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Joseph Mack

jmack (at) austintek (dot) com

Apr 2010


Table of Contents

1. Wifi, SysAdmin and Contract Programming Services
1.1. Wifi Installation for Business, Appartment Complexes, Events, Trade Shows, Conferences, Meetings, Conventions, Indoor/Outdoor, Permanent/Temporary
1.2. Sysadmin Services
1.3. Contract Programming

2. HOWTOs
2.1. Linux Virtual Server (LVS), a layer 4 router
2.2. Gnucash
2.3. Dual booting Linux/WinXP from a flash drive

3. Ham Radio
3.1. AZ_PROJ Azimuthal Equidistant Projection Ham Radio Software (azproj)
3.2. Articles on the Future of Ham Radio
3.3. Aurora Propagation
3.4. Analysis of VHF Contest Logs

4. Articles
4.1. Outsourcing
4.2. Partition Magic Critical Error 19

5. OutDoor Trips
5.1. Colorado 2002
5.2. Canoeing, Algonquin National Park 2003
5.3. Canoeing, Algonquin National Park 2004
5.4. by John Ward, The Larapinta Trail, 2002

6. Book Reviews
6.1. The IBM Way
6.2. Leaving Earth; Genesis

7. Amateur Astronomy
7.1. Cloud Survey of North Carolina
7.2. Wifi in the Wilderness: setting up wifi internet connectivity at a star party
7.3. Yet another home analemma project: the Mack family driveway analemma

8. Computing Programming Class: for Middle and High School Students
8.1. Introduction to programming: Python
8.2. Unused material from the Introductory course
8.3. Complex Numbers
8.4. Programming in C
8.5. electricity
8.6. mechanics

9. Library of Congress Talking Books for the Blind Duplicator
10. About Joseph Mack

1. Wifi, SysAdmin and Contract Programming Services

Austintek is a small consulting business, based in North Carolina, USA. Services requiring physical presence are concentrated in the Triangle (RTP, Durham, Raleigh, Cary, Chapel Hill) area. Service in the Triad and outside can be arranged. Contract programming is available for anyone.

1.1. Wifi Installation for Business, Appartment Complexes, Events, Trade Shows, Conferences, Meetings, Conventions, Indoor/Outdoor, Permanent/Temporary

Austintek provides wifi connectivity and networking for conferences, meetings and outdoor events, and installs permanent wifi setups for businesses.

1.2. Sysadmin Services

Austintek does sysadmin for unix computers (and clusters of computers).

1.3. Contract Programming

Austintek can do contract programming, benchmarking and data analysis. We can program in -

  • languages: C, C++, Java, Fortran, Perl (and cgi), Python, mpi, omp, pvm, X-windows (Xt, Athena widgets), Motif, RPC sockets, APL, xml, html, shell (bash, csh, awk, sed, tcl/tk), Pascal, LaTeXi, javascript, css.
  • databases: mysql, postgres
  • scientific, math packages: Mathematica, Maple, Matlab, R.

2. HOWTOs

2.1. Linux Virtual Server (LVS), a layer 4 router

The Linux Virtual Server (LVS) Project is a GPL'ed layer 4 router for Linux, which allows you to combine low cost servers (e.g. web, database) into a single highly available, high throughput server. Here's the Linux Virtual Server (LVS) HOWTOs. For my write-ups on LVS (performance, meeting note, trivia quiz, iron-on labels, presentations, configure script), please see my LVS page.

2.2. Gnucash

Gnucash is a GPL double entry accounting package. Here's my Gnucash tutorial. This tutorial is referenced from the Gnucash website documentation page. This tutorial was delivered, on 9 Jul 2001, to the North Carolina Sysadministrator's Association (NCSA), an organisation based in RTP, NC, USA. I was the treasurer of NCSA from Dec 2000 to Dec 2003.

2.3. Dual booting Linux/WinXP from a flash drive

dual booting Linux and WinXP from a flash drive

3. Ham Radio

I've been a ham radio operator since High School (first licensed in 1964 as VK2ZJM). I currently hold the callsign NA3T. I'm interested in VHF equipment design and moon-bounce (communication using the moon as a passive reflector).

3.1. AZ_PROJ Azimuthal Equidistant Projection Ham Radio Software (azproj)

I maintain (and co-authored along with Michael NV3Z) the AZ_PROJ azimuthal equidistant projection website. This projection produces maps of the world in which you are at the center. Great circles through your location are straight lines enabling you to determine bearings to anywhere in the world. The code for the map generator is freely available under GPL.

3.2. Articles on the Future of Ham Radio

A 50yr plan for ham radio in response to the ARRL's plan for restructing for ham radio.

3.4. Analysis of VHF Contest Logs

Analysis of the 1999 Spring Sprints (the sprints are a VHF/UHF contest on the US east coast).

