September 27, 2007
September 21, 2007
Last August 25 (geez that was a loooong time ago), I joined the first-ever Rubik's Cube Philippines Open (RCPO 2007). It was the first Rubik's cube tournament held in the Philippines that was officially sanctioned by the World Cube Association (WCA), and I felt tremendously honored to have been part of history in the making! The event was organized by the Philippine Cubers Association (PCA), of which I am a very active member lately.
See the official RCPO 2007 results here... in a nutshell, Mat Almeida (Fil-Portuguese guy, and also the WCA delegate) and JB Canares (who flew all the way from Cebu) dominated most of the events. My results: 17th (out of 28) in the 3x3x3 event, and 8th (out of 17) in the 2x2x2 event. I also have some photos and a couple of videos from the event.
The RCPO 2007 was held at Robinsons Metro East, from 10 AM lasting into the night. I went with Akie and Allan, who unfortunately (for them?) chose not to compete in the event, but they still accompanied me and I was very glad for their company even if they both had to leave early. It's a really good thing I went with them because I didn't know anyone and I was worried about embarrassing myself with my relatively slow times, but because I had my friends with me I could just laugh and just enjoy the day no matter what.
There were a couple of events in the RCPO 2007: 3x3x3, 3x3x3 one-handed, 3x3x3 blindfolded, 4x4x4, 5x5x5, and 2x2x2. Among those events, only the 3x3x3 had a 3-round structure: only the top 20 from round 1 would make it into round 2, and only the top 8 from round 2 would compete in the final round. For every event/round, each person has 5 tries to solve the puzzle. The puzzle is scrambled (by people designated as "scramblers" who also act as timekeepers) according to a computer-generated random sequence of moves. The best and worst among the 5 times are dropped (to account for good/bad luck) and the remaining 3 middle times are averaged to comprise your official average time for that event/round, and contestants are ranked according to their averages.
I only chose to join the 2x2x2 and 3x3x3 events. The 3x3x3 was the first event of the day. I was really nervous going up to the stage in front and I didn't even have any idea how to use the Stackmat timers! Fortunately, the Stackmats were a breeze to use and I didn't encounter any problems.
In round 1, I posted an average of 44.56 seconds, which was good for 19th place and barely made it to round 2! In round 2, I fared even better: an average of 38.31 seconds (my personal best average at the time!), good for 17th place, which unfortunately was far from the cut-off for the final round. So all in all, I ranked 17th out of 28 competitors... definitely better than I expected! My "X method" (corners-first) was not a very fast method, not ideal at all for speedcubing so I think I got a bit lucky here and there. Here is a video of my first-ever official solve (first try in round 1), with a time of 45.08 seconds:
Here is a photo of the Stackmat of my best time in round 2, 30.81 seconds, which was also my personal best at the time:
The 2x2x2 event was one of the final events of the day, just before the final round of the 3x3x3. I was pondering whether to even participate in the event because I had a ticket to a film-showing in the evening of Pisay the Movie (directed by Aureus Solito), set in my high school alma mater. I'd miss the film-showing if I chose to stay for the 2x2x2 event. It was a chance to meet up with some of my high school buddies but I decided that the RCPO was more important to me at the time; it would later turn out to be a very good decision and I'm very glad that I stayed...
...I managed 8th place (out of 17), with an average time of 14.21 seconds (the photo below is my official timesheet; yes it's just an index card):
...all this despite only having bought a 2x2x2 cube earlier in the day! So I didn't have a lot of time to practice solving the 2x2x2 cube. Luckily, my corners-first method was well-suited to solving the 2x2x2 (which is only made of corners, essentially) so the learning curve was not so steep. (Later on, after a few days of practice, my average dropped down to less than 12 seconds so I could've done better had I practiced earlier.) Here's a video of my best 2x2x2 solve (10.50 seconds):
All in all, my experience at the RCPO 2007 was a very memorable one. Not only did I come in the company of friends, I also made a couple of new speedcuber acquaintances: Victor, Benjo, Jerome, Vernon, and Mat! It also rekindled my passion for speedcubing and now I'm more determined than ever to reach new heights in speedcubing (i.e., beat my personal records), and hopefully win an event or two someday.
(I have an official record page with the WCA now... woohoo! Watch out for me in the future!)
