Search found 367 matches

by Tanay
Mon Jun 15, 2015 4:37 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Answer trivia questions to pay off college loans, apparently
Replies: 0
Views: 410

Answer trivia questions to pay off college loans, apparently

http://college.usatoday.com/2015/03/09/ ... loan-debt/

I know absolutely nothing about this, but it might be helpful to some members of the quizbowl community.
by Tanay
Sun May 31, 2015 11:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: How do the top teams study and specialize?
Replies: 13
Views: 9111

Re: How do the top teams study and specialize?

Finally is it possible for an ok team (made playoffs at hsnct,lost first round) to become a top team with one year of hardcore studying? I can take this one. At Bellarmine's first national tournament (May 2009), neither of its teams advanced past the second round of the playoffs. At our next tourna...
by Tanay
Thu Nov 06, 2014 2:27 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSQBRank 2014-15
Replies: 211
Views: 130871

Re: HSQBRank 2014-15

Dr. Loki Skylizard, Thoracic Surgeon wrote:New rankings: http://hsqbrank.com/2014/11/06/top-50-h ... teams-116/
I'm going to guess that this is the first time 12 different states/provinces are represented in the top 15. Pretty cool.
by Tanay
Sat Sep 06, 2014 8:28 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Giant Book Fairs
Replies: 11
Views: 916

Re: Giant Book Fairs

If any of you are ever in Berkeley, check this place out:
http://www.berkeleylibraryfriends.org/

I rarely go book-hunting elsewhere unless I'm looking for something in specific, because the selection is great year-round and it's always a bargain.
by Tanay
Tue Sep 02, 2014 12:55 am
Forum: Best of the Best
Topic: The Big Vision: [2] The "Sales Pitch": Talking Up Quizbowl
Replies: 45
Views: 45810

Re: The Big Vision: [2] The "Sales Pitch": Talking Up Quizbo

The zeroth step in this process is to be confident . This is exactly it. I have actually never had a problem discussing quizbowl with people because I am generally excited to talk about it and probably on the higher side of the spectrum as far as expressiveness goes. When quizbowl has come up as a ...
by Tanay
Tue Sep 02, 2014 12:55 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: The Big Vision: [2] The "Sales Pitch": Talking Up Quizbowl
Replies: 45
Views: 34114

Re: The Big Vision: [2] The "Sales Pitch": Talking Up Quizbo

The zeroth step in this process is to be confident . This is exactly it. I have actually never had a problem discussing quizbowl with people because I am generally excited to talk about it and probably on the higher side of the spectrum as far as expressiveness goes. When quizbowl has come up as a ...
by Tanay
Tue Aug 12, 2014 5:52 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Preseason Poll
Replies: 108
Views: 82418

Re: Preseason Poll

I don't attend Berkeley anymore, but I believe Ben Gammage will enroll this year.
by Tanay
Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:22 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Re: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

It seems like using this format for a centrally-written singles tournament in the future would more or less resolve the problem of variability within packets, while taking care of the aforementioned problems with byes, with minimal trade-off.
by Tanay
Mon Jul 21, 2014 4:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Re: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

Inconsequential correction here, but John Lawrence was given 110 points in Round 5 in Room 1 despite playing that round in Room 2.
by Tanay
Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:51 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Re: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

Given that the writers of the seeding packet (Jacob, Marshall, and myself) will need some time to write replacement tossups for repeats, submissions within the next few days are encouraged.
by Tanay
Thu Jun 26, 2014 4:30 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open mirror @ Berkeley (August 9)
Replies: 7
Views: 5259

Re: VCU Open mirror @ Berkeley (August 9)

bird bird bird bird bird wrote:GM6 is available.
Yes, please!
by Tanay
Fri May 09, 2014 6:59 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: VCU Open/second summer open this year
Replies: 44
Views: 22682

Re: VCU Open/second summer open this year

Berkeley is another potential host for this.
by Tanay
Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:32 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Praise Song
Replies: 35
Views: 15034

Re: Praise Song

Thanks for the kind words upthread, Jacob. The Berkeley team has dozens of members who you rarely see on the national circuit, but will find spending 10+ weekends of their already-busy school year volunteering at middle school, high school, and college tournaments on campus and elsewhere every year....
by Tanay
Fri Apr 25, 2014 6:26 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MUT over Skype (5/10)
Replies: 20
Views: 7714

Re: MUT over Skype (5/10)

