| Friday, August
30, 2002
VERY short shrift
Greetings,
In regard to your reader's
question:
> I wonder if you might do a column on
what programming languages there are > available to individuals [read
inexpensive] these days that can be used to > do problem solving,
generate graphs and plots etcetera, under Windows. > Prices for
professional versions of such things as FORTRAN are exceedingly >
expensive. Learning some of the visual GUI's is difficult and seems hardly
> worth it to solve some straightforward problems once in a while.
Personally, I'd recommend Python ( http://www.python.org/
). It's a powerful, flexible language which is easy to learn, easy to
read, encourages (but does not insist on) object-oriented design and
structure, has a wide-ranging and easy-to-use standard library of support
modules, is cross-platform, is Free Software, etc, etc. There are several
GUI development environments for it (also free) and it integrates as
closely with Windows as you would like.
I use Python for developing a lot of web-based
applications, but have also done desktop applications with it.
No reply necessary, etc, etc.
Charles Cazabon
I agree: Python is powerful and easily learned,
and for many short jobs, quick filters, and so forth, is the language of
choice. Sort of like a really good QBASIC used to be. More from Kit Case:
Dear Dr. Pournelle,
Mr Strachan asked "what programming languages
there are available to individuals [read inexpensive] these days that can
be used to do problem solving, generate graphs and plots etcetera, under
Windows."
Might I recommend Python? It is powerful, with all
the features that are expected of a modern programming language, and free!
Both free-as-in-speech and free-as-in-beer! It's a scripting language, so
there isn't a compile step and you don't have to have a "main()"
type section. I think, though I haven't tested this, that it can be used
with the Windows Scripting Host as VB Script is. I highly recommend it as
a first programming language, or for any application requiring text
processing. It does text much better than C/C++ does. Excellent error
handling.
It does GUI and general graphics work with TCL/TK
(using the TKinter module).
The main Python page: http://www.python.org/
Python for Windows, with a nice IDE, free download
from Active State: http://www.activestate.com/Products/ActivePython/
O'Reilly publishing has many books and articles on
Python. O'Reilly is, for me, the first place to go for programming books.
O'Reilly's Python page: http://python.oreilly.com/
"Learning Python" is the book to start
with: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/lpython/
"Programming Python" is the 'everything,
including the kitchen sink, suitable for household defense' book: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/python2/
If you are interested in web programming, check out
Zope, a Python based web application server: http://www.zope.org
Kit Case, kitcase@comcast.net
I had this in the column not too long ago. Thanks
for collecting everything into one place.
Don't forget add PowerBASIC to your list. It can be
found at http://www.powerbasic.com
(if I start talking about it, you'll think I work in their PR dept.)
C U L - dale@yarker-dsyc.info
I used to use Power Basic a lot. I need to look
into it again. I just threw out a 7 year old copy. It doesn't seem to be
installed on anything I have just now and it should be.
Hi Jerry,
To help your reader who is after cheap and useful
programming languages I would like to suggest IBasic ($25)
http://www.pyxia.com/ibasic.html
I've been using it for a few months now and it is a
superb piece of work - it can do pretty everything that VB can do in a 2Mb
download, it produces stand alone executables and can link to external
dlls if you want it to. It can also produce console mode progs for when
you don't need a gui.
Paul, the author, is extremely responsive and there
is a marvelous community of users.
Regards Norman
I know NOTHING of this! I will have to look
into it. Thanks!
======
On Incompetent Empire:
In an order made public Wednesday, she demanded that
the FBI explain how it examined the computers Moussaoui said he used and
explain why the FBI couldn't find traces of the e-mail account. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9058-2002Aug28.html
I work in a nuclear plant. My SUV is now daily
inspected as I enter the plant area. I pass through explosive and bomb
detectors and am subject to frisking and random drug tests. I have
twenty-eight years experience as an operator and 14 as an NRC licensed
Reactor Operator. What could I possibly bring in that is more dangerous
than the knowledge I use to do my job. 90% of the things we do out here
have nothing to do with plant safety or production but have everything to
do with image and "professionalism". The industry is caught in a
death spiral of ever tightening self imposed rules, regulations, and hoops
to jump through. Even with the constant extortion by state agencies we
still make electricity for <2.5 cents a kilowatt hour. Look at you
electric bill and see what the profit is.
