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Ralphie Maillot Jaune

Ralphie ★

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3 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I don't see how a human would possibly stand a chance against google in a game of Jeopardy!

Watson was built a lot differently than google. It was the tricky stuff that gave it a hard time, things that were more than just recalling facts. Jennings really came across well in the book.  

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Road Runner Flahute

Road Runner

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15 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

A very savvy Jeopardy player, of course!  He did a lot of strategerizing and studying. :D

I often wonder about all the stuff that people do to plan for the show.  Studying, practicing the clicker, going after the daily doubles and other selection routines, and of course, the betting in Final Jeopardy.  Really good players lose on many occasions because they make bad bets in the final.  I always wonder about how much time and thought that they put into planning for Final Jeopardy and the myriad of possible positions a player could find themselves in.

I've seen people who were brilliant in the game; they know unbelievable amounts of miscellaneous crap about everything imaginable, and then they screw it all up in Final.  :(

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Ralphie Maillot Jaune

Ralphie ★

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4 minutes ago, Road Runner said:

I often wonder about all the stuff that people do to plan for the show.  Studying, practicing the clicker, going after the daily doubles and other selection routines, and of course, the betting in Final Jeopardy.  Really good players lose on many occasions because they make bad bets in the final.  I always wonder about how much time and thought that they put into planning for Final Jeopardy and the myriad of possible positions a player could find themselves in.

Final Jeopardy was one of the biggest challenges to Watson because the clues are usually pretty tough and not very straightforward.  The author said the average for most people is around 50% (not sure if that was Jeopardy players or everyone), but I don't think I do that well.  There are apparently sites with all kinds of statistics and info and stuff out there that they used for research, like how much of each type of category there is, etc.  I wonder if those Watson episodes are on Youtube?  I think I do remember watching them.

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late Baroudeur

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1 minute ago, F_in Ray Of Sunshine said:

 

The author’s style makes it a tough read, but I’m learning a lot. (And furthering my assertion that Jefferson was a dick).

Just not as much as Hamilton.

Do try to remember which one George kicked to the curb.

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Road Runner Flahute

Road Runner

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1 minute ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

The author said the average for most people is around 50% (not sure if that was Jeopardy players or everyone), but I don't think I do that well.

I actually do pretty well on final.  I suck in the game because my mind doesn't work as fast as theirs (also, I don't know much about geography and books).  :)

In Final, time isn't a factor.  My antiquated brain has time to remember stuff and/or to deduce the correct answer from the clue.  My guesses in Final are usually pretty good.

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goldendesign Baroudeur

goldendesign

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27 minutes ago, late said:

reading the 6th book of the Expanse, Babylon's Ashes.

this is my 2nd time reading the series, it's quite good.

https://www.amazon.com/Leviathan-Wakes-James-S-Corey/dp/0316129089/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525099592&sr=1-2&keywords=the+expanse+books

I loved the TV show season 1, haven't had a chance to watch any season 2. The books are downloaded and on deck. I just have to clear some reading out before I start them with gusto!

 

Oh and @Couch_Incident ready player one is a decent read. Not earth shattering but way better than the travesty the movie turned out to be in my mind.

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The_Karen_Cooper_Incident Domestique

The_Karen_Cooper_Incident

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2 minutes ago, goldendesign said:

I loved the TV show season 1, haven't had a chance to watch any season 2. The books are downloaded and on deck. I just have to clear some reading out before I start them with gusto!

 

Oh and @Couch_Incident ready player one is a decent read. Not earth shattering but way better than the travesty the movie turned out to be in my mind.

So far it's been long winded.  I've just reached the copper key. 

Couch 

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Ralphie Maillot Jaune

Ralphie ★

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1 hour ago, Road Runner said:

I actually do pretty well on final.  I suck in the game because my mind doesn't work as fast as theirs (also, I don't know much about geography and books).  :)

In Final, time isn't a factor.  My antiquated brain has time to remember stuff and/or to deduce the correct answer from the clue.  My guesses in Final are usually pretty good.

Speaking of Jeopardy (7:00), somewhere recently I came across a reference to the real Rain Man who just died in 2009.  I need to Wikipedia that!  Oh yeah, it was in the book, where someone referred to Watson as an idiot savant.  I didn't understand why they didn't buil;d hearing into him it.  It embarrassed itself when it duplicated one of Ken's wrong answers. :D

Ken had a double major in computer science and Englich, so he was quite interested in Watson. :)  Just a cool story all around.

This is so cool!  But the Wikipedia article on Rain Man has no reference at all to the real one.  Odd.  Movies and tv are usually covered quite well there. :D

Never mind!  I skimmed too quickly. :mellow:  I should never doubt wiki's coverage of pop culture. :D

 

220px-Kim_Peek_on_Jan_16,_2007.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek

Rain Man

In 1984, screenwriter Barry Morrow met Peek in Arlington, Texas; the result of the meeting was the 1988 movie Rain Man. The character of Raymond Babbitt, although inspired by Peek, was portrayed as autistic. Dustin Hoffman, who played Babbitt, met Peek and other savants to get an understanding of their nature and to play the role accurately and methodically. The movie led to a number of requests for appearances, which increased Peek's self-confidence. Barry Morrow gave Peek his Oscar statuette to carry with him and show at these appearances; it has since been referred to as the "Most Loved Oscar Statue"[12] because it has been held by more people than any other. Peek also enjoyed approaching strangers and showing them his talent for calendar calculations by telling them on which day of the week they were born and what news items were on the front page of major newspapers. Peek also appeared on television. He travelled with his father, who took care of him and performed many motor tasks that Peek found difficult.[8]

