Mathler is like Wordle, but with math. It’s trickier than it first appears and, just like Wordle, gets exponentially easier with each guess.
Earlier this week I implied that Covid was a breeze but with all the sleepless nights and harsh cough burning in my lungs — the most succinct thing I can say now is, this sucks. After 13 days I’m really starting to wonder when I’m finally going to get better.
After missing 5 days of work my admin explained that she was going to need medical documentation that I was still sick. I made a phone appointment and started explaining the situation to my doctor and how I had taken another test but it still showed me as being positive when she cut me off saying it doesn’t matter because I was STILL SYMPTOMATIC. She kindly wrote up a note saying I would be off “until symptoms cleared.”
I feel guilty for being away from work for so long but I can’t imagine showing up to my grade fives all stuffed up and coughing and explaining how I had Covid but because enough time had passed (and the guilt was getting to me) it was just time for me to return. I’m mad that these thoughts are even going through my mind. It’s dumb for a person sick with Covid to even think about returning to work before they are better; yet, here I am, doing exactly that.
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rocketcrab.com mobile gaming
What is rocketcrab.com? Simply put, it’s a collection of open source party games for phones. You choose a game and invite your friends to join.
Here are the descriptions from a few of the games:
Drawphone:
In Drawphone, there are no winners… only losers! Players take turns drawing pictures and guessing what those pictures are. If you guess correctly, nothing happens! If you guess wrong or draw like a toddler and ruin the chain of drawings and guesses, rest assured that you will be mercilessly mocked for your honest mistake (which ultimately doesn’t even matter in the grand scheme of the world).
Wavelength:
Wavelength is a social guessing game where two teams compete to read each other’s minds. It’s a thrilling experience of TALKING and THINKING and HIGH FIVING that anyone can play—but it also has some of that deep word game sorcery, like Codenames, where your decisions feel tense, strategic, meaningful.
Fake Artist:
Everyone is drawing one picture together…and one doesn’t even know what they draw. There is a Fake Artist hiding among the real artists – can you find out who it is? The Fake Artist has to be careful not to be give himself away and guess what is being drawn while the real artists have to signal the other artists with their drawing that they know the word, without making the drawing too obvious for the Fake Artist. The catch? you only get to draw one line.
Enigma:
Two warring factions are trying to send secret messages to their comrades, but their communications are broadcast for the enemy to see. To keep their messages secret, each faction “encrypts” their messages using 4 keywords, known only to their comrades. Meanwhile, the enemy tries to intercept their messages by listening to their clues and figuring out the enemy’s keywords. The first faction to intercept 2 messages from the other faction wins, unless a faction loses by miscommunicating 2 of their own messages.
Based on The Resistance, Snakeout:
Out the snake, or be outed as a snake! ?
Snakeout is a game in which a team of loyalists is infiltrated by a group of snakes. The loyalists must try to figure out who the snakes are, and the snakes must try to keep the loyalists from figuring out their identity. The game is separated into five missions. The first team to “win” three missions wins the game.
And more… They’ve even got Secret Hitler, Code Words, and One Night Werewolf.
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The Bad Review Revue
The King’s Daughter: “January is often where bad films are stashed, but The King’s Daughter isn’t just bad, it’s a cloying, clichéd mess that’s not worth even the slightest risk of contacting COVID-19 to see in theaters.” — Mark Kennedy, Associated Press
Sensation: “Sensation wants to be a deep movie…[but] those depths rapidly become shallower and shallower until we’re left splashing in puddles. Ultimately, the only sensation you’ll get from this film is mild disappointment.” — Allen Adams, The Maine Edge
The 355: “The nicest thing I can say is it reminded me of a very funny scene in another movie.” — Chase Hutchinson, The Stranger
The Legend of La Llorona: “This umpteenth time is not a charm.” — Steve Davis, Austin Chronicle
Shattered: “The smooth-crotched erotic thriller equivalent of banging a G.I. Joe and a Barbie together.” — Richard Whittaker, Austin Chronicle
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AI Learns Monopoly
I don’t remember the last time I played Monopoly but I have fond memories of the game. My dad built it up as one of the greatest board games ever when he picked up a used copy at a garage sale. I tend to agree (at least when I was kid — of course board games have come along way since I was a kid).
My friends always thought our set was weird because it had a milk cartoon, egg holder, and goblet instead of the usual metal shoe, wheel barrow, or scottie dog, etc. but I’ve come to love the classic wooden pieces over the more modern metal ones.
The video above discusses the use of artificial intelligence to figure out the best Monopoly strategy. It took the equivalent of 1600 years of monopoly playing for the AI to discover that… I won’t spoil it for you except to say that if you’ve ever looked into strategies, the best one is one you probably already know.
(Via Kottke)
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HomePod Mini
I ordered a HomePod Mini which arrived today.
My daughter asked if there was a baby Siri inside. I explained that it was the same Siri as the big Homepods’. Ignoring me, she exclaimed, “Oh, so cute! She’s going to hatch!” and then started laughing.
I’ve been using the intercom feature to call into the kitchen while I’m sick in bed. It’s also nice to turn on white noise to help get some sleep while I’m sick. My favorite is the “sounds of the forest”.
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The World of Colour
I’ve been restoring and colourizing some old black and white family photos in Photoshop lately. Here are some of my favourites:
I’ll save the rest for another day.
It’s been seven days since the kids and I tested positive with Covid. For something that has occupied our worst fears for the last two years, we have faired extremely well.
I realize, of course, that Ange and I are fully vaccinated and that with the kids being so young they are unlikely to suffer major complications. It’s also true that the omicron variant is a much different beast than the earlier strains but it has still been a week of worry as the kids have had fevers and short bouts of coughing fits.
I’m not well enough to return to school tomorrow, I still have a headache and stuffed up sinuses.
It’s my belief that this whole five days to recovery is far too short and is exactly why we got it in the first place — we were in extended contact with someone who tested positive seven days previous but we were led to believe the infectious stage was over.
In the time since we tested positive we know a couple others that have also contracted it. One of our friends says she knows four families (including us) that have it right now.
Even though our hospitals are as full as any time in the pandemic, I think this might be the beginning of the end.
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Solving Wordle on the First Guess
Following up my Wordle post from a couple of days ago, here is a story about someone using software analysis on Twitter posted guesses to solve Wordle on the very first guess.
It turns out the squares
taking social media by storm contain enough information to correctly guess the daily Wordle on the first attempt each day.
The site includes some examples and has a link to download the code.
Apple today announced financial results for its fiscal 2022 first quarter ended December 25, 2021. The Company posted an all-time revenue record of $123.9 billion, up 11 percent year over year, and quarterly earnings per diluted share of $2.10.
Great news for Apple. The company made a record $34.6 billion in profit. Tim Cook is still almost apologetical as he explains how well the company has done during the pandemic.
Here’s the breakdown of the numbers with year over year change.
| iPhone | $71,628 million | (up 9.2%) |
| Mac | $10,852 million | (up 25%) |
| iPad | $7,248 million | (down 14%) |
| Wearables, Home and Accessories | $14,701 million | (up 13%) |
| Services | $19,516 million | (up 24%) |
| Total Net Sales | $123,945 million | (up 11%) |
Check out the Apple Earnings Charts from Jason Snell at Six Colors.