TweetFollow Us on Twitter

Jan 99 Prog Challenge

Volume Number: 15 (1999)
Issue Number: 1
Column Tag: Programmer's Challenge

January 1999 Programmer's Challenge

by Bob Boonstra, Westford, MA

Sphere Packing

This month we're going to help you recover from the clutter that might result from the holiday season. Imagine that your post-holiday household is filled with gifts, all of which have to be put somewhere. Imagine further that those gifts include sports equipment given to your children, or parents, or siblings, or grandchildren, as the case may be. And finally, imagine that the sports equipment includes a collection of balls of various sizes - basketballs, baseballs, soccer balls, beach balls, etc. (OK, if I've stretched your imagination to the breaking point, think of some other reason you might have a large collection of spherical objects.) We've got to find somewhere to store all of those balls, and space is at a premium. Fortunately, we also have a very large collection of boxes of various sizes, so many, in fact, that you can count on finding a box of the exact size that you might need. In keeping with our desire for a few less difficult problems, your Challenge is to pack the balls into the smallest box possible, so that we can store them efficiently.

The prototype for the code you should write is:

#if defined(__cplusplus)
#if defined (__cplusplus)
extern "C" {
#endif

typedef struct Position {
  double coordinate[3];     /* coordinate[0]==X position, [1]==Y, [2]==Z */
} Position;

void PackSpheres(
    long numSpheres,        /* input: number of spheres to pack */
    double radius[],        /* input: radius of each of numSpheres spheres */
    Position location[]     /* output: location of center of each sphere */
);

#if defined (__cplusplus)
}
#endif

Your PackSpheres routine will be given the number of balls (numSpheres) to be packed away, along with the radius of each of those spheres. The task is simple. Arrange the collection of balls into a rectangular parallelepiped ("box") such that no ball intersects any other ball (i.e., the distance between the centers of any two balls is greater than or equal to the sum of their radii). PackSpheres returns back the coordinates of the center of each ball in the location parameter. Your objective is to minimize the volume of the box that contains all the balls, where the extent of the box in each dimension (X, Y, and Z) is determined by the maximum and minimum coordinates of the balls, considering both the location of the center of the ball and its radius.

While you must ensure that the balls do not intersect, you need not ensure that the balls touch. In our storage room, boxes of balls can contain balls that levitate in the open space between other balls.

The winner will be the solution that minimizes the volume of the box containing all the balls, plus a penalty of 1% of additional storage volume for each millisecond of execution time.

This will be a native PowerPC Challenge, using the latest CodeWarrior environment. Solutions may be coded in C, C++, or Pascal.

Three Months Ago Winner

Congratulations to Pat Brown (Staunton, VA) for submitting the winning solution to the October Hearts Challenge. Pat's solution beat the second-place entry submitted by Tom Saxton and "dummy" entries that rounded out a tournament of four players. Pat's solution was both the faster of the two and the more successful at avoiding point cards, capturing approximately one third fewer points than Tom's solution.

Pat's strategy was fairly simple. His passing strategy is to pass the three highest cards in his hand. By not including a low heart in the pass, this strategy can aid a shoot attempt by an opponent, as well as being dangerous if it passes the queen of spades to the left. When leading, the playing strategy is to force out the queen of spades as quickly as possible, unless of course he has the queen. While he does not attempt to "shoot the moon", he is watchful for attempts by other players to shoot, and holds on to high cards until any potential shoot is spoiled. Otherwise, Pat tries to play the highest legal card that is lower than the current trick leader.

Tom submitted two solutions, a simple one (used in the tournament at Tom's request), and a more sophisticated (but less successful) one. The simple solution also tries to avoid taking tricks and does not attempt to shoot. It is a little more clever in selecting the pass, in that it tries to create a void if possible. It does not keep track of who might be attempting to shoot, and therefore does not attempt to stop them. Tom's second player keeps track of who is void in what suits and tries to shoot when it has a strong hand. However, it isn't quite perfected, and does much worse in a tournament than the first player.

