Wolfram Mathematica

halirutan

1:51 AM

Going to bed. Night all.

Szabolcs

Night halirutan

acl

2:02 AM

@rcollyer actually "thanks" doesn't adequately express the depth of gratitude I feel. I now can *add legends to my plots *

And with just a few extra characters. Amazing

Oleksandr R.

@halirutan sorry, I wasn't (I was in the pub). But now I am. Since I know you're an insomniac I guess I'll hang around for a bit and see if you come back. :)

@rcollyer how's life in the WRI stable? Have you met Wolfram yet? Or is this under NDA? ;)

rcollyer

4:09 AM

@OleksandrR. I have not met him, yet. But, I did speak with his son for a few minutes at the developer's conference ... wait, where am I? :)

The-Ever-Kid

6:17 AM

@rcollyer sort is still faster :
` In[12]:= Table[PermutationsQ[123746666666666, 76889999999999679], {n, 1000}]; // Timing {0.015600, Null}`

where Permutations is the sort function and when I use your function := 100 repeats give a time of 1.575610

Adam Dreaver

7:49 AM

Is Module[] similar to traditional programming language function definitions, where you can have multiple statements?

well what I said doesn't make sense, cause I can make a function with multiple statements by going g[x_]:=(statement1;statement2;...;statementn)

Adam Dreaver

8:13 AM

Lol, my intuition is pretty good for mma, just futzing around I'm figuring our how to write c style procedures. woohoo

I hope I won't have to go to SAGE anytime soon, I'm enjoying mma

are Block and Module the same?

there documentation basically say they are the same thing

Xerxes

8:41 AM

they're slightly different; there's a good question about that around somewhere

basically, Module creates new variables that only look like they have the names you specify, while Block swaps out the actual variables of the names you use and swaps their values back at the end of the Block

it can make a difference if something inside the Module/Block references a variable with the name of a variable you are Module/Block'ing

This one: mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/559/…

Adam Dreaver

9:14 AM

Thx xerxes for that link

halirutan

11:04 AM

@OleksandrR. Hehe.. Currently I have a cold and take all the sleep I can get ;-) I'm sure you already found out what I wanted you to ask. It's about this here: mathematica.stackexchange.com/q/19337/187

Rojo

1:08 PM

@Xerxes nice explanation

Rojo

1:20 PM

@Leonid, @OleksandrR. do you have a clear idea on Experimental`CompileEvaluate, what it does and when it's useful?

Rojo

1:49 PM

I imagine cases such as `Experimental`CompileEvaluate@
Select[RandomReal[{-1, 1}, 1000000], # < 0.5 &]`, but anyway, if you have some experience with this function and tips, they are welcome

Oleksandr R.

2:30 PM

@Rojo I'm pretty sure Experimental`CompileEvaluate is just Function[expr, Compile[{}, expr][], HoldAll]. I suppose it may be useful in some cases but I've never used it personally.

@halirutan I thought that might be the one... good question, but I'm afraid I don't know the answer. This mutual incompatibility seems to me like it must be an oversight.

@Rojo the main problem I would expect with using this is that if you have even a single non-compilable function included then you've pretty much lost any speed advantage and in fact it's likely to be slower. For that reason I always like to inspect the compiled code myself, which you can't do with Experimental`CompileEvaluate.

Mr.Wizard

3:24 PM

Who is here?

Jagra

@rm-rf -- Sorry I missed you earlier. I do think you and Leonid had a great idea to remake the question as about enum-like types and to make it more general as well. As they exist somewhere, it would prove helpful to access them directly as needed. I just haven't had time to put together another question.

@rm-rf -- Quick follow up. Truly, the idea of code golf never entered my mind, but I do constantly try to refactor my code to improve it and make it more concise or better self documenting. I thought that was fair game, but I better understand now.

rm -rf

3:43 PM

@Jagra Yes, Arnoud also felt that such a question would be useful. No rush :)

@Jagra Code review, improving elegance/speed/clarity of code, etc. are perfectly fine here, but golfing generally attracts extremely terse and often unreadable answers, which is why it's generally disliked (only Simon, Mr.Wizard and belisarius seem to enjoy it)

Although some users frown on questions that don't have an immediate practical use for the OP, I personally (and I think many others do as well) consider questions out of curiosity (like the one you asked) useful as long as they're generalizable and not frivolous

Jagra

4:05 PM

@rm-rf -- I actually had a very immediate use for these enum-like types, although not mission critical if you take my meaning. I do like that golfing threesome, but take your point. I much prefer answers on the site that come with explanations. They make everything that much more useful. Thx for the thoughts.

