pilowsky

Well, there you go! I'm reading Hirohito, the Emperor's Army and Pearl Harbor by Saki Dockrill (1992) Rev Int Stud 18 319-333, and a few other sources to prepare this little story. The intelligent man sitting South was...

Well, I'm off to bed - Trumps are annoying.

When playing robot tournaments the claim button has developed an annoying quasi-biblical trait. I could understand it if my name was Peter but it isn't. Apparently, I have to click it three times before it will respond - either accept or reject - a simple yes or no would suffice. or even a thumbs up or down. What if I was disabled or if the clock was running down or if I decided to make an endless ranty post about it? What then...?

This hand, which may or may not turn out to be interesting, scores a 12 on the open-ended Pilowsky scale of annoyingness. First time round, I made 4♥-2 for -5.8 IMP's. I saved it into my Deal archive folder "Hands I failed to make" and today brought it up onto a teaching table imagining that I'd crack it after a couple of goes. Here are UB40 and Chrissie Hynde hamming up ' ' in reggae time (Groundhog day style) to listen to while you think about how to go about it. I definitely didn't: I had to try 12 times before it succumbed. Especially appropriate since punxsyphil would no doubt have got it in 1. Here it is: I'm sitting South - facing robots. ♠10 (or T) led by West. [hv=pc=n&s=saj8haq5daj43ckj7&n=s432hk9764dqct864&d=w&v=n&b=12&a=ppp2np3dp3hp3np4hppp]266|200[/hv]

Hi Go to Account, Settings and switch Sound effects on. Then you can set a bunch of other options including the ones you describe. It is a bit annoying if you are practising with friends on a zoom meeting though. Is that what you wanted?

Well, to be fair on Fox opinion hosts, when Carlson was taken to court his defence argued that he was known to be completely mendacious and untrustworthy so why should anyone believe a word that he says? Gutfeld is a self-styled comedian although the concept of a conservative American comedian is something I'm having a lot of trouble coming to grips with. A bit like Trump telling jokes.

Agree. Apparently, the Fox election monitors operate completely independently of the opinion people in the "nerdquarium", who for some bizarre reason are untouchable. Even Rupert hates being wrong I suppose. It is kind of fun watching Rudy and the others spin themselves into twisted tangles of bizarre chaotic conspiracy theories. I particularly enjoy that look on Carlson's face that makes it appear that he has a permanent testicle torsion.

Yes, you can explain why you have just explained something that I just explained two posts ago. That's exactly what I said. MM's position does NOT have anything to do with the constitution. Are you brain-dead? Which part of 'senate-majority leader' is NOT a constitutionally mandated position is so hard to understand. Are you paid to be the BBO troll or is this a volunteer position? you seem to be making a full-time job of it with Richard to back you up. No wonder thepossum gets so annoyed with you guys. See if you can google an intelligent comment while I'm having lunch. Cheer us all up .

No dimwit, having the power to appoint a garbage collector does not mean that the office of 'garbage-collector' is a constitutionally mandated office in the constitution. Go back to punding. Is there a word for people like you who thinks they're clever because they can look things up on the internet but doesn't really know what they mean?

And stop saying shite for brains shite for brains. I was trolling you the last time we spoke. Go join Zel in the anger management class. while you both study Google. Clearly, you both think you have brains the size of planets but no ability to use them. It's hard to imagine two people that deserve each other more. Perhaps you could join the same ping-pong league.

Is this a stupidity competition? because you're coming first at the moment.

So do I - so Stephanie - who was sitting South?

It's not a morality competition. This is where Americans love to see themselves as so much better than everyone else. They aren't they are just as self-centred, greedy mean-spirited and murderous as everyone else. Often worse. Stop being so sanctimonious. You don't get to be cleaner by saying someone else is dirtier than you.

All of this goes to show that the USA does not really have a functional Democracy. Look at those numbers. The party that won the largest portion of the popular vote and is clearly preferred by most people in America by a vast margin is now stymied by a slug in the Senate. Many of you are probably not aware of this, but the position "Senate majority leader" does not exist in the US constitution. The idea of 'the Senate' is an arcane compromise so that slave-owners would allow the USA to be formed. The so-called democracy in the USA is a joke. That is why a majority of the population can get the President they want but not the Government or laws that they need to live normal lives - or even to live at all.

On the other hand, I disagree. If you have some of the rudiments and you want to join Prime for $4.99 a month this a great way to do it, either on your own or with a partner. Considerably cheaper than a teacher. I learned a lot very quickly this way. After a while, I did take a few lessons and I used books. whatever it takes.

Look, I have a 15 Watt light-bulb isn't as dim as you that wants to talk to me. Why don't you and your little trolls see if you can get a group rate at the anger management centre?

