"To do two things at once is to do neither". This was said by a Roman slave, first century BC.
I read an interesting article about how multitasking is making us dumber and drives us insane. I must say I really hate living two paths. In this I mean doing masters and working at the same time. It takes its toll on you in the end. I wish I could focus fully on one thing. Each task constantly threatens and alleviates the focus on the others leading to doing nothing good in the end.
Anywayz, read the article if your interested:
CLICK HERE!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
AaaaHhhh...Vacations
I'm back from a long awaited vacation in the UK. Now it has disintegrated into history and memories. Only one emotion describes the state I'm in now...Depressed :(. It was an awesome two weeks. Now I'm back to work and back to my routine life.
Then again could have been worse. EL humdulilah 3ala kol shai2.
It was a fun two weeks.
Then again could have been worse. EL humdulilah 3ala kol shai2.
It was a fun two weeks.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Build Up vs. Deep In it and Random Thoughts
How often is the build up to something much better than the actual event that takes place after the anxious wait. In many cases it is. I live on dreams, hopes, feelings that just maybe something may happen. Even though all the odds point the other way, I insist on delving into the daydreams of things that never can be. It is true that nothing is impossible. But we can tell when things are impossible. Impossible is possible. Somethings were never meant to be. If I was to say, "I'm going to be the first Egyptian in Space!". Could that be true, remotely true, even possible? You tell me! I would bet it would never happen. But then my brain could go into daydreaming hyper-drive and imagine out a whole concise, logical and detailed scenario of my dreams become reality. Then I start to analyze the situation I'm in now and try to find a way to get me closer to the dream.
The truth maybe that I have a war to win. If I win that war I may be, just may be somewhat closer to what I want to have and be. Time can only reveal so much. We never see too far into the future. We can expect but life is certainly mysterious in its ways of showing us things. I have made up my mind as to what one of my new years resolutions will be. The only discouraging aspect of this is that they have been the same year-out and year-in. Its the same old story. I fight and fight for something and then slip back down the mountain side. I get hyped up and do marvels and not to soon after I see them diminish and drown in my own soul. The next year dawns and yet again I dream of winning. I can only wonder now if what I want will ever be solidified into reality of life. It can be done and I know it. I can do it but am I up to the pain and sacrifice that scatters the reached path to this goal.
Does truth dictate that somethings were never meant to be? Are the feelings of being doomed in a dungeon-state make our minds switch on the dreaming daze. I find myself these days delving into it all to often. I sit there or lie there living the impossible as if it was very much possible
Maybe I'm going through this thought now as I'm on vacation in a very different world to the home I call home these days. I'm on holiday in a place that I consider my second home. It could have easily been my first home but due to some fortunate or unfortunate events has become second. I see them as fortunate events that have twisted and turned my fate. I see things here that I long for. I see things here that are close to who I am in blood and flesh. I see common things. I see dead things!! hehe. In the end I am who I am. I think im going to have another post about this.
Back to the prevailing thought; I can never forget the adrenaline rush and excitement bubbling in my blood before a trip. I love it! I always remember later being on the actual trip and thinking: Here it is! Its happening. Is this what I expected! Is it as good as the build up before it. In some cases it is and in some cases it flashes before your eyes as your enjoying the trip and soon its only a memory. A memory you look back on and long to change things and long for more and long for those days to come back.
I stand there knowing that I could have been in a much better situation if I had sacrificed a little along the path to that situation. You know there is a prevailing chance that what you want will never come but you insist and insist and your brain resorts to stargazing to prevent the progress of insanity. It gives me peace of mind.
I don't really know what I wanted to say in this post. Its just one of those random posts that are a spill out of a core dump :D. I need to every once in a while dump my brain into writing. Feels useless. It feels aimless, target-less and goal-less but it does feel a bit good. Well maybe not as good as Im coming to the end of this post. Well I feel neutral now. I feel I will try and fight harder for the war I must win.
What war is that? you ask. The answer lies in a quote I heard a long time ago:
"The greatest battles in life are fought within the inner most chambers of the human soul".
It sounded something like that. I cant remember it verbatim but it holds basically the same meaning. The war is something and everything. Life is a struggle to become who your subconscious and conscious want to be.
