Messages

91

Off Topic / Re: How many of these questions can you answer?

« on: December 28, 2011, 11:04:29 PM »

How many golf balls can fit in the school bus?

Assuming it's referring to a particular bus that you have in your possession, your best bet is to determine its volume somehow. You might try filling it with a known quantity of fluid, but it would probably leak too much to get an accurate measurement and golf balls can't occupy every feasible space that a liquid might. Perhaps your best option would be to acquire or create a CAD model of the bus's interior and fill that with virtual golf balls using a physics simulation.

How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?

The best way to think of this issue is not in terms of how many windows you must wash, but rather how much surface area you must cover. A window washer will be able to wash 'x' amount of area per hour. The surface area can be approximated for every building from architectural drawings; include the entire surface area of each side of each building (including areas not covered by windows) so as to account for costs incurred from particularly difficult buildings to clean. Charge enough money to hire enough washers to clean the required surface area in the time allotted.

How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?

Presumably you'd need to identify trends in #'s of tuners per capita for every city/country and extrapolate from there. Your data would come from phone-books and other business directories.

Why are manhole covers round?

The typical answer is "to prevent them from falling through the hole" but it could also make moving the heavy covers around easier as you can roll them. A round edge may cause less damage to tires should it ever stick up above the road surface.

Design an evacuation plan for San Francisco

Tough to do without extensive research, but I'm guessing the fastest evacuation would be via the harbor on ships as California's road network is notoriously congested.

How many times a day does a clock’s hands overlap?

An episode of British trivia game-show"QI" revealed that they overlap 22 times a day, not 24 as many suspect. I forget their explanation for this but you can prove it by fast-forwarding a clock and counting each overlap.

Explain the significance of "dead beef"

A Google search shows this to be an obscure reference to a programming dialect known as Hexspeak. Presumably this question is directed towards those applying for programming positions.

A man pushed his car to a hotel and lost his fortune. What happened?

Perhaps the hotel was also a casino?

You need to check that your friend, Bob, has your correct phone number. Ask him in a way that no one will find out YOUR phone number if they were listening to you conversation.

I believe a checksum would do the trick.

You're the captain of a pirate ship…and your crew gets to vote on how the gold is divided up. If fewer than half of the pirates agree with you, you die. How do you recommend apportioning the gold in such a way that you get a good share of the booty, but still survive?

Promise any pirate that agrees with you a split of a percentage of the gold proportional to the percentage of pirates that agree with you, and those that disagree can split the remaining percentage of the gold. If there are 10 pirates and six agree with you, they'd each get a cut of 60% of the loot; this means every pirate gets an even cut regardless of whether or not they agree with you but it sounds like agreeing with you gets them more gold.

You have eight balls all of the same size… 7 of them weigh the same, and one of them weighs slightly more. How can you find the ball that is heavier by using a balance and only two weighings?

First weighing -  Put 3 balls on each side. If one side is heavier isolate the three. If neither side is heavier isolate the two balls that weren't weighed.
Second weighing - If three balls remain, put one ball on each side. If each is equal the heavier ball is on the table. If two remain, weigh both and find the heavier one.

Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew.

A database is like a store with the shelves being lined with toys. Every toy has a name, a place on the shelf, and a price. A database can store anything though, not just toys; it just keeps it in a digital form on a computer.

You are shrunk to the height of a nickel… and your mass is proportionally reduced so as to maintain your original density. You are then thrown into an empty glass blender. The blades will start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

Nothing; if you are as tall as a nickel the blades will be well above your head even if you stand up. It wouldn't be pleasant though.

92

General Discussion / Re: Philosophical discussion about the Gold Brick-possible future build?

« on: November 29, 2011, 09:18:33 PM »

Doesn't seem like you're getting it. Your post in no way qualifies as a "study of the fundamental nature of knowledge, reality, and existence".

You strummed together a few fancy words a shared your idea of using portals in place of blackholes to find the golden brick. Whether it is a story or add-on idea is irrelevant; it isn't philosophical just because you inhaled some noxious fumes.

