Noah Peters

jsmeter

2009-03-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

I have gotten permission from Douglas Crockford to use the tokenizer and JavaScript parser from his Top Down Operator Precedence work as the basis for a JavaScript code metric tool. I haven't been able to find a useful tool for code metrics for JavaScript. I have been using SourceMonitor from Campwood Software and just treating it like C source code. That works until you start to nest functions inside each other or use JSON to create anonymous objects, then it either just gets it wrong or ignores it. Other tools I've seen seem to target another language (typically Java or C#.NET) and have just some rudimentary JavaScript capabilities added as either an afterthought or a second-class implementation.

So, jsmeter is for JavaScript only. As it sits now, at version 0.2.1, it is as capable as any other tool that I've seen that handles JavaScript. In time I hope to improve it to be as good as the tools available for Java or C# are. At some point I hope to be able to see jsmeter working against JavaScript applications that are comprised of multiple files and to track their evolution as an entire project.

You can watch the incremental progress of jsmeter through my twitter @boyopeg, or come back here for milestone notifications.

jsmeter online runnable
jsmeter project page

Google's Commandments

2009-02-18T19:50:00.000-08:00

axton basics

2008-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

The very very very earliest axton is "ready". Almost no testing has gone into this compilation, though I have been using the constituent parts for years in various applications. Having said that, it should at a minimum simplify the process of writing a JS web app, especially DOM and AJAX stuff.

axton

2008-05-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Finally started working on the JavaScript application frame work that I have always wanted to do. My goal with this framework is to make it possible to create entire applications using only JavaScript. Any server side components will be generated by the framework (in many languages: ASP.NET, python (Google App Engine), php, ruby) and will be necessary for authentication, validation and remote data access only.

CrunchNotes What A Comment Stream Would Look Like In A Meeting

2008-01-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

CrunchNotes What A Comment Stream Would Look Like In A Meeting

So true.

2007-12-20T11:38:00.000-08:00

In the "How To Learn" section this guy, Stephan, is dead on. But, I would like to add one thing. You will never know if you are a good or a bad programmer yourself: You will need to have another good programmer tell you if you are good or bad. A bad programmer will never be able to identify a good programmer accurately. He simply lacks the perspective to do so. So, if you are a bad programmer yourself you will not be able to classify yourself correctly.

It is a good thing for the world that competent still beats incompetent.

Update: If you want to be a good programmer take Peter's advice and maybe someday, a good programmer will tell you that you are a good programmer too.

Oh, the truth

2007-12-07T06:37:00.000-08:00

gpage's WebLog : Vendor Dependence Bad. Beer Gooooood.

Not so much the beer, but what the hell is with people getting paid not knowing how to do their jobs, and getting their companies to pay someone else twice as much to do it instead? Technology is not hard.

Alan Alda Uses A PC (Windows)

2007-08-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

Alan Alda Uses His iPod to Learn Lines! - Switched: Gadgets, Tech, Digital Stuff for the Rest of Us: "Do you use a Mac or PC? Why? I prefer a PC. What I like about the PC is that it's always breaking down and I have to figure out how to fix it. It keeps me alert. I'm geeky about computers. I love it when I have to find out how to bring them back to life. I guess it's all those years of doing triage."

Connect to VPN at startup (Mac OS X)

2007-05-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Step One: Setup the VPN in Internet Connect
- Open the Internet Connect application
- Go to File -> New VPN Connection...
- Setup your VPN connection to your desired specifications (remember the name of the connection)
- Quit Internet Connect

Step Two: Create an AppleScript application to make the VPN connection
- Open the Script Editor application
- Enter the following text into the Script Editor:

tell application "Internet Connect"
connect configuration "name of your vpn connection"
quit
end tell

- Click "Compile" then "Run" to verify that your script works (disconnect when you are done)
- Go to File -> Save As...
- In the File Format box select "application"
- Save the script to [Home]/Library/Scripts/Applications/Internet Connect/[name of connection]
- Quit Script Editor

Step Three: Set your script to run at login
- Open System Preferences... from the Apple Menu
- Go to the Accounts preference pane
- Select your account and click "Login Items"
- Click the "+" and browse to your script application
- Close System Preferences

Step Four: Log out and back in again to test your stuff

Cymatics at Roselyn Chapel

2007-05-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

This is really cool. I'm not sure that I believe that what they found is anything more than an amazing coincidence. Whether it is or not, the demonstration of Cymatics is pretty cool in this video that relates to the story of the blocks on the Roselyn Chapel walls.

