My Economics midterm is on Monday. I suppose it's technically not my last midterm of the semester, as Theory of Probability has 2 midterms, and the second one is coming up in a few weeks. But, after Monday, I'll have taken a midterm in each class, so this feels like my last midterm.
I'll need to do a lot more studying today and tomorrow. The material is very theory-based and mathematical, which is a good thing in that it makes it interesting, challenging, and more rigorous than it would be otherwise. My professor is funny and conveys the material well- his problem is that he does not do examples in class- only the theory. I think he also thinks we know a lot more math that we do (as a class). I suppose he expects us to learn how to solve the problems on our own (of course, if one really really understands the theory, the problems become easy), or he expects the TA to give us examples during the recitations. Unfortunately the TA is hard to understand....
Adding greatly to the problem is that we've received relatively little homework up to this point, giving us little opportunity to practice problem solving. Fortunately the most recent problem set was long and hard, and he gave us lots of other practice problems with which to study. I got an A on Early Middle Ages midterm, so that's 2 for 2 with 1 midterm I haven't gotten back yet, and 1 I still need to take. Hopefully it will become 4 for 4....unlikely because I doubt I'll get higher than an A- on the Architecture in NY exam I already took, but not impossible.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
3 Midterms Done, 1 Successful Comeback, 1 Failed Comeback
It's been a very filled 3 days since I got back. On Wednesday, I got my Probability midterm back with a score of 100 as previously stated, then went to the library to study a bit for history, got dinner, and then went with my Christian fellowship here to Columbia to hear Chuck Colson, former special counsel to President Nixon, speak about his conversion to Christianity at an event called the Veritas Forum. I liked very much that Colson was not politically correct: the professor doing the "interview" repeatedly tried to get him to say that all beliefs are true, which is of course logically impossible but is politically correct. The real meaning of tolerance is that I will let you say and believe what you want even when I disagree. It does not mean I must agree with everything you say!
It was a very nice night with pleasant temperatures: we drove up to Columbia in a van and returned by subway. NYC is quite beautiful at night when all the lights are on. It was not necessary to show ID (nor did one have to be a Columbia student) to go onto the Columbia campus, or into the ticket box office, or the auditorium where the talk was held. Why must one show NYU ID to go into just about any NYU building? It's absolutely ridiculous. This is especially true as many events held in NYU buildings are open to non-NYU students also, as is the case at Columbia, but I'd imagine it's quite a hassle for non-NYU students to go to these events at NYU.
Thursday started off with Magus taking a small lead on Sandbag during the first hour of the poll, and accelerating his pace as the night went on. I went to bed at 2 because I had a midterm at 9:30, and I needed to sleep (at some point, sleep helps test performance more than further studying- besides, I wasn't going to get much studying done while refreshing sc2k5.com every 5 minutes). I got up at 7, and somewhat to my surprise, Magus still had a 900 or so vote lead, and had reached 1000 overnight, a number I'd thought earlier he probably wouldn't reach, but would be fairly safe at if he did. Magus then went almost even with Sandbag from 7 to 8, and gained back almost all of what he'd lost from 8 to 9- and the morning vote hadn't even ended yet.
I'd had breakfast and done a little more studying during this time, and I went to take my midterm, on which I feel I did fairly well. Perfectionism on the first part of the test resulted in a shortage of time at the end, but all in all, I was satisfied. I got back and to my joy, Magus was tearing Sandbag apart with the During School Vote. By 3 PM, the lead had reached 2150 and Sandbag had shown no signs of life really- he'd only won 2 hours, and gained a total of 150 votes or so during those hours. Magus had been pummeling him for hours since during the DSV, during which CT characters are good but not that good.
Then, it began. I've seen it happen enough times to dread it, to fear it even with a 2150 vote lead in a 4-way poll. Every year, it seems, everyone believes a CT character's lead is simply too large; that no one could lose THAT huge a lead. And every time, the CT character pulls off a shocking day vote collapse. I knew Sandbag still had a small chance here from past experience, but still, it hurt. Sandbag came back rapidly, gaining 400-500 votes an hour. But there was hope. The lead was big, and we knew Sandbag would slow immensely or stop past 8 PM. Axel had taken the lead on Frog then after coming back 1900 votes the previous year, and Frog had later pulled off a miracle comeback in the last hour.
