As introduced by ams16 & commented on by fairdice, Chain Factor is an addictive little web game @ http://chainfactor.com/index.php.

Bizarrely, I've had the high score in the basic game for over a day. This is possibly 1) further proof that something is terribly wrong in the world, or 2) an indication that my Chain Factor strategy is actually good.

Assuming, for the sake of argument, that it's #2, I'm posting here the approach that I'm using, so that other LJ Chain Factor addicts might have their day of glory too.

Normally I find the flavortext on Cute Overload too twee & annoying. But this morning's was LOL funny, especially since the Shedd Aquarium was one of my favorite special places to visit growing up.

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2007/12/update-on-theru.html

Here's the text (although the pic of young Mr. McWrinklesides on their site is good to give some context):

"This is such a bummer, People. Apparently, the name-a-beluga whale contest over at Shedd aquarium will only accept Inuit/Indian names as contest entries. Last time I checked, neither "Humptyback Fishtybuns", nor "Mr. Splashy von Beluga Whalehouser", NOR "Smiley Q McWrinklesides" were of Inuit origin.

This is a total official rules McBummer, and I should have caught it!!! I'm sorry! Sure, we could all rally behind "Inungoark" or "Kappianartok", but that sounds like a Klingon or a foul-tasting stomach-settling medicine at best."

NPR's "Wait, wait, don't tell me" is sponsored in part by Grey Goo...
...se vodka.

Browsing Mediumlarge I noticed this "ads by google" ad, expertly placed & worded for greatest impact...

USED FORKLIFTS IN STOCK
Need to fork something?
We sell & ship used forklifts nationwide.
www.UsedForklifts.com

This morning I was impressed that the February link pass I put on my "Charlie" card worked. It didn't even seem to erase the ~$8 of non-monthly pass value I had stored on it (although I'm not quite sure how I'd be sure of this).

Then this evening, the T gates at Downtown Crossing were mobbed with about 100 people. All three of the gates were rejecting everone's cards. I and many others tried saying to the T employee... "look, I've got a monthly pass, just let me in". She said, "Oh, let me see." And looked at my card. Of course, there was no way at all for her to know it had a monthly pass. She started threatenning "If you go through I'll have to call the cops!" One guy responded "Good. Then maybe they'll have the sense to open the gates & let us in."

The wide handicapped gate happened to be open & was already on the far side of it, arguing with her. I was tempted just to walk to the trains, but, from some misplaced sense of decency reached back & touched my card to the sensor. The screen, displayed "pass good to 2/28" Maybe the T agent had overridden that gate & it really didnt' work - but it was excuse enough for me. I just made the train & had a good, extra long, packed ride.

So, what was wrong with the gates? Ruthling says her T pass is updated automatically. Her employer sends a list (of names? of Charlie card serial numbers?) to the T, and the stations automatically know the passes are valid. R also has heard it's possible to buy passes on the web. Given that, with these two payment methods, you never need to touch your card to a vending machine, that means that every gate must either be programmed with or have a network connection to the database of all users (!?). Maybe what I was seeing was a "our server is down" error. Thank god it was localized to just one entryway to one station.

Imagine what would happen if the central server died. I can't believe that a commuter transportation system would operate this way. If the information was just encoded on the cards it would be so much more robust & less prone to system-wide failure. Does anyone actually know how it works & whether there really are adequate safeguards to prevent a T-wide gate failure?

I guess the T can avoid jokes about "Charlie" getting stuck on the MBTA & not getting off, if "Charlie" can't get past the gates in the first place.


Grrrrrrr. (+1)

Does good Greek take out/catering exist in the Somerville/Medford area? Does anyone have experience with the Greek Corner Restaurant on Mass Ave in Cambridge?

Through no fault of my own, Palindrome, AKA Dr. Awkward, was this year's MIT Mystery Hunt winners. The coin was found around 2 AM Sunday morning.

I was there for Saturday afternoon, and spent most of my time on a puzzle that remained unsolved by the group (of maybe 40 people). Jeremy, Aidan & Kevin (of the TND crowd) likely helped out more than I did.

This means, of course, that some of us may be contributing to writing next year's hunt. Whee!

"Simple" projects always take far longer than expected... but after several weekends hunting for materials, cutting them to size with power tools, digging holes, & yanking wisteria vines from trees, the fence project has been declared done. Many thanks to Hauntmeister for his Skilsaw & Ruthling for heavy lifting & longsuffering tolerance.

Unfortunately, I'd need to upgrade my so-seldom-used LJ account to post real pictures (hmm, maybe later). For now, though, I'll have to make do with a tiny icon.

The backyard fence on our left-side property lin has been collapsing, bit by bit, for 5 years. It's unclear whether this is our neighbor's responsibility or ours (most likely his, but it doesn't really matter). I've been avoiding doing anything about it (aside from occasionally disassembling and trashing a fallen section).

