Today's Technology

Escape from City 17 - Parts 1 & 2

2011-08-25T15:26:00.000-05:00

In 2009, the Purchase Brothers put their creative genius together to form one of the most epic fan made fillms of all time. Based on Half Life 2, one would think a budget of merely $500 would lead to total disaster. Quite the opposite, however. The videos are causing quite the stir all around the internet.

For a movie made with "no money, no time, no crew, no script, [and] the first two episodes were made from beginning to end on a budget of $500", it's pretty damn impressive. See for yourself.

Escape from City 17:

Escape from City 17 - Part 2:

Suitcase Drone Libyian Rebels Used

2011-08-24T14:23:00.000-05:00

Meet the freedom fighting drone that helped the Libyian Rebels have a much needed edge against the Qaddafi's men. This bad boy, created by a Canadian team by the name of Aeryon, might look like something out of a DIY kit, but don't let its appearance fool you. The Aeryon Scout UAV is outfitted with 4 rotors, smart navigation which uses a waypoint system (think Starcraft commands) to get from A to B, has infrared and standard cameras/lenses, and can operate within 2 miles of its handheld control device. Check out the video of it in action below.

Updates on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

2011-08-22T10:38:00.000-05:00

GSC Game World has revealed some new details of STALKER 2, which is in development for PC and consoles. According to GSC, this development will not compromise to the original PC version in any way that will support Direct X 11. STALKER 2 will have more elements of survival horror on a new engine platform. GSC confirms that the PC version is the main, and keep intact the system inventory and maps. Terror will come from new areas and underground bunkers in the area between CNPP, Chernobyl and Chernobyl 2, with new types of mutants.

There will be new weapons, and removed the faction system. Is expected to launch by 2012.

How to Create an Amazing Desktop Experience with Rainmeter

2011-08-09T12:32:00.002-05:00

Whether your goal is to make your desktop look beautiful or you want an information-rich desktop that provides constant track of your system status, RSS feeds, and other info, Rainmeter is the best tool for the job. Here's how to use Rainmeter to create an attractive, customizable heads-up display on your Windows desktop.

Windows customization app Rainmeter...

Read More Here [Lifehacker]

Best Nintendo Games

2011-08-08T08:50:00.002-05:00

There's currently a great dialogue on which Nintendo game was the best over at the forums:
http://www.thenerdlounge.com/Forum/showthread.php?tid=33&pid=118#pid118

Here was my input:

I wanna play!

There's 3 games that stick out to me from my early Nintendo days...

3) Killer Instinct

I know this is a bit old school, but man was it great. Think of an early Mortal Kombat that was just plain awesome. In fact, if you used the right combination of buttons, you could finish off guys with ~50 hit combos.

Killer Instinct on youtube

2) Sunset Riders

Now THIS was a game... I remember spending hours and hours on this. Not only was it an awesome shooter (with an awesome local campaign multiplayer), but it PUNISHED you for failing. There were no "continues" or "Try Again"s. If you died, you were starting over from the very, very beginning.
While this sort of electronic gun-to-the-head might be seen as player-unfriendly, I actually found it to bring the best out of the players.

Sunset Riders youtube nostalgia

1) Super Mario 3

What is there to say. Mario 3 was an epic adventure through diverse environments. The baddies were legit, the music was fun, and the action was insane (but at a good pace). Plus, in true Mario style, there were hidden gems to be found if you knew how/where to look. Compared to this, all other games were just kinda... lame.

Super Mario 3 beaten in 11 minutes

What about all of you?

HumbleBundle - Cheap Indie Games

2011-08-04T15:38:00.003-05:00

For about 5 days, you are able to purchase close to 13 indie games for next to nothing. Pay what you want! Pay what you think they're worth! But please- don't be a tight-wad. It's worth at least $1 a game, in my opinion.

http://www.humblebundle.com/

Win a Free T-shirt!

2011-08-02T10:08:00.001-05:00

We are currently running a contest to determine our final logo for our new site - The Nerd Lounge.

