Shawn Matthew Crawford

Balloons! The Balloon Clicker Game

2022-04-29T08:32:00-07:00

I recently received access to the beta for OpenAI's new Codex engine. If you haven't come across OpenAI yet, they're a AI research and deployment company. Their main focus is to build safe and beneficial Artificial General Intelligence(AGI).

When I first got access to the Codex AI, I had a hard time coming up with ideas to try it out on, but I did come up with a few basic ideas. A simple Hello World! program and I made a stop watch, as you will see. I eventually was able to make a clicker game called Balloons!

The AI requires a type of command to be asked. For example:

/* create a stop watch */
var stopWatch = document.createElement('div');
stopWatch.innerHTML = '0';
document.body.appendChild(stopWatch);
var startTime = new Date().getTime();
var timer = setInterval(function() {
  var currentTime = new Date().getTime();
  stopWatch.innerHTML = (currentTime - startTime) / 1000;
}, 100);

This created a stopwatch that kept going. How do I stop this thing!

/* CREATE A STOP BUTTON! */
var stopButton = document.createElement('button');
stopButton.innerHTML = 'Stop';
stopButton.onclick = function() {
  clearInterval(timer);
};
document.body.appendChild(stopButton);

Phew! What a relief!

As you can see, the instructions can be somewhat vague. For example saying "create a stop watch" seems straight forward to us, but it's a vague instruction that doesn't describe how a stop watch operates or what it should look like. The AI was able to determine what a stop watch is, and proceeded to create a timer that starts from zero. However, it didn't create a way to stop the timer. With trial and error I became more aware of how to speak with the AI. It became second nature.

I decided to see what else I could make. I remembered one weekend I got hooked on a clicker game called Universal Paperclips. I decided to make a similar game, though more basic. I called it Balloons! It was simple to make and it only took a little bit of tinkering around with Codex.

Wallah! Balloons!

Not only did I use Codex for Javascript coding I also used it for CSS styling. What pretty colors my AI friend chose!

I found it's best to create new lines and presenting the instructions one line at a time. This helps with separating out functions for debugging. You're able to see which section the miscommunication appeared on and and why AI chose to interpret your request in a certain way. You can then delete that section, enter the modified line and continue from there, instead of having the Codex AI rebuild the code again. The code AI builds can be different each time so to keep the session consistent it is best to not start completely over.

/* Display total clicks amount in a box with a label “Balloons” and Create a button called ‘Blow’ and count clicks. */
var balloons = document.createElement('div');
balloons.innerHTML = 'Balloons: ';
var balloonsCount = document.createElement('span');
balloonsCount.innerHTML = '0';
balloons.appendChild(balloonsCount);
document.body.appendChild(balloons);
var blow = document.createElement('button');
blow.innerHTML = 'Blow';
blow.onclick = function() {
  balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) + 1;
};
document.body.appendChild(blow);

/* If ‘Balloons’ equals 10, create a new button called “Helium! cost 10” and count clicks in a box with a label 'Helium' if 'Balloons' is >= 10 and if so subtract 10 from 'Balloons' */
var helium = document.createElement('div');
helium.innerHTML = 'Helium: ';
var heliumCount = document.createElement('span');
heliumCount.innerHTML = '0';
helium.appendChild(heliumCount);
document.body.appendChild(helium);
var heliumButton = document.createElement('button');
heliumButton.innerHTML = 'Helium! cost 10';
heliumButton.onclick = function() {
  if (parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) >= 10) {
    balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) - 10;
    heliumCount.innerHTML = parseInt(heliumCount.innerHTML) + 1;
  }
};
document.body.appendChild(heliumButton);

/* For every 'Helium' add the helium amount to 'Balloons' every 1 seconds. */
setInterval(function() {
  balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) + parseInt(heliumCount.innerHTML);
}, 1000);

