BS: Brain Games

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mr Red
Date: 24 Jun 22 - 02:49 AM

"I'm sorry, we don't sell travel books."

cue two of the obvious:

The shop was not "out of this world" because it had "no atmosphere"





I'll get my space suit

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 07:22 PM

> It is in "The Restaurant at the end of the Universe"

That's in the books, which were a complete rewrite. The TV production followed the original radio script rather more closely, and *that* ends with the Question being found at the end of Fit the Sixth. (Fit the Fifth took place in said restaurant.) I used to regurgitate HitchHiker by the quarter-hour, much to Herself's embarrassment .... Be Told.

While we're here, a genuine incident: When HitchHiker first came out in paperback, my father sent me a clipping from the Grauniad about it, so I went to the on-campus bookstore.

"Have you got a copy of the HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"

"I'm sorry, we don't sell travel books."

.... and I was ten yards out of the bookshop before the penny dropped.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 03:09 PM

But the question "What do you get if you multiply six by nine?" does not appear in HitchHiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
It is in "The Restaurant at the end of the Universe"

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 10:57 AM

UNIX Message of the Day at UKC, the day after the first broadcast on TV of the last episode of HHGthG:

Try base thirteen.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 06:43 AM

BobL: Comma after "three" please, Nigel.
No, then it would be 179* 4^(1/2) and wouldn't resolve as expected. I wouldn't expect to split 'three times' (thrice) with a comma.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 04:15 AM

I have read this tomorrow in The New Scientist.....

There was a young lady named Bright
Whose speed was far faster than light;
She set out one day
In a relative way
And returned on the previous night.

relatively funny?

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 04:04 AM

This from - https://www.futilitycloset.com a conucopia of limericomputes, (though is 42 in there?)

J.A. Lindon points out that 1264853971.2758463 is a limerick:

One thousand two hundred and sixty
four million eight hundred and fifty
three thousand nine hun-
dred and seventy one
point two seven five eight four six three.

my brain hurts

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Jun 22 - 03:44 AM

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said,
   but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

I know what he sediment, but not what the element.

and.......... would this have been a little more honest? He says pedantically!

(12 + 144 + 20 + 3 x √4) / 7 + 5 x 11 = 9² + 0

Though superscript of ½ does it equally - eg 4^½ in a Telegraphy/Timesy crosswordy sort of way.....
(FWIW √ is Unicode Hash Code √)

Now ---- can anyone devise a limericompute that equates to 42 ? That would be a brain game and a ½
(ligatures are acceptable)

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 03:28 PM

I didn't work out what the "v" was but seeing it on other websites it is the square root sign which looks like a "v".

True confession, though, I didn't try to work it out as a mathematical problem or a limerick. I cheated and looked it up.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: BobL
Date: 22 Jun 22 - 05:25 AM

Comma after "three" please, Nigel.

"No less and no more" is another ending, the corresponding bit of the equation would be "± 0"

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Stanron
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 03:18 PM

Not a bit is very polite.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 02:52 PM

It's probably easier to follow in English:

A dozen, a gross and a score, (176)
Plus three times the square root of four (176 + 6 = 182)
(all) divided by seven, (182/7 = 26)
plus five times eleven (26 + 55 = 81)
Is nine squared, and not a bit more. (=81)

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 21 Jun 22 - 12:14 AM

.... Ah: all is clear(er).

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: BK Lick
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 11:47 PM

Try this:

(12 + 144 + 20 + 3 x 4^1/2) / 7 + 5 x 11 = 9² + 0

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 11:27 PM

.... Sigh: I worked out what V is before I could recite it as a limerick. Good either way for kick-starting ze little grey cells.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 06:19 PM

Whoa! Too early in the morning and I haven't had my caffeine fix yet. LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mrrzy
Date: 20 Jun 22 - 04:51 PM

How about this limerick?

(12 + 144 + 20 + 3 x v4) / 7 + 5 x 11 = 9² + 0

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: BK Lick
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 08:24 PM

According to this Wikiquote article it's often misattributed to Alan Greenspan, but "... as Ralph Keyes notes in The Quote Verifier (2006, p. 233), 'This popular tongue twister gets attributed to the obfuscator du jour.'"

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mrrzy
Date: 14 Jun 22 - 05:40 PM

BKLick, my dad had that quote on the wall of his office at the US Embassy. I think it was HLMencken...

And when Brits ask how to pronounce Mrrzy I say Like the Mersey. Useless for Murricans.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 08:02 PM

Isla White-Ferry

Isn't that the answer to: "What's brown, steams and comes out of cows?" (or 'Cowes')

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 04:11 PM

"How about some Brian games.

May, Clough or Ferry?"

If Isla St Clair married Barry White, divorced him then married Bryan Ferry, would she be called Isla White-Ferry?

