Algorithms for the Masses by Julian M Bucknall

The Daily Shoot for Monday, February 22 (#ds99) just fell into my lap. "Squares and grids surround us in our built environment. Focus in on some squares today and make a photograph."

And why did it fall in my lap? Because I'd been writing an article for PCPlus on pentominoes that's why, and what better way to show off a square or squares than all of the pentominoes arranged in a square with a square hole in the middle. Since there are 12 pentominoes, each 5 square units in size, that makes 60 square units in all, so if the middle square is a 2×2 hole, the pentominoes could fit around it in an 8×8 square. But can they?

It's our kitchen floor, which has a square motif anyway (yeah, I made sure to clean it first!). The pentominoes set is a beautiful set I picked up from someone on eBay over three years ago: each piece is a different kind of wood, so seeing them together like this and using them is just pure delight.

The article? Using the Dancing Links algorithm to solve pentomino problems. It'll be out in May.

Tuesday (#ds100) was more difficult. "Monochrome photos don't have to be the result of processing or desaturation. Find a monochrome composition and shoot it." What could I do? I was nonplussed. However, when I went to Starbucks to get a coffee and thence to the dry cleaners, the early morning Pikes Peak and the Front Range called out to me. There was not a cloud in the sky. I dashed home, got my longest zoom and tripod, and hightailed it to southbound I25, where there's a scenic area just off the Interstate. No houses, no nothing, apart from the Air Force Academy (and that's below the view of the photo).

It's just an incredible monochromatic view at that time in the morning with the snow on the ground. Blues, blues, blues everywhere.

Now playing:
Simon, Paul - Mother and Child Reunion
(from Paul Simon)

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