Ian On The Red Dot

Reviewing Photopia:

and physics—when taught correctly—is about understanding, and about learning to think well. One of the first things you learn to do with a physics problem is step back from the numbers at hand, and look at the limiting cases of the situation you’re examining. If you’re dealing with a car turning a corner at seventy miles per hour, you look to see what happens as the car’s speed approaches infinity; as the curve’s radius goes to infinity… and to nothing; as friction goes to infinity… and to zero. To a student new to the discipline, this procedure often seems odd, irrelevant; but it turns out that limiting cases give key insight into the inner workings of any physical system, and it is no different with computer games: by approaching the non-interactive, Photopia helps us to see just what is so special about that which is interactive.

But what I am coming to realize is that there is no real “forgetting” literature or film when it comes to game development, just as there is no forgetting painting and literature when it comes to film creation. In a very real way film is part painting, and part literature: it borrows and steals from, and dances around, and exists in a sometimes awkward and sometimes elegant relation to the arts that came before it. And it is the same with games: they are part film, they are part television, they are part painting and photography and literature and sculpture and poetry. And as much as we learn and discover by pushing the boundaries of the interactive, we also learn by subtly adding in touches of interactivity to things that remain otherwise linear, “film-like,” or “short story-like.” We discover beautiful hybrids that didn’t exist before, and are not the same as the things they are derogatorily compared to. Physics again: limiting cases involve going to zero, as well as pushing towards infinity.

It is a little sad that after 4 years of studying engineering in NUS, it takes a blog reviewing a game to give a quote that makes physics beautiful.

1. 2009

“He raped me. I told him I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to have sex. He didn’t care. He just wanted it so badly that night. He turned me over, held me down and raped me.”

“Mdm, you’re married. Under Section 375(4), we can’t investigate your husband for violence.”

The police officer left the room.

“What’s going on in there,” his superior asked.

“Damn bitch with a headache.”

2. 2010

“Edward, look, she’s my wife. How is that considered rape? I admit I was a little rough that night, but that’s how she likes it, you know. We played games before. Sometimes she would tie me up, sometimes I would tie her up. Damn, I even pretended to be a burglar before. I mean, it was the same as the other times when she said she wasn’t feeling particularly in the mood. Once I started kissing the right spots, she got wet like a fucking waterfall. How’s that rape? You tell me. How’s that rape?”

“Bro, I’m sorry man. After Section 375(4) got repealed, getting married doesn’t mean you get unlimited rights to free pussy from your wife whenever you want it. Some judge who probably hasn’t gotten her itch scratched for years decided that marriage itself does not amount to irrevocable consent to sexual intercourse by the wife.”

“Fuck. I really don’t understand why she’s doing this. We were fine damn it.”

Edward left the room. His female colleague who had been comforting Jodie walked over.

“What did he say, ” she asked.

“What do you think he said? Of course he denied raping her.”

“If she said no, that means no consent. It’s rape.”

“You damn women. Your no can be yes. Your yes can be no. How the fuck are we guys supposed to know which no you girls are using.”

3. 2015

“Look, officer, when a man marries a woman, he gives up certain things. He gives up the whole buffet spread of cunts that he can get access to. Well, he doesn’t have to give it up totally, but he gives up the right to sample different cuisine without having to pay the price if caught. I think that’s fair. You want to marry a woman, you want to make her yours then if you get caught drinking milk outside, even if you don’t bring the fucking cow home, I think its perfectly fair if she wants to divorce you that you have to pay until your wallet bleeds.”

Nathan paused. He was pissed. He had loved Jennifer with everything. Things had gone great at the beginning of the marriage but things got worse the last few years. At first she started becoming a dead fish, wasn’t as enthusiastic and spontaneous as before. Then the frequent headaches. The refusals to make love. Cuddling even came to a stop. Cuddling, for fuck’s sake. Cuddling.

His mom was right. The success of a marriage depends on what happens on the bed.

Nathan knew he could have divorced Jennifer. Prenuptial agreements while not enforceable were being considered in determining alimony. His lawyer had said a strong case could be made for unreasonable behavior. Hell, having slept in different rooms for almost 3 years, you could almost add irreconcilable differences and separation to the mix. Plus he had been faithful. Faithful to the last fucking cum-soaked Kleenex. If Nathan had divorced Jennifer, the financial cost would be nothing.

