The Eighty-Twenty Solution

I just acquired a copy of Computer Gamesmanship, a classic work on programming computer games (i.e. chess & checkers, not Quake). This book has been out of print for a while, and you have to buy it used, but it's much better than most of what passes for technical books these days, even at < 300 pages. I'm 2 chapters into this book, but I like it already; this is how technical books should be written. The first chapter, on single player games, is an easy read, while the 2nd chapter, on tic-tac-toe and the minimax algorithm, is a little tougher going. What I like is that David Levy doesn't put a single line of code into the book; he explains the problem and some implementation roadblocks (bear in mind that he's writing about PCs in 1983, which is probably like programming for a low-end cell phone these days). There's just too many books out there that will tell you how to code up solutions to boring or totally superficial problems; the problems in this book are interesting subjects (even a simple game like tic-tac-toe takes a fair amount of exposition) with non-trivial answers. I don't know of anything currently in print that compares, in subject matter or style.

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd say: I just bought the latest from Mandy Moore. It's actually really likeable; listening to it is like listening to a really good demo tape, but if you compare it to something like Kelly Clarkson's demo tape, you'll hear the difference in talent, and unlike most of her contemporaries, she appears to be aspiring to be an artist first and a celebrity second. It's a great selection of songs from the 1970's, not what you'll hear on heavy rotation on the local classic rock station. I'm actually really impressed by her cover of Joni Mitchell's "Help Me", the first few bars are dead on, though listening to Mandy Moore sing it, I realized that I never gave Joni enough credit for her version. For negatives, the production is too fiddly; for instance, there are good ideas in her cover of "I Feel The Earth Move" but it's clearly the producer goofing off and not bothering to develop them. If they're going to put scratching into the mix, the should have hired someone who's a real talent on a turntable. I think she just needs to surround herself with better musicians and a better producer. It's also pretty funny to see how the album tries to be such a '70s throwback, right down to the album art and the logo on the cover. I was also struck by the irony that every song on this album was written by a performing artist, not a professional songwriter. I wonder if she's belying her ambition, or just coincidence. Regardless, this is a promising album, with a real band and better production, she might end up in 20 years with a body of work to be proud of.