I took a week off from the weekly rankings, but I am back with the 12th edition: The Best of 21! I might make the next several last 6 days instead of 7 because it turns out what I had coded doesn't really work that well with skipping a week.
There's a new section! I've started a weekly poll where people can vote on which things they like better, which are then collected into a big ranking. We now know that Toy Story is the best Pixar movie and that Hey Jude has the best "na-na-na" section, but what is the best state?
It has been a while, but a new level has been added to the Puzzle! We're now up to 54 in total.
So far no one has finished it yet, but four people have come close, having completed all four paths and just needing to figure out the passcodes to advance further.
Hmm, I should remember to update this whenever I do something new. Anyway, the League of Legends World Championship Crowdsourced Power Rankings are active here and you should check it out if you happen to see this post in the next day or two!
The Most Popular Answers Contest II is up! Rules and the contest itself are up on the blog.
Phase three of the puzzle is finally complete! There are now a total of 53 levels for you to try! Good luck; you'll probably need it.
I now have a Patreon! Mostly I'm using it to cover server costs, but also I'm hoping it will motivate me to continue to create new and interesting things.
As you may or may not have noticed, I finally added transparency to my kumquat images. Hopefully that should make things look slightly less like amateur hour.
More importantly, I've started working on implementing the League of Legends power rankings for the spring split, with some new features. I think I'm on pace to get it up by next week.
I made a new blog post! Turns out the Earth and Sun will be really close to each other this weekend and I find that pretty neat.
I've done a bit of minor changes on the Diplomacy section of the site. Does that mean there's a comeback planned?
Actually, probably not. I kinda liked the look of the /diplomacy page more anyway, and to be honest DOMINATE was never really going to take off. When I had the idea, I was still a junior in high school and our local Diplomacy group was in its golden age. Once I got around to finishing the thing, its era was long past. At that point I mostly wanted to be able to say I finished it more than anything.
That being said, I do miss running those games. Maybe I should get another group going.
I've made more progress on the Quizbowl Schedule Generator. There are now printable schedules, which I hear are all the rage these days. Once again, here's hoping I didn't release some stupid bug into production.
Also, I've finally retired those Statcounter tracking things that I had been using to see how many pageviews I got. I'm only about a decade behind the times here, and frankly getting 500 pageviews in a day was a lot more exciting back when I was in high school.
Hey guys! Long time no see. I've actually been working on lots of stuff lately, but I've been lax at updating this.
Probably the two biggest things at the moment is that the site uses https (finally!) and that I now have a Quizbowl Schedule Generator in development. And hopefully there'll be lots more stuff to come!
My latest post about how big Northern Virginia is has been featured on Greater Greater Washington! Evidently I need to write more of these things.
After about a month and a half of work, I am pleased to unveil Harry's Online Puzzle Extravaganza! It features many new levels and a lot of adjustments to existing ones to make it the most awesome online puzzle on the planet! And I didn't even mention the many quality of life improvements and the new developer commentary.
I have gone over and tweaked and reworked quite a few Puzzle levels! I've also redone almost all of levels 17-23, some of which are completely new.
Be sure to stay on the lookout for more exciting changes over the next few weeks.
I have now started running my blog on Wordpress. It can still be found at its usual place, but it should now be much less buggy and much fancier!
There are now fancy-schmancy mouse-over drop-down menus! It's still a bit of a work in progress, but feedback is very welcome.
I am making some (much-needed) backend upgrades and cleanup to the site over the next week or two. If something breaks, please let me know.
I made some upgrades to the software that the site runs on. I think I fixed everything that broke, but there may still be a few fires that need to be put out. But hey, at least you can read this!
A minor change to Dominate: Press will only be shown to those participating in the game. Sorry observers.
Happy new year, everyone! In celebration of surviving yet another year, I have added a (long-needed) FAQ to the puzzle. In addition, I have been making a few cosmetic changes, so if things suddenly break, you'll know why.
By the way, if anyone has ideas for a less generic name for my puzzle, I am looking for suggestions. "Puzzle of Doom" doesn't really cut it for me anymore.
Weekly Puzzle #10 is up! I hope you have as much fun solving it as I did making it.
As you may have noticed, the weekly puzzles have been restarted! Hope you guys enjoy them, and now that I'm actually posting to the news page again, maybe it'll look like I've actually done stuff in the past five months (which I have!)
All things Diplomacy has been migrated to DOMINATE, and as such I have removed the Diplomacy section from the header and renamed DOMINATE to Diplomacy. The old Diplomacy site is still accessible at hdwhite.org/diplomacy, though obviously it won't be maintained anymore.
After lots of going through old games, all of the (1200+) Diplomacy images are finally in .png format! This also means that every game will show up on DOMINATE.
