Dungeon Master Forum

Gambit37 wrote:Oh Jan, you tease!

He found an excellent description of my life: "Everyone but you".

Look at this:
1 2 3
2 1 4
3 4 1

It's a 3*3-matrix, but numbers are 1...4. Fill rows and columns with the missing numbers:

1 4 3 2
4 1 2 3
3 2 1 4
2 3 4 1

Now create two more matrices by *rotating the columns* (except the first one):
1 3 2 4 | 1 2 4 3
4 2 3 1 | 4 3 1 2
3 1 4 2 | 3 4 2 1
2 4 1 3 | 2 1 3 4

add to the columns 0, 4, 8, 12. The three matrices look now like this:
1 8 11 14 | 1 7 10 16 | 1 6 12 15
4 5 10 15 | 4 6 11 13 | 4 7 9 14
3 6 9 16 | 3 5 12 14 | 3 8 10 13
2 7 12 13 | 2 8 9 15 | 2 5 11 16

to those matrices, i add the standard matrix and the diagonal mirrored one:
1 2 3 4 | 1 5 9 13
5 6 7 8 | 2 6 10 14
9 10 11 12 | 3 7 11 15
13 14 15 16 | 4 8 12 16

what's the magic in it?
you will find that each number meets each other number in exactly one line in one of those 5 matrices.

we created the order four of this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affine_pla ... eometry%29

The same way you create order 9 with that magic matrix.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
2 4 9 1 8 5 3 6
3 9 8 7 4 2 5 1
4 1 7 2 6 8 9 5
5 8 4 6 9 3 2 7
6 5 2 8 3 7 1 9
7 3 5 9 2 1 6 4
8 6 1 5 7 9 4 3

There are still a lot of open questions around that theme.
I found the solution for order 8 and 9 around 1984 - they weren't found then.
I dropped them into my desk again and said to myself 'whatever they think - I *am* a mathematician.
And - I am sure - I am still the only one knowing that the problem can be reduced to such a magic matrix -
know how to build the matrix . and my program says that the next unknown - order 12 - does not exist.
When I die, this little bit of useless extra knowledge dies too.

So much for citations...

And in your view, this explains the "And those *they* are the money players that play 'globalization'. After all that game will end deadly."?

I seem to be in that unfathomable part of the web again...

"If you think it's too hot here, unbutton your jacket!"

(Napoleon Bonaparte to his soldiers during the Battle of Austerlitz)

Do you got any hint what to do when it comes too cold, because you make me shiver.

If your question is global-climate-change related, then I guess we're in the very same boat (me being very environmentalist and a member of Green party, no car, no air journeys, saving / recycling / cycling like crazy etc.) - I just don't think we can solve the problem by general and undocumented rubbishing capitalism / globalisation / free trade / democracy / (neo-)liberalism / anything Western / private companies.

If you're just temporarily cold, I suggest you button your coat?

(can't find a proper Napoleonic quote ATM)

Could someone please tell Miranda Hart and John Bishop that comedy is supposed to be funny. Thanks.

I have pretty much stopped watching stand-up comedy now, it all feels a bit...I don't know..."stale" for want of a better word. No one touring who I actually like. Stewart Lee is an exception, but you never really see him on television.

I have seen trailers for John Bishop, and they were really awful. And if that was the trailer, clearly that was his best material. Never saw Miranda Hart.

Stale. Exactly.

oh_brother wrote:Never saw Miranda Hart.

Keep it that way.

I've pretty much lost touch with British Stand up, but with all the podcasts I listen to I know a lot of the LA based American stand ups! Quite sad, really

I like pun based stuff from guys like Tim Vine and Milton Jones, but there's not much out there I would consider great stand-up any more. Maybe it's also changing tastes as we get older?

Which LA stand-ups would you recommend Beo?

Funnily there are some that I only know a small part of their acts. I guess Louis CK, Jimmy Pardo, Paul F. Tompkins, Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt, Tig Nitaro, the Sklar Brothers, Pete Holmes, Kumail Nanjiani, Demitri Martin, Jonah Ray, Doug Benson, Rory Scovel. Some fun musical ones are Garfunkel and Oates, Hard 'n' Phirm, Tom Wilson (yes, Biff from Back to the Future), and Reggie Watts. I'm probably forgetting someone really obvious and big.


I rarely listen to full sets though - it's more bits here and there, in between listening to them on their podcasts shows

Wow, quite a list! I never listen to podcasts, so I clearly have a lot to catch up on Where's the best place to find all these podcasts? Thanks!
And Biff is now a stand up? Man, doesn't quite work in my head!

To find their stand up look for their names on youtube, though some like Pete Homes also have links to their own stuff and funny or die videos on their own websites.

The podcasts tend to be more interview/conversation shows either about the business, stuff in general, or a topic (like gaming). And Biff wasa stand up for ages as well as a jobbing actor. That's the funny thing, you don't know half of what these guys do until you hear the interviews and learn why you've not seen them in anything since, or realise that certain people are really big in certain circles and you've never heard of them!

Podcast-wise, Nerdist.com (by Chris Hardwick of Hard 'n' Phirm) is a huge site of geek related news and stuff. He's also got a ton of podcasts. His own one tends to be informal interviews with comedians and now other people and is where I heard of many other people. You have Pete Holmes does 'you made it weird' with a more personal interview/conversation going in to sex, religeon and comedy and it can get weird. There's also the writer's panel which is interesting for behind the scenes stuff on writing TV shows, Thrilling adventure Hour which is a record of stage plays aping old time radio shows but with modern fun sensibilities.

