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00:00 - 19:0019:00 - 00:00

12:01 AM
oh, it's 2am, I should probably get some sleep...
 
Sleep is overrated.
 
good night
 
@MartinBüttner If you hadn't moved East you could have stayed up for an extra hour...
Did anyone else use to think ASCII was a sequel?
 
Haha a sequel to what?
 
12:05 AM
@trichoplax I should rethink that decision...
 
ASC... :)
 
Haha
ASCII: ASC Harder
 
lol
 
ASCIII: ASC With a Vengeance
 
@trichoplax My friend said "A S C two" to me once... took me a while to figure out what that meant.
 
12:06 AM
ASCIV: Live Free or ASC
 
@Doorknob Luckily I learnt the correct meaning before I ever spoke to anyone else about programming...
@AlexA. Surely you haven't run out :P
 
Has there been more than 4 Die Hard movies?
 
@AlexA. What?? You mean these weren't original?
 
ASCV: A Good Day to ASC
@trichoplax It was merely a series of puns related to the Die Hard series.
 
@AlexA. I know - my sarcasm doesn't show up :)
@AlexA. Now that looks like AS 105
 
12:10 AM
AS 105 looks like an university course
 
Now even ASCII looks like AS 102. My brain!
 
:D
 
Prerequisites for English Language 101: ASCII
 
12:23 AM
0
Q: Golfing Delayed Expansion Variables in Batch

unclemeatEnabling delayed expansion variables in Batch chews up a lot of bytes. The shortest I have managed to make it is: @!! 2>nul||cmd/q/v/c%0&&exit/b Saving 11 bytes over @echo off&setLocal enableDelayedExpansion. The method is explained here - Tips for Golfing in Batch. Basically, it runs a comman...

 
@Rainbolt My eight year old knows better :P
 
@Geobits Is he your better eighth?
 
Hmm. I don't know what fraction, to tell the truth. By height, volume, mass, or something else?
 
Well, he's at least 1/2 you.
 
Assuming even distribution, I guess so. I honestly don't know if it's always split half and half. I assumed there was some sort of random selection.
I should probably brush up on my biology.
 
12:33 AM
1/2 Geobits, 1/2 Geobits' better 1/2
 
> Geobit's
Just one Geobit?
 
@Doorknob What are you talking about?
@Doorknob That never happened
 
I wonder what would happened if I accidentally leaned on that "purge history" button right there... :P
 
:D
Edit: Turned that frown upside down
@Doorknob Have you tried it? Could be great. There might be puppies and confetti.
 
12:36 AM
Serious question for anyone who has seen Halt and Catch Fire: Does it get better? Just watched the first episode, and I'm trying to decide whether I should continue or find something else.
 
0
A: Sandbox for Proposed Challenges

some userPrint time of day using words I'm not sure if this has been done before. I thought it must have but I could not find one using search. The idea is basically, given a number in seconds, e.g. the output from time(NULL). Return the current time in words, e.g. HALF PAST FIVE A QUARTER TO SIX TEN TO...

 
@Geobits If you halt, you'll catch fire.
(Serious questions aren't my strong suit)
 
Clearly :P
 
Stop watching whatever you are watching and watch GANGSTA. instead
 
Stop everything and watch videos of puppies forever.
 
12:38 AM
Unless you are already watching GANGSTA., in which case you should ignore my advice (or follow it... I think it leads down the same path)
 
I've never seen HCF but I read a description of it and thought it sounded pretty good.
This has been "entirely unhelpful answers with monorail"
 
@Rainbolt Isn't that only a few episodes? If so, I can watch that whenever, no rush.
 
I've seen the first two or three episodes of most of the new anime for Summer 2015 that got any hype at all, and it's the only one that is good. And yea, it's only like 4 episodes in.
 
Oh, I'll wait for the first season to be done at least then. I'm a gulper, not a sipper.
 
Okay big boy. I'll let you know when it's over.
 
