Search found 969 matches

by Paul Howe
Wed May 20, 2020 4:57 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Higher or Lower
Replies: 127
Views: 38798

Re: Higher or Lower

Let's fix some terminology - the "dealer" in the game picks two numbers a,b from distribution X. The "player" picks c from distribution Y and plays according to the strategy described above (i.e guess b>a if c>a, guess b<a if c<a) There is no way to know the size of your advantag...
by Paul Howe
Tue May 19, 2020 4:21 pm
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: Higher or Lower
Replies: 127
Views: 38798

Re: Higher or Lower

And still it lives! I'm delighted that many are still invested in this, someone actually emailed me to tell me the thread had been resurrected! I've tried this on a few different people over the years and many take views similar to some of those expressed above, i.e. that the formulation of the ques...
by Paul Howe
Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:00 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Countdown in London (CO:LON) - 16 May 2020 - CANCELLED
Replies: 27
Views: 21317

Re: Countdown in London (CO:LON) - 16 May 2020

I've forgotten much of what I previously knew (if a drunken sojourn onto apterous is any guide), and the dictionary seems to have been polluted by many varieties of nonsense, but I think I might come to this and soak up some nostalgia given it's a mere 5 minute stroll from my flat.
by Paul Howe
Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:38 am
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: ????? in Nottingham 2013
Replies: 26
Views: 8377

Re: ????? in Nottingham 2013

Yeah but in goat there is a substantial advantage from delaying on the last letter as you get longer to form a cunning word. I remember back in the day the timer first appeared for just the last letter in goatdown before its wider adoption, and it was needed because people were taking aaaages. Havi...
by Paul Howe
Thu Mar 07, 2013 10:33 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: ????? in Nottingham 2013
Replies: 26
Views: 8377

Re: ????? in Nottingham 2013

How does the dynamics of "timing out" when choosing the last letter work when you play it live? On apterous you have something like 3s, in real life it seems a bit fiddly both for someone to time it, and for the picker to be aware of exactly how much time they have left without the visual...
by Paul Howe
Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:16 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: ????? in Nottingham 2013
Replies: 26
Views: 8377

Re: ????? in Nottingham 2013

Will it still be Bristol style? Is Bristol style the one where everyone picks to the same letters? That'd be pretty rubbish if only one person in the room was picking the goatpick at a time, but weirdly it might be hella interesting if every pair gets the goatpick between them so you could have a s...
by Paul Howe
Wed Mar 06, 2013 7:07 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Word of the tournament?
Replies: 37
Views: 9648

Re: Word of the tournament?

I really liked ALAMEDA, MORPHIA, UPTEMPO and DRUPELET. Have a soft spot for VENDACES as well, mainly because I once spent about 4 hours trying to get it to come up in Goatdown after becoming convinced it was the way to get the ace in the apterous card hunt. Nope. Overall SLUGFEST was my favourite. L...
by Paul Howe
Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:08 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: 30BC Grand Final Spoilers For Friday March 1st 2013
Replies: 132
Views: 36838

Re: 30BC Grand Final Spoilers For Friday March 1st 2013

I hadn't seen Countdown for a long time but watched this whole series from start to finish and it was just magnificent - both in terms of the frankly astonishing standard and the brilliant spirit in which it was played. Congratulations to everyone involved. Conor, congratulations - in a game based o...
by Paul Howe
Mon Feb 04, 2013 8:59 pm
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Birthday Championship Spoilers For Friday February 1st 2013
Replies: 62
Views: 14838

Re: Birthday Championship Spoilers For Friday February 1st 2

Well done Kirk, just watching my recording and it was great to see you record another max. Some really fine spots to keep it going as well.