But he wanted the marriage to work. He really did.

“It was our anniversary. 4 years we have been married. 1 great. 3 not so. I had just returned from Cold Storage. Bought myself some nice lotion and 9-ply toilet paper. 9-ply. Imagine that. The best brains in the world figuring out how to make taking care of shit better. What a waste. I came home and saw her there. Sitting at the dining table with nothing but a Manchester United jersey. How fucking sexy is that. She had cooked dinner. I went straight for the dessert. It was the best fucking release I ever had. We made love like we haven’t made love for years. It was so good, even our neighbors lighted a cigarette.”

“You do know your wife accuses you of raping her, ” the officer interjected.

“You think I don’t know that? I’m here in a police station, ain’t I. I was fucking played like a fiddle. Should have divorced that cold-hearted bitch when I had the chance. Would have saved on the god-damn tissues.”

There was a knock on the door. The officer got up from her seat, walked to the door and unlocked it. Nathan’s lawyer stepped in.

“She’s got an offer for you, ” the lawyer said to Nathan.

“I’ll let you two discuss matters in private, ” the female officer said as she left the room.

Her superior officer walked up, “He is probably going to pay for this to go away.”

“Yup. We just gave all those damn gold-diggers another shovel, ” Jane replied.

4. 2018

David slammed the table with his fist.

“I, didn’t, rape her!”

“She said you did, ” the officer calmly replied. She was used to such tantrums.

“My own wife. I know when her no is no and her yes is yes. I didn’t rape her.”

“Well, she said you did and that’s all the courts care about. You should just confess now and save us all the hassle.”

“No. The courts don’t just care about finger-pointing. We got data. You guys have the fucking data. Look at it. Get your experts to look at it. I want my experts to looks at it.”

“The data will be provided to your lawyer when the time comes. But you and I both know what the data is going to say. It’s going to say what each of us wants it to say. Come on professor, you teach at SMU. You should know that if you torture the numbers they will confess to anything. And once the numbers confess, we will be back at square 1. Your lawyer will have to prove your expert knows what he is talking about, the State’s expert will just be the one believed. Let’s save the hassle.”

David remained silent. He knew what he knew and he believed the data will exonerate him. He just needed to be patient and wait. He had earlier been goaded into a display of anger. The police officer had wanted that to happen for the cameras. That video was probably already uploaded to YouTube’s crime channel for the ravenous public to see, star and share. In less than an hour, he will be pronounced guilty by the world. The leading blogs will carry the link-baiting headline, “Husband with explosive temper brutally rapes wife”.

But David knew things will be alright. He just needed to be patient. He need to stay alert and not get mind-fucked into a confession. Once his lawyer finished up the paper work and got the data feed from Twitter, his expert consultants would be able to verify his story. Verify that he had been seduced by his wife. That it was she who had displayed heightened arousal first. That it was she who led him to the bed. That it was she who had been the conductor in their little symphony. The court could not ignore the evidence.

David suddenly remembered a joke he had read.

“Officer, do you believe in God, ” David asked casually.

“No, why, ” the officer replied with a tinge of genuine curiosity.

“Then who do you speak to when you come?”

5. 2020

“Mdm, the data does not lie, ” the officer said.

“It has to be wrong. He raped me. I know he did. The doctor says there is proof of vaginal tear. Look at my bruises. He raped me and you aren’t doing anything about it. Please do something about, please do something.”

“Rough sex can lead to bruises, ” the officer replied with a hint of scorn.

“Please look at the data again, please look at the data again, ” Sarah pleaded as she saw the last embers of hope flickering away.

“Mdm, like I said, the data does not lie. You should know how it works. They teach it at school. The device is inserted into your body and, ” the officer patronizing explained, ” it is able to detect heart rate, blood pressure, hormonal levels and all that jazz. This data is communicated in real-time to Twitter via its API and, based on the agreement with the State, stored. Basically based on this data, we can tell that you were genuinely aroused. And that it was you who was genuinely aroused first. Your increase in heart-rate occurred first and above-normal level of chemicals were detected to be released. These above-normal level of chemicals, corresponded with the onset of sexual arousal in your husband. Like I said, the data does not lie. You seduced your husband. He did not rape you.”

