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[2009-07-16 10:06:41] - the new movie is very good, but it struggles a bit with the fact that its plot is mostly just laying the groundwork for the last book. it's beautifully shot though, some of the scenes are very visually striking. I give it a B. - pierce
[2009-07-16 09:51:04] - Also, how was the new Harry Potter movie, for those that went last night? -Paul
[2009-07-16 09:47:50] - Anybody have any requests for what ringtone they would like on my phone? It has to be an mp3 that I am likely to have (so no death metal) and I am under no obligation to agree to your suggestion.
-Paul[2009-07-15 13:38:06] - a: it was when i was driving the 2001 mustang although i've hit 100 easily in a 1991 hyundai excel and 2003 honda civic before. on the highway right now, i usually sit at about 80-90 but i think traffic here travels faster on average than traffic in nova. - aba
[2009-07-15 11:45:05] - I was looking through some code with a coworker and he was showing me the logs and I saw the coolest log statement ever "Initializing killing sequence..." ~gurkie
[2009-07-15 11:23:13] - and by "say" i obviously mean "write" ~a
[2009-07-15 11:08:48] - most people say lat/lon or lat/lng. lat/long is weird because they're different lengths. ~a
[2009-07-15 10:57:29] - a: Lat and Long doesn't help me as much as addresses would. I'll take whichever you're willing to give me. Thanks! -Paul
[2009-07-15 10:41:07] - i have latitude/longitude for all of them. here is the source. i also have street addresses for many of them but in most cases it's sitting in my email so just let me know which ones you want. ~a
[2009-07-15 10:37:02] - a: Any chance you have a list of addresses that correlate to the people on the friendsmap? I'm trying to flesh out my contact information on gmail and I realized I have very few people's addresses. -Paul
[2009-07-15 10:25:24] - aaron: it's not if you read the "recall" before you read the "original", it's if you receive the "recall" before you read the "original" (i assume) ~a
[2009-07-15 10:15:34] - oh alright - i always read my messages in chronological order, so the "recalled message" thing never works for me. i think i understand now - aaron
[2009-07-15 10:03:12] - a: Outlook for work e-mail, yes. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't work with non-Outlook e-mail clients, though some may support it, I dunno. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-15 10:00:48] - a: I use Outlook at work. whether you see the recalled message is based on your outlook settings and whether you've already read the message - vinnie
[2009-07-15 09:58:12] - it probably is something you can enable/disable, right? also, you guys use outlook? ~a
[2009-07-15 09:53:13] - yeah, that feature only works if the e-mail they want to recall hasn't been read. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-15 09:41:30] - gurkie: hmm okay, it must just be that outlook isn't doing what it's supposed to then... because yeah it would make sense if it just disappeared - aaron
[2009-07-15 09:41:05] - and it's like - okay, that's nice.... too bad it's an e-mail! so she can't do that! sucks to be her! - aaron
[2009-07-15 09:40:55] - aaron: I think people are hoping that you wont see both and that it will just disappear out of your inbox... ~gurkie
[2009-07-15 09:39:43] - i don't get the point of these "recall e-mails"... like, every few weeks I'll get an e-mail, "Susan would like to recall the e-mail: urgent meeting!" or something like that - aaron
[2009-07-15 09:38:16] - i had forgotten that you had the same car i did. ~a
[2009-07-15 09:36:43] - a: 1989 Plymouth Sundance. 4-cylander engine. By no means a performance car. It was shaking hard at 90. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-15 09:22:55] - you guys must have had better cars than i did. ~a
[2009-07-14 23:02:38] - I seem to recall doing 110-120 on the PW Parkway... I guess insurance companies are right, teenage drivers really are higher risk. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-14 21:38:25] - back in the good ol' days. ~a
[2009-07-14 21:22:51] - a: i think i topped out at around 130 but that was years ago. - aba
[2009-07-14 20:41:53] - aba: i've driven 100mph a few times on 81 and no faster. you? ~a
[2009-07-14 18:26:17] - a: you've never driven faster than 100mph? - aba
[2009-07-14 17:23:05] - haha. ~a
[2009-07-14 17:22:48] - good point! still . . . that's only 120mph. ~a
[2009-07-14 17:21:21] - aaron: That was technically outside of an airplane. -Paul
[2009-07-14 17:05:04] - a: you went skydiving! - aaron
[2009-07-14 16:04:11] - hmmm outside of an airplane, i'm not sure if i've ever gone faster than 100mph. ~a
[2009-07-14 15:44:28] - haha actually looking at the map, it looks smaller than king's dominion. they just cram the rides really close together
