101 Basic Computer Games by David H Ahl

At some point in the 1970s, I received an advert in the post for a book called "101 Basic Computer Games". I was blown away by the variety of games that were advertised. Here are some examples:

• Destroy a gunboat from your submarine
• Computer guesses animals and learns new ones from you
• You're the matador in a championship bullfight
• Locate 4 mugwumps hiding on a 4x4 grid
• Open a parachute at the last possible moment

I did not buy the book at the time (I was just a kid) but the game titles set my imagination on fire. I even loved the cover illustration.

Apparently it was the first computer book to sell a million copies.

I did get my hands on the book years later and I was able to marvel at how much could be accomplished with a small amount of code and a large amount of imagination.

And a extremely simple user interface!

You can read some of the programs here (from a later edition of the book).

I wonder what is going to get kids interested in programming these days? Most kids are much, much, much more interested in playing games than in writing them or understanding how they work.

Back in the 70s and 80s people all over the world were entering code from program listings into their personal computers and experiencing the joy of seeing them running for the first time. Happy times indeed!

Monty Hall Problem

I like to think of myself as a fairly smart guy. I like to think that I have a very logical mind. I like to think that I can work most things out, given enough time.

But there is one thing that I cannot get my head around: the Monty Hall problem.

The idea is simple: a game show host (Monty) as you to pick one of three door to get a big prize. You pick one of the doors (say A). He then opens another door (say B) which does not reveal the car and asks if you would like to change your choice to the other door (C) or stick with the one you have chosen.

When presented with this situation, most people will not change. Why should they?

But the best option here is to change. Doing so changes you chances of winning from 1 in 3 (picking one door from three) to 1 in 2 (picking one door from two).

My mind understands this. On some level.

But there is another part of my mind which cannot see how changing from one of the three doors to another one of the three doors could actually impact the likelihood of winning!

I have been aware of this conundrum for some years so I have concluded that my mind will never be able to full wrap itself around this one.

Great news - The Casino, Malahide

I read today in The Malahide Guardian that The Casino will be saved and will become the new home for the Fry Model Railway.

When we moved to Malahide in 1993 The Casino (a two storey thatched cottage built in 1803) was in beautiful condition, having been re-thatched in 1976. The grounds were home to two donkeys: Salt and Pepper. I admired it every time I walked past it. I told my wife and kids more than once that we would buy it some day!

Unfortunately things went downhill after that. Salt was killed in a vicious attack in 1998 (the perpetrator was given a 2 year jail sentence), Pepper was sent to a sanctuary in Cork, and the house was unoccupied since 2000. It has since been deteriorating noticeably.

The good news is that a local benefactor (Michael Gaffney) left €1.5 million in his will for the purpose of purchasing and renovating the house on condition that the Fry Model Railway be located there (the railway, which is owned by Dublin Tourism, was removed from the Castle and was destined for Busárus apparently!).

The latest news is that good sense has prevailed and Mr Gaffney's generous bequest will be honoured. So I won't have to buy it myself as we will all own it (it is interesting to note that we are purchasing the house from ourselves as it has been NAMA'ed)

So the Fry Model Railway will return to Malahide and The Casino will become a "heritage, educational and recreational amenity". I am simply delighted.

Eurovision and the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest (sung by Engelbert Humperdinck) came second last in last night's contest.

The UK's entry came last in 2003 (with no points), in 2008 and 2010.

They have tried sending a variety of acts in recent years: comedy in 2007 (Scooch), a boy band in 2011 (Blue) and a 76 year old this year (Humperdinck).

But to no avail.

Their recent results have been:
2007: 2nd last
2008: last
2009: 5th
2010: last
2011: 14th
2012: 2nd last

Now I know that the Eurovision is silly. It's just a bit of fun. And recently it has become even more ridiculous because of block voting.

But people in the UK must be wondering what this pattern means: why other countries are just not voting for them.

I don't know what it means, or if it means anything.

But I do think it's sad to see them performing less well than you would expect year after year.

And I feel bad for Graham Norton who has done the BBC commentary since 2009. Despite his obvious enthusiasm for the contest, he hasn't had much to cheer about from either the UK or Ireland since he took the reins.

