Serious technical difficulties have forced this blog to move to this other blog site.
See you there.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
NBA season wraps up...
And so ends one of the most intriguing, competitive, trade-lirious and all-bets-are-(almost)-off NBA regular season that i've possibly seen.
First, a look back -
Kudos to the following teams -
Hornets - For nearly topping the western conference, and going into the playoffs as genuine Conference contenders;
Lakers - by trading for Gasol, they went from potential 4th or 5th seed to top the west. And Kobe Bryant is arguably in the best form of his life.
Rockets - going nowhere in January, they transformed their season with the mother of all winning streaks, and look sharp going into a tricky first round playoff match.
Celtics - for bringing in the big guns in September, giving them time to settle, and making intangible roster additions only after realizing that the pre-season trades and subsequent on-court success would virtually guarantee a playoff berth. Smart organization. (Knicks - take note)
And some disappointments -
Bulls - a pre-season favourite among punters, (myself included), they lost the plot early and before we knew it, they fell by the wayside.
Heat - Wade and O'Neal were expected to be the main rivals to the Celtics in the East, but now,they're bottom of the conference, traded O'Neal to the Suns midseason, and have the worst home record of all 30 teams.
Knicks - the problems have now gone beyond the court and into the boardroom.
Looking forward -
With the playoffs beginning April 19, we have some interesting first round clashes -
Cavaliers vs Wizards looks to be the pick of the Eastern Conference. Both teams were expected to have 55-win seasons, but Cleveland have been too inconsistent, while Gilbert Arenas spent a lot of time on the injured list. This series will come down to the superstar on each team - King James and Agent Zero. But Ben Wallace and Caron Butler are potential X factors.
This will go down to the wire, possibly leaving the victor blunt and off-key going into a potential clash with the Pistons in round 2.
The western playoff match-ups are just crazy. Nothing is clear cut, as the eight teams were separated by only 7 wins in the season.
Lakers v Nuggets - I expect the Lakers to triumph here, but Allen Iverson and friends can't be ruled out at all. Expect the Lakers to come out victorious but also expect each game to go to the clutch.
Spurs vs Suns - All hell will break loose here as these two have met twice out the last three post-seasons. Only now there's the Shaq factor. Tim Duncan has had a disappointing season by his superb standards, but their superb home form and role players carried them when he was off-color. But the suns won 3 out the 4 regular season games vs the Spurs this time... Go figure.
Hornets vs Mavericks - no matter how good Chris Paul and crew have played so far, they'll find Dirk and the Mavericks to be no pushovers. And the Jason Kidd trade, which seemed to be a looming disaster, now looks to be a shrewd move on Dallas' part. This one's also too close to call. It'll come down to defence, where one can expect the hornets to be superior, if only just.
Jazz vs Rockets - two underdogs, renewing a playoff rivalry. The jazz have the best home record, and baffled all predictions last post-season. Can they do it again? No doubt McGrady and Yao will put up stiff resistance. But this match could come down to Yao's form. Again, no favourites.
Regarding the other matches, I have no doubts that the Celtics, Pistons and Magic will get through their first round matches with relative ease.
So, look forward to April 19, when the playoffs start, and do expect the 2008 playoffs to be the best of the decade. Because whoever the champion is, they would have overcame some unbelievably stiff opponents to get there.
First, a look back -
Kudos to the following teams -
Hornets - For nearly topping the western conference, and going into the playoffs as genuine Conference contenders;
Lakers - by trading for Gasol, they went from potential 4th or 5th seed to top the west. And Kobe Bryant is arguably in the best form of his life.
Rockets - going nowhere in January, they transformed their season with the mother of all winning streaks, and look sharp going into a tricky first round playoff match.
Celtics - for bringing in the big guns in September, giving them time to settle, and making intangible roster additions only after realizing that the pre-season trades and subsequent on-court success would virtually guarantee a playoff berth. Smart organization. (Knicks - take note)
And some disappointments -
Bulls - a pre-season favourite among punters, (myself included), they lost the plot early and before we knew it, they fell by the wayside.
Heat - Wade and O'Neal were expected to be the main rivals to the Celtics in the East, but now,they're bottom of the conference, traded O'Neal to the Suns midseason, and have the worst home record of all 30 teams.
