About 20 years ago, I experimented by adding simple neural net and genetic algorithm based agents to quake2. Here’s what I did back then: Ecosystem: Constructing a simple self-perpetuating society of adaptable agents (archived) I was thinking about that again today. It might be fun to develop a suite of mini experiments using genetic learning an neural net learning in little q2 agents. To setup little ecosystems on server processes and let them run for days and weeks and see what happens. ...

Before Quake3 was released, there were a number of Q3Test releases. It was an exciting time in 1999 from about May to about December before the final demo and retail release. Q3Test releases were made for win32, linux and mac. I was mainly a win32 and linux user at the time and getting GLX/OpenGL working on linux at that time was hard work. Anyway, during this time many mods and hacks were developed for the Q3Test. ...

My kids were asking how related all of their relatives are to them. I posed the question to gpt3o and asked for percentages in terms of genetic material. I thought I knew the answer, but was a little surprised. Anyway, here’s the result again: From a genetic perspective, relatedness is typically measured using the coefficient of relatedness, which represents the probability that a gene selected at random from one individual is shared with another due to common ancestry. Here’s a list of how genetically related various relatives are to you, expressed as percentages: ...

I was randomly thinking about embeddings this morning. I was thinking how they are fantastic at creating a continuous representation space from discrete data, e.g. words, category labels, etc. I was then thinking it might be fun to use the embedding as a representation for an optimization process, like a genetic algorithm. Or any optimization algorithm. The algorithm would sample the embedding space and drawn vectors would have to be evaluated using a simulator or objective function or whatever, depending on the domain. ...

I’m doing a first-pass search for files for the Quake3 Official Archive. I have notes on finding rare files here but I’m being super systematic for this first pass and thought I should document it (for next time). First, the given is we know what we are searching for, e.g. we have a wishlist of known filenames. The first pass involves either finding the file or collecting all known locations where the file used to exist. Later we can dig further into each URL via the wayback machine to learn more. ...

Since posting the q3test versions there’s been some interest in a Quake III Arena official archive. I pitched doing the same thing as the Quake Official Archive. So, it’s begun, here it is: Quake3 Official Archive I’ve added all the q3test versions, point releases, source releases and tools. Lots of mopping up to do, which will likely takes weeks to months, if not years. Fun!

I read “Building my childhood dream PC” by Fabien Sanglard and shared in his nostalgia for his childhood dream PC. So cool. So beautiful. So nostalgic! I like the final line in the epilogue: I am quite eager to build a “Beautiful 1997 Quake Machine” now. YES! Now, I’m trying to remember my PCs. It’s really hard. Here’s a first draft of my PC history: XT (later a 286?), Dad’s, early 1990s to about 1993. 486 DX2/66 (?), Family’s, 1995-ish? Pentium 133MHz, My first PC, circa 1996-ish Pentium 266MHz MMX, Upgrade + 3DFX, circa 1997-ish Celeron 300A @450MHz, Gaming box, circa 1999 AMD 1.2Ghz, Some kind of AMD and GForce video card?, circa 2000-2004 Apple iBook, sold everything for a laptop, circa 2005-2008. Apple iMac, first imac, 2008-2017 Apple iMac, Current Workstation, circa 2017-present Some details are solid, because I have hard evidence. Others less so, ...

I have created a custom GPT for copy editing pasted or uploaded text in Australian English. It includes all of my rules, refined over a ton of books, as well as a simple and terse way of presenting the errors so that can be quickly found and corrected in the original text. Here it is: Aussie Copy Editor Official description: An Australian English copy editor that reviews pasted or uploaded text for common errors. ...

I listened to an episode by Nicolas Cole on his “Coffee With Cole” podcast titled “The AI Writing Trend No One Is Talking About”. Here’s the YouTube version: The AI Writing Trend No One Is Talking About The thesis of the episode is that non-fiction writers should stop publishing books and instead use the material as prompts/context in ChatGPT wrapper apps to help the target audience achieve a desired outcome. ...

I have written a novella for my youngest son (e.g. targets age 6 to 12). It’s about him and his brother visiting their favourite holiday destination. The title is: “The Bali Coin” Here’s the cover: Here’s the blurb: One mysterious coin. Two brothers. The adventure of a lifetime. When seven-year-old Jon and his teenage brother Alex arrive in Bali for a sun-filled family vacation, they anticipate lazy pool days, towering sandcastles, and endless breakfast buffets. But everything changes when Jon discovers a peculiar, ancient coin hidden in the sand, sparking an unforgettable adventure. Adorned with mysterious symbols, the relic points to secrets scattered across the island. ...