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2:00 PM
I'll be interested in jimmy's make-your-language-unusable challenge, because I'm expecting some answers to miss a few bases here and there
 
You mean an answer could be invalidated by proving there is still a way to use it as a programming language after the answer is applied?
 
^^ that
 
Any last minute changes to the definition of "programming language" on Meta before the question goes live...?
 
@Dennis do you know whether 0 and 10^n are the only numbers that don't have a CUDDLE?
 
I think you could prove it just for the first digit
a^b = 10^(log_10(a^b)) = 10^(b log_10(a)) = 10^floor(x) * 10^(decimal_part(x)) where x = b log_10(a)
 
2:08 PM
I just got another downvote on RTTTL Obfuscation.
You guys really don't like pop con huh
Well something to remember
 
Hm actually...
 
A better thing to remember might be that anyone can downvote for any reason, even if they're just being grumpy. "This is dumb" is valid, but not helpful to actually say.
 
Right but two...
I mean if it was just sheer grumpiness I would have maybe one or two downvotes on my other questions. This is the first time I've ever gotten any downvotes on my questions.
 
Versus how many upvotes? Explaining those would also help people make better challenges, but nobody asks for that ;)
3
 
(trying to use irrationality of log_10(a) somewhere here)
... oh you can't get 0 as a first digit, nvm
 
2:13 PM
@Geobits Touche.
 
The most important thing to remember IMO is that sometimes you'll just never know why something was voted one way or the other. Sometimes people explain themselves, and sometimes they don't. The likelihood that they're going to come back later to explain it is very small.
 
If people were to downvote purely at random, never reading the question, it would still be likely that some of your questions would have zero downvotes and some would have two.
 
@trichoplax That's what I do! I just seed the Q number into my PRNG and grab the first boolean output to decide which way to vote.
That's why I stay around 50% I guess ;)
 
What?!???!?
:)
 
@Geobits Hey that might make a good challenge.
 
2:17 PM
I like that you all think I'm joking about that :P
 
I know full well that you take downvoting far too seriously to leave it to chance
 
First thought I gotta make @mbomb007 another Pokemon challenge
I'd like to see a challenge about MissingNo. -mbomb007
WISH GRANTED
 
Always funny to see a challenge that is obviously (home)work just quickly pressed into a "challenge" format.
 
0
Q: Transpose columns in table

NaNLet's say you've got a table of data: meter_id date 0000 0600 1200 1800 0 030915 10 20 30 40 1 030915 15 7 49 2 where the last four columns are meter readings at different times. You want to output meter_id date time reading 0 030915 0000 10 0 0309...

 
I wonder if Geoborts uses the same approach to upvoting
 
2:21 PM
Geoborts is an abomination.
 
I must have been sick the day Geoborts meme was born. What is Geoborts?
 
Added a link to the profile...
 
@Rainbolt It's the name of the PPCG Minecraft chat relay
It's an unstable hybrid glitch Pokemon of Geobits.
 
Can it get to lvl 255?
 
Yes.
It can only be obtained with the Johto Guard Glitch.
 
2:23 PM
I just had another upsetting flashback. One time I levelled my Missingno to lvl 255 and then fed it another rare candy. To my horror, it levelled up to lvl 1 :(
 
Oops
 
Ouch, level 1 was terrible in the originals. Did it have negative max HP?
 
Anyone remember that glitch in Gold/Silver where you could duplicate a Pokemon by switching off the gameboy at the right moment during a transfer?
 
@MartinBüttner Yes.
 
Yes
 
2:25 PM
It's a good way of getting ????
 
Yeah, I once switched it off while transferring in the other direction. :(
 
@MartinBüttner I corrupted a save file that way ><
 
Although I prefer to do Celebi Egg
More reliable.
 
I had a better way of duplicating Pokemon. Save game to memory card, trade, restore saved game.
 
@Rainbolt I did that once to my PokeWTrainer. Boy was I mad.
 
2:26 PM
My brother and I shared Blue, Yellow, and Gold so we bought a memory card to have multiple games.
 
