Science Etcetera, Mercuryday 20080625
June 25th, 2008
 Papilio machaon Credit: Linnaeus |
 Minesweeper: “The AND Gate” Credit: Clay Mathematics Institute |
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"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan
Ryan Somma is a mild-mannered Software Developer by day, and an Amateur Scientist Ninja by night.
ryeguy123 at yahoo.com
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Translator
By N2H
about:robots did nothing for me.
As an avid itcher, that itching article (the long one, 2 links in, about the woman scratching through to her brain) was very interesting!
The Robots thing only works with the new firefox.
I used to have a recurring rash. When I was a child, I have memories of having an annoying rash on the insides of my elbows. I called it a “radish” back then. We finally figured out that I was allergic to those dryer sheets, and that’s why I had the rash. I remember playing with some kids at church, and when they discovered the rash, they treated me like I had the plague. One girl even whimpered, “I’m scared!” I tried to tell them it was nothing to worry about. It went away eventually because my mom stopped using those dryer sheets. Oddly enough, the liquid fabric softener does not irritate my skin.
Fast Forward to 8th grade, I had a rash again on my arms - mostly the right arm, up around my bicep. I had it for several months, I think, but I don’t remember much about it except that I was annoyed.
In college, I got the rash again on my arms and my legs. I actually went to the health clinic at Virginia Tech, and they told me I had scabies. After vaccuuming every inch of Clint’s apartment (including the curtains - ugh!), and doing their stupid prescription shampoo remedy, I went to my normal doctor during Thanksgiving break. He laughed at how they said it was scabies and told me I had hives. He did some tests to find out what I was allergic to - apparently I’m allergic to tomatoes and a whole list of other things, but nothing severe. I should mention that all these times I had this rash, over-the-counter creams (cort-aid, benadryl) never worked. But then I discovered the magical cream that did work. It was a CVS Brand antiobiotic medicine that was called something like “Antibiotic cream”. It was VERY GENERIC and cheap….. and it was the ONLY thing that had ever worked to alleve the itch. At some point, my regular doctor referred me to a dermatologist to try to get to the bottom of what was causing the rash, and the dermatologist actually took a piece out of the back of my leg (I’m scarred for life from it). Of course the dermatologist was stumped too.
But thanks to that magic CVS cream, the rash has not come back since my sophomore year in college.
Also, Minesweeper thing? Can’t be done.
Carolyn,
Your school-peers’ reaction to your rash sounds like my elementary school classmates reaction to my first zit, which was the first one anyone in my class got. It was a huge monster on my nose that had everyone in class freaked out… until one kid decided to joke me about it, then everyone was okay. : )
DJ Nicko,
That’s what the article says. Are you gonna believe it???
I believe it completely! Someone will win that prize money by proving that it cannot be done, not the other way around. I will put $50 on it!
@carolyn:
I used to and still have recurring hives. I don’t know what the trigger is. The only thing that has ever helped me is Zyrtec(an antihistamine). It gives me absolutely n side effects, and controls the itch as well as the swelling.
It used to be prescription only, but has recently been moved to over-the-counter.
Back when Clariton was new, my doctor tried prescribing it, but it didn’t help. Never tried Zyrtec.
Hmm does minesweeper cheat?
He thinks so : http://www.subversity.net/reversing/hacking-minesweeper
-BMF
“My final conclusion is that I had interpretted the way Minesweeper was storing the grid in memory incorrectly, and my source code reflects that. Much thanks to xumilz for his comment on Reddit and whoever posted a similar comment here. All of the bombs are generated at the start of a new game ”
Eh, he changes his mind further down after a lot of people correct his code, or something like that.
“Mines are still moved however, but as others have observed, Minesweeper will only sometimes move bombs away from where you are clicking.”
I don’t know the rules of Minesweeper. Is this cheating?
-BMF
I think that statement was referring to the part about how your first click is never a mine, but it makes the board before your click, so if you click on the mine, it quickly moves it for the new board.
Some sites I have read on Minesweeper (yeah yeah) have said that this is a cheat way, but eh, always good to give someone that little bit of a fighting hope I say!