« first day (2401 days earlier)      last day (1538 days later) » 

00:08
i don't think so; you'd just need this ⊕ unicode character
I saw some of the accessibility edits were rolled back yesterday. I guess it's time to bring it to Meta and make the point explicit
I'm still embarrassed - if someone else could tidy up the PSA draft and post it instead of me, I'd appreciate it.
(you can copy it and work somewhere else, or ask for editing access)
00:32
i'd maybe add "and don't use mathjax for fancy italic fonts either. mathjax is for math, not typography".
... and it seems meta SE doesn't render mathjax
@bobble here you go
hey gerbil!
??? that was meant for Puzzling Meta
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh more embarassment
oh ... o o p s
runs and hides
hold on
I really didn't want to put it on main-meta, too many other people. shivers
delete it?
00:43
i just did
breathes
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Did you make sure to address Gareth's worries above?
also a good amount of it was written by Deus
also I am still just going to run away for a bit now
@bobble Why are you embarrassed about posting on meta? No one is going to bite your head off....
@bobble I'll edit it
@bobble I don't have the background in math, but I can't even tell if that's a mathematical problem as much as a mathematical rant
@Sphinx Okay hold on. I don't know much about math, but I have watched Computerphile's rant about floating numbers. @Bubbler Is this basically that?
01:08
ooh yay tom scott
Yeah, it is literally just that video
Well, actually, it looks like it's a bit more complicated than that
4
Q: PSA: MathJax is for math

mattThe majority of this post was written by bobble; she asked someone else to post it so as to avoid embarrassment. Aaaaand I accidentally posted this on main meta... sorry, bobble TL;DR: Use plain text instead of MathJax when possible. When should I use MathJax instead of plain text? Many people br...

But nonetheless, I think there are several problems: 1) It's not a puzzle, and 2) it doesn't seem to have a definite answer, unless it follows a mathematical rule of some sort
Also, I'm not going to edit that question, because there's no point of editing something which will get deleted anyways
I'm not sure if being on "hot meta posts" is a milestone, ... but the PSA is on "hot meta posts"
Oof, poor bobble
More people are going to see it anyways!
Oh, I think that's exclusive to PSE
01:19
yeah
and now i just sit back and watch the rep trickle in
LOL you don't get rep from meta posts, but I presume you already knew that
You might end up getting a fancy gold badge though! I speculate that this meta will be used quite often
Ah yes, I love it when I have both Matt and Merrybot in the same room
hm
but do you?
You know, if you were more active on the main site, you might've been ban-hammered a while back :P
... why is that?
Idk. Potential sock-puppetting?
01:28
oh no
I don't think you're gonna get hammered any time soon though
assuming that by sockpuppet you mean "an online identity used for purposes of deception", i assure you that's not me
i am exactly 1 person
You should ask if you could like merge your accounts
Not that there's any harm in having two ppl but like
merge them?
It's a bit confusing sometimes
Yeah
We would be happy to back you up to let SE know that this isn't some sketchy buisness
01:33
thanks :) i appreciate that
I'm not sure on how the logistics of that would work though. Would your reps get combined?
Anyhow, it certainly shouldn't be a problem as long as you never used either account to upvote the other
oh, i haven't
right
Then I'm not sure if there will be a problem aside from a technical one
welcome back, @bobble!
@PrinceNorthLæraðr Well, because I'm worried someone will say "why are you caring? this is stupid. MathJax is just better why can't you see it" etc. etc. And because I care about the result.
Ah. Well if someone says that then they're an idiot and we'll flag 'em down :P
01:38
I'm used to people shooting down my ideas and saying that they don't matter, and it affects me more when I really really care.
you really think someone would disrespect the smartest crown on SE? :p
@bobble same here ... it sucks
Do you really think a reasonable someone would disrespect the smartest crown on SE? :p
@bobble Ah. relatable
@PrinceNorthLæraðr i just said that
No, I added a word
oh, duh
facepalm
01:40
Hehe, try arguing the existence of God in Philosophy Club to a bunch of atheists. Because that was what I did today. And it was rough
Gave an entire slideshow about it
and?
Debated against 10 people at once
It was one of the most stressful things I have ever done
@bobble can you help me with a proof?
maybe? my dinner is soon-ish (6PM for use PDT folks)
Oh, it shouldn't take a while
I have the proof expanded, I'm just stuck
@Sciborg how did i completely miss that
02:13
0
Q: GRIDS with trominoes

Vassilis ParassidisLet's have two 8x8 GRIDS. By visual inspection we see they are filled with trominoes of three different colors. There are 7 trominoes of each color. On the GRIDS the trominoes are not allowed to touch anywhere side to side with the same color. As you can see the position A4 has two pairs marked ...