Outside the room, Jack was talking to the State’s expert in RTF (i.e. real-time forensics) and the officer in charge of the case.

“The data is telling the story like you said Jack, ” the expert said.

“I don’t understand why Sarah is behaving like that, it was a perfect night for both of us.”

“Well, after Section 375(4) was repealed in 2010, a fair number of women basically used the protection that the law afforded them to run racketeering scams on their husbands for a good number of years. It was only after the introduction of the Body Tracking Ordinance and the 2018 case involving the professor which led to the recognition of RTF as a valid science that things changed. Maybe your wife forgot that. That things changed. That you couldn’t be a scheming bitch and get away with it.”

“Maybe, but she’s smart. She should have know better that her lies would be exposed, ” Jack replied, fumbling for an excuse for his wife.

“Maybe. Well, who cares. I’m happy to just chalk this up as another success for BTO and RTF. Another brother saved.”

Jack shook the hands of the expert and the officer, thanking them for their support. He knew that the BTO had saved him. Sarah would probably be charged but he would appeal for leniency, saying he forgave her. He would welcome her back as his wife.

The Body Tracking Ordinance had originally been introduced to ensure that adequate and accurate data about the body would be captured during the H9N9 scare. Scientists had used the data to detect clusters of outbreaks, transmission patterns and essentially prevented what would have been an almost certain pandemic from occurring.

The device inserted into the body was able to track heart rate, blood pressure, hormonal levels, chemical concentration, chemical release and detect antibodies. It transmitted encrypted data over the waves using a dedicated frequency which would be picked up by base stations planted all over the island. The problem with the system was two-fold.

Before insertion, the unique hash of the device would be paired with the national identification number of the individual thus allowing the BTO collecting system to identify the senders of the packets of data. This pairing was done manually by the doctors who added the information via a web interface.

When Sarah needed to replace her defective device, Jack had managed to record down the unique hash.

The second problem was that while the devices were to be disposed securely because of its nature, it was still possible to gain physical access to a device and extract the embedded software. The original designers of the system had been lazy. Every single device was using the same public key to encrypt the data. Coupled with the standard known format of each message, a competent engineer would be able to spoof messages to the system.

The main problem was how to prevent the device in the individual’s body from sending any information. Jack had planned it properly and coordinated the shorting of Sarah’s device with the activation of his spoofer. The central system was none-the-wiser that information for Sarah was coming from Jack’s desktop instead of Sarah’s body. Since the system wasn’t programmed to monitor the location of the sender, it wasn’t noticing that Sarah wasn’t moving at all.

Jack couldn’t wait for Sarah to be released.

He couldn’t wait to rape her one more time.

Some links:

No To Rape

Metafilter discussion on ‘Rape, Law & Evidence’.

Some notes:

Definitely a work in progress since my understanding of public-key cryptography and protocols is dismal at best.

From here:

As I understood the client MySQL library doesn’t work well with Rails 2.3. We can resolve this by using the older MySQL client library (libmySQL.dll). You can get it here http://instantrails.rubyforge.org/svn/trunk/InstantRails-win/InstantRails/mysql/bin/libmySQL.dll.

Just put it in \bin\ and restart MySQL service.

http://instantrails.rubyforge.org/svn/trunk/InstantRails-win/InstantRails/mysql/bin/libmySQL.dll

Was having problems with logging-1.2.2,

In utils.rb, this section of code was having issues.

rescue LoadError, NoMethodError
retry if $use_rubygems and require('rubygems')
if $whiny_require
name ||= string
$stderr.puts "Required library #{string.inspect} could not be loaded."
$stderr.puts "Try:\tgem install #{name}"
end
raise
end

Solution:

1. Set the global variables $use_rubygems & $whiny_require in environment.rb to false and true respectively.
2. Comment out the retry line.

