A Conflagration of Randomness » Fun

Walk Right to Avoid Plight

Robert Kania — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 21:46:58 +0000

Have you ever had one of those awkward encounters when someone else is walking towards you, but neither of you know which way to move as to let the other pass by? usually it leads to several awkward seconds where both of you stare at each other and try to go right or left, but find the other person was trying to go that way too. Sometimes various back and forth movements follow as you each try to find a proper way around the other until one person decides to just stand still and let the other person walk around them. But this is still a waste of a few seconds of commuting time, even making you late, and it can really be frustrating.

My solution to this problem is Just Walk Right. That way, if everyone follows the same pattern, no one would be forced to encounter another awkward standing moment.

This is also a page on Facebook. Please fan.

Java Pong

Robert Kania — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 21:49:51 +0000

A few years ago I saw this article challenging people to make pong in any language and decided to design Pong in Java. At that time I had taking Java in high school for about 5 months, but we were still no where near making applets. I had already designed Chess and Checkers, and even though they were basic, they gave me the knowledge I needed to develop pong. Of course this version of pong is really outdated because I have learned a lot since, but I have not felt the urge really to go back and change. The AI is a bit strange since it follows the ball and randomly goes the opposite direction that it does not track the ball perfectly and I developed a new AI that finds where the ball will land and attempts to go that point, but I haven’t implemented it yet. Writing this post makes me realize just how many unfinished projects I have.

Does the Mailman Come on Christmas Eve?

Robert Kania — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:58:21 +0000

Yes, the mailman in fact does come on Christmas Eve since Christmas is a Federal Holiday, but not Christmas Eve. So for all those folks wondering if they will receive their packages today, yes you will! I was wondering the same thing today as I am expecting books required for school today in the mail.

Norad Tracking Santa via Twitter, Facebook, and Google Earth

Robert Kania — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 20:25:32 +0000

Merry Christmas Eve everyone! Tonight Santa is coming to town and you can track his annual journey with Norad’s tracking system. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) has been tracking Santa for over 50 years and this year is no different.

However, now you can track Santa from Twitter, Facebook, and Google Earth/Maps. For further information you can read Brian McClendon’s, engineering director for Google Earth and Google Maps, article on tracking Santa.