Sam's L33t Journal

Another busy week at work!

Now that it's public within the company, I can say: I got that promotion! There were celebrations this week, a cake with my name on it and everything. Relieved that my hard work paid off, and that I don't have to contend with that process again for at least a few years.

I also made it to the top-eight in the office's M:tG block limited tournament. I'm really enjoying the new set and the twist it puts in the block format (a good way to transition to the new two-set blocks).

This weekend has been relaxing so far. Caught a bit of Porchfest (a Somerville-wide outdoor music festival) and did a bit of spring cleaning.

Back from Cleveland and, since I was at work late and unable to resist the sweet allure of late-night iced coffee, up late. As usual, there are lots of things I want to blog about, but so little time, so mini-stories with links, GO!

Here's a video about expected value, why people are bad at estimating it and therefore bad at making rational economic decisions. But the guy misses something big when discussing the lottery, namely the Kelly Criterion, highlighted in the article Do Not Play the Lottery Unless You Are a Millionaire. Basically, if you're gambling with a good expected value (say a coin flip where you win twice your bet when you win and lose your bet when you lose), you shouldn't invest too much of your money. Obviously, if you bet 100% of your bankroll, you're flat out of luck the first time you lose. When applied to the lottery, it means that the answer to "when you should play the lottery" is not when prize times odds is more than the cost of a ticket, it really is never unless you're already exceptionally rich.

Two very different musical YouTube links: One on a young piano virtuoso (next Mozart is probably overblown, but it is awesome) and one... well, just watch it.

About GM, now a subsidiary of USCo, evidently (which is giving the Republicans a stroke): It seems that this crazy variant of Chapter 11 bankruptcy is going to be heinously expensive and probably just a stalling measure... but possibly a more effective stalling measure than Chapter 11, which could be good, a rapid collapse of GM would really ripple through the economy in a bad way. More interesting is the question of what the reorg means for (more) fuel-efficient cars (summary: it's decidedly mixed). But that may be missing the point a bit, are Americans going to be really gung-ho about buying new cars en masse anytime soon, Congress's proposal to throw more massive amounts of money at the problem aside? (I'm not sure whether to be horrified at that one or hopeful because at least some dramatic options are being considered, although there's no chance in hell the government will use it's influence to convert that spare industrial capacity to making windmills or trains or something crazy like that.)

Magic: The Gathering is doing a major rules rewrite for Magic 2010 (their major core set change, core sets now get new cards, are treated as full sets, and are numbered by year). It's actually a pretty great example of game design. ( Interesting Only If You're Familiar With the Game )

Slacktivist has a long-running series deconstructing the Left Behind books, and this post is particularly good, because it gets at the curious subtype of the belief in "salvation by faith alone" (a sort of "salvation by faith in salvation by faith alone") that some American evangelicals seem to hold. Be very suspicious of anyone who quotes Ephesians 2:8-9 but not 10.

If you have more time to burn after reading the above, I suggest this game, it's good.

I'm still insanely busy, but I want to write a bit about the Time Spiral prerelease that I went to on Saturday, mainly because it was fantastic. Time Spiral is the ultimate mash-up set, quite possibly the most creative (or even the best) set of Magic ever. ( Squee, etc. )

I did quite well at the tournament. I drew some great cards for my deck (my favorites were these two) and went 3-1 (enough for prizes; I was undefeated in the first two rounds, 2-1 in the second, and trounced in the last after a particularly egregious run of bad luck). A bunch of other Oliners went to the tournament, including some tournament first-timers (one of whom also went 3-1). A good time was had by all.

I'm going to head off to get my AI homework done. I think I'll write a bit about more work-related stuff later...

It's been quite a busy week. On the plus side, I recovered from my cold. On the minus side, I almost immediately got sick again.

Yesterday, Roberto (one of the Smash-playing frosh) and I went to a Magic tournament (the Dissension prerelease). The games were pretty exciting. I won six in a row, then got trounced in my fourth match (still, a record of 3-1 was good enough for prizes). Roberto had the same record, loosing against the same guy as I did. (We didn't play eachother in the tournament, but we played a match with our tournament decks after the tournament was over. I pwn3d.)

Other highlights of the tournament: Randomly running into one of the Olin pre-frosh and randomly running into Yutaro (I don't think I've seen him since high school, although I'm not sure).

Unfortunately, I have yet to do anything productive this weekend...

This weekend was interesting...

On Saturday, there was Earth Defense Force (with humans, robots, aliens, and gratuitous simulated violence (yay dart guns)), which was fun, but a bit disappointing (I really like the more roleplay intensive games better).

In the evening, I watched Shaun of the Dead, which is best described by its tagline: "A romantic comedy. With zombies." Seriously, that was an incredibly awesome movie. Horror, comedy, realistic characters, vague references, implied social commentary, and hordes of undead. W00t!

On Sunday, I went to the Betrayers of Kamigawa Prerelease Tournament (Magic: the Gathering). The main event started before I arrived, and there was limited attendance because of the crazy blizzard (which made it a pain to get to the T). I didn't get to play in the tournament itself until late, and then played only one round (which I lost due to some technical misplays, despite having some excellent moments (like dropping an Eight-and-a-Half Tails the turn after my opponent played a Horobi, Death's Wail, seriously damaging their board position)). The second round I lost my sideboard (spare cards from the tournament) and I had a bye (a pass round), so I decided to just go back home.

