noise board: please contribute to our seminar

HOW MANY GOING TO ST IDES?

WOLF MAN AND HCIKEN IN BOAT

HOW DID MIDGET HANG HIMSELF?

pls try harder

this is GRAD SCHOOL people

there is a town where the barber shaves everyone who doesn't shave himself...

lol

If a plane crashes on the North Korean/South Korean border, where do they bury the survivors?

If you're in a race and you pass the runner in second place, in what position are you now in?

You know the "guy on perfectly circular island has to escape forest fire blowing from the West" puzzle?

If you're in a race and you pass the runner in second place, in what position are you now in?

-- Pleasant Plains

still in last place

HOW MANY GOING TO ST IDES?

-- sexyDancer

i might actually use this

criteria:

1) can give "hints" without ruining it

2) should involve some sort of iterative process

3) should be appropriate for adults + teenagers

SECOND PLACE

There's also that awful one about the bellhop and the five-dollar bill.

my two favorites:

1) line of 100 dwarves need to come up w/ a strategy to figure out what color hat they have, they can only see the dwarf in front. if they get it wrong their head gets chopped off. what's the OPTIMUM STRATEGY?

2) prisoner-lightbulb puzzle

NOT IF YOU GOT LAPPED THREE TIMES CAUSE YOU FORGOT YOUR RUNNING SHOES

You have to measure exactly 4 liters of water, but you only have a 3-liter bottle and a 5-liter bottle. How do you do it?

You thirst for three days, then drink two two-liters of Mtn Dew.

^^^^ haha we already did that about a month ago! my professor called it "the die hard puzzle"

oh yeah

that wacky jeremy irons.

Greater than God,
More evil than the devil.
The poor have it,
The rich don't need it.
If you eat it, you'll die.
What is it?

I'm Paul Harvey............. . .. . . . . . .... . .... .. Good DAY.

dirty toes?

dwarf puzzle is the 3rd down on this page: http://www.snowstone.com/archives/cat_puzzles.html

NOTHING

man in the desert w/a rock next to him how did he die from kryptonine poisoning because he is superman <----- this one is best because it has superman

kimmy and jimmy are on the floor w/water and broken glass all around how did they die they are fish and their bowl broke <------ this one is good because kimmy and jimmy are fish

those are not puzzles those are unfunny jokes

those are awz puzzles dickship to buthole

LOL u butthurt

the only "puzzling" thing about them is why you thought they were good

what kind of fish should not spend more than a few minutes in the bowl?

i explained why they are good: because of super man

You have to measure exactly 4 liters of water, but you only have a 3-liter bottle and a 5-liter bottle. How do you do it?

mark the "halfway" point on each filled bottle (from the water line down); pour out half of each bottle. that leaves you with 1.5 liters and 2.5 liters = 4 liters.

RONG

you need to do it w/ PRECISION

no, YOU are the chemist, so YOU need to do it with precision. the rest of us are okay with being a few milliliters off.

you go to the store and buy a measuring cup

ANSWER: glue together the bottles to make an 8 liter bottle, since the bottle is 2x as big it will be 2x as accurate. fill it with water and THEN drink half of it.

ANSWER: ask SUPER MAN to do it

how do you know when you've drunk precisely half?

the bottom will be half full

have u guys ever had goat butter omg im eating some right now soo good

isn't it sorta goaty

a lil maybe

those are not puzzles those are unfunny jokes

-- moonship journey to baja, Wednesday, December 5, 2007 7:33 PM (32 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
THINK OUT SIDE THE BOX MAN

ask DAVID MAMET

since the bottle is 2x as big it will be 2x as accurate

o_O

http://techinterview.org/

lol japan at rule 2

http://www.heavygames.com/riveriqgame/showgame.asp

THE FOLLOWING RULES APPLY:
-Only two people can be on the raft at a time
-The father can not be with any of the daughters
without the mother's presence
-The mother can not be with any of the sons without
the father's presence
-The thief (striped shirt) cannot stay with any of the
family members without the cop
-Only the father, mother and the cop can operate the
raft

Here is the link:

http://www.gsart.com.br/midia/riverIQGame.swf

INSTRUCTIONS
-To start click the big blue circle on the right
-To move people click on them
-To move the raft click on the red balls

I am stuck.

it's ok guys, I got it.