See the official RCPO 2007 results here... in a nutshell, Mat Almeida (Fil-Portuguese guy, and also the WCA delegate) and JB Canares (who flew all the way from Cebu) dominated most of the events. My results: 17th (out of 28) in the 3x3x3 event, and 8th (out of 17) in the 2x2x2 event. I also have some photos and a couple of videos from the event.
The RCPO 2007 was held at Robinsons Metro East, from 10 AM lasting into the night. I went with Akie and Allan, who unfortunately (for them?) chose not to compete in the event, but they still accompanied me and I was very glad for their company even if they both had to leave early. It's a really good thing I went with them because I didn't know anyone and I was worried about embarrassing myself with my relatively slow times, but because I had my friends with me I could just laugh and just enjoy the day no matter what.
There were a couple of events in the RCPO 2007: 3x3x3, 3x3x3 one-handed, 3x3x3 blindfolded, 4x4x4, 5x5x5, and 2x2x2. Among those events, only the 3x3x3 had a 3-round structure: only the top 20 from round 1 would make it into round 2, and only the top 8 from round 2 would compete in the final round. For every event/round, each person has 5 tries to solve the puzzle. The puzzle is scrambled (by people designated as "scramblers" who also act as timekeepers) according to a computer-generated random sequence of moves. The best and worst among the 5 times are dropped (to account for good/bad luck) and the remaining 3 middle times are averaged to comprise your official average time for that event/round, and contestants are ranked according to their averages.
I only chose to join the 2x2x2 and 3x3x3 events. The 3x3x3 was the first event of the day. I was really nervous going up to the stage in front and I didn't even have any idea how to use the Stackmat timers! Fortunately, the Stackmats were a breeze to use and I didn't encounter any problems.
In round 1, I posted an average of 44.56 seconds, which was good for 19th place and barely made it to round 2! In round 2, I fared even better: an average of 38.31 seconds (my personal best average at the time!), good for 17th place, which unfortunately was far from the cut-off for the final round. So all in all, I ranked 17th out of 28 competitors... definitely better than I expected! My "X method" (corners-first) was not a very fast method, not ideal at all for speedcubing so I think I got a bit lucky here and there. Here is a video of my first-ever official solve (first try in round 1), with a time of 45.08 seconds:
The 2x2x2 event was one of the final events of the day, just before the final round of the 3x3x3. I was pondering whether to even participate in the event because I had a ticket to a film-showing in the evening of Pisay the Movie (directed by Aureus Solito), set in my high school alma mater. I'd miss the film-showing if I chose to stay for the 2x2x2 event. It was a chance to meet up with some of my high school buddies but I decided that the RCPO was more important to me at the time; it would later turn out to be a very good decision and I'm very glad that I stayed...
...I managed 8th place (out of 17), with an average time of 14.21 seconds (the photo below is my official timesheet; yes it's just an index card):
...all this despite only having bought a 2x2x2 cube earlier in the day! So I didn't have a lot of time to practice solving the 2x2x2 cube. Luckily, my corners-first method was well-suited to solving the 2x2x2 (which is only made of corners, essentially) so the learning curve was not so steep. (Later on, after a few days of practice, my average dropped down to less than 12 seconds so I could've done better had I practiced earlier.) Here's a video of my best 2x2x2 solve (10.50 seconds):
(I have an official record page with the WCA now... woohoo! Watch out for me in the future!)
Labels: :D, contests, RCPO 2007, Rubik's cube
September 10, 2007
I've got a new camera, a Canon PowerShot A710IS. (Picture from Amazon.com, also see an in-depth review here.) This is the first digital camera I've ever bought for myself. It was heartily recommended to me by Andreé and I bought it through Andreé's officemate JC (thanks JC!) who came from Japan, where electronics are much cheaper than here in the Philippines. It set me back "only" 12,500 pesos; in most stores here, it sells for 24,500 so I definitely got a very good deal!So far my experience with the A710IS has been absolutely fantastic... I love it! Why? Because it just works. Most of the shots I take with it turn out great straight out of the camera. Of course, some of that is my doing (hehehe) but still, this camera gives good results much more often than not. The image stabilization works like a charm and I never thought the 6x optical zoom would come in handy in so many situations. These two features make it possible to capture some shots which other cameras wouldn't be able to, like this shot below, which was taken from inside a moving vehicle. The 6x zoom helped me capture the entire scene through a tinted window which had just a small circular untinted part. The image-stabilization helped neutralize the bumps during the ride. (And it's amazing how I was able to keep the horizon straight!)
