Sunday, February 26, 2006

crazy olympic video

take a look at this unbelievable video, it shows canadian olympic aerial skier jeff bean losing both skis during a training jump at the 2006 winter games in torino, italy.

Picture of Jeff Bean without skis
- the green circle shows jeff, the red circle shows his skis

fortunately, jeff walked away from the freak accident and was able to compete. probably the most incredible aspect of this crash is the fact that he completed his maneuvers knowing that he didn't have his skis.

Saturday, February 25, 2006

stephen cawood's bio

Stephen Cawood is a Canadian writer. Before becoming a full-time writer, Stephen worked as a Program Manager in the Microsoft Office Server group (see full resumé).

While working in the Content Management Server (MCMS) development group, Stephen's duties included writing specifications and sample code for MCMS. He also received three patent awards for his work on web-based content management, and had the good fortune to speak at various technical conferences. These trips included Microsoft TechEd conferences in New Zealand, Australia, and Stephen's home country--South Africa.

During his time at Microsoft, Stephen co-wrote Microsoft Content Management Server 2002: A Complete Guide (Addison-Wesley). After Stephen got married, he moved back to Canada and continued his writing career.

As a Beta tester for Halo 2, Stephen was so impressed with the game that his first solo book was a detailed exploration of real-world military strategy applied to Halo 2 multiplayer games. The book is entitled The Unauthorized Halo 2 Battle Guide: Advanced Combat Techniques (Thompson Course Technology) and it sold 10,000 copies in its first three weeks on the shelf. Stephen's other books include The Black Art of Halo Mods (Sams), and Halo 2 Hacks (O'Reilly and Associates).

In his free time, Stephen enjoys playing water polo, squash and snowboarding. He also trains with a local Jujitsu and grappling club.

grammatical grey area

anyone who has tried to learn english knows that the language is notoriously weak when it comes to its adherence to its own rules. add to this the fact that there are many flavours of english around the world, and it all adds up to notable 'grey areas' in the definition of correct grammar. this post lists some examples where opinion and style often determine what is 'correct.'

the oxford comma
when you list a number of items, it can be correct to include of exclude the comma before the 'and.' this final comma is known as the oxford comma (a.k.a. serial comma or harvard comma).
for example:
I like water polo, snowboarding and grappling. (no comma)
I like water polo, snowboarding, and grappling. (with the oxford comma)

sometimes the comma is added or removed for clarity rather than style.
for example:
her favourite cartoons are the powerpuff girls, samurai jack and ren and stimpy. (ambiguous)
her favourite cartoons are the powerpuff girls, samurai jack, and ren and stimpy. (clear)
the second sentence is less ambiguous since it's clear that 'ren and stimpy' is one item in the list. in the version without the oxford comma, it's possible that 'samurai jack and ren' could be a cartoon.

possessive apostrophe
most people omit the final 's' when they write the possessive form of a name that ends with an 's.' however, according to Fowler's Modern English Usage, the final 's' should be added when the possessive form of the name is pronounced differently than the non-possessive.
for example:
that is Charles' bike. (common but incorrect)
that is Charles's bike. (correct)
exceptions to this rule include "names from the ancient world" (e.g. Achilles'), names that end with an "iz" (e.g. Moses') sound and Jesus' (source: Eats, Shoots and Leaves).

the split infinitive
the most commonly cited example of this error is from the famous introduction to Star Trek: "to boldly go where no man has gone before." many people argue that "to boldly go" is grammatically incorrect because 'to' should be next to 'go.' however, there is plenty of debate about the split infinitive rule.

vocabulary
-------------------------------------------------
over time, the meaning of words can change. this can prompt a writer's choice between the vernacular and the traditional meaning of a word.

ambivalent
today this word is commonly used to mean that one doesn't hold an opinion about something. however, the actual meaning of the word is "coexistence in one person of opposite feelings towards same [sic] person or thing" (source: Oxford Dictionary). so what do you do? do you use the word to mean what people expect, or do you use the traditional meaning?

father vs. further
from http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/course/76-451/watts.html
"the Little, Brown Handbook ... says that "farther refers to additional distance . . . and further to additional time, amount, or other abstract matters" (p. 800). Again, this is a simple guideline, but one that Merriam-Webster does not agree with:

Farther and further have been used more or less interchangeably throughout most of their history, but currently they are showing signs of diverging. As adverbs they continue to be used interchangeably whenever spatial, temporal, or metaphorical distance is involved. But where there is no notion of distance, further is used . Further is also used as a sentence modifier , but farther is not. A polarizing process appears to be taking place in their adjective use. Farther is taking over the meaning of distance and further the meaning of addition .