Ireland's Eurovision Entry 2012

In 2008 Ireland sent a turkey (Dustin) to represent us in the Eurovision Song Contest:


In 2011 and again in 2012 we sent two turkeys: Jedward.

In 2011 they sang "Lipstick" and came in 8th place with 119 points.

In 2012 they sang "Waterline" and came in 19th place with 46 points.

I wonder is it premature to hope that we won't be sending any more turkeys?!

Apple Design

I mentioned in my last post that I thought that the robots in Alex Proyas's movie "I, Robot" were very realistic (by which I of course meant that they look like the kind of robots we will make in the future).

I suspect that the director/designers asked themselves this question: "If Apple were designing a robot, what would it look like?"

I remember a client challenging me with that question one day when we were discussing user interface options (well not the "robot" part of course!)

I had a moment of satori when I heard that question. The question is so good (and so much better than asking about "the sound of one hand clapping"). What would Apple do?

It's a question that encourages you to throw off received notions of what is and is not possible.

In the Steve Jobs biography there are numerous examples of him refusing to except that something "can't be done". And look at all the great stuff that his attitude produced!

So the next time you're making a design decision, I encourage you to check to see if your thinking is being hobbled by preconceived notions of what is possible, or what the "normal" solution would be.

And here to inspire you is an image of how Apple might design a robot:

Robots

I have always loved robots (or "droids" as they came to be known in some quarters).

I was drawn to TV shows (or even episodes of TV shows) that featured robots.

I even liked rubbish robots like K9 on "Doctor Who" and Rover on "The New Adventures of Wonder Woman".

I liked movies with robots/droids/drones/replicants. I loved R2-D2 for example (C-3PO, not so much!). I also have a soft spot for Huey, Dewey, and Louie from "Silent Running".

I loved Azimov's robot stories also.

Speaking of which, I guess the most realistic prediction for robots was in Alex Proyas's 2004 movie "I, Robot". The 2 disc DVD also had a very interesting documentary on robots.


Although I have spent my whole working life working with computers, I sometimes wonder if I should have been working with robotics but just got sidetracked!

But my favourite robot of all time was the robot on Lost in Space (the TV show, not the movie).

He was the robot that made me fall in love with robots.

I so much wanted to own a robot like him.

And one of the things I liked most about him (aside from the fact that he would wave his arms around and shout "danger Will Robinson") was that you could deactivate him by pulling out his power pack. I don't know why that appealed to me so much but it did!

Here's a photo of the robot with the aforementioned Will Robinson:

These aren't the droids you're looking for

A client of mine has a series of photos in his office on the theme of "These aren't the droids you're looking for".

Very clever.

This is perhaps my favourite:

The Stability Treaty

The Irish people are being called to a referendum again in two weeks' time.

The gist of the issue, as I understand it, is that we are being asked to surrender more of our sovereignty.

So its bad enough that the Troika tell us how we can and cannot spend out money, but now we have to legislate to ensure that we cannot do as our elected representatives decide.

Previous referendums were named after places, such as the Nice treaty and the Maastricht treaty. So is this one named after a place?

No it is not.

Is it instead named after what it appears to be: the "surrender more of your sovereignty treaty" or the "straitjacket treaty"?

No it is not.

A leaflet that arrived through my letterbox reassuringly calls it the "Stability treaty".

So that's nice.

I like stability. The link to the associated website is to "stabilitytreaty.ie". One of the pages on the website mentions that it was created by the Department of the Taoiseach. I couldn't find that little nugget of information on the leaflet itself.

I wonder how they chose the name "stability treaty". Perhaps other candidate names such as the "happiness treaty" or the "ice-cream and chocolate treaty" weren't available. Perhaps those names are being saved for future treaties.

The leaflet is full of reassuring phrases such as "support growth and employment", "renewed confidence" and "good housekeeping.

There is a video on the website which has some very reassuring messages accompanied by some very reassuring music. It talks about "investment and jobs". It says that the treaty can help to "avoid a repeat of the economic and banking crisis".

I'm not convinced. I think I'll be voting no.

Ultra Short Joke - 2 words!

I can't leave the subject of short jokes without sharing the shortest joke I have come across.

