Anyone wanna get together and do some realtime chatting on the subject? We've got a couple people here at least, bouncing messages back and forth, sorta, but I think we could go a lot faster if we could get a realtime discussion going.:)
Remember: All bugs are shallow to many eyes. Same thing goes for Chess problems.:)
Here, I got an idea. Anyone who wants to discuss the problem, I'll start a room called #chess on slashnet.org. come one come all.:)
What if WHITE Knight takes BLACK Rook, and this causes mate for WHITE? Surely its not that. But it is said: And Garry, who was convinced I had stated the problem incorrectly, couldn't believe that he and his students had missed it.
If its some silly little trick in the wording, I'm going to be anoyed. Very much so. Grr. Of course, in the meantime, I'm not getting anywhere with this thing. 101 ways to mate in 6, but none in 5. Sigh.
I'm thinking maybe you need to promote a Pawn? Just a though. Anyone else out there actually working on this?
The spoiler that's been posted is not a solution? I won't repeat it here, just in case, but as far as I can see, black checks white at one point, and white never moves out of check. If this is 'thinking outside the box' and this is the actual solution, this puzzle is useless.:) Breaking the rules to solve the puzzle is, in my opinion, cheating. Did I miss something?!
I assume that the Queen can make the mate, so long as the knight takes the rook. But I haven't found a way to make it work with the Queen in less than 6 moves.:(
I think I found the solution though. Or, rather, I think I know how to solve. Working on it now.:)
Heh, I've been doing it a completly different way. Or rather, ways. I've got half a dozen ways with each black and white. But I can't do it in 5. This is nuts. I might post them later, if someone else doesn't first.
A game begins with 1.e4 and ends in the fifth move with knight takes rook mate.
This is the puzzle. KNIGHT TAKES ROOK MATE. That's what makes it hard. There are million ways to mate in 5 moves, but the usual way in which it is done is what makes this hard.
Please read the summary next time. Alot of people seem to be making this mistake...
But honestly, computers are killing Chess.:( Soon it will be possible to have a computer brute force EVERY SINGLE MOVE in a game and beat a human opponent everytime. Personally, I think this sucks. I'm all for advances in computer science, but Chess is a HUMAN game. It should be played BY HUMANS against one another.
I'm personally going to work through it, I don't care how long it takes.:)
I do ask that if you, or anyone else, brute forces the answer, that you don't reveal it or try and win the prize. That's just not fair, really. Actually, I don't care about the prize, but don't spoil the riddle for everyone who wants to work through it -- thats like giving away the ending to a good book/movie, or telling the final score to someone who has taped a sports game. Discovery through diligence is good. Don't kill that, please.
Just seems like ZDNet refuses to just get things right. Ordinarily I hate to be the crybaby bitching about the testing, the methods/materials, etc..., but I'm really becoming more and more disappointed in ZDNet's lack of integrity.
I have no respect for ZDNet at all. I don't trust a word they say. I rarely visit their site, and when I do, I never, ever click on their banner ads. I also find some of their advertising offensive. (http://ads.x10.com/zdnetmacro/nov19m1.gif and its ilk.)
They have no decent content, its pathetic. And I hate that Berst guy. I guess I'm just not part of their target audience. Everything they do seems to be aimed at rich neophytes, with more money then sense. (This might explain their bias towards Microsoft products.)
I've just loaded up their homepage, zdnet.com. Its nasty and vile. Vile vile vile. The whole site is geared towards shoving expensive gadgets down your throat. It looks like a bloody online retailer. Half their 'content' is product reviews, and the rest product compairaisons or 'howtos'.
Heh, wow. I've counted the number of advertisements on their main page: just 4. zdnet.com/developer has 6. And 7 at gamespot.com. But they have to eat, right? At least the ads are targeted.:)
Oh, and this isn't flamebait, I hope.:) So don't mark it down as such. Just a few opinions.
I know Slashdot isn't exactly known for its up-to-the-minute reporting of stories, but this is just silly. May 6th? WTF? Its an interesting article, but/. is supposed to be 'News for Nerds.' News as in NEW. This is not new.:)
Is the dateline wrong? I'm just plain confused.:)
Maybe Slashdot needs a checklist for people to go through before they submit a story? Something like:
Microsoft purposefully takes down Hotmail, and then blames in on the crappyness of FreeBSD? Then slam FreeBSD big time and replace it with a Windows NT solution they just happen to have waiting in the wings.
Ooooooohhh. Conspiracy I say. What do they have to lose if they do this? They get to slam FreeBSD and promote Windows NT all at the same time. And its fairly clear that most people don't really care if Hotmail goes down for a little bit anyways, nor care if its secure. (I'm thinking about the security problem they had a while back.)
I just thought I'd share that nice juicy rumour I heard from my friend who works over at Hotmail and is involved in the decission making process. (He will of course go unamed and I will not provide anything to back up my claims.)