Now then, let me cut right to the chase. The contest is to see who can create the best new logo for our site, while following a few simple rules, all listed here.

----------------------------------
*To enter your submission:

- Please reply to this thread with your image attached.

----------------------------------
*If you are chosen:

1) Your logo will become the new logo for The Nerd Lounge.

2) You will receive one of the first T-shirts printed with your design.
That's right, you get a T-shirt out of the deal.

New Forums: The Nerd Lounge

2011-07-31T22:12:00.001-05:00

I am pleased to announce the opening of our new forums: The Nerd Lounge.

The idea of starting The Nerd Lounge is to create a place where everyone can share information with each other. As much as I enjoy sharing information with each of you, I find it much more beneficial to open up a dialogue with everyone.

*In addition, we will be opening up the homepage shortly, where user submitted stories and write-ups will make the constantly updated Front Page content.

We look forward to having each an every one of you swing by and strike up a conversation about anything.

URL: http://www.thenerdlounge.com/Forum/

Guest Post: ThatDustinGuy's Acer TimelineX 5830T Review

2011-07-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

This is our first guest post. Special thanks to ThatDustinGuy. See the "Affiliates" Tab above to view his two websites.

Last week, I went out and purchased a new laptop. After shopping around for a little while, I found an Acer TimelineX 5830T at my local Staple's. It looks really cool, and it has some great features on it too!

First of all, I really love the color. It's not everyday you see a blue laptop. And, blue is my favorite color, so I just had to have it.

It's super thin, but I don't know the exact measurements. It has a 15.6" 16:9 HD LCD screen, which is plenty big enough for me. It came with Intel Core i3-2310M (whatever that is! haha) and it has 4 gigs of memory and a 640 GB hard drive. The 6-cell Li-ion battery is supposed to get over 8 hours of use, but I haven't really tested out how long it really lasts. However, it has PowerSmart, which is supposed to extend the battery life.

Okay, now that we've covered the specs, let's get on with the features!

The keyboard is really nice on this laptop. The keys are raised above the dropped-down area beneath them, so typing is easier than on other laptops I've used. It also has the numeric keypad which is excellent. The only problems I have with the keyboard is the space button. I haven't really gotten used to it yet, and the space button requires more pressure than the other keys, so I'm having to train myself to use it. Another thing that I'm having to adjust to is the mouse pad. When I learned to type back in elementary school, I developed this weird habit of using my left hand to hit keys like Y, H, B, and others. And when I do that on this laptop, I usually hit the mouse pad with my left palm, which messes up the typing. But that's just a personal problem!

Above the keyboard, there is a speaker that runs the entire width of the computer. It's Dolby, and is apparently tuned by professionals. It sounds pretty good, but I haven't really tested to see how loud it will get for fear of busting the speakers. However, at 75% volume, it's plenty loud enough.

Next to the speaker, there is a P button, and the lights that note Caps Lock and Num Lock. The P button can be easily programmed to open a program, web page, document, etc once pressed. I currently have mine set to open Google Chrome, so the internet is always one button away. I like this key a lot!

On the left side of the laptop, you have an Ethernet plug, a place to attach a projector, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port (which I know nothing about), and mic and headphone jacks.

If you flip it over to the right side, you'll see the charger port (not shown in the photo) the CD/DVD drive, and 3 USB 2.0 ports. Pretty basic stuff...

On the front, you'll find a media card slot, which accepts a multitude of cards, a battery button that displays different colors that represent battery life, and when pressed, turn on/off the PowerSmart function.

The webcam that's built in seems to be really nice, too!

Above is a photo taken with the webcam, and below is a video.

(I sound retarded in that video. ugh)

Anyways, yeah, that's pretty much all the basics about the Acer TimelineX 5830T laptop that I got. To me, it's a good laptop. But then again, I just use it mainly for the web. What do you guys think of it??

How to: Create a Button for a Blog - Part 2

2011-07-20T23:02:00.002-05:00

---continued from How to: Create a Button for a Blog - Part 1

*Note: clicking the image will enlarge.

