Bugfix(59/8=APNIC), math jobs (was: JDEE/CGI/flashcards ...)

> From: Tim X <t...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> The message I get is
> Your IP number is: 59.167.0.32 Port#4468
> According to my database, your IP number can't exist.

You didn't tell me which of my CGI applications you were running at the
time you got that error, so I had to do a grep on the text of the error
message you reported (good thing you did copy&paste instead of manually
paraphrasing the message) and I was thereby able to find which program
generated that message. The problem was that the previous time I
checked ARIN WHOIS on that IP address block 59/8 it was marked as
RESERVED, but since then it's been assigned to APNIC. You are the very
first person to report this particular change to me, and I immediately
updated my IP->CTW database for this block and a couple other blocks
that had also been recently assigned to APNIC, and one other that has
recently been assigned to a new African WHOIS that I never heard of
before. I'm not aware of any way to receive automated e-mail alerts
whenever ARIN changes a block from RESERVED to some actual in-use
status, without being flooded with unwanted e-mail on other topics. If
you know of any such very specific alert service, please let me know.
Because I'm not an IP-block registrant, I have no access to anyone at
ARIN to ask them directly for such a favor. So anyway, thanks for the
bug report so I could fix the problem quickly.

But I wish you would refrain from derogatory remarks about my software
until *after* you report a bug to me and give me suitable time to fix
it or not. If I fix the bug within one hour of first report, as I did
here, I don't deserve any reproach. I dare you to find *any* commercial
vendor who offers such rapid bug fixes, much less anyone offering
totally free software who offers such rapid bug fixes. Also, in the
future, please use my online Web-based short-message/alert system to
let me know immediately about any bugs in my software, rather than post
a bug report to a public forum which I might not see for days or weeks
or ever.

> > Again, you'll have to tell me what program you're talking about.
> Note that I said it "looks" incomplete and buggy, not htat it is. The
> point is its not giving the right impression regardless of whats
> there.

For the third time: You must tell me what program of mine you're
running when you make a remark that it looks buggy etc. It's completely
useless for you to make vague remarks that some program by Robert Maas
or by MicroSoft is buggy without saying what the *** program you're
talking about before you post public comments about how it's buggy or
looks buggy or seems buggy etc. When I keep repeating that MicroSoft
InterNet Explorer with JavaScript enabled and running on most recent
verions of MicroSoft Windows has security problems such as buffer
overrun that allow trojans to take control of the computer and turn it
into a spam-spewing monster that does great harm to the InterNet, I'm
talking about a specific problem in a specific line of software with a
specific buggy feature enabled, having a problem that I've heard about
from multiple sources, not making some vague remark about some unknown
MicroSoft software that is buggy in some unstated way making MicroSoft
look bad in some general unspecified way. Do you see the difference
between the kind of bug reports I need (and finally got *after* you had
repeatedly publicly demeaned me and my software) compared to what you
posted on those previous occasions?

I take responsibility for my software, not that I believe anyone can
ever produce absolutely bug-free software that will automatically track
all changes in the world to remain bug-free and up-to-date forever
without ever needing any human intervention at any time, but that
whenever somebody reports a bug in my software I make every reasonable
effort to fix the bug as soon as feasible, even though I'm not getting
paid one cent for this continued customer support. Hmmm, nearly
everyone who posts open-source and other free software, provides
customer support *only* to paying customers, and a pay rate in the
range of $50-150 per hour for consulting. But I'm a nice guy who not
only provides free usage of some of my software but even free customer
support! Cut your griping if you want my freebies to continue!

By the way, in lieu of monetary payments for my services, I'm thinking
of asking for services in return. In particular I might set up an
automated way to make new individual accounts on my Web application
server, whereby the new user needs to perform some useful service to me
before the account is authorized, even before my system auto-mails the
request for confirmation of application for new account. This would
protect me from automated spam-bots getting thousands of accounts on my
server using Joe-job e-mail addresses thereby provoking my automated
new-account system to send thousands of requests for confirmation of
new account to innocent Joe-job third parties. This small-service
method of validating new accounts is better than Yahoo/Google's method
of "type the text that you see in the GIF" for two reasons: (1) It
doesn't discriminate against disabled people who need text-to-voice
translation of Web pages hence can't "see" GIFs at all, and (2) it
isn't vulnerable to automated proxy-text-in-GIF systems, which might be
the mechanism by which spammers have been registering for thousands of
Yahoo! Groups and spamming them all before the group owner can spot the
abuse and ban the spam-bots.

> no new employee is ever an asset on the first day. It takes weeks,
> sometimes months before you are really an asset. You may be able to
> perform simple tasks on your first day, but that does not make you an
> asset.

I don't do simple tasks, unless they haven't been automated yet.
I do high-level design and brainstorming on design, which can be useful
the first day on a new project. For example, at my previous significant
employment, my boss told me he had a new contract to develop CAI software
for calculus, and said he wanted something similar to the symbolic
logic CAI that I had previously helped port from SAIL to CL to PSL, and
promptly I came up with a basic idea how it might be done, which (with
embellishments) because the basic way that EQD (EQuational Derivation)
was implemented. So basically, without my idea the first day of the new
project, the project might have gotten nowhere. (Then I went ahead to
write a prototype of my idea, so that others could play with it and see
if it did everything that would be needed for providing a "sandbox" for
students to perform the steps necessary to set up and solve typical
word problems by taking derivatives and solving equations etc. The only
major change to the user interface that occurred after my prototype was
replacing my simple s-expression input routine with a parser that took
a more user-friendly syntax for derivation-step commands.)

> The one thing you may have is a good math background and therefore,
> you may have more luck applying for programming jobs which require
> high math skills.

I haven't seen any ads for any such jobs for longer than I can
remember. I could post a request for employment on sci.math newsgroup,
although I doubt it'd be of any value because my regular contributions
to that group haven't resulted in any comments of the type "Hey, I
noticed you seem to be unemployed at present, would you by chance be
interested in working on this pet math project of mine..." so I don't
think anyone like that even reads the newsgroup, but maybe it'd be
worth a shot in the dark? Can you think of any other ways to scrounge
up somebody with money and interest in hiring me for such a job?

> > You're completely missing the point here. CGI is just a means of
> > exposing my software to the Web. ... ... thanks to CGI I can set up
> > demos of my Unix software that don't require somebody come over to my
> > apartment to see it. ...

> If I'm missing the point, that should tell you something. Either your
> posts and web site is not getting across what you really want or you
> have confusion about what you really want. You choose.

I don't have any choice here. I haven't been offered a job in years. I
don't have the luxury of choosing this job or that job. I'm looking to
find any job that I can do well enough to be worth hiring me, I don't
care whether it's programming or tutoring or what. It never does any
good to want anything because I never get what I want, so wanting
anything specific is a waste of emotional energy, a surefire path to
frustration and disappointment. In the context of applying for a
specific advertised job I need to pretend I'm looking specifically for
that job and no other, and even tailor my experience and skills to look
like I'm well suited for just that kind of job, but otherwise I have to
keep my options open for any kind of job that may turn up. It's not
confusion to keep my options open and present *all* my various skills
talents expertise experience etc. equally. But if somehow I'm not
adequately expressing some of my skill areas, such that you believe I
didn't have such skills, I need to fix that aspect of my presentation,
and you or somebody may be useful to help me with that task. As I said
a few days ago, I'm currently in the process of dismantling nearly all
my past work on WAP pages, and rebuilding a new WebPage organization
that has nothing to do with WAP, so this is a good time for any
feedback on specific ways I can represent my skills better.

(Splitting this long reply here...)
.