Search found 172 matches

by Wall of Ham
Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Let's talk about pseudonyms again
Replies: 95
Views: 25387

Re: Let's talk about pseudonyms again

State College used pseudonyms at the 2007 and 2010 HSNCTs as well. Also, 2004 and 2006, and many tournaments in between. It's a tradition. But no one seemed bothered by it (or even commented on it) until this very thread.... Congratulations on just making things up . My bad, I must have missed that...
by Wall of Ham
Thu Nov 11, 2010 9:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Let's talk about pseudonyms again
Replies: 95
Views: 25387

Re: Let's talk about pseudonyms again

bt_green_warbler wrote:State College used pseudonyms at the 2007 and 2010 HSNCTs as well.
Also, 2004 and 2006, and many tournaments in between. It's a tradition.

But no one seemed bothered by it (or even commented on it) until this very thread....
by Wall of Ham
Wed Nov 10, 2010 10:43 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Let's talk about pseudonyms again
Replies: 95
Views: 25387

Re: Let's talk about pseudonyms again

Frankly, I think the community's nerdrage at pseudonyms is an overreaction I think that this is pretty insulting. Several people in this thread have voiced reasonable opposition to pseudonyms, claiming that they interfere with the very legitimate practices of pre-/post-/during- nationals prognostic...
by Wall of Ham
Wed Nov 10, 2010 4:43 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Let's talk about pseudonyms again
Replies: 95
Views: 25387

Re: Let's talk about pseudonyms again

Care to explain why to the larger community? And, care to further elaborate, given your team's exceptional play at UVA---a performance which seems to be the best of any anywhere on this set---why pseudonyms rather than a substantive discussion of the set or your overall experience at UVA was your p...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 19, 2010 3:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Philosophy of science
Replies: 11
Views: 2096

Re: Philosophy of science

In no way does Philosophy of Science belong in the science distribution. Beyond a basic discussion of the scientific method, and science ethics, science classes do not teach it, science textbooks do not have it, and scientists do not need to know it. I'm talking about specific quizbowl-askable answe...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2010 NAQT SCT Northeast NOW AT HARVARD (2/6/10)
Replies: 85
Views: 17748

Re: 2010 NAQT SCT Northeast NOW AT HARVARD (2/6/10)

So my cell phone is out of batteries, but yes, we can do this. Let me send you guys some emails.
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 05, 2010 10:55 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT Sectionals Region 4 2/20/10 at Maryland
Replies: 91
Views: 20032

Re: NAQT Sectionals Region 4 2/6/10 at George Mason

Cornell is going to withdraw from this, due to the fact that the predicted weather has gotten worse (now 20-28 inches forecasted). We probably have the longest drive, and I do not trust my driving skills in this weather. We would consider a later, non-sunday date though.

Good luck!
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:08 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Japanese Names
Replies: 27
Views: 6510

Re: Japanese Names

Sorice and I squared off in a long-ago debate about whether first names should be promptable when it's not clear which one is the family name. I was of the mind that people can know a lot about Mao without knowing that his family name is "Mao" and not "Zedong," but I've come aro...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:59 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Japanese Names
Replies: 27
Views: 6510

Re: Japanese Names

Yeah, I'm not aware of any set of rules that gives a prompt on someone's personal name, unless they're widely known by that name or something. I don't know where people got that idea. MaS In theory though, isn't the given name a partial answer that's ambivalent and needs prompting? If a person says...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 05, 2010 1:38 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Japanese Names
Replies: 27
Views: 6510

Re: Japanese Names

Perhaps, due to the naming system and the fact that sometimes either order is used for Asian names, the first name should be promptable? First names are usually promptable for anyone, no matter the ethnicity. This is what I originally thought, but many times I've only given the first name and yet w...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 05, 2010 12:57 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Japanese Names
Replies: 27
Views: 6510

Re: Japanese Names

Perhaps, due to the naming system and the fact that sometimes either order is used for Asian names, the first name should be promptable?
by Wall of Ham
Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: '09-10 HS Midseason Poll - Congratulations State College!
Replies: 137
Views: 22386

Re: '09-10 HS Midseason Poll

FredMorlan wrote:The poll, while fun and a good starting point of determining which programs are pretty good, does have flaws. One of these I've noticed is that if you post a lot, you get more votes. If you're a traditional powerhouse, you get more votes.
Are you talking about quizbowl or college football?
by Wall of Ham
Wed Feb 03, 2010 4:31 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT Sectionals Region 4 2/20/10 at Maryland
Replies: 91
Views: 20032

Re: NAQT Sectionals Region 4 2/6/10 at George Mason

We have eight/twelve teams right now, which is the limit of what we can take until I hear from staffers I expect will not come. As such, we can't let you into the field (until we hear from said staffers we will probably not hear from). Yeah, I figured we could scrap our Div I team, and then I could...
by Wall of Ham
Wed Feb 03, 2010 1:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT Sectionals Region 4 2/20/10 at Maryland
Replies: 91
Views: 20032

Re: NAQT Sectionals Region 4 2/6/10 at George Mason

So as a person who has to personally rent a van and pay for hotel rooms, would it be possible to know whether this tournament is happening by, say Friday morning?