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 11:13 AM

As it happens .... In the middle of the Lace Market area in Nottingham is the building now known as the National Justice Museum. A hint to one of the building's previous functions is a stone arch leading to cellars, over which is "COUNTY GAOL". On looking closer, it's clear the stonemason (perhaps a Notts County fan) had originally spelt that as "COUNTY GOAL".

That used to raise a smile every time I passed through the Lace Market.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 04:09 AM

Mr Red, I'm sure that doesn't compare to a Latin inscription mistake chiseled into a stone plaque hundreds of years ago, eh! LOL No delete button on a stone inscription.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mr Red
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 04:06 AM

My brain games are writing computer programmes in 3 languages (currently)

FWIW the definition of an optimist is someone who writes computer programmes in ink

OK, I am that old, I used to write code on paper forms with boxes for a typist to punch the tape. AND 32K core was a wondrous upgrade. Yes 32K core memory! And you try telling young people today................

(original joke was about crosswords)

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 03:15 AM

Or the old narcissistic reply when accused of doing something wrong: "I'm sorry you think that".

Not, I'm sorry you are upset, offended, wronged, wounded, whatever, and not I'm sorry I did something wrong and I'm sorry for the consequences, but I'm sorry that you think I have done something wrong. And then they walk away and totally forget about the accusation. Like water off a duck's back.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: BK Lick
Date: 12 Jun 22 - 01:53 AM

Here's one I've always been fond of:

   I know that you believe you understand what you think I said,
   but I am not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 11:34 PM

Thanks, BK; I'd completely forgotten that'n. I can only assume my inner barrister jumped up and shouted "Objection, m'lud".

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 08:12 PM

Clever response!

It reminds me of those tricky questions in the find-the-truth type puzzles where you don't know whether the person is a liar or a truth teller. The tricky question is, "If I were to ask you [whatever it is that you need to know] would you say yes?" If the person is a truth-teller they will say yes if the answer is true or no if it isn't, but for the liar, if the answer is true, they would lie and say no, but in answer to the question they would have to answer yes to "would you say yes?" so you would know that the answer was actually true. Double jeopardy.

As an aside, I watched a quiz-type show called Tipping Point yesterday where the question was (approximately, from memory) "what two-letter word comes before the word 'brainer' to mean a concept widely agreed upon?" and the the poor contestant buzzed in and then paused and said he couldn't think of the answer because he had "brain freeze". I thought it was funny. No brainer leads to brain freeze.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: BK Lick
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 06:01 PM

I don’t accept the premise of the question. (As in response to the classic “Have you stopped beating your wife?”)

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 04:25 PM

How about, "Which part of 'no' didn't you understand"? LOL

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 03:33 PM

you didn't hear me as a rhetorical question is questionable but is mildly civil.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 11 Jun 22 - 03:17 PM

This seems to be the least illogical place for this ....

Officially, Yes/No questions have only one of two mutually-exclusive answers. In real life, I've encountered at least seven:

Yes
No
Don't know
Don't care
Don't understand
I didn't hear
You didn't hear me

.... not all mutually exclusive, of course. Further suggestions?

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 05 May 22 - 04:07 PM

Mrrzy, at work if we were referring to the time on an image we would say 17 hundred for 5 pm or for 5.40 pm it was 17 forty and never 20 to 5 like an analog clock.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 05 May 22 - 04:05 PM

Ferry?
Is he the one who was across the Mersey?

I'll see your Brians and raise you "The life of . . . the snail" ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 May 22 - 03:39 PM

How about some Brian games.

May, Clough or Ferry?

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 05 May 22 - 02:30 PM

Good point Nigel!

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Mrrzy
Date: 05 May 22 - 09:34 AM

I use the 24hr clock because I grew up in French. If my digital clocks allow 24hr time that is how I set them.

If I am specifying a 5 o'clock [not in the morning] time:

In English I say 5pm.
In French I say 17 heures.
I never use the military 17 hundred in English.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 04 May 22 - 02:27 PM

Dave: Everyone knows that time passes far quicker on the customer side of the bar than on the side of bar staff.

Not quite. In these circumstances time is relatively relative.

For most of the evening time (for the customer) flies by, while time for the bar staff can tend to drag.
Except . . .
When you order a pint. For the customer time waiting seems to drag, while the bar staff seem to perceive time moving more quickly.

Cheers!

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 04 May 22 - 10:47 AM

Time is absolutely relative. Everyone knows that time passes far quicker on the customer side of the bar than on the side of bar staff.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 May 22 - 10:42 AM

"Back to the original puzzle: the reason I tend to think in 24 hour time mode is because of my last job, dealing every day with hundreds of digital images with date and time identification on them.

Out of curiosity, how do others use the 12 and 24hr formats? Most (all?) of my things with a digital display (eg. phone, computers) are set to the 24hr clock and I like that but I tend to think in terms of the 12hr clock (conversion is quick) and don’t imagine myself telling someone the time in the 24hr format or say posting on Mudcat “we had tea at 17:00”.