Cheater! :P
 
By the way, if you save a Pokemon Red game to a memory card, and then restore the saved game to a Pokemon Blue cartridge, the Pokemon Blue literally becomes Pokemon Red. The color of the game even changes to that red hue.
We had to name our character Ash forever, since you can't save before that point, but that's a small price to pay.
 
Can you save before choosing your starter?
 
I think so. I only remember having one save file for Red
 
Not that it would matter. Squirtle for life.
 
2:29 PM
Charmander!
 
Eww. Even Bulbasaur's better than that.
 
I was thinking about making a challenge about the Johto Guard Glitch but it seems no one has figured out the conversion between Gen 2 and Gen 1 index numbers yet :(
 
Unless you're asking about some different conversion Bulbapedia has a chart: bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Johto_guard_glitch#Conversion
 
Yeah but using a chart makes it kinda trivial...
I was hoping for a mathematical way
 
anyone feeling mathematical? math.stackexchange.com/questions/1471966/… @randomra
 
2:39 PM
50%. Either you end up at the start or you don't.
 
I don't think there's a good formula for it. Looking at the chart, it seems there's just long stretches where they are just a subtraction in order. Then another chunk, then a couple missing, etc. It could make a kolmogorov I guess, but still probably not very interesting.
 
Yeah.
Hmm
Maybe I could do something with glitch moves
 
2
Q: Time-Sensitive Echo

ZgarbBackground The echo program is so neat. You can say anything to it, and it repeats your words perfectly, every time! How cool is that! Disappointingly, it repeats the input all at once, regardless of your typing speed, which is not very realistic. We'll have to fix that. The Task Your program ...

 
@MartinBüttner I tried to clarify the example.
 
3:02 PM
@aditsu maybe it would be nice to have CJam commands like Matlab's tic and toc. tic starts a timer, and toc gets the time elapsed since the last tic.
that would have saved 10 bytes for Time-Sensitive Echo (although there is probably a shorter way with the current language features)
 
I dunno. I didn't see what caused it to fall. Might have been knocked over by a small RC plane.
 
It might have been a silenced stealth F-35 that hovered while the copilot climbed out and used some pliers to cut the cable.
 
New project: Quadcopter with tinsnips.
 
3:36 PM
@Sp3000 It's a good idea. I'll try it. I did just realize that the program counter cannot "fly off the left side", (though it can move left of it's starting point by creating a loop), so that should make it simpler.
 
Yeah, that's basically the problem I think
 
4:00 PM
@Geobits Just had to look up what tinsnips are.
> "So what should we call those?" - "Well they snip tin, so lets call them tinsnips."
 
Yep. Right up there with screwdrivers as far as creativity goes :)
 
I just thoguht there must be a ton of those words in german too, but I suspect you notice them more in a foreign language than in your own=)
This is the buzzfeed of heavy machinery:
 
not really sure if its really awesome or flawr is trying to change his domain from plane crash to ship crash
 
@Sp3000 Yeah, it's fixed now. Thanks!
 
:)
 
4:14 PM
It makes me wonder if the original Ruby interpreter has the same bug...
Or the one in C...
I guess I'll have to try them sometime.
I'll also probably find time to email the creator of SMBF and let him know about my interpreter or whatever.
Darn, I changed my "parent user" on my chat profile, and now I can't get it back to where it displays the sum of all my rep across all sites...
Where should I post to ask if that's even possible?
 
That's... weird. Maybe it just needs to wait a bit to figure it out (or refresh the cache). I've changed mine before, and it shows my total.
 
Idk, but can't you just set the original site you had as parent user?
 
It's really bad in your case, though. Before you did that, it was showing a nice sum of 5555 :D
 
You mean 1010110110011?
 
Sure, but it looks better in binary coded decimal.
 
4:28 PM
What close reason are people picking for avocadoes? :P
 
111111111111
 
(or am I meant to flag? I forget)
 
I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because this isn't even close to what we do here. — Geobits 19 secs ago
 
I think avocados should be on topic from now on.
4
 
2
Q: How are you doing?

Stewie GriffinMartin has created a nice snippet that can be used to keep track of the score for answers to challenges. That's great and all, but wouldn't it be better if you could keep track of it yourself? The task is to create a program that compares the byte counts in itself with the rest of the answers to...

