Search found 113 matches

by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Oct 29, 2009 5:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: interest in buzzer system?
Replies: 14
Views: 4206

Re: interest in buzzer system?

I've always pined for rod-like handheld buzzers that light up individually (like box buzzers), which (as far as I know) is not a feature that's ever been implemented.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Mon Jul 13, 2009 3:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Sun 'n' Fun 2009 Discussion
Replies: 53
Views: 10907

Re: Sun 'n' Fun 2009 Discussion

modified Wronksian Here's how I wrote it: In 2003, it was shown that the systems related to this are a subclass of the Riesz-spectral systems, and its functions can be transformed by a Prufer substitution. The locations of zeroes for its solutions are given by one of its namesakes’ separation and c...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Jul 01, 2009 4:39 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: VETO 7/18/2009 in Vancouver, Hamilton, Ottawa
Replies: 71
Views: 25448

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: VETO 7/18/2009 in Vancouver, Hamilton, Ottawa

Since my traveling is constrained this summer, I would be thrilled to see a VETO mirror/get-together in the Northeast, and would presumably come (assuming it's somewhere relatively easy to get to like Brown).
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Better Stats
Replies: 20
Views: 6671

Re: Better Stats

Anti-Climacus wrote: Quite possibly, when :chip: nationals is decided on a question on The Sot-Weed Factor.
An alternative name for marijuana is pot. For the championship and a pack of chocolate cigarettes, an alternative name for tobacco appears in the name of what John Barth work?
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue May 26, 2009 5:35 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: EFT 4 at Brown (Saturday, October 3)
Replies: 97
Views: 30983

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: EFT 4 at Brown (Saturday, October 3)

Right now Phil Graves is wondering if he's going to be making a trip up to Providence trapped in your trunk. That would certainly land you a hefty discount if you managed to pull it off. Is that discount just for travel, or will EFT be debuting a "trunk discount" for Phil Graves and/or Ch...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sat May 09, 2009 3:02 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Bringing Laptop to Tournaments
Replies: 14
Views: 3161

Re: Bringing Laptop to Tournaments

Theory Of The Leisure Flask wrote:I'm pretty sure there was also a laptop stolen at the MIT mirror of Minnesota Open.
Not just one--three laptops were stolen out of classrooms during lunch. Needless to say, we tell mods to bring their laptops back to HQ during breaks now...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Fri May 01, 2009 11:56 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Class of 09, Where Will You Be Playing Next Year
Replies: 79
Views: 21806

Re: Class of 09, Where Will You Be Playing Next Year

...also, does anyone know how I could get in contact with current MIT players, short of stalking them on the forums? I know Dwight or someone posted a link to contacting college players, and I used it, but MIT hasn't responded yet... D: -Kai Kai--shoot me an email; I'd be glad to help you out. This...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:43 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: ACF Nationals at WUSTL (Apr 25-26, 2009)
Replies: 85
Views: 67138

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ACF Nationals at WUSTL (Apr 25-26, 2009)

Hey, while people are talking about getting places in St. Louis, is anyone else planning on dashing downtown right after the finals to catch the Cardinals-Cubs game? Also, do any St. Louis-ites know whether backpacks are allowed into Busch Stadium?
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Emergency: at PACE
Replies: 105
Views: 20637

Re: The Emergency: at PACE

I can't be at PACE, but I would be happy to contribute a handful of chemistry/physics/arts questions to the cause.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:15 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Announcement: Geography Monstrosity (May 2009, Chicago)
Replies: 158
Views: 59702

Re: Announcement: Geography Monstrosity (May 2009, Chicago)

If you still need moderators for this, I can read.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Fall 2009 Columbia Tournament?
Replies: 20
Views: 4357

Re: Fall 2009 Columbia Tournament?

