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There are many things you’ll be able to do with a . Messing around and doing something fun is one of them. quantum computer Over the past few years, I have been one of the main misusers of quantum computers. Among my projects are and . Others have also done similar things, including . Together they demonstrate many ways to use this new for something creative. simple games quantum superpositions of smileys quantum music technology So I had an idea. I’d take the quantum heart of each of these projects, and abstract it out to a simple class or function in Python. This set of tools would then allow even more people to make even more creative quantum projects, without needing to worry about the technicalities of programming the devices themselves. It could provide an easy way for quantum novices to do quantum things for hackathons and game jams. I liked this idea, and thought about it quite a lot. It was a nice idea to think about. I didn’t actually anything about it, though. I needed something to spur me on. I needed a deadline. So I committed myself to making the first ever quantum game for the game jam. do Ludum Dare 42 On the day before the game jam, I quickly hacked together some basic tools from my first few quantum games. The project had finally started! The had been made, and had more things in than just a README. github repo Then I just needed to wait for the theme of the jam to be revealed. At the stroke of midnight, as Friday became Saturday, it came. There was no way I could think of to make a ‘Running out of space’ game with any of my existing quantum tools, so I needed something new. When thinking about the word ‘space’, my mind quickly lept to ‘Hilbert space’. This is the space of possible states for the qubits in a quantum computer. Usually we start out with all our qubits set to . So if we had 5 qubits, we'd start with the state . This is just a single point in the Hilbert space. 0 000000 A short quantum program can then start to explore nearby states, like the ones that differ on only a single bit: , , etc. These states, as well as all the quantum superpositions of them that we can also create, form a small region within the Hilbert space. Then, as we make our program ever longer, we create more possible states and slowly explore more and more of the Hilbert space. 0001 0010 00100, That’s basically the exact opposite of the theme for Ludum Dare 42. We are supposed to be running out of space, not expanding! So let’s run our programs in reverse. Start with something that can create crazy complicated quantum states, and then delete a few lines of quantum code from the end of it. Keep on doing this, and the output for our program will describe a slowly shrinking region of the Hilbert space. That’s the basic quantum idea. Now how to make it into a game. To me, it lends itself quite natural to something like . This is an early precursor to games like the , where the player explores a labyrinth, trying to find a monster while avoiding dangers. With , it is all text based on the command line. That also suits me quite well, as I didn’t have enough time to do much in the way of graphics. Hunt the Wumpus Legend of Zelda Hunt the Wumpus Now for the narrative. Quantum mechanics is famous for being a bit odd, and there are many interpretations of what is going on. A popular one is the , which basically states that quantum superpositions should be thought of as parallel universes. many worlds interpretation I’m not convinced by this interpretation myself, but sci-fi has shown is time and time again that it makes for good storylines. So we’ll say that the large and complex quantum state we begin with represents a multiverse. As the program used to create it gets undone, this multiverse slowly collapses in on itself. If left to continue, only one universe would remain. The player’s job is to save the multiverse! They must hop between neigbouring universes, avoiding ones that have collapsed, and trying to find the cause of the problem: the Quantpus. Once they find it, everything can be saved. With this basic idea, I created the game (Actually I came up with the idea while making the game, resulting in dead-ends and spaghetti code. But reality doesn’t always make a good narrative.) The quantum program required was written as a new tool in my creative package. Like all the rest, it was written using the quantum SDK (which has here on Medium) QISKit its own publication I then ran many different instances of the quantum program on one of IBM’s . The data from these runs was saved so that it could be used in the game, giving players the genuine experience of playing on a real quantum computer without them needing to bother setting up the connection. The rest of the program was then just normal Python for normal computers, handling all the inputs and outputs, victories and losses. real prototype quantum devices The final product is still quite raw and buggy, but there is a game in there somewhere. And it’s a game that actually runs on a quantum computer. I’m pretty confident in saying that Ludum Dare has never had one of them before. If you want to play it, check it out . here

Game Jamming on a Quantum Computer

It was a cold evening as we were walking on the streets of Vienna. We were going to my first ever blues bar, where Leo, one of my colleague was going to join a band to jam for the evening. ‘What should I expect Leo? Do you know them? Do you know their songs?’ ‘No’, came the reply. ‘But you will have an amazing evening, trust me. We are going to play for the love of the music, to entertain the folks who are going to join us. As a musician this is how you learn, this is how you get better’. ‘But what about other ways of getting better?’, came my question. ‘Yes, you can use technical exercises, and sure they are useful and help, but man, this is what it is about. It is about impromptu, it is about adapting to the moment, it is about passion. You’ll see’. The purpose of learning music is to play in front of an audience, to entertain. In the days preceding this evening I have been thinking about what is really Agile? Why do we care and talk so much about it? Do we talk about the right things? Folks who I highly admire seemed to be at loggerheads on Twitter about the limited value of Scrum, or about how actually some don’t do Scrum properly rather they do a ‘custom’ form of Scrum, about how SAFe doesn’t solve the problems it promises to solve, about how the industry has jumped on the bandwagon of certifications. During these days I was even asked whether I have any sort of ‘Agile certification’? When I said no, it didn’t really matter whether I know Agile, it didn’t really matter whether I had any sort of track record in delivery. I was told that maybe we shouldn’t use my name on the RFP response because the client asked for ‘certified masters’. Many companies spend huge amounts of energy on making sure that they are not being seen not doing Agile to the detriment of their projects and their bigger Agile transformation journeys. We seem to be focused on getting the method right (or the principles, or the practices, you take your pick), on certifying our people that we lose sight of why we are actually doing it. As we were walking to this blues bar, half of my attention was dedicated to the discussion with Leo, half of it was trying to make sense of this Agile thing. We arrived at the bar. It was small but with character. There was no chance of having some decent food, but as the music started, this was soon forgotten. After a few warm up songs, Leo joined the band. He picked one of his twelve harmonicas and he joined them. What it followed was pure bliss. Passion, collaboration, focusing on one thing only — entertaining the folks who went there for the music. So there it was, Agile in action. ‘The purpose of learning music is to play in front of an audience, is to entertain.’ The focus wasn’t on having the right technique, the focus was to deliver value. And the value was entertainment. They were not concerned whether their instruments were the newest, or whether they had a certification or not. They shared the single mic they had, they improvised and adapted to each other, creating great music in the process. They poured their soul out, they showed their passion. Yes, they learned how to play music individually through lot of practice, but on the night they came together to perform as a team. Define what value is, learn techniques and jam to deliver that value. Same as the blues musicians, show your love and passion for what you do, share your mic, improvise and adapt, all in the name of delivering value. And, as the musicians, you will get better at Agile by jamming as often as you can. Agile is not the goal, it is only an enabler for delivering value.

