topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Tuesday March 19, 2024, 1:10 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - moerl [ switch to compact view ]

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 16next
1
Judging by the blog for MetaForum, that project seems pretty dead.. the last post came through in October of 2007.. the latest version of Vanilla came out May 15th 2009, though, so I guess the Vanilla project is still going. Still, I've never come across Vanilla in my travels of the web. I wonder why. It's just not catching on, despite all the sexiness..

2
The best use of spam I ever heard of - bringing back old friends. :P
If only it served that purpose more often! :)

BTW, I haven't seen Vanilla or Metaforum in action anywhere, really.. seems they're not exactly enjoying widespread adoption. I need to re-check out their websites to see what's new with them. Also, I need to just point out how awesomely responsive these DC forums are. Super fast! SMF is awesome :)

3
I saw one before kartal's post (I guess that's what revived the thread?), and reported it as spam.
Revived me, too. Been ages since I posted here. Hi everyone :D. All because of spam.

4
WTF?

Weird. I saw something that looked like a robot post in here.. some sort of spam. Now it's gone. Er.. I guess that's good news!

5
General Software Discussion / Re: WTF SourceForge
« on: April 30, 2008, 07:10 PM »
All SF sites were down (including slashdot and freshmeat) due to a routing issue.
See relevant slashdot post here.
That explains it. Thanks :)

6
General Software Discussion / Re: WTF SourceForge
« on: April 30, 2008, 08:02 AM »
SourceForge seems to work just fine here and now?
It does now! It was NOT working when I originally created this thread :/

7
General Software Discussion / Re: WTF SourceForge
« on: April 30, 2008, 05:42 AM »
Oy.. I bumped into this with yet another Google query: http://ftp.roedu.net...rs/sf.net/w/we/weka/

Was able to grab version 3.5.6. Phew. That took entirely too long...

8
General Software Discussion / WTF SourceForge
« on: April 30, 2008, 05:38 AM »
It's down. As in.. completely bombed. Unreachable, times out, gone! Why do I care? Well, I don't really, but I happen to have to care at this moment because I desperately need access to the Weka Data Mining software for OSX. I've googled all around using various queries.. and my conclusion so far is that any mention of a Weka download points back to SF. How crappy is that? I'll tell you: very crappy!

:/

Somebody must be haxing SF good. This doesn't seem like a random crap-out..

9
Living Room / Phone Interview with Microsoft!
« on: April 30, 2008, 01:31 AM »
It's time to panic! Monday, I sent an MS recruiter a nice email with my resume attached. Just past lunchtime on Tuesday, April 29, the "Microsoft College Staffing Consultant" (basically the head MS recruiter for my university) replied and said that he's forwarded my info to the person who will conduct what he called "the phone screening to determine a possible fit". This person, (judging by the name, a woman), sent me an email a half hour past midnight tonight. What a turnaround time! Most of my friends, who are not in CS majors, are seeing non-existent turnaround times as they spend weeks waiting for any kind of response from the companies they send their resumes to, i.e. there are no responses. In contrast, I went from writing an email with my resume attached to a scheduled phone interview in roughly 30 hours! Crazy.

Anyway.. I noted in my initial email that I believe I'd best fit in with either software development or user experience. It turns out they've decided to interview me for software development. SDEV, they call it. Well, that's a bucket full o' reason to panic! Getting any summer internship position at Microsoft is pretty difficult (notoriously so around these parts), but a position in SDEV? It justifies entering panic-mode.

A good friend who interviewed with them for the same position passed the phone interview and was flown out to Seattle twice. They liked her enough to give her a position as something along the lines of system admin. She'll be responsible for a range of machines and keeping stuff going. At least that's what I could pull from memory--I'd have to ask her to get a specific job title. She starts there this summer.

I'm not too proud to say that she's most definitely the smarter human being than I am. She's a Comp Sci/Math major and overall, knows her shit pretty well, shall we say. Me? I'm passionate about computer science, but just don't quite have what it takes wired into my neural system to be a math whiz. I'm an intelligent being, for sure, but I can't say that mathematics is my forte. When it comes to coding I definitely enjoy it and would say my skill-set is solid, but not outstanding. Without some serious preparation, asking around and possibly buying a book on interview questions and studying that thoroughly, I personally don't think I currently would stand too good a chance at getting far.