Also, I quite appreciate the A710IS' full manual controls (ISO, white balance, aperture, shutter speed, focus) since I'm trying to learn the ropes of digital photography. As an added bonus, it's still reasonably light and compact (it'll fit in your pocket) but not too small that it becomes difficult it to grip. It also runs on 2 AA batteries, so getting extra juice is never a problem.
On the minus side, like most non-DSLRs, it doesn't work too well in low-light conditions (especially indoors) but the image-stabilization helps out a bit here. It also has some trouble with high-contrast scenes, but again, this problem isn't specific to the A710IS. I also would've liked a vari-angle LCD like the A640, which can come in handy at times. But despite these shortcomings, the A710IS is a fantastic camera which really lets you just "point and shoot". If you want to look at some shots I took with my A710IS, check out my photos from our Boracay getaway (the camera arrived just two days before the trip!).
Since this was my first camera, I was very willing to burn some cash for accessories and whatnot. So I went and got myself a Sanyo Refresh Quick Charger Max (2700 mAh maximum, comes with two Sanyo 2700 mAh batteries) which I bought from Luey via TipidPC for only 1,400 pesos (thanks Luey!). I also bought an extra pair of Sanyo 2700 batteries (175 each), plus four Sanyo Eneloop batteries (99.50 each); I'll use the 2700s is my primary batteries and keep the Eneloops charged as backups. For storage, I bought a pqi 2 GB SD card (920 pesos from CD-R King) and for a case, I bought a Case Logic TBC-3 with lots of room for batteries for 580 pesos.
So all in all, I spent 15,228 pesos for the camera and extras. Still a bargain! What's next for me? A tripod!
(Addendum: Damn, maybe I should've waited for the A650 IS? 12.1 megapixels with a larger sensor than the A710, the newer DIGIC III processor with face-detection, a vari-angle, higher-resolution LCD, 6x optical zoom with image stabilization, and even a dedicated ISO button, it seems! Well worth it despite being heavier with 4 AA batteries. Oh well, such is the world of digital camera... there's a newer model every month!)
Labels: :D, A710IS, Canon, digital cameras, gadgets
July 19, 2007
The contents of my Fukuda "gift pack", a.k.a. definitive proof that God exists:
I thought it only contained "24 cartons each of Fukuda Potato Stixz (sour cream and onion flavor) and Fukuda Twister Pea Chips (creamy onion and garlic)" (quoted from my last entry)". Boy, I was wrong. But I was never so glad to be so wrong:
...or at the very least, you should at least think that my whole Fukuda experience was pretty darn cool! Here is one happy kid:
And this is me with Mr. Fukuda, Fukuda-san, or whatever the mascot's name is:
And even better: defying all logic, I actually lost 2 pounds this past week (from excitement?), despite my new hoard of snaxz. Fukuda product reviews to come in the next few posts.
(For more pictures, please visit this album on Multiply. I highly recommend reading the captions, starting from the first photo. Many thanks to Andreé and my brother to )
I thought it only contained "24 cartons each of Fukuda Potato Stixz (sour cream and onion flavor) and Fukuda Twister Pea Chips (creamy onion and garlic)" (quoted from my last entry)". Boy, I was wrong. But I was never so glad to be so wrong:
- 30 boxes of Fukuda Chipz - 5 flavors: Original, Wasabi Lobster, Sour Cream and Onion, Barbecue, Cheese. 2 sizes: one big, one small. 3 boxes per size per flavor. 5 x 2 x 3 = 30.
- 18 boxes of Fukuda Twister Pea Chips - 3 flavors: Original, Wasabi Lobster, Creamy Onion and Garlic. 2 sizes: one big, one small. 3 boxes per size per flavor. 3 x 2 x 3 = 18.
- 15 boxes of Fukuda Potato Stixz - 5 flavors: Original, Wasabi Lobster, Sour Cream and Onion, Barbecue, Cheese. Only 1 size. 3 boxes per size per flavor. 5 x 1 x 3 = 15.
- Grand total: 63 boxes of Fukuda snacks. There goes my diet!