So yeah, a lot of stuff has happened over the past couple months. The biggest is, of course, the addition of DOMINATE. I had started working on an online Diplomacy game manager way back in junior year of high school, but nothing really came of it. Over Winter break, I finally decided to tackle the project again, and it appears to be working splendidly! One game has already started, and another is filling up.
Also, on a more mundane note, logging in won't annoyingly redirect you to the home page anymore, which means that even fewer people will see these news posts!
I was looking through some old e-mails and I happened to find an old Diplomacy game! So now Diplomacy VII (which I didn't even know existed) is up on the site. Enjoy!
I have started to re-upload all the Diplomacy maps in .PNG format, mainly for readability and certain other reasons.
I've made some more cosmetic changes to the Diplomacy pages. It should be much easier to find your way around now. It also should look a lot less like it was designed by a 15-year old. Which is was.
I have updated the main Diplomacy page. It's a lot more compact and organised, and now contains even more unnecessary Javascript!
I have also finally (after three years!) gone around and fixed the dates of my Rants-turned-blog posts. If you're curious, there's actually seven or so Rants that did not make it to the blog (including one in which I prognosticate a Homecoming spirit week back in high school), which you can find at http://hdwhite.org/rants.
Another update, actually! I have added an XML feed for new news posts. It's also a lot easier for me to make news posts, so I won't be nearly as behind as I usually am. Hopefully.
We have a new Diplomacy game underway — PBEM14! It's already in 1902, so you should check it out.
In addition, the Global Game Stats page is back up after a long absence. I'm leaving out the player ranks for now, since I'm not sure if it's really that useful anymore. Let me know if you think otherwise.
Happy Guy Fawkes Day! I have made a much-needed update to the Diplomacy site. The Game Info page now works again, I have made things look less ugly overall, and PBEMX has been rescued from the dark recesses of the Internet and put onto the site! Let me know if you have any more suggestions as to what to put on there.
In related news, PBEM13 has started! Once again, seven competitors will duke it out for fame, fabulous prizes, and control of Europe. As with every other game, you will be able to follow it from the Diplomacy page.
There's a new blog post up! It's about superheroes! And physics! You should totally read it.
In other news, commenting on the blog now requires an account. Sorry about that, but the spambots were getting through the CAPTCHAs.
As promised, another puzzle is up! This time it's only nearly impossible to solve...
Oh hey, a news post! Been a while since I've had one of those.
Anyway, I have started a new weekly challenge! There'll be a new puzzle level each week, so give it a shot if you want even more puzzle action!
So after about a few weeks of development, I am pleased to present the Quizbowl Stats Database! Its goal is to present a complete, interconnected record of as many high school tournaments as I can get my hands on. You can go to a player or school page and find every tournament they have attended, as well as about every stat you would want.
This site is now five years old! Hard to believe I've been doing this for so long.
Looks like there was a bug with saving people's puzzle progress. I believe it has been fixed, though if things are still not working, please let me know.
Also, new headers! Try to catch them all.
You can now save your progress on the Puzzle! All you need to do is create an account! There should be a handy-dandy link on the "Where you've been" page.
Two new blog features: If you are logged in, you will now post comments under that account. Right now there isn't any visible difference between logged-in people and not-logged-in people, but there soon will be! Also, you can now reply to comments! I'll probably work on the design of the reply system a bit more tomorrow.
You can now register an account at hdwhite.org! It doesn't do anything at the moment, but there are plans...
If you are reading this, I encourage you to check out the latest blog post. It goes into some detail about the (hopeful) direction of this site.
The comments system for the blog has been fixed, thanks to reCAPTCHA. We shouldn't have to deal with spam anymore.
Due to popular support, the Rants section has now become a blog. Expect it to be updated more often then once every month or two. Hopefully.
A new Rant is up. I encourage you to check it out, especially since it deals with what I actually want to do with that part of the website.
Well, I've finally started a new game of Diplomacy. CDip I has begun, and can be followed from the Diplomacy link.
Also, you should check out the latest link. It features Dave Barry, who has a tendency to write really awesome things.
If you tried to access today's link, you probably found yourself at a 404 error. This has been fixed.
In other news, this site has now surpassed 750,000 pageviews! Only about seven orders of magnitude and this will overtake Google.
As you may have noticed, I have put up donation buttons on the footer of the site. Basically it's to (potentially) help me with paying for the site, plus the fact that I, like many others, am in fact a starving college student.
Also, check out the links! That I have in fact updated every day for the past week or so!
And as I promised, there is actually a new link today! I am responsible for once!
One more change: I have added an introductory paragraph to the Diplomacy page so people will actually know what it is.
Well, it's been a while, but I'm back. Sorry for neglecting the site, though people seem to be enjoying it, from what I've seen. Anyway, there are several changes that I have made recently, so here comes a long news post!
First off, I have added four (!) new Rants. I had actually written them some months ago as part of an English project, but I hadn't actually gone around and uploaded them onto the site. Hopefully they will keep you content untill I post the next one (which, knowing me, will be in about three months).
Also, I have finally put up all of PBEM2 I and PBEM2 II (won by Turkey and Italy, respectively). I also cleaned out a couple of old links. And as you have probably figured out, I have put DOMINATE on indefinite hold. Perhaps I'll work on it again at some point in the future, but if I do, I'm not planning on making a big deal about it. Finally, I am planning on beginning a new game within the next couple of weeks, so if you wish to play, let me know somehow.
In addition, I finally updated the long-neglected Links section of the site. I went ahead and got rid of the links that didn't work anymore. And, in an attempt to get me to touch this site more often, there is now a "link of the day"-type thing. It's generally going to be something that I found rather funny or bears reading. However, I do plan on including other things at some point (basically when I get around to it).
Anyway, hope you like the new updates, and I promise that I will actually work on this site more than once every nine months.
P.S. 100 news posts!
First off, the liveblog went wonderfully; thanks to all who took time to read it and to comment on it. Naturally, it will be left up for historical purposes, or whatever it's called.
Also, I have changed the contact link. Instead of going to a contact form where most of the e-mails go to Spam (sorry for those who don't get replies to my e-mails), there is now a direct link to a dedicated contact e-mail address. Hopefully this should work better.
The Election liveblog is up and running. You can find it here or you can click on the Rants link.
First off, since the last piece of news, this site has gotten over 410,000 hits. I would like to thank you all for helping make this site as popular as it has suddenly become. Sure, it's no Google, but I would consider it a good day if I got 200 visitors a day. Instead, over the last two months, I've been averaging more than 6,000 views a day. I would be really glad if that were to be kept up, but then again, I wouldn't be suprised if it didn't. We'll see.
In other news, I have made it such that whenever a portion of the site gets updated, a red box will appear around the item in the menu. I'm hoping it will attract attention to lesser-visited parts of the site.
Speaking of which, there is a new Rant up. Except that it isn't really a Rant in the sense of the word. It's more of a liveblog, but I couldn't think of a better place to put it.
In Diplomacy news, two new games have started: PBEM2 I and PBEM2 II. The first one is on the site, the second one isn't, thanks to some complications with the update system. Please bear with me. As for DOMINATE, I, like many other Seniors, are burdended with large workloads, so progress has slowed down somewhat. However, it is now possible to create games, so hopefully we should be close to actually getting a beta version out soon.
Next goal: Get a news post out within a reasonable amount of time. And not say news so many times.
I have resumed work on DOMINATE after a few-month haitus, and it appears that with luck, it should be in full beta-test mode by the start of the school year. The main things left to do are some GM functions, creating and joining games, and some some to make it somewhat user-friendly. Of course, it'll probably be delayed until December, but we'll see.
Well, I did what I said I was going to do (a first?) and actually went through the levels. I added in a few hints at some harder-than-expected levels and tweaked a few others, especially near the end when I was desperate for ideas. In theory it should now be such that the further you go, the harder it becomes (with a few breathers here and there). This was not the case, as some of the later levels were much easier then they should have been. For the most part, you should not notice much difference, as right now level 39 is viewed about as much as the Fall 1903 moves for PBEM2.
Also, kudos if you could understand something written by me at the equivalent of 3:30 AM.
I have changed the intro page to the Puzzle to a format that is more in line with the rest of the site. Also, once I get back from New Mexico in a couple of weeks, I plan on going through the levels and making some (mostly cosmetic) changes to the indiviual pages.
Also, happy National Tapioca Pudding Day.
And now Diplomacy is up! There shouldn't be any problems with it, but if there are, then please let me know ASAP. However, I'll be away starting tomorrow and ending next Saturday, so don't get too anxious.
You may have wondered what has happened to the site over the past few months with the error messages and whatnot. Let's just say that one should check one's code before running the program, especially if it involves e-mails. Anyway, lots of changes to the site:
First off, you may have noticed a new location. That's right, we finally have our own domain name! From now on, tjhsst.edu/~hwhite will now rediect to hdwhite.org. We are using a system that pays by amount of storage and bandwidth used, so it should be cheap to maintain (unless somehow this site gets a lot of popularity really soon).
As you may have seen, we have reintroduced the Unending Story. I figured I might as well bring that back, even if it turns into a major spamfest. For those unfamiliar, anyone can add any amount he or she likes to the story, which will supposedly not end.
Another Rant is up. This one's a longer read, mainly because I ended up turning it in a few months ago for an English paper.
Also, the Dungeons and Tutroials sections are gone. For the former, I've never gotten around to finishing it, mainly because I really don't like Java anymore. As for the latter, it seemed like a good idea when I put it up there, but I never actually did anything with it. However, these sections may make a return in the future if I feel like it. We'll see.