This shouldn’t be the image of Hack Day:

Our industry is still young. If we want an all-encompassing technology scene, we need to actively work to cultivate an inclusive environment. This means a zero tolerance approach to this kind of entertainment. Booth babes, tequila girls, and scantily clad gyrating women simply set the wrong tone, here or abroad. Heck, this isn’t just about offending women—many guy geeks I know would be mortified by this kind of thing.

I call bullshit.

Many geeks would love to see booth babes, tequila girls and scantily clad gyrating women, BUT maybe not at a technology event because it would be politically incorrect NOT because they don’t get attracted by such stuff.

And for people who are slamming Yahoo, there are a host of tech companies (mostly dealing in hardware stuff) and gaming companies who are more deserving targets of your wrath.

The only question I really have is why Singapore’s tech events don’t have such hot babes dancing.

Further discussion here.

Some further more serious thoughts:

The fact that these girls were present at the event does not make the technology environment more exclusive to women. It is because the environment is already exclusive to women that such dance items are even considered.

Generally, such events are already seen as quasi-male-bonding sessions.

Getting more women into the industry is the solution to such misplaced occurrences at tech events. Removal of such occurrences is not the solution to getting more women into the industry.

What then is the solution? That’s a much longer post for a later time.

Another thing -

Nerd/Geek culture is becoming mainstream not because of the laudable principles and drivers behind being a nerd/geek – the thirst for knowledge, the love of experimentation, the never-ending quest to pursue truth, the joy that comes from being passionate about a subject – but because we see now how being a nerd/geek can bring money, status and, yes, sex.

These are the 3 Gs that matter to humanity – Gold, Glory & Girls.

Some other photos of the event:

Sense of Entitlement 101 –

OPEC States Want to Be Paid if Pollution Curbs Cut Oil Sales:

For all its prosperity, he said, Saudi Arabia will still need help in developing new industries and job sources for its growing population.

Mr. Sabban said a large coalition of developing countries was ready to reject the treaty language if industrialized nations rejected the idea of compensating countries whose economies were harmed.

Saudis Seek Payments for Any Drop in Oil Revenues:

“It is like the tobacco industry asking for compensation for lost revenues as a part of a settlement to address the health risks of smoking,” said Jake Schmidt, the international climate policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “The worst of this racket is that they have held up progress on supporting adaptation funding for the most vulnerable for years because of this demand.”

Translation:

If you don’t want what we have, for the good of the world we ALL live in, I want to be compensated so that I’ll still be fucking rich without having to work for another source of wealth.

If it is all about using the money for diversification, then pray tell why when they were already bringing in so much money from oil over the years, they didn’t use that wealth to plan and diversify then.

In the context of Singapore:

Hey World, because you guys stopped shipping stuff, Singapore’s economy is hurt because our port is underused. You guys need to compensate us for loss of income because of your decision to stop shipping things.

I also have a product which because you do not want, I must be compensated for.

All joking aside though, a business model where you get paid when people don’t buy what you’re selling is pretty awesome business if you can get it..

Metafilter discussion here.

Some further thoughts:

The problem is really about politicians trying to get countries to do a group hug, but every single one of them wants to actually walk outside the circle and fuck the other politicians in the ass.

The truth is, countries should just be responsible global citizens within their own boundaries.

Industrialized countries once committed the current sins of developing countries, sins which allow them to be where they are now, which is industrialized. Developing countries aspire for that status, and it is naive at best to assume they will give those aspirations up by not taking the way previously taken (damn the consequences) and hubris at worse for politicians from industrialized countries to think they have the right to bully developing countries into towing the line.

The truth is, the cost to the environment is difficult to be measured and rarely factored into the cost of development. The best way going forward is not for industrialized countries to say do this instead of doing that (which was what we did, but please forget about it) but for those who already have the ability (i.e. industrialized nations) to create financially cheaper ways that are also just as effective as the old way for developing countries to get industrialized (although frankly, that might not be the best goal around) and progress without harming the environment.

Additional Notes:

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change:

Leaders from around the world will gather in Copenhagen in December 2009 for the latest talks held on implementing a 1992 treaty, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The goal is a climate treaty that would go beyond the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a climate change agreement that set emissions targets for industrialized nations. Many of those goals have not been met, and the United States never ratified the accord.

