Logic Games and Web Comics

I'm currently reading Superfreakonomics, the followup to the popular Freakonomics. I really enjoyed the last chapter I read, titled, "Unbelievable stories about apathy and altruism." There's a really interesting part about Economics games/experiments (click for the excerpt, though the book goes even deeper on several of the topics mentioned here). I participated in one such experiment when I was in undergrad, so it was really interesting to hear the theoretical logic behind it. These experiments altered theory and "conventional wisdom" about people's behavior in surprisingly concrete ways. The chapter then goes on to describe real-world and laboratory experiments that changed the new conventional wisdom yet again. I didn't see the later developments in my brief exposure to econ experiments, so it was even more interesting to hear about the changes that have happened since then.

Hearing about these quandaries reminds me of how much fun logic games can be. The book (not the above excerpt) describes "The Prisoners' Dilemma" (note the apostrophe, which I believe to be more correctly placed than the more-common "prisoner's" since there are two people making choices). The Prisoners' Dilemma, and some of its cultural impact, is shown here in comic form. There's also the deceptively tricky puzzle: "There are two doors, one to heaven and one to hell. In front of them are two identical guards, except one always lies and one always tells the truth. You have one question to ask one guard before you make your choice and live with the consequences." It took me a while to remember how to answer this puzzle, and I'll fully admit that I don't think I could have figured it out if I hadn't heard the answer in some long-distant conversation. But in reading about it I came across this even trickier variant. It looks intimidating to read, but I found the email conversation a very thoughtful way of walking a non-logician through the problem. But if you really want to stretch your brain, try this variant.

Speaking of that, I found a new webcomic I like called

Following are some of my favs:

• Today's. What a good day to discover this site! It's like a cautionary tale for me on my laziest of days.


• ...and speaking of cautionary tales, this is a cautionary tale from the past about me on April 14, 2009, at 11:50pm. (Thank God for Tessa, by the way.)


• ...and speaking of the past, try this with your friends from The Future!


• ...and speaking of the future, it's nice to know I'll be appreciated!


• ...and speaking of books I read last year/movies I saw last week, I'm pretty sure this one's straight out of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.


• ...and speaking of the unspeakable!

Buttersafe has been enthusiastically added to my RSS reader. When reading through some of the archives I was literally laughing out loud, which, by the way, I abbrev as "LLOL."

Happy Valentimes

Isn't that a website?

Let it be known that there is a new meme, likely to storm the world in the fashion of "that's what she said".

Niki:" I love it when I come out of the tanning bed, my freckles are so dark! It's like BAM: party on Niki's face!"

Jack: "Isn't that a website?"

Look out that's what she said, there's a new game in town.

Oh Yes And Also This

The end of the semester is a great time for Pictures For Sad Children

Pictures on the internet

UltimateGuitar.com is pretty great for finding tabs, and I guess other people also use it for guitar-related news and information. They tend towards nü-metal/alternative preferences, which I find ironic considering most of that guitar work is boring power chord stuff that anyone could learn in 10 minutes. Anyway, like I said I only use it for the extensive tab database (they also have non-nü-metal), but in order to access the tabs you have to see the homepage. The other day this image spanned the page, see if you notice the same thing I did:



That's right: all the dudes in nü-metal bands look the same. They all have the same goatees, the same gross hair, and even tilt their heads at the same angle. Even these guys have more variety. Maybe when they say it's "alternative rock" they mean that it's an alternative name for the same band. "Sevendust releases new album, this time calling themselves 'Nickelback.' A follow-up as 'Chimaira' is expected soon."

Second up in the weird internet-pictures series are the following gems from myspace's log-off page:





Now, I'm single. I wouldn't mind a girlfriend. I didn't know it was girlfriend season, but I was already keeping my eyes open so I guess now it's legal. And what am I keeping my eyes open for? You guessed it: chicks tearing off their jewlery while grabbing their boobs, and chicks who are soaking wet from the shoulders down and are pointing at me with their nipples. Actually, scratch that first one. If I can't see the nipples straight up then I don't think she's the girl for me. My priorities lay mainly on nipples.

On the same goodbye page from myspace (where I am registered as a heterosexual man) I also received this reminder:



Apparently right after girlfriend season is boyfriend season. It seems strange for them not to coincide, for the sake of each other, but for me at least it gives me another chance. If "wabbit season" ends and I still haven't caught me a girlfriend, then I just call "duck season" and wait for them to find me. That's why I've been working out:











See?

