Reading

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

Reading

The Architecture of Happiness

corinella

ladybird

Ladybird, Ladybird

trolley transport

Reading

The Ashes of Worlds :- Book 7 of Saga of Seven Suns

Reading

Glasshouse by Charles Stross

Reading

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

Reading

The Mechanical Turk by Tom Standage

Reading

Megatokyo Volume one

Reading

Metal Swarm - Book 6 of Saga of Seven Suns

Reading

The Etched City by KJ Bishop

New trolley

Reading

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Reading

Of Fire And Night - Book 5 of Saga of Seven Suns

Reading

Scattered Suns - Book 4 of Saga of Seven Suns

science week

"I like that, sir, if I may say so, because it’s a very good thing, indeed it’s one of the things aimed at by this Academy, that we should not fall into the error of thinking that science began this morning." :- Robert Menzies prime minister of Australia opening the Shine Dome (aka Becker House, Jack Becker gave 100K of 1961 pounds and was dumped for John Shine's 1M 2000 AUD, cheek !)

Dreams on Wheels at Fed Square

Dreams on Wheels

Ned Kelly's Armour

Ned's Armour at SLV

Reading

Horizon Storms- Book 3 of The Saga of Seven Suns

cross-stitch robot

Reading

A Forest of Stars - Book 2 of The Saga Of Seven Suns by Kevin J. Anderson

from eastlink trail

Giant Metal Bird

Reading

The Riddle and the Knight: In Search of Sir John Mandeville by Giles Milton

Reading

Ecovillages by Jan Martin Bang

Zigzag in C

Here is the zigzag decoder in C

//=======================================================
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
int main (int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
 const int ArraySize= 10001 ;
 char cryptStr[ArraySize];
 int rowlen,r,newrow;
 char array[ArraySize];

 if ( argc < 3 ){
 printf("%s\n","zigzag_d rowlen cryptmessage");
 } else { 
 
 rowlen = atoi(argv[1]) ;
 strcpy(cryptStr,argv[2]);
//adjust for zero-numbering 
 rowlen--  ;

//init the array 
 for (r=0;r <=ArraySize  ;r++){  array[r]=0; }

int rowIndex =0;
int tempIndex=0;
int arrayLen = strlen(cryptStr)-1;
r=0;
newrow=0;

while(r <= arrayLen ){  
 if (newrow == 1 ) { 
// new row
  rowIndex++;
  tempIndex = rowIndex;
  array[tempIndex] = cryptStr[r]; 
  if (rowIndex == rowlen) { 
    tempIndex = tempIndex+2*rowlen;
  } else { 
    tempIndex = tempIndex+(2*(rowlen-rowIndex));
  } 
  r++;
  newrow=0;
 } else {

   if((rowIndex > 0 ) ) { //don't do on first row
     if(newrow==0) {
       array[tempIndex] = cryptStr[r]; 
       r++;
       tempIndex = tempIndex+2*rowlen-(2*(rowlen-rowIndex));
       if (tempIndex >arrayLen) { newrow =1; }
     } 
   }

   if(rowIndex != rowlen) { //don't do on last row
     if(newrow==0){ 
       array[tempIndex] = cryptStr[r];
       r++; 
       tempIndex = tempIndex+(2*(rowlen-rowIndex));
       if (tempIndex > arrayLen) { newrow =1 ; }
     }
   }
 }
}

 printf("%s\n", array);
} 
}
//=====================================================================

Zigzag Cypher

The Zigzag cypher (also known as a Rail Fence is a simple transposition scheme and not very strong, this is just an exercise in tinkering.
First here is the encoder:

#!/usr/bin/perl
 $rowlen = @ARGV[0];
 $message = @ARGV[1];
 if ( @ARGV == 0) {
   $message="CHARLIETHEWONDERBUDGIE";
   $rowlen =6;
 }
 $rowlen -- ;
 @letter = split '', $message;
 
