Science & Code

• Michael March 27, 2009

  Lightweight C++ dictionary

  Code

  Hey there!

  Recently, while programming, a well-known question came to me:

  How to organize and access resources?

  Organization is trivial, whenever there is an order on the objects, so assume there is none. A very nice idea (that might sound somewhat trivial) is simply to give names to resources. Like “pictureOfADog” or whatever. I like the idea of accessing resources just by their names very much, though one needs to devise a data structure that supports naming. Well that is what I have done…

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• Felix March 23, 2009

  Small experiment

  Code, General

  Press mouse button to attract particles

  This is something I created while playing around with flash to get new ideas for online games — this will probably evolve into one. The whole thing looked pretty boring until I clamped the maximal number of connections per particle (four in the above). You may see more connections (if particles get too close they will repel each other regardless of how many other connections they have), but those are “unstable” states.

  Mesmerizing :)

  Comments (3)  
   
• Nano March 17, 2009

  Take it seriously, maaaaaan!

  General

  Rafael is an enterprise that produces weapons. Thing like this, things where one of the selling points is “Engages and destroys a wide spectrum of hostile targets” (On a side note, it’s really cool that they already have weapons that only destroy hostile targets. Why does nobody use them in real wars?). But when they are trying to sell their stuff to the Indians (the one with the point, not the ones with the feathers), they do so by showing them the following video (source):

  No, the Indians did not like it.

  Comments (2)  
   
• Michael March 6, 2009

  ラッシュ = Rash?

  General

  Hey everybody!¹ My first week in Japan is passing by rather quickly and I am adapting to the life here quite fast. I can even talk to the people, though half of the time I have no idea what they are saying… Also: The Japanese tend to talk tremendously fast. But, as some kind of reward apparently, the weather (天気²) has deteriorated during the last couple of days.

  Nevertheless I have good news. Using GoogleMaps I discovered that our building has a helipad ontop of it. So in case of an earthquake I can use my bosses private helicopter to escape. With many explosions and stuff of course.

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  1. Hey Dr. Nick! *SCNR* [↩]
  2. 天 means «sky», whereas 気 can be translated with «consciousness». You gotta love those Kanji! [↩]
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• Michael March 1, 2009

  日本にいる。何をする？

  Culture

  It is finally done! My flight to 日本 (Japan) is over. After hours spent on the plane I am finally here. Not that I would realize it by now… Everything looks like Japan though. The warning signs have funny animals and figures on them¹.

  

  So after arriving at 成田空港 (Narita Airport) I got my luggage and went to the 北デッキ (north deck) where I wanted to meet with Arita-san who would come to pick me up. In fact I am lucky, because Arita-san is the only japanese guy who does not look like all the other people. Of course, after two tormenting meals on the plane, the first thing on the agenda was おひる (lunch)². But, judging by only one meal at the airport, I’d say I like japanese food³.

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  1. On a train in the 京成線 (Keisei line) on the trip from 成田空港 (Narita Airport) to the station near my appartment 日暮里 (Nippori) there was a sign with a strange panda on it. In fact it said something like «Don’t crush your fingers when the door closes». I interpreted it as «Don’t drink and ride the train», but nevermind… [↩]
  2. Sadly I only remember the sound of my meals name, but I could not figure out the exact spelling, so no 漢字 (Kanji) here :P [↩]
  3. It is totally different and as long as you know the kanji for «fermented» you’re in the right spot. [↩]
  Comments (6)