Best Sum Tabulation

It is a nice Tuesday in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. Today is the 15 day of June, 2021 and the temperature is forecasted to reach the low 80s.

My wife and I typically do not grill during the week due to the time it takes me to get the grill ready, cook the meat we are preparing, and then clean the unit. Our granddaughters stopped by to go shopping with my wife so my wife decided to grill some steaks. She did a nice tomato salad, some fries in the oven, and some rice in the stovetop. Overall lunch was quite tasty. I prefer grilling on weekends when I can have an adult beverage or two. Today we just had some Pellegrino water.

In Peru the government agency in charge of elections is still counting votes. It seems that the winner will be the communist candidate. Fearing for what seems to be inevitable, many people have left the country with bags of money to be deposited in foreign banks. Hopefully a miracle (I do not believe in them) may happen and the candidate representing democracy will be elected president. Continue reading “Best Sum Tabulation”

Search in Rotated Sorted Array

It is another nice day in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The temperature will be in the low 70s. I noticed in the Weather Channel app on my phone that a warning of brush fires has been issued in this area. Based on the temperatures above than normal and precipitation below normal, it was going to happen sooner or later. Hope we get some needed rain soon.

On a separate note the relationship between Israel and Palestine has taken a wrong turn. The last administration in the US was moving forward and had achieved peace between the parties. With the current administration thousands of rockets has been launched into Israel. Interesting but about 20% of the rockets launched have killed the terrorists that launched them. Hopefully both sides will be able to get to a new agreement. Continue reading “Search in Rotated Sorted Array”

Wildcard Matching

It has been a few days since my last post. Busy with work and family items. The weather in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul has been quite pleasant. The temperature has been at or slightly above average. On the other hand precipitation seems to be below average. Hopefully this pattern will not disrupt farmer’s production.

I had selected a couple articles for brief discussion in this post. I did not bookmark one of them and I am having a hard time finding it. In a nutshell the articled had to do with Pfizer, their COVID-19 vaccine and India being able to mass-produce it. In the USA we have the concept of a patent. It is a great idea that helps the rightful owner of an idea to freely market and sell their invention for a period of time. If not mistaken the period is seven years. I fully agree with such concept. It is fair and invention needs to be rewarded to motivate progress.

Like any other subject, there are always two sides to the same coin. Biden has proposed to ban all COVID-19 patents to help the world win the battle against it. Good for public relations, but would such approach work? My opinion is no. In the USA alone there are about 30% of the people that have and will refuse a COVID-19 vaccine. That said, we will not achieve herd immunity. I have relatives and friends in different countries. Some are very interested in getting a vaccine. Some have traveled to the USA at a high expense, spent a month here, and received the two doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Some have no desire in getting vaccinated at all. The main reasons are the lack of effectiveness (most vaccines provide 100% protection) and side effects (you can possibly get ill after receiving the vaccine). Not sure how effective is the Pfizer vaccine, but it is not 100%. Regarding the side effects, the COVID-19 vaccines administered in the USA seem to not cause side effects. You cannot say the same for the two Chinese vaccines with are about 70% effective and have shown a large number of people getting very ill with side effects. Hopefully the numbers are rapidly improving with time.

I received a link to the post “18 Reasons I Won’t Be Getting a COVID Vaccine” by Christian Elliot. Some of the points are hard to ignore and our government should act on them. On the other side big Pharma lawyers and lobbyist will make change hard to achieve.

BTW, my wife and I have received the two Pfizer doses. The same holds true for the family of one of our sons. The other is still thinking about it.

The other news that called my interest comes from Yale University. The article “DODD: Sit down, be humble” by Ethan Dodd. Perhaps the article is too political, but politics seem to be something we are all familiar with.

What called my attention was the acceptance that no one has all the answers. That is especially true at work. People have different backgrounds and experiences. That is what diversity means to me. Color of skin, religious believes, and gender as examples, is not what makes people diverse. We are diverse because of our unique experiences. Of course, as the article states, pretending you have all the answers is not beneficial in any company, relationship or society. Keep that in mind the next time you are working on a project. Continue reading “Wildcard Matching”

Single Number

It is a Monday. Things are going well for me; hope the same for you.

