Search found 209 matches

by Josh Hurst
Sun Aug 13, 2023 3:09 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown ELO Ratings
Replies: 23
Views: 4627

Re: Countdown ELO Ratings

Can you also add a column for cumulate miles travelled to/from Co Events, pounds spent on transport and hotels?... Some players with >300 real life Countdown games... that is quite the commitment!
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 12, 2023 2:57 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown ELO Ratings
Replies: 23
Views: 4627

Re: Countdown ELO Ratings

I love that Innis is right up there in this system. I think he often gets forgotten these days, given he was a beaten semi finalist (only just!). I used to love battling it out with him on Apto back in the day (probably a ratio of 20:1... Obviously in his favour :p ) No surprises with the top 3. Loo...
by Josh Hurst
Thu Aug 10, 2023 10:43 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown ELO Ratings
Replies: 23
Views: 4627

Re: Countdown ELO Ratings

Mark Deeks wrote: Thu Aug 10, 2023 9:55 pm Perfectly willing to accept that Rob Foster is the Lionel Messi of Countdown.
I've always thought of Lionel Messi as the Rob Foster of Football tbh ...
by Josh Hurst
Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:50 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1604
Views: 1652649

Re: Politics in General

Paul Worsley wrote: Fri Jun 02, 2023 10:59 pm
Josh Hurst wrote: Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:25 am The fact that Rhys has probably never set foot in a charity shop aside, I can envisage him acting similarly to Barlow in that sketch if he did...
Is that comment really necessary?
I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this point, Paul, I really would.
by Josh Hurst
Thu Jun 01, 2023 5:25 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1604
Views: 1652649

Re: Politics in General

Well, no, it’s more like this (admittedly unfunny) sketch. https://youtu.be/AcNLHfaHb1M If you underpay for your goods and the shopkeeper goes “fine” that’s not on you, surely? The fact that Rhys has probably never set foot in a charity shop aside, I can envisage him acting similarly to Barlow in t...
by Josh Hurst
Fri Apr 28, 2023 7:25 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: the Countdowners Outside Co:Event Meet-ups game (COCMEAT)
Replies: 97
Views: 78270

Re: the Countdowners Outside Co:Event Meet-ups game (COCMEAT)

Failed Eggheads audition with... I can't quite remember who... Dinos, Ryan Taylor and maybe Richard Priest?..Maybe around 2011? David Smith (one of Jack's prelim opponents) - fellow contestant on a pilot episode for a gameshow that never came to air. Dan Pati, who I first met completely by chance ju...
by Josh Hurst
Fri Sep 16, 2022 3:40 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Overpopulation
Replies: 16
Views: 1460

Re: Overpopulation

I think it's the more philosophical reasons that make people more inclined to save an animal from an endangered species, especially if the species is endangered because of human actions. It's all related to the view that we shouldn't be "messing with nature", and it looks really bad if we...
by Josh Hurst
Mon Sep 12, 2022 2:42 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Overpopulation
Replies: 16
Views: 1460

Re: Overpopulation

So, back to the question - are we overpopulated? Well, it really depends where we see ourselves heading. If we aim for the extreme pessimism of the VHEM and flip our goals on their heads, it really doesn’t matter and we can do as we please safe in the knowledge that we are foreclosing humanity and ...
by Josh Hurst
Fri Sep 09, 2022 8:39 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Overpopulation
Replies: 16
Views: 1460

Re: Overpopulation

This topic fascinates me. Strap yourselves in! As I see it, demographics and over/underpopulation can be boiled down to something like "What is the optimal number of humans required for all humans to be able to have a net-positive existence, both now and into the future?" . Basically, how ...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:59 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse
Replies: 160
Views: 12144

Re: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse

I think my point got missed - it's not necessarily about the accuracy of your language, it's about whether it serves your purpose. If you want to persuade a corpse-eater round to your way of thinking, if you make your points in a slightly understated way you're more likely to have a receptive audie...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:47 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse
Replies: 160
Views: 12144

