Here are a few snapshots of special moments of the game.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
TCFS vs Alphington FC
Over a special weekend (14 August 2011), we took the train to Alphington to play against their team. Of course, the Trinity College Foundation Studies team won! :D
Friday, September 2, 2011
Programming the Future
Before I delve into this topic, just a quick indication that I have no authority as a High School teenager, and I'm sure some of the ideas I'll present would have clear flaws or mistakes that I'm unaware of in my early years of programming.
Lets look a little bit into the history of programming. The very first high level programming language invented was FORTRAN, in 1954. This programming language included 32 statements, which one would say are the basics, or the 'axioms' of programming nowadays. Since then programming has of course developed and new programming languages have been formed. However are we really in a position to say that programming has evolved at the speed that we anticipated?
I mean, compare software development over the past years to something like, say, CPU speed, which to this day doubles every two years, following a trend known as Moore's Law. In the past decades we developed from vacuum tubes to silicon transistors, and are nearing quantum transistors using technology such as the Quantum Point Contact to detect qubits (it's of course all still a theory, but a very probable theory).
However, switching over, software development, one may argue, has developed from punch-cards to single-line coding to methods to frameworks. But we are still using the same damn old command line and text documents to code! Sure there are visual ways of programming, such as the Google App Inventor, or LEGO Mindstorms NXT, but behind the scenes they are all representations of text coding, only simplified for the user.
And of course what one considers the best program is the one that is completely documented (almost obsessively, to a point where the documentation is ten-fold the size of the program itself). Why is this? Is understanding programming universally so difficult? In mathematics we give a problem, and the solution is entirely understandable except for small sections here and there which can be substituted with a written explanation. Programming however requires for every line to be explained, every method described and every class reasoned. Sounds like a bit too much!
Our views of programming in the next 25 years has dimmed remarkably. Anders Hejlsberg in "The Future of Programming Languages" reminisces on his early 80's when he joins Turbo Pascal, and his optimistic vision of the future of programming which included such luxurious thoughts of using voice-recognition to write code. This fantasy quickly dissipates into reality when he takes the current usage of programming and projects it into the future, saying that over the next few years programming will begin to merge together. Wait what? You mean there still isn't one universal way of programming? Everybody understands x + y = z, but in programming not every compiler would understand x + y = z.
Why have the programmers stopped dreaming? Why has programming come to a complete standstill? Why does the 'hello world' application look the same as it did almost forty years ago? Maybe we're not thinking hard enough. Software engineering sure teaches programming and how to write code, but it also teaches us how to think logically, how to write down every step, and how not to deviate from what works.
Maybe a solution can be found at the very core of programming: The axioms. Maybe by changing the way programs function, we can improve the speed and efficiency of programs. Stay tuned for a further exploration of this topic =)
Lets look a little bit into the history of programming. The very first high level programming language invented was FORTRAN, in 1954. This programming language included 32 statements, which one would say are the basics, or the 'axioms' of programming nowadays. Since then programming has of course developed and new programming languages have been formed. However are we really in a position to say that programming has evolved at the speed that we anticipated?
I mean, compare software development over the past years to something like, say, CPU speed, which to this day doubles every two years, following a trend known as Moore's Law. In the past decades we developed from vacuum tubes to silicon transistors, and are nearing quantum transistors using technology such as the Quantum Point Contact to detect qubits (it's of course all still a theory, but a very probable theory).
However, switching over, software development, one may argue, has developed from punch-cards to single-line coding to methods to frameworks. But we are still using the same damn old command line and text documents to code! Sure there are visual ways of programming, such as the Google App Inventor, or LEGO Mindstorms NXT, but behind the scenes they are all representations of text coding, only simplified for the user.
And of course what one considers the best program is the one that is completely documented (almost obsessively, to a point where the documentation is ten-fold the size of the program itself). Why is this? Is understanding programming universally so difficult? In mathematics we give a problem, and the solution is entirely understandable except for small sections here and there which can be substituted with a written explanation. Programming however requires for every line to be explained, every method described and every class reasoned. Sounds like a bit too much!