/* If 'Hellium'  >= 10, create a new button called 'Cart! costs 1500' and count clicks in a box with a label 'Cart' if 'Balloons' is >= 1500 and if so subtract 1500 from 'Balloons' */
var cart = document.createElement('div');
cart.innerHTML = 'Cart: ';
var cartCount = document.createElement('span');
cartCount.innerHTML = '0';
cart.appendChild(cartCount);
document.body.appendChild(cart);
var cartButton = document.createElement('button');
cartButton.innerHTML = 'Cart! cost 1500';
cartButton.onclick = function() {
  if (parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) >= 1500) {
    balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) - 1500;
    cartCount.innerHTML = parseInt(cartCount.innerHTML) + 1;
  }
};
document.body.appendChild(cartButton);

/* For every 'Cart' add (Cart amount * 30) to 'Balloons' every 3 seconds. */
setInterval(function() {
  balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) + parseInt(cartCount.innerHTML) * 30;
}, 3000);

/* Create a new box with a label 'Money' on the top-right of the screen to count 'Money' */
var money = document.createElement('div');
money.innerHTML = 'Money: ';
var moneyCount = document.createElement('span');
moneyCount.innerHTML = '0';
money.appendChild(moneyCount);
document.body.appendChild(money);

/* Create a new button named 'Sell Balloon' */
var sellBalloon = document.createElement('button');
sellBalloon.innerHTML = 'Sell Balloon';
sellBalloon.onclick = function() {
  if (parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) >= 1) {
    balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) - 1;
    moneyCount.innerHTML = parseInt(moneyCount.innerHTML) + 1;
  }
};
document.body.appendChild(sellBalloon);

/* Create a new button named 'Sell 100 Balloons' */
var sell100Balloons = document.createElement('button');
sell100Balloons.innerHTML = 'Sell 100 Balloons';
sell100Balloons.onclick = function() {
  if (parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) >= 100) {
    balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) - 100;
    moneyCount.innerHTML = parseInt(moneyCount.innerHTML) + 100;
  }
};
document.body.appendChild(sell100Balloons);

/* Create a new button named 'Sell 1000 Balloons' */
var sell1000Balloons = document.createElement('button');
sell1000Balloons.innerHTML = 'Sell 1000 Balloons';
sell1000Balloons.onclick = function() {
  if (parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) >= 1000) {
    balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) - 1000;
    moneyCount.innerHTML = parseInt(moneyCount.innerHTML) + 1000;
  }
};
document.body.appendChild(sell1000Balloons);

/* Create a new button named 'Sell All Balloons' */
var sellAllBalloons = document.createElement('button');
sellAllBalloons.innerHTML = 'Sell All Balloons';
sellAllBalloons.onclick = function() {
  moneyCount.innerHTML = parseInt(moneyCount.innerHTML) + parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML);
  balloonsCount.innerHTML = 0;
};
document.body.appendChild(sellAllBalloons);

/* If 'Cart'  >= 10, create a new button called 'Employee! costs $45,000' and count clicks in a box with a label 'Employees' if 'Money' is >= 10 and if so subtract 10 from 'Money' and add 1 to 'Employees' */
var employee = document.createElement('div');
employee.innerHTML = 'Employees: ';
var employeeCount = document.createElement('span');
employeeCount.innerHTML = '0';
employee.appendChild(employeeCount);
document.body.appendChild(employee);
var employeeButton = document.createElement('button');
employeeButton.innerHTML = 'Employee! cost $45,000';
employeeButton.onclick = function() {
  if (parseInt(moneyCount.innerHTML) >= 45000) {
    moneyCount.innerHTML = parseInt(moneyCount.innerHTML) - 45000;
    employeeCount.innerHTML = parseInt(employeeCount.innerHTML) + 1;
  }
};
document.body.appendChild(employeeButton);

/* For every 1 'Employee' add 15000 'Balloons' every one second */
setInterval(function() {
  balloonsCount.innerHTML = parseInt(balloonsCount.innerHTML) + parseInt(employeeCount.innerHTML) * 15000;
}, 1000);