6. Knowing I would only have a 125 x 125 box to work with, my first move was to crop the picture into a square. I would then re-size the image once I was satisfied with my work, as it's easier to work with a larger sized picture.

7. Now the fun part begins... Adding text and other cool features. If you click the Create tab, you will see the bar on the left display a whole new set of features.

Since we're adding words, let's use the Text sub-tab. See below.

8. Here, you have enough options to make a math major's head spin. There is an impressive array of font selections to browse, considering this is all free. Once you make your choice, use the box at the top-left to type your words. (Note: I had to enter 1 letter in at a time, in order to re-size and arrange each individual letter to the keyboard keys.)

9. Once all of your text has been input, you can run through the Effects sub-tab, which also offers a jaw-dropping arsenal of free tools to play with.

10. Once you dabble around with the various effects, you can choose to add a custom Frame around your icon by using the Frame sub-tab.

Conclusion: While the icon used throughout the tutorial is slightly different then the actual website button featured on the right side of the page, the process remains the same. My final product, after much more time tinkering:

How to: Create a Button for a Blog - Part 1

2011-07-20T23:00:00.003-05:00

Let me start by saying Piknik.com is the shiz. This site let me EASILY create the custom "Living Today's Tech" button. Within the website's program, I was able to search for some picture to use as a starting point, then customize using a host of different options. After, I could cut, crop, or resize to my heart's content. I must say, it was some VERY impressive free software.

Now then, let's get on with it.

How to Create a Button for a Blog:

Visualize what you want your blog button to look like.

This is extremely important, because one can quickly be overwhelmed by all the options outs there.

Go to www.Picnik.com and click "Get started now!"

After a brief load screen, you're ready to get started.

3. Your next screen should give you several options. The ones we are interested in are "Upload a photo" and/or "Open a Demo photo" (see photo below). In my case, I clicked "Open a Demo."

4. Once in the program, you are once again faced with several options to get to the raw picture you are wanting to edit. If you plan on pulling a random picture from a search engine (as I did for mine), click the link under "library" which the arrow is pointing to below. Otherwise, make your selection and move on.

How the selection process looks

5. Once you've made your selection, click "Edit" at the bottom of the photo. Once in the editor, your screen should look like the picture below.

Zoom using the tool in the bottom-right.

My next steps were to crop and re-size the picture. Finally, I added a load of special effects from the website's free options. Each of these is covered in the next part of the story.

---continued in How to: Create a Button for a Blog - Part 2

We want YOU!

2011-07-20T09:10:00.000-05:00

Currently, Today's Tech is undergoing major behind-the-scenes upgrades and changes. Namely, we are working to create a unique online experience with a focus on communication and current trending topics. Our hope is that this can be a new community that encourages an open exchange of information.

In the meantime, we want YOU to be a guest blogger!

If truly interested, visit the forums where you can sign up!

Community News

2011-07-19T13:49:00.001-05:00

Stay Tuned!

We have something HUGE brewing...

New Blogger Button image

2011-07-16T01:39:00.002-05:00

How do you like it?

Forums!

2011-07-15T22:51:00.000-05:00

All,

We're in the big leagues now... We have FORUMS up and running!

CLICK HERE to go check out the new place to hang out, or just click "Forums" at the top.

Learning C++ Part 2

2011-07-14T22:34:00.001-05:00

With head held high, I continued on to Chapter 2. While reading the first paragraph, I came across something that boosted my morale even higher!- I was told that by the end of the chapter, I would have all the tools needed to make a basic game! Now that's pretty cool.

Initially, Brian starts out easy by describing the differences between int and double. He then brings up a hugely important topic- if and if-else. The point Brian drove home was the structure, which I'll show below.

if (condition)
statement 1
else
statement 2

Armed with this knowledge, I set out to work on my first exercise. The goal was to be able to type in a number (once prompted, of course), and then have the program tell me if it was odd or even. Here's what I did.

