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C++ wrapper for WinAPI
By popular request, I just uploaded the full WinAPI Wrapper library source code on GitHub.
This library is a very thin C++ wrapper for the Win32 API, which is a C API. The overhead of the wrapper is almost none.
The last modifications to this source originate from 2003. The development seized around that timeframe. I haven’t done any development on/for Windows for many years now, I rarely fire up Windows these days. The library can still be used for writing a wide range of apps, although I imagine that the Win32 API has evolved since and the library could benefit from some adjustments.
Whether I will maintain it further remains to be seen. 🙂
The future of driving
As the era of robots is approaching, self-driving cars are a hot topic.
The transition to self-driving cars will be gradual. Initially, cars will be able to drive autonomously only in perfect road conditions, e.g. on the well-marked freeway. Perhaps initially we will have single lanes for self-driving cars, where it will be forbidden for humans to operate the steering wheel, except for critical situations. Eventually robot-only lanes will be expanded to entire sections of roads and freeways. Autonomous vehicles will be much safer and faster on the freeway than human-operated vehicles.
Less developed countries will soon become an excellent testbed for self-driving cars. In many countries, the quality of roads is very low, some roads don’t have lane markings and are full of obstacles. Also, the road laws don’t seem to apply in many countries and are treated by drivers only as guidelines. Driving in these countries is going to be a great challenge for self-driving cars.
Now, here is an idea for a self-driving car feature.
Imagine driving on a winding road with a high speed limit behind a tractor or another slow vehicle. You cannot overtake it, because you cannot see far enough ahead. A self-driving car could be equipped with a drone. When visibility is limited, the car could deploy the drone to check out the conditions ahead. The drone would be continuously sending images and its position back to the car, so the car would know, whether it’s safe to overtake even if there is no visibility. The self-driving car would know, that there are no other cars on the lane in the opposite direction.
The drone could also be equipped with a radar, which would make it useful in foggy conditions. Upon encountering fog, the car would deploy the drone and could keep driving at a high speed, because it would have the image of the road ahead.
The drone’s battery would have a limited capacity, so the drone could only be deployed for a limited time, and would need to return to the car for charging. A more expensive self-driving car could be equipped with two drones. While one drone is in operation, the other drone could be charging.
Ideally, the drones should be cheap and should use a standardized communication protocol as well as support a standardized docking mechanism. It would be common to lose a drone, so it should be cheap to buy a new one, or upgrade it.
The drones would probably be useful to self-driving cars even if all cars were self-driving and communicating with each other, esp. in cases where road visibility is limited and pedestrians or animals are present near the road.
How to end all wars
Wars don’t do much good to our civilisation. Aside from all the pain and sorrow they cause, they also set us back due to all the damage they inflict. How to prevent them? Here is an idea.
There is a theory that our civilisation began to coalesce when the levels of testosterone in men fell low enough, that men became willing to cooperate. Before, when the levels of testosterone were high, men were too aggressive to cooperate.
My theory is that the primary reason for all the wars, which are currently happening, are still high testosterone levels. Just as most crimes are committed by men between certain ages.
To end all wars (and also prevent crimes), we need to lower the levels of testosterone in men. One way to do that would be to have all men between certain ages take pills which reduce testosterone. Another way would be to alter our genome, so that men produce less testosterone in the first place. Low testosterone levels should at least be mandatory for all men, who have decisive powers, including governments, government agencies, military, police, as well as all men, who have ever committed any crimes.
It sounds drastic, but I’m sure it would make the world a better place. Testosterone is the main source of evil.
Putting your ego aside, can you think of any drawbacks?
Chris Dragan's Corner 