firehose

I first learned to program on a TI-59 programmable calculator.  My dad "the physicist" would bring it home on weekends and I would monopolize it for the next two days.  I'd make games and type in programs from Byte magazine.  It was a magical device. I don't know what it was about programming that enthralled me, but I was obsessed with it.  It was an odd skill to have back then, even at the level of programmable calculators.  Computers were still the stuff of science fiction or only owned by huge companies or universities and housed large noisy air conditioned rooms with punch-card machines.

One summer the college got two Commodore Pet computers that were destine for the local High School.  My friend, Tom McFarlane and I spent that entire summer in the computer lab programming those Commodore Pet computers.

It was my first experience with BASIC and it blew the socks off of the TI-59.  Tom and I devoured everything about those Commodore Pet computers.  We wrote every game we would could think of from Space Invaders to Astroids to Space Wars to little platformers (although we didn't know that's what they were called).  We challenged and pushed each other and became masters of the PEEK and the POKE.

I do blame the Commodore Pet from one nasty habit that's followed me for over 30 years.  Tom and I realized that if we removed all the comments (the REM statements) from our BASIC code, the game would run significantly faster.  To this day, I find myself deleting comments or whitespace under some misguided pavlovian notion that my code will run faster.

The summer ended and the Commodore Pets made their way to the High School, were I was starting as a freshmen.

As I continued to read about programming and computers (mostly in Byte magazine) this odd and strange concept kept coming up: Assembly Language.  What was it?  How did it work?  And more importantly, what could it do for me?

I started to realize that assembly language was real programming.  BASIC was just an imitation of programming.  A layer that sat on top of this thing called Assembly Language.  You weren't really programming the computer if you weren't programming it in assembly language.  That was getting right down to the metal and I had to know what it was.

Lore said it was fast.  Faster than BASIC and this was very appealing to me.  We were pushing the limits of BASIC, removing features from our games just to speed them up.  If assembly language could help with that, even a little, then it was something I had to learn.

Armed with the knowledge that the Commodore Pet used a 6502, I spent the weekend hand writing this program that would fill the screen with @-signs.  I wanted to see how fast this assembly language really was.  I wrote the same program in BASIC.  I needed a baseline.

After class on Monday, I headed to the computer room and found a free Pet computer and typed in the BASIC program. It filled the screen in a little over 1 second.  Fast.  Could assembly language top that?

I typed in my little assembly language program and entered the SYS command to start it executing... and... nothing.  The machine locked up.  No error message, it just locked up.  Odd.  I power cycled the Commodore Pet, started over and soon found my mistake.  Program entered.

My finger poised above the ENTER key.  I was trying to remember how fast the BASIC program filled the screen. I need to be able to tell if assembly language was faster.  I might need to run several tests, maybe add a timer, just to be sure.

I hit the ENTER key.

The screen instantly filled with @-signs.  Instantly.  So fast that I could not even begin to see them being drawn on the screen.  One moment the screen was blank, then next instant it was full of @-signs.  Instantly.

I just stood there.  "Holy shit" I said to myself.  My heart was pounding.

This truly was a religious experience.  Someone had pulled back the curtain to heaven and given me a glimpse of God.  The speed was staggering.  Stunning.  I had no words for it.

That was the last day I ever programmed in BASIC.  Assembly language was my savior.  I gave into it completely.

I was changed forever.

krygny sends this quote from The Economist: "The internet browser you are using to read this blog post could help a potential employer decide whether or not you would do well at a job. How might your choice of browser affect your job prospects? When choosing among job applicants, employers may be swayed by a range of factors, knowingly and unknowingly. ... Evolv, a company that monitors recruitment and workplace data, has suggested that there are better ways to identify the right candidate for job. ... Among other things, its analysis found that those applicants who have bothered to install new web browsers on their computers (such as Mozilla's Firefox or Google's Chrome) perform better and stay in their posts for 15% longer, on average."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Amanda Kittrick Ross (pen-name Ros) is considered by many to have written the worst novels ever published.  Here's the Smithsonian's description in 2009:

Ros, who died in 1939, abused (some would say, tortured) the English language in three novels and dozens of poems. She refers to eyes as "globes of glare," legs as "bony supports," pants as a "southern necessary," sweat as "globules of liquid lava" and alcohol as the "powerful monster of mangled might." The Oxford literary group "The Inklings," which included C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, held competitions to see who could read her work aloud longest while keeping a straight face.

