New compression method

[Rickertsen2]

Originally Posted by Aalfabob

Isnt the formula combinations = bytes ^ values

so like a 512 byte peice of data ^ 256 possible charactors = 3.742e+693 combinations?

edit - Nm got the wrong formula from someone.

The formula for the number of discrete combinations that can be stored in a binary number of length X bits is simply:

2^x

Regardless of how you group these bits or your program interprets them, you will always be limited by this fomula.

[wun]

The one thing I have been wondering is if your magical algorithm calls on outside data (EG: using a dictionary outside the "compressed" file)?

[rbayer]

Originally Posted by Aalfabob

Isnt the formula combinations = bytes ^ values

so like a 512 byte peice of data ^ 256 possible charactors = 3.742e+693 combinations?

edit - Nm got the wrong formula from someone.

Close, but not quite. If you want to think of it that way, it's actually 256 ^ 512. Think about it this way: there are 256 possiblities for the first byte, times 256 for the second, times 256 for the third, etc, etc. Thus, you get 256*256*256*... = 256 ^ 512.

[piotrm]

Wow, I can't believe this thread has been running for this long. From the very first posts it was evident to me that this is a scam. The subtle mentions of financial gain. The need for patent money in order to make the big greens, etc... The interesting part is that one real chief delphi person mentioned that he knows aalfabob of this wonderfull compression scheme.

However, I realize odd things can come together once upon a time and that all of these scam-signs were inadvertent and aalfabob thinks he has this algorithm. If so then I apologize. However, I am 99.999% sure that such a bold compression scheme is impossible as was probably states a few times already in this thread.

On a humorous note: take a look at this http://lzip.sourceforge.net/.

I do so register my vote (opinion) as above on this issue.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by piotrm

Wow, I can't believe this thread has been running for this long. From the very first posts it was evident to me that this is a scam. The subtle mentions of financial gain. The need for patent money in order to make the big greens, etc... The interesting part is that one real chief delphi person mentioned that he knows aalfabob of this wonderfull compression scheme.

Well, assuming he is a scammer, all we have to do is wait for his release of the program and he'll expose himself. Don't send him money and you're safe.

Originally Posted by poitrm

On a humorous note: take a look at this http://lzip.sourceforge.net/.

I do so register my vote (opinion) as above on this issue.

Wow! Thanks for the link! My computer has sooo much room now that I compressed most of my personal files using lzip. I had done that before using gzip, but lzip was a ton better! Compression is a great thing. Why did you say it was humorous? It seems more amazing than anything to me.


NOTE: I didn't really do this. You shouldn't either.

[J Flex 188]

"Known issues with lzip 1.0:
Attempting to compress the lzip or lunzip programs themselves will trap your system in an infinite loop, and may cause the platter from your hard disks to shoot out of their drive bays at close to the speed of sound. Attempting to uncompress either of the exectuables will suck your computer into a minature black hole, which we believe from our benchmarks (speculatively) exits in an anitmatter universe parallel to our own. If you are interested in exploring this possibilty, please write to us once you get there. "

off of the download section of the page. he was probably referring to that. I know it gave me a chuckle. hehe. as did the whole program being gzipped. =D

Originally Posted by Ryan Morehart

Well, assuming he is a scammer, all we have to do is wait for his release of the program and he'll expose himself. Don't send him money and you're safe.

Wow! Thanks for the link! My computer has sooo much room now that I compressed most of my personal files using lzip. I had done that before using gzip, but lzip was a ton better! Compression is a great thing. Why did you say it was humorous? It seems more amazing than anything to me.


NOTE: I didn't really do this. You shouldn't either.

[Aalfabob]

I had like a 3 paragraph post on how it was putting out smaller files and stuff but the server was down right after i sent it so it was lost.

But anyways, ive decided to let someone take a look at how it works and decide if they think it will work. You guys decide who you think would do the best job and the one I can trust.

[sanddrag]

Originally Posted by Aalfabob

You guys decide who you think would do the best job and the one I can trust.

You can trust me (look at rep and post count)but I am no programmer. Off of the top of my head (please don't get personal with this, I'm just throwing out names) some names I would trust Andy Baker and Andy Brockway but I don't believe they are programmers. But who knows, maybe a non programmer average computer user would be a prime candidate for the test.

The only one thing I'm worried about is trusting you, what if you sent one of us something that would be potentially damaging to our computers.

Don't get me wrong, I respect you, your ideas, and your claims, but I have a hard time trusting any stranger - you know how it is I'm sure. It's not you personally, it is any stranger to me.

