So, it’s the twenty-first day of the twelfth month of the twelfth year of the new millennium, and the World has not even begun to end yet……what do you do?
You check out some of my favourite Apocalypse themed videos, of course!
First up is the awesome My Little Pony spoof from Robot Chicken:
Second, here are some handy tips from Mario and Fafa of Glove and Boots:
Third, how about a Robopocalypse?
Happy Apocalypse Day, everybody, until the next time… 
No, I’m not talking about Parseltongue, but a programming language. I’ve been programming in other languages for years and years, but now I’m learning Python and here’s why I think you should join me.
If you’ve never tried programming a computer, you really should try it!
Learning computer programming is fun! It’s empowering and immensely satisfying. Sometimes it can even be useful! By learning a programming language, or at least trying it, you get a wider understanding about the inner workings of computer programs. This can increase your confidence in using computers, as it removes much of the mystery surrounding these, sometimes seemingly infernal, machines.
Python is a great language for learning to program. It’s free, there are tons of great resources on-line, and it’s easy to learn and use.
Why is it fun? It’s fun to be able to order computers around. You spend so much time wrestling with them, trying to get them to behave, getting the chance to be in total control is very satisfying. Basically, when you tell your computer to jump, instead of sulking in the corner, it will ask “How high?”
How is it useful? Learning a programming language can actually be helpful if you work with computers, even if you’re not going to work as a programmer. Let’s say your boss hands you a log file with thousands of lines of text and tells you to find all email addresses and list them alphabetically. Doing this manually would probably make anyone contemplate suicide. But if you know Python, you could easily write a small program that does this for you. It would only take you a few minutes to write the program, and it would only take the program a second to complete the task. Yes, really! Or let’s say you’re working with a spreadsheet, probably in Excel but maybe in OpenOffice, and you need to add some formulas to do a bunch of advanced calculations. Guess what… That’s a form of programming, and if you know a programming language, understanding what you need to do and how you need to do it will be much easier.
Ok, so how do I learn Python? As I said, there are loads of resources on-line. I’ve just discovered a new one, a website called Udacity. They do free university classes for everyone, led by people who really know their stuff. Their first class is called CS101: Building a Search Engine. By taking this seven-week class, you will not threaten Google’s market share, but you will actually learn some of the basic mechanics that make Google tick. Most of all, though, you will learn to program using Python. The goal of the class is not really to teach you how to build search engines, but to teach you how to use Python, while building a simple search engine in the process. Speaking of Google, though, it’s worth mentioning that lots of the professors actually work at Google. So, yeah, like I said…they know their stuff. CS101 is now in its final week and will start again on April 16. I’ll be taking the class, in parallel with a couple of other classes, CS212 and CS253, because even though I’ve been programming for years, I’m completely new to Python.
So why am I writing this blog post? Do I get a percentage from somewhere, or something? Ha ha, no. I honestly just want to share the love. I want more people to learn how to program, because I enjoy it so much and I think you might enjoy it, too. By writing this blog post, I hope to inspire someone to take the class CS101 with me, beginning April 16, because learning together is more fun than learning alone.
If you’re curious, know this:
So, come on! Learn Python with me!
For about a week now, I’ve been having serious cravings to play the original Tomb Raider and I can’t explain it. Perhaps it’s because I really have a hundred other, important, things to do, or maybe it’s because it’s one of the best damn games I’ve ever played in my life.
I’ve played through it three times in the past, and I’m afraid that when the weekend comes, I’ll be going for number four.
Anyone else itching to play some retro games? And don’t give me any shit about Tomb Raider not being old enough to be retro. It was published in 19-fucking-96. That’s half my life ago.
This game has great atmosphere, feeling and playability. And the music. Damn this game has some great fucking music.
I need to play it again, soon. But right now, I guess I have more important things to do…
Today, a couple of friends and I went to the shooting range. We arrived late, but were allowed to join in anyway, which was very nice. We each got to borrow a .22 calibre gun and shot 50 shots, in 10 series of five. J and I both had semi-automatics and C used a revolver.
Personally, I’ve mostly shot air guns in the past. The only “real” firearm I’ve tried before today was a .22 rifle at that same place when I was about 15.
I was surprised at how affordable a hobby this really is. I was expecting it to be quite expensive. I guess it is, if you’re shooting larger calibres and have your own guns. But if you stick to borrowing a .22 on site, it’ll only cost you 30 SEK, plus 35 SEK for 50 rounds. The member’s fee is only about 650 SEK a year, so as long as you can get to the actual place, it’s really a sport anyone can afford.
The people at the gun club were all really nice and made us all feel welcome. One guy in particular was super cool, because he let us try five shots each with his .38 Special after we had finished our own series. That was pretty fucking awesome….
Much fun was had by all, nobody was injured, and we’re going back next sunday!