The truth maybe that I have a war to win. If I win that war I may be, just may be somewhat closer to what I want to have and be. Time can only reveal so much. We never see too far into the future. We can expect but life is certainly mysterious in its ways of showing us things. I have made up my mind as to what one of my new years resolutions will be. The only discouraging aspect of this is that they have been the same year-out and year-in. Its the same old story. I fight and fight for something and then slip back down the mountain side. I get hyped up and do marvels and not to soon after I see them diminish and drown in my own soul. The next year dawns and yet again I dream of winning. I can only wonder now if what I want will ever be solidified into reality of life. It can be done and I know it. I can do it but am I up to the pain and sacrifice that scatters the reached path to this goal.
Does truth dictate that somethings were never meant to be? Are the feelings of being doomed in a dungeon-state make our minds switch on the dreaming daze. I find myself these days delving into it all to often. I sit there or lie there living the impossible as if it was very much possible
Maybe I'm going through this thought now as I'm on vacation in a very different world to the home I call home these days. I'm on holiday in a place that I consider my second home. It could have easily been my first home but due to some fortunate or unfortunate events has become second. I see them as fortunate events that have twisted and turned my fate. I see things here that I long for. I see things here that are close to who I am in blood and flesh. I see common things. I see dead things!! hehe. In the end I am who I am. I think im going to have another post about this.
Back to the prevailing thought; I can never forget the adrenaline rush and excitement bubbling in my blood before a trip. I love it! I always remember later being on the actual trip and thinking: Here it is! Its happening. Is this what I expected! Is it as good as the build up before it. In some cases it is and in some cases it flashes before your eyes as your enjoying the trip and soon its only a memory. A memory you look back on and long to change things and long for more and long for those days to come back.
I stand there knowing that I could have been in a much better situation if I had sacrificed a little along the path to that situation. You know there is a prevailing chance that what you want will never come but you insist and insist and your brain resorts to stargazing to prevent the progress of insanity. It gives me peace of mind.
I don't really know what I wanted to say in this post. Its just one of those random posts that are a spill out of a core dump :D. I need to every once in a while dump my brain into writing. Feels useless. It feels aimless, target-less and goal-less but it does feel a bit good. Well maybe not as good as Im coming to the end of this post. Well I feel neutral now. I feel I will try and fight harder for the war I must win.
What war is that? you ask. The answer lies in a quote I heard a long time ago:
"The greatest battles in life are fought within the inner most chambers of the human soul".
It sounded something like that. I cant remember it verbatim but it holds basically the same meaning. The war is something and everything. Life is a struggle to become who your subconscious and conscious want to be.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
Social Networking
I think social networking has to be one of the best inventions this century. It is in my opinion the true link between humans and society and the cyber-world of the Internet. Too bad I didn't think of an idea like that! Actually many thought of it. There is a number of them out there: Hi5, Orkud, Facebook, MySpace...etc. Hi5 twisted dirty and somehow did not attract our attention as much as Facebook and MySpace did.
I've always been dumbfounded by the links between the virtual world of the Web and the real world and how the former imitates the latter and how real-life relationships can be built up by the virtual world. I used to think, if I had the chance to date a girl I met off the Web - I wouldn't do it because it would feel unnatural. It would feel eerie and not so normal. Nowadays I think it is kind of normal because it does happen in real-life in the end.
So the winner is social networking. People send out their wedding invitations on Facebook. Astonishing I must say. The missing link between real life and the virtual life.
I've always been dumbfounded by the links between the virtual world of the Web and the real world and how the former imitates the latter and how real-life relationships can be built up by the virtual world. I used to think, if I had the chance to date a girl I met off the Web - I wouldn't do it because it would feel unnatural. It would feel eerie and not so normal. Nowadays I think it is kind of normal because it does happen in real-life in the end.
So the winner is social networking. People send out their wedding invitations on Facebook. Astonishing I must say. The missing link between real life and the virtual life.
Talking To Cyberspace
Why do you talk to the cyberspace?
