Smooth, very very smooth.

"Work It Out" by RJD2; the gentleman in the video is Bill Shannon.

A more complete version that might be the actual video, not sure...but it's good too.

Next dance party I can guarantee you that I'm doing this:

Oh, check out Slagsmålsklubben (6 Swedish Guys with Synths) while you're there.

Once again, been super busy but...

1. Moved in!  Been living here (sleeping, eating, gaming) for one week now.  Fun times!
2. Playing a lot of Risk since there isn't at TV.  Next Risk game is probably going to involve Eric, Geoff, and Lenny (you're going down Lenny).
3. Weather is good.
4. Work is hectic.
5. Chad has been working like mad on new things (expect things).
6. Bills arrive fast and organization now is key.
7. Network is up and running, going through the walls sometime during the week.
8. Algorithm optimization...it's minor and overall the problem is NP (I believe) so it doesn't do anything overall but it does help some cases...still, it adds cost...so it's not worth it...think people THINK!  I will be happy to continue discussions and shouting matches about your "new fangled way to find prime numbers".

I was watching this maze page solve itself (press the solve button) when optimization came to mind.  You see, this maze solver seems to be brute forcing a solution by always turning left (initially) until the last turn results in a dead end.  It then backs up to the last turn and tries the next turn in the sequence (left, straight, right).  The technique mentioned is pretty good for mazes and there seems to be nothing one can do to speed it up but there are a few cases that one can do to aid in selecting what turn to make.

For instance, if one knows what direction they're heading in (known), start and end points (known), and the height and width of the maze (known) then a quick and easy optimization is to determine if one has reached the top of the maze and also if one has reached the bottom (or has one reached left and has one reached right).  By knowing if you have reached the top and bottom in the same traversal then one knows that any bottom turns must be towards the exit.  No solution will exist where you must backtrack all the way back past the top point and then turn right (you've cut off a portion of the maze).  In essense you are starting a new maze with the top point the new start (yes you may be able to move left slightly up to the bottom most touch point but not past it).  The same goes for left and right boundaries with reference to upwards and downwards movement.

This is a very small optimization but it can save a tremendous amount of time chasing a dead end.  Basically, if you reach the bottom of the map and you are in a path that has reached the top don't take a turn away from the goal.  If no turn towards the goal exists at the bottom then backtrack to the last turn that allows a turn towards the goal (end point).

Such small benefits are what keep programmers up all night. 

I tested the interweb connection earlier today at the new place and it's connected.  The computers shall make their move now.

Sigh...

goldeneye:/# uptime
14:09:55 up 405 days, 11:59,  1 user,  load average: 1.37, 0.43, 0.15

I didn't realize how many games I had until I started moving...it's nowhere near as large as Omar's collection but it's large nonetheless.

In other news, I may have a very "neat" phone number for my land line.  More details as to its neatness once I confirm that I have it. 

It would be a good idea to get to bed early so that you can wake up nice and relaxed for the good day but...oh...let me just implement this one feature...

...oh...while I'm at it I may as well pass forward the linking error messages...

...oh...let's just test it...

...oh...to test this fully I could just manipulate the database or I could just implement this small other feature...

...oh...there's a lot of dead code in here...let's just clean it up...

...oh...there's a feature change I need to add so let's write it up...

...oh...it's 4 am. 

So, today is it.  The day that I've been talking about for a while...no, it's not demo release day (although that day will too someday arrive).  It's the day when I buy a house.  People have been asking me if I'm excited and guess what?  I'm not.  Yes sure it's a big step but the whole process has been quite sedate.  Back in April the agreements were signed and the bank approved me.  Then for a few months, nothing really happened.  Last week I had the electricity, water, and gas accounts created (15 minutes total including hold time and one call to the wrong company).  I obtained insurance inside of 10 minutes as well and aside from a 5 minute trip to the bank and a 20 minute visit to the house there wasn't really much to do.

I suppose one of the reasons I'm not in much of a panic or excited is that I haven't packed anything yet.  The move is within town and I have many days to move so there's no real sense of urgency.  The first real tangible step shall be this morning when I pay ze money...and then nothing.  Later on today I will get the keys and at that point I think things will get real...mad real.  After that I shall plant a tree in the backyard (but not before plenty of photographs to document the house) and I guess...well, that's the plan so far.

So, await word on more. 

Poster for The Bourne Ultimatum.  Feels like a first spin but it feels interesting.  The gritiness belies the probable action in the movie but hopefully not the shaky (physically) camera work like we saw in the last one.  He's also holding a gun and clearly walking down a street which instantly forms many questions:  Is he expecting somebody?  He's not running so he must be planning on a breach or initiating a confrontation.  Is he rescueing somebody?  He doesn't seem to be injured or bleeding so is this early on in the film?  He's not hiding the gun so did he just come from a gunfight?  Has he already been attacked during this walk?

It's not just a poster. 

In case you didn't know the Hitman game series were quite well designed and entertaining to play (lots and lots of hours spent figuring the environment out).  The actual violent component of the game was quite limited and it is of course an M title due to those parts (as it should be).  The story within Hitman is an interesting one as well as it's not purely about being a Hitman but why one is a Hitman (yada yada yada).  There's quite a bit of mystery surrounding the character in the game and it should make a good movie adaptation.  Lately though there have been quite a few of terrible movie game adaptations and well...everybody is on edge to see if they'll finally make a good movie from a game.  If the Hitman teaser-trailer is any indication then we're in for quite a good ride.

Watch Hitman Teaser-Trailer.

Update:  Fox has asked JoBlo to remove the trailer but IGN has it here.

Lenny and I went skating today.  Not ice skating mind you but good old fashioned wooden rink skating.  It's the type of rink where almost everybody is wearing quads.  Lenny and I wore inlines.  Skating on a smooth wooden surface is amazing...it's been so long (I think grade 7 was the last time and I played Rampage more than anything back then) that I completely forgot what it was like.  There's a few comparisons that I draw between ice and wood:

1. Wood requires more work to keep moving.
2. Wood is more forgiving and less forgiving in the corners.  To expand, you need to keep your crossover going throughout an entire turn.  On ice I can (if I want) keep a single edge throughout the entire turn which is nice from time to time.  On wood you will lose a lot of speed in the corners.  You can also fix errors in your technique as if you let your push under ankle touch the floor you may go down immediately or you'll get a severe bobble.  In just 15 minutes of skating my cornering technique has raised my ankle up so I can get a better edge.
3. Speaking of edges, WHERE ARE THEY?  Very frustrating not having an edge but instead having to use friction.
4. Wood is more forgiving of straight pushing technique but now is a good time to develop the fundamentals.
5. Since wood requires more work it's a good place to work up the stamina and endurance for the ice.

I may go to a softer wheel rating for indoor skating so I can get a better grip but I was pretty happy with tonight and I hope ya'll go as well (for the locals that is).

The place where we skated is known as "Rollerama".  It's in Cambridge just off of highway 24; more details here.  Call to double check times as some dates are now unavailable due to it being summer.

Starship Troopers 3 (!!!) is in production!!!  Starship Troopers:  Marauder.

It was obvious from the other movies that each movie is simply a single small part of the whole war.  The cartoon series is especially nice in terms of how it adds more detail.  Starship Troopers is interesting in that it takes place in the very near future and doesn't create fantastic new weapons but instead takes a small incremental step forward making it seem far more plausible.