[15953] in Perl-Users-Digest
Perl-Users Digest, Issue: 3365 Volume: 9
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Thu Jun 15 03:05:22 2000
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 00:05:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Perl-Users Digest <Perl-Users-Request@ruby.OCE.ORST.EDU>
To: Perl-Users@ruby.OCE.ORST.EDU (Perl-Users Digest)
Message-Id: <961052712-v9-i3365@ruby.oce.orst.edu>
Content-Type: text
Perl-Users Digest Thu, 15 Jun 2000 Volume: 9 Number: 3365
Today's topics:
(Q) meaning of &which("java") <ogoh@cise.ufl.edu>
Re: (Q) meaning of &which("java") (Tad McClellan)
Re: (Q) meaning of &which("java") <zigouras@mail.med.upenn.edu>
Re: A Computer Programmers Profile (Tad McClellan)
Re: A Computer Programmers Profile (Tad McClellan)
Re: Binary Encoding Data <garstangd@news.com.au>
Re: Binary Encoding Data <iltzu@sci.invalid>
Re: Bot for this group to auto-answer queries? (Tad McClellan)
Re: Bot for this group to auto-answer queries? <iltzu@sci.invalid>
Re: Bot for this group to auto-answer queries? <godzilla@stomp.stomp.tokyo>
Digest Administrivia (Last modified: 16 Sep 99) (Perl-Users-Digest Admin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 00:54:16 -0400
From: "Okehee Goh" <ogoh@cise.ufl.edu>
Subject: (Q) meaning of &which("java")
Message-Id: <8i9nkh$3ktq$1@spnode25.nerdc.ufl.edu>
Could you explain what it means by following?
$java_loc=&which("java");
Thank you very much.
********************************************************************
Okehee Goh
RealTime System Lab. (T) 1-352-392-6836
CISE Dept. University Of Florida
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 00:23:04 -0400
From: tadmc@metronet.com (Tad McClellan)
Subject: Re: (Q) meaning of &which("java")
Message-Id: <slrn8kgmh8.5n8.tadmc@magna.metronet.com>
On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 00:54:16 -0400, Okehee Goh <ogoh@cise.ufl.edu> wrote:
>
>Could you explain what it means by following?
>
>$java_loc=&which("java");
Call a subroutine, giving it one argument, and store the return value.
And whoever wrote that has a truly awful programming style,
which makes other things suspect as well...
$java_loc = which('java');
--
Tad McClellan SGML Consulting
tadmc@metronet.com Perl programming
Fort Worth, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 02:13:14 -0400
From: Nico Zigouras <zigouras@mail.med.upenn.edu>
Subject: Re: (Q) meaning of &which("java")
Message-Id: <Pine.OSF.4.21.0006150211090.26260-100000@mail.med.upenn.edu>
On the contrary, I think using the ampersand is fine style - makes it
readable as to where the function calls are. Nothing wrong with the
double quotes either. the only problem I would see is not declaring
$java_loc with my(), unless it has been declared higher up in the program.
> And whoever wrote that has a truly awful programming style,
> which makes other things suspect as well...
>
>
> $java_loc = which('java');
>
On Thu, 15 Jun 2000, Tad McClellan wrote:
> Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 00:23:04 -0400
> From: Tad McClellan <tadmc@metronet.com>
> Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.misc
> Subject: Re: (Q) meaning of &which("java")
>
> On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 00:54:16 -0400, Okehee Goh <ogoh@cise.ufl.edu> wrote:
> >
> >Could you explain what it means by following?
> >
> >$java_loc=&which("java");
>
>
> Call a subroutine, giving it one argument, and store the return value.
>
>
>
> --
> Tad McClellan SGML Consulting
> tadmc@metronet.com Perl programming
> Fort Worth, Texas
>
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 23:28:24 -0400
From: tadmc@metronet.com (Tad McClellan)
Subject: Re: A Computer Programmers Profile
Message-Id: <slrn8kgjao.570.tadmc@magna.metronet.com>
On Wed, 14 Jun 2000 15:13:55 -0700, Employer <jenniferbje@oreilly.com> wrote:
>Hello. I am looking to create a "computer programmers profile". I am
>looking to find out:
>
>Where do computer programmers "hang out" on the Internet?
In the WC, I would imagine (though some programmers are
anatomically incapable of such a feat).
>What websites do they visit?
The good ones (i.e. the ones with the least glitz).
>What magazines do they read?
They don't read prose, only code.
They like to look at the pictures though.
>How old are they generally?
How old are _you_?
Where do _you_ hang out on the Internet?
What websites do _you_ visit?
What magazines do _you_ read?
Seems only fair to make it a two way street.
>to find
>computer programmers for employment when I need them. They have been
>hard to find (the good ones anyway), and I am trying to find them!!
