Messages

101

Living Room / Re: AWOL

« on: July 25, 2011, 10:51 AM »

Like I said in the OP...

""Thank you!" to Mouser and company for making DonationCoder such a nice place to be and come back to.

It's nice to be back. 

102

Developer's Corner / Re: Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« on: July 24, 2011, 08:29 AM »

FYI - This is only the first stage of this project, i.e., setting up the DB and building the client.  The long-term goal of this project is to provide a realistic framework my children and others can experiment with starting and managing a virtual business.  Pursuant to this, what I would like to do in the future is to model...

@ A supply-and-demand market economy.
@ Real-life fuel sales, repair costs, maintenance costs, etc. according to location.
@ Real-life airplane and airport fixed-base operations (FBOs) purchases, etc.
@ Systematic "job" opportunities which will be seeded with A.I. and live-pilot buying and selling.
@ Accurate "wear" models of aircraft life which will be reflected in efficiency and performance.
@ The above "wear" will be based on "component" use and failure modeling.
@ ?????

As you can see this project is VERY ambitious and it will be years before it matures to everything envisioned.  In the meantime, the goal is to get some baseline interaction ("starting small") and build from there.  Besides coding, a massive amount of research will be necessary.  For example, consider how a poor pilot could impact the engine and airframe of the ubiquitous piston-engine Cessna 172 Skyhawk?  Modeling each engine component and airframe component is a daunting project.  Now imagine the interactions between each component and how a failure ( oil pump goes "boing!") could cascade through the others (piston rings, rods, etc.) and you get how large the project could grow.  As immense as all that adds up to, multiply it by the number of different aircraft models available and wowzee!  It's a big one (and I didn't mention turboprops and jets)!

Granted, I am trying to singularly accomplish with my feeble skills what whole corporations have been working toward for decades.  The chances I will succeed in everything is not realistic, but I will take the project as far as I can.  

To this end, there is an official forum for this specific project.  If this project sounds like something you would like dabble in every now and then send me a PM and I will provide more details.

It should be clear, but just so no one gets their tail twisted, this is in no way meant to proselytize anyone away from DonationCoder, but to allow any like-minded aviation enthusiasts a fuller participation in the project which would not be appropriate to do on the DC forums.  

103

Living Room / Re: Why ebooks are bad for you

« on: July 23, 2011, 09:56 AM »

then would not routers update good data with corrupted data as an "update" across the cloud?

-CodeTRUCKER (July 22, 2011, 06:05 PM)

Most likely the routers would have died/crashed from the SEMP

-Ath (July 23, 2011, 06:13 AM)

I'm not and expert or even remotely knowledgeable on SEMP, but what I think I understand is (I'm thinking, like what Carol is about the cloud) everything would not necessarily be destroyed.  If this is the case then their ought to be two classes of surviving computers/routers: computers/routers that have no corruption at all and computers/routers that have minimal to majorly corrupted data.  If these are mirrored somewhere doesn't it make sense there might be rogue computers/routers that have corrupt data (partially corrupt due to being on the fringe-edge of the SEMP) and would try to populate *all* the nodes in the network with the bad data?  Or, would the good computers/routers have the ability to stop the corrupted rogues from mirroring the bad data down and up the line? 

104

Living Room / Re: PHP... is the name self-realizing?

« on: July 23, 2011, 01:38 AM »

... If I could get that with PHP, wow... I'd be a happy camper.

-Renegade (July 23, 2011, 12:59 AM)

Then I take it "if" means there is no such animal, eh?

105

Developer's Corner / Re: The Yii PHP Framework

« on: July 23, 2011, 01:30 AM »

If there was a push-button WYSIWYG turnkey solution for my aviation business project, I'd use it. anyone know if there is such a thing?  Unless there is such a thing and I can find it, I guess I'll take my best shot.

