Archive for » 2010 «

echo get_class($my_class_instance) . ‘<br/>’;

foreach (get_class_methods($my_class_instance) as $method) {echo ‘———>’ . $method . ‘<br/>’;}

To stock ‘machine readable’ information about a table cell use the abbr tag:

<td abbr=”my_data”>

Might come in handy for example when you try to give jQuery a handle on specific table cells when id and class tags are already in use.

The ‘abbr’ attribute is an official attribute of the td tag in HTML 4.01/XHTML 1.0 DTD in compliance with S=Strict, T=Transitional, and F=Frameset.

Sometimes, stuff gets stuck in Windows trash. Mouse-click trash emptying doesn’t work any more.

If that happens, use the following command in the command line:

rd /s /q C:\RECYCLER

If something’s really stuck in the recyler, you will get the following error message (or equivalent in your operationg system installation language):

Problem - Le processus ne peut pas accéder au fichier car ce fichier est utilisé par un autre processus

Ignore that message. The trash on the desktop, too, will still have the “full” icon but this wull be gone once you right-point it and ask the trash to be emptied.

Trying to call R from, say Java?

C://Program Files/R/R.exe returns an error as the Windows command line has trouble interpreting spaces.

Use this call instead:

C://program~1/R/R.exe

The written language, made of letters, words and phrases, is how we mostly do internet search. It doesn’t have be that way though. It is very possible, for example, to search a photograph by drawing its approximation. This is shown by ‘retrievr’, the graphic search engine of System One Labs. In retrievr, you can do exactly this type of non-textual searches. You can also search by uploading an image. ‘Retrievr’ searches for results in the flicr database.

‘Retrievr’ is a python implementation of an image search algorithm originally developed by Chuck Jacobs, Adam Finkelstein and David Salesin at the University of Washington. This algorithm is also implemented in imgSeek is a standalone image management application for UNIX systems (such as Linux or Mac OS/X).

It is interesting to put search engines such as retrievr in context with other non-textual search applications : Shazam, for example, the song recognition service on iPhone and Android. For what we face today is only a biginning of the development of search engines of this type. Projects like these will most probably contribute to the ongloing decline of the importance of text in favour of images and sounds, which has been on its way ever since the advent of television.  Step by step, we are entering, perhaps, a post-textual era.

After a long choice process, my best picks go to the following podcasts:

1. The classic tales podcast:  Delivers professional performances of unabridged classics.  Enjoy classic short fiction from Poe, Dickens, Hardy, and others. Performed by character actor B.J. Harrison.
2. Das philosophische radio im WDR 5-Radio zum Mitnehmen: Um dem Bedürfnis nach Austausch mit anderen nachdenklichen Menschen zu entsprechen, hat WDR 5 mit der Sendung “Das philosophische Radio” ein einzigartiges, regelmäßiges Forum für die öffentliche philosophische Diskussion geschaffen: Immer am Freitagabend von 20.05 bis 21.00 Uhr werden ein Philosoph oder eine Philosophin über ein Thema, ein Buchautor oder eine Autorin über eine interessante und anregende These mit den Hörerinnen und Hörern von WDR 5 philosophieren. Moderator der Sendung ist Jürgen Wiebicke.
3. France Culture – Les nouveaux chemins de la connaissance: L’un des rares podcast de philosophie centré davantage sur les thèmes philosophiques que sur les philosophes.
4. RSR – Histoire Vivante: Le meilleur podcast historique, tirant tout l’avantage des archives audio.
5. utopod: Podcast francophone des littératures de l’imaginaire
6. Hörspiel Pool – Bayern 2:  Das Beste aus der Deutschsprachigen Litteratur. Ein Download-Angebot des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

As my podcast aggreagator, I currently use Google listen on my Samsung Android device (Galaxy Spica). All above mentioned podcasts synchronize and render perfectly well with this software.