Ruby project need ideas

[rottentree]

I'm currently learning Ruby in uni and there are 3 ways to get THE GRADE:
1)Choosing a topic about ruby and then giving a talk at the ruby meet-up covering the topic (the teacher is pretty much a ruby fanatic :D )
2)Doing a Big Exam (on the computer but he said that it's going to be hard :| )
3)Sending a project idea to him by Thursday 24:00(it doesn't have to be perfect but something which looks okay)

Now I'm going to choose 3) because 1) is pretty absurd I mean me a ruby newbie showing something new or interesting about ruby to ruby veterans and 2) sounded like it's not really advised but I have absolutely minimal knowledge of Ruby and have no idea of what can be a reasonable project which is also simple.

So can anyone help me with some ideas? :)

[rottentree]

Oh and I forgot the project idea is not enough I will have to do it of course with precise tests backing up that it works :)

[aeiah]

welcome to a short list of things id like to create, if i only had more time:


triangulation of wireless access points within your vicinity
xbox live client (messaging, friends online etc).. screen scraping stuff + a user interface. perhaps for linux, perhaps for andrioid
a musical instrument for a phone
software to turn your laptop into a wifi connectable filesharing repository for others to upload/download from whilst you're on the train

[rottentree]

welcome to a short list of things id like to create, if i only had more time:


triangulation of wireless access points within your vicinity
xbox live client (messaging, friends online etc).. screen scraping stuff + a user interface. perhaps for linux, perhaps for andrioid
a musical instrument for a phone
software to turn your laptop into a wifi connectable filesharing repository for others to upload/download from whilst you're on the train



Thanks for the ideas they do seem to be interesting although a bit advanced for me (meaning I have no idea how to do it) but I guess I will have to start somewhere :D

[aeiah]

well i dont know what level you're at, obviously. you said uni but i guess you could be just starting, or programming is only a small part of it or something else.

anyway, the first and last suggestions i made are really just about controlling other programs and using their outputs to make something meaningful. in the case of the last one, you'd create a user interface with ruby on rails i assume that ties in to a small web server, and a few scripts for setting your wireless card into access point mode. for the top one, it'd just be about gathering statistics from the wireless card(s), processing that data and creating a radar-style diagram out of the information gathered.

you'd use existing software for the low level stuff.. basic ifconfig, iwlist and perhaps airmon-ng commands etc.

[rottentree]

well i dont know what level you're at, obviously. you said uni but i guess you could be just starting, or programming is only a small part of it or something else.

Well actually I'm in a CS uni :oops: but the teaching is pretty much focused on the academic level: theories and such plus maths with almost zero practicality (I chose the most practical route and we get 2 hours/week coding and even then it's just type what the teacher does) I need to do actual tasks to learn something but I need the push from above and this Ruby course seemed to be an exception that's why I picked it up :)



anyway, the first and last suggestions i made are really just about controlling other programs and using their outputs to make something meaningful. in the case of the last one, you'd create a user interface with ruby on rails i assume that ties in to a small web server, and a few scripts for setting your wireless card into access point mode. for the top one, it'd just be about gathering statistics from the wireless card(s), processing that data and creating a radar-style diagram out of the information gathered.

you'd use existing software for the low level stuff.. basic ifconfig, iwlist and perhaps airmon-ng commands etc.

Much thanks I have been googling all along and I haven't found anything of help. I'm going to digest what you wrote now think about it while I can and if I'm not getting closer to my own idea then I'm going to steal your first or last one :)

[rottentree]

I went with your wifi access points triangulation idea :) I hope the teacher accepts it.

Oh and I forgot to answer I do know some programming(not much) it's just that I haven't ventured too much outside the territories of 'there is the file now do this and that with it'

[aeiah]

im not too advanced myself or anything.. i learnt some python on my own and am doing an object oriented programming with java course, and a course which is more academic. i think the triangulation one is something i could do with my limited knowledge, and so there's no reason why you couldnt either.

like i said, its something i plan on looking at too, although i dont know ruby and would be doing it in python. if you do choose to do it id be interested in seeing the results. hopefully you wont hit any brick walls - especially since you may need two or more wireless cards to get an accurate directional reading :(

[rottentree]

I also learned python on my own as my first language :) ruby is pretty similar to it so getting into it doesn't require too much effort.

The teacher didn't reject the idea so I hope I'm up to the task if I manage to make the program I'm going to upload it here though 2 wifi cards could pretty much mean a project death for me :shock: