Useless trivia about me, phs
This page lists items I would put on my CV if there were enough space left, or if I had the guts (have your pick).
-
One of the most irritating programs I wrote is the gomoku package for Emacs. Try it with M-x gomoku (under GNU Emacs) and see for yourself how annoying it is.
More relaxing puzzles are available under M-x mpuz. Both packages are meant to smoothen your programming productivity and keep it within sensible bounds.
-
I am even prouder of Popeye, one of the most versatile programs for checking fairy and heterodox chess problems. I wrote the first version of Popeye more than 25 years ago, and it is is still in use today by chess problemists.
-
I invented what is now called "The Schnoebelen Promotion Theme" in chess problems. Rather than describe the theme and spoil all the fun, I'd rather let you solve the following puzzle:
Ph. Schnoebelen
Probleemblad 09/1996
Invent a legal chess game that reaches the above position just after Black's 15th move.
NB: Here Black and White cooperate to reach the position. -
By the way, chess puzzles like the one above are reachability problems in some large but finite-state combinatorial system. I believe that bounded model-checking could be a good approach to solve them automatically. Where can I apply for a research grant?
-
While American scientists fight evil sects, like creationism, that want to have their funding cut (before cutting off even more sensitive stuff), French scientists have their own cults to fight off: see the crap we have to put with!
-
Better than bird watching: parrotology! What is parrotology? The science of parrot jokes. Find out here.
-
Some nauseating web sites really make me sick ...
