Tootfinder

#ScribesAndMakers 22
Show us something you've created. Tell us the story behind it.
https://cs.wellesley.edu/~pmwh/labyrinfinite/
I was thinking on a dog walk about how most games with procedurally generated content like Minecraft get pretty repetitive at some point if you zoom out far enough, and large-scale structures that have structural constraints like rivers are very hard to generate piecemeal. So I wanted to come up with an algorithm that could generate globally-consistent structures piece-by-piece, with consistency even if pieces were generated out-of-order, while maintaining only a fixed amount of context no matter how far from the origin you went. This demo is *almost* that, except the amount of context scales logarithmically with the distance-from-origin, which I find a very acceptable compromise. In the demo, there's a single infinitely-long path that eventually touches every cell of the infinite 2D grid (okay, computer limitations mean it's not really infinite, but mathematically it could be). You can get different path structures from different random seeds, although the generation trick does constrain things a lot relative to the set of all possible such paths (notice that in each 5x5 region it touches every cell before leaving; that's not in general necessary).

#ScribesAndMakers 8 June: Create a poll listing 4 books you've read. Which of these have you read?

#ScribesAndMakers Jun 6: What’s your best dish? What are the ingredients and how do you make it?
That is a question completely depending on whom you ask. My youngest child probably says pancakes or waffles, while my husband seems to enjoy the majority of things I put in front of him. My eldest, and my second eldest have entirely different opinions too, and my father is a difficult man…

#ScribesAndMakers 02/08: Do you have artwork on your walls? If so, describe one of the pieces.
I do have artwork on my walls, most pieces given to me by their makers; but what I'll post here is a sonnet written by a friend which describes an image I made myself:
#1/3

#ScribesAndMakers 25 July: Create a multiple choices poll listing 3 books you personally consider “classics” and ask others to choose the ones they have read. Create a fourth option for None of the Above.

#ScribesAndMakers 25/7: Create a multiple choices poll listing 3 books you personally consider “classics” and ask others to choose the ones they have read. Create a fourth option for None of the Above.

#ScribesAndMakers Day 4. What's the most challenging creative activity you've started? How did it work out?
Learning to play the piano.
My hands and I are not friends any more.

#ScribesAndMakers for July 3: When (and if) you procrastinate, what do you do? If you don't, what do you do to avoid it?
I'll swap right out of programming to read a book, play a video game, or watch some anime. Often got things open in other windows so it's as simple as alt-tab.
I've noticed recently I tend to do this more often when I have a hard problem to solve that I'm not 100% sure about. I definitely have cycles of better & worse motivation and I've gotten to a place where I'm pretty relaxed about it instead of feeling guilty. I work how I work, and that includes cycles of rest, and that's enough (at least, for me it has been so far, and I'm in a comfortable career, married with 2 kids).
Some projects ultimately lose steam and get abandoned, and I've learned to accept that too. I learn a lot and grow from each project, so nothing is a true waste of time, and there remains plenty of future ahead of me to achieve cool things.
The procrastination does sometimes impact my wife & kids, and that's something I do sometimes feel bad about, but I think I keep that in check well enough, and for things my wife worries about, I usually don't procrastinate those too much (used to be worse about this).
Right now I'm procrastinating a big work project by working on a hobby project instead. The work project probably won't get done by the start of the semester as a result. But as I remind myself, my work doesn't actually pay me to work during the summer, and things will be okay without the work project being finished until later.
When I want to force myself into a more productive cycle, talking to people about project details sometimes helps, as does finding some new tech I can learn about by shoehorning it into a project. Have been thinking about talking to a rubber duck, but haven't motivated myself to try that yet, and I'm not really in doldrums right now.

#ScribesAndMakers May 30 - Did you have a teacher who either supported or hindered your creative activity?
Spark! Our teacher held poetry Fridays, he invited authors to read for us, he allowed creativity. The subjects mingled a bit, but I learned a lot more when I had fun, I didn't even notice that we were being taught history or whatever at the same time.

#ScribesAndMakers May 30 - Did you have a teacher who either supported or hindered your creative activity?
Spark! Our teacher held poetry Fridays, he invited authors to read for us, he allowed creativity. The subjects mingled a bit, but I learned a lot more when I had fun, I didn't even notice that we were being taught history or whatever at the same time.

#ScribesAndMakers May 29
What is your proudest or best moment with your creative endeavour this month?
I dared to read an excerpt from my WIP loud, I am terrified of reading for others. But I did it. It didn't suck.

#ScribesAndMakers 28/5 Have you ever made an app?
Nope, never.

#scribesandmakers May 26. Describe your creative workspace(s).
Chaotic, comfortable, unkempt and always loaded with a thermos with coffee.

#scribesandmakers May 26. Describe your creative workspace(s).
Chaotic, comfortable, unkempt and always loaded with a thermos with coffee.