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[2010-04-08 15:34:16] - title: nooooooooo plaunve - aaron
[2010-04-08 15:22:18] - mig: I like to keep score, so that helps even when the game is a blowout. And generally I get cheap seats, so I can't really see the players too well... -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 15:10:43] - although i guess a bad game can be mitigated by seeing players you want to see. - mig
[2010-04-08 15:09:50] - xpovos: in all honesty, it's a crap shoot whether you see a good game or not. I remember a year or so back going to an Orioles/Pirates that was going back and forth the entire way (with scores in the both halves of the 9th inning with a walk-off double). - mig
[2010-04-08 15:03:36] - Paul: That's a difficult question. Any good team that has players I'd be interested in seeing will probably result in a Nats loss. Similarly, any team that's less good that I like in addition to the Nats, I'm sad no matter who losses. Big names are more expensive, but also generate larger crowds, which is nice. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 14:54:37] - Xpovos: Ok, I'll email you about the Ron Paul tickets. As for the baseball game... any particular team you would want to see? -Paul
[2010-04-08 14:54:03] - http://wiki.aporter.org/wiki/Name_combinations . . . have at it
~a[2010-04-08 14:54:02] - xpovos: oh you're right, the only one i can remember is celtics69 for paul and pierce? and of course vamy... aarkie... i guess there are a few - aaron
[2010-04-08 14:51:06] - Is there a wiki page for all variants of combinations? If not, there should be. Some are longer-term than others... -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 14:48:33] - aaron: ah I thought you were including xpovos too... scramblings just soooo last year. and its all of Paul and half of Vinnie, real name wise not % of new name wise....
~gurkie[2010-04-08 14:47:02] - stephen: well yeah the combined name has to be half from one person's name, and half from the other person's name. that's why we uninanimously decided on grupaul - aaron
[2010-04-08 14:42:30] - aaron: Plaunve doesn't sound nice. And the rules on name-combining were set by Gurkie last year when she vetoed Purkie. - Stephen
[2010-04-08 14:40:45] - plaunve: Your color choices hurt my eyes. - stephen
[2010-04-08 14:39:00] - krunng: i want to go to kings dominion with everyone! don't make me combine all your names!!! and who set the rules on name-combining? plaunve combines paul and vinnie equally. it's half paul and half vinnie. the letters are scrambled to make it sound nice - aaron
[2010-04-08 14:38:51] - plaunve: no offense, but you're really coming across like a cousin oliver. has the mboard jumped the shark?? - vinnie
[2010-04-08 14:38:32] - there is a pierce variable? - plaunve
[2010-04-08 14:37:09] - pierce: it's weird when the pierce variable tells me about a change that pierce made. like a forklift lifting a crate of forks. it's so damn literal. ~a
[2010-04-08 14:36:45] - gurkie: no, i am no combination of names. i am simply plaunve - plaunve
[2010-04-08 14:31:21] - plaunve: sorry but I am not even sure what names you are combining... I assume paul, vinnie, and xpovos since they are the ones who asked about KD but... the ordering and number of letters per person makes no sense. ~gurkie
[2010-04-08 14:30:47] - vinnie: you're just fake plaunve, he wants to go with real plaunve - plaunve
[2010-04-08 14:30:06] - aaron: hey how come you want to go to KD with plaunve, but not me?
- vinnie[2010-04-08 14:14:10] - gurkie:
- plaunve[2010-04-08 14:10:41] - aaron: thats an odd name combo you came up with.... ~gurkie
[2010-04-08 14:04:40] - plaunve: yes i want to go to kd some time this summer to try the coaster out - aaron
[2010-04-08 14:03:32] - $25 is a lot to pay for a large chance of getting nothing at all and a small chance of getting something worth only four times as much. it should be like $5-10, optimally. - pierce
[2010-04-08 14:01:10] - paul: I was joking that I wanted one of those $100 ron paul tickets. - pierce
[2010-04-08 13:56:10] - Actually, I just saw this in the email: "The evening will wrap up with our Virginia Liberty Forum, free and open to the public, from 8:15 - 9:30PM". -Paul
[2010-04-08 13:56:06] - Paul: A yes to the Nats as well. I haven't seen a game in the new park, but I saw several at RFK. I'd be willing to pay $100 for a RP event, but not $25 for a chance. I'd also be interested in a KD trip, if I could work it. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 13:53:43] - I'd love to go to KD though. was thinking about planning something along the lines of what we did last year - vinnie
[2010-04-08 13:53:07] - Pierce: I actually have no idea what you want for your birthday. Tickets to a Nats game? -Paul
[2010-04-08 13:52:12] - avinnie: They're selling raffle tickets to attend the event for $25 a piece.
-Paul[2010-04-08 13:50:50] - Xpovos: Is that a yes to the baseball game too? Or was it just two yes' for Ron Paul?