I'd be concerned that MIT and Harvard would have a hard time bringing a good number of teams (judging by current size, we would probably bring about 3 or 4 teams each to a sufficiently close tournament) to something in NYC; I know we would probably be limited by the cost of rental cars to 1 or at mo...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09
Replies: 12
Views: 4746

Re: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09

It has come to my attention that we made an extremely unfortunate error in entering the scores after round 6, where Burlington defeated Dolgeville 260-10 but was reported as winning only 100-10, thus severely decreasing their bonus conversion in the SQBS file (from 14.18 to 11.27) and keeping them o...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sat Mar 14, 2009 9:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09
Replies: 12
Views: 4746

Re: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09

Congratulations to Kellenberg for winning this year's edition of MITBAT, with a 255-245 victory in the first game of an advantaged final to take home the title. Half Hollow Hills West, who was 9-2 to Kellenberg's 10-1 after 6 preliminary rounds and a 6-team championship round-robin, placed second, a...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sat Mar 07, 2009 6:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09
Replies: 12
Views: 4746

Re: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09

OK, here's our almost-final field: E. O. Smith (3) Dexter-Southfield (3) Dolgeville Central (1) Manlius Pebble (2) Half Hollow Hills (1) Concord-Carlisle (2) Smithtown East (2) Smithtown West (3) Kellenberg (3) Northampton (2) Burlington (1) Mystery team that Dennis may confirm (1) Depending on the ...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:48 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: BOAT(New Jersey Area)
Replies: 7
Views: 1916

Re: BOAT(New Jersey Area)

Man, if this weren't the same weekend as 3 other things I should be doing, I would come down to help out. I'm glad to see you finally got the administration to not be (as) stupid; I remember having a heck of a time trying to get the original non-occurring BOAT to happen three years ago...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sun Feb 22, 2009 3:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09
Replies: 12
Views: 4746

Re: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09

Yes, MITBAT is still happening; sorry for the lack of responsiveness. The field above has been updated.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Mon Feb 09, 2009 1:09 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Northeast NAQT SCT, 2/7/09 @ MIT
Replies: 30
Views: 6625

Re: Northeast NAQT SCT, 2/7/09 @ MIT

Stats are now posted at this location . Note that the current version of the final standings doesn't take into account the playoff brackets, so the rankings are in a very slightly wrong order (for example, Princeton should be 5th, not 3rd, in Division I). There may at some point be an updated versio...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sun Feb 08, 2009 9:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SCT Private Discussion Forum
Replies: 129
Views: 22681

Re: SCT Private Discussion Forum

Registered, under the name "Scientific Disco".
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sat Feb 07, 2009 11:47 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Northeast NAQT SCT, 2/7/09 @ MIT
Replies: 30
Views: 6625

Re: Northeast NAQT SCT, 2/7/09 @ MIT

That's about the gist of it. We're still piecing together stats since we lost the D2 stats from the SQBS file after round 7 (and thus were set several rounds back in entering stuff) so I can't tell you exactly who finished where individually or whatever. But: Div I definitely went 1. Brown 14-0 2. H...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Jan 22, 2009 2:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09
Replies: 12
Views: 4746

Re: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09

I'll post a running field here as we get registrations.

Field:

E. O. Smith (3)
Dexter-Southfield (3)
Dolgeville Central
Manlius Pebble (2)
Half Hollow Hills
Concord-Carlisle (2)
Smithtown East (2)
Smithtown West (3)
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Dec 31, 2008 7:07 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Chip presents... Junor NAC!
Replies: 19
Views: 5065

Re: Chip presents... Junor NAC!

rienzi0711 wrote:
Bakery, State, and Utopia wrote:Rome is the capital of Italy, why?
Another example of how "questions starting with 'why' make great tossups".
You know, I find it amusing that neither this nor the example in your signature actually starts with 'why'.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Winter Northeast at Yale (1/17/09)
Replies: 36
Views: 7946

Re: ACF Winter Northeast at Yale (1/17/09)

As far as I know, we won't be coming because of Mystery Hunt, which is that weekend.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Fri Dec 12, 2008 1:30 am
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Alternatives to Wikipedia: where to find good material
Replies: 25
Views: 44075

Alternatives to Wikipedia: where to find good material

Since discussion about tournaments has died down for the moment and a lot of packet-writing seems to be either on the horizon or happening right now (Penn Bowl, Cardinal Classic, ACF Winter and Regionals, etc.), I thought now would be a good time to post a thread about neat places to find material b...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:16 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09
Replies: 12
Views: 4746

MIT Beaver Academic Tournament V (Cambridge, MA), 3/14/09

The MIT Quiz Bowl Team is pleased to announce MITBAT V, to be held March 14, 2009 at MIT's Cambridge campus. As in past years, we will use our popular real-time Swiss pairing system through 6 guaranteed rounds of preliminary play, before playing a playoff format to be determined based on the number ...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Sep 04, 2008 5:24 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: OAC Discussion 08-09
Replies: 18
Views: 3840