I've included a Point Comparison chart that helps explain the performance of the two players. The vertical bars indicate the number of hands in which each player captured the number of points shown along the horizontal axis. You can see that Pat's solution was slightly more successful at capturing fewer than 4 points in a hand, very successful at avoiding being stuck with the queen of spaces, and extremely effective at capturing fewer than 20 points in a hand. The line graphs show the cumulative effect of the respective strategies on the score.

The table below summarizes the scoring for Pat and Tom's Hearts entries. The teams played a total of 24 matches, consisting of over 25000 hands of 13 tricks each. The Total Points column in the table lists the number of hearts captured during all of those tricks, plus 13 points for each Queen of Spades, and -26 points for each shoot. The table shows the number of tricks "won" by each player, and the number of times each successfully "shot the moon". You can see that Pat's winning solution did not attempt to shoot, and was very successful at avoiding being stuck with all of the point cards. Although not shown in the table, the less-than-intelligent "dummy" players "shot the moon" more often than either Pat or Tom. This was a consequence of their simplistic "strategy" for not taking points, which led them to hold on to high cards longer than a more sophisticated player would have done. Also shown in the table are the execution time of each solution in milliseconds, the total score, including the penalty of one point per millisecond of execution time, and the code and data sizes. As usual, the number in parentheses after the entrant's name is the total number of Challenge points earned in all Challenges prior to this one.

Name Total Points Tricks Won Shoots Time (msec) Score Code Size Data Size
Pat Brown 94775 59703 1 833 95608 3152 398
Tom Saxton (49) 157105 80902 67 1230 158335 2548 72

Top Contestants

Listed here are the Top Contestants for the Programmer's Challenge, including everyone who has accumulated 20 or more points during the past two years. The numbers below include points awarded over the 24 most recent contests, including points earned by this month's entrants.

  1. Munter, Ernst 204
  2. Saxton, Tom 59
  3. Boring, Randy 56
  4. Mallett, Jeff 50
  5. Rieken, Willeke 47
  6. Cooper, Greg 44
  7. Maurer, Sebastian 40
  8. Heithcock, JG 37
  9. Murphy, ACC 34
  10. Nicolle, Ludovic 34
  11. Lewis, Peter 31
  12. Hart, Alan 21
  13. Antoniewicz, Andy 20
  14. Brown, Pat 20
  15. Day, Mark 20
  16. Higgins, Charles 20
  17. Hostetter, Mat 20
  18. Studer, Thomas 20

There are three ways to earn points: (1) scoring in the top 5 of any Challenge, (2) being the first person to find a bug in a published winning solution or, (3) being the first person to suggest a Challenge that I use. The points you can win are:

1st place20 points
2nd place10 points
3rd place7 points
4th place4 points
5th place2 points
finding bug2 points
suggesting Challenge2 points

Here is Pat's winning Hearts solution:

MyHearts.c
Copyright © 1998 Pat Brown

#include "Hearts.h"

/* ***************************************************
 * Hearts.c
 *
 * Author: Pat Brown
 *
 * Trivia: there are 5.36447377655x10^28 different ways that a
 * deck can be dealed out for a game of Hearts.
 */

#define gMAX        52
#define gMIN        1

// Just the relative rankings, 1..52.
// Can be referenced easily using spot and suit value.
/*
        2C,2D,2S,3C,3D,3S,4C,4D,4S,5C,5D,5S,6C,6D,6S,2H,3H,4H,
        5H,6H,7C,7D,7S,8C,8D,8S,9C,9D,9S,7H,8H,9H,10C,10D,10S,
        JC,JD,JS,QC,QD,KC,KD,AC,AD,10H,JH,QH,KS,AS,KH,AH,QS
*/
static const int gCardValue[5][14] =
{
    {0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0},    // NoSuit
    {0, 3, 6, 9,12,15,22,25,28,35,38,52,48,49},    // Spade
    {0,16,17,18,19,29,30,31,32,45,46,47,50,51},    // Heart
    {0, 2, 5, 8,11,14,21,24,27,34,37,40,42,44},    // Diamond
    {0, 1, 4, 7,10,13,20,23,26,33,36,39,41,43}     // Club
};

