The Whiteboard

12:01 AM

@3ventic'sShadow: I would be cautious about pointing folks to chat as a substitute water cooler. Many of the chat rooms have specific themes, and find it disruptive when someone doesn't observe the established norms. I've stopped referring folks to the chat rooms for their off-topic questions for this very reason. "No, you can't ask them in here, either." — Robert Harvey ♦ 1 min ago

user55340

1:35 AM

Questions that require a prediction of the future are off-topic; any answer is little better than a guess. — Eric Lippert 3 hours ago

user55340

(its a 10k link now... programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/235325/… (the slug should give enough info for non-10ks)

user55340

While I'm fairly sure he won't see it (being chat) - Thank you Eric for those delete votes on questions.

200_success

10:01 AM

Hi Programmers, Code Review moderator here. Would you accept this question for migration?

0

Q: Captcha Maker program in python

I have written a program to create an image consisting of randomly generated numbers using PIL. I have stored the numbers generated and compared it with user's input. import Image, ImageDraw , ImageFont import random n=4 size = (100,50) image = Image.new('RGB', size) draw = ImageDraw.Draw(ima...

python

There's some code there, but it seems to be a proof-of-concept. Fundamentally, the question is seeking design advice.

amon

10:13 AM

@200_success No: “If yes, please help me in implementing such a captcha maker.” – I'd close as too broad or unclear what you're asking. I don't think this is a good fit for programmers, and it's actually a better fit for CR.

200_success

Well, it's marginal for CR as well. Thanks anyway.

gnat

11:52 AM

Did not found "Programmers Chat" there is a fake programmers chat :) — Cris 6 mins ago

^^^ we are fake

Cris

12:11 PM

Hi any of you had some practical usage of Nashorn javascript engine ?

i wonder what is the practical aplicability of it

@gnat well this is called the whiteboard

you told me Programmers Chat and there is actually a room call Fake Programmers chat ...search for it

amon

@Cris is your question “why could a JavaScript engine be useful” or “why the Nashorn JS engine, and not some other engine”?

Cris

no ...why you would call from Java javascript code via nashorn engine

java expose this javascript engine called nashorn where you can execute on JVM javascript

that's ok...i did some samples but i do not understand a real use case aplicability

amon

Having access to a scripting language is convenient, when you need scripts. When you want to add new behavior to something, you could just load a JS file rather than recompiling your whole application. E.g: business rules, quests in a computer game, macros in an editor, …

Writing a simple DSL for some use case is not difficult, but using an existing, tested, and proven implementation is much easier.

Cris

@amon i see, it make sense pretty much that was the ansewer i was looking for ...thanks

if you want you can add the response for my question programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/236110/…

Cris

12:40 PM

i deleted the question as it was too broad...still there might be a place where you can ask freely and see others opinion

should be ...not might be ..sorry

Thomas Owens

@Cris On Stack Exchange? Yep, you're there. A chat room.

user55340

1:48 PM

@Cris one thing to consider is wherever one would be implementing an interpreter of ones own for a DSL within the application (and I've come across a few of those), one could instead use Javascript or Lua or some other embedable language.

user55340

Its not uncommon for the custom DSLs to be poorly implemented, and thus going to a less domain specific/general purpose embedable language avoids issues of implementation and leverages existing experience in existing languages.

user55340

2:09 PM

meta.stackexchange.com still redirects to meta.stackoverflow.com

user55340

But today is the big day...

ratchet freak

dun dun dunnn

Zeroth

2:32 PM

The thing about writing your own DSL is that it becomes a huge project on its own, contributing its own hard-to-find defects.

This is speaking as the guy who wrote an extremely terse language to execute code over tweets.

So trust me, finding a defect in your own language vs the code written in it is very very hard.

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT Later.

user55340

2:56 PM

@Zeroth Absolutely.

gnat

3:29 PM

1

A: Are questions about ergonomy, health issues of long work with computer allowed on Stack Overflow?

Not Programmers.SE. While questions of this nature have been asked on Programmers.SE in the past, they are routinely closed there. The reasoning being that while it does concern us, it is not a question that a programmer has expert information in (any more than we have expert information on the...

