Projects of Mine

One of the techniques of coding and progamming is learning to break down a big problem into smaller problems. There is real skill to be had in knowing where to break the big problem down. This skill is something akin to the ability to see in a rough stone the finished diamond. Before you do something to the stone you need to conceptualize the finished gem.


  • Crossword - In Development - my own interpretation of the game built customized for you!. I'm still at a fairly conceptual stage. But I do parse out some clues.
  • Cypher - If you like the Jumble in your Sunday funnies, then you'll like this.
  • Encoder - This lets you do things to text.
  • Random - In Development - This was a project to learn how to do random selects that are affected by probability. Specifically, to select names at "random" but still have more common names happen more often.
  • Word Find - In Development - The classic word find game. So far I generate a grid of random letters. There are no words but what you imagine.

Chalk Mark

There was an engineer who had an exceptional gift for fixing all things mechanical. After serving his company loyally for over 30 years, he happily retired.

Several years later, the company contacted him regarding a seemingly impossible problem they were having with one of their multi-million dollar machines. They had tried everything and everyone to get the machine fixed, but to no avail. In desperation, they called on the retired engineer who had solved so many of their problems in the past.

The engineer reluctantly took the challenge. He spent a day studying the huge machine. At the end of the day, he marked a small "x" in chalk on a particular component of the machine and proudly stated, "This is where your problem is."

The part was replaced and the machine worked perfectly again. The company received a bill for $50,000 from the engineer for his services. They demanded an itemized accounting of his charges.

The engineer responded:

One chalk mark . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1
Knowing where to put it . . . . . . . $49,999