Yep, this is a post, after many months of inactivity. I've decided to expand the set of topics covered by this blog to more than just Go. One reason is that I play Go a lot less now than I did before, and another is that I finally made 1-dan! The event was not at all dramatic, as my KGS rank drifted across the 1d/1k line after several days of inaction, so there was never a game that pushed me across. But the biggest reason is that I didn't have that much to say on Go- as shown by the dearth of posts.
So, I will now be posting on anything interesting that comes to mind, and hopefully presenting some interesting perspectives. There will probably be much overanalysis, hopefully with stats and maps.
But first, I need a new name for the blog. Shodan has been achieved, and.....well, I suppose the Beyond means that I could still keep this name. But I think I'd prefer one without an explicit Go reference, since this will no longer be devoted to go.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Seeing fireworks from above
We saw the July 4th fireworks from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. That's the first time I've seen fireworks at a lower elevation than where I stood, and we saw fireworks from many towns on the Maine mainland- at least 10- as small flashes of light with barely discernable shape in the distance, across the bay that separates Mt. Desert Island from the mainland. Then, we saw the Bar Harbor fireworks, still small but much nearer and thus larger than the others, after a long wait.
Before this, we had driven to the summit which was enveloped in a cloud, and driven down a bit to a vantage point below the clouds at which we parked and saw the fireworks. As the night deepened and the Bar Harbor fireworks finally started, the cloud descended and pretty soon we were in the cloud....so of course it was cold and wet. So we left about halfway through the fireworks show, along with most people, figuring the rest of the show would be pretty similar.
As far as I can remember, that's the first time I've been in a cloud before.
The next day we went to Schoodic Point, which was really nice- it's a little out of the way, and you might not see it in a typical short visit to Acadia, but it's worth it, and has really great pounding surf on the rocks, better than anything we saw on Mt. Desert Island in that regard. Schoodic Point is, after all, a large outcrop of rock that looks like it belongs on a mountain, except that it juts into the sea and experiences its full power. Also, the water left stranded on the rocks when the tide receded surprisingly spanned a range of colors, from orange to deeper and deeper shades of red to almost black.
There's a lot more to write about, but I will keep this short and stop here. This new strategy of just picking a couple moments to focus on rather than trying to write a comprehensive summary of things is probably a good idea.
Before this, we had driven to the summit which was enveloped in a cloud, and driven down a bit to a vantage point below the clouds at which we parked and saw the fireworks. As the night deepened and the Bar Harbor fireworks finally started, the cloud descended and pretty soon we were in the cloud....so of course it was cold and wet. So we left about halfway through the fireworks show, along with most people, figuring the rest of the show would be pretty similar.
As far as I can remember, that's the first time I've been in a cloud before.
The next day we went to Schoodic Point, which was really nice- it's a little out of the way, and you might not see it in a typical short visit to Acadia, but it's worth it, and has really great pounding surf on the rocks, better than anything we saw on Mt. Desert Island in that regard. Schoodic Point is, after all, a large outcrop of rock that looks like it belongs on a mountain, except that it juts into the sea and experiences its full power. Also, the water left stranded on the rocks when the tide receded surprisingly spanned a range of colors, from orange to deeper and deeper shades of red to almost black.
There's a lot more to write about, but I will keep this short and stop here. This new strategy of just picking a couple moments to focus on rather than trying to write a comprehensive summary of things is probably a good idea.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
The Shake Shack
First post in ages (since I started working in fact...)!
The Shake Shack is a fast food stand in New York City's Madison Square Park. They are famous for exceptionally good burgers.....and exceptionally long lines. On Wednesday, I decided to try it out for lunch.
Unfortunately the wait time was longer than I anticipated- I spent about 45 minutes in line, and 10 more minutes waiting for my food to be prepared. Considering it's New York, it's really shocking that so many people are willing to wait so long for food! Is the food that good?