You may have also noticed that Diplomacy is not there either. I'm currently in the process of moving everything over, which is a bigger pain than expected. It should be up within the near future (with respect to the sun).
Anyway, let me know if there are any problems with it. Have fun, and please don't blow it up.
Yes, I know it's been over three weeks since the last update. It hasn't been because of lack of news, it's just because I haven't bothered to update it.
Anyway, PBEM7 has finished with an English solo, the Face-to-face game of Diplomacy that happened last week went off very well, PBEM10 is up and running (GM'd by Craig Haseler), and a new game has been created: ExDip. ExDip is different in that the players will have to explore a new hemisphere as well as trying to take it over. It should be fun.
More Diplomacy goodness: Individual player game logs are here! If you click on a player inn the Global Stats or Info pages, you will see more detailed stuff about that player. As usual, I am open to suggestions as to what else to put in there.
PBEM8 has finished, this time in a draw with the major powers of England and Italy standing each other off across the stalemate line. Also, CrazyPBEM2: Electric KHAAAANNNNNN!!!! has started, with the goal this time of being as goofy as possible. No resolutions this time.
The Individual Diplomacy Ranking table has been moved to the Global Stats page, where it is going to finally be self-updating. In addition, expect more fancy stuff.
As per request, jDip files for all games are now up. Please let me know if there are any problems.
Lots new stuff on the Diplomacy page. First and formost, there is now a Global Statistics page with many stats about all the completed Standard games. In addition, I have put in a lot more navigation menus, which should help getting around the site a whole lot easier. As usual, if you have any questions, complaints, suggestions, praises, etc., feel free to use the Contact link at the bottom or just talk to me in person.
PBEM5 has now been updated to 2002. Again, upadates may lag a bit, but hopefully it won't take too long.
New feature for the Diplomacy page: You can now go to a game directly from another game. Just use the newly summoned drop-down menu.
As I said I'd do, I am putting games on the WDC site. nDip3 is up, and more to come. And by "more", I mean I still have 7 games to do.
I have now put UltimateDip on the WDC site. Hopefully more will follow. My goal is to put all the Diplomacy games on my site, which will enable me to do all sorts of stuff.
Update: I have completed the first part of the Automated Diplomacy Adjudicater. Right now you can enter in a series of orders and it will check for syntax. Feel free to stress-test it, as I want to catch any and all errors. The only thing I'm missing is multiple coast functionality, which I hope to figure out sometime soon. Enjoy!
Edit: How 'bout a link?
While I'm busy working on the online Diplomacy thingie (I'm getting there!), here's a problem for you to solve:
A group of seven of us were playing a variant of Diplomacy in which we could place our initial units (i.e. two fleets and an army for England, two armies and two fleets for Russia, and two armies and a fleet for everyone else) in any of our supply centres at the start, provided that there were no landlocked fleets. For example, Italy could start with a fleet in Venice and armies in Rome and Naples. The game itself was very weird in that by the end of 1901 two powers had been eliminated. In addition, three neutral supply centres were occupied by Spring 1901 and neither Turkey nor Russia could build in 1901.
What were the initial locations of all 22 units?
UltimateDip has begun, with the seven (well, seven of the top eight) players playing in a semi-anonymous game. It should be loads of fun, and the first moves will start appearing over the weekend.
Lots of stuff going on. First off, the Diplomacy page has moved! It is now located at activities.tjhsst.edu/wdc. The link still works, but make sure to update your bookmarks.
In addition, Benjin deleted PBEM6, so no record of it exists, as far as I know. If you happen to have any .jdip file or any image assoiated with it, please let me know. The same applies to SummerPBEM and PhilPBEM1 from about a year ago.
Moreover, two new games have been created. PBEM9 has an entirely new crowd of people playing and is being hosted by Filip. PBEMX is of the Ancient variant and is hosted by Benjin Dubishar.
Penultimately, I am now working on an online Diplomacy adjudicator. Expect something to come up within the next ten years.
Finally, come to World Domination Club Friday A block. This is an order.
Yes, I'm still alive. Junior year is starting to take its toll, but things are finally back on track. Expect to see more Dungeons and Doorknobs soon.
A new Rant is finally up! Enjoy the read, but don't kill me if you're of the enemy.
Long time no update. As you may know by now, CrazyPBEM1 has started. It is unique in the fact that anyone can propose a rule change, and if enough people vote for it, it takes effect. So far only one year has passed, but already it has gone the way of the madhouse. And the zombie invasion.
In addition, I've taken a look at hosting plans, and it appears that the cheapest one I could find was about $3.50 a month, so hopefull you'll finally see some action there.
Diplomacy has officially started for the new year! PBEM7 is up, and you can sign up for PBEM8 if you want.
For those who want to partake in Diplomacy in the upcoming year, I will be posting sign-up sheets in the Syslab and Aud Lob tomorrow, as I did last year. I have a feeling that there will be a lot of games starting up soon.
