Matthew's Blog

Google Comes to Lenoir

2007-01-19T09:11:00.000-08:00

I know they've been talking about this for a while, but I was excited to find out that they have confirmed their plans to build a large scale computer data center in Lenoir! This will open up alot of technology jobs for people in Lenoir and surrounding areas. -

http://www.newstopic.net/articles/2007/01/19/news/26googlesearchends.txt

Neural Networks

2007-01-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

Neural Networks must be one of the most difficult things to develop in the programming world, but I feel they are the future of computers, and technology in general. Neural Networks are modelled after the neurons in the human brain that allow us to learn. When you create a neural network on a machine, you give it the capability of learning through examples, just like we do.

Over the course of however long it will take, I would like to learn more about Neural Networks and eventually make my own. Here is a really cool site:http://franck.fleurey.free.fr/NeuralNetwork/ where someone made a neural network library in C#

How to get around Array Limitations

2007-01-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

If you are a C# programmer, you have most likely used an Array at some point. You will probably find that Arrays have many limitations, mainly that once they are created, their size is fixed, and you can't add objects to it without creating a new array. So how do we get around this?

Collections; Like arrays, collections enable you to maintain groups of objects, but unlike arrays collections can include more advanced functionality, such as controlling access to the objects they contain, searching and sorting, etc.
Arrays are implemented as an instance of the System.Array class and are just on type of what are known as collection classes. Much of the functionality of a collection comes through implementing interfaces from the System.Collections namespace, thus standardizing collection syntax.

Since the collection functionality is available through interfaces you aren't limited to using basic collection clases such as System.Array. Instead, you can create your own customized collection classes.

Open Source Spybotics

2006-09-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

For Christmas about five years ago, my parents got me a lego spybotic. I don't know if anyone remembers them, or has seen one before, but in my opinion they were ahead of their time. I was almost too young when they got it for me, and could hardly get it to do anything. Yesterday I was cleaning out our utility building and came across it. I had just about forgotten about it.

It came with some "kiddie" software where you could hook it to your computer and "design missions" where it would maneuver around obsticles, find it's way to a light source, go towards a sound etc. I got to thinking about how cool this thing would be if you had complete control over programming it. Then you could use the full potential of it's sensors, and it would be fun practice for a career in artificial intelligence.

Just for the fun, I googled "Open Source Spybotics" and came across an open source IDE called Bricx Command Center. Believe it or not, a university had thought the same thing as me, that spybotics had a lot of potential if there was a way to have complete control over them, with out using the given software. So they built an open source IDE to do just that. I've been having alot of fun with it!

I guess this story has two lessons, there really is an open source peice of software for literally any need you can think of. Open Source keeps on amazing me. Also, just when you think you're too old for something, you can come up with a neat use for it :P

NASA Open Source

2006-09-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

I recently learned that much of the software NASA uses for it's missions is open source, and can be freely downloaded. Also, it is made up, in part, by community contributions. Maybe in the future I'll be able to contribute!

http://opensource.arc.nasa.gov/

HP supports Linux and Open Source

2006-09-13T10:44:00.000-07:00

"HP simplifies the integration of open source and Linux! "
http://http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/309906-0-0-0-121.html

Young Coders

2006-08-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

Today I came across a really unique online community: http://www.youngcoders.com. When I joined it, I really didn't know what all it had to offer, because it appeared to just be the usual forum. Still it was appealing to me because it is young people (well college and down) who are interested in the same things as me. But after joining I was invited to join member groups, which I had never heard of before. These groups had different topics such as magazine group, game design group, wiki group, etc. Each group works as a team to accomplish something. For example the magazine groups puts out a weekly YC club magazine, the others are self explanitory.

Anyway, it's a really neat community and I think you should check it out!

Java

2006-07-19T06:08:00.002-07:00

I've been checking out what careers are open at all the major computer companies such as IBM, Dell, and even NASA, to see what type of computer programming jobs they have open. Every single one is hiring Java programmers. I had heard of java before, but didn't know anything about it, so I decided to check it out. There must be a reason everyone is switching from C++ to this.

