Jisperzone

Yesterday I started a new project: Jisperzone.com is an edutainment software development kit used to create web-based games and lessons (called apps). All apps are either single or dual-user and are written in a Python-like language called Jispertalk. Screen layouts are structured using a markup language called Jypertex. I eventually hope to hire a Java Programmer on the autism spectrum and pitch my idea to the Ryerson DMZ, an incubator for tech startups. Hopefully I can hire a Ryerson business major to be the CEO, and find an angel investor to pay the salaries of my employees.

Jispotech

Eleven days ago I started designing what is now called Jispotech.com, which is a web hosting service in which all sites are developed using 2 computer languages of my own invention: Bracetagger and Jispotalk. The former is a markup language and the latter is a scripting language. Today I finished writing the design specs. If I eventually run into some kind of insurmountable technical hurdle, such as pages loading too slowly, then I can always revert to my previous project, DistorLearn.com, which is a tutoring website that would reuse what will be my very lengthy Jispotalk-related code (including the Jispotalk compiler).

The first step in implementing Jispotech is finishing my Java Scrabble game. I hope to finish the robot player functionality sometime this week. I intend to work on it after dinner this evening. By working on that game I am familiarizing myself with the Java programming language. I've already written over 3000 lines of code. Happy coding, all of you Java gurus out there!

Jalypon and new smartphone

Today I more or less finished writing the design specs for my latest software project: Jalypon.com (used to be Psybryte). Jalypon drops the mental health-related aspects of Psybryte. Also, websites hosted by Jalypon can be developed in one of 3 languages: Lyvathon (a proprietary, open source language), Java, or Python. Jalypon is pronounced jalley-pawn (rhymes with galley-gone).

Also today I went grocery shopping and this afternoon I must go for my daily 30-minute walk. Later today or this evening I must work on my Java Scrabble game. Next week I will finally be getting an Android smartphone. Last weekend I upgraded my laptop from Windows Vista to Windows 10, which is a much better operating system. I still do all my software development, email and web browsing on my Linux desktop computer. Next Saturday the 18th I have a date with my friend Steph: we're going to the Hockey Hall of Fame, since she has a pair of free passes. Gotta go, it's almost lunchtime.

Psybryte and Jabbler

Yesterday I renamed my Typracell project to Psybryte.com, and gave it a new mandate: to facilitate the exchange of knowledge/data amongst consumer/survivors, mental health organizations, and community members through free web-hosting. Other non-profit organizations pay half the web-hosting rate paid by for-profit companies.

After the 2 computer languages included with Psybryte: Bracetagger and Lyvathon (a markup language and a scripting language, respectively) are both up and running, I will approach Progress Place, which is a clubhouse for consumer/survivors where I used to be a member. I want them to recruit computer-savvy PP members who can teach Psybryte web design to other PP members. They can also be beta-testers. Then I will attempt to join the Ryerson Digital Media Zone (DMZ), which is an incubator for tech startups, by pitching to them my Psybryte idea. If I get in I will use the DMZ to help out in my search for funders. The funding will pay to subsidize the free and half-price web hosting for non-profit organizations, and will also pay the salaries of the CEO and one or two Java programmers who are on the autism spectrum. An organization called Specialisterne will help me recruit the autistic programmers (they find tech jobs for people on the autism spectrum). I can use CAMH (I'm an outpatient there) to help me search for the CEO who will be someone with an anxiety disorder but is good with people.

I recently finished the command-line version of my Java Scrabble game, which is called Jabbler, and I laid the foundations for my future code that handles robot players. After implementing robot players I will begin learning GUI-oriented Java programming (I already know Delphi-based GUI programming so that's not too hard). That will enable me to add a graphical user interface to Jabbler. When that's done I can begin implementing Psybryte using Java, starting with solidifying my Bracetagger design specs and then I have to learn my Java for Web Applications book. Another task is to implement the command-line version of the core Lyvathon modules: the assembler, the runtime environment, and the compiler. So it looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Happy coding to one and all!

Typracell, Meetagrid, and Jabbler

Yesterday I designed a new project called Typracell: an online marketplace of goods, services, and ideas. It uses 2 languages I more or less finished designing which I mentioned in my previous post: Typrathon (used to be Pyrenthic) and Bracetagger. Typracell is implemented in Java. I started designing the precursor of Typracell about 8 weeks ago: Pyrenthica.

The first step in implementing Typracell is learning Java by developing a Scrabble game called Jabbler. After I finish Jabbler I will implement Meetagrid, which is a website that facilitates online meetings. I have already implemented the command-line version of Jabbler and released it on GitHub. The next step is to implement robot players (playing against the computer). Many years ago I wrote a Scrabble game using Delphi which supported robot players, and they always beat me.

I continue to exchange emails with my friend Steph, and sometimes we go out on dates. She doesn't want to be in a relationship with me or anyone, since she doesn't feel ready for that at this stage in her life. I go for a brisk 30-minute walk almost every day, I floss my teeth once a week, and I try to buy 3 or 4 bananas and 3 apples once every 8 to 11 days. Eventually I intend to also buy lettuce and tomatoes on those same trips to FreshCo. I seem to have very little depression these days, due to my keeping relatively busy with my computer projects. It's also a morale booster to have a friend that I met on a dating site, even though we're just friends. I got very little sleep last night so I think I might go to bed early. Tomorrow is my volunteer job and the day after I'll start working on robot players. Until we meet again on Blogger, that's all for now.

Pyrenthica, Twirthie, and Facelooks

I am currently in the early stages of developing a project called Pyrenthica, which is an open source web development framework written in Python, and will eventually be a general-purpose tool for developing Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, and Android projects. It includes a new programming language I have designed called Pyrenthic. Just in the past 2 days I have joined GitHub, where thousands of open source projects are hosted. In addition to Pyrenthica, I have created a Facelooks repository on GitHub. Facelooks is a tool which manages your image collection. Today I intend to finish writing comments in my Facelooks Python code (which is working), and will take an extended break from working on that project. This evening I intend to work on my Twirthie project, which is a Tree-Walker of Intrusive, Repetitive Thoughts (the main positive symptom of my schizophrenia, I also suffer from negative symptoms such as being amotivated). Twirthie will eventually be converted into a Pyrenthica project, and then rewritten in the Pyrenthic programming language.

I might buy an Android smartphone in January (never had a cell phone). I have been out on 6 dates with my friend Steph, and in the last weekend of November we're going out on a 7th date, to the ROM, otherwise known as the Museum (we are just friends). We started messaging each other 6 months ago. She also has schizophrenia, and we met on a dating site for consumer/survivors called NoLongerLonely.com. I've had a lot less depression than usual in the last 11 months, except in the last 2 months or so. I participated in a research study at CAMH in February, to find out if Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) helps enhance working memory in those living with schizophrenia. I later found out that rTMS is also used to treat depression, and I suspect that the rTMS treatments I had back then made the depression go away. I remember my head feeling so incredibly clear on the way back and forth to CAMH (maybe more so on the way home) when I was having those treatments.

After I publish this post I will go for a brisk 30-minute walk, since I need to exercise more. I also went for a walk yesterday, but last week I only went for a walk once, a week ago. I'm supposed to floss my teeth at least once a week, despite a news story on the CBC website debunking the notion that flossing is good for you (that study showed that no proof for that notion actually exists). Next thing you know they'll find out that smoking tobacco and crack cocaine are actually quite healthy pasttimes. I must eat more fruits and vegetables, but keep procrastinating about getting into that habit. I'm supposed to clean/replace my microwave air filters, and also clean the air filter in my dryer (failing to do that is a fire hazard), but never seem to get around to doing those things. Oh well, at least I'm on very good terms with my Linux desktop computer. Couldn't live without it. At least I've had no depression since resurrecting my Pyrenthica project 2 days ago, which had previously been in jeopardy due to an over reliance on a very messy and inefficient scheme of rendering text on the user's web page. I no longer have that problem with Pyrenthica. Golly gee willakers! Programming is so much fun. Gotta go.

Post for Desmond Cole

Dear Mr. Cole:
 

I read the article "The Skin I'm In" which you wrote for Toronto Life. It must be a nuisance and hurtful to your self-esteem to be stopped by the cops 50 times, just for not having the right skin colour. I'm white so I've never been stopped, even when I drove a car for 9 years commuting to work, so I guess I'm lucky that way.
 

My friend Hussein Adani, who is from Somalia, has asked me to contact you on his behalf. He has endured mistreatment from members of the Parking Enforcement Unit of TPS. I am forwarding to you a letter which I intend to send to 10 politicians and journalists, which describes the mistreatment my friend has endured. Hussein owns a Somali restaurant and he used to feed me, and I write letters for him (his restaurant is closing on June 30). Would you be so kind as to read the letter I wrote, and let me know what you think? I am hoping that Hussein eventually gets vindicated and is no longer persecuted by TPS. He is a nice guy and he doesn't deserve the treatment he has endured. I hope that due in part to your activism and efforts to spread the word, eventually police carding will be abolished, giving blacks like Hussein and yourself the freedom to not be stopped and harassed. Thank you.