-Paul[2010-04-08 13:50:15] - Aaron: Are you going to go to KD to try the coaster out? -Paul
[2010-04-08 13:50:10] - yeah I'd see Ron Paul if it was $20. I think
- vinnie[2010-04-08 13:32:20] - pierce: You can declare a tax holiday! -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 13:29:40] - paul: I think you know what I want for my birthday! - pierce
[2010-04-08 13:28:30] - 100? that's a little high. i'd go if it were 20 or 30. ~a
[2010-04-08 13:26:24] - paul: a weekday + springfield is going to be an impossibility for me. - mig
[2010-04-08 13:15:41] - Paul: Interested? Yes and yes. Plausible? That's another story. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 13:01:54] - Also, Ron Paul is supposed to be in Springfield, VA on May 6th. Tickets are $100. Anybody interested?
-Paul[2010-04-08 12:50:34] - I don't think I've asked this to the general message board population, but would anybody be interested in going to a Nats game (or two or three) sometime? -Paul
[2010-04-08 11:56:58] - sheesh 85 degrees! that's a lot of degrees - aaron
[2010-04-08 11:55:04] - http://www.nitrobahn.com/news/fastest-gravity-driven-roller-coaster-in-north-america-opens/ fastest gravity drive roller coaster in north america opens. who wants to go! - aaron
[2010-04-08 11:42:10] - a: Wow, I feel dumb now. That's more obvious. I guess it's good that I'm able to get it out of my mind. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 11:16:45] - yes. ~a
[2010-04-08 11:13:35] - a: oh you mean this? - aaron
[2010-04-08 11:11:24] - aaron: no it is not pi day.
someone will eventually remember what apr16 is . . . "special" doesn't apply. ~a[2010-04-08 11:05:32] - http://www.focus.com/images/view/8740/ how education impacts your job and income. i thought the unemployment-versus-education numbers were interesting too - aaron
[2010-04-08 11:00:56] - http://www.tvsquad.com/2010/04/07/david-cross-arrested-development-movie-not-going-to-happen/
- aaron[2010-04-08 10:50:24] - april 16 is pi day! you know, 4.16 and so on - aaron
[2010-04-08 10:16:30] - I'm stumped on 16 also. - mig
[2010-04-08 10:16:05] - 30th is dewey's. - mig
[2010-04-08 09:45:33] - 16th I am not sure on though... ~gurkie
[2010-04-08 09:44:12] - xpovos: 15 is both tax day and pierce's bday. ~gurkie
[2010-04-08 08:18:49] - Alright, so 3 and 30 are birthdays, then. That leaves 15/16 with some confusion as to which is tax day and which is significant for other reasons. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-08 06:26:05] - xpovos: the april 3 birthday was a title! - aaron
[2010-04-07 21:37:05] - wow! very good job. tax day is 15 (not 16). also it's a birthday!!! and yes, of the remaining, there are at least two birthdays (d and a you both know). ~a
[2010-04-07 21:29:34] - a: Let me see how many I can get... April Fool's Day(1), Tax Day(16), Weed Day(20), Earth Day(22). That leaves 3, 15, and 30. At least one of those is a birthday. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-07 21:22:56] - april has the most number of special days that i care about. that number is 7. apr1, apr3, apr15, apr16, apr20, apr22 (earth day), apr30. ~a
[2010-04-07 18:59:15] - lol nm i found it: http://www.flickr.com/photos/apelad/sets/72157594388426362/ glad the link is still live, some of these were really funny - aaron
[2010-04-07 18:57:16] - does anybody remember a gallery of humorous http error codes? i think they were all done by the same artist, and they were all humorous interpretations of various http codes... i think they were posted in some gallery too, like flickr or something - aaron
[2010-04-07 16:07:17] - xpovos: That's a pretty cool dr. horrible video. I would play that game. -Paul
[2010-04-07 15:27:00] - http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2010/04/asteroids-record/ new asteroids record... i think these marathon gaming records are so funny. i remember the robotron record was pretty similar; it got to where they would rack up 255 extra lives (careful not to roll over to zero!) and then take a 30-minute nap, then wake up and keep playing - aaron
[2010-04-07 14:57:13] - "doesn't like"? I was just about to say that it's "does it like" like the Sara Lee slogan until I googled. it does follow the Sara Lee slogan, which I also had wrong
- vinnie[2010-04-07 14:47:38] - I might actually organize a beach trip this summer. Please take the survey. https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dGgwTXY5U2Nlc05vY0stLXZZcUZOa1E6MA -nina
[2010-04-07 13:31:41] - *think - pierce