inline int getCardValue(theSuit, theSpot)
        { return gCardValue[theSuit][theSpot]; }

inline UInt16 NEXTSEAT(UInt16 theSeat)
        { return (theSeat+1)%4; }


/************
  Prototypes
*************/
inline static SInt16 findThisCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const Suit theSuit, const Spot theSpot);
static UInt16 findHighestLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const int uLimit);
static UInt16 findLowestLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const int lLimit);
static UInt16 findHighestIndexLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const UInt16 valid[13], const int numValid, const int uLimit);
static UInt16 findLowestIndexLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const UInt16 valid[13], const int numValid, const int lLimit);
static int findValidCards(const Card theCards[13],
        const Suit theSuit, UInt16 validCards[13]);

inline UInt16        findHighestCard(const Card theCards[13])
    { return findHighestLimitCard(theCards,gMAX); }
inline UInt16        findLowestCard(const Card theCards[13])
    { return findLowestLimitCard(theCards,gMIN); }
inline UInt16        findHighestIndexCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const UInt16 valid[13], const int numValid)
    { return findHighestIndexLimitCard(theCards,valid,numValid,gMAX); }
inline UInt16        findLowestIndexCard(const Card theCards[13],
        const UInt16 valid[13], const int numValid)
    { 
        return findLowestIndexLimitCard(theCards,valid,numValid,gMIN); 
    }

/******************
  Global variables
*******************/
static UInt16     mySeat;
// hasPoints is a bitfield of which players have
// taken points in this hand
static int            hasPoints;
// another bitfield of what suits I'm cutting
static int            cuttingSuit;
static int            tryToSpoil;
/******************************************************
runningTotal keeps track of "points" for each player
in a hand. These aren't real points, but a key to
watch for someone trying to pull a sweep.
If someone gets more than six hearts, or the queen of
spades and three hearts, they may be trying to sweep
(unless someone else has points).
*******************************************************/
static int            runningTotal[4];
static Boolean    blackLadyInHand;
static Boolean    blackLadyPlayed;
static Boolean    heartsBroken;

/********************
  Required functions
*********************/

InitTournament
pascal void InitTournament(const UInt16 numPlayers,
                const UInt16 gameEndingScore)
{
    return;
}

InitGame
pascal void InitGame(const UInt32 playerID[4],
                const UInt16 yourSeat)
{
    mySeat = yourSeat;
}

SelectPass
pascal void SelectPass(const Card dealtHand[13],
         const Pass passDirection, UInt16 passedCards[3])
{
    int    i, top, newtop;

// Init globals at the start of a hand.
    blackLadyPlayed = heartsBroken = 
            tryToSpoil = hasPoints = cuttingSuit = 
            runningTotal[0]=runningTotal[1]=runningTotal[2]=runningTotal[3]
            = 0;

    if (passDirection != kNoPass)
    {
        top = gMAX;
        for (i=0; i<3; i++) // get the three highest cards
        {
            newtop = passedCards[i] = 
                    findHighestLimitCard(dealtHand, top);
            top = getCardValue(dealtHand[newtop].suit, 
                                    dealtHand[newtop].spot)-1;
        }
    }
}

PlayTrick
pascal void PlayTrick(const UInt16 trickNumber,
                 const UInt16 trickLeader, const Card yourHand[13],
                 const Card cardsPlayed[4], UInt16 *yourPlay)
{
    UInt16     validCards[13], myCard;
    int            num, i;
    Suit         leadingSuit;
    Spot         whatsTaking;
    UInt16     whosTaking;
    Boolean    pointsTaking;

    if (trickNumber == 0)
    {
    // see if I've been passed the Queen of Spades
        blackLadyInHand = 
                    (findThisCard(yourHand, kSpade, kQueen) >= 0);
        if (trickLeader == mySeat)
        {
            *yourPlay = findThisCard(yourHand, kClub, k2);
            return;
        }
        else
            goto NOTLEADING;
    }
    
