Weird

So, I'm sitting here doing some net-surfing. I see what seems to be a shadow of something moving on the wall. But when I turn my head to get a better look, there's no shadow. "Weird" I think, and turn back to the computer. The moving shadow returns immediately. Gone when I look. There. Gone. There. Gone. "But that's mad," I think (in Simon Jones' voice). Eventually I realize that it isn't a shadow. It's a reflection in my glasses. When I move my head to look where the "shadow" seems to be, the object is no longer reflected.

I'm pretty tired (going to bed soon).

Later,

The Wise Man's Fear

I just finished The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day 2 by Patrick Rothfuss. It was an excellent follow-up to The Name of the Wind.

I am going to make one prediction. Ambrose Jakis will be the king Kvothe eventually kills.

In the first book, Ambrose is well over a dozen steps from the throne. Early in this one, it is mentioned in passing that several people in line ahead of him were killed in a shipwreck, putting him at a dozen. Much later it is mentioned in passing that the crown prince has been killed in a duel, moving Ambrose that much closer.

Given that Ambrose is thoroughly vile, and he and Kvothe share a mutual hatred, it isn't hard to imagine Ambrose taking the throne and doing something for which Kvothe feels he needs to die.

Later,

Remember this guy?

Any PSU alums who attended the University Park campus will fondly</sarcasm> remember the Willard Preacher. It turns out he has a website! Yes, it is every bit as bad as you probably expect.

Here's a tidbit on atheism from the "Musings" section, topic "Atheism":

Blather on...

In memoriam, Benoit Mandelbrot (20 November 1924 – 14 October 2010)

Dammit.



Later,

Quasi-Final version of Sudoku Solver

This is going to be the last update to my sudoku solver for a while.



So here's the rundown:

1) I changed the way the dialog to set values works. To reset a box to null, press the button for the current value again. The GUI will not let you set a box to an illegal value.

2) Guessing works. Boxes solved without guessing are filled blue. If it can't finish the puzzle, the solver will ask if it can start guessing. The boxes set after guessing are filled red.

3) Trying to guess on a sudoku without a unique solution will cause the solver to enter an infinite loop.  Refresh the browser to end.

4) Added a reset button.

I may add advanced techniques later, to get it to solve further before needing to guess, but I'm kind of losing interest now, so we'll see.

Later,

Blog stuff

I don't think the hide-post-thingy I have been using likes blogger's latest revisions.  But blogger added their own jump break stuff, so I changed over to that.  I really liked the one I had been using, though.

Later,

Sudoku Solver

I think I've learned enough Java to try to write a Sudoku solving applet.

The first step in running the solver will be setting the board. Click on a box to set it's value (right now, each click increments the value, later I might use a dialog to pick the value, but this is good enough for now)

UPDATE: I added a dialog to set a box value.

UPDATE2: It was a hell of a fight, but I managed to get the GUI to look pretty much how I want. I ended up having to draw the heavy dividing lines manually, so they don't quite re-size right.

UPDATE 3: Added functionality.

UPDATE 4: Changed the look a bit. The boxes now change color when manually set. Adding the advanced techniques is tougher than I thought. I may take some time. After hitting the "Solve" button, the dialog function changes. Instead of setting the box value, it allows you to change the restricted values (blue means value is restricted).

this is just the GUI. the "Solve" button does nothing yet.
The applet goes as far as it can with the very basic algorithm it uses.
It successfully solved the NYT Easy and Medium Sudokus for July 15, 2010.
It wasn't able to completely solve the Difficult one, but I have ideas for more advanced techniques to add, so it shouldn't be long. YAY!!!

Note: it doesn't error check (yet). If you enter an impossible sudoku, it will still try to solve it.

*** Removed. See post dated 7/23/2010 for sudoku solver applet. ***

"I am so smart! S-M-R-T... I mean S-M-A-R-T!"
</Homer>

Praise me! PRAISE ME!
</GIR>

Later,