Guess the Algorithm
A few days ago while aimlessly surfing the world wide web’s waves, I came across Vintage Basic.
I don’t even remember what weird tangent I had gone on to find it, perhaps something related to reading about Lisp and old computers, I don’t even know. While there, I saw their collection of old BASIC games. I felt so grateful, since I remembered them from my days as a child on my beloved Apple II/E. The computer still works, but a girl who will remain nameless (especially since I now host her blog) lost all the discs. I still feel rather annoyed about that, but this helped a little.
In the course of downloading and running these great old programs, I found guess.bas, a simple number guessing game. I wouldn’t have gotten it, except that I remembered it.
] catalog A 005 GUESS.BAS
Does that conjure any memories for anyone? I recreated how it might look as best as possible. The game works very simply: you put in the maximum number, the computer picks a number between 1 and the maximum, and you enter your guesses. The computer tells you if you guessed too high or too low. Simple, right?
Two lines of code caught my eye, however.
11 L1=INT(LOG(L)/LOG(2))+1
56 PRINT "YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GET IT IN ONLY";L1
After getting the maximum number in the variable L, it assigns INT(LOG(L)/LOG(2)) to the variable L1. In other words, it adds one to the integer (whole number) part of log base 2 of L. Why, I wondered, did it use this value for the number of guesses it should take you to guess a number?
For those who slept in math, the logarithm refers to the exponent that indicates the power to which a base number is raised to produce a given number. For example, the logarithm of 100 to the base number of 10 is 2. Since I slept a lot in English class, I ripped that definition off from my dictionary. I thought about the relation between logs, exponents, bases, multiplication, division, anything I could think of that might solve this fun little mystery.
I took a shower, and my mind wandered. I began thinking about how I would actually solve the problem myself. If I had to choose a number between 1 and 10, I would first guess5, the halfway point. That way, the answer would automatically eliminate half the numbers. I would then continue this process, each time eliminating half, narrowing down until i guessed the number. I think most people would solve the problem in the same way. It then hit me! The integer part of log base 2 + 1 would roughly compute this number. It makes total sense! Think about it! To illustrate, if L=10, then L1=4.
I find it interesting to reflect on this. You can tell a lot about a person and the time period by analyzing code. That fragment told me that whoever wrote that dinky little program probably had a background in math or computer science. Today’s kids pumped full of Java probably don’t even know what a logarithm even does! I took standard math in high school, then in college I took three awful semesters of discrete math followed by two semesters of calculus – pure Hell. Any system that bases itself completely around limits just doesn’t jive with my world view. To me, such a proposition denies the limitless nature of the universe and the soul, but I digress. I love all the wonderful opportunities modern home computing has brought to the masses, but sometimes I long for the days when you actually had to KNOW about computers and have some command of programming and math to use one. I confess it took me a little to figure out this mystery, but I think I did. Many greater than myself have come before, and
many will come after. I saw an entire legacy encapsulated in two lines of code. Don’t forget.
The Best Veggie Loaf in Philadelphia
I had the good fortune to eat at the Latest Dish twice in as many weeks. They have the best veggie loaf meal! Come to think of it, they have the only veggie loaf meal. I have never had anything like this in a restaurant, and as a vegetarian I appreciate it immensely. They make the loaf with setan, and serve it with the full compliment of things one would expect – wonderful mashed potatoes, crispy asparagus, and amazing fried onions, and with a delicious catsup-based gravy. Seriously, if you like good vegetarian food and find yourself in Philly, go to the Latest Dish, 613 South 4th Street, and order their veggie loaf. You will love it!
The Luckiest Turkey of the Season: Barack Obama
Recently, President Obama pardoned Courage, the Thanksgiving Turkey. Apparently, residents have done this since George Bush SR. The whole thing just seems so stupid to me, especially considering how much each successive president has taken from us. Bush SR. openly proclaimed a new world order, and involved us in the first Gulf War. Clinton expanded globalism with NAFTA and the like, while keeping the nation distracted by creatively using a cigar. George Bush JR. – enough said. He involved us in an unconstitutional war, created organizations that would have made the Nazis proud, and embarrassed America on a global scale, degrading our image and making us even more hated. Now, we have Obama.
Anyone active in the 2008 election cycle will clearly remember Obama’s promises of ending the war, and bringing our troops home immediately. The antiwar vote made up a bulk of his voters, as over seventy percent of Americans want us out, no exceptions, no strings attached, just out! The media crowed about Obama’s supposed Constitutional background, even though he wrote a thesis while at Harvard entitled “Why our Constitution is Inherently Flawed.” Of course, we in the Ron Paul camp called his bluff early on, and saw how their campaign mimicked Ron Paul’s successful use of the Internet among other things. Remember that evil cannot create anything new, it can only mimic, imitate, distort, and pervert, and Obama’s campaign did this very well. Yes we can! Thank you Satan!
Now, the wolf has finally begun stepping out of his sheep’s clothing. The other night, Obama announced that he would send upwards of 40,000 troops to Afghanistan to “Finish the job.” Hearing this disgusted me. His vocal intonations sounded just like Bush JR. As a blind person, I have become quite good at Reading people by their voice, using it to sense their auric blueprint. When Obama spoke, I heard the same fatigue and defeat I heard in bush’s final days. To me, he really said: “I know what I’ve done. They told me what to say, and I have to do it. I know I’ve betrayed everyone who voted for me. I know I fucked up!” Sorry for the profanity, but I couldn’t express it any other way.
