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Presents an abandoned meta search engine with natural language processing and visualisation I contributed to.
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In ancient times, people shared content. This article holds an ever-growing list of free (like beer) color palettes. Including downloads, uh?
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A short demonstration of generating scalable maps using OpenStreetMap data and SUMO for visualisation.
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You know, software engineering is a discipline. Here's what I know about structuring a software project.
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A method to offer both, a valid documentation for the last release as well as one for the current trunk version.
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Winner of the Juror’s Choice Award at the 2001 Film and Video Retrospective, Des Moines Art Center. Scavenged snippets of damaged library A/V material reconstituted into an impressionistic glitch video narrative about ‘helping.’ Displayed as single channel video as well as multiple monitor installation.
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Disclaimer: Many will argue this never happened. I wasn’t there so I wouldn’t know. The Anti-Hat Riots of 1973 The third day of protests The Anti-Hat Riots of 1973 were a series of violent protests that erupted in several major cities across the United States, primarily on the East Coast, in response to a proposed law that would have made it mandatory for men to wear hats in public. The riots lasted for several weeks and resulted i..
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UNIX UNIX is the grandfather of all modern operating systems, and today it still remains the most powerful and least known. But if you use an Apple computer running macOS, or an iPhone or iPad running iOS, you are using a UNIX operating system. And if you do online banking, somewhere tucked away in the bank is likely a series of UNIX systems running Oracle Solaris UNIX, HP-UX UNIX, or AIX UNIX. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) likely r..
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Besides drinking vast quantities of caffeine and spending most of my free time enjoying the outdoors, I have taught, developed, and managed various technology courses at triOS College in Ontario (Canada) since 1998 in both our college and corporate training divisions. Back in 2011, I took on a different title of Dean of Technology to salvage our video game programs, and it turned into a more strategic role where I was able to help shape t..
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Perhaps one of my more famous achievements is the authoring of several textbooks for Course Technology, Cengage, Nelson, Thompson/Delmar and Wiley. I’ve listed their details in chronological order here (oldest to newest) with cover pictures below: Linux+ Guide to Linux Certification (ISBN: 0-619-13004-0) front rear Guide to UNIX System Administration (ISBN: 0-619-13041-5) front rear Linux+ In Depth (ISBN: 1-59200-062-2) front r....
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Apple Apple Computer was founded by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1976. Steve Wozniak provided the technical genius for computer creation, while Steve Jobs provided the expertise in marketing and design. Their first major commercially adopted product was the Apple II in 1977, which had a MOS 6502 CPU (also used in Commodore computers such as the Commodore 64) and shipped with BASIC and the DOS operating system (later versions). The Ap....
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Growing up in the 80s was awesome! One of the best things about growing up in the 80s for me was that I developed a love of video games. I loved spending time at the arcade playing the classics like Tempest, Missile Command and Galaga. At home, we had an Atari 2600 and later a Nintendo NES. I loved it all. In recent years, I purchased my absolute favourite arcade games of all time…..mainly because I’d rather play those games than most..
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Parenting I am a happily divorced proud father of one. I’ve pretty much raised my daughter since she was 5 years old on my own, and yes, I’ve made school lunches, threw kids parties, went to great places (Ontario Science Centre, ROM, SportsWorld, Storybook Gardens, Disney World and more!), spent vacations camping/cottaging, and watched far too many Land Before Time movies. The picture on the left is my daughter while we were vacationing at..
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100 Yen: The Japanese Arcade Experience (2012) 2001: Space Odyssey (1968) 8 Bit Generation: The Commodore Wars (2016) Antitrust (2001) Blade Runner (1982) Bright (2017) Chasing Ghosts: Beyond the Arcade (2007) Cloak and Dagger (1984) Contact (1997) Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard (2007) Every Star Wars and Star Trek movie (from the 1970s+) Fanboys (2008) Freedom Downtime (2001) Funspot: A Small Documentary on the..