Installing WordPress MU on Windows XP

2007-04-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

Download the pieces:

WordPressMU: http://mu.wordpress.org/latest.zip
MySQL: download "Windows Essentials (x86)" from http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/5.0.html#win32
PHP: download the PHP zip archive (not the MSI installer) from http://us.php.net/get/php-5.2.1-Win32.zip/from/a/mirror

Install MySQL:

Run the downloaded installer
Choose a "Custom Install"
Leave the default components selected
In the setup wizard, "MySQL.com Sign Up" choose the option that you prefer
Leave "Configure the MySQL Server now" option selected
In the configuration wizard choose "Detailed Configuration"
Choose "Developer Machine"
Choose "Multifunctional Database"
Choose the InnoDB Tablespace settings that you prefer (I leave the default)
Since this is a Windows XP tutorial and you cannot connect to WinXP from more than 5 other computers simultaneously, choose "Manual Setting" and 5 concurrent connections
Leave the default network settings and keep "Enable Strict Mode" selected
Choose "Best Support For Multilingualism" because of the Unicode support (See this Joel on Software article if you don't understand the need for Unicode support)
Select "Install As Windows Service" and "Include Bin Directory in Windows PATH"
Enter your root pasword
Then "Execute"
While this is happening, take a moment to make sure that you allow TCP port 3306 access through your firewall

Create a database and user account:

Open a command prompt
> mysql -u root -p
mysql> create database mu;
mysql> grant all privileges on mu.* to 'mu'@'localhost' identified by 'mu';
mysql> exit

Install PHP:

Extract the PHP zip file to c:\PHP
Copy php.ini-recommended to C:\Windows\php.ini
Open C:\Windows\php.ini
Change extension_dir = "C:\PHP\ext\"
Enable the MySQL extension by removing the semi-colon before extension=php_mysql.dll
Open "Internet Information Services" from Control Panel\Administrative Tools
Expand Web Sites
Right-click on Default Web Site and choose Properties
Go to the "Home Directory" tab and click on the "Configuration..." button
On the "Mappings" tab click "Add"
In the Executable box enter C:\PHP\php5isapi.dll
In the Extension box enter .php
Click OK 3 times

Install WordPress:

Extract the WordPressMU zip file to C:\Inetput\wwwroot\
Go back to "Internet Information Services"
You may need to refresh the "Default Web Site"
Right click on the "wordpress-mu-1.2.1" directory and choose "Properties"
On the "Home Directory" tab click "Create"
On the "Documents" tab, click "Add" and enter "index.php"
Click "OK" twice
Open your web browser and enter "http://COMPUTERNAME.local/ wordpress-mu-1.2.1/index.php" where COMPUTERNAME is the name of your computer
Choose the sub directories radio button
Enter the database, username, and password (all mu as configured above)
Enter the information you would like for your first blog and submit the page
You should be all set

If you do not get an email with your admin password you can manually set one by doing the following:

Open a cmd propmt
Type: > mysql -u root -p
mysql> use mu;
mysql> update wp_users set user_pass=md5('password') where id=1;
mysql> exit

More Configuration:

Browse to "http://COMPUTERNAME.local/ wordpress-mu-1.2.1/wp-admin/index.php" and enter "admin" and "password" then you can further configure your site.

What are you listening to today?

2007-04-27T04:13:00.000-07:00

Here is what I'm digging on right now:

"The Road I Must Travel" -The Nightwatchman
This song gives me strength to fight for what I know is right and to fight against what I know is wrong.

"Earth Intruders" -Björk
This one is Björk, she is a musical genius. Who else sounds like this? And, with some sinister perspective on what humans are doing to this planet.

"Hey There Delilah" -Plain White T's
Just beautiful.

"Icky Thump" -The White Stripes
It is The White Stripes.

Theory of management

2007-04-24T20:29:00.000-07:00

This post is a work in progress

There are two basic modes of successful management.