Our views of programming in the next 25 years has dimmed remarkably. Anders Hejlsberg in "The Future of Programming Languages" reminisces on his early 80's when he joins Turbo Pascal, and his optimistic vision of the future of programming which included such luxurious thoughts of using voice-recognition to write code. This fantasy quickly dissipates into reality when he takes the current usage of programming and projects it into the future, saying that over the next few years programming will begin to merge together. Wait what? You mean there still isn't one universal way of programming? Everybody understands x + y = z, but in programming not every compiler would understand x + y = z.
Why have the programmers stopped dreaming? Why has programming come to a complete standstill? Why does the 'hello world' application look the same as it did almost forty years ago? Maybe we're not thinking hard enough. Software engineering sure teaches programming and how to write code, but it also teaches us how to think logically, how to write down every step, and how not to deviate from what works.
Maybe a solution can be found at the very core of programming: The axioms. Maybe by changing the way programs function, we can improve the speed and efficiency of programs. Stay tuned for a further exploration of this topic =)
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
5 Tips for Being Successful at University or College
1. Involve yourself
Be sure to be involved in as many extra-curricular activities as possible. These could be anything from the Yearbook team to a sport that you like to play. Try something new, and widen your comfort zone. Being involved will expand your friendship circle, and you'll meet great new friends from a variety of backgrounds. Also, it's a well known fact that having a sport that you play regularly will improve your academic results. University is a time for experimentation, so throw yourself at as many activities as possible, and pick your favourite ones later!
2. Stay organized
Having a messy room would translate to having a messy mind. Keep your room clean, and you'll be motivated throughout the years. Staying organized doesn't just apply to your room, it also applies to the books and notes that you keep. Find some sort of organization system that works, and keep unnecessary items out of the way in your small room. Keep your electronic documents organized, and efficiently backed up with Dropbox, a folder that synchronizes all your efiles that you need across your workspace and the internet cloud.
3. Keep an eye on your expenses
I'll have to admit, many of us in our first taste of true freedom tend to spend far more than is necessary to survive as a student. Sort out the things that you want from the things that you need, and use your money on the things that you need, while saving up for the things you want. You will be respected for being able to distinguish between the two categories.
4. Find the best student deals and bargains
For me, I found OZBargain, a bottom-up approach to finding the best deals around Australia. This probably saves me about a hundred dollars a month, as I now have access to the craziest deals and freebies! If you want to save money, find a deal website or a bargain newsletter. There is one for almost every country in the world! If you can't find any, ask the locals.
5. Skype your family and friends often
Changing to a different environment can be rather stressful, and skyping back home can always ease the tension, not just for you but also for your family and friends. Even if you have had an open mind, and find that you enjoy the place you've gone to for university, staying in touch is important as a means of maintaining an image of home: an anchor for yourself.
Be sure to be involved in as many extra-curricular activities as possible. These could be anything from the Yearbook team to a sport that you like to play. Try something new, and widen your comfort zone. Being involved will expand your friendship circle, and you'll meet great new friends from a variety of backgrounds. Also, it's a well known fact that having a sport that you play regularly will improve your academic results. University is a time for experimentation, so throw yourself at as many activities as possible, and pick your favourite ones later!
2. Stay organized
Having a messy room would translate to having a messy mind. Keep your room clean, and you'll be motivated throughout the years. Staying organized doesn't just apply to your room, it also applies to the books and notes that you keep. Find some sort of organization system that works, and keep unnecessary items out of the way in your small room. Keep your electronic documents organized, and efficiently backed up with Dropbox, a folder that synchronizes all your efiles that you need across your workspace and the internet cloud.
3. Keep an eye on your expenses
I'll have to admit, many of us in our first taste of true freedom tend to spend far more than is necessary to survive as a student. Sort out the things that you want from the things that you need, and use your money on the things that you need, while saving up for the things you want. You will be respected for being able to distinguish between the two categories.
