compression,

[Sparks]

The problem with compression league tables is that there are too many "what if's". If you define the source file as containing a large string of pseudo-random binary data, the compressors will all have a very hard time making much of it. I.e. it will become difficult to find any one algorithm that will perform that much better than any other.

If you then use a more "real world" dataset as your source data, such as word documents, bmps etc, you can achieve colossol compression rates becuase there is so much junk "space" that repeats itself. But then you get involved into a lengthy argument of what exactly IS a good (read "fair") input data file.

It is the very predictibility of the data stream being fed into the compression algorithm that determines the results. The more predictable or repeatable patterns contained in a source file, the more of this data that can be described with less and less output data.

There is also a further complication in that different input data stream patterns compress better with different algorithms. Also, if you intend the resultant file to be repairable in case of file damage, then extra redundancy has to be added (interleaved with bit spreading) to the output data stream, thus increasing the file size again.

If one had loads of time available or very fast processing speeds, the best solution would be to come up with a compression utility that can switch the algorithm on the fly, dependant on the input data content. This can easily be done using parallel processing threads, with each thread running a different algorithm. One could then compare the resultant files sizes of each output stream and save whichever was best. (Thinks: Doesn't Winzip do this anyway if you choose "best compression"?)

I used a similar technique when I wrote a decryption algorithm for a certain military radio modem, the software ran multiple parallel decoding streams, with different seeds, with which ever one producing the highest correlation of plain text output being chosen to generate the actual outputted data stream. Although the genuine equipment was supposd to keep rotating keys on a constant basis to "foil the enemy", my decoder was able to keep a steady output en clair all the time. As long as the input data was clean and error free of course.

But, anyway, I digress. (Often, I've been told!)

[LazyManc]

I wrote a decryption algorithm for a certain military radio modem.

Wow, we have a real "1337 h4x0r" in our midst

[Seahorse]

Surely he can't be a dyslexic programmer...

Sits on verandah, opens a beer, loads shotgun and awaits "politically correct" misinterpretation of posting...

[Sparks]

Surely he can't be a dyslexic programmer...

Now this time you HAVE completely lost me.

p.s. why did some evil person come up with a word that no dyslexic person could ever spell right anyway!? And, why is "abbreviated" such a long word? Answers on a £20 note to me asap please.

[PeteTheHair]

If teflon's non-stick... how do they stick it to the pan?

[Seahorse]

Surely he can't be a dyslexic programmer...

Now this time you HAVE completely lost me.

p.s. why did some evil person come up with a word that no dyslexic person could ever spell right anyway!? And, why is "abbreviated" such a long word? Answers on a £20 note to me asap please.

Explanation:

One of my pet hates is Leet (sic) speak...

If music is the food of love, why do CDs taste so bad

[LazyManc]

One of my pet hates is Leet (sic) speak...

I enclosed "1337 h4x0r" in speechmarks cause I was takin the piss, I don't actually use it myself. Still, I prefer "leet" speak to the shorthand crap some people use in mobile text messages, as its usually more understandable...

[Seahorse]

There are acceptable internet abbreviations (BTW) and the there is Leet...

Mobile phone users are in a world of their own...

[Spey]

Surely he can't be a dyslexic programmer...

Now this time you HAVE completely lost me.

p.s. why did some evil person come up with a word that no dyslexic person could ever spell right anyway!? And, why is "abbreviated" such a long word? Answers on a £20 note to me asap please.

and why does rythym have NO VOWELS ffs...what a freak of a word

[biggles]

because y is not a vowel because it can be used as a sound, 'yay' as well as a vowel sort of thingy, rhy[color=#44444][/color]thym.

and they choose sound!

its a lot like science, when faced with 2 choices, "i wonder which end the electrons come out of", they generally feck it up to annoy us all! and we end up with electrons coming out of the negative, but of course we have to put that power flows from the positive because it is a 'convention' and the exam board are in love with it.

[mid_gen]

You haven't considered that science pretty much revolves around conventions and standards? We wouldn't get very far without them..

[biggles]

i thought science was about fact before secondary school.

sigh, they make it up as they go along.

[Seahorse]

and why does rythym have NO VOWELS ffs...what a freak of a word

Perhaps his deoderant is made by Lynx...

[ZiK]

Perhaps his deoderant is made by Lynx...

lynx is a product, Parfums Faberge make lynx

[Seahorse]

It is also a word with no vowels, continuning the thread. Maintaining the 'rythm' as it were...

[ZiK]

lol

[Spey]

well afaik

rythym is the longest non vowel word
antidisestablishmentarialism is the longest word in the dictionary
and nothing rhymes with orange...(bar haliborange, but thats cheating as its not a word its a name)

im sure dogmeat has mucho trivia like this too

[Guest]

Doorhinge

Monkey Island joke...