Disqus - Latest Comments for dhotson

Re: Binary search redux

Dennis — Mon, 06 Jul 2015 09:28:13 -0000

Very interesting! I hadn't thought about using a binary search to optimise API calls before. Clever. :)

Another place that binary search is really useful is `git bisect` for finding a commit where a bug first started occuring.

Also, fun fact—there's one subtle bug that shows up in nearly all binary search implementations:

mid = (i_max + i_min) / 2

With the above, it's possible to start hitting integer overflow issues on the addition on larger datasets.
You can re-arrange it a little bit to avoid the problem:

mid = ((i_max - i_min) / 2) + i_min

Re: Color Gradients with Python

Dennis — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 23:28:18 -0000

Yep, you might need convert back and forth a bit.

Choose colours in RGB, convert to and interpolate in Lab—and then convert back to RGB hex values for displaying on screen.

Also—seen this? http://tristen.ca/hcl-picker/

Re: Color Gradients with Python

Dennis — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 04:49:33 -0000

If you want to smooth it out even more you should consider using the Lab colour space instead of RGB.

Lab is designed to match how the human eye perceives colour. Distances in Lab are perceptually uniform. This should in theory make your gradients look even smoother.

Re: Vim After 11 Years - Ian Langworth's Things of Variable Interest

Dennis — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 16:28:44 -0000

If you're editing a lot of Python code, Jedi is an excellent auto completion plugin: https://github.com/davidhal...

Also, ctags in vim is a great way of navigating a code base.

Re: http://chipotle.tumblr.com/post/5207966724

Dennis — Fri, 06 May 2011 09:21:05 -0000

Me too! jEdit is fantastic. :-) I've written about my setup here: http://dhotson.tumblr.com/p...

Re: Tinkering

Dennis — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:30:58 -0000

Thanks for the re-blog Drealmer. :-)

It's a really interesting article. It has certainly got me thinking.
I really wish that hacking and tinkering on modern computers could be more accessible for curious individuals.

One thing I think is fantastic for enabling the hackers of tomorrow is that web browsers continue to feature 'View Source'. Anyone can see the internal workings of a web page and see how it works (and that it's not magic).

I still believe there is potential for hacking on 'closed' platforms like the iPad. Can you imagine if they had an app for writing little BASIC or Logo programs? It's not outrageous. Although unfortunately, there are no longer any magazines for kids to copy code out of.. :-(

Re: C++ quizz

Dennis — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 21:29:57 -0000

Tabs vs spaces?

Re: fingernails in oatmeal, The Unsightliness of Merge Commits

Dennis — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:38:33 -0000

'git pull --rebase' == awesome :-)

Re: tumblr dot fronkis

Dennis — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:39:48 -0000

Heh.. :-)

It's basically a way of passing around structured data. XML is one way of doing it. ASN1 is just a different format.

Re: tumblr dot fronkis : Promotion

Dennis — Fri, 09 May 2008 20:45:25 -0000

Heh, I just looked at the image filename.. ;-)

Nice one! :D

Re: tumblr dot fronkis : Promotion

Dennis — Fri, 09 May 2008 01:43:13 -0000

Hey, congrats on the promotion. Where abouts are you working?

Also, I just wanted to say I really enjoy your tumblr. Some good links!

Re: Experimenting with Google App Engine - Bret Taylor's blog

Dennis — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:16:11 -0000

You should check out Tumblr, it's kinda like minimalistic blogging.

Re: tumblr dot fronkis

Dennis — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 02:44:54 -0000

Yeah.. the Wii is hella fun! :D
I really love how the games are designed for casual gamers too.. you can pick it up and play for 10 mins and put it back down.
I think I've got a somewhat unhealthy addiction to Wii Bowling though. :P