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Computer Science Logo Style volume 1: Symbolic Computing 2/e Copyright (C) 1997 MIT
Example: Tic-Tac-Toe
Brian Harvey
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Program file for this chapter: ttt
This chapter is the first application of the ideas we've explored to a sizable project. The primary purpose of the chapter is to introduce the techniques of planning a project, especially the choice of how to organize the information needed by the program. This organization is called the data structure of the program. Along the way, we'll also see a new data type, the array, and a few other details of Logo programming.
Tic-tac-toe is not a very challenging game for human beings. If you're an enthusiast, you've probably moved from the basic game to some variant like three-dimensional tic-tac-toe on a larger grid.
If you sit down right now to play ordinary three-by-three tic-tac-toe with a friend, what will probably happen is that every game will come out a tie. Both you and your friend can probably play perfectly, never making a mistake that would allow your opponent to win.
But can you describe how you know where to move each turn? Most of the time, you probably aren't even aware of alternative possibilities; you just look at the board and instantly know where you want to move. That kind of instant knowledge is great for human beings, because it makes you a fast player. But it isn't much help in writing a computer program. For that, you have to know very explicitly what your strategy is.
By the way, although the example of tic-tac-toe strategy is a relatively trivial one, this issue of instant knowledge versus explicit rules is a hot one in modern psychology. Some cognitive scientists, who think that human intelligence works through mechanisms similar to computer programs, maintain that when you know how to do something without knowing how you know, you have an explicit set of rules deep down inside. It's just that the rules have become a habit, so you don't think about them deliberately. They're "compiled," in the jargon of cognitive psychology. On the other hand, some people think that your implicit how-to knowledge is very different from the sort of lists of rules that can be captured in a computer program. They think that human thought is profoundly different from the way computers work, and that a computer cannot be programmed to simulate the full power of human problem-solving. These people would say, for example, that when you look at a tic-tac-toe board you immediately grasp the strategic situation as a whole, and your eye is drawn to the best move without any need to examine alternatives according to a set of rules. (You might like to try to be aware of your own mental processes as you play a game of tic-tac-toe, to try to decide which of these points of view more closely resembles your own experience--but on the other hand, the psychological validity of such introspective evidence is another hotly contested issue in psychology!)
»Before you read further, try to write down a set of strategy rules that, if followed consistently, will never lose a game. Play a few games using your rules. Make sure they work even if the other player does something bizarre.
I'm going to number the squares in the tic-tac-toe board this way:
Squares 1, 3, 7, and 9 are corner squares. I'll call 2, 4, 6, and 8 edge squares. And of course number 5 is the center square. I'll use the word position to mean a specific partly-filled-in board with X and O in certain squares, and other squares empty.
One way you might meet my challenge of describing your strategy explicitly is to list all the possible sequences of moves up to a certain point in the game, then say what move you'd make next in each situation. How big would the list have to be? There are nine possibilities for the first move. For each first move, there are eight possibilities for the second move. If you continue this line of reasoning, you'll see that there are nine factorial, or 362880, possible sequences of moves. Your computer may not have enough memory to list them all, and you certainly don't have enough patience!
Fortunately, not all these sequences are interesting. Suppose you are describing the rules a computer should use against a human player, and suppose the human being moves first. Then there are, indeed, nine possible first moves. But for each of these, there is only one possible computer move! After all, we're programming the computer. We get to decide which move it will choose. Then there are seven possible responses by the opponent, and so on. The number of sequences when the human being plays first is 9 times 7 times 5 times 3, or 945. If the computer plays first, it will presumably always make the single best choice. Then there are eight possible responses, and so on. In this case the number of possible game sequences is 8 times 6 times 4 times 2, or 384. Altogether we have 1329 cases to worry about, which is much better than 300,000 but still not an enjoyable way to write a computer program.
In fact, though, this number is still too big. Not all games go for a full nine moves before someone wins. Also, many moves force the opponent to a single possible response, even though there are other vacant squares on the board. Another reduction can be achieved by taking advantage of symmetry. For example, if X starts in square 5, any game sequence in which O responds in square 1 is equivalent to a sequence in which O responds in square 3, with the board rotated 90 degrees. In fact there are only two truly different responses to a center-square opening: any corner square, or any edge square.
With all of these factors reducing the number of distinct positions, it would probably be possible to list all of them and write a strategy program that way. I'm not sure, though, because I didn't want to use that technique. I was looking for rules expressed in more general terms, like "all else being equal, pick a corner rather than an edge."
Why should I prefer a corner? Each corner square is part of three winning combinations. For example, square 1 is part of 123, 147, and 159. (By expressing these winning combinations as three-digit numbers, I've jumped ahead a bit in the story with a preview of how the program I wrote represents this information.) An edge square, on the other hand, is only part of two winning combinations. For example, square 2 is part of 123 and 258. Taking a corner square makes three winning combinations available to me and unavailable to my opponent.
Since I've brought up the subject of winning combinations, how many of them are there? Not very many: three horizontal, three vertical, and two diagonal. Eight altogether. That is a reasonable amount of information to include in a program, and in fact there is a list of the eight winning combinations in this project.
You might, at this point, enjoy playing a few games with the program, to see if you can figure out the rules it uses in its strategy. If you accepted my earlier challenge to write down your own set of strategy rules, you can compare mine to yours. Are they the same? If not, are they equally good?
The top-level procedure in this project is called ttt. It takes no inputs. When you invoke this procedure, it will ask you if you'd like to play first (X) or second (O). Then you enter moves by typing a digit 1-9 for the square you select. The program draws the game board on the Logo graphics screen.
I'm about to start explaining my strategy rules, so stop reading if you want to work out your own and haven't done it yet.
The highest-priority and the lowest-priority rules seemed obvious to me right away. The highest-priority are these:
1. If I can win on this move, do it.
2. If the other player can win on the next move, block that winning square.
Here are the lowest-priority rules, used only if there is nothing suggested more strongly by the board position:
n-2. Take the center square if it's free.
n-1. Take a corner square if one is free.
n. Take whatever is available.
The highest priority rules are the ones dealing with the most urgent situations: either I or my opponent can win on the next move. The lowest priority ones deal with the least urgent situations, in which there is nothing special about the moves already made to guide me.
What was harder was to find the rules in between. I knew that the goal of my own tic-tac-toe strategy was to set up a fork, a board position in which I have two winning moves, so my opponent can only block one of them. Here is an example:
x o
X can win by playing in square 3 or square 4. It's O's turn, but poor O can only block one of those squares at a time. Whichever O picks, X will then win by picking the other one.
Given this concept of forking, I decided to use it as the next highest priority rule:
3. If I can make a move that will set up a fork for myself, do it.
That was the end of the easy part. My first attempt at writing the program used only these six rules. Unfortunately, it lost in many different situations. I needed to add something, but I had trouble finding a good rule to add.
My first idea was that rule 4 should be the defensive equivalent of rule 3, just as rule 2 is the defensive equivalent of rule 1:
4a. If, on the next move, my opponent can set up a fork, block that possibility by moving into the square that is common to his two winning combinations.
In other words, apply the same search technique to the opponent's position that I applied to my own.
This strategy works well in many cases, but not all. For example, here is a sequence of moves under this strategy, with the human player moving first:
In the fourth grid, the computer (playing O) has discovered that X can set up a fork by moving in square 6, between the winning combinations 456 and 369. The computer moves to block this fork. Unfortunately, X can also set up a fork by moving in squares 3, 7, or 8. The computer's move in square 6 has blocked one combination of the square-3 fork, but X can still set up the other two. In the fifth grid, X has moved in square 8. This sets up the winning combinations 258 and 789. The computer can only block one of these, and X will win on the next move.
Since X has so many forks available, does this mean that the game was already hopeless before O moved in square 6? No. Here is something O could have done:
o x
x x o
In this sequence, the computer's second move is in square 7. This move also blocks a fork, but it wasn't chosen for that reason. Instead, it was chosen to force X's next move. In the fifth grid, X has had to move in square 4, to prevent an immediate win by O. The advantage of this situation for O is that square 4 was not one of the ones with which X could set up a fork. O's next move, in the sixth grid, is also forced. But by then the board is too crowded for either player to force a win; the game ends in a tie, as usual.
This analysis suggests a different choice for an intermediate-level strategy rule, taking the offensive:
4b. If I can make a move that will set up a winning combination for myself, do it.
Compared to my earlier try, this rule has the benefit of simplicity. It's much easier for the program to look for a single winning combination than for a fork, which is two such combinations with a common square.
Unfortunately, this simple rule isn't quite good enough. In the example just above, the computer found the winning combination 147 in which it already had square 1, and the other two were free. But why should it choose to move in square 7 rather than square 4? If the program did choose square 4, then X's move would still be forced, into square 7. We would then have forced X into creating a fork, which would defeat the program on the next move.
It seems that there is no choice but to combine the ideas from rules 4a and 4b:
4b. If I can make a move that will set up a winning combination for myself, do it. But ensure that this move does not force the opponent into establishing a fork.
What this means is that we are looking for a winning combination in which the computer already owns one square and the other two are empty. Having found such a combination, we can move in either of its empty squares. Whichever we choose, the opponent will be forced to choose the other one on the next move. If one of the two empty squares would create a fork for the opponent, then the computer must choose that square and leave the other for the opponent.
What if both of the empty squares in the combination we find would make forks for the opponent? In that case, we've chosen a bad winning combination. It turns out that there is only one situation in which this can happen:
Again, the computer is playing O. After the third grid, it is looking for a possible winning combination for itself. There are three possibilities: 258, 357, and 456. So far we have not given the computer any reason to prefer one over another. But here is what happens if the program happens to choose 357:
By this choice, the computer has forced its opponent into a fork that will win the game for the opponent. If the computer chooses either of the other two possible winning combinations, the game ends in a tie. (All moves after this choice turn out to be forced.)
This particular game sequence was very troublesome for me because it goes against most of the rules I had chosen earlier. For one thing, the correct choice for the program is any edge square, while the corner squares must be avoided. This is the opposite of the usual priority.
Another point is that this situation contradicts rule 4a (prevent forks for the other player) even more sharply than the example we considered earlier. In that example, rule 4a wasn't enough guidance to ensure a correct choice, but the correct choice was at least consistent with the rule. That is, just blocking a fork isn't enough, but threatening a win and also blocking a fork is better than just threatening a win alone. This is the meaning of rule 4. But in this new situation, the corner square (the move we have to avoid) does block a fork, while the edge square (the correct move) doesn't block a fork!
When I discovered this anomalous case, I was ready to give up on the idea of beautiful, general rules. I almost decided to build into the program a special check for this precise board configuration. That would have been pretty ugly, I think. But a shift in viewpoint makes this case easier to understand: What the program must do is force the other player's move, and force it in a way that helps the computer win. If one possible winning combination doesn't allow us to meet these conditions, the program should try another combination. My mistake was to think either about forcing alone (rule 4b) or about the opponent's forks alone (rule 4a).
As it turns out, the board situation we've been considering is the only one in which a possible winning combination could include two possible forks for the opponent. What's more, in this board situation, it's a diagonal combination that gets us in trouble, while a horizontal or vertical combination is always okay. Therefore, I was able to implement rule 4 in a way that only considers one possible winning combination by setting up the program's data structures so that diagonal combinations are the last to be chosen. This trick makes the program's design less than obvious from reading the actual program, but it does save the program some effort.
Program Structure and Modularity
Most game programs--in fact, most interactive programs of any kind--consist of an initialization section followed by a sequence of steps carried out repeatedly. In the case of the tic-tac-toe game, the overall program structure will be something like this:
to ttt
forever [
if game.is.over [stop]
record.human.move get.human.move
record.program.move compute.program.move
The parts of this structure shown in italics are just vague ideas. At this point in the planning, I don't know what inputs these procedures might need, for example. In fact, there may not be procedures exactly like this in the final program. One example is that the test that I've called game.is.over here will actually turn out to be two separate tests already.wonp and tiedp (using a final letter p to indicate a predicate, following the convention established by the Logo primitive predicates).