...or at the very least, you should at least think that my whole Fukuda experience was pretty darn cool! Here is one happy kid:
And this is me with Mr. Fukuda, Fukuda-san, or whatever the mascot's name is:
And even better: defying all logic, I actually lost 2 pounds this past week (from excitement?), despite my new hoard of snaxz. Fukuda product reviews to come in the next few posts.
(For more pictures, please visit this album on Multiply. I highly recommend reading the captions, starting from the first photo. Many thanks to Andreé and my brother to )
July 14, 2007
My Fukuda gift pack has arrived! It took a few weeks, but I was pleasantly surprised when a truck actually arrived to deliver it at our doorstep! I was stunned!
Holy lords of junk food! The "gift pack" turned out to be two whole boxes of snacks. That's 24 cartons each of Fukuda Potato Stixz (sour cream and onion flavor) and Fukuda Twister Pea Chips (creamy onion and garlic). It's not a lifetime supply of Fukuda Chipz as I had secretly hoped, but at the very least I'll have a lot of ammunition for "merienda treat" at the office.
My thoughts of these products will come some time later, when I've actually given them the taste test. The entire review process will be well documented, of course.
Thanks for pulling through, Gilbert!
Holy lords of junk food! The "gift pack" turned out to be two whole boxes of snacks. That's 24 cartons each of Fukuda Potato Stixz (sour cream and onion flavor) and Fukuda Twister Pea Chips (creamy onion and garlic). It's not a lifetime supply of Fukuda Chipz as I had secretly hoped, but at the very least I'll have a lot of ammunition for "merienda treat" at the office.
My thoughts of these products will come some time later, when I've actually given them the taste test. The entire review process will be well documented, of course.
Thanks for pulling through, Gilbert!
May 31, 2007
Got this interesting email from TopCoder a few days back:
After the match, I moved back up to Division 1. Part of me wishes I hadn't, because I've had success in Division 2 before, and staying in Division 2 gives me my best chance of winning more prizes. But there's no way I'm tanking intentionally; I've still got coder's pride after all.
Hello punzki,Sweet! This was after I'd dropped to Division 2 (again) and placed 1st in my room and 5th overall in SRM 350. I was excited about finally winning some TopCoder cash, until I found out about all the paperwork I need to accomplish within 60 days, and that TopCoder will withhold 30% in taxes from my winnings. Still, $22.40 is money well-earned and I plan on using it to celebrate a bit.
Congratulations! The results of TopCoder SRM 350 are official. You have
won $32.0 (sic).
After the match, I moved back up to Division 1. Part of me wishes I hadn't, because I've had success in Division 2 before, and staying in Division 2 gives me my best chance of winning more prizes. But there's no way I'm tanking intentionally; I've still got coder's pride after all.
May 22, 2007
We had PLDT myDSL installed here at home yesterday. It's the usual 999 pesos-per-month promo for 512 kbps bandwidth that they've been floating around aggressively lately. It also bundles in our residential landline (no more monthly charges), plus free IDD calls for a year!
I must say that the speed is impressive, and it sometimes even exceeds the advertised bandwidth. Results from online speed tests aren't consistent (depending on the latency to the test server), but here's the best result I've had so far:
Not bad! And PLDT gives us a public IP address as well, just in case I ever want to access my home computers remotely.
What happens to our Smart BRO subscription now? myDSL trumps Smart BRO's 384 kbps by far. Unfortunately, we're locked into their service until July, so until then, we basically have dual broadband. It's too bad that we don't have a router capable of taking advantage of both (i.e., a load-balancing router), so Smart BRO will just act as a backup until we can officially drop it.
I must say that the speed is impressive, and it sometimes even exceeds the advertised bandwidth. Results from online speed tests aren't consistent (depending on the latency to the test server), but here's the best result I've had so far:
Not bad! And PLDT gives us a public IP address as well, just in case I ever want to access my home computers remotely.
What happens to our Smart BRO subscription now? myDSL trumps Smart BRO's 384 kbps by far. Unfortunately, we're locked into their service until July, so until then, we basically have dual broadband. It's too bad that we don't have a router capable of taking advantage of both (i.e., a load-balancing router), so Smart BRO will just act as a backup until we can officially drop it.
May 18, 2007
Two weeks after getting into the gym habit, I decided to take some measurements again. After all, I was feeling a bit lighter and healthier, and had some extra spring to my step, so I figured that meant that I'd lost a few pounds.