^^^^^^^^^^^^
When demand is high and supply is low, the goods tend to cost more.
If you raise the pay enough, you will have no trouble finding programmers.
But, since you _are_ having trouble, we can conclude that
O'Reilly does not pay very well.
I think it may get even harder...
--
Tad McClellan SGML Consulting
tadmc@metronet.com Perl programming
Fort Worth, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 23:18:58 -0400
From: tadmc@metronet.com (Tad McClellan)
Subject: Re: A Computer Programmers Profile
Message-Id: <slrn8kgip2.570.tadmc@magna.metronet.com>
On Wed, 14 Jun 2000 15:13:55 -0700, Employer <jenniferbNOjeSPAM@oreilly.com.invalid> wrote:
>I am looking for this information in the interest to be able to find
>computer programmers for employment when I need them.
You forgot to mention how much of the commission you will share
in return for the consulting.
You aren't really trying to use people so you can make more
money, are you?
I can see why you might have trouble getting folks to
trust you...
--
Tad McClellan SGML Consulting
tadmc@metronet.com Perl programming
Fort Worth, Texas
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 Jun 2000 04:21:27 GMT
From: "Dougas Garstang" <garstangd@news.com.au>
Subject: Re: Binary Encoding Data
Message-Id: <bRY15.172$re6.558287@news0.optus.net.au>
Tom,
I have... a few times. I'm afraid I guess I don't quite get it... The docs
(ie perldoc -f pack) are pretty sketchy.
I think I solved it with...
$packed = pack("B8","01000001");
@bits = unpack("B8",$packed);
Would it be safe to say, that since length($packed) = 1, that its worked?
I thought the second arguement to pack was supposed to be the format it was
STORED in. Instead its the format of the string argument itself.
Regards
Douglas.
Tom Phoenix wrote in message ...
>On Thu, 15 Jun 2000, Dougas Garstang wrote:
>
>> I've tried using pack with:
>>
>> $packed = pack("B8","A"); # Encode it
>
>That's not a bit string in descending bit order. Better read the docs for
>pack again. Cheers!
>
>--
>Tom Phoenix Perl Training and Hacking Esperanto
>Randal Schwartz Case: http://www.rahul.net/jeffrey/ovs/
>
------------------------------
Date: 15 Jun 2000 05:33:34 GMT
From: Ilmari Karonen <iltzu@sci.invalid>
Subject: Re: Binary Encoding Data
Message-Id: <961046154.20809@itz.pp.sci.fi>
In article <geX15.133$re6.505906@news0.optus.net.au>, Dougas Garstang wrote:
>I'm trying to encode some character data in binary binary format (yes binary
>was supposed to be there twice).
"I'm trying write some text in English English language."
(meaning: You say it's intentional, but not what the intention is..)
>$packed = pack("B8","A"); # Encode it
>@bits = unpack("B8",$packed); # Decode it.
Pack and unpack are complementary. If unpack "B8" returns a string of
eight ones and zeros, you'd expect pack "B8" to want the same thing as
its argument:
$packed = pack("B8", "01001011");
die unless unpack("B8", $packed) eq "01001011";
What you probably wanted was pack "A1" instead:
$packed = pack("A1", "K");
die unless unpack("B8", $packed) eq "01001011";
..or, since packing a string is more or less a no-op:
die unless unpack("B8", "K") eq "01001011";
--
Ilmari Karonen - http://www.sci.fi/~iltzu/
Please ignore Godzilla and its pseudonyms - do not feed the troll.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 23:10:40 -0400
From: tadmc@metronet.com (Tad McClellan)
Subject: Re: Bot for this group to auto-answer queries?
Message-Id: <slrn8kgi9g.570.tadmc@magna.metronet.com>
On Thu, 15 Jun 2000 07:26:01 +0930, Henry <henry@penninkilampi.net> wrote:
>
>I just finished building a bot.
>
>This bot is programmed to continuously scan a given newsgroup,
bot's are not appropriate on Usenet (IMO, of course).
>looking
>for
That sounds pretty much like "harvesting" to me.
Doesn't sound so good when it is said that way...
>messages with the word "help" in the subject line.
Something like this was discussed about a year ago in clp.moderated.
Subject: infobot for c.l.p.m
http://www.deja.com/=dnc/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=494842656
[ It was very depressing to me to look over the posters in that
thread. I hadn't realized that there were so many of the
Frequent Answerers who aren't here anymore...
]
And it spilled over into clp.misc:
Subject: Robot email/poster for this group
http://www.deja.com/=dnc/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=495346581
(I couldn't find a root for the thread on deja...)
>It then extracts any other words on the subject line, and uses them as
>keywords to search a local database. It ranks the matches, and then
>posts a summary of all the articles back to the newsgroup as a response
^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That feature kills any support that I might give it.