So, yeah, panic mode! And all this comes in the last week of classes, one week before most of my final exams. The last day of classes is this Thursday, which happens to be the same day MS suggested I have the phone interview with them. Needless to say, no can do. I'll have to move the interview date as deeply as possible into next week, giving them multiple possible dates. This feels like a 5th final exam!

Anyway.. I thought I'd share and put this up for discussion for no particular reason at all. I feel pressured, and thought it might help a bit to share the story.

Thanks for tuning in!

PS
A bit of back-story: the friend I mentioned recently got hired by MS and she was out with two MS recruiters this weekend as part of a new hires event. They ended up at a bar down town and she let me know who she's there with. I went, of course, and ended up talking to them for a bit. I suppose I had a bit of an edge in that respect, though whether that had anything to do with their lightning fast response time is anyone's guess.

10
Living Room / Re: A data set for data mining?
« on: April 29, 2008, 11:30 PM »
Some machine learning datasets:
http://archive.ics.uci.edu/ml/
Yap.. came across that one before. It's a gold-mine of data sets. Most of them there are pretty complex though.. with 10+ attributes in the set. I suppose I can use that but it may make matters more complicated. I'll take a second look around. Thanks!

11
Living Room / A data set for data mining?
« on: April 29, 2008, 08:43 PM »
I'm taking a (really fun!) database class that involved using all sorts of PostGRE SQL queries and working with Python. Now I'm working on the final project for the class, which involves picking an interesting dataset (well, any dataset will do, but it's more bearable work if it's interesting of course!) to perform data mining on. So here's an important snippet:

The problems/questions will typically be of three basic types:
  • classification/estimation: Is it possible to determine, predict, or estimate some attribute in the dataset, based on the values of other attributes? The medical diagnosis and credit-card promotion problems that we have covered in lecture are examples of this type of problem. If you choose a problem of this type, you will employ some type of classification learning and/or numeric estimation.
  • finding associations: Are there non-obvious associations or relationships between attributes in the dataset? Market-basket analysis (e.g., finding products that customers tend to purchase together) is one example of this type of problem. If you choose a problem of this type, you will employ some type of association learning.
  • grouping entities: Are there non-obvious ways of dividing up the entities described by the dataset into distinct groups? Another way of thinking of this type of problem is as a search for unexpected similarities or differences among the entities. If you choose a problem of this type, you will employ some type of clustering. It tends to be difficult to effectively use this type of approach, so if you choose to employ clustering, you should probably also plan to use one of the other two types of data mining as well.

We can use Weka data mining software to help us mine this data and it may be necessary to transform the data. Anyway.. I've had some real trouble finding a truly interesting dataset to work on. Do you guys know any interesting sources for data sets off hand? One of you might, so I thought it's worth asking :)

I've already scoured the web multiple times and found a metric ton of sources on open data and data sets. Here is an amazing link on that topic: http://www.readwrite...open_data_on_the.php

The problem isn't so much finding available open data for use in a data mining project... really, it's PICKING a data set to work with. There's lots of stuff out there and I thought you may be able to help me narrow it all down a bit.

I don't want to flood you with information here, but I thought including the Requirements for the project may be helpful:
Requirements
Your final project must include:
  • the application of one or more data-mining techniques to a dataset that you choose
  • a clear and compelling presentation of the results that you obtain, both from the data mining and any other analysis that you perform. This presentation should include at least one example of a data graphic that follows Tufte's principles, as presented in the guest lectures by Prof. Snyder. You may want to make use of the tools at many-eyes.com to help you with this. The graph template that we gave you for Problem Set 8 may also be useful.


In addition, your project must include two of the following:
  • the creation of one or more relational tables from your dataset, and examples of useful queries that you performed on those tables. The tables must be constructed in a way that avoids redundancy and that captures any constraints that are present in the data. One possible use of SQL queries would be to compute averages or other types of summary statistics that you could then present in your report.
  • the use of a Python program to manipulate the data in some useful way. For example, you could use a program to extract the data that you need from a relational database, or to discretize one or more attributes in an existing dataset file.
  • one or more additional data graphics.