12:41 AM
:D
I'm going to assume from the general lack of 'no' answers that I should just watch the next episode and decide for myself. Thanks.
 
My answer was a "no" answer
 
GLAD I COULD BE OF ASSISTANCE
 
> [...] general lack of relevant 'no' answers [...]
 
Only to be followed by advice I will take at some future date. I need to know what to do now :P
 
I really need to learn to /s
 
12:43 AM
@Geobits Binge watch Parks and Recreation.
 
Or \s
Whatever direction it goes in
 
depends if you want to close your sarcasm tag or print a control character informing the client that the message was sarcasm
 
I want to do a regex replace, so none of the above
 
@Rainbolt Must resist urge to make bisexual and/or One Direction pun...
 
You don't deserve a star for making an almost pun. You have to follow through with it
 
12:45 AM
No stars required for now, I'm still hovering over 3%.
 
I still don't know how to figure out the numbers
 
stars / messages * 100
 
Then click "posted by me"
OH, you meant 3% starred of your own messages
I thought you meant 3% of the room's stars
 
No, I'm around 12.5% of that :D
 
12:46 AM
Where does it say the total number of stars?
 
Top right of the room
 
7.3k?
Is that the right number?
 
Well, it depends on what you are looking for
 
All stars
 
The top right says 3462. That's total starred messages
 
12:47 AM
Total room stars is at the top of the starboard.
 
The number I linked to shows total stars.
 
What he said.
 
It says 7.3k stars in the link you sent
 
I'm sorry but I can't stop myself from reposting this:
May 22 at 19:03, by Rainbolt
user image
It makes me laugh every freaking time
 
Hmm, it does. The 7.3 k must be how many stars, while the 3462 is how many starred messages.
 
12:49 AM
I don't see 3462 anywhere :/
 
Right above the transcript
A little to the right
Below the avatars
 
> starred / show all 3462
 
> starred / show all 3462
That's how evolving answer should work
Instead, I think people make an effort to be different to somehow justify that their answer should still exist just because they posted five seconds late.
 
Teamwork makes the dream work.
 
Why am I having such a hard time with this
 
12:52 AM
@AlexA. On this page
 
AHHHH.
 
AHHHH! I'm scared too!
 
Reminds me of that message Optimizer deleted the other day.
 
Oh right...
Okay, now how do I see the number of my posts that have been starred?
 
12:55 AM
On the page he linked, click 'posted by me' and count.
At least in my browser, there are 50 per page.
 
Oh okay.
 
So now that that's that, I'm going to watch another episode.
 
@Geobits Not everyone measures their stars in pageworths you know... :P
 
A parting gift, courtesy of trichoplax:
 
12:58 AM
:P
 
i've been listening to that song all day
they played it at work and it's been stuck in my head
 
@Geobits Um, me???
Oh riiiight....
If I'm that much slower than normal I guess I need to sleep
 
@trichoplax If that's your way of saying that you're going to go to bed, then goodnight. :P
 
Goodnight :)
 
1:37 AM
@MartinBüttner just got my spacechem paper version.
I clearly didn't read the small print, because it included 5 identical booklets
also, half of a booklet are boards for a paper version of ironclad tactics
and the other half is filled with spacechem-esque puzzles
 
2:18 AM
@Sp3000 I'm impressed at the variety of methods people used for Vanishing Alphabet: golf.shinh.org/p.rb?vanishing+alphabet
i especialy liked the conditional recursion to print in reverse: golf.shinh.org/reveal.rb?vanishing+alphabet/…
 
Ahaha I thought about that, but didn't expect it would be short enough - that's surprising
Also x&95 o_O
 
yeah
 
2:34 AM
@undergroundmonorail So far, I dunno. It's ok, but not great or anything three episodes in. I'm thinking about abandoning it, but that's going to depend a lot on my boredom level in the coming days.
 
3:11 AM
0
Q: How do I return a value without using the return statement?