93

General Discussion / Re: Philosophical discussion about the Gold Brick-possible future build?

« on: November 29, 2011, 12:09:10 AM »

Often, after stiffing lots of chlorine produced from electrolysis, I get into phases that are often similar to being high, and so no, I meant philosophical, not hypothetical.

Unfortunately your mental state, high or otherwise, doesn't make "philosophical" the appropriate word to use. A quick glance at the definition quickly rules out its use as a descriptor for a discussion on how the "golden brick" could be added into Blockland. On the other hand, "hypothetical" fits quite nicely.

94

General Discussion / Re: Philosophical discussion about the Gold Brick-possible future build?

« on: November 28, 2011, 08:56:44 PM »

Philosophical

My response: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2y8Sx4B2Sk

I believe the word you are looking for is "hypothetical".

95

General Discussion / Re: Events Replacement - How would you prefer?

« on: November 21, 2011, 05:14:17 PM »

He means you won't need to download anything to play on these servers. If you're not going to be eventing on them, it doesn't effect you.

As for point #2, you just acknowledged that people are already doing some crazy things that go against the existing system, so why not make a new system that can accommodate for these things naturally? If anything, it will in fact remove one divide entirely while widening another by a small margin - the divide between people who understand the whole VCE logic system and those who don't will be gone, since the logic system will be integrated into the base and not some ungodly hack that's about as user-friendly as a bed made of lava, and thus will be considerably easier to use. The learning curve for basic events goes up by a little and the learning curve for advanced events comes down.

So if players don't download the GUI they can't event? That sounds like a loss to me.

In the process of learning how to use VCE you have essentially taught yourself some of the fundamentals of programming. You're already aware of variables, arrays, logic, etc. Really all you need to learn is syntax. Trying to force complex eventing into Blockland isn't the answer. You're raising the difficulty of eventing for all users just to satisfy a few special cases which would be better served by scripts.

96

General Discussion / Re: Events Replacement - How would you prefer?

« on: November 21, 2011, 05:57:34 AM »

So in the name of not alienating some users, we should instead keep on with the system we have, which is simple but still difficult to use (once you get some 30+ inputs or 60 outputs it is slow as hell) and has been maimed beyond recognition with strange hacks to make it do things it wasn't meant to (re: VCE), rather than making and using a better system.

"We shouldn't move to green technology because people will have to buy new cars"

That is exactly what I am suggesting.

A better brown townogy: "We shouldn't move to flying cars as people are clearly incapable of safely operating vehicles moving in two dimensions"

I guess you're under an "illusion" of being unable to read our comments properly then. Clockturn has already explained that that is not what he meant by that post.

1) You won't need to download anything to play on the server or use the functions of any contraptions made with the custom eventing system. Only the host or someone who wants to make something in it will
2) Scripting is a much more complex. Eventing feels more natural to the game in general - and this will be NO MORE COMPLEX than the current eventing system in theory. It will basically just allow you to embed events and other features that won't change it extensively from the current event system, only make it easier to use.
3) So you're encouraging people to turn to scripting and then saying we shouldn't make this because it divides people by their talents? Oh wait, that already exists with scripting! There is already plenty of division of sub communities in the community already, such as people who can build, model, script or event. This would be no different.

If I understand you, you're basically saying people shouldn't be able to have an extensive feature, that no one will be required to use, because you think people will find it hard (which if it remains GUI based, it won't be) and therefore be discriminated because of that. You're forgetting one thing: the blockland community is already full of cunts. People are discriminated daily based on absolutely stuffty reasons.

• 1. I'll believe that "you won't need to download anything" when I see it. M's comment (see below) suggests users without the GUI won't be able to event on any servers using it.
• 2. Given the crazy things people seem to be attempting with events and VCE, scripting isn't that much more complex than eventing and is likely a better choice for creating something as complex as a custom gamemode. The current eventing system is difficult to use in ways it wasn't intended for; the problem is you are trying to script with events.
• 3. The existing divisions in the community are at a level of content-creation outside of the game. It doesn't harm a players in-game experience if some users can make custom weapons or maps outside of the game. It does hurt a players in-game experience if they can't event because they are missing a required GUI or because the system is more complicated than necessary.