Ndg wrote:Tanay and I are planning to play together.
Yeah. Victor Prieto is also on this team.
by Tanay
Mon Apr 21, 2014 3:41 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: MUT over Skype (5/10)
Replies: 20
Views: 7714

Re: MUT over Skype (5/10)

Due to a conflict with the Berkeley MUT mirror the week before, I would like to play this one. I'd enjoy having new teammates, especially as I anticipate that most of my current teammates will play on the 3rd.
by Tanay
Thu Apr 17, 2014 10:56 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)
Replies: 64
Views: 36419

Re: Gorilla Literature Singles (July 20, Chicago)

I suppose I'll volunteer to write the "non-attending" packet.
by Tanay
Wed Apr 16, 2014 7:23 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57281

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

That Shiraz tossup was in the WUSTL packet and was submitted - I made a few additions and subtractions to it. The ruler Adud al-Dawla kept his court in this city when it was the capital of the Buyid dynasty, which arose around 934 CE. That ruler built several monuments in this city, including the s...
by Tanay
Wed Apr 16, 2014 6:34 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion
Replies: 169
Views: 57281

Re: ACF Nationals congratulations, thanks, and discussion

Would all of the editors be open to writers asking for feedback on their specific submitted tossups?
by Tanay
Sun Apr 06, 2014 9:50 pm
Forum: New High School Teams
Topic: Improving PPB
Replies: 8
Views: 6335

Re: Improving PPB

Just learning things in general and your typical quiz bowl studying should obviously increase your PPB in addition to your ability on tossups. As far as ppb goes, I find that a lot of teams overestimate how important it is to have spectacular points per bonus. Obviously you want to be converting th...
by Tanay
Sat Mar 29, 2014 9:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Lederberg 2: Daughter Cell (3/29/14)
Replies: 155
Views: 91440

Re: Lederberg 2: Daughter Cell (3/29/14)

There is one change to the schedule. All matches scheduled to occur in Room 2342 will instead take place in Room 445.
by Tanay
Tue Mar 04, 2014 11:16 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Where Are You Going Next Year? [Collegiate edition, 2014]
Replies: 34
Views: 14074

Re: Where Are You Going Next Year? [Collegiate edition, 2014

I'll be employed in the San Francisco Bay Area and am willing to staff things in the area. I'll probably play any open tournaments that happen to be around. This fall, I'll be applying to law schools, and I intend to play at whichever university I eventually attend.
by Tanay
Mon Feb 24, 2014 6:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Crowdsourced Head to Head Rankings
Replies: 56
Views: 17451

Re: Crowdsourced Head to Head Rankings

Sulawesi Myzomela wrote:A pool of hundreds of high school teams is going to lead to a lot of people making selections on scant information. There may be some interesting results however.
In that case, it might be better just to include teams that have signed up for HSNCT or NSC.
by Tanay
Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:23 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2014 SCT: specific questions
Replies: 50
Views: 10950

Re: 2014 SCT: specific questions

One account of this event's death toll was given by Maximilien, Duke of Sully, who supposedly escaped death by carrying a prayer book under his arm. Many targeted in this event were attendees of the marriage between Margaret of Valois and the future King (*) Henry IV. Gaspard de Coligny was one of ...
by Tanay
Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:39 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Regionals - Seattle & Online - 2/22/14
Replies: 20
Views: 9451

Re: ACF Regionals - Seattle & Online - 2/22/14

Berkeley is playing, so we'll at least have some online teams. If your travel arrangements change and you find yourself unable to attend a physical site, let me know, as we have space available. I'll just point out that it's sort of uncool to withdraw from a real site to sign up for this one, espec...
by Tanay
Mon Jan 27, 2014 3:55 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 34
Views: 8216

Re: General Discussion

What was the philosophy for middle bonus parts in this tournament? Am I wrong in thinking that the general rule of thumb is "a middle part should be difficulty-equivalent to a tossup answerline" even if it's not a tossupable topic? There seemed to be an awful lot of things like...CPE Bach...
by Tanay
Thu Jan 16, 2014 3:38 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: ACF Nationals 2014: April 12 & 13 at Columbia University NYC
Replies: 102
Views: 88085

Re: ACF Nationals 2014: April 12 & 13 at Columbia University

Can we get an updated list of teams that have submitted packets that are good for the -$100 discount?
by Tanay
Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:30 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT Global Announcement
Replies: 33
Views: 19970

Re: SUBMIT Global Announcement

Hi, my name is Brandon Daake and I'd like to host a mirror of your tournament at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardau. Please send me anymore information at bmdaake@gmail.com. Thanks Any update on this or other mirrors? The following mirrors have been confirmed: Brown University, Ja...
by Tanay
Tue Nov 19, 2013 1:27 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: SUBMIT Global Announcement
Replies: 33
Views: 19970