This half-written procedure introduces a Logo primitive we haven't used before: forever. It takes a list of Logo instructions as its input, and carries out those instructions repeatedly, much as repeat, for, and foreach do. But the number of repetitions is unlimited; the repetition stops only if, as in this example, the primitive stop or output is invoked within the repeated instructions. Forever is useful when the ending condition can't be predicted in advance, as in a game situation in which a player might win at any time.
It may not be obvious why I've planned for one procedure to figure out the next move and a separate procedure to record it. (There are two such pairs of procedures, one for the program's moves and the other for the human opponent's moves.) For one thing, I expect that the recording of moves will be much the same whether it's the program or the person moving, while the decision about where to move will be quite different in the two cases. For the program's move we must apply strategy rules; for the human player's moves we simply ask the player. Also, I anticipate that the selection of the program's moves, which will be the hardest part of the program, can be written in functional style. The strategy procedure is a function that takes the current board position as its input, always returning the same chosen square for any given input position.
This project contains 28 procedures. These procedures can be divided into related groups like this:
7 overall orchestration
6 initialization
2 get opponent's moves
9 compute program's moves
4 draw moves on screen
As you might expect, figuring out the computer's strategy is the most complex part of the program's job. But this strategic task is still only about a third of the complete program.
The five groups are quite cleanly distinguishable in this project. There are relatively few procedure invocations between groups, compared to the number within a group. It's easy to read the procedures within a group and understand how they work without having to think about other parts of the program at the same time.
The following diagram shows the subprocedure/superprocedure relationships within the program, and indicates which procedures are in each of the five groups listed above. Some people find diagrams like this one very helpful in understanding the structure of a program. Other people don't like these diagrams at all. If you find it helpful, you may want to draw such diagrams for your own projects.
In the diagram, I've circled the names of seven procedures. If you understand the purpose of each of these, then you will understand the general structure of the entire program. (Don't turn to the end and read the actual procedures just now. Instead, see if you can understand the following paragraphs just from the diagram.)
Ttt is the top-level procedure for which I gave a rough outline earlier. It calls initialization procedures (draw.board and init) to set up the game, then repeatedly alternates between the human opponent's moves and the program's moves. It calls getmove to find out the next move by the opponent, youplay to record that move, then pickmove to compute the program's next move and meplay to record it.
Make.triples translates from one representation of the board position to another. The representation used within ttt is best suited for display and for user interaction, while the representation output by make.triples is best for computing the program's strategy. We'll look into data representation more closely later.
Getmove invites the opponent to type in a move. It ensures that the selected move is legal before accepting it. The output from getmove is a number from 1 to 9 representing the chosen square.
Pickmove figures out the program's next move. It is the "smartest" procedure in the program, embodying the strategy rules I listed earlier. It, too, outputs a number from 1 to 9.
Youplay and meplay are simple procedures that actually carry out the moves chosen by the human player and by the program, respectively. Each contains only two instructions. The first invokes draw to draw the move on the screen. The second modifies the position array to remember that the move has been made.
Draw moves the turtle to the chosen square on the tic-tac-toe board. Then it draws either an X or an O. (We haven't really talked about Logo's turtle graphics yet. If you're not familiar with turtle graphics from earlier Logo experience, you can just take this part of the program on faith; there's nothing very interesting about it.)
Notice, in the diagram, that the lines representing procedure calls come into a box only at the top. This is one sign of a well-organized program: The dashed boxes in the diagram truly do represent distinct parts of the program that don't interact very much.
Data Representation
I've written several tic-tac-toe programs, in different programming languages. This experience has really taught me about the importance of picking a good data representation. For my first tic-tac-toe program, several years ago, I decided without much prior thought that a board position should be represented as three lists of numbers, one with X's squares, one with O's squares, and one with the free squares. So this board position
could be represented like this:
make "xsquares [1 4 5]
make "osquares [2 9]
make "free [3 6 7 8]
These three variables would change in value as squares moved from :free to one of the others. This representation was easy to understand, but not very helpful for writing the program!
What questions does a tic-tac-toe program have to answer about the board position? If, for example, the program wants to print a display of the position, it must answer questions of the form "Who's in square 4?" With the representation shown here, that's not as easy a question as we might wish:
to occupant :square                          ;; old program
if memberp :square :xsquares [output "x]
if memberp :square :osquares [output "o]
output "free
On the other hand, this representation isn't so bad when we're accepting a move from the human player and want to make sure it's a legal move:
to freep :square                             ;; old program
output memberp :square :free
Along with this representation of the board, my first program used a constant list of winning combinations:
make "wins [[1 2 3] [4 5 6] [7 8 9] [1 4 7] [2 5 8]
[3 6 9] [1 5 9] [3 5 7]]
It also had a list of all possible forks. I won't bother trying to reproduce this very long list for you, since it's not used in the current program, but the fork set up by X in the board position just above was represented this way:
[4 [1 7] [5 6]]
This indicates that square 4 is the pivot of a fork between the winning combinations [1 4 7] and [4 5 6]. Each member of the complete list of forks was a list like this sample. The list of forks was fairly long. Each edge square is the pivot of a fork. Each corner square is the pivot of three forks. The center square is the pivot of six forks. This adds up to 22 forks altogether.
Each time the program wanted to choose a move, it would first check all eight possible winning combinations to see if two of the squares were occupied by the program and the third one free. Since any of the three squares might be the free one, this is a fairly tricky program in itself:
to checkwin :candidate :mysquares :free      ;; old program
if memberp first :candidate :free ~
[output check1 butfirst :candidate :mysquares]
if memberp last :candidate :free ~
[output check1 butlast :candidate :mysquares]
if memberp first butfirst :candidate :free ~
[output check1 list first :candidate last :candidate :mysquares]
output "false
to check1 :sublist :mysquares                ;; old program
output and (memberp first :sublist :mysquares) ~
(memberp last :sublist :mysquares)
This procedure was fairly slow, especially when invoked eight times, once for each possible win. But the procedure to check each of the possible forks was even worse!
In the program that I wrote for the first edition of Computer Science Logo Style, a very different approach is used. This approach is based on the realization that, at any moment, a particular winning combination may be free for anyone (all three squares free), available only to one player, or not available to anyone. It's silly for the program to go on checking a combination that can't possibly be available. Instead of a single list of wins, the new program has three lists:
mywins wins available to the computer
yourwins wins available to the opponent
freewins wins available to anyone
Once I decided to organize the winning combinations in this form, another advantage became apparent: for each possible winning combination, the program need only remember the squares that are free, not the ones that are occupied. For example, the board position shown above would contain these winning combinations, supposing the computer is playing X:
make "mywins [[7] [6] [3 7]]
make "yourwins [[3 6] [7 8]]
make "freewins []
The sublist [7] of :mywins indicates that the computer can win simply by filling square 7. This list represents the winning combination that was originally represented as [1 4 7], but since the computer already occupies squares 1 and 4 there is no need to remember those numbers.
The process of checking for an immediate win is streamlined with this representation for two reasons, compared with the checkwin procedure above. First, only those combinations in :mywins must be checked, instead of all eight every time. Second, an immediate win can be recognized very simply, because it is just a list with one member, like [7] and [6] in the example above. The procedure single looks for such a list:
to single :list                              ;; old program
output find [equalp (count ?) 1] :list
The input to single is either :mywins, to find a winning move for the computer (rule 1), or :yourwins, to find and block a winning move for the opponent (rule 2).
Although this representation streamlines the strategy computation (the pickmove part of the program), it makes the recording of a move quite difficult, because combinations must be moved from one list to another. That part of the program was quite intricate and hard to understand.
This new program uses two representations, one for the interactive part of the program and one for the strategy computation. The first of these is simply a collection of nine words, one per square, each of which is the letter X, the letter O, or the number of the square. With this representation, recording a move means changing one of the nine words. It would be possible to keep the nine words in a list, and compute a new list (only slightly different) after each move. But Logo provides another data type, the array, which allows for changing one member while keeping the rest unchanged.
If arrays allow for easy modification and lists don't, why not always use arrays? Why did I begin the book with lists? The answer is that each data type has advantages and disadvantages. The main disadvantage of an array is that you must decide in advance how big it will be; there aren't any constructors like sentence to lengthen an array.
In this case, the fixed length of an array is no problem, because a tic-tac-toe board has nine squares. The init procedure creates the position array with the instruction
make "position {1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9}
The braces {} indicate an array in the same way that brackets indicate a list.
If player X moves in square 7, we can record that information by saying
setitem 7 :position "x
(Of course, the actual instruction in procedures meplay and youplay uses variables instead of the specific values 7 and X.) Setitem is a command with three inputs: a number indicating which member of the array to change, the array itself, and the new value for the specified member.
To find out who owns a particular square, we could write this procedure:
to occupant :square
output item :square :position
(The item operation can select a member of an array just as it can select a member of a list or of a word.) In fact, though, it turns out that I don't have an occupant procedure in this program. But the parts of the program that examine the board position do use item in a similar way, as in this example:
to freep :square
output numberp item :square :position
To create an array without explicitly listing all of its members, use the operation array. It takes a number as argument, indicating how many members the array should have. It returns an array of the chosen size, in which each member is the empty list. Your program can then use setitem to assign different values to the members.
The only primitive operation to select a member of an array is item. Word-and-list operations such as butfirst can't be used with arrays. There are operations arraytolist and listtoarray to convert a collection of information from one data type to the other.
The position array works well as a long-term representation for the board position, because it's easy to update; it also works well for interaction with the human player, because it's easy to find out the status of a particular square. But for computing the program's moves, we need a representation that makes it easy to ask questions such as "Is there a winning combination for my opponent on the next move?" That's why, in the first edition of these books, I used the representation with three lists of possible winning combinations.
When MatthewWright and I wrote the book Simply Scheme, we decided that the general idea of combinations was a good one, but the three lists made the program more complicated than necessary. Since there are only eight possible winning combinations in the first place, it's not so slow to keep one list of all of them, and use that list as the basis for all the questions we ask in working out the program's strategy. If the current board position is
we represent the three horizontal winning combinations with the words xo3, xx6, and 78o. Each combination is represented as a three-"letter" word containing an x or an o for an occupied square, or the square's number for a free square. By using words instead of lists for the combinations, we make the entire set of combinations more compact and easier to read. Each of these words is called a triple. The job of procedure make.triples is to combine the information in the position array with a list of the eight winning combinations:
? show make.triples
[xo3 xx6 78o xx7 ox8 36o xxo 3x7]
Make.triples takes no inputs because the list of possible winning combinations is built into it, and the position array is in ttt's local variable position:
to make.triples
output map "substitute.triple [123 456 789 147 258 369 159 357]
to substitute.triple :combination
output map [item ? :position] :combination
This short subprogram will repay careful attention. It uses map twice, once in make.triples to compute a function of each possible winning combination, and once in substitute.triple to compute a function of each square in a given combination. (That latter function is the one that looks up the square in the array :position.)
Once the program can make the list of triples, we can use that to answer many questions about the status of the game. For example, in the top-level ttt procedure we must check on each move whether or not a certain player has already won the game. Here's how:
to already.wonp :player
output memberp (word :player :player :player) (make.triples)
If we had only the position array to work with, it would be complicated to check all the possible winning combinations. But once we've made the list of triples, we can just ask whether the word xxx or the word ooo appears in that list.
Here is the actual top-level procedure definition:
local [me you position]
draw.board
if equalp :me "x [meplay 5]
if already.wonp :me [print [I win!] stop]
if tiedp [print [Tie game!] stop]
youplay getmove                         ;; ask person for move
if already.wonp :you [print [You win!] stop]
meplay pickmove make.triples            ;; compute program's move
Notice that position is declared as a local variable. Because of Logo's dynamic scope, all of the subprocedures in this project can use position as if it were a global variable, but Logo will "clean up" after the game is over.
