The Nineteenth Byte

Rusher

7:04 PM

Remember to reopen this in a year: codegolf.stackexchange.com/q/25199/18487

I will surely forget

Or perhaps they will not use the same app next year

Geobits

@Rusher Probably different next year. Haven't seen the same AFD event twice yet.

Rusher

I thought the meme started two years ago, so I didn't recognize that there could be a "history"

Geobits

I think it started in 2010 with unicorn gravatars:

201

A: My God—it's full of unicorns!

Jeff, you must change the default avatars on S[OFU] to unicorns on April 1st. MUST. Ok this was implemented... I'm sooo happy now :D Thanks Jeff!

Rusher

7:33 PM

I don't understand how 2048 works

"When two tiles touch, they merge into one." is the only rule, and as far as I can tell, random tiles appear when I press buttons

ProgrammerDan

Serious question?

Rusher

Serious

The two 2's merge into a 4, but then another number randomly appears

ProgrammerDan

Yeah, the other component of the game (not exactly a rule) is that after every move, some numbers appear

I haven't done the time to determine the exact rule, but either a 2, or a 4, or some combination of at most two 2's or 4's, appears after each move.

Rusher

Oh, it wasn't mentioned here gabrielecirulli.github.io/2048

As a comment, rule, or otherwise

I thought I was crazy

ProgrammerDan

Haha, nope, you are not, at least about this :)

Rusher

7:44 PM

:O

Peter Taylor

8:08 PM

@ProgrammerDan By my reading of the code it's a 90% chance of a 2 and a 10% chance of a 4.

ProgrammerDan

@PeterTaylor Bravo

That could definitely be used in trying to solve codegolf.stackexchange.com/q/25226/17546 :)

Rusher

That, along with the location that the random squares appear, and the chances of getting 2 or 1 of them popping up

Also, if you press left repeatedly, do more random squares appear even though nothing moved?

ProgrammerDan

iirc, no

Rusher

I would participate, but it seems like you need an in depth knowledge of the game's code in order to win

I personally can't stand Javascript enough to interpret it

ProgrammerDan

Javascript isn't my favorite either, but the challenge looks interesting. Especially the code length limit, should be fun.

hosch250

8:35 PM

@ProgrammerDan I have had an 8 appear in 2048.

I think it is weighted so the higher numbers are just extremely rare.

Doorknob

@hosch250 No, it's 90% 2 and 10% 4. You must have gotten two 4s and combined them without realizing that you moved twice.

hosch250

@Doorknob OK, perhaps.

Have you won it?

Doorknob

only once :P

hosch250

I figured out the strategy within three days.

I only played it about twice a day.

Then I won.

My family has won several times - at least 6 - and my mother got to 4096 once.

ProgrammerDan

@hosch250 amusingly, although I have built a command-line clone due to the code-golf challenge, I have yet to achieve 2048.

Peter Taylor

8:47 PM

@Rusher There is no chance of 2 of them popping up.

hosch250

@ProgrammerDan You need to only use three keys and line your tiles up incrementally.

Only use the fourth key if you are actually forced to.

Doorknob

and keep the highest tile in a corner

and line up progressively lower tiles on that edge

ProgrammerDan

@hosch250 That is the strategy I have been using, just not lining up well enough yet. I think I've played it maybe half a dozen times total, so far. Played enough to have a good feel for the clone, then stopped.

hosch250

It is very difficult to win if you don't remember that you need to keep your tiles exactly incremental.

Just won again - third time.

Rusher

9:32 PM

Anyone buy a computer recently?

hosch250

Last fall.

Rusher

Its been a while for me, and family member needs a recommendation

Surface 2?

Desktop computer

Look at Dell.

9:33 PM

I think we want to sacrifice space for a better price

Will do, thanks!

hosch250

HP Envy is a good laptop.

That is my personal computer.

Rusher

I was under the impression that laptops cost more just because they were smaller

hosch250

My laptop was pretty expensive, but we bought a huge care pack, Office 2012 Pro, and it was a top-of-the-line computer.

You can get minimal laptops for c. $500.

Rusher

Minimal was Inspiron last time I checked

Less than minimal was Latitude

And then XP, and then Alienware

hosch250

Acer maybe?

Toshiba is usually expensive, I think. Haven't looked at those for a while.

You could check Asus and Lenovo.

Rusher

9:38 PM

Why do Lenovo laptops have those little nubs on the keyboard

They drive me insane

And their function is a complete mystery

hosch250

I don't know, never seen one.

Chris Jester-Young

@Rusher I bought an Inspiron Mini 910 some years ago (9" netbook). Without any addons, it was $200. :-D

hosch250

Do you mean on F and J?

Rusher

hosch250

I wouldn't know.

Are they buttons?

Maybe they are the home-key signifiers.

For F and J.

Chris Jester-Young

9:42 PM

@Rusher Black Friday last year, I bought a MacBook Pro 13 with Retina for $1099 from Best Buy. :-P

hosch250

So you can verify that your hands are on the right keys when you type by touch.

Chris Jester-Young

@Rusher That's actually a pointing device. Just push it with your index finger.

In less-polite terms, it's known as a "nipple mouse".

Pointing stick

A pointing stick is an isometric joystick used as a pointing device, as with a touchpad or trackball, and typically mounted in a computer keyboard. Movements of the pointing stick are echoed on the screen by movements of the pointer (or cursor) and other visual changes. The pointing stick operates by sensing applied force, by using a pair of resistive strain gauges. The velocity of the pointer depends on the applied force. On a QWERTY keyboard, the stick is typically embedded between the "G", "H" and "B" keys, and the mouse buttons are placed just below the space bar. The mouse buttons...

@hosch250 ^

hosch250

OK, interesting.

Chris Jester-Young

It's actually the best thing. I like it better than the touchpad, but since my work laptop has both, and the touchpad is slightly easier to reach, I tend to use that more.

hosch250

I have a touchpad, but I mainly use my USB mouse - nontouch.

Chris Jester-Young

9:48 PM

@hosch250 I have a Bluetooth mouse I use to play games with, but for non-gaming uses, the touchpad (and nipple mouse, if my touchpad is being erratic) works just fine.

hosch250

I don't have a pointing stick.

Just a touchpad and a mouse.

My hand was injured by my trackpad, so I had to get a mouse.

Chris Jester-Young

@hosch250 Yeah, usually only high-end "business" laptops tend to have them, such as Lenovo's ThinkPad series, or Dell Precision.

hosch250

I have an HP Envy, but I've never seen a pointing stick on HP computers.

Maybe that is why they aren't doing too good.

Chris Jester-Young

@hosch250 Before the prevalence of touchpads, the pointing stick is the primary pointing device on laptops.

hosch250