Re: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse

I could use euphemisms like 'farmed', 'processed', 'harvested', 'reared', 'passed away', 'meat', 'beef', 'pork' in order to decrease the emotion that is naturally there by ensuring my language less accurately reflects the truth. I won't do that. Hey! Maybe that was also what Meatloaf* wouldn't do! ...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:18 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse
Replies: 160
Views: 12144

Re: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse

You wouldn't deny a bird of prey the right to kill a rodent or a lion to kill a zebra Why shouldnt a man be alloeed kill a wild boar in order to feed his family? Well, the lion can't go to Tesco but we can, perhaps?.. It's a matter of necessity here. Is it necessary for the lions' survival to kill ...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 27, 2022 12:11 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse
Replies: 160
Views: 12144

Re: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse

Have we discussed the circle of life and animals that eat prey. We can't stop that can we its nature Man hunting prey should also be considered natural. Ie fishing for food and shooting prey or trapping them. Modern humans have the capability to choose to not act in accordance with their "natu...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 27, 2022 11:43 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse
Replies: 160
Views: 12144

Re: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse

I do disagree strongly on this - I think we should be doing everything we can to save endangered species. I'd far rather one white rhino was saved than 1,000,000 rabbits. Haven't read the rest yet so may have been covered. If you truly stand by this, you would abstain from participating in a system...
by Josh Hurst
Fri Feb 25, 2022 10:33 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Veganism Discussion
Replies: 117
Views: 11114

Re: Veganism Discussion

I don't know- vegan food to me seems flavourless- vegan chicken in particular just tastes like rubber. And also the vegan sausage roll (which I tried amongst all the bizarre outrage about it) tasted like popcorn dipped in paint. I'll stick to my meats and cheeses thank you. Vegan food encompasses m...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Feb 12, 2022 2:40 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse
Replies: 160
Views: 12144

Re: Kurt Zouma and animal abuse

I 100% agree with and echo essentially everything that Callum has said on here. He's done a great job of articulating the points of this very important topic. Well done and thank you, Callum. It's encouraging to see some genuinely thoughtful discussion on this topic for people who entered it with di...
by Josh Hurst
Tue Sep 01, 2015 9:49 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Charity/Effective Altruism
Replies: 53
Views: 8080

Re: Charity/Effective Altruism

Some good content in here if you're interested in seeing what happened at the Effective Altruism Global conference last month: https://vimeo.com/cyperusmedia/videos/page:1/sort:date

I've only watched a couple so if anyone has a gander please let me know what you think :)
by Josh Hurst
Thu Aug 27, 2015 5:38 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Charity/Effective Altruism
Replies: 53
Views: 8080

Re: Charity/Effective Altruism

OK - I've been off for a week or so and missed most of the discussion as it was going down. I'll try to form a somewhat coherent response or at least acknowledge some of the interesting input... personally I think if you need a reason (such as religion) to treat people with respect and kindness then...
by Josh Hurst
Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:26 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Charity/Effective Altruism
Replies: 53
Views: 8080

Re: Charity/Effective Altruism

I'm very sorry to hear about your Father, Ryan. With regards to what Shelter are doing with the texts, there have been many studies conducted on donation related behaviour. They generally find that to appeal to people's "Affective System" of decision making, rather than the "Deliberat...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 15, 2015 7:38 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Charity/Effective Altruism
Replies: 53
Views: 8080

Re: Charity/Effective Altruism

For those who are interested, some of my favourite charities (most of these are recommended by GiveWell) are: The Fred Hollows Foundation, Against Malaria, Evidence Action, Give Directly, and The Hunger Project.
by Josh Hurst
Sat Aug 15, 2015 7:32 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Charity/Effective Altruism
Replies: 53
Views: 8080

