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                     JOURNAL FOR FRIDAY 27TH MARCH, 2015
______________________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Idiomatic bit twiddling, sidetracks and ideas
   DATE: Fri 27 Mar 22:46:31 GMT 2015

First off, thank you to everybody who pointed out that my bit twiddling
example was not idiomatic Go. The example I gave was:


  func Return(direction byte) byte {
    if direction < Up {
      return direction ^ 1<<2
    } else {
      return direction ^ 1
    }
  }


Of course it should have been:


  func Return(direction byte) byte {
    if direction < Up {
      return direction ^ 1<<2
    }
    return direction ^ 1
  }


Documenting everything is continuing fairly well. As I review the code and
document it I've had some ideas of changes I want to make. However I have
resisted the temptation and Instead of getting distracted and sidetracked I've
just made notes for now :|

Talking of sidetracking...

It's amazing where ideas come from sometimes. For example I came across a
story on the BBC website today with the headline "The deepest holes dug by
hand"[1]. Curious and ready for a coffee break I took a look. What caught my
attention was the mention of the ancient underground city of Derinkuyu in
Turkey. Intrigued I looked on Wikipedia, which had a little information[2].
Searching for Derinkuyu on Google images turns up some nice photos and maps.
The first things I thought of when reading about Derinkuyu and looking at the
photos were Tolkien's Dwarves and Gary Gygax's Dungeon & Dragons Drow - dark
elves. I will have to revisit this topic again for ideas at a later date :)

Which leads me to more sidetracking...

One thing I have learned the hard way is to make notes as soon as possible
whenever you have an idea. You could be watching TV, reading a book, browsing
the web or just daydreaming and having random thoughts. If you have an idea
make a note of it. Using a smartphone or tablet makes this easier than ever,
especially if you don't keep a pencil and paper handy. Even if you're not sure
how you might use an idea make a note of it. It may provoke other ideas in the
future. I also keep lists of interesting names for people and places as I come
across them - you never know when name will become handy and sometimes just a
name will give you ideas.

--
Diddymus

  [1] http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150327-the-deepest-holes-dug-by-hand

  [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derinkuyu_Underground_City


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