I measured my weight with the same machine used in our "Biggest Loser" contest, and I was elated to find my weight at a "mere" 196 pounds, even with my shoes on! You may think that this isn't such a big deal, but for me it was huge (or the opposite, actually, har har). For the longest time, I've always weighed in it over 200 pounds, and it's always been bothering me that I was that much overweight. Of course, 196 pounds is still overweight, but that 200-pound barrier was this hump that I've always wanted to get over... or under, rather. This is a great achievement for me, and it sure does a lot for me mentally as well. It gave me a huge psychological boost and it indicated that I was finally doing things right.
I've already accomplished what I wanted to achieve in our contest: to get into the habit of exercising and to start living a healthier lifestyle. Of course, actually winning the contest would be a very nice reward, so I'm definitely not slacking off!
And guess what? I've also lost an inch off my waistline! As a "consequence", I now have to tighten my belt by one notch.
To tell you the truth though, finding out I'd lost weight wasn't very surprising. I've somehow managed to maintain my weight in the 200 to 210-pound range with my regular eating habits; my weight was already very "stable". So if you just add a dash of exercise and combine that with lessened food intake, I was sure to lose some weight. All this simply proves the age old formula for weight-loss: Higher energy consumption + lower energy intake = lost pounds.
I measured my weight with the same machine used in our "Biggest Loser" contest, and I was elated to find my weight at a "mere" 196 pounds, even with my shoes on! You may think that this isn't such a big deal, but for me it was huge (or the opposite, actually, har har). For the longest time, I've always weighed in it over 200 pounds, and it's always been bothering me that I was that much overweight. Of course, 196 pounds is still overweight, but that 200-pound barrier was this hump that I've always wanted to get over... or under, rather. This is a great achievement for me, and it sure does a lot for me mentally as well. It gave me a huge psychological boost and it indicated that I was finally doing things right.
I've already accomplished what I wanted to achieve in our contest: to get into the habit of exercising and to start living a healthier lifestyle. Of course, actually winning the contest would be a very nice reward, so I'm definitely not slacking off!
And guess what? I've also lost an inch off my waistline! As a "consequence", I now have to tighten my belt by one notch.
To tell you the truth though, finding out I'd lost weight wasn't very surprising. I've somehow managed to maintain my weight in the 200 to 210-pound range with my regular eating habits; my weight was already very "stable". So if you just add a dash of exercise and combine that with lessened food intake, I was sure to lose some weight. All this simply proves the age old formula for weight-loss: Higher energy consumption + lower energy intake = lost pounds.
Labels: :D, Biggest Loser, exercise, health
May 10, 2007
I'm very proud of my performance on today's TopCoder Single Round Match 348. First place in my room, and 7th overall in Division 2! How I wish today's match had cash at stake...
I would've ranked higher (at least 3rd overall, in fact!) if I hadn't resubmitted for the 1000-point problem, which got me a huge deduction. I had to recheck my solution because I noticed that the return type was long and my code only counted ints. And it later turns out that none of the system tests had a return value that exceeded int's capacity...
After dipping down to Division 2 for the past three matches, I'm now back to Division 1 with a blue rating! The competition is going to be tougher but at least I can really feel that I'm improving and that I'm more prepared for the harder problems.
I would've ranked higher (at least 3rd overall, in fact!) if I hadn't resubmitted for the 1000-point problem, which got me a huge deduction. I had to recheck my solution because I noticed that the return type was long and my code only counted ints. And it later turns out that none of the system tests had a return value that exceeded int's capacity...
After dipping down to Division 2 for the past three matches, I'm now back to Division 1 with a blue rating! The competition is going to be tougher but at least I can really feel that I'm improving and that I'm more prepared for the harder problems.
Labels: :D, contests, programming, TopCoder
May 04, 2007
With just four weeks remaining in our "Biggest Loser" office-edition contest, I decided to try to get into our limited-slots, first-come-first-served fitness program (free one-month's access to Gold's Gym). As you can probably guess, a lot of people attempt to enroll in this program and very few make it, so I was very surprised when I found out that I made it in.
