Solving Sudoku Part 2

26 September 2012 by

This is the second in a series about the Sudoku puzzle and some of the solution methods. In the last post the puzzle was defined and the rules for solving were shown. In summary, you have a 9×9 array of squares that have to be filled with numbers such that each row, column and container contain one through nine with no repeats.

In this post we’ll show the method to find the “gimmies,” or numbers that you don’t really have to think very much about. Let’s recall the puzzle…

Sudoku puzzle as you might find one in the newspaper or a book.

Recall the container rule that every container must have the numbers one through nine in it. Given that, consider the top three containers which form a group of three rows. Look for two of those containers having the same number in them. Sometimes this combination will define a unique place for that number in the third container. Let’s see an example of where that happens in this puzzle… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Games, Sudoku

Solving Sudoku Part 1

26 September 2012 by

Sudoku? Why Sudoku and what is Sudoku? (By the way, it’s pronounced “Sue doh’ coo”.)

Sudoku is mostly seen as a number puzzle in newspapers. It’s basically a logic puzzle and has nothing to do with math. That’s important to understand as I’ve asked many people if they solve Sudoku puzzles and the almost universal answer when they say “no” is because they are not good in math.

It has nothing to do with math! [Read more…]

Filed Under: Games, Sudoku

Light Field Photo Experiment

23 September 2012 by

In case you have not seen anything about light field photography then you’ve got to take a look at the Lytro website for a new paradigm. The basics of light field photography have been around for some time now in the laboratory. Electronics have now taken the computing power out of the lab and put the processing on a chip. I’ve done some experimenting with it and have found it an interesting new concept but it’s at the introductory level right now. Picture resolution, for example, is only 1080 x 1080 pixels which makes it feel rather like the old Sony Mavica I started digital photography with back in 1998 or so.

But, words are not good so let’s take a quick look at one of the pictures… [Read more…]

Filed Under: Photos

Hello Everybody!

23 September 2012 by

Welcome to e-olio. This is a new experiment for me. In the past I’ve built several single-purpose sites…

  • Computer Knowledge with tutorials and general information (a bit stale right now),
  • Tom’s Domain, a personal website,
  • FILext, a collection of file extensions and programs that use them — since sold to Uniblue,
  • and MissionTour.org, a virtual tour of the California missions envisioned by Blessed Junipero Serra.
    (This is the site I’m currently working on the most.)

So, why a new site? I’m always trying to learn different things. A site full of miscellaneous information allows me to do that. On one page I can put affiliate link information and on another some math formula and yet another a clever video I may have seen. There is little limit to the possibilities (subject to a “G” rating).

Why “olio”? No reason other than it’s a word I discovered a long time ago in another life writing newsletters and now I find it in crossword puzzles. It means a miscellaneous collection and so fits quite nicely here. Just don’t confuse it with oleo which is margarine (fake butter).Smile

The site may be sparse for a little while as I have many projects and irons in the fire but a little bit at a time things will start to appear.

Have fun.

Tom (DaBoss)

Filed Under: General