OAC Discussion 08-09

OAC rules wrote:IF AN APPEAL IS LOST, THE APPEALING TEAM MAY FORFEIT ITS NEXT MATCH.
So, most of the rules and format look OK if a little odd, but this is just preposterous. How could this possibly be for real?
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Aug 28, 2008 4:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: ACF Fall at Brandeis, 11/8/08
Replies: 22
Views: 6201

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: ACF Fall at Brandeis, 11/8/08

We'll be there with a few (2-3) teams for sure, though as usual we'll be a little late--the Commuter Rail doesn't get to Brandeis until 9:03.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Sun Aug 24, 2008 12:38 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2009 NAQT HSNCT
Replies: 349
Views: 102408

Re: 2009 NAQT HSNCT

Here's another option NAQT could consider for Sunday, or even for the last few rounds Saturday, if they trust the technology: They could put a computer in each room and have the results of each match submitted on the computer by the moderator. An algorithm could be used to figure out the next round...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open Discussion
Replies: 88
Views: 16155

Re: VCU Open Discussion

Yeah, complaining about subsub(sub?)distributions is a pretty fruitless enterprise, unless the complaint is "too much!" Asking why there weren't any stats questions is, if you think about it, roughly the same as asking why there weren't any questions on the French Revolution (or whatever).
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:22 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Quizbowl and copyright
Replies: 18
Views: 3825

Re: Quizbowl and copyright

The one problem I've run across with Creative Commons licenses is that their intercompatibility is muddled and often kind of stupidly interpreted. For example, when I worked for MIT OpenCourseWare, we often needed to find graphics for various courses, and the party line was that OCW, which uses CC A...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:42 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Zot Bowl/Truman State/VCU Novice Discussion
Replies: 34
Views: 10251

Re: Zot Bowl/Truman State/VCU Novice Discussion

Moving on to the "science clues from papers/studies" stuff: I think these clues are almost always a waste of time. If you know for a fact that the paper or study is a real classic that people outside a very narrow niche are likely to encounter in their courses, great; otherwise, scrap it ...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Aug 20, 2008 1:35 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open Discussion
Replies: 88
Views: 16155

Re: VCU Open Discussion

I just pulled up some recent ACF Regionals 2008 music tossups on ACF DB. It looks like about half of the questions mainly reference other works or composers and the various influences between them (or are about opera), which I concede is definitely gettable without any knowledge of music theory. Bu...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:49 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: the fred morlan tournament watch thread dunbar edition
Replies: 35
Views: 5172

Re: the fred morlan tournament watch thread dunbar edition

I'll put in the necessary plug for MITBAT--you guys did well here last year (I love how we always get about 20 local teams and then 4 completely random teams from way, way elsewhere) and we'd love to see you back. Edit: this may be made more tantalizing by being housewritten, though I don't know for...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jul 22, 2008 7:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: BOB (11/15/08) at Yale
Replies: 20
Views: 4067

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: BOB (11/15/08) at Yale

I'll join the chorus asking for ACF Fall or similar, especially given the putative MO mirror that we will likely be announcing soon. It's going to be a pretty dense (=awesome) year for tournaments in the northeast, from the look of it.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Interest in a Science Monstrosity?
Replies: 16
Views: 3188

Re: Interest in a Science Monstrosity?

Well, I obviously don't have anywhere near the expertise of the posters above me to offer advice, so I'll just put in a plug/strong request for this tournament to happen. I've always been very much more science-oriented than anything else, so a Monstrosity, pretty much wherever it is, would be reall...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:43 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Starting a College Team
Replies: 12
Views: 3448

Re: Starting a College Team

Aaron--good to see someone else from BCA is finally going be a regular on the college circuit. A quick glance at a map makes it look like you wouldn't have too much trouble getting to Boston for tournaments, which is pretty great, since we have one of the highest densities of real, good collegiate t...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:11 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Chip's Love of Pyramids! (renamed from NAC legitimacy)
Replies: 80
Views: 11004

Re: 2008 QU NAC discussion and comment

I love that his example of a question starting with "Why?" does not, in fact, start with "Why?"
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Great News! CBI "Susp"Ends!
Replies: 89
Views: 28524

Re: Great News! CBI "Susp"Ends!

