The following was the first big assignment from my Data Organization in C class. In it we were given strings of 18 characters. We had to split these up into nine two-digit values that compose a theoretical 3×3 grid. Some of the values in the strings we were given were missing, so it was up to us to programatically go through and fill in those missing values.

This was possible because in a solvable grid, all rows, columns, and diagonals would sum up to the same number and no values would repeat. So if we could check the sums against each other we could iterate through combinations of missing values until a solution set was produced. I’ve so far brute-forced my way to the solution with nine(!) nested loops. Perhaps I’ll post my program in a bit.

I’ve been working on a Star Field Simulator for the Meow Wold Due Return Installation at the Santa Fe CCA in May. The installation is going to fill a 6,000 sq/ft room with an alien environment and a crash-landed inter-dimensional space ship. The sky is going to be composed of 384 LED stars running and pulsing on 48 different circuits. I’ve been writing a Sim for all of this in Processing so we can see how things may be handled. The project is easily going to be insane, and I encourage anyone interested to learn more and to support the Due Return on Kickstarter. If you have (or download) Processing, you can download and play around with the sim till your heart’s content.

Meow Wolf Site
Star Sim v4.0 .zip

//Blinky LED
#define LED 13
#define BUTTON 7

int val = 0;
int old_val = 0;
int state = 0;

void setup(){
  pinMode(LED,OUTPUT);
  pinMode(BUTTON,INPUT);
}

void loop(){
  val = digitalRead(BUTTON);
  if((val == HIGH) && (old_val == LOW)){
    state = 1 - state;
    delay(10);
  }

  old_val = val;

  if(state == 1){
    digitalWrite(LED, HIGH);
  } else {
    digitalWrite(LED,LOW);
  }
}

(picture of the circuit when I can find my camera cord)

I’m learning how to damage image files by splicing two or more together. Never produces the results you would expect, but fun none-the-less. Damnit.

In the meantime I’ve begun working on this:

Which is to be a Unix (written in Python) text adventure exploration game. I thought it would be swell to populate your actual file system with secrets and spooks, like exploring a creepy old mansion, so I’ve been building an interface where you actually move through the directories on your hard drive and interact with the files you find. It’s very early on, and will take a lot of work (which I may or may not put in), but it’s produced some pleasing learning results thus far. I’ll keep me posted.

Fill Er Up Boss

I am moving in both place and mind. I have been working as a web designer/ developer for a number of years. Largely it has been satisfying and educational work. There is much intrigue to me in understanding these technologies we inhabit. It is wonderful work to enable and empower individual humans and projects, less so to dress up faceless business and spin one’s wheels. In moving place I am raising money. In moving mind I am raising awareness and quality. Templates are well and good where personality lacks. Templates are an insult to personality. Many friends with websites are left with no place to turn but to the vile template overlords. Who can afford a website?

For swaggeringly deflated rates I will design/redesign/and/or/redevelop the websites of humans. The projects will be addressed as they come in, and I will take every measure possible to turn them around in no more than a week’s time. All the sites will be collected and linked on a communal site at the end of the project so that friends may share friends and websites alike.

I am a designer, programmer, and tinkerer. Here is the evidence:

alt/ATL Delete (professionally)
OR/AND

ATL/alt Website (casually)

Send me adjectives, designs you like, and what you’re looking for in a home on the internet. Please no: “I’d like to develop like a Facebook type application for my readers.” or “Can you make like, YouTube?” No more social networks. Let’s talk about you.
All sites built from scratch to spec. Quick, clean, and compliant code that’ll grow old slow and well.

Blogger and WordPress friendly. If there’s a question about features/functionality, e-mail first and we’ll discuss it. These should be quick projects, not big builds.

Kickstarter Project Link: Friends With Websites

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