Have you ever looked at WP's login page?

I had logged into WordPress.com and I was wracking my brain to think of something to say. That is when I noticed the “VIP Posts” on the login page. It was interesting but uninteresting at the same time. I was uninterested in the content that was presented to me. It was mostly links to posts at CNN or Cute Overload. In the past, I had also seen links to posts on FailBlog and I Can Has Cheezburger.

I was left figuratively scratching my head. I do not understand why they would aggregate posts this way. All of them were irrelevant to me and they were all unrelated, save for the fact that they were all found on prominent sites that happened to use WordPress for their blog CMS.

WordPress people, please understand that this is a terrible way of doing things. Perhaps instead of lolcats and equally relevant new networks, you should deliver content and information that is actually relevant to people. I do not believe that simply because a site has lots of hits and is relatively well-known, it is the best source of information or used by most people. I personally do not look at lolcat pictures or CNN. They are both a waste of my time.

I would suggest that instead of having this”VIP Posts” section, you have a section with posts from relatively unknown bloggers or make it customizable. Having the WP post-login page display a customized feed reader (a good feed reader) may encourage users to get used to WP’s interface and maybe even spend more time there, rather than just clicking through to type out a blog post and leaving.

(Just a thought, which is more than CNN can say.)

C program for TCC

It has been a while since I last blogged and I figured I should put something up. I wrote a C program for training purposes for my last job. It’s just a simple command-line calculator. Enjoy!
// c_training.c
// Written by Patrick Proctor
// on February 16, 2009
// patproct@iupui.edu
//
// Last modified: March 2, 2009
//
// This file demonstrates a small portion
// of my mad programming SKILLZ.

#include <stdio.h>
#include "c_training.h"

int main () {
int menuChoice;

mainMenu ();
printf( "Menu choice: " );
scanf( "%d", &menuChoice );

if ( ( menuChoice < 1 || menuChoice > 6 ) && menuChoice != 42  ){
printf("Program has exited.\n");
} // eliminates any selection that is not 1-5

if ( menuChoice == 1 ) {
add();
}

if ( menuChoice == 2 ) {
subtract();
}

if ( menuChoice == 3 ) {
multiply();
}

if ( menuChoice == 4 ) {
divide();
}

if ( menuChoice == 5 ) {
modulus();
}

if ( menuChoice == 6 ) {
about();
}

if ( menuChoice == 42 ) {
blownMind();
}

return 0;
}

int mainMenu () {
printf( "|      Calculator      |\n" );
printf( "|======================|\n" );
printf( "| 1. Add               |\n" );
printf( "| 2. Subtract          |\n" );
printf( "| 3. Multiply          |\n" );
printf( "| 4. Divide            |\n" );
printf( "| 5. Modulus           |\n" );
printf( "|----------------------|\n" );
printf( "| 6. About             |\n" );
printf( "| 7. Exit              |\n" );
printf( "|======================|\n" );

return 0;
}

int add () {
float alpha;
float beta;
float gamma;

printf( "Enter two numbers to add, separated\n by a space: " );
scanf( "%f %f", &alpha, &beta );

gamma = alpha + beta;

printf( "Sum of %f and %f is %f.\n", alpha, beta, gamma);

return 0;
}

int subtract () {
float alpha;
float beta;
float gamma;

printf( "Enter two numbers to subtract, separated\n by a space: ");
scanf( "%f %f", &alpha, &beta );

gamma = alpha - beta;

printf( "Difference of %f and %f is %f.\n", alpha, beta, gamma );

return 0;
}

int multiply () {
float alpha;
float beta;
float gamma;

printf( "Enter two numbers to multiply, separated\n by a space: " );
scanf( "%f %f", &alpha, &beta );

gamma = alpha * beta;

printf( "Product of %f and %f is %f.\n", alpha, beta, gamma );

return 0;
}

int divide () {
float alpha;
float beta;
float gamma;

printf( "Enter two numbers to divide, separated\n by a space: " );
scanf( "%f %f", &alpha, &beta );

gamma = alpha / beta;

printf( "Quotient of %f and %f is %f.\n", alpha, beta, gamma );

return 0;
}

int modulus () {
int alpha;
int beta;
int gamma;

printf( "Enter two integers to find a modulus, separated\n by a space: " );
scanf( "%d %d", &alpha, &beta );

gamma = alpha % beta;

printf( "Modulus of %d and %d is %d.\n", alpha, beta, gamma );

return 0;
}

int about() {
printf( "|=============================================|\n" );
printf( "|                    About                    |\n" );
printf( "|=============================================|\n" );
printf( "| This program was written by Patrick Proctor |\n" );
printf( "| out of boredom on Monday, February 16, 2009 |\n" );
printf( "| in NU342. Enjoy!                            |\n" );
printf( "|                                             |\n" );
printf( "|---------------------------------------------|\n" );
printf( "|                                             |\n" );
printf( "| patrick42h@gmail.com                        |\n" );
printf( "| http://patrick42h.wordpress.com/            |\n" );
printf( "|=============================================|\n\n" );

return 0;
}