Well....the burgers are great, possibly on the level of those of In 'N Out Burger in California. Probably not good enough to warrant a wait of an hour for lunch though- and yet waiting in line outdoors in the park was actually quite nice. It's like an oasis from the fast moving pace of New York City. Perhaps that's why people are willing to wait so long for food here.
In my next 2 posts, I'll hopefully talk about Acadia National Park and Boston's newly renovated Harbor and Downtown.
The Shake Shack is a fast food stand in New York City's Madison Square Park. They are famous for exceptionally good burgers.....and exceptionally long lines. On Wednesday, I decided to try it out for lunch.
Unfortunately the wait time was longer than I anticipated- I spent about 45 minutes in line, and 10 more minutes waiting for my food to be prepared. Considering it's New York, it's really shocking that so many people are willing to wait so long for food! Is the food that good?
Well....the burgers are great, possibly on the level of those of In 'N Out Burger in California. Probably not good enough to warrant a wait of an hour for lunch though- and yet waiting in line outdoors in the park was actually quite nice. It's like an oasis from the fast moving pace of New York City. Perhaps that's why people are willing to wait so long for food here.
In my next 2 posts, I'll hopefully talk about Acadia National Park and Boston's newly renovated Harbor and Downtown.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
How to become super-rich
All you need to do is gain 1% a day in the stock market. If you start with $1000, and gain 1% every weekday, after 1 year you will have:
$13,291
After 2 years:
$178,417
After 3 years:
$2,395,048
After 4 years:
$32,150,879
After 5 years:
$431,590,038
After 6 years:
$5,793,619,508
You can be a millionaire in under 3 years, and a billionaire in under 6!
All you have to do is gain 1% a day......
Gaining 1% a day in stocks sure is hard, isn't it? What this also means is that the difference in skill between the best stock trader in the world and random guessing is a lot less than 1% a day. A lot less.
$13,291
After 2 years:
$178,417
After 3 years:
$2,395,048
After 4 years:
$32,150,879
After 5 years:
$431,590,038
After 6 years:
$5,793,619,508
You can be a millionaire in under 3 years, and a billionaire in under 6!
All you have to do is gain 1% a day......
Gaining 1% a day in stocks sure is hard, isn't it? What this also means is that the difference in skill between the best stock trader in the world and random guessing is a lot less than 1% a day. A lot less.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
3 Days Until Spring Break
And I have some time to relax today for what feels like the first time in forever.
There's been 3 big things causing me stress this semester: school, finding a job, and creating a research project/finding a mentor for the summer. For me, I've discovered stress is not really linked to how much work there is to be done, but rather to the number of different things I have to do. Fortunately, the third item on the list is resolved (at least for now) as of today, because I showed my mentor my project idea today, and things are on track. Still looking for a job, especially for the summer. Hopefully the place I interviewed at yesterday will offer me a position tomorrow, but if not, then at least I have gained some confidence now that I've had 2 interviews.
That, and a ton of schoolwork, is more or less what my life has been since February 16. It's become somewhat of a regular weekly cycle, unlike any of my previous semesters:
Sunday: Logic homework, starting Math Econ homework, catching up on other stuff.
Monday: Classes most of the day, then Math Econ homework at night. I usually finish this before midnight. Maybe work on Physics homework.
Tuesday: Sleep in pretty late (and get almost nothing done in the morning), Math Econ class, then volunteering at a bookstore. Maybe work on Physics homework.
Wednesday: Classes, then small group for fellowship, then Go Club, then Physics lab report, typically until 2-3 in the morning.
Thursday: Physics Lab and Math Econ, then I usually try to, but fail miserably at, getting work done in the afternoon. Then presidential honors scholars meeting sometimes, and then large group fellowship. Then Stats homework until 3 in the morning.
Friday: One class, then weekend! Which I use to catch up on job applications/research ideas/etc.
Saturday: Same as Friday afternoon/evening, except I am a lot more productive, as I usually just relax on Fridays.