Two more such quasi-global variables are used to remember whether the computer or the human opponent plays first. The value of me will be either the word x or the word o, whichever letter the program itself is playing. Similarly, the value of you will be x or o to indicate the letter used by the opponent. All of these variables are given their values by the initialization procedure init.
This information could have been kept in the form of a single flag variable, called something like mefirst, that would contain the word true if the computer is X, or false if the computer is O. (A flag variable is one whose value is always true or false, just as a predicate is a procedure whose output is true or false.) It would be used something like this:
if :mefirst [draw "x :square] [draw "o :square]
But it turned out to be simpler to use two variables and just say
draw :me :square
One detail in the final program that wasn't in my first rough draft is the instruction
just before the forever loop. It was easier to write the loop so that it always gets the human opponent's move first, and then computes a move for the program, rather than having two different loops depending on which player goes first. If the program moves first, its strategy rules would tell it to choose the center square, because there is nothing better to do when the board is empty. By checking for that case before the loop, we are ready to begin the loop with the opponent as the next to move.
Variables in the Workspace
There are nine global variables that are part of the workspace, entered directly with top-level make instructions rather than set up by init, because their values are never changed. Their names are box1 through box9, and their values are the coordinates on the graphics screen of the center of each square. For example, :box1 is [-40 50]. These variables are used by move, a subprocedure of draw, to know where to position the turtle before drawing an X or an O.
The use of variables loaded with a workspace file, rather than given values by an initialization procedure, is a practice that Logo encourages in some ways and discourages in others. Loading variables in a workspace file makes the program start up faster, because it decreases the amount of initialization required. On the other hand, variables are sort of second-class citizens in workspace files. In many versions of Logo the load command lists the names of the procedures in the workspace file, but not the names of the variables. Similarly, save often reports the number of procedures saved, but not the number of variables. It's easy to create global variables and forget that they're there.
Certainly preloading variables makes sense only if the variables are really constants; in other words, a variable whose value may change during the running of a program should be initialized explicitly when the program starts. Otherwise, the program will probably give incorrect results if you run it a second time. (One of the good ideas in the programming language Pascal is that there is a sort of thing in the language called a constant; it has a name and a value, like a variable, but you can't give it a new value in mid-program. In Logo, you use a global variable to hold a constant, and simply refrain from changing its value. But being able to say that something is a constant makes the program easier to understand.)
One reason the use of preloaded variables is sometimes questioned as a point of style is that when people are sloppy in their use of global variables, it's hard to know which are really meant to be preloaded and which are just left over from running the program. That is, if you write a program, test it by running it, and then save it on a diskette, any global variables that were created during the program execution will still be in the workspace when you load that diskette file later. If there are five intentionally-loaded variables along with 20 leftovers, it's particularly hard for someone to understand which are which. This is one more reason not to use global variables when what you really want are variables local to the top-level procedure.
The only part of the program that really interacts with the human user is getmove, the procedure that asks the user where to move.
to getmove
local "square
type [Your move:]
make "square readchar
print :square
if numberp :square
[if and (:square > 0) (:square < 10)
[if freep :square [output :square]]]
print [not a valid move.]
There are two noteworthy things about this part of the program. One is that I've chosen to use readchar to read what the player types. This primitive operation, with no inputs, waits for the user to type any single character on the keyboard, and outputs whatever character the user types. This "character at a time" interaction is in contrast with the more usual "line at a time" typing, in which you can type characters, erase some if you make a mistake, and finally use the RETURN or ENTER key to indicate that the entire line you've typed should be made available to your program. (In Chapter 1 you met Logo's readlist primitive for line at a time typing.) Notice that if tic-tac-toe had ten or more squares in its board I wouldn't have been able to make this choice, because the program would have to allow the entry of two-digit numbers.
Readchar was meant for fast-action programs such as video games. It therefore does not display (or echo) the character that you type on the computer screen. That's why getmove includes a print instruction to let the user see what she or he has typed!
The second point to note in getmove is how careful it is to allow for the possibility of a user error. Ordinarily, when one procedure uses a value that was computed by another procedure, the programmer can assume that the value is a legitimate one for the intended purpose. For example, when you invoke a procedure that computes a number, you assume that you can add the output to another number; you don't first use the number? predicate to double-check that the result was indeed a number. But in getmove we are dealing with a value that was typed by a human being, and human beings are notoriously error-prone! The user is supposed to type a number between 1 and 9. But perhaps someone's finger might slip and type a zero instead of a nine, or even some character that isn't a number at all. Therefore, getmove first checks that what the user typed is a number. If so, it then checks that the number is in the allowed range. (We'd get a Logo error message if getmove used the < operation with a non-numeric input.) Only if these conditions are met do we use the user's number as the square-selecting input to freep.
Implementing the Strategy Rules
To determine the program's next move, ttt invokes pickmove; since many of the strategy rules will involve an examination of possible winning combinations, pickmove is given the output from make.triples as its input.
The strategy I worked out for the program consists of several rules, in order of importance. So the structure of pickmove should be something like this:
to pickmove :triples
if first.rule.works [output first.rule's.square]
if second.rule.works [output second.rule's.square]
This structure would work, but it would be very inefficient, because the procedure to determine whether a rule is applicable does essentially the same work as the procedure to choose a square by following the rule. For example, here's a procedure to decide whether or not the program can win on this move:
to can.i.win.now
output not emptyp find "win.nowp :triples
to win.nowp :triple
output equalp (filter [not numberp ?] :triple) (word :me :me)
The subprocedure win.nowp decides whether or not a particular triple is winnable on this move, by looking for a triple containing one number and two letters equal to whichever of X or O the program is playing. For example, 3xx is a winnable triple if the program is playing X.
The procedure to pick a move if there is a winnable triple also must apply win.nowp to the triples:
to find.winning.square
output filter "numberp find "win.nowp :triples
If there is a winnable triple 3xx, then the program should move in square 3. We find that out by looking for the number within the first winnable triple we can find.
It seems inelegant to find a winnable triple just to see if there are any, then find the same triple again to extract a number from it. Instead, we take advantage of the fact that the procedure I've called find.winning.square will return a distinguishable value--namely, an empty list--if there is no winnable triple. We say
local "try
make "try find.winning.square
if not emptyp :try [output :try]
In fact, instead of the procedure find.winning.square the actual program uses a similar find.win procedure that takes the letter X or O as an input; this allows the same procedure to check both rule 1 (can the computer win on this move) and rule 2 (can the opponent win on the following move).
Pickmove checks each of the strategy rules with a similar pair of instructions:
make "try something
Here is the complete procedure:
make "try find.win :me                 ; rule 1: can computer win?
make "try find.win :you                ; rule 2: can opponent win?
make "try find.fork                    ; rule 3: can computer fork?
make "try find.advance                 ; rule 4: can computer force?
output find [memberp ? :position] [5 1 3 7 9 2 4 6 8]   ; rules 5-7
The procedures that check for each rule have a common flavor: They all use filter and find to select interesting triples and then to select an available square from the chosen triple. I won't go through them in complete detail, but there's one that uses a Logo feature I haven't described before. Here is find.fork:
to find.fork
local "singles
make "singles singles :me                    ; find triples like 14x, x23
if emptyp :singles [output []]
output repeated.number reduce "word :singles ; find square in two triples
Suppose the computer is playing X and the board looks like this:
Find.fork calls singles (a straightforward procedure that you can read in the complete listing at the end of this chapter) to find all the triples containing one X and two vacant squares. It outputs
[4x6 x47 3x7]
indicating that the middle row, the left column, and one of the diagonals meet these conditions. To find a fork, we must find a vacant square that is included in two of these triples. The expression
reduce "word :singles
strings these triples together into the word 4x6x473x7. The job of repeated.number is to find a digit that occurs more than once in this word. Here is the procedure:
to repeated.number :squares
output find [memberp ? ?rest] filter "numberp :squares
The expression
filter "numberp :squares
gives us the word 464737, which is the input word with the letters removed. We use find to find a repeated digit in this number. The new feature is the use of ?rest in the predicate template
[memberp ? ?rest]
?rest represents the part of the input to find (or any of the other higher-order functions that understand templates) to the right of the value being used as ?. So in this example, find first computes the value of the expression
memberp 4 64737
This happens to be true, so find returns the value 4 without looking at the remaining digits. But if necessary, find would have gone on to compute
memberp 6 4737
memberp 4 737
memberp 7 37
memberp 3 7
memberp 7 "
(using the empty word as ?rest in the last line) until one of these turned out to be true.
The obvious first place to look for improvements to this project is in the strategy.
At the beginning of the discussion about strategy, I suggested that one possibility would be to make a complete list of all possible move sequences, with explicit next-move choices recorded for each. How many such sequences are there? If you write the program in a way that considers rotations of the board as equivalent, perhaps not very many. For example, if the computer moves first (in the center, of course) there are really only two responses the opponent can make: a corner or an edge. Any corner is equivalent to any other. From that point on, the entire sequence of the game can be forced by the computer, to a tie if the opponent played a corner, or to a win if the opponent played an edge. If the opponent moves first, there are three cases, center, corner, or edge. And so on.
An intermediate possibility between the complete list of cases and the more general rules I used would be to keep a complete list of cases for, say, the first two moves. After that, general rules could be used for the "endgame." This is rather like the way people, and some computer programs, play chess: they have the openings memorized, and don't really have to start thinking until several moves have passed. This book-opening approach is particularly appealing to me because it would solve the problem of the anomalous sequence that made such trouble for me in rule 4.
A completely different approach would be to have no rules at all, but instead to write a learning program. The program might recognize an immediate win (rule 1) and the threat of an immediate loss (rule 2), but otherwise it would move randomly and record the results. If the computer loses a game, it would remember the last unforced choice it made in that game, and keep a record to try something else in the same situation next time. The result, after many games, would be a complete list of all possible sequences, as I suggested first, but the difference is that you wouldn't have to do the figuring out of each sequence. Such learning programs are frequently used in the field of artificial intelligence.
It is possible to combine different approaches. A famous checkers-playing program written by Arthur Samuel had several general rules programmed in, like the ones in this tic-tac-toe program. But instead of having the rules arranged in a particular priority sequence, the program was able to learn how much weight to give each rule, by seeing which rules tended to win the game and which tended to lose.
If you're tired of tic-tac-toe, another possibility would be to write a program that plays some other game according to a strategy. Don't start with checkers or chess! Many people have written programs in which the computer acts as dealer for a game of Blackjack; you could reverse the roles so that you deal the cards, and the computer tries to bet with a winning strategy. Another source of ideas is Martin Gardner, author of many books of mathematical games.
(back to Table of Contents) BACK chapter thread NEXT
;; Overall orchestration
to tiedp
output not reduce "or map.se "numberp arraytolist :position
to youplay :square
draw :you :square
setitem :square :position :you
to meplay :square
setitem :square :position :me
;; Initialization
to draw.board
splitscreen clearscreen hideturtle
drawline [-20 -50] 0 120
drawline [20 -50] 0 120
drawline [-60 -10] 90 120
drawline [-60 30] 90 120
to drawline :pos :head :len
setpos :pos
setheading :head
pendown
forward :len
to init
print [Do you want to play first (X)]
type [or second (O)? Type X or O:]
print [For each move, type a digit 1-9.]
to choose
local "side
make "side readchar
pr :side
if equalp :side "x [choosex stop]
if equalp :side "o [chooseo stop]
type [Huh? Type X or O:]
to chooseo
make "me "x
make "you "o
to choosex
make "me "o
make "you "x
;; Get opponent's moves
if numberp :square ~
;; Compute program's moves
make "try find.win :me
make "try find.win :you
make "try find.fork
make "try find.advance
output find [memberp ? :position] [5 1 3 7 9 2 4 6 8]
to find.win :who
output equalp (filter [not numberp ?] :triple) (word :who :who)
make "singles singles :me
output repeated.number reduce "word :singles
to singles :who
output filter [singlep ? :who] :triples
to singlep :triple :who
output equalp (filter [not numberp ?] :triple) :who
to find.advance
output best.move filter "numberp find [singlep ? :me] :triples
to best.move :my.single
local "your.singles
if emptyp :my.single [output []]
make "your.singles singles :you
if emptyp :your.singles [output first :my.single]
ifelse (count filter [? = first :my.single]
reduce "word :your.singles) > 1 ~
[output first :my.single] ~
[output last :my.single]
;; Drawing moves on screen
to draw :who :square
move :square
ifelse :who = "x [drawx] [drawo]
to move :square
setpos thing word "box :square
to drawo
arc 360 18
to drawx
setheading 45
repeat 4 [forward 25.5 back 25.5 right 90]
make "box1 [-40 50]
make "box2 [0 50]
make "box3 [40 50]
make "box7 [-40 -30]
make "box8 [0 -30]
make "box9 [40 -30]
(back to Table of Contents)
Brian Harvey, bh@cs.berkeley.edu