If you look at the first post I ever made, way down in the archives, you will find that it is dated August 29. That's right, it has been one full year since what I feel has been the true launch of this website. A lot has changed since then. (Just to show an example: here.) And there will be more in the coming year. Diplomacy will still be a major part of this site, of course, but I will also be working more on Dungeons and Doorknobs. In addition, there will be more Rants, as well as a facelift for the Puzzle. And, most likely, there will be new sections that will crop up in the furure. As always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. So here's to another successful year!
As I said I would, I have done a lot of work on the info pages in the Diplomacy section. As of now, about half of the games I host here have it. Also, I have managed to make updating it a lot simpler, so I'll actually update them in-game now. In addition, I've fixed the bug where all games had to start at 1901, rather than, say, 1994. Anyway, have a good last few weeks of summer!
Update: I have finished the Info pages. Also, since mid-January, there have now been 10,000 visitors to this site!
I have updated the links page with six new humour sites. Take a look at them; they're a load of laughs.
ince they keep on solving them, I'll keep on making them. Four more Puzzle levels have been added, making the new total 47.
In addition, I have gone over the Diplomacy page. All the links should be up-to-date now. Also, I have updated PhilPBEM1900 to its conclusion. Again, let me know if there are any problems.
Five months after the last time I added Puzzle levels, I have put in 6 more, making a grand total of 43. Also, at least two people have made it to level 37 (the old finish). Congrats to them, and more work for me.
It appears that my Puzzle has some newfound fame. Quite a few people have started work on it. In fact, there are a few who are only a couple of levels from finishing it. Which means that I will need to add a few more levels very soon. Also, level 29b has been changed a bit.
Well, the school year has finally ended. And what a school year it was! I'd go over it all, but there'd be too much to say. But at the start of the year, this website was just a small puzzle and promises about a game. Then I added Rants, followed by Diplomacy, and then CSS. Several more additions later, it's a full-blown website that attracts several hundred page views on school days. It's a nice feeling to know that people actually read what you write. I hope everyone has a nice summer, and I will see you next year (barring the minor thing).
And yes, PBEM2 did end. Austria soloed with 19 supply centers. A good stab at the end, I might add.
Also, I have found a version of the website before it got CSS. It can be found here.
With one day of school left, PBEM3 has reached a conclusion. This time, the nations decided to end it, with France and Russia dominating the scene. As I said, look forward to minor tweaks over the next few months.
With three days of school left, PBEM1 is now officially finished! France managed to solo with 19 supply centers. Also, PBEM2 will most likely end soon as well, so look out for its conclusion.
Also, with the summer approaching, I will have a lot of free time. So I'll be doing all the info pages during that time and be fixing any minor bugs. If there is some sort of problem, please let me know.
I've done a few internal changes to the Diplomacy page, giving it more flexibility. The tutorial has been changed with the appropriate updates. Let me know if there are any bugs I missed. At least the "All Maps" page isn't recursively showing the maps of 1901 anymore.
As promised, another tutorial is up! You can now set update Diplomacy games yourself, rather than waiting for me to do them. Also, if you want to do the games that I'm updating but not GMing, let me know. The less work for me, the better.
I decided to take a look at the Puzzle, and I noticed that there were a few major bugs. These have been fixed. And no, no one has finished it yet.
Another section of the website has been created! This time, it is a repository of various tutorials. To start it off, I have posted a guide to setting up a website on the TJ servers. More to come soon.
In other news, since I've started keeping track four months ago, this site has recorded over 15,000 page views. Not bad considering that the target audience is a small subset of a 2,000 person high school.
Another version of Dungeons and Doorknobs is up! Basic combat functionality has been added. Hopefully more to come soon. It depends on how quickly I can do the USACO stuff in APCS class.
Everything should be updated now. All five Diplomacy games are back to latest season, and a new Diplomacy game, nDiplomacy 7, has started. And as you can tell, I have been yet again tasked with updating it on my site. Hopefully soon I'll post a tutorial on updating the games online so I won't have to.
I have posted another rant! For once, I have written one in a semi-decent timespan. And by that I mean about a month. Also, I have started posting my rants on Facebook, where you can comment on them if you so desire without having to talk to me in person.
And yes, I signed up for Facebook. The end is nigh.
I've been talking about it for a while now, and I have finally posted it on my website! It is the Offical Unoffical TJ Diplomacy Rankings. Find out how you rank compared to other people. I do not claim that this is a perfect system, but I hope that this is an accurate representation of the players at TJ. If you want the raw data, let me know. I wasn't about to manually create a mommoth table.
Name change: The games in the PBEM series have been renamed to PhilPBEM, and the HarryPBEM series is now known as just PBEM, since there are other GMs for this group of games. Bonus points if you could understand what I just said
Update: I have updated PBEM4 and PBEM5. Hopefully I can keep them up-to-date now. Enjoy!
