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hotcode

hotcode (License: MIT, npm: hotcode) by Mathias Pettersson is a small Express app that watches for changes on a given path, then reloads an associated app when files change.

To use it, follow the instructions in the project’s README file. When hotcode is run it’ll print out a link to some JavaScript (it should be http://127.0.0.1:8080/static/injected.js) — this will need to be added to your project to get automatic reloading in the browser.

Projects can be configured in ~/.hotcode so the path doesn’t need to be entered each time hotcode is started. This can be set per-domain as well.

One of the interesting things about hotcode is it can be run against practically any app in any language. If you’re sick of having to restart your app and refresh the browser every time you make a change, then you’re going to love this.

fbgraph

fbgraph (GitHub: criso / fbgraph, License: MIT, npm: fbgraph) by Cristiano Oliveira provides consistent access to the Facebook graph API. According to the author:

All calls will return json. Facebook sometimes decides to just return a string or true or redirects directly to an image.

Given suitable configuration options, people can be authorised using getOauthUrl:

var graph = require('fbgraph')
  , authUrl = graph.getOauthUrl({
      'client_id':    conf.client_id
    , 'redirect_uri': conf.redirect_uri
  });

Once the Facebook dialog has been displayed, graph.authorize is called to complete the process and get the access token.

API calls are made with graph.get or graph.post, so most of the API is oriented around HTTP methods:

graph.get('zuck', function(err, res) {
  console.log(res); // { id: '4', name: 'Mark Zuckerberg'... }
});

graph.post(userId + '/feed', wallPost, function(err, res) {
  // returns the post id
  console.log(res); // { id: xxxxx}
});

This is a clean, well-documented, and well-tested Facebook library, which is surprisingly refreshing.

browser

browser (License: MIT, npm: browser) by Shin Suzuki is an event-based library for browsing and scraping URLs, whilst maintaining cookies. Requests are built up using the library’s object, and then triggered with .run():

var $b = require('browser');
$b.browse('https://example.com/');
$b.run();

Building up a sequence of events is possible with the after method:

var $b = require('browser');

$b.browse('https://example.com/sign-in');

$b.browse('https://example.com/account')
  .after(); // browse after previously registered function

$b.run();

Event callbacks can also be registered:

$b.on('end', function(err, res) {
});

Now load up jsdom and you’ll be able to scrape faster than you can say “deep-linking lawsuit”!

Shared by Michael

A Lannister always spays his pets

I put this flyer up at my local pet store. Thanks to Tyrion from Game of Thrones for offering his endorsement.

[Source: Pleated Jeans]

Related posts:

1. Comparing Famous Robots [Pic]
2. Game of Thrones Season 2 Teaser
3. Oh Yummy: Game of Thrones Cupcakes [Pic]

Vi Hart, mathemusician and the adorably geeky voice behind Squiggle Inception featured here recently, has a new video which discusses the science and mathematics of sound.

Check out Vi Hart’s other videos (all worth a peek) on her YouTube channel.

[Laughing Squid]

Related posts:

1. The Reason Why Everyone Needs to Learn Science and Math
2. The Science Behind your TV Sound System
3. Math Blaster: Rated “M” For Math [Cartoon]

How can we make solar panels work up to 50% better? Thirteen-year-old teenager named Aidan Dwyer discovered how trees use math in order to maximize photosynthesis, and thought that it could well be applied towards solar panels:

On a bleak winter hiking trip to the Catskill Mountains, the 7th-grader from New York noticed a pattern among tree branches, and determined (as naturalist Charles Bonnet did in 1754) that the pattern represented the Fibonacci sequence of numbers. Aidan wondered why, and figured it had something to do with photosynthesis.

In a pretty innovative experiment, this intrepid young scientist set about duplicating an oak tree, comparing its sunlight-capturing abilities to a traditional rooftop solar panel array. [...] the short story is that his tree design generated much more electricity — especially during the winter solstice, when the sun is at its lowest point in the sky. At that point, the tree design generated 50 percent more power, without any adjustments to its declination angle.

He determined the tree’s Fibonacci pattern allowed some solar panels to collect sunlight even if others were in shade, and prevented branches on a tree from shading other branches.

[Source]

Related posts:

1. The Solar Billionaires: Who’s Made Mad Money off of Solar Power?
2. Solar Revolution: MIT develops new method for storing solar energy
3. Sexy Fibonacci Spiral [Pic]

The new weather layer in google maps is awesome and pretty. (Link)

In an remote corner of Northeast India lives an indigenous tribal people who have been mostly left alone until the past hundred years. Without the amenities of modern technology or engineering, the War-Khasi people have designed an absolutely ingenious way to cross rivers and gulches; manipulating living tree roots to form natural bridges.

The Ficus elastica is a type of rubber tree native to the region. In addition to their massive size and manipulability, the trees have a secondary root system that is essential to the construction of the bridges. They grow out from higher up in the trunk due to their tendency to live above water sources and dip far down into the rivers. Hundreds of years ago, the Khasi people realized the potential benefit of these roots and began to shape them to their advantage.

By taking the trunks of betel nut trees, hollowing them out and cutting in them in half, the tribespeople show the roots where they want them to grow. As the roots slowly grow in search of water, their path continues down the inside of the betel trunk, across the length of the river or ravine. One they arrive at their destination, they’re allowed to dig into the soil and grow strong, and do they ever grow strong.

After about 10-15 years of traveling across the river, the root bridges can eventually hold over 5,000 pounds of weight. Some of them are up to 100 feet in length and the oldest of the bunch is believed to have been constructed around the 16th century.

In recent years, the Khasis actually wanted to get with the times and tear down the bridges to make way for steel ones. It wasn’t until a local resort owner stepped in and realized the worth of these ancient marvels. He convinced them to keep them up and began to photograph them to show the bridges off to the world. Some of them are absolutely stunning, but most magnificent of them all is the Umshiang Double-Decker, shown below.

The Khasis even recently started to grow another bridge, perfect for the trip I’m planning a decade from now.

Enjoyed what you read? Check out all whole compendium of Historical Thursdays!

Pictures and Information courtesy of: Atlas Obscura and Tree Hugger.

As always, if YOU have an idea for a Historical Thursday, let me know at thereifixedit@gmail.com