But Frog was Frog- Frog simply does not lose close matches: first he finds a way to shock his supporters by pulling gigantic day vote collapses against characters he was supposed to beat handily. Then, when all hope is lost, Frog pulls off the impossible and WINS THE MATCH. Magus hadn't done anything impressive since 2003, and while he is in all likelihood stronger than Frog, he is not known for his prowess at winning close matches. But surely the CT fans who rallied Frog to victory would rally Magus too, right?
I went to the honors scholars seminar at 6 or so, and got back around 7:45. I'd been hoping that Magus would still have the lead when I got back- and he did! I thought if he could hold off the lead change until 8 he would have a good chance- because Sandbag's second night vote ought to be worse than Axel's. Sandbag ended up taking the lead on the exact update that Axel had taken the lead from Frog. He built his lead to about 100 votes higher than Axel had done, but then Magus started making sustained cuts earlier than Frog had done. There was hope!
10:45 approached. I'd had the Sox game on the past few hours and had been studying for today's architecture midterm. Magus's chance of coming back looked good, while the Sox looked hopeless as they were down 7-0. 10:45 was when Frog had started going berserk on Axel. But no change happened here. Magus continued making small cuts, with even a few Sandbag gains. Magus was not getting Frog's rally, or Sandbag was getting his own counterally (probable, given that we've never seen a joke character lose a close match). The Sox, however, did rally, getting 4 runs in the 7th, 3 in the 8th, and 1 in the 9th to WIN GAME 5!
In retrospect, while it's disappointing he lost to Sandbag, Magus actually put up a very impressive performance (better relative to expectations than either Frog or Crono this year) in breaking 40% on Sonic and nearly beating a joke character. As for the Sox: we're going to win the World Series again this year!
So, I did some more studying this morning, and I took the midterm after lunch. Then the class went on a walking tour even though we'd just taken a midterm. 'Twas a very entertaining walk, and I learned a lot about the history of NYU and the area today, but it was also the longest walk we've done yet- 2 and a half hours right after taking a midterm. But it's Friday, and we're going to the World Series. BELIEVE!
It was a very nice night with pleasant temperatures: we drove up to Columbia in a van and returned by subway. NYC is quite beautiful at night when all the lights are on. It was not necessary to show ID (nor did one have to be a Columbia student) to go onto the Columbia campus, or into the ticket box office, or the auditorium where the talk was held. Why must one show NYU ID to go into just about any NYU building? It's absolutely ridiculous. This is especially true as many events held in NYU buildings are open to non-NYU students also, as is the case at Columbia, but I'd imagine it's quite a hassle for non-NYU students to go to these events at NYU.
Thursday started off with Magus taking a small lead on Sandbag during the first hour of the poll, and accelerating his pace as the night went on. I went to bed at 2 because I had a midterm at 9:30, and I needed to sleep (at some point, sleep helps test performance more than further studying- besides, I wasn't going to get much studying done while refreshing sc2k5.com every 5 minutes). I got up at 7, and somewhat to my surprise, Magus still had a 900 or so vote lead, and had reached 1000 overnight, a number I'd thought earlier he probably wouldn't reach, but would be fairly safe at if he did. Magus then went almost even with Sandbag from 7 to 8, and gained back almost all of what he'd lost from 8 to 9- and the morning vote hadn't even ended yet.
I'd had breakfast and done a little more studying during this time, and I went to take my midterm, on which I feel I did fairly well. Perfectionism on the first part of the test resulted in a shortage of time at the end, but all in all, I was satisfied. I got back and to my joy, Magus was tearing Sandbag apart with the During School Vote. By 3 PM, the lead had reached 2150 and Sandbag had shown no signs of life really- he'd only won 2 hours, and gained a total of 150 votes or so during those hours. Magus had been pummeling him for hours since during the DSV, during which CT characters are good but not that good.
