The Nineteenth Byte

A: Write the shortest code to generate a random number between 1 and x

12:03 AM

-1

cat - 1 byte 9 Save as rng.txt and run with cat rng.txt.

Anybody here? This is not an answer.

6 hours later…

Quincunx

6:26 AM

@hosch250 Oh no! you changed your image. First your username, and now your image. You are a new user. :-)

@hosch250 There should be a badge for that: used the maximum of 40 votes for x days in a row

I've noticed that nobody has the research assistant badge. How close is everyone to getting it?

Quincunx

6:52 AM

Scratch that. There is now one person with the research assistant badge (at least when the system updates).

Proof: i.stack.imgur.com/LBrbk.png

2 hours later…

luser droog

8:25 AM

It seems like there are almost enough tools in A Programming Language to device an APL->C compiler in APL and bootstrap a C interpreter by hand-compiling. Or maybe that's totally bonkers.

It appears that the J incunabulum uses just the solid representation for objects described in APL.

luser droog

9:14 AM

Hm. the graphics characters for the vt220 terminal are closer to the APL symbols than bare ascii. It even has pi and pound (ie. a fancy L for Lukasiewicz.

2 hours later…

luser droog

11:03 AM

vt100.net/docs/vt220-rm/table2-4.html

3 hours later…

1:35 PM

@PeterTaylor Maybe we should have a meta question to feature the nominated questions?

3 hours later…

Jonathan Van Matre

4:22 PM

If we are going to close only one of these Pong questions, I would sooner close the No-ASCII one codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/23472/… before the ASCII one codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/23571/…

The no-ASCII one is both implicitly restricted (only languages with graphics capability) and arbitrarily restricted (no "golfing" languages, which isn't even explained). And the OP changed the rules after Doorknob posted an answer e didn't like.

Closing both is certainly an option, though, given the prior art of this question: codegolf.stackexchange.com/questions/10713/… So I put the no-ASCII one up for close as well - I'd just hate to see it survive if a better question is getting closed.

1 hour later…

A: Validate input according to flags and input masks

5:45 PM

I got this golfed down better again:

C++, 4052 characters This is the function: #include<iostream> #include<string> #include<vector> using namespace std; vector<string>i(int a,const string s[][3]){vector<string>q;for(int i=0;i<a;i++){string t,r,f;cout<<(s[i][1]!=""?s[i][1]:"> ");if(s[i][0]=="b"){bool b=1;for(int j=0;j<s[i][2].size...

@Quincunx Yes, I did change my avatar.

I found this nice avatar generator on the web: vksnr.net/identicon.htm

6:45 PM

@JonathanVanMatre Are you still interested in the Eiffel challenge?

7:36 PM

@Gareth Hi. If you had read the comments, you might have noticed that my question was upvoted as much as the much older questions, and that the sandbox is pretty dead as it is, unlike the real board where i had those informative comments long before i even found the sandbox.

Jonathan Van Matre

@Ce

@CeesTimmerman We're trying to encourage more use of the sandbox, but if everyone takes the attitude "Well the sandbox is dead so I'll just ignore it" that will never happen. It's not dead, but it moves at a slower pace than the rest of the site.

"As much as the much older questions", if it is one vote, is not enough. A up vote in sandbox is meant to mean "yes this question is ready". It's not enough for one person to think so.

@hosch250 Yes! I'm working on something for it, although accounting for the view angle aspect is going to take some time.

8:00 PM

@JonathanVanMatre Note that i was so in awe that i took it upon myself to ask whether my new question was better, whereupon, once again, i only got an upvote, according to the sandbox question, that was enough. I suggest you improve the question in accordance with the comment i posted there. Is there another sandbox area i should have posted instead?

2 hours later…

9:49 PM

@CeesTimmerman Nowhere in the sandbox question does it suggest that one upvote is enough. The sandbox is not about just getting upvotes, it's about getting your question reviewed by many eyes before you post it on the main site and your ability to edit it freely is lost. If I'd had 3 upvotes but no comments on a question I'd still be wary about posting it.

10:00 PM

We are doing a lot better in the stats.

8.4 questions a day, and still maintaining the 9.2 answer/question ratio.

i did read the question, but, and i quote: "Too long, didn't read: Use this sandbox to work the problems out of your question before posting it on the main site. It will be upvoted when it is ready. Feel free to help improve other questions."

@Gareth

blaming me for unspoken rules is projecting

1 user's approval is not enough to post it on the main site, @CeesTimmerman

where does it say so?

That means that each user will upvote it when they think it is ready.

Anyway, I don't have enough rep to edit the sandbox, but since you insist, I would if I could.

it didn't say "each user", troll

10:03 PM

And I said that each user will upvote it individually when they think it is ready.

Q: Worst Abuse of CSS?

What is some of the coolest/best/worse abuses of CSS? For example, these shapes, or using multiple box-shadows to make pixel art. popularity-contest ending on 16/04/14.

as you may

Who is voting to reopen this question? It's clearly a poll like the 'What's the best framework' questions on SO. It's off-topic and primarily opinion based.

i'd also like to note that it was you who declared it too late to fix my question: chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/14175831#14175831

@CeesTimmerman It is unapproved of to change the rules after a question is posted.

10:05 PM

You're very fond of the word projecting aren't you?

yes, i used it twice already on this site

I said you could delete it, run it through the sandbox, then post it again.

@Gareth I voted to keep it closed.

way to avoid it

and i said i wasted enough time. good day, sir.

There would be less time waste if you would simply run it through the sandbox than trying to argue with people about your interpretation of the sandbox rules.