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Python :: Mapping a string to a dictionary
2009-02-09 17:10:00
/** Today at work I had to find a neat way of mapping a string of parameters into a usable dictionary in Python .  Searching on the web didn’t reveal any results, so I had to get my hands dirty and figure it out for myself  */ { The data provided is in the form of a ...
More About: Dictionary , String , Mapping

Java Performance Tuning
2008-08-28 16:49:00
/** The more we abstract, the more a performance hit we get.  Paraphrasing Mr Donald Knuth, having an efficient and elegant solution, is an oxymoronic claim */ So is it all lost?  I love code elegance, I find it exciting; and yes, I know that is a very geeky thing to say.  Even though Java is ...
More About: Performance , Tuning

visual studio 2008 sp1
2008-08-12 01:37:00
/** Visual Studio 2008 Service Pack 1 is finally out */ More info on my friend’s blog { http://marlongrech.wordpress.com/2008/08/ 11/visual-studio-2008-net-35-sp1-is-out-n ow/ }

regular expressions (a.k.a. regEx) tutorial #1
2008-08-10 23:59:00
/** Over the past few years, many developers have commented about their lack of understanding on how regular expressions (regEx) are written; yet all admit how helpful it would be to them if they knew how to create them */ I am therefore going to jot down a quick ‘teach yourself in 5 minutes’ for the ...
More About: Tutorial , Expressions , Regular

tutorial deployment in progress?
2008-08-06 03:02:00
/** I recently realised that many a time we tend to forget the most fundamental of tasks in the language we use on a daily basis */ In most cases, this is more due to the fact that our IDE’s tend to make life so easy for us, that we tend to lose touch with the ...
More About: Tutorial , Progress , Deployment

date validation regular expression (improved formula catering for leap year
2008-08-06 01:48:00
/** A friend of mine, João, very kindly pointed out a flaw in my date regex posted previously; the inability to validate the correct number of days in a month (30 or 31) */ Well, consider it done, this regex will now correctly validate days in a month as it should be (next I’ll try to ...
More About: Formula , Validation , Regular , Regular Expression , Year

cheat sheets
2008-07-30 20:06:00
/** All developers are polyglots, but we are not gods */ That’s when cheat sheets come in handy { My Portuguese friend João posted this very handy link on his blog, and I thought it worthy of sharing }
More About: Cheat

date validation regular expression
2008-07-30 15:22:00
/** Here is some handy regex to validate a date using british locale (dd/mm/yy or dd/mm/yyyy) */ Note, this allows / . or – as delimiters { ^(?:(?:0?[1-9])|(?:[1-2]d)|(?:3 [0-1]))[-.\/](?:(?:0?[1-9])|(?:1[0-2 ]))[-.\/](?:(?:d{3}[1-9])|(?:d{2}[1- 9]d)|(?:d[1-9]d{2})|(?:[1-9]d{3 })|(?:d{2}))$ } p.s. this regex has now been superseded with an improved version here
More About: Validation , Regular , Regular Expression , Expression

force browser to download a file
2008-07-30 13:28:00
/** A common problem which I have come across multiple times in the past is that of forcing a browser (any browser) to download a file rather than try to open it. */ There’s a myriad of solutions out there on the web discussing this very issue, and I never gave much thought to it until ...
More About: Download , File , Force , Browser

ridiculous()
2008-07-16 17:41:00
/** When I just realise that no matter what, I can never cease to be amazed */ I’m working on some code right now, fixing up some system changes, and I have come across lots of crap, but this one tops it all IMHO { 400 lines of undocumented code in one method! Go figure… and here I ...
More About: Ridiculous

posting code in wordpress
2008-07-13 05:31:00
/** Cruising the sea of blogs by the coding monkeys here on WordPress, I cannot fail to realise that there is a good bunch of people out there who have not yet discovered how to use the wordpress way of pasting code into their blogs */ So, in the hope that some will actually read this ...
More About: Wordpress , Code

programmingFonts()
2008-07-13 00:38:00
/** So, the never-ending debate as to which is the best typeface to use for programming has also started brewing in my brain. */ I found tons of posts on-line debating what was the best font, and for one, I always felt that Microsoft’s Consolas was by far the best programming font around (and technically it ...

reBirth()
2008-07-12 23:46:00
/** This is the re-birth of my blog.  Supposedly this would be the fifth or sixth time that I am creating a blog, so I am just curious as to how long this one will last! */ Reasons I’ve had a blog in the past are as follows { Livejournal.com :: the reason for this blog was ...

Make money from surfing?
2007-02-03 03:34:01
I haven’t posted in a while due to exams and stuff…. :sigh: still have another 4 to go!! and I’m sooo tired!!! In the meantime, there is another get-pai d-to-surf startup in the baking –&g t; Agloco.com , who knows if this will be another flop like those that suffered from the 2000 recession. I don’t know if it is a scam or not … but I guess, since there is no up  front payments required, then there is n othing to loose really… so I guess  we’ll just wait and see! Here’s the link again just in case  anyone would bother hopping by www.agloco .com Oh… and if you want to include me a s a referrer, my code is BBBR8429 :grin:
More About: Money , Surf , Surfing , Make Money , Make

Newsgirl?s ?sex? tape leaked on net
2007-01-23 15:30:02
Talk about mishaps! This newscaster was not aware that she wa s on air, for the most part of two minute s or so she was going on yabbing away, an d even almost hinted that one of her coll egues was having an affair! Watch the video here! -> News girl’s ’sex’ tape leaked on net | Metro.co.uk
More About: Girl , Leak , Leaked

Abraham Lincoln
2007-01-23 15:30:02
Abraham Lincoln “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.”
More About: Abraham Lincoln , Abraham

