Break's Almost Over

...And soon we will have to return to the glorious monotony of daily life.

I suppose then I should do more work on Chess's AI. I guess I will.

I've been making progress on the one novel I talked about earlier...I'm also reading some nonfiction books on writing, to get a better understanding of what I should do. Most of them say it should take me maybe a month or three to finish the first draft of a novel...that it's best to do it quickly before the idea(s) evaporate. Well, get this: One of my books (the first one I decided to write) I started 3 years ago (summer 2001) and I still haven't gotten very far in it! Talk about procrastination!

But now I'm working on my current novel on a completely different subject...and I want to finish this one first.

I'll keep you updated if I can.

Until next time, remember: Imagination is the key to invention.

---TDM

Artificiality

I've been working a little on the AI and I think it's going pretty well. There's still plenty of work to be done, but it's getting done (albeit slowly).

And when I finish Chess, I begin work on card games. There's only one problem with the card games, and that's how to play them so the other players don't see your cards (like over a LAN or internet connection). I'll have to figure that out, but later.

No more news for now.

Until next time, remember: Problems are just manifestations of solutions in a particular plane of thinking. Switch to another plane of thinking to see the solution.

---TDM

ANGER

Well, the holiday is coming. It's reflected in every person I see in school. Plus the "last ___ of the year" crap people were saying every 5 minutes today. Well guess what people?

It doesn't f***ing matter!

Here's the way I see it: The period of time between Dec. 31 @ 11:59 PM and Jan. 1 @ 12:00 AM is the same amount of time between July 3 @ 10:27 AM and July 3 @ 10:28 AM. But you don't see people celebrating the new year on July 3 at 10:28 in the morning, do you?

The new year is not a significant event! There is no difference between the change in 12/31 and 1/1 except the year number, which is primarily for recording purposes! One person I told that I don't believe in New Year's today said, "Would you celebrate birthdays, then?"

Birthdays are significant events because that was the time however many years ago that you were born. However, the Earth was not born on January 1. The human god you Christians bow down to was also not born on January 1. (so why don't you celebrate the new year on Dec 25, huh?) [Now, for someone born on Jan. 1, fine, celebrate, but unless I know you, I don't give a rat's ass.]

And if we actually wanted to place New Year's on an important date, why not at the beginning of spring? And why does the school year start in September? (Ironically, that's when the Jewish New Year begins).

We have too many new years, for one. Jewish New Year, Chinese New Year, secular new year, new school year, tax season, baseball season, football season, and so many more my head might explode if I try thinking of any more!

My view: As a whole, humanity cannot progress if we continue like this. There are too many languages, too many religions, too many governments, too many beliefs, too many ideals, too many borders, too many stupid people who believe that change means death! Well, hear this: Monotony can kill!

If we just wait around, avoiding change as much as possible, we will die out. We will become extinct, and it will have been because of boredom! Remember that next time you retreat into the safety of your routine.

Until we can unite as a species under a single government and language and without the prejudices of religion, we cannot move forward.

Remember that.

---TDM

I Don't Know Why

This is very strange. Very strange indeed. After fooling around with my calculator that allows me to do .5!, I discovered:

.5! = .5 * (-.5)!

and (this is the kicker)

(-.5)! = square root of PI.

Yep. (-.5)!(-.5)! = 3.14159265358979...

I wish I could explain why this is true, but I can't. Perhaps this man can.

The Gamma Function

I hope that clears some things up. I'm still partially confused.

Anyway...gonna work on AI.

Until next time, remember: May the sqrt(PI) be with you.

---TDM

Time Lag

I beat Myst IV: Revelation on Friday. Great game. Loved the ending. You should try it, but if you haven't played the first 3 (not Uru, that comes after Revelation, technically), you should do so first.

Now I'm playing Uru: The Path of the Shell. Had to start over from the beginning because of a computer crash much earlier this year. Ended up erasing the entire hard drive. I hadn't backed up my progress beforehand (stupid!) so I lost it all. It's alright to do it again.

I don't remember anything else that I intended to say on Friday. I just got a router and installed it, but for some reason I couldn't access the Net that day. Obviously, the problem has been solved.

Over the break, I have to do a book report on any book I've read so far this year. I think I'll do Richard Bachman's The Long Walk. (Bachman is Stephen King's old penname).

Sooner or later, I'm going to begin working on my Chess AI. My novel's on the back burner.

But I did read King's On Writing not so long ago. It told me to set writing goals for myself. So for a short while, I began writing one hour a day, before I slept. I got a little bit done on a novel I had not originally planned on doing. But I haven't done that for a little while. Maybe I'll start it up again.

Hell, maybe I'll do a blog novel. I've seen little remarks about that all over Blogger, but I've always said that I'd rather it (my novel) remain a complete secret until publication. (That way, it's more a surprise for the reader.
(Ironically, writing the above paragraph just convinced me not to do it. Oh well.)