- vinnie[2009-07-14 15:42:14] - wow never realized how big cedar point is, the number of coasters and thrill rides listed on their website seems really big - vinnie
[2009-07-14 15:23:44] - however, cedar point has TWO coasters over 90m. or . . . maybe three?! ~a
[2009-07-14 15:18:04] - yeah the tallest coaster in the world is in new jersey. ~a
[2009-07-14 15:07:49] - vinnie: Six Flags in Jersey has a strata coaster which is apparently taller than the giga coasters... ~gurkie
[2009-07-14 15:02:01] - a: looks like fun. let's organize a trip to cedar point - vinnie
[2009-07-14 13:57:10] - there are some other pictures in the article. ~a
[2009-07-14 13:39:38] - aaron: there needs to be something to show scale in that picture. it looks like hypersonic - vinnie
[2009-07-14 13:35:49] - and she's hot. ~a
[2009-07-14 13:34:04] - ohhhh, monumental burn. - pierce
[2009-07-14 12:26:35] - http://notalwaysright.com/beauty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-consumer/2213 beauty is in the eye of the consumer - aaron
[2009-07-14 11:41:48] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Millennium_Force1_CP.JPG here's another giga coaster, "millenium force"... - aaron
[2009-07-14 11:40:41] - vinnie's motherland is big ~a
[2009-07-14 11:16:07] - wait? it's guy-wire? i always thought it was guide-wire. guide-wire makes much more sense. ~a
[2009-07-14 10:31:19] - the eiffel tower observation deck is 85m. ~a
[2009-07-14 09:04:28] - a: so basically, drop zone, but at a slant. and then a coaster after it. man , i can't even imagine that much hang time, we have to go next year... - aaron
[2009-07-13 20:38:28] - wow, that's cool! for reference: rebel yell: 25m high, superman at 6flags: 60m high, drop zone: 90m high, giga 90-120m high. so basically it's guaranteed to be taller than drop-zone. ~a
[2009-07-13 19:52:52] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga_Coaster according to wikipedia, kings dominion may be getting a giga coaster in 2010. a giga coaster is a roller coaster between 300-399 ft in height (30-40 stories). there are only two in the world - aaron
[2009-07-13 17:25:32] - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article6681923.ece want your lost wallet returned? carry a baby picture - aaron
[2009-07-13 15:47:37] - paul: of course you are biased. you are paul. ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 15:15:04] - a: Maybe I am biased since I am the target of Pierce's message, but I agree with Aaron.
-Paul[2009-07-13 14:46:49] - a: i think it's worth the cost. i have some embarassing messages in the past but i think there will be more funny messages than shameful messages - aaron
[2009-07-13 14:32:28] - I like the random message (sub-message). It's fun to see conversations that we've forgotten. Some of them were heated, that's part of the point. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-13 14:26:41] - I have a nuvi 750. No real complaints. It could clearly be better, but I'm sufficiently impressed with what it does do. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-13 14:26:39] - a: I love the sub-messages. we get to make fun of pierce. even moreso than usual - vinnie
[2009-07-13 14:26:38] - anyways i don't think it's pretentious especially in context. i disagree with aaron. ~a
[2009-07-13 14:25:33] - there is no need to apologize for anything. . . . i often wonder if the sub-message feature is a good idea. some messages could come up that would make people feel bad. what do you guys think? ~a
[2009-07-13 14:14:23] - I apologize for nothing. - pierce
[2009-07-13 13:33:31] - a: yes i was talking about the sentence with an average word length of, like, 12 - aaron
[2009-07-13 13:30:24] - paul: i'm guessing that aaron is talking about pierce's comment. ~a
[2009-07-13 13:26:40] - Paul: yes that is the title. ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 13:13:52] - Aaron: Are you talking about Pierce's comment or the fetus one? -Paul
[2009-07-13 13:12:50] - Gurkie: What is "all hail england, uncontested queen of the atlantic"? The title? -Paul
[2009-07-13 13:00:21] - aaron: it might be less pretentious in context. ~a
[2009-07-13 13:00:01] - aaron: I would say sub title = fetus & animal, sub msg = collection medical contagion conditional... ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 12:51:35] - or, sub-message... is that what we're calling it? whatever, it's pretentious - aaron
[2009-07-13 12:51:18] - this is the most pretentious sounding subtitle we've ever had - aaron
[2009-07-13 12:37:30] - a: is the 550's speech different from say the 350s (I think thats the one paul has)? ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 12:09:10] - gurkie: i have the nuvi 550. the nuvi, on the other hand, are designed for roads. the 550 is kind of in the middle of roads and off roads. the thing i hate about the 550 is the speech (minor). there is probably a known bug and it might be fixed but i haven't really done my homework on that yet. ~a
