Dan Olsen’s Weblog

I have decided that I like using LaTeX to type up my homework assignments. The first time I used LaTeX I felt like it was a burden and that it was slower for me to type my papers up using LaTeX than it was to write them in Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.

I decided to give LaTeX another try when I started my database class. I found that it was hard to insert mathematical symbols for the relational algebra and calculus. I decided that I would would bookmark the LaTeX reference pages that I used in my del.icio.us account so I could find them easily. Part of my problem is I could never find the right sources if I didn’t bookmark them. Now that I have taken a little bit of time to get a real handle on LaTeX I find it much easier to do the formatting then it would be otherwise with a word processor.

I’m converted! I won’t use LaTeX for all my assignments however, I will use it when I need mathematical notation and other such things that take too much time to do in a word processor.

You can see my LaTeX reference links at http://del.icio.us/danolsen/LaTeX.

Between my job and classes, I have found that I enjoy working with servers and web applications. For my job in the BYU Enterprise Computing Lab I set up our server which was the first server that I ever set up. Setting up the server was a wonderful learning experience. I am also in a class where we are setting up our own servers and building a web application. I love the freedom I have when I have complete control of the server. I now feel like I have my hands tied behind my back when it comes to my web site. I would like to be able to have more freedom on the server where my site is hosted.

I am one of those people that like to poke around and play around with things to learn more about them. By not having a server of my own I can’t learn everything I would like to learn. I had thought about setting up a server from home where I would not have to pay someone else to host my site. I talked with Phil Windley and asked him some questions about a server from home. Unfortunately it wouldn’t be as easy as I had hoped.

The first problem is the extra cost of getting a static IP address from my service provider. I found that if providers find out you want to host a server, they want to charge you like a business. That is money I don’t have.

One solution is to get a dedicated server from a provider which would allow me to have my own machine to have control over. The cheapest dedicated server I have found is $59/month. If I wasn’t a college student it would be more likely that I could afford a dedicated server.

I guess my problem is I want to play with expensive toys when I don’t have the money to play with them. It’s like when I was a kid and wanted a Power Wheels car of my own but all I could do is play on my friends on rare occasions.

My plan in the mean time is to maybe set up a small server in my apartment and play with it and try things on it locally. Doing this would be better than nothing. However, I like to be able to pull up my work anywhere I may be. So until some future time, it will just be a dream unless I can find something for under $10/month which I highly doubt at this time.

I am continuing to have problems with the Sleepy Cat Berkeley XML Database crashing when trying to put certain feeds into the database. I have looked into MySQL and have not been able to find a good way to use MySQL with RSS feeds. I have been looking into other XML databases and have yet to find another database which supports Python.

If any one out there knows of a good, reliable, open source native XML database please let me know.

We are supposed to get word from Sleepy Cat sometime in the near future about Berkeley XML DB 2.0.

I ran into this article about how they used computer technology to give a face to a skull that was found in a cave in St. George Utah. Todd Gabler, a private eye said:

It’s not just a guess. It’s an informed guess, It’s an educated guess.

KSL News :: Human Face Given to Mystery Skeleton
Referenced Sep 14 2004 15:19:34 GMT-0600

It’s amazing the kind of things that can be done with today’s technology and this is just an example of what is possible from a single skull.

I have decided to post my design of the basic Rose system on our lab wiki. This way the design and how the system should work is easily viewed on the web for those who are interested.

The Rose project is nearing completion in it’s first stage. The project has been making slow progress as of lately due to problems between the program, which is written in Python, and the Berkeley XML database.

At the moment there is a piece that currently updates the RSS feeds in the database. This part of the project is not having any problems at the current moment. The part that is having the problems is the part that takes an OPML file and checks for the feeds in the file to see if they are in the database. If the feed is not in the database then it is retrieved over the internet and inserted into the database. It seems to work on a majority of feeds but crashes on a few feeds. I have been working with the folks at Sleepy Cat to see if we can find what the problem might be.

To be a little more specific as to what the problem is I will explain that below.

When the program reads in the RSS feeds I check them against the database, if the feed is not in the database then the program will retrieve them as stated above. However, on some feeds the program just quits with the message “Aborted”. I have narrowed the problem down to the putDocument call on the XML database. I have then taken the XML that is supposed to be put in the database and put it into a small program that implements the same procedure as in the main program. The feeds that crash the program work fine so it is not a problem with the structure of the XML. The problem lies somewhere within the rest of the program. I am looking into the possibility of the problem occurring due to the loop that goes through the array of feeds.

I am continuing to debug the process and find why certain feeds crash the program. I am also looking into other implementations that I may be able to use to get around the problem. I will post more of my implementation ideas I sort through the problem.