I have added a new feature to all Diplomacy games: the ability to see all the maps on one page. It's very useful if you want to view the evolution of a game, for example. Just be warned that the page can get a bit big.
I know it's been a while since the last update, but with the AP exams coming up, I should have more free time. Somehow. Don't ask. Anyway, lots of updates:
First, Diplomacy VI has ended! Congratulations to Italy who has managed to get to the full 18 supply centres! As for Diplomacy VII, I'm probably going to have to put that on hold for now, since there are two more games going on, PBEM4 and PBEM5. PBEM4 is hosted by Bobby Kogan, and this is a standerd game. PBEM5 is run by Filip Sufitchi, and it is of the Modern varient. The first orders will be up soon.
In addition, I'm hoping to purchace hwhite.org in the near furure, mainly because that's a much easier name to remember. And plus, it's really cheap. Expect it to arrive soon.
Finally, Dungeons and Doorknobs is still going on, with the Combat system about half-done. Expect it to be out in the next week or so. Until then, have fun!
More Diplomacy goodness! There is now an info page for the Diplomacy games! (Well, Diplomacy I-VI, anyway.) Right now it desn't have much, but more will be added soon. To access it, just click on the link in the game page. In addition, I've messed up Diplomacy II. Don't worry, it will be fixed soon.
And thus, there stood a new section. A section that for ages hath been promised to come, but now it hath arrived.
Yes, Dungeons and Doorknobs is finally here! Well, in an alpha stage at least. Basically, the only things that make it short of beta are a few bugs and a combat system, which should come soon. To be honest with you, it really wasn't as much hard work as it seemed like. I just kept on putting it off. Anyway, if you see any bugs, let me know. Then they shall be squished. And then replaced by even more bugs. So, enjoy!
And another Diplomacy game has started! HarryPBEM3 now has seven players, and the first results will be posted on Monday.
There have been several people who have expressed interest in playing Diplomacy. The trouble is that I can't remember all the names and faces. So, I have posted up two FAQs and sign-up sheets, one in the Syslab and one in the Audlob. If you want to play, just put your name and e-mail address down.
Back from Arizona, and a few more updates for you! First off, I posted another rant (see, I remembered). Check it out! Also, I did some more work on Dungeons and Doorknobs. The town area is all but complete, and I'll post an alpha version once I get the dungeon itself working. Additionally also, I will be putting up Diplomacy sign-up sheets in the Syslab and Audlob. So rather than people talling me that they want to play and me forgetting, they can just put their name down.
Thanks to .htaccess, I have put in my own 404 (and 403 and 401) errors, if you haven't already noticed. Also, I have added password fields and moved a couple of Puzzle folders. What was ghetto/ is now sponge/, and its derivative has also been changed.
As you may have noticed, several more links have been added to the links (gasp!) section. Yay for funny!
Over the next couple of days, I will be changing the Puzzle a bit, in order to include username and passwords. If you find any problems (username/password not working, etc.), wait a bit. If, after the bit, the problem's still there, let me know.
In addition, HarryPBEM1 and HarryPBEM2 have started without a hitch. Come check them out; I have a feeling that they will be enjoyable games.
And just like that, two new games of Diplomacy have started! HarryPBEM1 is for the more experienced players, while HarryPBEM2 is for those who are newer to the game. Either way, they should be exicting games.
In addition, if you want to play in a new game of Diplomacy, just send me an e-mail. If I get seven people, then I'll start a new game. It's as simple as that.
I have decided to create another game of Diplomacy, this time of the PBEM format. So, if you want to join in (and I know you want to), just let me know in some way or another (e-mail, AIM, gigantic banner on wall of school, etc).
As you may have noticied by now, April 1st is on a Sunday. This isn't good news for all the pranksters out there, as you can't do the customary April Fools' jokes to classmates. So, circumventing the problem, April Fools' Day will be celebrated on Friday, April -1st (March 30 for all you positive-number fanatics out there). This means you have about 9 days to get everything ready.
In other news, I have created a "links" section to the website. As a prelude to the upcoming holiday, the first section is filled with stuff top make you laugh.
Well, the Unending Story is being a success. Too much so, in fact. When I went to check it about a half-hour ago, about eight new paragraphs were created. Sounds good, right? Let's just say that someone had a bit too much fun with it. The storyline was completely lost, it made no sense at all, and there were some comments that I would not be completely pleased with seeing on my webspace. So, from now on, try to be at least somewhat sensible. If there's some good material that I deleted (and I know there is), feel free to put it back in. But don't abuse the line wrap.
Actually, what I'm probably going to do is that I'll add a comments section to it, where you can discuss parts of the story. Of course, you could just AIM me/e-mail me. Just click on the link in the footer.
