Todd’s Blog

I’ve posted an update to Euchre, bringing the version up to 1.8. New features in this build include a new computer AI setting – call style. You can control whether they’ll take risky calls or not. So if you’re complaining about them getting euchred too easily, just change their play style to cautious.
There was a fix to the AI going-alone logic so that they won’t call alone when all they need are two points to win. They also won’t pickup alone to their opponents when the top card is the right bauer! Thanks to the users for pointing this out to me.

Enjoy!

Thanks to EVERYBODY for downloading and trying my app! The user response has been amazing. I’m absolutely flabbergasted at how quickly it has grown with no marketing whatsoever. So to the users – THANK YOU!

Some of you already have, but please let me know if you have any feature requests!

It’s available on the Market. Search for Euchre (free). I’ll be releasing a paid ad-free version shortly.

I’m porting my Euchre game to Android platforms. I have to convert the code from C++ to Java (ugh), but it’ll still have the awesome AI I’ve developed. Stay tuned.

Here are the things I’m asking for this Christmas.  The first two items are related and are a little bit more expensive than the rest, so perhaps a team-up approach is warranted.

1. Alpine iDA-X305
2. ALPINE PXA-H100 IMPRINT CAR AUDIO PROCESSOR
3. Asus O!Play media player
4. The Art of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
5. Buckyballs
6. 16 Gb USB memory stick
7. Any old Linksys WRT54g Router, preferably used

And for Erin

1. KitchenAid Pasta Roller
2. KitchenAid Ravioli Maker
3. LG BD 370 Network Blu-ray Disc Player

I have finished implementing nouns and adjectives.  My little demo should include a word of each type for testing.  If you have an adjective, you have a 10% chance of a encountering a special form, such as an adverb, comparative or superlative form.  So stay focused!

I know some of these words don’t actually have a comparative form, but the code will still generate it (hey, this code is still a work in progress, and the dictionary is far from finalized, or even started!).

Even though it’s not the form that I’m most used to, I’m using ‘i’ as the third declension adjective’s ablative form.  I prefer ‘e,’ just like nouns.  But I’m going on my gut feeling that most people are purists and are expecting ‘i.’

You have to be honest when answering if you defined the word correctly or not.   If you tell the program you answered improperly, you should see it pop up a few more times until the meaning is drilled into your brain.

As always, post your impressions.  If it sucks, let me know.  If it’s missing something, let me know.

Up next, the most difficult of all, verbs!

latin1

Traffic sucks.  We all know that.  We were on our way to Anthem to go shopping, and then we hit I-17 closures.  Two hours later we emerged at what we thought was right past the accident.  Then we headed north, but oops Anthem was to the south.  Seven miles later we reached the next exit, and of course that side was completely backed up as well.  So we diverted to Prescott, to Wickenburg, and finally back to Phoenix.

At least the scenic drive from Prescott to Wickenburg was entertaining.

Today I played in the Lockheed Martin season ending golf scramble.  I had to scramble just to find a team, and I ended up with Tom Glonning, Mike Morris and Charlie Custer.  The course, Palm Valley.  I was on the rebound after royally sucking in the season finale.  

We had a good rhythm going, because Tom is pretty straight but not that long,  Charlie was longer, I was second longest and Mike was the heavy hitter.   Mike however was injured and wasn’t up to his normal level of play.  But it didn’t matter, we putted like champions.  We finished at 13 under, 59, to win by two strokes.  We birdied the last nine holes.  It was awesome.

Recently I received an inquiry about the whereabouts of my Euchre program for Windows.  Ever since I have moved servers, the euchre download link has been broken.  I forgot to copy it!

So I dug out my old source code and worked to restore the code.  I haven’t run Windows as my primary operating system for several years now and I do all my development and computing in Linux.  Fortunately I have a Win32 cross-compiler installed, so at least I have the capability to compile Win32 programs.  I managed to create a simple Makefile and recompiled my programs.  I even tracked down an old installation of NSIS (NullSoft scriptable install system) that I needed to create the installer.  I ran it through Wine and it created the installers with no problem.  So, everything is up and running!

You can grab the Euchre game here.  Thanks to everybody who is still interested!

I’m currently on week four of the 100 Pushup Challenge.  The goal is to be able to do 100 consecutive pushups at the end of the program.  It consists of six weeks and has three different plans based on your performance from the previous week.  If you fail at any point, you restart that week’s program.

When I first started, I sucked horribly.  Now my strength has been improving rapidly.

I am using the Perfect Pushup during my training.  It works the body much better than a regular pushup does.  Since it takes more work and the 100 Pushup Challenge is meant for normal pushups, don’t be surprised when you take the challenge if you end up on the easiest column.  I probably won’t be able to ever hit a 100 with the perfect pushup, but hopefully I will be able to with regular pushups.

Once I’m done, I’ll let you know if my golf swing speed has increased, and by how much!