[2010-04-07 13:31:34] - anon: that's what I used to thing but so many people heard it as "doesn't like" and told me I was wrong and I eventually caved
- pierce[2010-04-07 13:23:20] - title: haha. i thought it was "does it like"
[2010-04-07 13:22:49] - OK just went outside for the essentially the first time since last friday. what the hell happened why is it so hot out?? did i miss the apocalypse or something?? -amy
[2010-04-07 11:38:26] - xpovos: heh, no. I haven't been watching Futurama either. - pierce
[2010-04-07 11:34:29] - "machines should be open to their owners and that all power should reside in the user. That notion mattered most to geeks, but it expressed deeper ideas, too: a distrust of centralized power and a belief, embedded in silicon, that computers should be tools of freedom" wozniak's apple is dead ~a
[2010-04-07 10:11:51] - pierce: Any chance you read Snowcrash recently? -- Xpovos
[2010-04-07 10:06:50] - aaron: some of those drawings are creepy to begin with, so it's not surprising that the realistic interpretation is equally scary. i like the superman one, though. -nina
[2010-04-07 10:03:38] - last night I had a meta-dream that my brain had a computer virus. I was literally getting popups for security software over my other dreams and I'd have to close them to continue whatever was happening. - pierce
[2010-04-07 09:13:22] - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_9x9m8F1b4 I wasn't a huge fan of Dr. Horrible, but this derivation amused me. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-07 07:59:33] - http://thechive.com/2010/04/06/moster-engine-brings-childrens-drawings-to-life-11-photos/ if children's drawings were drawn realistically - aaron
[2010-04-07 07:55:51] - amy: you might try starfarers of catan, they solve that problem pretty well. they have tougher enemies/challenges that come into the game but they're designed so they don't enter the deck until 20-30 minutes in - aaron
[2010-04-06 17:45:15] - s/yesterday/this weekend/
[2010-04-06 17:45:05] - it's a little weird that yesterday i saw snow on the ground. ~a
[2010-04-06 17:31:34] - holy crap is it really 93 degrees outside today? i haven't been outside since like friday. well except once at like 6 AM -amy
[2010-04-06 17:28:43] - whoops that was aMY. fight a monster much smaller than you, i was gonna say. so that's a problem inherent in randomly drawing challenges out of the deck. -amy
[2010-04-06 17:28:19] - advancing your various stats will help you through various challenges, such as winning said battle of the bands. but... i never figured out how to solve the same problem that comes up in munchkin, when you're at level 1 you don't want to fight a lvl 20 dragon and vice versa when you're lvl 10. or no actually i think you still gain a level or win the game if you fight... -a
[2010-04-06 17:27:07] - aaron: maybe you can help me design my game ^_^ my original concept was to make it about celebrities, but it may make more sense to limit it to musicians. you gain levels/skill pts/fans by drawing cards that say "take voice lessons" or "play a battle of the bands" etc. -amy
[2010-04-06 17:10:07] - a: Oh, there definitely have been many people who have installed newer versions of Ubuntu on their mini 9s. I believe a lot of them have trouble getting their wifi adapters to work when installing new versions too.
-Paul[2010-04-06 15:14:36] - there is another down-side to the dell version (generally called a "one-off version") . . . exactly the problem you're having right now: you have to wait on dell to distribute new versions. i guarantee people have at least tried to run lucid on a mini9/10/10z. ~a
[2010-04-06 15:13:22] - a: I'll fully admit that I'm a bit confused about that. I have definitely read that the Dell version of Ubuntu came with something (I figured it was these codecs) which didn't meet the open source standards, or whatever, and that's why Firefox had to be rebranded as "Web Browser". -Paul
[2010-04-06 15:09:31] - "as well as non-free codecs such as MPEG4 and MP3" you're inferring something not in the sentence. just because dell's variant has this doesn't mean that the lucid netbook remix does NOT have this. yes i can play mp3s and yes i can play the videos you sent me.
~a[2010-04-06 15:00:45] - a: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Netbook_Edition#Variants I'm concerned that Lucid might be worse because it's not "built specifically for the hardware profile of the Inspiron Mini 9" and also doesn't include "non-free codecs such as MPEG4 and MP3". -Paul
[2010-04-06 14:58:15] - a: And, of course, you address that right afterwards.