Kevein Pollack (who you'll recognise from many films, but who I knew as a stand up from way back) also has a video/audio chat show with a more formal longform interview with people from film and comedy that's worth checking out.

Marc Maron does the more serious (though still comedic) interviews with comedians (some brits) and also people from other entertainment stuff. He is very direct and scary at times, but that also leads to some interesting conversations!

Louis CK doens't podcast, but he is famous for recently releasing a DRM free high quality version of his stand up show for $5 direct on his website, and also has a TV comedy show that he has written, produced, etc.

Earwolf.com is another hub for podcasts. The big one is Comedy Bang Bang, hosted by Scott Aukerman. It's sort of an interview show, except half the time one of the two guests pretends to be another person and they just improvise an insane situation or interview. The rest of the earwolf podcasts tends to stray from the normal interview format with far great theme - like a podcasts about business, or science, or improvised/comedic shows.


Anyway, that's just the incestuous tip of the iceberg, you cna also just go to itunes and find entirely new stuff.

Gambit37 wrote:I never listen to podcasts!...

Gosh. What do you do when you wash the dishes or iron clothes then? These mundane tasks were a torture to me before I was introduced to podcasts... Now they're just a pain in the @ss.

I know I'm going to really regret bringing this up, especially since I'm not that conversant in politics, but really: where the **** does America find candidates like Mitt Romney?

Romney is still fine when compared to GBush jr. IMHO.

And where do they find them? It's simple. In the more conservative, more religious, wealthier, older, more rural (small cities) or more suburban, more male and "whiter" (WASP) parts of the States. Who always votes for them? Typically "rednecks" and more well-off middle class and those who want the 20th century to return.

You're, Gambit, probably a relatively younger, poorer (sorry), urban, well-educated liberal - but don't forget that there also are other segments of the society, especially in the US with their larger social and regional differencies.

EDIT: I've intentionally over-simplified my statement. I didn't want offend anyone. Oh, and if I lived in the US I'd probably vote for Romney. *runs away in shame*

EDIT2: Oh, and don't forget that the candidates are chosen in the "primaries / caucuses" i.e. by more "radical" electorate.

It's actually easy to find people like Romney. He's a Mormon fellow, so they keep good birth records.
And not to belittle Obama, but Romney probably went to college under his real name, rather than an alias.


Since the Bush name came up...why such strong disagreement with Romney and Bush?

Oh I know that Obama is not to be blamed for anything, and I also have noticed that Bush has been blamed for everything he did (and didn't do),
but the most important thing seemed to be that Obama doesn't seem religious, conservative, etc.?

Oh well, I usually leave the politics to everyone else, since most Rep/Dem folks can't seem to hear each other in the first place.
I've also noticed that many seem to forget that each of these people are politicians; not especially known for honestly seeking 'middle ground' on issues.

P.S. I've alwasys been a little surprised that there are such strong opinions coming from those who don't even live in the same country as the candidates.
I have my own opinions but have never been inclined to add a 'four-star' unknown word to my questions. That usually suggests a moderate amount of frustration or confusion, right?

The question was rhetorical to a degree

To be honest I could probably have asked a similar question of the UK: "Where the **** does Britain find candidates like David Cameron?"

Plato once said "Those who seek power are not worthy of it."

MasterWuuf wrote:P.S. I've alwasys been a little surprised that there are such strong opinions coming from those who don't even live in the same country as the candidates.

The U.S. is the exception to the rule. Remember that the Spanish politicians followed Bush Jr. into the Iraq war, against the general consensus. We are all affected by U.S. foreign (and domestic!) policy, and you couldn't say the same about Spain.... In-my-opinion.

ian_scho wrote:We are all affected by U.S. foreign (and domestic!) policy, and you couldn't say the same about Spain

I think we can say it. The EU and basically the whole World keeps talking about Spain's financial and economic problems.

Gambit37 wrote:The question was rhetorical to a degree

*thwack* *thwack* *thwack* Never have rhetorical questions! *thwack* *thwack* *thwack*

Gambit37 wrote: "Where the **** does Britain find candidates like David Cameron?"

Now you've done it! I can have a similar question: Or like Eddie Miliband? I mean, apparently you're not being very objective here (first Romney, now Cameron). I'm not objective too, of course - as I'm a right-wing voter (and I mean right-wing in economic terms), David Cameron is a hundred times more acceptable to me than Ed Miliband and Barack "someone else made that happen" Obama.

This week, I have been mostly eating... troll.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-z5T8meC84

EDIT: Sorry.

Now that's too bad because my hovercraft is full of eels.

To be honest, Jesse's Diets didn't make any sense in its mother tongue, so don't worry about it

But back to something important to all of us...

DM is one amazing way of life, no matter where you live. (and that was no 'cheesy' smile.

*I'll keep my thoughts to myself*

*facepalm*

Ummm, I think I'll quit these forums for a few weeks in order to take a deep breath and stay silent. I hope I'll be back before Christmas. See you then!

Where the **** does Mount Anaias find champions like Mophus ?

I should have known better; you know what they say about discussing religion or politics.

@Linflas: This forum

It seems my being flippant has been misconstrued.

From now on, I shall refrain from posting anything relating to politics, even when it's just me being silly. It is clearly too difficult to make a silly comment without people either assuming something else, or that I was looking for a serious debate. I was not: I had simply watched a dumb video of Mitt Romney behaving like an ass, and in a moment of madness, posted my incredulity on here.

I forgot however that there are cleverer people than me on here who enjoy a debate -- and given that I had no time or intention to enter any such debate, I should have known better than to post a silly comment to begin with.

Lesson learned! Sorry all, I promise I won't do it again.