websites with gory content

Extreme body modification would benefit from an website where people can share their recipes. However, it's a thing generally frowned upon, and perhaps illegal in some contexts.

It's not alone in this. As certain people found out, publishing instructions to hack into the Bank of America is also going to get you into trouble.

This puts the publisher in a strange position. I don't do these things. I don't condone all (most?) of these things! But some things that are generally frowned upon are great, and it would be brilliant to see them progress!

I'm not sure what it needs, but a one-owner, one-responsibility website seems a tad inappropriate.

Cybernetics for the masses repair stream on linux

The wmas coming out of the ccc are fucked atm, so here's a command for GNU/Linux users which simultaneously:
downloads
repairs (though transcribing to mp4)
sensibly renames the video

wget -qO- http://c3.ex23.de/saal2-2010-12-30_11-21-43.wmv | ffmpeg -i pipe: cybernetics_for_the_masses1.mp4

For the questions and answers:

wget -qO- http://c3.ex23.de/saal2-2010-12-30_13-37-07.wmv | ffmpeg -i pipe: cybernetics_for_the_masses2.mp4

Obviously you need ffmpeg installed for that.

Positive About Negative Aberdonian Crusty

NOTE: I edited this a couple of times around 22:16, on 21 December 2010, and the morning of the 22nd.

I wrote a song. Give it a listen!

It's a happy blues song about crust music in Aberdeen.

For the benefit of a couple of friends, here are the tabs:

Positive About Negative Aberdonian Crusty
By John Morrice 2010

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. 

To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ or send a letter to 
Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Hi guys!

Tuning is a half step down, Eb Bb Db Gb Bb Eb
Time signature is 6/8 for most of the song, but 4/4 at the end.

Notation:

Next bar: |
Hammer on: h
Pull off: p
Don't play this string: x

Notes:
* I skimp on some work by just saying what chord to play for that part.
* The chords used are given at the end of this file.
* Always listen to the song for the rhythm.  
* This tab file does not describe the songs structure, only its riffs.
* I know I wrote the bloody song but these tabs may still not be perfect.

Verse:

Eb|-------------0---------|-------------0-----0-
Bb|---------0h2---2p0-----|---------0h2---2p0---
Gb|-------0---------------|-------0-------------
Db|---0h2-------------2p0-|---0h2---------------
Ab|-0---------------------|-0-------------------
Eb|-----------------------|---------------------

Eb|-------------0---------|-------------------------
Bb|---------0h1---1p0-----|-1p0h1p0h1p0h1p0h1p0h1p0-
Gb|-------0---------------|-------------------------
Db|---0h2-------------2p0-|-------------------------
Ab|-3---------------------|-------------------------
Eb|-----------------------|-------------------------

Eb|-------------0---------|--------------0-----0-
Bb|---------0h2---2p0-----|----------0h2---2p0---
Gb|-------0---------------|--------0-------------
Db|---0h2-------------2p0-|---0h2----------------
Ab|-0---------------------|-0--------------------
Eb|-----------------------|----------------------

For the last two bars, strum Gb6 (see the end of this file)

Chorus rhythm part:

Strum

Ab7
Ab7
Gb6
Cb7

Chorus lead part:

Eb|-9p7---9p7---9p7---9p7---9p7---9p7---9p7---9p7---
Bb|-----8-----8-----8-----8-----8-----8-----8-----8-
Gb|-------------------------------------------------
Db|-------------------------------------------------
Ab|-------------------------------------------------
Eb|-------------------------------------------------

Eb|-----3------3------3------3-
Bb|-3h5----3h5----3h5----3h5---
Gb|----------------------------
Db|----------------------------
Ab|----------------------------
Eb|----------------------------

                             Back into verse, let ring
Eb|-------------------------|--
Bb|-------------------------|--
Gb|-3p0h3p0h3p0h3p0h3p0h3p0-|-0
Db|-------------------------|--
Ab|-------------------------|--
Eb|-------------------------|--

"Solo", on top of the chorus, goes something a little like:

Eb|-------------------------------------------------
Bb|-------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-
Gb|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-------------------------
Db|-------------------------------------------------
Ab|-------------------------------------------------
Eb|-------------------------------------------------

Eb|-------------------------------------------------
Bb|-------------------------------------------------
Gb|-------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-
Db|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-------------------------
Ab|-------------------------------------------------
Eb|-------------------------------------------------

Eb|-------------------------------------------------
Bb|-------------------------------------------------
Gb|-------------------------------------------------
Db|-------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-
Ab|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-------------------------
Eb|-------------------------------------------------

Eb|-------------------------------------------------
Bb|-------------------------------------------------
Gb|-------------------------------------------------
Db|-------------------------------------------------
Ab|-5-5-5-5-5-5-3-3-3-3-3-3-------------------------
Eb|-------------------------5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-

End part is in 4/4 and goes:

Ab5
Gb5
Cb5
Db5

That's it!