-Paul[2010-04-06 14:57:49] - a: But you also didn't have any problem using Hardy Heron, right? I don't think this is necessarily an OS problem. I think it's more likely that the atom processor in my netbook just can't handle such a processor intensive task. -Paul
[2010-04-06 14:55:55] - anyways, if it sucks you can always go back. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:55:35] - plus lucid boots MUCH faster than hardy so you'll likely enjoy that aspect of it on a netbook. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:51:54] - granted, the machine i'm running lucid on right now is a powerhouse, but i still think the netbook remix of lucid will likely be tuned for cheap machines. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:51:44] - amy: i think some kind of combination of "munchkin" and "shadows over camelot" might be really fun. random characters but cooperative goals. i mean one thing that bugs me about munchkin is that on one hand you really want to win. but on the other hand it's really really mean to reset someone to level 1 - aaron
[2010-04-06 14:50:53] - paul: i had no problem decoding h.264 in lucid. no i do not think lucid will magically solve any performance problems you're having. but newer versions of linux don't necessarily require newer hardware like they do in windows. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:48:48] - a: You think upgrading to a newer version of Ubuntu is going to make decoding h.264 video faster? -Paul
[2010-04-06 14:41:16] - and you could always get the beta. i've been using lucid for months now at home and it seems fine for me. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:38:53] - but to answer your question, i don't see a problem with trying to use coreavc (or coreavc-for-linux). there's a high chance you'll have to upgrade some other stuff to get it to work (again you'll be better off getting lucid). in linux-land upgrades are free and source is open so people tend to be ok with updating interfaces and upgrading software. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:37:42] - obv the kingmakeryness of munchkin is a problem, and the too-randomness of building up your character for an entire game, only to return to level 1 after half an hour of gameplay. but i don't know, some way to avoid those elemnts but still have simple character-stat building. hmm. -amy
[2010-04-06 14:36:49] - paul: you'd be better off getting lucid on april 29th. ~a
[2010-04-06 14:35:29] - also i def think munchkin is flawed, but always thought the mechanic of using cards to determine your character stats had potential. i always wanted to design a game based on that but never quite got it to work. -amy
[2010-04-06 14:34:32] - darn i came here to post that scrabble thing but a beat me to it. -amy
[2010-04-06 14:10:49] - a: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Do you think installing those codecs onto my netbook is a project that I would be able to undertake? -Paul
[2010-04-06 14:01:48] - ubuntu has libxvidcore4. not sure if that's the same thing. ~a
[2010-04-06 13:59:35] - "The project is now back online, having been recognized by CoreCodec." ~a
[2010-04-06 13:58:53] - "An open source project named CoreAVC-For-Linux hosted at Google Code patches the loader code in the open source media player program MPlayer ...Mythtv...xine...the CoreAVC-For-Linux project was taken down...DMCA complaint" ~a
[2010-04-06 13:57:09] - CoreAVC? appears to be proprietary and closed source. it appears to also cost money to purchase (or maybe it comes with some closed source linux products). ~a
[2010-04-06 13:49:57] - a: Have you ever heard of the CoreAVC codecs? -Paul
[2010-04-06 13:47:28] - vinnie: heh there's nothing to stop them from making one, but it would surprise me. i think the point of this proper noun rule is to encourage casual play. - aaron
[2010-04-06 13:45:19] - aaron: maybe I'm missing something. is there a proper word official scrabble dictionary? I just assumed there couldn't be one - vinnie
[2010-04-06 13:33:55] - zammrod: Go broknar yourself. - kbbafoy
[2010-04-06 12:33:38] - scrabble sucks - zammrod
[2010-04-06 12:30:35] - i.e i open kbbafoy, 89 points. is it better to play zammrod under kbbafoy for the cross-letters? or zammkbbafoyrod to hit the triple? it's not worse, it's just a different game. - aaron