Then, it began. I've seen it happen enough times to dread it, to fear it even with a 2150 vote lead in a 4-way poll. Every year, it seems, everyone believes a CT character's lead is simply too large; that no one could lose THAT huge a lead. And every time, the CT character pulls off a shocking day vote collapse. I knew Sandbag still had a small chance here from past experience, but still, it hurt. Sandbag came back rapidly, gaining 400-500 votes an hour. But there was hope. The lead was big, and we knew Sandbag would slow immensely or stop past 8 PM. Axel had taken the lead on Frog then after coming back 1900 votes the previous year, and Frog had later pulled off a miracle comeback in the last hour.
But Frog was Frog- Frog simply does not lose close matches: first he finds a way to shock his supporters by pulling gigantic day vote collapses against characters he was supposed to beat handily. Then, when all hope is lost, Frog pulls off the impossible and WINS THE MATCH. Magus hadn't done anything impressive since 2003, and while he is in all likelihood stronger than Frog, he is not known for his prowess at winning close matches. But surely the CT fans who rallied Frog to victory would rally Magus too, right?
I went to the honors scholars seminar at 6 or so, and got back around 7:45. I'd been hoping that Magus would still have the lead when I got back- and he did! I thought if he could hold off the lead change until 8 he would have a good chance- because Sandbag's second night vote ought to be worse than Axel's. Sandbag ended up taking the lead on the exact update that Axel had taken the lead from Frog. He built his lead to about 100 votes higher than Axel had done, but then Magus started making sustained cuts earlier than Frog had done. There was hope!
10:45 approached. I'd had the Sox game on the past few hours and had been studying for today's architecture midterm. Magus's chance of coming back looked good, while the Sox looked hopeless as they were down 7-0. 10:45 was when Frog had started going berserk on Axel. But no change happened here. Magus continued making small cuts, with even a few Sandbag gains. Magus was not getting Frog's rally, or Sandbag was getting his own counterally (probable, given that we've never seen a joke character lose a close match). The Sox, however, did rally, getting 4 runs in the 7th, 3 in the 8th, and 1 in the 9th to WIN GAME 5!
In retrospect, while it's disappointing he lost to Sandbag, Magus actually put up a very impressive performance (better relative to expectations than either Frog or Crono this year) in breaking 40% on Sonic and nearly beating a joke character. As for the Sox: we're going to win the World Series again this year!
So, I did some more studying this morning, and I took the midterm after lunch. Then the class went on a walking tour even though we'd just taken a midterm. 'Twas a very entertaining walk, and I learned a lot about the history of NYU and the area today, but it was also the longest walk we've done yet- 2 and a half hours right after taking a midterm. But it's Friday, and we're going to the World Series. BELIEVE!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Back At School
I'm back at school after a good weekend home, and I got my Probability midterm back: I did get a 100. The cutoff for an A- was around an 80, the cutoff for B- was around a 60, and the class average was somewhere in between. So.....yay!
I don't have time for a longer post now, as I have to squeeze in time for more studying for my history midterm tomorrow (and my architecture midterm on Friday) and I am going to Columbia tonight with my Christian fellowship here to listen to a speaker. But I will probably make a longer post this weekend. Let's Go Red Sox!
I don't have time for a longer post now, as I have to squeeze in time for more studying for my history midterm tomorrow (and my architecture midterm on Friday) and I am going to Columbia tonight with my Christian fellowship here to listen to a speaker. But I will probably make a longer post this weekend. Let's Go Red Sox!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Aced My Midterm!
(I think)
I took my first midterm for Theory of Probability today, and I think I aced it. Hopefully I didn't make any stupid mistakes, and I'll get a 100. If not, I'm very confident I at least got a very high score. I was the first one in the class to finish, which completely shocked me (I never do that on math tests...). Maybe I have more talent in math than I thought.
I'll be coming home again this weekend: I miss you guys, so I'm very happy about that.
