Update: Flash!

Update: Hot!

HTC Hero Officially Launched With Sense, Flash, And Teflon – SoftSailor:

HTC has unveiled a new smartphone today at an event in London. The HTC Hero has been rumored for weeks, and earlier today it was leaked on the HTC website minutes before the event. Well, nothing else matters now, as the HTC Hero is looking great, it runs on Android OS, and it features a new UI called HTC Sense.

This looks rather slick. I think I want, thus I need to "wife" the old phone. Better treat my phone well, then, she doesn't like scratches or dents...

Algorithm implementation/Strings/Levenshtein distance - Wikibooks, collection of open-content textbooks:

Visual Basic for Applications (no Damerau extension)

This version is identical to JavaScript and PHP implementations in this article. I had problems when I tried to use the other VBA implementation in this article, so I had to adopt the version below.

Application.WorksheetFunction.Min() method is Excel-specific. If you implement it with other VBA-enabled applications, uncomment the conditional block and comment out the Application.WorksheetFunction.Min() line. 

Function levenshtein(a As String, b As String) As Integer
 
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim j As Integer
    Dim cost As Integer
    Dim d() As Integer
    Dim min1 As Integer
    Dim min2 As Integer
    Dim min3 As Integer
 
    If Len(a) = 0 Then
        levenshtein = Len(b)
        Exit Function
    End If
 
    If Len(b) = 0 Then
        levenshtein = Len(a)
        Exit Function
    End If
 
    ReDim d(Len(a), Len(b))
 
    For i = 0 To Len(a)
        d(i, 0) = i
    Next
 
    For j = 0 To Len(b)
        d(0, j) = j
    Next
 
    For i = 1 To Len(a)
        For j = 1 To Len(b)
            If Mid(a, i, 1) = Mid(b, j, 1) Then
                cost = 0
            Else
                cost = 1
            End If
 
            ' Since Min() function is not a part of VBA, we'll "emulate" it below
            min1 = (d(i - 1, j) + 1)
            min2 = (d(i, j - 1) + 1)
            min3 = (d(i - 1, j - 1) + cost)
 
'            If min1 <= min2 And min1 <= min3 Then
'                d(i, j) = min1
'            ElseIf min2 <= min1 And min2 <= min3 Then
'                d(i, j) = min2
'            Else
'                d(i, j) = min3
'            End If
 
            ' In Excel we can use Min() function that is included
            ' as a method of WorksheetFunction object
            d(i, j) = Application.WorksheetFunction.Min(min1, min2, min3)
        Next
    Next
 
    levenshtein = d(Len(a), Len(b))
 
End Function

I'm no VBA dev, and it confuses me how all of it is called, so a quick google for:

VBA Tips: Writing Your First VBA Function:

Writing Your First VBA Function in Excel

About User Defined Functions

Excel provides the user with a large collection of ready-made functions, more than enough to satisfy the average user. Many more can be added by installing the various add-ins that are available.

Most calculations can be achieved with what is provided, but it isn't long before you find yourself wishing that there was a function that did a particular job, and you can't find anything suitable in the list. You need a UDF.

A UDF (User Defined Function) is simply a function that you create yourself with VBA. UDFs are often called "Custom Functions". A UDF can remain in a code module attached to a workbook, in which case it will always be available when that workbook is open. Alternatively you can create your own add-in containing one or more functions that you can install into Excel just like a commercial add-in.

UDFs can be accessed by code modules too. Often UDFs are created by developers to work solely within the code of a VBA procedure and the user is never aware of their existence.

Like any function, the UDF can be as simple or as complex as you want. Let's start with an easy one...

And I see I have to "Insert" a "Module" to paste the code in. And then it just works. Nice.

I have the hardest time remembering this word. Pan-cha-SEE-la, Pan-cha-SEE-la, Pan-cha-SEE-la. Maybe now it will stick.