Or should I plan to re-reschedule and head to the New England SCT?
by Wall of Ham
Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2010 NAQT SCT Northeast NOW AT HARVARD (2/6/10)
Replies: 85
Views: 17748

Re: 2010 NAQT SCT Northeast NOW AT HARVARD (2/6/10)

So, uh, Cornell might be sending our teams to the Mid Atlantic SCT if NAQT permits, which may lessen the staffing strain here.

Both are 6 hours from Ithaca anyway.
by Wall of Ham
Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:18 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Why we can't have nice things
Replies: 141
Views: 27656

Re: Why we can't have nice things

But overwhelmingly, human beings try to wall-up and defend what they believe especially when their characters are being assaulted as well as their beliefs. At the risk of me derailing this thread, is there evidence for this? I haven't encountered a scientific study indicating that people are more i...
by Wall of Ham
Sat Jan 23, 2010 6:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: NAQT and distribution change
Replies: 29
Views: 5651

Re: NAQT and distribution change

I think that Literature's low conversion rate indicates the way it's taught in high school. In English classes one may only read 10 books a year, as opposed to say history, which is far more comprehensive. So to a casual literature player or new player, they may only know certain books well, and nev...
by Wall of Ham
Mon Dec 14, 2009 9:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Three team matches
Replies: 17
Views: 3532

Re: Three team matches

Panasonic Academic Challenge (now some other jumble of letters) used to have up to 6 teams playing at once. I think they did it by moving on to the next tossup after any incorrect answer, and penalizing that team the amount of points the tossup was worth (?). Most buzzer systems don't have lockout w...
by Wall of Ham
Thu Nov 26, 2009 2:02 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT's agreement with ACUI
Replies: 242
Views: 66399

Re: NAQT's agreement with ACUI

Cornell is both in the Eastern Canada Region, and is closest geographically to the Canadian SCT (unless its in Quebec City or something). However we usually travel to Boston or Pittsburgh because it is difficult to have passports and stuff ready for every member of our team that wants to go to SCT. ...
by Wall of Ham
Tue Nov 17, 2009 7:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: How to Run a Good Tournament
Replies: 26
Views: 4428

Re: How to Run a Good Tournament

Our tournaments sells food/snacks at lunch, partially because there are no good fast food places within walking distance. It's a good fundraiser, and basically covers the free lunch we give to our moderators, though it takes extra organization. Make sure to get soda/bottled water/candy/whatever the ...
by Wall of Ham
Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:04 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!
Replies: 46
Views: 11177

Re: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!

And a quick glance at the individual scores (without names) will tell you these were probably not the same people. Of course, I'm not denying that seeding would be easier without pseudonyms, I just don't thing it is a strong enough reason to completely deny teams the ability to call themselves what...
by Wall of Ham
Mon Nov 16, 2009 2:22 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!
Replies: 46
Views: 11177

Re: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!

Just one example, but Hunter at LIFT IX, which used IS-88, had Lily, Zihan, David and William on their team. They averaged 19.38 ppb and 380.8 ppg on a format with powers and negs. At HFT, Hunter had Paul, Lily, York and Zihan. They averaged 23.84 ppb and 475.8 ppg in a tournament without powers bu...
by Wall of Ham
Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:57 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!
Replies: 46
Views: 11177

Re: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!

As long as the A team is the A team, the B team is the B team, I think the issues that Fred and Evan brought up would be nullified. Yeah, but what if a player misses a tournament? Unless that player is a 100ppg player (which you could easily glean from a quick glance at the stats), the seeding shou...
by Wall of Ham
Mon Nov 16, 2009 12:44 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!
Replies: 46
Views: 11177

Re: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!

As long as the A team is the A team, the B team is the B team, I think the issues that Fred and Evan brought up would be nullified.
by Wall of Ham
Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:27 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!
Replies: 46
Views: 11177

Re: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!