[2010-04-06 12:29:16] - a: heh, it's 1994 all over again... like when they banned dirty words from the scrabble dictionary. i think it's fun playing scrabble with different dictionaries now and then. allowing all proper nouns is a cool variant, proper play then is more about geometry and maximizing the board space rather than vocab - aaron
[2010-04-06 12:11:14] - but yeah that would be unworkable in tournament play, especially if they say there are not going to be strict rules about what counts and what doesn't. - mig
[2010-04-06 12:09:05] - s/can/can't
[2010-04-06 12:08:49] - the letter distribution changes, which would be really crazy. - mig
[2010-04-06 12:08:29] - a: I'll be a little cynical here as I did notice they said they were going to keep selling a board with the original rules. It seems like a marketing ploy to me. You can buy Scrabble proper noun edition OR Scrabble original! Which is kind of silly, because really the proper noun things is just a house rule. It's not like you can use the original board for it,unless...
[2010-04-06 11:58:04] - for casual play, sure, whatever - vinnie
[2010-04-06 11:57:46] - a: hmm, you think the tournaments will use that rule? seems problematic if they do - vinnie
[2010-04-06 11:50:19] - scrabble to allow proper nouns? did you guys hear about that? wow. source ~a
[2010-04-06 10:58:14] - daniel: i agree it's similar in sentiment to kill dr lucky, except that in kill dr lucky it's pretty much a tie game until someone makes the last blow. in munchkin, if you get level-drained to like, level 1, and everyone else is level 11, then the game is no fun - aaron
[2010-04-06 10:57:14] - daniel: i forget which monster, but there's some monster that takes you back to level 1. or maybe it drains like 6 levels? - aaron
[2010-04-06 10:51:41] - hmm. i didnt expect the anti munchkin sentiment. i feel like its similar to that kill dr whatever game we played aaron where everyone tries to prevent one from doing to much. aaron how did you get screwed early that you werent able to recover? -Daniel
[2010-04-06 09:31:24] - aaron: I think you're on to something with the length complaint. It's a very long game for not much fun (for me). -- Xpovos
[2010-04-06 06:55:28] - and fwiw i only played munchkin once but i thought it sucked. it was very random, a little too long, highly "kingmakery". i think i might like it if it were 2-3 minutes long? i got screwed pretty early in our game to where the remaining 30-45 minutes of the game felt like a total chore to me - aaron
[2010-04-06 06:53:10] - gurkie: most other players (myself included) adopt a more conservative strategy, placing water sometimes, sometimes placing 4s early on if they seem "safe", etc, but your strategy always wins
- aaron[2010-04-06 06:51:24] - gurkie: no you weren't deliberately trying to break aquaduct; you just always adopt a very basic strategy which is very different from the "intuitive" way to play the game... spamming 1s and 2s and waiting for unclaimed water squares to open up so you can get free guaranteed 3s and 4s later - aaron
[2010-04-05 23:34:58] - xpovos: no i have never heard of 402 office suite. i use openoffice at work. at home i almost never need a spreadsheet. printers and spreadsheets are two things i seem to never need to use at home. ~a
[2010-04-05 23:32:47] - hahaha. awww, i'm not a notable redhead. yeah so the list originally started out as a wikipedia page; sadly it was deleted. ~a
[2010-04-05 22:01:37] - a: where are you on your list? - vinnie
[2010-04-05 21:52:59] - In college I tinkered around with a lot of non MS software, but I always needed some kind of spreadsheet tool for my labs. So I eventually found a product that I believe was called "402 Office Suite". Unfortunately, this oh-so-descriptively named product never caught on, and has vanished into the mists of the internet. Anyone else heard of it, even? -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 21:43:28] - Will It Blend? He's still doing it, and it's more expensive than ever. By now, we shouldn't be surprised by the results, but this video is cool anyway. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 18:32:07] - a: surely, I am proud to know you. - pierce
[2010-04-05 17:34:59] - oh sweet! if you search for list of redheads my wikipedia page is the first result. ~a
[2010-04-05 17:34:15] - haha. "Currently pursuing an undergraduate or graduate degree program." i don't think any of us qualify.