In another ambitious project, I have created (or at least started creating) The Unending Story. Basically, you can just type in a sentence (or two or three...), hit the submit button, and you have just added to whatever this turns out to be. And if it turns out to be left-wing propaganda (or right-wing propaganda, for that matter), remember that I have no part in this.
As a side note, to make room for the new content, I moved the Puzzle Spoilers to the Puzzle traceback page.
Diplomacy V has been completed, with a three-way draw between England, France, and Turkey in a fast-paced game that only lasted until 1906. So, as you may have guessed, Diplomacy VI is starting soon! As of now, there is one spot open, so let me know if you want to join in.
Long time no update. I have decided to start actual coding of Dungeons and Dorknobs (remember that?), and if all goes well, you should be seeing an alpha version appear in the not-too-distant future.
In other news, I have stopped updating PBEM1900 because of an inabily for jDip to produce uncorrupted maps. Sorry 'bout that.
After another long wait, I have posted another rant! Come check it out!
Additionally, I have created a forum for TJ Diplomacy, at http://tjdiplomacy.21.forumer.com. Come check it out!
Over the past few days, I took advantage of the lack of school to create a ton of new Puzzle levels. So now there are 37 levels for your enjoyment! Yes, that's right, I created 14 levels. I think that at this point, I'm going to stop making levels for now, partially because I'm running short on ideas at the moment, and the fact that the best solvers so far now have 25 levels to complete before reaching the end. So good luck, have fun, and remember that The Puzzle isn't a 10-minute deal.
I have created a new Puzzle level! So that makes the total 23. And this time, I know that there are 23 levels, unlike last time.
Y'know, I really should think up of an actual name, rather than just the "Puzzle".
As promised, I have put up nDiplomacy 3. Feel free to enjoy it, but remember that Diplomacy games should be marked with a roman numeral. If it's good enough for the Super Bowl, it's good enough for us.
I have posted nDiplomacy 1 (notice the lack of usage of the superior roman numerals) onto the Diplomacy page, as well as a link to the ongoing nDiplomacy 4 game. Hopefully tomorrow ot over the weekend I'll post nDiplomacy3.
In other news, I have found a replacement for Diplomacy V, so that should get started in earnest soon. However, I have had to replace a player in BroadcastDip, so if you want to join in, let me know.
BroadcastDip has started (even with the lack of school) and let's just say that my inbox is getting a workout. When I will post the moves, I will also attach all the press that was sent during that phase. Of course, that could be quite a bit.
Also, curtosy of Monica Li, I now have two more Diplomacy games to put up, which I will do sometime either today or tommorow.
You might be wondering what happened with all the Diplomacy V stuff. At the last minute, we had someone drop out, so we're short a person. If you want to play, let me know and you will be in.
Also, I am starting a game of Broadcast Diplomacy soon. In short, all communication can be heard by everyone. If you would want to join that, let me know as well.
Diplomacy IV has been completed with a two-way draw between France and Turkey in a thrilling game. Of course, that means that Diplomacy V is starting, and you will see the first results coming in Tuesday.
Everything is finally in order and up-to-date. PBEM1900 has been set up, Diplomacy IV is back on track, and with the exception of late Saturday night when the server will be taken down, everything looks all right.
Also, to update on the puzzle, there are three people who are each stuck on level 11. I didn't think that the level would be that hard.
It appears that PBEM3 has ended, due to a lack of commitment by both players and software with no winner. Also, the Spring and Fall 1903 moves cannot be posted because of a glitch with jDip. However, PBEM1900 (of the 1900 varient, naturally) has started. Don't expect the same level of detail, as I do not know of any electronic judge that carries the 1900 varient.
More Diplomacy stuff: I have redone the page(s) for Diplomacy I to match the format done by the other games. So now you can see the maps and see the moves at the same time.
As I promised, I have now set up RSS feeds for Diplomacy IV and PBEM3. They are located on the Diplomacy page.
PBEM3 is now up! Well, at least up to the 1903 Winter Adjustment phase. I will be updating it as soon as possible, but do not expect it to be as prompt as the games I'm GMing. Next up: RSS feeds for current games.
I have started adding other Diplomacy games to its section of the website, starting with PBEM2. Next, I hope to put in PBEM1 and PBEM3, which I will do over the break. Additionally, if anyone else has a game that they would like to be viewed in a place other than an e-mail inbox, let me know and send me the file.
I added the toggle functionality to the main page, which now includes what was in the Archive section. So now, no more Archive, but a lot more clickable javascript stuff. More to come soon. Hopefully.
Update: Because I appearently have too much spare time on my hands, I have created an RSS feed for the website! So now I'm sort of obligated to not go on 1-month hiatuses anymore, I guess.