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>

using namespace std;

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
int n, remainder;
// Get Number from Keyboard
cout << "Please enter a number and hit ENTER \n";
cin >> n ;

//Get remainder after dividing by 2

remainder = n % 2 ;

//If remainder is 0, input was even
// If not, it was odd

if (remainder == 0)
cout << "Number is even! Congrats, face. \n" ;
else
cout << "Oh man... number is odd, homie. Lame. \n" ;


system("PAUSE");
return 0;
}

Booyah. Ego slightly boosted. I begin to think "Man, this coding stuff is cake!" But then I look down and realize I'm on page 40 of 550... so I decide to shut up and push on.

The next big topic covered involved loops brought about via the while command. Again, the structure was the important point.

while (condition) {
statement
}

And here was my first example using that command.

#include <iostream>
#include <stdlib.h>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
int i , n ;
cin >> n;
i = 1;

while (i <= n) {
cout << i << " " ;
i = 1 + i;
}

system("PAUSE");
return 0;
}

In the above code, if you typed in the number 10 when prompted, the program would show you "1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10".

Brian then goes on to show a few techniques to optimize the code, and I do a few more exercise problems. After these minor points, it's time for the next major command: var++ . This code passes the integer along to the rest of the program, then adds 1 to its value.

At this point, we're closing in on the end of the chapter. The last true learning point is Boolean (Short-Circuit) Logic. These include && (AND) , || (OR) , and ! (NOT).

After this, there was one more giant program (which gave me fits) where you can input any number, and it will test to see if it is prime or not. While it did use all of my learned knowledge up to that point, it was extremely frustrating to get working due to an error while using sqrt(var) with int instead of double. Took hours to fix. Not wanting to revisit that, so let's push on.

Finally, I reached the last exercise: Creating a Game! I was excited (and a bit overwhelmed). But with the help of the text, I was easily guided through it in a way that actually taught me the why instead of just expecting me to simply memorize it. The final code, and all its glory, are below.

#include <iostream>
#include <cmath>

using namespace std;

int main()
{
int n2;
int i2;

cout << "Let's play a game! \n" << " \n" << "Here's how to play. \n";
cout << "The object is to be the person to get to 0 or less, while only \n";
cout << "subtracting by 1 or 2 from a starting number, which YOU will pick! \n\n";
cout << "Go ahead and pick the starting number \n" ;
cin >> n2;

while (true) {

if (n2 % 3 == 2) {
n2 = n2 - 2 ; cout << "\n I subtracted 2. \n ";
}
else {
n2 = n2 - 1;
cout << "\n I subtracted 1. \n" ;
}
cout << "\n New total is " << n2 << endl;
if (n2 == 0) {
cout << "\n\n I win, sucka! \n";
break;
}

cout << "Your move, punk. Enter either 1 or 2. \n" ;
cin >> i2;
while (i2 < 1 || i2 > 2) {
cout << "Input must be 1 or 2, my friend who is about to lose. \n "; cout << "Please Re-enter: \n\n" ;
cin >> i2;
}

n2 = n2 - i2;
cout << "\n New total is " << n2 << endl;
if (n2 == 0 ) {
cout << "You win! \n" ;
break;
}
}
system("PAUSE");
return 0;
}

Me, after writing & troubleshooting my "game".

After successfully completing this assignment (which ended Chapter 2), I couldn't help but feel like I was Neo from the Matrix. Not only was it satisfying to really understand what I was doing, but I was enjoying myself at the same time.

Finally... I can actually practice my Air Guitar Skillz

2011-07-14T17:02:00.001-05:00

There's a new front runner in the i-peripherals world. No, it's not a new speaker system or a new set of i-earbuds. It's not a whirling fan and it's not a pocket light. It's even better than any of that. It's an electronic pick that attaches to your ipod/iphone, allowing you to pretend you're playing a guitar.

Using motion-sensing tech, it will allow you to transform from that omg-what-a-loser dork into a combination of Bradley Pitt + Jason Mraz - Mraz Hat.

More here.

Actual product page here.

A Firealarm that TEXTS

2011-07-14T16:49:00.000-05:00

Baller.