I for one do it because I like to write! It removes the burden of ideas from upon my back. Its a way of documenting your thought. Its a way of crying out without facing the shyness of distress before other people...hehe. Its a way of conveying your ideas and hoping that someone out there will trip over your blog and share the same ideas or feelings or find your blog interesting!! We do it because we are human and we like to talk and express ourselves. We do it to "fadfad" (an Arabic term), to let our heart bleed out its secrets, to speak to nothing because nothing just absorbs and does not answer back. Nothingness just listens. It may be the best listener of all.
When I find myself talking to void. I'm not really talking to void. I'm talking to God. I speak out to him and ask for his forgiveness or help. inshAllah.
So I write to be heard by no one at all or by someone who will ping me back and put a smile on my face OR make me think more and "analyze this" which will lead to more and more posts and to an exponential search space...lol. Well this hasn't happened yet so lets hope for the best!
I for one do it because I like to write! It removes the burden of ideas from upon my back. Its a way of documenting your thought. Its a way of crying out without facing the shyness of distress before other people...hehe. Its a way of conveying your ideas and hoping that someone out there will trip over your blog and share the same ideas or feelings or find your blog interesting!! We do it because we are human and we like to talk and express ourselves. We do it to "fadfad" (an Arabic term), to let our heart bleed out its secrets, to speak to nothing because nothing just absorbs and does not answer back. Nothingness just listens. It may be the best listener of all.
When I find myself talking to void. I'm not really talking to void. I'm talking to God. I speak out to him and ask for his forgiveness or help. inshAllah.
So I write to be heard by no one at all or by someone who will ping me back and put a smile on my face OR make me think more and "analyze this" which will lead to more and more posts and to an exponential search space...lol. Well this hasn't happened yet so lets hope for the best!
Friday, January 04, 2008
Taxation Without Representation
TWR is a common scenario seen in third-world countries. "Taxation Without Representation" is the renowned slogan that echoed throughout the grieving thirteen colonies of pre-"Police The World" America. It came about as the American colonies had to pay taxes to the occupying British Empire. In spite of these taxes Americans had no representation in the British parliament and hence did not have any rights associated with these taxes. The British tried to suppress this outrage by allowing "virtual" representatives of the American people to attend parliament. This of course caused more commotion as these representatives knew nothing about America.
As we look at this glimpse of Earth's history, we cant help but see this happening all over again. It is happening ever so insidiously hidden away in another context; taking taxation and never seeing the return of this money to the streets. All we can see are the "virtual" representatives. The mouths are filled, minds kept busy with the pettiest of life and the lips are stitched. You cant keep burying and burying the earth you stand on.
As we look at this glimpse of Earth's history, we cant help but see this happening all over again. It is happening ever so insidiously hidden away in another context; taking taxation and never seeing the return of this money to the streets. All we can see are the "virtual" representatives. The mouths are filled, minds kept busy with the pettiest of life and the lips are stitched. You cant keep burying and burying the earth you stand on.
Beneath A Century of Ks...Gears of War
All I can hope for now is to dip below the century of Ks. Its a war I must win InshAllah. Now a battle, always a battle. Later another shall rise. Overall the war must be won. I try, try hard but in vein it seems.
I'm pretty close now to the century. I may cross the line this coming week. I may, just may before I travel next week. It is the traveling that started this battle. It is also usually around this time each year that I get the urge to wage the war again. I click on my gears of war and mount the reigns onto my jarred mind. Almost all battles I have won have rebound. I hold my ground but I get tired and slowly slip back.
It can be done. Nothing is impossible. Possible is not impossible. It is the thought that I will see people I have not seen for a long time that fuels this battle. Onslaught after onslaught, I try. I try and try but the urge flows back. I push harder and harder but the wall caves in.
All I can do is try. Thats all I can do is try my best. Somewhere along the line with the busy days of life I will break through the ironclad wall. I shall crush it once and for all and live a new life. One free from this burden I hold up upon my shoulders. A new life it shall be.
I'm pretty close now to the century. I may cross the line this coming week. I may, just may before I travel next week. It is the traveling that started this battle. It is also usually around this time each year that I get the urge to wage the war again. I click on my gears of war and mount the reigns onto my jarred mind. Almost all battles I have won have rebound. I hold my ground but I get tired and slowly slip back.