What I am saying, if it can be said any clearer, is that you're devising a "fix" for a problem that only exists because you are using the tools before you incorrectly. I am also saying that if you go ahead with this "fix", it will have a negative net effect on the community. The politeness of the community is irrelevant; you shouldn't be actively sabotaging the games accessibility just so you can avoiding learning how to write scripts.

That comment is, for the most part, about making the two systems compatible with one another side-by-side. (ie, people who don't have/won't use the client mod still being able to use the system)
This would be a ridiculous amount of work only to be giving a rudimentary experience to users who don't know about or refuse to use the mod, as is always the case with anything with clientside support. There's always someone, not catering to them makes you look like an starfish and catering to them is as much work as making the mod in the first place. It's like having to code polyfills to make your javascript work in IE6.

97

General Discussion / Re: Events Replacement - How would you prefer?

« on: November 21, 2011, 01:38:58 AM »

There's no reason they don't. People who don't understand it or don't want it can use the default event system, people who want to use it can install the add-on. It's funny, because using a more complex system is easier than the current system. If you just want to make a door that disappears and such then the events system is perfect. But as you get closer to making more complex things, the simplicity of the current system bites you in the ass because it becomes much more complicated to make functioning things, such as a computer. VCE and the like might make it easier, but it comes back to the current system being good for simple things but harder to navigate and make larger event projects.

M's comments imply that the two systems could not coexist, thus user choice isn't a fair excuse for creating such a system.

My two many problems with the idea are:

• It will raise the barrier to entry for players
• It is an unnecessary complication

The first problem involves two barriers that will harm new and existing users; GUI(s) will be required to participate in the server and it will have a steeper learning curve than the existing system. It inconveniences and alienates players for minimal gain.

Why is it an unnecessary complication? Because you're trying to use eventing to accomplish what would be better served by a script made outside of the game. I don't think eventing was ever intended to be used to produce RPGs or to simulate computers. In doing so, you're being impractical for the sake of impressing people.

Gmod's Wiremod is a perfect example of the risks of implementing such an idea. It opened up a whole new way to build contraptions that the creator never envisioned, but it divided the community; it resulted in a pseudo-class-structure of those who knew how to use "Wire" and those that don't. It puts an incredible burden on players to find, download, and install the latest version of the mod lest they miss out on participating in the most active servers. Worse still, creations made using the basic tools of the default game are looked down upon as being primitive and unworthy of praise. New levels of absurdity have been achieved as now the "best" creations are made through some scripting language that then operates through components placed in-game; they have come full circle! And to what end?

My point is this: Yes, users may chose whether they download and use the suggested system but, given the pressures that would result from it being prevalent, they would only have the illusion of choice.

98

General Discussion / Re: Events Replacement - How would you prefer?

« on: November 20, 2011, 10:04:53 PM »

... but it's often a lot of work to give an inferior experience to stubborn or uninformed cretins as opposed to simply ordering them out the door like any well-to-do establishment should. ...

Really?

Get off the high horse for a moment, what you are suggesting sounds like it would make the eventing system even less accessible to new players. I'm all for making the system easier to use, but don't push new users aside just to make a more potent tool. The community doesn't need something as divisive as Wiremod.

99

Gallery / Space Station

« on: November 20, 2011, 05:23:29 AM »

A small space station I built on a multiplayer server. The interior isn't worth showing.

http://youtu.be/T6tKRgfPnrA

100

General Discussion / Re: Blockland Trading

« on: November 15, 2011, 09:19:23 PM »

Wouldn't the add-ons need value for them to be worth trading? I mean, it's all digital information, can't you just share them with everyone?

