Traveller Update

Well, we are in the third adventure, set in a world of asteroids, mining and... other things. This Traveller supplement was published 16 years ago, supporting Mongoose Traveller 1st Edition, and is still relevant. At the conclusion of the second adventure, the Travellers (aka Player Characters) were rewarded with action figures of themselves.

More Traveller

 I ran a brief Traveller session this week. My OCD kicked in and I turned up late - having door to door salesmen come round twice did not help.

 I've started a new adventure, published by Mongoose Publishing, and it has quite a bit of set up work required before the action gets going.

Tomorrow will be all about studying "Learning Git".

Traveller Update

 I ran a Traveller adventure this week. I think it went well. Will continue playing Traveller.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

This is a long film – about two and three quarter hours and it kept my attention throughout. I’ve always preferred M.I. films that have an ensemble cast and this film has that in spades. Yes, Tom Cruise does get to run around the roofs of tall buildings and ride a motor bike but that was integral to this story. As always, the M.I. team are roused into action by the need to acquire a gadget / MacGuffin – in this case, the ultimate information weapon. Definitely worth seeing.

Good Omens

 One of my meds, Aripiprazole, could have been named after a demon from Good Omens...

 Finished "Learning Modern Linux", currently deep in "Fluent C".

However I bought this book - "Writing Down the Bones" - a book about writing - today.

Design Patterns

My review of "C++ Software Design" has been submitted.

Now I've started "Learning Modern Linux".

Hopefully I'll be able to retain my current levels of concentration.

June update

 I rewatched "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and all the DVD extras today. It hadn't been playing properly. Yesterday I washed it in hot soapy water and rinsed it in hot water. That seems to have done the trick.

My Clozapine has been reduced and I am now experiencing low-level symptoms.

Social Security article

 There is an interesting article, "False ‘Facts’ about Science and Social Security Share Origins" which can be seen here.

Etc...

 Been reading the initial chapters of "Object-Oriented Analysis and Design (2e)" by Grady Booch. Good book, covers C++ and other languages. Not the easiest of reads...

More progress....

 Well, I now know enough UML to be dangerous. Or to use it in "sketch mode".

One of the references in the back of "UML Distilled" referred to a class for teaching Object-Oriented Thinking using small index cards. This is a very useful technique and, if you don't know about it already, take a look here.

UML Distilled

Well, my (second hand) copy of "UML Distilled (3e)" arrived today. It looks promising and I will be devouring it over the coming days.

In particular, the UML notation's quick reference is in the inside front and back covers. Looking good :)

Online C++

Outside the realm of C++ text books, we have an excellent online resource - cppreference.com, the C++ Core Guidelines, and an excellent way to play around with different C++ compilers with Compiler Explorer. Also... there are some interesting things on Bjarne Stroustrup's websire

Awesome!

C++

I first encountered C++ at University. After that, I encountered it at work. My knowledge evolved organically - in other words in a haphazard manner.

Disability and medication demolished my ability to concentrate. I read broadly about software development and I.T. in general. That contributed to me getting my concentration back.

Now is the time to re-learn the language, starting off with Bjarne Stroustrup's "The C++ Programming Language (4e)" (see its website here) and on to other titles after that - in particular The C++ Standard Library (2e).

Books

Richard said I've got too many books. I haven't bought a book all year!

PIMOM

 Well, a new acronym... PIMOM.

OCD has made me a Prisoner In My Own Mind (PIMOM) and it is very difficult to break out.

Never mind, tomorrow is another day.

 OK. so I'm diving deep into C++. It turns out I need to learn Linear Algebra and possibly other aspects of maths to get the most out of "Discovering Modern C++ (2e)". That is quite a challenge!

OK, so I've read broadly, now to dive deep into C++

So I.T. book reviews are being submitted, checked, and forwarded for publication. These past two weeks have been... challenging. Nevertheless, I have a couple of C++ books to delve into. It appears I am a bit of an optimist when it comes to thinking about estimating things. But I seem to get there in the end. Also, I am running the occasional Traveller game and that provides a break from everything else.

This my morning I managed to get nearly an hour of weeding done, suitably protected with sun cream and an Ubuntu beanie hat. Followed by doing some background reading about the Trojan Reach (a sector of space in the Traveller Charted Space setting), interspersed with chapters from "The Kobold Guide to Worldbuilding Volume 2". Then rounded off by watching Matrix - Revolutions (the 3rd film). All in all, a good day.

Python 3

I've been reading Python stuff quite a bit, getting to grips with a Python 3 and Design Patterns book. I'm not so certain about the book, though. Time will tell. However, over the weekend I designed and wrote a Python program to create a quick reference table for the Mongoose Traveller 2nd edition Traveller game. It all boiled down to one key function:

def distance_km_and_thrust_to_seconds(distance_km,thrust):
    distance_meters = distance_km * 1000;
    result = 2 * math.sqrt(distance_meters/(thrust*10))
    return result