[2009-07-13 12:08:57] - title: is that fear mongering? ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 11:56:02] - xpovos/a: thanks, I was thinking that garmin was the way to go anyway... What models do you guys have? ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 11:54:18] - aaron: stephen sent an email about SYTYCD on Wednesday to your vt, do you still check that email? ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 11:17:06] - gurkie: my gps has a walking mode. however i'm not sure how many (if any) sidewalk maps it has and i haven't really used the walking feature. the walking feature i think just lets you go off road. is there some use-case you'd like me to test out on it? ~a
[2009-07-13 11:17:00] - gurkie: My Garmin does that. I've never used the walking directions though. And it won't get reception in buildings. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-13 11:11:37] - does anyone know if there are GPS' out there where you can switch a mode toggle of some sort from driving directions to walking directions? ~gurkie
[2009-07-13 09:12:47] - Sorry it took me so long to disband, I had a jam-packed weekend, and it was a mildly strategic decision to be made. But it's all done now. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-11 10:04:48] - although admittedly i'd only seen "iron giant", "heathers" and "armageddon" - aaron
[2009-07-11 09:57:14] - a: yeah, i agree with the critics on every one of those movies that i had seen - aaron
[2009-07-11 00:19:29] - aaron: Cool graphic, but I think they could probably pick out a better set of movies. Some of the awful movies made a lot of money because they were well-marketed summer movies, Shrek because it was a brainless sequel. The bombs, though, had a fair number of good movies, many that did pretty well, despite 'bombing'. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-10 23:47:41] - aaron: on some of those movies the critics were right and the public was wrong. almost famous (great), frost nixon (good), hancock (suck), armageddon (suck), meet the fockers (i assume that sucked). ~a
[2009-07-10 17:19:22] - hmm I think Evan's expressions are pretty good, but he looks sooo young and prepubescant or something... I think Randi is kind of ugly, which is one of the things that made me realize how much looks matter in this competition... ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 17:06:18] - vinnie: i actually just don't think randi and evan are as good dancers, either. i could be biased because of the looks thing, but i tend to find them lacking in expression. -amy
[2009-07-10 17:05:06] - gurkie: oh, i was really impressed by ade because of the lifts, heh. i noticed that ade + melissa get a lot more lifts in their choreography, and i really think some of the other couples wouldn't be able to pull those off. -amy
[2009-07-10 16:51:59] - aaron: "pieuaou deoui deouoer " = pas de deux? So I havent watched all the shows but I thought the pas de deux mostly had him lifting Melissa and not really doing that much on his part. I missed the solos last night but so far Ade hasnt done anything where I thought HIS performance stood out to me... ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 16:50:48] - vinnie: in other words u like 6 and dislike 2 and are so so on jeanine and... justin... I think thats his name ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 16:50:13] - amy: I wasnt offended, I mean it is shallow... But its the entertainment industry and human nature tends to be drawn towards more attractive people. Its a prejudice you can even find in babies. ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 16:45:32] - amy: Ah... gotcha. -Paul
[2009-07-10 16:32:55] - damn I spelled all their names wrong, sorry dancers! - vinnie
[2009-07-10 16:28:45] - they're obviously really talented, but they just can't portray the same figures as someone like Kapono, who I think makes use of his lanky figure really well - vinnie
[2009-07-10 16:27:39] - I totally agree that looks and personality play a significant part, not just on the show but in being a successful dancer. I'm a little ashamed to admit, but some of the reason I'm not crazy about randi and evan is that they're shorter than the rest and don't look that "dancer-like" to me - vinnie
[2009-07-10 16:24:32] - my favs were all coupled: melissa and ade, jeanette and brandon, kayla and kupono. randi and evan should have both been eliminated already IMO, and the rest I'm so-so on - vinnie
[2009-07-10 16:24:14] - paul: azn = asian ^_^ -amy
[2009-07-10 16:24:05] - http://www.moviefill.com/Movies-That-Told-Critics-to-Suck-It-17426/ a list of movies which either did really well despite poor reviews, or did really poorly despite good reviews - aaron
