Duality

Maybe not - it seems to be HERE

Duality - That Which is Cool is Crushed - by Lucas???

There's a fan flick out there by 'CrewOfTwo' that's called Duality. It's a purely Sith story - and I've seen the script (Thank you Google Caching), but the site and the movie itself has been taken down. As I understand it - it was so good that the two guys were hired by Lucas Films... and, evidently, the evidence was expunged.

Now I am trying desperately to find a copy of this that's still on the net. Seems every place I've found so far was merely linking to their website. Feh!

Well, on with the search...

A Sound Reference for Star Wars Projects...

Here's a guy with a Tripod site with some Empire Strikes Back sound samples... That could come in handy...

My Halloween Costume Idea: (Chewie Costume...)

As I am building a 'R2-esque' robot of my own, I thought I'd go with the Star Wars theme for a Halloween costume this year. (If there's a party or similar that's indoors, I could use this for that as well... but not outdoors in Louisiana.)

Actually, I'm planning a more elaborate costume... a Chewie costume that faces my back and I'll be playing the part of C3PO - in pieces in the bag slung on his back. To help me along? Why, the Chewie Costuming Resources at Rebel Legion.com, of course!

[The life and times of a wandering Geck0]

This is a self-referential link.

"All We Are is Just a - nother Brick in the (fire) Wall..."

Ever think about the stuff that flies in and out of your PC while you're attached to the 'net? Ever thought maybe there's stuff you'd prefer not to send... OR receive!? Yeah - me too...

Do what I do - download Sygate Personal Firewall at Download.com.

GotDotNew Workspaces

Have a project that you'd like to make as an online collaborative effort? Get a free online collaborative development workspace at GotDotNet...

Thinking about... Thinking...

I did the AI for a game called 'Shatterblox'. As with everything in life, I had wanted to do more to it. I think it might just be a good time to go back and make it a bit smarter.

Truth told, the AI's pretty decent for a first attempt. It can (occasionally) make it to level 4 - halfway through the game. That's about as far as a lot of people can get.

Still, I had wanted to implement a variable AI scheme so that each character would have their own way of playing and some would be easier opponents than others. Also, adding pathfinding and some feedback would allow for a much better game - and hopefully an increase in levels obtained.

The method I chose to implement the variable AI scheme requires 3 bytes per character of 'preference' data. This assumes the use of eight different approaches or 'schools (of thought)' as I call them. Currently, the AI uses only five schools to get to level 4, so that leaves me with three more 'slots' to add new schools. The way the preference system works is that the schools are cycled through (up to) three times. Each school has an inherent priority based on it's location in the code, of course, but the preference data is used to supercede this priority.

On the first pass through the schools, each school's respective bit in the first preference byte is considered. If it is a '1' then the school is used. (If a good fit is found at this point, the AI aborts the thinking process and uses that location.) If it is a '0' then the school is not used and the next school, in turn, is considered. When the first pass is complete, a second pass and a third pass follow in the same way. This allows some rearranging of the order of the schools. Additionally, this allows for duplication. This duplication would not serve a purpose in the original design of this process, but could allow for a comparative valuing system with set threshholds for each pass. Under this system, a position choosen by one school might not be valued high enough for consideration in the first pass, but might be good enough for consideration in the sceond pass. In this model, each pass would have a decreasing minimum decided value to accept.

Now if I can find time to sit down and work on it some...

DXF to OpenGL

Hmmm... Someone has made a program that will change DXF to OpenGL. So with this you can basically load a DXF file and display it on your pc using OpenGL... How handy.

Astromech Gallery - Astromech.net

About, say twenty or thirty years ago, computers were in an infantile 'hobbyist' stage; "Getting a computer" meant buying a motherboard (if that) and adding little electronic things to it. Some things were available in parts at different locations, but something had to be made from scratch. As time and technology raced each other, computers have become extremely commonplace, from being embedded in our everyday lives to being sold as fairly discrete units that can be bought in a single box at a store and after a little bit of color-coded setup, can do anything you could hope to do with a computer.

Except walk around. In my opinion, we are NOW with robotics where we were THEN with computers. The economy of course will play a part in the rate of technological advancement, especially in regards to those products which can be considered a luxury, but nevertheless, the robots of our favorite science fictions are waiting for us just around the corner. Will it be another ten years? Twenty? Thirty? That depends on you... ...and me. I personally have decided to embark on the creation of a new robotic friend. Perhaps he will put in some good words for me if they eventually take over!

Don't know any good robots? Perhaps you should start familiarizing yourself with a few

Foreword (and Onward...)

Caution, dear reader - read this only with the full knowledge that the contents herein will vary astronomically in subject and interest and proceed only with the full acceptance of any and all consequences. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You are quite likely to be changed in some manner by the simple process of reading this 'blog.

This is far from the beginning of the journey, but this is where we join our hero in his tale...