This piece of code will take the date you give it, and convert it to its equivilant under the Hijri or Gregorian calendar according to your arguments. It will also enable you to set the language in which you wish to display the Gregorian dates (Hijri date will always be displayd in arabic).
C# public string ConvertDateCalendar(DateTime DateConv, string Calendar, string DateLangCulture) if (Calendar == "Hijri" && DateLangCulture.StartsWith("en-")) /// Set the date time format to the given culture - LAITH - 11/13/2005 1:04:22 PM - /// Set the calendar property of the date time format to the given calendar - LAITH - 11/13/2005 1:04:52 PM - /// We format the date structure to whatever we want - LAITH - 11/13/2005 1:05:39 PM - |
Almost every web designer and developer has had some JavaScript experience, and almost everyone with JavaScript experience has done some design and development for the web. The majority have had good experience with both.
AJAX is an abbreviation for: "Asynchronous JavaScript with XML".
So we see that the core lies in the word "Asynchronous" –making callbacks to the server without refreshing the page. Asynchronous callbacks are the transport element in a broader concept called "Remote Scripting", which is made possible using JavaScript through the "Microsoft.XMLHTTP" ActiveX Object in IE and the "XMLHttpRequest" object in all other browsers. One interesting fact is that neither Microsoft.XMLHTTP nor XMLHttpRequest is a standard.
After retrieving your data through remote scripting, anything you do next will use methods that manipulate the Document Object Model which has been supported in all browsers for a long time. This data doesn’t even have to be XML formatted, it can be any form of text which suits your needs. XML just happens to make more sense these days.
The really funny part is that a lot of people talk about
Microsoft.XMLHTTP nor XMLHttpRequest is a standard for all browsers.So how can a standard be based on things which are not standard themselves?
I think the only good thing that came out of this new acronym is enabling non-techy business people to talk about "Remote Scripting" without having to explain and prove that they know what they're talking about.
I also don't like my janitor to be using the same jargon I use. So to me, AJAX is that very potent dish washing solution or kitchen and bathroom surface cleaner and thats how it stays. for more information about AJAX click here.
Milton Friedman, recipient of the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize for economic science, has been a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution since 1977. He is also the Paul Snowden Russell Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he taught from 1946 to 1976, and was a member of the research staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research from 1937 to 1981.
Friedman was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1988 and received the National Medal of Science the same year.
VB.Net |
I had to create a piece of code that will give me a set of randomly generated keys. Each key had to consist of letters and numbers, and the letters could be either (randomly) lowercase or uppercase.
Looking at some sample code on the web, I could not find what I needed. All the examples I found either generated numbers only, or letters only. I also wanted this random key to be based on a certain rule that made it "not straightforward" random, so, I came up with this little piece of code.
The way it works is as follows:
You feed it with a string of letters: KeyLetters, a string of numbers: KeyNumbers, and how many characters you want the random key to be: Keychars. We then call Generate() which goes and generates a random number through the Randomize() statement and the Rnd() function.
Multiply Rnd() by 111 -could be any number we choose which is sufficient enough to bring the value above zero. If the resulting number is an even number, then our random character will be a letter. If we get an odd number, then our random character will be a number. To generate a random character, we generate a random index for one of the character arrays (depending on what our random character will be). Once we have an index which is >= o, we use it to get the value in the corresponding index in the character array.
If we are generating a number, then that is our random character. If we are generating a letter, then we need to determine whether we want it uppercase or lowercase. For that purpose we generate another random number by multiplying the value of Rnd() by 99 – could be any other number too – and then determine whether the result is even or odd. This time, we capitalize the letter if we get an odd number, otherwise we leave it as it is.
And so on, … the loop keeps "looping" while using, and we use a StringBuilder to construct our resulting string , until we've generated the desired number of characters for our Random Key. We convert the StringBuilder to String and return it with the function.
Note: XML comments in the source code were generated using "VBXC - VB.NET XML Commentor beta 3". I highly recommend it.
Module Module1 Dim KeyGen As RandomKeyGenerator ''' MODIFY THIS TO GET MORE KEYS - LAITH - 27/07/2005 22:48:30 -
OptionStrictOn ''' <date>27072005</date><time>071924</time> ''' <date>27072005</date><time>071924</time> ProtectedFriendWriteOnlyProperty KeyNumbers() AsString ''' <date>27072005</date><time>071924</time> ''' <date>27072005</date><time>072344</time> ''' CONVERT LettersArray & NumbersArray TO CHARACTR ARRAYS ''' IF THE VALUE IS AN EVEN NUMBER WE GENERATE A LETTER, ''' GENERATE A RANDOM INDEX IN THE NUMBERS |
It was 9:15. I was sitting in my office when I first received news of the attacks. It was the familiar ring "ding dong..." from my RSS reader, and then the words "Explosion in Amman", I immediately knew what that meant, but hoped I was wrong. Then followed the sinking feeling that Jordan is like everywhere else where this has been happening, and that it was just a matter of time.
"Explosion
in Amman" was Isam
Bayazidi's
post which broke the first news. At first he did not give much detail,
so I
went to CNN.com and there it was.
Isam's first post was followed by updates as he got more details. A few minutes later other blog feeds started coming in with the news. Everyone was hearing about it and telling everyone else. The most comprehensive and dedicated updates came in through a post on Global Voices : Explosions Rock Jordanian Capital, Amman
Some even went as far as
going to the scene and taking pictures for the world to see.
