(click for .pdf version)

using std::cout;

int main()
{
int number = 0, sum = 0, i = 0;

for ( i; i < 1000; i++ )
{
if ( ( number % 3 == 0 ) || ( number % 5 == 0 ) )
sum += number;
number++;
}

cout << sum;

return 0;
}

if you’ve been reading my dispatches for a while now, or if you take a minute to browse through the archived offerings, you’ll notice a pattern.  lately, the posts have increasingly focused on geekery.  this is a reflection of the changes in my circumstances as well as a change in my fixations.

i spent the last few years working off-and-on while taking some math and science courses part-time.  most of the jobs i had tended to be either boring, monotonous, or unfulfilling.  after years of procrastination, distraction, and indecision, i decided to apply for admission into the computer engineering program at concordia university.  last july i received my offer of admission while finishing the last prerequisite course.

the program is a mix of math, programming, and electronics: subjects i’ve found fascinating although not always my strongest.  my classes are interesting and challenging- the exact opposite of my previous school and work experiences- and exactly what i need.  after getting through a rough introductory semester, i can say that this is one of the better decisions i’ve made.

since i’m already preoccupied with programming and nerdy computer stuff, and there are tons of projects that i intend to start (and hopefully finish), this blog is increasingly going to reflect that.  i’m going to share what i’m working on- i hope mostly non-school projects- and what i am getting into.  later this week i’ll be attending a conference about software engineering, CUSEC, so expect a report of my experience there or at least a brief rundown of my impressions as a start to this new year of consistent posting.

first one was a test to see if i could write something from the ground up that actually worked. surprisingly, i could and it did. so the second one was made a bit more useful- it calculates squares and roots of a given number. if the number does not have an integer root, it will display the closest integer root, as well as the square of that calculated number. sounds more confusing to describe than it was to write. if anyone wants to give it a go, here it is:

solo

(obviously it will only run on OS X- just drop it in your applications folder.)

this just brought me a huge step closer to finishing that homework machine i dreamt up a few months back.

also, this book appears to be one of the more useful “hands-on” cocoa/obj-c tutorials i’ve looked through. the most interesting part of it is that it actually goes into the help and documentation parts of xcode. the other books i’ve looked through seem to skip any mention of api searching and assume you know where it is or what you are looking for. i don’t think there’s any one book out there that has everything i’m looking for, but this one seems to be a nice compliment to the others i’ve checked out so far.

the error i was getting (”Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/tmp/mysql.sock”) was caused by two things:

1. i forgot to start the mysql server before trying rake, and
2. i didn’t edit .bash_profile correctly.

the first thing to fix was pretty obvious- start the mysql server from within system preferences.

after doing that, i got the inspiring “rake aborted!  Unknown database ‘demo_development’” error.  as i was going step by step through one of my many sets of installation instructions (this time browsing through Beginning Rails), i realized i didn’t have a .bash_profile file and that i may not have actually created a database.  i thought i remember adding it when first setting up this project, but it wasn’t there.  this was fixed by creating the file and adding the line “export PATH=”/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/mysql/bin:$PATH” ” and then creating a database with “mysqladmin -uroot create demo_development”.

crossed my fingers, gave rake one last go, and all is now well.

ps.  yes, this post is partially a reference for if when i screw this up again.

i was getting a bit worried earlier this week because i had delayed starting until after my exam, and my 30 days ends may 5th.  i went in on monday- perfect because it was rainy and not busy- and got a good start.  tuesday when i showed up, there weren’t any workspaces available for most of the time they were open, and i ended up only putting on some new brake pads.  yesterday, same thing.  i didn’t get in until 8pm which was about an hour before closing time.  luckily i worked quickly and got it all together.

this is what i built this week:

if i count all the time i put into it, including rummaging through boxes for miscellaneous stuff like a matching set of pedals, then it took me about 5 hours to get it together.  sure, i decided not to put brakes on the front or have more than 7 gears, but it’s almost exactly what i was looking for in a bike.  it’s fast, light, and, unlike my last one, actually stops.

I’ve been having some difficulties lately.  While trying to get ruby on rails set up on this computer (running OS X 10.4.11) I’ve hit a few snags.  but first, some background.

I started into rails because I knew it was the next step i had to take.  from clarisworks (remember that?) way back when to html tables to xhtml and css, now i need to add a new layer.  i have a few things that i want to build that go beyond the interactivity that javascript can offer (college students, check back here in early september,) and rails seemed like the quickest way to get that done.

maybe i just don’t know what i’m doing, but after trying several times, i get stuck at “rake db:migrate”.  i tried reinstalling mysql and using a different server and still nothing.  all i see is the same error “Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/tmp/mysql.sock”.  sounds simple enough, right?  it probably is, but i still can’t figure out how to make this shit work.  once i get past this, i’m going to look back and feel pretty dumb.

any suggestions?

update: problem fixed.  details here.