Szabolcs

4:47 PM

@halirutan Are you around?

belisarius

5:20 PM

@rm-rf Just to clarify my position about it, I enjoy golfing as I enjoy chess. None of them are related to good programming practices.

Szabolcs

Mobile phone service in the US seems to be the worst in the world, and ATT the worst in the US

every month there's some trouble

and I can't even switch to another one without buying a new phone, it's designed that way

"This site is currently in read-only mode; we’ll return with full functionality soon." --- well, better than just going down completely

belisarius

@Szabolcs Is it illegal to unlock a phone there?

acl

@Szabolcs I thought AT&T uses GSM, so all you need to do is get them to unlock the one they sold you? (I had to do that for someone so I found out more than ever wanted about the US carriers)

Szabolcs

@belisarius I have a phone I bought unlocked, in China, 2 years ago. I don't want to buy a new phone and ATT is my only option with GSM

acl

@Szabolcs can't you just get a prepaid plan? or a contract without a phone?

Szabolcs

5:26 PM

It's not a smart phone, but it works fine for talking (at least it did in all other countries---sound is often choppy here with AT&T), and I don't want to spend money on a new phone.

@acl Oh I have the pre-paid thing. You know how that worked? The first phone number I got belonged to a hooker. It took me two weeks before I realised why people kept texting for an appointment.

7

acl

@Szabolcs starred :)

Szabolcs

Then when I asked for a different number they wanted me to pay for it.

acl

@Szabolcs well at least you can't complain that life is boring...

Szabolcs

@acl When I got suspicious, I googled the number, and all became very clear

Then other little things: my number stopped receiving texts two times. Of course I only need to call them and ask them to fix it. But here it takes up to an hour to get through to a real person and talk to them.

acl

@Szabolcs I guess telecom companies do things differently over there :)

belisarius

5:28 PM

@Szabolcs :-"No, but I could offer you a Mma programming service by the hour"-

Szabolcs

This time auto-pay failed, so yesterday my number didn't work. Okay, I paid, got it working. But today auto-pay kicked in and took an extra 50$ from my account ...

have to call them again and not looking forward to it

@acl Yep. DId you know here it costs money to receive calls?

acl

@Szabolcs didn't know, no :)

is this with the hooker-number or did you get a new one?

actually you could have sent back an SMS saying "this is the new owner of this number. for $50, I'll refrain from calling back until your wife answers and then telling her what you just wrote" or something like that

but I guess it'll stop being fun after the first 3-4 times

Oleksandr R.

@Szabolcs sounds horrible. If I were you I would probably be considering buying a new phone just to get away from AT&T. Once you consider what your time's worth, and that you have to call them up frequently, and that it takes ages to get through, it'll probably pay for itself quite quickly

acl

you could also just switch carrier in principle

Szabolcs

@acl I would, but the other major GSM carrier doesn't have coverage here.

OK, enough complaining. Sorry about that. :)

acl

5:37 PM

@Szabolcs yes I also have a similar problem (minus the hooker heritage, paying to receive calls and being randomly overcharged)

Szabolcs

I have practically the same problem as this: http://mathematica.stackexchange.com/questions/19337/type-conversion-librarylink-mint-vs-mathlink-integer-type
Except not with MathLink/LibraryLink but MathLink / MATLAB engine

belisarius

@acl That isn't random

acl

@belisarius all I meant is that it is not regular (in which case it's not overcharging but charging a lot)

belisarius

@acl Stochastic fraud? :)

acl

@belisarius I'd go with incompetence

belisarius

5:41 PM

@acl Incompetence is when they regularly overcharge and undercharge. But if they only overcharge ...

acl

@belisarius ok yes that's a good point!

Szabolcs

nbcnews.com/technology/technolog/…

acl

stochastic fraud then :)

rm -rf

@Szabolcs Welcome to America! =)

acl

@rm-rf did you also inherit a phone number with interesting history then?

rm -rf

5:44 PM

@Szabolcs No, you have T-Mobile as an option too (not sure if they provide service in your area)

Szabolcs

@rm-rf They don't.

