What is your odd hobby?

I collect United States military surplus vehicles. The objects of my affliction now are the M900 series vehicles. These are rated at 5 tons (for the cargo trucks) and have power steering, automatic transmissions and comfortable cabs. Google M927 to see what my favorite toy looks like.
 
I build neural network systems and evolve them via simulated DNA.

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My hobbies tend to be a great conversation-killer. If you ever need to clear out a party fast, invite me over.
 
knightly said:
Practically, or simulated in the computer?
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Heh. In the computer. As much as I'd love to be a real mad scientist, I'm pretty much strictly a software guy.

My original experiments were with simple feed forward neural networks, using those as brains for single-celled organisms in a simple 2D world. Reproduction was asexual (eg. cloning) with the random chance of mutation for every brain parameter as it got copied over to the child organism. The mutation rate for each organism was also mutatable, so instead of trying to find the best mutation rate for a sustainable, adaptable species, I simply let the best one evolve on it's own.

The trouble with those first brains is that there's no easy way to correctly cross-breed them, hence the asexual-only reproduction method.

My current experiment is with a cloud of long short-term memory neurons, where the output of any neuron in the brain can connect to the input of any neuron in the brain, including itself. Then I wire in external input and output nodes.

I tried cross-breeding those brains directly but the code was insane. Also, it didn't work.

To solve the problem, I created a synthetic DNA system that describes how the brain is to be wired, and then wrote a chromosome system to mix the DNA.

The fun part about all this is that the DNA and chromosome systems are completely agnostic (templated, for you C++ people), so I can use it for anything, not just the neural network brains -- I've created a C++ evolution toolkit.

Fun stuff. Not nearly as impressive as it sounds, but fun.

Edit: See?? Babbling! I tend to do that.
 
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Aside from browsing old threads and resurrecting them, I'm also in to working on cars.

I've spent the last 5 years working on a stock car pit crew at a local track here in New England.

I've also been known to get bored and randomly paint an acrilyc painting every now and then. If you ask me, they suck, but I enjoy it and other people tell me my paintings are good. It's quite relaxing to paint.

Also, I collect die cast Dodge Vipers. All scales. Would love to have a full scale one at some point... one can dream, right?
 
dmontgom said:
Aside from browsing old threads and resurrecting them, I'm also in to working on cars.

I've spent the last 5 years working on a stock car pit crew at a local track here in New England.

I've also been known to get bored and randomly paint an acrilyc painting every now and then. If you ask me, they suck, but I enjoy it and other people tell me my paintings are good. It's quite relaxing to paint.

Also, I collect die cast Dodge Vipers. All scales. Would love to have a full scale one at some point... one can dream, right?
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I don't fit into Vipers, so I'm doing the next best thing. This puppy is going in my 1970 Roadrunner.
 

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Gaming:
ARMA 2 with ACE and ACRE mods. Multiplyer military FPS gaming at its freaking most realistic and finest. BF3 is for twitch monkeys with no brains.

family cooking:
Master of making meals with key missing ingredients.

Auto repair:
I hate it with a passion, but I love saving the cash! Did brakes on the family mini-van $60 out of my pocket and an evening of work.
 
Well, not so much an "old" hobby...but here's two of mine -


DnD. Seriously, my half elf ranger could beat up your level 5 screenwriter. Sad I don't get to play as much anymore.

Improv. Not something I get to do that often either, but man. So much fun.
 
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