Dear Fabian,
What are your favorite TV series?
Do you think marijuana should be legalized?
What is your opinion about death sentences?
How babies are made?
Adelikat said: "and Phil is the last person that should be criticizing". What do you think of that?
Is Fabian your real name?
JXQ said: "Apparently Billy "won" because Phil's and immature power-abuser...". What do you think about that?
What do you think of current JXQ's signature?
Joined: 8/1/2004
Posts: 2687
Location: Seattle, WA
Fabian wrote:
I guess I kinda used to kinda think of you as an "enemy" if you will because I considered you to be one of like 4 smart people on this forum and I enjoy feeling better than everyone else. Also you insulted me a few times which kinda pissed me off and I can be very grumpy.
I think associates will work out well though.
I can live with these responses. Now I just need to work on BoltR and moozooh.
Dear Fabian,
Could you explain me in simple terms the Riemann hypothesis and why it has such a great importance in the field of mathematics?
No.
I'll tackle this one. The Riemann hypothesis states that a particular mathematical function has a particular property. I don't think it will add anything to the discussion to get any more detailed than that.
The Riemann hypothesis is important to mathematicians because it is unusually interesting. For one, its formulation is simple and easy to understand, yet it has remained impervious to proof for a century and a half. It also links together seemingly unrelated areas of mathematics, namely number theory and complex analysis. Discoveries that link previously unrelated fields together are always exciting because then you can use ideas from one to discover new insights in the other. A recent discovery along these lines was the addition of homotopy theory to algebra, which allows one to use techniques from algebraic topology to solve problems in algebraic geometry.
If you are looking for any practical importance, it really doesn't have any that I know of. Because of what it says about prime numbers and their distribution, the correctness of certain algorithms for determining primality depend on the correctness of the hypothesis, but proving it won't break RSA or anything like that. Nowadays, mathematics is sufficiently advanced that very little of the new theoretical work has any practical importance. Really, deep exploration in mathematics is just an end unto itself, like sports, chess, music, or art.
Dear Fabian,
Could you explain me in simple terms the Riemann hypothesis and why it has such a great importance in the field of mathematics?
No.
I'll tackle this one. The Riemann hypothesis states that a particular mathematical function has a particular property. I don't think it will add anything to the discussion to get any more detailed than that.
The Riemann hypothesis is important to mathematicians because it is unusually interesting. For one, its formulation is simple and easy to understand, yet it has remained impervious to proof for a century and a half. It also links together seemingly unrelated areas of mathematics, namely number theory and complex analysis. Discoveries that link previously unrelated fields together are always exciting because then you can use ideas from one to discover new insights in the other. A recent discovery along these lines was the addition of homotopy theory to algebra, which allows one to use techniques from algebraic topology to solve problems in algebraic geometry.
If you are looking for any practical importance, it really doesn't have any that I know of. Because of what it says about prime numbers and their distribution, the correctness of certain algorithms for determining primality depend on the correctness of the hypothesis, but proving it won't break RSA or anything like that. Nowadays, mathematics is sufficiently advanced that very little of the new theoretical work has any practical importance. Really, deep exploration in mathematics is just an end unto itself, like sports, chess, music, or art.
I wonder if Warp was actually thinking of the riemann-zeta function which has been practically applied as a "random number generator" for cryptographic and other purposes since world war 2 (at least according to Neal Stephenson)
How fleeting are all human passions compared with the massive continuity of ducks.
Deer Fabian,
Do you really expect this topic to have an effect on the forum besides just this one topic? You say you want people to make useful posts that are more than two sentences, but how do you think questions and answers to various questions in this topic will affect posting behavior elsewhere? I don't really think it will have a noticeable effect (and don't see why it would).
Why do you feel you must save the forum and bring it back to the glory days? Either I misread, or you claim to be happier now that you get up and do things rather than rot in front of your computer all day. Wouldn't bringing the forums back from suckage to something actually worth reading just give you a bit of cause to sit back down and rot again? When things start to interest you a bit, I would think that refresh button might become attractive. Have you considered this? And do you think it is a silly notion?
More to come later maybe. For now, I'm voting yes for "should I go to sleep now".
I wonder if Warp was actually thinking of the riemann-zeta function which has been practically applied as a "random number generator" for cryptographic and other purposes since world war 2 (at least according to Neal Stephenson)
Well, the Riemann hypothesis is a claim that the Riemann-zeta function behaves in a particular manner, so yes, that's what we were both talking about. I am not familiar with Neal Stephenson's fiction, but I think he was fast and loose with his portrayal of the Riemann-zeta function. To my knowledge, it has never been used for cryptographic purposes or as a random number generator. Cryptography in WWII was limited to electromechanical devices that performed transpositions and substitutions. I don't think modern cryptographic methods came about until the 70's.
