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Hello again! ... it has been a while , but it's all my fault ...
I know Fu Manchu (of course) but not this monstertrack.
This is wonderful...
Cheers,
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Welcome back!
I've been wondering where you were
I hope all is well?
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It's an indie, but it could be good, I've never played it: Get Aegis Defenders for free[^]
According to Wikipedia[^] it's a "2d platforming and Tower Defense game" and isn't too bad - particularly in co-op mode. Needs Steam, which is a PITA though.
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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Grand Theft Auto V[^] for free on Epic.
I don't have an account, nor do I want GTA V, but so many people do that their server crashed and people weren't able to get it
For some reason it was even in the news.
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W∴ Balboos's 'Sunrise - Sunset' post, and the post a week or so ago about all websites being the same, reminded me of this one that isn't the same: Stellarium Web Online Star Map. It is one of the coolest pages I've seen. Worth checking out!
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Check out their app for the smartphone …
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More than a generation ago - i.e. in the transition from DOS to Windows - I was using a program called ALW: Astronomy Lab for Windows. The output was extremely primitive: Text tables drawn in typewriter style, lines made from vertical bar and minus signs, clearly adopted from a DOS solution. Graphics were single-pixel lines, as if they were adpopted from a pen plotter solution. No scaling of either text or graphics were offered.
But the funcionality was great! You could e.g. watch an animation of any solar eclipse, as it would appear from any place on earth. You could plot the trajectories of any of the planets across the sky. You could generate caldendars containing exact times for any astronomical event for each day, such as sunrise/sunset, equinoxes, eclipses, and lots more.
I made contact with the developer, asking if he would care to update the user interface (to be more suitable for my visually impaired daughter), or, if he didn't have the time available, would allow me to do the adaptations. He bluntly rejected both proposals: The program would not be brushed up, and he had no plans to give anyone access to the code. This was a 16-bit Windows program, so if I want to run it today, I must crank up that old Win98-machine that is still sitting in my basement.
But I miss it! I wish all of that functionality would be available under modern Windows, with a modern GUI. Does anyone around here remember ALW, and do you know if the is a modern clone of it available somewhere?
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I've got ALW2 (that is the one with the DOS-style table drawing).
But my 64 bit Win10 cannot execute 16 bit Windows applications.
Actually, I haven't tried. But my old Win7 could not, and I would be surprised if that functionality has been reintroduced!
To run ALW2, I guess I could run a virtual machine and install my old Win98 copy on it. But that wouldn't give me a more modern GUI.
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I wasn't aware of this option. Thanks a lot - I will try it out.
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Member 7989122 wrote: You could e.g. watch an animation of any solar eclipse, as it would appear from any place on earth. You could plot the trajectories of any of the planets across the sky. You could generate caldendars containing exact times for any astronomical event for each day, such as sunrise/sunset, equinoxes, eclipses, and lots more.
Much, if not all, of that stuff can be done by the desktop version of Stellarium. Play with it!
Here's a script I developed to look for solar eclipses, to get you started with scripting if you want. In Stellarium, press F12 and copy the following code. Turn the ground off, as well as switch to azimuthal viewing and disable the atmosphere for best experience. (I could have scripted those actions as well, but didn't.) This will spit out dates in the Log View of the F12 window of when eclipses occur.
F10 brings up some astronomic calculations, which may address your last point.
dayDiff = "-29 days";
maxDiff = 0.004;
obj1 = "Sun";
obj2 = "Moon";
a1 = 0.0;
a2 = 1.0;
pi = Math.PI;
degToRad = pi/180;
core.selectObjectByName(obj1, true);
StelMovementMgr.setFlagTracking(true);
justFindSeparation = false;
diff = 1.0;
if (justFindSeparation) {
d = getRadiansBetweenObjects();
d = d/degToRad;
degrees = Math.floor(d);
minutes = d - degrees;
minutes = minutes * 60;
seconds = minutes - Math.floor(minutes);
core.debug(degrees + " " + Math.floor(minutes) + " " + seconds*60);
}
else {
while (true) {
while (diff > maxDiff) {
findClosestConjunction();
diff = getRadiansBetweenObjects();
if (diff >= maxDiff) core.setDate(dayDiff);
}
core.debug(core.getDate() + " " + diff);
core.setDate(dayDiff);
diff = 1.0;
}
}
function findClosestConjunction() {
core.selectObjectByName(obj1, true);
StelMovementMgr.setFlagTracking(true);
core.setTimeRate(0);
a1 = getRadiansBetweenObjects();
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("+1 days");
direction = "+";
if (a2 < a1) {
direction = "+";
}
else {
direction = "-";
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("-2 days");
}
timeStepString = direction + "1 days";
while (a2 < a1) {
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter(timeStepString);
}
if (direction == "+") {
a1 = getTheAngleAfter("-1 days");
}
else {
a1 = getTheAngleAfter("+1 days");