[2009-07-10 16:23:07] - and yes, i favor dancers i find attractive, and it's totally unfair. but a lot of my favorite dances/dancers involve really heavy/freaky outfits and makeup, so i think anybody could pull that stuff off - aaron
[2009-07-10 16:20:33] - i mean, up to the audience, to a point, so it might come down to personality... but i'd be very surprised if those two don't make the top 4. as far as females go, yea janette is really good... don't know who else i'd pick. i miss karla - aaron
[2009-07-10 16:18:06] - azn? -Paul
[2009-07-10 16:16:59] - brandon and ade are so top-tier it's ridiculous. i can't imagine any of the other dancers pulling off the stuff they do. like the pieuaou deoui deouoer stuff? no way kupono, philip, jason, or evan could pull off any of that stuff... or, at least i've never really seen em pull off lifts that impressive - aaron
[2009-07-10 16:06:25] - gurkie: btw i did not mean to imply that you are shallow. well maybe, but if so i am shallow too .p yay pretty dancers. -amy
[2009-07-10 15:56:45] - actually this conv reminds me of my friend who is a dancer and for a while he was auditioning to try and go on tour with people like... i don't know, britney, beyonce, the kind of pop singers who would have backup dancers. he said it was hard to find gigs bc he doesn't have the right look (he is short and azn) even though he is a good dancer. sad. -amy
[2009-07-10 15:54:22] - gurkie: yeah, unfortunate but i guess understandable since dancing is a visual art. also it's reality tv and ppl are shallow .p -amy
[2009-07-10 15:26:11] - amy: I recently realized how much a factor looks are in this show... Its interesting cause you think that being a good dancer would be enough but you have to have the right look to draw people in. honestly I like Kupono but I think its scewed by the fact that I find him attractive... ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 15:17:58] - gurkie: i really like janette, kayla, and kupono too. i actually really don't like evan and randi, but the judges seem to like them, as do the fans since they've never been in bottom 3. -amy
[2009-07-10 15:12:55] - amy: my favorite dancers left are probably Jeanette/Kayla and Brandon/Kapono... but I dont know that much about some of the remaining dancers... ~Gurkie
[2009-07-10 15:11:10] - ...stop-frame animation to me. -amy
[2009-07-10 15:11:02] - so i think the first 2 were my favorite from this week, the disco and the addiction thingy. i personally think melissa and ade are ridiculously good, though i have to see what happens when they break up the couples. i also liked the last dance, wade robson's. it was so weird, but i thought the dancers were ridiculously on the beat, it looked like... -amy
[2009-07-10 15:09:28] - I talked to Stephen the people kicked out were Kaitlin/Philip ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 15:09:14] - wiki tells all: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/So_You_Think_You_Can_Dance_(season_5) -amy
[2009-07-10 14:33:38] - amy: i didn't see the elimination show, and i don't mind spoiler either - aaron
[2009-07-10 14:08:01] - amy: who got kicked out last night? ~gurkie
[2009-07-10 13:40:04] - I don't mind spoilers, for the record, even though I didn't watch this week's show. - pierce
[2009-07-10 13:14:12] - sytycd ppl: who are your favorites in the top 10? ...or is that a spoiler bc some ppl haven't watched the whole thing yet? -amy
[2009-07-10 13:13:46] - gurkie: i agree that jeanette's part looked much harder. that was a pretty cool dance. -amy
[2009-07-10 12:17:05] - Mig: It should! Because once I fight through France and Germany and Switzerland.... you're going down! -Paul
[2009-07-10 12:13:11] - abject terror consumes me. - mig
[2009-07-10 11:52:28] - Phew. So now that my orders for this turn are in (what's taking the rest of you so long?), I can trash talk. Italy is going down! -Paul
[2009-07-10 07:35:46] - vinnie: weighted random is probably the way to go, although strategically i don't think any move can be weighted more than 50% - aaron
[2009-07-09 21:11:11] - there has to be some random element involved for the computer to not be beaten every time. I'm guessing the ideal way for the computer to play is analyze how strong each move is and pick by weighted random - vinnie
[2009-07-09 17:30:21] - gurkie: lol. i never saw that, i thought she looked ok. the short hair was surprising - aaron
[2009-07-09 17:28:25] - Gurkie: Maybe it's like America's Next Top Model, where they try to find attractive women and then see how ugly they can make them. -Paul
[2009-07-09 17:28:02] - Gurkie: She definitely was last night. I don't know how she normally looks. -Paul
[2009-07-09 16:54:20] - also Paul describes Cat Deeley as "cat-looks-like-a-man" and thought she was ugly/male looking ~gurkie
