Thoughts of a Psych/Code Monkey/Guitarist

Who said there's no money in programming? Today, I managed to pick up US$43 from the nice people at Citigroup. They sponsored a TopCoder programming competition, in which I came 3rd in my 'room' (300 coders split into rooms of around 20), so got part of the overal prize purse. However, as the first check they owe me still hasn't arrived (about 4 months late), I'm not really holding my breath for this. In much more intersting news, International PatFute day is coming up quickly (July 7th for those of you playing at home)! And in recognition of this once-a-year event, plus the fact that I've got too much free time on my hands, I'm trying to make PatFute3D, the new and improved version, with custom teams, stadiums and possibly later network play :) Soon i might be putting up the format for the teams, so you can create your own if you want, but until then, if you have anything you *really* want in the game, TAG to the right--> Alternatively, you can try out t...

Update! finally....yes, i've finally decided to take a break from my non-study to write some more in here... Firstly, thanks to anyone who's been listening to my songs - 32 plays in two days :D - and now I have enough cables to do more things, e.g. record background midi percussion, i shuold be uploading a few more songs soon. Rent-a-monkey-guitarist is still operational, so please TAG away with song suggestions :) Part from that, nothing much is happening...not doing much study, first exam is monday...before then is soccer playing (friday) and soccer coaching (saturday match), plus the big programming design competition starts two wednesdays from now, so will be rather busy then. A small tip i have: children's quiz-shows these days lower your IQ when you watch them. It's not just the questions...one i was watching had a board, including arrows that pointed the way to go, yet the player *still* went 180 degrees the wrong way...one wonders what happens to these people wh...

Wow, my first ever poker tournament... the nice people at www.pokerroom.com have free-roll tournaments, where bascially you start with nothing, and if you end up in the top 40 (of 2400) you win real money. So, over the last day I've been fine-tuning my probability-calculating skills, plus learning some strategies to read actions. So, here's a summary of what happened: 11.00pm: Game begins. I end up in the first hand with pair of kings after river, and win :) good start 11.21pm: after not much, hanging around the inital $1000, I get a pair of queens after the flop, and bet through to the river, $100 each time. One guy still with me, who thinks quite a bit then goes all in. I call his bluff, and double up 11.34pm: Tables get merged as people start bowing out. Still no good hands, but sitting next to 'KirkRiker'. Amazingly only 1000ppl left. This is supposed to take 4hrs, but seems like it might be faster this time. lets hope so 11:41pm: Sat around doing nothing, which ...

That's right - I now have two weeks until my first exam, and no uni until then :D I've promised myself no study for the next few days, giving myself the chance to catch up on sleep, guitar and programming. To everyone else with exams or essays due over the next few weeks...goodluck! In other news, thanks for everyone who's listening to my songs - Final Goodbye is now up to #591 in the soundclick charts. I've also had an email about people who want to use a song on a CD, but I have a feeling it's just Spam :p To keep you interested though, my cover of My Immortal is now up, and over the next few days I might improve any of the songs that are on there, or if I'm really bored I'll try to write another :) Until then, i'll be trying to get a TAG-boardish type engine going, once I can figure out how to do certain things. Also new is another contender in the monkey picture competition: http://www23.brinkster.com/padster/pics/codemonkey4.gif

Yay! Good to be back on successful terms in indoor soccer. After finding - to our suprise and delight - that the good team had departed from our division and left us as the top team, we managed to prove why by winning 14-0. So that was a good start to the weekend :) And then, to top it off, I was introduced to the Bodie Mansion, including his not-so-intelligent intelligenRobotic Vacuum cleaner Bob. In coding news, the dates for two of the big competitions of the year have been announced. During exams, but hey, that means I have heaps of free time ;) Let's hope I don't stuff up as badly as last year....Also, on the todo list is a Padster TAG-board, so if/when that's up and running i'll add it to the side there --> And after a bit of a lull in the music department, I've decided to add to the small selection by including in an instrumental cover - it's easier than writing a whole song, afterall :p. I'll be My Immortal (Evanescence) because it sounds good ev...

While I'm filling in time, I thought I'd update you on the adventures of Clive. Yes, I received another message today: Good morning Helen, how's Clive? Big Hug and kiss to you both. Look after yourself. Love etty. Despite the entertainment to be gained from etty and her friend Clive, I felt it best to reply that they had the wrong number. Which makes me wonder - how many SMSs get sent to the wrong person every day? I mean, if you call the wrong person, you know as soon as they pick it up. But with SMSs, you may never know.... Oooh, other good news is: 1) Final Goodbye is up to 784 in the charts. There must be some critical mass place, where if you rise above it people you don't know will listen to your song just because you're above the critical mass, yet I'm guessing the magic value is above 784. So, I'd better either publicise more :p, or actually finish it and get someone to sing. Any suggestions? Clive, perhaps? 2) I've got another job :) Coaching so...