Announcing Sdfchecker beta-software release.

Posted on 2011/09/30 by ramaradmin

Sdfchecker is a free inspection and manipulation program for SDFiles (.sdf). It is useful for examining SDFiles before importing them into database programs such as ACD/ChemFolder, Cambridgesoft’s ChemBioFinder, ISIS/Base (MDL/Base) to name a few.

Summary of functions:
- Indicate number of structure records
- Indicate number of blank structure records
- Display list of Data Field names
- Remove blank structure records
- Split large files into smaller multiple files, a single random sized file, or containing a
specified range of records
- Convert into individual MOL files
- Inspect for duplicate Data Field names within each record

Available for:
Mac OS X – Sdfchecker.dmg

Windows – sdfchecker.zip

Linux – sdfchecker_lnx.zip

This project is a work in progress. Choose Help > User Guide within the software for documentation and further information. Any feedback or suggestions on the working of the program is much appreciated.

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A nice visit to Newfoundland

Posted on 2011/07/19 by ramaradmin

Just got back from a first time visit to St. John’s, Newfoundland.  We actually had great weather with the sun shining for the most part.  It was not the weather I had expected.  Although near the end of the visit the “typical” weather did return with overcast skies and some rain.  Got up to Signal Hill and out to Cape Spear with some clear skies.  Was down to Bay Bulls and out on the O’Brien whale and puffin tour and was not disappointed.  The waters were very calm and we saw the whales and puffins up close.  Also went down to Cape Saint Mary’s Park Reserve and walked out to see all the birds on “Bird Cove”.

It has quite the hilly terrain as opposed to boring and flat Southwestern Ontario.  The drives around the coast lines are similar to those you find on the Cabot Trail in Cape Breton, NS.  You climb some big hills and then come flying down the other side!

I look forward to returning again in the future when I go to visit my brother once he moves there next year.  Then we will have a chance to further explore the interior and western parts of the island.

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I am inspired by iWoz

Posted on 2011/06/21 by ramaradmin

I just completed reading “iWoz”, the autobiography of Steve Wozniak. It was an inspiring read hearing his side of the story of how he developed the Apple I and Apple II computers. It was a great inside look of how he and Steve Jobs got along in the early years and how they started up Apple by turning a personal hobby project into a vey successful enterprise. He provided a look into his thought processes and designing principles he employed.  Being an introverted type myself, I was able to identify with how he liked to do things on his own.

What also stood out for me was how he was happiest just working on his engineering projects and left most of the selling and marketing to others.  But that was a problem when he was left out of the designing of the disaster that was the Apple III. As he described it, it was designed by committee of mostly marketing types and this lead to all the problems.  This must be why I don’t value marketing all that much either. They want the “pie in the sky” but don’t bother to talk to the technical people that will be impacted the most by their crazy ideas.

Look for it at your favourite book store (physical or electronic).

iWoz by Steve Wozniak with Gina Smith
ISBN-10: 0393330435
ISBN-13: 978-0393330434

 

 

Posted in Technology | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Today’s music ain’t got the same soul..

Posted on 2011/06/14 by ramaradmin

I went to see Supertramp in concert on Saturday, June 11 in London, ON. It was an awesome concert. I was wondering how the songs like “Breakfast In America”, “The Logical Song”, “Dreamer”, “Give A Little Bit” and “It’s Raining Again”, were going to sound without Roger Hodgson as the lead vocal. Well it was very impressive with the guys who did those vocals. These songs were just like the originals.

The “Breakfast In America” album was my first real exposure to Supertramp back in 1979 when I was in Grade seven in Petawawa, ON. One of the bus drivers had a stereo system in the bus (I believe it was an 8-track tape player) and he was playing either Supertramp or Steve Miller. It wasn’t a really long bus ride and there was enough time to hear about three or four songs. I believe this is around the time that I really started to pay attention to music and the songs being played on the radio. I was entering my teen years and this is when the music started to have an affect on me.

So of course it was the ’80s with all the different styles and genres. I listened to mostly the mainstream Pop/Rock songs and still pretty much still listen to the same music today.

I remember telling myself and maybe some friends as well, that I was going to be a person that kept up with the popular music of the day. I was not going to be like our parent’s and say “today’s music is not like it was in my day!”…

Well I was wrong! Over the years I have tried to stay somewhat current. There have been some bands that I have found that I like or at least some individual songs. A lot of the new stuff I just don’t like or cannot get into. I keep going back to the music and bands of my teen years. I will occasionally pick up a CD (only if I really can’t find a downloadable version) of a band or a collection of various artists’ songs from the ’80s. Sometimes I am looking for hard to find “one hit wonder” stuff that just never made it to CD and may never be available electronically.

I am not criticizing what today’s teen’s listen to because someday they are going to end up in the same situation.  Music is an ever changing and mutating organism, phenomenon, beast, etc.  What was popular for me is not the same as is popular today and will be different again for the next generation.

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New Mac OS and iOS updates coming in July

Posted on 2011/06/09 by ramaradmin

Well with the announcement this week from Apple about the upcoming updates for OS X and iOS, I am getting excited to update my devices. I have personally had no problem with any of the updates in the past.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not a die hard Fanboi. I am very comfortable using Windows and Linux as well. Yes my current personal platform happens to be a Mac along with an iPhone4 and iPad2, but I don’t go around “dissing” Microsoft and it’s products. I am even using Windows 7 in a virtual machine on my Mac as there are just some things I need to keep up on in the Windows environment. It all comes down to using the tools you need to get the task done.

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My New Blog

Posted on 2011/05/17 by ramaradmin

It was time for an update to my website and I decided to add a blogging component. I have not completely determined what I will post here, but it will probably evolve as I continue to work on it.  Stay tuned.

 

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