Frac - 3D Tetris

A random conversation reminded me of a computer game I played in the early 90's: Frac (3D Tetris). I fired up the browser version and I was surprised that my fingers remembered how to manipulate the pieces. Good times.

Funny Machine Learning Outcomes

A great list...

Would you like a giant list of times that ML systems learned to do the thing by hacking some bug you didn't realize your system had? Yes you would. Because it's hilarious. https://t.co/qN2FYpUy8e

— Andromeda Yelton (@ThatAndromeda) January 9, 2019

Including such instance classics:

"In an artificial life simulation where survival required energy but giving birth had no energy cost, one species evolved a sedentary lifestyle that consisted mostly of mating in order to produce new children which could be eaten (or used as mates to produce more edible children)."

Or:

"A  robotic arm trained to slide a block to a target position on a table achieves the goal by moving the table itself."

Via @ItsRobbAllen

Lord British is a robot!

Lifehacker does a "How I Work" series and asks people about their hacks, battle stations, tools, etc. They recently interviewed Richard Garriott aka Lord British. I had not thought about Ultima in a long time. And it was interesting to read about his use of a tele-presence robot.

Super Mario Bros. Level 4-2 - Deep Dive

This is fascinating. I knew people did speed runs, but I cannot believe the depths to which they've gone.

This documentary on Super Mario level 4-2 and speedrunners is mesmerizing and then it reaches a higher level of existence once the name of the guy who solves everything is revealed https://t.co/ifNiVrVQMz

— Bill Barnwell (@billbarnwell) February 24, 2018

NES Classic

The NES Classic comes with a nice collection of games. The cord for the controller seems to be too short, but stores still can't keep them on the shelves. I think it might be a good way to introduce my daughter to gaming systems - in contrast to all the tablet and phone games/apps.

And some clever folks have figured out how to add other games.

Pokemon Go

Even the Knoxville Police are hip to the phenomenon that is Pokemon Go:

We have great city parks, however, they are closed between dusk & dawn. #PokemonGo players please take note of hours pic.twitter.com/eURDTU3Tyq

— Knoxville Police (@Knoxville_PD) July 11, 2016

Tek Recon-Soft

A NERF-like, Laser Tag-like, Call of Duty-like game - a real virtual 3D first person shooter. Kickstarter project is here.

Cross-over

So I post a little about ham radio and recently posted about the Ready Player One book that includes a lot of references to 80's video games and Easter Eggs.

Today, I read about this game that has a hidden message from one of its programmers: "DE JN1KTJ K."

Ready Player One

Based on a recommendation from my brother, I just read Ready Player One. The story takes place in a dystopian future where Halliday, the creator of a massive virtual reality world, is giving away his entire fortune and control of his company to the person/player who solve various puzzles and finds hidden keys within the game. Halliday was a child of the 80's and he has built the puzzles around the pop culture of that time - from movies to video games to music.

It was an easy read and I enjoyed all the references from my (roughly) teenage years. It was a great Adventure!

If you are interested, please purchase the book using my link below, so I can retire early - at no extra cost to you!

Superstition

Lies! Lies! Blowing on the cartridge did fix it! You people and your science ruining all the great discoveries of my childhood.

UP - UP - DOWN - DOWN - LEFT - RIGHT - LEFT - RIGHT - B - A!

Q*bertease