I guess some of the bad quality service (choppy call, weak signal) and the high price is because of low population density.

It must be much cheaper to cover a country like Malta :)

belisarius

@acl I worked for companies having a massive customer base before. An "error" of a few cents per bill per month gets to a millionaire profit at the third quarter. A few legal problems do not interfere with them unless there is a class action

rm -rf

@Szabolcs I call BS on that... this is just unadulterated corporate greed. There is no reason that a text message should cost 20¢ to send and receive... it works out to something like 1.5-2 million $ /GB of data transfer. Ridiculous.

Szabolcs

Any people familiar with MathLink around? @Oleksandr @Yves ?

acl

@belisarius I can imagine...

Oleksandr R.

5:52 PM

@Szabolcs I only know about MathLink from the Mathematica side; I haven't used it from C

Szabolcs

The big question is: can I assume that MLPutInteger16, MLPutInteger32 and MLPutInteger64 always work with 16, 32 and 64 bit integers regardless of platform?

Hmm ... it seems to be okay

Ah, so the outage is expected to last about 7 more hours today?

Oleksandr R.

@Szabolcs well, MLPutInteger32 seems to assume that int is a 32-bit integer. This is not true on ILP64 platforms.

Szabolcs

yep, that's what worried me a bit...

Oleksandr R.

Also, short is not necessarily a 16-bit type. In fact only MLPutInteger64 seems reliable, based as it is on mlint64 which is an __int64

Szabolcs

What exactly is ILP64? It's a standard? By Intel?

I see that it mean int, long and pointer all 64-bit

Oleksandr R.

6:02 PM

Just an integer model. It means: integers, longs, and pointers are all 64-bit. Common alternatives are LP64 (longs and pointers are 64-bit; ints are 32-bit--the most common definition) and LLP64 (long longs and pointers are 64 bit and the rest are 32-bit--this is used on Windows)

Szabolcs

But where does one encoutner this?

On 64 bit Windows even a long is 32-bit then?

Oleksandr R.

Platforms that usually use ILP64 include Linux on Itanium and ARM64. However this is not to say that one can't compile Linux on x86 to use ILP64.

@Szabolcs yes

Szabolcs

Life would be so nice if it were almost always true that short=16, int=32 and long=64 ... funnily I'm pretty sure the other choices are motivated by making porting / backward compatibility easier

Oleksandr R.

@Szabolcs this is why the int16_t, int32_t, and int64_t types were introduced. I don't understand why Mma doesn't use them

Szabolcs

Yes, it should.

Mma is currently available only for Win/Lin/OSX on x86, I think. But CDF player for ARM has been "coming soon" for a while.

Same for MATLAB. So for now I'm going to assume a 16 bit short and a 32 bit int.

Oleksandr R.

6:15 PM

@Szabolcs while it's not ideal, I think if both of the platforms you're linking make certain unjustifiable assumptions you can safely do the same

belisarius

Is there a site on SE about "consumer electronics" ? I've one of that really silly questions about a dumb appliance.

Szabolcs

It seems all of SE will be down until late afternoon today.

Oleksandr R.

@Szabolcs in fact, looking through mathlink.h, it would appear that no attempt whatsoever has been made to support ILP64 platforms... only ILP32 and LP64 are considered.

rm -rf

@belisarius No, there was a gadgets site but it closed way back in 2010. However, depending on the appliance, you might be able to shoehorn it into question that'll fly on one of the existing sites

Szabolcs

Did anyone manage to get Xcode 4 to index a makefile project?

rm -rf

6:24 PM

@Szabolcs btw, did you try logmein?

Szabolcs

Haven't tried it yet as I didn't need it for a while. I should try it.

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius since the sites are down anyway, maybe you can find a likely chatroom and ask there...

belisarius

@rm-rf @OleksandrR. It's about using a USB cable to recharge a Plantronics Bluetooth headset (original charger burned out). Where could it fit?

Oleksandr R.

@rm-rf I've always been wary about these sorts of sites. With ssh you have more control over security...

@belisarius where could what fit?

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Ha ... forget it :D

Oleksandr R.

