There are 10 types of people. Those who understand binary and those who dont.
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/binary.html
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Word Of The Day
hypnagogic \hip-nuh-GOJ-ik; -GOH-jik\, adjective:
Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state ofdrowsiness preceding sleep.
It is of course precisely in such episodes of mental traveling that writers are known to do good work, sometimes even their best, solving formal problems, getting advice from Beyond, having hypnagogic adventures that with luck can be recovered later on.
-- Thomas Pynchon, "Nearer, My Couch, to Thee," New York Times, June 6, 1993
... the phenomenon of hypnagogic hallucinations, or what Mr. Alvarez describes as "the flickering images and voices that well up just before sleep takes over."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The Faces of Night, Many of Them Scary," New York Times, January 9, 1995
His uncensored and uncensoring subconscious allows him to absorb the world around him and in him, and to spit it out almost undigested, as if he were walking around in a constant hypnagogic state.
--Susan Bolotin, "Don't Turn Your Back on This Book," New York Times, June 9, 1985
Hypnagogic (sometimes spelled hypnogogic) ultimately derives from Greek hupnos, "sleep" + agogos, "leading," fromagein, "to lead."
Of, pertaining to, or occurring in the state ofdrowsiness preceding sleep.
It is of course precisely in such episodes of mental traveling that writers are known to do good work, sometimes even their best, solving formal problems, getting advice from Beyond, having hypnagogic adventures that with luck can be recovered later on.
-- Thomas Pynchon, "Nearer, My Couch, to Thee," New York Times, June 6, 1993
... the phenomenon of hypnagogic hallucinations, or what Mr. Alvarez describes as "the flickering images and voices that well up just before sleep takes over."
--Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "The Faces of Night, Many of Them Scary," New York Times, January 9, 1995
His uncensored and uncensoring subconscious allows him to absorb the world around him and in him, and to spit it out almost undigested, as if he were walking around in a constant hypnagogic state.
--Susan Bolotin, "Don't Turn Your Back on This Book," New York Times, June 9, 1985
Hypnagogic (sometimes spelled hypnogogic) ultimately derives from Greek hupnos, "sleep" + agogos, "leading," fromagein, "to lead."
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Full Spectrum Warrior hits its target
Full Spectrum Warrior is an excellent military action game that marks an intriguing departure from the norm.
Now available on Xbox, it was initially commissioned by the US military as a training aid.
"The army realised that a lot of their recruits would play video games in their downtime," explains Greg Donovan, one of the game's producers.
"The game was originally never supposed to be seen as a consumer version. It was always supposed to be a training tool for light infantry."
The army hoped the game could help drive home the tactics that troops learn in field training.
When it was decided that there was also potential for an marketable game, the developers added storylines and characters - "stuff the army didn't care about", as Donovan puts it.
Reflecting its training origins, the comprehensive tutorial level takes a while to wade through, but once you get to grips with the controls and principles, they're very intuitive.
Atmospheric action
Full Spectrum Warrior throws you into an urban warfare scenario in a fictional Middle Eastern battle zone.
You control two 'fire teams' of four soldiers. Viewing them from a reliable third person viewpoint, you switch between the two to give them orders to move, fire and take cover.
The feel is eerily reminiscent of news footage of the world's hotspots, an effect the makers were keen to accomplish.
"We've implemented a steadicam to convey the sense of an embedded reporter," says Donovan. "you're down with the soldiers at ground level, in the thick of the action."
That steadicam works a treat, adding urgency to the beautifully rendered action.
It contributes to the overall atmosphere that makes FSW genuinely unnerving to play. The faded colours and menacing dusty streets are straight out of Black Hawk Down, whilst moody music helps keep the scene firmly set.
Most of the time you have to leap-frog, with one team rushing to a corner and laying down covering fire while the other group rushes to the next strategic position and returns the favour.
You can assign particular members of a team to do specific tasks according to their particular training, but for the most part you order the entire team to take action.
Shooting is not a precise business - rather you select a 'fire sector' area and have the team attack targets within it as best they can. If the enemy can't be hit, you have to come up with another way to strike them.
Because you are constantly keeping track of two teams in different places and subject to different attacks, there is a major sense of urgency and tension that few other games can match.
It's easy to get disorientated as you flick between teams in the middle of a firefight, but that all adds authenticity; a sense of chaos can easily set in if you mess up, and panicking will just compound the situation.
The fog of war
The combination of elements makes for an exhiliarating experience and one that's superbly executed. It is a testament to the design that such a potentially complex game feels so natural, so quickly.
The neat and realistic 'fog of war' feature helps you see which areas of play could contain threats. Flick a switch and segments of the environment not being watched by any of your men appear blurred, giving an instant recap as to who's covering which direction.