 

Regards,

Mike Hahn

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mike Hahn <hahnbytes@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jun 16, 2016 at 4:41 PM
Subject: Injustice committed by Parking Enforcement Unit of TPS
To: Mike Hahn <hahnbytes@gmail.com>

To Whom It May Concern:
 

I am writing this email on behalf of my friend, Hussein Adani, who I believe has been unjustly targeted by the Parking Enforcement Unit of the Toronto Police Service. Hussein gives me free food at the restaurant he owns, and in return I have helped him approach each of you regarding this injustice (English is not his first language since he is from Somalia, and he doesn't own a computer). Here is a list of the organizations and individuals I have approached in the past:

1. Kevin Donovan, Toronto Star
2. the fifth estate, CBC
3. Go Public, CBC News
4. Gerry McNei​lly, OIPRD
5. Yasir Naqvi, Attorney General of Ontario
6. David Orazietti, Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services
7. J. Paul Dubé, Ontario Ombudsman
8. Bill Morneau, Finance Minister (Toronto Centre MP)
9. Mitzie Hunter, MPP
10. Kristyn Wong-Tam, Councillor

What follows is an abbreviated version of the email which I helped write for Hussein and previously sent to each of you:

 

Hussein was the victim of police harassment on 6 occasions between 2003 and 2013. The police knocked on his door at 3 a.m., asking for ID. The police searched his home at 7 a.m., looking for one of his employees. The police interrogated him (and his waiter) at his restaurant, claiming that some of his customers were criminals. Two plainclothes policemen entered the basement of his restaurant, identified themselves as cops, and left. The police came looking for one of his former employees (who worked for 2 weeks and then left, 2 years previously), pushed him into the kitchen, and used profanity when asked for a badge number. The police went to strip search, in his restaurant basement, someone they arrested outside on the street. When Hussein objected because he didn't want to get involved, they implied to him that he was being unhelpful (not wanting to help police).
 

The main complaint that Hussein has against the TPS is that parking enforcement officers were harassing him and threatening to close his restaurant, as well as unfairly ticketing both himself and his customers (while leaving the customers of a nearby Pizza Hut alone). The police have suspended his driver's license, and he is now unable to deliver food. He had to fire all of his employees, resulting in stress due to overwork. His business has suffered, he serves fewer customers and is much worse off financially now, compared with 2004. He is afflicted with nightmares, insomnia, and self-hatred.
 

Hussein is a Canadian citizen, taxpayer, family man, activist, athlete, has no criminal record, and supports the community. All he wants is a fair trial and equal justice. He needs your help in resolving his complaint against the TPS and the Parking Enforcement Unit in particular. Hussein is a good man and I urge you to join me in being of assistance to my friend, since I believe that he has been wronged and his cause is worth fighting for.

 

Regards,

Mike Hahn

LyvaTeach - new project

In the past 20 weeks I've been depressed 4 times: Feb. 13, Mar. 21, Apr. 1, and Apr. 19. Now after I finish the current Twirthie.com feature (which has been designed but not yet implemented), I will combine 2 of my best software ideas into one software project. Basyx.org, the tutoring website, and Lyspio.com, the new programming language, will merge into LyvaTeach.org: a tutoring website that lets educators develop educational web pages. The tutoring part links paid and volunteer tutors with those needing instruction, and the paid tutors charge their students what they want and I get 7 percent. The educational web pages are written in Lyvathon (similar to Python) and LyvaTags (similar to HTML). Lyvathon and LyvaTags are open source, but the rest of the project is closed source. All of it is written in Java.

DropTagger - new project

DropTagger.com lets you share images and folders with your Facebook friends (all users must install Dropbox if image-sharing is needed). DropTagger is currently written in Python and uses the Flask web development framework. In the near future it will be converted to Java, after I learn server-side Java programming. Images are displayed in the user's web browser. This project was previously called PlicTalk and development on it commenced on January 13, 2016. Dropbox is a free third-party tool that lets you store photos and other files in the cloud (users who need lots of disk space must pay a subscription fee to Dropbox).

TWIRT: Tree-Walker of Intrusive Repetitive Thoughts

Yesterday I started developing a website and Android game that has to do with my positive symptom of schizophrenia: having intrusive, repetitive thoughts. I haven't actually begun implementing the website/game yet. The domain name of the website will be www.twirt.org, and it will (at first) be implemented entirely in HTML and JavaScript.

