Hello! I studied Computer Science, and live in Bath. I write code, design games, and occasionally tweet.
Hello! I studied Computer Science, and live in Bath. I write code, design games, and occasionally tweet.

It's a Brand New Day Dec. 31, 2017 in Jekyll, Text

After months of planning procrastination, I have finally created a blog for this site of mine. I have used Jekyll site builder and Liquid templates to adapt this theme and add a blog. Hosting is provided by GitHub pages and I’ve bought a cheap .uk domain name.

London Fireworks 2018 LIVE - New Years Eve Fireworks: 2017 / 2018 - BBC One London Fireworks 2018 LIVE - New Years Eve Fireworks: 2017 / 2018 - BBC One

In the coming days, weeks, whenever I will get around to adding new pages and backfilling old. But now with the technology in place, creating new pages is as simple as typing out markdown in Sublime Text, committing and refreshing the page. You can even subscribe to updates via RSS! Hope to see you soon!

What is Net Neutrality? Dec. 12, 2017 in Text, University, Web

Diving into Net Neutrality, this report will examine why it is so controversial. It will outline the social, economic, and technical arguments both for and against. Finishing with a discussion.

  • CCS Concepts: Social and Professional Topics → Net Neutrality.
  • General Terms: Networks, History, Politics.
  • Keywords: Net Neutrality, Free Speech, Internet, World Wide Web.

Introduction

We live in the information age. Today people can effortlessly research, create, and communicate with anyone on earth in a fraction of a second. But where did it begin?

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Competing in the NWERC Regionals Nov. 26, 2017 in Algorithms, Competitions, Photos

We came, we saw, we lost. Image courtesy Dorota Filipczuk.

Our teams

Quidditch Southern Cup?!?!?! Nov. 12, 2017 in Photos, Sport, Videos

So this year, I started playing Quidditch as part of Southampton QC. After a bit over a month of training, our club entered two teams into the Southern Cup where SQC1 won the upper bracket, and SQC2 (My team!) came second out of the lower bracket. It was a an amazing experience. I figured I should share some photos courtesy of Enrica Biasi.

Chasing Defending

As a chaser, I wear a white headband. Chasers focus on the quaffle, passing between themselves, aiming to score a goal. Defending our hoops from an enemy chaser. Charlie, our keeper, is wrapping them.

Attacking

On the offensive, we push as a team, trying to score a goal.

Dodging Lining

Dodging out the the way of the bludger. If it touches any part of me or my broom, I ‘fall’ off my broom and need to return to the hoops! Lining up before our finals. The teams are united.

Huddling Scoring

A team huddle, to prepare for the match to come! Our keeper Charlie, driving the quaffle down the pitch and scoring. It was a close match, with both teams in SWIM (Snitch When It Matters) for last few minutes. We were up, but if either team caught the snitch (30 points) they would win the game. Minutes after the snitch entered, it was caught, by the Falmouth Falcons winning them the game 70* - 60.

Then it was time for SQC1s final vs Werewolves. Everyone there was watching. It was a good game, both teams played amazingly. SPOILERS: SQC1 win 140* - 90. View the full Southern 2017 Brackets.

It was an amazing experience, I’m so happy that I could compete in a semi-national tournament a month into training. Since then, I have stuck with the team, and am excited for whichever tournament comes next. Looking back, I really needed a haircut!

The Southampton Code Dojo Oct. 12, 2017 in Competitions, Text, Toys

The Southampton Code Dojo is a monthly event where keen computer science students meet, eat pizza, group up, and make things for a bit over an hour. At the start of the session ideas are proposed and voted on. Then, teams form typically on programming language choice, and everyone gets too work. At the end of the session, each team demonstrates. I have been attending for a while now, I love it. Hope to see you there!

Below is a list of some of the previous things I have worked on:

  • Let it Burn! - Using your flamethrower, wrack up points and burn the forest down.
  • Firework Simulator - Light up the sky with a fireworks display by dragging your finger or cursor across the screen.
  • Tetris - A quick and simple game of Tetris.
  • Colours - Enter a colour code, get a nice name.

My Summer Internship Sep. 10, 2017 in Internship

This summer I had a remote internship with Winchester Innovation. It was focused on web technologies such as Bootstrap, Silex PHP, Python, RESTful APIs, and JavaScript (ES6 and jQuery). I developed full-stack Raspberry Pi applications and automated deployment using bash. It involved minor Android development.

I really enjoyed it, and it was certainly good experience. Participating in work before graduating helps you understand what you want to do after leaving university, and helps to give some perspective on your course. I’m looking forward to what the future holds.

Cats in the Grass Aug. 16, 2017 in Cats, Photos

Tuxedo Ginger

Colourful Consoles with Bash Aug. 14, 2017 in Bash, Text, Tutorial

With bash it is trivially easy to produce nice, colourful console output with the code below. Simply paste it into the top of your script, and then you can colour your text by just printing the variables.

For example, if you want bold yellow text with a red background use echo "${BOLD}${YELLOW}${BRED}Critical Warning!${CLEAR}". Additionally, you can ${ITALIC}, ${UNDERLINE}, ${INVERT}, or ${STRIKE} text as you see fit. Once you are done with formatted text, use ${CLEAR} to clear all formatting.

Lastly, ${RESET} and ${RULE} to reset the screen and create a horizontal rule. Vertical rules are left as an exercise for the reader.

#!/bin/bash

CLEAR="\033[0m"; BOLD="\033[1m"; ITALIC="\033[3m"; UNDERLINE="\033[4m"; INVERT="\033[7m"; STRIKE="\033[9m
RED="\033[31m"; GREEN="\033[32m"; YELLOW="\033[33m"; BLUE="\033[34m"; PINK="\033[35m"; CYAN="\033[36m"; WHITE="\033[37m"
BRED="\033[41m"; BGREEN="\033[42m"; BYELLOW="\033[43m"; BBLUE="\033[44m"; BPINK="\033[45m"; BCYAN="\033[46m"; BWHITE="\033[47m"

alias RESET='printf "\033c"'
alias RULE='printf %"$COLUMNS"s | tr " " "-"'

# Use $LINES and $COLUMNS to query console dimensions

Visiting Paris Jul. 15, 2017 in Photos, Travel

Magnifique!

Eurostar Skyline from the Hotel

Moulin Rouge Large Cathedral

Continue Reading...

How to play ███ Jul. 9, 2017 in Games, Rules, Text

███ is a great game. ███ demands that you play it. ███ can be played with any deck of cards from any game, assuming it has suits and values. For example, ███ works well when played with Star Realms cards, and ███ could work well with Magic, or even scraps of paper.

Rules

  • Deal out a number of cards to each player, the number doesn’t really matter in ███.
  • Players take turns placing down a card in the centre that is either higher or lower value and of the same suite, or the same value and any suite. This pleases ███.
  • If a player cannot play they must pick up. They have failed ███.
  • Shuffle the deck when it runs out. ███ must continue.
  • When a players hand empties, it is their turn to think of a new simple, secret rule. Contradictions please ███.
  • Do not explain this rule.
  • Enforce the rule viciously.
  • Do not mention the great ███.
  • Do not criticise ███.
  • Do not explain ███.
  • Do not argue about ███.
  • Do not make a mistake playing ███.
  • Do not fail ███.

Any mistake while playing ███ requires punishment, that player must pick up an extra card.

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