I marked off Friday morning (earlier today) as gym work out time. It was the first time I had ever worked out at a gym, and I was very confused at first with all the machinery and things that I could do. So I made an arrangement to have officemates/gym buddies with me on my first work out: GM and Ryann. I probably wouldn't have survived without them, and I would've been discouraged from working out in the future. They acted as my trainers and tour guides. I never knew there were so many ways to exercise and muscle groups to target. Thanks so much, guys!
I had a lot of fun even though I hadn't pushed my body to its limit in such a long time. I'm feeling fine, except that my legs are killing me after doing squats. Tomorrow I will probably have the worst time trying to get out of bed.
I marked off Friday morning (earlier today) as gym work out time. It was the first time I had ever worked out at a gym, and I was very confused at first with all the machinery and things that I could do. So I made an arrangement to have officemates/gym buddies with me on my first work out: GM and Ryann. I probably wouldn't have survived without them, and I would've been discouraged from working out in the future. They acted as my trainers and tour guides. I never knew there were so many ways to exercise and muscle groups to target. Thanks so much, guys!
I had a lot of fun even though I hadn't pushed my body to its limit in such a long time. I'm feeling fine, except that my legs are killing me after doing squats. Tomorrow I will probably have the worst time trying to get out of bed.
April 03, 2007
I've qualified for Online Round 3 of the 2007 TopCoder Open Marathon Match Competition! Take a look at the standings here. I dropped from my provisional rank of 85 to my final rank of 105 (the top 200 qualify). Still, not bad!
After coasting into Round 2, I found myself hard-pressed to survive the cut this time. The objective of this Marathon Match (see problem statement) was to create a player AI for a poker-like game; the rules are similar to five-card draw except that there's only two cards, the card values are only from 0 to 4, and there's an infinite number of each value in the "deck".
I made submission after submission, fine-tuning my algorithm to improve my score. At some point, I found the key to getting a good score: fold when your hand sucks... which is what you're supposed to do in real poker anyway. Being a poker player really helped!
My next objective is to make it to Round 4 (duh!) and to get a yellow rating (currently at blue). The competition will be much tougher next time and the race to get into the top 50 will be very tight.
After coasting into Round 2, I found myself hard-pressed to survive the cut this time. The objective of this Marathon Match (see problem statement) was to create a player AI for a poker-like game; the rules are similar to five-card draw except that there's only two cards, the card values are only from 0 to 4, and there's an infinite number of each value in the "deck".
I made submission after submission, fine-tuning my algorithm to improve my score. At some point, I found the key to getting a good score: fold when your hand sucks... which is what you're supposed to do in real poker anyway. Being a poker player really helped!
My next objective is to make it to Round 4 (duh!) and to get a yellow rating (currently at blue). The competition will be much tougher next time and the race to get into the top 50 will be very tight.
Labels: :D, contests, programming, TopCoder
March 22, 2007
I've qualified for Online Round 2 of the 2007 TopCoder Open Marathon Match Competition! Take a look at the standings here.
Well, that wasn't so hard. All you had to do was make a submission that compiled and you'd make it to the next round because the cut-off score was zero to become one of the top 500 advancers. Awesome achievement, huh? Well, I did score 2523.80 (and ranked 186) so I guess I actually earned my ticket to round 2... and a limited edition 2007 TopCoder Open t-shirt!
Well, that wasn't so hard. All you had to do was make a submission that compiled and you'd make it to the next round because the cut-off score was zero to become one of the top 500 advancers. Awesome achievement, huh? Well, I did score 2523.80 (and ranked 186) so I guess I actually earned my ticket to round 2... and a limited edition 2007 TopCoder Open t-shirt!
Labels: :D, contests, programming, TopCoder
March 19, 2007
I was invited by Dr. Rodrigo to be a mentor for the Ateneo teams joining in this year's Imagine Cup; more specifically, to the three teams joining the Software Design invitational. As a participant in the in IC 2004 (finalist in Brazil) and IC 2005 (didn't make the finals), I was more than happy to contribute what I can to the teams: project ideas, technical expertise, and lessons learned from the contest.The theme of this year's Imagine Cup is "
Labels: :D, books, contests, Imagine Cup
February 25, 2007
I just got my first online Go victory! After getting creamed by an average of 82.5 points in my first two online games, I finally achieved sweet success on my third try. (What they say about it being a charm, well it's true.)My two defeats were against non-beginners. I was devastated in my first game by a 10-kyu player despite a 9-stone handicap, and found similar failure in a no-handicap game against a 22-kyu player. Finally, I managed to score my maiden victory against a fellow beginner, "Alfa" from Indonesia. Here's a record of our game, in SGF format. It wasn't a pretty game at all; it looked like an authentic beginner's match, characterized by huge chunks of territory. But in the end it turns out that I was somewhat less of a beginner than my opponent; I won by 38.5 points! Here's what the board looked like at the end (I was playing white, click for a better view):
If you're looking to get started on Go, you can check out PANDA-glGo. Right out of the box, you can use it to edit and view games. But if you want to play Go against the computer, you'll have to get GNU GO as well and configure PANDA-glGo to use it; you can find the latest release on PANDA-glGo's download page. On the other hand, if you're itching to play against human opponents, you'll have to go to IGS-PandaNet and register for an account. There's also a Go tutorial on the site if you want to learn the rules of the game.