0
Q: I am everywhere!

Jingbo the dude I look flat, but I am deep, Hidden realms I shelter. Lives I take, but the food I offer. At times I am beautiful. I can be calm, angry and turbulent. I have no heart but offer pleasure as well as death. No man can own me, yet I encompass what all men must-have.

 
1 hour later…
03:23
@Sciborg, did you watch SHIELD this night? (Or are you going to?)
03:38
update on FTC entry: I don't think I'll have time for it, since I recently started archive-diving Grandmaster Puzzles and it's eating up my puzzling time...
ah yep that'll do it
04:17
Can any mod handle the comments here?
I flagged them
For what? Not needed?
@Bubbler What's exactly the issue with the comment?
Unrelated to the question.
There's a chain of comments discussion Bubbler and my profile pictures
Ah, I see. Just cluttering stuff up
I was like, "Hm, it's not exactly unkind or anything"
04:39
@PrinceNorthLæraðr was this a formal debate? Then it shouldn't matter whether they're atheists, just whether they take the stance of atheism. Or were you actually trying to convince them?
@msh210 Not necessarily a formal debate
A lecture, and then a bunch of rebuttals
@PrinceNorthLæraðr Also both accounts shouldn't vote for the same thing.
Right, that too
right
05:13
0
Q: Gluten-stag! A little cryptic clue for you!

Smartest1hereHere is a cryptic clue can you solve it? A drink around pledge's entrance- makes walking elevated with a bit of risk. Elementary? Certainly fiction! (15)

05:29
(hey mith!)
05:53
@PrinceNorthLæraðr sure, im planning to post it like later than that anyways
06:30
1
Q: Neighbors Grid Puzzle: A Puzzling SE

athinThis is an entry for Fortnightly Topic Challenge #44: Introduce a new grid deduction genre to the community. Here is a standard Neighbors puzzle. Rules of Neighbors: Place one of the digits 1, 2, or 3 into each cell, one digit per cell, so that each digit appears the same number of times in eac...

06:47
CCCC hint: first letter is Y
07:02
o_o
@jafe YEAGER ("jager")?
(i have no idea if those are even pronounced the same)
yeah, that's it
neat
CCCC: Decor of crude [People eroding head with [Yellow layer of eggs?]] on the outside rocks (8)
oho
apparently it's /ˈjeɪɡər/ for both
07:07
huh alright then
hah, that is some inception-level stuff
(wikipedia presents a slightly different pronunciation of jager, but at this point, i don't care that much)
(also i spent about half an hour trying to get a fourth layer to work here)
@oAlt hm? wikipedia literally has /ˈjeɪɡərˌmaɪstər/
(got very close but wasn't able to make it work out how i wanted)
07:09
oh my bad, i was looking at the more general page
ah right
@merrybot (hey)
07:59
Meanwhile, the bad feeling with IQ questions has lessened, but they're still coming, and I still think it's bad, and we didn't finish the discussion yet
 
2 hours later…
09:29
1
Q: IQ Test question - numbers inside a grid - math

xazar there must be a better way of solving. Can someone tell me what is the correct answer and reasoning? Thank you.

*has not lessened
They're building up again
 
3 hours later…
13:04
ey anko
13:44
1
Q: How many shapes can you form with squares?

helloworldxThere is a 6 by 6 dot-grid. You will draw two squares by joining the dots. The squares cannot have common dots/points or areas. Rotations or reflections of a drawing are considered distinct. In How many ways can this drawing be accomplished? The figure above demonstrates only two possible dr...

 
1 hour later…
15:01
0
Q: The Atom Riddles #2

zixuanPrevious level and introduction: The Atom Riddles #1 Rules: Again, you are trapped in a room by the same mad scientist. There are clues in each sentence you read. You have to find the correct atomic element that matches the clues. Here is my riddle for today. I am an tragic element to fuse in ...

StackExchange seems to be experiencing some downtime...
15:26
1
Q: A deadly turn to common things

CStafford-14I'm known to make memories, to help preserve the past. But have you considered a turn to that statement? One click out of me, and you've shot who's in front of me. Though used to prevent, I can cause lament. I'm much deadlier than most weapons, who says I can only shoot people? The click doesn't ...