Yeah, I put Sunday as the start of the week there, because that's how the cycle feels to me these days. My "weekend" is Friday afternoon to Saturday night.
I have a lot more to say, but not much time to say it tonight, so perhaps I'll leave that to another day. Back to reading the Wheel of Time series.
There's been 3 big things causing me stress this semester: school, finding a job, and creating a research project/finding a mentor for the summer. For me, I've discovered stress is not really linked to how much work there is to be done, but rather to the number of different things I have to do. Fortunately, the third item on the list is resolved (at least for now) as of today, because I showed my mentor my project idea today, and things are on track. Still looking for a job, especially for the summer. Hopefully the place I interviewed at yesterday will offer me a position tomorrow, but if not, then at least I have gained some confidence now that I've had 2 interviews.
That, and a ton of schoolwork, is more or less what my life has been since February 16. It's become somewhat of a regular weekly cycle, unlike any of my previous semesters:
Sunday: Logic homework, starting Math Econ homework, catching up on other stuff.
Monday: Classes most of the day, then Math Econ homework at night. I usually finish this before midnight. Maybe work on Physics homework.
Tuesday: Sleep in pretty late (and get almost nothing done in the morning), Math Econ class, then volunteering at a bookstore. Maybe work on Physics homework.
Wednesday: Classes, then small group for fellowship, then Go Club, then Physics lab report, typically until 2-3 in the morning.
Thursday: Physics Lab and Math Econ, then I usually try to, but fail miserably at, getting work done in the afternoon. Then presidential honors scholars meeting sometimes, and then large group fellowship. Then Stats homework until 3 in the morning.
Friday: One class, then weekend! Which I use to catch up on job applications/research ideas/etc.
Saturday: Same as Friday afternoon/evening, except I am a lot more productive, as I usually just relax on Fridays.
Yeah, I put Sunday as the start of the week there, because that's how the cycle feels to me these days. My "weekend" is Friday afternoon to Saturday night.
I have a lot more to say, but not much time to say it tonight, so perhaps I'll leave that to another day. Back to reading the Wheel of Time series.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
It's been a long time.
I've been really busy though, and still am. Hopefully this "break" I am currently taking in part to write this post will not take a horribly long time. I have homework due tomorrow and on Friday, after all. This week I've adopted a new strategy of having lunch at the Kimmel Center, right next to the library and the main building. This has vastly improved my productivity because it keeps me away from my dorm during the day, and thus stops me from procrastinating and surfing the internet and thus avoiding doing work. Instead I can use the time between my classes (often a couple hours) to study and do homework.
It's also a good idea, I think, to get to class a few minutes early instead of right on time. This is because you can study/work in the few minutes before class starts, and I have found I am amazingly productive at these times. You'd be amazed how much you can accomplish in 10 minutes! Of course, I don't mean doing homework due that day- that's a very stressful thing to do, something I figured out....junior year of high school.
As for Go, I've finally reached 2k! The 2 weeks I was at home in January, I spent many hours on Go, and it has paid off, though a little slower than I had expected. I'm not sure how long it will take to reach 1k- I'm cautiously optimistic that it won't take as long to move through 2k as it took to get through 3k. It was a real barrier for me, and of course I didn't play very much last semester. When I did play last semester, I tended not to be very focused on the game, and it was often when I was very tired. Improvement at Go is hard work, but it is also exhilirating and fun. I don't think I'll have very much time for Go this semester, but I'll try to make the most of it- that is, treat every game I do play seriously, and not to play when I am tired.
It's also a good idea, I think, to get to class a few minutes early instead of right on time. This is because you can study/work in the few minutes before class starts, and I have found I am amazingly productive at these times. You'd be amazed how much you can accomplish in 10 minutes! Of course, I don't mean doing homework due that day- that's a very stressful thing to do, something I figured out....junior year of high school.