Train service was rerouted as I was coming back (one branch of the Red Line was closed, and a shuttle bus leaving from the end of the other branch replaced it). The station had two platforms, and due to the reroute, some people were on the wrong platform (as they had trouble understanding the English-only announcements). I helped direct people to the correct location, and asked the operator to summon some transit police to do crowd control, which he did. I hope that everyone was able to get home safely, despite inconvenience from the snow.

Finally, I returned to Senior House for random conversation and cranberry juice. (Which was quite silly. When arguing against Patty's paranoia, I dramatically stated "There is no Cabal!", but could not resist adding "Fnord!")

I return to Olin tomorrow. (Okay, today...)

Lots of work today...

There was a M:tG tournament at Olin in the evening, which was a lot of fun. The tornament was a Champions of Kamigawa draft, I created a U/G Zubera deck and won two of three rounds (loosing one to non-removal control and anti-spirit cards). The tournament was a lot of fun. Anyway, I'm off to bed.

In other good news, it looks like my plans for MIT-based niftyness over winter break will work out... still keeping my fingers crossed on that one, so to speak...

This afternoon, I was going to go to Boston with my advising family and then go to the Champions of Kamigawa Prerelease Tournament, but the advising family outing was canceled due to the rain. So I walked to the commuter rail in the rain. About two miles, or a little more, and it was pouring and cold. I got totally soaked, despite having an umbrella and a jacket. The Boston commuter rail is awesome (it's sort of like intercity Amtrak within the greater Boston area), and the ride was pretty comfortable and quick. I got off at South Station, took the Red Line a few stops to JFK/UMass (by this time it had stopped raining), and walked half a block to the tournament.

The tournament was a lot of fun. As far as the set goes, I think insane is the operative word. In Limited play, this set made the game a little more luck based (because of some of the insane creatures in the set), which is both a good and a bad thing. I was pretty happy with the deck I made for the 32 Player Flight (a R/G (splash U) Spirit Deck), but I didn't manage to win anything. I dominated in my first match (against a W/G deck), but faced what was basically an Anti-My-Deck Deck (W/B anti-Spirit deck) in the second round. After two close games, (barely a win for me, then barely a win for my opponent), my opponent got all his anti-my-deck cards in his hand right away and I got ownzed. The third round I played against someone with a B/R spirit deck, and, after two close games, made a critical misplay in what was already a bad situation, losing the third game. I also played a Booster Draft. I made a deck I thought was good (a mono-green (one blue card splashed) mana acceleration / Spirit deck, but I still lost. Not all my fault, though. I got very strange draws (drawing far too many lands (far above the ratio in the deck)) both games, and faced all kinds of bad luck in the draft itself.

Despite this, it was, all in all, a very good day. And, since I was overdue to buy some new cards anyway, it was an okay value ($45 dollars worth of tournament included $28 worth of cards).

It wasn't until I got back to South Station that I realized that I had lost my umbrella. *facepalm* I have no idea where I left it... (although I know I had it until I got to the Needham train station... it's hard to loose an umbrella when you are actually in the rain). I probably put it down at the Needham train station, and someone took it...

The walk back to Olin was quiet, and dark, and definitely a lot shorter than the walk to the train station. I wonder if the theory of relativity has an equation for distance in terms of rain...

And I arrived back at Olin just in time to see it taken over by pirates (who were busily replacing the Olin flag with the Jolly Rodger). Because it's National Speak Like a Pirate day. Arr...

Yay Final Fantasy IX. I borrowed the game from Rene a while ago, but I couldn't play at first because I needed a PS1 memory card to save my game. But I got one, and the game is a lot of fun.

Also, I've been working on Magic stuff: I updated WitSec Deck and made a new deck, Big Red.

Another lazy day...

Tomorrow, my family will be heading to Centauri Summer Arts Camp in Wellandport, Ontario (near Toronto) to pick up my little sister and brother and watch their final performances. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.

Found something hilarious:
Official "Unglued" Card Rulings
Includes the interaction between the "Double" cards and non-magic games, proxies for "Blacker Lotus," the rules regarding "Elvish Impersonators" and their effect on hamburger eating contests, rules for the card "Handcuffs" if your opponent does not have two hands, and much, much more...

Yesterday, we visited the president of the institute at his home for afternoon tea. It was really great. I had been feeling increasingly stressed, but the afternoon tea totally restored my sanity.

Today, we are finishing our final report and presentation.

We leave for the Ein Gedi Field School on Friday (for those of you who do not know, Ein Gedi is an oasis and nature preserve in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea), and we will return next Wednesday. I won't have internet access while I am away, but I will take notes and write about my trip when I get back.

I'm reading back-issues of random web-comics. (I love having a good internet connection...)

Been feeling somewhat less social than usual (what is now usual, anyways) lately. I wonder why...

I'm keeping my lists updated. I do want comments on those, so, if you have something to say in that regard, please do.

I made this Magic deck: Ironworks and Nail

In conclusion, they forgot AKGPD. :-)

...
Another Magic Deck: Feel My Rath