[2009-07-09 16:52:51] - aaron: I thought they both did well, but I thought her role was like 20 times as difficult. I didnt see the passion, but I was very impressed with the technique. ~gurkie
[2009-07-09 16:45:20] - a: typically most programs won't give you a set of legal orders because you can write down invalid orders in the board game version. - mig
[2009-07-09 16:29:53] - jdip can execute scenarios just fine, but one problem i see is that it won't come up with a list of legal moves. that'll be pretty hard to iterate on my own. ~a
[2009-07-09 16:24:02] - but any player who realizes your algorithm takes that into account will take advantage of it. really, yeah, figuring out the best 5 moves and picking one is the ideal strategy. or deciding between the best 2 moves, and picking the better one 50.01% of the time - aaron
[2009-07-09 16:22:59] - a: but the least exploitable set of moves still has a weakness. say unit A can either support the defense of B, or C, which are both home supply centers. but B is a coastal supply center, and C is a land-locked one. Losing B costs you more... - aaron
[2009-07-09 16:22:00] - but yeah i really really liked the tango, i would have voted for it if i was watchin last nite. one of the only ballroom routines that really wowed me, i think, ever - aaron
[2009-07-09 16:21:53] - aaron: a deterministic strategy isn't necessarily a problem. you're assuming that all possible moves are exploitable if you know what they will be in advance. another way of thinking about it is, the algorithm will always come up with the least exploitable set of moves. also i can look at the top 5 scenarios and pick the one i think will produce the best results. ~a
[2009-07-09 16:21:39] - gurkie: really? i thought everyone praised jeanette a lot. at the end twice the oreo added "oh, and brandon! of course you were good too," but before that everything was directed at jeanette - aaron
[2009-07-09 16:20:09] - paul: your call. ~a
[2009-07-09 16:16:52] - public class Waive extends Order . . . for when a power that can produce a unit decides not to. why the hell would you want to issue one of these orders? ~a
[2009-07-09 15:47:17] - aaron: what did you think of the Tango? I was *again* surprised about how much of the praise was directed at Brandon rather than Jeanette, who I thought had a much harder dance to do... ~gurkie
[2009-07-09 15:39:28] - gurkie: i'm about half-way through. i'll watch the rest tonite - aaron
[2009-07-09 15:08:34] - Xpovos: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH you hate me! Trying to ban me from the msg board... *cry* ~gurkie
[2009-07-09 15:07:00] - gurkie: I'm pretty sure SYTYCD isn't Diplomacy related. Please keep the thread on topic.
-- Xpovos[2009-07-09 14:59:31] - aaron: did you watch SYTYCD last night? ~gurkie
[2009-07-09 14:35:14] - yay, vinnie is still my friend! - mig
[2009-07-09 13:41:40] - and an alliance between germany and england, I meant to mention - vinnie
[2009-07-09 13:40:40] - in game 2009-9, there's very little diplomacy or alliances, it would appear. apart from some DMZs, it looks like everyone was fighting for themselves - vinnie
[2009-07-09 13:39:24] - I've been going turn-by-turn through some of the finished diplomacy games on the site. it's pretty fascinating to watch them unfold - vinnie
[2009-07-09 13:38:07] - well, aaron and xpovos are jerks. there I said it, and I don't care who knows about it
- vinnie[2009-07-09 13:15:44] - I posted to mig's blog about this: I've never seen a conventional game of Diplomacy. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-09 13:03:23] - Aaron: Yeah, we're definitely not playing Germany/France/England the conventional way. -Paul
[2009-07-09 12:40:47] - paul: well, from england's point of view that was very good. it's pretty rare that france/germany allow england two builds in 1902. i was amazed france settled for his free iberian gimme CPs and left you two alone - aaron
[2009-07-09 12:37:43] - gurkie: maybe the emergency is the company going under. - mig
[2009-07-09 12:36:48] - we just got an email about evacuating in case of emergency, it involves an employee walking around telling everyone there is an emergency and packing up all our personal belongings and laptops... I dont know if that really makes sense if there is a real emergency. ~gurkie
[2009-07-09 12:34:23] - mig: I thought that was weird also. We three all seemed to be done first despite seemingly having the most to figure out (since we're the most in flux). -Paul
[2009-07-09 12:33:11] - Aaron: I guess maybe less diplomacizing and more trash talking then. I am just surprised there is relatively little discussion about the game here. -Paul
[2009-07-09 12:32:16] - As I mentioned before, pretty much anything said here is intentionally mis-leading, since it's public to almost all players (and all who care to look), which of course, by whatever inverse rule exists makes it a perfect place to plot actual moves. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-09 12:32:10] - russia: don't forget to let italy know if you're down with that thing we talked about - turkey