106

Developer's Corner / Re: The Yii PHP Framework

« on: July 22, 2011, 07:52 PM »

Aside from this thread, everything I have come across is dated (but I'll keep looking), so I'll ask if given the 3, Yii, CodeIgnighter, CakePHP are all equally good for someone brand new if this galaxy?

My target project is not real complicated, but since it is my first, I don't mind a framework which will enforce good habits.  Any comments?

107

Living Room / Re: Why ebooks are bad for you

« on: July 22, 2011, 06:05 PM »

If there is an SEMP you could argue that data might survive better in the cloud

-Carol Haynes (July 22, 2011, 06:01 PM)

If this is a pun... brilliant!

If this is not a clever remark then would not routers update good data with corrupted data as an "update" across the cloud?

108

Living Room / Re: PHP... is the name self-realizing?

« on: July 22, 2011, 05:57 PM »

f0dder - I can always depend on a practical perspective when I read your comments. 

Well, when it comes to the development team... you're *looking* at it, er him. 

Yep, I'm all I've got, but I would still like to hear what would be your first choices, if PHP isn't?  I'm going to have to learn whatever syntax I use because I have never done more than basic HTML, so I'll be doing a "helloworld.[fill-in-the-blank]" before I do anything else as far as coding.  Go ahead... clue me in!

109

Developer's Corner / Re: Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« on: July 22, 2011, 04:10 PM »

Worstje, that's a lot to chew on and exactly what I was looking for!  Thanks for your input.

I guess at this juncture I will...

@ ...chew on what you posted and explore your link.
@ ...search DC to find a good on PHP and MySQL.  I have an old copy of Sam's "PHP and MySQL Web Development" that is based on PHP 4, but it should give me a good start (~800 pages). 
@ ...give it some trial and error.
@ ...report back later or ask questions while I work through all the above.

110

Living Room / Re: Why ebooks are bad for you

« on: July 22, 2011, 04:01 PM »

I've read much in this thread.  I'm probably paranoid, but what happens to all the content if there is a SEMP (Stratospheric Electro-Magnetic Pulse)?  Don't mean to be morbid, but life after a catastrophic war would need to go on which requires information.  The ramifications of my comment are self-explanatory, so I won't belabor the point.

From another angle, just imagine how happy (and powerful) the antagonists in Orwells' and Bradbury's works would have been if the ebook would have been the technology in their day!   

111

Living Room / Re: PHP... is the name self-realizing?

« on: July 22, 2011, 03:31 PM »

Wikipedia has the answer:

While PHP originally stood for "Personal Home Page", it is now said to stand for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor", a recursive acronym.

-worstje (July 22, 2011, 03:25 PM)

If that is the case then PHP actually stands for "Personal Home Page Hypertext Preprocessor."   

I almost tried to create a number of back references into the acronyms and names, but got lost in the recursive recursions. 

112

Living Room / PHP... is the name self-realizing?

« on: July 22, 2011, 03:18 PM »

PHP, which stands for "PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor"

I recently read these words and it struck me odd.  If the "P" in "PHP" stands for "PHP" what does the "P," "H" and "P" stand for in the first "P" in "PHP?"

Reminds me of an ontological paradox, like the iconic "watch" in the movie, "Somewhere in Time."  

Just musing...

113

Developer's Corner / Re: Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« on: July 22, 2011, 02:41 PM »

Your plans sound ambitious and complicated. Therefore, I say go with a proper database and thus a table within said database. That way, no matter how complicated it gets, you already have a place where you can stow all the stuff. One-to-many relationships are tough in plain text, nevermind many-to-many ones which are a complete hell.

-worstje (July 22, 2011, 02:34 PM)

Alrighty then, I have to learn how to do it, so is php my friend, or MySQL, etc.?  I don't mind doing the work, but I need a push in the right direction.  

How would you do it?

114

Developer's Corner / Re: Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« on: July 22, 2011, 02:25 PM »

I've been giving this some more thought... would it be better to put the aircraft data in a text ini-type file, instead of on a table?  I know how to parse text.  Anyone see any problems with this?