^^^ upvotes are welcome

user55340

I still quite recall the keyboard and chair questions that got escalated to meta.

user55340

There are times I'm tempted to write a FQA for P.SE. ( yosefk.com/c++fqa )

user55340

What style guide is better?
FAQ: Pick one. Stick with it.
FQA: {insert snark here}

Zeroth

3:58 PM

sigh

user55340

@bfavaretto That post was closed in December 2011. It has also been deleted, since it is not a good question for our site and does not meet the criteria for historical locking. It should not be used as an example of what Programmers is about - please see our About page and Help Center for a description of what is and is not on-topic. — Thomas Owens 3 mins ago

user55340

blam - its nice when someone points out the broken windows we can clean up.

user55340

4:15 PM

(There's a name that caught my eye... Mark Dominus)

user55340

Mark Jason Dominus

Mark Jason Dominus is the author of Higher-Order Perl: Transforming Programs with Programs which was published in 2005 by Morgan Kaufmann. He was the managing editor of perl.com (a website about the Perl programming language) from 1999 to 2001 and was a columnist for The Perl Journal for several years. Other Perl-related articles by Dominus have appeared in magazines such as Wired and IEEE Software. Dominus is the author of several Perl modules, including Text::Template, Memoize, and Tie::File. His work on Rx, a Perl regular expression debugger, won the 2000 Larry Wall Award for Practical...

amon

@MichaelT The asker, Simon Cozens, is also a Perl author. He wrote a free “Beginning Perl” book

user55340

@amon Very nice.

user55340

The thing that I like seeing there is that we are attracting the experts.

Thomas Owens

I just wish people like Ian Sommerville, Robert Glass, Steve McConnell, Barry Boehm, the Poppendiecks, and Karl Wiegers would also pop in from time to time.

user55340

4:24 PM

Current graphic project idea... so I got a tshirt that is best described as fuzzy lights ( designbyhumans.com/shop/men/transcendence/32777 )... and while that is indeed "Designed By Humans" I want to make a program that creates that type of image.

user55340

Robert Harvey

New "posting from my cell phone" pattern: posts that have random words capitalized (or even all the words).

user55340

The idea would be to make a model of a city block that you're looking at... turn on / off random lights, and do a projection based on that, and generate an svg with the appropriate gradients.

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT You want to generate bokeh?

user55340

(maybe even some cats eye aberration based on distance from center of the image...)

user55340

4:27 PM

Cat eye aberration:

user55340

@ThomasOwens Yep. Or the "lights of the distance city through a glass with water drops on it" effect.

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT I almost wonder if I could put water drops on my lens (well, a filter...) and take photos of things...

Wonder how that would come out.

user55340

(well thats Vaseline... but you can do it)

Thomas Owens

4:29 PM

@MichaelT What is that, exactly?

Ah.

user55340

I'm sure there's a cokin filter...

Thomas Owens

Hmm. Water, maybe soapy water for the cool things it does with light?

Unfortunately, my next outing is Marathon Monday. I want nice, crisp images. But this is now on my to-do list.

Jimmy Hoffa

@MichaelT that probably makes really interesting photos, I'm curious now

Zeroth

Someone took a lens from a cheap laser pointer, and jury-rigged it to their smart phone camera

to take extreme closeups of nature

user55340

cokin.co.uk/pages/pastels1.htm

Zeroth

4:31 PM

they started with their gecko

user55340

Essentially, its a diffuser.

Zeroth

ssnakess.com/forums/rhacodactylus/…

user55340

Though depends on how many and the size of the bumps.

Thomas Owens

What else could maybe go on a filter, besides water, soapy water, and vaseline?

user55340

varnish paints.

user55340

4:33 PM

bhphotovideo.com/c/product/13962-REG/…

Thomas Owens

That would definitely be destructive to the filter.

user55340

You're ruining the optical quality of the lens system when you do this anyways... so get a cheap filter and use that.

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT Yeah. I'd get a cheap UV filter or neutral clear filter.

user55340

You could get a cheap piece of plastic and put that in front of the lens and paint the varnish on that.

user55340

What you do is get a square filter system (I like Lee) and then cut some plexiglass to size.

user55340

4:37 PM

amazon.com/Lee-Foundation-Kit-Filter-Holder/dp/B00009XW3O

user55340

You can see with the filter holder you can eaislly put anything in there of the right thickness:

user55340

Jimmy Hoffa

@MichaelT like a whole jar of mayo

user55340

@JimmyHoffa I think pickles would be more interesting... though I've seen some odd filters in the past.

user55340

Also kind of inspired by...

user55340

4:44 PM

user55340

( hof.povray.org/mouille.html - be sure to read oyonale.com/image.php?code=464 )

Thomas Owens

So, I have no clue how to do sports photography.

Jimmy Hoffa

@ThomasOwens the hardest part is not breaking the camera while you're running the ball down the field

Thomas Owens

I don't even know what lenses to bring Monday, but I do need to minimize the size of my bag as much as possible.

user55340

@ThomasOwens what aspect is confusing?