There's an amazing fence-top wisteria vine on a corner lot a block and a half away. Twined around the top of the chain-link fence, it's a nifty caterpillar of green in midsummer & incredible when in spring bloom.

I decided to try to take the wisteria that was choking the mulberry tree on the left side in the back and try to do the same. I pulled down a bunch of vines & started to re-route them. Too many gaps in the fence, though. There was nothing to hang them on for one 24-foot stretch.

The lifeguards at the wading pool did have a broom, although the sand on the bike/walking path was deep enough it might better have been done with a shovel. 15 minutes of serious sweeping got most of it off the path, though.

The lifeguard who gave me the broom asked if I needed help (I was in a "get it done" mindsett and said no). When I handed the broom back he said "I should have done something about that, I didn't realize it was so bad." I told him it was OK, it wasn't his responsibility, while thinking "You'd really have done something about it if you knew, or if someone asked you? Yeah, right.". Maybe I was being too uncharatible in the wake of my last request, to people whose responsibility this really _was_, having them cheerfully agree to do it and then ignore it.

The deepest sand was caked on with dirt/dried mud, & no amount of sweeping could loosen it. A few days of traffic has. Another short stint of sweeping for me... or will I find it done for me if I leave it a few days?

Between the Science Museum and the Hatch Shell they've been working since last fall on a slowly-proceeding baseball field project (a seemingly horrendous waste of time and money). The construction has closed the river-side mixed-use path for over 6 months. It has also blown a pile of sand onto the Storrow-drive side path, which has been a hazard to bikes, rollerbladers and joggers all spring and summer. It's gotten to the point where it covers all but 6 inches of the sidewalk to an inch or two deep. It's bad enough that normal pedestrians will go out of their way to avoid it.

Every so often I will see a work crew or parks department crew (whatever the MDC now is) working along the esplanade, but they have never done anything about the sand trap. So, Friday, a crew was picking up trash right near the spot. I stop, and ask one of the young women working there if they have a broom or something that they could use to remove the sand. She was very pleasant and said yes, they could handle it. I suddenly felt much better about the parks department, and wondered why I hadn't stopped to ask before.

Four days later the sand trap is still there. Maybe, like the snow under the Harvard St. bridge, the only way to get needed public services is to do them myself. Maybe the wading pool a bit further down Storrow has a broom I can borrow...

Grrr (plus 1).

I just finished Cory Doctorow's latest, Someone comes to town, someone leaves town.  I was wowed by Cory's reading of his short story about on-line game economies affecting the real economy - and the social implications thereof (sorry, I can't remember the name). Since then I've wanted to be wowed by his novels, but I didn't think either Down & Out in the Magic Kingdom or  Easter Standard Tribe really  worked. Too much expostulation about cool tech, not enough plot or character believability.

Someone comes to town, someone leaves town, however, is good - in places excellent. It's a modern fantasy that is delightfully bizarre. Mild spoilers follow...

The first chorbly poll results are in & here's what we got.

4 people suggested birdsong, one suggested something subtly chuckly, and got really close to the mark with "I think it's a remote village in East Anglia, the kind with horrid murders which must be investigated by Lord Peter Wimsey."

In the end I think I have to conclude that you guys have too much inside information on Chorbly. Apparently Ruthling has been posting comments about her forthcoming historical treatise "Chorbly Now & Then".

Chorbly is indeed a small town (actually in Wales) renowned for the grisly murders committed by a man dressed up as a parakeet. The town name came to be associated with the chittering/whistling noises the man made as he stalked his victims (every one of them retired cakesniffers from the South Chorbly Sweets factory) as they went about their post-prandial perambulations. Although the likely perpetrator was captured and hanged, after flaunting full parakeet regalia at the local bird fancier's ball, rumors abound that this was the wrong man and that the real murderer still chorbles through the moors on misty, new-moon nights.

Of course Americans, unaware of this unspeakable horror known so well by the residents of Chorbly, Wales, only latched onto the "bird" and "noise" aspects of the word. Hence, to chorble, here, means to warble and chatter like a parakeet. Ironically part of the darker aspects of the word have unintentionally carried over "across the pond", since anyone who knows parakeets well can tell you that they chorble loudest just before they sink their beaks into your fingers.

How's about starting with a low tech poll?

What would you think the meaning is for the word "Chorbly"?

Wikipedia & Websters have no entry for it, and google has only 5 divergent hits. If chorbly really does mean something to you, please respond with your definition - & perhaps where you got it from. If chorbly is nonsense to you, feel free to invent. ;)

p.s. Stay clear of preemptive chorbly definition taint. If possible, post your reply before reading the others.

Let's see how this works...

So I've been suckered into LJ.