Blues jamming and Agile

As many of my friends and family know by now, a few months ago I was blessed to receive an opportunity to work with the iconic American brand Chevy. So fast forward to last night I went to hang out with a few old friends in town for Father’s day. They shared with me an article written about me by a very angry and rather funny man named Jason Torchinsky, aka Torch. The article is titled “Guy Calling Chevy Equinox a ‘Bad Mamma Jamma’ in that ‘Real People’ Commercial is Everything Wrong with Everything.” On my first read through, I was doubled over laughing. Torch burned the shit out of me. His shit talking and snarkiness is grade-A. I read it over and over again out loud to my friends while we all drank and laughed. We learned about Jalopnik for the first time, it’s a pretty dope blog. Then late last night I shared it with my sister who is visiting from Israel. She laughed as well but pointed out something important I was overlooking: judging someone based on 3–5 seconds of footage you saw on the is a problem in modern society, especially in the media. internet Hell, judging anyone based on any single peek into their lives via or any online platform is impossibly silly. Yet, it’s also something that us twenty-somethings deal with all the time. Honestly, it’s irresponsible journalism. We’re viewed as avocado-eating, fixed-gear riding, electric-car driving, online shoppers who have no work ethic. The digital public court of opinion has no hierarchy and it has created a world where everyone is their own judge, jury and executioner. social media Now, I’m ‘everything wrong with everything,’ as judged by Mr Torchinsky. Does the way I chose to wear my hair that day impact my character? Does the shade of my sweater decrease my capacity for success? Do my Greats Royale low-tops condemn me to a life of insignificance and avocado consumption? Yesterday when my buddy since middle school Walt Jamison, an avid car guy and religious Jalopnik reader, reached out to me regarding the article, he asked me a question. “What about the Chevy Equinox, a relatively workaday, practical, comfortable appliance of a crossover, made you call it a ‘Bad Mamma Jamma?’” Truthfully, there was something about the Equinox that reminded me of my first car- a 2002 RAV4. It filled me with that feeling of infinite possibility, of promise, of driving to Atlanta to meet with execs at Universal Music Group when they offered me a record deal at 18. I can’t tell you what it was about that Equinox- but it made me want to drive to Atlanta again. I cannot and will not apologize for using an expression that I use regularly when a vehicle gave me a fond memory. Torch’s rash approach plays into a typical narrative of today, one fueled by snap judgements and quips of a world that moves even faster than the TV soundbite society of yesterday. But the narrative is older than print: young people have no idea what they are doing and we should mock them for their strange and incomprehensible ways. I don’t know if Torch meant to play into that narrative or not, one of the lessons we’ve learned from Facebook sharing, click-bait articles, and cat memes is that it’s easy to spread an idea without realizing exactly what you are spreading. He says in his article that I’m getting played by Chevy and they’re making a fool of me. Yet, it’s Torch who relies on Chevy’s brand awareness and aggressive media spend to bait clicks for a niche blog site to pay his bills. Well you know what Torch? I am indeed a ‘real person.’ I have bills to pay too. I am a son, father, brother, uncle, lover and friend to many. I have buried all my grandparents, my dad and a few friends I grew up with and I’m not even thirty. I’m an entrepreneur. At 23 years old in 2011, with no college degree, I was covering $14,000 a month of overhead with a baby on the way. I’ve paid hundreds of thousands of dollars of wages. I’ve paid tens of thousands of dollars of federal, state and local taxes that have contributed to the upkeep of not only my community but our nation. The sweater and shoes you mocked were made by craftsmen in Europe, not children in China. The man-bun you mocked was my hair in a pony tail. It’s actually really curly and just makes that shape on its own. Sorry that doesn’t make sense to your white-guy-straight-hair mind. We are all ‘real people’ just fumbling through this fucking mess called life together. Can’t we all put aside our imperfections and work together for a change? Torch is just a young dad like me. We’re both trying to do right by our children and the people we love. How can we rise up alone? Upward mobility is dead for us. We need to work together, not tear each other apart. Torch says that Chevy is tearing us apart and he couldn’t be more wrong. Their commercials bring people together and it’s divisive rhetoric with no factual backing like his that tears us apart. In my opinion, there are enough corporations, politicians and media outlets trying to shove division down our throats. The very last fucking thing we need in this world is one good dad tearing down another one for no reason. So Torch, if you’re ever in New Orleans I invite you for a few drinks on me. There’s definitely cause for celebration if someone whose contributed as much to his friends, family and community as me is ‘everything wrong with everything.’ Cheers, Nathan Raffel is how hackers start their afternoons. We’re a part of the family. We are now and happy to opportunities. Hacker Noon @AMI accepting submissions discuss advertising & sponsorship To learn more, , , or simply, read our about page like/message us on Facebook tweet/DM @HackerNoon. If you enjoyed this story, we recommend reading our and . Until next time, don’t take the realities of the world for granted! latest tech stories trending tech stories

A Response to Jalopnik from ‘The Bad Mamma Jamma Guy’ in the Chevy Ad

) continues to develop as a transformative force across many spheres of life, already beginning to revolutionize industries and reshape the way we live and work. The topic of AI in warfare will require increasing attention from governments, policymakers, and international organizations. A large part of this is due to significant advancements in the development of autonomous weapons systems (AWS), which use algorithms to operate independently and without human supervision on the battlefield. More broadly, AI in its many forms has the potential to enhance a range of military activities, from the likes of robotics and weaponry to intelligence gathering and decision-making. Artificial Intelligence (AI With such a diversity of potential applications comes a unique set of ethical dilemmas. The benefits of AI in warfare are increased precision, reduced human casualties, and even deterrence against entering into armed conflict in the first place akin to the threat of nuclear war. However, this would mean giving machines the ability to make deliberate life-and-death decisions, blurring the lines of accountability, and possibly going against the fundamental principles of morality in warfare. A Brief Overview of AI in Warfare As the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute outlines, AI has become a crucial part of military strategies and budgets, contributing to the wider ‘arms race’[1]. Combined with the likes of nuclear and atomic threats, geopolitics must therefore question the ethics of the continued weaponization of technology. Some believe that these advancements will ultimately lead to zero-sum thinking dominating world politics. This logic is not new; Alfred Nobel hoped the destructive power of dynamite would put an end to all wars[2]. AI has already started to be incorporated into warfare technology such as in drone swarms, guided missiles, and logistical analysis. Autonomous systems have been incorporated into defensive weaponry for even longer, e.g. antivehicle and antipersonnel mines. Future developments will continue to aspire to increasing levels of autonomy. The US is testing AI bots that can self-fly a modified version of the F-16 fighter jet; Russia is testing autonomous tanks; and China too is developing its own AI-powered weapons[3]. The goal is to protect human life by continuing to mechanize and automate battlefields. “I can easily imagine a future in which drones outnumber people in the armed forces pretty considerably[3]” said Douglas Shaw, senior advisor at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. So, instead of soldiers being deployed on the ground we saved lives by putting them in planes and arming them with missiles. Now with AI, militaries hope to spare even more human life from its forces. Moral Implications of AI in Warfare This sounds great so far. Save lives by using AI to direct drones. Save lives by using AI to launch missiles. The difference between this technological jump in warfare and past innovations is the lack of human input in decision-making. With AWS and lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), we are handing the power to kill a human being over to an algorithm that has no intuitive humanity. Several ethical, moral, and legal issues arise here. Is it fair that human life should be taken in war without another human being on the other side of that action? Does the programmer of an algorithm in a LAWS have the same responsibility in representing their country as a fighter pilot, and/or the same right to contribute to taking enemy life? Like with the ethical dilemmas surrounding autonomous vehicles[4], is it morally justifiable to delegate life-and-death decisions to AI-powered algorithms? From a technological point of view, this will come to depend in part on the transparency of the programming of AWS: training, datasets used, coded preferences, and errors like bias, in these models. Even if we reach an adequate level of accuracy and transparency, should AWS and LAWS be considered moral in warfare? Moral Implications of Just War Theory Just War Theory, credited to St Augustine and Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century[5], evaluates the morality of warfare and ethical decision-making in armed conflict. Across guidelines for (justice of war) and (justice in war), the most notable considerations are: jus ad bellum jus in bello Proportionality: The use of force must be proportional to the objective being pursued and must not cause excessive harm or suffering relative to the anticipated benefits. Discrimination: Also known as non-combatant immunity, this principle requires that combatants distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, and only target the former while minimizing harm to the latter. It could be argued that the use of AI-powered weapons and LAWS do not guarantee adherence to these conventions. On proportionality, AI-backed weaponry would possess the ability to deliver force with greater speed, power, and precision than ever before. Would this level of force necessarily match the threat posed/military objective, especially if used against a country with less technologically advanced weaponry? Similarly, what if a LAWS is fed erroneous intel, or hallucinates and creates an inaccurate prediction? This could lead to the formation and execution of unnecessary military force and disproportionate actions. On the point of discrimination, these technologies are not 100% accurate. When firing a missile at an enemy force, what happens if facial recognition[6] technologies cannot distinguish civilians from combatants? This would undermine the moral distinction between legitimate military targets and innocent bystanders. Case Study A Panel of UN Experts reported the possible use of a LAWS - STM Kargu-2 - in Libya in 2020, deployed by the Turkish military against the Haftar Affiliated Forces (HAF)[7]. Described as being “programmed to attack targets without requiring data connectivity between the operator and the munition” [8], the drone units were eventually neutralized by electronic jamming. The involvement of this remote air technology though changed the tide for what had previously been “a low-intensity, low-technology conflict in which casualty avoidance and force protection were a priority for both parties”[7]. While causing significant casualties, it is not clear whether the unmanned attack drones caused any fatalities[8]. Still, it highlights issues with unregulated, unmanned use of combat aerial vehicles and drones. HAF units were not trained to defend against this form of attack, had no protection from the aerial attacks (which occurred despite the drones being offline), and even in retreat continued to be harassed by the LAWS. This alone begins to breach the principle of proportionality, and even more so when considering that the STM Kargu-2s changed the dynamic of the conflict. Reports go so far as to suggest that “the introduction by Turkey of advanced military technology into the conflict was a decisive element in the… uneven war of attrition that resulted in the defeat of HAF in western Libya during 2020”[7]. International Cooperation and Regulation of AI in Military Applications Since 2018, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has maintained that LAWS are both politically and morally unacceptable[9]. In his 2023 New Agenda for Peace, Guterres has called for this to be formalized and actioned by 2026. Under this, he suggests a complete ban on the use of AWS which functions without human oversight and does not comply with international law, and regulation of all other AWS. This type of international cooperation and regulation will be necessary to help overcome the ethical concerns we have discussed. For now, the use of AWS without human oversight will cause the most immediate issues. The lack of a human decision-maker creates issues of responsibility. Without a chain of command who takes responsibility for the malfunctioning or general fallibility of an AI-powered system? Moreover, there would be an ensuing lack of accountability. Especially in traditional warfare where there are defined moral principles like the Just War Theory, here there would be no culpable agent for actions taken by autonomous systems. Finally, while there are benefits to increasingly adopting AI in military applications, how these technologies end up being used will define whether it becomes a utopic solution or a proliferation of the already politically destabilizing arms race. Therefore, continued discussion around international, legally binding frameworks for ensuring accountability in AI warfare will arguably be one of the most crucial areas of AI regulation in the near future. References Weaponizing Innovation: Mapping Artificial Intelligence-enabled Security and Defence in the EU War and Technology - Foreign Policy Research Institute How AI Will Revolutionize Warfare Ethical AI and Autonomous Vehicles: Championing Moral Principles in the Era of Self-Driving Cars | HackerNoon Just War Theory | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Bias in Facial Recognition Tech: Explore How Facial Recognition Systems Can Perpetuate Biases | HackerNoon Libya, The Use of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems | How does law protect in war? - Online casebook The Kargu-2 Autonomous Attack Drone: Legal & Ethical Dimensions - Lieber Institute West Point Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS) – UNODA

