Wi-Fi Standards

Information Week has a wonderful article on Wi-Fi standards.

Assignment Operator '+='

I had a bug in my code today. After hours of debugging, I found out the silly mistake that I did. The compiler did not identify because it was semantically right. Instead of ‘+=’ I had typed ‘=+’. This silly typo gave me weird results and cost me a lot of time in debugging.

Matlab code to C

1.If you are using a GUI program, you´ll need to check if you have
installed the Matlab C/C++ Library, and Matlab Graphics Library.
2.Suppose your program is called "experiment"; then, your first line
of your m-file must be
%#function experiment (<-exactly like this)
3.Use mbuild -setup
You´ll be asked about your C Compiler (if you dont have one, then
select that Matlab provides you).
4.mcc - B experiment
Will create your executable file and all the libraries need it to
transport to another PC.
5.Read the Matlab C/C++ Graphics help to provide you about more
information.

KnownColor

KnownColor is a very useful enumeration that can generate all the system-defined colors. C# Color Table provides a visual sheet for choosing colors while writing the program.

Nokia 6610 and IRDA - Tweak

Combined with the software, Nokia PC Suite, this is the best cellular phone that I have had. One could add their own polyphonic ring tones, edit them, copy the phonebook, and literally do anything through the infrared connection. The purpose of this article is to provide tips on connecting to the device using IR port. I used BAFO USB to IrDA Adapter on Windows XP Professional. Please refer to Sigmatel for more technical information and troubleshooting tips on Infrared wireless.

I own a Nokia 6610 and always wanted to sync or connect it to my computer. Since Nokia 6610 lacks Bluetooth connection, I had the option of using either a data cable or the IR (InfraRed) connection. Even though it was an easy to connect to the Nokia’s IR, a little tweaking was necessary for stability. Otherwise, the connection was breaking up intermittently.

The following steps might help you attain a stable connection.

1. Download Nokia PC Suite software. It is freely available on Nokia’s website. At the time of writing this article, I used Nokia PC Suite 5.1 for interfacing with Nokia 6610.

2. Connect the USB dongle. Win XP should recognize the drivers. I observed that the infrared connection was not stable.
3. Go to Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> IR device.
4. Change the settings for USB dongle as specified below:

Change IRDA Transceiver Type to Sigmatel 4000, Min. Turn-Around Time to 1.0mS (DEFAULT), and Speed Enable to 115200.

This change of settings gave me a stable Infrared connection to the Nokia 6610 and I was able to upload/download images, pictures, phonebook entries etc.

Please leave a comment if you have any other suggestions or if this tip worked for you.

DateIteration

I created a class, DateIteration, a C# class that extends DateTime structure to include time series. It can convert time (iterations) to date and vice-versa.












CATEGORY: C#

Flowcharting - Visio vs. PowerPoint

PowerPoint has all the capabilities to create a good flow chart. But, Visio is more elegant.

CATEGORY: Flow Chart

Problem description

I am still stuck with the problem description and algorithm. I have to finalize this part before I start coding.

Writing the idea

I finished the first draft of my idea. While writing, the original thought tweaked itself optimally. My algorithm seems to be a feasible solution. I will have to implement it and see. I hope to finish it by tomorrow.

My advisor told me that I did not write it clearly. He did not understand. Having a second look at my draft, I think he is right.

Have to write it again.

CATEGORY: Writing

Decent Progress

I thought about a new idea for my current problem. Two things are left to be done: Writing and implementing the thought. I finally seem to have overcome my lethargic phase by decomposing the problem in hand.

Hacking attacks

SANS released the top 20 most-critical Internet security vulnerabilities for 2005.

It shows a troubling change in pattern of hacking attacks. The hacking attacks have changed from targeting operating systems and Internet services on Web serves and E-mail servers during 1999-2004 to applications and network devices’ operating systems.

CATEGORY: Information Security