Halloween Updates (Patreon)

image: My dodecapumpkin from about 10 Halloweens ago.

Here's a playlist of the spookiest Vihart videos, for the holiday.

1. Spider Time

That reminds me, one year ago when we started this Patreon journey, pretty much the first thing I made for y'all was Spiders Forever. Ooh I do miss spending time on artsy videos. Maybe that'll work out sometime soon...

As evidenced by Spidermath (and as discussed on VIM LIVE) I am definitely a spider person. Spiders connect, weave, create, and then become spider hermits at the center of their self-constructed web, understanding the entire universe through the vibrations transmitted through their threads.

I have many threads that go lots of interesting places these days, and am working on synthesizing them into an understanding of where the juiciest bugs are struggling.

Um. Forgive the creepy metaphor. 'Tis the season. 

I do love Halloween!

2. Ongoing mystery potential projects

Scutoids are not forgotten, and hopefully soon I'll be able to let you know the plan I have for them. I've got many plans up in the air these days, but nothing solid to speak of yet. Just lots of talking to humans.

3. Spaced Repetition

Remember how in the last post I talked about using a spaced repetition app to try and keep python programming syntax from immediately leaking out of my brain?

Nicky Case just came out with a great explorable on spaced repetition called How to Remember Anything Forever-ish. Nicky's work is always great and I recommend it!

Spaced repetition is one of the few super true fact things we know about learning, so it's good to learn about it. I especially like that Nicky teaches the do-it-yourself notecard option so that using a fancy app isn't necessary (though apps certainly travel better).

4. 50 Fizz Buzzes

One of the many things I learned from Evelyn Eastmond in my time working with her is this technique for deeply exploring, releasing yourself from preconceptions, thinking in new ways.

You make 50 of something. In one big marathon. (Maybe spaced over a few days, but it's important to exhaust your possibilities to break and illuminate habits, rather than making habits as with making a thing a week.) 50 is a LOT, and it takes you on this weird journey of ups and downs and complexifying and simplifying and combining and taking apart. It can be oddly emotional and intense.

This technique was meant for artists, but my research group has used it for VR stuff and programming language design too. So now to learn python, for the past week I've been making 50 implementations of fizzbuzz.

Fizzbuzz is a classic simple programming exercise and common interview question based on a classic kids game, where you take turns counting, but if the number is divisible by 3 you say "fizz", and if it's divisible for 5 you say "buzz", and if it's divisible by both you say "fizzbuzz".

I'll talk more about all of this and show you my fizzbuzzes, but first I thought I'd give the more programmery among you a chance to think about (or maybe write) fizzbuzzes beyond the obvious, without my influence. It'll be fun to trade when we're done!

I'm working on finishing #49. It's an emotional moment.

Ok that's all for now!

Vi