So we could be free of the Oil shieks and coal
monopolies breath clean air and have cheap power but we won't. What ever
happened to " We have nothing to fear but fear itself " ?
Please no name or email --
Energy independence for the United States is
achievable through a combination of nuclear power, solar power, space
solar power, efficient exploitation of existing resources, and the rest;
and while expensive would be a heck of a lot cheaper than WAR...
Wars break things and kill people. Better to
build new energy sources and defenses. But that won't happen.
Fine, what will we plead him to?
Jerry,
This
incident reminds me of accounts of the witch trials: if you confessed,
you were a witch; if you didn't confess, or confessed and then recanted,
you were an unrepentant witch, and the penalties were actually worse.
> But we were born free. Welcome to the new age:
Bin Laden can do little to us, but we can sure do it to > ourselves.
This age isn't new; by the time I was born (1961) we
already had the foundations laid through the War on Drugs. We gave up most
of the Bill of Rights there, long before Bin Laden. I saw polls all
through the 80s, showing that a majority of the population was happy to
give up it's rights to "win the war on drugs."
I think your vision of the CoDominium was actually a
little optimistic; I'm leaning more toward Cyberpunk 2020, myself.
Thanks,
Steve Nelson
and also on that incident:
The story was also described in some detail in
SCIENCE, but there were some differences.
In Science it was said that he was asked to 'clean
out the freezer' and came upon the samples in question. It's not clear how
they were labeled or how it was known that they had anthrax, also not
clear how anyone else found out about them.
Instead of destroying them, he made the decision
that he wanted to keep them in case he might find use for them in the
future, and informed his faculty advisor that he was moving them to
another freezer. At that point, the samples became "his" and he
was not authorized to have 'anthrax' infected tissue. Don't know who the
prior custodian was, nor why others in the chain of custody were not
charged.
Of course he did not know that it was illegal to
possess the tissue, nor did his faculty advisor, even though both work on
biohazardous materials all the time, but it was nonetheless illegal. Good
mens rea issue there in an increasingly technological age - outlaw
everything and sell permits to break the law.
Clark Myers
The will of the prince shall have the force of
law.
and
Dear Dr. Pournelle,
The spectacle continues:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20020830-21283204.htm
And, of course, the woman was arrested and hauled
off.
Regards,
Gordon Runkle
-- "Far and away the best prize that life has
to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." -- Theodore
Roosevelt
Why not? Ordnung! Your papers, please. But we
were born free.
Fowarded by Ed Hume:
August 28, 2002; Israeli Tips From Street Fighting
in the West Bank
@ Tanks are a necessity, unless you want to take
very high infantry losses (5-7 of your troops for every enemy soldier).
@ The most useful armored vehicle was the D-9
armored bulldozer. This beast is large enough, and powerful enough, to
plow through buildings, or to shake buildings to set off booby traps or
force civilians (and sometimes fighters) to clear out. You've got to
protect the D-9 with infantry, as it is not invulnerable to anti-tank
weapons.
@ The ratio of infantry to armor vehicles should
vary from 30 to 100 infantrymen per tank.
@ It's better to fight at night, as US and Israeli
forces have better night fighting equipment and train to use it. This
includes the night vision gear on your tanks and armored vehicles. By
cutting off the electricity in the enemy held city, you have a significant
advantage that should be used.
@ Grab the high ground, meaning the roofs and top
floors of buildings. About all helicopters are good for is to use their
guns to clear the enemy off roofs, and to land your troops up there.
@ Deal with the underground. The sewers will be used
by the enemy to move around. You will have to blow up portions of the
sewer system. It's not worth the casualties to go down and fight in the
sewers.