Im really enjoying the tournament too, clearly played in a tremendous spirit and already a few unbelievable games. Looking forward to the rest.
by Paul Howe
Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:32 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Countdown in Edinburgh - November 3rd
Replies: 119
Views: 40206

Re: Countdown in Edinburgh - November 3rd

That's all of 500 yards from where I used to live and I never managed to visit :(

Hopefully I'll be able to come up for this to make up for it.
by Paul Howe
Sun Dec 04, 2011 3:10 pm
Forum: Other game shows
Topic: Only Connect
Replies: 169
Views: 93736

Re: Only Connect

Heres my first effort. I've aimed for medium difficulty but its really hard to tell.

http://www.puzzgrid.com/grid.php?id=1634

As an aside, can you delete grids you've already submitted? My first attempt at submitting this grid was a dismal cock up.
by Paul Howe
Fri Dec 02, 2011 10:32 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1604
Views: 1652872

Re: Politics in General

Are they actually honouring what has been accrued until now? They've been talking about having to work longer - presumably people should be able to withdraw the pension based on what they've already contributed at the age they'd originally been told they could. Is that the case? And will it be the ...
by Paul Howe
Wed Nov 30, 2011 8:10 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Politics in General
Replies: 1604
Views: 1652872

Re: Politics in General

Oh and I'm hugely against the strikes. Why? When people signed up for these jobs, they signed up for a specific pension deal, which they would expect to be honoured. Just like anyone would. That's not true though is it? There's only a contractural obligation to honour the benefits that have already...
by Paul Howe
Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:23 pm
Forum: Other game shows
Topic: Gameshow Theme Music
Replies: 16
Views: 4364

Re: Gameshow Theme Music

Gavin Chipper wrote:Come on - let's not piss about! Time for the classic.
Yes, serious nostalgia fest! Just watching some old footage of this, Bob Holness is such a classy host. Also, I'd completely forgotten about this
by Paul Howe
Wed Nov 30, 2011 7:14 pm
Forum: Other game shows
Topic: University Challenge 2011/12
Replies: 89
Views: 19288

Re: University Challenge 2011/12

Really enjoyed watching this, although a bit disappointed to see Warwick get beaten quite handily in the end. The whole series has been class so far, hopefully more to come.
by Paul Howe
Sat Oct 22, 2011 9:04 am
Forum: Games and Puzzles
Topic: 2011 World Scrabble Championship
Replies: 15
Views: 4439

Re: 2011 World Scrabble Championship

Nice to see lots of countdowners of a fairly recent vintage - Craig, Paul G, Stewart + Mark Nyman all doing well. Well played chaps. http://50.63.8.131/2011/standing/1/34.html Well done to Nigel Richards too who I believe is the only person to win this tournament twice. Don't follow scrabble that cl...
by Paul Howe
Wed May 04, 2011 6:51 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: AV: Yes or No?
Replies: 277
Views: 50265

Re: AV: Yes or No?

If you believe the polling, AV will be rejected by a heavy margin. When the referendum was announced the polling was pretty evenly split, no doubt reflecting a situation where most people hadn't given serious consideration to the issue and hence were there to be persuaded. Its depressing that they a...
by Paul Howe
Thu Mar 03, 2011 8:32 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Car insurance
Replies: 43
Views: 3684

Re: Car insurance

I thought it was a really bizarre decision when I heard about it. As I understand it, people are put into a certain actuarial class depending on their sex, age, marital status, place of residence, etc. and the insurance premium is calculated based on statistics of previous claims within these group...
by Paul Howe
Fri Feb 25, 2011 2:34 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Feature requests
Replies: 1956
Views: 433086

Re: Feature requests

I'd enjoy an ordered list of "best" goatpicks on superstats. Could work something like the top 100 words that a person picked (and spotted! perhaps as a max) ordered by the percent rarity on lexplorer.
by Paul Howe
Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:06 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: COLIN 2011 results & feedback
Replies: 80
Views: 25301

Re: COLIN 2011 results & feedback

Gutted I missed this :( But delighted that it looks to have been a mighty success as always.

Apologies again Ben for the late withdrawal, and to everyone who had to play Prune.
by Paul Howe
Wed Jan 05, 2011 8:36 am
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: General feedback
Replies: 284
Views: 52465

Re: General feedback

Having the goat metamaxes in the recap is brilliant :D
by Paul Howe
Sun Jan 02, 2011 12:57 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Countdown in Lincoln 2011- Saturday 29th January
Replies: 229
Views: 32435

Re: Countdown in Lincoln 2011- Saturday 29th January

Ha, I got one of those too, and last year as well. Worried its going to be a perpetual stocking filler now.
by Paul Howe
Sun Dec 19, 2010 10:23 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Bug reports
Replies: 2157
Views: 436945