~a[2010-04-05 17:30:43] - anyone have any young friends interested in doing programming for the Team Obama? http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/devjobapp -nina
[2010-04-05 16:44:09] - *** Paul gives Xpovos quizzical look
[2010-04-05 16:36:31] - aaron: I dont remember how to play aquaduct but was I really trying to break the game or just confused about how to play? ~gurkie
[2010-04-05 16:33:05] - gurkie: Not that I'm aware of. Maybe it's some repressed memory or something.
No, it's something about the mechanics of the game. -- Xpovos[2010-04-05 16:30:26] - xpovos: do you have pent up anger against someone who once called you a munchkin? or had a very bad experience involving the wizard of oz? Essentially a deeply traumatic relationship with the word... ~gurkie
[2010-04-05 16:00:40] - Daniel: I dunno why, but I can't stand Munchkin. If anyone can explain to me why I'd like most games, and hate Munchkin, I'd appreciate it, because I can't explain it and people sometimes give me quizzical looks when I say it. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 15:23:31] - Well that certainly started quite the conversation. card games are not a deal breaker. yall familiar with munchkin? that can be a fun game to lose. -Daniel
[2010-04-05 14:48:25] - but yeah i think it's important that a game is entertaining to lose at, which is one strike i have against diplomacy (or at least F2F diplomacy) where losing is really really boring - aaron
[2010-04-05 14:43:44] - gurkie: for board games, i think the first thing everyone tries to do is "break" the game. like the first game of where i bought four jesters and everyone realized, "wow jesters are good". or the first game of aquaduct where you placed like, two rivers your entire game but still won - aaron
[2010-04-05 14:41:38] - a: i enjoy losing dominion and race and scrabble, as long as the games move quickly and people want to play again. - aaron
[2010-04-05 14:40:39] - a: i don't think i get too engrossed in being the best... i think i just enjoy games more than other people, and i have more free time - aaron
[2010-04-05 13:33:49] - aaron: I think I enjoy games differently from you, I dont tend to like analyzing the game to find a best strategy or a way to try and break it... and as Paul alluded to I like an element of luck in games I play, and I dont like the games to be too intense in terms of how much people care about the results. ~gurkie
[2010-04-05 13:21:47] - i think your situation is you get too engrossed in becoming the best player at board games so it's hard to find people who are at about the same level as you. ~a
[2010-04-05 13:19:55] - aaron: "there's no luck to chess, puyo puyo, puzzle league which is why i don't like playing them" 1. some times you don't know who is the better player. 2. some games are entertaining to lose at especially when it's not obvious who's winning throughout the game. ~a
[2010-04-05 13:19:21] - aaron: sorry for being a jackass. ~a
[2010-04-05 12:59:16] - Stephen: I think that's why most skill based games are strictly two-player. When you go multiplayer you have a very hard time of not introducing king-maker scenarios at a minimum. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:55:38] - Aaron: I can see that more in Catan. In Ticket, I think it hurts you so much more to penalize another player. Sure, you can build the track that he desperately needs, but unless you need it too, you've just wasted your turn. In Catan, you can Robber, Soldier, and refuse to trade without affecting your turn too much. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:55:33] - Aaron: The social aspect of games shouldn't be underestimated. Diplomacy comes to mind - 2009-46 almost ended very differently because of the social aspect. - Stephen
[2010-04-05 12:54:25] - Aaron: Interesting. I agree that there is a ton of luck in Scrabble, but I also feel like there is a potential for huge differences in skill too. For instance, I suck at word based games like Scrabble and Bananagrams, and so I think you would have some ridiculously high chance of beating me despite the luck aspect. -Paul
[2010-04-05 12:51:46] - xpovos: yeah i agree, although games like catan and ticket add the additional social aspect which almost penalizes players who show some kind of advantage. in some cases i wouldn't be surprised if the best player had a below average chance of winning, you know, like if a brilliant douche is teaching his friends how to play, and they all gang up on him - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:48:58] - Stephen: And in general, More luck means more appeal to beginners (of gaming in general), particularly when combined with relatively simple/easy to learn mechanics. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:48:00] - paul: yeah i agree, my favorite games aren't necessarily deep games. there's a lot of luck to dominion, new tetris, and a ton of luck to scrabble. there's no luck to chess, puyo puyo, puzzle league which is why i don't like playing them... i already know who's going to win - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:46:40] - For Settlers of Catan (4 players), I'd say the best player at the table probably wins at least 30% of the time, with a higher percentage based on how close the other players are in skill, to as high as maybe 45%. Since pure luck gives him 25%, skill really only adds 5-20%, which is fairly low, I think. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:46:36] - Paul: Exactly. I have no incentive to play Tigris & Euphrates because I have approximately zero chance of winning the game. I think everyone's ideal game involves some skill and some luck, but our ideals are on different parts of the continuum. - Stephen
[2010-04-05 12:44:51] - a: i was clearly expressing an opinion, don't be a jackass - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:44:38] - a: you can't prove you're making up numbers. where's your source? - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:43:05] - aaron: Continuing, though, a player's skill is more than just learning the right moves. Basically, you're saying that the game's learning curve is 5-10 games, which is accurate, and perhaps even a bit steep. They're simple games to pick up. But skill is also making the right moves. Knowing results in forgetting sometimes, or other mistakes. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:42:00] - aaron: Also, while I usually prefer games that have more elements of skill than luck, I think some people will often prefer games with a little more luck because it makes it more casual and everybody has a chance to win. -Paul
[2010-04-05 12:41:07] - aaron: Ok, I see what you mean, so it's more the second item I said, but broader and more narrow at the same time. I think you might be making an additional assumption though, that player skills involved are roughly equal. The first assumption you're making is that player skill doesn't matter as much in those games.Since they're more luck-based, that's a given. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:40:03] - aaron: I think a lot depends on how often you play games and what you're looking for in a game. It's easy for us to say that a game might only have 5-10 "games of skill" in it since we play games so often, but I'll bet that most people hardly ever play games like Settlers or Ticket more than 5-10 times. -Paul
[2010-04-05 12:34:26] - Speed chess is more of a sport than regular chess. a: what time limits are you playing? 2|0, 5|0, 2|10? -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 12:31:26] - sure. though i'm making up numbers. i'm sure you have sources for your numbers
~a[2010-04-05 12:30:23] - a: sorry that was meant for you. are you defending speed chess? i wasn't talkin about speed chess - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:29:59] - aaron: ticket and settlers? really? - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:27:05] - and the remaining .02% can be made up for by having someone telly ou the optimal strategies. ~a
[2010-04-05 12:26:09] - aaron: very doubtful. after playing 5-10 games i would say you have a 9.98% chance of beating someone who's played 500-1000 games. ~a
[2010-04-05 12:25:38] - xpovos: that might be a little harsh, actually. maybe more like 40% chance, but the remaining 9% can be made up for by having someone tell you the optimal strategies, since you rarely need to deviate from them - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:21:07] - xpovos: after 5-10 games i would say you have a 49% chance at beating someone who's played 500-1000 games - aaron
[2010-04-05 12:09:18] - stephen: Im jealous of your drinks...