115

Living Room / AWOL

« on: July 22, 2011, 02:16 PM »

Dear Friends,

Except for some brief participation in the fund drive,  I've been gone a long time.  I didn't even know that NANY 2012 has already started!  I missed DC and the folks that added so much to my Internet experience.  It is said you never really value something until you lose it.  While I always knew DC was valuable, I never knew how valuable until I came back.  I want to say "Thank you!" to Mouser and company for making DonationCoder such a nice place to be and come back to.  

One very special member I would like to thank is timns for his Auspex text-replacer app.  My typing ability has never been good and now misfires are much more common.  With Auspex I don't have to worry about my typing because I can get timns' program to fix them as I type!  

For my friends who want to know where I've been, I wrote an open letter.  Keep in mind this is only for my friends.  If you don't know who I am or don't care, don't waste your time reading it since you will be bored to tears.

It's good to be back,
CT

116

N.A.N.Y. 2012 / Re: N.A.N.Y. 2012 Brainstorming, Suggestions, General Discussion

« on: July 21, 2011, 10:25 PM »

Please take a look here and let me know if this could qualify as a NANY 2012 app.  Thank you.

117

Developer's Corner / Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« on: July 21, 2011, 09:57 PM »

Regarding NANY 2012 - See -> https://www.donation...ndex.php?board=304.0

-hamradio (July 21, 2011, 08:34 PM)

I was really just trying to tease Perry a bit.  I had no idea the NANY was starting this early, but thanks for the link.

118

Living Room / Re: Flight Simulation... Do You Partake?

« on: July 21, 2011, 06:51 PM »

Take a look at this... www.pilotedge.net    It's even better than VATSIM because it is concentrated, IMO.

119

Developer's Corner / Aviation Business Project using a Flight Simulator

« on: July 21, 2011, 06:33 PM »

Hello DCers,

I would like to create a virtual aviation business environment using a flight simulator, like Flightgear, X-Plane, FSX, FS9, etc. Most likely it will be the FS9/FSX route.

For the purpose of this discussion, Ill use the following abbreviations...

-- N009BH = The callsign of a specific aircraft.
-- FSApp = Flight Simulator Application
-- FCA = Stands for "FS Control Application which is the client software the pilot will interface with.
-- FSUIPC = Flight Simulator User Interface Personal Computer - A module by Pete Dowson integrated with flight simulator variables which allow for reading and writing of those variables.
-- AFL = Aircraft Fuel Level
-- TEH = Total Engine Hours

What I would *like* to do is...

@ Pilot manually opens the FSApp, loads the aircraft and the FCA.
@ Pilot enters or selects from a drop-down, an aircraft, such as "N009BH" into the "Aircraft" field and presses the "Get Aircraft Data" button on the FCA.
@ The FCA connects to a specific URL where a table of data is stored.
@ The "N009BH" row is located on the table and the "AFL" and "TEH" fields are located and retrieved to the FCA.
@ FCA disconnects from the URL
@ FCA seeds the FSApp with new values via the FSUIPC.
@ Pilot flies......
@ At end of the flight, the pilot clicks the "Send Aircraft Data" button on the FCA.
@ The FCA reads the FSApp values from the FSUIPC and connects back to the URL.
@ The "N009BH" row is located on the table again and the new "AFL" and "TEH" values are overwritten.
@ FCA disconnects from the URL.

Actually there is a lot more values I need to work with, i.e., "Battery_Level," "Engine_Component_Failure_Coefficient, etc. for the aircraft and various fields for the Pilot Logbook. If I can get just the simple(?) AFL and TEH above working correctly, I'm sure I can make the rest hum.

I realize there must be some steps I missed, but I just wanted to give a reasonable idea of what was happening.

Now...

How would you suggest I go about doing this project? To my mind's eye it seems fairly simple, but the four things I don't know are...

1. How to have the client get to the URL?
2. How to make the table (or should I just parse a text file)?
3. How to access table values and read/write?
4. How to make it reasonably secure (UID and PWD)?