The Ethics of AI in Modern Warfare: Balancing Innovation with Moral Accountability

আধুনিক যুদ্ধে এআই-এর নীতিশাস্ত্র: নৈতিক জবাবদিহিতার সাথে উদ্ভাবনের ভারসাম্য

Die Ethik der KI in der modernen Kriegsführung: Innovation und moralische Verantwortung in Einklang bringen

La ética de la IA en la guerra moderna: equilibrar la innovación con la responsabilidad moral

L'éthique de l'IA dans la guerre moderne : équilibrer l'innovation et la responsabilité morale

आधुनिक युद्ध में एआई की नैतिकता: नैतिक जवाबदेही के साथ नवाचार का संतुलन

現代の戦争における AI の倫理: イノベーションと道徳的責任のバランス

현대전에서의 AI 윤리: 혁신과 도덕적 책임의 균형

A Ética da IA na Guerra Moderna: Equilibrando Inovação com Responsabilidade Moral

Этика ИИ в современной войне: баланс между инновациями и моральной ответственностью

Modern Savaşta Yapay Zeka Etiği: İnovasyonu Ahlaki Sorumlulukla Dengelemek

Đạo đức của AI trong chiến tranh hiện đại: Cân bằng giữa đổi mới với trách nhiệm đạo đức

现代战争中的人工智能伦理：平衡创新与道德责任

Authors: (1) Michael Sorochan Armstrong, Computational Data Science (CoDaS) Lab in the Department of Signal Theory, Telematics, and Communications at the University of Granada; (2) Jose Carlos P´erez-Gir´on, part of the Interuniversity Institute for Research on the Earth System in Andalucia through the University of Granada; (3) Jos´e Camacho, Computational Data Science (CoDaS) Lab in the Department of Signal Theory, Telematics, and Communications at the University of Granada; (4) Regino Zamora, part of the Interuniversity Institute for Research on the Earth System in Andalucia through the University of Granada. Table of Links Abstract & Introduction Optimization of the Optical Interpolation Materials and Methods Results and Discussion Conclusion Appendix A: Proof of Hermitian Self-Adjoint product identity for Equidistant Time-Domain Measurements Appendix B: AAH ̸= MIN I in the Non-Equidistant Case Acknowledgments & References 3 MATERIALS AND METHODS 3.0.1 Remote Sensor Data Soil temperature data were collected in the Sierra Nevada National Park in Andaluc´ıa, Spain, as part of the Smart EcoMountains program through the Lifewatch ERIC Program, from solar-powered remote multi-parametric micro-stations located within different environments (shrub, rock, and bare-earth) and altitudes (from 1500m to 2300m) from 29- 07-2020 until 04-05-2023. Measurements were continuously collected at a nominal 10 minute interval with micro-sensors (ibuttons, thermochron-type; Maxim integrated) connected to a network that transmits the collected information when connectivity is available. All the collected data were visually inspected for extreme values outside the normal ranges of the variable in the time series due to sensor failures, identifying a single sensor reporting erroneous values that were reported as NaNs. 3.0.2 Computational information All calculations were run with a B550 AORUS ELITE AX V2 motherboard with 128 GiB DDR4 RAM, an AMD Ryzen 9 5950x 32 core processor with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 graphics processor, and a 2 TB NVMe Samsung SSD 980. Software was installed on Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS 64-bit operating system “Jammy Jellyfish”. Graphical inspections and data cleaning were conducted with the tidyverse 2.0.0 package [13] implemented in the R 4.3.1 software environment [14]. Calculations were performed using Python 3.10. Data was parsed and cleaned from the original .csv values using Pandas 2.0.3. Various numerical operations were performed using the vectorized functions available in NumPy 1.25 [15], with additional statistical functionality from SciPy 1.11 [16]. Graphics were created using Matplotlib 3.7.1 [17]. This paper is under CC 4.0 license. available on arxiv

Remote Sensor Data Collection: Insights from Sierra Nevada National Park

This paper is available on arxiv under CC 4.0 license. Authors: (1) Berrenur Saylam; (2) Ozlem Durmaz ¨ ˙Incel. Table of Links Highlights Abstract & Introduction Federated Learning: Collaborative and Privacy-Preserving Model Training State of the Art Federated Learning Software Platforms and Testbeds Sensors and Edge-Sensing Devices Federated Learning Applications on Sensing Devices Discussion Conclusions, Acknowledgment, and References 7. Conclusion This paper has provided an overview of the current state-of-the-art FL methodologies applied to sensing devices, focusing on IoT sensors, mobile devices, and wearables. By examining the challenges and opportunities in applying FL to sensing tasks, the paper aims to inspire further research in this domain. The discussion section has raised several important points for consideration. It highlighted the need to address the asynchrony in FL, leverage unlabelled on-device data, explore FL applications in Human Activity Recognition (HAR) and affective computing, and adapt FL methodologies from simulation environments to real-world applications on sensing devices. Efficient wireless communication, resource efficiency, and personalization are crucial when applying FL methodologies to sensing devices. Future research should focus on developing wireless communication techniques that minimize data exchange, designing algorithms with resource constraints in mind, and enabling privacy-preserving personalization. By addressing these challenges, FL methodologies can be effectively applied in real-world sensing applications, considering sensing devices’ unique constraints and requirements. Moreover, the discussion emphasizes the need for studies that bridge the gap between simulation and real-world deployment, ensuring the practicality and effectiveness of FL methodologies in real-world sensing applications. By adapting FL methodologies to real-world settings, researchers can address additional challenges, such as communication constraints, privacy concerns, and device heterogeneity, and validate the performance of FL in diverse sensing domains. In conclusion, this paper aims to provide a comprehensive review for researchers and practitioners interested in applying FL methodologies to edge sensing devices to contribute to developing intelligent and efficient systems in diverse application domains by highlighting the specific challenges and opportunities associated with these devices. Acknowledgment T¨ubitak Bideb 2211-A academic reward is gratefully acknowledged. This research has been supported by the Bo˘gazi¸ci University Research Fund, project number: 19301P. 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An Overview of the Current State-of-the-Art Federated Learning Methodologies