Knicks - the problems have now gone beyond the court and into the boardroom.
Looking forward -
With the playoffs beginning April 19, we have some interesting first round clashes -
Cavaliers vs Wizards looks to be the pick of the Eastern Conference. Both teams were expected to have 55-win seasons, but Cleveland have been too inconsistent, while Gilbert Arenas spent a lot of time on the injured list. This series will come down to the superstar on each team - King James and Agent Zero. But Ben Wallace and Caron Butler are potential X factors.
This will go down to the wire, possibly leaving the victor blunt and off-key going into a potential clash with the Pistons in round 2.
The western playoff match-ups are just crazy. Nothing is clear cut, as the eight teams were separated by only 7 wins in the season.
Lakers v Nuggets - I expect the Lakers to triumph here, but Allen Iverson and friends can't be ruled out at all. Expect the Lakers to come out victorious but also expect each game to go to the clutch.
Spurs vs Suns - All hell will break loose here as these two have met twice out the last three post-seasons. Only now there's the Shaq factor. Tim Duncan has had a disappointing season by his superb standards, but their superb home form and role players carried them when he was off-color. But the suns won 3 out the 4 regular season games vs the Spurs this time... Go figure.
Hornets vs Mavericks - no matter how good Chris Paul and crew have played so far, they'll find Dirk and the Mavericks to be no pushovers. And the Jason Kidd trade, which seemed to be a looming disaster, now looks to be a shrewd move on Dallas' part. This one's also too close to call. It'll come down to defence, where one can expect the hornets to be superior, if only just.
Jazz vs Rockets - two underdogs, renewing a playoff rivalry. The jazz have the best home record, and baffled all predictions last post-season. Can they do it again? No doubt McGrady and Yao will put up stiff resistance. But this match could come down to Yao's form. Again, no favourites.
Regarding the other matches, I have no doubts that the Celtics, Pistons and Magic will get through their first round matches with relative ease.
So, look forward to April 19, when the playoffs start, and do expect the 2008 playoffs to be the best of the decade. Because whoever the champion is, they would have overcame some unbelievably stiff opponents to get there.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
So much to say, so little free time...
Until now that is,
I finally have a Sunday with absolutely nothing to do. And, needless to say, i slept through the first twelve hours of it. As for the second half of it, the plan was such -
Wash my bloody hair, (it's as long as before now) - done.
Read the newspapers ( i hardly ever do this) - tried to do. Unsuccessful. Got stuck at Asian Age's op-ed page.
Re-install windows xp, mainly so that my mom can recognize the computer - Done.
Watch the cricket - didn't happen - don't get the channel that has exclusive rights to the telecast.
Study for my GRE exam (5 weeks away) - studied, i think.
Figure out how has my copy of 'Tintin in America' - forgot until now.
Post on blog - ???
Watch liverpool play everton - starts in 2 hours.
and a lot of small things i had resolved to stop postponing and get done, as my free time is scarce after today.
...
...
Then I get an SMS saying that college is closed tomorrow.
(System shut down. Reboot in 2 hours.)
I finally have a Sunday with absolutely nothing to do. And, needless to say, i slept through the first twelve hours of it. As for the second half of it, the plan was such -
Wash my bloody hair, (it's as long as before now) - done.
Read the newspapers ( i hardly ever do this) - tried to do. Unsuccessful. Got stuck at Asian Age's op-ed page.
Re-install windows xp, mainly so that my mom can recognize the computer - Done.
Watch the cricket - didn't happen - don't get the channel that has exclusive rights to the telecast.
Study for my GRE exam (5 weeks away) - studied, i think.
Figure out how has my copy of 'Tintin in America' - forgot until now.
Post on blog - ???
Watch liverpool play everton - starts in 2 hours.
and a lot of small things i had resolved to stop postponing and get done, as my free time is scarce after today.
...
...
Then I get an SMS saying that college is closed tomorrow.
(System shut down. Reboot in 2 hours.)
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
"Plane Stupid", they call themselves...
They're a campaign group in London protesting the expansion of Heathrow airport...
Almost nobody knew about them, until Wednesday. When five "Plane Stupids" somehow got onto the roof of the House of Parliament, and unfurled two banners ..
