Mandy Advances to Region Science Fair

Our family is very fortunate to get a double play in Science & Engineering Fair goodness this year.

Mandy had so much fun playing with Brennan's Tic-Tac-Toe project last year, that she decided she wanted to create her own game for the Web this year as her Engineering Fair project.

She chose the game of "Dots".  You know, that game you play on paper with other nearby friends during long boring meetings like a middle-school geography class, where you vie to capture more boxes than the other players by connecting dots to make the sides of the boxes.  She opted to name her game "DotMania", paying homage to our favorite video game franchise "ManiaPlanet" by Nadeo.

It was a blast to help her think conceptually about how to teach a computer to allow this game to be played, and even more fun helping her figure out how to make an interactive board with HTML, CSS And JavaScript.

The design she finalized on was to use an HTML table, with dots absolutely positioned in each corner of every cell, then adding "Click Zone" divs along the borders of each cell, handling the event when a player clicks on one of them.  If it's a valid move, it will highlight and check to see if that table cell's square is complete, as well as any adjacent square that shares the same border.

The game also tracks score as it goes.

Whether you're already a fan of the game, or you've never played it before, please give Mandy's "DotMania" project a try, and wish her luck in the Central Utah Science & Engineering Fair in March at BYU!

Play DotMania
It brings happiness.

Congratulations Mandy!  You're "awesomesauce"!

Brennan Advances to Region Science Fair

Last school year, Brennan tackled developing Tic-Tac-Toe for 2 players using HTML, JavaScript and CSS.    It was really fun for me to help him with the project and learning 3 new computer languages.

This year, he decided he wanted to delve into Artificial Intelligence and add a computer player to his Tic-Tac-Toe game.  It was a unique and exciting experience to help him process through concepts and watch the gears turn as he tried to figure out what our minds ask ourselves when we play Tic-Tac-Toe.

The outcome is quite fun.  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out on his website, brennan.thatoneplace.net

The next round will be held at BYU in March.  We've never been this far in a "fair" before, so we're both nervous and excited.  Apparently there are cash and other prizes at stake as well; and rumor has it, there might be companies present that look to give scholarships for interesting computer engineering projects.  It would be awesome for one to take an interest in our aspiring engineer!

Brennan and I would like to thank all of you who helped "beta test" his project and provide feedback.  We are excited to see how he does at the Region Science & Engineering Fair!

Congratulations Brennan!  You rock!

Knights of the Rectangle Table

It was an afternoon much like 12 November, when the Riverton Raccoons and the Willow Springs Wildcats faced off in Mandi's first chess tournament.


Eagerly anticipating her next challenge...


Mandi has been involved in chess clubs at school for the past couple of years, and this year decided she wanted to compete in a tournament.


Mandi carefully trying to trap her opponent.

  

The yellow queen Mandi is holding in her left hand is a prize she won during a raffle at the tournament.
It has become one of her most prized possessions.


 She did very well, playing three games and winning her last two.  She took 5th place for her grade and helped her school win the tournament.

Mandi showing off her 5th place trophy.
Congrats!!!

It was a great time, and fun to watch Mandi play.  She has since challenged me several times at home, where I've been able to squeak by with a few wins.

Tonight (28 November 2010) was a different story... We played twice and she put me in checkmate both times; one of them being what we thought was "Fool's Mate"... but it took her five moves, not two (I'm not THAT dumb... ok, that's subjective.)  I guess I'd better get practicing!