Now you can “Dislike” things on Facebook!

Today, I had been reading an article on Mashable about a feature that everything’s been wanting on Facebook. The Dislike button… As we may have friends on Facebook that have statuses or messages that are just rude or obnoxious, then Dislike button maybe the solution. So let me share how this works. First, you must have Mozilla Firefox and download this Facebook Dislike Firefox Plugin.

The major issue is that your friends also need to have this plugin for them to see your “dislike” of a certain feed item.

However, that isn’t a major problem if your friends also want this feature. Anyway, have fun with this plug in and feel free to share your opinions about it. Just be careful if you don’t want the originator of the post to see your expression of “dislike.” LOL. Have a great day!

Stories about University of Washington’s Top Rated Computer Science and Engineering Department

Today, we will talk about the Computer Science and Engineering program at the University of Washington.  Located in the heart of the Pacific Northwest, the UW is a top-ten rated program for its graduate level research work.    It is within close proximity to headquarters for Microsoft, Real Networks, Amazon.com, Expedia and Infospace amongst many technology companies.  Additionally, many companies have branch offices in the Northwest.  Google for example opened a few offices a few years ago.  In addition, the UW is close to Intel’s branches in DuPont, Washington and near Portland, Oregon. 

Starting out as undergraduates, the program requires admittance to the University of Washington and then additional application to the department itself.  Applying will get you considered by both Computer Engineering and Computer Science programs.  General requirements include programming courses, calculus, linear algebra, statistics and physics or chemistry.  In the CE choice, one can choose from hardware or software concentrations.  Additionally the CSE department works closely with its Electrical Engineering department (in the adjacent building) to create an interdiscplinary link between computing and electronics.  Complementing the CSE department are the Informatics and Applied Computation Mathematical Science programs that are relevant to today’s growing technology industries.

For more information about the program, please do not hesitate to contact us.

A Simple Tip Calculator using HTML and Java Script

For a recent project, I programmed a simple tip calculator using HTML and Java Script. Here is a sample code:

<html>

<head>

<title>Tip Calculator by MyProgrammingTips.com</title>

</head>

<body>

<script type=”text/javascript”>

document.write(”<h1>Tip Calculator by MyProgrammingTips.com</h1>”);

//Variables

var subtotal, percent, total;

//Input

subtotal=parseFloat(prompt(”Enter your bill amount before tips”,”100.00″));

percent=parseFloat(prompt(”Enter your desired tip percentage”,”20%”));

//Processing

tip=subtotal*(percent/100);

tip=Math.round(tip*100)/100;

total=subtotal+tip;

total=Math.round(total*100)/100;

//Output

document.write(”<p>Your bill amount before tips is $” + subtotal + “.”);

document.write(”<p>Your tip percentage is ” + percent +”%” + “.”);

document.write(”<p>Your tip is $” + tip.toFixed(2) + “.”);

document.write(”<p>Your total amount is $” + total.toFixed(2) + “.”);

</script>

</body>

</html>

<!–
Adrian Chu
Section 03
January 24, 2008
–>
<html>
<head>
<title>Tip Calculator by Adrian Chu</title>
</head>
<body>
<script type=”text/javascript”>
document.write(”<h1>Tip Calculator by Adrian Chu</h1>”);
//Variables
var subtotal, percent, total;
//Input
subtotal=parseFloat(prompt(”Enter your bill amount before tips”,”100.00″));
percent=parseFloat(prompt(”Enter your desired tip percentage”,”20%”));
//Processing
tip=subtotal*(percent/100);
tip=Math.round(tip*100)/100;
total=subtotal+tip;
total=Math.round(total*100)/100;
//Output
document.write(”<p>Your bill amount before tips is $” + subtotal + “.”);
document.write(”<p>Your tip percentage is ” + percent +”%” + “.”);
document.write(”<p>Your tip is $” + tip.toFixed(2) + “.”);
document.write(”<p>Your total amount is $” + total.toFixed(2) + “.”);
</script>
</body>
</html>

Check it out and let me know what you think. It currently relies on prompts to ask you how much your subtotal is and how much of a percentage you would like to give as gratuity/tips. A challenge for you can be to make it into a form-based program. Good luck!

Happy Labor Day!

On behalf of the entire team at myprogrammingtips.com, I hope you guys in the United States have a day of from work and an enjoyable long weekend! Thanks for your ongoing support!

My Programming Tips Forum Launched!

We are pleased to announce the launching of our new forum @ myprogrammingtips.com

The URL is http://www.myprogrammingtips.com/forums

We feature discussion about software and web development, web 2.0 and business as well as other random cool sections for members only.

For more information, please contact us. Thanks!

Pagerank, Search Engine Optimization and SERPs

I came across to great discussion topics on LinkedIn today.

You might have to be a member of the “Inbound Marketers – For Marketing Professionals” to join.

But here are the links if you are interested.

1

2

Where do I learn how to code?

Recently I have come across a wonderful website called W3Schools (http://w3schools.com/) It teaches you step-by-step on how to code in various programming languages. Some of the languages they teach include HTML, XHTML, CSS, TCP/IP, XML, CSS, ASP, SQL, JavaScript and Flash. So if you are looking for a new programming job or just want to learn some new skills to remain competitive in this economic crisis, then I would highly suggest that you check out the site. Today, the Computer Science field is highly competitive. Workers in United States face the threat of outsourcing and layoffs. So one must be proactive about protecting his/her job. In many companies, they layoff based on performance. As I hear from my friends, layoffs and discharges typically start with information technology, which is a big killer for our field. And it happens to the bottom tier of employees in terms of performance… so what does this mean? I would think that you should try your best to be better than your co-workers, so when those large manila envelopes are passed out, you aren’t going to get one.

Joomla Software Developer

A couple days ago when I was working on a Joomla project for a client, I came across a wonderful software developer from Romania, who was extremely knowledgeable about Joomla and php coding. In addition, he has created numerous extensions for the Joomla content management system. One of my favorite is the fully customizable contact form that one can embed on the website. I had some trouble with getting the fields to show up on the page. I emailed the gentleman named Alex and he responded very promptly.

In my case, I was using mySQL version 5 (this I found on the control panel of the database) and php version 4.3.11 (this I found creating a file called info.php and running it). Within that file, I enclosed the following code:

I was instructed to add the following lines of code:

The file that needs modifications is:

components\com_aicontactsafe\views\message\view.html.php

You have to modify the line 226 from :

foreach($fields as $field) {

to

foreach($fields as $field_key=>$field) {

And add a new line above the 412:

$fields[$field_key] = $field;

In the end the lines 411, 412 and 413 should beȘ

}
$fields[$field_key] = $field;
}

Now you may be wondering, what else does he do? They also provide web hosting, software and web development services to clients worldwide. Anyway, I wish you all the best of luck with your programming!

Ask for help!

I would like to share with you guys a story. During my years as a computer science student, I had never wanted to let the teacher or my classmates know that I did not understand the assignment. I liked to make an impression that I was capable without anyone’s help. Well that is not the best route to succeed in Computer Science. Teachers are available to help you understand the assignment and give you insight to your code. If you are stuck, try to figure it out yourself. If you still cannot do so, ask your friends, teacher assistants or your teacher for help. This case is the same for in industry as well. You must fulfill the requirements of your customer. If something is unclear, you should ask questions that are simple and have yes or no answers. That way, both parties have a clear understanding of what is expected. So if you have any questions, talk to your teachers and feel free to message our team. Have a great day!

Planning in the Software Development Cycle

This is part one of our ongoing series: Planning, the Software Development Cycle.

In Computer Science class, one of the first concepts we learn is the Software Development Cycle (or Process as some people like to call it). The most crucial of the tasks is first communicating with the cusomter and seeing what requirements they have. Remember, the customer is always first. To extract the requirements, one may have to ask yes or no questions to determine what the client really wants. You would not want answers that are ambiguous that may confuse what the customer is really wanting. One way to be certain that you have a clear idea what the client wants is to show them using code and the final product, perhaps without the design element or graphical user interface in place. Maybe you could draw out as an image what the interface would look like if the customer requires it. Next, it is important to consult with your client and give them input as to what functionality and design is achievable within the given timeline and budget. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in your programming endeavors!

Advice from Programmers for Programmers