The website has a Generate button and a thought counter (which defaults to N = 3) at the top of the screen. Pressing Generate displays N random sentences which all belong to my grammar of crazy thoughts. The first word of the first sentence is highlighted in purple. Arrow keys navigate within the words of the sentences or display a higher-level non-terminal symbol (enclosed in angle brackets), and the down arrow is not used. Pressing Enter displays a list of lower-level words/non-terminal symbols, and the up/down arrows are used to navigate within this list. Pressing Enter when that list is displayed substitutes the current non-terminal symbol in the current sentence with the current list element.

The object of the Android game (which is a free download) is to parse the target sentence which belongs to my grammar of crazy thoughts and is displayed at the bottom of the screen. Random words/non-terminal symbols slowly fall down from the top of the screen and your job is to parse the target sentence (beginning with the start symbol: <sentence>). Whenever a falling word/symbol matches what you're currently parsing, it disappears and you get points (more points if multiple words/symbols are falling). If a falling symbol reaches the bottom your energy level is eroded. When the target sentence is completely parsed, a new sentence appears. Users can edit the default grammar or create a brand-new grammar, and upload those grammars to twirt.org so other users can download them and parse those grammars within my game.

When parsing the target sentence, tapping a word matches a falling word (if any), and dragging a non-terminal symbol upwards displays a list of lower-level grammar elements. Tapping a list element selects it. Dragging a word/non-terminal symbol downwards displays a higher-level non-terminal symbol. Many details of the game have yet to be worked out.

The purpose of developing this website and game is for me to get my 15 minutes of fame. If I become famous then I can educate the public about schizophrenia and my experiences of being a consumer/survivor. Maybe I will even write an autobiography. One of my computer students is a Portuguese fellow named Luis, and I helped him self-publish his autobiography (both English and Portuguese versions) on Amazon and Lulu.com. He also has schizophrenia.

New name for clustrzone: NetLyve

I have renamed my clustrzone.com project to NetLyve.com, which is a platform that hosts and monetizes web apps, and includes 2 brand-new languages: Lyvathon (similar to Python), and Lyvatags (similar to HTML). Lyvathon-based web apps will be hosted at NetLyve.com. NetLyve is implemented using Java. I've only had one day of depression, on Feb. 13, in the last 12 weeks.

New name for ZonoPal: clustrzone

My ZonoPal project is now called clustrzone.com, which consists of various forums which are called zones. Ads for web pages are displayed at the right-hand side of the screen, and those web pages are written in Lyvathon/Lyvatags (2 new languages similar to Python/HTML). Clustrzone is open source and will be developed using Java. Even if Clustrzone is unsuccessful in the marketplace, during its development I will become skilled at Java programming, enabling me to seek employment in that line of work.

New project called ZonoPal

Yesterday I started a new project called ZonoPal.com, which is a website that links together people with similar interests, letting them exchange messages. Two weeks ago I started exchanging messages with a pen-pal named Bess, who lives in England. We're both members of an online dating service called NoLongerLonely.com, which is a dating site for consumer/survivors. She somehow stumbled across my profile and sent me a smile (called a flirt on a different dating site I'm also a member of). Then I messaged her and the messaging is still going strong.

In the past 10 weeks I've only been depressed for one day, which was 3 days ago. I was anxious about an upcoming funeral for my friend Constance (which is today), partly because I'm making a speech at that funeral service. I had known Constance for 23 years. We both have schizophrenia, and she was homeless for many years. She found permanent housing a year and a half ago, but a few months later she was kicked out for smoking in her room, which was against the rules. Then she found permanent housing again several months ago at Fred Victor. Constance was 67 years old and was born in Nigeria. I am good friends with her brother Max.

I'm not going to begin implementing ZonoPal until I finish implementing a new feature of my previous project, PlicTalk.com. PlicTalk is an image collection manager. Later this week I will resume reading one of two books I own having to do with MEAN: MongoDB, Express, Angular, and Node. When that's done I can begin implementing ZonoPal, using JavaScript along with the 4 MEAN tools. Currently my knowledge of JavaScript is quite rudimentary. My background is Delphi, which I used for 15 years but is now an obsolete tool.

PlicTalk: revisiting Lyvathon

Five days ago I started a new project called PlicTalk.com, the latest incarnation of Lyvathon. I didn't sleep last night and began implementing PlicTalk in the wee hours of the morning. I've had no depression since early December. Hopefully by keeping busy with PlicTalk I can continue avoiding depression in the months ahead. I flossed my teeth last night and intend to keep doing that every other evening. Today I went for a 30-minute walk, which I must do at least 4 times a week. It was very cold out and I was exhausted when I got home.