ArnoldM904Today I was browsing programming challenge websites and saw an incredibly easy challenge that stated users should try to solve it using as few characters as possible. The challenge was to merge two arrays into each other. So for example: ['A','B','C'] and ['D','E','F'] would turn into ['A', 'B'...

 
3:29 AM
@Geobits My challenge got downvoted... Was that you? ;)
 
Learning Python, can I use "in" with a string?
 
@trichoplax I've posted my maze answer, but I'm hesistant as to whether I should CW it. In either case, if the bounty expires, I'd prefer it if you give it to orlp
If you mean finding substrings, yes
Otherwise... what do you mean?
 
@BassetHound Yes
 
Alright, good. Thank you
@AlexA.
Forgetting to tag people ;-;
 
(my reply was also at you lol :P)
 
3:33 AM
@BassetHound You can edit messages by pressing the up arrow key
 
@BassetHound Are the four leading spaces in your cookie challenge intentional or is that a Markdown problem?
 
Uh oh @Dennis, where?
 
@BassetHound In the cookies
 
That is not supposed to be there, no @denn
is
 
All cookies have four spaces before the actual cookies. The first cookie looked different in revision 1, which is why I'm asking.
 
3:35 AM
Alright.
 
Hey @Dennis, planning on doing a CJam answer to the dosa challenge? :D
 
What's a dosa?
Oh, Indian crepes. Looks yummy.
 
They're crispy though, unlike crepes.
 
Most likely good. I like Asian food.
 
What's most likely good?
I also like Asian food!
 
3:38 AM
Dosas. Never had one.
 
Me neither
 
I was in Sri Lanka and Thailand. Each time I came back home, normal food tasted like paper.
 
:D
Thai food is my favorite.
 
Thai was good, but no match for Sri Lankan.
You really have to be careful though. Can get a little spicy.
 
you know, while I love the Sandbox, I think that the real reason why we need it hasn't actually been explained in meta (despite many questions in meta covering the topic).
 
3:42 AM
@Dennis I don't know that I've had Sri Lankan food. And I've never been to Asia, I've just had it in American restaurants.
 
I think the fundamental reason we need the Sandbox is because of scoring criterion
 
@NathanMerrill I disagree. I think the fundamental reason is that a lot of challenges come out underspecified, and the Sandbox acts as a way to get things cleared up before it goes live.
 
right, but that isn't a problem on other sites
they can close, and wait for the OP to clean it up
 
What's the bet Dennis is doing something like BbD% for cookies :P
 
@AlexA. Sri Lanka serves the hottest food I've ever tasted. You usually eat a big spoon/hand full of rice with some "curry", which would most likely kill you if you ate it undiluted.
 
3:44 AM
but the instant you add scoring criterion, any major edit becomes unfair
 
@Sp3000 Are you going to do dosas?
 
on other sites, however, major edits (assuming they improve the post) are welcomed
 
Oh... I didn't see you posted dosas
 
@Dennis Oh dear.
@Sp3000 Yep. Should I have left it in the Sandbox longer? Is there anything underspecified about it?
 
@Sp3000 Sounds like a plan, but I'm way too tired to golf right now.
 
3:46 AM
Nope, just haven't checked new challenges much this week cos TIS-100
 
:)
It's my first challenge and it got downvoted so I'm worried there's something wrong with it that I haven't caught. :/
 
Well, it wasn't jam...
@AlexA. Went well most of the time. Just once, they served us fish-based chips (?) with a red, jelly-like sauce and I thought "hey, jam!".
I took a spoonful. I've never sweated so much in my entire life.
Seriously. I could feel the heat rising to my head.
Luckily, they keep grated coconut on every table.
 
:O Was it just chili?
 
For emergencies.
 
Oh does that soothe a chili burn?
 
3:50 AM
It soaks up the oils. Pretty much instantly.
 
I'll keep that in mind, very good to know
 
0
Q: X Marks the Spot

vihanX Marks the spot Your goal is to add a cross-hair around the capital X. Example Input / Output Input: mdhyyyyyyyhhhddmmm mdyyssoo oooosyyyhhhdmm hsso oossoooooyyhhdhhdmmm yo...