Well it is very similar to C++. It is completely cross platform and can run on any machine that has the java runtime environment on it. It can be completely coded in notepad, and there is also a free IDE available to download called netbeans, which is a similar environment to Sharp Develop, in which you can drag and drop controls onto a form.

Anyway, this is what I've been up to lately. I found a really good site, "Introduction to Computer Science using Java". It teaches you the language inside and out, it's free, and it is from a colleges computer science course, which is what I am going to major in. What more can you ask for? http://chortle.ccsu.edu/CS151/cs151java.html#01

Enjoy!

I'm back!!!

2006-06-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while since my last post. I don't know why teachers wait until the last few weeks of school to give you about a years worth of work to do. But I'm out of school for the summer and have nothing better to do, so I'll be posting often!

As I said, I've been very busy lately, and don't really have anything to talk about (I need to get myself back up to date on everything going on ;). I've been trying to learn more about blender, and I created myself a desktop background. Feel free to use if if you like it :P. It took about 10 minutes, it's just a simple particle effect, but it looks cool. Enjoy!

3D APIs

2006-05-11T17:28:00.000-07:00

Last week I dowloaded Microsoft DirectX SDK to attempt to mess around with 3D programming, and possibly make my own game. What I quickly learned was that DirectX was very confusing and difficult. I did several tutorials, and it seems like everything you want to do requires different code, nothing is the same from program to program. Why can't they make a 3D API that is just as easy to use as C# windows programming? Maybe I will make this my life long "for fun" project. My "vision" is to have code that would look something like this:

C# code

mesh myMesh = ("C://myDocs/mesh.obj");
camera myCamera = new camera;

scene myScene = (myCamera(X,Y,Z)), (myMesh(X,Y,Z));

render(24fps).myScene;

X,Y,Z would be the location of the object.

Computer Science Community's adopted emblem

2006-05-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

I came across this today. It is called a "glider" and is taken from "the game of life". I don't fully understand what it is, but the computer science community has adopted it as their emblem. I would like to find out more about it, and what it stands for.

Free Computer Science Ebooks

2006-05-05T16:07:00.000-07:00

Today I came across a website with several free ebooks on computer science. They can be appreciated by everyone because most are not based on speciffic languages or platforms, they are just about theory and the complex ideas behind being a successful programmer. Here's the url:http://www.techbooksforfree.com/index.shtml

Enjoy!

What info does a hacker need to access my computer?

2006-05-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

This is a question I've been trying to find out for a while. Every where I look I can't find a direct answer. What I have peiced together is this. If you know the true answer please post a comment.

Have you ever remotely accessed your computer? I don't want to get into explaining this, just look at Jon's blog (blog.rjmolesa.com). He has a big right up on it. Basically how a hacker gets into your system is by installing a server (similar to tight vnc, but one they usually make themselves that is invisible) when you visit a site created by a hacker or hacked by a hacker. It automatically downloads and installs itself on your computer. Then the information a hacker needs is your IP address (to the server they installed) and the password to the server they installed. Both of these are easy to get (they choose the password when they install the server, and you can remotely see a computers IP address).

This is just what I could peice together so, please let me know if you know the true answer. I believe if people knew how hackers were able to do this, they would be able to help protect themselves more.

Microsoft Sam

2006-05-02T16:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't have much to talk about at the moment, but I like to post things often, so here it is...

I was messing around in my control panel today and met Microsoft Sam. He is really neat, and is a Great way to get on little sisters nerves. If you are a windows xp user, you should have Sam on your computer right now, whether you know it or not. Sam's job is to assist the visually impaired by reading what is displayed on your screen, however I found a way to use him to talk for you. Go under control panel->speech. Type something in the textbar and click preview voice, and it will say what you put. You can also adjust the speed to make it super annoying (if that is your intention :)

I got to messing around, and if you use punctuation (like ! and ?) you can change his tone. If you add about three exclamation marks to the end of your sentence, sam will try to speak with excitement. It is fun to just play around with.

Enjoy!

Real Life Hacker Articles

2006-04-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

When ever I get bored I have a fun little hobby of reading the latest stories of hackers who have been caught. There are alot of sites filled of up to date stories, just search for cyber crime.