New project called HealthTrybe

Two days ago I began working on a new project called HealthTrybe.com, which is a website and smartphone app that tracks the food consumption and exercise sessions of groups of users known as health trybes. During my Christmas vacation, my sister with whom I was visiting suggested that I develop this project, so the 2 of us and her ex can compare our eating and exercising habits.

Lyspio: back to Lyvathon

Two days ago I designed a new business model for my Lyvathon project (new programming language). The project is now called Lyspio.com, which is a web hosting service for websites created using the Lyvathon programming language. If you click on Cash Flow, my business model is presented in visual fashion using a series of sample pie graphs. Lyvathon is open source, and it looks like it will keep me busy for several months (if not years), working on Lyspio. I ordered a book about JavaScript from Amazon (Lyvathon is implemented in JavaScript), but they're temporarily out of stock. Hopefully I'll get it before Christmas, so I can read it when I'm visiting my sister in Victoria for Christmas and New Year's. I've been depression-free for a week, before that I was depressed for 3 days, and before that I had little or no depression for 3 weeks. Tomorrow I have an appt. with my psychiatrist, Dr. Soni. So things are really humming 'round this place. Go, Lyspio!

New project called BasePlace

Yesterday I started a new project called BasePlace (one day before my sister's birthday). BasePlace.org is a web-based collection of online communities. Each community targets a different class of marginalized individuals. The first community to be implemented consists of those individuals with mental health issues (commonly known as "consumer/survivors").

In other news involving my personal life, my dear friend Constance recently moved into a nice bachelor apartment just a 20-minute walk from my condo. It's not too far from the supermarket and it's much nicer (but a bit smaller) than her previous room, which was located downtown, run by Fred Victor, and she had to share a kitchen with 4 or 5 other people. That Fred Victor housing I think was aimed at housing former street people. Constance was homeless for almost 15 years, bouncing around from shelter to shelter. Constance has schizophrenia and all 8 of her fingers (not her thumbs) were amputated due to severe frostbite prior to her becoming homeless. At that time her psychosis prevented her from having the sense to seek shelter during an extremely cold 3-week period one winter. She is from Nigeria and came to Canada as a refugee about 25 years ago.

Rural version of Uber (Highway of Tears)

I just finished reading (at cbc.ca) about the lack of public transportation along the Highway of Tears in Northern BC. Women are forced to hitch-hike, which is dangerous. Starting a shuttle bus would be costly, since the highway is over 700 kms. long. Why doesn't someone start a rural version of Uber? Both drivers (anyone can be a driver) and passengers must have smartphones and PayPal or credit card accounts. In case a driver or passenger commits a robbery or assaults the other party, the police can easily track down the perp, since the perp's ID is in the system.

Lyvathon moving forward again

Yesterday I resumed Lyvathon coding after a break of approximately 3 weeks. I added 2 new fields to the user database: alternate email and phone no., and duplicated 2 existing fields: security question and security answer. Now there are 2 security questions/answers. That task only took a few hours. The next step is to gut most of my reset-password logic, and add a lot of new logic. (I tend to have more depression when I'm not in the middle of coding.) After I'm finished handling the case where the user's password needs to be reset, I can start implementing the image collection manager (in Python), which will eventually be converted into Lyvathon, and become the first real-world project implemented in Lyvathon. I'm going to have a pizza pop for lunch. Tomorrow I must buy groceries. Time to publish and chow down.

Lyvathon: first steps

Today I made a list of the first 5 steps in implementing Lyvathon. After finishing Step 5 I intend to post a help-wanted notice on SourceForge, to recruit Python programmers as well as web programmers who know server-side languages and web development frameworks. Those individuals I recruit will help me transform Lyvathon from a bare-bones language for server-side web programming to a useful tool for professional programmers. Those 5 steps are as follows:

1. Finish user authentication
2. Implement image collection manager
3. Implement Lyvathon (console mode)
4. Combine Lyvathon with Flask
5. Convert image collection manager from Python to Lyvathon

Lyvathon will be developed using Python, Flask, and MySQL. Step 3 is the hardest step, since it involves developing a brand-new programming language which I call Lyvathon. I expect it will take up to one year to implement all 5 steps, and the entire project will be up and running before this decade is out. So that's my own personal moonshot, in a nutshell (said the certifiable techie --I must be having delusions of grandeur once again --nevertheless, at least I'll be busy for some time to come, and that beats vegetating half the time).