 
3 tsp == 1 tbsp? 4 tbsp == 1/4 cup? Couldn't you just use the metric system? :P
 
I could if I wasn't American. :P
Oddly enough it was suggested to me by two non-United Stateslers.
 
Hey, United Stateslers cought on. :D
 
3:55 AM
I can't not think it now. What have you done to my brain?
 
Muahaha.
 
I still don't get this rule: "measurements must be reported in the largest unit in which the number can be written as mixed numbers using standard sizes only"
Do the examples illustrate this somehow?
 
@Sp3000 So instead of keeping things as teaspoons, you go up to tablespoons and cups
I thought the second example did that but I could be mistaken, I'll check
It does not
Crap
 
I'm confused why the first example has 1/2 cup poha - should it not be 8 tbsp?
 
But cup is larger than tbsp and 1/2 is a standard size.
 
4:00 AM
^ Yes, that. Thank you @Dennis.
 
Is there a way to get how long a list is in Python?
 
@BassetHound len
 
Alright, thanks @AlexA.
 
So... 12 is 1 tbsp methi seeds but 13 is... 3 1/4 tsp?
 
@Sp3000 Yes
Otherwise they don't use standard sizes
 
4:04 AM
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it doesn't use the metric system. :P
 
Hahaha
 
Seriously, sounds interesting. If nobody beats me to it, I'll take a shot tomorrow.
 
@Dennis I'm glad you think so!
You know, you can still participate even if someone beats you to it though. ;)
@Sp3000 That's a good example; I'll add that to the challenge.
 
Oh well, if somebody posts a CJam answer before I can, I'll just use Unary.
 
The natural choice for code golf, of course.
 
4:10 AM
Hey, if you can't win, troll.
 
So... methi seeds are the annoying one. Basically.
 
Yes
 
Can numbers be variables in Python?
 
Do you mean as variable names, or assigning numbers to variables?
(for the former, no)
 
As variable names.
 
4:19 AM
No
They can be in variable names, but they can't be the first character or the only character in the name
 
Thought not, there'd be no way to distinguish numbers from cariables
variables*
 
Not on their own, no. Valid identifiers are [a-zA-Z_][a-zA-Z0-9_]*
 
That puts a thorn in my side though
:P
 
I think you'll find that few if any programming languages allow numbers as variable names.
 
Yeah, that makes sense
Just wanted to make sure
 
4:21 AM
(lol Golfscript)
 
GolfScript can??
 
5:4 4 4 4 4 - try it
 
Noooooooo
why
 
Basically anything works. Try 5: followed by as many spaces as you want
 
4:24 AM
D:
GolfScript is chaos
 
Can I get out of whatever # does in Python?
 
That's a comment
 
Figured
 
Anything after a # on that line is part of the comment
 
I'm trying to test if it's in a list
 
4:27 AM
As a string?
 
"#" in yourList
 
Okay
Oh, now I feel stupid
xD
 
No need to feel stupid. You're learning.
 
btw @BassetHound Did you answer the question about whether the leading spaces are necessary for the cookie question?
(also any rules on trailing spaces?)
 
4:33 AM
The leading spaces are not necessary
And no to rules on trailing spaces @Sp3000
 
So... trailing spaces are okay? Or not okay?
(btw you might want to edit these in the question so other people know :) )
 
They're fine to have.
Alright, will do that now.
 
4:54 AM
0
A: Sandbox for Proposed Challenges

Nathan MerrillIronclad Tactics KoTH This KoTH is inspired by the Ironclad Tactics paper version from Zachtronics. The game is played on a 9x4 grid split into three areas: the North, the South, and No-Man's-Land (the center). To make things easier for you, it will always appear that you are the North (the le...

 
 
1 hour later…
6:00 AM
I hit 15k rep!
 
Nice.
 
