Brian.Carnell.Com

Arimaa

Z-Man Games has a nice looking Arimaa set. As the Z-Man website summarizes the game,

Arimaa is a game where stronger animals like elephants and camels try to push and pull the weaker ones from the opposing team into traps while one of the rabbits tries to sneak across the board and harmlessly reach the other side. The first player to get a rabbit to the other side wins.

But Arimaa is more than just that. It is a mini-revolt against our computer overlords.

Created after the 1996/1997 chess contests between Deep Blue and Gary Kasporov, Arimaa was explictly designed as a board game that computers would have difficulty beating,

In an attempt to show that computers are not even close to matching the kind of real intelligence used by humans in playing strategy games, we have created a new game called Arimaa. Here is a simple game that can be played using the same board and pieces provided in a standard Chess set. However the rules of the game are a bit different and suddenly the computers are left way behind. For humans the rules of Arimaa are very easy to understand and more intuitive than Chess, but to a computer the game is a thousand times more complex. To the best of our knowledge Arimaa is the first game that was designed intentionally to be difficult for computers to play.

The Arimaa Wikipedia entry has a good summary of the challenges faced by computer programs trying to beat humans at Arimaa, and there is an Arimaa wikibook with lots more information about the game, including strategies, etc.
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Tags Arimaa, Artificial Intelligence, Chess

Big Brain Plushy

IHeartGuts’ nice Big Brain plushy.

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Tags Plushy, Toys

Stardock’s Brad Wardell Brags About Creating Hostile Work Environments for Women

Kotaku has extensive coverage of the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against Stardock by its former marketing manager, and Stardock’s apparently vindictive countersuit blaming the woman filing the lawsuit for the failure of Elemental.

The most interesting part of the Kotaku story are the emails exchange between Wardell and the marketing manager, Alexandra Miseta. After an incident at dinner while Miseta and Wardell were promoting Elemental in San Francisco, Miseta was upset enough to write a letter outlining both specific things that upset her and outlining in extraordinarily clear terms how she expected that behavior to change,

1. Please never touch my hair or any of my body parts; not even jokingly.

2.Please do not talk about my private life or about my boyfriend/future husband in any terms especially negative terms.

3. Please be careful with your “jokes” which are at many times inappropriate, sexist, vulgar and very embarrassing not only to me, but everyone present.

4. Please keep your negative personal opinions of others (including family members and/or coworkers) not present at the time of your comments, to yourself. I feel, at times, it puts me in a very uncomfortable position.

With the above few behavioral changes, I’m hoping our previously friendly and professional relationship can be reestablished. My goal from day one (June 04, 2007) has been to work for this company 110% and to work together with my peers to build a high quality, successful company. I would like to continue to work with you in the future and keep striving towards that very goal.

This is an extremely professional email which speaks highly of Miseta. She is bending over backwards to try to amicably resolve apparently long-standing issues that have bothered her. If I received an email like this from a subordinate, I would go out of my way to acknowledge Ms. Miseta’s concerns and work through this in a professional manner.

Instead, Wardell responds by being an asshole (apparently he is as rude to people he work with as he is on the Stardock forums),

I don’t recall item #1 but will certainly endeavor to be extra careful.

I understand #2. I will be more conscious of this in the future.

#3, however is not acceptable to me. I am an inappropriate, sexist, vulgar, and embarrassing person and I’m not inclined to change my behavior. If this is a problem, you will need to find another job.

#4, Again, I am not willing to adapt my behavior to suit others. IF you find my behavior problematic, I recommend finding another job.

I’m not some manager or coworker of yours. I own the company. It, and your job here, exist to suit my purposes, not vice versa. The company is not an end unto itself, it is a means to an end which is to further the objectives of its shareholders (in this case, me).

What an idiot. Miseta complains that she’s tired of a hostile work environment and Wardell essentially says “tough shit — find another job if you don’t like it here.”

If you read the content of the defendant’s motion to dismiss, Miseta alleges a number of disgusting and inappropriate actions by Wardell. At one point in the Stardock offices, Miseta alleges that Wardell told her in front of her marketing team that she was to accompany him on a publicity tour “because your nipples look better on TV than mine do.”

If true, Miseta deserves everything she gets out of Stardock and the company doesn’t deserve to get a single cent from gamers.

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Tags Brad Wardell, Sexual Harassment, Stardock, Video Games

Ambassador Magma Vinyl Figure

Ambassador Magma soft vinyl figure.

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Tags Action FIgure, Ambassador Magma, Space Giants, Toys

Mini 10-Doh! Figures

Interesting idea for a line of action figures — 3.5″ faux Nintendo cartridges. At $10 apiece and blind packed, however, count me out.

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Tags Action Figures, Nintendo, Toys, Video Games

Cory Doctorow: The Coming Civil War over General-purpose Computing

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Tags Cory Doctorow

Daleks Cowboys T-Shirt

Speechless.

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Tags Daleks, Dallas Cowboys, Dr. Who, T-Shirts

Run-DLK T-Shirt

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Tags Daleks, Dr. Who, Run DMC, T-Shirts

Google Authenticator Plugin for WordPress

Google Authenticator is a plugin for self-hosted WordPress installs that lets you require Google’s Two Factor Authentication application for access to WordPress.

I’m currently using it on this blog and have to enter a numerical code from the Google Authenticator on my phone very time I login to the admin area. The setup was trivial and it has worked like a charm.

The only drawback is that this renders your blog inaccessible from programs that are not set up to prompt you for a Google Authenticator code, such as the WordPress mobile apps for iOS and Android.

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Tags Google Authenticator, Plugins, Two Factor Authentication, Wordpress

Six Million Dollar Man Bigfoot Action Figure

Not something I’m actually going to buy, but it does make me sleep easier at night knowing that this exists. Now, where’s my Maskatron toy?

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Tags Action Figures, Bigfoot, Six Million Dollar Man, Toys

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