    if (trickLeader == mySeat)
    {
        // try to force the Queen of Spades (unless I have it)
        if (!blackLadyPlayed && !blackLadyInHand)
        {
            if (
                (num = findValidCards(yourHand, kSpade, validCards)) != 0)
            {
            myCard = findLowestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
                // don't play higher than the Queen
                if (yourHand[myCard].spot < kKing)
                {
                    *yourPlay = myCard;
                    return;
                }
            }
        } // (!blackLadyPlayed && !blackLadyInHand)
        num = findValidCards(yourHand, kNoSuit, validCards);
        *yourPlay = findLowestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
        return;
    } // if (trickLeader == mySeat)

NOTLEADING:    
    leadingSuit = cardsPlayed[trickLeader].suit;
    num=0;
    // this is faster than scanning yourHand every time
    if ((cuttingSuit & (1 << leadingSuit)))
        goto CUTTING;
    if (
        (num = findValidCards(yourHand, leadingSuit, validCards))==1)
    {
    // only one card we can play
        *yourPlay = validCards[0];
        return;
    }
    if (num == 0)
    {
        cuttingSuit |= 1 << leadingSuit;
        goto CUTTING;
    }
    if (num == 0)
    {
CUTTING:
    // we're cutting this suit
        if (trickNumber == 0)
        {
        // Can't play points on the first trick.
        // 51 keeps us from playing the Queen of Spades.
            num = findValidCards(yourHand, kNoSuit, validCards);
            *yourPlay = 
        findHighestIndexLimitCard(yourHand, validCards, num, 51);
            return;
        }
        if (!tryToSpoil)
            *yourPlay = findHighestCard(yourHand);
        else // Save the high cards to spoil a sweep.
            *yourPlay = findLowestCard(yourHand);
        return;
    } // if (num == 0)
    
    // See who's winning this trick so far.
    i = trickLeader;
    pointsTaking = leadingSuit == kHeart;
    whatsTaking = kNoSpot;
    while (i != mySeat)
    {
        if (    (cardsPlayed[i].suit == kSpade) && 
                    (cardsPlayed[i].spot == kQueen))
            pointsTaking = true;
        if (cardsPlayed[i].suit == leadingSuit)
        {
            if (cardsPlayed[i].spot > whatsTaking)
            {
                whatsTaking = cardsPlayed[i].spot;
                whosTaking = i;
            }
        }
        else // (cardsPlayed[i].suit != leadingSuit)
        {
                pointsTaking |= (cardsPlayed[i].suit == kHeart);
        } // if (cardsPlayed[i].suit == leadingSuit) else
        i = NEXTSEAT(i);
    } // while (i != mySeat)

    if ((leadingSuit == kSpade) && blackLadyInHand)
    {
        myCard = findThisCard(yourHand, kSpade, kQueen);
        if (whatsTaking > kQueen) // dump it on King or Ace
        {
            *yourPlay = myCard;
            return;
        }
        else // don't play the Queen of Spades
        {
            for (i=0;i<num;i++)
            {
                if (validCards[i] == myCard)
                {
                    while (++i < num)
                        validCards[i-1] = validCards[i];
                    num-;
                }
            } // for (i=0;i<num;i++)
        } // if (whatsTaking > kQueen) else
    } // if ((leadingSuit == kSpade) && blackLadyInHand)
            
    if (trickLeader == NEXTSEAT(i)) // playing last
    {
        if (!pointsTaking)
        {
            if (tryToSpoil) // don't waste the high cards
                *yourPlay = 
                    findLowestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
            else
                *yourPlay = 
                    findHighestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
            return;
        }
        else
        {
            if (tryToSpoil == (1 << whosTaking))
            {
        myCard = findHighestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num); 
              if (yourHand[myCard].spot < whatsTaking) // we can't take this trick
              myCard = findLowestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
                *yourPlay = myCard;
                return;
            }
            else // someone else is spoiling the sweep
            {
                *yourPlay = 
                findHighestIndexLimitCard(yourHand, validCards, num, 
                                    getCardValue(leadingSuit, whatsTaking));
                return;
            }
        } // if (!pointsTaking) else
    } // if (trickLeader == NEXTSEAT(i))
    
    if (tryToSpoil)
    {
        myCard = findHighestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
    if (yourHand[myCard].spot < whatsTaking) // we can't take this trick
        myCard = findLowestIndexCard(yourHand, validCards, num);
        *yourPlay = myCard;
        return;
    }
    