Although there is the odd concession to practicability, FSW offers a convincing recreation of urban battle tactics, behaviour and problems, and for the layperson the military insight is rather intriguing.
Soldiers chat to each other constantly, combining barked orders with convincing banter - all liberally peppered with industrial language.
Largely written by a former US Army sniper, the dialogue is entertaining and feels realistic.
The game's presentation is solid, pointedly avoiding any of the over-the-top armed-forces melodrama that you might fear, and the polished cut-scenes tell the story well.
If there's a downside to FSW it's that there's not a great deal of detail to unfold as things progress. Once you've got a feeling for things, there are few revelations to unlock.
Instead there are just successive levels of solidly good gameplay, which are so enjoyable that you probably won't complain.
Now available on Xbox, it was initially commissioned by the US military as a training aid.
"The army realised that a lot of their recruits would play video games in their downtime," explains Greg Donovan, one of the game's producers.
"The game was originally never supposed to be seen as a consumer version. It was always supposed to be a training tool for light infantry."
The army hoped the game could help drive home the tactics that troops learn in field training.
When it was decided that there was also potential for an marketable game, the developers added storylines and characters - "stuff the army didn't care about", as Donovan puts it.
Reflecting its training origins, the comprehensive tutorial level takes a while to wade through, but once you get to grips with the controls and principles, they're very intuitive.
Atmospheric action
Full Spectrum Warrior throws you into an urban warfare scenario in a fictional Middle Eastern battle zone.
You control two 'fire teams' of four soldiers. Viewing them from a reliable third person viewpoint, you switch between the two to give them orders to move, fire and take cover.
The feel is eerily reminiscent of news footage of the world's hotspots, an effect the makers were keen to accomplish.
"We've implemented a steadicam to convey the sense of an embedded reporter," says Donovan. "you're down with the soldiers at ground level, in the thick of the action."
That steadicam works a treat, adding urgency to the beautifully rendered action.
It contributes to the overall atmosphere that makes FSW genuinely unnerving to play. The faded colours and menacing dusty streets are straight out of Black Hawk Down, whilst moody music helps keep the scene firmly set.
Most of the time you have to leap-frog, with one team rushing to a corner and laying down covering fire while the other group rushes to the next strategic position and returns the favour.
You can assign particular members of a team to do specific tasks according to their particular training, but for the most part you order the entire team to take action.
Shooting is not a precise business - rather you select a 'fire sector' area and have the team attack targets within it as best they can. If the enemy can't be hit, you have to come up with another way to strike them.
Because you are constantly keeping track of two teams in different places and subject to different attacks, there is a major sense of urgency and tension that few other games can match.
It's easy to get disorientated as you flick between teams in the middle of a firefight, but that all adds authenticity; a sense of chaos can easily set in if you mess up, and panicking will just compound the situation.
The fog of war
The combination of elements makes for an exhiliarating experience and one that's superbly executed. It is a testament to the design that such a potentially complex game feels so natural, so quickly.
The neat and realistic 'fog of war' feature helps you see which areas of play could contain threats. Flick a switch and segments of the environment not being watched by any of your men appear blurred, giving an instant recap as to who's covering which direction.
Although there is the odd concession to practicability, FSW offers a convincing recreation of urban battle tactics, behaviour and problems, and for the layperson the military insight is rather intriguing.
Soldiers chat to each other constantly, combining barked orders with convincing banter - all liberally peppered with industrial language.
Largely written by a former US Army sniper, the dialogue is entertaining and feels realistic.
The game's presentation is solid, pointedly avoiding any of the over-the-top armed-forces melodrama that you might fear, and the polished cut-scenes tell the story well.
If there's a downside to FSW it's that there's not a great deal of detail to unfold as things progress. Once you've got a feeling for things, there are few revelations to unlock.
Instead there are just successive levels of solidly good gameplay, which are so enjoyable that you probably won't complain.
Monday, July 12, 2004
New programming terms
Obfuckate: (v): to take a seemingly working piece of code and implement a supplementary module, thereby rendering it less than useless.
Mork: a developer who frequently calls for help from above; as in “Mork calling Orson”.
Treeview: the need to overcomplicate a simple piece of code with a weighty GUI - “Can’t see the wood for the treeviews.”
dotnetit: (v): “why have one, when you can have two, at three times the price?”
UN resolution: a really great idea for a piece of software, which everybody knows will help business a great deal, but which you know everybody is going to ignore, and use a word/excel mail merge anyway.
war on terror: the act of developing a piece of software, ignoring all defined guidance and well-established practices. “We looked at all of the UN resolutions, then sent our troops in.”
Mork: a developer who frequently calls for help from above; as in “Mork calling Orson”.