Phil Windley recently wrote about Del.icio.us on his weblog and how he is currently using it. One of the ways he is using it is for his CS 462 class which I am currently enrolled in. After reading his entry about Del.icio.us I wanted to see what the difference is between Del.icio.us and Furl.net. On the surface they seem like the same kind of service. However, the thing I found that Del.icio.us has and Furl.net didn’t have is the RSS feeds for each category. RSS is provided by Furl.net but it contains the n most recent pages you have bookmarked where n is the number of recent bookmarks you tell Furl.net to provide in the feed.

I have subscribed to our classes Del.icio.us RSS feed that Dr. Windley has created and it gives me useful resources in my aggregator along with the other news I get.

I am going to give Del.icio.us a try and see how I like it compared to Furl.net. I already know that I like the look of Furl.net better. I am assuming the look of Del.icio.us will evolve over time since it is still in it’s pre-pre-alpha version. In terms of functionality it looks like Del.icio.us might be better than Furl.net.

I will begin a new category dedicated to the ROSE project I am working on in Dr. Windley’s research lab. The category will have its own RSS feed which can be accessed at http://www.dan-olsen.net/weblog/rose.xml. I will post weekly reports on the progress of the project.

In Weblogs in Higher Education, Ken Smith talks about what blogging can do for students or anyone in terms of bringing about ideas that may have never been written down.

…the practice of writing each day seems to act as an aid to invention. If we write 20 or 30 times a month, we will have thoughts that would not have materialized without the blogger’s writerly habits of mind.

Weblogs in Higher Eduction :: Invention and student blogs
Referenced Sep 3 2004 07:06:18 GMT-0600

I actually wish that more students in my classes maintained blogs where they post their ideas from the classes they are taking. As a student I enjoy hearing and reading what other students have to say about the topics of the course. As stated by Ken, ideas that may have never materialized any other way show up in blogs and maintain a unique way of thinking and expressing those thoughts.

In my CS 462 class, Dr. Windley has each group keep a blog that will be used to keep track of processes and other thoughts about our projects. Not only will it help to have the steps we used to build our projects in case of a computer failure, but it will allow the students to see other groups ideas and thoughts about the projects. I think this is a great idea and would love to see it more in my other classes.

Geico is suing Google to trademark infringement, unfair competition and dilution of its marks.

Geico gets green light to sue Google, Overture
Referenced Sep 2 2004 4:50 GMT-0600

The ECLab will be holding weekly seminars in 2204 TMCB at Brigham Young University. We will be discussing the books on this list in order. The seminar is open to the public.

A music store plus some.

I went and checked out the new music store that has been launched by Microsoft. I heard that Microsoft was planning on having more services available than iTunes did and I was interested to find out what those extra services were. The extra services weren’t what I was expecting.

I’m not sure how much functionality I may be missing since I use Mac and Linux most of the time. However, they have listings of radio stations located around the US. I will have to check to see if their service allows you to listen to those radio stations when I am logged into my Windows box. I was able to find my favorite stations found in Utah.

Another feature is the Movies Preview section. This part of the service provides users with a place to find showtimes & tickets as well as see movie trailers. This section also provides information on movies now playing as well as movies coming out in theaters and DVD/Video.

Now, the part that I didn’t expect to see is the TV section. The TV section of Microsoft’s new music site is down at the moment I am writing this. However, I looked at it yesterday. This part of the site provides television listings which I found to be easier to use than the TV Guide website. It also gives information about current and upcoming shows.

Currently this new service provided by Microsoft is in beta and can also be used with the new Windows Media Player 10. So far, this rival to iTunes has features not found in iTunes but from the looks of it there are still some wrinkles that need to be ironed out.

RSS feeds! As a person who uses a news aggregator to subscribe to RSS and Atom feeds I must say that the benefit of a class website having an RSS feed is awesome! In Blackboard I have to log in to check what the latest announcements are and due dates (if the teacher posts them). With my 462 class all I have to do is subscribe to the RSS feed and I get the updated announcements with the rest of my news. I can also subscribe to the calendar so I know when changes have been to the assignment due dates. Will Blackboard eventually provide feeds for students using Blackboard?

Before I give all hail to RSS feeds in this field, I must add that this may only be something that people who are tech savvy will enjoy. I know many people that prefer to just log in when they need information.

However, it wouldn’t hurt to have an RSS feed for those of us who prefer to subscribe to a feed to get updates with all their other updates in their aggregator.

Dr. Windley is teaching my CS 462: Engineering Large-Scale Internet Applications class this semester. He is using MovableType for the class web site as well as Kwiki for different parts. I am going to compare the use of the web site to Blackboard through out the semester and see what kind of advantages and disadvantages I may find between the two.