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Don’t Anthropomorphize computers. They hate that. The proper way to declare war in software development is var war; I void warranties I read your email Linux isn’t magic. It’s sudo-science. Kids: Don’t try this at ~ Code poet Byte Me I see dead pixels To truly find yourself, play hide-and-seek alone cd /pub; more beer No, I will not fix your computer There is no place like 127.0.0.1
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Future historians: They taught the AIs how to talk like corporate middle managers and thought this meant that AI was conscious, instead of realizing that corporate middle managers aren’t. I’m stepping down from my position as an adult. It turns out this isn’t for me, but I appreciate the opportunity. Software and cathedrals are much the same thing. First we build them, then we pray. How I want tech stuff explained to me in order of pre..
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1. Don’t turn down an opportunity because it isn’t the job you want Career progression is never a straight line, and good opportunities don’t actually have the words good opportunity written in bold letters on them – you never know where they will lead you. For example, back around the year 2000 I was asked to teach a corporate Linux course on the weekends. I didn’t want to give up my weekends for a month, and quite frankly I thought..
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rare Charitable Research Reserve (Cambridge) The rare Charitable Research Reserve is a community-based urban land trust. They maintain a series of amazing trails within the Blair/Galt area of Cambridge along the south side of the Grand River. The trails along the river are part of a gorgeous escarpment that contains exposed rock and fossils from the Silurian period. There are also trails across alvars and open fields with two Osprey towers..
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Thomas J. Ryan: The Adolescence of P-1 (1977) This is probably the best book I have ever read regarding our human desire for artificial intelligence (AI). It’s about a University of Waterloo student who creates an AI on IBM mainframes. Don’t let that bore you though - it’s a captivating read and has a great ending. I wouldn’t be surprised if this book influenced later movies such as War Games (1983), and books such as Neuromancer (..
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Rockwood Conservation Area Rockwood has breathtaking scenery - pine and cedar forests surrounding rock cliffs and islands along the Eramosa River. And the trails allow you to see it all. The Cedar Ridge Outlook allows you to see all of Rockwood below. The plateau at the top of the caves is actually owned by the University of Waterloo, but you can hike up there and along the numerous trails to see the remnants of an old house and quarry.
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Clifford Stoll: The Cuckoo’s Egg (1989) Don’t let the year of this book fool you - it’s probably the best book on computing security. The epilogue is both timeless, and an amazing reflection on the purpose of computer security. Moreover, this book is a very enjoyable read. Cliff, like most of us computer/scientist types, writes with a quirky sense of humour, and isn’t afraid to relay his personal views within the book. For example, the quo..
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Yup, that’s right – every single word, phrase, and typo (purposeful or not) has been carefully crafted by yours truly and reflects decades of continuous improvement in both English and thought expression. Each blog post started with a real-life event or thought that sparked a passion to create something I wanted to share with others, and in a way that allowed me to better understand and appreciate it as well.
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Mizzy Lake Trail This is the trail where you can see the most wildlife in Algonquin park. You’ll wind through 11km of lakes, marshes and forests. My daughter and I saw massive turtles, were followed by otters who mocked us, and even stood 2 feet away from a moose who crossed our path when she realized her foal was on the other side. The pic at the top of this page is of my daughter resting shortly after we found the remains of a grey jay (..
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Martin Amis: Invasion of the Space Invaders (1982) This is probably the most sought-after video game book of the 1980s by the uber-famous, world-renowned author Martin Amis (most copies sell for over $200 today). Martin Amis has a unique way of bringing you back to the video game world of 1978-1982 using verbal imagery and humour - after all, he was a video game addict at the time! Some of the high-resolution colour photos in the book (inc..
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UNIX UNIX is the grandfather of all modern operating systems, and today it still remains the most powerful and least known. But if you use an Apple computer running macOS, or an iPhone or iPad running iOS, you are using a UNIX operating system. And if you do online banking, somewhere tucked away in the bank is likely a series of UNIX systems running Oracle Solaris UNIX, HP-UX UNIX, or AIX UNIX. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) likely r..
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Besides drinking vast quantities of caffeine and spending most of my free time enjoying the outdoors, I have taught, developed, and managed various technology courses at triOS College in Ontario (Canada) since 1998 in both our college and corporate training divisions. Back in 2011, I took on a different title of Dean of Technology to salvage our video game programs, and it turned into a more strategic role where I was able to help shape t..
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