Re: Bug reports

Whenever I try to resume my game with Mr A. Rex it gets to about 10 letters in (Rex's pick), then the game window disappears completely. The game is still listed as "In Play" in the panel at the bottom of the screen, but it can't be resumed without logging out/in. Have tried resuming it 3/...
by Paul Howe
Sat Dec 04, 2010 4:04 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: The Ashes 2010-11
Replies: 22
Views: 3089

Re: The Ashes 2010-11

Lesley Hines wrote:
Rhys Benjamin wrote:English scoring or Aussy scoring?
They both use the same scoring system. :?
Yeah, but the notation's different. In England they write the runs first then the wickets, in Aus its wickets first then runs (the freaks). Fascinating stuff.
by Paul Howe
Sat Oct 23, 2010 9:56 am
Forum: Countdown - Spoilers
Topic: Spoilers For Friday October 22nd 2010
Replies: 75
Views: 11469

Re: Spoilers For Friday October 22nd 2010

Aw, I've really lost touch as I didn't even realise Jack was on until someone clued me in a few minutes ago.

946 is bloody awesome, well played sir.
by Paul Howe
Thu Oct 07, 2010 8:06 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Slippers
Replies: 25
Views: 2660

Re: Slippers

I used to own some slippers like that, with dogs instead of racoons. They kept falling off when I negotiated the stairs so I exchanged them for a more conventional pair. I also own a pipe, which I don't smoke, and will try to get a picture of me sporting both post haste. Follow-up plz. It shall be ...
by Paul Howe
Thu Oct 07, 2010 8:00 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Malt Loaf
Replies: 13
Views: 2119

Re: Malt Loaf

The nicest bread in the known universe:

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

Pisses me off no end that you can only buy it in Northern Ireland.
by Paul Howe
Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:01 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Is picking the letters an advantage?
Replies: 33
Views: 11704

Re: Is picking the letters an advantage?

There are some advantages: - When you've spotted a good word from the first 7/8 letters, you can try and pick the rest so it's not beatable or ideally darrenic. - You can try and pick awkward selections to stop your opponent scoring heavily (e.g. if you have a healthy lead in an endgame or you think...
by Paul Howe
Fri Sep 24, 2010 12:13 pm
Forum: Other game shows
Topic: Pointles Series 3
Replies: 191
Views: 28087

Re: Pointless Series 3

Seurat was point(illiste)less :D "What does that even mean?" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointillism I watched this yesterday and enjoyed it quite a lot (impressive final round from the girl I had previously pegged as a bit dull). Is revising actually effective for this type of show thou...
by Paul Howe
Sun Sep 19, 2010 10:37 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: How-To Guides
Replies: 172
Views: 37253

Re: How-To Guides

Clare Sudbery wrote: Once I've been on the show, maybe the stats geeks can try and quantify how much advantage I gained from my numbers performance. They'll enjoy that. ;)
So, did anyone ever get round to doing this? It does sound quite enjoyable.
by Paul Howe
Mon Aug 30, 2010 12:19 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Would you use internet dating to find love
Replies: 35
Views: 4114

Re: Would you use internet dating to find love

Bump. Hey no disrespect to anyone here but I've finally got a life. Hmm, good luck to you, but I think getting a life -> girlfriend is a much healthier implication than girlfriend -> having a life. (And yes I realise writing a post in pseudomathematical notation is not really conducive to either!)
by Paul Howe
Sat Aug 28, 2010 7:46 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Bash Room 5 min Aptochallenge
Replies: 4
Views: 1584

Re: Bash Room 5 min Aptochallenge

I think I got to 37, starting at 20:32:24 with MENDACITY. Missed a couple completely so plenty of room for improvement in that.

http://apterous.org/chatlog.php?log=1283023093006
by Paul Howe
Mon Aug 02, 2010 2:53 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: CountMax errors
Replies: 727
Views: 91014

Re: CountMax errors

Ian Volante wrote:COPERNICIUM?
Some of the very obscure elements are invalid, so this is probably just statistical lexicography in action (sorry for digging up the old post, I was lexploring some of the elements this weekend. Sad, I know.)
by Paul Howe
Thu Jul 08, 2010 7:25 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Age of death as a degree classification
Replies: 16
Views: 2988