[2009-07-09 12:29:38] - aaron: i thought at first he was speaking in a more general sense. if he meant by diplomacizing on here, then yes it is silly. - mig
[2009-07-09 12:27:06] - paul: diplomacizing on a public message board seems silly to me - aaron
[2009-07-09 12:26:35] - dewey: so, am i backstabbing miguel in spring 1902 or fall 1902? - aaron
[2009-07-09 12:23:29] - paul: well what suprises me is that E/G/F had their orders turned in first. I figured you guys would be doing the most talking, honestly. The battle lines for T/R and A/I had pretty much been set at the end of 1901. - mig
[2009-07-09 12:13:20] - There's surprisingly little diplomacizing (is that how it's spelled?) going on here. I thought we would be hearing more. I guess the battle lines have pretty much been drawn at this point (especially in the Balkans). -Paul
[2009-07-09 12:09:31] - a: any deterministic strategy such as minimax doesn't work for diplomacy, it's easy to exploit - aaron
[2009-07-09 11:45:39] - ...I actually noticed that same thing the other day when I was watching that episode. >.> - pierce
[2009-07-09 11:21:33] - "When Fry is about to fall into to be frozen, there's no shadow of Nibbler (possibly why Fry didn't fall into the freezer)." Wow, talk about attention to detail. -Paul
[2009-07-09 10:56:46] - a: I am getting a renewal notice for wubnub (it expires in August). I figure I'm just going to let it expire. What say you? -Paul
[2009-07-09 10:34:14] - "He judges the Fing-Longer to be a success and is congratulated by the crew. It is then shown that everything before was just a simulation by the What-If machine when the professor asked what would have happened if he had invented the Fing-Longer" ah yes i forgot about that very important plot point. ~a
[2009-07-09 10:28:22] - pierce: Not knowing what a finglonger was, I turned to Wikipedia, and lo, it knew what a Fing-Longer was. That's pretty insane. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-09 10:23:01] - unfortunately, jdip's "what if" functionality only works if you have a finglonger. - pierce
[2009-07-09 10:22:02] - aaron: ah sweet, jdip is java! i can import it into my minimax game-solver.
~a[2009-07-09 10:12:05] - What the hell is going on in the Balkins? -- Xpovos
[2009-07-09 09:33:30] - it's a good tool for playing out what if scenarios - i think it could also answer questions like the baltic sea -> helgoland bight question we had a couple days ago - aaron
[2009-07-09 09:32:15] - diplomacy_people: http://jdip.sourceforge.net/ has a better map than the online tool. it lets you enter orders and simulate outcomes. you can also copy the text of those e-mails you get, which list everyone's moves, and paste them into jdip, so you don't have to enter them manually. - aaron
[2009-07-08 09:58:11] - a: "i both bought alcohol for a minor and killed a hooker (also illegal in my jurisdiction). wooo." ~gurkie
[2009-07-07 19:34:13] - a: I tried to log in to the message board to tell everyone the message board was down... it was sad. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-07 18:12:16] - sorry the message board was down today. ~a
[2009-07-06 18:51:06] - gurkie: are you talking about the title or what? my sister and i left soon after you. ~a
[2009-07-06 18:48:37] - vinnie: ok
~a[2009-07-06 15:48:48] - a: wow your fourth took a turn after I left... Or was that before you came over... were we part of your alibi?? ~gurkie
[2009-07-06 13:59:41] - a: yeah, please don't spend time implementing it, I was being silly - vinnie
[2009-07-06 11:32:58] - vinnie/xpovos: i'm not using winamp random, sorry. i spent like 5 minutes on the title/post feature so duplicates are probable. also, gurkie said that some dbmss have problem with "order by random" so maybe it isn't even true random. ~a
[2009-07-06 11:29:04] - xpovos: screw true random. I want winamp random - vinnie
[2009-07-06 10:24:34] - mig: There are a lot of titles, but it's reasonable to get a duplicate on titles this fast. I'd be more concerned with a duplicate post... but even then, that's the point of random. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-06 10:16:56] - didn't we get this random title not too long ago? - mig
[2009-07-06 01:15:06] - nobody except fox-news would go so low. ~a
[2009-07-06 00:58:31] - a: I'm saying that anti-gay-marriage people will say that the new design is a desecration. - pierce
[2009-07-06 00:15:06] - sam: yeah miguel vinnie aaron paul andrew dewey and i ~a
[2009-07-06 00:14:27] - pierce: i doubt people will desecrate it literally. what do you think will happen? ~a
[2009-07-05 22:01:29] - are you guys playing online version of diplomacy? -sam