Man, even today's life saving devices are cool and techy. It's not enough that I can buy a cell phone that works under water, flowers made of wires and microchips, or even play video games that allow me to control characters with my movements!... Now I can have a firealarm that texts me when it senses danger. That's right... my appliances are going to start communicating with me. Let's give a ~warm~ welcome to Firetext.me's Text Messaging Smoke Alarm. This bad boy will text up to 4 people, emits a ear-busting 85 decibal alarm, and even runs on batteries. Sporting a 2 year warranty and currently 45% off, hard to say you can go wrong.

http://firetext.me/

Spotify lands in America

2011-07-14T16:33:00.001-05:00

Everyone needs to grab their party hat- because it's time. Spotify has arrived! Review to follow. For now, enjoy the video and celebrate with the masses.

From Uncrate's article,

"...Boasting a catalog of 15 million songs, it lets you search for and listen to specific songs, artists, and entire albums (for up to 10 hours a month), after which you'll need to pony up $5 for the Premium service and unlimited computer-based listening or $10 for the Unlimited service, which gives you app access from your iPhone or Android device, the ability to download music for listening online, enhanced sound quality, and much more. Sorry iTunes Match, but you're no match for this..."

I, for one, welcome our new music overlords.

"Dead" Media Walking

2011-07-13T10:48:00.003-05:00

It's an interesting thought... who actually uses obsolete technology? Do you use a machine that uses morse code? Do you use a telegram? Do you even use a computer that was made in 2001? We, humans, tend to move with the market place. We keep pace with what sells. If our computer or phone is starting to get outdated, you can bet we'll be in line to get a new one.

But not everyone follows the majority. Some are simply stubborn, while others don't even have the option.

From Ars:
"...technologies don't always cooperate with their epitaphs. Some folks don't get the memo and just keep using obsolete gear. Some tech ends up serving niche functions. Or devices are put to purposes beyond their original design. Consider, for instance, the telegram."

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/dead-media-walking-obsolete-communications-systems-live-ondead-media-walking-obsolete-communications-systems-live-on.ars

WiGig to offer 7Gbps speeds

2011-07-13T10:46:00.002-05:00

I'm always amazed to watch the progression of new technology. I've lived through the evolution of cellphones, the growth of the internet, and the increased sophistication at which we communicate. 50 years ago, computers were laughable. Systems that took entire up rooms now fit neatly in my hands. I remember the familar sound of static (and almost music) of logging in to AOL.

With all this growth; this expansion of our understanding of how technology can be improved, our pace never falters. We don't slow down with the announcement of a scientific breakthrough. Just the opposite! The pace quickens! Breakthroughs are a dime a dozen in today's world. We expect it. If the newest generation of phone or graphics card doesn't cause me to drool, then it isn't worthy of my time or attention. I don't intend to sound bitter towards this growth, because it excites me. I'm simply pointing out a truth about today's day and age.

/rant

I honestly believe the most useful breakthroughs are the ones that give us (the common consumers) faster access to internet. Get me a device that can easily handle streaming high def. videos, and I'll finally be content. One day, we'll be able to video chat with our friends in other countries, but with perfect quality- as though they are actually sitting beside you.

While we're not quite there yet, we're headed the right direction with WiGig. Read below for more details.

"...WiGig is a specification for hardware that uses 60GHz frequencies to transmit up to 7 gigabits of data per second over the air; for comparison, 802.11n WiFi tops out at a few hundred megabits per second. In other words, a download of an HD episode of Archer on WiGig would take mere seconds, even without perfect reception. The system has been in development for some years now. The WiGig Alliance recently pegged the launch of capable devices for the first half of 2012.

WiGig is sufficiently advanced to have its own IEEE 802.11 standard, coded as 802.11ad. Using it at the time of release will require some new hardware both to send and receive signal, similar to when 5GHz started to make its way onto the market..."