The first mode is the bureaucratic mode. This mode is based on formal process definitions that regulate organizational behavior. The management effort for this mode is focused on ensuring strict adherence to the process definitions.

The second mode is the innovative mode. The innovative mode works by continuous analysis and problem solving to accomplish goals. A manager using this mode will work to encourage a creative atmosphere and encourage discovery.

A manager's success will depend on how they utilize these two modes to guide their organization. A bureaucratic manager will operate normally in the bureaucratic mode, sticking to previously defined procedures. A bureaucratic manager will use the innovative mode only to solve new problems. This type of management works best in an organization that has very little change. Bureaucratic processes require little knowledge to be completed successfully since the process has been previously defined. The best employee to work for a bureaucratic manager are under qualified persons who can utilize the structure of the bureaucracy to build confidence and experience. Overall knowledge under a bureaucratic manager will advance very slowly. A successful bureaucratic manager will produce consistent and predictable results.

An innovative manager will operate in the innovative mode most frequently. An innovative manager will encourage their organization to constantly look for possible improvements and to not be afraid to take a risk with a new process. An innovative manager will fall back to a bureaucratic mode when innovative methods are unsuccessful in accomplishing a task. An innovative mode process requires a high level of understanding and logic in order to be successful. The best employee for an innovative manager is a confident and highly skilled worker who can be trusted with the freedom to innovate. A successful innovative manager will advance their organization very quickly through advancing processes, but this is done with significant unpredictability.

The most successful manager will be able to negotiate both modes and be able to ascertain which mode is most appropriate for the conditions of their organization's goals.

Girls, how many colors can you see?

2007-04-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

"A tetrachromat is a woman who can see four distinct ranges of color, instead of the three that most of us live with."

How can anyone deny evolution. It is happening now, to us. Though not me :(

Can you drink milk?

2007-04-24T15:58:00.000-07:00

"All over the world most people can't drink milk when they're adults...It's only some populations in northern Africa and Europeans that can."

Wow! I did not realize that lactose tolerance was not the norm.

Music from holiday iTunes cards

2007-01-01T18:33:00.000-08:00

I recieved several iTunes gift cards for the holidays. Here is a list of what I purchased with them (so far):

Album: So Jealous -- Tegan and Sara
Song: Portland, Oregon -- Loretta Lynn
Song: I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony) -- The New Seekers
Song: Alice's Restaurant Massacree -- Arlo Guthrie
Song: Shout -- Tears for Fears
Song: Float On -- Modest Mouse
Song: Crazy On You -- Heart
Song: Mad World -- Michael Andrews & Gary Jules
Album: The Best of Nina Simone -- Nina Simone
Song: House of the Rising Sun -- The Animals

Beautiful Charts

2006-05-16T14:47:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful report. Someone should get a raise for the graph and chart work in this report. Truely functional art.

Wired News: Google Won't Hand Over Files

2006-01-20T16:27:00.000-08:00

By why did the others? If Yahoo! and MSN would have put up some resistance then there would have been a united force against the enemy of their customers. But they didn't.

I use Google about 95% of the time, they just have the best results and the best experience. But I do venture to Yahoo! or MSN on occasion. And, I was begining to like alot of what Yahoo! was doing. But, that has now changed. I want to support a company that:

Defends its priciples and
Has principles that are admirable and benefitial to society.

Beyond that, I cannot find a reason to support any company that:

Does not stand up and defend with absolute vigor its ideals or
Does not apear to have any ideals to begin with.

Odwalla Beverages

2006-01-08T20:34:00.000-08:00

Super Protein Vanilla Al'mondo is the best tasting Odwalla product. Most of their fruit flavors are pretty good. Some are a little too sweet. The carrot jusice is a little too much for me and the other vegetable and seaweed flavors are way too much.

I just wish these were not so hard to find in upstate New York. Odwalla's web site doesn't list anything within 50 miles of Albany, though most grocery stores carry the fruit and carrot flavors. But the vanilla/almond flavor is almost impossible to find. Too bad.

MacNN | First iPod video recorder debuts

2006-01-08T20:26:00.000-08:00

Isn't this defeating the purpose of the iPod...Seemless simplicity. It looks like this device completely circumvents the features of the iPod and just uses it as a harddrive. It seems to provide an additional display more buttons and doesn't seem to complement the iPod design in any way. I wouldn't pay $50 for this thing.