    // Standard behaviour
    // Play the highest card under the current highest card.
    *yourPlay = findHighestIndexLimitCard(yourHand, validCards, 
                            num, getCardValue(leadingSuit, whatsTaking));
    return;
}

TrickResults
pascal void TrickResults(const Card lastTrick[4],
                const UInt16 trickWinner)
{
// Keep track on who has what points so we can watch for a sweep.
    int    i;
    int    points = 0;
    int    whoWon;

    for (i=0; i<4; i++)
    {
        switch (lastTrick[i].suit)
        {
            case kSpade:
                if (lastTrick[i].spot == kQueen)
                {
                // not 13, we trigger a sweep when "points" hit 7
                    points += 4;
                    blackLadyPlayed = true;
                    blackLadyInHand = false;
                }
                break;
            case kHeart:
                points++;
                heartsBroken = true;
                break;
        }
    } // for (i=0; i<4; i++)
    if (points == 0)
        return;
    points = runningTotal[trickWinner] += points;
    whoWon = 1 << trickWinner;
    hasPoints |= whoWon;
    if (tryToSpoil)
    {
        if (whoWon != tryToSpoil)
            tryToSpoil = 0;
    }
    else // (!tryToSpoil)
    {
        if (trickWinner != mySeat)
            tryToSpoil = ((hasPoints == whoWon) && (points > 6)) 
? whoWon : 0;
    }
}

HandResults
pascal void HandResults(const SInt16 pointsThisHand[4],
                const SInt32 cumPoints[4])
{
    return;
}

/**************
  My functions
***************/

findThisCard
/**************************************
Return the index of a particular card,
or -1 if it's not there.
***************************************/
inline static SInt16 findThisCard(const Card theCards[13],
                const Suit theSuit, const Spot theSpot)
{
    SInt16    c = -1, i = 13;
    
    while ((c<0) && i-)
    {
        if (    (theCards[i].spot == theSpot) && 
                    (theCards[i].suit == theSuit))
                c = i;
    }
    return c;
}

findHighestLimitCard
/*****************************************************
These next few functions find cards based on a limit.
(it's an inclusive limit)
If there are no cards within the limit, then call
the opposite function.
******************************************************/
static UInt16 findHighestLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
                const int uLimit)
{
    int         i = 13;
    int         points, theValue = 0;
    SInt16    theCard = -1;
    
    while (i-)
    {
        points = getCardValue(theCards[i].suit, theCards[i].spot);
        if ((points > theValue) && (points <= uLimit))
        {
            theCard = i;
            if (uLimit == (theValue = points))
                return theCard;
        }
    }
    if (theCard < 0)
        theCard = findLowestLimitCard(theCards, uLimit);
    return theCard;
}

findLowestLimitCard
static UInt16 findLowestLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
                const int lLimit)
{
    int         i = 13;
    int         points, theValue = 99;
    SInt16    theCard = -1;
    
    while (i-)
    {
        points = getCardValue(theCards[i].suit, theCards[i].spot);
        if ((points < theValue) && (points >= lLimit))
        {
            theCard = i;
            if (lLimit == (theValue = points))
                return theCard;
        }
    }
    if (theCard < 0)
        theCard = findHighestLimitCard(theCards, lLimit);
    return theCard;
}

findHighestIndexLimitCard
/***************************************************
Index functions use an array of valid card indexes.
************ INFINITE RECURSION WARNING ************
 Do not call these functions with numValid == 0!!!
****************************************************/
static UInt16 findHighestIndexLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
                const UInt16 valid[13], const int numValid, 
                const int uLimit)
{
    int         i = numValid;
    int         points, theValue = 0;
    SInt16    theCard = -1;
    
