Idiot TicTacToe
My first iteration of the project that I am writing for a firm that I wish to work for is completed. This version of Tic Tac Toe has some *very* stupid Ai, and only allows for Human X vs Computer O. I will eventually make the players selectable--including CPU vs CPU for Ai testing, and I will also beef up the AI so it's completely unbeatable.
Grab it here.
Editor's Note: I updated the release with some tips and tricks to use if you can't get it running. I included a batch file, and directions to run it from the command line if you feel so inclined. Directions are in How To Play.txt!
UPDATE: Links are broken =(
Irrational Thoughts
One thing that I have been thinking about the past day or so is the idea of logic. What is logic? Where did it come from? Is it a universal measuring stick for sanity? This could be because I'm a software developer. My career revolves around this idea of logic. Structuring Object Oriented or procedural code to do something in a logical and controlled fashion is what I do. So now its second nature for me to apply such thoughts to life. But what about God?
Think about these statements for about a minute: If God has free will, then He can therefore do whatever He wants. If God is omnipotent, then He knows what He is going to do before he does it. God cannot be omnipotent and have free will.
Amazingly, these statements--given the actual definitions of the concepts of omnipotence and free will--are rock solid from a mathmatical perspective. One cannot be both omnipotent and have free will because you will know what you are going to do before you do it (omnipotence), and therefore have no choice in the matter (free will). So you can't be both.
The biggest gotcha in this strong atheist point of view is what I call the caged bird metaphor. By applying logic to God we are taking Him out of His character, and putting him in the cage called human reasoning; similar to caging a bird. We expect the bird to play by our rules. To hop around, eat nuts, and white out errors on newspapers. When you release the bird, a miracle occurs. It does something limited to only a few breathing mammals. It flies.
God is like this. When we release Him from the cage of logic He become real to us. A miracle worker. God can do things that we would otherwise dismiss as logically or reasonably impossible. Fortunately for us, God trancends reason. He is an irrational God. A complex number with infinite dimensions. That's exactly how amazing He is. Release Him, and He can do anything. But cage him, and He is limited in His works on our lives. Not because He isn't big enough, but because we stop His works. We keep him from blessing us or morphing us into the person that we are designed to be.
Thank God that He is irrational, else I would be the most hopeless man in the world =)!
Step 1: Toast Pop Tart
I went to see Brian Regan with my crew tonight. Besides alot of unecessary walking, all of which was my fault, it was absolutely delictable. For serious, Cenntennial Park Avenue is on the Tech side of the interstate. We walked down North to Spring and tried to go to the Tabernacle that way. Which, granted, was probably safer, but happens to be two blocks north of where we needed to be. However, CPA has some sketchy people in the projects, so it might have been a blessing. We walked about a full mile out of the way, but we made it on time. My buddies got a nice workout too 
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The start up act was pretty funny. At times his voice intonation rised on a scale that hurt my ears and reminded me of the episode of family guy where Stewie is talking to Brian about that novel he's writing. Hiiil-arrrr-eeee-uuuus!
Anyways. Brian's new stuff is great. I can't wait until he releases a CD of it so I can quote it with my friends. Overall tonight was a very awesome and tireing night. Huzzah! Time for bed!
W32.Bobber
Since it's my boss's last week at P&C, we have been having some fun with some of the other employees. In the spirit of computer haxing and pranks I wrote a set of batch files that schedule a task to change your desktop background to a picture of my choosing every minute. I hope our other help desk guy and our senior accountant like spongebob. Haxxing is fun.
The Dynamics of Soft Drinks
Ever noticed how soft drinks react to different foods that you eat? Specifically, the fizziness of the drink. There are some foods that I believe a good Coke enhances and brings out the flavor of, but there are also some foods that react quite violently to carbonated beverages.
For instance: Chocolate + Coke = lots of fizz. This occurs more often with Pepsi, but the effect is present with Coke as well. I have also noticed that anything salty reacts quite violently with Coke. For example, try eating a pickle, sweet or dill, and then chugging a can of coke. The sodium content in pickles causes the coke to literally explode in your mouth. But this fizz effect is limited mainly to the Coke/Pepsi family, and Sprite. Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, and other less carbonated drinks tend to be less volitile in the presence of sodium.
Proof of the fizz effect here!