NodeXL

NodeXL is an Excel add-on for drawing network graphs. It is becoming extremely popular and I was wondering if anybody has an implementation for Resolver One (is it possible at all)

I have written a script for connecting Resolver One and GraphViz but NodeXL looks really slick

NodeXL

A Tweeting Spreadsheet

I have developed a little Resolver One spreadsheet that can update your tweeter account, get your friend’s list or get the list of those who are following you.

It’s fun please try it

Download it from here

DirectX in Resolver One

For my masters I wrote a 3D visualizer in Macromedia Director for the defense department to visualize ammunition bunkers. I always wanted to export my Master’s Thesis to a better 3D environment, but never found any time to do so

I saw people were doing OpenGL in RO and since I don’t know any openGL I started writing a DirectX code to do the inventory visualization. BUT I CAN’T

has anybody done any DirectX in resolver one? please help me

Playing Super Mario from within Resolver One

There is a rumor about the origin of Resolver One. Some people say that the main reason RO founders came up with the idea of resolver one was to be able to play super mario on their windows machines. That’s basically why Resolver Systems is investing so much in IronClad because, for running a good mario game you need NumPy. Anyways I don’t know whether or not that rumor is true. But I know that there is a version of super mario for Resolver One and I got my hands on it yesterday. Here is how you can run super mario on your Resolver One. It is a little slow though :)

• Download this jar file iMario.jar
• Go to the directory where you downloaded the Jar file and type the following to run the TCP server
  java -jar iMario.jar -server on -vaot on -vlx 1044
• Download this file and run the rsl file in the root directory

For more information on how to write your own client see this page

Do you use our Yahoo pipe for Resolver One?

Over the course of 8 months I have been refining my Yahoo Pipe for Resolver One. Yahoo pipe is a service that can help you combine news  sources, add filters and export them as a live RSS feed that people can add to their Google Readers.

This Pipe is more efficient than Google Alerts. For example Google Alerts do not show you conversations on twitter about Resolver One but our pipe does. It has been a reliable source of information for me to get up to date news about Resolver One. I have blogged about it before but wanted to mention it again. You can modify this pipe too and if you got a better pipe after modification let me know so I can use it myself.

If you want to add it to your Google Reader (or any other RSS reader) just use this link.

Solving the Lot Sizing Problem in Resolver One (Wagner-Whitin Algorithm)

I was working on a lot sizing problem today and implemented a Wagner-Whitin algorithm in Resolver One. I just want to share it with you here. Some people use a MIP solver to solve lot sizing problems while Wagner and Whitin have devised an algorithm that can be implemented quickly on a spreadsheet and there is no need to use an expensive solver. You can download the spreadsheet from this link.

In the classical lot sizing problem we have the following assumptions:

1. We have a single product (with the production quantity in period t)
2. Discrete Time (unlike EOQ model)
3. Demand is known but varies over time (e.g., we have orders)
4. No shortage is allowed
5. No capacity constraints
6. There is a positive setup cost that might be varying over time
7. The unit production cost is constant
8. The objective is to minimize the total setup cost and inventory costs

Here is the formulation for the model:

1. setup cost in period t
2. inventory holding cost per unit remaining at end of period t
3. demand in period t
4. a large number (will be used in the MIP model)
5. production quantity in period t
6. if and is 0 otherwise
7. inventory remaining at the end of period t

The MIP model will be:

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 

Wagner and Whitin have solved this problem using the forward dynamic programming. In this spreadsheet we implement the forward dynamic programming for the lot sizing problem. The spreadsheet then suggests the time period than it is optimal to pay for the setup cost, in other time periods it is cheaper to carry an inventory.

Preparing Conference Name Badges using Resolver One

In our institute we will be holding a symposium about the future of design (we will have fascinating speakers like the chief designer of IDEO and Smart Design. send me an email if you are interested, it is free for academics and pretty cheap for others, all the talks will be open source and we will post them online afterward)

I volunteered for preparing the name badges. To be honest I didn’t really realize what I was doing when I volunteered. I got a messy excel file with 500 records in it and I needed to design and prepare 500 name badges. So I am going back to two of my old friends to help me with the this name badge mess (GDI+ and Resolver One).  I will upload my file either here or on the exchange when it is ready. I am slowly noticing the value of having a flexible tool like resolver one for quick tasks like printing these stupid name badges.

I will report my progress here. and will post my file later (if I can finish it).

What is your favorite chapter in “IronPython in Action”

Ironpython in Action

I think it is safe to assume that all of the readers of this blog know IronPython. I have been skimming through random chapters from “IronPython in Action” by Michael Foord.  Here are some of the chapters that I really liked and look interesting and I was wondering if other people here have a favorite chapter. Feel free to share your favorite chapter too.(I actually want to know which one I should read more carefully ;)

MATLAB and Resolver One – a trick

The second top keyword on google that people use to get to this blog is “resolver one MATLAB”. Thus, I thought it would be good to share my experience with MATLAB and Resolver One. So far I haven’t done any real application with MATLAB and Resolver One together but I have experimented a  couple of ways to integrate these two.

The best way is to use “MATLAB builder for .NET”. Builder can compile your MATLAB as a .NET library. There is one catch though, builder does not come with MATLAB. Although you can distribute the compiled .NET library freely to computers that don’t have MATLAB. MATLAB builder can be tricky but it has a very good documentation that walks you trough building .NET libraries.

When you don’t need the real time integration one trick that I have used is to write .rsl files directly from matlab. rsl files are textfiles and have a very easy to understand structure [as far as I know, there is no official  rsl specs anywhere on the net] This method is very convenient and works perfectly in many case.

The third method is to use Octave instead of MATLAB (they share the same syntax) and then use the R example on resolver exchange to connect it to Resolver One.

PS.

Here are some of the keyword that people have used to get to this blog (I filtered out irrelevant keywords). The top keywords are “Poisson point processes/and simulation” the others are “resolver book” and “resolver design pattern”, “resolver one tutorial”, “resolver one simulation”, “Ironpython excel” “resolver one portfolio optimization” and “resolver one matlab”

2. A dear friend of mine has got me a copy of “Ironpython in Action” my plan is to read a couple of chapters this weekend (I will be on a trip for a couple of days). It seems that unlike many python books that have only a number of pages about .net, this book has a good blend of material about Python-style coding and .Net framework stuff. I am still wondering why this book is not part of the safaribooks online while many of manning’s titles are there (we have a subscription of O’reilly’s safari books at our institution).

Meeting Will Wright (Creator of Sims)

Will wright is certainly one of the master minds and one of the greatest creators in the game industry. We went to his lab today to see some of his latest creatures. Interestingly enough he is developing robots now.

He talked about mind and how (he believes) the brain works. I liked the man. Very geeky indeed but he showed that he has earned his reputation for a reason. He seemed to have a great understanding of where we are heading to in terms of the software industry. I had nothing today except so much respect for this great man.

He also talked about the object oriented model in Sims and why he calls it “subject oriented”. SIMS has a great OOP model I will try to find a link that explains it and will post it here.

All in all I have realized that when people run a multimillion dollar company and don’t get to worry about paying bills they get to have more fun and will get really creative.

Update: His conversation with Colbert