Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

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Shrecknet: Jan 2, 2005

BrainDance posted:

I remember playing this old PC Game, I'm pretty sure it was on Windows 3.something, but I can't remember the name.

The game is, obviously, 2d. You're in a pyramid, and you gotta walk around and maybe get keys? But there are snakes, I specifically remember there being snakes.

That's all I remember, snakes pyramid and maybe keys, Windows 3.whatever.

Any ideas?

It was a little older than Windows 3.1

# ? Dec 13, 2014 04:11

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# ? May 22, 2024 16:42

TheLastManStanding: Jan 14, 2008; Mash Buttons!

Ancient Empires was the first game that came to my mind.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 04:14

Crankit: Feb 7, 2011; HE WATCHES

BrainDance posted:

I remember playing this old PC Game, I'm pretty sure it was on Windows 3.something, but I can't remember the name.

The game is, obviously, 2d. You're in a pyramid, and you gotta walk around and maybe get keys? But there are snakes, I specifically remember there being snakes.

That's all I remember, snakes pyramid and maybe keys, Windows 3.whatever.

Any ideas?

I think you've been preparing for Lowtax's funerary rites.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 04:23

KnifeWrench: May 25, 2007; Practical and safe.; Bleak Gremlin

Why? This version of the problem is simple enough that brute-forcing it is trivially easy (and what Manslaughter did), but the general form can actually be pretty complex.

Note that pupdive didn't say they weren't capable or willing to try a brute force solution. They were just making the reasonable assumption that it might not be the best way. In this case, it turned out that brute force was the most practical solution, but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask (even if it's already been solved, out of academic curiosity) if there's some clean, closed-form solution.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 05:02

stubblyhead: Sep 13, 2007; That is treason, Johnny!; Fun Shoe

BrainDance posted:

I remember playing this old PC Game, I'm pretty sure it was on Windows 3.something, but I can't remember the name.

The game is, obviously, 2d. You're in a pyramid, and you gotta walk around and maybe get keys? But there are snakes, I specifically remember there being snakes.

That's all I remember, snakes pyramid and maybe keys, Windows 3.whatever.

Any ideas?

Caverns of Kroz maybe?

# ? Dec 13, 2014 05:13

BrainDance: May 8, 2007; Disco all night long!

Everblight posted:

It was a little older than Windows 3.1

stubblyhead posted:

Caverns of Kroz maybe?

It was a little newer than these (or at least, the graphics were better.)

TheLastManStanding posted:

Ancient Empires was the first game that came to my mind.

But I think maybe a little older than this.

It was around the time of Chip's Challenge I think. I remember the computer it was on had Chip's Challenge, this little game where balls are bouncing around and you make these walls to trap the different colored balls on different sides, Commander Keen and the afterdark screensaver program. So, that era.

Edit: I think the genre would have been platformer, but not like Mario or Commander Keen platformer, but just one screen where you jump up on ledges and stuff. But I am NOT 100% on that. Maybe this is too fuzzy of a memory to find, I didn't know there were so many games around that time in pyramids where you collect keys.

Found this game Pharaoh's Tomb and, it's not it but it looks kinda like it. Maybe it was a copy of this game.

BrainDance fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Dec 13, 2014

# ? Dec 13, 2014 05:21

aherdofpenguins: Mar 18, 2006

In the kind of weird sentence,
"The car went zoom-zoom down the street."

Is the verb went linking the adjective zoom-zoom to car? Or is zoom-zoom an adverb describing how it went? Or is it an onomatopoeia?

I'm thinking it's an adverb because you could also say, "The car went quickly down the street" but it seems different somehow?

# ? Dec 13, 2014 05:41

Mescal: Jul 23, 2005

aherdofpenguins posted:

In the kind of weird sentence,
"The car went zoom-zoom down the street."

Is the verb went linking the adjective zoom-zoom to car? Or is zoom-zoom an adverb describing how it went? Or is it an onomatopoeia?

I'm thinking it's an adverb because you could also say, "The car went quickly down the street" but it seems different somehow?

