Search found 359 matches

by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Aug 07, 2023 12:30 am
Forum: Collegiate Announcements & Results
Topic: EMACS CO Weekend Mirror
Replies: 6
Views: 2304

Re: EMACS CO Weekend Mirror

I second all of Matt Jackson's praise of this set, and will also note that this set definitely hit the difficulty target stated in the announcement post.

Much as one might recommend Logomachy to anybody who uses words, I recommend this set to anybody who uses computers.
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Feb 27, 2023 1:49 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: Favorite questions/clues/buzzes/moments
Replies: 21
Views: 4028

Re: 2023 BHSU: Favorite questions/clues/buzzes/moments

Honestly, my favorite moment of the tournament was seeing Nick Jensen's team get and 30 the bonus on "15th-century engraver Nicolas Jenson".
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Feb 27, 2023 1:41 am
Forum: Collegiate Discussion
Topic: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion
Replies: 59
Views: 35956

Re: 2023 BHSU: Specific question discussion

[10m] Raymond advocates the use of this type of code in The Cathedral and the Bazaar. Code of this type, such as Python’s decorators, makes files easier to understand without adding any extra functionality. ANSWER: syntactic sugar This bonus part feels un-gettable (but maybe you have conversion dat...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 03, 2020 2:53 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: This Time, A Stern Warning
Replies: 179
Views: 146944

Re: This Time, A Stern Warning

But I have trouble imagining a technical solution that accomplishes what needs to be accomplished without massively interfering with the game. There are services that permit relatively secure remote proctoring of examinations; my employer uses one (ProctorU, I think) as part of its hiring process. ...
by Excelsior (smack)
Thu Nov 07, 2019 11:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Abolish packet submission for ACF Fall
Replies: 29
Views: 8463

Re: Abolish packet submission for ACF Fall

In the OP, Harris notes that it would take "a group of less-experienced writers" about six hours to write 12/12, which comes out to an average of 15 minutes per question. This was surprising to me, because I would have guessed that it takes inexperienced writers much longer to write questi...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Apr 08, 2019 9:46 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 ICT DI general discussion and thanks
Replies: 27
Views: 2926

Re: 2019 ICT DI general discussion and thanks

Echoing Mike Bentley, I also thought that the "complex answer lines" directives at the beginning of each packet were a brilliant innovation, and anyone writing packets intended to be used at a timed tournament ought to include these directives. Maybe even packets for non-timed tournaments,...
by Excelsior (smack)
Sat Apr 06, 2019 11:28 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2019 PIANO/MO Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 50
Views: 9790

Re: 2019 PIANO/MO Thanks and General Discussion

I thoroughly enjoyed this tournament. I was very fond of the science, though much of it was too real for me. But my favorite part of the tournament was by far the economics content. I wholeheartedly endorse Jacob's praise for Sam's writing, and I wish all tournaments had econ like this one. Many tha...
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed Aug 15, 2018 3:19 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Illinois Side Event Open - 8/11/18
Replies: 92
Views: 37318

Re: Illinois Side Event Open - 8/11/18

This weekend was a ton of fun. Thanks for putting it on, UIUC people!
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Feb 28, 2017 2:20 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2017 (This) Tournament is a Crime Specific Discussion
Replies: 90
Views: 20238

Re: 2017 (This) Tournament is a Crime Specific Discussion

I was confused by the "modulo" tossup because I had difficulty parsing some of the constructions. Given that modulus is a 2-ary operator, it seems odd to refer to "applying" it to a single operand, as the tossup does in most of its clues. By analogy with subtraction (another non-...
by Excelsior (smack)
Sun Feb 19, 2017 1:28 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2017 ICT bids
Replies: 157
Views: 80918

Re: 2017 ICT bids

I honestly don't mean to be obtuse here, Jerry, but what about eliminating the clock potentially doubles the available staff? Is the idea that some otherwise qualified moderators won't/can't read at ICT because they can't consistently read more than 20 questions in the 20 available minutes? Or am I...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Feb 17, 2017 11:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: (This) Tournament is a Crime weekend - 2/25-26/17 - Michigan
Replies: 70
Views: 42305

Re: (This) Tournament is a Crime weekend - 2/25-26/17 - Mich

Hey, I'm a person who "knows" science! I'll play this tournament if I can join one of your teams. Uh, if any caravans are travelling from Chicagoland and/or through Madison to which I can attach myself in the manner of a well-heeled remora, I'd be much obliged. EDIT: I have joined Will Als...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Oct 17, 2016 2:03 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: There Will Be Stock Clues
Replies: 31
Views: 18930