    while (i-)
    {
        points = getCardValue(theCards[valid[i]].suit, 
                              theCards[valid[i]].spot);
        if ((points > theValue) && (points <= uLimit))
        {
            theCard = valid[i];
            if (uLimit == (theValue = points))
                return theCard;
        }
    }
    if (theCard < 0)
    theCard = findLowestIndexLimitCard(theCards, valid, numValid, 
                                                 uLimit);
    return theCard;
}

findLowestIndexLimitCard
static UInt16 findLowestIndexLimitCard(const Card theCards[13],
                const UInt16 valid[13], const int numValid, 
                const int lLimit)
{
    int         i = numValid;
    int         points, theValue = 99;
    SInt16    theCard = -1;
    
    while (i-)
    {
        points = getCardValue(theCards[valid[i]].suit, 
                                                    theCards[valid[i]].spot);
        if ((points < theValue) && (points >= lLimit))
        {
            theCard = valid[i];
            if (lLimit == (theValue = points))
                return theCard;
        }
    }
    if (theCard < 0)
theCard = findHighestIndexLimitCard(theCards, valid, numValid, 
                                                   lLimit);
    return theCard;
}

findValidCards
/*********************************************************
Fill an array with indexes to cards of a particular suit.
Returns the number of valid cards (the size of the array)
Passing kNoSuit will fill the list depending on whether
hearts can be played now.
**********************************************************/
static int findValidCards(const Card theCards[13],
                const Suit theSuit, UInt16 validCards[13])
{
    UInt16    i;
    int         num = 0;
    
    if (theSuit == kNoSuit)
    {
        if (heartsBroken)
        {
            for (i=0; i<13; i++)
                if (theCards[i].suit != kNoSuit) validCards[num++] = i;
        }
        else // (!heartsBroken)
        {
            for (i=0; i<13; i++)
            {
                if (    (theCards[i].suit != kHeart) && 
                            (theCards[i].suit != kNoSuit))
                    validCards[num++] = i;
            }
            if (num == 0) // Nothing but hearts left to play.
            {
                for (i=0; i<13; i++)
            if (theCards[i].suit != kNoSuit) validCards[num++] = i;
            }
        } // if (heartsBroken) else
    }
    else // (theSuit != kNoSuit)
    {
        for (i=0; i<13; i++)
        {
            if (theCards[i].suit == theSuit)
                validCards[num++] = i;
        }
    }
    return num;
}

 

Community Search:
MacTech Search:

Software Updates via MacUpdate

Latest Forum Discussions

See All

Top Mobile Game Discounts
Every day, we pick out a curated list of the best mobile discounts on the App Store and post them here. This list won't be comprehensive, but it every game on it is recommended. Feel free to check out the coverage we did on them in the links... | Read more »
Price of Glory unleashes its 1.4 Alpha u...
As much as we all probably dislike Maths as a subject, we do have to hand it to geometry for giving us the good old Hexgrid, home of some of the best strategy games. One such example, Price of Glory, has dropped its 1.4 Alpha update, stocked full... | Read more »
The SLC 2025 kicks off this month to cro...
Ever since the Solo Leveling: Arise Championship 2025 was announced, I have been looking forward to it. The promotional clip they released a month or two back showed crowds going absolutely nuts for the previous competitions, so imagine the... | Read more »
Dive into some early Magicpunk fun as Cr...
Excellent news for fans of steampunk and magic; the Precursor Test for Magicpunk MMORPG Crystal of Atlan opens today. This rather fancy way of saying beta test will remain open until March 5th and is available for PC - boo - and Android devices -... | Read more »
Prepare to get your mind melted as Evang...
If you are a fan of sci-fi shooters and incredibly weird, mind-bending anime series, then you are in for a treat, as Goddess of Victory: Nikke is gearing up for its second collaboration with Evangelion. We were also treated to an upcoming... | Read more »
Square Enix gives with one hand and slap...
We have something of a mixed bag coming over from Square Enix HQ today. Two of their mobile games are revelling in life with new events keeping them alive, whilst another has been thrown onto the ever-growing discard pile Square is building. I... | Read more »
Let the world burn as you have some fest...
It is time to leave the world burning once again as you take a much-needed break from that whole “hero” lark and enjoy some celebrations in Genshin Impact. Version 5.4, Moonlight Amidst Dreams, will see you in Inazuma to attend the Mikawa Flower... | Read more »
Full Moon Over the Abyssal Sea lands on...
Aether Gazer has announced its latest major update, and it is one of the loveliest event names I have ever heard. Full Moon Over the Abyssal Sea is an amazing name, and it comes loaded with two side stories, a new S-grade Modifier, and some fancy... | Read more »
Open your own eatery for all the forest...
Very important question; when you read the title Zoo Restaurant, do you also immediately think of running a restaurant in which you cook Zoo animals as the course? I will just assume yes. Anyway, come June 23rd we will all be able to start up our... | Read more »
Crystal of Atlan opens registration for...
Nuverse was prominently featured in the last month for all the wrong reasons with the USA TikTok debacle, but now it is putting all that behind it and preparing for the Crystal of Atlan beta test. Taking place between February 18th and March 5th,... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

