|
|
|
|
 |
Typically, when a student first learns to
program, they often use one of the
text-based programming languages. Depending
on the language, this can either be easy or
frustratingly difficult. Many languages
require you to write lines of confusing code
just to display the text "Hello, world!".
Flowgorithm is a free beginner's
programming language that is based on simple
graphical flowcharts. Students can learn
programming concepts without worrying about
the syntactic nuances of most languages.
These flowcharts can be
executed directly by the application or converted to
25 major programming languages. These include:
C#, Java, Visual Basic. NET and Python. The software
was written to be used in CSC 10.
 Flowgorithm
Homepage
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
For a long time, the only graphical
version of the California Flag, found
online, was highly inaccurate.
So, I downloaded the official 1953 law,
and recreated the flag in
Inkscape. I then uploaded it to Wikipedia
and a myriad of clipart websites.
The result was humbling. The image file (and
variations I created for fun) populated
throughout the Internet and, now, is the
default image. I have purchased quite a few
California-related items depicting my work.
 Flag of California [ svg ] [ emf ]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Many,
many, years ago... I wrote an Atari 2600 game. It
was a rather fun programming challenge given the
limited abilities of the Atari 2600: only 128 bytes
of RAM (yes, just bytes) and 4 KB of cartridge
space.
When I was in junior high school, I started, and
never finished the game on the Commodore 64. Of
course, I was a new programmer and Commodore 64
BASIC spaghetti-code was not a great combination.
Instead, I finished the game in the more difficult
(and thus more fun) MOS 6502 Assembly.
You can buy the cartridge at
AtariAge.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
I created a true type font based on the
Commodore 64 character set. This was an
early project - created around 1998. This
should be obvious given the website "button"
(to the left). These were incredibly popular
at the time.
The zip file below contains three
versions of the font - the original "pixel"
font and alternatives with rounded and
angled edges. The Zip file also contains a ding-bat
font that has vectorized
versions of my actual Commodore 64 as well
as the logo placed on various, random, glyphs.
Commodore
64 Font Pack
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
For my
Master's Project at Sacramento State
University, I wrote a multiple programming
language parsing system called GOLD. The
first and second readers were
Dr. Du Zhang and
Dr. Radimsky. I have continued to
maintain and expand the application over
time - so it's an ongoing project.
I
haven't be able to work on it for a while. I
hope to get back to it soon.
GOLD
Parsing System Website
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The following are various programs I wrote that
either are used for demonstrations or solved a
problem.
-
 QBasic Lite
When I
started teaching at Sacramento State, CSC 1 was
using an the old DOS version of QBasic. I wrote
a Windows interpreter that included MIDI (play
statement) and graphics support. No longer
needed and abandoned.
- Sort Demonstration (Windows
3.1)
When I was an undergraduate, I created a
Windows 3.1 application that graphically
demonstrated sort algorithms. It wasn't a new
idea, by any means.
- The Creeping Error (Windows
3.1 / 95)
One of the most enduring shows of all time is
Mystery Science Theater 3000. The concept of
MST3k is fairly simple: riff (make fun of) some of cinema's most
inadvertently funny movies.
The "plot"
of the show involves Mike/Joel (and the two
robots) who are forced to watch bad movies by a
mad scientist. To keep their sanity, they riff
the movie... and, you get to watch. A MST3k
episode plays the movie, in its entirety, with silhouetted
figures sitting in the first row of a theater.
 I wrote application that brought
Mike/Joel and the 'bots to the desktop. The application drew
animated silhouettes, played
sounds files, and ran simple scripts. The app's name is a
play-on-words of movie title "The Creeping
Terror" - one of my favorite episodes.
|
|
|
