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Sunday, February 14th, 2021

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Coding Adventure: Chess AI


Given yesterday's foray into coding Rock, Scissors, Paper, Lizard, Spock and Tic, Tac, Toe, I woke up today with the idle thought about playing chess against my own computer opponent. This isn't a new thought, but it is also not something I have ever delved into lightly before. So when I opened YouTube and saw this video, I of course decided to watch it.

He's coding in Java, which I have experience with from probably 20 years ago, so I am not going to use any of his code snippets, but the discussion was still illuminating as he covered various issues he faced and some methods he used in determining moves, etc. So, with the snow coming down outside and the dogs gathered by the fire, I'm going to start my own chess quest.

2/14/2021 8:10 am | | Tags: programming, chess

I don't want to alarm anyone, but it is still snowing here. This is definitely the most snow I've ever dealt with, except when visiting family or on a snow trip.


Lowercarbon Capital

Chris Sacca is probably best known as the cowboy shirt wearing billionaire from his episodes on Shark Tank. He had a very successful in Silicon Valley of picking the right deals and raking in money. Nice to see him trying to take initiative and put his wealth to work to drive capitalism in the right way.

2/14/2021 2:27 pm | | Tags: environmentalism

Python online Textbook

Now that I've gotten a few Python projects under my belt by process of code segments and rough guesses, I figured it was time I give a book a read and learn what else Python holds in store for me.

2/14/2021 2:37 pm | | Tags: programming, python

USDA website on Microwave Food Safety

I came across this page after investigating aluminum in microwaves after a friend had a food in a store bought container which claimed its aluminum base was microwave safe? Apparently small amounts are safe, though she definitely had issues with hers. However, on this page I didn't get any conclusive info, it did include this very useful test for how to determine the wattage of your microwave:

"Time-to-Boil Test"

Measure a cup of water in a 2-cup glass measure. Add ice cubes; stir until water is ice cold. Discard ice cubes and pour out any water more than 1 cup. Set the microwave on high 4 minutes, but watch the water through the window to see when it boils.

If water boils in less than 2 minutes, it is a very high wattage oven 1000 watts or more.

If water boils in 2½ minutes, it is a high wattage oven about 800 watts or more.

If water boils in 3 minutes, it is an average wattage oven 650 to 700 watts or more.

If water boils in more than 3 minutes or not by 4 minutes, it is a slow oven 300 to 500 watts.

Use the minimum cooking time given for high wattage ovens; use the maximum cooking time for slow ovens. The minimum cooking time may need to be reduced for very high wattages.

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