2:46 PM
It's a slow day. I'm trying fervently to solve the Rubik's Cube. Not a lot of luck
with it.
I've also started examining how I can apply game theory to the show Deal or No Deal. Kathrine is tired
of me watching the show, but I just can't get enough. If you haven't seen the show,
Wikipedia as
always will fill you in. Basically the gist of it is, as long as the "banker"
offers you less then the arithmetic mean of all the remaining values, the best play
will always be to not make a deal. Using that strategy, you would maximize your
dollars earned in the long run. The problem is that you don't play over the long
run; you only get one shot to play the game. For example: if you have the $750,000
and $1,000,000 case left, most rational people would be willing to gamble on 50-50
odds between them. However only having the $100,000 and $.01 cases left, would make
it much harder to gamble.
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2:03 PM
Christmas has come and gone and I have to say that it was good. It was quiet and
relaxing. Kathrine enjoyed her gifts (or she is a really good actress). We had a
great dinner with Mia and Ryan on Christmas day. And in general every thing went
well.
I used some of the time off to play poker online. I've been playing basically penny
poker. I generally only play single table sit and go's, but occasionally enter a
tournament or sit at a $.01-$.02 cash table. I started with a bankroll of about
$.10, playing only in penny buy in sit and go's. They pay $.05 for first, $.03 for
second and $.02 for third. By this weekend I had increased by bankroll to $.75, so
I started playing in nickel (with a half penny rake) and dime (with a full penny
rake) sit and go's. My bankroll is up over $2.00 now. I think I'm going to stick
to the level I'm at currently before I move to the $.50 tables. I also may start
playing more cash tables, as they are much more profitable in the long run.
Since the year is finally almost over, and end of year lists are popping up
everywhere.
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2:22 PM
You may have noticed that I've developed a problem with spammers. I am trying to
combat that without forcing people to login to comment. I already disallowed
duplicate comments in one thread, but I've decided to expand my spam fighting.
First, you will not be able to post a comment that someone has already posted
regardless of what thread it is in. That means if someone has already posted a
comment that says "Super Cool!", you're going to need to use "Super Cool!!" or
"super cool" or some other variation. This should make it harder for spammers to
post the same stupid thing in hundreds of theads. I'm also now tracking the IP
address from where the comments come. I hope you don't see that as an invasion of
privacy. You don't need to worry about me keeping them or anything, I'm hashing
them so they are unrecoverable. Even if I wanted to know who posted what, I would
have to crack the hash. Of course, it wouldn't be hard to do if someone really
wanted to. It allows me to see if two posts are coming back to back from the same
computer though, which I feel is important.
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1:30 PM
The weekend is about to start. I have no big plans. Kathrine and I are going to
attempt to see Walk the Line on Saturday. I'm not super excited about it,
but I owe her a few movies. I need to build up so good will if she's going to go
see V for Vendetta, X-Men 3, and A Scanner Darkly. Hopefully
I'll see Brokeback Mountain and Syrianna before the end of the year as
well.
- Blogspot
- Google has added a music search. It's actually pretty cool when it works. Most
anyone who's ever been on a major label will have an entry. Quite a few foreign and
indie bands don't though (I've tested Sigur Ros and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah).
- Beta
News - Typing does NOT lead to carpal tunnel. Good news for me.
- Ars Technica -
Cool little story on the evolution of PC market share.
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2:26 PM
Nothing new to report. My life really is that boring. I am going on a hunt tonight
for pasturised shell eggs. Supposedly Trader Joe's has them. We shall see. If I
can't find them, how will I be able to make this?
- Stereo Gum - I'm not
usually a fan of the mash up, but this one is worht a listen.
- Honeysuckleshop -
The War on Christmas is ON!
- Seattle
PI - Jim Caple gives some love to the Rocksport.
- Chris Moyles -
If I ever have some extra cash, a week to kill, and access to some power tools I
will build myself a MAME cabinet.
- Musicunited
- The RIAA has to do better than this.
- WTVM - I've
always thought all classes should be taught like this.
- The
Stranger - This article may not interest you, but its conclusion is an
interesting one. Reducing highway capacity actually reduces traffic.
- Wikipedia -
It's Esperanto Literature Day!