I took my first midterm for Theory of Probability today, and I think I aced it. Hopefully I didn't make any stupid mistakes, and I'll get a 100. If not, I'm very confident I at least got a very high score. I was the first one in the class to finish, which completely shocked me (I never do that on math tests...). Maybe I have more talent in math than I thought.
I'll be coming home again this weekend: I miss you guys, so I'm very happy about that.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
There's Nothing that the Road Cannot Heal
This is a wonderful song. The title of the song is actually Moab, and the artist is Conor Oberst.
I used up your compassion
So I've come to make a trade
You can hate me but just love me in return
If I know where to find you
I'll stay out of your way
I won't come back to borrow all the happiness you've earned
I'll just slide back down to the bottom
While you make your place in the hills.
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal!
Washed beneath the blacktop,
Gone beneath my wheels,
There's nothing that the road cannot heal.
They say the sun won't burn forever
But that's a science too exact.
I can prove it watch we're crossing the state line.
See those headlines coming towards us
That's someone going back
To a town they swore they'd never yeah
They swore it on their lives
But you can't break out of a circle
That you never knew you were in.
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed beneath the blacktop,
Gone beneath my wheels,
There's nothing that the road cannot heal.
Someone spent their precious time
Trying to decorate their lives
Taking measurements for some new look they want
So from one to ten, ten's exactly what I am
Zero being everything I'm not
Tell me what you like
Is it less than five?
Is it less than five?
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
When I make it to Moab,
I'll get my canteen filled
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed beneath the blacktop,
Gone beneath my wheels,
There's nothing that the road cannot heal.
I used up your compassion
So I've come to make a trade
You can hate me but just love me in return
If I know where to find you
I'll stay out of your way
I won't come back to borrow all the happiness you've earned
I'll just slide back down to the bottom
While you make your place in the hills.
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal!
Washed beneath the blacktop,
Gone beneath my wheels,
There's nothing that the road cannot heal.
They say the sun won't burn forever
But that's a science too exact.
I can prove it watch we're crossing the state line.
See those headlines coming towards us
That's someone going back
To a town they swore they'd never yeah
They swore it on their lives
But you can't break out of a circle
That you never knew you were in.
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed beneath the blacktop,
Gone beneath my wheels,
There's nothing that the road cannot heal.
Someone spent their precious time
Trying to decorate their lives
Taking measurements for some new look they want
So from one to ten, ten's exactly what I am
Zero being everything I'm not
Tell me what you like
Is it less than five?
Is it less than five?
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
When I make it to Moab,
I'll get my canteen filled
There's nothing that the road cannot heal
Washed beneath the blacktop,
Gone beneath my wheels,
There's nothing that the road cannot heal.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
It's Frog Time!
Yep, everyone's favorite heart attack inducing amphibian swordsman is back! And he's not causing heart attacks today.....because he's on his way to his largest victory ever! To be fair, he's only up 3300 votes right now.....but by Frog standards, this is a landslide. Frog won't be needing to pull off a comeback in the last hour today!
I'm one of 72 people with 32 points right now. We are tied for 5th sitewide, and so 46 of us are on the leaderboard....I made some changes late in the bracket-making period, so I'm still not up there. Hopefully, I will be tonight (I think but am not sure that everyone with 32 now who has Ganon > Frog will be on the leaderboard tonight). If not tonight, I need to get on the leaderboard tomorrow night, because I have Scorpion > Balthier Monday, and that seems really unlikely to me right now....Gordon Freeman should take second.
Ganondorf is handily beating Frog currently for first.....but next round, Samus will in the poll. Can Frog overcome Ganon through the power of Nintendo SFF? And, if he does, can he beat Nightmare too? Well, we know what happens if it's close.....Frog builds an impressive lead overnight only to completely collapse with the day vote. And then, as we reach the last hour.....it's time for everyone to blare Frog's Theme as he pulls off a miraculous comeback!
Ganondorf is the big favorite here, and probably deservedly so. But can Frog (or Nightmare) pull it off? I think Nightmare has a chance, but don't particularly care if he beats Ganon, so I'll look at Frog's chances. How would other Chrono Trigger characters fare here?