Charity/Effective Altruism

Hi Folks, I'm not sure if there have been many discussions of charity on this forum before, or if the concept of Effective Altruism has ever been raised. I've been largely inactive over the last few years on here, but figured that since the topic of Effective Altruism is fairly important to me, and ...
by Josh Hurst
Fri Jul 05, 2013 10:04 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: CoBliviLon13 (aka CoKX) - 3rd August 2013
Replies: 36
Views: 12087

Re: CoBliviLon13 (aka CoKX) - 3rd August 2013

I'll be back in England when this is on... but my mate has been a knob and decided to get married on this day. PRICK!
by Josh Hurst
Mon Apr 15, 2013 3:20 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 684019

Re: Ask Graeme?

Cheers chaps.
by Josh Hurst
Sun Apr 14, 2013 4:45 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Ask Graeme?
Replies: 1740
Views: 684019

Re: Ask Graeme?

Hi,

I know it's only very early days for the new format, but do you have any idea about the average available max compared to the average available max in the old format? I imagine the new format has a slightly higher mean and a smaller standard deviation than the old format.

Cheers
by Josh Hurst
Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:21 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Inner thigh bald spots...
Replies: 5
Views: 2423

Inner thigh bald spots...

So, do any other guys (or feminists/lesbians) get this? I've had these two patches there for as long as I can remember, and wondered if it's a common thing to have. Can't wait to hear your responses!
by Josh Hurst
Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:03 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Australian Countdown!
Replies: 60
Views: 14029

Re: Australian Countdown!

Hmm, this could explain why they continually ignored my contestant applications...
by Josh Hurst
Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:11 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Apterous Masters 2012
Replies: 88
Views: 17723

Re: Apterous Masters 2012

I'd like to get involved with this please :)
by Josh Hurst
Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:08 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: aptoSOS.02 - signup and shiz
Replies: 76
Views: 21432

Re: aptoSOS.02 - signup and shiz

In please. On the random vs seeded thing (dunno if you said above which is gonna happen, CBA reading through) I think random would be best tbh. I think that way it would give more people a chance and you'd see unexpected people emerging from not evenly spacing out all of the best candidates. Probabl...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:15 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

Re: C4cecret Santa 2011

Wow, looks like C4cecret Santa may be the best one yet!!!! Sign up guys, you do NOT want to miss this one. Was this just QVC style "limited stock remaining" type bullshit then? :( Yes, that's exactly what it was. While we're on the subject has anyone ever seen home shopping bacon? That's ...
by Josh Hurst
Fri Dec 09, 2011 12:04 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

Re: C4cecret Santa 2011

Ok, so you're all bastards (apart from 7 of you). I think this is an insufficient number to make running it worthwhile. To those who decided to not kill African children on Christmas day, sorry guys... your fellow forumites have let you down.
by Josh Hurst
Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:46 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

Re: C4cecret Santa 2011

Last opportunity to sign up guys. There really aren't that many people interested so far, so I hope some of you come through and sign up today. PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE... spread some joy by giving a bunch of internet weirdos a crappy ...
by Josh Hurst
Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:58 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

Re: C4cecret Santa 2011

Keep on signing up guyssssss!!!
by Josh Hurst
Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:58 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1604
Views: 1652649

Re: Politics in General

Ben Hunter wrote:
Craig Beevers wrote:Most nurses are just doing things that almost anyone could be trained to do, unlike being a Scrabble champ.
I agree.
Like a true predator, out in the wilderness for so long, tirelessly waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce...
by Josh Hurst
Thu Dec 01, 2011 1:36 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

Re: C4cecret Santa 2011

Wow, looks like C4cecret Santa may be the best one yet!!!! Sign up guys, you do NOT want to miss this one.
by Josh Hurst
Fri Nov 25, 2011 10:02 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

