Python 2017-05-14

I have been learning and practicing my python for a few weeks now and I find it it quite an enjoyable activity.  It has taken up the time that I would usually spend on Empire Total War. 

As someone who knows perl very well, I have picked it up very quickly, especially the objected oriented parts of the python.  I have even got a grasp of the multithreaded capabilities of the language, which is easier to use than perl's offering.

My only gripe with python and I think alot of users would concur is the use of tabbing and spacing.  Python does not use curly braces '{}' to block subroutines, ifs and loops.  Instead it uses a set number of spaces.  Failure to do this properly results in interpretter errors.  This can be annoying when copying and paste code examples.

Python

I have decided to take use my spare time to learning the wonderful object oriented language of python.  It has been on my to do list for a long while and yesterday, I downloaded the language, tools and interpreter. It will be a welcome alternative to PERL and I hope to use it in my work.

Empire Total War - 2017-03-26

I am at the point of conquering all of the Indian subcontinent but in Europe Hungary has declared war on me.  So I have to divert troops to deal with them from my war with Poland/Lithuania and Russia.

The Hitler Options: Alternate decisions of World War 2 - A review

I have finished reading 'The Hitler Options: Alternate decisions of World War 2' by Kenneth Macksey. A very interesting alternate history book, which explores the usual 'what ifs' - Nazi invasion of Britain, D-day failure for the allies and Axis victory in the battle of britain, but it also looks at ways in which the allies could have shortened the war by attacking from southern France rather than through Normandy and also a strategic bombing campaign bringing the Wehrmacht to sue for peace.  The scenarios and possible options are quite plausible and I recommend this for any alternate history buff.

Empire Total War 2017-03-11

Tonight I have achieved a significant milestone on my campaign as I have just captured Warsaw.  My next target is Moscow therefore going one better than Napoleon and Hitler.

The Hitler Options: Alternate Decisions of World War II by Kenneth Macksey

Today, I bought The Hitler Options: Alternate Decisions of World War II by Kenneth Macksey on Amazon Kindle and just started reading it on the journey to work.  It is another alternate history book containing essays by different military historians on the different decisions that Hitler could have taken at key points during WWII and the effect of those decisions.

I will write a review when I have finished it.

In praise of.......... Sports Champions on Playstation 3

I only own a handful of PS3 games and one that I keep playing over and over again is Sports Champions, a sports sim with a twist.  It uses the Playstation Move capability so it feels like you are playing the sport for real to an extent.  The sports featured include table tennis, disc golf (frisbee), archery, gladiator duel(sword fighting) and my favourite, bocce, which is a variant of the French game boules or bowls.  I like the realism of the game and the fact it can be enjoyed as a single or multiplayer.  In each sport there is the 'campaign' mode where you take on players of ever increasing difficulty or free play.  Sports Champions was the flagship game of the PS Move but Sony has not made great use of the Move technology with only a limited range of games.  Both the Move and the PS3 are now defunct but the enjoyableness of this game prevents me from investing in a PS4.