Now, besides the obvious questions ( How the hell did they get up there, and what does BAA-HQ stand for) a third question cropped up in my idle mind...
Don't they know it's difficult to read when the wording of the banner is at right angles to the man on the street?? The banner was made to be hung horizontally, not vertically...
They were up there for three hours. Surely they could have pulled it up and hung it across two of those spires on the roof??
How easy is it to remove a banner? Especially when it's hung over the side of a building? Newton's laws of gravitation also applies to cloth, boys!
At least they tried. A nice stunt, albeit not at the level of notoriety that made the Sex Pistols famous... maybe a more serious name will do the trick, instead of one suited more for a quiz team from around Bangalore...
Oh, it just popped into my mind - The banner would be more effective if it said
But the real joke was what their PM had to say about it -
"Decisions in this country should be made in the chamber of this House and not on the roof of this House."
That's stating the obvious for you... but then again, this is apparently what he told other MPs.
Can you 'planely' intelligent readers come up with any more funnies on this thing? I'd surely like to hear :-)
Almost nobody knew about them, until Wednesday. When five "Plane Stupids" somehow got onto the roof of the House of Parliament, and unfurled two banners ..
Now, besides the obvious questions ( How the hell did they get up there, and what does BAA-HQ stand for) a third question cropped up in my idle mind...
Don't they know it's difficult to read when the wording of the banner is at right angles to the man on the street?? The banner was made to be hung horizontally, not vertically...
They were up there for three hours. Surely they could have pulled it up and hung it across two of those spires on the roof??
How easy is it to remove a banner? Especially when it's hung over the side of a building? Newton's laws of gravitation also applies to cloth, boys!
At least they tried. A nice stunt, albeit not at the level of notoriety that made the Sex Pistols famous... maybe a more serious name will do the trick, instead of one suited more for a quiz team from around Bangalore...
Oh, it just popped into my mind - The banner would be more effective if it said
"PLANE STUPID"
www.nothirdrunway.com
But the real joke was what their PM had to say about it -
"Decisions in this country should be made in the chamber of this House and not on the roof of this House."
That's stating the obvious for you... but then again, this is apparently what he told other MPs.
Can you 'planely' intelligent readers come up with any more funnies on this thing? I'd surely like to hear :-)
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Procedural generation - a closer look
The thing about PG is that it ain't new.
Let's go back to 1984, when a now famous game simply called 'Elite' was released. A space trading game, Elite contained eight galaxies, each galaxy housing an astonishing 256 planets to explore and play around in. How did the developers cram in so much on those nowadays-scorned-at 8-bit machines?
Yup. The entire game world was procedurally generated.
And how many developers were involved ? Only two guys.
How long did it take to develop? Two years.
Now, I bet you're asking yourself, 'If Elite was released in 1984, then why has PG taken two decades (maybe even longer) to set the video game industry on fire? Why wasn't it refined and used with games like GTA3 for example?'
To partly answer that, we go back to Elite again. PG also created a few problems there, regarding the placement of some of the galaxies. The inherent complexity of the content generating algorithms also contributes to the lack of major interest towards PG by the industry at large over the years.
But progress, and Moore's Law, and skyrocketing development costs for video games are forcing more and more people to look more closely at PG. And now Will Wright and Spore are marching to it's tune.
That's about it for now. Be back soon with a look at some of Spore's gameplay mechanics. In the meantime check out these two links for further info -
Games that Never Age - a very interesting introduction to PG, complete with screenshots of examples.
Ascii Dreams - a really amazing technical write-up with lots of links.
See ya soon!
Let's go back to 1984, when a now famous game simply called 'Elite' was released. A space trading game, Elite contained eight galaxies, each galaxy housing an astonishing 256 planets to explore and play around in. How did the developers cram in so much on those nowadays-scorned-at 8-bit machines?
Yup. The entire game world was procedurally generated.
And how many developers were involved ? Only two guys.
How long did it take to develop? Two years.
Now, I bet you're asking yourself, 'If Elite was released in 1984, then why has PG taken two decades (maybe even longer) to set the video game industry on fire? Why wasn't it refined and used with games like GTA3 for example?'
