There is a Houston Python Meetup tonight at 19:00 at the Stag’s Head Pub.
Anyone interested in learning more about Python programming is welcome to join us!
Sep 232008
Sep 232008
Mikie found a pretty dragonfly in front of our office today.
Sep 202008
The WebKit folks have been busy. I just read this fascinating post on the Surfin’ Safari blog.
SquirrelFish Extreme (SFX) is the newest Javascript Engine from the WebKit folks. And it is fast. I downloaded version r36685 on my MacBook Pro and ran the SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark. The SFX engine was 3.69 times faster than the engine in Safari 3.1.2!
TEST COMPARISON FROM TO DETAILS
=============================================================================
** TOTAL **: 3.69x as fast 3527.6ms +/- 1.6% 956.6ms +/- 1.8% significant
=============================================================================
3d: 2.92x as fast 451.8ms +/- 5.0% 154.6ms +/- 4.5% significant
cube: 3.11x as fast 164.8ms +/- 11.9% 53.0ms +/- 7.0% significant
morph: 2.57x as fast 149.2ms +/- 6.2% 58.0ms +/- 5.0% significant
raytrace: 3.16x as fast 137.8ms +/- 4.7% 43.6ms +/- 12.5% significant
access: 4.90x as fast 546.4ms +/- 2.1% 111.4ms +/- 8.6% significant
binary-trees: 4.20x as fast 76.4ms +/- 7.4% 18.2ms +/- 28.3% significant
fannkuch: 10.5x as fast 235.4ms +/- 2.8% 22.4ms +/- 14.5% significant
nbody: 2.97x as fast 174.4ms +/- 2.6% 58.8ms +/- 5.7% significant
nsieve: 5.02x as fast 60.2ms +/- 10.5% 12.0ms +/- 12.7% significant
bitops: 7.01x as fast 457.0ms +/- 3.3% 65.2ms +/- 5.9% significant
3bit-bits-in-byte: 5.10x as fast 68.4ms +/- 6.5% 13.4ms +/- 14.1% significant
bits-in-byte: 6.02x as fast 98.8ms +/- 4.4% 16.4ms +/- 15.7% significant
bitwise-and: 17.2x as fast 171.6ms +/- 5.6% 10.0ms +/- 24.9% significant
nsieve-bits: 4.65x as fast 118.2ms +/- 0.9% 25.4ms +/- 8.2% significant
controlflow: 5.68x as fast 86.4ms +/- 4.4% 15.2ms +/- 24.8% significant
recursive: 5.68x as fast 86.4ms +/- 4.4% 15.2ms +/- 24.8% significant
crypto: 4.29x as fast 249.4ms +/- 3.6% 58.2ms +/- 6.7% significant
aes: 4.78x as fast 79.4ms +/- 2.6% 16.6ms +/- 29.8% significant
md5: 4.18x as fast 85.2ms +/- 9.8% 20.4ms +/- 11.1% significant
sha1: 4.00x as fast 84.8ms +/- 3.9% 21.2ms +/- 15.2% significant
date: 3.47x as fast 309.8ms +/- 1.0% 89.4ms +/- 5.3% significant
format-tofte: 3.52x as fast 142.8ms +/- 3.2% 40.6ms +/- 6.0% significant
format-xparb: 3.42x as fast 167.0ms +/- 1.7% 48.8ms +/- 6.8% significant
math: 3.76x as fast 499.8ms +/- 0.6% 133.0ms +/- 5.8% significant
cordic: 4.59x as fast 191.0ms +/- 1.0% 41.6ms +/- 13.8% significant
partial-sums: 3.34x as fast 212.8ms +/- 1.5% 63.8ms +/- 5.6% significant
spectral-norm: 3.48x as fast 96.0ms +/- 3.3% 27.6ms +/- 17.6% significant
regexp: 5.07x as fast 211.8ms +/- 1.6% 41.8ms +/- 5.7% significant
dna: 5.07x as fast 211.8ms +/- 1.6% 41.8ms +/- 5.7% significant
string: 2.49x as fast 715.2ms +/- 2.6% 287.8ms +/- 2.1% significant
base64: 4.99x as fast 109.8ms +/- 5.9% 22.0ms +/- 12.6% significant
fasta: 3.16x as fast 183.4ms +/- 1.7% 58.0ms +/- 7.4% significant
tagcloud: 1.54x as fast 143.6ms +/- 1.8% 93.4ms +/- 3.1% significant
unpack-code: 2.23x as fast 140.8ms +/- 1.5% 63.2ms +/- 2.6% significant
validate-input: 2.69x as fast 137.6ms +/- 11.2% 51.2ms +/- 7.2% significant
Sep 192008
The great TextMate text editor has a bundle called “TextMate” that lets you install an “Edit in TextMate…” item to the Edit menu of all Mac applications that support alternate input managers. This is really handy.
For applications like Safari and Mail, etc., this works perfectly. However Firefox (my favorite browser) doesn’t recognize these extra input managers (yet). So what do you do?
Not to worry! There is a free FireFox extension called It’s all Text!. Just install it and, in the preferences, set it up as follows:
Notice the Hot Key setting? This is Command-CTRL-E, which is the ”same” hot key used to invoke the ”Edit in TextMate” function for applications that support the alternate input managers.
This gives identical functionality to Firefox as to what you would get in Safari, et al.
Sep 182008
The Honda EU2000i portable gasoline-powered generator is a marvel of engineering.
It’s deadly quiet and smooth. If you need more power you can chain two of them together using a special accessory from Honda. It’s not cheap to purchase—the MSRP is $1079.95—but you are paying for quality here. It is the most fuel-efficient portable generator that I have seen.
Highly recommended.
Sep 182008
Mikie shot a little video near the end of Hurricane Ike
Sep 152008
Things are going well at the house. We are fortunate enough to have power and water, unlike many of our friends. Mikie, Carolyn, and I worked to remove all of the water damaged carpet at the office this morning and take all other measures to prevent further damage from the storm. As of the time of this post we still do not have power at the office.
I plan to go there early tomorrow. If we do have power available I will bring up the two undamaged A/C units and contact our other employees to let them know it is OK to come to work.
I’m going to try and get in to the local Kroger store very early tomorrow morning to get supplies. By the way, I’m continuing to add photos to this Flickr photoset.
Sep 142008
Just a quick update. We did lose power again last night about 2 hours after it was initially restored. It was brought back online again in the wee hours of the morning. Bless all of the hardworking men and women who worked to restore the power here so quickly.
The Spring network is still down, so please don’t try and call my mobile number. You should be able to reach us on the house phone.
Sep 132008
The hurricane has past and we are doing well. We just got power back on (hooray), and Internet!!!
If you have a minute click here to view my hurricane photoset.
Our poor office flooded in the front. The hurricane blew the awning completely off. I could find no trace of it anywhere. But one of the awning supports apparently flipped over onto the roof and punched a hole in it. I’ve got pictures of that in this photoset that include my temporary repair job.
Sep 132008
Just a couple of quick picks!
