So, this project I’m working on, which I’m tentatively calling Lingo, seems to be moving along nicely. I have the page structure more or less where I want it. Since I don’t have a wireless device of my own, I’ve been doing some research into them, in anticipation of buying one at my next paycheck. I’m mainly looking at a Palm T|X, which is the latest of the Tungsten line. IIRC, it has a screen 320 pixels wide by 480 pixels tall. However, this is a big screen compared to some other mobile devices. I think most cell phones have screens that are 240 pixels wide by 320 tall, or somewhere around there. Right now, the pages are set (using CSS) to 320 pixels wide, so may alter that to fit smaller screens better.

HTTP has a protocol where it can pass a bunch of information to the webpage if requested. I think it’s called the HTTP User Agent, which will pass the name and version of the browser being used, and the OS. I think it can also pass the language being used (e.g English, Japanese, etc) and possibly the screen resolution, though I’m not sure. Still, if I can detect what language is being used, I can send the user to a customized page for their language. No sense mucking about with English if you don’t know it. If I can detect the OS and/or browser type, I might be able to have separate pages for optimal screen resolution.

The next big step for coding will be to set it up so people can actually browse the dictionaries. Right now, I have two bilingual and bidirectional dictionaries, each one in a separate table in MySQL (so there are two tables). However, I see at least one or two difficulties. As an example, I have one dictionary that is Russian-English and English-Russian. For Stardict bidirectional dictionaries work well, but I think for a webpage it would be different. Since I origiinally started the dictionary for Stardict, I didn’t give a lot of thought to how it would sort on a website. I just thought about how it would work with Stardict. Now that I am getting more into the website, I want to have one page where Russian words can be translated into English, and another where English terms can be translated into Russian. To me, the easiest way to do this is to have two separate tables. Another part of the problem is I want to have separate pages for browsing and searching. Searching is a simple interface like Google – Enter a term and click on a button. Browsing just presents a long list of words and their translations. Each is quite usefull, but since this intended to be on cell phones and such, I figured it would be better to have them on separate pages (it doesn’t take a lot to clutter up a small screen). Anyway, getting the dictionaries going is the next big step.

Following the dictionaries, I guess the loose roadmap would be: user login page, add/edit new terms page (a user function), links (can be done anytime), phrasebooks, add/edit phrases, and options. On the main Lingo page, I also have a section called Lessons, though I’m not quite sure what the lessons would be yet. I suppose it could be vocabulary terms, with more information than a straight translation. But I’m not sure what to do with it at the moment. Another thing is making the code available for download. The code is a long way from that, but I should try to develop it with the idea that other people may use it at some point, which means making certain choices in when coding it. Something to think about, at least.

I’ve been doing work this weekend on a coding project. You can read more about the background here. Basically, it is intended to be a website geared to mobile users that will have bilingual dictionaries and possibly some ESL lessons. The overall concept is called Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), which is an offshoot of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). CALL has become fairly prevalent in recent years with the advent of the web and cheaper computers. MALL still seems to be a nascent field that might offer more flexibility to people on the go. The idea is that people can access lessons during their commutes or when they’re on breaks.

MALL seems to fall into three categories: podcasts (audio programs people can download and listen to), software for mobiles (which doesn’t require net access), and websites (requires some sort of net access). What I’m doing falls into the last group, though I wouldn’t rule out software downloads and podcasts in the future.

I’m calling the project Lingo, though I’m not really attached to the name. The project is for small screens. At the moment I don’t have anything capable of reading it other than a PC. I don’t have a cell phone, and my PDA can’t get online. I’ve been looking at getting a new PDA with Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth, but I’ll have to wait until next payday.

In the meantime, feel free to check it out and let me know if there are any problems.

For most of the past few weeks I’ve alternated between nights with little sleep and nights with (relatively) lots of sleep time. Mainly I’ve been staying up late trying to get some papers done. On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning I went to bed around 3:00 am, but couldn’t get to sleep. On Wednesdays I have to show up early at work (around 7:00 am) to prepare the conference room for the Grand Rounds lecture which starts at 7:30. I must have fallen asleep around 4:00 because I specifically remember looking at the clock and seeing it was 3:58. Anyway, I finally get to sleep and start dreaming. When I wake up I usually don’t remember what I dreamt, but I remember that one because it was funny/peculiar.

I don’t remember all of the dream, but I recall being outdoors, arriving on scene and seeing a Tyrannosaurus lying on its side. It was moving slightly so I figured it was alive but anesthetized. I also figured the tranquilizer was wearing off and thought I better see about getting some more. After all, nobody wants a Tyrannosaurus awake and probably angry that it had been traquilized. I go to a nearby bunker that is mostly underground.

The bunker has a concrete ceiling and the roof is covered with several feet of dirt. I mention to a nurse that the dinosaur is starting to wake up and we better give it some more drugs. She says she is too busy at the moment, but suggests I take the equipment and do it myself, but let her know if there are any problems. The equipment is wooden staff about four feet long with an open sided cylinder and a large needle at the end. I take a large cylinder of the tranquilizer drugs and slip it into the open sided portion of the stick. This fits snugly (think of a battery holder on a Walkman) and the staff is ready to use.