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edit 4/6/07

Oh my gracious. I'm sure I'm supposed to be enticed by her perky breasts, but I am far to terrified of the rest of her. I hope this is photoshopped somehow and isn't what she actually looks like.

Adventure Time!

RHOMBUS!!!



That was totally math!

He'll kick you apart Oooo!

Okay I know I've been slacking off here. But I also know no one cares.

Here's a thing I've recently been enjoying:




PS- Today is my "work day" and here I am. Master Of Productivity = Me.

I feel it is important to say here, on the internet, that if you are a robot secretly walking among us that is FINE with me. I will offer your robotic hands high-fives of the same genuine quality that I would give to human hands.

Philip K Dick (the robot), you are welcome at my house.

Philip K Dick (the corpse), dead these 20-some years, please do not come to my house.

2 posts in one day??!?!

Before you read any further, take the following test. It's an interesting analysis of your style of humor.

TAKE THE TEST!


You didn't take it yet did you? You kept reading? See, I want you to take it first because I'm going to tell you what my result was, and I don't want you to be influenced by me.

So go ahead and CHECK IT.

Okay now that you've really done it*, this is what my answer was:
Your humor style:
CLEAN | COMPLEX | DARK

You like things edgy, subtle, and smart. I guess that means you're probably an intellectual, but don't take that to mean pretentious. You realize 'dumb' can be witty--after all isn't that the Simpsons' philosophy?--but rudeness for its own sake, 'gross-out' humor and most other things found in a fraternity leave you totally flat.

I guess you just have a more cerebral approach than most. You have the perfect mindset for a joke writer or staff writer.

Your sense of humor takes the most thought to appreciate, but it's also the best, in my opinion.

You probably loved the Office. If you don't know what I'm talking about, check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/theoffice/.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Jon Stewart - Woody Allen - Ricky Gervais


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

I'd say that's pretty close. People have often commented that when I'm in my element with my closest friends, conversation becomes a constant stream of allusion, wordplay, and stylized delivery that can be indecipherable to people without the same perspective. And by that I mean people who haven't taken in the same movies/books/cultural phenomena, who aren't verbally oriented enough to enjoy puns and interesting diction, and who don't learn by asking questions of their friends, only to turn their new knowledge into a joke later that year. Not to sound condescending, but I really enjoy a thickly verbal and perfectly executed random allusion. And while Family Guy quotes are often hilarious, nothing beats a reference to Chaucer that only three people in the group understand.

But I also lived in a fraternity house, albeit a smart one, and I enjoyed most of the goings-on. I DO think rudeness and vulgarity is inherently funny, and I'm proud to be "that guy" who will push the limit of what is acceptable to joke about (in the right company). Maybe the above style is still there, because it's all about the creative use of rudeness. Nothing is funnier than when you're thinking "I shouldn't be laughing at this" and you're laughing anyway. I guess it adds the element of laughing at yourself.

You and I, we'll get along, but if we trade our favorite books we'll get along better.

*PS- post your result from the humor test as a comment, I really want to see what the other results say. Also, I really want a comment.

My head a splode

Last night I was watching TV with some buddies, and we came across this cartoon. It was on Cartoon Network late at night, there were dolphins and they mentioned "Sealab" so we assumed it was Sealab 2021. But there was something wrong. It was really awful, the "train wreck" kind of awful that you just can't turn away from. As we watched it I commented that the main hero looked like a young Chuck Norris. Then I noticed that the other characters were actually calling him "Chuck." What a coincidence! About 3/4 of the way through the villain Superninja (I told you it was really bad) yelled in his G.I. Joe villain knockoff voice "I'll finish Norris!" We were stunned. Somehow we had come across a cartoon actually starring Chuck Norris, ending with a live-action Norris giving an inspirational message about never giving up. It was such an indescribably bad/great/really, REALLY bad show. Then I remembered a friend of mine telling me about a short-lived Chuck-Norris-themed cartoon that he found via the internet. After a quick search on my own it turns out that others have had this revelation. The show only ran for 5 episodes, probably due to the awkward animation, the discontinuity-riddled plotlines, and the painful dialogue between the retarded stock characters. But luckily for us, someone was smart enough to put a clip on the interweb so we could all be amazed.

So I submit to you now: Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos.

It was suggested that you take a shot every time the announcer says "Chuck Norris." That's nine times in one 1-minute intro! I guess the dude just really likes Chuck Norris.