A search for inspiration

C++ errors

2009-12-02T20:20:00.004Z

A list of annoying C++ compilation errors and how I finally resolved them:

(1)
...undefined reference to `typeinfo...
or
...Undefined reference to vtable

Solution: A base class from which classes are derived contains virtual function(s) but they are missing null bodies.

e.g.
virtual float getvalue() ;
should read:
virtual float getvalue() {} ;

(2) error: passing `const Quat' as `this' argument of `Quat& Quat::operator=(const Quat&)' discards qualifiers

Solution: A "const" type cannot be changed. I was attempting to assign a value to a const type. Created a new variable of same type (but not const).

(3) error: aggregate ‘std::stringstream ss’ has incomplete type and cannot be defined
or
error: X has incomplete type

Usually this refers to STD::X objects.
You've included but you need to include or
for files (ifstream/ofstream) and stringbuffers.

[to be continued]

PhotoSynth for all!

2009-05-28T17:13:00.003Z

Microsoft have released Photosynth for public use, so you can now create your own walk-through environments, just by providing multiple photos of the scene. The interface needs a bit of improvement but it's easy enough to use. Here's a few initial tests I did...

Allegheny National Park

Niagara Falls

Pseudo-safe email

2008-11-24T19:11:00.003Z

I thought it was relatively safe to write my email address as (for example):
myname at eeng dot dcu dot ie

However, I speculated that this formula is far too simple, and I wondered if spammers have already exploited this notation. I found that google returns over 100 million hits for:

* at * dot * dot *

So it seems that this method of mail-obfuscation is ineffective. Email addresses harvested in this way probably produces a list of people who are both more cautious and more technically knowledgeable than average. I'm currently writing the bot and I'm in negotiations with ThinkGeek's paranoia division.

View from the GlassHouse, Sligo

2008-10-09T13:08:00.004Z

From Panoramas

Paris by day

2008-07-16T20:55:00.003Z

Water-creatures of Paris

2008-07-16T20:54:00.002Z

The Louvre, Paris

2008-07-16T20:02:00.003Z

2008-07-16T19:56:00.001Z

Paris: Bastille Day Fireworks

2008-07-16T19:52:00.004Z

Portmarnock - Paddy's Hill

2008-03-10T11:02:00.005Z

Gone West

2007-10-05T09:59:00.001Z

View from the top of the hill

Cliffs of Moher

The man in the rockface
(zoom in to lower left part of cliffs)

View from Dungaire Castle

SorrentoPano

2007-10-05T09:57:00.000Z

Cluain Mhic Nóis

2007-10-05T09:54:00.001Z

subprime mortgage area...

2007-08-27T16:39:00.000Z

No time for conversation

2007-07-17T20:27:00.000Z

Director, Ambassador Theatre

2007-05-07T12:21:00.000Z

Valley of the Temples

2007-04-24T17:44:00.000Z

Hawaii Photos: Batch "A"

2007-04-24T17:19:00.000Z

Spot the difference

You insult the Buddha? DIE!

This is the life!

2007-04-24T16:52:00.000Z

Lounging poolside in the midday sun...
(Those skinny legs remained white, even after 2 hours)

Oahu: northern shore

2007-04-24T16:48:00.000Z

Some panoramas from the northern part of the island of Oahu, Hawaii. This Blogger does not do their resolution justice. Full size is up to 12,000 pixels wide.

USS Arizona

2007-04-23T18:08:00.000Z

During the attack on Pearl Harbour, the USS Arizona sank and took over 1,000 men with her. Today, a memorial lies upon the ship and lists the names and ranks of all those who died onboard. The ship's outline can be clearly seen in this aerial photograph.

This small panorama shows the view from the memorial. The circular structure stores oil and still contains hundreds of thousands of litres.