}
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("+1 hour");
if (a2 < a1) {
direction = "+";
}
else {
direction = "-";
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("-2 hours");
}
timeStepString = direction + "1 hour";
while (a2 < a1) {
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter(timeStepString);
}
if (direction == "+") {
a1 = getTheAngleAfter("-1 hours");
}
else {
a1 = getTheAngleAfter("+1 hours");
}
if (a2 > 0.04) return;
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("+20 minutes");
if (a2 < a1) {
direction = "+";
}
else {
direction = "-";
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("-40 minutes");
}
timeStepString = direction + "20 minute";
while (a2 < a1) {
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter(timeStepString);
}
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("+5 minutes");
if (a2 < a1) {
direction = "+";
}
else {
direction = "-";
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("-10 minutes");
}
timeStepString = direction + "5 minute";
while (a2 < a1) {
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter(timeStepString);
}
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("+1 minutes");
if (a2 < a1) {
direction = "+";
}
else {
direction = "-";
a2 = getTheAngleAfter("-2 minutes");
}
timeStepString = direction + "1 minute";
while (a2 < a1) {
a1 = a2;
a2 = getTheAngleAfter(timeStepString);
}
}
function getTheAngleAfter(timeStep) {
obj2Azi = core.getObjectInfo(obj2).azimuth;
core.setDate(timeStep);
while (core.getObjectInfo(obj2).azimuth == obj2Azi) {
core.wait(0.01);
}
angleDiff = getRadiansBetweenObjects();
return angleDiff;
}
function getRadiansBetweenObjects() {
obj2Azi = core.getObjectInfo(obj2).elong;
obj2Azi = obj2Azi * degToRad;
obj2Alt = core.getObjectInfo(obj2).elat;
obj2Alt = obj2Alt * degToRad;
obj1Azi = core.getObjectInfo(obj1).elong;
obj1Azi = obj1Azi * degToRad;
obj1Alt = core.getObjectInfo(obj1).elat;
obj1Alt = obj1Alt * degToRad;
d = Math.acos(Math.sin(obj2Alt)*Math.sin(obj1Alt)+Math.cos(obj2Alt)*Math.cos(obj1Alt)*Math.cos(obj2Azi-obj1Azi));
return d;
}
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Awesome thanks for sharing
When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know.
But if you listen, you may learn something new.
--Dalai Lama
JaxCoder.com
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Indeed great ... My problem is solved, finally ...
Cheers,
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Question: Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Answer: In a containment zone, working from home
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Amarnath S wrote: Question: Where do you see yourself in the next five years? same: mirror, photo, selfie camera...
unless it's a logistics or infrastructure issue (i.e. assembly line) nothing is that wrong with working from home, it's usually the pay masters that prefer people sat in sight in neat little rows of cubicles.
as to self containment zone: so many people physically walking around outside already live in a "social media" non physically interactive zone. why waste so much space and money moving these people around in cars, busses, trains etc if they can do all that without ever going outside?
people complain about the government locking them up at home, many of the loudest (keyboard warriors esp) have for years already done it to themselves? Not just meeting strangers, even groups of good friends sitting at the same table in a cafe will isolate themselves.
pestilence [ pes-tl-uh ns ] noun
1. a deadly or virulent epidemic disease. especially bubonic plague.
2. something that is considered harmful, destructive, or evil.
Synonyms: pest, plague, CCP
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That's what I said!
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OP and you interviewed at Oracle?
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Obviously. You are very perceptive yourself!
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"If I could foretell the future I would not be at this crummy interview".
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Correct. You'd be running a hedge fund that would eventually blow up.
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More likely practicing how to say, "would you like fries with that?".
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Okay so playing Yakuza 6, I'm playing as an ex-con ex-yakuza member with a dragon shaped target literally tattooed on my back. People actually roam the streets and bars looking to fight with me, and not friendly fights either, but dirty brawls where you hit people with bicycles and the odd knife or gun and stuff.
So naturally, in order to protect a baby from the ravages of Child Protective Services I kidnap it from the hospital and proceed to carry the kid around with me - yes me, the walking target - when I'm not putting him in the hands of total strangers that is.
And the police go along with it. You know, because I'm the friendly sort of ex-con former yakuza that just happens to kidnap babies once in awhile.
I'm not really trashing the game specifically, but more game plots in general. I'm sure the above isn't the worst.
Sometimes they're so bad they're good.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Maybe you're just playing the wrong games.
Try Planescape: Torment, pretty much any Final Fantasy, Mass Effect, NieR: Automata, Horizon: Zero Dawn...
Great games with great, and often surprising, stories
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I don't play them for the plots, although sometimes I find the plots amusing.
Real programmers use butterflies
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