The need to change the face of the World Wide Web.

2005-09-11T16:35:00.000-07:00

The need to change the face of the World Wide Web.

In 2005 the World Wide Web remains a place for commerce, advertising,
and corporate self-improvement. The World Wide Web is a place for
people to distance themselves from one another. People are content to
never see each other's faces and to never hear each other's opinions.

The World Wide Web is a self-satisfying system where opinions are
reinforced by two mechanisms. The primary method for reinforcement is
marketing. Companies, media outlets, and individuals with access to
the greatest amount of resources in money, bandwidth, and partners are
able to cast their opinions and beliefs as fact. Emerging theories in
search have created a World Wide Web that finds and enforces common
opinions and presents them as fact. For example, a Google search for
"define:leadership" will provide the searcher with what appear to be
factual definitions of the word leadership. A quick scan of the 23
entries in the list provides some disturbing results. Three of the
twenty-three entries state that the officials of the US government
including the President and members of the legislature define
leadership. Another definition: "Communicates the University's vision
in ways that gain the support of others. Mentors, motivates and guides
others toward goals" would seem to indicate that only those people who
have a particular beliefs and values can be leaders (Google). It is
this disturbing aggregation of information that emphasizes only those
beliefs that are the most promoted that should give us all pause when
using the World Wide Web. At times when we are looking for real
facts, such as the number of Siberian Tigers remaining in the wild or
the best price on a 54-inch plasma television, the aggregation of
information can be very useful. Throughout history, societies have
improved not through gradual evolution, but through the sudden
realization or insight of a small group of people. These small groups
have often times been adversaries to the popular control groups of the
times. For example, Galileo suggested that the Earth was not the
center of the universe and was charged with heresy, his supporters
shunned and discouraged. There have also been times where an
obviously bad idea has gained mass acceptance through well coordinated
propaganda. One such example is the tragedies of the concentration
camps in the US during World War II where Japanese-Americans were
detained in obvious violation of their rights that the US Constitution
was supposed to protect; or the mass delusion of large numbers of the
German population by the Nazi philosophies.

The second method for reinforcement is the most exciting. The second
method can be most easily seen through the phenomenon of the Web Log
or Blog. This method gives world-wide voice to every man, woman, and
child on the Earth. Another amazing example is the Wiki concept.
"Wiki Web sites are sites designed for users to be able to make
additions or edit any page of the site" (GuruNotes). Unfortunately
both of these methods have failed to fully permeate the World Wide Web
as most users know little to nothing about how these systems work or
how to access their full democratic power. These types of sites also
are relegated to areas of the World Wide Web that are rarely visited
by the casual surfer. In order to improve a society that society must
be open to occasional revolution. Slavery had been accepted and used
in all societies on the Earth for tens of thousands of years, then a
revolution occurred and in a few short decades slavery was almost
eradicated on this planet in all societies—this was not evolution of
thought, but revolution. With the World Wide Web becoming The source
for information for our youth and aged alike it is likely that the
next societal revolution will choose the World Wide Web as the medium
for propagation. No one knows what the revolution will be, or what
form it will take, but without it our society will stagnate and miss
an opportunity to make the lives of our children better than our lives
have been.

The World Wide Web itself needs a revolution. The World Wide Web
needs to embrace a more openly collaborative structure. To position
the World Wide Web as an outlet for any opinion to be debated and
understood by the world would promote a self-improving society instead
of promoting selfish, well positioned organizations and political
agendas. The World Wide Web should be a place where anyone with a
good idea can be a leader, not just elected officials of the United
States. Every member of a society should have the right to protest
the socially unacceptable behaviors of others. This right to protest
has been a way to galvanize citizens against the unjust and
irresponsible actions of others. If a group fails to listen to
concerned citizens an orderly and responsible protest in the group's
neighbor hood can pressure them to proper responsibility for their
actions. With the spread of the World Wide Web the neighborhood is
becoming harder to define. It is this blurring of the lines that
define a neighborhood that threaten to steal the power of people of
democratic societies by poisoning the information that they use to
make decisions. As responsible people of society it is our obligation
to prevent further erosion of the power of citizens by revolutionizing
the World Wide Web and restoring ownership of information to
individuals. We need to restore the right to protest irresponsible
and unjust behaviors in a way that threatens destruction of offending
organizations. We also must create an opportunity to bolster the
organizations who actively engage in activities that benefit our
society.

