Categories: "Personal"

Return from UT Tyler

Much of my blogging ceased when I started back to school in 2008. There are some, but few, entries between 2008 and 2012. Now, I have a little more freedom to write, and with a much improved platform in b2evolution, writing will be easier to do.

To be continued..

Scrabble, Word Games, and Hoot

August 4th, 2017
I've played Scrabble and similar word games on many occasions. The strategy is similar in each of them, but there are variants to be aware of when studying for them. Following are some of the techniques I use to play the game. Finding Words The most… more »

NAWL: The North American (Scrabble™) Word List

May 22nd, 2017
With the release of Hoot 2.0, a maturing word study program, I’m starting to feel pulled in another direction. I'd like to do a lot more with Hoot but one frustrating thing about developing Hoot was that the most used lexicons are “copyrighted” and it’s… more »

Scrabble Playability in Hoot

April 4th, 2017
One indicator of how playable a word is would involve how many different places can you play a word and how does that compare with other words. Except for first move, play must connect with a previous play, so I need to determine how many words our word can connect with. While that is a time-consuming project, with computers, I can do that. It's not an easy task, but with computers, it's not impossible… more »

Hoot With a Ribbon, MDI, and Inheritance

March 4th, 2017
I just released a new beta version of Hoot. While it is fully functioning, it does involve significant changes in the way Hoot works. With version 1.9.0, Hoot employs an MDI (Multiple document interface). Previously, Hoot opened new windows for… more »

Programmatically - Let Designer show you

February 27th, 2017
The web is full of queries about how to accomplish something programmatically. This can't help with all of them, but if it has to do with C# in Visual Studio, this might guide you in the right direction. Visual Studio is robust enough to do a lot of… more »

Cool Searches in Hoot

February 2nd, 2017
The latest version of Hoot has some cool search options. Hoot is one of many study tools you can use to study words for Scrabble™ and other word games. It's a free PC tool with a lot of standard search options that can help you increase your word… more »

Managing Localization in Combo Boxes

January 18th, 2017
Introduction This example combines the use of combo boxes, a separate DataSource, and localized s for alternate cultures. Background Using a combo box, programmers can use a selected item as a variable or parameter within a single method. In other… more »