It's lots of things. It went zooming (speed), zoomingly (in a zooming fashion; zoomishly) and making a zooming sound.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 06:11

aherdofpenguins: Mar 18, 2006

Mescal posted:

It's lots of things. It went zooming (speed), zoomingly (in a zooming fashion; zoomishly) and making a zooming sound.

I don't think a word can be an adjective and an adverb at the same time just by how you think about the sentence, can it? Is it just that way because zoom-zoom isn't actually a real word?

# ? Dec 13, 2014 06:14

BrainDance: May 8, 2007; Disco all night long!

aherdofpenguins posted:

I don't think a word can be an adjective and an adverb at the same time just by how you think about the sentence, can it? Is it just that way because zoom-zoom isn't actually a real word?

Yeah, zoom-zoom isn't a word but it still has a place in the sentence.

Maybe break it down into a similar, but simpler sentence? Like, "The cow went moo." Wouldn't that be the same thing?

# ? Dec 13, 2014 06:39

aherdofpenguins: Mar 18, 2006

BrainDance posted:

Yeah, zoom-zoom isn't a word but it still has a place in the sentence.

Maybe break it down into a similar, but simpler sentence? Like, "The cow went moo." Wouldn't that be the same thing?

Oh huh, maybe? In that sentence it seems closer to an onomatopoetic adverb, but that 'went' and the other 'went' seem somehow different.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 06:45

Powered Descent: Jul 13, 2008; We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

BrainDance posted:

Found this game Pharaoh's Tomb and, it's not it but it looks kinda like it. Maybe it was a copy of this game.

Tutankham? It's a little older than you're thinking (1982) but it's in a pyramid (or at least an Egyptian tomb) and certainly appears to have snakes.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 07:00

Mescal: Jul 23, 2005

aherdofpenguins posted:

I don't think a word can be an adjective and an adverb at the same time just by how you think about the sentence, can it? Is it just that way because zoom-zoom isn't actually a real word?

Yes words can be taken differently in the same sentence go read a haiku. Zoom-zoom is a term that's never been solidified in meaning through long term use or in a particular idiom so especially so.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 07:21

Ham Pants: Apr 22, 2008; "HEADS! I eat a big ham sandwiche! TAILS! I work out!"
HamPants, HamPants the movie, 2009

Pogo the Clown posted:

The first signs would show in wilting and browning leaves on the trees and vegetation. I found a brief article about inland trees suffering salt water damage from Hurricane Sandy here that might be helpful.

RaoulDuke12 posted:

That's a really specific question...when you say seawater, you mean salt water?

It would kill everything pretty quickly, within days. Eventually you might end up with a mangrove?

There are a lot of scientific papers on ocean succession in the Gulf coast for environmental studies on climate change if you search right, they might describe the situation you're looking for.

Thank you guys very much, especially for the research materials!

# ? Dec 13, 2014 07:55

Grundulum: Feb 28, 2006

BrainDance posted:

That's all I remember, snakes pyramid and maybe keys, Windows 3.whatever.

Any ideas?

I was going to suggest one of the Lode Runner series, but a quick check of Wikipedia says there were rather a lot of them. Maybe one of those?

# ? Dec 13, 2014 07:55

Gravity Pike: Feb 8, 2009; I find this discussion incredibly bland and disinteresting.

Everblight posted:

I've been playing a lot of Letter Quest, which is basically a Boggle RPG.

Two part question:

1) What are some words with a J in them that don't start with J?

2) How would even begin to google something like question 1, for future word-power training?

http://www.visca.com/regexdict/

The regular expression for that would be
[^j]+j.*
Which means "not j, one or more times" "one j" "anything, zero or more times". If you wanted to add the constraint that the word can only have one j, it'd be [^j]+j[^j]* for "not j, one or more times" "one j" "not j, zero or more times."

If you're at all interested in programming, regular expressions are an incredibly powerful tool that turn up all over the place.

Gravity Pike fucked around with this message at 08:21 on Dec 13, 2014

# ? Dec 13, 2014 08:17

pupdive: Jun 13, 2012

KnifeWrench posted:

Why? This version of the problem is simple enough that brute-forcing it is trivially easy (and what Manslaughter did), but the general form can actually be pretty complex.