@Bubbler yeah, they tend to wax and wane in quantity (quality stays low, of course). Upvotes tend to be more numerous at the start of a build-up, then decrease as people get sick of them all over again.
15:44
@oAlt hi! Sorry, didn't notice that
:00
 
2 hours later…
17:23
@Mithical 28 more edits to go. Mwahaha
oh no! your diabolical plan to make minor incremental improvements is going off without a hitch!
2
Hahahaha
No I write empty tag wiki excerpts for Literature
I've also been editing excerpts, but only ones that already exist and have an incomplete usage guidance
Yeah I saw that
- _ - stop stealing my job - _ -
You're putting me out of work here :P
@PrinceNorthLæraðr alexnorrisohno.png
17:35
Har har
 
1 hour later…
18:51
0
Q: "We accept 20% of candidates and I'm 90% good at my job..."

ZenBalanceThere is a famous investment firm where a partner was known for having candidates walk into the room without a greeting, sit across from him at a huge desk, and start right away by asking: "We accept 20% of the people who apply. I'm 90% good at my job [of vetting]. What percentage of people who w...

19:42
0
Q: Can you name my sister?

chasly - supports MonicaI was always useless at memorising poetry and stuff. I tried putting the poems into my own words as a reminder. The problem is that I only remember my versions now and have forgotten the originals! Here's my memory aid for a bit of verse but sadly I can't remember the original version. Can you so...

0
Q: A political party survey and the number of people in it

OrayThere are 6 major political parties in a country. An organization conducted a survey for these 6 major political parties to see what people are going to vote for. The results of the survey, in percentage terms, are as follows: In their calculation, they rounded percentages up or down to nearest ...

 
2 hours later…
21:24
0
Q: Negative Meta Post

ention everyoneBehold, the first (predictably negatively scored) meta post on the main site. Too puzzle posters of this site: 123##456 sacrifices 123#456. If you're going to focus on 123#456 over 123##456, you should 1245. Rules: Uncover the context of the above "meta post", where each number represents a uni...

21:42
I just edited a post to add MathJax (gasps) because they had a complicated fraction and the plaintext was very hard to understand.
Also dear goodness, College Board does not know how to use MathJax
The formulas in this answer key are literally breaking up the text - there's a sentence, then a block of MathJax in the middle of the paragraph, then the rest of the text
22:13
About the tag wiki edits, adding which tag to use a tag with doesn't really make much sense... I would like to hear your side :)
Are you asking bobble, North, or someone else?
'borg, Codenames is going on!
Oh dear, I am too sleepy, but I will come spectate :p
going? bye sci
I don't do anything with tag wiki stuff, so you would have to ask somebody who does tag wiki stuff regularly
22:17
hmm, i didn't ask you, did i? :)
It's not clear who you're asking
@bobble Which question?
I have no idea what you're trying to communicate, or to whom. I'm also busy in another room at the moment
no need to be rude ention, i was just explaining why i can't answer
@Sciborg umm... Which question? Did I ask one?
oh, now i see. Bye!
22:23
@bobble you did what?? :p
(also, hey mick!)
Hello! :)
I had a gaming all-nighter with friends and then had to work a bit this morning, so I am very sleepy
How are you doing?
5 hours ago, by Mithical
@PrinceNorthLæraðr alexnorrisohno.png
@Sciborg pretty good, was just turning jingle bells into ... *clicking noises* ... L
Sounds like fun :p
indeed
are you still going to watch SHIELD?
22:28
Yup :D
I have some gaming plans again tonight but will make sure i watch beforehand
in these plans are you sucessful?
speaking of gaming plans, i currently have an ongoing minecraft forest fire
That is Not-Good
My plans are to continue Cyberpunk, my buddies and I are working our way through the main plot and oh man is the game good
They let me make a trans character <3
have you died yet? :P
Yes, but he looked fabulous doing it :P
22:34
That's the Important Thing
And my washer also got fixed, so it no longer shakes my apartment floor and makes my neighbors mad at me, so that's good!
all kinds of Good Things today
anything new in the Life of Poofy?
Yes, actually! we think we may have found Poofy a Santa hat
so now i can actually sing ~santa poofy~
I was digging through the bin of old Christmas stuff my mom sent me, and i found a little hat for her
will take a picture if it fits
22:40
0
Q: Variation of 100 prisoners

asdThere are 100 prisoners, each prisoner is given a number between 1 and 100 without knowing which number, the number can repeat and not all of the numbers must be given. Each prisoner in his turn can guess his number, if he succeed, all of the prisoners are freed (they cant hear the other guesses)...