In order to be effective in our efforts we must allow society's
members to exert control over all information on the World Wide Web.
To create a World Wide Web that is truly collaborative, to allow
citizens to leave their own opinions about everything on the World
Wide Web, and to allow democracy to control information and opinions
is to restore power to people.

To prevent corruption of any so empowering technology will require
active democratic effort against selfish, capitalistic temptations.
The technology must be kept open; the technology must be given to the
people who use it. We have a rare opportunity to be truly benevolent
and charitable. Let us be inspired to do what is right, and to seek
our fortunes from our hearts and our souls—knowing that we are purely
intentioned.

References:

GuruNotes. GuruNet, 2005. Answers.com GuruNet Corp. 11 Sep. 2005.
http://www.answers.com/topic/wiki.

Google. 11 Sep. 2005.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=define%3Aleadership&btnG=Google+Search.

HDCP/Copy Protection

2005-09-09T17:13:00.000-07:00

HDCP: what it is and how to use it - 4/18/2002 - EDN - CA209091 Here it is. HDCP. This is a decent article. This and other articles emphasize that this is not copy protection, though there seems little room for copy allowances.

But this is all just a waste of time. If your movie is good I'll buy it. If your movie sucks, I'll watch a low quality version once (as cheap or free as possible) then throw it away. Same goes for your music, your books, your thoughts, your words--don't waste my time with crap and I'll pay you for your time.

Olbermann Swings

2005-09-09T02:03:00.000-07:00

Putfile - Upload Video and Upload Images This isn't going to change the world, but it is well said. If you haven't seen this yet, it is worth the time.

WebTAG

2005-09-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

For part of my Systems Analysis and Design course, the class has chosen my suggestion for a project to build. This is a project that I have wanted to do for some time now, but haven't had to time to actually do it. I am refering to this project as "WebTAG". The idea is that the web should be an open community and should behave more like a real community--with real people and real objects to interact with.

Keep Google Talk Clean!

2005-08-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

I've been using Google Talk for two days now. It is definately not the most full featured im out there, but it sparseness is refreshing. I know the guys at Google are working on more features. Instead of pointing out all of the features I wish it had here is my list of features that I hope Google Talk never gets:

1. Skins - these are useless pieces of bloat. I understand someone may want to customize their computer and the stuff on it, but I just want to IM, keep the stuff that doesn't help me IM in the superbloated MSN Messenger.

2. Emoticons - more bloat. I don't want to be cute. I want to share real information--innovative, creative, informative. If I could pick what I was going to say from a list then I'm wasting the time of the person I'm talking to.

Get Google Talk for yourself and let me know what features you hope it never gets.

DOM Javascript Performance

2005-08-26T15:53:00.000-07:00

This post has been relocated to http://boyopeg.googlepages.com/DOMCopyTest.htm

Inside Higher Ed :: Google's Small Nod to Publishers

2005-08-15T16:48:00.000-07:00

Fair to who

According to Merriam-Webster’s Legal Dictionary a derivative is: “Arising out of or dependent on the existence of something else". That makes this comment a derivative work of the keyboard that I am using to type it, for these words are dependant on the keyboard. Compaq (the keyboard maker), whose copywrite is printed on the bottom of the keyboard certainly does not own these words. Now, I could simply write these with a pencil, but then Pentel could claim derivative ownership.

What is fair is that I have access to all of the knowledge in the world. Since only a handful of people could afford the 29 million books in the library of congress, and even fewer would have the time to read each one, I need Google to index all the books it can find and allow me to access the world’s knowledge through search.

Publishers barely provide 5% of the roalties to the original writer, and writers hardly become rich from their books. Copywrites on books are merely bariers to publication so that a book publisher (not writer) can get rich off the works. I haven’t seen a writer who is complaining about this, only the greedy publishers.

Publishers need to learn the lessons of the other archaic media. Look at the music and movie business. Either get with the times and listen to your customers who do not want to carry 4000lbs. of books in what could be held in 7oz of modern technology, or get out of the way so that better and smarter people can do it.