I'm doing some experimenting with the Joomla CMS, but I don't think I can automate locating the URL with the FCA. Also, I realize that FCA, FSApp, FSUIPC, etc. abbreviations may drive you bats, but since I am anticipating this project (and this thread) may take some time, I thought having some shorthand would be good.

~CT

120

Living Room / Flight Simulation... Do You Partake?

« on: April 16, 2011, 03:28 AM »

Any of you coders involved in flight simulation?  If so, your skills might earn you a cool $10,000 (virtual ) per project.  If you want to check it out, go to the FSEconomy website.  Registration is required, but there is no cost for the forum or the "fun!"   

From the FSEconomy forum...

The Board of FSE is always in need of coding support.

The coding languages currently in use are:
Website:
Java
Java Server Pages (JSP)
MySQL

Clients:
Visual Studio (C++, C#)

We also need db management skills to help find superior ways to manage the large tables FSE uses and keep site resources low enough so as not to hamper others' enjoyment of FSE.

If you have coding skills and would like to make v$10,000 and up per project, send a PM to Chuck229 with a brief summary of your coding experience including languages used.

If you have ever been interested in virtual aviation, but were afraid to jump in, this could be a great start!  I have been a virtual pilot since 1984 and I wish there had been something like FSEconomy back then!  Since this may be a new subject, I'll be glad to field any Q & A.  I don't know everything, but I have been involved for a quarter of a century.  That ought to count for something, eh? 

FYI - My handle at the FSE forum is "Bullhide009"

121

fSekrit / Re: LATEST VERSION: fSekrit 1.40 shrinkwrapped!

« on: March 17, 2011, 01:24 PM »

I prefer, Electric Cattle-prod decryption...

-AMWORLD (May 29, 2010, 06:35 AM)

I think the rubber hose method is better - you don't want to risk the neurological damage & amnesia that electric shock can introduce

-f0dder (May 29, 2010, 07:09 AM)

Never underestimate the effectiveness of a sharp stick!

122

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY MUGs

« on: March 17, 2011, 01:21 PM »

Still lots of mugs went out that we haven't seen photos of!  Come one people, post some photos.  If you are camera shy, just post a photo of your mug held up to the outdoor landscape so we can see the area you live without seeing your face.

-mouser (March 05, 2011, 12:18 PM)

I've been almost bed-ridden for a month!  If I do post one from my convalescence, you have to promise not to send it to "American Invalid."

123

N.A.N.Y. 2011 / Re: NANY MUGs

« on: March 17, 2011, 01:19 PM »

All eight year old and least interested in programming, at least now. Thank GOD!
But, he does helps me in making Apps, by giving me big hugs, whenever I feel down in my work pressure
...

-anandcoral (March 15, 2011, 09:07 PM)

+1!

124

General Software Discussion / Re: How can I tame Microsoft Speech Recognition?

« on: March 17, 2011, 01:08 PM »

...
[Bad Stoic Moment...]

-Stoic Joker (March 14, 2011, 06:30 PM)

Sounds like the makings of another three-letter icon... BSM.   

125

General Software Discussion / Re: How can I tame Microsoft Speech Recognition?

« on: March 14, 2011, 05:39 PM »

Refer to the Speech Reference Card to learn which commands are available. To access the Speech Reference Card, right click the microphone control bar.

To log bugs, use the instructions on the (June 2007) Microsoft Beta Web site (: 'Windows Live ID' needed). We are also interested in feature requests and general feedback about Speech Recognition.

You may request additional support for Speech Recognition by sending emails directly to the Speech Recognition team at [email protected].

-MSDN

-Curt (March 11, 2011, 07:53 PM)

Thank you very much, Curt!  I have taken a look at the card, but what I need isn't addressed.  What I am after is the ability to have the speech recognition engine only respond to the window/app that has the focus; otherwise, you end up with some really strange happenings.  I'll forward my inquiry to the "listen" email.  Take care!