Hung Truong: The Blog!

In Soviet Russia, Ms. Pac Man Plays… Ms. Pac Man?

So some AI nerds taught a video game playing agent to play Ms. Pac man. Well, actually, they taught it how to teach itself to play Ms. Pac Man…

I didn’t know that Pac Man was deterministic, and Ms. Pac Man was random. I think this proves that the actions of women are generally more difficult to predict than of men. Wait, are the ghosts in Ms. Pac Man also women? And I thought Ms. Pac Man was married to Pac Man! Well, she still could be technically, and keep her Ms. title.

I think they have kids though, so at least they’re an item.

Wait a minute, when did I stop talking about AI and start talking about Mr. and Ms. Pac Man’s relationship? Oh well…

Pianica GET! A Stunning Rendition of Oh Susannah!

Here’s a post that, for some reason, I kept in my queued posts and never published. Until now!!! I think I did this some time during the Summer. As you can see, it takes place before I moved to Ann Arbor! And here we go:

I got a Pianica! If you’re wondering what a pianica is, it’s like a melodica, except when Yamaha makes it they call it a pianica. More specifically, it’s sort of like this cross between an accordion and a harmonica, where you just get a keyboard and you need to blow into it to get the reeds moving. It’s “famous” for being in that manga, Nodame Cantabile, which I totally like, which is mostly why I bought it.

I practiced a bit today, but I really suck at keyboard. I never really bothered learning how to play, but I do read music, so that’s how I was able to BS my way through Oh Susannah:

Not very good, but this take was funny because I put a seven chord at the end. I actually like Oh Susannah a lot. The words make no sense. The reason I didn’t play any left hand at the end is because I found some free sheet music online, but they only showed the first page! GRRRR.

I think I’ll keep practicing and become the Pianica champion of the world! Or play music on the street for money. Either way it should be interesting.

Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis in Ann Arbor 1-16-08!

So I just got back from a concert with the LCJ and Wynton Marsalis. Man, those guys are good!

They did some kind of tribute to Duke Ellington’s love songs. While it was a good set, I would’ve like to hear, y’know, songs from other people. Wynton and the gang are already criticized enough for playing “era” music, so it’s weird that they limited themselves even further.

The sounds were definitely authentic-sounding, but it’s funny because whenever someone takes a solo, you can hear them sort of drift into the future (or our present) and play licks that would have been unheard of (well, at least unheard) in Duke’s band. I mean, what’s the point of sounding so accurate and then playing a solo that’s got hard bop licks?

Overall though, it was pretty sweet. And they played C Jam Blues as an encore. Just for the record, if I was a girl, I’d totally have Wynton Marsalis’ babies. That’s all!

Thoughts on the Macbook Air

So Apple announced the Macbook Air today. I was hoping for something like a major upgrade to the Macbook Pro, but this is kinda cool, too.

It’s thin, which is really nice. I used to have a Dell 300m that was about 3 pounds. I liked it a lot for the portability; unfortunately the build quality wasn’t great and the screen developed some issues.

But basically, that’s all the Macbook Air is: a thinner Macbook with less features that costs more. Unless you’re a weakling, the benefit of having a slightly lighter computer isn’t really worth all that you’re losing. Sure, there’s stuff like the multi-touch and um… isn’t that about it?

I was totally ready to buy whatever new awesomeness Apple had ready for the Macbook Pro, but I guess I’ll forgo buying one until they do get an upgrade. At this point, I can buy a refurbished Macbook Pro for about the same price (or less) as a new Macbook Air. But I don’t really need a Macbook Pro since my normal Macbook is still chugging along nicely…

Who Died In A Blogging Accident?

2 people apparently. But now there’s a lot more posts for the phrase “died in a blogging accident” because XKCD did a funny comic.

The world may never know who died in a blogging accident. And yes, I’m repeating the phrase “died in a blogging accident” for maximum SEO goodness. Died in a blogging accident.