Orangutangy

Tag: Computer Science

Computer science (academic)

  • 50 performance tricks to make your HTML5 apps and sites faster

    50 performance tricks to make your HTML5 apps and sites faster

    Good to think about conditional js libraries.

  • Chinese language tips for web design

    Update 2010, Oct 26 – New discoveries, much better font reference confidence

    Recently I needed to work with some Chinese and we had tons of trouble trying to figure out which fonts to use and how to specify them in CSS. After a lot of detective work and comparing long font lists we found some basic font choices that should work on both PC and Macs that have Chinese language packs active. The process was PAINFUL…

    After several months, this is coming up again as we define our style guide. I found a new article which describes and provides screen-shots for 5 common mandarin fonts. He lists in order,

    1. 宋体, Song Ti, a serif font very common in site font declaration
    2. 黑体, Hei Ti, a sans-serif. (We picked this one for body text)
    3. 幼圆, You Yuan, a rounded font like comic-sans without the stigma.
    4. 隶书, Li Ti, a brush script.
    5. 微软雅黑, Microsoft Ya Hei a sans-serif, supposedly not fully supported yet designy

    Some [updated] Chinese Website tips:

    1. Specify English fonts first and then the Chinese fonts in your font list. This makes it so English fonts render with your desired fonts then the Chinese fonts pick up the other characters. font-family: futura, arial, Hei, “微软雅黑”, “宋体”, sans-serif;
    2. Standard chinese sans-serifs are: 黑体 (Hei ti), 微软雅黑 (MS Yahei)
    3. The standard chinese serifs is: 宋体 (Song ti)
    4. Set a meta tag to display chinese charset: utf-8. <META HTTP-EQUIV=”content-type” CONTENT=”text/html” charset=”utf-8″>
    5. My final recommendation for a sans-serif font stack is: font-family: arial, 黑体, 微软雅黑, 宋体, sans-serif;

    References:

  • Unix command to find kernel

    To find the kernel version type into the command prompt:
    uname -r

    If having problems compiling previously working code, maybe the computer I’m working on is an x86 computer. (like pc 31) Best to switch computers to a regular format. (like pc 1, 10)

  • learned about rwho, who, write

    After SSH-ing into the campus computers, can look at other users on the system
    ssh username@pc10.cs.ucdavis.edu
    rwho
    // lists all users on the csif machines

    who pc 9
    // lists all users on pc 9

    who
    // lists all users on current pc

    write person
    // must ssh to same computer as person, then writes stuff to their cmd prompt.

  • Dynamic Painting, Folding


    I found this group of artists, Random International that created a paint roller so you can literally print on the wall. Check out the video:
    Pixelroller

    They also sell instant labeling tape that you just blacken out parts you don’t need to write messages. Not as cool as the pixel roller but it’s still afun idea.

    Unrelated, but interesting on a technical level, this program folds a letter on screen depending on the position of your mouse.