 $dir =0;
 $index =0 ;

for ($r=0;$r<= @letter ;$r++){  
 @array[$index]=@array[$index].@letter[$r];  
 if($dir == 0) { $index++; } 
 if($dir == 1) { $index--; } 
  if ($index >$rowlen ) {
   $dir = 1 ;
   $index-=2;
  }
 if ($index <0) {
  $dir=0; 
  $index+=2;
 }
}

for ($r=0;$r<= $rowlen ;$r++){  
print @array[$r]   ;
}
print "\n";

After some trial and error the decoder

#!/usr/bin/perl

sub unzig {
#adjust for zero-numbering 
 $rowlen--  ;
 @letter= split '', $cryptStr;
 
 for ($r=0;$r <= scalar(@letter) ;$r++){  
  @array[$r]=" ";
 }

$rowIndex =0;
$tempIndex=0;
$arrayLen = @letter-1;
$r=0;
$newrow=0;
while($r <= $arrayLen ){  
 if ($newrow == 1 ) { 
# new row
  $rowIndex++;
  $tempIndex = $rowIndex;
  @array[$tempIndex] = @letter[$r]; 
  if ($rowIndex == $rowlen) { 
    $tempIndex = $tempIndex+2*$rowlen;
  } else { 
    $tempIndex = $tempIndex+(2*($rowlen-$rowIndex));
  } 
  $r++;
  $newrow=0;
 } else {

   if(($rowIndex > 0 ) ) { #don't do on first row
     if($newrow==0) {
       @array[$tempIndex] = @letter[$r]; 
       $r++;
       $tempIndex = $tempIndex+2*$rowlen-(2*($rowlen-$rowIndex));
       if ($tempIndex >$arrayLen) { $newrow =1; }
     } 
   }

   if($rowIndex != $rowlen) { #don't do on last row
     if($newrow==0){ 
       @array[$tempIndex] = @letter[$r];
       $r++; 
       $tempIndex = $tempIndex+(2*($rowlen-$rowIndex));
       if ($tempIndex > $arrayLen) { $newrow =1 ; }
     }
   }
 }
}

for ($r=0;$r <= scalar(@letter) ;$r++){  
 print @array[$r];
}

print "\n";
} #end sub

#main
 $rowlen = @ARGV[0];
 $cryptStr = @ARGV[1];
 if ( @ARGV == 0) {
  print "call with ./zigzag_d.pl rowlength cryptmessage \neg. ./zigzag_d.pl 3 COPATGAHRRY\n";
  #do a demo 
  $cryptStr="WECRLTEERDSOEEFEAOCAIVDEN";
  $rowlen =3;
  unzig;
 } else {
  #there was command line input 
  unzig;
}

And a few lines for a test script

./zigzag_e.pl 3 CARTOGRAPHY
./zigzag_d.pl 3 COPATGAHRRY

./zigzag_e.pl 4 THISISENCRYPTEDWITHTHEZIGZAGCYPHER
./zigzag_d.pl 4 TETHGPHSNPETTIZYHIICYDIHZACESRWEGR

./zigzag_d.pl 6 CWIHEOGEAHNDRTDULEEBIR
./zigzag_d.pl 10 CERHDYTOHEGASSVAOOEFCLWADANR

Pop-up robot cards by Susan Bluerobot

Susan Bluerobot has posted a cool pop-up robot card project

Reading

The MasterHarper of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

Reading

The Machine Stops by EM Forster (online text here)

OpenBiblio demo

I have been tinkering with OpenBiblio library software and deployed a demo... Later, had to remove the demo due to unwanted hacking (this means you q5c.ru). Thanks for nothing.

Reading

Dervish is Digital by Pat Cadigan

Skink

This charming little skink found his way inside, here he is prior to release


Back in the garden


A little closer (he was lying doggo)

Reading

Continuing the Neal Stephenson input stream: Interface

echo "echo \"hello world\"" >hello.sh

The latest XKCD is even funnier than the normal high standard.

Reading

The System of the World

small blue robot

This small blue robot is implemented in plastic canvas.

Pelicans

Reading

The Confusion

Kangaroo Cargo Bike

Chituma have got these neat cargo bikes, they are selling them with electric motors fitted but also available as pedal-only. The pedal unit is going for $795 AUD.