To partly answer that, we go back to Elite again. PG also created a few problems there, regarding the placement of some of the galaxies. The inherent complexity of the content generating algorithms also contributes to the lack of major interest towards PG by the industry at large over the years.
But progress, and Moore's Law, and skyrocketing development costs for video games are forcing more and more people to look more closely at PG. And now Will Wright and Spore are marching to it's tune.
That's about it for now. Be back soon with a look at some of Spore's gameplay mechanics. In the meantime check out these two links for further info -
Games that Never Age - a very interesting introduction to PG, complete with screenshots of examples.
Ascii Dreams - a really amazing technical write-up with lots of links.
See ya soon!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Evolution Of The 'Game Of Evolution'
On September 7, 2008, one of the most revolutionary and groundbreaking games will finally be released to the eagerly-waiting-with-bated-breath-public.
SPORE - The brainchild of video-game god Will Wright.
The basic premise of the game is that You - the player - will control a custom-designed organism through the cycle of evolution and the ravages of time. Starting at the single cell structure, through the evolutionary (mis)adventures of becoming multi-cellular, building into tribal society and then growing into a full-fledged modern civilization, and finally developing the tech needed to leave your home planet and zooming into space! And search for other planets containing similar organisms...
Now that was the When and What and Who... but How? Therein lies the rope.
The method is 'procedural generation'(PG); A technique for creating computer objects 'on the fly' and not beforehand. The beautiful thing here is that PG allows really advanced high-quality multimedia objects to occupy very little storage, as opposed to the current trend of obscenely large storage requirements of many major videogames.
It shouldn't be much of a surprise to hear that Spore has been the most talked about game at various Conventions and Expos. Now, after release date after release date after release date, it's almost done.
Being both a computer student interested in multimedia computing, and a video game enthusiast, I'll be following all developments, background tech, and release info on Spore, posting on this space periodically. All the way to Sept 7th.
And it's gonna be a monster.
PS- If u ain't interested in Spore, then this might - GEARS OF WAR 2 - NOVEMBER 2008. ANNOUNCED AT GDC YESTERDAY - CHECK OUT THE TRAILER ONLINE
Thanks and See u soon.
SPORE - The brainchild of video-game god Will Wright.
The basic premise of the game is that You - the player - will control a custom-designed organism through the cycle of evolution and the ravages of time. Starting at the single cell structure, through the evolutionary (mis)adventures of becoming multi-cellular, building into tribal society and then growing into a full-fledged modern civilization, and finally developing the tech needed to leave your home planet and zooming into space! And search for other planets containing similar organisms...
Now that was the When and What and Who... but How? Therein lies the rope.
The method is 'procedural generation'(PG); A technique for creating computer objects 'on the fly' and not beforehand. The beautiful thing here is that PG allows really advanced high-quality multimedia objects to occupy very little storage, as opposed to the current trend of obscenely large storage requirements of many major videogames.
It shouldn't be much of a surprise to hear that Spore has been the most talked about game at various Conventions and Expos. Now, after release date after release date after release date, it's almost done.
Being both a computer student interested in multimedia computing, and a video game enthusiast, I'll be following all developments, background tech, and release info on Spore, posting on this space periodically. All the way to Sept 7th.
And it's gonna be a monster.
PS- If u ain't interested in Spore, then this might - GEARS OF WAR 2 - NOVEMBER 2008. ANNOUNCED AT GDC YESTERDAY - CHECK OUT THE TRAILER ONLINE
Thanks and See u soon.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
24 hours later....
Well, the aforementioned deal went through after all...
I still think Suns will be contenders this playoffs, but then lets just watch and see.
I still think Suns will be contenders this playoffs, but then lets just watch and see.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
A Tale Of Two Centers (and trades)
Let's Talk NBA for a moment.
Last Friday the Los Angeles Lakers made a blockbuster trade to bring Spanish center Pau Gasol for four players (one of them being the rights to Marc Gasol, Pau's younger brother) and two future draft picks.
And in spite of just one practice session with his new gang, the 2002 NBA Rookie of the year puts in 24 points and 12 rebounds, leading the rejuvenated Lakers to a home win over the mediocre Nets. (Kobe had only 6 points in this game, strangely).