This beautiful couple had a small and family orientated ceremony at the beautifully quaint Annabella Wedding Chapel in Ilkley. As an extra gift to each other, the bride and groom sat down with us individually and did a small piece-to-camera message that would remain a surprise for their spouse until the film was finished. There was such a light-heartedness and fun atmosphere about the whole day- it was evident to everyone that these two were indeed soul mates.
Thank you Matt and Jess, for allowing us to capture this special day…and for encouraging everyone to join you on the dance floor. Even we put the cameras down and joined the celebration!


In 1999, I was posted as an Administrative Officer in a remote dzongkhag in Bhutan. On the advise of some well-meaning friends and also partly out of boredom, I had some monks record the 'Praise of the 21 Taras'. Since then, for the last 20 years I have been reciting the 21 Taras and praying to Jetsun Dolma on a regular basis.
However, the recitation was without much understanding but I had hoped that due to my merit accumulation (at least speech merit accumulation) I would one day have my eureka moment and understand the profound meanings of the recitation. That moment for me came with the opportunity to partake in the Tara Retreat, 2018.
The Tara Retreat and Dolma Yuldok practice, 2018 was a week long program organised by Druk Ralung Shedrup Choling and presided by Gyalwa Dokhampa, with the primary objective to create an understanding on the essence and conduct of practices for the 21 Taras. It also endeavored to incorporate the practices into our daily lives for lay practitioners towards accumulation of merit, purification with the final goal of transforming our mind and recognizing our own nature of mind.
The Tara retreat was an important moment of self-reflection. In our daily lives, we are caught up in a whirl of daily activities and like a clockwork mouse we go on with our daily lives, day after day, year after year, never taking a moment to pause and to contemplate on your life. Having crossed more than 50% of my lifespan (assuming that I live the average life expectancy of a Bhutanese) it comes at the opportune moment to take stock of my live so far. It is also important to ponder on crucial questions like – will the merit that has brought me to this life be able to take me where I want to go?
His Eminence's teachings were given in a manner that could be understood by everyone, it was simple yet profound. The examples were lucid and real and all of us could connect with the examples. The teachings on desires, endless wants and in-suppressible ego makes you cringe – was Rinpoche talking about me? Amidst the many monks and devotees, at times, it felt like a one on one conversation with His Eminence.
The Tara Retreat was a spiritually cleansing journey and particularly satisfying. Although I could not even begin to compare myself with accomplished practitioners, it was most fulfilling and satisfying to learn the ways and practices involved in carrying out the conduct of mandala practices, the hand mudras, the use of drilbus, dorjes, the recitations and the visualization corresponding to the text, which was by far the most challenging. It was challenging not to have the mind stray to mundane things like the running in my mind the priority list of things to do once I get back from the retreat.
His Eminence's sessions were also particularly relevant not only in our religious pursuit but also relevant in our professional lives. So many parallels can be drawn in the management field, the sessions at times also sounded like management theories from Harvard School of Management. What particularly interested me, was the need to empower your subordinates so that they can take up the practices on their own. The need to build systems and institutions and practices that will withstand changing personalities was also noteworthy. Apparently Buddhism as it is practiced now is based on personality, which is very fragile for the sustainability of Buddhism, therefore the need to empower the lay people on their spiritual pursuits.
Back to the regular routine, I am overwhelmed with the number of messages, emails, sms each one supposedly more urgent than the other. No wonder, we feel so drained by the end of the day. Not only was integrating the spiritual practices into the daily routine challenging but it is difficult to keep the energy and motivation at the same level as the retreat. Nevertheless, having understood that I have been endowed with the 8 freedoms, 5 circumstantial advantages and 5 personal advantages and having taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha, I sincerely set my intention towards spiritual pursuit in my own small ways with the compassionate guidance of my Guru – His Eminence Gyalwang Dokhampa.
In this life and the next, as well as in the intermediate state, I make you my haven of hope.


