Web Links

New Stuff

This page seems to get updates about every four years. Perhaps I can improve that in the future? Maybe. Maybe not.

This page highlights certain interests I have and interesting links regarding them. Other, older, links of interest are available on my old site. I have (on January 26, 2017) removed dead links, updated the ones that are still around, and added a few that were recommended by e-mail (you know who you are: thanks!). Also added a section on computer programming languages that I've used, use, or hope to use.

Computers

Jabberwacky - probably the most interesting chat bot around
- Languages - one of my archived Jabberwacky converstions. Quite funny.

Languages

The Mystery of Nils - learn Norwegian with this excellent book (and the second book in the series). The accompanying website (linked above) has audio and teaching aids (many free, some fee), making an already excellent learning experience even better.
aprender-ingles.net - learn English (intended for Spanish speakers)
Google Translate - Google's language translator, including audio in many languages. This is my current favorite.
Babelfish Translator, formerly "Bing Translator" - Microsoft's translator, formerly AltaVista's "Babelfish" multi-language translator...or something like that. See this article for more information about the history of Babelfish and automated translators in general.
Learn Chinese Characters - point and click Chinese characters. Also has several famous Chinese texts.
Google España - Google of Spain - for looking up stuff in Spanish
International Forum - a Web forum for people of many languages (I'm not a member)
Internet Terms - Spanish - also has links to other special-purpose lists of Spanish terms
Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario weather - French-language weather for Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, where I spent a couple of weeks in spring of 2005
How-to-learn-any-language.com - an interesting collection of linguistic information
Upgraded Points.com Another "how to learn any language" site, this one is an interesting and informative infographic.
Spanish Level Test - test your Spanish level on-line (by Transparent.com)
Oklahoma City Spanish Language Meetup Group - local Spanish group (I'm a member)
Study in Spain - information on studying Spanish in the country where Spanish is originally from.
Spain visa information - in case you aren't from the Schengen countries, and want to study Spanish in Spain. Also provides information on other Schengen countries.

Maps

Google Maps - enter street addresses, intersections, city/town names, or latitudes & longitudes, and Google will (usually) find them (address lookup only works in a few countries)
OpenStreetMap - user-supported maps of the world, often more up-to-date, at least in the USA, than the "big" map sites, such as Google.

Web Forums

Georeference.org - (Member: cms) - discusses Manifold GIS (I'm no longer active in this forum)
Manifold GIS listserver - Argentina - (Member: cmsharpe73071) - in Spanish, with some Portuguese (this forum is almost inactive, and I'm no longer an active participant)
ESRI - (Member: cms) - ESRI (ArcGIS) user forum
Google Earth Community - (not a member) - forum for users of Google Earth

Computer Programming Languages

Updated 2025-04-11

Ones I don't use anymore

RPG II - The most horrible language I've ever had the displeasure of using. Was required for my first college degree (1977-1978).
COBOL - Was also required for my first college degree, but I used it on the job for a short time, too (1978-1979 and 1985-1986.)
Fortran - Formerly called "FORTRAN" (all capitals), this was my first programming language that I used on the job (1983-1985 and 1996-1998).
Pascal - Now Delphi, I used the Metacomco version for the Commodore Amiga, which was a disaster (was never finished, and didn't have access to graphics/audio!) (about 1986-1988).
Perl - Even though it rescued my interest in programming from the charred ashes left by C and C++, I no longer use Perl for anything new (used 2000-2002).
Tcl/Tk - Though I never really liked Tcl, the Tk GUI builder was unusually easy to use for its time...and that time was around 2000-2001 or so (used 2001-2003 and 2017).
Scala - Scala mixes object orientation with functional programming, and has helpful direct rendering of XML and XML-like data structures. It was outdone by Kotlin (see below). Usage: 2017-2019.

Use rarely

BASIC - The ubiquitous language of 1980s home computers...now fractured into many dialects. I used this language from 1980 until the early 1990s.
C - I resisted learning C for several years before finally succumbing to it in the early 1990s. C and C++ nearly killed my interest in programming, because I much prefer higher-level languages. Usage: about 1990-2001.
C++ - (See C, above) - I attempted to learn C++ from Microsoft documentation in the mid 1990s (used from 1994 to 1997). Big mistake. My interest in programming in general went down in flames shortly after that. (But see Perl, above.)
PHP - Although many (most?) of the pages on this website are at least partly in PHP, I don't develop much in PHP anymore. Usage: approximately 2002-present.
Java - Java is awfully complex, and I now prefer to use functional languages and less-intimidating languages. Usage: 2002-2019; may be used in future.
Kotlin - Briefly my favorite programming language, after unseating Scala (see above), Kotlin really is a great language. It merges functional and object-oriented programming paradigms with relatively easy syntax. It compiles to Java, and runs like a Java program. Now that Rust (see below) has effectively replaced it for most of my programming projects, Kotlin is mainly relegated to Android applications, which I currently don't have much time for, unfortunately. Usage: 2018 to present.

Still use quite a bit

JavaScript - Yuck. I really do not like this language. However, it's impossible to avoid this one. My favorite JavaScript quote: "Never forget that JavaScript hates you" (from the end of this article, and repeated here, for example). See also TypeScript, below. Usage: 2000-present.
Python - Easily my "most-used" language, but no longer my favorite. It excels in mediocrity (in terms of programming paradigms–but its libraries are impressive). It is very easy to use for most small programming tasks, and even some large ones. Usage: 2002 to present.
R - Not a general-purpose programming language, exactly, but specifically aimed at statistics, R is more limited in scope than the others. However, I use statistics a lot, so there are a few projects that work best in R. Usage: 2017-present.
TypeScript - I hope to convert most, if not all, of my JavaScript (see above) programs to TypeScript at some point (time permitting, if it ever does). TypeScript fixes some of the most abhorrent things about JavaScript, such as the lack of static typing, as implied by the name of the language. Usage: 2018 to present.
Rust - What is the perfect programming language? Well, there isn't one, but Rust does come close. It incorporates nearly all of the features I want in a language, and then some that I hadn't thought about. Basically, it's C (see above) with a lot of features that prevent bugs before they can do any harm. Usage: 2023 to present).

Am interested in learning more about...

Clojure - Its Lisp qualities are intriguing, and it is one of the more popular functional programming languages.
Elm - Remember how JavaScript hates you? Well, Elm does, too, but in a much different way. Elm, as of this writing (April 2025) is not yet finished, and hasn't been updated since 2019, so it's risky to put much effort into building Elm Web apps/pages...so far. Once finished, it promises to be a great language...sort of an improved Haskell for the Web.
Haskell - The ultimate functional language...just learning it can improve programming techniques in other languages, whether or not it's used for practical projects. There's a great book on learning Haskell, too.
Julia - Maybe. This "interest" list is already really long, but Julia has fascinated me ever since I first heard about it in 2015 (give or take a year). The article then said that Fortran could potentially be replaced someday by the Julia language. Maybe. Similar to R's emphasis on statistics, Julia is heavily weighted toward complex and high-speed mathematical computations. ...And...Julia has, in my opinion, the most attractive logo of all programming languages!

Latest update: April 11, 2025