Note that pupdive didn't say they weren't capable or willing to try a brute force solution. They were just making the reasonable assumption that it might not be the best way. In this case, it turned out that brute force was the most practical solution, but I don't think it's unreasonable to ask (even if it's already been solved, out of academic curiosity) if there's some clean, closed-form solution.

Following on what you said (thanks for the link):

quote:

The decision problem form of the knapsack problem (Can a value of at least V be achieved without exceeding the weight W?) is NP-complete, thus there is no possible algorithm both correct and fast (polynomial-time) on all cases, unless P=NP.

While the decision problem is NP-complete, the optimization problem is NP-hard, its resolution is at least as difficult as the decision problem, and there is no known polynomial algorithm which can tell, given a solution, whether it is optimal (which would mean that there is no solution with a larger V, thus solving the decision problem NP-complete)

Not just a word problem then, but at least the brute force solution is as good as any other in the current state of mathematical knowledge, but interesting that a question that touches on one of the Millennium Prize Problems got dismissed by those who did not actually try to answer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Prize_Problems

# ? Dec 13, 2014 10:19

regulargonzalez: Aug 18, 2006; UNGH LET ME LICK THOSE BOOTS DADDY HULU YES YES GIVE ME ALL THE CORPORATE CUMMIES ADBLOCK USERS DESERVE THE DEATH PENALTY, DON'T THEY DADDY?
WHEN THE RICH GET RICHER I GET HORNIER

BrainDance posted:

I remember playing this old PC Game, I'm pretty sure it was on Windows 3.something, but I can't remember the name.

The game is, obviously, 2d. You're in a pyramid, and you gotta walk around and maybe get keys? But there are snakes, I specifically remember there being snakes.

That's all I remember, snakes pyramid and maybe keys, Windows 3.whatever.

Any ideas?

Realms of Impossibility?
Played it on C64 but I suppose it might have been on Windows at some point.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 11:48

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

pupdive posted:

got dismissed by those who did not actually try to answer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennium_Prize_Problems

I didn't understand that he was looking for the general form instead of just a solution, which gets covered in like grade 10 math.

# ? Dec 13, 2014 15:56

Mescal: Jul 23, 2005

Is there a "find internet things" or "remind me where to find that one video" thread right now?

# ? Dec 13, 2014 22:51

armorer: Aug 6, 2012; I like metal.

Mescal posted:

Is there a "find internet things" or "remind me where to find that one video" thread right now?

The internet necromancy thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3005662

# ? Dec 14, 2014 00:13

FreshFeesh: Jun 3, 2007; Drum Solo

Is there a website or simulation where I can figure out the most efficient way for a vehicle to cover all parts of a given area? I'm thinking of a Zamboni or Roomba, which has a particular width (coverage area) and turning radius.

Looking up "optimal Zamboni" and the like brought me to pages offering deals on Zamboni tires, and I can't even begin to think of how I'd code something to iterate through the possibilities.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 01:46

Vin BioEthanol: Jan 18, 2002; by Ralp

Do most modern TVs pick up digital cable channels without a cable box?

I bought my wife a 32" insignia 1080p for the bedroom 2ish years ago and was surprised that it tuned-in digital channels in the 700+ range (Cox cable) I thought you needed a box for those.

For christmas I just bought my kids a 32" sharp 1080p I didn't think to look for this as a feature but thinking about it, they'd really like that. I google the model (lc-32lb261u) for a manual and the manual talks about scanning for channels and mentions digital channels but think it could be talking about over-the-air ones, are cable ones the same even if they have real high #s like 760?

# ? Dec 14, 2014 02:44

Grevlek: Jan 11, 2004

Vin BioEthanol posted:

Do most modern TVs pick up digital cable channels without a cable box?

I bought my wife a 32" insignia 1080p for the bedroom 2ish years ago and was surprised that it tuned-in digital channels in the 700+ range (Cox cable) I thought you needed a box for those.

For christmas I just bought my kids a 32" sharp 1080p I didn't think to look for this as a feature but thinking about it, they'd really like that. I google the model (lc-32lb261u) for a manual and the manual talks about scanning for channels and mentions digital channels but think it could be talking about over-the-air ones, are cable ones the same even if they have real high #s like 760?