Although the United Nations has held a big climate meeting each year since 1995, the 12-day gathering in Copenhagen is extraordinary for many reasons. The emissions reduction commitments that countries made under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol expire in 2012. And while the Bush administration was seen by many countries as an obstacle to achieving a global accord, President Obama has declared that he wants to be a leader in environmental issues.

A 200-page document, which serves as a starting point for treaty negotiations, outlines proposals for cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases by rich countries and limiting the growth of gases in the developing world. It also discusses ways of preventing deforestation, which is linked to global warming, and of providing financing for poorer nations to help them adapt to warmer temperatures.

But many environmental advocates and politicians suggest that not enough has been done to winnow down those options. Representatives of poor countries complain that developed nations have not made an adequate commitment to reduce their emissions.

The United States and China jointly produce 40 percent of the world’s heat-trapping emissions.

The United States never joined the 1997 Kyoto accord, the first major attempt to limit emissions in a global treaty, partly because quickly developing and increasingly competitive countries like China and India were not required to set emissions reduction goals of their own.

China and India, meanwhile, have said that the industrialized world, which has been responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions to date, must commit to far deeper cuts before negotiations at Copenhagen can succeed.

A show of resolve by the United States about doing its part to combat global warming is considered critical to the outcome of the Copenhagen talks. Yet the prospect of action by the United States Senate on climate change appeared dim before the Copenhagen talks, with Congress mired in the fight over health care and Democrats divided on climate change measures.

Regardless of Congressional action, the Obama administration announced in early October 2009 that it was planning new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from hundreds of power plants and large industrial factories.

Good or bad, any climate agreement that comes out of the December meeting will bear Copenhagen’s name. And the tenor of the meetings is likely to reflect Denmark’s sober brand of environmentalism. The government has proposed new fines to keep activists in check during the meetings – $2,000 for breaking through a police cordon or wearing a mask during demonstrations.

Spammers, Evildoers, and Opportunists:

And so, like the goat sacrificers and snake oil salesmen before them, a new breed of con man was born, the Search Engine Optimizer. These scammers claim that they can dance the magic dance that will please the Google Gods and make eyeballs rain down upon you.

Do. Not. Trust. Them.

The problem with SEO is that the good advice is obvious, the rest doesn’t work, and it’s poisoning the web. I’m going to tell you about the problems, and then tell you the one true way to generate traffic on the web, based on my own 14 years of hits and misses.

Body Beautiful:

“I’ve been that girl, flipping through magazines trying to find just one person who looked a little bit like me,” she said of the reaction to her photo. “And when I didn’t find it I would start to think there’s something wrong with the way that I looked. I used to be so self-conscious in a bikini because my stomach wasn’t perfectly defined. But everyone has different body shapes. And it’s not all about the physical. If you walk on the beach in your bikini with confidence and you feel sexy, people will see you that way too.”

On another note, our definition of beauty in Singapore might need to change based on a cursory glance at the women magazines found in my doctor’s waiting room – where are the Asian women?

You don’t know Dollah Kassim:

There should never be more Singaporean Liverpool fans in Kallang Stadium
than Singaporean Singapore fans.
It is simply not acceptable.
This is Kallang Stadium, not Anfield.

A country without heroes, is a country with no need for patriotism, no need for unity,
of self sacrificing for you neighbour, and that is a very scary thought.
Dollah Kassim like all the footballers of their generation did these things
Sacrifice family time, their jobs, putting everything on the line,
to teach us what it means to be us.

via: SingaporeDaily

Post captures what has been lost in Singapore football and how our nation has been worse off due to that loss. I missed the days of the Kallang roar, when my Uncle brought me to watch the matches. When we stamped our feet on the ground…. When we shouted ‘referee kayu’. When we did the wave… When we knew we would beat Brunei and make the goal difference nicer.

Note:

If I ever say soccer instead of football, and I’m with you, and you call me out on it, 1 beer for you.

Varargs:

As a client, you should take advantage of them whenever the API offers them. Important uses in core APIs include reflection, message formatting, and the new printf facility. As an API designer, you should use them sparingly, only when the benefit is truly compelling. Generally speaking, you should not overload a varargs method, or it will be difficult for programmers to figure out which overloading gets called.

Object[] args versus Object... args