Thomas Owens

4:47 PM

@MichaelT Mostly the timing and fast reaction to things.

user55340

Sports ins't my favorite type, but I can suggest things based on the lenses you have.

user55340

Thats a 'knowing how the motion of the game goes, a high speed multiple photo mode, fast lens, possibly with IS if you have to go slower and pan while shooting"

user55340

Panning while shooting is something you need to practice... its a technique to perfect.

user55340

For that, you could just sit outside and photograph cars as they go past while panning.

Thomas Owens

My options to bring at my 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6, 55-200 f/4-5.6, 18-55 f/3.5-5.6, 35 f/1.8, 40 f/2.8, 85 f/3.5, and a 50mm f/1.8 FX (on a DX body, so it's 75mm equivalent)

I'm thinking the 8-16 is kind of useless where I'll be. It is a wide angle lens.

user55340

4:51 PM

(you need a longer, faster lens...) The 55-200 would be one, though wide open at 200mm is f/5.6 which is kind of slow.

user55340

Unless you want a 'whole field with ants photo' yea...

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT Yeah, long + fast = $$$$$

user55340

The 50mm would not be bad, though not sure if its long enough.

Thomas Owens

I suppose it depends on how close the runners are to the sidewalks?

user55340

85mm f/3.5 is a bit odd for that focal length... though might not be bad. Long term look at the 85mm f/1.8 which is an affordable lens.

user55340

4:52 PM

Ahh... boston?

Thomas Owens

@MichaelT Yep.

user55340

50mm f/1.8 should be good - though realize it will be a field of view slightly smaller than what you see normally.

Thomas Owens

I told work I don't care about other people being sick or releases or anything, I'm photographing the marathon.

user55340

So if you're close, the 50mm is the best.

Thomas Owens

It'll be 75mm on my camera, since I have a crop sensor and it's designed for a full frame.

user55340

4:53 PM

the 35mm f/1.8 would also be a nice one if you want that wider field.

user55340

While the 1.5 crop gets in there, the field of view is only slightly smaller than full frame where 50mm is normal.

Thomas Owens

So the 35, the 50. I can carry two more.

user55340

Is it supposed to be sunny?

user55340

(its a question of if you want to toss the two other kit lenses in your pockets)

user55340

I'm trying to keep your camera lens count down so you don't need a camera bag (which would invite additional headaches)

Thomas Owens

4:55 PM

@MichaelT I am carrying a small camera bag. I intend to carry it open, though, so it's easy for them to look inside and see that it's a camera.

I can carry 1 lens on the camera + 2-3 lenses, depending on their size, in the bag.

user55340

I'd go: 35mm, 50mm, 85mm primes and leave it at that... though the 18-55 wouldn't be a bad "what else" lens if you want the zoom.

user55340

2

Q: What is the best way to photograph a marathon?

I've had trouble finding information on how to best photograph action at a marathon. I don't mean tips for finding locations, ideas, etc, but rather technical tips for a beginning photographer to obtain the best pictures. For example, I have seen that it is best to use Aperture Priority and stick...

aperture shooting-technique sports

user55340

Nikon or Canon as the lens setup?

Thomas Owens

Nikon.

I've got to run to a meeting. If you've got any advice, send it my way. I'll read that question, too.

user55340

@ThomasOwens If you can quickly run to B&H get this lens instead of your other 85mm: bhphotovideo.com/c/product/838798-REG/…

Thomas Owens

4:58 PM

@MichaelT Don't forget - that's an FX lens.

user55340

(or this one: bhphotovideo.com/c/product/84151-GREY/… - its a question of whats in stock)

Jimmy Hoffa

@MichaelT with an electro-magnetized-pidgeons-eye jumpered to an NVRAM

Thomas Owens

It would be not 85mm on my camera. IT would be 85 + 50%.

user55340

Yes. I know...

user55340

thats why I'm saying it would be a good choice.

user55340

4:59 PM

The thing is the speed - the f/1.8. That will be key in seperating the background from the runner.

user55340

Might also ping @AJHenderson for his suggestions on photographing a marathon - he's got an answer in there too.

user55340

My photography tends to be landscape... and most of the time, mountains and canyons don't move too fast.

Jimmy Hoffa

5:22 PM

0

Q: WCF, Net.Tcp endpoint, code-first

I have a WCF service, this service works perfectly well on a WSHttp endpoint, running as a Windows service under ServiceHost. However I want to move to a TCP endpoint, because of scalability. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to host it correctly. Here is my host's OnStart routine, in VB...

web-services wcf vb.net services

^-- migrate vote plz

or wait

maybe that's a bad call

it's kind of a gnarly Q in current form...

it's on topic for SO but it's also wall-of-text...

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