6:40 AM
0
A: Sandbox for Proposed Challenges

samgakBalancing Act Overview Given an input of 3 single-digit integers representing a set of weights, output an ASCII representation of a set of scales with the weights placed on the scale so that the scale is in balance around a central fulcrum. Input 3 integers in the range of 1-9. You can input ...

 
7:00 AM
0
Q: Famous Greedy Pirates Problem

MohitMany of you have listened of The Greedy Pirates Problem. Lets see who has the most efficient solution(time complexity) to it. Pre-Assumpttion All Pirates are greedy, intelligent and rational. All have death phobia. All pirates are of different ranks. Problem statement There are pirates of d...

 
7:17 AM
@NewMainPosts Took me a while before I realised that wasn't codegolf
 
 
2 hours later…
@MartinBüttner yesterday would have been the best time to post it as a one box
 
I would have done so if I had known that picture yesterday
 
don't worry, but I must say that it would have been a differential step
 
9:37 AM
Ah, there's nothing like adding apples and oranges and ending up with watermelon
 
wat?
 
 
3 hours later…
12:20 PM
Why's PPCG so quiet? It's not like it's the weekend...
 
12:37 PM
@AlexA. No, I don't have any issues with dosa. If you really want, I can downvote it anyway, but I hadn't planned to.
 
@BassetHound In case you were wondering there are many, many, many resources online for Python. Tutorials, docs, Stack Overflow
 
1:24 PM
@Sp3000 I think answers inspired by others are perfectly valid, and the improvements you have made lead to a significantly better result. How would you feel if someone else posted a third answer with improvements on yours?
 
Depends on the improvements I guess. In this case it's hard to say what actually helped here - for all I know I could have just gotten luckier with the search
 
@Sp3000 I've left orlp's code running for over a day and it gets to 86 fairly quickly but then stalls there for a long time. I see both answers as impressive and I'd like to see future answers gradually improving. As long as credit is given I think that's very much in the spirit of Stack Exchange. I will think carefully about the bounty but I did explicitly say I would assign it to the winner.
It may not be relevant if a better answer comes in during the next few days :P
 
Well the current leader says you should give it to orlp :)
(assuming we remain the only submitters)
 
@Sp3000 I certainly couldn't stop you using the bounty system to pass on the bounty to another answer ;)
 
:P
 
1:30 PM
guys let's start a rep banking network
 
As for 86 -> 82, there was a lot of parameter tweaking in between. I think the first day I tried it gave 83, then a few edits later and another day gave 82
 
we'll offer arbitrary rep transfers and loans for a small fee
 
Either way I can't remember what the original parameters were any more (but I don't think it'd be too different from the current code)
 
@feersum Leveraged bounty bets could bring us all rep beyond our wildest dreams!
 
We could pass a 500 rep around so that every answer gets a +500
 
1:31 PM
Even cross-site transfers!
 
OK I'm going to walk away now... :)
 
I wonder what the exchange rate should be between here and SO
 
10000 SO rep = 1 question about you by Calvin.
 
Seems a bit steep.
 
If I had 10 good answers each inspired by the last I'd like to reward them all, but I haven't answered quite enough s to have that kind of rep.
 
1:37 PM
Me either. I've gotten <1000 rep from my three answers with that combination of tags :P
 
I must admit answers on that combination of tags are responsible for over half my current rep (although perhaps not my received rep, before I dished out bounties)
 
Rep is fungible.
 
2:03 PM
Maybe to you. My reps are all unique little snowflakes, and I'd be able to tell if someone swapped them out.
 
 
1 hour later…
3:12 PM
Do you realize then that every time you cast a downvote, you are melting someone's unique little snowflake? You are a monster.
6
 
When I cast a downvote on an answer, I'm sending one of my snowflakes to destroy a couple of theirs. They're like inefficient little suicide bombers.
 
You train your little snowflakes to become suicide bombers?? Geoisis??
 
As far as I can tell, that's their main purpose in life. They can be transferred around via bounties, but the only way for them to die after a well-lived life is by downvotes.
Making them immortal, having to carry the burden of eternity, sounds much worse to me.
 