But remember: don't blame things on stupidity and incompetence when you can blame things on conspiracy. Or is it the other way around?:)
Oh, and I'm not dissing FreeBSD. I like it. So blah.
Anyway, this is another case where MS shines in lack of originality. Have they ever thought of anything for themselves? Good ideas or bad, I don't think they have.
Because they don't have to.
When you are in the lead, you don't take chances. You don't innovate. You do exactly the same thing as everyone else in order to stay in the lead.
For example, take a sailing race. Once you are in the lead, you should always be able to win. You just do EXACTLY the same thing as your opponent. Even if you think he turns in a stupid direction, you follow him, just in case it turns out to be a good move. In this way you can stay the same distance ahead, and never lose ground. In fact, its considered very amateurish to NOT match your opponents moves.
By following the crowd you are guaranteed to come out where everyone else does. This applies to everything: software, sailing, stocks, life.
Its stupid to take risks when you can let others take them for you. Of course, patents are meant to protect inventors and encourage innovation. In this way, they are good. Unfortunately, as people keep pointing out (you Karma whores!) patents are diluted and becoming more and more abused. Oh well.
Not very topical, but ah well.
You know, if MS were following this strategy (which they probably should), it would mean that it would be appropriate for them to introduce a MS Linux distribution. Just a thought.:)
Hehehehe. Damn, Score:1? Someone should moderate this up.:)
If someone hacked Amazon.com, say, they could potentially save the company (hundreds of?) thousands of dollars! Thats probably the most paradoxical thing I've heard in a long time. Heh. But for some reason, I highly doubt Amazon.com or the courts would see it that way.:)
Um, I'm not seeing this Battlezone game? The L0pht article at http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/WorldNewsTonight/w nt_991220_CL_L0pht_feature.html? All I see is a pic of some code?
"If you deface a Web site of a company that is making $18 million dollars a day, you are committing a pretty serious crime," says Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Yarbrough.
And a $17 million dollar a day site? Less serious? What about a $0 dollar a day site, say a unicef.org or whyme.com?
I'm sick of money being equated with importance.
I have no respect for script kiddies that deface webpages randomly, launch pointless DoS attacks, etc. They all seem unproductive and malicious.
Though I do rather like those people over at the L0pht.:) Original, creative, and damn, they actually DO stuff, unlike 99% of them damn script kiddies.
Still, I'm sick of all these [hc]racker stories. The media does seem to be doing a slightly better job lately though. Well, sometimes.
Slashdot Mirror
Remember: All bugs are shallow to many eyes. Same thing goes for Chess problems. :)
Here, I got an idea. Anyone who wants to discuss the problem, I'll start a room called #chess on slashnet.org. come one come all. :)
But so would everything else... hehe. I dunno, I'm lost. :)
Heh, actually, I've since changed my mind. I just thought it might be black, cuz white is too obvious...
What if WHITE Knight takes BLACK Rook, and this causes mate for WHITE? Surely its not that. But it is said: And Garry, who was convinced I had stated the problem incorrectly, couldn't believe that he and his students had missed it.
If its some silly little trick in the wording, I'm going to be anoyed. Very much so. Grr. Of course, in the meantime, I'm not getting anywhere with this thing. 101 ways to mate in 6, but none in 5. Sigh.
I'm thinking maybe you need to promote a Pawn? Just a though. Anyone else out there actually working on this?
Rules say: A game begins with 1.e4 and ends in the fifth move with knight takes rook mate..
You've got Knight takes Pawn mate.
Mate is given on whites 6th move, so this isn't a valid solution. Close though. :)
The spoiler that's been posted is not a solution? I won't repeat it here, just in case, but as far as I can see, black checks white at one point, and white never moves out of check. If this is 'thinking outside the box' and this is the actual solution, this puzzle is useless. :) Breaking the rules to solve the puzzle is, in my opinion, cheating. Did I miss something?!
I think I found the solution though. Or, rather, I think I know how to solve. Working on it now. :)
And 640k is all you'll ever need...
BTW, thats pretty wack notation :)
A game begins with 1.e4 and ends in the fifth move with knight takes rook mate.
This is the puzzle. KNIGHT TAKES ROOK MATE. That's what makes it hard. There are million ways to mate in 5 moves, but the usual way in which it is done is what makes this hard.
Please read the summary next time. Alot of people seem to be making this mistake...
And its probably more than you think. :)
But honestly, computers are killing Chess. :( Soon it will be possible to have a computer brute force EVERY SINGLE MOVE in a game and beat a human opponent everytime. Personally, I think this sucks. I'm all for advances in computer science, but Chess is a HUMAN game. It should be played BY HUMANS against one another.
I'm personally going to work through it, I don't care how long it takes. :)
I do ask that if you, or anyone else, brute forces the answer, that you don't reveal it or try and win the prize. That's just not fair, really. Actually, I don't care about the prize, but don't spoil the riddle for everyone who wants to work through it -- thats like giving away the ending to a good book/movie, or telling the final score to someone who has taped a sports game. Discovery through diligence is good. Don't kill that, please.