- Freedom to
Tinker - Make your own copy protected CD!
Comments(0)
2:36 PM
Kathrine is going to some movie tonight with Chris. I wasn't interested. So I get
to stay home alone with only these links to keep me company:
- NY Times - Like
I've always said, kids are stupid. I'd rather have the chimp
- Miss Digital World
- This will only end badly.
- Seattle PI -
Music sharing good for the industry?
- Slate - Why
are white guys always compared to Larry Bird?
- Mr. Hetero - Just when I
think the religious nuts can't get any more crazy they do something like this.
- Channel
Cincinnati - Paramount files federal piracy suit against a man, but can't find
any evidence.
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4:25 PM
No real news. Except for the fact my poker chips won't be here until January. Here
is something funny though, it's what the Tuesday Morning Quaterback had to say about
the war on Christmas:
Yes, it's ridiculous the National Christmas Tree at the Capitol
is officially the National Holiday Tree: that government often cannot bring itself
to state the obvious is one of the flaws of government. How long till someone claims
"holiday" is offensive and the name is changed to the National Seasonal Ornamental
Fir? It's a fracking Christmas tree, call it what it is! Hiding behind a euphemism
for a Christmas tree is especially absurd because such trees have nothing to do with
Christianity; they are a secular symbol of gift-giving. Christmas holds dual status
as a religious observation and a secular festival of presents and parties -- many
who are not Christians or don't even like Christianity nonetheless put up Christmas
trees and hand out presents on the 25th. Santa, Rudolph, stockings by the fireplace,
mistletoe: good luck finding any references to these in
scripture.
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2:31 PM
A successful weekend! I finished making the gifts that I will be giving out and I
got all of our presents wrapped. I also found time to go to Sonic Boom, where I
picked up The Stone Roses debut used. We also celebrated Mia's birthday on Saturday
by playing Cranium. Kathrine hates board games, so it was fun to make her suffer
through it.
- Pitchfork
Media - I have fond memories of the Satanic Panic. I didn't go t a very
conservative church, so I missed the good stuff like this, but I still remember who
seriously everyone took it.
- Pitchfork
Media - I really don't know why any band would want to be on a major label right
now.
- Penny
Arcade - I was just joking with Kathrine the other day about beefsticks.
- Zdnet
- This is a bad president.
- Time - Time's list of
the best 50 web sites.
- BME
- Nerd tattoos.
- Wired
- Have you ever been walking around in your underwear listening to an mp3 player or
holding a cell phone and thought, "I wish I had a pocket!
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2:28 PM
Not a lot of links for you today. I wrenched my neck this morning and I am in great
pain. aspirin isn't working, perhaps vodka will?
I got the last of my Christmas shopping done today. Just a few stocking stuffers
for Kathrine, nothing really big. I have to finish making one of the gifts I'm
giving this weekend, and get everything wrapped, and then I will be done. That's
always a good feeling.
I read a couple of reviews of the new Old 97's live album today. I own two live
albums now. A Skinny Puppy one (not their newest one) and a Dead Can Dance one. I
also own a live Underworld DVD. I can't say I get much enjoyment out of any of
them. Both reviews make the Old 97's record seem like a must buy, and I can attest
that they put on a spectacular show. I just don't think that I like live albums
though. Does anyone really like live albums? Is there any live album that you own
that you just love? Do you have one you listen to often, even though you own all
the songs on various studio albums?
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3:46 PM
Don't really have much to say today. How about some links?
- Pitchfork
Media - Throbbing Gristle have something truly special in store for people who
buy the first 4000 copies of Part Two. Each CD will contain one of four "totemic
gifts" embedded in its jewel case, made of either copper, bone, rubber or wood, and
hand-crafted "under Peter Christopherson's personal supervison in Thailand",
according to Throbbing Gristle's website. Whether or not those "totemic gifts" come
loaded with some kind of ancient curse is unclear. But hey, it can't be worse than a
Sony rootkit, right?
- MSNBC - Ten reasons
to drink during the holidays.
- engadget - Everything the
iPod should be. But of course since it's not an iPod it will fail miserably. Can I
rent the Steve Jobs reality
distortion field?
- Terra
- The worst video game covers.
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