Last night, I was thinking about factorials. For some reason, my calculator (TI 83 Plus) allows me to do (1/2)! (one-half factorial), which it tells me is equal to .8862269255... Since 0! and 1! both equal 1, I thought, "Well, maybe you can graph factorials as a quadratic function." So I went through the rigors of finding that equation.

I know: y = a(x-h)(x-h) + k
I assume: y = x!
Vertex is (.5, .886226). Other points are (0,1), (1,1), (2,2), and (3,6)

The equation is y = a(x-.5)(x-.5) + .886226
When I use the point (1,1), I get
a = 4(1-.886226) = 4*.11377 = .45509
When I use the point (0,1), I get the same value for a.
But when I use (2,2) to verify, a becomes:
a = (2-.886226)/2.25 = 1.11377/2.25 = .49501
Using (3,6):
a = (6-.886226)/6.25 = 5.11377/6.25 = .8522955

I continue to try to solve by saying "the a's should be equal in all cases", therefore:
4(1-.5!) = (2-.5!)/2.25
If I said .5! was a variable f, then I find that:
4(1-f) = (2-f)/2.25
4-4f = 4.5-2.25f
-.5 = 1.75f
f = -1/7
which is clearly not .5!
So I just proved that factorials cannot be graphed using a quadratic function.

Sorry to have wasted your time.

Until next time, remember: Uselessness = Usefulness = .5!

---TDM

To paradox or to single-dox

It's time for a really random post.

Take a look at this sentence: This sentence is a paradox.

Now think about it. The sentence says that it's a paradox, meaning it contradicts itself. However, there is no contradiction in that sentence. Therefore, it's not a paradox.

But it says it is, so it's contadicting itself, so it is a paradox.

Now check this: This sentence has sofa six words.

Yes, there is a random word inside the sentence that shouldn't be there, but without it, the statement is false.

The following statement is true.
The previous statement is false.

This is a classic. If the first is true, then the second is true, but then the first is false, making the second false, in which case the first is true...

How about this? This sentence is false.

If true, it's false, so it's true, therefore it's false...

"The man said he always lied, but it turned out he was lying."

...And other Math.random() instances of random logic confusions.

Until next time, remember: Don't remember what isn't forgotten.

---TDM

Just some Strange Thoughts

I sneezed today, and it got me thinking on allergies. I said to myself, "What would happen if a person were allergic to sneezes?"

I believe the answer is that they would sneeze repeatedly, until they go unconscious or their heart stops.

Secondly, I was reading a book called Hyperspace, by Michio Kaku, and I was thinking about a tesseract (a regular polygon of 4 dimensions). I thought about a cube, the regular 3-d polygon, and wondered how to find the area of a tesseract. (That was easy; it's w*x*y*z). Then I wondered how one could find the [I don't know what to call it] of a 4-d spherical object. I'm still trying to figure out why the volume of a sphere is 4/3 (Pi) r*r, and not something like 2.

Anyway, I know this much: a Cube, 3-d. On each side is a square, 2-d. On each side of that square is a line, 1-d. At each point on that line is a point, 0-d.
Therefore: a tesseract, 4-d. On each side of the tesseract is a cube, 3-d. And so on...

That's all for today. I welcome your comments

Until next time, remember: Fun has infinite dimensions.

---TDM

Yesterday, after Tomorrow

I must say, it's a very interesting feeling to have multiple look at you like you're insane. I said "HI" to a few people today, except not in English. In binary.

"01001000 01001001!"

Yeah, I guess I'm crazy. But then again, I have nothing better to say here right now today.

I hope you all enjoy your week-end more than I will. I still have work left to be done on Chess, but that'll be awhile before I'm willing to break from the new computer games I have to work on it.

And for my novel...I just finished reading Stephen King's book On Writing, and it provided some good pointers for writing, so I'll be working just a little bit everyday on various stories (not necessarily the novels, though).

And that's all for today.

"01000010 01011001 01000101!" ("BYE")

Until next time, remember: It's a helluva lot easier to speak in hexadecimal than binary, believe me.

---TDM

Not Unwise

Someone said to me today, "You have too much time on your hands." This was in response to the following thing I did with my free time recently: I wrote "HAPPY HANUKKAH" in binary (yes, it's all caps). Check it out (I included spaces to ease your eyes):

01001000 01000001 01010000 01010000 01011001 00100000 01001000 01000001 01001110 01010101 01001011 01001011 01000001 01001000

That is quite a mouthful, however, so I shortened it to hexadecimal. Now it reads:

48415050592048414E554B4B4148

So, as you can see, that person had a very good reason for what he/she/it/they said.

...And the Adventures of The Dark Man continued!

Check this: When you have a velocity of 0, it means you're not going anywhere, or going nowhere. When your velocity increases by factors of large numbers, it means you're going fast. Therefore, if my velocity is 207x (where x is some number), I'm going fast in relation to something travelling at a velocity of 1x. But if x is 0, then my velocity is 207 times 0, and I am going nowhere fast.