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2011/07/beamforming-your-data-how-wigig-will-offer-7gbps-speeds.ars

Wi-fi hacking neighbor from hell gets 18 year Prison Sentence

2011-07-13T10:05:00.004-05:00

What happens when you upset your pedophile neighbor who works in some IT field? You get IT based payback. Forget a baseball bat to the knee. Forget a kick to the groin. These kinds of people want to hit where it hurts the most... your reputation.

Barry Ardolf, a Minnesota hacker, allegedly kissed his neighbors' son (on the lips) right in front of them. To make the scenario a little more strange, Barry's kiss occurred within moments of meeting the little boy. The parents, understandably upset, filed a police report against him.

Angered by the police report, Barry engaged in a sinister plan of silent warefare. Barry first hacked into the neighbors' Wi-fi over the course of two weeks. Once he was connected, he unleashed a barrage of illegal deeds with the intent of having his actions traced back to his unsuspecting neighbors. And by "illegal deeds" I don't mean he downloaded the latest Miley Cyrus album... I mean he setup a Myspace account with several pitures of minors engaging in sexual activity. He sent explicit love letters to his neighbors coworkers, almost getting his neighbor fired. Finally, he sent threatening emails to government officials, which drew the attention of the Secret Service.

Because of the cunning and sophistication of Ardolf's plan, the Secret Service tracked the IP of the emails back to Ardolf's neighbors' house. Everything was moving according to Ardolf's plan. However, there was one thing Ardolf did not count on- the lengths an innocent man is willing to go to clear his name.

With his jobs in shambles, his reputation ruined, and feds on his doorstep, the innocent neighbor did what any innocent man would do. He denied everything. He denied it to the point that he allowed his company to hire an outside hacker (on the good guys' side) to sift through all his home computer files and monitor his home network. -This- is what saved this man.

While monitoring his home network with a packet sniffer, the Hired Hacker found incriminating evidence of Ardolf, as well as unique identifiers that would isolate Ardolf from any other of the wireless network users.

Once all this was found, the man was charged and sentenced to 18 years in prison... not long enough for such a sinister shuttin, if you ask me.

(*Note: I intentionally left out the neighbors' names. I'm sure they are ready to move on and put this whole thing behind them.)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/07/wifi-hacking-neighbor-from-hell-gets-18-years-in-prison.ars

DOJ: We can force you to decrypt that laptop

2011-07-12T14:39:00.002-05:00

According to this article by Cnet, an intriguing precedent is about to be set. There is a chance that a Colorado woman will be forced to decrypt her harddrive (via court order) to allow prosecuters access to the files stored on her computer. At first glance, this might seem like a case of "Well if she had nothing to hide, why won't she just show them?" However, after a little more thought put into it, one might realize that she is being asked to aid prosecuters in incriminating herself. I personally feel that there is a slippery slope between this action and forcing individuals to testify against themselves under court order.

The request was sent to Washington, to the Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer, who then sent a message to the U.S. Attorney for Colorado stating "I hereby approve your request."

The quote below (from Cnet) almost perfectly describes my feelings toward this topic.

"Decrypting the data on the laptop can be, in and of itself, a testimonial act--revealing control over a computer and the files on it," said EFF Senior staff attorney Marcia Hofmann. "Ordering the defendant to enter an encryption password puts her in the situation the Fifth Amendment was designed to prevent: having to choose between incriminating herself, lying under oath, or risking contempt of court."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20078312-281/doj-we-can-force-you-to-decrypt-that-laptop/#ixzz1RvANwJSd

Learning C++ Part 1

2011-07-12T00:06:00.004-05:00

Well ladies and gentlemen, let us begin our arduous and lengthy trek into the unfamiliar world of coding C++. As Lao Tzu put it, "A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

While browsing the countless "How To's", I came across a book with a catchy cover and a title that was more or less what I was looking for- "A Beginner's Guide: C++ Without Fear" by Brian Overland. In the book, Brian takes the approach of assuming the reader has never had any coding experience (me), that the concept of coding and programming is overwhelming (me), and that while you have fear of the unknown, you at least have the desire to press on and do what it takes to conquer C++.