Hello! I’m Vladimir Popov, Client Developer on the War Robots Project. At the time of writing, War Robots have been around for several years, and dozens of new mechs have appeared in the game during this time. Naturally, the varied abilities of the robots are important, because, without them, the robots lose their uniqueness which makes the game more interesting. In this post, I’ll share how the works in our game – and how it has evolved. And, to make things more accessible, I’ll explain things in simple terms and without too much technical detail. gameplay ability system How abilities used to be implemented First, let's dive into the project history and look at an older implementation that’s no longer being used. Previously, abilities were designed in a very trivial way: they had one component that was attached to the robot. This was a construction where the programmer fully described how the ability works: both its flow and how it interacts with other abilities. All the logic is described inside one component, and the game designer could simply attach this to the robot and configure the parameters as needed. It’s worth mentioning that it was not possible to change the flow of abilities – the game designers could only change parameters and timings. An old ability could only exist in two states: active and inactive, and each state could have its action assigned to it. Let's look at an example of the “Jammer” ability, which the robot “Stalker” previously possessed; it worked like this: If the ability is active, an animation is displayed and the robot enters the Jammer state; in this state, others cannot aim at the robot activating the ability. If the ability is inactive, nothing happens. When trying to activate an ability, we checked whether more than seconds had passed since the last activation. n Deactivation automatically occurred after seconds. m For a long while, this functionality was enough for us, but over time both the game designers and the programmers were no longer satisfied with this approach: it was difficult for the programmers to support these abilities because the code had become monstrous; this involved a very long legacy chain, where every situation had to be described. Additionally, game designers lacked flexibility – to make any change to an ability, they had to order modifications from the programmers, even if an adjacent ability had the same functionality. Enter the new ability system So, we realized that something needed to change. Therefore, we developed a new system, where each ability was represented as a set of several related objects. The functionality was divided into state abilities and state components. How does it work? Every ability has a main object. This central object connects other ability objects with the outside world, and vice versa; it also makes all the main decisions. There can be any number of states. Essentially, the state in this iteration isn’t much different from the active/inactive states in the old version, but now there can be any number of them, and their purpose has become more abstract. We’ll note that an ability can only have one state active at a time. The main innovation compared to the old system was the components: a component describes some action, and each state can have any number of components. How do the new abilities work? An ability can only be in one of the states; the main object is responsible for switching them. The components that link to a state react to the activation/deactivation of the state and, depending on this, can either begin to perform some action or stop performing it. All objects have become customizable; a game designer can mix states and components as they’d like, thus composing a new ability from pre-installed blocks. Now, programmers only need to enter the picture to create a new component or state, which makes writing code much easier: they work with small entities, describe some simple elements, and no longer build the ability themselves – the game designers do this now. The flow has become like this: The main object activates the first state The state activates all its components The state determines the moment the ability is switched to another state The main object deactivates the previous state The previous state deactivates its components The main object activates a new state The new state activates its components Subsequently, this procedure is repeated again and again. For ease of use, a state not only serves as a component container, it also determines when to switch to another state and requests the main object to make the switch. Over time, this still turned out not to be enough for us, and the ability diagram was transformed into the following: The main object, state, and components remained in their places, but new elements were also added. The first thing that catches your eye is that we added conditions to each state and component: for states, these define additional requirements for leaving the state; for components, they determine whether the component can perform its action. The charge container contains charges, recharges them, stops recharging if necessary, and provides charges for states to use. A timer is used when several states must have a common execution time, but their own execution time is not defined. It is important to note that all ability objects are optional. Technically, for an ability to work, only a main object and one state are needed. Now, while there aren’t actually that many abilities entirely built without the involvement of programmers, development in general has become noticeably cheaper, because programmers now only need to write very small things: for example, one new state or two components – the rest is reused. Let's summarize the components of our abilities: The performs the functions of a state machine. It provides states and components with information about the world and provides the world with information about abilities. The main object serves as a link between states, components, and service parts of the ability: charges and external timers. main object The listens to activation and deactivation commands from the main object and, accordingly, activates and deactivates components, and also requests the main object to switch to another state. State determines when it needs to switch to the next one; to do this, it uses its internal condition: whether the player clicked on the ability button, whether a certain time has passed since the activation of the state, and so on, and external conditions linked to the state. state The listens to activation and deactivation commands from the state and performs some action: discrete or long-term. Actions can be completely different: they might cause damage, heal an ally, turn on an animation, and so forth. component The checks what state the desired element is in and reports this to the state or component. Conditions can be complex. A state doesn’t request a transition to another state if the condition is not met. The component also doesn’t perform an action if the condition isn’t met. Conditions are an optional entity; not every ability has them. condition The holds charges, recharges them, stops recharging when necessary, and provides charges to states. It’s used in multi-charge abilities, when you need to allow the player to use it several times, but no more than times in a row. charge container n The is used when several states have a common duration, but it’s not known how long each of them will last. Any state can start a timer for seconds. All relevant states subscribe to the timer end event and do something when it ends. timer n Now let's return to the ability diagram. How did its functionality change? At the start of the game, the main object selects the first state and activates it The state activates all its components The component checks whether the condition has been met and only then performs an action The state begins to check the condition for a transition to another state If the condition is met and the additional condition linked to it is satisfied, the state requests the main object to move to another state The main object deactivates this state and activates another The entire procedure is repeated States can use charges as an additional transition condition. If such a transition occurs, the number of charges decreases. States can also use a common timer. In this case, the total time for their execution will be determined by a timer, and each state individually can last any time. Ability UIs We didn't completely reinvent the wheel for the new ability UIs. The main object has its own UI. It defines some elements that should always be in the UI and which do not depend on the currently active state. Each state has its own pair in the UI, and the state UI is displayed only when its state is active. It receives data about its state and can display it in one way or another. For example, duration states usually have a bar and text in their UI that displays the remaining time. In a case where the state is waiting for an external command to continue an ability, its UI displays a button, and pressing it sends the command to the state. Examples of abilities We’ll look at how the abilities work using specific examples; first, let's look at a robot called “Inquisitor”. We have four states that follow each other – above the states you can see their display in the UI. For two of them, we also see the components that belong to them; the other two states simply don’t have components. Here’s the flow of the ability: It all starts with the “WaitForClick” state. At this time, the ability does nothing; it just waits for commands. As soon as such a command is received, the main object switches states. The next active state is “WaitForGrounded”. This state has some components, and therefore, when activated, the robot jumps and plays a sound and animation. Among other things, while the state is active, the robot is affected by the Jammer effect, which prohibits aiming at the robot. When the robot lands, its ability moves to the next state. This state has three components: the already familiar Sound and Jammer, as well as Shake, which causes the camera to shake for all players within a radius of . n Since this state has , it works for seconds, then the ability moves to the next state. Duration n The last state also comes with a Duration, but it doesn’t have any components: it’s on a regular cooldown. Upon completion, the ability returns to the first state. Another example is “Phantom”. It’s a lot like Inquisitor, but there are some nuances: We start with WaitForClick. Then, Duration, in which the teleport is installed, the stats of the mech are changed, and sound and animation are played. After this: DurationOrClick, in which the mech's stats are changed, animation and FX are played. If a click was made, we go to another Duration, in which the mech teleports, stats change, and animation, FX, and sounds are played. After this state (or after the time expires for DurationOrClick), we move to Duration. The main difference here is that we see states with branching: DurationOrClick goes to state A if the specified time has passed, or to state B if the player has previously pressed the ability button. Conclusions While it would seem that our system has evolved from something simple to something quite complex, this change has simplified the lives of both programmers and game designers. Assistance from the programmers is now needed mostly when adding small components, while the latter group of team members have gained greater autonomy and can now independently assemble new abilities from existing states and components. As another bonus, at the same time, the players also received a profit in the form of more diverse and complex abilities of the mechs.

A More Complex Ability System, but a Smoother Gamedev Workflow – How?

একটি আরো জটিল ক্ষমতা সিস্টেম, কিন্তু একটি মসৃণ Gamedev ওয়ার্কফ্লো - কিভাবে?

Ein komplexeres Fähigkeitssystem, aber ein reibungsloserer Gamedev-Workflow – wie?

Un sistema de habilidades más complejo, pero un flujo de trabajo de desarrollo de juegos más fluido: ¿cómo?

Un système de capacités plus complexe, mais un flux de travail Gamedev plus fluide – Comment ?

एक अधिक जटिल क्षमता प्रणाली, लेकिन एक आसान गेमडेव वर्कफ़्लो - कैसे?

より複雑な能力システム、しかしよりスムーズなゲーム開発ワークフロー - どのようにして?

더 복잡한 능력 시스템이지만 더 원활한 Gamedev 작업 흐름 – 어떻게?

Um sistema de habilidades mais complexo, mas um fluxo de trabalho de desenvolvimento de jogo mais suave – como?

Более сложная система способностей, но более плавный рабочий процесс разработки игр – как?

Daha Karmaşık Bir Yetenek Sistemi, Ama Daha Sorunsuz Bir Gamedev İş Akışı – Nasıl?

Hệ thống khả năng phức tạp hơn nhưng quy trình làm việc của Gamedev mượt mà hơn – Bằng cách nào?

更复杂的能力系统，但更流畅的游戏开发工作流程——如何实现？

Manual server configuration is always a nightmare, especially when there is a large fleet of servers to manage. However, with Infrastructure as Code(IaC) automation tools like Ansible, all that pain goes away. In this blog, we shall leverage the automation tool to create a MongoDB sharded cluster from scratch in just a few minutes using . this Ansible role Prerequisites Ansible installed on your control node Seven (or more) target servers running any Ubuntu OS version SSH access to the target servers Getting our hands dirty Install the Ansible Role As I mentioned earlier, we shall be using an existing Ansible role, so we won't have to write all the playbooks by ourselves from scratch. However, to install the role, we shall need a file that has its installation information. A file. Run the commands below to create the file and the directory, which we shall be working. requirements.yml ansible_mongodb, mkdir ~/ansible_mongodb
echo "-   name: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb
    src: https://github.com/123MwanjeMike/ansible-mongodb
    version: v1.0.4" > ~/ansible_mongodb/requirements.yml Note on version v1.0.4 The latest version of the role, 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb, at the time of writing this blog, was v1.0.4. There may, however, be more recent release versions at the time you read this, which are recommended to use instead. You can now install the role using the Ansible Galaxy command below. ansible-galaxy install -r ~/ansible_mongodb/requirements.yml Output: The Inventory File Create an inventory using the command below. mkdir ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory
touch ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory/hosts Next, populate the inventory with the target servers grouped according to the respective replicaSets. That is to say, the Config servers replicaSet servers in their group, and the Shard servers in the corresponding group. Also, make sure to use the Fully Qualified Domain Names(FQDN) of the servers when adding them to the inventory. Below is what my inventory looks like. all:
  children:            
    mongo_cluster:
      children:
        mongos_routers:
          hosts:
            mongos-router-0.europe-north1-b.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal:
        config_servers:
          hosts:
            mongod-cfgsvr-0.europe-north1-b.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal:
            mongod-cfgsvr-1.europe-north1-c.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal:
            mongod-cfgsvr-2.europe-north1-a.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal:
        shard_0:
          hosts:
            mongod-shard-0-0.europe-north1-b.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal:
            mongod-shard-0-1.europe-north1-c.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal:
            mongod-shard-0-2.europe-north1-a.c.oceanic-muse-408212.internal: The Variables There will be a number of variables at play when using this role. Let's get them right. Run the commands below to put them in place Host Variables All hosts mkdir ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory/group_vars
 echo "ansible_python_interpreter: /usr/bin/python3" > ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory/group_vars/all.yml Router(s) echo "cluster_role: 'router'" > ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory/group_vars/mongos_routers.yml Config Servers echo "cluster_role: 'config'