I cautiously peer out the door and find no signs of a rampaging dinosaur, so I figure it must be where I last saw it. I walk over the berm and see the Tyrannosaur in the same spot, still showing signs of waking up. I’m nervous, but I walk over near the legs and hold still for a moment. I assess that it isn’t going to get up very quickly, so I figure I’m safe. I heft the stick in my left hand and jab it into the bottom of one of the feet. There is no respose from the dinosaur, which is good. It takes a few seconds for all of the drugs to be injected and when that’s done I go back over the berm and enter the bunker. The nurse asks if everything went okay, and I say it went well. She is busy and otherwise occupied, but she must have heard what I said and went about her other tasks.

I grab a styrofoam cup of coffee and sit on a wooden bench. The light isn’t great. The room is mostly dark, except for some natural light coming through in places. Sitting on the bench, sipping coffee, and thinking about nothing in particular. I’m just relaxing, enjoying the coffee, and my mind is spaced out. I’m gazing at a door on a few dozen feet away. I’m not looking at it per se, but staring in the general direction. I gradually become aware of some thumping noise. It’s outside and sounds heavy. I can feel the vibrations through the ground, but subtle and I barely notice it. It becomes more rhythmic, one heavy thump then another one several seconds later. It sounds like it’s getting closer.

The ground is shaking more with each thump and little speck of dirt and dust fly when it happens. After a minute or so the thumps come every few seconds. Still sipping my coffee and sitting on the bench, I look around the room and see the otehrs are nervous, though most people figure it is safer in the bunker. I idly wonder how long it takes for the traquilizer to take effect and whether I did it properly. Then it dawns on me that the dinosaur must be pissed. Not only is it upset at being drugged in the first place, it’s also angry because it has a sore foot. I shake my head and think the Tyrannosaurus is being stupid. Thumping around outside is only going to make the foot hurt worse, which will make it angrier, so it will stomp some more, which will make the foot hurt more, and so on. The dinosaur is obviously too dumb to realize that stomping around is only going to make its foot hurt more. Plus, the foot might get infected. The needle was pretty big and stomping around will probably cause the wound to become dirty, which could lead to infection if not cared for. I take another sip of my coffee and turn my gaze back to the door nearby.

The thumping is incessant. Dirt is flying around in the bunker, though we feel safe, if anxious. Looking at the door, I see light coming through the cracks. I feel mostly safe, but I wonder if the dinosaur is smart enough to channel its anger toward us. I wonder if maybe it is purposefully trying to damage the bunker. Maybe it’s hoping to drive us out of the bunker so it can kill us. We’re too smart to fall for that, though some are subconciously weighing the odds of surviving outside vs. being crushed to death if the bunker collapses. Still, I’m eyeing the door, sipping coffee and waiting for the dinosaur to get tired/bored and go away.

The thumping is still rhythmic, as if it is kicking at the roof of the bunker or stomping on it, trying to break it and make it collapse. The roof is strong and I figure the dinosaur will eventually go away, though since it is stupid, it might take awhile for it get bored and go away. Sitting on the bench, I’ve got my coffee and I’m gazing at the door. I cock my head to the side and look at the door in a different way. Is it just me, or does it look like the ceiling is getting shorter? The roof is strong, made of concrete, with several feet of dirt above it. It can’t cave in, I think. But if the ceiling really is getting shorter, then the stomping around must be working somewhat. Then I woke up. 5:40 am according to the clock.

I didn’t set the alarm, but it was one of those nightmare things where you automatically wake up before you die. The strange thing is I felt anxious about the dinosaur, even shortly after I woke up. I knew it was a dream, but I couldn’t rationalize the anxious feeling to the dream, because in the dream the roof was strong, and while the ceiling may have been getting shorter, if it was due to the dinosaur, then it would take hours before it collapsed, and the dinosaur would have tired long before then. On the same basis, I also can’t rationalize waking up, especially when I need all the sleep I can get. I went back to sleep for another 20 minutes before the alarm clock went off, and I didn’t dream about the dinosaur.

On the one hand it was kind of funny. I mean, who has dinosaurs in their dreams, let alone a T-Rex that needs to be anesthetized? For that matter, who dreams of anesthetizing a dinosaur? I haven’t seen or read Jurassic Park or the sequels in years. The only analysis I can come up with is that the dinosaur is symbolic of the stress I’ve been under the past couple of weeks, trying to get papers done, and not sleeping enough. Or, maybe the dinosaur is symbolic of the paper I ws working on before I went to sleep. Whatever it was, the dream was a bit weird. Now that the semester is done I hope I sleep a little better.

As I write this it is 3:00 am. I’ll be going to bed soon. I have a paper due at 4:30 this afternoon that is over half done, which means I have another 10 pages to go (approximately). I’ll leave work early to finish it. I also have a final exam on Thursday.

I’m trying to remain optimistic