Re: There Will Be Stock Clues

But where is the distribution for foods that are neither sweet nor savory???
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed Aug 31, 2016 7:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Saying Farewell
Replies: 13
Views: 7727

Re: Saying Farewell

F
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Jul 26, 2016 4:28 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The base fee for college qb tournaments should be higher
Replies: 14
Views: 6118

Re: The base fee for college qb tournaments should be higher

Maybe in some sort of weird future where payments are all done electronically you could have like a "tip" feature, where you can choose to pay an extra $5-$10 for tournaments that are well done (yeah, I know that's dumb but hopefully you see what I'm getting at here--people would be more ...
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed Jun 29, 2016 1:12 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Eligibility Restriction for National History Bowl, 8th Grade
Replies: 13
Views: 8443

Re: Eligibility Restriction for National History Bowl, 8th G

Some athletic competitions, like tennis, specifically have different divisions for single competitors and team competitors. It wouldn't be appropriate for Roger Federer to play solo in a doubles tournament, regardless of how successful he would or wouldn’t be. Michael Phelps doesn’t get to swim ext...
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Jun 14, 2016 7:57 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Side Event Weekend 2016 (Michigan) 8/5-8/7
Replies: 34
Views: 17216

Re: Side Event Weekend 2016 (Michigan) 8/6-8/7

If there are any caravans travelling to this from Chicago* willing to take on an extra person, could you drop me an email ([email protected]) or forum PM?

* (or anywhere in the Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago-Rockford convex hull, I guess)
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Apr 12, 2016 1:42 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2016 ICT general discussion
Replies: 6
Views: 3305

Re: 2016 ICT general discussion

I don't know if this is new as of ICT 2016 or what (I haven't read any NAQT since HSNCT 2015), but I want to commend NAQT on their significantly improved styling of pronunciation guides in the packets. They are now _much_ easier to ignore for words I know how to pronounce, allowing me to read more q...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Apr 11, 2016 7:01 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: AVOGADRO'S NUMBER General Discussion
Replies: 20
Views: 7281

Re: AVOGADRO'S NUMBER General Discussion

Ophir, these stats are both ridiculous and awesome. It gives me pleasure to know that my many hours of reading Hacker News have made me, if not a 10x CS player, at least a 1.6x CS player. While I don't disagree that there was some unevenness in the set, I still found it enormously fun to play (logis...
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Mar 01, 2016 7:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Regionals 2016 General Discussion
Replies: 31
Views: 15143

Re: ACF Regionals 2016 General Discussion

Historical question, I guess - if Chris Ray isn't the fellow behind things like "You are a nomad in 12th-century Kyrgyzstan. Answer these questions about your life in the Central Asian steppe for 10 points each.", then who is? I always figured (perhaps incorrectly) this was the sort of thi...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: AVOGADRO'S NUMBER
Replies: 81
Views: 41899

Re: AVOGADRO'S NUMBER

I'll play this.
by Excelsior (smack)
Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: "stanford housewrite" @ UChicago (3/5/16)
Replies: 19
Views: 13703

Re: "stanford housewrite" @ UChicago (3/5/16)

I'll play this tournament. Seeking teammates.
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Aug 10, 2015 3:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SHEIKH: Specific Question Discussion
Replies: 12
Views: 3891

Re: Specific Question Discussion

Japan (in historiography) A thing I know about! This tossup was good - I don't know anything about the Thomas Smith book in the lead-in, but everything else here looks important and well-pyramidalized (though I don't have good perspective on John Whitney Hall - he was a Yale person, so I've seen hi...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:37 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: We Have Never Been Modern General Discussion
Replies: 10
Views: 2932

Re: General feedback

Yeah, this tournament was downright amazing - I had high expectations (it was most of the reason I decided to go to VCUO this year), and it blew past them. This and QCT are now my two favorite sets of all time.
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Aug 10, 2015 2:24 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SHEIKH: Thanks and General Discussion
Replies: 16
Views: 5108

Re: Thanks and General Discussion

I want to commend the writers of this set for their exquisite use of italics and instructions like "[emphasize]" to help moderators ensure that they don't garble key prepositions. Every set should seek to emulate SHEIKH in this respect. The questions also seemed like they would've been a l...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Aug 10, 2015 1:34 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8
Replies: 122
Views: 60426