Damn damn damn. I can do it in *SIX* moves. I try again. :) I'd help if it said who wins. My bets on Black. :)
I have no respect for ZDNet at all. I don't trust a word they say. I rarely visit their site, and when I do, I never, ever click on their banner ads. I also find some of their advertising offensive. (http://ads.x10.com/zdnetmacro/nov19m1.gif and its ilk.)
They have no decent content, its pathetic. And I hate that Berst guy. I guess I'm just not part of their target audience. Everything they do seems to be aimed at rich neophytes, with more money then sense. (This might explain their bias towards Microsoft products.)
I've just loaded up their homepage, zdnet.com. Its nasty and vile. Vile vile vile. The whole site is geared towards shoving expensive gadgets down your throat. It looks like a bloody online retailer. Half their 'content' is product reviews, and the rest product compairaisons or 'howtos'.
Heh, wow. I've counted the number of advertisements on their main page: just 4. zdnet.com/developer has 6. And 7 at gamespot.com. But they have to eat, right? At least the ads are targeted. :)
Oh, and this isn't flamebait, I hope. :) So don't mark it down as such. Just a few opinions.
I know Slashdot isn't exactly known for its up-to-the-minute reporting of stories, but this is just silly. May 6th? WTF? Its an interesting article, but /. is supposed to be 'News for Nerds.' News as in NEW. This is not new. :)
Is the dateline wrong? I'm just plain confused. :)
Maybe Slashdot needs a checklist for people to go through before they submit a story? Something like:
Etc. I dunno, this is just plain odd.
I ordered some stuff from Thinkgeek.com too. Got it all last night. Whoohoo! :)
Microsoft purposefully takes down Hotmail, and then blames in on the crappyness of FreeBSD? Then slam FreeBSD big time and replace it with a Windows NT solution they just happen to have waiting in the wings.
Ooooooohhh. Conspiracy I say. What do they have to lose if they do this? They get to slam FreeBSD and promote Windows NT all at the same time. And its fairly clear that most people don't really care if Hotmail goes down for a little bit anyways, nor care if its secure. (I'm thinking about the security problem they had a while back.)
I just thought I'd share that nice juicy rumour I heard from my friend who works over at Hotmail and is involved in the decission making process. (He will of course go unamed and I will not provide anything to back up my claims.)
But remember: don't blame things on stupidity and incompetence when you can blame things on conspiracy. Or is it the other way around? :)
Oh, and I'm not dissing FreeBSD. I like it. So blah.
I'm in Canada, it is now 11:22 AM, and hotmail don't work. :)
Because they don't have to.
When you are in the lead, you don't take chances. You don't innovate. You do exactly the same thing as everyone else in order to stay in the lead.
For example, take a sailing race. Once you are in the lead, you should always be able to win. You just do EXACTLY the same thing as your opponent. Even if you think he turns in a stupid direction, you follow him, just in case it turns out to be a good move. In this way you can stay the same distance ahead, and never lose ground. In fact, its considered very amateurish to NOT match your opponents moves.
By following the crowd you are guaranteed to come out where everyone else does. This applies to everything: software, sailing, stocks, life.
Its stupid to take risks when you can let others take them for you. Of course, patents are meant to protect inventors and encourage innovation. In this way, they are good. Unfortunately, as people keep pointing out (you Karma whores!) patents are diluted and becoming more and more abused. Oh well.
Not very topical, but ah well.
You know, if MS were following this strategy (which they probably should), it would mean that it would be appropriate for them to introduce a MS Linux distribution. Just a thought. :)
Oh.
If someone hacked Amazon.com, say, they could potentially save the company (hundreds of?) thousands of dollars! Thats probably the most paradoxical thing I've heard in a long time. Heh. But for some reason, I highly doubt Amazon.com or the courts would see it that way. :)
Um, I'm not seeing this Battlezone game? The L0pht article at http://www.abcnews.go.com/onair/WorldNewsTonight/w nt_991220_CL_L0pht_feature.html? All I see is a pic of some code?
And a $17 million dollar a day site? Less serious? What about a $0 dollar a day site, say a unicef.org or whyme.com?
I'm sick of money being equated with importance.
I have no respect for script kiddies that deface webpages randomly, launch pointless DoS attacks, etc. They all seem unproductive and malicious.
Though I do rather like those people over at the L0pht. :) Original, creative, and damn, they actually DO stuff, unlike 99% of them damn script kiddies.
Still, I'm sick of all these [hc]racker stories. The media does seem to be doing a slightly better job lately though. Well, sometimes.
I actually did read the article, so I feel sort of foolish. :) I just misspoke.
Mmm, my fault. I didn't intend to mislead. I see your point tho. Sorry.