Cameron Laird
Remote-control and related software
A correspondent recently wrote me, "I would like to learn how to create ... software like VNC either using ... already existing code or from scratch. Primarily, to create ... open-source software that allows remote desktop control...
Tools for PDF internal links
Named destinations are the standard answer to the frequently-asked question: is it possible to hyperlink within a PDF instance, that is, to a particular page or image or text?Not so well-known is that named destinations are...
codepad a great convenience
You want to know about codepad. Codepad is a simple-to-understand Web site that accepts free-form text input, interprets your text as the source of a program in C, Lua, or a dozen other languages, and returns the result to...
SVG is a good scratchpad for programmers
Public discussion of SVG is usually solemn, and focused on big questions that make adults frown: "Will Apple's rejection of Flash result in combat over patents where Linux suffers collateral damage while ... ?", "Does IE 5 support...
Correct HTML for select coloring
We recently came across a fragment of HTML we needed that we could find documented nowhere -- so "Smart Development" explains it here.Our Web applications manage scores of basic HTML forms. Many of them employ "pick-lists", or...
PDF pagination only takes a few lines
Let's put page numbers on the individual pages of a PDF document.In fact, let's do it automatically. For the latest in Smart Development's irregular series on PDF coding techniques, I'll provide working code that we use on several...
We're looking forward to Lucid
We like Lucid Lynx. That's the code name for Ubuntu 10.04, scheduled for official release at the end of this week. We're not doing anything deeply interesting with it yet; most of our day needs to go to conventional...
Programming languages for Wall Street
At the beginning of this week, I asked, "Will Wall Street require Python?", as an initial reaction to the appearance of Python, Perl, and Java in certain proposed new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. Since...
What an IronPython user should know about Python 3
The audience asked questions about "Python 3" when I talked last week about "IronPython and .NET" for the HDLUG. Here's an amplified version of what I said then:Programming in Python 3 much like previous PythonsPython 3 represents...
"Embeddability" is IronPython's great feature
The high point of what I said at this week's HDLUG meeting was that IronPython is a good language to embed. I mean that in a couple of different senses, which are worth explaining here:First, I recognize that Python is a big...
IronPython's niche
I was right. When I spoke last night at the Houston Dynamic Language User Group , I learned more than the audience.More precisely, I'll be reporting back for at least the next week with ideas that I picked up at the meeting. Most...
SSE Intrinsics and HPC
One of my ambitions for the coming year of "Smart Development" is to pass on HPC (high-performance computing) tips based on our work in the area. I'm just now "gearing up" again after an absence of several years, and only have a few...
Python for .NET development
From the organizer's announcement: "... What: Houston Dynamic Language User Group When: April 6, 2010 6:30pm - ~8:30pm Where: Microsoft office in Houston, TX: 2000 W Sam Houston Pkwy S Ste 350, Houston, TX 77042 I will be talking...
HTML 5: The tipping point is with developers, not browsers
HTML 5 adoption is often discussed in terms of browser support: version $X of browser $B with $M market share supports $P percent of the HTML 5 standards, and therefore ...; I contribute to this habit when I run headlines such as...
PDF mollifiers fill crucial role
We often "mollify" PDF instances. I've never seen anyone else document this practice; I'll tell how we do it.First comes why, though. PDF is very widely-used, for a wide range of results: some organizations produce financial...
Federal government hosts Q&A on health insurance reform law
Last week, I told the best of what I know about the recent US health-insurance legislation that's so prominent in the news. This week, I urge all of those with an interest in the topic to consider the SBA-HHS webinar taking place...
Friends don't let friends extract PDF content
Here's a slightly-paraphrased example of a dialogue that seems to turn up periodically in every forum I frequent: "Please help me retrieve the document from PDF Web using XYZ Software." "What does that mean? XYZ does Q with PDF,...
Mac OS open source tool: GIFfun for animated GIFs
Earlier this year, we needed a quick animation for a presentation. GIFfun™ came through for us.There are, of course, lots of technical alternatives: we could have made something fancy with Flash, PowerPoint has animation effects,...
Tcl tips: timestamps
I don't write production code in Tcl now. I will again, doubtless, some day; although it's the single language in which I'm probably now most expert, I simply don't happen to have any deliveries contracted in it at the moment. Over...