It's two words really.

And it's not an oxymoron. So nothing like "trustworthy politician" or "honest banker". It's more nuanced that that.

I first saw it on Fawlty Towers.

The idea as I recall is that we arrive on a scene where a guy is midway through the joke. I think he uses the following preamble for the two-word joke: "so she says..."

And the joke itself is:

"Pretentious? Moi?"

Genius. And two words is going to be hard to beat!

Short jokes - Jackie Mason and Jimmy Carr

I wanted to draw attention to the best short jokes I know.
When I say "short jokes", I am referring to jokes that involve a very small number of words, not jokes that relate to people of short stature. Those jokes exist too, but are not the topic of this posting.
My Dad's favourite one-liner was this one: "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous."
As well as being clever and funny, it might  even qualify as an oxymoron.

Jackie Mason was a master of the one-liner. Here are some very good examples:

• “I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.”
• "A grenade fell on a barracks floor in France ; Linoleum Blownapart."
• "You've seen one shopping center; you've seen a mall." 

My favourite comedian is Jimmy Carr.
He is a genius and a master of the short joke.
Here are some of his examples:

• "Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation."
• "I went out with an Irish Catholic. Very frustrating. You can take the girl out of Cork ..."
• "If you're being chased by a police dog, try not to go through a tunnel, then on to a little see-saw, then jump through a hoop of fire. They're trained for that."
• "The right to bear arms is slightly less ludicrous than the right to arm bears."
• "I was reading in the paper today about this dwarf that got pick pocketed. How could anyone stoop so low?"

Brilliant song - Adele - Set Fire to the Rain - Live

Great singer. Great songwriter. Great song. Great live performance.

Most Useful Android App - Next Train Ireland Free

The most useful app I have installed on my Android to date is called "Next Train Ireland Free".

It is simple but brilliant. It tells you the times of the next trains northbound and southbound from any Dart station (and much more I'm sure but that is what I use it for).

It was written by Stephen McBride apparently and full credit to him. I am using the free version at the moment but I like it so much that I'm going to upgrade, not because I need the additional functionality (not even sure what that is!) but simply because I find it so useful.

I have even used it when standing IN a Dart station (it's more dependable than the screens!)

I see on Google Play (what an awful new name for the app store) that some people have problems with the app. I have a problem when I look at the RSS feed having received a notification but apart from that it generally works just fine.

Highly recommended.

Conspiracy - Swine Fly - H1N1

I saw this notice on the wall in the company where I was working today.
It's all about the precautions people should be taking to avoid Swine Flu.
My first thought was that it's about time they were taking that sign down.
My second was that it should never have been put up in the first place.
The whole reaction to the swine flu "pandemic" was completely excessive. There was no need for the World Health Organization to scare people in the way in which they did. There was no need for governments to be paying over the odds for vaccines. There was no need for governments to be issuing indemnities to manufacturers. There was no need for parents to be worrying about whether or not they should get their children vaccinated. And now we know that there was no need for the now proven link between the vaccine and increased incidence of narcolepsy in children.
Now don't get me wrong: I caught the swine flu myself and it was no laughing matter. But for me (as for the majority of people) neither was it a life-and-death matter. I am no medical expert, but I'd say that for me it was more-or-less like any other flu I've had the misfortune to catch.
But the reason I put the word "conspiracy" in the title of this post is that once again it seems that we (the general public) are the "dupes" in this situation. The WHO is launching its own investigation on finding that a high percentage of the experts it used in deciding to declare a pandemic seem to have a "conflict of interest" - basically they "had ties to drugs firms". More information is available here.
I should be surprised but I'm not. It seems that every week or two we get a new revelation about how ordinary people are being used and abused by "the powers that be".
I will be returning to this topic again in the very near future.

How did that get that plug through that little hole?

Favourite words - English - Banjaxed

I used the word "banjaxed" in a recent post.
Love that word.
I was using it in the context of "broken down, ruined or completely useless". Examples would be "my phone is banjaxed" or "the economy is banjaxed".
But it has other usages including a person being completely exhausted. An example would be "I'm completely banjaxed after that".
The origins are unclear apparently but it is of Irish origin.
This is the first of what I am planning to be a short series of postings to feature my favourite words in various languages.