Would you say that Jon Skeet is the blizzard of the century?
 
3:25 PM
It must be right. It's the accepted answer
 
Then to answer your question, no. He is not yet a blizzard, much less the blizzard of the century. He is just the furthest along the path to blizzardhood.
He's also "murdered" far more snowflakes than me, if you're looking at it like that ;)
 
3:46 PM
0
Q: The Untouchables

Vioz-Untouchable Numbersα An untouchable number is a positive integer that cannot be expressed as the sum of all the proper divisors of any positive integer (including the untouchable number itself). For example, the number 4 is not untouchable as it is equal to the sum of the proper divisors of 9:...

 
10
Q: Is it a scam if the person only wants to deposit into my account, not make a withdrawal?

donnaA man in west coast Austria wants to deposit money into my account. I'm in Alabama I had to get a online account. I did that but he says his bank manger needs all this information: DOB SSN online access username online access password security question and answer bank name...

 
4:04 PM
did he not have access to google ?
not like he is 1 out of mere double digit users getting this kind of scam messages
 
4:17 PM
1
Q: ASCII Maya Numbers

FatalizeWrite a program or function which, given a positive integer as input, outputs the representation of that integer in Maya numerals. Maya numerals Maya numerals is a vigesimal system (base 20) using only 3 symbols : < > for Zero (The correct symbol is some sort of shell that can't easily be re...

 
How many "Input: A number, Output: X representation of number" is that now for the last few days?
 
----
 
:D
 
@Vioz- was that a new X representation of the answer to @Geobits' question?
 
Looks like a Maya answer to me (see newest Q)
 
4:27 PM
hah'
 
5:07 PM
0
Q: Retagging time-complexity

Peter Taylortime-complexity is a confusing mess. Its current excerpt reads: for challenges requiring the answers to be in a certain time complexity, or having a winning criterion about the time complexity. which are two very different properties for a question to have, one of which duplicates fastest-a...

 
5:24 PM
> LIFE HACK: give ur next child a normal name
>
> ME: are u still mad that ur mother and i named u Life Hack
 
haha
@Geobits I'd be honored.
 
5:45 PM
@trichoplax It has begun.
2
 
:O
The day of reckoning is upon us
 
so we graduate before or after computer graphics?
 
@anyone else remotely interested in computer graphics, the private beta is live
 
except that I can't see any of it, because it is private
 
@PhiNotPi "private" betas aren't really private any more
(provided you log in with your SE account, which you can do via the link on area 51)
 
5:51 PM
I am already logged in via SE
still it asks me to commit first
 
If you like it then you should have put a ring on it.
 
okay, so I can join it from area 51
> 0 questions
2
 
@AlexA. o o o oh o o o oh oh
 
Anyone here have a Subaru with Starlink?
 
@Geobits Do you not measure distances with celery?
 
Oh, my first thought for "celery ruler" would have been someone lording it over the common veggies.
 
My first thought for "mod Doorknob" was modulo a doorknob.
 
6:41 PM
"Am I mod Doorknob or celery ruler?"—what's the difference? :P — Doorknob ♦ 11 secs ago
 
Who said there was a difference? It could be true/false use of OR. :P
 
Doorknob XOR Ruler of Celery
 
Noooo.... the wording is important here ;)
 
So, the answer is yes. Or... x ∈ {76,77,78}? :P
 
The answer is a number, but not one included in that set.
 
6:43 PM
x ∈ {refrigerator} for all x = celery
 
70 ≤ x < 80?
... oops, that's an arrow
 
That's for you to figure out I guess.
 
73
 
Anyone ever played Sonic Battle? :D pbs.twimg.com/media/CLhOZ3PUkAAXXbh.png
 
Background (Useless)
 
6:54 PM
@undergroundmonorail All GBA graphics have a background color that the GBA treats as 'clear'.
 
@phase what is this abomination against nature
 
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