John Kerry, Kitesurfing. A tasteful wet suit, as these things go. I still want to know how they steer. (but, alas, not enough to look it up. Again Google puts my puny desire for knowledge in perspective.) He does, in fact, have eyes. They appear to be brown.
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11:40:08 AM,
Tuesday 20 January 2004
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The paddles how have an energy level; as they get worn out, their acceleration drops. Since bouncing off a wall saps energy, it's possible for a paddle to end up in a kind of bounce-induced unconsciousness. Now I need to make the AI a bit lazy so it stops knocking itself silly. It also means you can beat up the other paddle. I think I'm going to create a second table, with a wider goal, and add a slope behind the goal crease, so stop the puck dribbling back for goals. Making the puck look decent as it goes between the flat field and the goal crease slope might be excessively hard. Then I need to make it so paddles can read all their settings from a file; and then I can work on a paddle creating tool. Shame I have a job, really.
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(7)
10:17:12 PM,
Monday 19 January 2004
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I think I fixed it. The paddles have stopped eating the puck, at least, I can't seem to make them do it anymore. Weird. That bug has been sitting, lurking, since just before we went to England Christmas before last. I feel disoriented. The obstruction has been moved, I'm free to make progress. I've just got this nasty, irrational feeling that it can't possibly be fixed. A phantom bug, like a phantom limb.
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10:20:18 PM,
Sunday 18 January 2004
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After a year or so of putting it off, I'm working on my pong paddle breeding game again. Today I've created a log file, and I just found a reproducable case where the puck flies through a wall. I think if I can get past this bug, I'll be able to get back into it. The game itself works, pretty much, and the AI is sufficient for the arcade version, though I need to make it more complex and emotional for the breeding version. After the bug, I'll work on the interface so that it isn't afraid to show it's face in public.
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06:27:07 PM,
Sunday 18 January 2004
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The schools are being closed here tomorrow, because it's going to be too cold to have people waiting for the bus, and too expensive to heat the buildings. Never heard of that happening before. I'm nearly tempted to walk to work, simply because I'm not going to get many chances to be out in weather this cold (-8F tomorrow morning, with 17mph winds), but the problem is that if I dress well enough for it, I'll slowly cook at work. Layers are well and good, but I don't have anything for my legs that I can take off easily.
Walking across the street and driving home, I take it all back. I will not under any circumstances walk to work tomorrow. The bridge of my nose and my forehead are intractable problems, and my insulated boots are entirely ineffective out there.
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(1)
05:12:59 PM,
Thursday 15 January 2004
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The BBC is reporting that Tim from the Office has been cast as Arthur Dent. No complaints here. I suppose this gets added to the list of geek-friendly films greenlighted in the wake of Lord of the Rings, along with the oncoming wave of ancient war movies.
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(2)
08:54:14 PM,
Tuesday 13 January 2004
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The world isn't fair. It took us 6 months to get a refund from the Brown Bookstore when they absconded with a laptop that we took in, under warrantee, to have it's ethernet port replaced. This man takes a computer case full of potatoes to the computer store and gets a replacement. Not only that, he tries again a few days later. I'm voting for a friend of his switching chips for potatoes without his knowledge. Does this pun translate? Though, it's worth pointing out that this is Berlin again, same place as the wild boar, so it's possible that someone at Reuters is having a bit of fun.
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04:39:14 PM,
Monday 12 January 2004
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Coots!
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12:50:29 PM,
Sunday 11 January 2004
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The time has come. My hair hangs over my head like a dark cloud. Something must be done.
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12:44:56 PM,
Sunday 11 January 2004
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(2)
12:36:26 PM,
Sunday 11 January 2004
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There are two hot water dispensers at work. I want to know which one is hotter, without having to burn my fingers or find a thermometer. Any suggestions?
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(8)
11:32:48 AM,
Saturday 10 January 2004
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The talk of a moon base has world-weary space geek Gregg Easterbrook spluttering. Our descent into Monarchy is only on the second generation, and already we're planning Pyramids.
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(2)
02:33:18 PM,
Friday 9 January 2004
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