6:28 PM

@belisarius sorry, I didn't understand the question

belisarius

@OleksandrR. No problem. I have a bluetooth headset. Charger is broken. I want to try to recharge it using a USB port, and don't want to risk the appliance

acl

@belisarius so, what happens if you plug the USB cable into your computer?

or even better into a wall charger of some other, arbitrarily chosen appliance, which also uses USB?

belisarius

@acl Errr .. the "charging" led lights up

rm -rf

@belisarius the headset should say how much voltage it needs... if it's less than 5V, you should be fine, I think.

acl

@belisarius there you go then. waiting for the upvotes

Oleksandr R.

6:31 PM

@belisarius what's the voltage provided by the charger? USB spec is 5V at 500mA per port

belisarius

@OleksandrR. mmmm lets see

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius sorry, it is 100mA unless first negotiated by the host and device: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/5498/…

belisarius

@OleksandrR. 5V 180mA

@acl :D

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius so, I guess it should charge from USB. If it doesn't, you can cut the charger plug off the broken charger, and cut a USB cable in half, and join them together, and then it should charge off USB...

@belisarius all USB is 5V so you should be able to plug it in anywhere. It isn't like Firewire where the voltage could be anywhere between 5V and 48V.

Szabolcs

@rm-rf the maximum length of a matlab identifier is 64 characters. Just found it by accident.

rm -rf

6:36 PM

@Szabolcs you mean filename/variable?

Szabolcs

found this in a header:

/*
* Maximum length of a MATLAB identifier (function/variable/model)
* including the null-termination character.
*/
#define TMW_NAME_LENGTH_MAX 64

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Mmm.. I think I'll find more than one cable inside ...

Szabolcs

variable, I think

rm -rf

@Szabolcs I think both... anyway, I knew this, which is why I use only 50 chars (+2 for extn) for the temp stuff

Szabolcs

then it's fine

Oleksandr R.

6:38 PM

@belisarius USB has +5V (red), ground (black), data+ (green), and data- (white).

acl

@belisarius electronics.stackexchange.com/a/29264

1

A: Charging devices - Voltage and Amperage

Note: Main OK point from below is that a power supply with the correct voltage rating and a higher than specified current rating will be OK to use in the vast majority of cases. The situations where this does not work are so rare as to be worth risking unless major safety or $ value concerns exis...

belisarius

@OleksandrR. A charger shouldn't use the data ones

Szabolcs

@Oleksandr Do you know anything about what sort of assumptions I can make about how size_t would map to (unsigned) int/long, in practice (i.e. Win/Lin/OSX)?

Oleksandr R.

@Szabolcs size_t is often used for pointer arithmetic so I expect it is the same size as a pointer

belisarius

@acl That guy is a genius "Everything MAY happen. Try"

rm -rf

6:43 PM

0

Q: I want to write an app for my GF, Any suggestions?

Ok here's the thing. She's my ex. I want to write an app for her (in Java) for V day. Nothing overly complicated, or overly love-ly. Something mild, something that says I miss her - but in a fun and interesting way. Suggestions? PS: I'm not sure what to tag this question. If this breaks any of...

java

Lol, posted right before SE went readonly... until they return, it sits on top of the pile

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius if I were you I would just give it a try. I really doubt anything bad will happen.

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Well. Trying to recharge it now. Wish me luck (it's a $100 headset)

rm -rf

Why not get a new charger? Isn't it like 15$ or something?

belisarius

@rm-rf I can't find one nearby

acl

@belisarius it's true...

Oleksandr R.

6:45 PM

@rm-rf what an odd question. I suppose nothing says "we're broken up but I still love you" like a Java application

acl

@OleksandrR. it depends on what the application does...

maybe he wants to write a virus :)

@belisarius let us know if it goes boom

belisarius

@acl ok :D

acl

@rm-rf there'll be 100 simultaneous downvotes when the site is back up!

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius not unless it's an Apple charger (they connect certain resistors to these lines so that Apple devices can refuse to charge from non-Apple chargers)

Szabolcs

@rm-rf I wrote a snake game for a girl's birthday (not my gf) once in Turbo C++. Ran only on DOS in character mode. I did it on a friend's computer in a dorm, as I didn't have a computer. She liked it and played it :) Those were the days

acl

6:55 PM

@OleksandrR. which devices?

Oleksandr R.

@acl iphone, ipod, etc.

acl

@OleksandrR. but they don't use USB cables. what am I missing?

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Ha! The "always open" way

Oleksandr R.

acl

(and I am sure my ipad charges from a windows netbook)

Oleksandr R.

6:56 PM

That's what the charger looks like. It does use a USB cable.

acl

@OleksandrR. right, the computer-side plug is...

OK well I don't know what they do but my ipad does charge from all computers I've tried. I now just plugged an iphone that was lying about into my phone's wall plug (also usb, not apple) and it charges

strange. where did you read about this?

rm -rf

@Szabolcs <must resist urge to state the obvious joke in here>

acl

(I wish mma had snipped-axis plots... I'm fed up with reinventing the wheel the whole time)

Oleksandr R.

@acl e.g. ladyada.net/make/mintyboost/icharge.html

I don't have any Apple devices so I don't know if they still do this, but it certainly used to be the case.

rm -rf

18

A: Generating a broken or snipped axis in ListPlot

Here is a solution that uses a BezierCurve to indicate a "snipped" axes. The function snip[x] places the mark on the axes at relative position x (0 and 1 being the ends). The function getMaxPadding gets the maximum padding on all sides for both plots (based on this answer). The two plots are then...

acl

7:01 PM

@OleksandrR. strange, I tried just now in an iphone 3g (which is old and not mine). let me try later with an iphone 4 and an ipad to see if they charge

belisarius

They should've go to read only mode a few minutes earlier

and freeze it on all fours

acl

@rm-rf I know, but with every slight modification the alignment breaks or something similar

rm -rf

@acl Ah, oh well... :)

belisarius

@acl They started after the 3G, I believe

acl

@belisarius I see. Well, I'll try later with my ipad

Michael E2

7:04 PM

@belisarius I think you meant to say they should have gone down on all fours. :)

belisarius

@MichaelE2 A good reader doesn't need much hints :)

Oleksandr R.

@Szabolcs did you get it cleared up as to what version of Java is used on Macs? Does javac work on a Mac?

Michael E2

@belisarius I made another 3D version of your fountain such that when it's rotated the gravity vector is always aligned screen-down, so the water sprays in an arc, like a garden hose. Should I add that to my answer?

belisarius

@MichaelE2 Sure. Why not? Just take care not to sprinkle other users

Michael E2

Being relatively new, I guess I worry (too much) about what's appropriate. It seems tangential to the original question.

Oleksandr R.

7:16 PM

@MichaelE2 I think the best way to decide what's appropriate is: would you like to read this? If so, it's appropriate (unless you have particularly deviant tastes)

P. Fonseca

Hi everyone. Can someone try to import the following excel file: fonseca.info/myftpdirectory/Book1.xls The file contains two distinct dates, but Mathematica retrieves two equal dates...

Michael E2

I got {{{{2000, 3, 26, 2, 15, 0.}}, {{2000, 3, 26, 3, 15, 0.}}, ...} which are different

@P.Fonseca I just found the reply button...

P. Fonseca

@MichaelE2 I get {{{{2000, 3, 26, 3, 15, 0.}}, {{2000, 3, 26, 3, 15, 0.}}

9.0.1

Simple "Import[file path here...]"

Michael E2

@P.Fonseca I have 9.0.0 and used Import with the path.

P. Fonseca

@MichaelE2 8.0.4 also fails...

32 or 64 bit?

rm -rf

7:25 PM

@P.Fonseca I get different dates. 9.0.1 on mac

Michael E2

@P.Fonseca 8.0.4 gives me different dates, same as 9.0.0.

P. Fonseca

I'm on Windows

Michael E2

@P.Fonseca I'm on a mac, too.

P. Fonseca

Is someone here on Windows? I have 10 huge files to import...

Oleksandr R.

@P.Fonseca distinct dates on 5.2, 7.0.1, 8.0.4, 9.0.1, Windows

P. Fonseca

7:34 PM

@OleksandrR. are you on 32 or 64

Oleksandr R.

@P.Fonseca 64. Want me to try 32?

P. Fonseca

@OleksandrR. no need... I'm on 64 :-(

belisarius

Annnnnd .... we are back!!!