Treeview: the need to overcomplicate a simple piece of code with a weighty GUI - “Can’t see the wood for the treeviews.”
dotnetit: (v): “why have one, when you can have two, at three times the price?”
UN resolution: a really great idea for a piece of software, which everybody knows will help business a great deal, but which you know everybody is going to ignore, and use a word/excel mail merge anyway.
war on terror: the act of developing a piece of software, ignoring all defined guidance and well-established practices. “We looked at all of the UN resolutions, then sent our troops in.”
Our receptionist
WOULD THE PERSON THAT HAS LEFT AN ENVELOPE TO BE CURRIED IN THE POST TRAY PLEASE CONTACT ME IMMEDIATELY
Whitehouse.org
Check out www.whitehouse.org, it's come such a long way. I am so happy I found that this morning.
Bush military records destroyed
Documents that could have decided a dispute over President George W Bush's days in the military 30 years ago have been destroyed, the Pentagon says.
Microfilm containing the pertinent payroll records for the Texas-based Air National Guard had been damaged and could not be salvaged, it said.
Democrats have accused the president of ducking the draft call to Vietnam in favour of less dangerous duties.
The White House has released some records in a bid to refute the charges.
'No back-up copies'
The destroyed files included President Bush's pay records for two three-month periods in 1969 and 1972, a Department of Defence statement said.
"Searches for back-up paper copies of the missing records were unsuccessful," it added.
The 1969 period is not contentious for Mr Bush, as it is already known he was training to be a pilot at the time.
But in 1972 he moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign, and opponents say he failed to turn up for guard duties during this time.
'Beyond doubt'
The lost records might have thrown some light on whether he fulfilled his legal commitment.
Doubts were first raised nationally about Mr Bush's service during the 2000 presidential campaign and the issue has resurfaced as Mr Bush fights for re-election.
Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has said Mr Bush must come clean on what he did.
A White House spokeswoman has said the documents already released prove beyond doubt that President Bush "fulfilled his duties in the National Guard at the time".
'Inadvertent destruction'
The microfilm containing the records apparently disintegrated as staff were trying to preserve it from decay.
The loss was announced by the Pentagon's Office of Freedom of Information and Security Review in letters responding to media demands for full access to Mr Bush's records.
"The Defence Finance and Accounting Service has advised of the inadvertent destruction of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll records," said the letter, signed by the office's chief C Y Talbott.
It added that in 1996 and 1997 the microfilm records of "numerous service members" from the first quarter of 1969 and the third quarter of 1972 were ruined - Mr Bush's among them.
Mr Bush trained as a pilot while a member of the Texas and Alabama air national guard but never flew in combat.
He left the national guard in 1973 with an honourable discharge to attend Harvard Business School.
Microfilm containing the pertinent payroll records for the Texas-based Air National Guard had been damaged and could not be salvaged, it said.
Democrats have accused the president of ducking the draft call to Vietnam in favour of less dangerous duties.
The White House has released some records in a bid to refute the charges.
'No back-up copies'
The destroyed files included President Bush's pay records for two three-month periods in 1969 and 1972, a Department of Defence statement said.
"Searches for back-up paper copies of the missing records were unsuccessful," it added.
The 1969 period is not contentious for Mr Bush, as it is already known he was training to be a pilot at the time.
But in 1972 he moved to Alabama to work on a political campaign, and opponents say he failed to turn up for guard duties during this time.
'Beyond doubt'
The lost records might have thrown some light on whether he fulfilled his legal commitment.
Doubts were first raised nationally about Mr Bush's service during the 2000 presidential campaign and the issue has resurfaced as Mr Bush fights for re-election.
Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran, has said Mr Bush must come clean on what he did.
A White House spokeswoman has said the documents already released prove beyond doubt that President Bush "fulfilled his duties in the National Guard at the time".
'Inadvertent destruction'
The microfilm containing the records apparently disintegrated as staff were trying to preserve it from decay.
The loss was announced by the Pentagon's Office of Freedom of Information and Security Review in letters responding to media demands for full access to Mr Bush's records.
"The Defence Finance and Accounting Service has advised of the inadvertent destruction of microfilm containing certain National Guard payroll records," said the letter, signed by the office's chief C Y Talbott.
It added that in 1996 and 1997 the microfilm records of "numerous service members" from the first quarter of 1969 and the third quarter of 1972 were ruined - Mr Bush's among them.
Mr Bush trained as a pilot while a member of the Texas and Alabama air national guard but never flew in combat.
He left the national guard in 1973 with an honourable discharge to attend Harvard Business School.
US 'may delay vote if attacked'
The Bush administration is reported to be investigating the possibility of postponing the presidential election in the event of a terror attack.
The White House will neither confirm or deny the report, which suggests Congress might be asked to grant the powers to the election commission.