 

 

 

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Road Runner Flahute

Road Runner

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6 minutes ago, RalphWaldoMooseworth said:

This is so cool!  But the Wikipedia article on Rain Man has no reference at all to the real one.  Odd.  Movies and tv are usually covered quite well there. :D

220px-Kim_Peek_on_Jan_16,_2007.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Peek

He looks a little like Roger Ebert.  Just noticed that Roger died 5 years ago.  I did not know that.  I used to watch Siskel and Ebert religiously.  :)

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late Baroudeur

late

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55 minutes ago, goldendesign said:

I loved the TV show season 1, haven't had a chance to watch any season 2. The books are downloaded and on deck. I just have to clear some reading out before I start them with gusto!

 

Oh and @Couch_Incident ready player one is a decent read. Not earth shattering but way better than the travesty the movie turned out to be in my mind.

I've been watching the tv show, and liking it. The books are a lot better. Top shelf space opera.

Have you ever heard of the Commonwealth Saga? That's my fave.

https://www.amazon.com/Pandoras-Star-Commonwealth-Peter-Hamilton/dp/0345479211/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525104778&sr=1-1&keywords=pandoras+star

 

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goldendesign Baroudeur

goldendesign

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23 minutes ago, late said:

I've been watching the tv show, and liking it. The books are a lot better. Top shelf space opera.

Have you ever heard of the Commonwealth Saga? That's my fave.

https://www.amazon.com/Pandoras-Star-Commonwealth-Peter-Hamilton/dp/0345479211/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525104778&sr=1-1&keywords=pandoras+star

 

One of my favorite authors and series

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F_in Ray Of Sunshine Domestique

F_in Ray Of Sunshine

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6 hours ago, Couch_Incident said:

I'm reading this. 

Couch 

I have never been able to look at a carnival the same way, after reading this. Also, it's funny that when I read that as a kid, I identified with Jim Nightshade, but when I read it as an adult, I identified with Will's father.....

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jsharr Maillot Jaune

jsharr ★

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The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly

Just finished Absolut Power by David Baldacci.

Before that was No Fortunate Son by Brad Taylor

Did a web search for authors you would like if you liked Lee Child and I am working through a list of them.  So far the list has not disappointed.  And off of these authors have multiple works, so I have lots of choices coming up.

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Ralphie Maillot Jaune

Ralphie ★

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On 5/15/2018 at 9:54 AM, 2Far said:

"The Theory of Everything" by Hawking. 

Whew, it's a little deeeep. 

That is why I started on Bill Bryson's A Brief History of Nearly Everything, but even that was too deep for me. :D  I should try it again because I loved A Walk in the Woods so darn much. :)

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MickinMD KOM / QOM

MickinMD ★

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I've got an ambitious summer reading schedule, on top of the usual chess books.

First, Douglas Adams complete Hitchhiker's series, I saw the movie and also got my hands on the old BBC Series, but reading the books are always better. I'm told the writing is much better at the beginning so I may not do it all:

1940211755_HitchhikersGuidetotheGalaxyThe-DouglasAdams.thumb.jpg.7ca2ba85fa5ec3f19c964d99cc6474bb.jpg107499487_RestaurantattheendoftheuniverseThe-DouglasAdams.jpg.c5236bc60dbea301a4a5ce06378a9c2c.jpg779017465_LifetheUniverseandEverything-DouglasAdams.jpg.bcd77a7f21d0891f05068f33f7f1b110.jpg327815277_SoLongandThanksforAlltheFish-DouglasAdams.jpg.3b957da9e3a37d799e8f7b6311daf7e9.jpg46987862_Mostlyharmless-DouglasAdams.jpg.34e4f1b5e72ea616cafdbf2f98aa7327.jpg

Second, some e-books I stumbled on while search for freebie books about the "Slav Defense" in chess: books about my the origins of the Slavic ancestors on my mother's side of the family:

223415913_TheEarlySlavsDolukhanov.JPG.49bef48cb13970f6781b087ab1b0eae0.JPG1015155330_TheMakingoftheSlavs.JPG.ced6d9dfccd3b92232a4bad9ab39a34c.JPG

 

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late Baroudeur

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On 4/30/2018 at 11:14 AM, goldendesign said:

I loved the TV show season 1, haven't had a chance to watch any season 2. The books are downloaded and on deck. I just have to clear some reading out before I start them with gusto!

 

I got to the end of the 6th book, and after a month, I was starting it all over with the first book in the series. Might get the 7th for my b'day.

Btw, the sound quality of the tv show is pretty good. I tried my  stereo speakers in the 2nd season, and there was a big improvement.

Also reading the Square and the Tower, by Ferguson. Sort of.

The Good Read show got me thinking about my fave books. Martian is on the list, I think I will read that a 3rd time before the end of the summer.

A good summer read is Gone for Soldiers, which is about the early career of Robert E Lee. Easily the best American military leader of his generation.

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late Baroudeur

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13 minutes ago, BuffJim said:

I'm rereading Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy.

Curious to gauge how much things have changed and how much they've stayed the same in the past 27 years.

So tell us a couple things about how things have changed, or stayed the same. I read it back in the day.

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