Yes they do. If you can get channels that are 6.x or whatever, you have a digital tuner. They wouldn't have made TVs with an Analog tuner after the mandated conversion date.

---

Question - I broke the screen on my LG Optimus, and the screen is totally unresponsive. I am unable to get any of the files off of it from photos to contacts. I tried using a mouse and usb cable at the ATT store but that didn't work. Is there a way of entering in a "Swipe" pattern to unlock a phone so that I can get my files off of the phone while it is connected to my computer?

# ? Dec 14, 2014 02:58

Vin BioEthanol: Jan 18, 2002; by Ralp

Grevlek posted:

Yes they do. If you can get channels that are 6.x or whatever, you have a digital tuner. They wouldn't have made TVs with an Analog tuner after the mandated conversion date.

Thanks.

Another question: sometimes hotel bathroom heat fans or saunas or hot tubs have a dial to turn it on for a set time then it goes off. Is there something like that that'd go inline with any 120vac plug-in device? Twist it to an hour and it shuts off in an hour?

I can't come up with the right words to google this, surely it exists but all my results are the traditional setup-in-advance "come on at 1 go off at 5" timers.

Vin BioEthanol fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Dec 14, 2014

# ? Dec 14, 2014 03:32

Rent-A-Cop: Oct 15, 2004; I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!

Vin BioEthanol posted:

Another question: sometimes hotel bathroom heat fans or saunas or hot tubs have a dial to turn it on for a set time then it goes off. Is there something like that that'd go inline with any 120vac plug-in device? Twist it to an hour and it shuts off in an hour?

I can't come up with the right words to google this, surely it exists but all my results are the traditional setup-in-advance "come on at 1 go off at 5" timers.

I see what you mean. These certainly exist as in-wall units (Google "Spring-Wound Timer") but they seem tricky to find as plug-in devices.

Edit: I think you want one of these.

Rent-A-Cop fucked around with this message at 05:19 on Dec 14, 2014

# ? Dec 14, 2014 04:45

Nintendo Kid: Aug 4, 2011; by Smythe

Vin BioEthanol posted:

Do most modern TVs pick up digital cable channels without a cable box?

No. Cable providers will encrypt nearly all of the channels, sometimes even encrypting the channels that are are re-broadcasts of over the air channels.

They will only pick up digital over the air channels by default.

Grevlek posted:

Yes they do. If you can get channels that are 6.x or whatever, you have a digital tuner. They wouldn't have made TVs with an Analog tuner after the mandated conversion date.

You are thinking of digital over the air channels. Digital cable is definitely not the same and will be mostly encrypted or entirely encrypted. Unless the TV has a slot for a CableCARD or similar device and he's paid extra for that on his account, they'll be blocked out.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 04:47

tuyop: Sep 15, 2006; Every second that we're not growing BASIL is a second wasted; Fun Shoe

Rent-A-Cop posted:

Something like this?

The search term you want to use is Plug-In Timer.

He wants inline though. Rather than plug-in, try "timer switch", there are tons of models.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 04:48

photomikey: Dec 30, 2012

Depending on your ghetto acceptance factor, you can put one of the switch timers in a box, run a 12" extension cord out of either end, one with a receptacle, one with a plug. I once needed to dim a 1000W light, and the only inline dimmers I could find topped out at 300w.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 04:52

lazydog: Apr 15, 2003

Vin BioEthanol posted:

Thanks.

Another question: sometimes hotel bathroom heat fans or saunas or hot tubs have a dial to turn it on for a set time then it goes off. Is there something like that that'd go inline with any 120vac plug-in device? Twist it to an hour and it shuts off in an hour?

I can't come up with the right words to google this, surely it exists but all my results are the traditional setup-in-advance "come on at 1 go off at 5" timers.

I found a few searching for "countdown timer outlet"

http://www.amazon.com/Century-Mechanical-Countdown-Timer-Grounded/dp/B00MVDTEXS/
http://www.amazon.com/Outlet-Grounded-Indoor-Countdown-Timer/dp/B00FSQTSB8/

# ? Dec 14, 2014 07:24

Gravity Pike: Feb 8, 2009; I find this discussion incredibly bland and disinteresting.