In 1997 there was a paper in the Duke Mathematical Journal entitled Zeta Functions, One-Way Functions, and Pseudorandom Number Generators, but I'm not clear how much it really has to do with the Riemann hypothesis. A brief description I found mentions that the pseudorandom number generator in the paper is based on the theory of elliptic curves, but about the one-way function only mentions it was "based on the theory of zeta functions." The Riemann-zeta function is a zeta function, obviously, but that short description doesn't lead me to believe the Riemann hypothesis actually had anything to do with it. (There are lots of different zeta functions.)
Dear Fabian,
As a Finn, I am very interested to know what you, as a Swede, think about the Swedish society. Do you think Swedish democracy is collapsing? Do you think that the government has gone too far?
I recommend the article to anyone who thinks that the Scandinavian welfare states are ideal places to live.
Dear Fabby,
Can we call you Fabby? At least here?
Do you think you will ever be overwhelmed by the popularity of this thread?
Is it easy to move to Sweden? Would that make me cooler?
Yours Sincerely,
TAS Noob from California
You can't call me Fabby. Not even here.
I was going to say no but then I saw how many new posts this thread had just now so now I'm saying maybe. But yeah, no I'll be fine.
I'm not sure how easy it is to move here. I only know of one American who moved here for six months, and I can't recall him mentioning any specific troubles with being allowed in/to stay here or anything. To be honest I have no idea what it takes to get to stay long term though. I think you would like it here though, the climate might be a little cold (choose southern Sweden) but everyone speaks English pretty well and if you can get by without putting mayo (or other disgusting American food habit) on everything you should be fine. Moving to Sweden would by default move you up one or two notches on the coolness scale.
Not like everyone else actually. This lead to the rather funny situation of me not getting the joke of calling you "Chalame" even after months of calling you that. Then one day I was like "wow LAME I get it!". That's how stupid I am.
Anyway in my mind's ear I pronounce it more like cha-MA-le.
[18:12] <Fabian_> hey adelikat do you want to hear something cool?
[xxxx] yada yada, blah blah, stuff not related to said comment
[20:30] Fabian_ has quit ("sleep")
[20:33] You are no longer marked as being away
Aww shucks, we just missed each other. Hearing cool stuff is always...erm, cool.
Dear Fabian, could you tell me something cool (specifically elaborate on this irc question).
Lovingly,
adelikat
The cool thing I was going to tell you was I've been ask to join Cardrunners.com, which is the largest poker coaching website there is, as a guest pro. This basically means making two instructional videos of me playing poker and telling people how they can improve their game a month, as well as doing some private coaching on the side for them. Definitely the most exciting poker related thing that's happened to me, I think it's pretty cool.
Fabian, what actions do you suggest for the administration / moderators to carry out for the purpose of making the forums better? Or were you referring to only Off-topic in particular?
Also, should I start an "ask Bisqwit" thread?
Dear Fabian,
Why doesn't Comicalflop like me?
T-T-Totally Dude,
-Jixie
I'm probably forgetting a lot of the reasons. I think it probably has to do with him being a fan of N64 TASing and you being, well, not. I'm also guessing he feels you complain a whole lot about random shit. I can't recall any specific arguments you two have had at the moment.
Dear Fabian,
What are your favorite TV series?
Do you think marijuana should be legalized?
What is your opinion about death sentences?
How babies are made?
Adelikat said: "and Phil is the last person that should be criticizing". What do you think of that?
Is Fabian your real name?
JXQ said: "Apparently Billy "won" because Phil's and immature power-abuser...". What do you think about that?
What do you think of current JXQ's signature?
Favorite TV show would be The Office (US version), Arrested Development or early seasons of Scrubs. Don't make me pick one!
Don't have a strong opinion on marijuana, I've never smoked myself so the subject is kinda whatever for me. From what I understand, marijuana is a less serious drug than alcohol and nicotine. It seems illogical to have one banned and two allowed just from tradition, I don't see alcohol or nicotine being made illegal considering the money the government makes from them. I'm guessing overall, legalizing marijuana would have a small positive effect and I can't really think of any negative effects.
Death sentences. I support them in theory, I feel you need to be certain there are no innocent convicted however. This is a pretty big obstacle for it to work well in any kind of realistic scenario. I have no moral or ideological (this might be wrong word) objections to it though.