OK seminar is over, the best puzzle was deemed to be this one

a family needs to cross a bridge

the boy takes 1 minute
mom takes 2 minutes
dad takes 5 minutes
grandma takes 10 minutes

they have to share one lantern because the bridge is dark, so they have to travel in pairs. the bridge is not very sturdy, and it will break if more than three people try to walk on it at a time.

what is the fastest way to cross the bridge? (we got 17 minutes, there might be faster ways)

worst puzzle: "what is a physicist's favorite state?"

o_hi_0 ?

answer: "he likes all three equally"

http://i16.tinypic.com/81j8pdy.jpg

still workinonit

how do you deal w/ the kids?

here's a brainstorm i had last night: if you solved the puzzle, and played it in reverse, that would ALSO be a solution to the puzzle, right? therefore the puzzle must be symmetric, right? your first + last move are mirror images, 2nd and next-to-last move are mirror images, etc

am i thinking about that right? could you construct a solution that way?

the "have to travel in pairs" vs "no more than three" is confusing

can one person cross the bridge alone?
can three people cross the bridge together?

i like that flash river puzzle caek posted but cant play it at wrk :[ i think i solved it before tho

if so, then it takes 13 min.
all but the mom cross, the boy returns for the mom

the punching is my fav part

one person can cross alone
three persons can not walk on the bridge at the same tme

i just found a solution for the raft puzzle on paper by doing mirror imges and working backwards but i'm not sure if it works, gonna try on the internet

what if grandma is blind?

sick, it worked.

grandma is not blind.

grandma is superamn

how'd you get 17 min?
sure it's not 18?

yeah

it's 18 then

but explain to me how three is more than three.

more than three people
means three people can walk on the bridge i mean cmon
eesh i freakin hate these games so much they make me want to kill people but esp gifted children counsellors and other people who are interesting in boring things

you're on the right track: the puzzle hinges on a *very* fine semantic point

(that 'cmon' wasn't directed at you sD, just at these games in general esp if these games aren't made well in first place like that one)

FUCK V FINE SEMANTIC POINTS!!!!!!!!!!! FUAFJDsijfskflj;d

haha i am totally busy at work and this is how i choose to take a brain break
i am sorry guys

the tough part of the raft puzzle is that at one point you have to send the cop and thief across for no apparent reason. it seems very counterintuitive the first few times you do it.

logic puzzles with sloppy grammar are the worst. LOGIC DEMANDS LOGIC.

also where is this bridge with its cryptic instructions sign re: crossing it

i got 17

answer here: IM LEARING TO TROLL

ah

good stuff.

both these puzzlz wicked easy u guys all total tardos

doctorin the tardos

doctorship journey to tardo

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg200/g260/g26028fsif2.jpg

o man tardo hammer is living the dream

there's also a weird part of the raft puzzle where it *seems* like you're reversing the move you just made except you're NOT, the people are going back and forth but the location of the raft is changing. it happens just after you get 2 sons and 1 daughter on the other side (or vice versa) and i'm still not sure how it works!

It didn't take me that long but I got so distracted watching everybody get smacked up that I'm not sure exactly how I did it.

ONLY ONE WAS GOING TO ST. IDES

http://i11.tinypic.com/6q39dv4.jpg

xD

the weird part:

take the mother and father across on the raft
mother comes back
the cop and thief go across the river
father comes back
mother and father go across the river
only the mother comes back

in other words, it seems like you're undoing what you just did. you're like, hey, i went to all that trouble to take mom and dad across, then i bring mom back, send the cop and thief, bring back dad. wait a second, i just undid taking mom and dad across! then i take mom and dad across again, and bring mom back?

but it's crucial the the cop and thief switch positions, and it's interesting that the cop+thief switch in the middle is the 9th move out of 17 - the eight before and the eight after are symmetrical moves, the 9th move is the only one that isn't "reversible"

http://i1.tinypic.com/6jzjhuw.jpg

my puzzle was the old probability puzzle:

guy shows you three boxes: A, B and C. there is a $100 bill in one. you guess a box. the guy opens one of the OTHER boxes and shows you that it is empty. at this point, he offers you the choice of switching. should you switch?

same dif?

nope

http://www.consumermedhelp.com/Images/DependsGds4Men.jpg

tardos hammer deduction 6.02x10^23 pts for not naming his debut album "hammer time"

i googled it

that one was actually really hard for me to understand at first

explain, dog

http://discuss.fogcreek.com/techinterview/default.asp?cmd=show&ixPost=1260&ixReplies=10

a lot of these people still think its 50/50 even after its explained (tho not v well)

now im not sure again

That's the "Let's Make a Deal" dilemma. It's more engaging if you substitute the "boxes" for "doors" and "$100 bill" for "BRAND-NEW-CAR".

also, goats.

