Earthquakes the Problem of Evil - Page 18 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Botnst · #**256** 01-06-2005, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjl

I'm just getting in to food web theory for this new project. Most of the coding I will leave to a colleague of mine (ex-astrophysicist!), but I've written some pretty complex code in my time for models, but in butt-ugly monolithic FORTRAN or C.

Neo Martinez has done some great work on food webs, condensing the interaction parameters (competition coefficients) into a statistical distribution of coefficients that species choose from according to some very simple rules - comparison with real food web data shows the model fits well. So some simplifications are probably possible in the midst of this complexity.

I translated the CEP Series from FORTRAN to Pascal so I could run it on my Mac back in the late 1980's. It seemed important when I did it.

Sounds like structural equation modeling--as I understand it (so says he, presumptuously). One of the guys I work with is big into that with prairie systems. He's loosing his hair and I think there's a causal relationship.

My interests now are more targeted on long-term habitat mapping of coastal wetland subsidence in Louisiana. Gotta draw pictures while we can.

boneheaddoctor · #**257** 01-06-2005, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crash9

Oh they’re really cute I agree. It’s all the other rodents – the little ones get in the house, eat everything I plant and attract rattlesnakes. I did have a packrat build a house in the Merc last week – he had everything imaginable packed around the headlight. He’d done it in just one week, and probably rode to town with me a couple of times. I went to check the oil before coming up your way for Xmas (I’ve got a new grandson) and he just ran back and stood on the bellhousing looking at me like “Go away, this is my place” – Anyway I’d be overrun if I didn’t put out poison, and the packers get it. I’ve wanted to get more Kingsnakes (they eat the rattlers) but they go out to the road or hang around a little pond I’ve got during rainy season. We get Mojave’s around the house and they’ll actually be aggressive – can’t deal with that so the rats gotta go.

My wife calls ME a packrat..........since I can't throw out good car parts I might need in the future.

GermanStar · #**258** 01-06-2005, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crash9

Oh they’re really cute I agree. It’s all the other rodents – the little ones get in the house, eat everything I plant and attract rattlesnakes. I did have a packrat build a house in the Merc last week – he had everything imaginable packed around the headlight. He’d done it in just one week, and probably rode to town with me a couple of times. I went to check the oil before coming up your way for Xmas (I’ve got a new grandson) and he just ran back and stood on the bellhousing looking at me like “Go away, this is my place” – Anyway I’d be overrun if I didn’t put out poison, and the packers get it. I’ve wanted to get more Kingsnakes (they eat the rattlers) but they go out to the road or hang around a little pond I’ve got during rainy season. We get Mojave’s around the house and they’ll actually be aggressive – can’t deal with that so the rats gotta go.

There are so many coyotes and predatory birds around here that rodent populations seem well in check. Ground squirrels, pack rats and rabbits are abundant but in no way out of control. A family of 6 Harris Hawks moved into the neighborhood about three or four weeks ago. Have seen very few quail or packrats since. The hawks will move on in a little while and the prey animals will make a fast comeback to serve as coyote food. No rattlers near my house -- I'm grateful for the sake of my pup. Roadrunners eat rattlers too, don't they?

jjl · #**259** 01-06-2005, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KirkVining

Throw away that Fortran and C. The newer languages, C#.Net and VB.NET are the way to go on this type of programming. I believe there is also a specific language for LST, begins with a "D" - but these newer languages are all about creating everything as a Platonic Form object - a perfect swamp duck if you would, and then manipulating the properties of it to create a specific duck. The objects can be reused and refined, and over time one can build an extensive library of virtual living creatures. There are currently huge projects going on, on oceanographic models, which we desperately need. Here in Houston it is used to simulate theortical Martian Ecosystems and solve in flight living systems problems. Here is a nice summary on the theoritcal background

http://www.mollyyoungbrown.com/systems_article.htm

Thanks Kirk, I'll check out the article. I work beside some guys who do something similar - 'agent based modeling', where the object can be a person with behavioural outputs such as decision-making, which impacts others, affects their behaviour, and so on. Gets messy quickly, but really fascinating.

I'm in the process of buying a new Unix box (my Silicon Graphics Indigo died last month after 11 years of faithful service) and this might be a good time to come out of the software stone age too. Although, I tend to need max speed on these models - I had a comp sci student do a project re-writing some of my horrible C code into nice, modular C++ and she managed to slow it down to the point that it was unuseable, but really tidy. I might go for MATLAB as a step up the rung to begin with.

Botnst · #**260** 01-06-2005, 10:54 PM

Description reminds me of SmallTalk. Anybody ever program in it? I have a friend who is looking for SmallTalk programmers.

crash9 · #**261** 01-07-2005, 12:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GermanStar

There are so many coyotes and predatory birds around here that rodent populations seem well in check. Ground squirrels, pack rats and rabbits are abundant but in no way out of control. A family of 6 Harris Hawks moved into the neighborhood about three or four weeks ago. Have seen very few quail or packrats since. The hawks will move on in a little while and the prey animals will make a fast comeback to serve as coyote food. No rattlers near my house -- I'm grateful for the sake of my pup. Roadrunners eat rattlers too, don't they?

Well yes lots, if not herds of roadrunners. They’re the meanest damn suckers, but they’re more after the quail I think – seeing them go after the little chicks is just ugly. Hawks – anything that flies – are thick. I feed better than 60lbs. of seed to the birds each week, and the rats come for the chafe at night. You’ll see the birds scatter and 3-4 seconds later a hawk will come gliding around just a few feet off the ground – very cool. I’ve never seen them get anything, but it was raining feathers one morning as I steped off the porch. But to the point, I’ve got field fence for about 4 or five acres around the house to keep the dogs in, so no cyotes. So I’ve screwed up the ecosystem and wound up with rats and rabbits = extra snakes. I know where a huge sucker is wintering over. Found a huge shedding sticking out of a hole – I’m tempted to dig him up – it takes them a long time to get going when they’re cold.

KirkVining · #**262** 01-07-2005, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

Description reminds me of SmallTalk. Anybody ever program in it? I have a friend who is looking for SmallTalk programmers.

It's the forerunner of all Object Oriented languages. I coded in it years ago. I'm surprised anyone is still using it. VB.Net is Smalltalk on steriods

KirkVining · #**263** 01-07-2005, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjl

Thanks Kirk, I'll check out the article. I work beside some guys who do something similar - 'agent based modeling', where the object can be a person with behavioural outputs such as decision-making, which impacts others, affects their behaviour, and so on. Gets messy quickly, but really fascinating.

I'm in the process of buying a new Unix box (my Silicon Graphics Indigo died last month after 11 years of faithful service) and this might be a good time to come out of the software stone age too. Although, I tend to need max speed on these models - I had a comp sci student do a project re-writing some of my horrible C code into nice, modular C++ and she managed to slow it down to the point that it was unuseable, but really tidy. I might go for MATLAB as a step up the rung to begin with.

VB.net and C#.net are platform independent, and they use the same symbol set, which means you can write in VB, and then reverse compile it into C or C#. That means a programmer working at the easier to learn VB level can rough out the program, turn it over to a C coder who can translate your source code into C at a press of a button, and the C guy can concentrate on those areas where C is most applicable, instead of being bogged down for months doing the whole thing in C. It's a brilliant idea from the Evil Empire.

Botnst · #**264** 01-07-2005, 08:55 AM

A trip down memory lane.

http://www.underview.com/2001/haltrans.html#sorry