How babies are made? Penis in vagina. Go from there.
"Adelikat said: "and Phil is the last person that should be criticizing". What do you think of that? "
I'm not sure of the context here but I think what he means is that you are not in a situation to be criticizing someone, because you're no better than the person/thing you're criticizing. I'm not sure what to think of that since there is no context, but I'd guess it's probably true.
Fabian is indeed my real name.
"JXQ said: "Apparently Billy "won" because Phil's and immature power-abuser...". What do you think about that?"
As I recall, this is pretty much how it happened. Unless my memory fails me, the Bimmy thing was used to describe a movie, and you went apeshit because you felt it was inappropriate. You edited it for personal reasons and used the excuse "jokes don't have a place in movie descriptions" despite there being a whole lot of jokes and less-than-super-serious stuff in them already. At this point, as I recall, Bisqwit decided you guys were being stupid and told everyone to stop editing the movie description. One could argue a more reasonable solution would have been to edit it back to its original state before placing the editing ban.
Anyway that's the situation as I remember it. So let's go over the important parts of the quote.
"Phil is immature" Check. Arguable of course, but I'd say it's pretty damn immature to start a petty bullshit argument over something as stupid as this just because you have a personal connection to the game and dislikes a joke the publisher makes.
"Phil is a power abuser" Check. Same thing applies here really. Using your editor status to modify the site to suit you better personally instead of keeping the general well being of the site in mind as your first priority, does indeed constitute being a power abuser. Note how you could make the counter argument that you WERE doing it in the interest of the site, but the reason this argument is not valid is it's just not true and you and I both know it.
All in all it seems like an accurate quote to me.
I think JXQ's current signature is funny, for the same reason I think my signature is funny.
Dear Fabian,
Why does non-alcoholic beer exist? This has always baffled me.
1. People who don't drink don't want to feel left out of social situations where not having a beer would look weird or make them feel weird.
2. People like the taste of beer but can't go around drinking a six pack every morning and expect not to be fired for being a worthless drunk.
3. Beer companies think it's a useful way of getting a younger demographic sucked in. Make them (children) associate beer with a cool relaxed evening of fun from an early age and there's a greater chance they'll end up buying lots and lots once they hit 13-14. This would be the same kind of reasoning why chocolate cigarettes exist.
That's a few possible theories off the top.
Deer Fabian,
Do you really expect this topic to have an effect on the forum besides just this one topic? You say you want people to make useful posts that are more than two sentences, but how do you think questions and answers to various questions in this topic will affect posting behavior elsewhere? I don't really think it will have a noticeable effect (and don't see why it would).
Why do you feel you must save the forum and bring it back to the glory days? Either I misread, or you claim to be happier now that you get up and do things rather than rot in front of your computer all day. Wouldn't bringing the forums back from suckage to something actually worth reading just give you a bit of cause to sit back down and rot again? When things start to interest you a bit, I would think that refresh button might become attractive. Have you considered this? And do you think it is a silly notion?
More to come later maybe. For now, I'm voting yes for "should I go to sleep now".
You misunderstand me, I don't expect this topic to have an effect on this forum beside this one topic. One non-sucky topic is better than zero non-sucky topics, that's really it. I don't think it will affect posting behavior elsewhere.
I don't necessarily "feel I have to" make the forum better. This is no crusade. It's just an attempt to create something worth reading instead of "rridgway can you stop sucking so much lol", and I don't really think attempts to improve stuff need to be justified.
I'm not worried about making tasvideos so awesome a place I just can't take my eyes off the forum and get stuck here forever. This seems like a pretty improbable scenario, and even if tasvideos would suddenly rise up to the level of the past, the cause/effect of "tasvideos forum gets more enjoyable to read/quality of life goes down" is not something I worry about either.
To be honest I don't really spend less time on my computer now, I just feel better doing it as of late.
It's just an attempt to create something worth reading instead of "rridgway can you stop sucking so much lol", and I don't really think attempts to improve stuff need to be justified.
I think that's not only justified, it's commendable.
Dear Fabian,
As a Finn, I am very interested to know what you, as a Swede, think about the Swedish society. Do you think Swedish democracy is collapsing? Do you think that the government has gone too far?
I recommend the article to anyone who thinks that the Scandinavian welfare states are ideal places to live.
