Google is sponsoring another AI Challenge Competition run by an independent group of volunteers that grew out of the Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo. The competition opens today and invites submissions of programs designed to control ants a simulated colony in competition with other colonies.

Ants is a multi-player strategy game set on a plot of dirt with water for obstacles and food that randomly drops. Each player has one or more hills where ants will spawn. The objective is for players to seek and destroy the most enemy ant hills while defending their own hills. Players must also gather food to spawn more ants, however, if all of a player's hills are destroyed they can't spawn any more ants.

The objective is to create a computer program (a bot) that plays the game of Ants as intelligently as possible. It is recommended that you use one of the starter packages as a starting point. If you are looking to get up and running as quickly as possible, check out the Five Minute Quickstart Guide. For more details about Ants beyond this introductory document, see the Game Specification.

The site has documentation, a tutorial and starter packages for windows and Linux in a variety of programming languages. Each package contains a simple working entry to use as a starting point, tools that allow you to run your bot and watch it play graphically, sample opponents that you can test your bot against, and maps you can use for testing. Once you've developed your bot, you can enter it at the website and watch your ant colony fight for domination against colonies created by other people from around the world.

The behavior of ants is a classic example of how the local interactions among individuals in a collection can give rise to interesting emergent behavior. This concept is important in the study of complex systems and was the subject of a recent special topics course taught by Professor Marie desJardins, Computation, Complexity, and Emergence.

Google is sponsoring another AI Challenge Competition run by an independent group of volunteers that grew out of the Computer Science Club of the University of Waterloo. The competition opens today and invites submissions of programs designed to control ants a simulated colony in competition with other colonies.

Ants is a multi-player strategy game set on a plot of dirt with water for obstacles and food that randomly drops. Each player has one or more hills where ants will spawn. The objective is for players to seek and destroy the most enemy ant hills while defending their own hills. Players must also gather food to spawn more ants, however, if all of a player's hills are destroyed they can't spawn any more ants.

The objective is to create a computer program (a bot) that plays the game of Ants as intelligently as possible. It is recommended that you use one of the starter packages as a starting point. If you are looking to get up and running as quickly as possible, check out the Five Minute Quickstart Guide. For more details about Ants beyond this introductory document, see the Game Specification.

The site has documentation, a tutorial and starter packages for windows and Linux in a variety of programming languages. Each package contains a simple working entry to use as a starting point, tools that allow you to run your bot and watch it play graphically, sample opponents that you can test your bot against, and maps you can use for testing. Once you've developed your bot, you can enter it at the website and watch your ant colony fight for domination against colonies created by other people from around the world.

The behavior of ants is a classic example of how the local interactions among individuals in a collection can give rise to interesting emergent behavior. This concept is important in the study of complex systems and was the subject of a recent special topics course taught by Professor Marie desJardins, Computation, Complexity, and Emergence.

Retriever Learning Center

This year, the real party is in the library.

On any given day, the Retriever Learning Center is packed. Students puzzle out problems on giant white boards. They snack and study. Or they order up pens, pencils and sticky notes from the academic “vending machine.”

After just a month, the Retriever Learning Center (RLC) feels like it’s always been a part of campus.

It opened in August on the first floor of the Albin O. Kuhn Library. And students, faculty, staff and alumni officially celebrated its opening at a ribbon cutting ceremony on September 19. The space is open 24 hours a day, secured by card entry, and provides students with the opportunity to study and collaborate at any hour – something they have desired for a long time.

“The greatest push has been from the students,” said Larry Wilt, director of the library. “They have advocated so well through shared governance for this project.”

Former SGA president Yasmin Karimian ’11, political science, was integral in making the center a reality. “Dr. Hrabowski spent a lot of time listening to us whine and complain about the need for a 24-hour space, even though I think he was extremely proud that this is what his students wanted.”

Faculty, staff and administrators recognized the need, Karimian said. It took time, however, to find the right space and the money to make it what it is today. It also took collaboration.

“SGA members had been involved in this process for a long time,” said David Hoffman, assistant director of student life for civic agency. “There was a presentation that Dr. Wilt made at an SGA senate meeting about two or three years ago, and people were really excited to see the initial mock-ups and drawings.”

Students backed up their enthusiasm by contributing funding to the project. The SGA contributed $30,000 for a second round of furniture in the RLC.

“A student explained why this is so important,” said President Freeman Hrabowski. “He said, ‘I can really say that the real party at UMBC is in the library.’”

(10/20/11)

Isaiah 58:6

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?

Reflect:
Isaiah 58 describes a people who are very religious, but in actuality, the religion they practice is superficial and not of the heart.  Their true motives in abstaining from things are to pressure the Lord into responding for their own benefit, but they receive no response from Him. In verse 6, Isaiah asks a rhetorical question to describe God’s conception and vision of true fasting and faith. In contrast to observing rituals and keeping regulations in a self-serving, self-righteous way, Isaiah points us to the true heart of living for God - one that serves the needy, oppressed, and helpless, sharing the true freedom and restoration that Christ has given to us as His people.  Jesus Himself had this clear understanding of what it meant to truly live out His calling.

Respond:
Jesus has called us to participate in the fulfillment of His mission of speaking Good News to the poor, bringing freedom and deliverance to the oppressed, and healing to those in need.  How are we living out the mission of Christ today?  Let’s follow in his footsteps of compassion, humility, and genuine concern for our neighbor. Let’s join with Christ’s heart today by praying for those who need to know God’s love and rescuing in their lives. Perhaps it’s a roommate, classmate, family member, or co-worker.  Let’s pray that they will experience the true freedom and healing that is found in Christ alone.

Professor of the Practice of English Christopher Corbett spoke at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum on Saturday, October 8, at 1 p.m.

Corbett’s talk commemorated the 150th anniversary of the end of the Pony Express. Corbett is the author of “Orphans Preferred: The Twisted Truth & Lasting Legend of the Pony Express.”

A video of Corbett’s talk can be seen here.