I decided to tackle the next problem in a list at LeetCode. The problem is LeetCode 136 Single Number. Not sure if problems change with time so if interested please visit the LeetCode site and get the requirements directly from them. Continue reading “Single Number”

Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array in Java

Good day. Hope you are doing well. Seems like many companies, businesses and schools are starting to plan on how to conduct business after the COVID-19 pandemic in the USA. It seems like we are getting closer to be able to return to a new normal. I believe that use of masks in public will be required until we achieve herd immunity in different locations. Hope the same is happening in your neck of the woods. Continue reading “Remove Duplicates from Sorted Array in Java”

Print Words Vertically

It is shortly after 05:00 AM in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The temperature is just under 32F. It should go up a few degrees as the day progresses. In reality I am at 68F in my office and not planning on leaving the house today.

I mentioned in a previous post that I had ordered from Amazon three books which would be delivered today Tuesday. The first arrived last Sunday, the second arrived yesterday Monday and just before going to bed I noticed a message from Amazon indicating that I should reorder the third book from a different reseller. One of the books was delivered at my home the second must have been dropped in my mailbox. Will check it at lunch time (after what I said, I guess I will leave the house for a few minutes), and I believe I have to look for the third book again. Continue reading “Print Words Vertically”

Dot Product of Two Sparse Vectors in Java

It is Thursday and for a while it was snowing. We received a couple inches of fresh snow. Will see what the weather brings us this weekend. I believe Sunday is going to be the coldest day of this winter so far. We might hit -20F. That said; it appears that the weather forecast changes multiple times a day.

Today my wife was not at home for lunch. I prepare toasts with avocado. Put a dab of butter on a couple slices of ciabatta bread, place them on a cooking sheet and into the oven (set at 400F) they went for about seven minutes. While that was going on, I took out from the freezer a Butter Chicken with Basmati rice tray from Trader Joe’s. As soon as the toast was done I swapped the tray with the chicken. The instructions called for 25 minutes so I consumed the toast with avocado and went back to my office. Continue reading “Dot Product of Two Sparse Vectors in Java”

Design HashMap – Second approach

Today is Christmas Eve Day 2020 and we woke up with -3 F. In addition snow and wind started yesterday afternoon. Looks like a perfect day to stay in and roast a turkey.

As a matter of fact, my wife and I prepared the turkey early this morning and put it in the oven. The raw turkey came in at 24 lbs. It had giblets and a bag of liquid for basting. We disposed of those items. Next time we roast a turkey will get a smaller one (about 11 lbs.) and from a different brand (not Jennie-O). The breast of this turkey is not in proportion to the weight. Will see how the sandwiches on ciabatta bread turned out later this afternoon. Continue reading “Design HashMap – Second approach”

Spiral Matrix – Revisited

Good morning. Hope your day is starting on the right note. Yesterday was a long and busy day. Something at work stated on Saturday extended at least through yesterday. I spent a lot of time on the phone, browsing code and looking at log files. It seems we know what is causing the problem. Currently I am in the midst of formulating approaches to address the issue. Hopefully all will be solved by tomorrow.

On a separate note, yesterday I had the opportunity to meet on-line a software engineer that works at a large software company. You never know what the future has reserved for you. Continue reading “Spiral Matrix – Revisited”

Reverse Operations

In the past three days the high for the day has been in the mid to upper 40s. Since late fall a considerable amount of leaves has been accumulating in the entrance at home. Yesterday just before lunch I picked up the dead leaves. This morning some started to collect. I guess this is due to the orientation and shape of the entrance.

Last evening I also read an interesting article titled After Centuries, a Seemingly Simple Math Problem Gets an Exact Solution by Steve Nadis published in Quanta Magazine. Apparently a German mathematician named Ingo Ullisch figured out an exact solution for a problem. Good for him. What I liked more than the problem or its solution is the last paragraph in the article. In my humble opinion, this reaffirms the fact that reading and experimenting is the best way to learn. Continue reading “Reverse Operations”