I'm a novelist and have an interest in space science and physics. I've been a programmer for more than 40 years and I like reviewing new and up-and-coming authors.

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CV-Multiply

Some years ago I encoded the cross-vertical multiplication system into PHP code. A 64-bit system can't natively understand any number larger than ~18,446,744,073,709,551,615 so mutiplication of numbers larger than this or whose result is larger than this is completely out of the question without special software or libraries.

I recently updated this code - which could only handle integers - to properly handle floating point numbers. For an explanation on what Cross-Vertical multiplication is and how it works, read on.

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· 2024/11/20 13:38 · Phil Ide

Windows Updates

I am reminded today why I hate Windows 11. It doesn't matter what configuration settings I have, the next Windows update may (and probably will) trample all over them. The latest update did just that. I had W-11 setup so that it would notify me of any necessary reboots after an update so I could choose when to reboot.

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· 2024/10/08 12:42 · Phil Ide

Operating Systems

This is a brief discussion about the Linux operating systems and distributions I use, and why I use them. I don't use Apple, and I have a single MS Windows machine which I won't be discussing here.

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· 2024/09/30 15:13 · Phil Ide

ForgeJo and GitHub

You might be wondering how my process of releasing FOSS projects works. FOSS (free and open source software) is an essential part of the modern world, and the stuff I write isn't targeted at a paying demographic. I go through a simple process of releasing software that involves 'git', GitHub and ForgeJo. I don't host anything on forgejo.org, but rather I host my own forgejo server.

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· 2024/09/22 19:28 · Phil Ide

Pi-Mars-v2

mars-clock-2 snapshot running on an MHS35 3.5“ screen

The clock is finished. If you want to build one yourself (it also tells the time on Earth), complete instructions and source can be found at the repository: https://github.com/stroggprog/mars-clock-2. The clock can also act as a slideshow for your family photos.

This time it comes with a complete menu-driven installation system that can install, uninstall, repair and upgrade. The clock can run on a DietPi operating system, and there are a comprehensive set of instructions on how to prepare a Raspberry Pi 4 for the clock. After that it's just a matter of cloning the repository and running the install menu.

Read on for further details.

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