p. The site “(extlink)Crosswalk.com”:http://www.crosswalk.com has a collection of references and resources for Christians who wish to work on reading and understanding the bible. I have just started with their online Bible in a Year plan, complete with a tracker, which will hopefully help to keep me on course. The track started today with readings from 1 Timothy 2:1-15 , Isaiah 34-35 , and Psalm 119:65-96 .

p. “(extlink)Google”:http://www.google.com now allows you to enter math equations directly into the web search field, and it will automatically spit out results, as well as do unit conversions among other things. For instance, if you enter: speed of light * 2 then google will return

 the speed of light * 2 = 599 584 916 m / s 

p. This function is in addition to Google’s ability to also differentiate between “(extlink)definitions, addresses, phone numbers, and other data”:http://www.google.com/help/features.html . Admittedly, language processing is an intrinsic part of designing a search service/engine, and further development along these lines serves to enhance Google’s core search ability, but could this be the forerunner to the next leap beyond searching? Continue Reading »

p. David Every has some criticisms of Apple’s new Panther Operating system, that in many ways seem unfounded in an article at www.iGeek.com. Continue Reading »

p. Rutgers updated the “(extlink)My Rutgers Portal”:http://my.rutgers.edu over the summer, with a “(extlink)uPortal 2.0″:http://mis105.mis.udel.edu/ja-sig/uportal/ based backend. They’ve also finally integrated some single sign on functionality, probably as part of the greater “(extlink)NetID”:http://netid.rutgers.edu that they’ve started emphasizing recently, in an attempt to move online services away from SSN/UNIX login authentication to a more centralized system.

p. In addition to the new backend, some of the modules have recieved changes, particularly the Event Channel, which is now a full featured link into the “(extlink)Rutgers Event Calendar”:http://www.acs.rutgers.edu:8888/calendar/ database, displaying events and summaries of events inline in the portal interface. I was a bit disappointed that there were such a small number of news features integrated, particularly given the number of sites now publishing “(extlink)RSS”:http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss feeds (including the “(extlink)Daily Targum”:http://www.dailytargum.com . Given that the uPortal platform has a built in capacity to handle RSS feeds, I would think it would be an easy way to add value to the system. That and the further integration of University services, like perhaps a Meal Plan status module, or a “(extlink)Knight Express”:http://food.rutgers.edu/knightexpress.html balance check.

p. All in all, though it seems to be excellent progress. Does anyone else have features that they would like to see integrated?

p. Please feel free to drop me a line regarding this site, or matters both personal and professional. Anything entered into the message area below will be emailed directly to me, and I will try and get back to you as quickly as I can.

h4. You may also attempt to get in touch with me via the following methods:

|Phone|732-545-6733| |Mail|102 Montgomery St. Apt. 1C
Highland Park, NJ 08904| |AIM|jayshao| |ICQ|13074373| |YM!|jayshao| |MSN|jayshao@hotmail.com| Continue Reading »

This post is maintained for archive purposes. Please see: http://jay.shao.org/resume/ for a current resume.

p. “(extlink)Six Log: Comment Spam”:http://www.sixapart.com/log/2003/10/comment_spam.shtml talks about spammers increasingly leaving comments on blogs (particularly those powered by MovableType) as in addition to the circulation you would get from email Spam, it helps to build a site’s “(extlink)Google PageRank”:http://www.google.com/technology . This problem has become prevalent that “(extlink)Jay Allen”:http://www.jayallen.org has produced “(extlink)MT-Blacklist”:http://www.jayallen.org/projects/mt-blacklist/ a plug-in designed to reject comments that link to highly spammed domains and sites.

p. “(extlink)Six Apart”:http://www.sixapart.com the company behind “(extlink)Movabletype”:http://www.movabletype.org which powers this blog has also committed to looking into how to address the issue in future releases.

bq. We’re deeply committed to finding a way to combat spammers and we’re determined to do it on a core system level so that everyone can take advantage of spam prevention. We’re working on integrating comment spam blocking for MT and TypePad, and the great thing about Jay’s solution is that it could be the start of a distributed spam blocking network for comments, an implementation of which could be included in multiple tools. But, like email, there isn’t one simple solution that can be switched on and end spam completely. Hopefully we’re moving a step closer.

p. I just had dinner again at “Pad Thai”:http://www.pad-thai.com for the first time in a while, and it really brought back how enjoyable everything was. The service was quick and friendly, with a casual feel from the start (the host pointed at various tables, and motioned for us to seat wherever we wanted. We quickly got our menus immediately after closing them had a woman up to take our orders. Things were attentive throughout the meal as well, with quick refills of our water glasses (which needed to be refilled quite frequently throughout the meal).

p. We ordered Pad Thai, and a curried Beef dish, both of which were excellent, generously sized, and under $10. “Pad Thai”:http://www.pad-thai.com is a comfortable and tasty place to add a little spice to your diet.

p. “iTunes for Windows “:http://www.apple.com/itunes has been making quite a splash. After a couple of days of using it, I have to say that people who have been using iTunes on the Mac will probably be thrilled, and people who are used to “Winamp”:http://www.winamp.com or “Musicmatch”:http://www.musicmatch.com will probably prefer it after using it for a while, due to features like smart playlists and instant searching. iPod users especialy will likely love the easy integration, although the Music store features will probably not be as useful for individuals with other MP3 players.

According to the following page: trackbacks should now be fully functional for users of Userland’s Manilla publishing system. I have to admit, while I find the concept of trackbacks fascinating, I have yet to be able to use them overly due to the fact that many of the sites I read do not yet support them.