Ask MetaFilter posts by orthogonality

PHP intro and reference texts?

orthogonality — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 00:03:20 -0800

I want to learn PHP. Fast. Recommend a book or online resources, please. I know C, C++, Java, SQL. I know my Design Patterns, most of the stuff in Code Complete is second-nature to me. I emailed Stroustrup to point out a (very very minor) error in The C++ Programming Language. (He actually emailed back.)

All this to say that I want an thorough explication of PHP, not an introduction to programming text. There should be chart of operator precedence and arity, a list of what's a first class object, a consideration of the primitive types and their ranges, a basic explication of the underlying object model.

So I don't want a "Programming 101 using PHP"; that'll bore me with stuff I already know. I need something complex enough to keep my interest, complete and concise. But not completely theoretical, there should be examples and exercises. Something like K&R or Stroustrup's The C++ Programming Language, that doubles as a text and a reference. Or even Eckel's Thinking in C++.

Ideally, I should be able to do most things I want to do in PHP in a week.

Ok, suggestions? Thanks!

RC flyers and Robopets, which ones?

orthogonality — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:34:48 -0800

I want a buying guide to RC toys. I've bought several Air Hogs RC fliers. Recently, I bought a Flytech Bladestar, a helicopter-like flier with some (not-so-excellent) autonomous collision-avoidance

Now I want more.

Three part question:

Part One: the second Air Hogs Heli I got I just can't trim. I trim and trim, and it just turns whatever direction it wants. There seems to be a vibration in the rotor shaft.

I bought the thing because of the three-way control (altitude, yaw, and forward-back) How can I get this thing trimmed correctly, so I can control more than just the altitude?

I can weight it, but where? How do I diagnose and correct the lack of trim?

Part two: what other RC flyers can I get? I'm willing to spend up to $200 per flyer, but only if it's not something I'm going to immediately break. They nice thing about the Air Hogs is that they're light enough to minimize crash damage, decently rugged, and what damage they do incur doesn't make them unflyable. And the planes have amazing battery time and quick recharge times. Not so much the Helis.

And they're cheap, so I'm not stressing about "oh crap, what if I brake it."

So for me, a good flyer is: cheap, rugged, all easy to fly, and above all damage-resistant. Indoor is better than outoor. I'm doing this for fun, not to become an rc gearhead, so it needs to fly out of the box, just add batteries, minimal prep other than trimming.

Something that actually requires skill, concentration, or manual dexterity is not a good bet for me.

Part three: I like the autonomous flight (in theory -- in practice it's a bit meh) of the Flytech Bladestar. So now I want an autonomous and rc controllable 'pet", like the Pleo or WooWee RoboWhatever series.

A plus to RoboWhatever is that (I've read) they're programmable and designed to be hackable.

Please recommend the best of the RoboWhatever series, or another autonomous and rc controllable "robopet". By best, I mean capability per dollar, and by capability, I mean both realistic autonomous "behaviors" and programmability.

Or is the Pleo worth the three to six times greater cost than teh Robowhatever series? Or do I want something else? (Not a Lego Mondstorms, I have one of those.)

To sum up: how do I fix an untrimmable Reflex Heli, what other rc flyers are rugged and easy to fly, and what autonomous robo pet is the best deal for my money? Thanks!

Tort against third party recipients of the proceeds of theft?

orthogonality — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:02:38 -0800

Hypothetical legal question: My father stole a horse from SomeCorp, which rented horses for profit. My father subsequently made his money by renting out the horse and later the horse's progeny. All my dad's money was made off that horse, or its progeny, or off of money derived from money made off that horse. When he died, my dad left his money to me. Can SomeCorp successfully sue me, a third-party recipient of the proceeds of the theft? What laws and precedents would be the basis for SomeCorp's suit against me? Can SomeCorp sue me for the replacement cost of the stolen horse? Can SomeCorp sue me for the loss of revenue it would have made by renting the horse and the horses' progeny? Can SomeCorp sue me for money my dad made off of investments, investments which were made with money made off that horse? Can SomeCorp sue me for money it potentially could have made by investing its profits on the horse, but did not make because my dad stole the horse?

What if the horse-thief was my grandfather, who willed the money to my father, who used the willed money to purchase life insurance that named me as a beneficiary?

What it was my great-grandfather who stole the horse, and I am only indirectly benefit from that theft, through various instruments (wills, insurance, other instruments)?

If the horse-thief has descendants other than me, who also indirectly profited from the theft, can SomeCorp sue each for the full value of its loss, or must SomeCorp's recovery from each descendant be proportional to the benefits that descendant received proceeding from the theft?

