Yet again, the death of the relational database is announced, this time by Lazy Software. Looks very interesting actually: The associative model is the first database architecture designed to reflect the structure of data in the real world and the way that our brains perceive and process information.

I've been feeling a bit low over the last few days, a bit blue. Things that usually interest me - such as the web, blogging, my job, wargames - seem a bit dull and pointless at the moment. The circumstances of my life are pretty good, I haven't really got much to feel blue about. Besides, nimrods never admit to having feelings (except perhaps that feeling of gloating exultation over a defeated opponent) so I'd better shut up about it right now before I completely lose nimrod-cred......

Good fun last night playing Illuminati (not the CCG, the recent re-release of the original game) with Dave and John. Dave (attack! attack!) was temperamentally well suited to playing Cthulhu - he consumed the UN and the Orbital Mind Control Laser, among other things, before John (the Bermuda Triangle) inevitably achieved world domination (by taking control of the Boy Sprouts).

At last! I've found a Life program for the Psion. Let's see how fast this baby runs.....

Hmm. Fast enough, but it works with a finite and very small universe. Maybe I have to brush up my OPL programming skills after all.

Good grief! PsiLinux - Linux for Psion Computers.

John might be interested in this: psiMind - Mind Mapping for the Psion

Here is Hensel's applet - and yes, it is very fast!

After a lot of searching I've come to the conclusion that there is no Conways Life program for the Psion 5. Years ago I wrote one for my Psion 3. It worked, and it had some nice features (like a "radar" screen) but it was fairly slow. I'd quite like to pick it up again for my 5mx. This guy - Hensel - has done a lot of thinking about writing a fast Life algorith. What's more, he's made it public! For blobby universes, one should probably consider dividing the universe up into blocks approximately the size of the blobs. For Life, 4x4 to 8x8 seem reasonable. I chose the upper bound, 8x8, for reasons of convenience: There happen to be 8 bits in a byte. I strongly considered 4x4, but it didn't work out as nice....

Don't tell Dave about The American Civil War from Eagle Games - big colourful map, simple rules, tons of plastic figures, yankees and rebels? - suit you Sir!

I received GMT's Thirty Years War last week. I've been a bit slack - I'm reading the rules but I haven't punched the counters yet. It looks beautiful. When I've read the rules I'll need these - first draft clarifications and errata posted on consimworld (spread over 3 postings).

New things I tried in 2001:

1) Singing. In January I went along to an Open Day held by the Basingstoke Choral Society, and never looked back. It has been wonderful to make music, not just listen to it. Over the year we did 4 concerts: Mozart's C minor Mass, "Friday Night is Music Night" on Radio 2, Faure's Requiem, and the Brahms German Requiem.

2) Blogging. 19th April saw the birth of "nimrods". I originally saw it as a way of reviving the wargames scene in Salisbury, which I suppose it has done in a small way. But it rapidly became a habit-forming way of talking to myself about myself. Is anyone else listening? Do I care? I'm hooked anyway.

3) Dancing. In early summer I hit the Ceroc dancefloor in spite of my remedial dancing abilities. This is now an indispensible part of my social routine. I've paid my dues in Beginners class and at long last I'm teetering hesitantly on the brink of Intermediate status.

4) Sailing. August saw me on the "Irene Jack", a traditional gaff-rigged lugger, fulfilling a long-held ambition to learn to sail. But I didn't anticipate this: it's actually quite boring.

5) Canoeing. My friend and canoeing fanatic Fiona took me on the Thames at Shepperton to learn how to paddle. Very good fun, but don't tell her I said so.

6) Paragliding. Well, a training weekend at ParAvion on Marlborough Downs was booked and turned up to, but stymied by the weather.

7) Trekking. In Nepal in December. The worst loos I've ever seen outside France. Massive mountains, a childhood dream to see the Himalayas fulfilled.

8) Gelling. A throwaway comment by a hairdresser led me to try this out....once. It didn't stick.

That's a lot of new experiences isn't it? Looks like a full-blown mid-life crisis to me.

James Lileks delivers a telling plug for the new iMac: Finally, I have to smile at the people who scoff at the movable screen - how many times do you have to reposition the screen? they ask. Well, at least once a week I call my wife in to look at a picture or a snippet of video, and to get the best angle she has to sit in my chair while I lean over and type commands. The pivotable screen is tailor-made for showing other people what you’ve done while you sit at the keyboard - a small thing, sure. Sure. But it confirms my suspicion: that bastard Jobs is watching me.

Nimrod Session - Thursday 10 Jan

Now that holidays, Christmas and New Year are out of the way, it's time to get back to the important things in life - playing games! Please come over to my home this Thursday by 8pm. Bring a Euro-game with you. (John, if you're coming perhaps you could bring Euphrat and Tigris?)

PS William (whose email is broken) wants to invite everyone over to his home in Portsmouth to play Civilization. He is suggesting a Sunday in the near future. Feedback to me please.

I spent most of yesterday up in the loft. I've only been in this house for three and a half years - how on earth did I accumulate so much junk in that time? I filled 5 or 6 black bags yesterday with stuff for the binmen and I'm only about half way through! The reason I'm clearing the loft out is to make space for games that I am clearing out of the shelves downstairs. Makes me wonder why I am shoving them up in the loft at all - might be more sensible to take them straight down to the charity shop. Even better, take them straight round to James' house - cutting out the middleman!

This chancer is offering two old SPI Middle Earth wargames on ebay - reserve price £500 each. No takers so far. Good! I hope his dog chews them up before he finds a sucker....

Salisbury Ceroc reopened last night after Christmas. I was there of course - it's been over 5 weeks since I last went, and I've really missed it. Last night was a bit of a special occasion as the club has moved to a bigger venue in Wilton to cope with increasing numbers. It's really nice as well, with a big dance-floor and a high arched ceiling that shows off the disco lights. Can't wait till next Tuesday for my next Ceroc fix!

OK, I confess - I like country music, and I listen to Radio 2. There, it's out in the open now. But go to BBC Radio 2 Country and listen to Lucinda Williams singing "Blue". Wonderful.

Andy Daglish who runs Discount German Games is planning to order a big parcel from GMT. Last time he did something like this was with Avalon Hill, when I picked up Battle Cry for about £30 (a hefty discount). But I did have to wait quite a few weeks to get my hands on it. Drop him an email if you want more details.

Drool over this: a sneak look at the playtest map for WWII: Barbarossa to Berlin! (Just choose "guest access" when you get to the login screen.)

Had a very enjoyable game of 1851 yesterday with Dave, Steve and John. 1851 is an 1830 variant set in Tennessee, designed to go faster than 1830. It only has 6 Corporations, which float when 50% of their stock is sold, but with only 50% capitalization. The Corporation must raise the rest by selling the remaining stock - which gives you an incentive to manage the company in a responsible fashion. It only took us 6 hours to complete the game, which is pretty good going for us. Mid-game Dave looked like the leader, but I had two companies running synergistically and got some very high-scoring runs organized, so in the end I was the winner, with Steve second, Dave third and John last. Nice way for a nimrod to start the year - thanks guys.