THIS IS WHY THE BIBLE FORBIDS GAMBLING

i was thinking of it as one way you get to pick one of the boxes and the other way you get to pick two. but if you know that at least 1 of those 2 are gonna be empty. then is it really any better?

that was not well said

elmo, mr g@zin zinged me with let's make a deal problem

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

let's not forget though that MVS=married to JARVIK JARVIK JARVIK

how abt teepees and free airfare for life

or as in my home version clementine peels and a dime

or a death shroud and the eye of jarvik

jarvik's animal familiar is behind door 3, U DEAD!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Monty_open_door.svg/180px-Monty_open_door.svg.png

There is discussion of some Dr. Jarvik inspired breakcore the other day

part of me wants you to elaborate at length
the other part not so much

QUANTUM GOAT

alright tell us of this jarvikcore plz

i rapped a little and then puked a sparks... waiting for pet and ram to finish class

jarvikcore=i'm on board with this phrase

NO BEATS BECAUSE THE JARVIK ARTIFICIAL HEART DOES NOT BEAT

the sound of dracula pouring blood into a blender

http://i19.tinypic.com/86g2sxy.gif

omg

Monty Hall problem is easier to figure out if you imagine 100 doors, only one of which has a car behind it. It's went from being this thing people argued about in Scientific American, to a Microsoft interview question to an undergraduate statistical mechanics question in the space of about a decade. It is not trivial.

if dude opens up 98 empty doors

microsoft interviews sound pretty great

why are manhole covers round?

my frontline interview @ google was so fucking annoying

We ask that one at interviews for 0xf3rd physics undergrad.

xpost, questions?

whatd they ask u?

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF AN APPLICATION DEVELOPER OR A WEB DEVELOPER?

Oh snap

fuck you know nothing entry level HR position!

correct answer: same dif maaaaan

congratulation here yr stock options!

I'm not really interested in interviewing for a job that they won't tell me upfront where it is.

Also I am a slacker/.

These guys seem pretty cool to work for for Web 2.0 guys:
http://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/archives/2007/12/want_to_work_for_freshview_1.html

why are manhole covers round?

.eloh eht ni llaf t'nod yeht oS

correct answer: $100? can't you make it $200?

here's how i understand it:

assume you pick box "A"

there's three boxes

1/3 chance of the box being in A, if you switch to the unshown box you LOSE
1/3 chance of the box being in B, if you switch to B you WIN
1/3 chance of the box being in C, if you switch to C you WIN

notice that you can't switch to box C in the 2nd scenario because it's been revealed to be empty, you can't switch to box B in the 3rd scenario because it's been revealed to be empty.

the problem is the same whether we pick A B or C, so that means switching gives us 2/3 odds.

what if we KEEP?

again, assume we picked A, but it should be symmetrical whether we pick A, B or C.

1/3 chance of the prize being in A, if you keep you WIN
1/3 chance of the prize being in B, if you keep you LOSE
1/3 chance of the prize being in C, if you keep you LOSE

that means 2/3 losing and 1/3 winning.

not sure what it says elsewhere but that's the best i can explain it.

i think the real trick to this puzzle is that it's not a stochastic situation (like rolling dice or playing roulette) - it's actually a game w/ two players and only three possible outcomes for each of your two choices, so you just need to look at the outcomes between the two choices to pick your strategy. ie game theory vs probability theory.

the "other player" is monty hall or whatever - he'll always reveal the "wrong" box no matter what, if it was "random" (ie subject to the probability rules we learn in high school) he'd be picking a random box too

ah i should've looked at the wikpedia thing earlier, it says it all much better ... what i was on about is buried pretty deep in there though - Phillip Martin's article in a 1989 issue of Bridge Today magazine titled "The Monty Hall Trap" (Martin 1989) presented Selvin's problem, with the correct solution, as an example of how one can fall into the trap of treating non-random information as if it were random.

http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/gameover/box.jpg

is this real?

you have landed in the mushroom kingdom. please pay me 1200 rupees, because i have two energy cells on the space.