Watch out for me if ever you go online; my handle is "punzki" (as usual) and I'd be glad to have a match. It'd surely be more fun than always losing to the computer!
Labels: :D, board games, go, software
February 12, 2007
If you had noticed from my last entry, the source code of my "Name Bastardizer" is hosted on punzki.com. Yes, I have finally gotten around to purchasing my own hosting and domain!
Right now, there's absolutely nothing on it, except for links to Fantasy Sports Live (which I'll be moving to punzki.com in the future), and the new the RubeTube's new address: http://blog.punzki.com. Blogger's custom domains are awesome; your blog will still be hosted on Blogspot, but you can have it displayed on your own domain or subdomain. In other words, you get your own URL while still eating up Blogspot's storage and bandwidth. The old address, http://punzki.blogspot.com, will still work and will redirect to the new one (go ahead, try it!). http://www.punzki.com/blog is another alternate address.
Aside from the RubeTube and FSLive, punzki.com will play host to whatever projects I come up with in the future. Also, I have yet to think of an official "title" and tagline for punzki.com, so suggestions are very much welcome! Submissions for an official logo are also needed.
(Many thanks to my host, Philhosting.net, and their really cheap Windows hosting. Just check out their "Economy" hundred bucks a month plan... what a steal! And it's pretty fast, too.)
Right now, there's absolutely nothing on it, except for links to Fantasy Sports Live (which I'll be moving to punzki.com in the future), and the new the RubeTube's new address: http://blog.punzki.com. Blogger's custom domains are awesome; your blog will still be hosted on Blogspot, but you can have it displayed on your own domain or subdomain. In other words, you get your own URL while still eating up Blogspot's storage and bandwidth. The old address, http://punzki.blogspot.com, will still work and will redirect to the new one (go ahead, try it!). http://www.punzki.com/blog is another alternate address.
Aside from the RubeTube and FSLive, punzki.com will play host to whatever projects I come up with in the future. Also, I have yet to think of an official "title" and tagline for punzki.com, so suggestions are very much welcome! Submissions for an official logo are also needed.
(Many thanks to my host, Philhosting.net, and their really cheap Windows hosting. Just check out their "Economy" hundred bucks a month plan... what a steal! And it's pretty fast, too.)
Labels: :D, Blogger, Philhosting, Punzki, punzki.com, RubeTube
December 14, 2006
I took a day off from work yesterday to take one more step towards total freedom. That is, to apply for a driver's license.
My dad is currently on a business trip so I figured now would be as good a time as any to get a license, with the car being underutilized and all. With the help of A-1's corrupted non-divine intervention, the process was painless. It took the entire afternoon, but I was able to walk/commute away with a spanking new temporary driver's license. Why a temp? Because the LTO somehow managed to botch up my license and get the details wrong, which means I have to return within a few weeks time to get my license card.
My timing for getting a license was perfect; I was able to use it before it was two hours old. As soon as I got home (and after asking permission from my dad), I hopped into the family car and took it out for a spin: Andreé and I had a party to go to in the evening.
I hadn't driven in over a month but my confidence level was nonetheless sky-high. The traffic was horrible, and the engine stalled a couple of times, but I was able to pick up Andreé and arrive at the destination (relatively) unscathed. More firsts: I stopped for gas for the first time ever, and at long last, I was able to drive Andreé home.