It can be done. Nothing is impossible. Possible is not impossible. It is the thought that I will see people I have not seen for a long time that fuels this battle. Onslaught after onslaught, I try. I try and try but the urge flows back. I push harder and harder but the wall caves in.
All I can do is try. Thats all I can do is try my best. Somewhere along the line with the busy days of life I will break through the ironclad wall. I shall crush it once and for all and live a new life. One free from this burden I hold up upon my shoulders. A new life it shall be.
Raining Apples!!!
When I think about friends, I think about apples.
Its the time of year of eid al-Adha, the triad of christmas days (eve, day and boxing day), the Hajj and the beginning of the mid-year vacation. Its a time of festivities and relaxation after long hard work in academia. Its a time when it rains apples!
I have soo many people I have to meet! Im actually torn between all of them. They say it's a blessing to have friends, many of them. I believe this true but sometimes I'm cursed by the way I'm stretch between all of them and in the end I'm left with a sheared brain and soul panting for breath.
Don't get me wrong, it is an absolutely wonderful thing to have friends. Without them you couldn't lead a decent life. The pros of having many friends definitely out-weights the cons. There is no debate here.
Lets get back to the falling apples. So as I mentioned this is a time when people come back to their mother-land (although my mother-land is not where I currently stand) for the wonders of such a blessed time of year.
Unfortunately I cant help but say that this time has been accompanied by silent sadness with the death of soo many loved ones. God bless their soles (inshAllah).
So I have five friends here in Egypt now. Most of them I have seen and some I haven't had the time to. I hope I see all of them before they leave...
I see friends as apples, some sweet and some sour. The sour you know to learn about yourself and the sweet you know to help and be helped inside and out. Friends are a blessing.
I hope I catch all the apples before they go away.
Its the time of year of eid al-Adha, the triad of christmas days (eve, day and boxing day), the Hajj and the beginning of the mid-year vacation. Its a time of festivities and relaxation after long hard work in academia. Its a time when it rains apples!
I have soo many people I have to meet! Im actually torn between all of them. They say it's a blessing to have friends, many of them. I believe this true but sometimes I'm cursed by the way I'm stretch between all of them and in the end I'm left with a sheared brain and soul panting for breath.
Don't get me wrong, it is an absolutely wonderful thing to have friends. Without them you couldn't lead a decent life. The pros of having many friends definitely out-weights the cons. There is no debate here.
Lets get back to the falling apples. So as I mentioned this is a time when people come back to their mother-land (although my mother-land is not where I currently stand) for the wonders of such a blessed time of year.
Unfortunately I cant help but say that this time has been accompanied by silent sadness with the death of soo many loved ones. God bless their soles (inshAllah).
So I have five friends here in Egypt now. Most of them I have seen and some I haven't had the time to. I hope I see all of them before they leave...
I see friends as apples, some sweet and some sour. The sour you know to learn about yourself and the sweet you know to help and be helped inside and out. Friends are a blessing.
I hope I catch all the apples before they go away.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Last Course
Its done. The semester is over. I did my graphics final project demo yesterday and handed it in last night. That was the last step. Now I'm through courses. All I have left is a year of thesis. I got to find a topic now and follow it through until I graduate InshAllah.
Now I can fully focus on work and manage my own time a little. I'm looking forward to my thesis year. Its back to the time in your life when your searching for that big wave to ride. I feel if I carry on looking for that big thing I'm not going to end up picking a topic. I'm going to try and discover what I love best. So far I'm thinking of combining AI and graphics, but I still need to take an in depth look at things. Its going to be a tough time ahead. Working and masters isn't the easiest thing in the world i must say.
We will see what happens and hope for the best...
Now I can fully focus on work and manage my own time a little. I'm looking forward to my thesis year. Its back to the time in your life when your searching for that big wave to ride. I feel if I carry on looking for that big thing I'm not going to end up picking a topic. I'm going to try and discover what I love best. So far I'm thinking of combining AI and graphics, but I still need to take an in depth look at things. Its going to be a tough time ahead. Working and masters isn't the easiest thing in the world i must say.
We will see what happens and hope for the best...
