Category: Articles

How to Embed Eidogo into Your Website

Blogger / Blogspot (Google)

WARNING: Contrary to my previous findings, it seems that Blogger may actually not be compatible period with Eidogo anymore. Let me know if you find otherwise.

Part 1: Putting the program into your blog.

  1. Access the control panel for your blog.
  2. Click Template.
  3. Click Edit HTML.
  4. A popup will appear that warns you the implications of editing HTML. Nothing to fear. Click Proceed.
  5. Once your text editor appears, search for the tag </head>.
  6. Move your text cursor to the beginning of the tag and press the Enter/Return key to create an empty line.
  7. Copy and paste the following code in the new line break you just created.
    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.eidogo.com/player/js/all.compressed.js"></script>
  8. Click Save template.
  9. Part 1 complete!

Part 2: Preparing your kifu for embedding.

  1. Download your desired kifu (which should be an SGF file).
  2. Open the SGF file in a text editor (e.g., Notepad).
  3. At the very beginning of the document, paste the following code:
    <div class="eidogo-player-auto">
  4. Go to the very end of the document, paste the following code:
    </div>
  5. Select the entire text and copy it.
  6. Part 2 complete!

Part 3: Inserting your kifu into the post.

  1. Edit the post that you want to embed the sgf file into.
  2. On the left side above the text area, you should see two option: Compose | HTML, make sure that Compose is selected (it should have a darker gray background that looks as if it is indented).
  3. Move your text cursor to the area in the post that you want to post the SGF file to.
  4. Type PASTE SGF FILE.
  5. Click on the HTML tab mentioned in Step #5.
  6. Find the text you typed in Step #4. It should look something like this:
    <div>PASTE SGF FILE</div>
  7. Highlight the entire code mentioned in Step #6.
  8. Paste copied text from Part 2.
  9. Click Save or Publish.
  10. Success!

Disclaimers:

  • The Eidogo Viewer will not appear in the preview nor will it appear in the compose section. It’ll just look like a gigantic text version of your sgf file. Don’t worry though! It works on the actual site.
  • In case anyone is using SmartGo2 to create/modify their SGF file, the code they produce will cause Eidogo to not see the proper handicap, the players and their respective colors, komi, along with any commentary made throughout the game. As a result, I recommend that you use CGoban instead.

Many thanks to Nate for helping me create this guide and Eidogo for creating an amazing viewer!!

Last updated October 29th, 2012.

Weighing Your Priorities

Priorities by xkcd

So as someone who has officially left the comfort zone of school (I don’t consider grad school an umbrella to hide under anymore), one of the questions I’m hit the hardest with deals with whether or not I’m going to end up becoming a “Go junkie.”

The deal is: I see Go as a pillar to understanding fundamental principles in life. It’s true. Go may not be the most ideal way to sustain yourself, but the life lessons that a person can derive from it is worth far more in my opinion. That is not to say that Go will be the sole focus of my life however. I’m going to job hunt, focus on spending time with people important to me, and expand other job-related skills since I’m hoping to open a business someday. Go is just something I view as critical to self-growth, so it does rank high in my priorities; but I won’t let it consume my life.

For all those who are striving to live in reality right now, weigh your priorities as well. I am one of the most enthusiastic players that would encourage people using go as a tool to learning life lessons and self-improvement. However, if it gets to the point that it is damaging other portions of your life, it may be time where you ask yourself whether or not you are falling into the folly of focusing on the local battle of the board.

Don’t forget that the Go board is often reflective of your life. Focusing on go alone while letting the rest of your framework go to hell will only come to haunt you later on. No different from trying to control a single corner while letting your opponent consume the rest of the board.

Playing Go Makes Your Brain Grow!

So I just read an interesting article from the AGA concerning how “serious studies of go causes actual physical changes in the brain.” Although this doesn’t come as much of a surprise for most serious go players, I think it’s great that we now have more significant data that will be useful in our proponent of the game.

As any relatively serious go player might expect, they found that “larger regions of white matter… that are related to attentional control, working memory, executive regulation, and problem solving” were found in what they termed as “long-termed trained players.”

This will be interesting to see more research studies done on what go can do for us mentally.

Original Article: http://www.usgo.org/news/2010/09/new-study-finds-playing-go-makes-brains-grow/

How to Print Readable Go Records

So I’m not sure who else is having issue with this, but I most certainly did. So here’s a guide on how you can print readable Go records. To make things easier, I’m going to assume you are looking to print every 50 moves.

For those who want a free method, I recommend CGoban3.

  1. After you download and cue it up, click on “Edit SGF File.”

  2. Find the game you are looking for.

  3. Use the singular right arrow button to move progress through the game.

  4. DO NOT use the double arrow buttons as that will take you to the beginning or end of the game.4. Move forth to the 50th move. In the caption box above your digital goban, you should see something along the lines of “Move 50 (W m8): Black to play”

  5. Click on Options > Number Moves

  6. Make sure your start move is 1 and the end move is 50.

  7. The “Two digits only?” is up to you when you get to the triple digits.6. Click OK.

  8. Boom. Now click Options > Print.

  9. For the next sheets, you’ll want 51-100, 101-150, 151-200, and so on.

  10. Here’s an example:

For those who have SmartGo2, I contacted their customer service (who got back to me quite promptly) and this is what you have to do.

  1. Start by opening up whichever game you want to print out.

  2. Click Edit > Insert Diagram > Split main line of game record every 50 moves.

  3. Make that the Diagrams Toolbar is on.

  4. View > Tools > Diagrams

  5. The fourth box down is where my “Find next diagram” box is.4. Then click File > Print for the appropriate sheets.

  6. As with above, here’s an example:

They also recommended a method of exporting the diagrams, but I had no luck with that as of yet.

When you compare the two, I’m sure you noticed that there’s a coordinate system on the SmartGo2 that you can print out. As far as I’m aware, you can’t do that just yet with CGoban3. Another thing I really appreciate about the SmartGo2 is the fact that it prints out all the ko’s so that record keeping is easier. This means when you’re recreating your games you’re not like, “Where is the #$%& move 119?!?!” Though this is small, SmartGo2 also automatically prints what diagram it is (e.g. 101-150).

Don’t get me wrong though, the free one works fantastic and is a great alternative for those who aren’t quite ready to drop $50 to buy SmartGo2. I’ll try and come out with the reviews for the respective softwares soon enough so you can see if it’s worth your time. Hope this helps some of you out!

Don't Go Broke

I was in the middle of typing up “Guide to Go Equipment for Beginners,” when I realized it’s probably more important that I first clarify the issue of your Go budget. You don’t want to go broke (or worse… into debt) buying up all the Go books and equipment you think you might need.

In other words, unless your bathroom is equipped with the following…

Source: California Literary Review

Make sure you read this before buying anything else.

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