Molds, Cython, and Gallipoli

Today I learned:

1) …that if you’re trying to 3D print something and you’re concerned about sharp edges (perhaps to protect sensitive tissues), you can make the object safer by printing a *mold* of the thing you want and forging it out of some softer material.

2) …how to use Cython! Cython is a version of Python that basically lets you use C code inside a Python script. That way, you get most of the ease-of-use and flexibility of Python (not to mention all of the great packages for Python) and most of the speed of C (not to mention all of the great libraries for C).

I do have a serious problem, though — I’m trying to access global variables from a C project, and I can’t figure out how to link them properly. I’ve successfully linked to and used *functions* from the same project, but not global variables. (the project is big and crufty and more than I’m willing to clean up by myself, so I can’t change it to not use global variables =( ). Anyone have experience with Cython?

3) …about the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I. I’d heard about it before, kind of in hushed tones, as a horrible battle where many Australians bravely gave their lives, but I never knew any of the details until now. The short story — Winston Churchill wanted to take pressure off the Allied powers by directly attacking the Ottoman Empire (which had just recently entered the war and put a lot of pressure on Russia) at a key strait near the Dardanelles. He planned to attack quickly and decisively with a huge fleet of obsolete warships Britain had lying around that weren’t doing any good against the Germans.

Unfortunately, the attack did not go quickly — Churchill apparently blamed British officers who felt emotionally attached to their old ships hesitated to send them into dangerous situations, even though the whole point was that those ships were entirely, completely expendable. By the time the British were able to land troops (many of which were from Australia and Canada), the Ottomans and their German allies were able to set up fortified defenses. The attack went kind of like D-day might have gone if everything had gone wrong, and instead of decisively taking the Ottomans out of the war, the attack just opened up a new entrenched, grinding front of the same sort as in the rest of Europe. About seven months and ~250,000 dead soldiers later, the Allies left with nothing to show as far as I can tell.

One interesting invention from the tail end of the battle — William Scurry’s self-firing rifle was a rifle left in abandoned trenches and rigged to fire by water dripped into a pan attached to the trigger. They were left in abandoned positions during the allies’ retreat to hide said retreat from the Ottomans.