Status (27/09/2011)
This post is just a random list of what's happened / happening recently:
- The overhaul of CARS (Call and Ride System) for Voluntary Action Rutland is finished and deployed, complete with an automatic update system. Stats about the automatic updater can be viewed here. A screenshot of the new login system can be seen below (admittedly not fascinating, but this is as screenshot worthy as it gets)
I've started work on command-line based personal finance tracker dubbed 'treasury'. It's written in C++ (leveraging Boost) and uses an ultra-simple FS-based database. This is currently on the back-burner now that term has started at Durham, but will be resumed on and off in the meantime
Currently I'm experimenting with Javascript and HTML5, mainly to assist my dissertation (offline handwriting recognition as a web application). I'm also experimenting in a separate project with websockets - using a Java application as a server and broadcasting messages. This experiment is also using WebGL (via ThreeJs)
As with the finance application, the puzzle game (which was recently reborn into HTML5) is also on the back-burner.
That's it really - just a run down of what I'm making at the moment. Hopefully next time blog gets updated it will be for linking and demos...
Internship complete (04/09/2011)
So, my internship at Data Interchange has just come to an end, and quite successfully I think too. Managed to get my project (integrating PDF output into their existing print routines) pretty much complete too, although it felt as though my implementation could have done with a tad more polish and testing - I don't really like leaving 99% complete projects with a bunch of caveats and limitations (which is irritatingly what I had to do).
Now it's the run up to the start of 3rd year, and the following are on the agenda:
- Maintenance on charity system for Voluntary Action Rutland (fixing a bunch of bugs and adding auto-update so I can fix additional issues without physically visiting their premises)
- Research and experimentation for my dissertation (offline handwriting recognition) mainly concerning Javascript and HTML5
- Continued work on the revised 'sliding block puzzle' game
Stressful interim period (21/06/2011)
Well, my internship at Data Interchange starts on Monday and I'm kind of stressed trying to sort out:
- Cleaning current accommodation so I don't get fined
- Moving possessions to new house (Not as simple as it sounds. No vehicle to assist in this)
- Completing literature review for start of dissertation work (by 25th)
One good thing this week has been getting a 1st in my 2nd year though. Oh, and having crazy random late night pizzas (although it feels as though I've eaten enough junk food now to possibly kill myself several times over)
Microsoft NIH week (17/06/2011)
This week seems to have been Microsoft's not-invented-here week: First they announce an intentional fragmentation of GPGPU programming by creating an OpenCL competitor and now they're dishing out dirt at WebGL.
All I can say is that I'm back to disliking MS a lot. Things were looking up with the Windows 8 preview: They looked as though they would stop the childish reinventing of everything and actually compete based on quality with the same technologies as everyone else. Rather than trying to fragment platforms. But no. They've returned to their normal, idiotic selves. Every time things look up, they quickly swerve back into their age-old behaviour. This may not have hurt them yet, but it will. Each time they do this they alienate more and more developers, and it will come back to bite them. A platform without developers is a platform without software: a platform without software is dead.
RIP Wordpress (16/06/2011)
So... wordpress is gone. And in its place an extremely simplistic blogging platform. Why did I give Wordpress the boot?
- It's a huge attack vector and has oodles of features that I don't use.
- It got attacked
- Writing posts for Wordpress is just too lengthy an ordeal. I barely update the thing
What have I actually replaced it with then?
- Custom file based CMS. A directory is scanned and each file is a post
- Each file is formatted with Markdown
- After markdown has done its magic, it's purified with Purify (it's pretty useless, since if you have access to the filesystem to drop XSS in my posts, you can strip out the purify too. But just in case a folder permission mistake occurs, or an attack by a very lazy hacker)
- The posts are vomited onto your page, which is how you're seeing this
- Although I shouldn't rely on security via obscurity, the fact this system is custom means it won't be subject to the same drive-by mass attacks that the wordpress install was subjected to (where something could attack hundreds of wordpress sites very quickly)
Cool, huh? I think so, mainly because it was quite simple to cobble together, and hopefully means I'll actually update my blog more frequently. I've kept the database of the old wordpress install just in case I can salvage content from it, but for the time being this a fresh start.
Here's the roadmap for the blog:
- Proper datestamps on posts
- Pagination
- Comments, most likely using Disqus
That's all for now, but at least the site now has more than just a "Oh crud we've been attacked" message