Merriam-Webster clearly states that the two words are fundamentally interchangeable, with only partial specialization. The Handbook makes the case that the words are already distinct, though not in quite the manner Merriam-Webster predicts. However, ... neither guideline is an accurate reflection of usage, in the United States, Great Britain, or Australia."

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

top game controller laziness

I used to work with a guy who loved the expression "willing to die on that hill." I'd say something like, "man this coffee is terrible, we should get some better coffee in here," and he'd reflexively throw out, "ya? you willing to die on that hill?" I think about what his reaction would be as I take time out of my day to defend a video game controller.

I'm talking about the original 'fatty' xbox controller. the poor thing endured endless mockery from sources such as penny arcade, and it was thrown into a lot of closets when the smaller 'S' controller was released. I understand that some people found the controller too big and others didn't like the slanted arrangement of the buttons, but I was still surprised to see IGN rank the controller and #2 in the Top 10 Worst Game Controllers. that's just downright silly.

I had no issues with the controller. in fact, I find it more comfortable than the 'S' and I only switched because it was tough to find a fat controller at LAN parties. so now you're wondering if I'm some kind of rock-biter (that's stolen from the article BTW). no, that's not the case - I doubt I could even palm a basketball. but let's set aside my personal preference and just go with the facts. why would IGN rank the xbox controller in the top ten when there are so many other choices. I mean, honestly... can they really argue that the xbox controller was worse than the Colecovision controller? I doubt it. in fact, the Colecovision used the same style of Intellivision controller overlays that are disparaged in the IGN top ten article.

I've seen this sort of top ten laziness before, and I don't like it. it's like putting The French Connection in a list of the 10 Best Car Chases. now where did I see that cop-out being used? oh... look at that... it was errr... IGN. I'm sure that the 1971 list of best car chases could have included The French Connection, but have you actually watched that chase recently?

including The French Connection and the xbox controller were easy things to do - hip things to do - but they weren't at all accurate. clearly, the car chase writer realized his error because he published a second version. so good on ya, Steven Horn, for responding to feedback. as for the rest of you top ten writers out there, are you willing to die on that hill?

BTW - there's another great penny arcade where they show the designer of the fat controller and he has hands like a homunculus. leave me a comment if you have that link. cheers

Monday, February 20, 2006

this blog ain't spam

my blog has been incorrectly tagged as a 'spam blog.' I received this nice message...

"Blogger's spam-prevention robots have detected that your blog has characteristics of a spam blog. Since you're an actual person reading this, your blog is probably not a spam blog. Automated spam detection is inherently fuzzy, and we sincerely apologize for this false positive."

according to blogger, spam blogs have "a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site." I believe that this is why I've been tagged. in an effort to make my blog more accessible, you may have noticed that I added a "Posts By Categories" section on the right. unfortunately, blogger doesn't offer a metatag based taxonomy system, so I had to do this by hand. I'm betting that these posts - which include many links to blogspot - caused the false positive. I would think that blogger.com would be aware that bloggers link to their own posts.

update: it took their human checkers less than 24 hours to reverse this error. I wonder how many people have to check these things?

unsolvable sudoku

for you sudoku fans out there, this puzzle can't be solved without using 'Ariadne's Thread' - which basically means that you have to guess at some point. it can be done, but not with pure 'logic.' with the "Allow guess-and-check" option enabled, the sudoku solver will find the solution.

frankly, I was disappointed to find that I had to guess. in my opinion, the sudoku creation people shouldn't use puzzles that require guessing.