It's "stalkerish" to see what the names of the players are on one of the best programs in the country? Okay. God forbid i have some interest in seeing what players they have coming up next to keep an eye on. It wasn't really directed at you, but there is some sort of "celebrity"...
by Wall of Ham
Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:02 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: contribute your opinions on pseudonyms here!
Replies: 46
Views: 11177

Re: Harvard Fall Tournament IV (11/14/09)

If you want to know their real names, talk to them at the tournament (or talk to somebody that did).

If you want to know these high schoolers' real names over the internet, even on their B-E teams, well, that is a little on the creepy and stalkerish side.
by Wall of Ham
Sun Nov 01, 2009 6:07 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall Northeast (10/31) @ MIT
Replies: 63
Views: 16432

Re: ACF Fall Northeast (10/31) @ MIT

Wow, I didn't know that was the state of MIT quizbowl; I thought they still had a relatively decent sized club. Thanks to those MIT members that did read.

I really didn't mind reading, I just would have preferred playing a round or two.
by Wall of Ham
Sun Nov 01, 2009 4:14 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Fall Northeast (10/31) @ MIT
Replies: 63
Views: 16432

Re: ACF Fall Northeast (10/31) @ MIT

Why was this tournament so understaffed from MIT people? To be quite frank, I was quite unhappy about having to read when I was planning on playing the questions. I wasn't really notified of this until 1 hour before we had to leave Ithaca, after Hannah mentioned some last minute reader dropouts. Des...
by Wall of Ham
Thu Oct 15, 2009 4:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Attention must be paid
Replies: 55
Views: 15920

Re: Attention must be paid

I support the idea of flexibility for formatting, especially since it doesn't affect gameplay. However, certain tournaments (NAQT and ACF) have a certain formatting criterion. In the end, the packet WILL be formatted to the editor's ideals. So I think it's best to help out the editor in trying to fo...
by Wall of Ham
Sat Sep 19, 2009 10:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: NAQT Scheduling Committee
Replies: 16
Views: 6910

Re: NAQT Scheduling Committee

I don't think the NAQT scheduling commitee can do much about when/what hosts choose to host, it can only "recommend". Take it up with Pitt.
by Wall of Ham
Sat Sep 19, 2009 5:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 HS Preseason Poll Results - Congrats, Maggie Walker!
Replies: 52
Views: 16930

Re: 2009 HS Preseason Poll Results - Congrats, Maggie Walker!

If that's the case, then only 2/Top 10 and 6/Top 25 teams are from the mid-Atlantic. That is certainly more than any other region, but you can't really call them dominating...er powerful.
by Wall of Ham
Sat Sep 19, 2009 1:15 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 HS Preseason Poll Results - Congrats, Maggie Walker!
Replies: 52
Views: 16930

Re: 2009 HS Preseason Poll Results - Congrats, Maggie Walker!

What is the Mid Atlantic? NY-SC? That's a pretty big swath of teams.
by Wall of Ham
Sat Aug 22, 2009 7:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gauging interest University of Rochester FDIC 9/26/09
Replies: 29
Views: 5890

Re: Gauging interest University of Rochester FDIC 9/26/09

Cornell would send as many teams as we feasibly have transportation for (2-3 Hopefully)
by Wall of Ham
Sat Jun 20, 2009 4:45 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Do not do this!
Replies: 53
Views: 8801

Re: Do not do this!

After taking 12 years of grade school math and 2 years of collegiate math, I have never learned nor used probability expressed in "odds" in an academic setting. In fact, the only time I've ever encountered "odds" was in sports bettings, when Vegas would give the "odds" ...
by Wall of Ham
Wed Jun 10, 2009 9:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The John Adams Rule
Replies: 41
Views: 8819

Re: The John Adams Rule

klebian wrote:This only tenuously related but should a response of "ethyne" be acceptable for the answer of "acetylene"?
Yes. Both IUPAC and the old, more common chemical name should be acceptable unless already said in the question.
by Wall of Ham
Tue Jun 09, 2009 8:54 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Better Stats
Replies: 20
Views: 6677

Re: Better Stats

Quizbowler Created Stats

Most of them are for individual stats, and seem difficult to calculate by hand though.
by Wall of Ham
Thu Jun 04, 2009 3:03 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: PACE NSC: format changes, 2010 information
Replies: 287
Views: 133902

Re: PACE NSC: format changes, 2010 information

Plus there's also the collegiate nationals in April.
by Wall of Ham
Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 HSNCT question discussion
Replies: 262
Views: 49308

