Bennett Notes

    Recent Posts 🧑🏾‍💻

  • Use Machine Learning to Predict the Value of Bitcoin Jan 08 2018
    The day has finally come at which I can use machine learning and bitcoin in the same article. The only thing that would impress me more would be relating the topics of machine learning, bitcoin, and blockchain in the same article, but I digress. Anway, the value of bitcoin is astonishing. It went from $900 to well over $14,000 in less than 6 months time! So hey, let’s start riding this bubble and try to cash in before its too late.

  • Meltdown and Spectre – Possible Javascript Vulnerabilities Jan 05 2018
    This has been a very interesting New Year. So far, 2018 has brought us two of the biggest bugs to hit CPUs in the past 12 years: Meltdown and Spectre. Intel is struggling to get their Meltdown bug under control while Amazon and Microsoft brutally await its impact on their cloud services. Both Meltdown and Spectre are serious issues, but Meltdown is easier to exploit and gives attackers more valuable information.

  • Best Chrome Extensions for Web Development Dec 28 2017
    Google Chrome and its developer tools are an absolute necessity for any web developer. But you shouldn’t stop there because there are even more great tools and extensions that will help you with web development and design. So let’s take a look at some of the best Chrome extensions for web development. React Developer Tools If you plan on doing development in React, then you should definitely download this extension. It makes debugging a lot easier because you can see your whole app’s hierarchy and look at the values for each state and prop from all of your components.

  • Bootstrap Navbar Collapse in ReactJS Dec 27 2017
    Bootstrap is an amazing library and works wonders with ReactJS. Unfortunately, you can’t (or really shouldn’t) use Bootstrap.js with React because bootstrap directly manipulates the DOM; which could break React’s nice rendering flow. This becomes a big problem if you wanted to implement a Navbar using plain bootstrap. Take the following for example from Bootstrap’s documentation: You could directly take this code and put it in ReactJS (but change class _to _className) and you will have a working Navbar.

  • PHP Query SQL Database return JSON Dec 27 2017
    As a Javascript developer, I always prefer to use NodeJS as my API endpoint when interacting with a backend database. Unfortunately, it’s not always feasible to use NodeJS (especially in a shared hosting environment) and you might have to fall back to good old PHP. So here’s a quick refresher on how you can perform queries to a SQL database using PHP from an Ajax or Fetch call. Fetch Call Suppose I have the following XMLhttp request using the fetch API:

  • PHP insert into SQL database from Fetch POST Dec 27 2017
    As a Javascript developer, I always prefer to use NodeJS as my API endpoint when interacting with a backend database. Unfortunately, it’s not always feasible to use NodeJS (especially in a shared hosting environment) and you might have to fall back to good old PHP. So here’s a quick refresher on how you can insert an object into an SQL database from javascript using php. If you haven’t already, check out my previous tutorial on making SQL queries from PHP using fetch API.

  • GPU Programming in Javascript Dec 26 2017
    You probably don’t think about Javascript when you hear the words GPU programming. However, it should come as no surprise that there is a library to do anything and that includes GPU Programming in Javascript. Let’s get one thing clear though, you should probably not do this if you are looking to do serious GPU programming. For serious GPU programming, I recommended that you work with Nvidia’s CUDA in C and C++.

  • Image Classification using Nvidia Digits – Deep Learning Dec 24 2017
    Nvidia digits is a great way to get started with deep learning and image classification. It’s an open source platform that you can run on your computer to do things like image classification, object detection, and processing. It also contains a REST API so that you can easily do all of this through HTTP requests if you desire. For this tutorial, let’s take a look at image classification using Nvidia digits.

  • Run Linux on Surface Laptop Dec 22 2017
    It might be crazy to run Linux on Surface Laptop, but there is a way to do it. If you have extra RAM to spare on your Surface Laptop, just use Virtual Box because you’ll have all the driver support you need and you will not have to change your boot configuration. For the brave, here’s how to install Linux on Surface Laptop the more traditional way. Create Bootable USB Begin by creating a bootable USB of your favorite operating system using the free program called Rufus.

  • Javascript for of vs for in vs for each Dec 22 2017
    If you are new to Javascript (or even a seasoned js developer), you will probably get confused when trying to understand the different types of for loops. So let’s go through the javascript for of vs for in vs for each loop. Standard for loop Suppose we have an array called myArray. Here’s how you would iterate through it using the standard for loop: var myArray = ['Cat','Dog','Horse']; for(let i =0; i< myArray.

  • Subscribe to variable change in Angular 4 Service Dec 22 2017
    If you want to subscribe to variable change in Angular 4 service or Angular 5 service, you can use something called the BehaviorSubject from the rxjs library. A behavior subject is like an observable, except that it must be created with an initial value as it is must always return a value even if the subject hasn’t been updated. A behavior subject will always emit it’s first value as soon as it’s described.

  • Ubuntu install Hangs on Splash Screen Fix Dec 14 2017
    When I was trying to install Ubuntu I experienced a very strange issue. The Ubuntu install hangs on splash screen for a very long time. I would select the option to try Ubuntu in the grub menu, and then I would get this strange screen with broken graphics. It looked like the graphics failed to load or something. The Ubuntu install freezes on that screen and would not advance. I eventually found out that this issue will occur if you are using an Nvidia Graphics card.

  • Build a Multiplayer game using Javascript Dec 10 2017
    In this tutorial, we will take a look at how to build a multiplayer game using Javascript and NodeJS. My goal is to take you through the basic setup so that you can begin focusing on the actual gameplay. When building a full-scale MMO, there are a lot of things to consider like load balancing, network contingencies, etc. For now, we are going to focus on the bare minimum just to help you get an understanding of how you can creatively and effectively use the available tools of NodeJS to get started.

  • Javascript Hashcash Proof of Work Dec 04 2017
    Suppose that you developed an app that will give users free stuff when they click a button. Obviously, there’s nothing stopping one user from spamming the button one million times and collecting a whole bunch of free stuff. If you wanted to prevent that, you could use something like a CAPTCHA, or perhaps give each user a session and cool off period. You could also implement something called a proof of work system.

  • Build a Javascript Blockchain Dec 04 2017
    Blockchain! It’s the mystical buzzword that every company is saying right now. At its core, the basic concept of blockchain is not hard to understand; it’s essentially a distributed linked list. It’s also used by the popular cryptocurrency called Bitcoin. The advantages of Blockchain is that it allows for a decentralized collection of data whose integrity is easily verifiable, and the data itself is immutable Keep in mind that a fully robust blockchain will also contain smart contracts, mining algorithms (proof of work/proof of stake) and other flavorful elements that you could enhance the chain with.