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Is Python one of THE LANGUAGES to learn?

Python (no, not the snake) is a powerful, dynamic scripting language that is actually not very hard to learn. It matches the object- oriented power of JAVA, and beats the utility power of Perl and Ruby (I did not write that to offend and Perl/ Ruby programmers. But hey, Perl does have more libraries, I'll give 'em that!). I once saw a program in Perl that was a guessing game. It seemed daunting, the computer knew if I was close to the number or not, if I had found it, and if I was above or below it. This was a year or two ago, back when I had just heard of Python. I thought to myself "Hmmm. How hard would it be to build this in Python?" As it turns out, it is a lot easier than I thought.

I found this code while reading:

[code]

umber = 68
guess = int(input('You only have 1 try! To try again, simply re-run the program! Enter an integer : '))

if guess == number:
print('Congratulations, you guessed it!')
print('(but can you make this program in Python?!)')
elif guess < number:
print('No, it is a little higher than that! Keep trying!')
elif guess > number:
print('No, it is a little lower than that! Keep trying!')
print('Done')

[/code]

Credit: A Byte of Python by Swaroop C.H.

I made some modifications to the original code, and it works great.

You're most likely wondering why I'm showing you this. Well, for the past few months I've been trying to compile a short list of the three (or less) best languages you can learn. I have a feeling that Python will be on that list.

Many programmers have said that perl is great for the 1st few hundred lines of code or so, however after that they "hit a wall". However, with Python, programs can stretch to an infinite number of lines and never fail. That's why Python is used by NASA (more specifically the brilliant folks down at JPL) , Google, Yahoo, and many other major companies.

Nothing's final. I've had to go through many languages to compile the list. I'm still working on it. However, I hope to soon become fluent in Python.

What I;m really interested in is using Python for heavy utilities like file encryption, firewalls, etc. As soon as I figure all this out I'll be sure to post on it.

Oh, and a quick update. I've been working on the tiny computer as promised, and it's almost ready. I've just run into a small power supply issue. However, actually writing the software for it will be a lot harder than setting it up. So, be expecting more on the computer the size of your fist soon...

What's Going on at Frequency 14.250?

While looking through the MAKE Blog I came across a very interesting post. I love little more than finding scientific mysteries, and discovering the truth behind them, so this really fascinates me.

Apparently, there has been an erie sound has been aired on frequency 14.250 MHz that is strong enough to be picked up in most of the world. It was first reported on New Year's day, as has not stopped. If you have a HAM radio, and are licensed my the FCC, then you've most likely heard it. There is a forum discussion about it here. So far, all the chatter that I've heard is from HAM radio nerds, nothing from the FCC. However, this is understandable, as it is not the FCC's job to investigate weird sounds that are being broadcasted, probably by some guy for fun.

If you're like me, and you've seen about 175 episodes of The X-Files, then you'll have a tendency to jump to conclusions on the unexplained. However the phrase from the show remains the same: "I want to believe". It would be very exciting if this was an encrypted message or something even stranger, however the answer is most likely something simpler. I.e. yet another HAM radio geek who thought it would be fun to make a little mix in Audacity and broadcast it.

On the MAKE site a user called "Synthesizer Geek Delux" posted this:

"This sounds like a synthesized or heavily sampled human voice. However they then took that still humanish sounding voice and used it as the Filter for the feedbacky wave sound you hear. This is called Convolution in some fields. Others have called it 'Morphing' of two samples.

I concur with some of the theories above that this is a Numbers Station that someone is attempting to conceal with audio processing."

So then what could be in the recording (assuming it is really a "Morphed" audio file)?

It would most likely be someone saying "Congratulations! You have cracked the code!" over and over again.

As you can see, I've taken the skeptic, expect-the-least-exciting, approach. Regardless, I'd love to hear your theory, and if you have a HAM radio, record the audio and email it to me.

Some DHTML samples from Dynamic Drive

Move your mouse here While researching DHTML I came across some really cool samples at Dynamic Drive.

DHTML is sort of a combination between html and JavaScript. It utilizes most of the new web browser functions in Safari, Firefox, etc.

This here is a fun Matrix effect.

I especially like this game from Dynamic Drive.

I tried to get some of these into BW Science Labs, but they weren't coming through. :(

Well, this is one more reason to learn web programming. In the next edition of Science Quarterly there will be an article on html programming for beginners. Consider this a sample.

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Working With HTML

I finally got back from Mexico! I had lots planned as to what I would put up, however upon my arrival I discovered that there was no wi-fi within several miles. Believe me, I checked.

However, I did manage to learn html on my trip, and I've been building some pretty cool stuff since. The next two posts will be forms that I've built in html. A full guide on html will be published in the next edition of Science Quarterly. I'm still working on an efficient way to put my articles up since I can't do it via BW Science Labs.

I've moved on to JavaScript, though I haven't had many resources due to my lack of wi-fi, I was still able to make some neat little apps.
For those of you receiving posts via email, sorry for the overload today. :)