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius how about your headset? Not in multiple smoking pieces yet?

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Charging led indicator on, not even hot. I don't have a way to monitor the charge progress, though

Szabolcs

8:04 PM

@OleksandrR. I might be incorrect about some of this, but it looks like: 1. Mma doesn't come with Java on a Mac and uses the system Java (which is either included with the OS or auto-downloaded when needed). 2. A full JDK comes with OS X, not just a JRE. javac works. The version included is 1.6u37. 3. You can install Java 7 from Oracle, but if you install a JRE, it's only used in the browser. You need to install a JDK to have it used in other apps.

I haven't installed the Java 7 JDK yet, but I believe if I did, Mma would use that.

The things my bird likes the most are those that are forbidden to touch, like the computer. Could lure her anywhere with a computer ... sometimes a bit difficult to type

Oleksandr R.

Hm, I see. Point 3 seems a bit strange to me. I wasn't aware a distinction was made between browsers and other types of program.

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Fully charged! Another victory of improvisation over science

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius excellent!

belisarius

@OleksandrR. Thanks :)

halirutan

8:29 PM

@Szabolcs Yes. Java on OSX has always been special. They were always some versions behind and were never provided through the usual Sun/Oracle sites AFAIK.

belisarius

there was a question about how to query downvalues to check whether an expression is already defined

DownValues[x][[All, 1]] /. Verbatim[HoldPattern][x[l_]] -> l Seems too complicated

ssch

8:58 PM

n/m, that doesn't work

(thought that'd cross out the text, not remove like that)

belisarius

@ssch chat formatting is a mystery :)

rm -rf

9:14 PM

@belisarius You mean, if a particular down value has been set? Or just any downvalue?

belisarius

@rm-rf yup

rm -rf

A OR B. Yes is not a valid answer :)

belisarius

A OR B

rm -rf

DownValues[x] === {}

belisarius

@rm-rf Does it work for, say, x[1,0]?

rm -rf

9:19 PM

What?

belisarius

@rm-rf Doesn't matter, thanks :)

rm -rf

Sounds more like a "ok shut up, you don't grok what I'm saying", but you're welcome :)

belisarius

@rm-rf No, no. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm in the middle of a twisted thing and have a lot of my deteriorated neurons dedicated to hold useless info. I can't rethink that right now.

rm -rf

Lol

Oleksandr R.

@rm-rf a particular downvalue

rm -rf

9:41 PM

@OleksandrR. @belisarius How about this then:

ClearAll@downValueQ
downValueQ[s_Symbol][args___] := ! (# /. DownValues@s) === # &@HoldPattern[s[args]]

And a simple example of its use:

Clear@x;x[1, 0] = "";
downValueQ[x][1, 1]
(* False *)

downValueQ[x][1, 0]
(* True *)

Oleksandr R.

@rm-rf looks fine. I might also suggest

SetAttributes[downvalueQ, HoldAllComplete];
downvalueQ[dv : h_[___]] :=
  MemberQ[DownValues[h, Sort -> False],
   HoldPattern[Verbatim[HoldPattern][dv] :> _], {1}];

belisarius

@rm-rf HoldFirst?

rm -rf

@belisarius Is it necessary?

belisarius

@rm-rf Not sure

rm -rf

@belisarius Didn't think it was, since I'm not passing the args to the symbol

belisarius

9:46 PM

`x[1, 0] = 0;
x = 3;

downValueQ[x][1, 1]`

rm -rf

Ah well... ok :)

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius this is a bit perverse, but my version will handle it :P

belisarius

border case, admitted

@OleksandrR. Very similar to my (not general) try DownValues[x][[All, 1]] /. Verbatim[HoldPattern][x[l_]] -> l

Oleksandr R.

@belisarius yes. I don't think there is any more compact form for this, but any of the above are clear enough and serve the purpose

:8045115 awful :)

belisarius

yup

rm -rf

10:27 PM

@belisarius but Information only works on symbols...

P. Fonseca

@OleksandrR. I think I found the bug. Can you change your windows time zone to Paris, and try the import again?

Oleksandr R.