Mark Twain considered her first book, Irene Iddesleigh, as "one of the greatest unin­tentionally humorous novels of all time." Consider this passage: "Speak! Irene! Wife! Woman! Do not sit in silence and allow the blood that now boils in my veins to ooze through cavities of unrestrained passion and trickle down to drench me with its crimson hue!"..

And Ros' penchant for alliteration resists restraint: The villainous Madame Pear, she wrote, "had a swell staff of sweet-faced helpers swathed in stratagem, whose members and garments glowed with the lust of the loose, sparkled with the tears of the tortured, shone with the sunlight of bribery, dangled with the diamonds of distrust, slashed with sapphires of scandals...."

The BBC has a brief biography with a report of a renewed competition to read her work witihout laughing:

Now Culture Northern Ireland has challenged "lovers of awful literature" to see if they can read the longest passage from McKittrick Ros's work while keeping a straight face. Her expectation was that she would "be talked about at the end of 1,000 years" and the organisation hopes the unique nature of her verse can match that.

But this is worthy of note for those who browse library/estate/auction book sales:

As of 2004, none of her works are in print. Her books are rare and first editions command prices of $300 to $800 in the used-book market.

Photo: REUTERS/Linen Hall Library/Handout

After three mentions of a "grandma," two of a "Nan," and one of a "little old lady," Orange, a France-based phone service provider still can't get it right. Not only do they said debt collection companies after the grandson because his grandma couldn't pay the phone bill on time (due to being dead), they still call her his "ex-girlfriend" instead of his grandma. Oh but not to worry, their support team is "there for the guy." Riiiiiiight...

Submitted by: SuperSail

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transform and rollout

[video]

Dr. Tom Murphy VII gave a research paper called "The First Level of Super Mario Bros. is Easy with Lexicographic Orderings and Time Travel . . . after that it gets a little tricky," (PDF) (source code) at SIGBOVIK 2013, in which he sets out a computational method for solving classic NES games. He devised two libraries for this: learnfun (learning fuction) and playfun (playing function). In this accompanying video, he chronicles the steps and missteps he took getting to a pretty clever destination.

learnfun & playfun: A general technique for automating NES games (via O'Reilly Radar)

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Everyone likes to people-watch in the subway (just don't make eye contact!), but some get paid to do it: Researchers from the NYC Transit Authority observed straphangers over three weeks last year to glean insights into the seating and standing behavior of subway riders. Now, they're publishing the findings in a study in which they offer some suggestions on how to improve our trains. [ more › ]

Modern Doctor Who has made a particular virtue out of the show’s infinitely versatile format, its ability to flit between wildly different genres on a weekly basis. But that hasn’t necessarily always been the case; indeed, some eras of the show’s original, 26-year run proudly defined themselves in terms of their mastery of certain specific genres. Jon Pertwee’s tenure was associated with UNIT and weekly alien invasions, Tom Baker’s early years became all about the gothic horror, and William Hartnell’s time in the TARDIS was a mix of purely historical adventures and bug-eyed monsters. But perhaps no Doctor is more indelibly linked with a particular story type than Patrick Troughton and the so-called “base under siege.” At least half of Troughton’s stories—including pretty much his entire second season—found his Doctor defending an isolated base from an invading horde of monsters, including ...

Read more

So, putting armed policemen in schools is pretty much the best idea ever. I mean, I assume that when they’re not dealing with exceptionally rare school shootings I assume they just kinda mind their own business, and would never try to justify their existence by turning trivial disciplinary issues into criminal charges, right?

Yet the most striking impact of school police officers so far, critics say, has been a surge in arrests or misdemeanor charges for essentially nonviolent behavior — including scuffles, truancy and cursing at teachers — that sends children into the criminal courts.

“There is no evidence that placing officers in the schools improves safety,” said Denise C. Gottfredson, a criminologist at the University of Maryland who is an expert in school violence. “And it increases the number of minor behavior problems that are referred to the police, pushing kids into the criminal system.”

Oh. That’s surprising! But I assume once affluent suburban parents get sick of having their kids dragged away in handcuffs for sassing back at the teachers, it will all stop?

Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of students are arrested or given criminal citations at schools each year. A large share are sent to court for relatively minor offenses, with black and Hispanic students and those with disabilities disproportionately affected, according to recent reports from civil rights groups, including the Advancement Project, in Washington, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in New York.

Wow, this discretion is enforced in a selective and arbitrary manner against the relatively powerless? You learn something new every day! I wonder what freedom-hating states are taking the lead here — Vermont? Massachusetts?

Such criminal charges may be most prevalent in Texas, where police officers based in schools write more than 100,000 misdemeanor tickets each year, said Deborah Fowler, the deputy director of Texas Appleseed, a legal advocacy center in Austin. The students seldom get legal aid, she noted, and they may face hundreds of dollars in fines, community service and, in some cases, a lasting record that could affect applications for jobs or the military.

In February, Texas Appleseed and the Brazos County chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. filed a complaint with the federal Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. Black students in the school district in Bryan, they noted, receive criminal misdemeanor citations at four times the rate of white students.

Ah, a state where they really understand what freedom means.

Whenever I hear someone in my industry talk about hiring an Aspie, I cringe just a little. Because in technology, saying you've hired an Aspie is like code to say that you've hired a machine.

Sometimes the coolest part of a piece of software isn't even advertised.

The most comprehensive maps yet of the the internet's infrastructure could help shore it up against disasters and sabotage

The rules governing Apple's App Store are anything but clear.

University of Virginia Rotunda fire: 1895 via Retronaut

Dating Tip #201: Tell her she embarrasses you during your wedding. 

Credit to: ravenclawgirl29

Well… at least his vows weren’t cliche… 

afterelton:

nprfreshair:

Folks. Important religious artifacts here.

Beautiful Decay:

After unknowingly purchasing fake pre-Colombian artifacts, artist Nadín Ospina gave serious thought to Latin-American culture and its ancient roots.  His sculptures depicts pop-culture cartoon characters such as Snoopy, Micky Mouse, and Bart Simpson in an often pre-Colombian style.

Want!

I feel like Clara just failed the ultimate companion test. 

He told her to not wander and she didn’t argue. 

New York Daily News

Officer: Trayvon Martin target a 'no-shoot training aid' USA TODAY A Florida police officer fired for bringing targets resembling Trayvon Martin to a gun range apologized to the shooting victim's family "for being used as a pawn in somebody's political agenda" but said the targets are a valuable training tool. Police Sgt. Ron ... Central Fla. police sergeant fired over Trayvon Martin target imageCBS News Trayvon Martin: police officer sacked over shooting target depicting Skittles and ...Telegraph.co.uk Police officer fired over Trayvon Martin shooting targetOrlando Sentinel ABC News (blog) -CNN International all 70 news articles »

I've always been a pear lover, and realized a long time ago that I had never had or even heard of a pear-flavored soda. Lo and behold, one fateful sunday morning in February of this year I was participating in another hobby of mine(Magic: The Gathering, in case you were wondering), and I came across precisely that which I craved. I was in between rounds and incredibly hungry. I took a three-block walk to a local deli, and looked in there case to find this...

Ever wondered what a "sarsaparilla" is while watching classic cartoons/westerns?
Well, I wanted to know myself. I did manage to try one from a local grocery store(which I will review in the future), but I wasn't satisfied. Why? It tasted too much like root beer to me, and so i decided to make my own Sarsaparilla without using the same ingredients that would be used for root beer(sassafras, licorice root, anise, cinnamon, nutmeg, wintergreen, clove, etc.).
It turned out really well, and this, along with my cream soda, has been my tastiest soda to date.
It's a short list of ingredients, and I'm finding with certain things this is best.

3 tbsp. Sarsaparilla(about 1 oz.)
1x 6 in. Vanilla bean-cut into many small segments
3 Cardamom seed pods
2 cups of sugar
1 tbsp. honey
1/8 tsp. Ale Yeast
1 gallon of water.