The chords:

Ab7
Eb 0
Bb 2
Gb 0
Db 2
Ab 0
Eb x

Gb6
Eb 0
Bb 3
Gb 0
Db 0
Ab x
Eb 3

(Weird) Cb7
Eb x
Bb x
Gb 3
Db 5
Ab 3
Eb x

Powerchords (Fifths)

Ab5
Eb x
Bb x
Gb x
Db 2
Ab 0
Eb x

Gb5
Eb x
Bb x
Gb x
Db x
Ab 5
Eb 3

Cb5
Eb x
Bb x
Gb x
Db 5
Ab 3
Eb x

Db5

Eb x
Bb x
Gb x
Db 7
Ab 5
Eb x

Have a lot of fun :)

Wireworld

On my quest for enlightenment, I have completed the Wireworld cellular automaton task on Rosetta code. Smalltalk wasn't on the list, so I gave learning GNU Smalltalk a try, and I experienced some success in this!

I find cellular automata fascinating. It's just the biological nature of it - that it can grow, and where there was previously no life, something suddenly exists! I digress, but there are interesting applications for more traditional mathematics (like finding the contour of the graph).

However, my solution is a bit big - in fact, it's written in both Smalltalk and C, and generates animated GIFs.



Also I wanted to write a nice flexible bit of software in Smalltalk, to learn it properly and to find why those in my books rate it so highly, so aye, it grew a bit.

Anyway, here is the README so you can find out about it, with an additional link to the source added there.

NAME 
   jwgif - Johnny's Wireworld GIF creator.

ABOUT

   jwgif is a simulator for the Wireworld cellular automaton.  It renders to an animated GIF,
   which it sends to stdout.

REQUIREMENTS

   gcc
   GNU Plotutils
   GNU Smalltalk

COMPILATION

   ./compile.sh

USAGE
   
   jwgif FILENAME GENERATIONS WIDTH HEIGHT SQUARESIZE

OPTIONS

   FILENAME is a path to a Wireworld file - see WIREWORLD FILE FORMAT below.

   The following must be positive integers:

   GENERATIONS determines the number of frames produced.
   WIDTH the width of the output GIF, in pixels.
   HEIGHT the height of the output GIF, in pixels.
   SQUARESIZE the size of the square cells, in pixels.

EXAMPLE

   ./jwgif arena/cyc3inhib.ww 200 110 50 10 > 3cycle.gif

WIREWORLD FILE FORMAT

   Wireworld is a cellular automaton with some similarities to Conway's Game of Life. It is 
   capable of doing sophisticated computations (e.g., calculating primeness!) with appropriate
   programs, and is much simpler to program for.

   A wireworld arena consists of a cartesian grid of cells, each of which can be in one of 
   four states. All cell transitions happen simultaneously. The cell transition rules are this:

   Input State       Output State      Condition
   empty             empty  
   electron head     electron tail   
   electron tail     conductor  
   conductor         electron head     if 1 or 2 cells in the neighborhood of the cell are in the state “electron head”
   conductor         conductor         otherwise

   A Wireworld program can be stored in a file using the following notation:
   
   "H" for an electron head
   "t" for a tail
   "." for a conductor
   space for empty.
   
   Here is an example program, which demonstrates two cycle-3 generators and an inhibit gate:

   tH.........
   .   .
      ...
   .   .
   Ht.. ......

   The output for this program is included with the jwgif distribution, with the file name 3cycle.gif

   jwgif uses the following convention for colouring cells in the output GIF:

   An electron head is red.
   A tail is blue.
   A conductor is green.
   Empty cells are black.

   This section was ripped off from http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Wireworld on 6th December 2010.  Thanks guys!