-3
Q: Question about advacado

avacadoHello I have quetions how does juice an avocado I have try for thirtee minut and no juic. I try alredy. thank.

 
4:31 PM
I don't know if it's just supposed to be a bad joke based on a chat comment or what.
 
I would assume it's a troll
 
can mods not figure out who codegolf.stackexchange.com/users/46049/avacado is ?
based on IP
 
It could be a bot :P
 
I am tempted to add a tag
 
Sep 22 at 3:19, by Alex A.
@PhiNotPi hello i have quetions how does juice an avocado i have try for thirtee minut and no juic
 
4:35 PM
I'm pretty sure would be sufficient.
 
7 downvotes, 2 favorites...
 
Yea, I remembered him saying it, but couldn't remember whether he made it up or found it as an actual question on the network somewhere (so this would be a bot-like dupe instead).
 
Do they crash?
 
I don't think bionics will make my dancing any more attractive.
 
4:40 PM
But would it make it any worse?
 
Do those feet have touch sensors? Otherwise they'd be lousy for climbing
 
I guess it depends on what you're climbing. Stairs, rolling hills, and cliffs probably have different requirements :D
 
:D
I took it as rock climbing BTW ;)
@El'endiaStarman Your bio makes seem like this conversation is of interest to you
 
But this guy really sounds like he has an artificial voice too.
 
Robots building robots... Skynet has risen
 
4:43 PM
I'm not gonna worry about Skynet at least until Amazon or Netflix can make decent recommendations to me.
"I looked at this thing one time a few months ago and didn't buy it" is not a signal that I want to be flooded with similar products, believe it or not.
 
Amazon and Netflix know you more than you know yourself. If you buy/watch the things they suggest, then you'll realise and that Skynet is reading and understanding every thought you have
 
They may be watching, sure. They're not interpreting it correctly is my point ;)
 
user image
3
 
I have a question about pull ups:
Why are they easier when you hold your arms closer together?
 
Not easier for me. Parallel to shoulders is the best position IMHO.
 
4:53 PM
Hmm that's probably what I just did
 
1
Q: Element names above 118

StatusIUPAC in their insufferable wisdom have created a systematic element name for any newly created element. This is the temporary name of an element until they finally make up their minds about an actual name. It works like so: each digit of an element number is assigned a prefix based on its value....

 
@BetaDecay Different emphasis on muscle groups. With your arms wide, I think it puts more work on the back versus the shoulders. So, it depends on what your goal is.
 
5:12 PM
I think there's a problem with this challenge
9
Q: How are you doing?

Stewie GriffinMartin has created a nice snippet that can be used to keep track of the score for answers to challenges. That's great and all, but wouldn't it be better if you could keep track of it yourself? The task is to create a program that compares the byte counts in itself with the rest of the answers to...

 
?
2
 
Most online interpreters don't allow curling webpages, right?
So I'm not sure how really this is going to work since he says it has to work in an online interpreter
 
Make a comment.
 
I just wanted to make sure I understand the challenge first...
This is what he is saying right?
 
Sounds like it to me.
I just saw a challenge in the "Related" section and thought it looked interesting. Clicked in, found out I'm the one who wrote it.
Anyone know any good long-term memory hacks? ;)
 
5:21 PM
Strawberries
Gotta get that beta-carotene.
 
No, I mean hacks. Supplying my body with nutrients is the standard, boring approach. Think more like an implanted storage device.
 
Ah.
 
@quartata, I changed the rule a bit. Do you think it's ok now?
Thanks for bringing it up btw!
 
Looks good to me.
 
@Geobits I recommend an online record of all your questions, then you can do away with biological memory altogether
Oh I see you did that already... ;)
 
5:27 PM
Oooh, I like that! Do you know of any place that would conveniently list all my questions? Preferably I'd be able to sort them by date asked, date of last activity, and score.
 
5:40 PM
Hi guys! Do you mind giving a bit of feedback on one of my questions?
I wrote in the question that the url of the question shouldn't be counted. Now I'm wondering what to do if other url's are used, as in muddyfish's answer. Any suggestions?
 
Don't change it now.
 
Personally, I would let the 'http://api.stackexchange.com/2.2/questions/60204/' be free but everything else count
 
^ that's how it is now.
 