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Application of Mathematics
Its really awesome when you finally learn why you took all that mathematical crap quite some time ago! Calculus, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry.....you name it. We science and engineering students have all seen them! We have seen some applications of these cool equations but the majority of them we haven't or maybe I've just forgotten with the overload of this semester coming to a stressful end. :D
It's only through these two courses that I'm taking this semester that I realized the power of mathematics. Well obviously I knew all along the importance of math and that it is like a universal language but my thoughts have been lingering about this for sometime so guess what, I'm here writing up a post about it.
There are actual courses that we at my university haven't probably heard of. At MIT they have a course called "Applying Mathematics" or something like that. Its a whole freaking course. Luckily for me and the rest of the students, we have an agreement with MIT which gives us MIT OpenCourseware. It's really profound to get an insight into the stuff they take there.
Anywayz thought I'd share the pico-second of inspirational thought that went through my neural net of a brain. I need to get back to studying Backpropogation, Hopfield, Kohanan and bla bla bla. Need to comprehend all the work these great guys including mr. backpropagation (:p) brought to life and pay tribute to the research and dedication that they have given us. "Ay kalam tahn".
"Who among us shall change life, time shall tell" - Anonymous
"Where there is a will, there is a bill" - K. Sohano
"Where there is a will, there is a hill to match that will. Only those who challenge the hill shall see the greener grass on the other side" - from the book "Wind of Sway"
It's only through these two courses that I'm taking this semester that I realized the power of mathematics. Well obviously I knew all along the importance of math and that it is like a universal language but my thoughts have been lingering about this for sometime so guess what, I'm here writing up a post about it.
There are actual courses that we at my university haven't probably heard of. At MIT they have a course called "Applying Mathematics" or something like that. Its a whole freaking course. Luckily for me and the rest of the students, we have an agreement with MIT which gives us MIT OpenCourseware. It's really profound to get an insight into the stuff they take there.
Anywayz thought I'd share the pico-second of inspirational thought that went through my neural net of a brain. I need to get back to studying Backpropogation, Hopfield, Kohanan and bla bla bla. Need to comprehend all the work these great guys including mr. backpropagation (:p) brought to life and pay tribute to the research and dedication that they have given us. "Ay kalam tahn".
"Who among us shall change life, time shall tell" - Anonymous
"Where there is a will, there is a bill" - K. Sohano
"Where there is a will, there is a hill to match that will. Only those who challenge the hill shall see the greener grass on the other side" - from the book "Wind of Sway"
An Interesting and Inspirational Read
I came across this read as I was fiddling around on the Internet and dreaming of days to come instead of studying for my final exam tomorrow. Its called "Advise to A Beginning Graduate Student". Check it out HERE
Friday, December 07, 2007
ScribeFire
ScribeFire is an interesting extension for firefox that allows you to blog. This is the first post I'm writing using it. Im not sure yet if it makes a difference to the conventional way of opening up the blog via URL, logging in and then writing. Maybe it is a few clicks faster. Actually it must be. To start blogging with ScribeFire you use one click and then you may have to select the blog you want to publish to. In my case most of my blogging activity is on one blog so its one click. With the conventional method, it takes you about three. It actually depends greatly on how you have your browser configured. If you use automatic login using cookies in your browser then it saves you time of logging in. Anywayz, just thought I'd try out this new feature. I think I will use it in future.
Powered by ScribeFire.
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Bifurcation
I'm being tormented by two paths in life. Its an awkward situation being stuck between two opportunities, each quite different from the other. They could collide in the end actually, which would make a very interesting combination. Now its just a matter of weighting the pros and cons of each and querying my heart for answers. A wise man once told me, "Do what you love, so that you love what you do". It turns out to be a quote from somewhere. It is very important to do what you love, and its no easy task finding what you love to do. You can read an interesting but hell of a long article here. I didn't read the whole thing, but skimmed through highlights. Seems interesting. Anywayz, I'm fed up of writing. Need to get home. I'm still at work and what seemed to be an ever simple task turned out to be a pain in the back but thank goodness I'm finished now.
I bet your thinking, "what kind of gibberish is this guy speaking?". Well the answer to what your thinking is that I'm speaking the normal gibberish that haunts peoples' minds as they approach huge decisions in life...
