I'm training for a match with my flashlight

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Date: 21 Jul 2008 13:13:18
From: Mike Murray
Subject: I'm training for a match with my flashlight

I didn't feel too bad when mainframe computers could beat me. And
when I got whipped by desktops and laptops...., well, they're are
strong as mainframes once were. But it's harder to feel OK about
losing to the cell phone. If the flashlight beats me, I might
challenge the can-opener.

Date: 21 Jul 2008 15:15:59
From: help bot
Subject: Re: I'm training for a match with my flashlight

Mike Murray wrote:

> I didn't feel too bad when mainframe computers could beat me. And
> when I got whipped by desktops and laptops...., well, they're are
> strong as mainframes once were. But it's harder to feel OK about
> losing to the cell phone. If the flashlight beats me, I might
> challenge the can-opener.

I once bought a can-opener that when brand new,
worked like "magic" -- gently snatching the can
from my hand, pulling it into the blade, spinning
and cutting and next releasing the now-open can.
Well, that was then, this is now; the "magic" can-
opener eventually wore out, and was discarded.

The creators of the next version of Rybka -- the
world's strongest chess engine -- started off
talking about numbers like 3100+ (FIDE, I
presume), but delving deeper, one learns that this
is mostly hype. In reality, the rating gain from the
current version is likely to be far less-- as they tell
us themselves in a recent interview.

The trouble with chess-playing flashlights is they
don't have the brain-power to play well. In fact, all
they need is a tiny chip, to shut down the LED(s)
after, say, ten minutes without any detected
motion, to conserve the 2 megavolt nano-lithium
battery by going into stand-by mode. Chess, you
see, is a very difficult game... .

-- help bot

Date: 23 Jul 2008 17:22:01
From: help bot
Subject: Re: I'm training for a match with my flashlight

On Jul 23, 9:36 am, thumbody <[email protected] > wrote:

> Yes, yes bot & it still has nothing to do with your rybka love affair
> 'scuse me for a min bot [Mr Innes please re:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Dogsthks.] You see what I
> ascertained about my American cousins was their predisposition to love
> the machine _over all_ in German this is translated as *uber alle* - the
> negative connotations of which I'm happy to see transported into the
> c-21 so no one is allowed to escape their manifest fiendishness - so if
> we forget the hun, their two-time big-time losses in the previous
> century & concentrate on robotics the ineluctable corollary is that you
> bot might as well be living in downtown Munich because you've
> anthromorphised rybka into a she - this piece of plastic, silicon &
> solder has a gender? - haw haw & do tell!..

Ah, the level of your "understanding"
is thus revealed... when you elude to the
Rybka chess engine as a piece of
computer /hardware/.

Smarter folks (like say, Sanny and Rob
Mitchell) might recognize the difference
between hard wares and soft ones;
between /worship/ of state-of-the-art skill
and simply rightful recognition thereof.
But such subtleties would be beyond
your grasp, I expect.

FYI: it was I, Ensign Pulver, who first
critiqued the Rybka program for "her"
problems with Nc3/...Nc6, blocking in
her Queen like a (human) rank beginner.
This issue was "confirmed" if you will,
by a human grandmaster (who
unfortunately, was unable to withstand
the heat in rgc). But the fact remains
that this grotesque flaw is well-hidden
behind a mask of openings-by-rote
play, not unlike what we see in OTB
tourneys between humans of all levels.

Anyway, thanks for the free German
lesson. I had a class in German in
elementary school, but instead of
teaching us useful phrases like "don't
shoot!" or "where can I find a public
restroom?", it was "das ist eine ecatsa",
und "das ist eine hund". Now I ask you,
even if I were to one day travel to
Germany, where would such knowledge
get me? (This ist nine rocket-science.)

-- help bot

Date: 23 Jul 2008 23:36:17
From: thumbody
Subject: Re: I'm training for a match with my flashlight

help bot wrote:
>
> Mike Murray wrote:
>
> > I didn't feel too bad when mainframe computers could beat me. And
> > when I got whipped by desktops and laptops...., well, they're are
> > strong as mainframes once were. But it's harder to feel OK about
> > losing to the cell phone. If the flashlight beats me, I might
> > challenge the can-opener.
>
> I once bought a can-opener that when brand new,
> worked like "magic" -- gently snatching the can
> from my hand, pulling it into the blade, spinning
> and cutting and next releasing the now-open can.
> Well, that was then, this is now; the "magic" can-
> opener eventually wore out, and was discarded.
>
> The creators of the next version of Rybka -- the
> world's strongest chess engine -- started off
> talking about numbers like 3100+ (FIDE, I
> presume), but delving deeper, one learns that this
> is mostly hype. In reality, the rating gain from the
> current version is likely to be far less-- as they tell
> us themselves in a recent interview.
>
> The trouble with chess-playing flashlights is they
> don't have the brain-power to play well. In fact, all
> they need is a tiny chip, to shut down the LED(s)
> after, say, ten minutes without any detected
> motion, to conserve the 2 megavolt nano-lithium
> battery by going into stand-by mode. Chess, you
> see, is a very difficult game... .

Yes, yes bot & it still has nothing to do with your rybka love affair
'scuse me for a min bot [Mr Innes please re:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_Dogs thks.] You see what I
ascertained about my American cousins was their predisposition to love
the machine _over all_ in German this is translated as *uber alle* - the
negative connotations of which I'm happy to see transported into the
c-21 so no one is allowed to escape their manifest fiendishness - so if
we forget the hun, their two-time big-time losses in the previous
century & concentrate on robotics the ineluctable corollary is that you
bot might as well be living in downtown Munich because you've
anthromorphised rybka into a she - this piece of plastic, silicon &
solder has a gender? - haw haw & do tell!..

t.