Journey Of Code - Chip Level Units

The journey of code now brings us to the realm of chip level units that are made up of gates and would make up processors at large.

The gates that you looked at in the previous post, operate at a binary level. There are two signal levels - high and low - that usually corresponds to ‘1′ and ‘0′. You can string them together to form bytes - to be precise, 8 bits form a byte.

The byte and the stream of bytes are not yet ready to go to the abstract level of code, because they need to be stored somewhere. They need to be manipulated in someway. This is done using the chip level units.

Technology StackThere are basically the following categories of chip level units.

  • Memory units
  • Arithmetic units
  • Logic units
  • Control units

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Drupal - The Open Source Content Mangement System

Drupal is a Open Source CMS (Content Management System).

It is one among the other ‘contenders’ like Joomla, Mamboo, PHPNuke, and many other CMS. Like other CMS it lets you create a website, to which you can easily add content and update it - it lets you manage it.

Drupal - Open Source Content Management System

Drupal has its own share of hurdles along with its positives.

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Cost Of Open Source Software

Cost of Open Source software? Are they not free?

Not actually. Yes, they are free in the sense that they do not cost the licensing fee like the proprietary software out there. They actually cost money, but not in the traditional way. But the Open Source softwares are free - anyone is free to do what they choose with it. They are free to change the code and redistribute it. They are free to use it for their own purposes. For the use and the change of the code, no one is asked to pay anyone anything.

For the past one week, along with my usual write ups here at Splat, KalaaLog and Udantak, I have been also working along with someone to start a community website. As I had worked earlier with Drupal, for WiseTome, it was a natural choice for me to think of using it as a solution. Druapl is an Open Source, Content Management System. Since it is Open Source, I can download it, customize it, and may be code some more custom features, and after that I can use it for the website. I am not required to pay anyone anything. It is free.

Or is it?

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External Mouse For Laptop

Those who have used laptops - did you ever find it irritating to navigate with the touch-pad navigation given at the lower part of the keyboard?

I had been using laptops given to me to work at home by the company I work in. Lately, I even bought myself a Dell Inspiron. I must tell you - I love my laptop, but the touchpad was really becoming a nuisance.

The two main problems I faced due to the laptop touchpad:LX5 Logitech Cordless Optical Mouse

  • Maneuverability - It is not versatile enough. I find more control with a mouse - even a old trackball one. (Call me a old timer if you want).
  • False Clicks - It really irks me out when I would be typing something in a text box or in a word processor, and due to the unintentional touches of my thumb on the touchpad, the focus goes else where and it is a big mess.

These were the two main reasons that I thought of getting myself an external mouse. (Another reason was that at office, my mouse had gone faulty and it was a long process to get it replaced).

I got myself one - LX5 Logitech Optical Cordless Mouse. It is a cheap one, without any frills. I have seen better mouses but this one served my purpose.

It does act strange sometimes but I am way better of than using the touch pad. This mouse comes with a interface that needs to be connected to a USB port, and also the mouse itself requires two ‘AA’ batteries.

I was wondering - have you made a similar choice and used a external mouse for your laptop?

PS: No. This is not a paid review. Logitech or any of its affiliates have not paid me for writing this post. It just goes along with the other posts about things I have bought ( and feel like showing off), and that is the sole reason I write this post.

XML (Roundup)

For the past two weeks, there have been quite a handful of basic posts on XML here at Splat. Here is a round up and links to all of them.

About XML

XML Applications

In terms of XML application, I could just keep going on. Some of the other things that are worth a look are WSDL and SMDL. WSDL or WebSerivce Description Language is a major key player already even though it has not yet become a W3C recommendation yet. SMDL, Standardised Music Description Language is for marking up musical notation. It is presently a ISO standard. As I said, there are a lot of applications of XML and you can visit the Wikipedia page for it to get an exhaustive (and volatile) list.

Blogs and Sites

Let me know if you would like to know more or anything in particular about XML. You just need to leave a comment.

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XML Application: OOXML And ODF

Well, this time around, I wanted to check out the stance XML is having in terms of office documents like text, spreadsheet and presentation. I must say, that once I went through quite a lot of links and search results and charting out the chronological developments in this regard - I was tempted to title this post as: OOXML Vs ODF. Trust me, there are enough written about both the formats pitting them against each other.

In brief, OOXML is a standard being pushed by Microsoft. ODF is one, that is being developed by IBM and others like OpenOffice.org. Both are applications of XML. And as any one may except, once Microsoft is involved and happens to be on one side of a polarized pair of standards, there will be a struggle. There is enough mud-slinging going on from both sides.

For now, I defer from placing both OOXML and ODF under study. There are many arguing for both the sides, and a mere “OOXML Vs ODF” search will lead to relevant articles and blog posts. It is also amusing to note that there are several individuals who stay away from both the stands and have managed to get themselves into it. (I guess, now I am another of this group).
Both the open standards have been formed as a standard at ISO - Organization for International Standards. Due to this, many argue the sanity of ISO as to having two standards that are implemented as applications of XML.

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