Tao of the Machine

MtG for game console?

If they will really release a Magic the Gathering game for a game console, then I will buy that console. Yes, even an Xbox. And a forkin' TV...

Unless it will be just another Magic Online. Do console go online these days? I don't have a clue.

I would have been a subscriber to Magic Online long ago if you didn't have to pay for the cards. Pay for a subscription is one thing, but paying for virtual cards? I don't think so.

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-14 18:52:06 {link}
Categories: CCGs

Language changes 101

QOTD: "Wrong! My experience tells me that's definitely NOT the way to get changes into Python -- you work your ass off, then Guido rejects your work. Putting about ideas for change, and hoping Guido picks them up and convinces himself they're HIS ideas, is by far more productive, whether you then do some of the detailed implementation work yourself (often advisable, because if nobody does the work then of course the change doesn't get into Python)." (as seen here)

Also:

Roman Suzi (on PEP 308): "Has Guido already decided this way or that?"

Tim Peters: "Nobody knows yet: he hasn't broken silence. For monumental decisions like this, he likes to wander in the Amsterdam desert, fasting for 40 days first. That was admittedly before he got married, though. Heck, for all I know, he's forgotten he asked for a vote. That would teach the community a valuable lesson <wink>."

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-13 22:56:16 {link}
Categories: Python

Some Google stats

<trivia>
I am currently #1 for 'hans nowak' and 'tao of the machine'. No more obscure Germans in front of me. ;-) More surprisingly, I also rank #2 for 'kaa' and #3 for 'firedrop'. #5 and #6 for 'mygale'. #1 for 'spiderzoid'. :)
</trivia>

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-12 16:12:23 {link}
Categories: general

Geez...

$70 for a Spiderzoid. This way I'll never get it. :(

In other news, here's a site with a bunch of Zoid reviews, pictures, etc.

New Blox are coming up. Here's Cannon Diver (some kind of sea turtle?) and Diantler. I suppose Cannon Diver would be alright if not for the ridiculous guns (?), but Diantler looks just weird. A two-legged moose?

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-11 10:47:19 {link}
Categories: Zoids

The votes are in

This summary is a bit misleading, though. The casual reader might conclude that 82 people rejected any ternary operator, while 436 approved one or more proposals. This isn't the case; among those 436 are more than a few "reject all" votes.

The announcement post was clearer: "518 votes were received. Of these, 82 used a RejectAll ballot and 436 used the original ballot." and "363 had a preferred syntax they found acceptable while 155 found no acceptable syntax." That adds up to 237 people who didn't find an acceptable syntax. Not a majority, but too many to overlook. It's up to Guido to draw the conclusion though.

As usual, anything can be proven with statistics. :) 363 people want a ternary operator, vs 237 who don't, so a majority wants such an operator. On the other hand, you can also rank it like this:

no ternary operator: 237
proposal C: 177
proposal D: 142

Here, "no ternary" is the clear winner. :)

What a mess.

Anyway, I can be found here. I'm in good company. :-)

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-10 20:31:49 {link}
Categories: Python

An idea

What if there was a website with a world map (probably pixelated), and you could click on any (land) part to get to a site with info about the city, and/or maybe country, that was just clicked on? Has this been done before?

Recently I've been looking up sites about various parts of the world... Sao Paulo, Costa Rica, Belize, etc. These sites are interesting, but I usually don't get to see them unless I have a specific reason. With a clickable world map, you could explore. When you're bored, you could go to that page and actually see something of the world, rather than reading yet another blog with political drivel or personal ramblings <wink>.

Rather than linking to specific sites, the world map could do a Google search. For example, clicking on the "pixel" for Sao Paulo would give you this.

I have of course no time for this, but since when has that stopped me from lauching weird ideas? :-)

Update. Something like this, but different.

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-09 20:52:38 {link}
Categories: ideas

The Art of Unix Programming

Not hot news, but I wasn't aware that a whole (I think; haven't checked out everything yet) draft of the book was available. By Eric Raymond. See the list of contents.

(Not really related:) And, for those long-night hacking sessions... Penguin Caffeinated Peppermints. ^_^

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-09 20:23:52 {link}
Categories: books, programming, general

No fear

Oh, lookie here... a new Sobe. There's more stuff that isn't really new, but that I haven't seen here nonetheless... Mr.Green, for example. I got some Sobe Liquid Infused Gum in Orlando last year, but it wasn't great. There's also Sobe Chocolate, but the website is unavailable.

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-08 22:57:13 {link}
Categories: general

Aikido humor

Imagine you're walking in a backwoods area of Japan...

Posted by Hans Nowak on 2003-03-08 01:03:39 {link}
Categories: general

--
Generated by Firedrop2.