Re: Age of death as a degree classification

I think that with averages, people who die young probably skew things. I'd be interested to see the medians. But I wasn't really thinking in terms of averages, more about what I see as reasonable. When I hear of someone dying before 70, I tend to think that they haven't even reached proper old age,...
by Paul Howe
Fri Jul 02, 2010 11:11 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Records versus bots
Replies: 51
Views: 4329

Re: Records versus bots

Interesting thread. As mentioned, it would actually be more accurate to only allow records against Prune, as this removes the confounding effect of opponent skill level. As mentioned, the only real issue is with the goat formats, where prune does most of the hard work for you, and this does strike m...
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 28, 2010 8:31 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Supreme Championship 2
Replies: 60
Views: 7440

Re: Supreme Championship 2

I would pay to watch the Brittain vs Hansford match up.
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 28, 2010 3:35 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

We retained possession quite well and created some good openings. On another day we could have had 3 goals. Now we all know I don't like football but is possession everything? We had 55% possession and 45% possession at one point (in our favour) and were like 3-1 down. It seems that we spend the wh...
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:40 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

You lost me at "We were actually quite decent" I thought Germany deserved to win, but I don't buy the worst performance evah hyperbole you hear from some quarters. We retained possession quite well and created some good openings. On another day we could have had 3 goals. PS Michael, are y...
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 28, 2010 1:16 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

Hmm, post mortem time. - We were actually quite decent, although a bit short of excellent, going forward yesterday, and had some bad luck (in addition to you know what, the first German goal had a whiff of offisde about it) - Still, you can't expect anything other than defeat when you defend like th...
by Paul Howe
Sat Jun 19, 2010 2:02 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Name Matthew Green's child
Replies: 9
Views: 2757

Re: Name Matthew Green's child

Matthew Green wrote:Everything that comes out of your mouth is a bit ????? you fucking freak cunt.
Haha :D

Congratulations Matthew, I think you might be the first forumite in my 5+ years on here to have successfully reproduced.
by Paul Howe
Tue Jun 15, 2010 6:35 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Vuvuzela
Replies: 69
Views: 7994

Re: Vuvuzela

Liam Tiernan wrote: So for a pro, having 4 darts at a double should be converted 99 times out of a hundred?
76 times out of a hundred.

And Kirk, it's more like Taylor trying to hit the target while running in from an angle, with Barney simultaneously giving him a nipple cripple.
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:43 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

I dunno - even with those 'outrageously small' samples you get quite close to a statistically significant difference. If the goals/games ratio stays the same (including Japan's goal just now) then it would be arguable that there's a real difference (of course, whether this is due to the ball is muc...
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:07 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

So, how many of you guys who are so vigorously bashing it have actually played with this ball? Most of the criticism pre-tournament seemed to be about the erratic movement, but I haven't seen much of that at all. Don't forget a lot of the games are being played at altitude which will affect the dyn...
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:37 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

So, how many of you guys who are so vigorously bashing it have actually played with this ball? Most of the criticism pre-tournament seemed to be about the erratic movement, but I haven't seen much of that at all. Don't forget a lot of the games are being played at altitude which will affect the dyna...
by Paul Howe
Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:40 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

Presumably you'd set the length so that it would be approximately the same overall length as now. You could just look at the average time the ball is in play. Yeah, I got that. What I was getting at is you could do things when the ball is out of play that you wouldn't do before, because you're no l...
by Paul Howe
Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:48 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: FIFA World Cup 2010
Replies: 328
Views: 28964

Re: FIFA World Cup 2010

As we're questioning aspects of the game, why don't they just stop the clock whenever the ball goes out of play? They go on about time-wasting and stuff, and surely it makes far more sense to have it so the time is the actual time spent playing. And don't answer "Well a 90 minute game would be...
by Paul Howe
Mon Jun 07, 2010 5:14 am
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Musings on Homosexuality
Replies: 66
Views: 7551

Re: Musings on Homosexuality

At the risk of making a post that's even vaguely related to the topic (or at least to how the topic digressed)... Good stuff... Fair play Paul these are some interesting points, and all perfectly valid. I'm looking forward to reading some of the advances in evolutionary biology that will help shed ...
by Paul Howe
Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:58 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: Musings on Homosexuality
Replies: 66
Views: 7551

Re: Musings on Homosexuality

While the benefits of sexual reproduction are apparent in a population the costs are still carried by the individual, the level at which the genetic distribution occurs. I think that's the key problem. Sexual reproduction at the group level confers some massive advantages, but you still need to exp...
by Paul Howe
Sun May 23, 2010 7:40 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Countdown in London | 22nd May | Registration full!
Replies: 245
Views: 31013

Re: Countdown in London | 22nd May | Registration full!