Re: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8

We played Tricon on Sunday afternoon after VICO/Modern as a shootout split into two rooms. There are some stats for the room I was in (I have no idea whether the other room kept scores). All 8 packets were read. Carsten read 2 packets; Will Nediger read 1; Dylan read 1; Mike Bentley read 2; and I re...
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed Aug 05, 2015 2:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8
Replies: 122
Views: 60426

Re: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8

I hereby declare myself a team for Modern and VICO, and invite literally anybody, even Chris Ray, to add themselves to my team.
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:43 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 CO Visual Arts Discussion
Replies: 12
Views: 4526

Re: Discussion Thread

Charles Hang did the same thing in my room - he said "Battle of Issus" in superpower and then managed to pull "Alexander" but not "mosaic" (both parts were underlined) upon prompting. I don't think he protested, though.
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Jul 24, 2015 5:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Opinions on "Ladder" Room Format
Replies: 5
Views: 2273

Re: Opinions on "Ladder" Room Format

One defect of the ladder system occurred to me after reading in the top room for this tournament. In rooms 3 and below, the scoring system does a pretty good job of encouraging you to score as many points as possible, so that even if you do end up moving into a higher room with tougher competition, ...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Jun 19, 2015 10:55 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Proposal: Quizbowl Team Contact DB and Staffer DB
Replies: 3
Views: 3753

Re: Proposal: Quizbowl Team Contact DB and Staffer DB

a "Quizbowl Contact Database" If you make an account on naqt.com and identify yourself as a club president / advisor / etc., can't you edit your school's contact info? I thought that was possible, but perhaps I'm just imagining things. If this _is_ possible on naqt.com, it seems best to j...
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Jun 16, 2015 11:26 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: College quizbowl payroll service
Replies: 17
Views: 8247

Re: College quizbowl payroll service

How much money do you estimate this organization would need to hold at any one time? Off the top of my head, I'd estimate that a typical non-ACF-or-NAQT college tournament would generate at most around $3000 in mirror fees, and with at most 5-6 such tournaments existing in any given 3-month window, ...
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue Jun 09, 2015 9:05 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Accurate Timing during Tournaments
Replies: 22
Views: 11252

Re: Accurate Timing during Tournaments

If you are suggesting that the moderator also run a stopwatch/timer in addition to reading duties (and possibly scorekeeping as well: in Missouri, the most experienced of us often end up moderating and scorekeeping at the same time already), there's a whole other set of difficulties, such as modera...
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Jun 01, 2015 11:01 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Rules for Human / Computer Quiz Bowl Matches
Replies: 4
Views: 4166

Re: Rules for Human / Computer Quiz Bowl Matches

Could the computer use voice recognition to get the words? That seems more realistic, especially to the reality that moderator mispronunciations etc. happen and screw players up (so the computer should get screwed too). I don't think commercial voice recognition technology is at a point where it'll...
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed May 27, 2015 4:48 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: CO History 2015
Replies: 139
Views: 77024

Re: CO History 2015

Unless Jeff has already assembled a pandemonium of trained parrots to moderate for this event, I will staff it.
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed May 27, 2015 4:45 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2015 CO Visual Arts
Replies: 131
Views: 73181

Re: 2015 CO Visual Arts

I will also staff this.
by Excelsior (smack)
Wed May 27, 2015 10:05 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: 2015 nAC
Replies: 28
Views: 14053

Re: 2015 nAC

Pingry extended that lead to 100 after identifying "neutralization" after hearing definitions of the word in Linguistics, Immunology, and Chemistry. Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction where a base and an acid react to form a salt Neutralisation (immunology), pathogen neutrali...
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue May 19, 2015 6:02 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Wacky Practice Formats
Replies: 21
Views: 15404

Re: Wacky Practice Formats

While Dwight's format makes sense when you have one player clearly superior to the rest, what happens when you have two players clearly superior to the rest? If you hate fun, you could just put them on opposing teams and play a regular mock game. Or... you could play Two-Headed Monster! To play Two-...
by Excelsior (smack)
Tue May 19, 2015 6:02 pm
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: Wacky Practice Formats
Replies: 21
Views: 24754