Office decoration

The office I am using today (on a client site) features the following decoration:

Yes: It's a dead fish in a glass case!

My smartphone

One of the great joys if having a smartphone is the range of things you can do on the train. This morning, for example,I am creating a blog post (this one!) And watching an episode of a TV show.
Sure beats staring out the window!

Samsung Galazy S II

After years of having Blackberry devices, I decided it was time to make a change (my latest Blackberry being largely banjaxed). So I needed a new "smartphone".

First question: Android or iPhone.

I plumped for the former on the grounds that it is slightly more "open" (I am a big fan of Apple as previous posts will attest but I am also a big fan of "open").

The next question was which Manufacturer and which Model.

I plumped for the Samsung Galaxy S II and thus far I am very happy with my decision. It is a super device. I don't know how I was able to live for so long without one! I will speak about my favourite apps in coming posts.

Great lines from movies (Steve Martin)

Speaking of great lines in movies (like Thor's line in Avengers Assemble), here is a list of some of my all-time favourite lines in movies (all of the delivered by the incomparable Steve Martin):

Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
When he wakes up in a bed with John Candy, and shortly after he asks "where's your other hand?", he has occasion to say: "Those aren't pillows!" youtube

Parenthood (1989)
After his daughter throws up on him, and his wife asks: "Gil, why are you standing there", he replies: "Waiting for her head to spin around". youtube

 And finally my favourite movie line of all time:

Roxanne (1987) 
Steve is talking to Roxanne and he thinks that she is about to tell him that he is the "someone I think I should get to know better". Then she drops the bombshell that she is talking about someone who "works for you". The following lines are then exchanged:
Roxanne: "You were really great the other night. It is the first time I have seen anyone be brave."
Steve: "I have been a lot braver since then."

So very true.

Avengers Assemble

As I write, Avengers Assemble is #1 in the IMDB box office ratings (by a country mile) and has entered the IMDB Top 250 at position 31 (right behind It's A Wonderful Life). That's a pretty good position for a comic book movie (the only comic book movie that's higher up the list is The Dark Knight).

But it is a really good movie. I saw it last weekend and I wouldn't say no to seeing it again.

Full marks to Joss Whedon for his writing/directing duties (I have been a fan of his for a long time).

And all of the superheroes get their own great moments (although The Hulk gets the best one).

My favourite is actually Captain America (which came as a surprise to me).

Anyway, great movie and I would thoroughly recommend it.

And it also has the best 3D I have ever seen.

And it has a few superb lines. My favourite is Thor's reply at the end of this exchange (I won't include his actual reply but it's a classic):

Thor: "Have a care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."
Natasha Romanoff: "He killed eighty people in two days."
Thor: -----

My rating: 8/10

Outstanding.

Fanfold paper

I mentioned the type of paper which was used in line printers back in the 70s and 80s. My friend Hazel Nutt still has a supply, believe it or not, and was kind enough to provide me with a sample.

I am including a photo below.

The paper is 14.5 inches wide and 11 inches high.

There are 22 sprocket holes down either side.

It could accommodate 64 lines of print. Every second line contained 6 narrow green lines, designed to help the eye to travel along the printout, which would presumably have contained columns of data (such as an "aged debtors report"). For some mysterious reason the line numbers were printed beside the green lines ("Johnson, can you explain the figures to me on page 12 line 17")

Angry Birds - the time sink

I mentioned in a previous blog about Steve Jobs asking the Mac developers to shave a few seconds off the boot-up time (he referred to it as "saving lives" apparently). The story was featured in The Triumph of the Nerds.

I found myself wondering recently if the opposite conversation took place among the developers of Angry Birds? Did they ask themselves how many lives they could waste?!

I can hear the conversation now: "What if we can get 12 million people to download it? And what if they each spend 2 hours playing it? That's 2,739 years! Or 34.5 lifetimes!"

And what is there were more like 1 billion downloads! And what if the time was much, much more than 2 hours!

Back in action

There has been a little hiatus in my blog postings recently. That has been because I have been studying for and taking exams.

But they're all over now so I will be back in action shortly.