[2009-07-05 14:34:39] - http://makeitequal.org/ gay rights flag design, appropriating a women's suffrage flag which only included stars for states which gave women the right to vote. this one only includes stars for states that recognize gay marriage. cool idea, although I'm sure it'll draw a lot of "desecration" drama from opponents of gay marriage. - pierce
[2009-07-05 13:16:03] - I have a "state of the board" snapshot over here. This is mostly for my purposes so I have a quick reference of what the board looks like without having to naviagte through the diplomacy site, but I guess some of you all might find it useful to, it's a hell of a lot easier to read. - mig
[2009-07-05 11:49:29] - a: you cannot do a support into a territory that the unit cannot legally move into. - mi
[2009-07-05 10:05:00] - xpovos: maybe an army can't support a naval movement? ~a
[2009-07-05 07:49:12] - So why is Constantinople supports Ankara - Black Sea illegal? Is it that the Black Sea is not coastal? Seems a strange subset It also destroys my calculations. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-05 02:13:16] - i both bought alcohol for a minor and killed a hooker (also illegal in my jurisdiction). wooo. ~a
[2009-07-05 00:31:34] - title: I both sped and set of fireworks illegal in my jurisdiction. Woo! -- Xpovos
[2009-07-04 15:30:50] - I tried some googling, but without specific territories, but for general rules... didn't help much. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-04 11:10:09] - xpovos: I'm germany in my other game, so for the most part if I had questions like that I googled the territories in question and found the answer - aaron
[2009-07-04 01:45:23] - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hs0m2JcGdL4"> US Congress had a moment of silence for Michael Jackson <a> Are you serious?!?! for Michael Jackson?!?!? -sam
[2009-07-03 14:58:53] - Gurkie: We need to start our own non-diplomacy-related conv. Sewn anything lately? Isn't shopping awesome? [insert interesting news about somebody who went to CMU with us]! -amy
[2009-07-03 07:26:51] - a: Still up? I'm up, but again, not still. 10 month old daughter gets you up earlier than the best alarm clocks. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-03 06:46:49] - god i thought i was the only one still up.
~a[2009-07-03 06:44:28] - I was definitely wondering about that issue (Kiel) more specifically,since I'm Germany,but I had figured that was the case.I really don't want to do a move only to find out it's illegal, or even worse, that my first move would be legal, based on assumption that a not yet ordered second move would turn out ot be illegal. hat could leave me way out of position. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-03 04:05:55] - title: i'll look at your crotch aaaany time, baby.
[2009-07-02 13:40:02] - Aaron: Ah, right. It's in Kiel. You have to make a stop in Kiel? That makes sense. I never could figure out why you should be able to go from the Helgoland Bight straight to the Baltic Sea. -Paul
[2009-07-02 13:39:09] - mig: Really? That's odd. Seems to go against the general rule that a fleet or army getting attacked can't do anything else. -Paul
[2009-07-02 13:20:41] - paul: also, are you talking about the "kiel canal"? you can't move directly from helgoland bight to baltic sea. the kiel canal is there to show that it's possible to move from helgoland bight, to kiel, and then from kiel to the baltic sea (even though the seas don't look like they're connected through kiel) - aaron
[2009-07-02 13:12:32] - the official rules are that a convoy can only be disrupted if the sea unit doing the convoy is dislodged, not simply just attacked. - mig
[2009-07-02 13:12:03] - while we are on the subject on sea units, it seems we've been interperting the rules for disrupting fleet convoys incorrectly. - mig
[2009-07-02 13:10:48] - xpovos: annoyingly, you can't convoy units through kiel or constantinople - they count as coastal territories for that purpose - aaron
[2009-07-02 12:11:27] - Xpovos: So armies can go across them and navies can as well. I also believe there is a canal in Denmark which allows fleets to go straight from Helgoland Bight to the Baltic Sea. -Paul
[2009-07-02 12:09:38] - Xpovos: I believe the answer to both is yes. Denmark and Constantinople are, I think, the only two territories on the map which are considered both land and sea bridges. -Paul
[2009-07-02 11:56:05] - Can a fleet move from one coastal territory to another adjacent coastal territory without traveling through the adjacent waters? E.g. Naples to Rome or Sevastopal to Romania. Can a fleet traverse from one sea to another non-adjoining sea via a coastal territory? E.g. North Sea -> Denmark -> Baltic Sea or Black Sea -> Constantinople -> Aegian? -- Xpovos