Re: C4cecret Santa 2011

The sender of this gift will then be announced as the Winner of C4cecret Santa 2011, and they can then organise it next year Glad to see you're running this again Josh. I think it was a great success last year. I'm a bit worried that people might see this bit above as an incentive to send really cr...
by Josh Hurst
Thu Nov 24, 2011 1:09 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4cecret Santa 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 4918

C4cecret Santa 2011

Hey Peeps. Due to the reasonable success of last year’s effort, it seems a good idea to run C4cecret Santa this year. I’m under the impression that last year’s participants do not know the identity of their present givers? If so, I’m pleased that it has remained a mystery for almost a year. However,...
by Josh Hurst
Thu Sep 15, 2011 6:15 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: CountMax errors
Replies: 727
Views: 91014

Re: CountMax errors

Tritanopes needs to be removed.
by Josh Hurst
Thu Sep 15, 2011 2:40 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Thursday September 15th 2011
Replies: 20
Views: 3775

Re: Spoilers For Thursday September 15th 2011

HOARIEST in round 6 as a beater.
by Josh Hurst
Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:47 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Wednesday September 14th 2011
Replies: 5
Views: 1770

Re: Spoilers For Wednesday September 14th 2011

FORTALICE in round 11.
by Josh Hurst
Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:32 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Wednesday September 7th 2011
Replies: 11
Views: 3054

Re: Spoilers For Wednesday September 6th 2011

TUMPLINE as a beater in round 6.
by Josh Hurst
Thu Sep 01, 2011 3:07 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Thursday September 1st 2011
Replies: 15
Views: 3933

Re: Spoilers for Thursday September 1st 2011

Well played Dave. Was I the only one who thought that Richard had a resemblance to John Malkovich? Some nice beaters out there include INARCHES (round 7), and UROPOD (round 13). BOUVIERS was a nice DC equaller in round 1 too.
by Josh Hurst
Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:37 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Countdown in Nottingham 2011- Saturday 30th July
Replies: 125
Views: 28847

Re: Countdown in Nottingham 2011- Saturday 30th July

Due to my laziness in trying to sort out tickets to the hottest football game of the summer (Leicester City vs Real Madrid), I can now come to this. Jack will be coming too.
by Josh Hurst
Tue Jul 12, 2011 3:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Tuesday July 12th 2011
Replies: 16
Views: 3484

Re: Spoilers For Tuesday July 12th 2011

SUTTEES in round 8. Well played Mark.
by Josh Hurst
Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:46 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: 2011 Summer Knockout (Sign Ups)
Replies: 54
Views: 10789

Re: 2011 Summer Knockout (Sign Ups)

James Robinson wrote:I, J.R. Robinson, would like to enter, my rating is 1929. 8-)
That's funny, because I would like to enter J.R. Robinson....

Anyway, I'm in for the open. My current rating is 1909.
by Josh Hurst
Wed Jun 29, 2011 12:55 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Notifications
Replies: 12
Views: 5420

Re: Notifications

I got a notification saying "Your entry in Game of the Week was placed 1st", but when I clicked on said notification, it turned out that my game had actually come 2nd. Did you put this in as a deliberate error to see if I'd notice the "newly fixed but previously absent notification&qu...
by Josh Hurst
Wed Jun 22, 2011 10:38 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Notifications
Replies: 12
Views: 5420

Re: General feedback

I beat Adam with 64 notifications. In your face, Gillard!!!

This is a good feature. One thing to note is that it seems that GoTW results don't get a mention here. If you have a game in the running for GoTW, a notification to say where it placed would be a good thing.
by Josh Hurst
Thu Jun 16, 2011 3:00 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Thursday June 16th 2011
Replies: 16
Views: 4402

Re: Spoilers For Thursday June 16th 2011

Wasn't Gary just such a nice guy? Well done on becoming an Octochamp Graeme.
by Josh Hurst
Mon Jun 13, 2011 3:59 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Monday June 13th 2011
Replies: 25
Views: 5053