FreshFeesh posted:

Is there a website or simulation where I can figure out the most efficient way for a vehicle to cover all parts of a given area? I'm thinking of a Zamboni or Roomba, which has a particular width (coverage area) and turning radius.

Looking up "optimal Zamboni" and the like brought me to pages offering deals on Zamboni tires, and I can't even begin to think of how I'd code something to iterate through the possibilities.

This sounds kina like the Hamiltonian Path Problem, which is a Hard Problem To Solve in Mathematics.

I mean, if I were going to try to code this up, I'd split the surface into tiles, and then do some sort of breadth-first-search, pruning trees as frequently as possible (maybe just exploring the space using djikstra's algorithm?), but that isn't really going to get you a solution in a continuous space.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 07:46

Skunkduster: Jul 15, 2005

A friend sent some pictures from their cell phone to my Gmail account. The first picture (bottom one) came in at full resolution, but the three that were sent later were only 160x120 even though the filesizes showed 220K or so. Clicking on them in gmail and saving them locally just brings up the small image. Am I doing something wrong on my end, or is it them?

Only registered members can see post attachments!

# ? Dec 14, 2014 09:12

FreshFeesh: Jun 3, 2007; Drum Solo

Gravity Pike posted:

This sounds kina like the Hamiltonian Path Problem, which is a Hard Problem To Solve in Mathematics.

I mean, if I were going to try to code this up, I'd split the surface into tiles, and then do some sort of breadth-first-search, pruning trees as frequently as possible (maybe just exploring the space using djikstra's algorithm?), but that isn't really going to get you a solution in a continuous space.

Wow, I knew it would be difficult but that seems exceptionally so. Some Hard math problems weren't meant to be tackled (yet) it seems.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 09:49

Smoking Crow: Feb 14, 2012; *laughs at u*

What's the difference between a poncho and a serape?

# ? Dec 14, 2014 12:21

Mister Kingdom: Dec 14, 2005; And the tears that fall
On the city wall
Will fade away
With the rays of morning light

Smoking Crow posted:

What's the difference between a poncho and a serape?

A poncho has an opening for your head and a serape does not.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 14:06

Grundulum: Feb 28, 2006

FreshFeesh posted:

Is there a website or simulation where I can figure out the most efficient way for a vehicle to cover all parts of a given area? I'm thinking of a Zamboni or Roomba, which has a particular width (coverage area) and turning radius.

Looking up "optimal Zamboni" and the like brought me to pages offering deals on Zamboni tires, and I can't even begin to think of how I'd code something to iterate through the possibilities.

I turned up this paper [http://infoscience.epfl.ch/record/97840/files/ice-rink.pdf], which goes into some depth on that issue and related ones. Your problem may also be called the lawn mower problem, since that's another context in which area coverage takes place.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 16:18

Ron Don Volante: Dec 29, 2012

Can someone explain how to format this Japanese mailing address on an envelope? All the commas are confusing me.

"Wako-re Asagiri Seai-side Hill212, 1982-2, Higashinocho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo, 673-0844, Japan"

# ? Dec 14, 2014 21:35

Grundulum: Feb 28, 2006

Ron Don Volante posted:

Can someone explain how to format this Japanese mailing address on an envelope? All the commas are confusing me.

"Wako-re Asagiri Seai-side Hill212, 1982-2, Higashinocho, Akashi-shi, Hyogo, 673-0844, Japan"

If you're writing in English characters, just put a line break after 212. Also, reverse the order of everything on the second line (so Japan, 673-0844, etc.). That's how it's done in Japan, so might as well make it easier on the post handlers.

# ? Dec 14, 2014 23:06

GobiasIndustries: Dec 14, 2007; Lipstick Apathy

I just got a prepaid $25 Citi visa from Comcast. I haven't signed up for any special services or anything like that; if I use this thing, will I get auto-signed up for anything horrible? The sheet that came with the card didn't say anything about activation or special terms that would come with using the money..

# ? Dec 15, 2014 02:25

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# ? May 22, 2024 16:42

C-Euro: Mar 20, 2010; Soiled Meat

Any place I could walk into tomorrow and buy luggage tags? Or would they have free ones at an airport?

# ? Dec 15, 2014 04:42

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Stupid/Small Questions Megathread

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