Crono would probably take first due to Samus/Ganon SFF- at worst he gets second, a little behind Samus a way ahead of Ganon. Magus? Magus beat Ganon outright before, once upon a time we call 2003.....I know Magus/Ganon wouldn't be close at all now, but I can't see Ganon winning that one with the majority of his votes being taken away by Samus. But Frog is weaker than Magus.....yes, Frog has looked much better recently, but that's only because Frog always comes through and pulls off miraculous wins, while Magus keeps underperforming. But looking at their matches objectively, Magus is still stronger.
Frog, of course, has the clutch factor- if the match is close, you can count on Frog to win. So- will Frog/Ganon/Nightmare be close? Frog got around 27% of the Frog/Samus votes last year. Ganon got 40% against Samus directly back in 2005. Assuming those hold, and adding Ganon to Samus does nothing to the total strength of Nintendo in the poll (that is, Frog gets the same percentage against Samus or in a 3-way poll with Samus/Ganon), Ganon gets 40% of the 73% Samus/Ganon get. That gives him....29%. That's still above Frog, and Ganon probably adds a little more than nothing to Samus- only a little, but not quite zero. 29% is, however, below the 30% that Frog put up on Samus directly back in 2005.
Those stats don't really look good for Frog, but he may have been hurt a little by sharing some fanbase with Axel- and he may be a little stronger this year thanks to hype for CTDS (CT will be a lot stronger next year after it comes out!). He's impressing relative to KOS-MOS right now, a good sign. Nintendo SFF also works in strange ways, so it's possible Samus/Ganon would turn out quite differently from how it did back in 2005. That was a breakthrough year for the Nintendo villains, after all, with both Ganondorf and Bowser impressing. So, should Ganon be the favorite over Frog? Yes. Is there a chance it will be close? Yes. If it is close, can Frog win? Absolutely.
What of Nightmare? He put up 30% on Samus yesterday (30% of Samus/Nightmare votes anyway). That means he should probably also be favored over Frog next round. The most likely outcome is that Frog ends up in last....but we can hope, and we can play Frog's Theme to build up our hope!
Tomorrow's match is Vincent vs. Falco vs. GlaDOS vs. Wander. Vincent > Falco is the obvious result, but I'm surprised at how low people's expectations are for Falco. I mean, people expected Wario to beat Zack, some chose Lucario to get through division 1 with Link, and they don't think Falco have any strength? Fox has been heavily, heavily, underrated for years (I think he's at Kirby's level!....indirectly, at least), and while Falco isn't Fox, he should be stronger than Marth, because he's probably almost as popular as Marth in SSBM, and Star Fox is way way bigger than Fire Emblem 1. Melee > Brawl in strength, and Falco is going to prove it tomorrow by destroying GlaDOS completely (and yes, Vincent will still destroy him, but there's only 3 Nintendo characters Vincent wouldn't beat).
Prediction:
Vincent 52%
Falco 27.5%
GlaDOS 13.5%
Wander 7%
The 2008 60% Club
Link
The 50% Club
Link
Samus Aran
The 40% Club
Link
Samus Aran
Bowser
Zack Fair
Megaman X
Altair
Ganondorf
Mario
I'm one of 72 people with 32 points right now. We are tied for 5th sitewide, and so 46 of us are on the leaderboard....I made some changes late in the bracket-making period, so I'm still not up there. Hopefully, I will be tonight (I think but am not sure that everyone with 32 now who has Ganon > Frog will be on the leaderboard tonight). If not tonight, I need to get on the leaderboard tomorrow night, because I have Scorpion > Balthier Monday, and that seems really unlikely to me right now....Gordon Freeman should take second.
Ganondorf is handily beating Frog currently for first.....but next round, Samus will in the poll. Can Frog overcome Ganon through the power of Nintendo SFF? And, if he does, can he beat Nightmare too? Well, we know what happens if it's close.....Frog builds an impressive lead overnight only to completely collapse with the day vote. And then, as we reach the last hour.....it's time for everyone to blare Frog's Theme as he pulls off a miraculous comeback!