The question seems to imply that only the question url can be given as input or hardcoded, not the api address. How strict to be on that is a matter for debate I guess:
> The function can take the question url as input, or it can be hardcoded.
 
I calculated my score by codelength - url_length
Btw, @StewieGriffin "and show the output from your own compiler" doesn't make much sense since this output is likely to change.
 
5:46 PM
Well, I calculated my score by subtracting the entirety of the url, not just the identifier bit
 
@minxomat, changed it to "at the time you posted the question".
I agree with muddyfish: "I would let the `http://api.stackexchange.com/2.2/questions/60204/'be free but everything else count". I think that's a fair solution that doesn't alter the rules much.
Agree?
 
> The chars for the url will not count toward the byte count
IMHO it's too late to change this rule.
 
Well, like I said, it also says the question url, which the API url isn't.
So I think the compromise is better.
 
Or just say: Your score is the code length in bytes - the URL length.
 
@Geobits, what's the compromise?
Only the identifies could be subtracted?
 
5:51 PM
The api identifier for free, but counting the params. It's better IMO than banning the api altogether.
It's a hard call, though. Some of the params would always be the same, like site=codegolf, etc.
 
Exactly, that's just complicating things.
 
I have a question about new programming languages: I've been thinking for a few days (and I think I mentioned this yesterday), and I've decided that I would like to make a programming language based on Brainfuck. I'll only make it if it's acceptable on PPCG. So, here's my thought - since I know that Brainfuck can be expressed with eight symbols, I figure that I may as well express each brainfuck symbol as 3 bits, not 8. (continuing in another comment)
 
It's quite clear how it is stated now. Maybe remove the "question" part from the "question URL" phrase. @StewieGriffin @Geobits
 
That would be fine by me :)
 
Therefore, all answers posted must be expressed in bits, not the bytes themselves. Is this a viable coding language?
 
5:55 PM
@VTCAKAVSMoACE That's been discussed on meta before (or something very close to it). IIRC it was generally agreed that it was not against any rules, but you shouldn't be surprised by a negative reaction to it via votes.
 
^
 
@Geobits I am gonna quote this message out of no context from here on
 
Really? I searched for it, apparently not enough.
 
@Optimizer No problem. You've got plenty of OOC quotables, too.
Apr 25 at 18:53, by Optimizer
I am confused now.
 
@Geobits I wonder whether those can be used against me though :P
 
5:57 PM
Oh. Found it. Alright.
 
Mar 7 at 20:12, by Optimizer
I am a very bad coder
 
all true and supportive
 
Jul 17 at 13:21, by Optimizer
well, then I am really being dumb here
 
jokes on you. I am actually being dumb here
 
I'm not disagreeing with that :P
 
5:58 PM
But if I wrote the interpreter, it would be acceptable, no? The only reason the reduced bit answer was down voted is because there was no existing interpreter for 3-bit brainfuck.
 
@VTCAKAVSMoACE I wouldn't upvote it most likely. Doing a 1:1 translation of a language solely for reducing the number score is a cheap move IMO. It's not banned, but it's unlikely to score well.
IMO if you're going to make an eso or golfing language, you should do more than just compress it.
 
So if I wrote a different language that was loosely related, but still used bits to program, that would be acceptable?
 
Pyth got a terrible reaction at first (lots of downvotes), because it mostly was just that; condensed python. It's since moved away from that and added/changed things, so it's become more popular.
Bits/bytes in particular doesn't matter to me. Unless they're Geobytes.
2
 
6:21 PM
It seems that recently people have forgotten that it's standard practice to delete sandbox posts after posting them.
 
^ agreed
 
@quartata @muddyfish @TimmyD In case you aren't aware, the sandbox "protocol" includes deleting sandbox posts after the challenge has been posted (in addition to editing it down to a link to the main post). See Sandbox FAQ.
 
Oh, sorry!
 
^ Will do now if someone else hasn't already done
 
I have (at least the one on the first page, I don't know if you had any others)
 
6:28 PM
I've always found the mathematics SE sandbox protocol to be a lot cleaner.
 
I had one more on another page. I deleted it.
 