Lots of text, I know.. but I tried to make it easy to look at :)

12
General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9 - How to..?
« on: October 04, 2007, 04:27 AM »
but what I'm looking for, ultimately, is how to make Opus REMEMBER this setting. In other words.. whenever I'm looking at a folder full of music files, I want to see the bit-rate, or even description because I kind of like the latter even better. I don't have to see description always, (though I suppose it wouldn't hurt, either), but only when I'm looking at folders with music in them.
The Folder Formats FAQ over at the Opus forums is well worth reading as it explains this and a bunch of other essential things.
Noted, thank you. I'll take a look when I find the time.

13
General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9 - How to..?
« on: October 02, 2007, 03:22 PM »
Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear enough: how can I rename those files simultaneously to a new name? Or you can call it batch rename. I just want that all files in that pic to be called a.pptx, a.rtf, a.txt and so on.
Eh? That's what I meant, too. I described how to get to DOpus' advanced file renaming utility, which includes batch renaming in more ways than you can even imagine. It's so sophisticated I barely know how to use it.

14
General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9 - How to..?
« on: October 02, 2007, 06:01 AM »
I'm still very new to Opus and I can't get this one to work: how do I rename multiple files at the same time? I need all the files to be renamed, not just the first one.
Select the files, then do File > File Commands > Rename. The button on the toolbar next to the delete button (the one with the red cross) on the left is a shortcut to the same command. However your pointer over it to see what left-clicking and right-clicking does. Left-clicking would be the same command as the one I pointed out first (by going through the file menu).

15
General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9 - How to..?
« on: October 01, 2007, 09:40 PM »
Dirhael, that's PRECISELY the answer I was looking for. THANK YOU!

16
General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9 - How to..?
« on: October 01, 2007, 07:15 PM »
It doesn't just give bitrate but try setting the lister to "Details" format (right click View > Details) and then right click on the heading columns and include description. That seems to include the bitrate (at least for MP3 files). You may need to drag the column wider to see them.
Yup, that works, and description is rather handy, but I have more on this. Keep reading.

Assuming you're using Dopus 9, right click on the column headings in the lister, select More from the context menu that appears, under Columns in the dialogue should popup, select Music from the pull-down men and then select Bit Rate and click on the right arrow to add it to the columns that are viewed. Click OK out of there and you *should* have achieved what you are after...
That's the way that I used, precisely. I knew how to get this.. which isn't to say I don't appreciate the description you gave, but what I'm looking for, ultimately, is how to make Opus REMEMBER this setting. In other words.. whenever I'm looking at a folder full of music files, I want to see the bit-rate, or even description because I kind of like the latter even better. I don't have to see description always, (though I suppose it wouldn't hurt, either), but only when I'm looking at folders with music in them.

Not sure if I'm being clear enough, but this example should clear it up. Say I'm looking at a folder of an album on my HD. I now follow enable description or bit rate as a new column in the view. Great. I see the info I want to see. Now I navigate to a different folder to do something else.. or even a different folder of a different music album. Oy.. the description/bit rate column is gone. How do I make it stick? I want Opus to show description/bit rate when I look at folders with music in them. That's as clear as I know how to describe it :)

Carol, about the recursive subfolders question.. it's all in there. Right-click the column header and you'll see this: http://screencast.com/t/FlRvERtki
Oh, and Carol's response to edbro is dead-on.

17
General Software Discussion / Directory Opus 9 - How to..?
« on: October 01, 2007, 05:28 PM »
Ever in need of customization, ever clueless about how to do it... I want Opus to display the bit rate of music files when I look at folders with music in them, and only then. I have automatic content type detection turned on, but I don't see how I can tell Opus to display the bit rate column only when the music content type is triggered.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

18
General Software Discussion / Re: Question about Directory Opus 9
« on: September 28, 2007, 10:12 PM »
Thank you! Crap.. the reason my response came so late is because it seems I was never notified of this reply. I think I've found the reason for why I never saw Opus open the last accessed folders.. the setting you pointed out was already set when I checked. I tend to open Opus using Winkey + E, but I think that's what the problem is. Winkey + E opens the specific folder "computer" each time. Can I assign a keyboard shortcut to fire up a new lister? Basically, I want a keyboard shortcut to emulate double clicking on the Opus tray icon.