Ganondorf is the big favorite here, and probably deservedly so. But can Frog (or Nightmare) pull it off? I think Nightmare has a chance, but don't particularly care if he beats Ganon, so I'll look at Frog's chances. How would other Chrono Trigger characters fare here?
Crono would probably take first due to Samus/Ganon SFF- at worst he gets second, a little behind Samus a way ahead of Ganon. Magus? Magus beat Ganon outright before, once upon a time we call 2003.....I know Magus/Ganon wouldn't be close at all now, but I can't see Ganon winning that one with the majority of his votes being taken away by Samus. But Frog is weaker than Magus.....yes, Frog has looked much better recently, but that's only because Frog always comes through and pulls off miraculous wins, while Magus keeps underperforming. But looking at their matches objectively, Magus is still stronger.
Frog, of course, has the clutch factor- if the match is close, you can count on Frog to win. So- will Frog/Ganon/Nightmare be close? Frog got around 27% of the Frog/Samus votes last year. Ganon got 40% against Samus directly back in 2005. Assuming those hold, and adding Ganon to Samus does nothing to the total strength of Nintendo in the poll (that is, Frog gets the same percentage against Samus or in a 3-way poll with Samus/Ganon), Ganon gets 40% of the 73% Samus/Ganon get. That gives him....29%. That's still above Frog, and Ganon probably adds a little more than nothing to Samus- only a little, but not quite zero. 29% is, however, below the 30% that Frog put up on Samus directly back in 2005.
Those stats don't really look good for Frog, but he may have been hurt a little by sharing some fanbase with Axel- and he may be a little stronger this year thanks to hype for CTDS (CT will be a lot stronger next year after it comes out!). He's impressing relative to KOS-MOS right now, a good sign. Nintendo SFF also works in strange ways, so it's possible Samus/Ganon would turn out quite differently from how it did back in 2005. That was a breakthrough year for the Nintendo villains, after all, with both Ganondorf and Bowser impressing. So, should Ganon be the favorite over Frog? Yes. Is there a chance it will be close? Yes. If it is close, can Frog win? Absolutely.
What of Nightmare? He put up 30% on Samus yesterday (30% of Samus/Nightmare votes anyway). That means he should probably also be favored over Frog next round. The most likely outcome is that Frog ends up in last....but we can hope, and we can play Frog's Theme to build up our hope!
Tomorrow's match is Vincent vs. Falco vs. GlaDOS vs. Wander. Vincent > Falco is the obvious result, but I'm surprised at how low people's expectations are for Falco. I mean, people expected Wario to beat Zack, some chose Lucario to get through division 1 with Link, and they don't think Falco have any strength? Fox has been heavily, heavily, underrated for years (I think he's at Kirby's level!....indirectly, at least), and while Falco isn't Fox, he should be stronger than Marth, because he's probably almost as popular as Marth in SSBM, and Star Fox is way way bigger than Fire Emblem 1. Melee > Brawl in strength, and Falco is going to prove it tomorrow by destroying GlaDOS completely (and yes, Vincent will still destroy him, but there's only 3 Nintendo characters Vincent wouldn't beat).
Prediction:
Vincent 52%
Falco 27.5%
GlaDOS 13.5%
Wander 7%
The 2008 60% Club
Link
The 50% Club
Link
Samus Aran
The 40% Club
Link
Samus Aran
Bowser
Zack Fair
Megaman X
Altair
Ganondorf
Mario
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Workload Picking Up
It's now the 4th week of school, and as expected, the workload is picking up. I have a 4-5 page essay due on Thursday for the Early Middle Ages- I will be writing on the Rule of St. Benedict, which is quite an interesting read- I know I could never have been a Coenobitic (monastic) monk! Way too many rules, getting up at 2 AM every night, a vegetarian diet, rarely leaving the monastery, and worst of all, strict obedience to the abbot and rejection of one's own will....