AT&T is offering a 65% discount on the ne...
AT&T is offering the new iPhone 16e for up to 65% off their monthly finance fee with 36-months of service. No trade-in is required. Discount is applied via monthly bill credits over the 36 month... Read more
Use this code to get a free iPhone 13 at Visi...
For a limited time, use code SWEETDEAL to get a free 128GB iPhone 13 Visible, Verizon’s low-cost wireless cell service, Visible. Deal is valid when you purchase the Visible+ annual plan. Free... Read more
M4 Mac minis on sale for $50-$80 off MSRP at...
B&H Photo has M4 Mac minis in stock and on sale right now for $50 to $80 off Apple’s MSRP, each including free 1-2 day shipping to most US addresses: – M4 Mac mini (16GB/256GB): $549, $50 off... Read more
Buy an iPhone 16 at Boost Mobile and get one...
Boost Mobile, an MVNO using AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks, is offering one year of free Unlimited service with the purchase of any iPhone 16. Purchase the iPhone at standard MSRP, and then choose... Read more
Get an iPhone 15 for only $299 at Boost Mobil...
Boost Mobile, an MVNO using AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks, is offering the 128GB iPhone 15 for $299.99 including service with their Unlimited Premium plan (50GB of premium data, $60/month), or $20... Read more
Unreal Mobile is offering $100 off any new iP...
Unreal Mobile, an MVNO using AT&T and T-Mobile’s networks, is offering a $100 discount on any new iPhone with service. This includes new iPhone 16 models as well as iPhone 15, 14, 13, and SE... Read more
Apple drops prices on clearance iPhone 14 mod...
With today’s introduction of the new iPhone 16e, Apple has discontinued the iPhone 14, 14 Pro, and SE. In response, Apple has dropped prices on unlocked, Certified Refurbished, iPhone 14 models to a... Read more
B&H has 16-inch M4 Max MacBook Pros on sa...
B&H Photo is offering a $360-$410 discount on new 16-inch MacBook Pros with M4 Max CPUs right now. B&H offers free 1-2 day shipping to most US addresses: – 16″ M4 Max MacBook Pro (36GB/1TB/... Read more
Amazon is offering a $100 discount on the M4...
Amazon has the M4 Pro Mac mini discounted $100 off MSRP right now. Shipping is free. Their price is the lowest currently available for this popular mini: – Mac mini M4 Pro (24GB/512GB): $1299, $100... Read more
B&H continues to offer $150-$220 discount...
B&H Photo has 14-inch M4 MacBook Pros on sale for $150-$220 off MSRP. B&H offers free 1-2 day shipping to most US addresses: – 14″ M4 MacBook Pro (16GB/512GB): $1449, $150 off MSRP – 14″ M4... Read more

Jobs Board

All contents are Copyright 1984-2011 by Xplain Corporation. All rights reserved. Theme designed by Icreon.