Here's origin input

Display total clicks amount in a box with a label “Balloons” and Create a button called ‘Blow’ and count clicks. If ‘Balloons’ equals 10, create a new button called “Helium! cost 10” and count clicks in a box with a label 'Helium' if 'Balloons' is >= 10 and if so subtract 10 from 'Balloons' For every 'Helium' add the helium amount to 'Balloons' every 1 seconds. If 'Hellium' >= 10, create a new button called 'Cart! costs 1500' and count clicks in a box with a label 'Cart' if 'Balloons' is >= 1500 and if so subtract 1500 from 'Balloons' For every 'Cart' add (Cart amount * 30) to 'Balloons' every 3 seconds. Create a new box with a label 'Money' on the top-right of the screen to count 'Money' Create a new button named 'Sell Balloon' Create a new button named 'Sell 100 Balloons' Create a new button named 'Sell 1000 Balloons' Create a new button named 'Sell All Balloons' If 'Cart' >= 10, create a new button called 'Employee! costs $45,000' and count clicks in a box with a label 'Employees' if 'Money' is >= 10 and if so subtract 10 from 'Money' and add 1 to 'Employees' For every 1 'Employee' add 15000 'Balloons' every one second

Lately

2022-04-27T19:56:00-07:00

I've spent a good part of my life sharing very little information with the general public. I'm not one who goes out of my way to spew out secrets or sensitive subjects about myself. I'm also not someone who will go out of my way to share my name and aspirations with someone I just met. I would rather discuss what is going on around us. However, I feel like I should be more open on this blog . I feel like a lot of my life is directed by fear. I want to share my thoughts and experiences with no fear. This medium seems like a good way to do just that.

My name is Shawn Crawford and I am. I am here in this room, sitting on my office chair at my desk typing on this keyboard. Mac Demarco is playing on my B&W speakers "Choo Choo, Take A Ride With Me" the lyrics are sung with a train horn playing in the background. I feel a significant connection to Mac's sound and lyrics. Life, Love, Happiness, Laughter, Loss, Sadness, Grief, Presence.

I live here. A one bedroom apartment in the corner of an old house built out into six apartments. I'm on the corner of an intersection along the main road into town. This road is taken to reach the coast from the main highway that goes up the valley. You can imagine the noise. Do you ever go through your memory, driving from one place to another? To see if you can do the entire drive in your mind. The turns and intersections? I do when I think to.

Lately, I've been in mind. Totally and inherently thinking while my mind is also thinking. While I'm thinking about someones expression I am thinking about how that feels to me. There is also a lower palette of thinking going on. This triad of thoughts is around throughout the day and I'm waiting for them to become one again. Well, at least two. I wonder how many thoughts can be going on that the psyche is consciously aware of? I'll have to look into that sometime.

"Bye bye, baby, baby bye bye."

-Mac Demarco

Lost In Tech

2022-04-13T10:50:00-07:00

I remember my five-year-old self watching my sister Miranda play games on her NES. It was always a short lived experience as she would loose interest after playing a few minutes of Mario Brothers. The gaming system built around being an entertainment device seemed to be more of a status symbol for Miranda. To be the kid in school with the next hot commodity.

Like my sister, I never seemed to have much interest in games or computers. There was however, always a spark of interest in playing video games. I had a SEGA Genesis throughout my early grade school years and I remember excitedly going to the now defunct Blockbuster. Grabbing a game and going home to see what new adventure awaits. I can remember the smells of candy, dark skies and the yellow and blue neon lights.

Then I got a PlayStation for Christmas and it started to make sense. I began to frequent Blockbuster more. I guess some kids would have their parents buy them a game but I was always having to rent mine. I spent a lot of time playing the flagship game, Crash Bandicoot, that came with the console. Playing it over and over till I remembered I could go outside and enjoy the world. I was never one to care about beating a game.

