Recent content by oracle99

I've used Visual Studio for decades, its the best of the big mainstream dev tools, much better than the massive 8Gb Android Studio. In fact still use MSVC 4.2 for 32 bit, MSVC1.52 for 16 bit builds. (<100Mb install) If you have a Linux install you may already have gcc, one of the best command...

There are options for extending Chess. My own Chess engine (like my checkers program) can play with a variable size board. Chess on a 10x8 board retains a lot of the character of 8x8 chess, with the armies still 6 squares apart, but extends the play depth. Increasing the mobility makes it harder...

If you are going old school Basic, try the famous "Illustrating Basic" by Donald Alcock: https://archive.org/details/ibaspl But progress to something like modern C after that. JavaScript/canvas is a learning option, you can use a simple text editor to create an .html file, and just run it in...

Thanks! Back then it was mostly actually written on an 8k PET too, I didn't have other computers. Lots of hand written code on squared paper, it took forever. I think Woz hand assembled the first Apple basic that way too, you can find jump patches in the code.

This is a long running debate. If you play chess, checkers, connect4, etc as entertainment, either with human or computer opponent, then it doesn't really matter if computers can beat you, or if the game is "solved" or not. I have written checkers (and chess) engines/programs, going back to...

I was thinking of a solar thermal rocket, which can deliver a large acceleration when close to the sun, but fermi is also interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_thermal_rocket The feeling is that these slower proposals will get overtaken later by better designs, so they don't...

Thanks, I was not very clear, yes I meant the threads first post, rather than my last one. .94 c is quite a speed, I think there are practical problems such as the heat generated hitting extremely small particles or atoms at that velocity. One of the articles above mentions using light sails...

I wonder what would be the peak speed in this scenario, as a % of light speed?

For those interested in the practical side of interstellar travel, the Universe Today have a 5 part series covering the history of proposed projects, from using atom bombs in the 50s (!) through to solar/magnetic sails, and "space warps"...

Yes, I suppose its more than a perception, its how the traveller experiences time. If we also place earth in the gravitational well of a black hole, could it be arranged that time elapses at the same rate for the folks back home?

Yes, I understand it is only percieved time elapsed, the traveller cannot actually travel faster than light.

In the original question I made a point if returning the traveller to the original frame of reference, earth. Obviously i bow to your superior knowledge, but maybe there is a misunderstanding? The above calculation says the traveller will see 3.5 years pass when travelling 4 light years..

I understand that the traveller is not literally travelling faster than light, just that you would percieve that, in that time frame. And yes, the practical problems in actually doing it are massive, and even if you are very close to a "perfect" engine, you need to carry insane amounts of fuel...

There is an old joke "you can put a billion dollars worth of plutonium into a suit case, but only briefly.."

So if you travel 3 years you get sqrt(3*3+1)-1= 2.16 light years, about half way to Alpha Centauri, so decelerate is the same, so approx 6 years out, 6 years back, 12 years, from the travelers perspective? oh I see you updated it, that would be earth dwellers time. Thanks! Another little point...