My dad is currently on a business trip so I figured now would be as good a time as any to get a license, with the car being underutilized and all. With the help of A-1's corrupted non-divine intervention, the process was painless. It took the entire afternoon, but I was able to walk/commute away with a spanking new temporary driver's license. Why a temp? Because the LTO somehow managed to botch up my license and get the details wrong, which means I have to return within a few weeks time to get my license card.
My timing for getting a license was perfect; I was able to use it before it was two hours old. As soon as I got home (and after asking permission from my dad), I hopped into the family car and took it out for a spin: Andreé and I had a party to go to in the evening.
I hadn't driven in over a month but my confidence level was nonetheless sky-high. The traffic was horrible, and the engine stalled a couple of times, but I was able to pick up Andreé and arrive at the destination (relatively) unscathed. More firsts: I stopped for gas for the first time ever, and at long last, I was able to drive Andreé home.
November 29, 2006
This is what I've been working my ass off for the past week. It was shown at our quarterly HP Philippines coffee talk yesterday. It was one of five presentations (all videos) done by new-hires from July to September, and our video won the new-hires presentation contest! The theme given to us was "Halloween before Christmas". Watch it, rate it, comment on it.
Now I can get back to my real job!
Now I can get back to my real job!
November 03, 2006
Andreé and I went for dinner at Almon Marina last night, followed by a nightcap at Starbucks. Our talk-about-whatever-comes-to-mind conversation led to the topic of Mastermind, the game about the ultimate triumph of logic and wits over deceit and trickery.And so we played Mastermind, using the receipt as the playing "board" and the paper wrapper of a straw as the place to keep the code pattern secret. To make the game faster, we played the variation where there are no duplicate colors (Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, White, blacK) in the pattern. We had just enough time for six games and we alternated roles. I lost our matchup by the slimmest of margins: Andreé solved in 4, 4, and 4 moves while I cracked the code in 4, 4, and 5 moves. Oh well, I made no mistakes except for being unlucky in that last game. We played one last match via SMS when we got back home, which I also lost, 5-4.
I just love spending quality time together.
(Interesting tidbits: Remember the picture on the Mastermind box cover? With the seated distinguished white gentleman and the alluring Asian woman standing behind him in a mysterious dark room? WTF was that about, anyway? Billionaire tycoon with exotic bodyguard? The picture was shot back in 1972 and they reunited for another shoot in 2003, for old times' sake.)
Original picture (1972)
31 years later (2003)Labels: :D, Andree, board games, Mastermind
October 27, 2006
Some highlights from the two-day offsite at Eagle Point, Batangas from October 20-21:
- Not getting any sleep the night before in attempting to (and eventually failing to) finish our new-hire presentation
- Getting probably an hour of sleep on the bus
- Travelling by boat to Sepoc beach for lunch and games
- Participating in the rebus-solving game and the hellish sack race (ten people in one sack, hopping downhill and then back uphill on the beach)
- Celebrating with the Orange team for our hard-fought overall victory
- Wading all terrified through the water back to the boat because it couldn't land near the beach
- Thinking of ways to cover up our failure in finishing the presentation but never got to execute our plans because of the organizers' fault
- Acting as a literal briefcase (i.e., wearing Wackey briefs over shorts) in the "Deal or No Deal" game
- Not being able to finish a can of San Mig Light due to an allergic reaction which made it hard to breathe
- Playing an hour of table tennis to shrug off the alcohol's effects
- Staying up all night hanging out with the Supplier Portal team and videoke after 5 AM
- Finally managed to get two hours of sleep
- Made it home dreadfully tired, but safe and sound
October 15, 2006
I drove my dad to the airport (business trip to Cebu) earlier today. Unlike my last driving stint, this time I had to drive the whole trip from start (from home) to finish (back home). I was really apprehensive about taking the car out because it had been two weeks since the last time I was at the steering wheel, but I decided to accept the job because I needed to get some practice in anyway. My brother willingly agreed to accompany us and act as secondary navigator.
The trip to the airport was tense because my dad is a terrible backseat driver, nitpicking at everything I did. The trip back home was similarly tense because I didn't have a driver's license yet, just a student permit. I'm glad to report that my brother and I got back home without much incident.
Driving = FUN!
The trip to the airport was tense because my dad is a terrible backseat driver, nitpicking at everything I did. The trip back home was similarly tense because I didn't have a driver's license yet, just a student permit. I'm glad to report that my brother and I got back home without much incident.
Driving = FUN!