 replica_set:
   name: 'cfgsvr'
   group: 'config_servers'" > ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory/group_vars/config_servers.yml Shard_0 Servers echo "cluster_role: 'shard'

 replica_set:
   name: 'shard-0'
   group: 'shard_0'" > ~/ansible_mongodb/inventory/group_vars/shard_0.yml Configuration Variables You can find in the file at the path where the role was installed. For example, in my case, it was installed at . the role's preset configuration variables var/main.yml ~/.ansible/roles/123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb You can change them as you wish, especially the versions and public keys given that they point to Ubuntu Jammy's MongoDB version 7.0 public keys. mongo_configs Cluster Variables As for the MongoDB cluster configuration variables, they have been documented on the role's README on GitHub . here A Playbook We're almost good to go. We now just need a playbook to install and configure the MongoDB sharded cluster. I build from the provided in the README of the role on GitHub. Below is my file sample playbook ~/ansible_mongodb/sample_playbook.yml - hosts: mongo_cluster
  become: true
  vars:
    adminUser: "myAdminUser"
    adminPass: "" # Secret password here
    new_shard:
      name: "shard-0"
      group: "shard_0"
    tgt_db: "myDatabase"
    roles: ["readWrite", "userAdmin"]
    userName: "targetUser"
    userPass: "" # Secret password here
    keyfile_src: "./keyfile"
    cfg_server:
      name: "cfgsvr"
      group: "config_servers"

  pre_tasks:
    - name: Generate random string with OpenSSL on ansible controller
      shell: openssl rand -base64 756 > keyfile
      delegate_to: localhost
      args:
        creates: keyfile

  roles:
    - { role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb, flags: ["install_mongo"] }
    - { role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb, flags: ["configure_mongo"] }
    - { role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb, flags: ["clear_logs"] }
    - { role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb, flags: ["prepare_members"] }
    - { role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb, flags: ["start_mongo"] }
    - {
        role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb,
        flags: ["init_replica"],
        when: cluster_role != 'router',
      }
    - {
        role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb,
        flags: ["create_admin"],
        when: cluster_role != 'router',
        delegate_to: "{{ groups[replica_set.group] | first }}",
      }
    - {
        role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb,
        flags: ["add_shard"],
        when: cluster_role == 'router',
        run_once: true,
      }
    - {
        role: 123mwanjemike.ansible_mongodb,
        flags: ["create_database"],
        when: cluster_role == 'router',
        run_once: true,
      } The moment of truth has now come. We shall be running the playbook with the command below and see what happens. cd ~/ansible_mongodb/
ansible-playbook sample_playbook.yml -i inventory/hosts Output: Checking out the cluster 🎉💃🏽🕺🏽😎 Closing Remarks With this Ansible role, we've been able to create and configure a MongoDB sharded cluster in under 10 minutes without writing any single configuration for the servers by ourselves. In case you were wondering, I am indeed the author of the role we have just used to create the cluster. I am also working on that can be used to create the server instances for the sharded cluster used herein. Currently, I have only set up the provider for Google Cloud Platform(GCP), but I will be adding Azure, AWS, and other service providers soon. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did when creating them. this Terraform project Cheers! Additional resources Ansible [Ansible] Roles What Is a “Fully Qualified Domain Name”? [MongoDB] Sharded Cluster Components What is a virtual private cloud (VPC)? Also published . here

Automating MongoDB Sharded Cluster Deployment with Ansible

Authored by and DIMO Co-Founder Joe Bender Andy Chatham The next 10 years of the automotive industry are shaping up to be a bloodbath. As competition heats up the knives are starting to come out, and gaps are opening up for new product categories and business models. Consider how much is at stake: Cars are a ~5x larger market than phones. This gap is larger in the developed world. Automakers & suppliers are massive (typically unionized) employers. They have huge political and cultural influence as some of the largest advertisers. Car brands are a national source of pride. Historically, having a domestic auto industry is viewed as a national security priority. Things are starting to look ugly for legacy automakers The public markets have priced in a very high chance that some of the legacy players like GM, Ford, Mercedes Benz, Stellantis, etc., will go bankrupt in the next 5-7 years. VW has said their core brand is and they’re on shipping next generation software for vehicles. no longer competitive years behind How did we get here? If you went back in time and showed Henry Ford any car from the 20th century, he would be able to wrap his head around it. There would be an internal combustion engine, a highway map jammed in the glovebox, and an immediate trip to the mechanic when anything isn’t working. Fast forward to today and imagine Henry hopping in a Tesla Cybertruck. Unless someone showed him how to use the Tesla app, he might not even be able to unlock it and start driving. The idea that computers thousands of miles away could send an update to the drive-by-wire system or autopilot would seem like witchcraft. So, where’s this all headed? The Cybertruck is the most tangible proof that three of the biggest transformations in 100 years are going up the S-curve at the same time: EVs, Autonomy (AI), and Connectivity. We’ll demystify these trends here and introduce some of the opportunities that are emerging for both automakers and completely new business models and applications. Electric Vehicles Most automakers started taking EVs seriously after the Tesla Model S launched in 2012, and since those companies operate on 10-year product cycles, their first real efforts came to market this year. Except for Toyota (they primarily stuck with hybrids), the transition is not going great for any of the legacy automakers. Tesla has a 60% (and climbing) EV market share in the US, and Chinese OEMs like BYD Company are eating their lunch in international markets. Things don’t seem to be looking up as they're walking back expectations for Gen2/3 vehicle sales and delaying spending. Autonomy (AI) This is the biggest unknown, as it's primarily driven by software improvements vs. hardware. Most legacy OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) have given up on their own "Full Stack" AV Plans and are relying on tech from Mobileye. If (BIG IF) can get to a profitable/scalable robotaxi deployment that people don't hate in San Francisco or Phoenix, then there is likely a path towards automating 2-3% of the total trips. Waymo Connectivity Connected cars are unlocking novel use cases (and new attack surfaces). To get a sense of the possibilities, watch this Tesla club set a new record by in the Finnish countryside to perform a coordinated holiday light show. assembling 687 vehicles This also opened a digital Pandora’s Box when it comes to privacy. With such rich data being collected from vehicles, the attack surface broadens, and vulnerabilities are unfortunately commonplace. In recent years, there has been a nonstop stream of disclosures from legacy automakers about customer data being compromised. In 2021, that an unauthorized third party obtained limited personal information about 3.3 million customers. In 2022, a data leak affecting 1.6 million prospective and actual customers, including names, street addresses, email addresses, and phone numbers. Only this year, that they were victims of a decade-long data leak that exposed the data of 2.15 million customers. Volkswagen announced Mercedes-Benz disclosed Toyota reported The capability gap between legacy auto and new “Software Native” players is huge here: Mobile apps people actually want to use are built on one platform. Connected vehicle services for insurance/maintenance. OTA (Over The Air) updates to fix issues and add features. What's the path forward? Where are the opportunities? Legacy OEMs need to differentiate vs. trying to copy Tesla. Toyota has done this by sticking with Hybrids and partnering (Aurora Innovation & May Mobility) instead of buying AV companies. Ford is doubling down on commercial vehicles with Ford Pro. Many OEMs are building their own “walled garden” developer platforms. , and Tesla is migrating an emerging ecosystem of 3rd party apps to a that will allow developers to access data directly from vehicles rather than having to rely on their servers. GM has shared some access to theirs new protocol The problem with this approach is that it’s hard to command developer attention when the biggest OEM (Toyota) only has 15% of the vehicles on the road, and the vast majority of them are unaddressable because they still aren’t connected to the internet. This brings us to the open and permissionless approach - after all, when you buy the car, shouldn’t you own the data from it and use whatever apps you want? Car Wars: The Drivers Strike Back There are some new approaches to create a more resilient system where drivers and fleets are in control of their data - has built an open, connected vehicle network that puts car owners in the digital driver’s seat, giving data back to drivers and helping them earn rewards. DIMO Like Roku for TVs, DIMO goes “over the top” of OEMs to allow any car to connect: Using a that plugs right into a car’s or, more simply, by linking with the native connected car service like the Tesla app or FordPass, drivers can collect and store their own car data directly. hardware device OBD2 port Today, this gives users comprehensive monitoring of all reported vehicle systems right in a mobile app or on the web for fleets. Everything from odometer, battery health, location, fuel level, and VIN number, to useful utilities like reading confusing error codes, estimating the car’s valuation, or estimating battery capacity. Demystifying valuable vehicle metrics and putting them in the hands of the user is the first step to a more transparent automotive industry. However, leveling up insights into your vehicle is only half of DIMO’s approach to car ownership. With such sensitive data on user driving habits, adopting the legacy strategy of storing this information on centralized corporate servers feels dangerous and antiquated. Cars On-Chain That’s why DIMO chose to build an open network and anchor to a blockchain. This gives users with ownership of the network transparency into how their vehicle data is used and, most importantly, the ability to share it with any application they want. vehicle identity DIMO users are rewarded for the longevity of their connection with the network and not necessarily the amount of time or miles driven. This incentivizes maintaining good-faith participation in the network and discourages reward farming. By having a car connected to the DIMO Network, users earn a in $DIMO tokens. There are also opportunities for earning additional rewards by transacting with DIMO apps and services - like an airline reward point for your automotive spending. weekly baseline issuance The DIMO Marketplace is a collection of service providers that offer automotive solutions for drivers in the DIMO Network. By browsing the DIMO Marketplace in the mobile app, users can see partners that have offered tools and services valuable to car owners. For example, is a digital insurance broker. DIMO users can leverage Marble to check for potential insurance savings and receive $DIMO tokens for utilizing the service. This sort of mutually beneficial ecosystem has never existed in the auto industry before today. Marble Typically, drivers are at the whim of big businesses that view consumers as the product. Additionally, the data that is maintained in the DIMO application can be invaluable when leveraging these services. In the past when visiting the mechanic, problems with the vehicle could be a total mystery. Now, with a quick glance at the car’s health in the DIMO app, a repair shop could easily assess that low battery voltage is causing ignition issues or suboptimal tire pressure is resulting in fuel inefficiency. A path (highway?) forward In the same way that there was a monumental shift in perspective when the internet was popularized, or smartphones were widely adopted, it is time to rethink the way we approach car ownership. It has been observed time and time again that open networks benefit the end user. DIMO envisions a future where driving doesn’t have to be so lonely because each car is sharing data and being rewarded for its contributions. If cars are closer to supercomputers than a vintage Model T, then why shouldn’t we be as conscientious about data privacy, transparency, and analytics as we are with our phones or laptops?