My Phone has died and dont currently,have a new one i would like to change my voicemale messgae to add my land line number untill i get a new phoen how do i do this without a mobile??
Sorry @chipiedon but you can only change your voicemail message by dialling 443 using the giffgaff SIM. Can you borrow a phone to do this?


text:
Fox Probes If Jonah Was 'Swallowed By A Whale': More Evidence Than Atheists 'Could Ever Imagine'
Minister and self-described "public advocate for the Christian faith" Dr. Tom Dickson assured Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt on Sunday that there was ample evidence for the story of Jonah living in the belly of a fish for three days and other Bible tales to convince atheists.
During a Fox & Friends segment titled "Keeping the Faith," Earhardt pointed out that 19 percent of Americans were skeptics who did not believe that the Bible was sacred, up from 10 percent in 2011.
Dickson explained that many people were turned off by the Bible because it had been used as a "tool for oppression and slavery and violence."
But he argued that those were "universals of human culture, you don't need the Bible to have war, violence and slavery. They were there in Greece and Rome before the Bible."
According to Dickson, "the Bible gave to Western culture its tradition of charity for the poor, love of enemy, human rights. These things didn't come from Greece and Rome, they came from the influence of the Bible."
"I hear a lot of people saying, you can't prove it," Earhardt noted. "Did someone really get swallowed by a whale, did Noah really build this Ark? What's your response to those skeptics?"
"I think there's probably more less evidence than the average devout Christian would hope for, but way more evidence than our average atheist friend would ever imagine," Dickson opined. "Especially around the figure of Jesus. The study of the historical Jesus in serious universities -- secular universities the world -- is a giant topic. Because the evidence is overwhelming and we can know an awful lot about him."
However, Dickson said that the question of why God allowed humanity to suffer was a "real problem" for believers.
"The God we bring our doubts to, our questions is a God who is near us, who loves us, who is tender, who has experienced pain himself," he remarked. "You know, when my 9-year-old girl grazes her knee and runs to me, her question isn't, 'Oh daddy, what's the origin of evil?' She just wants to know that I've got her, that I'm tender, that I understand. And we have that picture of God."
"Yeah, we do," Earhardt agreed. "Reminds me of the footprints poem of God carrying us on the beach through our roughest times. Thank you so much. What a wonderful message it is. What a wonderful message on this Sunday morning when so many people are watching, getting ready for church this morning."
Ainsley Earhardt
Minister and self-described "public advocate for the Christian faith" Dr. Tom Dickson assured Fox News host Ainsley Earhardt on Sunday that there was ample evidence for the story of Jonah living in the belly of a fish for three days [...]
Ainsley Earhardt Clutches Her Bible And Lies About Immigrants
Fox and Friends' self-professed "woman of faith" Ainsley Earhardt enjoyed a nasty rant at the expense of people already suffering. Way to consider "the least of us," Ainsley.
Fox & Friends Says Protecting Atheists From Discrimination Is Anti-Christian!
While Fox News cheered on the Indiana "religious freedom" bill as a way to protect Christians, they sure don't feel the same way about a Wisconsin ordinance, pushed by the evil Freedom From Religion Foundation, which protects atheists.
By News Hounds Pri...
Santorum: Obama 'A Christian,' But Theology Not 'Based On The Bible'
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Sunday denied that he was not questioning President Barack Obama's faith in Christianity when he said the president's theology was not "based on the Bible."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Texaco Xpress Lube, Oil Changes, listed under "Oil Changes" category, is located at 430 Sw Everett Mall Way Everett WA, 98204 and can be reached by 4253532032 phone number. Texaco Xpress Lube has currently 0 reviews.
Browse all Oil Changes in Everett WA. Discover census data for Everett, WA.


text:
Flag of Chile
Chilean flag bears the colors of flag of the United States and it has origins in the period of struggles for liberation in 1817. The flag is composed of red and white horizontal stripes, and a blue square with a white five-pointed star in the upper left part of the flag. White should symbolize, like the name of the country itself (Tchili means snow in the local language), the snowy peaks of the Andes. The blue represents the sky beneath which blood was shed during the local struggles for independence. These fights are reminded by the red stripe. The origin of the star is associated with the Chilean Indians - its white color allegedly represents the unity and freedom of the nation, and the five points represent the five original provinces of the country.
Argentina Buenos Aires 41,660,096 2,780,400 km2
Bolivia Sucre 10,027,254 1,098,580 km2
Peru Lima 30,475,144 1,285,220 km2

🇨🇱 – copy to clipboard
16,341,929 (2012)
Ojos del Salado (6,893 m)
$ 18,211 (IMF, 2012)
CL (CHL)
Chile (Santiago de Chile)
Chili (Santiago)
Cile (Santiago)
Чили (Сантьяго)
Čile (Santiago)
智利 (圣地亚哥)
チリ (サンティアゴ)
Şili (Santiago)
צ'ילה (סנטיאגו דה צ'ילה)


text:
Q: javascript document.frmName undefined, had to use doucment.forms.frmName So our company is in the process of converting webform websites to web applications so we can implement Azure Key Vault. A lot of these applications have javascript within the aspx. In one project particularly after converting to web application and implementing the AKV I received a issue of something broken.
function UpdateSuites(strFieldIDs, strFieldNames)
    {
        var frm = document.frmGrid;
        var all = document.all;
        frm.txtfieldIds.value       = strFieldIDs;
        frm.txtFieldNames.value     = strFieldNames;
        all.lblFieldNames.innerText = strFieldNames;
    }

All of sudden this line of code is throwing undefined
 var frm = document.frmGrid;

I updated it to be the following
var frm = document.forms.frmGrid;

And this resolved the issue, but we want to know why did this occur all of sudden?
All we did was migrate a website to a web application.
How does this break javascript?
The .Net Framework was 4.5, and now it's 4.8 during this migration

A: document.querySelector("#frmGrid") or document.getElementById("frmGrid") is what you want.
Your attempts rely on elements with ids becoming global properties, which is a 20+ year old non-standard way of doing this.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Billie Lourd celebrates her mum Carrie Fisher's birthday with a cover of Tom Petty's 'American Girl'
The late actress would've turned 63
Sofiana Ramli
Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd has shared a touching tribute on her late mother's birthday: a cover of 'American Girl' by Tom Petty.
Yesterday (October 21), Lourd – who currently stars in the latest season of Ryan Murphy's horror series, American Horror Story: 1984 – took to Instagram to mark what would have been Fisher's 63rd birthday. In her post, the 27-year-old actress shared a clip of herself covering the Petty classic, and explained that she wanted to "celebrate [Fisher] by doing things that she loved to do."
"So here's a little video of me singing one of her favourite songs ('American Girl' by Tom Petty) in one of her favourite places (her bathtub of course)," Lourd wrote in the video's caption. She also added that to fully honour her mother, she'll be treating herself to a pint of vanilla ice cream and Coca Cola for dinner.
Check out her heartwarming cover of 'American Girl' below:
♓🅰🅿🅿🌱 🅱ℹ®✝♓🌛🅰🌱 ♏🅾♏🅱🌱 Today would have been my Momby's 63rd birthday. Not that I'm some kind of grief expert by any means, but on milestones (or whatever you want to call them) like this, I like to celebrate her by doing things that she loved to do. So here's a little video of me singing one of her favorite songs (American girl by Tom petty) in one of her favorite places (her bathtub of course). I'll probably have a pint of vanilla Haggen Dazs and a Coca Cola for dinner. ❤ (Full song on IGTV sorry you guys!!! I'm bad at technology!!!)
A post shared by Billie Lourd (@praisethelourd) on Oct 21, 2019 at 8:55am PDT
Fisher passed away in 2016 after suffering a heart attack on board a flight. Her death was followed by the passing of her own mother, Debbie Reynolds.
In 2017, Lourd commemorated Fisher's 61st birthday with a tattoo that matched her mother's, and last year she celebrated Reynold's 85th birthday with a throwback photo.
Meanwhile, a new trailer for Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker was released earlier today (October 22). It features a posthumous cameo from Fisher as General Leia Organa. According to director JJ Abrams, he decided to include previously unused material of Fisher that was originally shot for Star Wars: The Last Jedi in the new movie.