Its the end of the week and the weekend is just about to begin. I have a long one coming up. I have to finish my A-Life neural net by Sunday. Hope all goes well as the final two weeks of the semester are upon us. May God have mercy on all our souls...
I bet your thinking, "what kind of gibberish is this guy speaking?". Well the answer to what your thinking is that I'm speaking the normal gibberish that haunts peoples' minds as they approach huge decisions in life...
Its the end of the week and the weekend is just about to begin. I have a long one coming up. I have to finish my A-Life neural net by Sunday. Hope all goes well as the final two weeks of the semester are upon us. May God have mercy on all our souls...
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Particle Systems
This graphics course has been one of the most enjoyable course I've ever taken. It is something else when you can see what your creating and fiddling around with.
My final project is going to deal with particle systems. Particle systems are what are used to render what are called "fuzzy phenomena". Examples of fuzzy phenomena are: fire, smoke, liquid...etc. These are all quite difficult to render using the conventional rendering methods. The simplest and most basic particle systems is where you represent each particle by a pixel. More complex particle systems represent the particles by 3D meshes or metaballs.
Here are examples of particle systems:
I hope to create scenes like these...
My final project is going to deal with particle systems. Particle systems are what are used to render what are called "fuzzy phenomena". Examples of fuzzy phenomena are: fire, smoke, liquid...etc. These are all quite difficult to render using the conventional rendering methods. The simplest and most basic particle systems is where you represent each particle by a pixel. More complex particle systems represent the particles by 3D meshes or metaballs.
Here are examples of particle systems:
I hope to create scenes like these...
Alife
A term referring to Artificial Life. I'm working on a project for my other course (Neural Nets course) which consists of a neural net that acts as the brain of a creature in an environment. The neural network controls the creature's actions through out its life. I've tried this before in an undergraduate course. I was so close to creating a neural net optimized to use PSO as the backpropagation algorithm. Unfortunately that project didn't quite work properly. I think I had a couple of days to do that project and I decided to be cool and do everything from scratch. It was a gallant attempt and I think I was a scratch away from making it work. Anywayz, with that behind me, I now have a week left to finish this neural net project.
I probably told you before that this is my last semester taking courses. The next and after next will be dedicated purely to research. I still haven't found a topic or field for that matter. I talked to my probably-to-be adviser and we brainstormed for ideas. I left the office with the intent to do more research and find a topic where I can combine graphics and AI. Of course as the semester is coming to an end, there isn't much time left and I'll be up to my neck in work. I'll even have my job to attend to.
This is an update of recent events. It's almost dawn here in Cairo. Its 5:47 am and pretty cold. I'm sure its nothing to what its like in Vancouver, where a friend of mine immigrated to. There right now, its highs of -6 and lows of -8. Shit! Thats cold. Anyway, I slept early and woke up at 4:00 am. I have work in a few hours but decided to use this time to work on the project. As usual I get carried away with searching for a thesis topic and haven't been focusing that much on the project.
I probably told you before that this is my last semester taking courses. The next and after next will be dedicated purely to research. I still haven't found a topic or field for that matter. I talked to my probably-to-be adviser and we brainstormed for ideas. I left the office with the intent to do more research and find a topic where I can combine graphics and AI. Of course as the semester is coming to an end, there isn't much time left and I'll be up to my neck in work. I'll even have my job to attend to.
This is an update of recent events. It's almost dawn here in Cairo. Its 5:47 am and pretty cold. I'm sure its nothing to what its like in Vancouver, where a friend of mine immigrated to. There right now, its highs of -6 and lows of -8. Shit! Thats cold. Anyway, I slept early and woke up at 4:00 am. I have work in a few hours but decided to use this time to work on the project. As usual I get carried away with searching for a thesis topic and haven't been focusing that much on the project.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Peer Classes
A friend of mine was asked recently in an interview, "What are peer classes?". I decided to find out what a peer class is.
For example if you desire to use a c++ class code in a java program, an approach of doing this is creating a java class which is equivalent to the c++ class. The java class is the peer class and tracks the state of the c++ object.