Machines don't get to talk on Usenet. Only carbon-based types allowed.
>Yes, it's just another way of dealing with FAQs.
Treating the symptoms rather than the disease ( I do understand
that the disease seems incurable...)
>A while ago, TomC had his FAQs being auto-posted to this group, and
>people complained because they perceived the broadcast nature as noise.
>Hopefully the "on-demand" nature of this system will placate those
>individuals. I am unaware of any previous (or other) automated
>mechanism.
Using the newsgroup as the mechanism is a show stopper.
If it could be done with email (only when requested), or with
a website, that would win you more support, I think.
>My questions thus are:
>
>Have there been any previous attempts at setting up an automated
>response system for this group (or associated groups)? If so, what
>happened to them?
See above :-)
>Does this group even want such a system?
Not if it includes machines posting to newsgroups.
>Or are people happy with
>things the way they currently are?
The only people who are happy with it the way it is are the
gimme-gimmes who got what they wanted.
And we don't need to consider them, because they are not
here anymore, having gotten what they want. :-) :-)
>Any concerns/doubts as to the effectiveness of such a system?
Yes.
It may encourage _more_ FAQ asking.
The better it gets at correctly answering, the more use it will get.
Then there will be more traffic for the machine than for the humans.
( although there already _are_ "machine answerable" questions galore here)
>Would anyone object to their responses (in this forum) being integrated
>into the knowledge base (without additional correspondence)?
That may be a sticky point with some. I wouldn't mind.
>I basically figure that it would be nice to give the gurus of the group
>the option of responding to a message with "Just ask the Bot".
Seems like a lot of work just to get them to say "Just ask the Bot"
instead of "See the FAQ".
:-)
More seriously, if it had a web interface where a URL could be
used to refer to it, that might be Good.
>That
>should help keep the stress levels down, and reduce the burn-out rate.
But it doesn't really help much.
The S/N ratio is very likely to be _lower_ with such a system
(because humans (sans trolls) are sure to be able to give
better advice than a machine.
)
>(Keep in mind that September is just around the corner.)
September is always here :-(
--
Tad McClellan SGML Consulting
tadmc@metronet.com Perl programming
Fort Worth, Texas
------------------------------
Date: 15 Jun 2000 05:08:17 GMT
From: Ilmari Karonen <iltzu@sci.invalid>
Subject: Re: Bot for this group to auto-answer queries?
Message-Id: <961044460.18283@itz.pp.sci.fi>
In article <henry-3C5BE7.07260115062000@news.metropolis.net.au>, Henry wrote:
>This bot is programmed to continuously scan a given newsgroup, looking
>for messages with the word "help" in the subject line.
[rest of desciption snipped]
While the idea of a FAQ-answering bot sounds like it could be a good
thing, I'd *strongly* object to any implementation not satisfying the
following conditions:
1. The bot shall not post to Usenet.
An autogenerated message cannot, by definition, carry new information.
Therefore it is not signal, and posting it to the group would lower
the signal/noise ratio. Even if all regulars killfiled the bot, such
posts would still waste bandwidth as they propagated around the world.
2. The bot shall not spam.
Specifically, it should store a list of every e-mail address it has
ever replied to, and only reply to those that are new to it. There
should also be a header ("X-No-Autoreply"?) which could be included in
a post to prevent the bot from replying to it. Both of these features
should be clearly described in every message sent by the bot.
3. The bot shall not encourage FAQs in the group.
There should be a way to submit questions to the bot through channels
other than Usenet, such as e-mail and/or a web form. These channels
should be clearly marked as being preferred over posting to Usenet.
(This is partially implied by rule 2, which of course should not be
applied to questions submitted directly to the bot in this manner.)
--
Ilmari Karonen - http://www.sci.fi/~iltzu/
Please ignore Godzilla and its pseudonyms - do not feed the troll.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 23:55:08 -0700
From: "Godzilla!" <godzilla@stomp.stomp.tokyo>
Subject: Re: Bot for this group to auto-answer queries?
Message-Id: <39487DCC.3C8E1920@stomp.stomp.tokyo>
Henry wrote:
> I just finished building a bot.
> I've got the Bot sitting on a permanent connection
> just waiting to go.
As you know, I have two moderately famous
androids taking care of one of my sites
and chatting away with people along with
delighting them with zen poetry, horoscopes,
fortunes, moon phase graphics, graphical
draw poker and so forth, and have being
doing so, for almost a year now.
Post a link to your bot. I would like
to test his or her metal.
Godzilla!
------------------------------
Date: 16 Sep 99 21:33:47 GMT (Last modified)
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Message-Id: <null>
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------------------------------
End of Perl-Users Digest V9 Issue 3365
**************************************