and feel left out. but really dont enjoy watching basketball... tell me how the drinks are! ~gurkie[2010-04-05 12:01:45] - a: concur with stephen on speed chess
I giggled when I read that in your list of sports... also in general I think liking sports to play them and liking sports to watch them are very different ~gurkie[2010-04-05 11:50:24] - a: I emailed you with info about tonight. And haha @ speed chess being a sport. - Stephen
[2010-04-05 11:19:22] - aaron: "5-10 games of skill" Do you mean they incorporate skills that you can use in an additional 5-10 named games; or that they require skill for the first 5-10 games until you've reasoned an ideal/game winning strategy? Or something else? -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 11:11:59] - a: I sent you the invite for basketball. Hope to see you there! -Paul
[2010-04-05 11:05:09] - and you'll lose to anybody else who has better luck. but i think settlers and ticket are both introductory game and they have about 5-10 games worth of skill in them - aaron
[2010-04-05 11:04:22] - i'm also not a big fan of ticket lately, i think the random element is too predominant. if not for the random destinations then for the random trains. the optimal strategy is to draw randoms to get to 43-45 cards, then throw down 4s, 5s, 6s. and sometimes you'll just get very bad luck with the cards you draw. you can fall back on other strats but they're worse, - aaron
[2010-04-05 11:02:43] - i've got kind of a vendetta against settlers. it moves too slowly, uses dice in a bad way, and in a 4 player game you can get totally screwed before your first turn to where it's just miserable to play - aaron
[2010-04-05 10:57:26] - i was pretty lousy at basketball. apparently adrian men can't jump. unless aided by a board or wheels. i might try my hand at it again anyways. ~a
[2010-04-05 10:54:52] - . . . i juggle in my free time. i watched the entire xgames this winter. i'm learning speed chess. i rowed crew in high school and college and i ran both cross country and track at both annandale and jefferson. ~a
[2010-04-05 10:53:57] - a: Ok, we're playing basketball this Sunday if you wanted to come and play. Also, I'm going to buy some Nationals tickets. Do you want to go to any games? -Paul
[2010-04-05 10:45:20] - i went to a lacrosse game on saturday. and i went biking on saturday. i tried desperately to set up an ultimate game. i'll probably be biking tomorrow. and i spent every weekend this winter in pennsylvania snowboarding. if i hate sports, then you must too. ~a
[2010-04-05 10:39:33] - a: Wait, you're going to go watch a college basketball game? I thought you hated sports. -Paul
[2010-04-05 10:30:16] - the ratio of sales documentation to useful documentation (technical/architectural/etc) for enterprise software products is 100:1. >< - pierce
[2010-04-05 09:56:39] - stephen: into! sounds good. ~a
[2010-04-05 09:56:24] - vinnie: I was thinking of adding Dominion too, but it's less a board game and more a card game, which might be a deal breaker for some. Definitely fast, and not too steep a learning curve. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 09:53:40] - If you want to watch the Duke/Butler game tonight, Pierce and Nina are coming over. There'll be homemade hooch, too! - Stephen
[2010-04-05 09:28:58] - Daniel: Dominion is the one we've been rockin' lately, if Miguel and Aaron haven't already told you about it. really fun, really strategic, but also moves quickly and is easy to pick up - vinnie
[2010-04-05 06:41:20] - Daniel: Settlers of Catan? That always seems like a nice intro-game, and it's doable with two players, though 3 or 4 is preferred, obviously. I've heard some good things about Pandemic too, though I haven't played that myself. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-05 01:07:30] - Two successful games of Agricola with Andrea and she is willing to play a 3rd. Bonus. Maybe try and get her to play Ticket to Ride next, some others suggested Puerto Rico. Anyone else have ideas for 2 player games? Aaron and Gurkie have already given me some but always looking for more input.
-Daniel[2010-04-04 20:05:40] - http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20001718-37.html Wow. I heard the analyst prediction for 200,000, with 2.5M before end of the year and thought that was reasonable to a little high. If this is accurate, I'm absolutely floored. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-04 17:48:42] - a: mixing metaphors some. IE may still be the most used browser--but not on the iPad. Safari already does OK with many canvass elements. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-04 12:44:17] - xpovos: flash support will still be an issue after html5 hits big. most sites won't support html5 because most browsers won't support html5. we have to wait for microsoft to catch up for any of that to work. ~a
[2010-04-04 12:42:27] - paul: oh i read "few" not "a few". oops. ~a
[2010-04-04 11:38:01] - Paul: so you're basically in agreement with a. I think the lack of flash support will be a big non-issue for the iPad in short order, as long as Safari on it gets a solid HTML5 update and support. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-04 10:34:10] - paul: they are things that laptops/desktops can do. ~a
[2010-04-04 09:55:02] - a: Also, a few of those things that you listed (multi-tasking, flash, using non-apple approved software) are things that my phone can either do or will be able to do in the near future. -Paul
[2010-04-04 03:34:02] - lol good subtitle... "penetrate is a particular plan pony"... - aaron
[2010-04-03 15:42:49] - a: As much as I love the functionality of my phone, I'll gladly admit that there is a ton it cannot, or at least should not, be doing. Maybe in a few more generations. In the meantime, I can see the iPad being a nice in-between. But not nice enough for me to spend $500 on. But then, I'm not part of the Apple cult. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-03 10:14:42] - but it has the limitations of a phone with the portability of a laptop. really it's the worst of both worlds: am i wrong? if it's something i can't put in my pocket and i can't make phone calls with, i'm going to expect it to do SOMETHING that my phone cannot. otherwise, i'd just use my phone. ~a