@P.Fonseca okay. Not easily, no. (I'm using Windows 2003.) But I will try it later. Judging by the problems Mma has with time zones this seems a plausible explanation

P. Fonseca

@OleksandrR. Thank you. I already sent an updated message to bug report, with this new finding. Meanwhile, I can now import my files :-)

halirutan

@OleksandrR. I have to ask. Why are you using Windows 2003? Is there a special reason, a non-Windows guy cannot know?

Oleksandr R.

@halirutan I suppose so... it's because I could get it for free but this isn't the case for the other versions. Also I actually don't like the other versions very much

halirutan

10:38 PM

@OleksandrR. Ah, ok. Sounds reasonable.

rm -rf

@OleksandrR. I didn't even know there was a "Windows 2003"... I thought they released Windows 2000 and then XP?

Or is this the server edition?

Oleksandr R.

@rm-rf yes, Server 2003 Standard x64 actually

Michael E2

@P.Fonseca Bingo! I set my time zone to Paris and get the same identical dates you reported. Odd sort of bug, isn't it?

P. Fonseca

@MichaelE2 I lost 1 hour on it! Can't imagine why the link with time zone...

...welcome to Paris, by the way!

Michael E2

@P.Fonseca Merci!

P. Fonseca

10:48 PM

@MichaelE2 Even more amazing. Take a trip to Cairo, and try this dates: 28-04-2000 0:45:00 ; 28-04-2000 1:45:00

@OleksandrR. What is your time zone? I'll find the dates that bug in your time zone

Oleksandr R.

@P.Fonseca GMT (I'm in UK)

Rojo

Hello

rm -rf

olleH

Rojo

@rm-rf Life's good?

Anything interesting in the backlog?

rm -rf

Just that Parisians can't tell today from tomorrow... must be all the wine.

Rojo

10:53 PM

That's a backlog worthy of this chatroom

P. Fonseca

@OleksandrR. There's no bug for GMT!!! So I can import my files :-)

rm -rf

So just write a wrapper ExcelImport[file_] := Block[{$TimeZone = ...}, Import@...] :)

I know time zones are hard, but I don't know why it should matter here...

Oleksandr R.

@P.Fonseca how strange that UTC+1 and UTC+2 have problems whereas GMT doesn't. I wonder what happens if you live in the Azores (UTC-1) or South Georgia (UTC-2)?

P. Fonseca

@rm-rf most interesting. Your function doesn't work...

@OleksandrR. I'm now at Açores (I'm Portuguese ;-). Give it one minute to process the files...

@OleksandrR. Açores... we have a problem... 26-03-2000 0:00:00 ; 26-03-2000 1:00:00

Oleksandr R.

11:18 PM

@P.Fonseca maybe WRI should open an office there to make sure this never happens again

acl

all: I have this

and would like to not have the legend obscure the lines. I don't want to put it outside the plot. is there some simple way to make it (eg) 2-column? or do I have to do things manually?

(sorry to jump in the middle...)

P. Fonseca

@OleksandrR. I went there, twice, for a couple of weeks. Some of the islands are beautiful, but you need to be island adapted to live there...

Oleksandr R.

@P.Fonseca South Georgia even more so, I should imagine. Maybe not so attractive for a visit either, being a barren rock. In fact I don't know if anyone lives there at all

acl

@OleksandrR. a "barren rock"? this is a barren rock (or two...). South Georgia is practically a continent compared to these...

(these rocks almost caused a war between greece and turkey a few years back...)

P. Fonseca

11:33 PM

@acl but at least you can take a boat and in 10 minutes you have a cinema...

Oleksandr R.

@acl okay, so a very big barren rock with impressive mountains. But still very barren and rocky!

P. Fonseca

@acl @OleksandrR. Açores is a strategic place for the crossing of military airplanes from the USA to Europe. So, although in the middle of the ocean, it has a history of development accelerated by its strategic interest. One of the islands, where Portugal rent’s a “small” piece of ground for an USA air base, is really a mixture of culture between Portugal and USA. As you can imagine, a military base in the middle of a small island, can easily “impose” its ways of living.

Oleksandr R.

@acl wikipedia even has an article on it... unbelievable that three people died (albeit by accident) in this stupid conflict

P. Fonseca

Meanwhile, I finally imported everything with success :-) I can sleep in harmony now... See you all tomorrow!

acl

@OleksandrR. unbelievable is the right word

a large part of greek-turkish history is hard to credit to rational people though

Transcript for