_ 5 _ _ 2 _ 8 _ 6
_ _ _ _ _ 6 _ _ 3
_ 6 _ _ 1 3 2 _ _

-------------------
_ 7 _ _ _ _ 9 6 _
4 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1
_ 1 6 _ _ _ _ 3 _
-------------------

_ _ 7 2 3 _ _ 8 _
6 _ _ 7 _ _ _ _ _
2 _ 4 _ 9 _ _ 7 _


if you don't believe me, try running it through the sudoku solver.

note: here's the string for the solver (make it all one line):
_5__2_8_6+_____6__3+_6__132__+_7____96_+4____
___1+_16____3_+__723__8_+6__7_____+2_4_9__7_

update: a generous modder has provided the solution for anyone who wants it. those 133t modders just love to teach :P

Thursday, February 16, 2006

technology

update: now that blogger has a taxonomy system, I will not be maintaining these manual lists. please use the labels instead. e.g., tech

geeklit posts about technology:

August 2006:
XNA Game Studio Express
McAfee virus view
xbox creators' club
faster right-click menus
dell batteries are hot
ipod thinks it's japanese

July 2006:
apple reneges on lawsuit settlement
purge your temp files

June 2006:
faster downloads... no, really

March 2006:
OOP dreaming

February 2006:
top game controller laziness

December 2005:
25 years of darling tech companies
prometheus - the future of modding
game testers need cheaper TVs

November 2005:
xbox 360 launch fake comic
modding Halo considered harmful?

September 2005:
exits from microsoft article
next gen revolution

July 2005:
GTA hoolpa - mods maligned again
modding is good

May 2005:
O'Reilly network article about E3
E3 wrap-up
E3 exhibit highlights
about Content Management Server

February 2005:
xbox 2 hard drive?
working at microsoft

writing

update: now that blogger has a taxonomy system, I will not be maintaining these manual lists. please use the labels instead. e.g., writing or books

geeklits posts about writing and my projects:

June 2006:
black art of Halo mods is out!

April 2006:
new project: pragmatic augmented reality book

March 2006:
writing resources

February 2006:
grammatical grey area

January 2006:
favourite english errors

June 2005:
print publishing

March 2005:
favourite fiction books
MCMS: a complete guide

February 2005:
Halo book for Sams
favourite geek books
Halo 2 Hacks for O'Reilly
the Halo 2 battle guide

gaming/modding

update: now that blogger has a taxonomy system, I will not be maintaining these manual lists. please use the labels instead. e.g., gaming or modding

geeklit posts about video games and modding:

August 2006:
XNA Game Studio Express
robotron 2084 strategy
xbox creators' club

July 2006:
halo2ce deserves credit

June 2006:
black art book on bungie.net
buzz about halo black art book
violent games debate explodes
black art of Halo mods is out!

May 2006:
Halo 3 E3 trailer

March 2006:
Halo 3 an RTS?
Halo 3 fix wish list

February 2006:
top game controller laziness
Halo 2 PC announced

January 2006:
Marathon on your PC
maxconsole.net news

December 2005:
prometheus - the future of modding
game testers need cheaper TVs
video game awards for actors 2005
Northy's Grim Hearse mod

November 2005:
xbox 360 launch fake comic
halo 2 hacks on bungie.org
halo on Xbox 360... nice
halo 2 hacks - errata
modding Halo considered harmful?
black art of Halo mods status
mod chips legal down under

October 2005:
Insolence - funny error message
interview with Xbox 360 Force

September 2005:
next gen revolution
halo 2 hacks is out!

August 2005:
black art of halo mods - credits

July 2005:
GTA hoolpa - mods maligned again
modding is good

May 2005:
O'Reilly network article about E3
E3 wrap-up
E3 exhibit highlights
live from L.A. - the Sony PS3
Xbox 360 revealed
next generation games
Xbox 360 leaked images
video game law blog

April 2005:
Doom III - mini review
new maps for Halo 2
Halo 2 ver. 1.1
hacked game variants and profiles
Halo 2 Hacks - full credits

March 2005:
halo 2 battle guide sold out
leaked info about Halo 2 ex-pack
injecting Doom texture into Halo 2
best Halo 2 mods
frustrating Halo strategies
best halo resource sites
Doom "1" on my Xbox
Xbox 2 - specs from GameSpy
cool article: Halo's Pillar of Autumn
halo 2 battle guide - addendum