Bring 1/2 gallon of water to a boil in a stock pot with Sarsaparilla, vanilla bean and cardamom.
Let simmer about 20 minutes. Stir in the honey, and then remove from heat. Let steep another 20 minutes, covered. Stir in 2 cups of sugar until dissolved, then add 1/2 gallon of water to the brew. Let cool to 90 degrees.
Scoop about a little bit of brew water out into a small glass or coffee mug, add yeast and let sit for 5-10 minutes.
While letting the yeast get to work, strain the brew into another vessel. Add yeast, stir well, and bottle.
Remember to stir your brew as you bottle to ensure the most even distribution of yeast.
Bottle and let sit for about 36 hours(more time for cooler climates, less time for hotter climates).

The resulting brew was sweet, herbal, slightly spiced(from the cardamom), and very refreshing.
My daughters enjoyed the soda quite a bit, and a friend's children also each drank a bottle with no complaints. I didn't strain my batch incredibly well, so I got a few swigs that resulted in root pieces in the mouth, but it's not unlike getting some "tea shake" in your mouth if you're a loose-leaf tea brewer.
Sarsaparilla is entirely different than any root beer you've ever had before, and making it for yourself will allow you to experience it as an entirely new entity separate from it's more popular cousin.
Cheers!
Cheers!

The shape of a 3D printer is easy to envision: "Form follows function" dictates that they all have rigid parts aligned in the X-, Y- and Z-axes that the print head will travel along. But a fellow named Jon Wise is tinkering with an alternate design that uses radial arms rather than a grid-based Cartesian system of plotting, making his mock-up look less like a box and more like a drawing machine.

"Standard 3D printers require significant mechanical structure to provide movement on the three axes," writes Wise. "This alternative design uses radial arms with a minimum of mechanical engineering." If 3D printers were all designed this way, assuming the pieces had the appropriate rigidity, they could use less materials in their construction and, through clever design, be made more portable. Sure there'd be more calculations required for plotting, but Wise farms that out to the diminutive, inexpensive Raspberry Pi computer board:

This brains-over-brawn approach is intriguing. It would be neat if it not only folded up, but if there were little laser sensors hooked up to a processor that could constantly make microadjustments to the stepper motors to compensate for slop in the parts. If even a clumsy craftsperson could slap one of these together, and a computer brain did the heavy lifting in terms of calculations, it could open up a lot of possibilities for bringing precision production to areas where precision is in short supply.

(more...)

It’s not that American college students don’t care about respecting women, though all these institutions have their struggles with sexual violence. Rather, these best and brightest have all made the same miscalculation, assuming irony supercedes offence.

Constructed by evil genius/mad scientist/hardware hacker Bacteria, Project Unity is a single, unified gaming console that can play Sega Master System, Neo Geo MVS, GameCube, Dreamcast, Saturn, Intellivision, Colecovision, Atari 7800, Turbografx 16, PS1/PS2, Mega Drive, NES, Super NES, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo 64 and Amstrad GX4000 games.

Project Unity's most impressive feature, besides the fact that it works, is that it was constructed entirely out of authentic hardware and does not make use of emulators or combo units like the FC Twin. It also manages to use a single power supply, video output and custom-built controller, regardless of the system selected.

Jump to 09:30 in the video above for a demonstration of this behemoth in action, including the repurposed NES cartridges that contain different circuit boards for each controller type, or start from the beginning for some deliciously chaotic wiring shots.

'Project Unity' is 15 fully-functional consoles in one giant box originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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By Megan Farokhmanesh on Apr 13, 2013 at 2:50p

BioShock Infinite's secret audio was part of audio director Pat Balthrop's experimentations with sound and ambience, Irrational Games told Polygon.

The game contains several auditory oddities, from reversed lines of poetry from Romeo and Juliet to an acoustic play session lowered in speed. You can see the latter of the two demonstrated above by Polygon's own Arthur Gies by skipping ahead to the 1:03 mark.

Speaking with Polygon via email, Balthrop said the game's ambient rumblings were a part of a foray into audio textures.

"When I make ambiences I can get a bit experimental as I seek textures I find interesting," Balthrop said. "Live instruments and melodies were recorded, and then I pitch shifted the song down. I loved the textures that emerged when I did that. I am shocked that someone deconstructed how I made that sound!"

BioShock Infinite launched for Windows PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 March 26. Concept artist Claire Hummel recently shared the evolution of heroine Elizabeth's look.

• Source
• Arthur Gies (YouTube)
• EveryClickCounts (YouTube)