@ Snipers are the biggest problem, followed by
machine-guns and booby traps. The troops have to learn to stay under cover
at all times. And if they smoke at night, don't do it anywhere that an
enemy sniper can get a shot at you. Most snipers will be in the upper
stories of buildings (but not the roofs where your helicopters can get at
them.) A smart foe will booby trap the ground floor entrance and arrange
for another escape route, so that if you send troops into the building,
the sniper will escape and your guys will run into the trip wires and
explosives. The antidote for this is to take the high ground first and use
your own snipers to take out the enemy snipers. This is where night
operations are essential. The sniper cannot hit what he can't see, and
enemy snipers will have a lot fewer clear shots at night. When you do
encounter a sniper, take how out with your own snipers, or tank fire, or
take the building he's in down.
@ Obstacles can work for you. The enemy will try and
set up barricades and other obstacles that will lead your troops into a
trap. Follow your own plan and plow right through obstacles. You can also
use obstacles, especially trenches, to contain the enemy and prevent them
from using vehicles to move troops around.
@ The Israeli experience contradicts American
doctrine, which urges troops to advance in the middle of streets to avoid
ricochets from walls. The Israelis found that getting shot in the center
of the street was more of a danger than ricochets.
@ Helicopters are very vulnerable unless they keep
moving. Even then, they will get hit. You must be careful using
helicopters, and use them only at night when possible. Helicopter weapons
aren't as useful as you might think. Their machine-guns can't penetrate
most walls, and they rarely get off a good shot with their missiles.
Choppers are good at keep the enemy off roof tops.
@ Intelligence is very important. UAVs are
particularly useful because they can observe an area constantly and stay
out of range of enemy weapons. SIGINT (listening in on enemy cell phone
and radio conversations) is another valuable source of info, but you have
to have enough translators familiar with the local dialect. The enemy may
also use a lot of code words, which your intel people will have to try and
decode. It's also possible to get a lot of valuable information from the
local civilians. If they are hostile to you (as the Palestinians were to
the Israelis), this is difficult, but not impossible. If many of the
locals are friendly, you are going to get a lot of life saving
information. Use this source of info as much as possible. If the locals
are friendly, try and recruit line crossers (people who will go into
hostile areas for info.) The enemy will use this ploy, and will make use
of kids (usually 10-12 years old, as these are old enough to know what
they are doing, and young enough to qualify as children.) The kiddie
spies, although usually unarmed, can be particularly deadly, as they are
good at what they do and tend to be fearless.
@ Flashlights are more valuable than you think. Make
sure all the troops have them, and a good supply of fresh batteries.
From http://www.strategypage.com/fyeo/howtomakewar/
default.asp?target=HTINF.HTM
I hope all our commanders are aware of this. I
presume this is Dunnigan. He and I have had our differences but he's
always worth paying attention to, and he spends more time on this than I
do. I can't quite keep up...
Ed Hume on Mozilla:
Jerry
My only problem with Mozilla 1.0 was that it wasn't
very fast.
Despite this, I used it over IE because I can turn
off pop-up windows for free, without using up valuable screen space with
an add-on. Also, I can adjust the view size of fonts without ruining page
layouts or having text obscured by non-text elements.
Mozilla 1.1 is fast-as fast as IE6. Maybe that's not
as fast as Opera, but it's available now and Opera 7 isn't here yet.
The only other problem with Mozilla 1.x is the
standard look-it gets dreary after a while. OTOH, the capacity to fetch
new themes it built in, and I very much like the Modern series by Chris
Neale.
Anyway, Mozilla 1.1 took that last 5% of my Internet
time from IE6. I'm pretty much 100% Mozilla now.
Ed
and we have
Mozilla has no problem changing the size of the
fonts on either canada.com or sapfans.com. Ctrl-+ or Ctrl--.
Mozilla 1.1 is now out - If you haven't tried it out
yet, you're doing yourself a disservice. For pop-up blocking if nothing
else. http://www.mozilla.org .
Pete Flugstad
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