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Saturday, November 28, 2015

Talking things around open source app

Realized should do a post talking about my open source software application which is called Class Viewer which is for Java developers. It has continuing support from me, but thankfully is a lightweight, low maintenance in my opinion, project which really hasn't changed very much in over a decade.

There are continuing downloads and thank you for those downloading! Where lately seems to be around a quarter of a thousand per month. So not TONS but more than enough to keep me satisfied that there are still people out there who need it. Which is one of the greatest feelings ever which is why I don't talk about it too much. Have talked more lately because passed the 10 year mark recently so feel safer.

For the first time that I know of since had country counts this year might not pass downloads from over 100 countries, which got me a bit concerned though it's not a metric that I really understand? Because looking at the map, the BIGGEST drop is across the continent of Africa. Oh and in the Middle East.

Which means that it's really just about mainly people in Africa who for some reason or other seem to download far less than people on any other continent which maybe is about number of Java developers? So it's just about percentages? Regardless still like Africa, no negatives in their direction just wondering a bit about me and my product and what that might say.

Having a very lightweight specialized app for a very specialized group of people is VERY convenient. And I do use Class Viewer myself, where for me it's usually most important when I decide to do a bit of coding as no longer code all the time, so routinely have to refresh my skills and it's very good for quick lookups.

So short of it is, thank you for continuing downloads. Class Viewer support is ongoing, and I think I'm aiming for 2018 for an updated version unless am pushed sooner which could happen if got feedback needing something, which has never happened, or changes are made to the Java language which require it.


James Harris

Monday, November 23, 2015

Better informed

Reality today is those who make the effort can get the info which means being better informed than could be possible in the past.

For instance I could go do a web search on some political candidate and in five minutes find out more than would ever be told in the past by mainstream media, especially on television, with information going back decades.

In the near past a politician just needed to make it past a week or two until a bad story would die! Isn't that amazing?

Now that same story can still be crushing the career for years, and years and years, as it's relevant information, and people NEED it. They needed it before, but how to find it?

Gatekeepers could exploit the public.

Millions were made by people who figured out how best to lie.

And why? Because they could control this very addictive source of information called television, and they still do to a large extent, but what you don't see on television?

You can find on the web.

What will one of the most informed generations of all time do with that information?

They will change the world.

In what way?

We'll see.


James Harris

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Expanded human reality

Back when television ruled attention around the globe, the people who controlled it were mostly wealthy, and were usually White males. One of the things they pushed was the idea that EVERYONE really wanted to be rich, and deep down wanted to be White. But at least they didn't think everyone wanted to be male! But they pushed the idea that every woman wanted to have sex with a wealthy White male.

And if you had had that kind of control, would you have done different?

Then the web arrived and human attention spread out. That power began to fade.

So today people are not necessarily taught any of those things, and we get to see much more of an expanded human reality. People of all ethnicities showing up across media, even like me here.

And women who aren't even interested in men at all, let alone wealthy White men.

There is nothing wrong with money. It has great utility in allowing us to get service from strangers. And is the system in place for so many things, but there are so many other things in human life as well.

The web seems fascinated with so many things. And one of those things is in taking the old system apart, exposing people within it, including many of their excesses, and not really passing judgement on it either. Just curiously illuminating it.

The web is so much about curiosity. An urge to know as much as can be found.


James Harris

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Approximating sqrt(3) for fun

Of course you can calculate square roots easily but some people like to play with math for fun, or even to test out things. And I just feel like putting this thing up, as it's one of my discoveries and it's my blog.

sqrt(3) approximately equals xn+1/yn+1, where:

xn+1 = 97xn + 168yn

yn+1 = 56xn + 97yn

and x0 = 1, and y0 = 0;

So yeah, you can plug that into some code and iterate. You can see at the start is 97/56 which is a bit over 1.732. It can take awhile so let's jump to some values where it looks more impressive.

Does an n exist for: x = 1351, and y = 780?

I'm thinking yeah, but don't know what it is. I play around with math a lot and got to this result some place or other so don't know what n is. If you wish to figure it out and put in comments, thanks!

With those then: xn+1 = 262087, and yn+1 = 151316

And 262087/151316 equals approximately: 1.73205080758

Correct for sqrt(3), same number of digits: 1.73205080756

And differs from sqrt(3) by approximately: 1.26e-11

That pc calculator is so handy. Keep doing iterations though and you'll get beyond it soon enough.

Oh yeah, negative DOES work. Just been kind of sloppy, and just talking the positive, so you can start with: x0 = -1, and y0 = 0

And found that with my own discovery.

If you want to know the tool used, search on: binary quadratic Diophantine iterator

When I get really bored or just want to feel better about myself I use something I introduced to the human species, usually math.

So no, not known officially and you can't find in any established mathematical text unless they snuck it in there without telling me.

I made that up. You discover things you get to name them. It's fun. Links go to my math blog. I called it Some Math.

To find it? Of course, just search on--some math.

Yeah, it's like that. In a pump myself up mood today. And here is how I do it.

And you know what? I actually DO feel better now! Am so glad that actually works. Sometimes I just need something to make me feel better, you know?


James Harris

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Considering dual boot and the BOS

One of the weirder things that happened for me years ago was reading through harsh critiques of the concept of Chromebooks, which I consider to be using a Browser Operating System or BOS in that the focus is on getting you to the browser quickly. So you build around it.

However when I first talked about a BOS in a post on this blog May 2008, I also brought up dual boot:

The BOS could even start Windows or Linux or whatever else operating system you wanted--if you needed.

One of those fun things is to go back to your own writing years later. But my motivation here is in considering recent reports speculating on the Android operating system and the Chrome operating system of Chromebooks as if they might be combined.

It dawned on me that if someone wanted to follow the roadmap I gave, they might instead consider putting out hybrid dual-boot systems, like with Android and Chrome OS.

Of course Linux already has dual boot capability, so some people run Linux and Chrome OS anyway. But if that were something official? And some top notch reporters didn't have the tech expertise to understand it?

Might they not think it meant something else?

And I'm just speculating myself but gives me an opportunity to expand on something that means a lot to me. And I wish there were more BOS computers out there! Talk Chromebooks as best example of which I know. And I think hybrid dual boots may be the computers of the future.

Some might wonder what's the point of two? But then you can keep unnecessary junk for it out of the BOS, which is a lot of the point in the first place, remember? It can also be more secure, as well as faster.

Then it's with the needs of the user, not limited by their equipment.

After all, the user matters most, right? And if a system can boot quick so you can get on the web and do everything from your browser, and then switch to something else if you found you needed it? Who wouldn't want that?

I know I would.


James Harris

Tuesday, November 03, 2015

Why to me the COS is so BOS

Putting out ideas for me is just LOTS of fun where I put out so many and have explained how I see it. Who knows if anyone has used any of them, but I DO like when is clear something is similar out there.

Which lets me talk about one of my favorite examples, as years ago was irritated waiting on a certain operating system to load, so started thinking about a Browser Operating System, which I picked as that makes it BOS, when you turn into the inevitable acronym.

Which to me was interesting as to why that wasn't heavily used already.

But the gist of the idea is that for some people the browser is where they do most of their activity, and I knew that as was on my browser waiting for this other operating system to load wondering what it was freaking doing.

Today Chrome OS is to me a BOS implemented in Chromebooks.

And that's why to me COS is so BOS.


James Harris