Remember the Smartphone Wars? The Auto Industry is About to Make Them Look Like a Snowball Fight

স্মার্টফোন যুদ্ধের কথা মনে আছে? অটো ইন্ডাস্ট্রি তাদের স্নোবলের লড়াইয়ের মতো দেখাতে চলেছে৷

Erinnern Sie sich an die Smartphone-Kriege? Die Autoindustrie ist dabei, sie wie eine Schneeballschlacht aussehen zu lassen

¿Recuerdas la guerra de los teléfonos inteligentes? La industria automotriz está a punto de hacer que parezcan una pelea de bolas de nieve

Vous vous souvenez de la guerre des smartphones ? L’industrie automobile est sur le point de les faire ressembler à une bataille de boules de neige

स्मार्टफ़ोन युद्ध याद है? ऑटो उद्योग उन्हें एक स्नोबॉल लड़ाई की तरह दिखाने वाला है

スマホ戦争を覚えていますか？自動車業界は雪合戦のように見せかけている

스마트폰 전쟁을 기억하시나요? 자동차 산업이 눈싸움처럼 보이게 만들려고 한다

Lembra das guerras dos smartphones? A indústria automobilística está prestes a fazer com que pareçam uma luta de bolas de neve

Помните «войны смартфонов»? Автомобильная промышленность собирается превратить их в игру в снежки

Akıllı Telefon Savaşlarını hatırlıyor musunuz? Otomotiv Endüstrisi Onları Kartopu Savaşı Gibi Göstermek Üzere

Bạn có nhớ cuộc chiến điện thoại thông minh không? Ngành công nghiệp ô tô sắp biến chúng giống như một cuộc chiến ném tuyết

还记得智能手机大战吗？汽车行业即将让他们看起来像一场打雪仗

Scientific American, Volume XXXVI., No. 8, February 24, 1877 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . Improved Lathe Chuck here IMPROVED LATHE CHUCK. The annexed engravings represent a new lathe chuck, which may be constructed of any size, which holds tools with great firmness, and which is provided with an improved device for taking up wear and for the separate adjustment of the jaws. The implement is made of the best steel, by special machinery, so that its parts are interchangeable. Figs. 1 and 2 represent the chuck taken apart so as to exhibit the interior. Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views. A is a collar which encircles the spindle, and has formed on its outer face a bevel gear wheel, B. C, Fig. 3, is the rear portion of the shell of the chuck inclosing the forward part of the collar, A. Also on said collar, A, is a washer, D, which rests against the shell, C, and a nut, E, which travels on a thread formed on the collar. As it is necessary, as will be explained further on, to turn the entire shell in order to move the jaws, the use of the nut just described is to jam the part, C, and the enlarged portion of the collar, A, tightly together, and so rigidly hold the jaws in any position in which they may be adjusted. Fig. 1 represents the outer face of the chuck with the jaws and their working mechanism. Within the chuck, each jaw has attached to it a screw, E. This enters a bevel wheel, F. As the jaws are incapable of any but radial motion, it follows that, when the chuck is rotated bodily and the bevel wheels engage on the motionless gear wheel, B, the effect of the rotation of said bevel wheels is to cause the jaws to travel toward or from the center of the chuck face. And it will be further clear that this motion must be simultaneous in all the jaws. As the outer portion of the chuck is rigidly secured to the shell, C, by screws, of course when that shell is jammed, as already stated, by the nut, E, it becomes impossible to turn the chuck bodily; and hence the bevel wheels cannot be rotated around the main gear wheel, and consequently the position of the jaws cannot be altered. The above comprises the mechanism proper of the device, that is to say, all that is necessary for moving or clamping the jaws. There is, however, another feature of considerable importance yet to be described, and that is the device for taking up any play of the jaws due to wear, and which enables each to be adjusted so that the motion of all may be uniform. By referring to Fig. 4, it will be seen that, above the bevel wheel, there is a projection, into the threaded interior of which, as already explained, the jaw screw enters. Surrounding this projection is a sleeve, G, the outer surface of which is threaded to fit a similarly threaded aperture, cut partly in the shell and partly in the face plate. The upper portion of the sleeve is notched to receive a wrench or driver; and beneath the sleeve an armed washer, H, is slipped over the projection. The arms of this washer enter recesses in the face plate. It will be evident that, by turning the sleeve, F, so that the screw works inward, the jaw and all its appendages will be moved bodily in corresponding direction. But its movement is limited by the arms of the washer, G, which, through the narrowness of the recesses, are allowed only just enough play to compensate for slight changes in the jaw. As the above device is applied to every jaw, it follows that any one of them may be nicely adjusted from the outside, so that all are caused to grasp the tool accurately. The spindle, instead of being solid as represented, may be made hollow. Patented to J.H. Vinton, August 18, 1874. For further information, address the manufacturer, Mr. F. Armstrong, Bridgeport, Conn. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Various (2006). Scientific American, Volume XXXVI., No. 8, February 24, 1877. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/19406/pg19406-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