[2010-04-03 09:34:53] - a: I think a lot of the problem is you're ascribing desires to the iPad that it mirror computer functionality. It doesn't, because it's not a computer, in the 'P.C.' sense. It's a portable tablet. That alone has some appeal to some users. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-02 19:48:26] - can you imagine a computer without any wired outputs? like how do you plug in your camera? can you imagine a computer without flash? how do you browse the web? can you imagine a computer that doesn't multitask? omg so horrible. can you imagine a computer that will only let you use apple approved software? i hope i'm helping. ~a
[2010-04-02 17:02:28] - ok, this makes me feel better. http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/04/sjm5v.jpg -nina
[2010-04-02 16:59:52] - I didn't think I wanted an iPad, but all this hype is starting to wear me down. I'm finding myself want one more and more, even though I know it doesn't really have a useful purpose in my life. -nina
[2010-04-02 16:14:08] - Aaron: That is lame. I'm surprised Turkey didn't try to position him/herself so that s/he could stab Austria. - Stephen
[2010-04-02 15:55:52] - paul: if you're still bitter about that 5-way draw from a few games ago you should check out 2009-32 - aaron
[2010-04-02 15:41:30] - gurkie: java, javascript, and cpp. ~a
[2010-04-02 15:09:08] - also any C++ developers who want a job? ~gurkie
[2010-04-02 15:08:04] - a: what do you code in at work? ~gurkie
[2010-04-02 14:05:28] - mig: 96 teams? that's insane. I just want a bracket for NCAA Football. -nina
[2010-04-02 13:16:40] - as much as I'm a "giving the little guy a chance" when it comes to sports, there are limits. - mig
[2010-04-02 13:03:48] - I'm not totally against this idea, but honestly I thought it would have been better to simply take away the automatic bids from the bad conferences that continually bring 15/16 seeded teams that get sent as sacrificial lambs to 1 and 2 seeds. But I guess that's probably something that could ever be worked out now. - mig
[2010-04-02 13:00:30] - http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=ap-ncaatournament-expansion expanding the NCAA tournament to 96 teams seems very probably for next year. - mig
[2010-04-02 12:02:04] - I was able to 'open in new tab' with no problem in Chrome, no extensions. Dunno how new tab affects referrers. -- Xpovos
[2010-04-02 11:32:27] - *that ~a
[2010-04-02 11:32:19] - i was able to click on the links cause of thate addon. ~a
[2010-04-02 11:31:51] - or use refcontrol addon for firefox. ~a
[2010-04-02 11:07:12] - aaron: copy the url and paste it into the address bar of a new tab. they only disallow external referrers, but are fine with blank referrers. - pierce
[2010-04-02 10:55:24] - vinnie: moby games doesn't let you direct link images, I just get a standard filler image telling me to go to mobygames.com - aaron
[2010-04-02 10:23:53] - yeah this one isn't so bad, except for mega man's delight at shooting spark man in the crotch: http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1161164085-00.jpg - vinnie
[2010-04-02 10:22:10] - god even worse than I remember it being. I can't even tell what's going on in this picture: http://www.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/1104774873-00.jpg - vinnie
[2010-04-02 10:18:15] - so if they make an 11, I wonder if they will stick with that - vinnie
[2010-04-02 10:17:46] - aaron: yeah I saw that
but I think only the first two mega man games had that really weird art style - vinnie[2010-04-02 09:50:17] - a: oh thats pretty cool... Did she catch people trying to use them? ~gurkie
[2010-04-02 09:47:33] - vinnie: mega man 10 cover art - aaron
[2010-04-01 18:26:34] - vinnie: they're especially awful for any of the icecap songs... ahh there are like, orchestral hit solos!!! - aaron
[2010-04-01 18:25:12] - vinnie: lol orchestral "elements"? i'm finally listening to this oC stuff now, a lot of it sounded surprisingly good, some of it's hilariously bad - aaron
[2010-04-01 17:02:08] - a: oh that's classic. hope she put a tape recorder there too - vinnie
[2010-04-01 17:00:32] - a: hahahaha! - pierce
[2010-04-01 16:50:27] - my friend's gf had the best apr fools day prank. above the photocopier at work she put up a note describing "new voice activated commands" for the copier. hehe. ~a
[2010-04-01 16:01:23] - http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/41/moodinq-tattoo.shtml ~gurkie
[2010-04-01 15:40:54] - "the devil can cite scripture for his purpose." -ws
[2010-04-01 14:26:17] - also. writer of xkcd = psb fan? <3 <3 -amy
[2010-04-01 14:25:56] - for anyone playing with the remixanator. i did a couple of tracks and my personal favorite of those was ice cap solo piano + orchestral elements. -amy
[2010-04-01 13:15:10] - sirrah, then. - pierce
[2010-04-01 11:49:13] - sir???? ~gurkie
[2010-04-01 11:35:20] - pistols at dawn, sir! - pierce
[2010-04-01 11:32:36] - Pierce: are you saying I lied? Are you impugning my honor? I challenge you to a duel! ~gurkie
[2010-04-01 11:28:19] - gurkie: how dare you! I would never impugn our good friend vinnie's honor by implying that he was some sort of mulliganarian! - pierce
[2010-04-01 11:24:05] - vinnie: aaw I really like that... (pierce says you cheated) ~gurkie
[2010-04-01 11:10:07] - A poncey tosser? -- Xpovos
[2010-04-01 11:00:02] - I've been called a dunce, an ignoramus, a blockhead, a nitwit, a ninny, and a dullard, but at heart I'll always be a dolt - vinnie
[2010-04-01 10:57:58] - or a ne'er-do-well. - pierce
[2010-04-01 10:57:14] - vinnie: pierce is just being nice
~gurkie[2010-04-01 10:44:32] - vinnie: dolt? I always figured you more for a knucklehead... maybe a nincompoop. - pierce
[2010-04-01 10:37:14] - xpovos: oops, I'm a dolt. forgot you said it was blocked - vinnie
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