I think we may not be giving enough credit to random school X's ability to find a bunch of vaguely competent people, which is really all you need to be able to answer some questions at ACF Fall and the like. People on the CBI circuit have probably had some experience in high school, or some time to ...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu Jun 05, 2008 12:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MIT open summer practices
Replies: 1
Views: 1205

Re: MIT open summer practices

Brief update: I'm making a list of MIT and non-MIT people who want announcements for practices so that I don't have to spam everyone I can think of. If you're in the area/want announcement emails and you're not already getting them, shoot me an email at the address in the above post. Also, if you ne...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:26 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Harvard Open, date as yet indeterminant
Replies: 11
Views: 2151

Re: The Harvard Open, date as yet indeterminant

OK, so out of the 7 schools in the northeast that come to stuff (MIT, Harvard, Dartmouth, Brown, Brandeis, Amherst, Yale), here are the ones unavailable due to spring break per weekend: 3/7: none 3/14: Dartmouth, Amherst, Yale 3/21: all but Brandeis 3/28: MIT, Harvard, Dartmouth This is to first app...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The Harvard Open, date as yet indeterminant
Replies: 11
Views: 2151

Re: The Harvard Open, date as yet indeterminant

We will, in all likelihood, use the same model that we're trying out with our high school tournament: we're going to write different (but related) tossups and bonuses for playoff and consolation packets. The high school example we gave in the announcement over there was replacing a tossup on Fitzge...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:10 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2008 QU NAC: B. T. Washington (OK) wins!
Replies: 350
Views: 53859

Re: NAC Schedules

many people think it is the most professional, because of how the tournament is organized. I find this kind of odd--NAQT puts on a much, much more impressive tournament now, given that they have something like 60-70 matches going at the same time on Saturday, essentially without any major tie-ups. ...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:54 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Chip's Love of Pyramids! (renamed from NAC legitimacy)
Replies: 80
Views: 11004

Re: NAC Schedules

cornfused wrote:buzz in anywhere in the question and yell, "BANG!"
I wish I had gone to NAC in high school just so I could have done this.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue May 27, 2008 3:36 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Quiz bowl: spectator or participant sport?
Replies: 20
Views: 4648

Re: Quiz bowl: spectator or participant sport?

Honestly, I think quiz bowl already is a spectator sport, and a damn good one at that--in that players watching a game have a good time watching it. I find a game between two top teams every bit as riveting as the last few minutes of a football game (or insert your favorite sport here) because you c...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue May 27, 2008 2:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Northeast/Canadian maritimes
Replies: 4
Views: 1444

Re: Northeast/Canadian maritimes

I don't know about the Boston area, but I'm willing to bet that, again, those teams don't really travel. As far as we can figure out, there is one Massachusetts team that ever comes to tournaments, Concord-Carlisle. The rest of the northeast high school circuit, such as it is, is the relatively suc...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Wed May 21, 2008 4:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MIT open summer practices
Replies: 1
Views: 1205

MIT open summer practices

I'm pleased to announce that we have secured an actual room on campus for practices this summer, which means they will be open to the greater Boston quiz bowl community (and anyone randomly in the area, I suppose). Practices are Monday and Thursday nights from 7-9 in 4-144 (that's building 4, room 1...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu May 15, 2008 10:39 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Senior Destinations 2008
Replies: 103
Views: 22951

Re: Senior Destinations 2008

Like I don't see how MIT can let in kids who don't have any real credentials I can tell you from two years here that this doesn't happen. Almost everyone at MIT is way qualified to be here, and even though there's some innate randomness in the process (how can you choose the top 1500 out of 3000 wa...
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Mon May 05, 2008 2:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ANNOUNCEMENT: Experimental Tournament, 5/24
Replies: 82
Views: 29133

Re: ANNOUNCEMENT: Experimental Tournament, 5/24

Having just bought my tickets to Chicago, I'm in.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Thu May 01, 2008 6:00 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: How to search the Stanford Archive
Replies: 16
Views: 4055

Re: How to search the Stanford Archive

The other archive to search, which has fewer but much higher quality packets (generally speaking) is the Collegiate Quiz Bowl Packet Archive. In particular, this one has all former ACF tournaments, whereas Stanford only has a couple of random ones.
by The Logic of Scientific Disco
Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:11 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF nationals discussion
Replies: 89
Views: 18455

Re: ACF nationals discussion

ACF nationals will not be in Boston again in the foreseeable future. Yeah, given Boston's ridiculous roads, this is reasonable. Actually, all things considered, this was a pretty optimal year to hold Nats in Boston, as a couple of teams with growing interest got to show up in full force (MIT, Dartm...