4. Find the best student deals and bargains
For me, I found OZBargain, a bottom-up approach to finding the best deals around Australia. This probably saves me about a hundred dollars a month, as I now have access to the craziest deals and freebies! If you want to save money, find a deal website or a bargain newsletter. There is one for almost every country in the world! If you can't find any, ask the locals.
5. Skype your family and friends often
 |
| Most importantly, ENJOY YOURSELF! |
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Securing your Twitter account from password sniffers
One of my previous posts features sniffing Facebook passwords through Android phones, and how to prevent this.
I went through Twitter to find out how to secure a Twitter account, and it was relatively easy for me to find the https switch.
Just navigate over to your Twitter settings, and under the Account tab scroll all the way to the bottom. Then check the HTTPS checkbox. Very easy!
Enjoy!
Sniffing Facebook passwords (and other popular services)
It would seem very unlikely for a hacker to be sitting on your local network, stealthily stealing passwords using scripts through Wireshark or sifting through your files. But with the new Android program FaceNiff, password sniffing becomes a very real possibility.
FaceNiff can be downloaded straight off the internet onto an Android phone, and with the press of a button it will start 'sniffing' passwords off Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Amazon and Nasza-Klasa from the local network. I decided that this was too easy to be true, and gave the program a shot. Sure enough, within seconds I could gain access to Facebook accounts. By pressing one of these accounts, you are taken to their Facebook home page, and I even tested it out by posting as my friend. Everything worked perfectly!
Of course, with any Android user now having the ability to gain access to Facebook, this brings up the issue of security. Not only is this application extremely easy to use, it has made hacking portable, and thus increases the risk exponentially.
To prevent an Android user from gaining access to your Facebook, you can increase the security of your Facebook account simply through the account settings.
1. Log onto Facebook.com
2. In the upper right-hand corner, click on 'Account' and press 'Account Settings' from the drop-down menu
3. Look for "Account security" and press the 'change' button to the right. Then scroll down and ensure that the checkbox next to 'Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible' option is checked, and press save.
You're done! You will know if this setting is activated if the URL shows 'https://www.facebook.com'
This should prevent hackers from sniffing your password on Facebook, and thus gaining access to your account. I haven't played around with the other popular services, but I know there is a Firefox extension for helping out with securing your connection whenever possible called HTTPS Everywhere. I don't use Firefox though, so I hope something similar will eventually be rolled out to Google Chrome.
Note: All password sniffing was done with the permission of my local network group.
FaceNiff can be downloaded straight off the internet onto an Android phone, and with the press of a button it will start 'sniffing' passwords off Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Amazon and Nasza-Klasa from the local network. I decided that this was too easy to be true, and gave the program a shot. Sure enough, within seconds I could gain access to Facebook accounts. By pressing one of these accounts, you are taken to their Facebook home page, and I even tested it out by posting as my friend. Everything worked perfectly!
Of course, with any Android user now having the ability to gain access to Facebook, this brings up the issue of security. Not only is this application extremely easy to use, it has made hacking portable, and thus increases the risk exponentially.To prevent an Android user from gaining access to your Facebook, you can increase the security of your Facebook account simply through the account settings.
1. Log onto Facebook.com
2. In the upper right-hand corner, click on 'Account' and press 'Account Settings' from the drop-down menu
3. Look for "Account security" and press the 'change' button to the right. Then scroll down and ensure that the checkbox next to 'Browse Facebook on a secure connection (https) whenever possible' option is checked, and press save.
You're done! You will know if this setting is activated if the URL shows 'https://www.facebook.com'
This should prevent hackers from sniffing your password on Facebook, and thus gaining access to your account. I haven't played around with the other popular services, but I know there is a Firefox extension for helping out with securing your connection whenever possible called HTTPS Everywhere. I don't use Firefox though, so I hope something similar will eventually be rolled out to Google Chrome.
Note: All password sniffing was done with the permission of my local network group.
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