Re: Wacky Practice Formats

While Dwight's format makes sense when you have one player clearly superior to the rest, what happens when you have two players clearly superior to the rest? If you hate fun, you could just put them on opposing teams and play a regular mock game. Or... you could play Two-Headed Monster! To play Two-...
by Excelsior (smack)
Sun May 03, 2015 10:08 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Player Poll 2015: LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS DUFUSES
Replies: 86
Views: 40019

Re: Player Poll 2015: LET US NOW PRAISE FAMOUS DUFUSES

Masked Canadian History Bandit wrote:this could provide better PR/funding opportunities for teams (i.e. Player X/Team X is ranked 33rd in the country).
Is this actually a thing for collegiate clubs?
by Excelsior (smack)
Sun May 03, 2015 8:29 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Samuel L. Bronkowitz presents Chicago Open (07/18-19/15)
Replies: 117
Views: 62063

Re: Samuel L. Bronkowitz presents Chicago Open (07/18-19/15)

In the absence of instructions as to where the packets should be sent, I just sent the Adams/Cheyne/Manners/me packet to the email addresses I have for Jerry and Eric.
by Excelsior (smack)
Mon Apr 27, 2015 12:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8
Replies: 122
Views: 60426

Re: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8

1. We Have Never Been Modern
2. Science
---
3. VICO (will staff if necessary)

Will staff SHEIKH if it happens; will bite my thumb at Tricon if it happens.
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 24, 2015 3:21 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Your Travel Disaster Stories
Replies: 51
Views: 72587

Re: Your Travel Disaster Stories

(I'm pretty sure the SCT 2011 trip was the one where Danila got us home by speeding through a weather event which, while ostensibly liquid water, was only described for years afterwards as "The Ocean of Milk.") So this one was actually SCT 2011. We were in something of a hurry to be out o...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:22 pm
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Your Travel Disaster Stories
Replies: 51
Views: 72587

Re: Your Travel Disaster Stories

Ah, yes. This reminds me of another Danila travel tale (not really a disaster, but still), from when were heading to SCT 2011 at Harvard Regionals 2011 at Brown. (Corrected per Matt Jackson; it turns out that the narrative below is a reconstructed mishmosh of things that happened at SCT and things t...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 24, 2015 2:14 am
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Your Travel Disaster Stories
Replies: 51
Views: 72587

Re: Your Travel Disaster Stories

Haha look at this guy and his incomplete posts FZ pls I'm leaving this here to punish you for that 8000 word post that teases a bunch of stories but tells none of them. A fair punishment. (I will be happy to tell the stories if none of the other Yalefolk want to, but I guarantee they will be terrib...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:34 am
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Your Travel Disaster Stories
Replies: 51
Views: 72587

Re: Your Travel Disaster Stories

Haha look at this guy and his incomplete posts FZ pls
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 24, 2015 1:23 am
Forum: Quizbowl History Forum
Topic: Your Travel Disaster Stories
Replies: 51
Views: 72587

Re: Your Travel Disaster Stories

Once upon a time, when the Dark Ages were still upon Yale, there lived a man named Danila (blessed be his name). He was a man of many talents, with a particular gift for incorrectly answering questions about Welsh myth. He was no slouch when it came to the game, serving as a functional second or thi...
by Excelsior (smack)
Sun Apr 12, 2015 3:18 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th
Replies: 53
Views: 72439

Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

vcuEvan wrote:Hey at least the writers of Tricon actually bother writing their questions.
Okay, sure? I don't see how me being a terrible question-writer is germane to a discussion of VCUO side-event scheduling.
by Excelsior (smack)
Sun Apr 12, 2015 2:06 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th
Replies: 53
Views: 72439

Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

I'm not opposed to still running my tournament at VCU Open if there's demand / a slot for it, but if not then it will probably be done online or something. I guess it depends on whether Bruce's tournament is really happening or not. Although even then, fitting 3 tossup only tournaments into one day...
by Excelsior (smack)
Fri Apr 10, 2015 8:03 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8
Replies: 122
Views: 60426

Re: VCU Open at Michigan - August 8

I would like to play this tournament. Teammates would be nice.

I will probably play or staff all side events that are attached to this weekend, too.
by Excelsior (smack)
Thu Apr 09, 2015 2:53 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th
Replies: 53
Views: 72439

Re: VCU Open 2015 - August 8th

I am pretty sure I'm going to be writing a side event for this. I'll announce the full details soon, but it's going to be some combination of technology (and its history) and consumer/business history. It will be somewhat similar to Will's Questions Concerning Technology, but will likely have more ...