Our dynamic team of professionals make Tranzaura what it is. Together, we bring a wealth of experience and knowledge of both the transport industry and technology space; ensuring we offer the most innovative and effective transport solutions in the market.
At heart Shane is a bit of a technology geek, but likes to be referred to as a 'Technologist'. Shane joined us from Cook Medical in 2015. In just 4 years, Shane has taken our product offering into new realms with his out of the box thinking and expertise in technology & product development and also reinvigorated the company branding, marketing & sales operations. In January 2019, Shane became to the CEO of Tranzaura and is now responsible for leading all crucial elements of the company; from product development, operations, marketing, sales & customer care.
Nothing gets past John without his say so and he manages to keep us very much in order, in the nicest possible way. John is a Chartered Accountant, Tax advisor and Financial advisor with over 15 years experience across a multitude of industries. He acts as our Chief Financial Officer (aka pain in the backside).
Caroline is our breath of fresh air and is a bit of a rarity – a finance professional that is uber creative! Caroline brings over 15 years experience working for various companies in Ireland. She initially started in the construction industry and was subsequently involved in the set-up of a research and development company for whom she acted as Finance Manager for 6 years.
Noreen is known in the office for being a mad Munster Rugby fan and yoga enthusiast. She is also another important part of our finance operations, and one of our most longstanding staff members. Noreen has being with us since the beginning and has played a pivotal role in our continued growth and expansion.
Ray not only brings a questionable sense of humour, but years of sales & marketing experience, strategic thinking and off the wall ideas. There isn't really much that Ray hasn't done or tried in a sales and marketing context, so having this knowledge & input aligned to the Tranzaura offering, is invaluable to the team. Ray is a key driver in all our future sales & marketing strategies in the UK & Ireland.
Emma joined us in 2018 after 10 years of working throughout the UK and Ireland in many industries including transport and brings that creativity we needed. Bringing both her support and solid expertise from over the waters, she has been a key player in our brand rebirth and will be instrumental in all our marketing efforts going forward as well as managing all of our valuable partnerships.
Liam took a lunge (quite literally) from the fitness industry, to join our team in 2017 and has since developed a new passion for the transport industry. Liam lives and breaths Tranzaura every day, not that he has much choice as our sales representative but because he is passionate. With his product knowledge, he is probably the best person to talk to about one of our Transport Solutions and how it can solve your pain points.
Richard is our newest member of our UK team and brings with him over 14 years experience of working in the transportation, trucking, railroad industry focusing on planning, executing, and managing national sales strategies. So working with Tranzaura is second nature to him! Richard will now be instrumental in building upon our presence in the UK market and will also ensure we continue to deliver on our valuable customer relationships.
Declan brings boots on the ground practical experience and a real world angle to our product development. He has this real knack of ensuring technology does what it needs to do but in a way that's understood by the target audience. Nothing is ever too much of a technology challenge for Declan. He may get lost in coding for hours on end but he always comes back to planet earth with a profound solution to an issue.
Our very own 'Master of Disaster'. There is no one better to put you at ease if your experiencing a technical issue and thats why Eoin heads up our customer care team. He has this admirable way of diffusing difficult situations and finding the best possible outcome for everyone. As well Eoin's personable touch and effective approach to customer care, he also brings years of experience in IT training & facilitation.
Michaela has been with Tranzaura from the very start in May 2012. She has a keen eye for detail and nothing gets past her. Michaela's key responsibility is the analysis of the driver analogue charts and she has also laterly become involved in the smooth running of our customer care & support team.
Mike founded Tranzaura in 2009 after observing the introduction of digitised tachographs to the market in 2006. This new innovation, together with Mike's impeccable knowledge and 20 years of experience in the Transport industry ( Ireland & UK) triggered the formation of Tranzaura. This boots on the ground knowledge coupled with a strong development & management team has resulted in a cutting edge, innovative software company that solves problems for the transport industry. Not only this, but Mike is actually great craic too!