You can see this here
For example if you desire to use a c++ class code in a java program, an approach of doing this is creating a java class which is equivalent to the c++ class. The java class is the peer class and tracks the state of the c++ object.
You can see this here
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Tracy
Tonight I submitted Tracy (the final version). I'm satisfied with the outcome of this project. The images Tracy produces is far better than the OpenGL graphics.
In case your wondering, Tracy (Beta version) is my ray tracer. Here's a starter pic:
There she is rendering shading, illumination, reflections, shadows and the whole package. Beautiful isn't it? I hope you agree. Here's another image for those of you who are doubting Tracy.
Take that you paranoid readers out there. It took me quite some time to render these images. Of course I wasn't working full time on it, so maybe thats why.
Now I have my fingers crossed for a proper grade in this and the previous assignment. I still have a neural networks project to do for this coming Sunday (thats in 6 days). Since I'm taking tomorrow off as a rest between the hurricanes, that leaves me with five days. Lets hope for the best.
I'm going to create artificial life. I plan on developing a neural network that controls the actions of small creatures in an artificial environment. I've decided to call these tiny creatures ... I don't know what I'm gonna call them. Have to think of something. The C# neural network library I plan on using was created by a guy called Franck Fleurey and can be found at . I've just taken an initial look at it and downloaded the source code.
This is the time when the hurricanes collide. The time just before the end of the semester, when everything just starts to fall and fall and your left clambering behind. This semester is the last semester I will take courses in. The next semester and the one after will be left for my thesis. Im getting frantic about the thought of thesis. I still havent made up my mind on what field im gonna go for. The ones im surely interested in is AI, graphics and pervasive systems. I believe that anything I do, I will have to apply some AI to.
Lets leave this for further posts where I set out to discover which field to do my thesis in.
In case your wondering, Tracy (Beta version) is my ray tracer. Here's a starter pic:
There she is rendering shading, illumination, reflections, shadows and the whole package. Beautiful isn't it? I hope you agree. Here's another image for those of you who are doubting Tracy.
Take that you paranoid readers out there. It took me quite some time to render these images. Of course I wasn't working full time on it, so maybe thats why.
Now I have my fingers crossed for a proper grade in this and the previous assignment. I still have a neural networks project to do for this coming Sunday (thats in 6 days). Since I'm taking tomorrow off as a rest between the hurricanes, that leaves me with five days. Lets hope for the best.
I'm going to create artificial life. I plan on developing a neural network that controls the actions of small creatures in an artificial environment. I've decided to call these tiny creatures ... I don't know what I'm gonna call them. Have to think of something. The C# neural network library I plan on using was created by a guy called Franck Fleurey and can be found at . I've just taken an initial look at it and downloaded the source code.
This is the time when the hurricanes collide. The time just before the end of the semester, when everything just starts to fall and fall and your left clambering behind. This semester is the last semester I will take courses in. The next semester and the one after will be left for my thesis. Im getting frantic about the thought of thesis. I still havent made up my mind on what field im gonna go for. The ones im surely interested in is AI, graphics and pervasive systems. I believe that anything I do, I will have to apply some AI to.
Lets leave this for further posts where I set out to discover which field to do my thesis in.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Quaking Quake
I just tried out Quake 4 and this is a game not to be taken lightly. I previously thought my laptop was a monster, with a ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 which has 512 MB of RAM. It also has 1.5 Gegs RAM. Unfortunately my thoughts were not matched when I put this game in. It would not run at the maximum video setting. Even in the minimum video mode, the graphics sometimes screwed up in the middle of gameplay. I thought I have a above average gaming system here. Maybe or maybe not...
Quake 4 is a very gruesome and bloody game. From the very beginning I felt its darkness and evil. The first scene shows soldiers floating in space with missing eyes and limbs and bloody faces and bodies. Ouch! Anywayz I started playing and I was chilled up the spine from step 1 as I faced the first Strogg. They produce a sickening growl before they attack and one of them has a sharp metal arm that he pokes you with and as you get poke you loose focus and the screen distorts as if the spike is actually hitting you. My heart was pounding all through the short time I played it and I jump up in my seat suddenly every time a monstrous Strogg came out of no where. And they don't die straight away, they take a beating to fall to the floor.