As for Go, I've finally reached 2k! The 2 weeks I was at home in January, I spent many hours on Go, and it has paid off, though a little slower than I had expected. I'm not sure how long it will take to reach 1k- I'm cautiously optimistic that it won't take as long to move through 2k as it took to get through 3k. It was a real barrier for me, and of course I didn't play very much last semester. When I did play last semester, I tended not to be very focused on the game, and it was often when I was very tired. Improvement at Go is hard work, but it is also exhilirating and fun. I don't think I'll have very much time for Go this semester, but I'll try to make the most of it- that is, treat every game I do play seriously, and not to play when I am tired.
Monday, January 5, 2009
2008 in Review
Wow, I haven't posted in a month. Well, between finals and Christmas, I never really thought about this blog until now. I had started a game review back in early December, and maybe I'll finish it next update, but for now, here are my stats for 2007 and 2008:
2007:
Games: 578
Wins: 335
Losses: 243
Win Percentage: 57.96%
Black: 189-159 (54.31%)
White: 146-84 (63.48%)
2008:
Games: 689
Wins: 401
Losses: 288
Win Percentage: 58.2%
Black: 191-162 (54.11%)
White: 210-126 (62.5%)
Note that I only began playing in August of 2007, so the average number of games per month fell off drastically, from 115.6 to 57.4 (and 115.6 counts August as a whole month even though I only started at the end of August, so the 2007 number should really be even higher). But, I am pretty sure the average time spent per game also went up a lot in 2008.
Total win percentage and win percentages playing as black and white remained remarkably consistent, despite individual months often having wild swings in these stats (for example, in December 2008 I had a 38% win rate with black, and 70% with white). It should be noted that I played a much higher share of my games as white in 2008; that means I played more against even and lower ranked players, and less against higher ranked players.
Monthly win percentages:
8/07: 38% (18k-16k)
9/07: 53% (16k-11k)
10/07: 59% (11k-10k)
11/07: 59% (10k-9k)
12/07: 67% (9k-8k)
1/08: 66% (8k-6k)
2/08: 64% (6k)
3/08: 60% (6k-5k)
4/08: 60% (5k-4k)
5/08: 55% (4k)
6/08: 68% (4k)
7/08: 51% (4k-3k)
8/08: 51% (3k)
9/08: 44% (3k)
10/08: 48% (3k)
11/08: 60% (3k)
12/08: 56% (3k)
2007:
Games: 578
Wins: 335
Losses: 243
Win Percentage: 57.96%
Black: 189-159 (54.31%)
White: 146-84 (63.48%)
2008:
Games: 689
Wins: 401
Losses: 288
Win Percentage: 58.2%
Black: 191-162 (54.11%)
White: 210-126 (62.5%)
Note that I only began playing in August of 2007, so the average number of games per month fell off drastically, from 115.6 to 57.4 (and 115.6 counts August as a whole month even though I only started at the end of August, so the 2007 number should really be even higher). But, I am pretty sure the average time spent per game also went up a lot in 2008.
Total win percentage and win percentages playing as black and white remained remarkably consistent, despite individual months often having wild swings in these stats (for example, in December 2008 I had a 38% win rate with black, and 70% with white). It should be noted that I played a much higher share of my games as white in 2008; that means I played more against even and lower ranked players, and less against higher ranked players.
Monthly win percentages:
8/07: 38% (18k-16k)
9/07: 53% (16k-11k)
10/07: 59% (11k-10k)
11/07: 59% (10k-9k)
12/07: 67% (9k-8k)
1/08: 66% (8k-6k)
2/08: 64% (6k)
3/08: 60% (6k-5k)
4/08: 60% (5k-4k)
5/08: 55% (4k)
6/08: 68% (4k)
7/08: 51% (4k-3k)
8/08: 51% (3k)
9/08: 44% (3k)
10/08: 48% (3k)
11/08: 60% (3k)
12/08: 56% (3k)
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