First of all I did not finish that article because it seems like a pile of rubbish. Some idiot journalist decides to take a few quotes from some extreme fundamentalist religious group and hyperbole it into "RELIGIOUS WAR STARTS IN SWEDEN!" in order to paint the picture that every muslim is the scum of the earth and that terrorist attacks are upon us. Yeah never heard that before. "However, Fjordman has documented that Swedish Muslims called for terror attacks against Sweden even before this incident happened. This text was posted on a large Swedish Muslim forum in February 2005: [bla bla text]". Oh noes somone posted something on a forum? Give me a break this is not journalism this is sensationalistic biased idiots with some agenda against muslims.
To answer your other questions, I don't think Swedish democracy is collapsing and I have no idea what makes you think that. I don't think our government "has gone too far" and I have no idea what you mean by that.
As a Swede, I think the Swedish society rocks very very much. I can't think of any country I would rather live in.
Fabian, what actions do you suggest for the administration / moderators to carry out for the purpose of making the forums better? Or were you referring to only Off-topic in particular?
Also, should I start an "ask Bisqwit" thread?
Can't think of much you can do as an administrator. The important part of a community is its members and if they suck you're not left with many options as the admin.
I discussed this some in another reply earlier, but yeah when I said that I was mostly referring to non-game specific stuff. Off topic, Workbench, Published Movies, Sites, General I guess. As I said earlier, I can't really comment on how the actual TASing is going because I'm not informed enough.
I don't think an ask Bisqwit thread would work very well because you don't strike me as the kind of person who enjoys openly answering questions like this. You prefer shorter and ambiguous answers so people aren't quite sure what you're thinking and can't hold it against you later if they want to call you on it. This is not a knock on you at all btw I just think that wouldn't quite cut it for this kind of thread. I'm also worried it would be turned into a theological debate after the first question which would kinda suck imo.
That being said I'm sure there's a number of people who look up to you as the admin and would think the thread would be a good idea.
Dear Fabian,
I definitely don't want to get caught up in a long debate about the Swedish society (which you of course know more about than me), especially in your awesome thread, but let me just say that neither I or that article is saying that every muslim is a suicide-bombing terrorist that hates women. I merely wanted to know what you thought about this and whether it is seen as a problem within your own community.
About your government going too far, I was talking about the Social Democratic party bringing in more and more people from African and Asian countries and then giving them more money, making them perfect voters for the social democrats.
In any case, I did not mean to insult your country and I do know that it still is, for the most part, a great place to live in.
You prefer shorter and ambiguous answers so people aren't quite sure what you're thinking and can't hold it against you later if they want to call you on it. This is not a knock on you at all btw I just think that wouldn't quite cut it for this kind of thread. I'm also worried it would be turned into a theological debate after the first question which would kinda suck imo.
Wow. I am actually surprised.* Your analysis is very good.
*) This is not to say that I had any bad expectations from you. It is just that I'm not used to being analysed spot-on.
Dear Fabian,
I definitely don't want to get caught up in a long debate about the Swedish society (which you of course know more about than me), especially in your awesome thread, but let me just say that neither I or that article is saying that every muslim is a suicide-bombing terrorist that hates women. I merely wanted to know what you thought about this and whether it is seen as a problem within your own community.
About your government going too far, I was talking about the Social Democratic party bringing in more and more people from African and Asian countries and then giving them more money, making them perfect voters for the social democrats.
In any case, I did not mean to insult your country and I do know that it still is, for the most part, a great place to live in.
I read a few more paragraphs of that god awful article. It puts me on huge tilt that people are able to write crap like that and pass it off as serious journalism and that people apparently buy it.
Anyway I'll try to answer your concerns as civilly as I can. I don't see "this" (meaning foreigners?) as a problem within my community.
"About your government going too far, I was talking about the Social Democratic party bringing in more and more people from African and Asian countries and then giving them more money, making them perfect voters for the social democrats."
This is just.. what? Not sure where to begin here. "Giving" Africans and Asians money and "bringing them" to join the political party to make them "perfect voters"? I just don't know what to tell you here.
I'm getting the sense you're a guy who strongly believes in nationalism and take great pride in your Nordic heritage? Am I close? This is a viewpoint I have a very very hard time sympathizing with, and to be honest I don't think this discussion is going to lead us anywhere. I don't want to outright insult you and call you a closet racist, but I don't have a good ending to this paragraph.
Anyway no need to get defensive, it's easy to experience miscommunication on a forum. What I want to recommend to you is reread that article and try to find things that you might consider to be unfair and biased. I'm not saying this is any kind of condescending way, I think you would greatly benefit from keeping a more open mind that's all.
