You may have noticed the new page – Words With Josh

I play words with friends (a scrabble rip-off basically) with a few people on my iphone, and I wanted to wrap some intelligence around finding the optimal word based off what letters were already played.  Now, I do not condone the act of cheating when you’re playing the game.  I was more intrigued at the logic that your brain does to determine what words to play.  Scrabble is a measurable science, and there is always a best word to play, it’s just a matter of whether you know that word and whether you recognize where to place it.

I at first wanted to write a complete scrabble game, that would track the entire board and value changing tiles, so that you could play against a computer.  I could still do that, but I would think that no one really wants to play scrabble by themselves, right?

So I set off to at least code what could be useful -IF- you decided to use it as a reference tool.  I made a version available through the blog but also a better mobile version for iphones and such here – http://sixf00t4.com/wordswithjosh.  Give it a shot.  It will help you find anagrams, words with letters in specific places, and even includes the option for blank tiles.  I was thinking about adding the functionality to set letter spaces as score modifiers (triple letter, double word, etc), but I got lazy and really just satisfied with what I have now.  It’s all php and mysql.  Let me know what you think!

If you’re not familiar with the L.I.V.I.N.G Ministry, it’s an organization dedicated to serving the homeless and needy in the Pittsburgh area.  They have a few outreach programs that range from a large clothing drive event in the fall, job fairs, preparing breakfast for labor hall workers at 5am, Bible studies, and the biggest is Project L.I.F.E.  With Project L.I.F.E., 4 men are able to live in a house, that the ministry bought and renovated, and focus on building life skills such as budgeting and cooking, they rebuild relationships with their families, and they also learn discipleship.  The ministry just bought the house next door and they are working on renovating it with a similar plan in mind for it.

As for the race, on Saturday, October 16th, I’ll be in Chicago for the Men’s Health Urbanathlon.  I ran the 12 mile course last year, but this year they changed it to 9 miles and added more obstacles…like getting up and over a bus.    Throughout the course, I’ll be climbing over marine hurdles, over taxi cabs, and up and down the stairs of Soldier Field (where the Chicago Bears play).

My goal is to raise more than $1000. If you can make a flat donation of any amount, that will help me reach that goal.  If you want to get inside my head for a bit of motivation, you can do something like:

Give me $1 for every second under last year’s time (120 minutes.)
Since I’m also racing in the Great Race again this year, $1 for every second off my total time there (60 minutes)
• Give me a big bonus if I run the Urbanathlon in a mile/minute time that is better than my Great Race average mile/minute this year.
• Get creative!

If you’re not able to support me financially, some words of encouragement go a long way as well.  If you want to learn more about the ministry, or possibly getting your church involved in volunteer workdays, reach out to volunteer@livingministry.org.  I’ll be glad to talk with you as the chair of the board for the ministry too, if you have any questions or want to become a regular supporter.  Please send this to anyone who you think would like to participate!

Thank you all for your support, encouragement, and prayers!

Josh in the Urbanathlon 2009

bleh, working the weekend shift can get tiresome. just an hour left to go though. so since last i posted, not too much new has gone on i think. did a lot of site work on this main site and in the dragon games. put up the arcade with all kinds of retro games we all love. I’ll add tons more games as i get to it. Updated the version of phpnuke with lots of security features to stop those crazy Brazilians. some other crap too. As far as the dragon game goes, i am trying to get some of my code included into the core distribution. I have to contact aol, msn, and yahoo for permission to use their images though, and that is turning out to be a hassle. Thinking about just coming up with another idea to try to get into the distro. I’ve already got my name on source forge with the globetrotter module, but i’d really be happy to be part of the distro, since i spend so much of my time working on it anyway. It would be a good accomplishment.

I set up a Hosting module here too. those packages that are listed are just guidelines. I will match anything you can find anywhere else, even beat it. I just want some business. PLEASE PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU! LET ME HOST YOU! just email me or use the hosting form.

well, that’s all the geekery. As for what’s really going on in Josh’s head, i am not so sure i am ready to spill. still alot going on in my personal life and it’s just a lot to sort through. I’ve got a positive attitude and i have been feeling very motivated as of late. i’m trying to find <—continued—>
a “slam man” to buy on ebay or walmart. it’s the punching buy that lights up where you are supposed to hit him. I hear boxing is one of the best ways to get in shaped muscle wise and shape wise. plus it should be fun. keep your eyes out for me.

I also signed back up for a class this semester. organizational communication, meets 4 Saturdays during the semester. hopefully i will be able to get through it just fine.

I gave up on the London idea for now. just not the right timing. too much going on, and plus i really like my job now. Can’t really say that too loud, my boss reads this stupid site sometimes.