Category: announcements

Computers extension, v2

“Computers” is an extension I wrote some time ago, but the hiatus of the extension website meant that it wasn’t posted, so I didn’t announce it. However, it’s available now, and may interest some people.

The extension provides kinds for generic computers, as well as more specific implementations for desktops and laptops; some generic support for removable storage devices such as USB drives, CDs, and disks; and several kinds of software, including email and search engine programs, menus and operating systems, and password locks. (The behavior of the email and search portions are similar to those of the computers in Floatpoint.)

So, for example, we could set up a laptop with a password lockdown and an email delivery system thus:

Include Computers by Emily Short.

Conference room is a room. The conference table is a thing in the Conference Room. The small laptop is a laptop on the conference table.

The small laptop runs a password lock program called laptop security. Laptop security is privately-named. The password of laptop security is “mulderxox”.

The small laptop runs an email program called laptop email. Laptop email is privately-named.

The message table of laptop email is Table of Laptop Messages.

Table of Laptop Messages
topic message arrival time read answered description
“memo” “Memo” 9:00 AM false false “Your boss would like to see you in his office right away.”
“SPAM” “SPAM” — false false “Money for you from Nigeria!”
with 10 blank rows.

At 9:10 AM:
deliver “SPAM” to laptop email.

Test me with “turn on laptop / x laptop / x screen / type mulderxox / read memo / read spam / z / z / z / z / z / x screen / read spam / reply to spam”.

Version 2 fixes a couple of stupid little bugs and also introduces two new examples, one simple one demonstrating a computer with a removable drive, where the drive’s presence adjusts what can be found with the search engine, and a more complex one demonstrating the implementation of an ATM that must be accessed using both a debit card and a PIN, and has several different input modes.

Version 2 is available here.

More on Boston PAX

As zarf notes over here, we’ve submitted some panel suggestions to PAX East (and other people are welcome to do more). That’s Boston, March 26-28, 2010. Definitely planning to be there, besides me: J. Robinson Wheeler, Robb Sherwin, Aaron Reed, Andrew Plotkin, Mark Musante, Jeremy Freese, Juhana Leinonen, Jonathan Blask, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Jacqueline Lott Ashwell, Dave Cornelson, John Cater, David Welbourn, Iain Merrick, Jesse McGrew, Christopher Armstrong, Nick Montfort (part of the weekend); possibly Stephen Granade, Mike Rubin, and Jim Munroe; Jason Scott, almost certainly premiering Get Lamp.

Jay Is Games opens a competition for IF

JIG is running a competition for short IF games with the theme of “escape”, designed for play and judging on their website. This is a cool opportunity to showcase IF for an audience of casual gamers (some of whom are already IF fans but don’t follow the community regularly). And there are some nice prizes for the top-ranking games, as well.

Entries are due Jan. 31, 2010, with a three-week judging period to follow.

PAX East

Just wanted to draw attention to zarf’s post about PAX East:

IF activity at PAX Boston!

…will happen. Details when we have them.

What? No, I really don’t know yet.

What? I’m talking about Penny Arcade Expo East, scheduled for March 26-28 next year, in downtown Boston. I’ll be there. Quite a few IF folks are interested in showing up. We all said “Yeah, we should get together at PAX and do some stuff!”

Zarf will be there; Jason Scott will be there; barring employment issues getting in the way, I will be there. (I registered, but it’s still conceivable Real Life will hit me in the nose instead.) Various other IF folks have said they might be there as well. There might well be an IF panel of some kind, and/or a showing of Jason Scott’s documentary.