FreeMat Evaluation

FreeMat is an open-source software environment similar to Matlab. The latest version is 4.0, released 2009-10-09. I tried FreeMat with one of my Matlab scripts which prompts the user for keyboard input. Unfortunately, this resulted in an error: In /usr/local/share/FreeMat-4.0/toolbox/io/input.m(input) at line 37 In /home/jarle/freemat/inndata.m(inndata)… Read more

Python: reading two columns of numerical data with an arbitrary number of header & blank lines

Here is my current method. Please let me know if you have a better one. The input data may be either space, tab, or comma delimited. ########################################################################## import os import re from numpy import array,zeros,concatenate,linspace,std from sys import stdin import matplotlib.pyplot as plt ######################################################################## def… Read more

Python on Linux

I have installed Linux Ubuntu on my 64-bit Windows PC, turning it into a dual boot configuration. The link is:  http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/windows-installer * * * I have also installed the Linux versions of Python & Spyder. Here is a Python installation method from Nick Smith: Part… Read more

Python Tip

Every Python book and website tutorial recommends the following command for prompting the user for input: raw_input() But I have found that this command is buggy and unreliable. Specifically, I wrote a long, complex code that had several raw_input() commands. The code ran successfully in… Read more

Python Progress

The Python scripting program, ver 2.7.2, can be freely downloaded from: http://www.python.org/download/  Programmers will also need to install libraries such as NumPy, SciPy and matplotlib, particularly for science and engineering programming. These libraries are also freely available, but their proper installation and integration with Python is tricky. As… Read more

Lonn’s Shovel

I once knew a man named Lonn Butler, a righteous man who has since gone to be with the Lord. Lonn was 90 or so years old when I knew him. He had pecan trees in his backyard.  A sapling had grown near one of… Read more