I don't understand why someone would be so smart, (literally computer geniuses), and do something so stupid? A person who is this smart on computers could make tons of money working for the government etc. Anyway, I feel like there mission is to make their victims look dumb. When they hack into a microsoft computer, they do it to point out all of microsoft's errors, or how insecure nasa's networks are etc. Why don't they get a job fixing these problems?

Today I came across a real funny guy. He was caught hacking into the pentagon and nasa. His reason for doing it? To see if UFO's exist. He says he found tons of evidence of UFO in the pentagon's computers. He claims they are hiding alot of stuff from us. As long as he isn't found guilty he won't tell what he saw, but if he is he plans to share with the world what all they are hiding.

Here is the link if you want to read about it: http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/cybercrime/story/0,10801,110937,00.html?SKC=cybercrime-110937

If you come across any other funny stories, add a comment here with a link.

AOL and the Internet

2006-04-27T03:47:00.000-07:00

Alot of people (including myself) use America On Line as their Internet Provider. As you know AOL has their own browser included in their service that you probably use. Well, it's really user friendly and such, but it isn't "Real Internet" to an extent. Everything you see has been paid to be put in front of you. Notice if you search for an item on AOL Walmart and such are always at the top of your searches. There is a way to use AOL as your IP, and still get real internet. By using a different Web Browser!

There are many web browsers out there for free. Most computers come with Internet Explorer already on them. I personally like Mozilla Firefox. Anway, let's assume you are going to use Internet Explorer. Simply fire up AOL as usual. Then minimize the AOL browser, click start->run, type IExplore, and press enter. The browser should pop up and you'll be looking at true internet!

Enjoy the Internet!

Crazy Red Thing

2006-04-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

From time to time I am going to post updates on my recent 3D work. So here is my most recent. Not sure what to call "it". I just finished modeling, and texturing it. Soon I'll rig it, skin it, and animate it. All the work you see here was done with anim8or. I'm going to try to find a way to import this model into Blender so I can make use of it's physics engine, and softbody features! It's hands and eyes will be operated with morph targets. I am looking forward to animating it! I will post updates!

Free Software!

2006-04-26T15:55:00.000-07:00

Most people have no idea that just about every piece of software you could ever want can be downloaded for free! I'm going to introduce you into the world of "Open Source Sofware".

Open Source Software is 100% free, and the source code can be downloaded for you to tweak the program to your own liking. This is really appealing to computer geeks, because you can learn from the source code and actually play with the internal workings of the program. If you aren't interested in tinkering with source code, Open Source Software can still be of use to you. It is literally "beefed up" and "debugged" by computer geeks around the globe for you to download and enjoy. So the next time you search for "free" software, try to include the phrase "open source" in your search term, and you will probably pull up even more freebies for you to download. Also don't get confused about this: not all free software is open source.

When I said every piece of software you could want can be downloaded for free I mean EVERY piece of software. What would you say if I told you there were free, open source Operating Systems for you to download and use? It's true, just check into linux (there are many distros (flavors), my personal favorite is Ubuntu. Don't feel like downloading it? Just tell them your address and they'll send you 5 free discs!). Most people have no idea that there are operating systems besides Microsoft Windows, but in many people's opinions Linux OS' are much better than Microsoft!

"Orange" a team of computer animators used Blender to make an Open Source movie! You have to buy the DVD, but it includes .blend files which have all the models, scenes and animations from the movie, free for you to use how ever you want!

Enjoy the Free Software!

Welcome!

2006-04-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hello! I would like to take a moment to say welcome to my blog! My name is Matthew Vaughn, I am 15 years old and an absolute computer geek. My plans are to attend Rose-Hulman Technical University, and obtain a Master degree of computer science. From there I am not sure where I want to go, (nasa or start my own company?....).

My major interest is in computer programming. I currently know VB.Net and C# fairly well. I am working on HTML, Python, ASP.net, and about every other language left.

I also have an interest for 3D graphics and animation. I use "Anim8or" and "Blender" for everything related to this because they are free, and worthy of commercial cost.