Justin Lloyd's Thinkering

Somebody needs to think about this stuff...

Archives for 1994

Paper – Logic Programming, Functional Programming, and Inductive Definitions

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Today I read a published paper titled “Logic Programming, Functional Programming, and Inductive Definitions”

And now I get to learn a new language called Haskell. And a new concept called “functional programming.” Though I am not too sure how applicable a piece of code is that has “no side effects.” I am not even sure what class of problems I can solve with Haskell. It will be an interesting adventure.

The abstract is:

An attempt at unifying logic and functional programming is reported. As a starting point, we take the view that “logic programs” are not about logic but constitute inductive definitions of sets and relations. A skeletal language design based on these considerations is sketched and a prototype implementation discussed.

Self-Powered LED Street Lights

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I see a day, possibly two or three decades from now, when all street lighting is LED based, controlled remotely via a wireless signal from a central location, and mostly self-powered.

Power for the lights will come from a battery bank, backed up by the main power grid. The battery for each street lamp will be charged by a vertical wind turbines mounted on the light poles and a small, solar array attached to the top of the pole.

Each LED street lamp transmits a signal back to a central control system that monitors battery level, battery health, and whether the LED lights need any maintenance.

Each street lamp can also monitor its own light output via a photo receptor that will detect when the LED itself fails, so that a maintenance crew can be scheduled to come out an repair it.

I don’t expect to see street lighting like this until 2020 or even 2030 at the earliest.

Paper – A note on digitized angles

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Today I read a published paper titled “A note on digitized angles”

Knowledge that is directly applicable to computer graphics. Though it is not something I am go to actually be able to solve, the fact that I am aware of the problem with drawing a line that won’t line up with an arrowhead on a rasterised display is important. It also explains why some pixels crawl and flash when the line is rotating. Some of the math is a little above my head, but I got most of it.

The abstract is:

We study the configurations of pixels that occur when two digitized straight lines meet each other.

Studying – Welsh language

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This month I am studying “Welsh language”

After the excruciatingly slow English Literature class I am ready to actually study something where it is based on skill, memorisation and practice rather than one person’s bullshit interpretation of what Arthur Miller meant in Death of a Salesman or some bitch feels about how intelligent I am because I speak awkwardly or stutter.

This is the 1st month of a 3 month part-time language course aimed at adult learners. Hopefully it won’t contain any of the childish nonsense from the English class.

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