101

General Discussion / Re: Add On Hosting With Dropbox

« on: October 28, 2011, 08:22:29 PM »

• Want to provide a mirror
• Are worried it will be lost / archived (didn't that happen with RTB2 to 3 or something)
• Banned from the service

The first two reasons seem to be one and the same. I just don't see it happening; the old archives were removed for technical reasons and I doubt Badspot would allow the service to fail due to rising costs or waning interest on Ephialtes part.

Whomever got themselves banned from RTB has really shot themselves in the foot. I don't have much sympathy for them though as they must have done something quite bad to warrant it.

102

General Discussion / Re: Add On Hosting With Dropbox

« on: October 28, 2011, 01:25:41 AM »

Why wouldn't you host your add-on via RTB?

With RTB, players can get your content in-game quickly and easily. You can issue updates to your content and push them out to players effortlessly. On top of all that you can get feedback via ratings and comments. You also get your add-on placed alongside other similar pieces of content further increasing the chances that someone will use it.

103

Off Topic / Re: Essay due tomorrow, I finished it.

« on: October 26, 2011, 03:16:13 AM »

That's a terrible essay; it's full of useless generalities, grammatical errors, unsupported claims, and at least one patently wrong statement.

Here are a few ways to improve it:

1. Use humble terms to describe coming events - I'm assuming you can't see into the future so using terms like "...is going to.." and "..it will take..." is pretentious at best. Better to use terms like: may, could, perhaps, it's possible that, etc.

2. Support your claims - It's perfectly OK to suggest nanotechnology may lead to "x" but you should really cite some sources for such predictions. I don't expect you to go digging through science journals, but citing an article in Popular Science magazine or from the BBC's website would greatly increase the worth of anything you write. It will also give you more information to discuss in your paper.

3. Avoid using terms you don't understand - It may tempting to use phrases like "margin of error" but it's best to avoid them if you don't understand how to use them correctly. For instance, you can't have a "margin of error less than zero"; that just doesn't make sense.

4. Don't switch "moods" twice within a sentence - Read the last sentence of your essay aloud. You'll notice it doesn't flow correctly. Instead it makes abrupt changes in style and tone that will just leave any reader frustrated and perhaps even confused. It's OK to discuss positive and negative traits of subject in a single sentence, just don't switch from A to B, then back to A again.

The biggest problem is that your essay lacks substance. You haphazardly spewed out three thoughts in the initial paragraph and just kept regurgitating those thoughts in the following paragraphs. You didn't really add any details to support your claims. The only way to remedy this is by doing more research. Learn how "nanomachines" can/are constructed, how they work, and what functions they perform. I'm sure the reader would love to know how such devices can lead to more efficient solar panels or how they can deliver medicine. If you're going to discuss the costs of the technology, get some real numbers. Exact figures aren't necessary, but "ball-park" estimates are useful. How will the cost of a nanomachine-built solar panel compare to the cost of a conventional panel?

Given that there are so many interesting questions to explore, I'm sure you can write a better, more interesting essay than this.

104

Off Topic / Re: WHAT IF lego made a robotic minifig for 100 dollars each would you buy it?

« on: October 26, 2011, 12:49:14 AM »

We have the technology to make such a device but you wouldn't be able to achieve such a low cost. We have motors, sensors, and processors that can be built at that scale but it is expensive.

There are two other limitations: energy density and vision. The robots would have to be powered remotely, either by a wire, running current through the surface they operate on, or via wireless power transmission. None are ideal for what you are trying accomplish. The second limitation, vision, demands you have an external vision system, like a webcam, "seeing" for the robots.

It would be a tremendous challenge to engineer such a robot and it would be entirely pointless. The cost of such a device would easily exceed any entertainment value gained from building it so small. You could make a larger version but bringing the cost down to $100 would result in significant feature and/or performance losses. It's much wiser to make purpose-built robots for specific functions, like assembling blocks or interacting with human subjects, without the arbitrary size limitations.

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General Discussion / Re: Server preview image history

« on: October 23, 2011, 05:10:58 PM »

I'm starting to see a pattern...