It is not clear where the final decision would be taken in the event of a terror attack.
However, a senior Democrat in Congress has signalled her opposition.
Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said such a proposal would be "excessive based on what we know".
She also criticised the suggestion last week from Tom Ridge, the Homeland Security Secretary, that al-Qaeda was planning to disrupt the election.
That warning was based on old information, she added.
"If they do this, boy, my God, they're extremely desperate" - Ciro Rodriguez Democrat Congressman
The Democrats' unspoken fear is that the White House will play on the nerves of Americans as the election nears, and hope to gain support from a nation fearful of any change in course.
It is a difficult strategy for the Democrats to counter.
If they appeared complacent and the terrorists did strike, they would be politically destroyed.
The White House will neither confirm or deny the report, which suggests Congress might be asked to grant the powers to the election commission.
It is not clear where the final decision would be taken in the event of a terror attack.
However, a senior Democrat in Congress has signalled her opposition.
Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee, said such a proposal would be "excessive based on what we know".
She also criticised the suggestion last week from Tom Ridge, the Homeland Security Secretary, that al-Qaeda was planning to disrupt the election.
That warning was based on old information, she added.
"If they do this, boy, my God, they're extremely desperate" - Ciro Rodriguez Democrat Congressman
The Democrats' unspoken fear is that the White House will play on the nerves of Americans as the election nears, and hope to gain support from a nation fearful of any change in course.
It is a difficult strategy for the Democrats to counter.
If they appeared complacent and the terrorists did strike, they would be politically destroyed.
Sunday, July 11, 2004
SpaceShipOne back on course
SpaceShipOne, the world's first private space craft, is back on course for the Ansari X-Prize after solving technical hitches following June's historic trip.
The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, had a major flight-control problem towards the top of its 100km record-breaking voyage above the Earth.
The X-Prize awards the first team that sends a three-person craft to an altitude over 100km, and then repeats the feat in the same craft within two weeks.
The view from space that pilot Mike Melvill had
"We plan our next two flights to be the X-Prize attempts. Announcement of the dates will be made by the X-Prize Foundation," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3876455.stm
The craft, built by aviation pioneer Burt Rutan, had a major flight-control problem towards the top of its 100km record-breaking voyage above the Earth.
The X-Prize awards the first team that sends a three-person craft to an altitude over 100km, and then repeats the feat in the same craft within two weeks.
The view from space that pilot Mike Melvill had
"We plan our next two flights to be the X-Prize attempts. Announcement of the dates will be made by the X-Prize Foundation," he said.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3876455.stm
Sunday, July 04, 2004
Nasty Birds
This letter was in the Metro the other day, in reply to a series of reader's letters regarding the subject of how nasty seagulls are and the fact that they have been seen to eat smaller birds such as sparrows:
"... why don't we arm the sparrows with metal spikes so that they can protect themselves? Or better yet we could replace the seagull's beaks with wax crayons then they might be encouraged to do something more artistic."
Fantastic suggestion.
"... why don't we arm the sparrows with metal spikes so that they can protect themselves? Or better yet we could replace the seagull's beaks with wax crayons then they might be encouraged to do something more artistic."
Fantastic suggestion.
Thursday, July 01, 2004
Word Of The Day
misprize \mis-PRYZ\, transitive verb:
1. To hold in contempt.
2. To undervalue.
I hesitate to appear to misprize my native city, but how can the history of dear, sedate old London town possibly compare to Paris for sheer excitement?
--Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris
Or did he misprize such fidelity and harden his heart against so great a love as hers?
--Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, translated by Guido Waldman
Alternatively, when disagreements are noticed, they may by chance be overemphasized by those who misprize their significance by failing to assess the pressure exerted by economic and institutional factors as opposed to the purely intellectual.
--Ellen Handler Spitz, "Warrant for trespass/permission to peer," The Art Bulletin, December 1, 1995
Misprize comes from Middle French mesprisier, from mes-, "amiss, wrong" + prisier, "to appraise."
1. To hold in contempt.
2. To undervalue.
I hesitate to appear to misprize my native city, but how can the history of dear, sedate old London town possibly compare to Paris for sheer excitement?
--Alistair Horne, Seven Ages of Paris
Or did he misprize such fidelity and harden his heart against so great a love as hers?
--Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, translated by Guido Waldman
Alternatively, when disagreements are noticed, they may by chance be overemphasized by those who misprize their significance by failing to assess the pressure exerted by economic and institutional factors as opposed to the purely intellectual.
--Ellen Handler Spitz, "Warrant for trespass/permission to peer," The Art Bulletin, December 1, 1995
Misprize comes from Middle French mesprisier, from mes-, "amiss, wrong" + prisier, "to appraise."
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