One avid blogger and young photograqpher –Sabri Hakim- posted
some of the
first footage in his blog, which was mentioned on CNN.
The next day witnessed the reaction of the Jordanian people on the streets of Amman. Protests were held to express unity and strength against the attackers, as well as support for the families of victims. Isam Bayazidi and Sabri Hakim were there to bring the images to the rest of the world.
I just want to give a big hand to all those people in the Jordanian blogosphere who gave time to tell the world what was happening. Those are young people who had the sense of duty to do anything they could after the tragedy took place.
Being united and speaking out in one
voice is really good, and sends the
message that we will not be defeated or terrorized. But then what? What
is the
course of action that we should take in order to make sure those or any
other
terrorists do not succeed in the future.
Some say that the success of this operation is nothing but a
statistical
anomaly, which was bound to happen, and I will have to agree.
A lot of talk has been going on for the last year and a half about
installing
metal detectors, especially since King Abdullah gave orders to the
government back
then to begin conducting the necessary studies and to lay down a plan
to
protect all of the main government locations, hotels, and places of
public
gatherings. This issue has come up again after the 11/9 attacks, and
fingers
started pointing to the government as the main party to blame because
they did
not carry out the King's orders.
I say, lets stop pointing fingers and take responsibility for what
happened,
because we are all to blame. We are all to blame because we the
citizens elect
the parliament, and the parliament relays our needs, hopes, and dreams
to the
government. So it seems to me that the issue of security lies very low
in our Representatives'
priorities lists, which means that this is where it lies on an
individual level
as well.
Now that we are convinced that every individual should bear the
responsibility,
let's discuss the methods which can be employed to foil such future
attempts.
Intelligence agencies play a huge role it tracking suspects, and making
sure
they stop terror attacks while in the planning stages. But as we've
seen, the
more frequent these attempts are, the more likely it is that one will
slip
through. So what is the answer? Metal detectors? Metal detectors and
x-ray
machines are used at airports, but they only act as a deterrent to
attempts by
small crime groups, and not by worldwide, professional terrorist
organizations like the one that carried out the
What we need is a plan to stop these attacks on more than one level,
even while
being carried out. What we need is to incorporate the individual
citizen as the
most effective anti terror weapon.
I want to tell a little story here:
About a year ago, I
was in my room late at
night, when I heard some noises which got me curious enough to get up
and look
out the window. I saw a pickup truck parked in front of a storage room
for gas
distributing company next to my building. They were loading gas
containers on
to the truck. I thought it was weird they were doing it at this hour.
Still, I
just closed the window and went back in.
The next day I see a police car in front of the storage room. When I
asked what
was going on, the company owner told me they were robbed last night. I
told him
what I saw, but I wasn't of any help because I did not remember much
detail.
A short while after this incident, my car was stolen while parked right
in
front of the building. I was pretty sure that somebody must have seen
it being
stolen, so I started asking around, then I remembered the incident with
the gas
company and I realized that even if someone saw those who stole my car,
they
would not have cared enough to remember any information.
Almost a year passed, when one night I was coming back from work -it
was after
midnight- and I saw two guys taking out gas containers from that same
store
room which was robbed. They looked suspicious because they seemed to be
in a
hurry. I immediately went to the nearby supermarket, and asked him if
he knew
the guys working in the gas store, and if he can identify them. He came
with me
and was able to identify them. So I went home knowing that this time, I
did the
right thing.
The moral of the story is that
nowadays people do not feel a sense of
obligation towards their neighbors, let alone their fellow citizens. We
need to
work on that.
We need to educating people on terror and terrorists, give them a
greater sense
awareness of their surroundings, and educate a sense of loyalty and
belonging
to this nation. If that is achieved, we will have a country full of
watchful
eyes, speaking out when they suspect something rather than walk away as
if it
does not concern them. The void which we need to fill is not in our
security,
but rather in our awareness, and sense of duty and belonging to all the
people
of
This thing is very fresh, and it's called PANDORA (www.pandora.com)
Pandora is what you could call a web based jukebox with intelligence. In addition to streaming some very good quality music, it can help you find new songs which suit your musical taste.
How do they do it? Well, it’s a bit more complicated than just creating a super smart software. Actually, the software itself is not smart at all, it’s the extensive database of individually reviewed and dissected songs is what helps it understand your musical taste and match it with songs that you might like.
The foundation of this innovation is what the founders call the "Music Genome Project" (http://pandora.com/mgp.shtml) which – simply put - aims at identifying the basic traits "Genes" that make-up a musical piece. Each song is then analyzed individually and classified according to its "Genes".
In addition to giving you suggestions, it will ask you for feedback, which will help it narrow down your musical taste and suggest better songs.
I have tried it, and incredibly, about 90% of songs suggested are things I really liked. Currently the service is free of charge for the first 10 hours of play. After that the yearly subscription is US $36. I am not sure I would want to subscribe just to listen to music, but I would definitely hit Pandora on my way to Amazon.com in hopes of finding more music that I will want to buy.
Amazon and Google should keep an eye on this new company. It will be an extremely handy tool for people shopping or searching for music. Amazon could have a smarter way of suggesting music based on a scientific understanding of people's musical tastes. As for Google, well, Google has always been about simple applications that intelligently organize the world's content, utilizing the internet.