I could tell from page 1 that I was going to enjoy this book. It wasn't a raw, detached, unemotional barrage of terms and concepts. Instead, it was as if Brian was there with you, rooting for you and doing his very best to break extremely difficult concepts down into tiny bite-sized pieces of digestible information.

Within minutes, I not only had a fair understanding of how programmers think, I was on my way to solving a real life problem. The first example was how to convert a temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit via C++ code. Through this example, I learned several key concepts that quickly stuck with me. I'll cover several key concepts as I go.

*Note: In order to quickly and coherently write the code of my choice, I will designate all code to be written in Green and all comments regarding the code in Red, with 2 slashes at the beginning.

Cout << "Please enter the Celsius Temperature \n" ;

//This code simply brings up a text box for the User, which reads "Please enter the Celsius Temperature". After this, the "\n" tells the program to skip a line before continuing on.

Next I learned about "If / Else" statements. Quite simply, the code for this is as follows:

if (a > b)
cout << "a is greater than b. \n" ;
else
cout << "a is not greater than b. \n" ;

//This code is pretty straightforward. If the value for "a" ends up being greater than b, the User will see "a is greater than b." Note the use of semicolons to close all lines.

Next, I was taught about what is unique to C++, how to build programs with the use of Compile/Link, and where to find useful (and free) shareware that I should use to practice the concepts taught in the book. Once this was installed and running, I was taught how to use the top piece of code (the Celsius prompt) in an actual code environment. Again, Brian took his time to really explain what is going on. He helped subdue the natural instinct I was feeling, which was "What is going on?!" At any rate, after a couple test problems, I was almost halfway through the first Chapter.

Along the way, I learned several more useful pieces of information. Using the "cin" command to store numbers to variables, running equations, and learning the difference between "int", "double", and "long double" all came together to form my first actual program:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main() {
double ctemp, ftemp;

cout << "Please input the Celsius temp and press Enter: ";
cin >> ctemp;
ftemp = (ctemp * 1.8) + 32;
cout << "Fahrenheit temp is : " << ftemp;
cout << " \n" ;


system("PAUSE");
return 0;
}

//As you can probably deduce for yourself, this program starts by asking you to input the Celsius that you desire to have converted to Fahrenheit. Once you input a number and hit <enter>, it then runs a calculation where it multiplies the input number by 1.8, then adds 32. At this point, the User will see "Fahrenheit temp is:" and then the result. So, if the number ends up being 60, the User will see "Fahrenheit temp is: 60."

While this took well over an hour to learn the required knowledge and create the above program, I felt an immense sense of satisfaction watching the code compile with no errors, then seamlessly run as designed. This triggered a sort of high which would keep me craving more as I continued on through the remainder of chapter 1.

I felt like this.

As I closed the final pages of chapter 1, I couldn't help but feel a sort of thrill run through me. I was off to a good start. Who knew?... maybe I would go on to invent the next ~~Harvard Connection~~ ~~The Facebook~~ Facebook.

Stuxnet

2011-07-11T22:13:00.003-05:00

Arstechnica always has top-notch articles involving the today's key technology from around the world. Today, they released an extremely interesting article involving "... the most menacing malware in history..." ; Stuxnet.

For those of you who don't know, Stuxnet was (and still is) a Microsoft based worm discovered in mid 2010. Its sole purpose was to penetrate and gain access to industrial software and equipment. Primarily, this worm's main objective was the nuclear facilities based in Iran.

In the article titled "How digital detectives deciphered Stuxnet, the most menacing malware in history," Kim Zetter covers both the history and the findings amidst the aftermath of Stuxnet. What is superbly interesting about all this is the fact that most of the evidence points to the culprits, or those who created the Stuxnet, as being either American or Israeli. In fact, it is highly believed that there was some sort of collaboration between the US and Israel as a means to covertly sabotage Iran's uranium enrichment, which would set them further back from attaining nuclear capability. For more of the conspiracy side of things, read this article from cbsnews: "Iran blames US, Israel for Stuxnet malware."

To read the article for yourself, click the article title above.