The Gasol trade has the potential to turn the Lakers from a potential West 5th seed to a top-seed contender, throwing an already tight, chaotic, topsy-turvy Western Conference into further madness. We could see 5 teams separated by at most 3 wins come April. Two months to savor indeed!!!
Fast Forward to 4 hours ago, reports are out that Shaquille O'Neal is possibly going to be traded (again) ...... to Phoenix!!!!!
3 reasons why this trade will fail--
This season and Western Conference playoffs look to be the most closely contested of the decade, Shaq or no Shaq. No matter how the season pans out, the playoffs surely will go down to the form and fitness books of the teams.
Western Conference verdict - TOO CLOSE TO CALL!!!
...And all the while, Kevin Garnett and the rest of Beantown must be watching with sadistic glee
:-)
Last Friday the Los Angeles Lakers made a blockbuster trade to bring Spanish center Pau Gasol for four players (one of them being the rights to Marc Gasol, Pau's younger brother) and two future draft picks.
And in spite of just one practice session with his new gang, the 2002 NBA Rookie of the year puts in 24 points and 12 rebounds, leading the rejuvenated Lakers to a home win over the mediocre Nets. (Kobe had only 6 points in this game, strangely).
The Gasol trade has the potential to turn the Lakers from a potential West 5th seed to a top-seed contender, throwing an already tight, chaotic, topsy-turvy Western Conference into further madness. We could see 5 teams separated by at most 3 wins come April. Two months to savor indeed!!!
Fast Forward to 4 hours ago, reports are out that Shaquille O'Neal is possibly going to be traded (again) ...... to Phoenix!!!!!
3 reasons why this trade will fail--
- How will the Suns, who play a fast paced running game, relying on quickness and fast breaks, fit Shaq into the system?... It's not possible. Shaq wouldn't be passably quick enough for them if he was 27, let alone 35 years of age.
- The deal, given Shaq's age, can bring short term benefits only, bringing along Salary Cap and Luxury Tax problems to the Suns.
- Shaq has been suffering from recurring knee injuries, something that he is unsurprisingly not able to completely heal from. The only way that knee will get back is for an extended lay-off and rehab. So if he is traded, the Suns probably won't get more than 1.5 years of activity out of the remaining 2.5 years left on his contract.
This season and Western Conference playoffs look to be the most closely contested of the decade, Shaq or no Shaq. No matter how the season pans out, the playoffs surely will go down to the form and fitness books of the teams.
Western Conference verdict - TOO CLOSE TO CALL!!!
...And all the while, Kevin Garnett and the rest of Beantown must be watching with sadistic glee
:-)
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Is this thing on?
Well, first post... not only to check if blogger works, but more importantly to check if this damned keyboard still works.
Right, I'm "Harry", a college student (but more of a sponge for useless information) from Bangalore,India... and this is my blog, {thanks for visiting}.
Periodically i'll blog about stuff that interests me, like science-fiction, just about every sport played professionally, computer-related stuff, cult movies,comics, rock-and-roll and heavy metal [most sub-genres], local Bangalore-related things and events, video games, chess, and most of all, otherwise useless facts and information. In other words, I'm going to ramble. Beware!
I don't know why I tried all possible brackets. (...) and [...] work well in all situations, but {...} and <...> don't work well. For English words, that is. Opinion withheld on C++ for the moment.
Hopefully I haven't scared you off just yet, constant reader. Come back in a few days. Hopefully by then my mind will be free from internal fragmentation.
Stay tuned.
... Apparently the keyboard works fine. Something must be wrong with my AoE settings..
Right, I'm "Harry", a college student (but more of a sponge for useless information) from Bangalore,India... and this is my blog, {thanks for visiting}.
Periodically i'll blog about stuff that interests me, like science-fiction, just about every sport played professionally, computer-related stuff, cult movies,comics, rock-and-roll and heavy metal [most sub-genres], local Bangalore-related things and events
I don't know why I tried all possible brackets. (...) and [...] work well in all situations, but {...} and <...> don't work well. For English words, that is. Opinion withheld on C++ for the moment.
Hopefully I haven't scared you off just yet, constant reader. Come back in a few days. Hopefully by then my mind will be free from internal fragmentation.
Stay tuned.
... Apparently the keyboard works fine. Something must be wrong with my AoE settings..
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