I would visit my friend Harlen and he had a computer where he would play SWAT and a few other games. I never really understood that. I didn't know you could actually play fun and unique games on a computer. My interactions with a computer were your typical ones. Sitting at the family computer in the living room. I would connect to the internet through dial-up on AOL and chat with school friends on AIM(AOL Instant Messenger). Googling 'sex' and my screen lighting up with a litany of pornographic popups. Shaking in fear and trying to close every window and shut the computer down. I didn't become vested in computers until a little more further in my childhood.

It started when I was a freshman in high school. My parents had divorced and I didn't have much to do while they focused on other things. I stayed at home alone during the summer and all of my friends where going to movies and engaging with the outside world. I shut myself out for others around me and stayed inside playing Playstation 2 and chatting in online forums. Watching anime. I watched so much anime one summer it was ridiculous. I spent time in online forums reading about peoples thoughts and opinions. I was young and I dread looking back at my posts to see what my young self would post. Then my Playstation 2 broke...

This really defines what kind of tech person I am. I never figured out why or what happened but the only way I got my Playstation 2 working was to take the case off and unplug any connection I could find and then plug them back in. I'm pretty sure I ripped off the eject cord for the disc drive. But somehow the Playstation 2 started working again. Although I then had to rub each end of the ripped eject chord together to hopefully eject the disc tray. Like a frog being dissected, my Playstation was open all the time for observations to be taken. I was able to see what was inside and every once in a while I would look into what certain parts were called.

In my high school multimedia class I was already well advanced compared to the other students in our class. While other students were adding shapes to word documents I was editing explosions into family photos in Photoshop and creating 3D animations of human-like cats in a western scene and sent cars crashing in a highway roadside.

I took a class in CISCO network design. I made CAT-5 cables and worked on our school network. Though, in all the opportunities waiting for me, I would just throw it away. The multimedia teacher asked if I wanted a backup CD of all the animations and designs I made during the semester. I said "no". She seemed surprised. I don't know why I said no. The CISCO teacher had talked about continuing on to get a CISCO license but I didn't.

Moving forward more I didn't take any technology classes in college. I quit after two years. Every job I've had has utilized my technology skills. I handle reporting and analytics, though I wasn't hired to do so. I would just end up doing it. For some reason I'm always curious and always dabble in tech but I just don't get into it past a personal level. Every few years I'll come up with a website idea and make a website or small program. Maybe it's that working a 8 - 5 job making the same websites over and over doesn't feel intriguing to me. Interestingly, I ended up taking on repetitive work and office hours in my current field. Not websites but medical billing.

So what am I in tech? I'm a tech dabbler. I don't engross myself in tech. I dabble in tech. Kinda like I do a lot of things and that's okay with me.

Resentful Reaction

2022-04-01T04:20:00-07:00

Resentment is a complex, multilayered emotion that has been described as a mixture of disappointment, disgust, anger, and fear. Other psychologists consider it a mood or as a secondary emotion that can be elicited in the face of insult and/or injury. Wikipedia

Resentment has for me, become apart of my awareness after the resentment has passed. Like some people feel when they become angry. They have no immediate control of the anger until the situation has passed. When I was young I used to have resentment towards my friends going to camping trips or to the movies. As I got older I realized my mother was not able to provide the means for me to go on camping trips or buy the toy I so wanted. This resulted in my reduction of resentment and gained understanding of the inequality that life has.

This has been a somewhat positive aspect in my adulthood. At times I'm not phased when friends go to concerts without me or have fancy cars. There are times it feels like I would want these things but not that I feel resentful of these items and experiences. It would be nice to have a new car. It's cool that my friend has this new car. However, there is a negative that sometimes makes way. My immediate distaste in wasteful purchases. The judgement that is twofold in retrospect to my own choices.

Resentful Reaction. The thought process of understanding another persons views and actions based on current and past traumas. No matter the suffrage there is always trauma and no matter the trauma there is always a Resentful Reaction. However, this reaction to feeling resentful diminishes as life experience builds up. The more knowledge an individual has of this life the less resentful they will become.