Fortunately, this week my math homework has been much easier than last week- I have only 2 problems left, which should be the hardest ones of the set, but none of the previous problems have been hard. Shockingly, I managed to complete all but 2 problems before the last day before it is due! That's....well....I don't remember the last time I've done that- certainly not in college- maybe never! I suppose it's because Probability is actually quite fun, so it feels good to complete the problems.
I had a 5-day hiatus on KGS, which I ended today with a loss. I feel I was winning, but I blundered towards the end of the mid-game, making it close, and then I blundered again in the endgame, giving my opponent the win by resignation.
I'm doing well (relatively speaking) in the contest with 16 out of 20 points as of now, good enough to put me in a tie for 204th place with 716 other people, out of a total of 40,000+ brackets. I'm getting 4 more points today with Bowser > Phoenix, and I'm guessing Phoenix wasn't too popular a pick outside the Contest Board, although he was the overwhelming favorite to get second on the board. Hopefully this means I'll be in a tie for a position within the top 100 or even top 50 tomorrow- with maybe 100-200 people- hopefully. In the Guru Contest, I'll be tied for 1st with 12 other people.
Tomorrow's match is Mario vs. Zelda vs. Knuckles vs. Fei. There are a lot of differing opinions on this one- Zelda is stronger than Knuckles, but should be hurt worse by SFF from Mario, since they are both Nintendo characters. I had Knuckles for a long time, but changed to Zelda towards the end of the bracket-making period, because she's quite a bit stronger than Knux normally, and I don't think she'll suffer much more than he will from SFF. I'm feeling pretty good about this, because Knux only managed 27% last year against Yoshi, Rikku, and Vaan- with Mario here, Knux should go to 20% or lower, and I think Zelda can take in more than that. Of the other 12 gurus who will have 20 points after today, only 3 have Mario > Zelda for tomorrow, so I'll be in a 4-way tie for first if Zelda comes through. There's an outside chance I might be able to get onto the site-wide leaderboard on Thursday also- if a lot of people chose Knuckles.
Edit/Update: I'm done with this week's math homework! Those two problems only took about half an hour.
Fortunately, this week my math homework has been much easier than last week- I have only 2 problems left, which should be the hardest ones of the set, but none of the previous problems have been hard. Shockingly, I managed to complete all but 2 problems before the last day before it is due! That's....well....I don't remember the last time I've done that- certainly not in college- maybe never! I suppose it's because Probability is actually quite fun, so it feels good to complete the problems.
I had a 5-day hiatus on KGS, which I ended today with a loss. I feel I was winning, but I blundered towards the end of the mid-game, making it close, and then I blundered again in the endgame, giving my opponent the win by resignation.
I'm doing well (relatively speaking) in the contest with 16 out of 20 points as of now, good enough to put me in a tie for 204th place with 716 other people, out of a total of 40,000+ brackets. I'm getting 4 more points today with Bowser > Phoenix, and I'm guessing Phoenix wasn't too popular a pick outside the Contest Board, although he was the overwhelming favorite to get second on the board. Hopefully this means I'll be in a tie for a position within the top 100 or even top 50 tomorrow- with maybe 100-200 people- hopefully. In the Guru Contest, I'll be tied for 1st with 12 other people.
Tomorrow's match is Mario vs. Zelda vs. Knuckles vs. Fei. There are a lot of differing opinions on this one- Zelda is stronger than Knuckles, but should be hurt worse by SFF from Mario, since they are both Nintendo characters. I had Knuckles for a long time, but changed to Zelda towards the end of the bracket-making period, because she's quite a bit stronger than Knux normally, and I don't think she'll suffer much more than he will from SFF. I'm feeling pretty good about this, because Knux only managed 27% last year against Yoshi, Rikku, and Vaan- with Mario here, Knux should go to 20% or lower, and I think Zelda can take in more than that. Of the other 12 gurus who will have 20 points after today, only 3 have Mario > Zelda for tomorrow, so I'll be in a 4-way tie for first if Zelda comes through. There's an outside chance I might be able to get onto the site-wide leaderboard on Thursday also- if a lot of people chose Knuckles.
Edit/Update: I'm done with this week's math homework! Those two problems only took about half an hour.
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