LICENSE

   jwgif is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
   (at your option) any later version.

   jwgif is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
   GNU General Public License for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
   along with jwgif.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/

Studying

So I got CARPS text mode stable, and I have plans to create a graphical version.

At 10ksloc and with client, server, superserver, use of maths and support for modding, it is the largest and most complex project I've forced to stagger into some sort of fruition. And I faced so many problems, encountered so many things, and I learned this:

I suck! Oh god, I suck. There are so many reasons why I suck, and thankfully I have learned some of them.

So I had a bit of a think, and decided that before I do any more development on this, I really need to improve. I really like the Rosetta Code website! It challenges you to solve tasks in a language of your choice. So I'm going to spend my time learning some new languages, and solving some interesting problems.

CARPS

Wow, I appear to have finally put out a stable release of CARPS!

From the CARPS README:

CARPS, the Computer Assisted Role-Playing Game System, is a tool for playing pen and paper RPGs over the internet.

CARPS differs from other such systems because CARPS is not a ‘real-time’ system. It suits people who want to log on once or twice a day, take a turn, and then log out again. While OpenRPG could be described as being similar to a chat-room, CARPS is more similar to an email client.

CARPS is an extensible system: game rules are provided by ‘mods’.

CARPS supports these mods by providing:

* Text-mode user interfaces for the players and the dungeon master.
* An easy to use probabilistic API which not only rolls the dice, but can report the probability of various game events occurring.
* Automated static character sheet verification, according to a schema defined in YAML. For example, a game might require your strength to be an integer.
* Support for the semantic validation of character sheets according to game rules. For example, a game might require the sum of character’s attributes to be below a certain maximum value.
* Together the validation features allow a mod writer to encode game rules cleanly, as they do not need to consider the possibility of receiving an invalid sheet.

CARPS has other strengths:

* Anyone can play or host a CARPS game! All you need is an email account.
* CARPS is designed to be secure. Multiple email security options are supported, and all CARPS messages are cryptographically signed to prevent spoofing.
* You can instruct CARPS to use your favourite text editor and terminal emulator.
* CARPS is easy to configure because it includes a wizard.

However, CARPS is new and the following features, which you might take for granted, are not yet supported:

* No GUI
* No support for maps
* No chat - all communication goes through the Game Master.
* Games are currently invite only, at the discretion of the Game Master.
* Security mechanisms are not well audited.

Requirements:

For users:

* GNU/Linux
* ruby 1.9
* rubygems
* openssl
* highline

For developing CARPS, you will also need:

* hoe
* rake
* newgem
* cucumber

To Install:

# Install the gem

sudo gem install carps

# Initialize the carps user directory. Run this as your everyday user.

carps_init

Basic Instructions:

Run carps -h for help

The first time CARPS is run, it will launch a wizard to help you configure your email settings, and choose a text editor and a terminal emulator.

It is a good idea to specify a terminal emulator, as then CARPS can launch a mod in a new window (or similar). Then the first CARPS window will act as an email logger, letting you see when you receive mails, without interfering with the text you type into the new window.

You’re also going to need to install a mod to play CARPS. See the example ‘fools’ mod:

* github.com/elginer/fools

Campaigns (For the DM):

When you set up a new game, CARPS will ask for you to enter the name of a campaign.

This allows you to create game resources prior to starting a game.

For example, the following applies if your mod is called foo, the campaign is called bar, and your carps user data directory is /home/user/carps

You should create the following directories

the campaign directory:

/home/user/carps/dm/campaigns/foo/bar

the NPCSs directory:

/home/user/carps/dm/campaigns/foo/bar/npcs

the rooms directory:

/home/user/carps/dm/campaigns/foo/bar/rooms

NPCs are defined as YAML files, according to the mod’s schema. Put them in the NPCs directory. They MUST have the .yaml extension.

Rooms are defined as text files. These are just predefined pieces of prose that the DM will send to the players when they enter a room, for instance. Put them in the rooms directory. They MUST have the .txt extension.

I'm gonna spend the next little while trying to organise a play session, working on the windows port, and then trying to create a DND D20 mod for it.

Esperanto X-System fun

A friend of mine asked me to make a tiny website for them: it converts between Esperanto X-System in ASCII and the unicode characters.

It's a it of fun.

Here you go.

There isn't much to it but I am smug at how neat and tidy the html and javascript looks :)