Re: SUBMIT Global Announcement

Mike Bentley wrote:
List of Fighting Spirit characters wrote:
Mike Bentley wrote:Is there a date for the Berkeley mirror yet?
We still have to resolve that because of conflicts with other events. It might happen as early as January 25 or as late as May 3.
When do you think you'll know the date?
This will be on March 8. A forum post is forthcoming.
by Tanay
Wed Nov 06, 2013 2:55 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 8154

Re: Question Specific Discussion

The leadin for Master and Margarita seems to be poorly worded: "7. In this novel, Varenukha’s shadow ceases to be visible after he is bitten by a young redhead vampire. Hella, that character’s companion, goes by Koroviev and meets the landlord Bosoi after Berlioz is decapitated by a streetcar....
by Tanay
Tue Nov 05, 2013 3:07 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 15
Views: 3686

Re: General Discussion

Also, titles in literature questions were often dropped very early. I did end up dropping some titles earlier than you might find them at regular-difficulty tournaments, as I was writing for an audience that I anticipated would have many more teams that are new to quizbowl. Looking at the statistic...
by Tanay
Tue Nov 05, 2013 2:36 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: General Discussion
Replies: 15
Views: 3686

Re: General Discussion

Also, titles in literature questions were often dropped very early. I did end up dropping some titles earlier than you might find them at regular-difficulty tournaments, as I was writing for an audience that I anticipated would have many more teams that are new to quizbowl. Looking at the statistic...
by Tanay
Tue Nov 05, 2013 2:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 8154

Re: Question Specific Discussion

Can you post the tossups on silver, refugees, and the Ambassadors? The city of Shemnitz was known for its production of this resource in medieval times, while the Grecian city of Laurium was a major source of this resource in the ancient world. Its discovery in one nation led to boomtowns like Virg...
by Tanay
Tue Nov 05, 2013 12:58 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Question Specific Discussion
Replies: 35
Views: 8154

Re: Question Specific Discussion

I would like to see several questions: Horus and cosine tossups from Chattahoochee Cien anos de soledad and open tossups from Dartmouth A Petrarch, Cadmus, and Cato tossups from Michigan A Richard I tossup from Northmont Boston Massacre tossup from Ottawa A Pluto tossup and Barcelona-Pamplona-Santi...
by Tanay
Fri Sep 27, 2013 11:44 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule
Replies: 79
Views: 25694

Re: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule

Okay, so the spring semester tournament SUBMIT will be happening in that late January spot. There will be an official announcement tomorrow. Can't you just be straight with us and put up a full announcement tomorrow? (I mean, "Maryland and Berkeley [or whatever] are writing a spring invitation...
by Tanay
Thu Aug 15, 2013 11:32 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Favorite Books or Other Works of Literature?
Replies: 31
Views: 8667

Re: Favorite Books or Other Works of Literature?

In the light of the other books you've liked, I recommend Zadie Smith and Edwidge Danticat. You might also enjoy The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love , which is about the immigrant experience in a bit of a different way. Monica Ali and Dinaw Mengestu are also fantastic writers of immigrant literature.
by Tanay
Thu Aug 15, 2013 1:45 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule
Replies: 79
Views: 25694

Re: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule

First, there isn't really a tournament for the audience that prefers this difficulty between ACF Fall in October and MUT in April/May (I consider DII SCT to be markedly easier; maybe I'm wrong). What about MFT? I hadn't seen the announcement for that. Thanks for posting about it. It looks like MFT ...
by Tanay
Wed Aug 14, 2013 11:19 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule
Replies: 79
Views: 25694

Re: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule

So it's been over three months since anyone from Maryland said anything about Terrapin on the boards, and the last we heard from Berkeley was an intra-team disagreement. Is Terrapin happening? Which Maryland people would be editing? Is there still desire for WIT to exist? Would the two events want ...
by Tanay
Tue Aug 13, 2013 1:09 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Studying History
Replies: 15
Views: 6802

Re: Studying History

Right now I've just been reading NHBB packets. Are there better and possibly more interesting ways to study? It seems like most ways of studying would be more interesting than this. Definitely check out this thread (http://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8159), in which people discuss...
by Tanay
Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:25 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Improving as a geography player?
Replies: 25
Views: 7427

Re: Improving as a geography player?

