SVG text in boxes with Snap.svg

SVG differs from the HTML5 that you're used to in lots of ways. One of which is text. One requirement I had was to create a box round an arbitrary length of text, like this: That's pretty easy in a DIV with some CSS and it's not difficult in SVG, just different. We're going to use the Snap.SVG library to implement it. The code First we create the box, add some style. Then we create the text, then some style. Finally, we update the width...

Read More

Using Snap.svg to create a box that snaps to a grid

I reviewed Snap.svg, the SVG javascript library as my favourite of the current tranche of libraries. This post begins an exploration of how to do simple things in Snap. First we're going to create a square and give it drag behaviour. Then we're going to update the drag behaviour to make it snap to a grid. Basic Dragging The first task is to create a square and make it draggable. In Snap, that's very simple: This file contains bidirectional Unicode text...

Read More

Entity Framework upgrade to 6 configuration and nuget magic

This post discusses the update from Entity Framework 5 to 6 and where where must be vigilant in the face of nuget's magic. TLDR; Nuget doesn't update .config if there is custom config and setting the Copy Local property on the reference didn't change the actualy csproj file. Nuget package manager is a wonderful thing. It allows you to simply manage all the of the packages in the solution, update them all automatically, include other dependencies and so on. Wonderful! Glad to have it in the workflow. However, this magic can...

Read More

SVG Libraries as of November 2013

Support Vector Graphics (SVG) allows us to create vector images on the browser. Support is pretty good on modern browsers. The difference between Canvas and SVG is best described on Wikipedia. Interacting directly with the SVG document object model (DOM) sounds like a nice low-level computer science thing to do but in industry, it's best to use libraries constructed by others to take over some of the heavy lifting. TLDR; I'm going with Snap.svg. It's new but based on a mature library. This is a round up of the best three...

Read More

Noam Chomsky: Where AI went wrong

Noam Chomsky was interviewed by the Atlantic. The article is well written but biased towards Chomsky's viewpoint. I think the title of the article is ridiculous, but that's the modern media for you. It's inflammatory, over-reaching and ignorant. AI may have fractured but it's not gone wrong. Gone wrong is when your toaster decides your dog needs to die. I do like Chomsky's viewpoint that: "new AI" -- focused on using statistical learning techniques to better mine and predict data -- is unlikely to yield general principles...

Read More

Q&A with Luke Muehlhauser, CEO of Singularity Institute

An interesting reddit Q&A session with Luke Muehlhauser, the CEO of the Singularity Institute. He answers questions from "What if we make something more intelligent than us?" through to questions on morality and friendly AIs. The questions and the answers are interesting throughout. Singularity Institute The Singularity Institute is an interesting research organisation that focuses on creating AI in such a way that we don't destroy ourselves as a civilisation. The idea of friendly AI and ethics is an interesting one. As...

Read More

Microsoft Research: Machine Learning and Intelligence in Our Midst

This is an interesting video from Eric Horvitz at Microsoft Research that covers a little on the use of Inference Networks. Real world applications include traffic prediction and hospital admission. Eric also talks about how they constructed a model for the receptionist of the MS Research building. Video below the jump....

Read More