It reminds me of the final scene in Animal Farm, where the pigs, after leading a rebellion against their human masters, become human themselves, and join their former masters. If you haven’t read that book since high school, then you should read it again. “All animals are more equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This applies to a lot of recent issues, including health care, and the war. Remember what Henry Kissinger said about troops, that they are “dumb animals to be used as pawns to settle international affairs.”
This disgusting disrespect must end! We cannot “Finish the job.” We cannot win this war, because just like in another Orwell classic, 1984, they don’t want us to win it, preferring a perpetual war against a shadowy ever-changing enemy to keep the masses impoverished. We hardly have the money to continue fighting. How many more troops will it take?
Recently, President Obama pardoned Courage, the Thanksgiving turkey. I only wish he had that much respect for our troops.
A review of Aria, the new Greek restaurant in Swarthmore
I had a chance to visit Aria, the new Greek restaurant that’s opened
up in town. You would think that a college town would have a few
quaint places to eat, but for the most part it really hasn’t. This
surprising lack made it feel good to find a place I can walk to and
enjoy.
I arrived with my brother and one of my sisters. We walked there easily. To me, it felt novel and nice to just walk into a building and sit down and eat. We got seated quickly, and waited for menus. In the background, a CD played of presumably Greek music. I don’t speak the language, so I don’t know. Suddenly, we noticed that the CD had started skipping badly. The skipping interspersed with the rapid tempo of the music made it sound like some new weird form of Greko-industrial. They must have noticed, because when I got back from going to the bathroom it had stopped.
The restaurant just started last week, so we had to excuse some things. They did not have menus, but would get them shortly. It didn’t matter, because the affable owner explained everything to us. I told him I eat a vegetarian diet, and he enthusiastically suggested his falafel. “I make a very good falafel sandwich.” “Sold.” “You want lettuce, tomatoes, onions, everything?” “Yes, load it up!” “Very good.” We all found the owner a joy to deal with, and it made the initial hick-ups that undoubtedly go with opening a place like this bearable. Give him a few weeks.
While waiting for our food, we discussed the place. My sister said it looked like a plain room, with nothing particularly Mediterranean about it. Businesses haven’t done well here, especially restaurants and bakeries. The place started getting more crowded as the evening progressed, and we felt glad about that. They brought out some excellent pita bread and some mild but still good hummus. We enjoyed that and continued chatting.
We got our food in a reasonable enough time, and we all considered it very good. My falafel had all the toppings as promised. My order came with two halves, each individually wrapped in paper. I ate both. The order also came with some interesting flower-shaped corn chips. The rest of my family ordered giros, and enjoyed them equally. We had to go, but I did get some baklava to go, and that tasted wonderful as well. All and all, my order came to a little over six dollars – not expensive at all, another welcome change.
I give Aria four out of five stars. We had to wait a little at the end to get our bill, the service needs some improving, but it certainly will improve as the restaurant matures. I wish it well, and give it my blessing. They have a full restaurant, and do take-out as well, so if you live in the area give it a try. I may even join you.
Walking home in a surprisingly mild November rain, it felt good to have this new restaurant in town. We will have one or two other new ones opening which I will also review. I’ve had a few reoccurring dreams where I’ve found myself eating at a restaurant here in town, something that up to now most of us locals haven’t done, at least none of the ones I know. Dreams come true.
What has become of Comedy Central?
What has become of Comedy Central? It began as a network to show what
most people would think of as classic comedy, and has turned into
something vial. Its “comedy” has become nothing more than guys trying
to get laid. They can’t even get their scheduling right. All of this
occurred to me while watching the most recent episode of South Park,
entitled Dances with Smurfs.
I remember when the channel began. It showed a lot of stand-up comedy, movies, and classics such as Monty Python. I also remember watching a respectable amount of Mystery Science Theater 3000, especially during one stoned high school Thanksgiving holiday. New shows came and went. I specially liked the Upright Citizens Brigade. South Park began, and so did the trend towards smut masquerading as comedy. I don’t blame South Park or mean to suggest a correlation, this trend represents something bigger and more evil.
South Park tries to make points with many of their episodes, often they will use extreme circumstances to clearly show both sides of an issue, though sometimes they will just do something for shock value. Either way, I still like it a lot better than the shows I see surrounding it.
I don’t find a bunch of dorks trying to get laid funny. Don’t we already have MTV? I guess that doesn’t even hold true anymore, I still largely think of cable in nineties terms. This kind of trash has probably saturated cable, a medium in which it has existed from the beginning.
They also altered their schedule. Before, they showed last week’s episode of South Park in the 09:30 PM time slot, right before the new episode. Now, they show some fagotronic show, and show last week’s episode at 09:00. Does it take someone with a brain to swap the two? Have the new lame show that we will all forget about in three months on at 09:00, then a block of South Park. Better still, just start a block at 09:00, then show the new shows at 10:30. This makes sense.
I feel disgusted and annoyed, and hardly feel like publishing this pointless rant. It just annoys me how the popular definition of comedy seems to have changed to smut. Of course, they do call it programming for a reason, and this change reflects a purposeful agenda by the true owners of Comedy Central to implement a globalist agenda…or does it?
By the way, I finally realized what Marge Simpson would say about appearing on Playboy. “I learned something. When people reach for their diafram, they don’t want to see my picture.” I know that the Simpsons appears on another network. I don’t care.