[2009-07-02 11:51:12] - I hate to ask rules questions of people playing the game, but it's been such a while since I've played Diplomacy, and I need some assistance with the concept of fleet movements. Fleets move in water, adjacent same as armies on land. But there are more variations as a result. So, here are some examples... -- Xpovos
[2009-07-01 21:43:17] - gurkie: i promise not to talk about diplomacy. ~a
[2009-07-01 16:53:06] - Paul: In pre-Soviet Russia, fist extends you! -- Xpovos
[2009-07-01 16:45:59] - Gurkie: I'll admit, I fully expected a "Russia extends fists of fury to England's face" response. -Paul
[2009-07-01 16:39:49] - vinnie: I just pictured England holding a hand out while Russia ignored it.... made me chuckle and respond... ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 16:39:16] - xpovos: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I am about to become super bored with this site... ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 16:34:15] - gurkie: mig posts here occasionally. Dewey used to. I think everyone else is a regular. So, in short, yes. However it'll mostly be bluff and on-top-of-the-table subterfuge since I imagine the real negotiations will be by e-mail. -- Xpovos
[2009-07-01 16:20:32] - Gurkie: You had your chance to play. -England
[2009-07-01 16:20:02] - gurkie: stop speaking for russia! - vinnie
[2009-07-01 16:14:21] - Russia does not extend hand of friendship to England, is this msg board about to turn into all diplomacy all the time? ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 15:50:42] - *** England extends hand of friendship to Russia
[2009-07-01 15:46:07] - vinnie: I don't know, I'll go home and check out the page... - aaron
[2009-07-01 15:36:27] - aaron: so has the game started? I found the page which lists our statuses and stuff. also, yuck I hate being Russia - vinnie
[2009-07-01 13:47:09] - Gurkie: Pretty much empty trash talking, although our pitcher was doing really well for two innings at least.
-Paul[2009-07-01 13:44:55] - Paul: are we winning or is this more of that "trash talking" you were telling me about ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 13:31:11] - Gurkie: Be sure to tell Tim his team sucks too.
-Paul[2009-07-01 13:25:31] - don't worry though, it'll never stand up in court. xenu is not a citizen of any country and i doubt he can appeal to any of the international copyright treaties. ~a
[2009-07-01 13:20:17] - a: uhoh, I dont think I want xenu copywriting my thoughts ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 13:15:54] - gurkie: all messages posted here are copyright 2009 xenu all rights reserved. make sure to put that at the bottom. ~a
[2009-07-01 13:12:41] - Paul: I think Tim wants a transcript of this convo, what do you think... ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 13:12:40] - a: Indeed. It's really not smart to play Diplomacy with such an extreme short term view where you simply do whatever is most advantageous for you for that single turn. -Paul
[2009-07-01 13:08:50] - ouch to tim. ~a
[2009-07-01 13:07:56] - a: They might, but I think both of them are better players than that.
-Paul[2009-07-01 13:06:07] - paul: what makes you think andrew or dewey won't commit the non-committal havoc? ~a
[2009-07-01 13:03:49] - i'll likely be out of town. ~a
[2009-07-01 12:59:19] - are any of you folks planning to go to the tj pan-reunion thinger on august 1st? - pierce
[2009-07-01 12:54:56] - I actually would've much preferred Italy for this game because it's a country I hardly ever get a chance to play as and because of the bad taste that playing as England left in my mouth from last time. -Paul
[2009-07-01 12:50:36] - gurkie: Italy's widely regarded as the worst, and France is widely regarded as the best. But we're talking like 22% vs 17% or something, the statistics are very slight and they vary over time. - aaron
[2009-07-01 12:46:43] - what are the best/worst countries? ~gurkie
[2009-07-01 12:24:52] - Aaron: At least Tim isn't here to cause massive non-commital havoc this time. -Paul
[2009-07-01 12:24:14] - Aaron: Son of a B$tch! -Paul
[2009-07-01 12:15:05] - paul: so yay, you get to play your favorite country again
- aaron[2009-07-01 12:14:20] - paul: countries have been posted to the web site. austria=aaron england=paul france=dewey germany=andrew italy=miguel russia=vinnie turkey=adrian - aaron
[2009-07-01 11:56:59] - yay new car. yay diplomacy - vinnie
[2009-07-01 11:49:14] - Aaron: Sweet. Do we need to randomly determine countries ourselves or does the game do it? -Paul
[2009-07-01 11:43:26] - paul: yes! the guy sent me an e-mail at 10:00 am saying that he created the game. i'll check it out when i get home - aaron
[2009-07-01 10:45:25] - Gurkie: Please don't throw me into mount doom. -Paul
[2009-07-01 10:45:06] - Aaron: So now that we have seven people, are we good to go for setting up a game of diplomacy? -Paul
[2009-07-01 10:44:51] - xpovos: NO!! MINE!! My Precious... ~gurkie
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