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Tag Archives: FBI
1,000 page report on FBI and DOJ being Weaponized against opponents
Republicans release 1,000-page report on whistleblower claims of politicization at FBI and DOJ
The report also accuses the bureau of "weaponizing" the federal government against its political opponents and aims to show how FBI leadership is biased against conservatives, particularly senior officials pressuring agents to reclassify cases as domestic violent extremism.
Other findings included in the report are:
The FBI downplayed and reduced the spread of the serious allegations of wrongdoing leveled against President Biden's son Hunter.
The Justice Department and FBI used counterterrorism resources to target parents protesting local school boards.
The FBI abused its foreign surveillance authorities.
The Justice Department and FBI conducted the unprecedented raid on the home of a former president.
The Justice Department and the FBI have allowed attacks on pro-life facilities and churches to continue while pushing a pro-choice agenda.
The FBI has helped Big Tech to censor Americans' political speech.
Tagged DOJ, FBI, Hunter Biden, politicization, Pro-Life | Leave a comment
Peaceful Pro-life protestors being arrested by the FBI weeks before midterm election
Matthew 5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven
'Why Are You Banging on My Door With a Gun?' 11 More Pro-Life Activists Targeted
Last week, the U.S. Justice Department indicted 11 more pro-life activists after alleging they "blocked access" to an abortion clinic in Tennessee as part of a protest last spring.
Video footage that recently surfaced on social media shows multiple heavily armed agents purportedly hauling away Paul Vaughn, a 55-year-old man charged in relation to the protests. In the video, a woman can be heard pleading with the agents to answer her questions, which included a query about why the agents were "banging on my door with a gun."
Why charges and arrests are being made now, over 18 months later, remains unanswered. Many, however, are pointing out the November mid-term elections are only a month away.
Tagged FBI, mid-term elections, Pro-Life Activists | Leave a comment
Since ROE was overturned public officials have not backed pregnancy centers or condemned the attackers
Proverbs 6:16-19 "There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.
'They're Trying to Put Us Out of Business': Massachusetts Crisis Pregnancy Centers Under Attack
Since Supreme Court ruling in June, crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts have come under enormous pressure. Not only have vandals destroyed their property and threatened their ongoing safety, but state and local officials have largely ignored these attacks while accusing them of deceptive practices.
Kelly Wilcox, the executive director of Clearway Clinic says the vandals' intent was clear. "They're trying to put us out of business by attacking us.
Although the FBI is investigating the cases, public officials have not come forward to support the clinics or condemn their attackers. No arrests have been announced. Instead, local and state authorities have questioned whether or not the state's crisis pregnancy centers engage in deceptive practices.
Tagged attackers, FBI, Pregnancy Centers | Leave a comment
Mike Lindell raided by FBI while on hunting trip. Agents surround his car in Hardees drive thru
Rogue FBI Uses "Identity Theft" and "Conspiracy to Commit Identity Theft" to Justify Mike Lindell Search Warrant
The Gateway Pundit reported that Mike Lindell was raided by the FBI and they seized his phone. We learned from his podcast on FrankSpeech that the FBI was likely tracking him all day as they arrested him far from his home on a hunting trip. Agents surrounded his car in a Hardee's drive-thru and demanded he hand over his phone. Mike pleaded that he uses his phone to run five companies, all major corporations, including MyPillow and MyStore. He told agents he does not have a computer and that his entire life is on that phone. He told the agents that his phone controls his hearing aids. Mike told the agents that all of the Dominion stuff is posted to his website and there's no need to take his phone. He is encouraging them to look at the evidence!
This "investigation" is centered around Colorado and the Tina Peter's criminal case. But the imperative civil lawsuits in El Paso County are being widely ignored by the judiciary
Tagged FBI, identity theft, Mike Lendell | Leave a comment
If FBI can raid home of a former president what can they do to you? Rep. Victoria Spartz grew up in Soviet Union and likens this to KGB
"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." — President Harry S. Truman
'KGB-style tactics': Congresswoman born in USSR blasts FBI raid
Indiana GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz, who grew up in the Soviet Union, likened the Bureau's operation to those of the KGB, the USSR's notorious secret police and intelligence force.
Trump himself said the FBI's actions signaled the country was declining into the political instability commonly associated with developing nations.
"Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries," he lamented. "Sadly America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke into my safe!"
Spartz made an appeal for Americans to look beyond partisanship and recognize the threat that political persecution poses to the political system, saying "[r]egardless of people's feelings about President Trump, this should not be acceptable in a democratic society."
"If the federal government can raid the home of a former president, all Americans should ask: what can 87,000 new IRS agents do to me?"
Tagged FBI, KGB, Trump | Leave a comment
New Threats of Civil War and Now Dirty Bombs says FBI
Matthew 24:12 "And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
FBI Now Warning About 'Dirty Bomb' Threats, Calls for 'Civil War' Following Mar-a-Lago Raid
NBC News reported on the bulletin over the weekend, citing two senior law enforcement sources.
"The FBI and DHS have observed an increase in threats to federal law enforcement and to a lesser extent other law enforcement and government officials following the FBI's recent execution of a search warrant in Palm Beach, Florida," the letter reportedly reads.
CBS News followed up by reporting the memo addresses online and social media threats issuing general calls for "civil war" and "armed rebellion" as well as "a threat to place a so-called dirty bomb in front of FBI Headquarters."
The National Regulatory Commission defines "dirty bombs" as combining "a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, with radioactive material."
Tagged Civil War, Dirty Bombs, FBI | Leave a comment
Mar-a-Largo raid was said to be about documents relating to nuclear weapons as Garland prepares to unseal parts of the warrant
Donald Trump Mocks Claim He Had Classified Documents on Nuclear Weapons at Mar-a-Lago
The Washington Post cited "people familiar with the investigation," who claimed the FBI was searching Trump's home for "classified documents relating to nuclear weapons."
No other details were provided.
"Nuclear weapons issue is a Hoax, just like Russia, Russia, Russia was a Hoax, two Impeachments were a Hoax, the Mueller investigation was a Hoax, and much more," Trump wrote on social media.
"Why wouldn't the FBI allow the inspection of areas at Mar-a-Lago with our lawyers, or others, present," he asked. Made them wait outside in the heat, wouldn't let them get even close – said "ABSOLUTELY NOT."
The former president also raised concerns the FBI was planting information on site, as some of his supporters have speculated.
Some details of the raid are expected to be released after Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday the Department of Justice had filed a motion to unseal parts of the warrant, citing "substantial public interest" in the details.
Trump agreed to cooperate.
Tagged classified documents, FBI, Mar-a-Lago, Nuclear Weapons, Trump | Leave a comment
FBI Director Wray declines to answer question on Mar-a-Largo Raid and condemns calls for violence against law enforcement
Revelation 13:2-4 "2 And the beast that I saw was like a leopard; its feet were like a bear's, and its mouth was like a lion's mouth. And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great authority. 3 One of its heads seemed to have a mortal wound, but its mortal wound was healed, and the whole earth marveled as they followed the beast. 4 And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?"
FBI Director Wray pushes back on threats following unprecedented raid on Trump: 'Deplorable and dangerous'
On Monday, the FBI executed a "raid" on Trump's Florida home and by that night, droves of social media posts criticized the incident and accused the bureau of being politicized in nature. Some messages also called for violence towards Wray, a massive uprising, and even a civil war.
"I'm always concerned about threats to law enforcement," Wray said Wednesday, condemning the posts. "Violence against law enforcement is not the answer, no matter who you're upset with."
He called the threats "deplorable and dangerous."
At the presser, Wray declined to comment further or answer any questions about why FBI agents spent hours on Monday searching Trump's Palm Beach, Florida resort. This was the first time in U.S. history that the FBI has conducted such a search at the residence of a former president.
Tagged FBI, Mar-a-Lago, Raid, Trump | Leave a comment
Alan Dershowitz: FBI raid at Mar-a-Largo unnecessary because investigators had been working with Trump on documents in question
Trump: FBI Search an 'Attack by Radical Left Democrats' Who 'Don't Want Me to Run for President in 2024'
They were reportedly looking for documents taken from the White House. Trump is now accusing his political enemies of using the Justice Department as a weapon against him.
He released a statement Monday evening denouncing the FBI raid on his home, saying, "Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those countries, corrupt at a level not seen before."
"They even broke into my safe!" Trump wrote in a statement. "What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the Democrat National Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States."
Constitutional attorney Alan Dershowitz told Fox News that a search warrant was unnecessary because investigators had been communicating for months with Trump representatives about the documents in question. "It seems to me they have violated the rules of DOJ. They have gone after a former president and future candidate so they darn well better have smoking gun proof," he said.
Marco Rubio tweeted: "The FBI isn't doing anything about the groups vandalizing Catholic Churches, firebombing Pro-Life groups or threatening Supreme Court justices, but they find time to raid Mar A Lago"
Tagged Alan Dershowitz, FBI, Trump | Leave a comment
Clinton Lawyer spills the beans on why FBI raided Trump's home
Trump disqualified from holding office? Clinton-linked lawyer points to US Code after FBI raid
The FBI search of the Florida resort was related to Trump's handling of presidential records, including classified documents, after leaving office, sources told CNN. The search warrant was connected to the National Archives, a senior government official told NBC News.
Such reporting had Marc Elias, the top lawyer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign who has drawn scrutiny for his role in pushing Trump-Russia collusion claims, pointing to U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2071. "The media is missing the really, really big reason why the raid today is a potential blockbuster in American politics," Elias said in a tweet.
The passage that says anyone "having the custody of any such record, proceeding, map, book, document, paper, or other thing, willfully and unlawfully conceals, removes, mutilates, obliterates, falsifies, or destroys the same, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both; and shall forfeit his office and be disqualified from holding any office under the United States," was the one he highlighted.
Former federal prosecutor Harry Litman argued Elias made a "HUGE POINT" about the records provision the Justice Department appears to be investigating. "So this could be the whole enchilada in terms of DOJ resolution," he said.
Tagged FBI, Hillary Clinton, Trump | Leave a comment


The desktop heavy-duty card die cutter is a great tool for both professional and occasional users. With this all metal machine, you can cut the business cards, credit cards, membership cards, driver's license cards, PVC ID cards, and wallet size photos. The machine is designed with hardened steel cutting die, die-cast steel base and long arm of force power-saving design handle, which can help you cut out more easily than other die cutters.
Professional tool for business card making.
Round four corners of a business card once.
Easy and accurate positioning, cuts neatly.
Long arm handle allows powerful cutting with ease.
All heavy-duty metal base, steel blade with excellent edge, long Arm of Force Power-saving Handle.
Deal for cutting membership cards, loyalty cards, ID cards, as well as wallet size photos.


The Modular Home and Their Benefits. The houses that are constructed in an industry then transported to the house sites are called the modular houses. Modular homes are very different from mobile homes and site-built homes. A a house constructed in an open place is called a site built. The local authority laws and codes of house construction should have adhered to. A good example is those areas which are susceptible to the earthquake they require such strong houses. Such houses are also known as "stick-built" houses and often have rising value in real estate market – especially for site value.
Mobile homes are manufactured in industry, but they are constructed with strong materials. These people keep to a federal government code, called the Housing and Urban Development code, rather than to the unique local codes where they move about. They will are cheaper than site-built houses and do it yourself houses, and decrease in value over time.
House built by individuals on their own, on another hand, are built in sections in a manufacturing plant. They may be built to conform to the entire neighborhood, regional and condition building codes for where they are finally located. Places are transported from the manufacturing site to house sites on truck mattresses and then are became a member of up with together by local companies. Home is then organized by a motorized hoist to an existing bottom. Modular homes have several advantages that make them ever more popular. They are very cheaper than the other houses. This particular is because modular homes boast some cost savings. The key reason for this is that considerable manufacturers can get favorable conditions for the supply of materials to conserve. Also, interior manufacturing of the home components means that they are safe from problems related to weather and climate. This can be a significant problem of site-built homes, for which work is often delayed by weather or vandalism. Waste materials from a modular home unit are minuscule in comparison to waste materials produced by site-built homes. Also, manufacturing plant employees are highly trained for specialized manufacturing duties. When compared, site-building is trusted to contractors who employ unskilled, non-permanent labor. The houses are built in a good place with a nice environment. They have many advantages, and one is that they are built meeting all the standards of constructing such houses. These houses are constructed depending on the design the owner desire it to be built. Time saving is tremendous: modular homes take 30 to ninety days for completion when compared with six to nine a few months for site-built houses. It only takes seven days to construct a two story building. Individuals should purchase the modular houses.


Brent shares a few tips on how your can interpret data from Analytics correctly.
I've been running this blog for almost three years now. I've used Google Analytics, not only to track the amount of users, but also to actively improve my blog. I'm no marketeer, just a simple developer. Today I want to share from my technical experience, how I use traffic data and react to it.


Shopkick is the shopping app that rewards you with FREE gift cards for the shopping you already do! Join the millions of Shopkickers who have earned over $63.8 million in free gift cards to Starbucks, Walmart, Sephora, and more.
Open Shopkick when you're at home, the grocery store, or the mall and start earning points (we call them "kicks"). Redeem those kicks for gift cards and cool products — we have over 20 to choose from. You can even donate your kicks to charity! It's easy to earn kicks and get rewarded for your everyday online and in-store shopping.
Open the Shopkick app when you're out and about on your normal shopping runs. Discover daily challenges to earn points (called kicks) just for walking into nearby stores or scanning products in a fun scavenger hunt. You can even earn bonus kicks if you purchase products and submit your receipt!
Open the app when you're thinking about making a purchase online. Get kicks for virtually "visiting" a store or making a purchase.
Whether you're at the mall or your local grocery store, there are so many ways you can get rewards from Shopkick for the shopping you already do. Download and start earning your first free gift card now!
Good news for online shoppers! This update includes a bunch of great fixes to help you earn kicks for your purchases from online stores like eBay, Groupon, Boxed, Jet, Apple, and Spring.
Shopkick with friends! Now you can see the full list of people you've invited to earn free gift cards on Shopkick.
Has Shopkick got you doing a happy dance? Tell how much you love the app and give us a 5-star rating.