Respect to the graphics. I read about the real-time ray-tracing technique that Quake 4 utilizes for rendering and collision detection. The shadows too are done very well. The game is very dark. Pretty kool stuff, I must say. Quake 4 uses the same engine as its predecessor and Doom 3. The funny thing is I'm taking ray-tracing in the graphics course I'm taking. Only yesterday did we discuss the differences between ray-tracing, using z-buffer algorithm and BSP object rendering. Im new to all this, so its all very exciting!!! I cant wait to do my next project.
Im starting to dread the moment when I go back home tonight after work and after my masters class and play the evil Quake 4 in the darkness and solitude of my own room. "Its just a game" - they always used to say. We will see...
Quake 4 is a very gruesome and bloody game. From the very beginning I felt its darkness and evil. The first scene shows soldiers floating in space with missing eyes and limbs and bloody faces and bodies. Ouch! Anywayz I started playing and I was chilled up the spine from step 1 as I faced the first Strogg. They produce a sickening growl before they attack and one of them has a sharp metal arm that he pokes you with and as you get poke you loose focus and the screen distorts as if the spike is actually hitting you. My heart was pounding all through the short time I played it and I jump up in my seat suddenly every time a monstrous Strogg came out of no where. And they don't die straight away, they take a beating to fall to the floor.
Respect to the graphics. I read about the real-time ray-tracing technique that Quake 4 utilizes for rendering and collision detection. The shadows too are done very well. The game is very dark. Pretty kool stuff, I must say. Quake 4 uses the same engine as its predecessor and Doom 3. The funny thing is I'm taking ray-tracing in the graphics course I'm taking. Only yesterday did we discuss the differences between ray-tracing, using z-buffer algorithm and BSP object rendering. Im new to all this, so its all very exciting!!! I cant wait to do my next project.
Im starting to dread the moment when I go back home tonight after work and after my masters class and play the evil Quake 4 in the darkness and solitude of my own room. "Its just a game" - they always used to say. We will see...
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Graphics Premiere
I created my first openGL graphics composition. This was our first assignment in a graphics course Im taking. The whole idea of the project was to draw graphics on a buffer without using openGL functions. Once the buffer has been drawn on, we only use openGL to output the buffer to the screen.
Of course the composition you see above has animations, color changing, color filling and size changing. I tried to experiment with all the basic techniques in 2D.
I hope the grade I get for this lives up to the effort I put in. InshAllah.
My next challenge will be trying to create a 3D corridor with a box in the middle with fog, lighting effects and (something i'm dying to do) image wrapping. This will be my ultimate goal. After this I want to experiment with 3D modeling and importing real 3D model characters like Warcraft orcs or something and do some animations.
Until my next blog entry...
Of course the composition you see above has animations, color changing, color filling and size changing. I tried to experiment with all the basic techniques in 2D.
I hope the grade I get for this lives up to the effort I put in. InshAllah.
My next challenge will be trying to create a 3D corridor with a box in the middle with fog, lighting effects and (something i'm dying to do) image wrapping. This will be my ultimate goal. After this I want to experiment with 3D modeling and importing real 3D model characters like Warcraft orcs or something and do some animations.
Until my next blog entry...
Monday, October 08, 2007
Which game console is the greenest of them all?
One guy was probably soooo bored that he decided to discover the "greenest" of the three major game consoles in the market.
He measured the power consumption of the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. To no surprise the Xbox 360 proved to be a monstrous energy sucking creature taking in 194 watts. This was followed by the PS3 with a 171 watt energy footprint. The Wii sips in 17 watts and has been declared the greenest game console.
So the little Wii has beaten its bulky brethren at the "Greenest of them all" contest. If you want to help keep energy consumption down to a minimum, buy a Wii instead of the other two.
He measured the power consumption of the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. To no surprise the Xbox 360 proved to be a monstrous energy sucking creature taking in 194 watts. This was followed by the PS3 with a 171 watt energy footprint. The Wii sips in 17 watts and has been declared the greenest game console.
So the little Wii has beaten its bulky brethren at the "Greenest of them all" contest. If you want to help keep energy consumption down to a minimum, buy a Wii instead of the other two.
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