Thanks again

EDIT
Dumb question.. of course I CAN. There even is a default for it: Winkey + O. Yay!

19
General Software Discussion / Question about Directory Opus 9
« on: September 21, 2007, 04:08 AM »
How can I make Opus open the locations I was last at when Opus closed? Basically, I want it to be exactly where I left off when I last closed Opus. Thanks!

20
General Software Discussion / Re: Directory Opus 9
« on: August 08, 2007, 12:10 PM »
Open up Properties for dopus.exe. Is it digitally signed by GPSoftware?
I'm at work now, but will check when I get home.

Dude, you work long hours. :)


lol.. damn! Totally forgot about this thread! I'm at work again now and have a lot of crap on my mind until Monday (I go home for two weeks to Europe!) so I guess that's why. Hopefully I'll remember tonight.

21
Living Room / Re: Do you listen to the radio?
« on: August 07, 2007, 01:56 PM »
My ISP here in Australia offers FREE Radio streaming (not everything, just a good selection), so often the radio is being streamed now (as the sound is better on the computer than through the cheap FM radio).
-Perry Mowbray (August 06, 2007, 05:58 PM)
Swiss Groove, eh? I'm Swiss! Heh.

BTW, while we're speaking of radio, you guys know about Screamer Radio, right?

22
Living Room / Do you listen to the radio?
« on: August 06, 2007, 02:29 PM »
Since I've started to work at my summer internship this summer, I have been listening to the radio in the car on the way to work and on the way home after work, every day. Before that, it had been a while since I last listened to the radio. After all, when would I? With class being the only responsibility that required me to leave the apartment on a daily basis, I really had no opportunity to tune into any radio shows. I now have two computers at the apartment and I have no car. (I do now but only for the duration of the internship, which ends this coming Friday).

At first I would listen to, if memory serves me right, Kiss FM which basically played the same five currently popular pop songs, two of which were by Justin Timberlake. For a while it seemed entertaining enough but then it got old fast.. I used the car radio's scan function and soon discovered true gem and absolute radio bliss: NPR. I'd listen and still do listen to "Morning Edition" on the way to work in the morning and then to "All Things Considered" in the afternoon on the way back home from work. What can I say.. I'm addicted! NPR programs are of such high quality in every possible way that I was shocked to find something that good on the radio. The editing, competence and intelligence of the anchors, the music played in between shows, the content... all of it is on a very, very high level of quality.

Not only that, but having found their website, I am impressed even more. NPR is EVERYWHERE.

There are online radio streams, podcasts, RSS feeds, the website itself.. it seems it doesn't end.

Now I'm just hoping that the rumors of the iPhone having a built-in but as of yet unrevealed FM tuner will turn out to be true

And now I'm interested in HD Radio as well. Dang.
--

23
Living Room / Re: How to choose a credit card?
« on: August 06, 2007, 02:29 PM »
I definitely want to go with Visa. That much I know. What I don't know is how to know where to get it.. it seems these days you can find a credit card offer in a bubblegum wrapper. This stuff is everywhere, making the choice a difficult one.

24
General Software Discussion / Re: RSS feed for updated software?
« on: August 06, 2007, 02:17 PM »
I just thought of another argument in favor of rht RSSMix.com method.. since I read feeds while on the go as well as while on "public" computers through Newsgator's web reader, I won't have access to the filters if I set them up at the desktop at home inside FeedDemon. With the RSSMix method, I will have the updated software feed anywhere I go.

RSSMix method wins.

25
Living Room / How to choose a credit card?
« on: August 06, 2007, 02:11 PM »
Seems to me it's about time I get a credit card, if only to start "building" my credit report. How do I go about choosing a credit card?

I'm a student still and will be for another 1.5 years or so.

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 ... 16next