America is total shitshow. This farce of an election bears that out. The joke of a reality TV show that constitutes 'coverage' where 'personalities' instead of real people cover the historic catastrophe unfolding makes that clear. Yes in answer to the OP. Trump wins whatever the result. America is a permanent laughing-stock. Nobody will ever take it seriously again. Of course, when I say 'nobody' I obviously mean about 10 people. America had to be pulled into WWII like a spoiled child. After a supremely talented homosexual managed to decode the NAZI cipher. The Americans used it incorrectly and nearly gave the game away. After Florey painstakingly discovered and proved the efficacy of penicillin at Oxford, an American company patented it to make money out of it. And on and on and on. After WWII America finally repatriated NAZI war criminals for their military-industrial complex. Trumpism (if you can create a single word that embodies all the evils of humanity) has permeated Australia as well. Most of the Bridge Clubs on the North Shore of Sydney are run by Trumpists. Thank you, America. And yes, I can tar all of you with one big brush. I used to go to United States society for Neuroscience conferences where they proudly touted their wonderful contributions to equity. What they meant was that they were starting to let white women do things in equal numbers. But the black people were only allowed to serve the food and clean up afterwards. Even apparently intelligent Americans think that ensuring that every person in the community is cared, for means that they, as individuals, will have to slave in frozen gulags for the rest of their natural lives. This represents an almost complete lack of understanding of altruism, empathy and love of fellow man. Saying 'thank you' is meaningless in America. That's why in America you say anodyne phrases like 'have a nice day' at the end of a transaction instead of 'thanks, mate'. Simply giving pleasure to another human being is not enough for an American. money must change hands. Phrases such as 'You owe me a dollar' and 'Not on my dime' permeate the culture. This is why nobody trusts anyone. Every single tiny act is transactional. A little coin must change hands. it's pathetic. And Americans wonder why they can't get on with the rest of the world. There is no trust in such a world. An Australian that lived for too long in America once boasted to me that they were incredibly empathetic. In fact, they were amazed by how much empathy they had. Not much insight though. What is the 'right to bear arms' anyway? Is that like the right to wear Lycra, or the right to be educated? Americans have a constitution frozen in time that can't be changed. It protects the interests of a tiny group of crazy people with lunatic beliefs that yearn for the day when they could rule like Lords over black people. I've visited nearly every country in the world. I felt safer in Tehran than I did in Washington or New York no question. The French gave the Statue of Liberty to America. Americans do not agree with the sentiments expressed in the poem written at its base. Good luck America. You need it.

You've got me there. I'm 'smarting' from the error that was all about Eden, but I chose my words very carefully when I said 'intelligent'.

A long time before America became upset with China because of trade and Covid19, it was upset with the Japanese for other (but similar) reasons. Interestingly, Emperor Hirohito was a noted Anglophile and was annoyed with the Nazis because their bombing of London had set the British Museum on fire. I can understand his distress; the British Museum is a charming place. When I visited the British Museum my then 3-year old daughter put her hand on the Rosetta stone and asked me what it was. Before I could explain a polite attendant asked me if I could keep my child away from the 2000-year-old artefact. It was a fair cop. Hirohito proposed intervening as a 'neutral party' but his advisors suggested this would not be looked upon well. On the 1st of August 1941 the United States imposed an oil embargo on Japan (trade sanction). This caught Hirohito by surprise. What annoyed him a little more was a testy communication from Hull, the British foreign minister. As an Australian, and a Jew it comes as no surprise that the British are annoying, but apparently, Hirohito was taken aback by the tone of Hull's note. All of this came to a head on about election day in the USA. Finally, on November the 5th Hirohito stopped insisting on peace with the USA. Gunpowder, treason and plot (for those of you that grew up in Britain). Two days and one month later, 4 men sat down at a table and West made an ill-advised pre-emptive strike. The North man doubled down. The fool sitting East raised the stakes. The man sitting South - who was the only intelligent one - bid 5♥. This was a completely reasonable solution, albeit not the best score. West passed, North stupidly raised the stakes to 6♥ and the only intelligent man in the room immediately transferred.

45% of Americans do not categorically deny the existence of ghosts or demons. None of what has happened in the past 24 hours surprises me at all.

What I am saying is that I have taken an individual hand and measured the actual latency to make a bid or play a card at a certain point. Over and over again. Reproducibly. I used to do this for a (small) living. With oscilloscopes and *****. Sometimes, GIB will pause for a couple of seconds before making a bid. I understand what you mean by simulations. The same thing applies to humans. We call it thinking. Say an experienced player has a 4333 with 16HCP - 1NT no problem. Make it 5422 and 14 or 18 HCP and an inexperienced player - now you have issues. Make it 5431 and 19HCP now you have a Forum question and a Director call. This is why I think that all the carry on about pauses and meaningful glances is so silly in a thinking game. It's a thinking game. Let people think.

That's a very fair comment. The same thought crossed my mind when I first looked at this hand. Oddly, the reason I came across this extremely interesting hand is because I was practising no trump contracts apropos of the election. Otherwise, I might agree with you. Why would I be doing that?

https://www.itnews.com.au/news/route-leak-causes-internet-problems-worldwide-527205 Could this be the reason? major internet problems that I don't understand reported around 9pm Sydney time yesterday.

Someone was disinfecting the server.

If you read Waldrop's Dream Machine about the development of the personal computer, you will come across a moment when Steve Jobs (I think) asks the designers to add noise to the computer so that people will believe that it is actually doing something. When replaying hands on the teaching table you will find that GIB randomly, but reproducibly, adds specific amounts of time at certain points for no good reason. The amount of time is always the same. There is no reason for it. GIB doesn't need to pause or think. It seems that the programmers have added pauses here and there to simulate thinking in order to create verisimilitude. Why else? Should I call the Director when in a timed robot tournament GIB wastes my time unnecessarily? Obviously not, but I don't infer that East has the King of Diamonds either. I also don't do it just because Barry burps or Nigel scratches himself. Perhaps if Paul knowingly rubbed his nose and did a Robert Redford imitation I'd get worried.