Excellent day, and I too hope it becomes a regular event. Thanks Michael and CF for organising everything. Would like to blame the booze for my poor result (holding it in a pub was a superb innovation btw), but actually I thought I played well, and the quality of the opposition was imo the highest e...
by Paul Howe
Wed May 19, 2010 4:56 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Best fluke
Replies: 26
Views: 3027

Re: Best fluke

Needed this one to fend off a disturbingly adept prune.

http://apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=1 ... 7#r2403557

I speak about 4 words of Dutch, one of which is hemel as I come from Hemel Hempstead. I believe it means heaven.
by Paul Howe
Mon May 17, 2010 8:35 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: The C4C Football Thread
Replies: 1265
Views: 195268

Re: The C4C Football Thread

Money doesn't always buy you the league, Citeh, Liverpool and Spurs are proof of that.(they have all spent more than Chelsea in the last 2 seasons) Citation needed re: Liverpool. Agree with your point though. I don't, it's like a fat person on benefits trying to pretend they're thin because they ha...
by Paul Howe
Sat May 15, 2010 7:40 pm
Forum: Countdown - Events
Topic: Countdown in London | 22nd May | Registration full!
Replies: 245
Views: 31013

Re: Countdown in London | 22nd May | Registration full!

Ha, I may have knocked back a dinner invitation for Wednesday to watch the CL final :oops: I'm not going to be popular.
by Paul Howe
Thu May 06, 2010 7:27 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown quiz machines
Replies: 37
Views: 4680

Re: Countdown quiz machines

A couple of us won £60 on the Crystal Maze game a couple of weeks ago. We're barred from playing it now :) . If you can get to 8 crystals (not too hard if you get the right games) and have two people to do the crystal dome, its very doable, despite the highly suspicious glut of silver tickets once ...
by Paul Howe
Thu May 06, 2010 7:02 pm
Forum: Countdown - General
Topic: Countdown quiz machines
Replies: 37
Views: 4680

Re: Countdown quiz machines

A couple of us won £60 on the Crystal Maze game a couple of weeks ago. We're barred from playing it now :) . If you can get to 8 crystals (not too hard if you get the right games) and have two people to do the crystal dome, its very doable, despite the highly suspicious glut of silver tickets once y...
by Paul Howe
Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:05 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: C4Cers in Other Media
Replies: 166
Views: 29750

Re: C4Cers in Other Media

I know you're trying to do Charlie down (quelle surprise), but seeing as Wolfson Howler is one of the most prominent comedy nights in Cambridge its really quite impressive to even get on the bill.
Sue Sanders wrote:Image
by Paul Howe
Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:23 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: The pencil thread
Replies: 72
Views: 11747

Re: The pencil thread

It's a boring word, but it's also my 5000th ODE pencil (if you add together ordinary and bronze)

http://apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=2 ... 0#r3249870

This is my favourite recent effort

http://apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=2 ... 0#r3147090
by Paul Howe
Fri Apr 09, 2010 10:00 pm
Forum: apterous.org
Topic: Frustration
Replies: 157
Views: 23501

Re: Frustration

I've had some frustrating times trying to break the hypertouch letters attack record recently: "BACKDATE might be two words, better play it safe and go for TEAHEADS". :x Record was 190 at this point so would've been a new one. http://apterous.org/viewgame.php?game=221698 "KLAVIERS is ...
by Paul Howe
Thu Apr 08, 2010 4:43 pm
Forum: Off-topic
Topic: The C4C Football Thread
Replies: 1265
Views: 195268

Re: The C4C Football Thread

Well, in my experience you lot tend to believe some very strange things. :mrgreen: Obviously though my reply was completely free of any element of banter. :? Haha yeah sorry. Wrote that in a bit of a rush. In a mere matter of hours we'll probably be out of the damn Europa League anyway and be back ...