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/nintendo_monopoly.jpg

OK thing I hate about St. Ives riddle:

"As I was going to St. Ives,
I met a man..."

See all the time if I meet someone as I am going somewhere, it is bcz they are walking THE SAME direction as I am. You don't stop someone walking the other direction to ask a guy about his polygamous relationship with seven women who hoard things. Does the man have the seven wives with him, or is he just telling you about his wives? Are we to count the cats as people if his shit-toting wives are with him? Seriously, if you have the time to listen about these kits totaling in the hundreds, the guy is going the same way as you.

Fucking number one. Fucking rhyme.

water wld work like:

pour 5 liter into 3 liter, pour two liters left in 5 liter botte into 3rd container
and
repeat?

is there a third container or not? THEY DON'T SAY.

Brothers & sisters I have none
But this man's father is my father's son

no third container.

u lose

the man is your son

here's a riddle.

last week i went to whole foods. $1.99 regular milk (one quart, fuck you whole foods) was on sale for $0.99, so i bought it INSTEAD of the $3.29 quart of organic milk i usually buy. hey, can't pass up a GOOD DEAL, right?

this week, organic was $3.29 and the regular was back to $1.99. so i bought the organic, because i wasn't getting 50% OFF by buying regular.

why am i so stupid?

(similarly, something like 75% of respondents said they would drive 20 minutes to buy a $15 calculator for $5 (rather than buy it right now for $15) but that they wouldn't drive 20 minutes to buy a $110 calculator for $100)

i guess it's not *really* the same

the real answer is to not drink milk at all

go to bed

(similarly, something like 75% of respondents said they would drive 20 minutes to buy a $15 calculator for $5 (rather than buy it right now for $15) but that they wouldn't drive 20 minutes to buy a $110 calculator for $100)

I used to drive out of my way to use a station that sold gas for $1.09 rather than the place that sold it for $1.17. Nowadays, I just say fuckit.

No moonship the man is YOURSELF.

I used to drive out of my way to use a station that sold gas for $1.09 rather than the place that sold it for $1.17. Nowadays, I just say fuckit.

did you figure the additional cost of the gas consumed in?

It took my 4 yr. old to remind me of who’s in charge in this world! Yesterday was my day off. As such, I took the chance to make a few repairs at the house. If you know me at all, you know that the very mention of me and repairs in the same sentence could set the universe off course!  I am the anti-handyman. But I tried.

We had two doors in our house that had been broken fro some time due to some hinge breaking issues. So, blowing the dust off the ol’ drill I set out to work. The front closet was fairy simple and was fixed in a few minutes. That simply left the daunting front door! It is an old, solid hunk of wood that was barely opening and closing. So, after many busted attempts, bloody knuckles and bouts of anger, I got it! The door closed just right and all was well!!

Jude had been “helping” by sitting with me and watching, and at times holding the door still. Once complete, I jumped up, playing with him, threw my arms victoriously into the air and shouted “Who’s the man?”. I was expecting some possible laughter, and maybe a pat on the ol’ back.

My son calmly looked at me with a straight face and gave me the answer: “God”. Not Daddy, you are the man, but simply “God is the man!” WOW! I looked at him, laughed and gave him a great big hug. “You are right son” I said, “God is the man. He can fix everything”. I kissed his head and thanked him for reminding me that.

Our God is amazing isn’t he? We sing that our God is alive, and praise him this is true! His word promises that he is in charge of this place and that His Son has overcome this world! Victory is ours, because we belong to Him! My Lord can always “fix” things…he truly is “THE man”.

did you figure the additional cost of the gas consumed in?

I figured five or six miles wouldn't make a difference, but it probably did.

I used to do the same things with cigarettes, back in the day.

RONG

GOD THE FATHER is the DEITY, only JESUS became MAN

stupid kid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea

That kid was a tard