IMPROVED LATHE CHUCK

Things To Make by Archibald Williams is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . WRESTLING PUPPETS here XXXIV. WRESTLING PUPPETS. [Illustration: FIG. 182.—Peg marked for cutting and drilling.] The expenditure of a halfpenny, and a quarter of an hour’s use of a pocket knife, bradawl, and pliers, will produce a toy which is warranted to amuse grown-ups as well as children. Wrestlers made out of clothes pegs may be bought for a copper or two in the street, and are hardly a novelty; yet a few notes on home production will not be a waste of space, as making is cheaper, and much more interesting, than buying. The clothes pegs used must be of the shape shown in Fig. 182, with a round top. They cost one penny per dozen. Drill holes through body and legs as indicated in Fig. 182. Cut the legs from the “trunk,” and whittle them to the shape of Fig. 183. The arms, made out of any thin wood, are 2-1/4 inches long between centres of end holes. To get the best results the two arms and the four legs should be paired off to exactly the same length. [Illustration: FIG. 183.—Clothes-peg wrestlers.] The neatest method of attaching the parts is to use small brass tacks, which must, of course, be of somewhat larger diameter than the holes in the body. Holes in arms and legs are a loose fit, so that the wrestlers may be very loose-jointed, and the tacks must not be driven in far enough to cause any friction. Instead of tacks one may use wire passed through the parts and secured by a bend or loop at each end. Wire has the disadvantage of entangling the thread which works the figures. When assembling is finished, bore holes in the centres of the arm pieces, pass a piece of wire through, and twist it into a neat loop at each end. To one loop tie 2 feet of strong thread (carpet thread is best), and to the free end of the thread a large nail or hook. The other loop has 6 feet or so of thread tied to it, to be worked by the hand. If the thread is stained black, it will be practically invisible by artificial light. The nail or hook is stuck under the edge of the carpet, or into some crack or cranny which affords a good hold, and the wrestlers are worked by motions of the hand. The funniest antics are produced by very slight jerks. If the arms are set too close together the heads may stick between them, in which case one must either flatten off the sides of the heads or insert fresh arm wires of greater length. If a head persists in jamming against the thread wire or getting under it and staying there, cut 1/2 inch off a pin and stick it into the front of the crown, so that the head is arrested by the wire when the wrestler bends forward. [Illustration: FIG. 184.—Large wrestlers made of stout wood.] Large Wrestlers.—A more elaborate and realistic pair is shown in Fig. 184. The originals of the sketch are 8 inches high. Half-inch deal was used for the bodies, 3/8-inch for the legs and arms. The painting-in of hair, features, tights, and shoes adds considerably to the effect. The heads and limbs are mere profiles, but anyone with a turn for carving might spend a little time in rounding off and adding details which will make the puppets appear more lifelike. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Archibald Williams (2005). Things To Make. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14664/pg14664-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

WRESTLING PUPPETS

HOME-MADE HARMONOGRAPHS

Our escort had been directed to prepare our abode for the night at the inn

A HORIZONTAL SLIDE-VALVE ENGINE.