Pancasila (politics) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Pancasila (pronounced [pantʃaˈsila]) is the official philosophical foundation of the Indonesian state. Pancasila consists of two Sanskrit words, "panca" meaning five, and "sila" meaning principles. It comprises five principles held to be inseparable and interrelated:

1. Belief in the one and only God, (in Indonesian, Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa).
2. Just and civilized humanity, (in Indonesian, Kemanusiaan Yang Adil dan Beradab).
3. The unity of Indonesia, (in Indonesian, Persatuan Indonesia).
4. Democracy guided by the inner wisdom in the unanimity arising out of deliberations amongst representatives, and (in Indonesian, Kerakyatan Yang Dipimpin oleh Hikmat Kebijaksanaan, Dalam Permusyawaratan Perwakilan, dan)
5. Social justice for the whole of the people of Indonesia (in Indonesian, Keadilan Sosial bagi seluruh Rakyat Indonesia)

Anyway, it's way cool...

Twitter Blog: Down Time Rescheduled:

A critical network upgrade must be performed to ensure continued operation of Twitter. In coordination with Twitter, our network host had planned this upgrade for tonight. However, our network partners at NTT America recognize the role Twitter is currently playing as an important communication tool in Iran. Tonight's planned maintenance has been rescheduled to tomorrow between 2-3p PST (1:30a in Iran).

I have to admit in my 17 some years in the admin business I have never had to reschedule any kind of system update due to political unrest.

Art Review - 'Light of the Sufis' - Enlightened Disorder in New Islamic Galleries of the Brooklyn Museum - NYTimes.com:

“Light of the Sufis: The Mystical Arts of Islam” remains on view through Sept. 6 in the newly reinstalled Islamic galleries at the Brooklyn Museum, 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org.

'cause we all know how hard it is to find something to do in NYC...

Axantum Software AB | AxCrypt | Frequently Asked Questions:

Does AxCrypt run on XP/Vista/2008 x64? Yes, it does. However, the Shell Extension (the right-click menu) is a 32-bit component and requires that it run under the 32-bit shell that is available in Windows x64. You need to run the following command: DriveLetter:\Windows\SysWOW64\explorer.exe /separate

I was just saying this:

Memo to Obama: Cairo Was a Mistake—UPDATE - Page 1 - The Daily Beast:

Obama should have chosen Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, a moderate, pluralistic, wildly successful democratic country whose citizens just last month overwhelming voted for secular and moderate Muslim parties over the country’s more radical Islamist groups. Instead, by choosing Cairo as the backdrop to his speech, Obama has in effect rewarded Egypt’s president for life, Hosni Mubarak, for his bloody, blatantly anti-democratic, and dictatorial rule.

And if not rewarding, he's sending a subtle message to the rest of the Muslims of the world that the US expects them to be ruled by dictators that were helped into power, or remain in power, due to US influence.

Integrate the New Hulu Desktop into Media Center | Sarah In Tampa | Channel 10:

the folks over at Missing Remote have put together a guide on how to add Hulu Desktop to Media Center as a shortcut from the main screen. This isn’t the only way to get this done, but at least it’s well-documented!

Though I'm still not sure what this is really going to do for me. I guess if it's in Media Center it's a bit easier to find. I don't have a media center remote, perhaps it's time to pick one up. And I don't know if adding this will allow my PS3 to then pull Hulu from the other computer, or my TiVo either...

SSL Certificate Generator, SSL Certificate, Self Signed Certificate, Test Certificate:

The Xenos Certificate Generator will create SSL certificates you can use for testing secure applications and web sites.

These certificates should not be used in a production environemnt because they are not signed by a trusted certificate authority.

The Xenos Certificate Generator can create self-signed certificates as well as ones signed with the certificate you specify.

Requires Windows 2000/XP/2003.

What a great tool.

Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Click Start, type gpedit.msc in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

2. If the User Account Control dialog box appears, verify that the proposed action is what you requested, and then click Continue. For more information, see Additional Resources later in this document.

3. In the Group Policy Object Editor console tree, click Local Computer Policy, click Administrative Templates, click Windows Components, and then double-click BitLocker Drive Encryption.

4. Double-click the setting Control Panel Setup: Enable Advanced Startup Options. The Control Panel Setup: Enable Advanced Startup Options dialog box appears.

5. Select the Enabled option, select the Allow BitLocker without a compatible TPM check box, and then click OK.

   You have changed the policy setting so that you can use a startup key instead of a TPM.

6. Close the Group Policy Object Editor.