Lots of new stuff! First, I finally managed to get the javascript working, and now whenever you click on a date (in the Archive section, at least) it will not expand and collapse the corrosponding section. So no, I did not completely screw the code. Also, I have now added a new feature to the Puzzle. You can now click on a link on whatever level you're on and you will be see where you've been. Finally, I now know how many levels to the puzzle there are. The answer is... 22! So I was wrong.
Another Puzzle level is up! Now, there are 24 levels, I think. Additionally, this is the first level that almost made me want to use an internet meme. I'm not telling you what it was, but when you get there, I think you'll know.
Finally, I have posted another rant! Since last time I said that I'd be posting a rant soon, it took two months, I will just say that I hope you enjoy it.
It appears that I am wrong. It is Winter Break (huzzah!) but the website is still up, if you haven't figured it out already. Actually, I'm not sure what is the point of posting this anymore.
Anyway, I hope you had a very merry Christmas!
Diplomacy III is now finished! This time, it was a draw between France, Germany, Italy, and Russia. Also, Diplomacy IV has started, and you will see the first results after Winter Break.
Due to server maintenance, this website will be down during Winter Break (December 22 - Janurary 2). We apologize for any inconviences.
Actually, there are two announcements to make. First, you may have noticied some web counters flating around. This is mostly to satisfy my curiosity (especially for the Puzzle) and can be ignored. Secondly, and more importantly, I have let one Benjin Dubishar set up shop at http://tjhsst.edu/~hwhite/shadowthunder. In fact, if anyone wants some webspace for some reason or another, let me know. The only two requirements are that you must go to TJ and that you don't already have your own webspace (this includes you, Freshmen).
More Diplomacy news: I have created a "blog" for Diplomacy at TJ. It can be found here, and a link will be posted to it from the Diplomacy page.
And another game bites the dust, this time with a three way draw between Italy, Russia, and Turkey. Additionally, Diplomacy III is now up. Furthermore, I would like to point out that there are now three Diplomacy games going on. Little did I know how popular this would become in such a short amount of time.
Oh, and if you're wondering, the reason why progress is slowing is in fact due to Diplomacy. It takes about 15 minutes of my time, time that I usually spend thinging up of ingenious upgrades to the site. I may consider learning a bit of javascript sometime in the near future. If I do, you will know.
Yes, I'm still here. Sorry for the lack of updates; I've been very busy as of late. And lazy. Anyway, everything should be updated. Oh, by the way, if you havent already, check out the Puzzle. It's lots of fun, and I promise that there won't be as many commas.
Diplomacy II is up! It promises to be better than the last one. Not like the last one was bad or anything. Also, you may have noticed that I moved a few things around. Also additionally, you may have seen the new map style. The program that I've started using generates the HTML automatically (almost), so things will be updated a lot faster.
The first Diplomacy game has been completed! We will be starting a second game tomorrow. If you want to join in, just go to the Systems Lab tomorrow during Lunch. Everyone is invited!
Oh, and yes, I will finish formatting the site. Seriously!
That's right, three updates in a period of just five days! Don't get used to it. But anyway, nothing has happened. I just wanted to say that. Well, I did drastically change the look and feel (yes, with a little help (well, actually a lot of help)), but other than that, not much.
Update: I have added the Archive section, and I have switched the Rants section to the new format. The puzzle I will keep in the same simple format, and I will do the Diplomacy section on Sunday.
As you may have noticed, the format for the Diplomacy has been changed to a more understandable one with better-looking pictures. If there are any problems (broken links, etc.), feel free to let me know.
So far, Diplomacy is going well. It's 1903 and already people are backstabbing like crazy. And yes, I will be posting a new rant soon. I haven't made any new levels for my puzzle in a while, mainly because no one has completed all of them yet. Well, at least as far as I know of. If you have, let me know!
Diplomacy is up! If you are playing or you just want to keep up with the action, just go here!
After a little while without any updates, I have posted a new rant! Also, I have decided to restart the coding for Dungeons and Doorknobs. It was getting so complicated even I couldn't understand it.
New section! Now you can see whatever I happen to rant about! Check it out here
New! An updated picture of what the new Nationals' stadium will look like in 2008! Check it out here!
Due to some weirdness with the servers, I haven't been able to access my documents. Don't worry, there will be more levels soon. Update: I have created two more levels for your enjoyment pleasure, making the new total 23!
As I promised yesterday, there are more levels! If I counted correctly, that makes 21 of them. Be the first on the block to complete them all! I probably won't do anything until after school starts; however, I might add an extra level or two, or a little work on the game. But that will be considered extra.
I have worked a bit more on my game. Also, it now has a title that I like: "Dungeons and Doorknobs." It will be playable soon! I promise! Also^2, I'm going to add more levels to my puzzle. Also^3, I've adoped a sort-of a blog style to this! Not that you haven't noticed already. Oh, also, sorry for the over-usage of the word "Also."
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