

• Use of external websites (ie. you are posting user data to Youtube, Myspace, Google ea.)
• A server script that is executed (however you might want to use an AJAX loader when this happens)

What we will be doing is using the PHP command flush() to send the loading screen already, while the user is waiting for the page to render.
We will also be using the flush() command to post javascript that updates the loading screen.
We will be using the jquery library to enhance browser support.

Download the code as a zip-file

Click here to see a live example

Note that you can use the parts individually. So here is the source:

loadingscreen.php


<?php

function LoadingScreen_create( )
{
require_once 'loadingscreen.html';
flush();
}

function LoadingScreen_setPercentage( $percent )
{
?><script type="text/javascript">
LoadingScreen_setPercentage( '<?=$percent?>' );
</script><?php
flush();
}

function LoadingScreen_hide( )
{
?><script type="text/javascript">
LoadingScreen_hide( );
</script><?php
}

?>


loadingscreen.html


<link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="loadingscreen.css" />
<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery-1.3.2.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="loadingscreen.js"></script>

<div id="loading-screen">
<div class="title">
<h1>Loading...</h1>
</div>
<div class="percentage">
<p>0%</p>
</div>
</div>


loadingscreen.js



LoadingScreen_setPercentage = function( percent )
{
$( '#loading-screen' ).find( '.percentage' ).html( percent + '%' );
}

LoadingScreen_hide = function( )
{
$( '#loading-screen' ).fadeOut( 'slow' );
}


loadingscreen.css


#loading-screen
{
position:fixed;
left:0px;
top:0px;
background-color:white;
height:100%;
width:100%;
}

#loading-screen .title
{
font-family: "URW Chancery L", "Apple Chancery", "Monotype Corsiva", "Georgia", serif;
font-size: 44.8px;
text-align: center;
}

#loading-screen .percentage
{
font-family: "URW Chancery L", "Apple Chancery", "Monotype Corsiva", "Georgia", serif;
font-size: 44.8px;
text-align: center;
}


Use recruiters to find the best job

When you are looking for a new job, you basically want to find the best job.
I am guessing the two determining factors are:

1. How much you like the job in general
   
   • Did you like the manager
   • Was the office looking nice
   • etc.
     
   
   
2. Payment
   
   • Salary
   • Secondary (ie. car, phone, laptop, gym)

A simple calculation tells us that the more positions we will be able to evaluate, the bigger the chance for a good outcome.


Now lets assume I am still working at a company and I want to spend only some hours in the evening evaluating other positions.
I do not have time reviewing all the applications I can find, so I am forced to review and take interviews for only a small set of applications.
In this example I will be spending 2 hours an evening having going to job interviews for five days plus some time making appointments, which is spread over the day.

That means I can have exactly 5 interviews in one week.
From my past experience I can say that having five job interviews a week a period of longer then one week can be very exhausting. You don't want this to happen.
Therefore, we must choose those five interviews wisely.


If we choose them all by ourselves, we will have a lot of work to do, and will only be able to evaluate a small number of positions.

Now if we let others do this work for us, we will have some advantages:

• We might get more information right away (ie. the recruiter already had an interview with the company)
• We will be able to evaluate a lot more positions in a much shorter time (the recruiter already has a list of positions)
• We might look a lot more professional (if the recruiter has done his or her job right, a lot of thing might already have been taken care of, like a good structured CV, secondary terms etc.)
• They can negotiate for us, and get the best possible offer.
  
• If we are also looking for positions ourselves, we will extend our "reviewing range" even more.

But, using recruiters also has some disadvantages:

They are taking a part of your money
They need payment, and you and the company will pay for them. As a result, your income will be lower for that position. If you are also looking for jobs yourself you can always choose the best paying one in the end

They want exclusivity (is that a word in English?)
They permit you to look for other positions or use other recruiters. My advice is: don't do it. It expires many of the advantages mentioned earlier. You can even lie about it, because it is pretty much impossible for them to find out.


Conclusion

Actions:

• Use recruiters for finding new office jobs.
• Also look for positions yourself.
• Choose a small number of positions for an interview.

Result:

• Your reviewing range will be much larger, which heightens the chance of finding a good position.
• The amount of preparation you will have to do will be minimal.

Some Sources
http://www.vault.com/nr/newsmain.jsp?nr_page=3&ch_id=242&article_id=3154998&cat_id=1184
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/26088/should-i-use-a-recruiter

List of online tools

I have seen many of those lists online, but they never came up with the sites that I like.
So here is my list:

simplegtd.com
A webservice that helps you in implementing GTD (Getting Things Done) in your life. A must see!

symbaloo.com
Your own personal desktop. You can add links to other sites, and give them an icon. You can also add RSS feeds or search engines.

joesgoals.com
Set your goals, and easily monitor them. You can add positive and negative goals, and you can add markers to them which are ordered by day.

zoho.com
Online office suite. Similar to what Google does, but much more advanced. There are document editors, PM tools, forms and more.

mindomo.com
Without a doubt the best mind-mapping tool out there. It can add urls, images, videos, share, publish and has many graphic options. It also has offline support.

grooveshark.com
Listen to an online MP3 player that can create playlists, shuffle and automatically add similar music to your playlist.
A very good source of music now that last.fm is not free anymore.

calendar.google.com
The best calendar out there. It has a great ease-of-use, supports meetings, addding locations, sharing calendars and more.

getsatisfaction.com
Allows customers to have easy contact with companies (for request, bugs, complaining, etc.).

evernote.com
An application that allows you to write notes.

wridea.com
Lets you store your ideas.

huddle.net
Your personal workspace online. Has file storage, document editor, agenda, meetings, chat.

imgspark.com
Create your own moodboard online. Drag-drop images into your moadboard.

pixlr.com
Image-editing tool. Look a lot like Adobe Photoshop.


Well, I have now just run out of thought. Maybe I will add some in the future. If anyone else has ideas, they are welcome, too :)