Yes, was quite addicted for a while. Lots of fun (for people with pretty unconventional ideas of fun).
Just wondering - anyone else here taken part in it? (Link: Project Euler)
[Warning: I've found it somewhat addictive...]
Yes, was quite addicted for a while. Lots of fun (for people with pretty unconventional ideas of fun).
this is a low-popularity thread i feel
I did look and have a go, but ran out of steam after question 10 (hey - I'm a mathematical lightweight)
The discussions are good, and I like some of the more elegant solutions people have come up with.
Overall, if I get time, and a bit more determination, I think it'd be a good one to persevere with. I could certainly learn a lot more useful stuff from it.
Well I have been far too busy at work Programming for Wedding tokens.
(ok I program for £ but since all my money seems to go on the wedding I may as well be being paid in Wedding tokens these days )
I'm not a mathematical lightweight and a Programmer by trade.. I just doubt I'll have much time / inclination to do much with these sadly.
A very interesting site.. although I reckon not as addictive as a programming site I used years ago.. wonder if it still exists.
Hmm.. Sort of
here's a link to similar sites.. (Some 404)
Robert Townsend wrote one of the great management books "Up the organisation". Amongst all of the positive things he writes about getting the best out of people is a couple of pages warning about computer programmers In his experience they spent too much time working on their own private projects and playing.
I have seen a "play" project of mine, working on the travelling salesman problem, turn into a useful software program that sold around the world at 900 pounds a time. (The task it did was worth at least ten times that.)
People playing with dance have spawned the MJ phenomenon, amongst many others. I believe in play.
Richard Feynman gives another example of a great mind apprently wasting its time worrying about a spinning plate in a cafeteria.
Yes I entered that competition (if it's the same one I'm thinking of) My robot was ok. Not great. It did have some pretty cool code in it for target route prediction and obstacle avoidance. And I did have a scanning routine that would speed up the scan cycle to acquire an accurate target lock on his opponent(s)
Alas my first incarnation of this routine had a nasty bug. If after one complete cycle it hadn't detected another robot the function would return a positive lock.. range 0 .. angle 0 and then fire.
I called that robot Marvin on account of if it didn't see another robot he would get so depressed he'd try to shoot his own leg off
I loved that game.. used to play it during free study lessons at college with my class mates. I'm sure the teacher didn't mind.. we were learning programming in a much more fun and enjoyable way after all
Way back I was on contract at a factory that bought a new computer, programmed in BASIC. The existing staff made all sorts of very expensive demands regarding retraining. I brought in my collection of American cumputer magazines * and the programmers spent hours of thei own time, deep into the night, typing in the games programs and taught themselves. I think it was only two of them went onto the expensive course, and came back to find out the others knew more. I do believe in play.
* including Dr.Dobbs journal of Computer Callesthenics and Orthodontia - now that's a magazine title.
When I did my masters in Human Computer Interaction, out of the 30 or so students, there were only two of us without a computing degree. And out of the 30 or so students, there were only two people who actually knew how to write significant pieces of code. I trust I don't need to draw a Venn diagram here...
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