If you have a decent grip with current events and history, you're starting off with a better groundwork than someone who doesn't. You should most definitely read a ton, and if and when possible, watch programs on any educational/interesting broadcast. World geography isn't something you can master ...
by Tanay
Wed Aug 07, 2013 11:20 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Preseason Poll
Replies: 54
Views: 23598

Re: Preseason Poll

I'm filling this out at the moment and finding that once you reach 21-25 it becomes very difficult to make any sort of educated guess. Anyone want to suggest some teams that weren't on this year's list? Though I don't know who is returning on these teams and whether they'd be playing nationals next...
by Tanay
Sun Aug 04, 2013 6:31 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Preseason Poll
Replies: 54
Views: 23598

Re: Preseason Poll

With the two biggest sites of VCU Open complete, is this now open?
by Tanay
Fri Jul 26, 2013 11:42 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: Chicago Open Discussion
Replies: 95
Views: 30542

Re: Chicago Open Discussion

-The Mark Reynolds tossup seemed like someone's stream of consciousness rant about Mark Reynolds. I know nothing about the guy, but the clues seemed rather fleeting. Seconded on this - I play enough fantasy baseball that I expected to lock down anything on current players, and this got to the end b...
by Tanay
Fri Jul 19, 2013 6:25 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule
Replies: 79
Views: 25694

Re: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule

I realize it's still July, but is Terrapin or WIT happening again? WIT will return. Perhaps that can be the late January event. We are much less certain of WIT's vaunted return than we previously were. I don't think this is true at all. We can and will make WIT happen. Last year, it was nice to get...
by Tanay
Tue Jul 09, 2013 8:27 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSQBRank 2013-2014: Witty Subtitle
Replies: 203
Views: 107569

Re: HSQBRank 2013-2014: Witty Subtitle

Grams's Go-Go Boots wrote:The Mission San Jose situation was out of my control. USN produced one stat line, which isn't doing anyone any favors.
MSJ played as "Escobar" all of last year. You'll probably find many more stat lines for Escobar.
by Tanay
Wed Jun 12, 2013 10:26 am
Forum: College area archives
Topic: 2013 College History Bowl: Now scheduled for 8/4/13 at VCU
Replies: 10
Views: 3121

Re: 2013 College History Bowl: Now scheduled for 8/4/13 at VCU

Matt Weiner wrote:Therefore, the attempted summer version of the tournament will not take place, and we will run the 2014 College History Bowl at the day-after-ICT time.
Does the offer for teams that signed up in 2013 to play for free still stand?
by Tanay
Mon Jun 03, 2013 9:26 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: What Makes A Set "Great"?
Replies: 9
Views: 3511

Re: What Makes A Set "Great"?

A "great" hard clue / hard part manages to be vivid and interesting in spite of its obscurity. A "great" lead-in makes me remember with fondness an interesting minor moment in a novel I've read, a fun passage from a piece of music, etc. A "great" tossup on a book I hav...
by Tanay
Sat Jun 01, 2013 4:20 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: What Makes A Set "Great"?
Replies: 9
Views: 3511

What Makes A Set "Great"?

Every year, more than a dozen college-level sets are produced. It seems like the majority of these sets are described as "pretty good", while a couple of them are universally lauded as "exceptional". In general, the difference doesn't seem to have much to do with larger issues of...
by Tanay
Tue May 07, 2013 10:59 am
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: HSQBRank 2012-2013: No, I do not mean HSA Bank
Replies: 138
Views: 150105

Re: HSQBRank 2012-2013: No, I do not mean HSA Bank

Grams's Go-Go Boots wrote:
evilmonkey wrote:12: California
It should be noted that an outstanding 10 of these 12 teams are from Southern California, a reflection of the tremendous work put in by Chris, Dwight, and others. We still have work to do in Northern California.
by Tanay
Thu May 02, 2013 10:17 pm
Forum: College area archives
Topic: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule
Replies: 79
Views: 25694

Re: The 2013-14 Tournament Schedule

WIT will return. Perhaps that can be the late January event.
by Tanay
Thu May 02, 2013 7:33 pm
Forum: High school area archives
Topic: Where Will You Be Going to College Next Year? 2012-13
Replies: 56
Views: 24208

Re: Where Will You Be Going to College Next Year? 2012-13

I'm headed to USC next year and I haven't seen their team playing in any tournaments recently, but I'd like to at least get a taste of college quizbowl. I know Thomas Gaddy from Blair is also going there so hopefully we could get something going. It would be fantastic if this happened; check with s...