Although, I’ve come across it before, I had to look up Don’s usage of “military time”. It’s not usual UK usage. In looking this up, I found that the term has a more specialised usage “between the United States and allied English-speaking military forces”.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Donuel
Date: 02 May 22 - 06:35 PM

MULTIVERSE TRAVELOG

Warning: May explode your brain if you understand the multiverse.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Donuel
Date: 02 May 22 - 05:53 PM

FREE BRAIN GAMES

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 02 May 22 - 05:31 PM

Sorry, Donuel, you are wasting your virtual breath on me by discussing physics etc. It has been 50 years since I left school and even then we never got into the complexities, just the basics. LOL

Back to the original puzzle: the reason I tend to think in 24 hour time mode is because of my last job, dealing every day with hundreds of digital images with date and time identification on them.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Donuel
Date: 02 May 22 - 11:08 AM

lol Nigel. My pal Al said the first part but the second part is better.

It a poor article Helen. Space-time exists.

Picture this; if you were to RACE away from the face of a noontime clock at the speed of light, when you look at the image of the clock racing along with you it will be frozen at noon no matter how long you travel.
For both you and the image of that clock moving at the speed of light TIME HAS STOPPED. Time will vary, going slower the faster you go until you reach the ultimate speed limit where time stops.

If you can picture that, just know that you can't go the speed of light because you have mass.
Massless things can only go the speed of light.

Time sort of emerges from velocity and distance in space.


Gravity is nearly as easy to picture as an emergent force, But its a longer story.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 02 May 22 - 10:26 AM

That explains it, then: When I'm in coding (or worse, debugging) mode at the keyboard, there's no such thing as time .... [sepulchral voice] .... only eternity.

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Nigel Parsons
Date: 02 May 22 - 09:39 AM

Time is an illusion
Overtime doubly so ;)

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 01 May 22 - 08:26 PM

I tried to read this recent article but I'll have another go and see if it makes some more sense to me:

Time might not exist , according to physicists and philosophers — but that’s okay

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Donuel
Date: 01 May 22 - 07:46 PM

If its 6:40 my clock doesn't display 06:40 so...

Thought experiments are as old fashioned as oil paintings but they still have value. They may appear simple but require a different way of thinking. Albert Eienstien's simplest thought experiments revealed an entirely new way to see gravity and time. trust me they are simple.

Looking at something through the lens of a single discipline is inferior to looking through many disciplines. There is an old saying 'jack of all trades and master of none'. Few if any are masters of all trades. So most of us just do the best we can with deficits, over thinking it and our training/bias.

                   I find complexity that is true but unintuitive is sometimes a warning that I'm looking at an incomplete understanding.
But that too could be wrong since translating a concept into language or math is tricky. :^? More and more I'm being told reality is just a fuzzy probability at its core.
for example;
I'm looking at the recent 'glowing donut' radio telescope composite picture of our black hole Saggitarious A star and they say the black center is not the black hole itself but only its shadow. I'm not sure I get what they mean by 'shadow' although I get that light is being drawn inward. Maybe I get it maybe I don't. Its fuzzy.
























if

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 01 May 22 - 05:58 PM

Some more thoughts on the randomised computer game, Spelunky.

Having studied business and management, I find myself thinking about business-type decisions while playing the game. What resources do I have i.e. time, equipment, money, or health/life of the character - if I take a chance on this move will the character suffer or even die? Is it worth using a specific resource in the hope of acquiring another resource or an advantage in the gameplay especially if I don't have definite information about what I'll get out of it? What are the risks and opportunities of specific decisions? If resources are scarce, should I risk them in the hope of gaining an advantage or will I shoot myself in the foot and regret it? How many resources do I need or what pre-planning do I need to do to achieve a foreseeable goal in the future, which is sometimes a level or more ahead in the game? There is a small time-frame on each level so sometimes it's difficult to go back to the beginning of the level, or sometimes there are obstacles preventing that, or not enough resources to do it. Sometimes I strike it lucky and get the best resource, a jet-pack to fly wherever I want, and sometimes I kick myself because then I get over-confident and take unnecessary risks and die.

It's definitely not a mindless game and the randomisation mimics life - and business - so it keeps my synapses firing. :-D

Subject: RE: BS: Brain Games
From: Helen
Date: 01 May 22 - 03:54 PM

This brain puzzle was harder in practice than it looked. My brain feels a bit fitter than it was a couple of days ago. Well done!

Donuel, is it 5 or 6 without 24 hour time?

01:10, 02:50, 05:20, 10:01, 11:11, 12:51

(assuming that 12:00 is not shown as 00:00)

I like that if you put 1251 and 1521 together you get a palindrome - 12:5115:21.