The Realm of Jinan » Projects

Gadsden Wifi, part 3

Jinan — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 06:02:24 +0000

Here is a quick update on the Gadsden Wifi project.

Aquired Gadsdenwifi.org (thanks http://www.brandonrome.net for the logo)
The database structure is complete and the import software is 70% complete.
The backend programming will begin after the database is complete.

Few things I have learned:

Binary Searching
Minimizing database calls (atleast on SELECT statements)
Basics of Multi-Threading applications.
Basics of Google Maps API

Gadsden Wifi, Part 2

Jinan — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:05:37 +0000

For an update, I have posted a screenshot of the program I wrote (few hours of sitting down and punching the good ol’ keyboard). The program takes a Wifi Scan text document and converts it into a Google Earth KML file. If you click the image below, you can see the full screen shot of what my program looks like, the tree structure listed in google earth and the information that pops up when you click on said point.

By doing this little project, i’ve learned about writing XML documents and how easy it can be and how big of a pain it could be. Also this project stresses the way I used to code. For example, a 750 KB file with 6,000 data points works flawlessly. Toss in a 10 meg file with 54,000 data points and you will see real quick that handling data is alot different.

Things I’ve Learned:

Redim Preserve statement is a bad bad bad idea if called once per loop. It basically creates an array thats bigger (or smaller), copies the old array to the new array (2x memeory consumption), then destroys the old array.
Better to Add items all at once vs one at a time on List View Boxes (still learning to program this one).
Google Earth is picky when it comes to and …

This program for the most part is complete, once I fine tune it and get everything running smoothly, I will see about the website side of this project.

Homebrew DVR

Jinan — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:02:03 +0000

I’ve decided to start a project on creating a homebrew DVR (Digital Video Recorder). I’m going to start this project using spare computer parts laying around the house. Once everything is setup and running, I’m going to invest in a dedicated machine (probably around 300 bucks). Once I start building the real thing I will post pictures.