Re: Spoilers For Monday June 13th 2011

Well done Graeme. I'm pleased that the decision to disallow FEINTER (whether correct or incorrect) didn't make a difference to the outcome. PHEEEEEWWWWWIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE.
by Josh Hurst
Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:28 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday June 10th 2011
Replies: 28
Views: 5543

Re: Spoilers For Friday June 10th 2011

PRONAOI was there in round 1 along with Ryan's BORONIA.
by Josh Hurst
Wed Jun 08, 2011 2:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Wednesday June 8th 2011
Replies: 4
Views: 1861

Re: Spoilers For Wednesday June 8th 2011

Graeme might want to work on his conundrums. Twice he's been beaten by other people in R15... I guess you could say this, but he's faced two tricky conundrums which were well solved by his opponents. Credit to them for doing so if anything. That doesn't necessarily mean he needs to work on them IMO...
by Josh Hurst
Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Tuesday June 7th 2011
Replies: 24
Views: 4460

Re: Spoilers For Tuesday June 7th 2011

PERGANAS was a beater in round 11. WD Graeme, Liam was certainly no pushover. Nice one getting one of the "new" words in there too.
by Josh Hurst
Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:28 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Tuesday June 7th 2011
Replies: 24
Views: 4460

Re: Spoilers For Tuesday June 7th 2011

I have high expectations for this game. Both players off to a good start already. I'm guessing Graeme will go on to win, but I hope Liam's five wins will be enough to get him to the series finals. He's a real cool dude (even if I did send him an aptomail and he didn't respond!).
by Josh Hurst
Wed Jun 01, 2011 1:16 am
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Hardest conundrums
Replies: 11
Views: 3868

Re: Hardest conundrums

I thought HORSEMEAT was pretty tough but IIRC there were actually quite a few hands up in the audience (maybe duds) and it was solved by audience member. I think this has a few false endings to throw people off like -SOME -MATE -METER etc. I was there for this recording. In the first instance there...
by Josh Hurst
Wed Jun 01, 2011 12:34 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Feature requests
Replies: 1956
Views: 433047

Re: Feature requests

It would be pretty cool if there was a statland page (or maybe one for superstats?) which, like the page for "top players (by vowel count)" for example, gave % of time one achieves the max for each length of word. Like the other pages of this type, if you decide to do it, I'm guessing it w...
by Josh Hurst
Mon May 23, 2011 2:25 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers for Monday May 23rd 2011
Replies: 6
Views: 3091

Spoilers for Monday May 23rd 2011

Since a topic for today hasn't been started yet, I thought I'd make one.

Liam Herringshaw is in the champs chair with 1 win and some amount of points. He's a palaeontologist, so you know he's a duuuuuuuuuude.

OSTINATO was there as a DC beater in round 2.
by Josh Hurst
Sun May 22, 2011 7:33 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: aptoSOS - Simulation of a Series
Replies: 221
Views: 37583

Re: aptoSOS - Simulation of a Series

I imagine I'll be online a fair bit over the next few days, so hopefully our paths will cross at some point JW.
by Josh Hurst
Fri May 20, 2011 2:21 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday May 20th 2011
Replies: 5
Views: 1513

Re: Spoilers For Friday May 20th 2011

JAEGERS as a DC beater in round 2.
by Josh Hurst
Thu May 19, 2011 2:48 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Thursday May 19th 2011
Replies: 14
Views: 3543

Re: Spoilers For Thursday May 19th 2011

BEMIRE in round 13.
by Josh Hurst
Thu May 19, 2011 2:45 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Thursday May 19th 2011
Replies: 14
Views: 3543

Re: Spoilers For Thursday May 19th 2011

DESOLATOR in round 11.
by Josh Hurst
Thu May 19, 2011 2:36 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Thursday May 19th 2011
Replies: 14
Views: 3543

Re: Spoilers For Thursday May 19th 2011

MODULO was there in round 7. I thought Tom's numbers solve in round 5 was pretty good.