SZC?s Agglomeration
2007-01-23 15:30:02
SZC?s Agglomeration :: NOTE :: I will not be updating this blog regularly until 3rd of February ‘07, due to a line-up of 11 university exams starting tomorrow :( Therefore, updates to resume constantly from > 3-2-07… up to then, I am pretty much off the news scene.  Though for anyone interested in the news as I am; and of course, for those who don’t know what an aggregator is, a great way for reading multiple news items quickly and efficiently is to use aggregators… like, for example, my favourite one is currently www.netvibes.com, and on my desktop I am starting to use FeedBurner. :)

Karate - Guinness World Record
2007-01-23 15:30:02
No words can describe how awesome this is!
More About: World , Karate , Guinness , World Record , Ness

Wii is taking over your home!
2007-01-23 15:30:02
Seems the Nintendo Wii is not only taking over the market, but also lives, homes, furniture, TVs and just about anything that comes next to it! Wii problems are apparently so commonplace that there is an entire site dedicated just to it!
More About: Home , Your , Over , King

HP claims advance in semiconductor nanotechnology
2007-01-23 15:30:02
Researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. have come up with a way of increasing the density on computer chips using nanotechnology.  This augurs good news to an industry that is finding it hard to keep up with Moore’s law! Source –> HP claims advance in semiconductor nanotechnology
More About: Icon , Technology , Nanotechnology , Techno , Tech

Porsche and Hedgehog
2007-01-23 15:30:02
What’s the difference between a Porsche and a hedgehog? A hedgehog has its pricks on the outside.
More About: Edge , Hedge

Hey! I got a new Apple Living Room!
2007-01-23 15:30:02
“Wanna come over for a drink and see my new Apple Living room?” Sounds like this is what the next trend is going to be like!  With Microsoft and Apple being the two main contenders in furnishing our digital living rooms of the not-so-distant future! Microsoft took the more business oriented approach to home, with personal home servers and stuff, whilst Apple, being more down to earth, is focusing this year on it’s new Apple TV. My question always remains though, how long will it take for all these things to become mainstream?  Will they be superseded by some newer technology before they actually become commonplace?  Seems to me like technology is going so damn fast that us tech-geeks are not even getting the chance to part-take in it, let alone the normal not-so-tech-savvy individual. Sources –> Apple, Microsoft have designs on your living room, Photos on CNET
More About: Living Room , Room , Ving

The World?s Smallest Windows Vista capable PC
2007-01-23 15:30:02
The OQO Model 02 is probably the world’s smallest Wind ows Vista capable PC currently on the market.  Unveiled at this year’s CES, PC maker OQO have packed an impressive spec-portfolio into this tiny box! 1.5 Ghz VIA C7M processor VIA vX600 graphics chipset 1GB DDR2 533 mhz SDRAM memory 60 GB hard drive 58 key backlit thumb keyboard, track stick, and capacitive TouchScrollers USB 2.0 port Intergrated 802.11 a/b/g Wireless Lan Integrated Bluetooth 2.0 VGA/ Ethernet capable Removable lithium-ion polymer battery (estimate life 3-6 hours) Embedded AES security encryption Windows XP (Vista Capable) Source –> The OQO Model 02: The World Smallest Windows Vista capable PC

Indonesia jet crash -expert report
2007-01-23 15:30:02
Experts are saying that the Indo nesia jet may have exploded in mid-air, possibly due to bad weather conditions. To date there is no news as to the whereabouts of the aforementioned jet, that vanished with 102 people on board more than two weeks ago. Although fragments of the plane have been discovered at sea, there is still no news as to where the plane really is. Source –> Reuters
More About: Report , Port , Crash

Indonesian train crash
2007-01-23 15:30:02
More troubles in Indonesia as a train carriage fell off a bridge by a dry river, leaving five casualties and more than a hundred people injured. Source BBC News –> Indonesian train crash kills five
More About: Rain , Train , Crash

Steve Jobs iPhone Hilarious!!
2007-01-16 09:29:03
Steve Jobs iPhone Hilarious!!
More About: Steve , Steve Jobs , Iphone

Steve Jobs iPhone Hilarious!!
2007-01-16 09:29:03
Steve Jobs iPhone Hilarious!!
More About: Steve , Steve Jobs , Iphone

Even though there have been multiple blogs going on about ho
2007-01-16 09:29:03
Even though there have been multiple blogs going on about how Apple lawyers have been bullying bloggers by threatening that they are breaching copyright law, simply because they are ‘reporting’ that an iPhone skin exists, we have to face reality… …I personally think that they are fully aware that it is no crime to ‘report’ on something and state where it is, what they’re doing is yet again another act of viral marketing! But hey, who cares, it’s working, there’s something to talk about, and face it… the iPhone is indeed pretty cool! mmm, now if only I had one to review :/
More About: Blogs , Blog , Multi , About , Have

This is a compilation of videos relating to Saddam’s h
2007-01-16 09:29:03
This is a compilation of videos relating to Saddam’s hanging. There is also a post claiming to be a video of Barzan’s beheading, but all it gets is Barzan standing with his hands upon his head for a minute or two.
More About: Video , Videos , Comp , Latin , This

Authorities said that upon hanging Saddam’s half-broth
2007-01-16 09:29:03
Authorities said that upon hanging Saddam’s half-brother, Barzan, the noose severed his head and fell in a pool of blood beneath the hanging body. Unlike in Saddam’s death, Barzan’s film shall not be released by authorities, and was only shown to a handful of journalists. Source: Film shows Saddam brother beheaded Originally published on Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:13:21 GMT
More About: Upon , Hat , Author , That , Thor