I had one more as well which I deleted
 
@minxomat how does that work?
(they have a sandbox?)
 
Of course the have a sandbox. It takes time to type and format complex LaTeX :)
 
@minxomat There are some crucial differences between the purposes of their sandbox and ours though.
 
6:32 PM
Yes, but it could be mixed and matched (I think).
 
For instance, if we just edited fixed "slots", it wouldn't be as easy to bring new proposals to the attention of everyone in here via a feed.
The purpose of our sandbox is to gather feedback, not just to draft the markdown.
 
38 mins ago, by Geobits
That would be fine by me :)
 
Sandbox voting and comments wouldn't really work either.
 
Very good point.
Also, I don't think there's anything wrong with keeping some drafts around for a while without posting them. (I have more than I like to admit, but for some of them, I do still intend to post them at some point... and it's part of the sandbox etiquette that you can ask to take over abandoned drafts.)
 
@MartinBüttner Thanks - missed that in the FAQ
 
6:37 PM
Is it possible to create an empty code block in SE flavoured markdown?
 
i was going to say "thanks fermat, do you have a constructive proof?" because i am a master of sass but while i was researching to make sure i understood what the term "constructive proof" meant you provided an example :P
thank you
 
Is there a way to put a bold character mid-code block?
 
I don't believe so, all formatting is ignored
 
Dang. Highlighting is difficult.
 
6:46 PM
@VTCAKAVSMoACE You can do <code>normal <b>bold</b></code>
 
it's possible by using HTML, but it's hardly noticeable I think
 
I already posted it, and I think it's clear enough. Thanks, though!
 
"aeu" is bold there
 
maybe the most recent CSS just ignores it actually
 
6:50 PM
oh man, i just got through writing up an answer and immediately before clicking "post" i realized it was invalid
 
You already did it? :o
 
I'm guessing a different question :P
 
Ah. Whoops. XD
I was about to say. That'd been incredible.
 
i was going to answer the shortest infinite loop problem with a 0-byte TIS-100 program but here's the relevant quote from the reference manual:
> After executing the last instruction of the program, execution automatically returns to the first instruction.
 
6:51 PM
@VTCAKAVSMoACE Just to let you know, this will be automatically posted here soon - sometimes takes a few minutes though.
 
and indeed, an empty node's mode stays "IDLE" instead of "RUN"
 
@VTCAKAVSMoACE The challenge seems nice. I'm not a huge fan of requiring , separation, but I don't see any major issues.
 
@VTCAKAVSMoACE I just thought about your brainfuck-derivation idea.
 
2
A: Sandbox for Proposed Challenges

VTCAKAVSMoACEUlamic Rows code-golfmathprimes Ulam's spiral is a truly fascinating, yet puzzling, topic in mathematics. How it works can be found here. The Objective Make a program that accepts n (will always be an odd number) as an input that correlates with the number of rows, then prints out the values ...

 
There we go. XD Okay. Won't post it directly again.
 
6:53 PM
We could make a language where each byte (e.g. ascii character) just encodes two brainfuck commands
 
Two upvotes before being picked up by the bot - nice going :)
 
@Geobits Ah, good. I'll post it in maybe an hour or so.
Woohoo! XD
 
Then we'd need 8x8 = 64 symbols which each represent two bf commands.
 
@flawr Technically, you could use 3/8 of a byte per command.
 
If you want odd numbered code lengths you'd need 8 more - 72
 
6:55 PM
@VTCAKAVSMoACE Well, I don't normally recommend posting after an hour. The point is to get a bunch of eyes on it. Just because I didn't see anything wrong doesn't mean nobody will ;)
 
@VTCAKAVSMoACE But that (as discussed) might be not as acceptable.
 
I like to leave mine in the sandbox for 6 to 12 months, but a few days works for most people
 
@flawr Oh! I misread what you meant.
@Geobits So... maybe a day?
 
I think encoding two in one byte seems less "shady", if you will. With it that way (64 "instructions"), at least you can write it out and present it in ASCII format and it's a bit more readable.
Posting a bit-packed mess (3 per) will never ever be legible.
 
Why not BrainFunicode?
 
6:59 PM
UniFuck?
 
HalfFuck?
 

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