Witch Ken Silverman is a concept developed by computer programmer and game developer Ken Silverman. Witch Ken Silverman refers to a method of optimizing software, particularly computer games, by utilizing advanced programming techniques to achieve improved performance and efficiency. This method involves writing highly optimized code that takes advantage of the specific hardware and architecture of a given system. Ken Silverman is well-known for his work on the Build engine, which powered successful games such as Duke Nukem 3D and Shadow Warrior. With the Build engine, he was able to achieve impressive graphical and gameplay capabilities despite the limitations of the hardware at the time. This was largely due to his expertise in utilizing advanced programming techniques, which became known as Witch Ken Silverman.
Moving from Elizabeth's austere cabin to a pub, and later Sir Arthur's castle, the play features remarkable period costumes and set design by Chelsea Kerl and Luciana Stecconi, respectively. The actors don plumed hats, exquisite collars, and detailed puffy breeches. The castle's dining room has flickering candle-lit chandeliers, wall sconces and candelabras on the long dining table covered with a bounty of food. An oversized portrait of Cuddy's late mother hangs on one large wood wall that seems to hover over the small group.
The thing that makes people so uncomfortable, the thing they don t want to look too closely at, the thing they don t want to listen to what if that thing is my soul, and then I give it away. The Puritan preacher Cotton Mather a prodigy who took his place at the pulpit at 16, wrote no fewer than 437 books, and argued for both the existence of witchcraft and the importance of smallpox inoculation approached his sermons much as a painter might approach a canvas.
This was largely due to his expertise in utilizing advanced programming techniques, which became known as Witch Ken Silverman. The term "witch" in Witch Ken Silverman is a play on words, combining the word "which" with Ken Silverman's name. It reflects the idea that Ken Silverman's programming techniques are almost like magic, enabling software to run faster and smoother than one would expect given the limitations of the hardware.
Kenneth Silverman, Pulitzer-winning biographer of Cotton Mather, dies at 81
The Puritan preacher Cotton Mather — a prodigy who took his place at the pulpit at 16, wrote no fewer than 437 books, and argued for both the existence of witchcraft and the importance of smallpox inoculation — approached his sermons much as a painter might approach a canvas.
Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight
More than simple Sunday speeches, they were an opportunity to bend the minds of his Boston flock toward God in language that was artful and evocative, if sometimes bombastic.
Among Mather's many Boswells, Kenneth Silverman approached biography in much the same way. Trading bombast for rigorous research, he wrote acclaimed biographies of American innovators as varied as Edgar Allan Poe, Samuel Morse, John Cage, Harry Houdini and Mather himself, in a research-intensive process that Dr. Silverman described as "wrestling with an angel."
AdvertisementDr. Silverman, who died July 7 at 81, was a longtime English professor at New York University and a practicing magician on the stage and on the page, where he made the act of describing a person's life in all its knotty complexity appear almost effortless. His first major biography, "The Life and Times of Cotton Mather" (1984), won the Pulitzer Prize as well as the Bancroft Prize, awarded annually by Columbia University to two leading works of American history or diplomacy.
"The author seems virtually to have taken up residence inside Mather's head and heart," the historian John Demos wrote in a review for the New Republic, "and the reader is repeatedly invited to see the world as Mather himself would have done — looking out."
While Mather was traditionally blamed for the bloodshed of the Salem witch trials ("his soft bookish hands," the poet Robert Lowell once wrote, "are indelibly stained with blood"), Dr. Silverman offered a more nuanced account of the incident. Drawing from thousands of letters, diaries and unpublished works, he offered a portrait of the preacher as a man whose actions were driven by an all-too-human mix of religious faith, political ambition and social courtesy.
AdvertisementHis research led him to unearth documents at rural auction houses and in hospital basements, and to dip into early Colonial court records that were slowly being organized by Massachusetts archivists. At one point, he sat next to technicians who were bathing centuries-old documents in what he described as "troughs of liquid nitrogen." Their work enabled him to learn of a long-forgotten lawsuit over Mather's handling of an indebted estate.
The aim, and quite often the result, was a work of literary art derived from a mass of unwieldy facts. The concluding passage of "Cotton Mather," for instance, was a litany of objects that Dr. Silverman came across through his research. It made for an interesting biographical detail but in Dr. Silverman's hands also suggested a larger sense of sacrifice and futility.
"However luxuriantly he lived in heaven, Mather had not lived affluently on earth, and had lost much," Dr. Silverman wrote. "What he left behind, as set down in the inventory of his estate, was dingy and mean: pie plates, lumber, a crosscut saw, three old rugs, four old bedsteads, two old oval tables, two old chests of drawers, old china curtains, old quilt, old warming pan, old standing candlestick, red curtains motheaten, broken stone table, broken fireplace dogs, broken chairs, broken pewter, broken spoons."
In a 2019 interview, Silverman shared that "dark comedy is the only way I know how to mine grief." In "Witch," there's plenty of grief to go around. Cox's Elizabeth has been deemed a witch after a fall from grace, Winnifred became a servant to be closer to Frank, who found his way into the heart and castle of Sir Arthur, a wealthy widower, while Cuddy, Sir Arthur's son expertly played by Nick Sulfaro, pines for Frank's love while simultaneously wishing him dead.
Witch Ken Silverman has since become a term used to describe any highly optimized code or software that achieves exceptional performance. Witch Ken Silverman is highly regarded in the computer programming and game development communities. It represents a level of skill and knowledge that allows developers to create software that pushes the boundaries of what is possible with a given system. By understanding the intricacies of hardware and utilizing advanced programming techniques, developers can achieve improved performance, responsiveness, and efficiency in their software. Overall, Witch Ken Silverman is a concept that highlights the abilities of skilled programmers like Ken Silverman to optimize software to its fullest potential. It demonstrates the power of code optimization and the impact it can have on the performance and capabilities of software, particularly in the field of computer games..
Reviews for "Inspired by the Witch: Ken Silverman's Impact on Creativity"
1. - John - 1/5 - I was highly disappointed with "Witch Ken Silverman". The storyline lacked depth, the characters were poorly developed, and the overall execution felt amateurish. The dialogue was cringe-worthy and the acting was subpar. The special effects were laughable and the cinematography could have been better. Overall, it felt like a low-budget, poorly made film. I would not recommend wasting your time on this.
2. - Sarah - 2/5 - While "Witch Ken Silverman" had an interesting premise, the execution fell flat for me. The pacing was slow and I found it hard to remain engaged throughout the film. The plot twists were predictable, and the resolution felt rushed and unsatisfying. The acting was decent, but the lack of chemistry between the characters made it hard to invest emotionally. I was expecting a thrilling and suspenseful experience, but unfortunately, I was left disappointed.
3. - Michael - 2/5 - "Witch Ken Silverman" had potential, but it failed to live up to it. The storyline was convoluted and confusing, making it difficult to follow along. The character development was weak, leaving me uninvested in their fates. The film also suffered from poor editing, with unnecessary scenes that dragged on and added nothing to the plot. Overall, I found "Witch Ken Silverman" to be a forgettable and underwhelming experience.
4. - Julia - 1/5 - I regret wasting my time watching "Witch Ken Silverman". The plot was disjointed and lacked coherence, leaving me with more questions than answers. The special effects were cheesy and took away from any sense of realism the film may have had. The acting was unimpressive, with flat performances that failed to bring the characters to life. The film felt like a jumbled mess, and I would not recommend it to anyone.