February 2005:
xbox 2 hard drive?
covering E3 conference for o'reilly
modded xbox sting
Halo book for Sams
hx of video games
halo 2 battle guide - errata
Halo 2 Hacks for O'Reilly
halo 2.5 and xbox 2?
the Halo 2 battle guide
xbox burn - the power cord recall

travel/SCUBA

update: now that blogger has a taxonomy system, I will not be maintaining these manual lists. please use the labels instead. e.g., travel or SCUBA

geeklit posts about travel destinations and SCUBA diving:

June 2005:
X-Canada trip wrap-up

May 2005:
LA and Catalina Island

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

coding

update: now that blogger has a taxonomy system, I will not be maintaining these manual lists. please use the labels instead. e.g., coding

geeklit posts about coding:

August 2006:
Calling a C++ lib from C#
xbox creators' club

June 2006:
.Net project location is not trusted
VC++ express opengl gotcha
C# Interop: unsigned char* C .lib

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Halo 2 PC announced

this is fantastic... not only is Halo 2 coming to the PC, but it's going to be Halo2PCCE :)
(that's Halo 2 PC Custom Edition - a version that modders can play with)

from gamespot:

"If PC users are having trouble deciding whether to move over to Windows Vista, Microsoft's next-generation operating system, when it is released later this year, the fact that the fate of the Earth depends on it may tip the scales. Microsoft Game Studios today announced that it is developing Halo 2 for the PC. "

"The game will be only for Vista, and it's being developed in partnership with the franchise's original developer, Bungie Studios. The PC version will include Halo 2, the bonus maps that came in the Multiplayer Map Pack, and the ability to "build, create, and customize their own multiplayer levels." No release date or other details have been announced. "
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6143976.html

here's a cool J Allard quote:

"If only 1 percent of our audience that plays Halo helped construct the world around Halo, it would be more human beings than work at Microsoft corporation," Allard said. "That's how much human energy we could harness in this medium."
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6143653.html

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Halifax's meteorological bomb

yesterday, maritime Canada was treated to a storm described on the news as a "meteorological bomb." it brought along a decent sized snowfall, some impressive winds and - the always enjoyable - high storm surge. this winter has been incredibly mild so this storm was fun. after hearing so many stories about Halifax snowstorms, I felt as though I would have to see one before I could call myself a local.

Halifax Snowstorm
- the street outside my house

BTW - one of the reasons that these cars are so badly buried is that they aren't supposed to be there. Halifax has strict parking rules precisely because the snowplows need to be able to do their work. I've been sick so I was awake at 3am when the plow came by and piled up the snow behind the rear car. I think that the plow drivers enjoy doing their best to impart the value of obeying the parking regulations.

Wednesday, February 01, 2006

UFC: why I'm a fan

this is my take on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), or - to put it another way - this is my explanation of why a reasonable person can be a fan of what has been a controversial sport.

when the UFC began, one of the central ideas was to pit masters of different martial arts against one another. there were karate specialists, boxers, and even sumo wrestlers. after a few years of competition, it became clear that the dominant 'style' is actually a hybrid or various martial arts. fighters have to be able to strike when they are on their feet, and when they hit the ground, they have to possess world-class grappling skills. today this combination of skills is known as mixed martial arts (MMA).

so why is the UFC controversial? there are two main reasons: some people argue that a true martial arts expert would not complete and many people feel that the sport is too violent to be mainstream.

while I believe it's true that the world's best karate fighter might not be interested in competing in an MMA league, I'm not really concerned by this argument. I'm a UFC fan because I'm a fan of grappling (a.k.a. submission wrestling) and the UFC is the best grappling competition that I can watch.

as for the violence argument, I also accept that the UFC is not for everyone. however, there are plenty of other televised events that are violent. the modern UFC is not the same as the old 'make it a spactacle' UFC -- it's now a sport. I'm an adult and if I'm willing to put up with some bruisers so that I can see some expert grappling, then that should be my choice.

if you're curious about grappling, take a look at this video of a grappling competition that was held at the club where I train. don't bother trying to spot me; I'm not in it :)

BTW - the guy at the end was unconscious but fine. all of the matches are watched so that no one gets into trouble.