Re: 2009 HSNCT question discussion

Prof.Whoopie wrote: Please tell me this is just a joke made by a proxy. Please. Please.
Beekeeper wrote:
by Wall of Ham
Tue Jun 02, 2009 1:16 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102561

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

Anyway.... If "Brahma" is the spoken sanskrit version of the concept of "Brahman", then it should be acceptable per the translation rule, dead language or not. The problem is the clue "similar to" which is basically "sounds like" , allowing the answer to be fr...
by Wall of Ham
Fri May 08, 2009 5:49 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Becoming a Good Social studies Player
Replies: 5
Views: 2205

Re: Becoming a Good Social studies Player

Wiki whatever came up a decent amount on the archives. Reading all the archives tends to give a good impression of the qb canon.


For more intensive studying, read books more.
by Wall of Ham
Mon Apr 20, 2009 12:38 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Antioch Invitational Tournament VI Results
Replies: 16
Views: 2808

Re: Antioch Invitational Tournament VI Results

Really, this is an argument against computational math: many computational math questions have a tremendous number of equivalent answers (or at least promptable ones; I think you should prompt answers that aren't in simplest form, for example), and that's a pain to deal with. Well, this really isn'...
by Wall of Ham
Sun Apr 19, 2009 12:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Antioch Invitational Tournament VI Results
Replies: 16
Views: 2808

Re: Antioch Invitational Tournament VI Results

We also learned that the Marlowe coaches still have no compunction about mixing it up with the mods. Apparently, in that 3rd place game, one of their math bonus answers of (-3x + 1)^2 was not accepted, as the paper only stated (3x - 1)^2. Ironically, had I been in the room, I probably would've back...
by Wall of Ham
Tue Apr 14, 2009 5:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HS tournament at RPI
Replies: 5
Views: 1205

Re: HS tournament at RPI

I have a huge email list of NY quizbowl coaches that is partially combined from NAQT sources, other QB sources, and me looking up the school websites of those that played Masterminds(that TV show) and trying to find the emails of their listed quizbowl coach. Email me at cuquizbowl at gmail if you wa...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Weekend of Quizbowl Discussion
Replies: 34
Views: 5248

Re: Weekend of Quizbowl Discussion

That's not a very well-written question about Radiohead. Their most famous, best-selling, and most award-winning album O.K. Computer is named halfway through the question, immediately after what many fans consider to be their greatest song, "Paranoid Android." Clue order for college, here...
by Wall of Ham
Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:50 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Upper New York NAQT State Championship @ Cornell [4/25/09]
Replies: 7
Views: 1884

Re: Upper New York NAQT State Championship @ Cornell [4/25/09]

Greene 2
Union Springs
Whitney Point 2
Williamson 2
Maine Endwell
Half Hollow Hills
Dundee
Ithaca
Kellenberg 3
by Wall of Ham
Sun Apr 05, 2009 2:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ICT: Missing Buzzer
Replies: 0
Views: 920

ICT: Missing Buzzer

Cornell is missing a Zeecraft buzzer system from ICT, last used in Kilby room. It has yellow and red lights with handheld buzzers. It is in a black plastic box with a similar handle, briefcase sized, with the word Zeecraft on one side and "Property of CUPB" written in faint ink on the othe...
by Wall of Ham
Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:21 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: What does/should the middle school canon consist of?
Replies: 63
Views: 9053

Re: What does/should the middle school canon consist of?

In terms of the Bio, I'd recommend less of MCB/Genetics and more on human anatomy/physiology, with tossup answers on "heart" or "neuron" or "bones" or whatever.
by Wall of Ham
Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:48 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Upper New York NAQT State Championship @ Cornell [4/25/09]
Replies: 7
Views: 1884

Re: Upper New York NAQT State Championship @ Cornell [4/25/09]

NAQT has informed us that due to the unlikelyhood of an NYC State Championship, this tournament is open to all teams from New York State, including New York City and Long Island.
by Wall of Ham
Fri Mar 13, 2009 6:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Ratio of American History to European/World History
Replies: 68
Views: 19284

Re: Ratio of American History to European/World History

World History at least deserves an increase. It covers such a wide spectrum compared to everything else. East Asia/South Asia/Middle East has a broad history spanning to the beginning of civilization, with many gettable answers, and don't forget Latin America/Africa/Everywhere else in the freakin wo...
by Wall of Ham
Fri Feb 20, 2009 3:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: Buzzerfest (3/28/09) @ Princeton University
Replies: 50
Views: 17745

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Buzzerfest (3/28/09) @ Princeton University

Um, don't you mean the deadline is Sunday?