4. Articles

4.1. Outsourcing

A talk (http://www.austintek.com/outsourcing/outsourcing.html) given to the North Carolina Systems Administrators (http://www.ncsysadmin.org/) 12 Jul 2004. Outsourcing is the replacement of American workers by cheaper labor from overseas. The labor can be imported into the country, e.g. by giving the worker an H1-B visa, or by contracting the job to workers overseas.

4.2. Partition Magic Critical Error 19

How I recovered a disk with the undocumented Critical 19 error.

5. OutDoor Trips

I've hiked for most of my life. I wrote up

5.1. Colorado 2002

Hiking Trip to area near the Mt. of the Holy Cross, Colorado, 8-15 Jun 2002 with an old friend Steve. Steve, not to be outdone, has written his version the trip (also available doc format).

5.2. Canoeing, Algonquin National Park 2003

Canoeing in Algonquin National Park, Ontario, Canada, Jul 2003.

5.3. Canoeing, Algonquin National Park 2004

Canoeing in Algonquin National Park, Ontario, Canada, Jul 2004.

6. Book Reviews

6.1. The IBM Way

The IBM Way, by Buck Rodgers, the VP of marketing at IBM from 1974-84 (publ 1986). This what Buck Rogers' wants you to think about how IBM works.

7. Amateur Astronomy

7.2. Wifi in the Wilderness: setting up wifi internet connectivity at a star party

Wifi in the Wilderness: Setting up internet connectivity for observers at the Mid-Atlantic Star Party using wifi.

7.3. Yet another home analemma project: the Mack family driveway analemma

Yet another home analemma project: the Mack family driveway analemma .

8. Computing Programming Class: for Middle and High School Students

Dec 2009: The classes have been going 2 yrs now. I taught python as the initial course because the kids wanted it. My first choice would have been bash. I had no experience in python, but decided if I couldn't keep ahead of 7th graders on any language, even one I didn't know, then I should shoot myself. Python worked out well as a language to teach procedural programming.

  • It looks the same on Linux, Windows and Mac, so the kids can use any machine/OS they like.
  • You get a minimum number of errors, so the frustration level for the kids never gets too high.
  • You're insulated from the OS/machine/hardware so the kids don't have to know about registers etc.

8.1. Introduction to programming: Python

Computer Programming for Middle School students: An introductory course with Python as the high level language.

Class lessons for a group of 7th graders with no previous exposure to programming (as of Aug 2008, now 8th graders - in the US 7th, 8th grade are called Middle School). The students are doing this after school, one day a week for about 90min, on their own time and not for credit. My son's school didn't want me to teach the class using any of the school facilities, as they thought it would compete with a class in Java given to advance placement math 12th graders. However I could use the school facilities, if I didn't teach anything which would fullfil a requirement (which I assume meant anything practical). So the class is at my home and is free. Since this is a hobby activity for the kids, I don't ask them to do homework.

The course is finished (Oct 2009) and the kids are now learning C. I thought I would cover more material than I did in this course. I can see on reading my notes that the material isn't as clear as it could be. I guess it's as good as it gets on the first iteration. The kids didn't get to do any projects in their own time.

Note

Google stopped indexing the programming class page about Aug 2008, when the class notes reached 1M (the other indexing services seem to have no trouble with it). There is no mention of size limits on google's guide to author's page e.g. googles addurl and associated pages. I've divided the sensible single page into teensy-weensy pages in the hopes that google can now handle the material. I haven't changed the internal links to external links (so many of the links don't work); I'll wait till I know that google has indexed these small files first. If you want the material I'm using in class, go to the link immediately above. Here is the same material divided into what I hope are google sized pages.

8.2. Unused material from the Introductory course

Material the wasn't used in the Introductory Course. Presumably some of it will go into the C course.

8.3. Complex Numbers

Complex Numbers.

8.4. Programming in C

Computer Programming for High School students: C as the high level language.

Class lessons for a group of 9th graders who have taken my introductory programming course.

8.5. electricity

Computer Programming for High School students: Electricity.

This short course was added in the middle of the C class, when the students found that their lack of knowledge of computer hardware was making it difficult to learn C.

8.6. mechanics

Computer Programming for High School students: Mechanics.

This short course was added in the middle of the electricity course, so that students would know about forces and energy.

9. Library of Congress Talking Books for the Blind Duplicator

In the middle of 2009, the National Library Service (NLS) of the Library of Congress (LOC) will be releasing their new Talking Books for the Blind reader. Libraries will be able to download these books from the NLS and put them onto the cartridges which fit into the new reader. The device which does this is called a cartridge duplicator. The NLS is not supplying duplicators, but has published the specifications for one, so that vendors can produce them. Here's AustinTek's Talking Books for the Blind Duplicator and instructions to make your own duplicator.

10. About Joseph Mack

I'm a scientific programmer working as a contractor at a US Govt supercomputer center. I have Ph.D. in biochemistry and 25 yrs of scientific research, including University of California (Davis), Yale University, US Department of Agriculture, National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Institutes for Health (NIH) before turning to programming for a career.

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