Seals in Howth Harbour

2007-04-10T12:24:00.000Z

St. Joseph's Church

2007-04-02T14:02:00.000Z

St. Joseph's Church, Berkeley Road.
Carmelite Community.

the seven stages of the creative process

2007-04-02T10:50:00.000Z

MATER MISERICORDIÆ HOSPITAL

2007-04-02T10:47:00.000Z

Click to enlarge

Untitled

2007-03-28T16:10:00.000Z

Bayer Effects

2007-03-23T11:37:00.000Z

I took this panoramic photo of my house at night one weekend. I'm always disappointed at the level of quality produced by my camera at night-time. Zooming in to the darkest part of the sky produces this image:

It kind of reminded me of the Bayer pattern, used in the pixel layout of most digital cameras. The idea is that it's cheaper to produce a camera that doesn't need 3 detectors per pixel (one for red, green and blue). Instead, one sensor is used per pixel in the following pattern:

So the top left pixel only measures the amount of green falling on it. The red and blue values are computed by interpolating between the neighbouring pixels that did measure red/blue.

I wonder if the effect seen in the dark areas of the image is a direct result of the structure of the imaging elements of the camera. It could be worth investing in a 3-CCD camera, one that uses 3 sensors per pixel, as it might reduce these artifacts. It would be most relevant when the images were to be printed out full-size.

Ár dTeach

2007-03-20T12:40:00.000Z

An Seomra Bia (The Dining Room)

An Ghrianán (The Conservatory)

St. Patrick's Day 2007

2007-03-20T12:17:00.000Z

Some parade preparations on Western Way.

The parade's tail...

Meanwhile, I went to Aikido and missed the parade!

Afterwards, O'Connell Street was quickly cleared of the main barriers...

...but the rubbish remained....Filthy Dubliners!!!

St. Patrick's day in the Phibsboro dojo

2007-03-20T12:15:00.000Z

St. Patrick's day in the Phibsboro dojo.

We all expected Cyril to wear a big green hat, but since we were competing with France for the 6-nations Championship later that day, he didn't want to show his true colours.

Dublin stroll

2007-03-12T13:51:00.000Z

Findlater's Church, Parnell Square, Dublin
More information on this landmark

The river Liffey in Dublin, looking towards O'Connell Bridge.
The building on the right is Liberty Hall, currently the tallest building in Dublin.

Aikido - Dan Grading Preparations

2007-03-12T13:46:00.000Z

Video Panoramas

2007-03-12T13:37:00.000Z

By splitting a video into frames (using TMPGEnc) and then stitching them together in a panoramic fashion (using Autostitch) wide-angle images can be created, giving a greater sense of the scene and also of the movement in the video. Both software applications are freely available.

This is from Lisa's photoshoot at the Twelve Apostles on the Great Ocean Road in Australia

Lexington, Kentucky, USA.

Our New Year's Party in Blessington Street

Garden Flowers

2007-03-12T12:57:00.000Z

Textures

2007-03-12T12:02:00.000Z

What is texture?

The property of a material's individual crystallites having nonrandom orientation...The tactile quality of a surface or the representation or invention of the appearance of such a surface quality...In a photographic image the frequency of change and arrangement of tones...Both the tactile surface of an artwork itself and the visual illusion of tactile surfaces within an artwork...The visual and tactile quality of the surface of an object, revealed in a photograph by variances in tone, depth and shape...A perceptible pattern or structure, even if random in nature...An element of art which refers to how a surface feels or looks like it would feel.

Panoramic Stitching

2007-03-08T19:04:00.000Z

drat ... it's tiny!
Blogger wont let me upload the 3.5MB version of this image.
It's a panoramic wrap-around view of my apartment.
The really great thing is, in the full version, you can actually zoom in and read the DVD titles - it's that detailed!

Depth of Field

2007-03-08T17:15:00.000Z

I've been trying to convince my camera to create shots with nice "depth of field" perception. I'd like it to blur the background and thereby emphasise the object in focus. The super-closeup-macro seems to work well, but it needs the object to be very close and the camera to be steady.