What must SomeCorp prove to win its case and recover damages?

I'm looking for laws and precedents that would support SomeCorp's suit.

Note: you are not my lawyer. My father is not dead ad is not a horse-thief (nor are any of my ancestors, so far as I know). I am not the recipient of any money or other benefits proceeding from theft. This is a hypothetical question.

Transportee-ocracy!

orthogonality — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:58:31 -0800

Can you give me a guide to the upcoming Australian federal elections? Please highlight with a broad arrow the close races, the bell weather ~~districts~~ constituencies, the handicapping, the pundits' best prognostications, and which web sites and times to watch real time results in the Dominions beyond the Seas?

Which laptop to buy?

orthogonality — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 00:35:56 -0800

I want to spend about $2000.00 (USD) on an ultraportable (or close to ultraportable) laptop. Or I want to spend $1000 on a laptop. Too many options are making my head spin, so talk me through this, please? The Dell XPS M1330 looks good, but what else would give me more bang for the buck? Plus, it seems to come only with Windows Vista, and I think I'd prefer XP. Maybe I should just get a Dell D630? Or do I want a Thinkpad?

I know I want a smaller (12-13 inch diagonal screen), and a full keyboard that doesn't require holding down function keys to use the up-down arrows, etc.

The truth is, I'm probably going to be using this principly for web browsing, and some minor coding. Should I just get a cheap laptop?

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!"

orthogonality — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:16:41 -0800

Emigrating from the US: what would be the best countries to immigrate to? What are the best and most feasible countries for an American to consider immigrating to and obtaining citizenship in?

Please consider projected conditions in the destination nation over the next thirty years, especially regarding quality of life, economics, demographics, and effects and second-order effects of global warming and peak oil (including possible resource conflicts over oil, potable water, land above sea level, arable land).

Please also strongly consider civil liberties (and those extended to non-citizens) and ease of achieving citizenship. (For this reason, the ubiquitous camera and ASBOs rule out the UK.)

Nations should be limited to liberal democracies with a generally liberal/socialist social outlook (rules out Australia, as do its impending water problems), and the availability of decent universal health care.

Of the countries meeting these criteria, which are the best destinations for an American who is mono-lingual in English but willing to attempt to learn an additional language, seeks employment as a software programmer, and is in his mid-thirties?

When and howdo prey animals die, vs. preadator species?

orthogonality — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 12:28:18 -0800

How do prey animals die versus predator animals? What are the causes of mortality for prey animals in their natural environment? For predator animals?

Basically, I'm looking for aggregate breakdowns of causes of death (by percentage), and for prey animals especially death consequent to predation. Ratio of death by predation / death by all causes would be sufficient, especially if combined with age (age range) at time of death.

Especially useful would be statistics for closely related but distinct species or sub-populations.

Less useful but helpful would be comparisons of histograms of age at mortality contrasting several predator and prey species/populations, e.g, 30% of mice die before age one month, 20% age one month to one year, 20% one year to 18 months, 30% 18 months or greater.

Bonus if prey population is mice.

Underlying questions, do histograms of age at mortality differ for prey species and predator species generally? Where do primates, including humans in their natural environment, compare? Do sub-populations within a species/population show significantly different age-at-mortality histograms?

"Beasts Of England" recording?

orthogonality — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:25:02 -0800

So comrades, come rally,/ And the last fight let us face: in honor of May Day, can any of you prisoners of starvation tell me where can I find an audio recording of Orwell's "Beasts of England"?

Extemporaneous weekend vacationing?

orthogonality — Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:27:13 -0800

Mini-vacation weekends? I want to spend my weekends having fun in various different cities. How to do this? For work, I'm currently living out of hotels Monday through Friday, in Norfolk VA.

Rather than get a hotel on the weekends there, I'd just as soon spend the same money (or a little more) visiting interesting cities.

Since the actual destination doesn't matter, cheap last-minute flight deals would be ideal. The constraint is, they'd have to leave Friday afternoon/night and return Sunday night.

Alternately, what's local to Norfolk VA or within a few hours' drive?

Corporate Computer monitoring detection

orthogonality — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 05:47:44 -0800

How do I figure out what user/usage monitoring software is running on my work laptop? Laptop runs Windows XP Professional. I want to know if it's recording/transmitting my activity, especially what web sites I'm looking at, but also anything else.

I have unrestricted Local Administrator privileges on it, and can take it home, so I can read/write the registry, run performance monitors, install software, or even potentially hook it to a sniffer.

Related question: it runs startup scripts on boot-up into Windows; where are those stored, and how can I read them?