TkResolver++ - Psychokinesis testing software
TkResolver++ is a suite of software for conducting experiments into psychokinesis (the more general and subtle form of telekinesis.)
It uses the output from a random
number generator (RNG) to determine the course of a line as it is drawn down the computer screen.
Experiments consist of an operator who attempts to influence the behaviour of the line-drawing.
The software records in a database the operator's details, the experimental variables and the
observed results. The suite includes programs for conducting visualisation and statistical analysis
of the database.
You can read the README file here.
- 2009-10-14
- Version 0.7.0 released. The focus of this release it to bring the
software to a state where it is usable in laboratory experiments.
Changes include:
- Modified randomness retrieval, display system and pretty much
everything else to operate at the speed of the retriever, rather
than at a constant, specified speed
- Added new "Pristine" retriever to issue 01010101 for statistical
testing purposes
- A great deal of work has been done to identify and eliminate
possible bugs effecting the integrity of random data.
- Added option of traces with randomly changing colour
- Added option to display arrows on-screen, used by default when
operator intent is directional
- Added calculation of Schmidt's (2000) "potential energy" bunching
metric to Analyser
- Added support for OpenMP in Analyser
- Added new "x in (a, b, c, d)" list comparison to query language
- Added new retriever for id Quantique Quantis quantum random number
generators. This hasn't been tested as I don't have access to
hardware; feedback is requested from those who do. Instructions are
included in the file README.Quantis.
- Added new bit-printer program to print bits within a file
- Editor is now more fully implemented with a time editor and BLOB
saving and loading
- There is a retriever included for a
Psyleron REG-1
hardware random event generator. However, it is disabled by default
as Psyleron are unwilling to help and won't disclose whether
the data that's coming from the device is random data or
post-processed data as described in their patent.
- 2009-01-17
- Version 0.6.2 released. Changes are as follows:
- Write to database in separate thread and display progress bars to user
- Fixed bad random number generation (for control experiment runs)
- Fixed race condition in randomness retrievers
- Fixed "out of randomness" error during deterministic randomness retrieval
- 2009-01-09
- Version 0.6.1 released. This is a bug fix release. Changes are as follows:
- Merged integer and unsigned property types into single long integer
type (means a change to the property tables; should, hopefully, be
the last)
- Fixed bug in Editor where empty constraints caused a crash
- Fixed bug in libtkquery where no rows were returned
- Fixed bug in Analyser where bad property-getting caused a crash
- 2009-01-06
- Version 0.6.0 released.
During development of this release, a critical bug was discovered
whereby randomness retrievers would repeat random bits from only the
first retrieved character. The bug is now fixed but it means that
all experimental data collected using versions of TkResolver++ prior
to this release are invalid.
Changes include:
- Modified operator and location tables to be property-based
- Added new data editor to edit properties in any domain
- Changed randomness and randomness_bits fields of experiment table
to be stored as properties
- 2009-01-01
- Registered GNU Savannah project providing subversion, bug tracking and task tracking.
- 2008-06-02
- Version 0.5.5 released. Changes are as follows:
- Added new query language for querying experiments through properties
- Updated analyser to use query language
- Changed test and date_time fields on experiment table to be properties
- Modified libtkresolver to ignore the escape button if it isn't a test
- Changed countdown blocks to white from red
- 2007-12-24
- Version 0.5.4 released. Changes include a new randomness driver for HotBits.
- 2007-12-22
- Version 0.5.3 publically released
Software
TkResolver++ is developed and run using GNU/Linux but it should
compile on any POSIX system. It depends on several external packages:
The following packages are optional dependencies; they are not necessary but add functionality:
- gnuplot (for database visualisation)
- cURLpp with SSL support (for HotBits driver)
- libusb (for Alea driver)
Debian packages
The following Debian packages provide most of the required compilation dependencies:
libboost-dev libgmp3-dev libgsl0-dev libsdl1.2-dev libgtkmm-2.4-dev libglibmm-2.4-dev libgconfmm-2.6-dev libcurl4-gnutls-dev libusb-dev gnuplot build-essential flex bison libtool automake
Dependencies not satisfied are cURLpp and libodbc++. There are no
Debian packages for these and so they must be compiled and installed
by hand.
Hardware
TkResolver++ requires a source of entropy that provides
random bits at a high rate (depending on screen size, scroll speed,
etc.) There are three sources of true entropy that it can use:
- The HotBits Internet
server
- The
Araneus Alea
I USB hardware true random number generator.
- The id
Quantique Quantis
PCI or USB hardware quantum random number generator.
Current development releases
TkResolver++ is still under development. Hard hats are necessary to avoid falling bits.
Latest development code
The latest development tree is available through the Savannah subversion repository.
svn co svn://svn.savannah.nongnu.org/tkresolver/trunk tkresolver
Older development releases
This is an older generation of TkResolver++ that uses static groups of experimental variables
and hence is less flexible. It also uses mysql++
rather than libodbc++ and so is limited to using mysql databases to store results.
Bug reports should be submitted through Savannah.
TkResolver++ is released under the terms of the
GNU General Public License,
version 3.
You can contact the developer, Bob Ham, by email at rah -at- bash -dot- sh
