Important Research Project

[Paul McGuire]

On Aug 30, 8:12 am, "E.D.G." <edgrs... at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> Important Research Project  (Related to computer programming)
>
> Posted by E.D.G. on August 30, 2007 edgrs... at ix.netcom.com
>
>     This report is being posted to a number of Internet Newsgroups

Always the hallmark of a considerate poster.

> to see if
> there are any experienced computer programmers who would like to provide
> some assistance with an effort to develop a Perl language computer program.
>
>     Interested parties can try contacting me by e-mail or by posting a
> response note to the comp.lang.perl.misc newsgroup.  They would need to
> download a recent (free) MSI copy of Perl from the ActiveState Web site and
> get it running on a Windows XP or Vista system.
>
> http://www.activestate.com
>

This is a little backwards, one usually presents their research topic
*first* and their contact info *last*.  The reason?  SO PEOPLE KNOW
WHAT THE @#$(&#!@ YOU ARE WORKING ON!  Ok, I'll bite, keep reading...

>     I am presently using Perl 5.8.8

Whoop-de-doo for you.

> but plan to upgrade to the latest
> version as soon as possible.  People can use Windows 98 if that is the only
> operating system available.  Perl also runs on other operating systems.  But
> at this time I specifically need help with the Windows version.
>

I suspect Perl is largely the same Perl on all those platforms.  Win
98?  Is this a zombie spam from the turn of the century?

>     The goal is to have a single Perl program (or modules) perform functions
> that have been done by a sizeable collection of other language programs in
> the past.
>

Doing what!?  Grrr..., keep reading, there's gotta be a punch line...

>     Help is presently needed with learning how to get Perl to generate
> charts and also produce standalone .exe copies of itself.  The plan is to
> then make those .exe copies available to other scientific researchers around
> the world for free use along with free use updates when they become
> available.  If other researchers wish to get Perl running on their own
> computers then they will probably also be given the source code for the
> original program for free use so that they can do their own development
> work.
>

Ohmigod, is Google broken?  Or has Perl gone this long and this far
without support for creating charts and graphs?  Sounds like about 10
minutes of research.

>     Perl was originally chosen because it is quite versatile, is a free
> download, and is supported both by ActiveState and quite a few independent
> programmers.  So other researchers could get their own versions running
> without having to worry about viruses or cost.
>

(Why is this posted on all these non-Perl newsgroups, then?  I've
*seen* Perl already, and never want to again!)

>     So far the work is fairly advanced.  The effort has been underway for at
> least a decade.  

... and we are just getting around to plotting some data.

> The core data generation program was formally copyrighted
> several years ago.  

Red flag #37 - "formally copyrighted", wooo-ooooh

> My present version of Perl will send data to Windows as
> if it were being manually typed into the keyboard (important for controlling
> other programs).  And it can directed to respond to most keystrokes even
> when another program is the active one.  Unfortunately, Windows also
> presently responds to those keystrokes.  And that complicates things a bit.
>

... and has for the past decade, and I still haven't figured it out.

>     Not being a professional computer programmer I have been finding it
> difficult to get new features such as a chart generating ability merged with
> and running with Perl.  And the entire research project is now being slowed
> as a result.  One of my colleagues has done an extensive amount of work with
> Basic.  And I even offered to pay him to help with the Perl development
> effort.  But after he downloaded a copy of Perl and examined it he decided
> that this would involve too much effort.  I have to agree with him.
>

Maybe that up-front language choice could stand a review...

>     Once it is possible to create charts and .exe versions the plan is for
> researchers around the world to develop Perl modules for generating a
> variety of data related to sun, moon, planet, ocean tide crest and trough,
> and Solid Earth Tide locations.  Most of those data can already be generated
> with other programs.  Some of the data are not yet available anywhere as far
> as I am aware.  If the effort is unusually successful the Perl program (or
> modules) might eventually be converted to CGI programs that will run at one
> or more Internet Web sites.

AHHH!  The "research", I almost forgot!  Why is it left to the end of
the message?  And do we still know what the @#(*&$ this "variety of
data" is for?  I'm going to take a wild guess here - earthquake
prediction?  perpetual motion?  picking guaranteed-to-win lottery
numbers?

After a pitch like that, who could not be tempted at the prospect of
"generating a variety of data related to sun, moon, etc. etc."?  Sign
me up - NOT!

GTFA,
-- Paul