So until next time, remember: All's well that ends with some crazy, irrelevant quote.

---TDM

Something Something Nothing

Okay, I signed up for the Java web community at java.net, but I haven't really had time to get started on anything, and it seems unlikely that I'll be doing a lot on the 3D project, because it requires Linux to test the thing, which, of course, I don't have. (figures!)

Not working on Chess today. Not working on my novel today. Today I play Myst IV: Revelation! I got it last night for Hanukkah! I love the Myst series, especially Myst III: Exile, which is one great game! If you have not tried any of the Myst series, I suggest you do. Get an anniversary edition or something, and start with Myst, then Riven...Exile, Revelation, and maybe somewhere get Uru...

But enough of me advertising (sorry about that)! I...um...have nothing else to say.

So until next time, remember: Life is that period of time between intervals of video game-playing.

---TDM

Happy Hanukkah!

First of all, let me wish all of you a Happy Hanukkah! (Or Chanukah, or however you want to spell it...) It starts at sunset tonight, so all of us Jews get to receive our presents wayyy in advance of Christmas, and over a period of 8 days (so all the gifts don't go to our heads)!

Moreover, Hanukkah doesn't have annoying music that's played everywhere you go from October 31st to December 30th.

But anyway, Happy Holidays to all those who aren't lucky enough to have been born Jewish or sane enough to convert later (and my apologies to any I've offended).

If I ever can get downloading from my site to work, I'll put up the current form of my Chess program so you can take a good and see how great it is. (Really, though, it's not that great, it's just Chess, for cryin' out loud!) Sooner or later I'll work on the AI, but very likely it won't be for a while.

One last thing: You know how all the Operating Systems (you know, Windows, Mac OS _, UNIX, Linux, etc.) are all the same? They're all flat planes with 2-D windows. But that's boring. How about something in 3-D? Check out Project Looking Glass on the Java main site to see a preview of the first 3-D operating system. (I think it's really cool, and since it's open-source, I think I'll see if I could help out in any way)

Until next time, remember: You shouldn't be afraid to try new things. It should be the new things that are afraid of you.

---TDM

Creativity!

I think I finally did it. I think I finally finished Chess. Except, of course, for the AI, so I'm not really finished, but the gameplay works, and the save/load function works, the pawns don't move backwards, and the Kings can't move next to each other.

It feels so good to finally be almost finished again. (um...)

Okay, never mind.

Moving on, I haven't really done very much on the novels, except for that general timeline I made on Thursday. I suppose I'll do some more work on it maybe on Wednesday.

That said, I think I'll go do something that might actually be semi-useful.

Until next time, remember: Those of us who know good and avoid it are bad. Those of use who know bad and do it anyway are worse. Those of us who don't know anything are, of course, unencumbered by the bounds of sanity.

---TDM

Restart

I saw my brother in a play last night. He did very well. And just like any other play or movie, it got my imagination going again. Therefore, I have decided to dedicate today to working on my private projects Chess and the first novel.

As you've seen in my earlier posts, from time to time, I start getting lazy and unwilling to work too hard on my projects. Occasionally I will need to see a good movie or play to juice up my impetus and get me going again. Combined with my recent epiphanies about my life, I think it's a good idea. This is all I really have.

So I'll be working on Chess for a while here on this computer, and later I will move to the other computer (the one not connected to the Internet) and work on my novel.

I hope to finish Chess by June, but the novel may take a few more years. Plus, I don't plan to publish it immediately, either. I'm going to let it sit (while, of course, I write the rest) and then later I will reopen it and read it and make any last-minute changes before I submit it for review.

(This does seem like an awful lot of planning ahead for someone who so advocates procrastination, doesn't it?)

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got work to do.

Until next time, remember: Always write down ideas the moment you dream them up, even if you're not a writer, because a good idea will reward you for your moment of inspiration, if you wrote it down.

---TDM

Simple Complexities

Once again, we have passed another week and reached another Friday. I don't plan to do anything at all over the weekend, but I'll probably do a few things. Maybe I'll even work on Chess.

But for now, I'm going to try again to see if I can get downloads to work on my site.

And, of course, I'll be playing lots of games. I still recommend the Punk-o-Matic.

Until next time, remember: Simple complexies render complex simplicities rather confusing. Like this.

---TDM

The Greatness of Nothing

There are many reasons why I don't seem to be sane. It may have something to do with how quickly I can change the subject.

Progress made on Chess since yesterday: 0. Progress made on anything since yesterday: 0.

Ahhh, procrastinating. Such a great way to not get things done. But I'll tell you more about that later.

Actually, I don't have anything else for you right now.

Riddle of the day: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if I paid it $5,000? $10,000? A quarter?

Answer: None. But you'd have to question my sanity if I offered money to an animal.

Until next time, remember: Don't do today what you could put off till tomorrow.

---TDM