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hello from california
...for the first time in a long time. I've been out here for the Google Code Jam and will be returning late tomorrow night ( Read more... ) -
mathematics doesn't lie
My commute to and from work involves walking to Central Square, taking the Red Line from Central to Park St, then transferring to the Green Line (D) and taking that to Newton Highlands, and then walking from there to the office (about 0.8 miles). The whole thing can take anywhere from 55 to 90 minutes depending on how slow the trains move and how ( Read more... ) -
some interesting game theory
I heard an interesting idea recently from Sam Payne, who is/was a Mathcamp counselor for a number of years. Take any normal, turn-based two-player game. Usually "turn-based" means that players alternate turns, but instead imagine that each player starts with a pile of N tokens. Then, before a move, each player submits a bid for that move. ( Read more... ) -
Two Moves
Over the weekend, TripAdvisor finally moved offices, from Needham to Newton. As the crow flies, it was about 2 miles to the northeast. As the car drives (or the pedestrian walks, for those of us without cars) it is... about 2 miles straight down the street. Yeah, not a particularly inspiring event from that point of view. Let's try again ( Read more... ) -
sins, and a discussion thereof
A number of days ago on zephyr there was a meme going around where everyone was ranking the Seven Deadly Sins in order of egregiousness, frequency, something like that. I gave it some thought today, and I think the answer is ( Read more... ) -
tales of a peripatetic
I was waiting for a long-running process to finish at work and, in doing so, missed the 5:40 train. Staying till 7:15 was infeasible, so I decided instead to walk to the D line, to get some much-needed exercise. That first bit was a three mile stretch from Needham to Newton ( Read more... ) -
Weekend? What Weekend?
A long long time ago, in a city far far away (okay only like 500 miles), some guy named George Washington was born and became famous or something and that's why we have Presidents' Day. The direct consequence is that I have Monday off work. Thanks, George Washington ( Read more... ) -
Nine Days in Bullet Points
- Over the last week plus, my overall happiness has not changed by too much. The positives and negatives that are canceling out have, however, increased in magnitude. Perhaps not a good sign. (edit: Didn't even notice when writing it, but what a crappy pun.)
- <3 music with weird time signatures. It feels so unsettling, and I guess it's kind of ( Read more... )
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Banana Fana Fo FopCoder
Before Mystery Hunt, I was informed by Derek Kisman that the TopCoder Open 2008 would be starting up soon. It was news to me, but then I managed to forget, given all of the excitement. Then I got an e-mail telling me to register, so I did. There's a qualification round tonight, and I intend to participate, hoping that I won't fuck up too badly ( Read more... ) -
mystery hunt 2008
It was a lot of fun ( Read more... )