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Q: Is it possible to show "No Records to Display" in EmptyDataTemplate Field in Gridview before binding it with the DataSource? I want to display "No Records to Display" in the EmptyDataTemplate Field before binding the GridView with the DataSource.
After Binding the GridView with the Datasource, it displays the EmptyDataTemplate Field in the Gridview if the datasource returns null. But I want to show before binding it with the datasource. How this is possible?

A: not without binding it.
What you can do is simply bind it to an empty list of items (of the same type with the real items - new List() ) and later when you want to display the results, bind to the real data.

A: You can make new DataTable and assign that DataTable as DataSource before assigning orginal datasource


Each candidate must compete in ten categories. The first eight categories are REQUIRED. Candidates must then choose 2 of the last 3, for a total of 10 categories.
Documentation is strongly recommended for all categories as well as for the overall persona. Documentation, whether written or visual, should be directed at the specific choices made for each category wherever possible. Citations should follow a standard format for footnotes and bibliography, but at a minimum, a citation must allow the judges to find the book, periodical, article or website specified.
Tell us how they did it in period, how you did it and why. Keep track of where you got information and pictures, so the judges can follow your train of thought. The more educated your judges are about your persona's history and culture, and the easier you make it for them to do their jobs, the more likely you are to succeed at Golden Swan.
Persona Creation: Applicants must develop an authentic and logical persona that follows the parameters of SCA from 600 – 1600, based on historical research and data.. This persona cannot be an existing historical or literary character. Information provided in this competition must include full name and date of birth, present age, place of birth and current residence, a brief genealogy that includes present social position, and a brief personal history.
Applicants must demonstrate a working knowledge of their culture's courtesy and etiquette throughout the event by their deportment. Topics of conversation with judges will include addressing nobility and servants, table manners (for your persona), and, of course, courtliness and common consideration and politeness.
Applicants must stay in persona throughout the judging period (roughly 9 am on Saturday to the judges' conclave on Sunday) except in their personal spaces (camping areas or sleeping areas) or the bathroom. If an applicant smokes or uses prescription drugs or has other critical non-period needs, these must be explained ahead of time to the judging co-ordinator, and handled out of sight of the judges. Normal aids such as eyeglasses, hearing aids and so on will be disregarded by the judges. However, applicants should do their best to keep elective non-period aspects of their outside life (i.e. obviously artificial fingernails) to a minimum.
Correspondence (or Communication at a Distance) (formerly Calligraphy): Applicants shall create a hand-written communication from, or on behalf of, their persona. This will most often take the form of a letter of introduction or a request or guarantee of safe passage, and should take the form of typical documents of the persona's era and culture (presumably, all cultures that can be researched have had access to some form of written communication at some time). Only one 8 1/2" x 11" sheet (or equivalent) must meet the judging criteria. The criteria listed here is a minimum standard, it is not designed to limit creativity.
Skills and Technologies: Each applicant shall display and demonstrate a skill or proficiency appropriate to their persona. This skill can either be something not covered in either categories, or something from another category carried to a higher level of mastery. Judging is done through a display and/or demonstration to the judges, and discussion between the judges and the applicant. The applicant must have first-hand knowledge of the skill, even if demonstration is difficult or impossible. Book learning alone is not adequate.
Costuming: Applicants must make one complete and detailed costume for their persona, including undergarments, overgarments and headwear. Hand sewing is not required. Other garments or outfits may be made by other people, and accessories such as purse, shoes and belts may be made by other craftsmen, but the applicant must construct one complete outfit. This category will be judged as a demonstration in which the applicant displays or demonstrates her attire to the judges. Judging will be based on construction and design. Applicants may be asked to show the inside of their clothing, but if this is done, it will be done in a discreet manner and will not include the innermost layer of clothing.
Textile and Fiber Arts (was Needlework): Applicants must make 2 textile or fiber items: a hand-stitched or hand-worked article suitable for a presentation or gift, and a utilitarian article. Suggested applications: embroidery, needlepoint, appliqué, lace making, weaving, bullion work, spinning, weaving, felting, sprang or other "needlework" appropriate to the persona. These entries may be incorporated into the persona's costume or accessories.
Judging for the following 3 categories may take place in an informal gathering or roundtable discussion in which personas might discuss the visit of a reigning monarch, the guild they belong to, anticipation of an upcoming holiday, their position in society. Examples are endless.
Everyday Life: Applicants must demonstrate a knowledge of everyday occurrences in the life of their persona, such as hobbies, pastimes, daily routine, religious observances, household duties (e.g. meal planning, entertainment, accommodations for visiting dignitaries and entourage, etc.), community obligations, and other personal duties or needs of their persona.
Food: The candidate should be able to discuss food and diet in general. Should have knowledge of sources of food (grown on own lands, imported, trade, etc.), preparation and storage methods, the equipment used for these, fast and feast days and customs for persona, restrictions on diet, any philosophy of food common to the era or culture. Cooking or food preparation CAN form part of this category, but is NOT required. You may want to bring food as part of a demonstration of hospitality.
Habitat: The candidate must display a working knowledge of the persona's home such as that displayed during the Everyday Life discussion. She should also have good overall knowledge of shelter in general in her time period and culture, the geography of her home and any other areas she should be familiar with, climate, who lives with or near her, sources of water, disposal of waste. Due to the time of year of the event, as well as the cost of period camping or authentic furnishings, judging of these categories will focus on discussion and knowledge rather than demonstration.
Since Everyday Life, Food, and Habitat overlap so much, they are normally judged at a single roundtable discussion, but time will be allotted on the schedule as if these are 3 separate categories, to allow for breaks or preparation as needed. The Judging Co-ordinator or a designated judge will monitor the questions and watch the time, to ensure the judges are satisfied that the criteria for each category have been met, even if discussion sometimes wanders.
Optional Categories: Candidates must choose 2 out of the following 3 categories. Each of these categories may require special arrangements, so each must be chosen on the application form; including preferred location or time, solo or accompanied, and whether the shire needs to provide additional personnel or equipment.
Games and Pastimes: Applicants must show proficiency in, and ability to teach, one indoor and one outdoor activity appropriate to their persona. Suggested indoor games: chess, nine-men's morris. Suggested outdoor games: jeu-de-boules (bocce), Prisoner's Base. These are considered the "standard" European games for the category. The applicant may substitute another activity, indoor or outdoor, that is appropriate to their time period or culture. Examples may include riddles, string games or figures, word games. Documentation is required for all games and pastimes. It may be necessary for the candidate to discuss methods of judging for any non-standard pastimes.
Performance: Applicants must perform two pieces appropriate to their persona. At least one must be documentable period for their persona. These may include a song, story, poem or dance of reasonable length (3 to 5 minutes per piece as an estimate). Performances may be done solo or with others. Performances do not need to be memorized, but performance style must be suitable for the persona.
Venue for the performance may be at the Saturday night feast as the standard choice, or at another time and location. This must be specified to the Judging Co-ordinator in advance so arrangements can be made if needed. If accompaniment is required, the applicant must provide their own music on CD (iPod or other MP3 player may be possible, please make specific arrangements prior to the event) or arrange for musicians themselves.
Survival Techniques: Applicants must prove their ability to survive a hostile situation. Techniques should coincide (loosely) with what is appropriate to their persona. Techniques may include any of those below, but if you can convince the Judging Co-ordinator of a feasible method of testing, others may be chosen. If a technique other than those listed is selected, the candidate must be prepared to demonstrate proficiency in a standard technique, should the judges require an alternative.
Documentation is required. It should include the availability of specific weapons or methods, and that it was acceptable or possible for a woman of this specific period and culture to use and practice this skill. Knowledge of weaponry specific to the person should be indicated, but demonstration will be confined to SCA-legal weapons, protection and procedures.
a) Poisoning - the universal "women's weapon." It is assumed that most women will have access to common poisons and knowledge of, or access to knowledge of, their use in any time period or culture. Documentation does not need to prove this assumption, but will specify the poison used, its availability, symptoms and results, methods of preparation and application. The poisoning will be judged both on the documentation provided, and on a "poisoning" at the feast on Saturday night. Victims will be assigned and a poison substitute (usually hard candies but occasionally stickers or other unpredictable means) will be provided by the shire. Bribing or coercion of witnesses and other parties will be considered in terms of their effectiveness in furthering the survival of the persona.
b) Archery or Thrown Weapons: will be judged on the range in a standard format.
c) Sword and Shield: will be judged in the fighting field in a tournament style situation. The candidate may be entered in the tournament of the day, or a special combat or series of bouts can be arranged, depending on schedule and the candidate's preference. The term "sword and shield" can apply to heavy armoured combat or to rapier within the SCA context, but documentation must show that the historical technique would have been used by and accessible to women in their culture and time period.


MoMA Exclusive: This white porcelain bowl is from the Raami tabletop collection conceived by British designer Jasper Morrison and Finnish brand Iittala. "Raami" means frame in Finnish and the collection's low-key designs are meant to "frame" the mood of your table, putting the focus on food and conviviality. The Iittala Raami Porcelain Bowl has a 6.5" diameter and is a generous 2.4 inches deep. Use it to portion out soup, stew, home-cooked oatmeal and more. The designer of the Iittala Raami Porcelain Bowl, Jasper Morrison, has work in MoMA's collection. Made in Europe and designed in Finland. Dishwasher-safe. Available in white.