Wo ist der Strudelhausen, Englander?

Here's another enthralling MSN conversation.

I should add that it took him a full minute and a half of mental effort to come up with the second line he typed. It's odd, because in his email to me he seemed vaguely coherent.

Still, anyway, however, though, but and meanwhile, I have had this on my hard drive since the beginning of Freshers Week and haven't ever got around to uploading it: http://www.angelfire.com/alt/wong/irclog3.txt As you can see, the address is the same as usual, but with a 3 on the end instead of a 2. Clever, that.

You'll notice that it's very short, and I'm afraid it'll probably stay that way... despite numerous people asking me, I've failed to tell people why I've decided not to go in to the chatroom this year. I actually had precisely what I was going to say worked out in my head, but when it came to typing it up it seemed like too much of an attack on one person - something that I think is a childish thing to put on an LJ, and also something which my conscience doesn't allow me to post anywhere, regardless of my feelings about anyone. Basically, I've been thinking about the less great aspects of the last two years and trying to correct them. So now instead of a clear explanation, you've got this confusing and frustratingly cryptic entry, in the style of the very kind of entry that I find so annoying myself. Who knows, I may well crack at some point and decide I can't live without it, probably when the project's deadline is near.

I apologise for the above mess. Normal service will be resumed in the next entry.

CS3099: Playing With Lego

This evening I've been trying to improve the robot, and I've come up with this work of art.

http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/robot1.jpg
http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/robot2.jpg
http://wired.st-and.ac.uk/~wong/robot3.jpg

I find the eyes slightly spooky, but it's meant to give an idea of where it's meant to be facing.

The head section can rotate independently of the body - and it's faster than you might think, as well - so this ugly creature can easily face one way and travel in another. I haven't yet tried writing a program to control it, so its only function as yet is to move backwards and forwards at random and maniacally spin its head round in circles.

The workload isn't that bad this year so far - the practicals feel more like tutorials, except rather harder - and with the disadvantage that they have to be handed in rather than bluffed through.

(On the subject of robots, someone on the TDC mentioned a site about the old Sonic cartoon today. I've been reminded that in it there was a machine that turned normal creatures in to robots, which seems a midly disturbing thought to me now.)