WORKSHOP MACHINERY

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book . THE NEW MAMMA. here CHAPTER XV. THE NEW MAMMA. On Tuesday afternoon Molly returned home—to the home which was already strange, and what Warwickshire people would call "unked," to her. New paint, new paper, new colours; grim servants dressed in their best, and objecting to every change—from their master's marriage to the new oilcloth in the hall, "which tripped 'em up, and threw 'em down, and was cold to the feet, and smelt just abominable." All these complaints Molly had to listen to, and it was not a cheerful preparation for the reception which she already felt to be so formidable. The sound of their carriage-wheels was heard at last, and Molly went to the front door to meet them. Her father got out first, and took her hand and held it while he helped his bride to alight. Then he kissed her fondly, and passed her on to his wife; but her veil was so securely (and becomingly) fastened down, that it was some time before Mrs. Gibson could get her lips clear to greet her new daughter. Then there was luggage to be seen about; and both the travellers were occupied in this, while Molly stood by trembling with excitement, unable to help, and only conscious of Betty's rather cross looks, as heavy box after heavy box jammed up the passage. "Molly, my dear, show—your mamma to her room!" Mr. Gibson had hesitated, because the question of the name by which Molly was to call her new relation had never occurred to him before. The colour flashed into Molly's face. Was she to call her "mamma?"—the name long appropriated in her mind to some one else—to her own dead mother. The rebellious heart rose against it, but she said nothing. She led the way upstairs, Mrs. Gibson turning round, from time to time, with some fresh direction as to which bag or trunk she needed most. She hardly spoke to Molly till they were both in the newly-furnished bedroom, where a small fire had been lighted by Molly's orders. "Now, my love, we can embrace each other in peace. O dear, how tired I am!"—(after the embrace had been accomplished). "My spirits are so easily affected with fatigue; but your dear papa has been kindness itself. Dear! what an old-fashioned bed! And what a— But it doesn't signify. By-and-by we'll renovate the house—won't we, my dear? And you'll be my little maid to-night, and help me to arrange a few things, for I'm just worn out with the day's journey." "I've ordered a sort of tea-dinner to be ready for you," said Molly. "Shall I go and tell them to send it in?" "I'm not sure if I can go down again to-night. It would be very comfortable to have a little table brought in here, and sit in my dressing-gown by this cheerful fire. But, to be sure, there's your dear papa? I really don't think he would eat anything if I were not there. One must not think about oneself, you know. Yes, I'll come down in a quarter of an hour." But Mr. Gibson had found a note awaiting him, with an immediate summons to an old patient, dangerously ill; and, snatching a mouthful of food while his horse was being saddled, he had to resume at once his old habits of attention to his profession above everything. As soon as Mrs. Gibson found that he was not likely to miss her presence—he had eaten a very tolerable lunch of bread and cold meat in solitude, so her fears about his appetite in her absence were not well founded—she desired to have her meal upstairs in her own room; and poor Molly, not daring to tell the servants of this whim, had to carry up first a table, which, however small, was too heavy for her; and afterwards all the choice portions of the meal, which she had taken great pains to arrange on the table, as she had seen such things done at Hamley, intermixed with fruit and flowers that had that morning been sent in from various great houses where Mr. Gibson was respected and valued. How pretty Molly had thought her handiwork an hour or two before! How dreary it seemed as, at last released from Mrs. Gibson's conversation, she sate down in solitude to cold tea and the drumsticks of the chicken! No one to look at her preparations, and admire her deft-handedness and taste! She had thought that her father would be gratified by it, and then he had never seen it. She had meant her cares as an offering of good-will to her stepmother, who even now was ringing her bell to have the tray taken away, and Miss Gibson summoned to her bedroom. Molly hastily finished her meal, and went upstairs again. "I feel so lonely, darling, in this strange house; do come and be with me, and help me to unpack. I think your dear papa might have put off his visit to Mr. Craven Smith for just this one evening." "Mr. Craven Smith couldn't put off his dying," said Molly, bluntly. "You droll girl!" said Mrs. Gibson, with a faint laugh. "But if this Mr. Smith is dying, as you say, what's the use of your father's going off to him in such a hurry? Does he expect any legacy, or anything of that kind?" Molly bit her lips to prevent herself from saying something disagreeable. She only answered,— "I don't quite know that he is dying. The man said so; and papa can sometimes do something to make the last struggle easier. At any rate, it's always a comfort to the family to have him." "What dreary knowledge of death you have learned for a girl of your age! Really, if I had heard all these details of your father's profession, I doubt if I could have brought myself to have him!" "He doesn't make the illness or the death; he does his best against them. I call it a very fine thing to think of what he does or tries to do. And you will think so, too, when you see how he is watched for, and how people welcome him!" "Well, don't let us talk any more of such gloomy things, to-night! I think I shall go to bed at once, I am so tired, if you will only sit by me till I get sleepy, darling. If you will talk to me, the sound of your voice will soon send me off." Molly got a book, and read her stepmother to sleep, preferring that to the harder task of keeping up a continual murmur of speech. Then she stole down and went into the dining-room, where the fire was gone out; purposely neglected by the servants, to mark their displeasure at their new mistress's having had her tea in her own room. Molly managed to light it, however, before her father came home, and collected and re-arranged some comfortable food for him. Then she knelt down again on the hearth-rug, gazing into the fire in a dreamy reverie, which had enough of sadness about it to cause the tears to drop unnoticed from her eyes. But she jumped up, and shook herself into brightness at the sound of her father's step. "How is Mr. Craven Smith?" said she. "Dead. He just recognized me. He was one of my first patients on coming to Hollingford." Mr. Gibson sate down in the arm-chair made ready for him, and warmed his hands at the fire, seeming neither to need food nor talk, as he went over a train of recollections. Then he roused himself from his sadness, and looking round the room, he said briskly enough,— "And where's the new mamma?" "She was tired, and went to bed early. Oh, papa! must I call her 'mamma?'" "I should like it," replied he, with a slight contraction of the brows. Molly was silent. She put a cup of tea near him; he stirred it, and sipped it, and then he recurred to the subject. "Why shouldn't you call her 'mamma?' I'm sure she means to do the duty of a mother to you. We all may make mistakes, and her ways may not be quite all at once our ways; but at any rate let us start with a family bond between us." What would Roger say was right?—that was the question that rose to Molly's mind. She had always spoken of her father's new wife as Mrs. Gibson, and had once burst out at Miss Brownings with a protestation that she never would call her "mamma." She did not feel drawn to her new relation by their intercourse that evening. She kept silence, though she knew her father was expecting an answer. At last he gave up his expectation, and turned to another subject; told about their journey, questioned her as to the Hamleys, the Brownings, Lady Harriet, and the afternoon they had passed together at the Manor-house. But there was a certain hardness and constraint in his manner, and in hers a heaviness and absence of mind. All at once she said,— "Papa, I will call her 'mamma!'" He took her hand, and grasped it tight; but for an instant or two he did not speak. Then he said,— "You won't be sorry for it, Molly, when you come to lie as poor Craven Smith did to-night." For some time the murmurs and grumblings of the two elder servants were confined to Molly's ears, then they spread to her father's, who, to Molly's dismay, made summary work with them. "You don't like Mrs. Gibson's ringing her bell so often, don't you? You've been spoilt, I'm afraid; but if you don't conform to my wife's desires, you have the remedy in your own hands, you know." What servant ever resisted the temptation to give warning after such a speech as that? Betty told Molly she was going to leave, in as indifferent a manner as she could possibly assume towards the girl whom she had tended and been about for the last sixteen years. Molly had hitherto considered her former nurse as a fixture in the house; she would almost as soon have thought of her father's proposing to sever the relationship between them; and here was Betty coolly talking over whether her next place should be in town or country. But a great deal of this was assumed hardness. In a week or two Betty was in floods of tears at the prospect of leaving her nursling, and would fain have stayed and answered all the bells in the house once every quarter of an hour. Even Mr. Gibson's masculine heart was touched by the sorrow of the old servant, which made itself obvious to him every time he came across her by her broken voice and her swollen eyes. One day he said to Molly, "I wish you'd ask your mamma if Betty might not stay, if she made a proper apology, and all that sort of thing." "I don't much think it will be of any use," said Molly, in a mournful voice. "I know she is writing, or has written, about some under-housemaid at the Towers." "Well!—all I want is peace and a decent quantity of cheerfulness when I come home. I see enough of tears at other people's houses. After all, Betty has been with us sixteen years—a sort of service of the antique world. But the woman may be happier elsewhere. Do as you like about asking mamma; only if she agrees, I shall be quite willing." So Molly tried her hand at making a request to that effect to Mrs. Gibson. Her instinct told her she would be unsuccessful; but surely favour was never refused in so soft a tone. "My dear girl, I should never have thought of sending an old servant away,—one who has had the charge of you from your birth, or nearly so. I could not have had the heart to do it. She might have stayed for ever for me, if she had only attended to all my wishes; and I am not unreasonable, am I? But, you see, she complained; and when your dear papa spoke to her, she gave warning; and it is quite against my principles ever to take an apology from a servant who has given warning." "She is so sorry," pleaded Molly; "she says she will do anything you wish, and attend to all your orders, if she may only stay." "But, sweet one, you seem to forget that I cannot go against my principles, however much I may be sorry for Betty. She should not have given way to ill-temper. As I said before, although I never liked her, and considered her a most inefficient servant, thoroughly spoilt by having had no mistress for so long, I should have borne with her—at least, I think I should—as long as I could. Now I have all but engaged Maria, who was under-housemaid at the Towers, so don't let me hear any more of Betty's sorrow, or anybody else's sorrow, for I'm sure, what with your dear papa's sad stories and other things, I'm getting quite low." Molly was silent for a moment or two. "Have you quite engaged Maria?" asked she. "No—I said 'all but engaged.' Sometimes one would think you did not hear things, dear Molly!" replied Mrs. Gibson, petulantly. "Maria is living in a place where they don't give her as much wages as she deserves. Perhaps they can't afford it, poor things! I'm always sorry for poverty, and would never speak hardly of those who are not rich; but I have offered her two pounds more than she gets at present, so I think she'll leave. At any rate, if they increase her wages, I shall increase my offer in proportion; so I think I'm sure to get her. Such a genteel girl!—always brings in a letter on a salver!" "Poor Betty!" said Molly, softly. "Poor old soul! I hope she'll profit by the lesson, I'm sure," sighed out Mrs. Gibson; "but it's a pity we hadn't Maria before the county families began to call." Mrs. Gibson had been highly gratified by the circumstance of so many calls "from county families." Her husband was much respected; and many ladies from various halls, courts, and houses, who had profited by his services towards themselves and their families, thought it right to pay his new wife the attention of a call when they drove into Hollingford to shop. The state of expectation into which these calls threw Mrs. Gibson rather diminished Mr. Gibson's domestic comfort. It was awkward to be carrying hot, savoury-smelling dishes from the kitchen to the dining-room at the very time when high-born ladies, with noses of aristocratic refinement, might be calling. Still more awkward was the accident which happened in consequence of clumsy Betty's haste to open the front door to a lofty footman's ran-tan, which caused her to set down the basket containing the dirty plates right in his mistress's way, as she stepped gingerly through the comparative darkness of the hall; and then the young men, leaving the dining-room quietly enough, but bursting with long-repressed giggle, or no longer restraining their tendency to practical joking, no matter who might be in the passage when they made their exit. The remedy proposed by Mrs. Gibson for all these distressing grievances was a late dinner. The luncheon for the young men, as she observed to her husband, might be sent into the surgery. A few elegant cold trifles for herself and Molly would not scent the house, and she would always take care to have some little dainty ready for him. He acceded, but unwillingly, for it was an innovation on the habits of a lifetime, and he felt as if he should never be able to arrange his rounds aright with this new-fangled notion of a six o'clock dinner. "Don't get any dainties for me, my dear; bread-and-cheese is the chief of my diet, like it was that of the old woman's." "I know nothing of your old woman," replied his wife; "but really I cannot allow cheese to come beyond the kitchen." "Then I'll eat it there," said he. "It's close to the stable-yard, and if I come in in a hurry I can get it in a moment." "Really, Mr. Gibson, it is astonishing to compare your appearance and manners with your tastes. You look such a gentleman, as dear Lady Cumnor used to say." Then the cook left; also an old servant, though not so old a one as Betty. The cook did not like the trouble of late dinners; and, being a Methodist, she objected on religious grounds to trying any of Mrs. Gibson's new receipts for French dishes. It was not scriptural, she said. There was a deal of mention of food in the Bible; but it was of sheep ready dressed, which meant mutton, and of wine, and of bread-and-milk, and figs and raisins, of fatted calves, a good well-browned fillet of veal, and such like; but it had always gone against her conscience to cook swine-flesh and make raised pork-pies, and now if she was to be set to cook heathen dishes after the fashion of the Papists, she'd sooner give it all up together. So the cook followed in Betty's track, and Mr. Gibson had to satisfy his healthy English appetite on badly-made omelettes, rissoles, vol-au-vents, croquets, and timbales; never being exactly sure what he was eating. He had made up his mind before his marriage to yield in trifles, and be firm in greater things. But the differences of opinion about trifles arose every day, and were perhaps more annoying than if they had related to things of more consequence. Molly knew her father's looks as well as she knew her alphabet; his wife did not; and being an unperceptive person, except when her own interests were dependent upon another person's humour, never found out how he was worried by all the small daily concessions which he made to her will or her whims. He never allowed himself to put any regret into shape, even in his own mind; he repeatedly reminded himself of his wife's good qualities, and comforted himself by thinking they should work together better as time rolled on; but he was very angry at a bachelor great-uncle of Mr. Coxe's, who, after taking no notice of his red-headed nephew for years, suddenly sent for him, after the old man had partially recovered from a serious attack of illness, and appointed him his heir, on condition that his great-nephew remained with him during the rest of his life. This had happened almost directly after Mr. and Mrs. Gibson's return from their wedding journey, and once or twice since that time Mr. Gibson had found himself wondering why the deuce old Benson could not have made up his mind sooner, and so have rid his house of the unwelcome presence of the young lover. To do Mr. Coxe justice, in the very last conversation he had as a pupil with Mr. Gibson he said, with hesitating awkwardness, that perhaps the new circumstances in which he should be placed might make some difference with regard to Mr. Gibson's opinion on— "Not at all," said Mr. Gibson, quickly. "You are both of you too young to know your own minds; and if my daughter was silly enough to be in love, she should never have to calculate her happiness on the chances of an old man's death. I dare say he'll disinherit you after all. He may do, and then you'd be worse off than ever. No! go away, and forget all this nonsense; and when you've done, come back and see us!" So Mr. Coxe went away, with an oath of unalterable faithfulness in his heart; and Mr. Gibson had unwillingly to fulfil an old promise made to a gentleman farmer in the neighbourhood a year or two before, and to take the second son of Mr. Browne in young Coxe's place. He was to be the last of the race of pupils, and as he was rather more than a year younger than Molly, Mr. Gibson trusted that there would be no repetition of the Coxe romance. About HackerNoon Book Series: We bring you the most important technical, scientific, and insightful public domain books. This book is part of the public domain. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell (2003). Wives and Daughters. Urbana, Illinois: Project Gutenberg. Retrieved https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/4274/pg4274-images.html This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at , located at . www.gutenberg.org https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html

THE NEW MAMMA.

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