0
Q: Density™ finally back from holiday!

DmihawkWelcome back to the Density™ series! I had intended to make these more often, but then... well... 2020 happened. Anyway, I finally got round to creating the second puzzle, and perhaps it may hint at one of the things that distracts me from making puzzles... The previous Density™ is here: The fi...

:o I finally did the thing
"the thing"?
although 13 months between puzzles is a tad shameful :'(
I invented a new puzzle series, created the first (which was moderately successful), then completely neglected to create a second one
Hey, better late than never! Looks like a neat puzzle :D
so "the thing" = making the second one :)
inb4 Deusovi solves it in 5s lol
22:42
Dmihawk created the Density puzzles, matt :)
oh, right, just saw that
30
Q: The first Density™ Puzzle!

DmihawkWelcome to the very first puzzle in a new series! It's all about (hopefully) exploring new ways of creating puzzles, as densely as possible. If you'd like to create your own Density™ puzzle, the rules are as follows: 1. The resolution of the grid is 72x72 squares 2. No words, text, numbers o...

*facepalm*
I did, but I'm glad that it took off with other puzzlers too :)
It is a really fun genre!
Watch Deusovi solve it in ten minutes though :p
22:44
@Sciborg he totally will lol
me: *posts complex puzzle that i'm certain will take people an hour to solve*
deus, literally six minutes later: "so obviously we do this and this and this and then of course that leads me here, and here's a beautiful solution with pictures and in-jokes"
the in-jokes are the best parts
one day, I hope to create a puzzle that takes him at least an hour to solve
then my life shall be complete :P
haha I did once
it was just a really complicated crossword thing
The true Deus Honeypot is making a puzzle that actually takes him longer than 60 minutes
22:48
or how about nested deus honeypots?
ooooh
54
A: Should we ban Deusovi from puzzle-solving?

Rand al'ThorHow to stop mods from answering puzzles Write the solution in a comment (or a chain of comments if necessary) below your puzzle, then immediately delete the comment(s). Mods, who can see deleted comments, will thus have the answer spoiled for them and be unable to solve it themselves. Meanwhile,...

haha we need a PSE community-wide effort to create a puzzle
still my favorite meta post of all time
> asked Sep 7 at 14:51
> answered Sep 7 at 17:18
wow, took him longer than I remembered
22:49
his answer: "i cannot seem to reproduce this issue"
Gareth's answer is also hysterical
ahhahahahahah
stepping away for a meeting, but half-expecting it to be fully solved by the time I get back lol
@Sciborg glad you appreciate that joke
i was worried nobody got it
I laughed so hard when I saw it too :D
deusovi, worried? oh no
this is Not Good
23:04
(also, this one will take me slightly longer because colors)
Another way is to include counting in the solving path
13
Q: Hetero-F(our|ive)-Cells

BubblerThis is a hybrid of Four Cells and Five Cells (uses pentominoes instead of tetrominoes), with a global no-repeated-piece rule. Rules: The grid is to be divided along the grid lines into areas containing exactly four or five cells. A number in a cell indicates how many of its four sides are segme...

(it's funny that "how to slow down Deus" is so regularly brought up in chat)
3
23:25
what to do about this new user trying to converse with me in the comments? I don't want to make a long comment chain, and I don't really understand what they're saying
just don't bother
I felt obligated to explain my Welcome! comment, and I do want new users to be welcomed... but yeah, not really worth engaging now
it can intimidating joining the SE communities for the first time, I remember it took me a few months before I really understood the intent behind questions vs. comments vs. answers etc. - perhaps just a short comment to explain that conversation is best had in chat, or link to a metapost/FAQ if that's relevant?
hmm, they can indeed chat - rep from Physics. Let's see if that works
perfect :)
I am 100% in favour for "I understand this is what you're trying to do - please do it this way" for new users rather than the more abrupt "this is wrong"
23:38
I didn't actually say they were incorrect until the end of the second comment, and I don't understand what they're trying to do.
sorry, I wasn't saying that you had said that, it was more a sweeping generalisation of how the SE network can appear to first time users
it's a veritable minefield for new users
23:58
0
Q: Domino diamonds

John Wiltshire-GordonYou have a large collection of dominos, each labeled with two distinct symbols drawn from some infinite alphabet. The symbols have 180-degree rotational symmetry so dominoes can be rotated. In other words, these two dominoes are equivalent: +---------+---------+ +---------+--...


« first day (2401 days earlier)      last day (1538 days later) »