[Aalfabob]

Originally Posted by sanddrag

You can trust me (look at rep and post count)but I am no programmer. Off of the top of my head (please don't get personal with this, I'm just throwing out names) some names I would trust Andy Baker and Andy Brockway but I don't believe they are programmers. But who knows, maybe a non programmer average computer user would be a prime candidate for the test.

The only one thing I'm worried about is trusting you, what if you sent one of us something that would be potentially damaging to our computers.

Don't get me wrong, I respect you, your ideas, and your claims, but I have a hard time trusting any stranger - you know how it is I'm sure. It's not you personally, it is any stranger to me.

I understand, Ive sent someone the ideas already, and he doesnt really see anything wrong with the idea ( I dont think ) but he wants to check the source for any bugs or errors that could create a false output. The actual method isnt to complex so I should have news on this by tommarow or the day after.

[rbayer]

If you want a trusted party, please feel free to use me. I'm a CS and math major at Carnegie Mellon, so I pretty well know my stuff and would be willing to give an honest opinion. Also, my opinion tends to be pretty well-respected when it comes to programming issues around these parts. In any event, send me an email (FIRSTprograms@mn.rr.com) with the compressor/decompressor and I'll test it and post results to CD within a few hours.

Rob

[FizMan]

You ummm really have no reason to trust me... no good rep... half decent programmer; not great like these guys... I can say you can trust me, but you can't really trust that.

I have nothing good to my name... well, except for this:
http://vgamp.com/storage/fizixmanbig.jpg

COMON! I'm a saxy beast, you GOTTA trust me now to do a good job with your code! <3

(plus your avatar is teh pwn... I'm going to steal it *stoled*)

[Andy Baker]

Originally Posted by rbayer

If you want a trusted party, please feel free to use me. I'm a CS and math major at Carnegie Mellon, so I pretty well know my stuff and would be willing to give an honest opinion. Also, my opinion tends to be pretty well-respected when it comes to programming issues around these parts. In any event, send me an email (FIRSTprograms@mn.rr.com) with the compressor/decompressor and I'll test it and post results to CD within a few hours.

Rob

For what it is worth, my vote is to let Rob try this thing out. He is not only a long-time FIRSTer, but he has done tireless work to develop things for the FIRST community. He sees beyond his team and his personal gain. His efforts deserve the FIRST community's trust.

Andy B.

[Jeff Rodriguez]

/me holds up parchment with 'Rob' scribbled on it.

Rob. He's got the know-how.

/me puts parchment in jug and walks away.

[Aalfabob]

Originally Posted by rbayer

If you want a trusted party, please feel free to use me. I'm a CS and math major at Carnegie Mellon, so I pretty well know my stuff and would be willing to give an honest opinion. Also, my opinion tends to be pretty well-respected when it comes to programming issues around these parts. In any event, send me an email (FIRSTprograms@mn.rr.com) with the compressor/decompressor and I'll test it and post results to CD within a few hours.

Rob

Ill send you a power point presentation of it when I finish it. Shouldnt take to long. But the way it works seems pretty simple to reverse for me, but im going to have a couple of programs output some graphs of data and what not to show all parts of the compression and decompression.

Originally Posted by FizMan

(plus your avatar is teh pwn... I'm going to steal it *stoled*)

Lol

[rbayer]

Originally Posted by Aalfabob

Ill send you a power point presentation of it when I finish it. Shouldnt take to long. But the way it works seems pretty simple to reverse for me, but im going to have a couple of programs output some graphs of data and what not to show all parts of the compression and decompression.

A power point presentation? Why not just the decompressor/compressor programs. Or at least one of them. Based on your earlier posts/graphs, I'm guessing you've already written the compressor and decompressor, so if you could just attach them to an email, that would be great.

More on why you can trust me not to steal your ideas:
1. Eagle Scout
2. Well-respected around here
3. Other teams have trusted me (on numerous occasions) with their top-secret code for their robot in order to get some feedback on it. In ALL cases, I respected their wishes and never divulged any details. In fact, even if a team came up with a really cool idea (which many did), I didn't even incorporate it into my own team's code out of respect for the original programmers wishes.

Please, if you want people to believe you about this new compression scheme, I'm your guy. Send me a working compressor and/or decompressor and I promise to provide an honest opinion as well as keeping everything completely confidential. I will NOT, however, endorse a compression scheme simply because you know how to use Excel and make lots of pretty graphs.

Also, if all you haven't actually programmed the compressor/decompressor yet, then just send me a short (1-2 paragraph) description of how you plan to do it and I will give you as much feedback as I can on the feasibility of your scheme.

Rob