-
10 Oct 2007
For some reason, I've been thinking about Klondike solitaire probabilities a lot lately. Primarily, I'm wondering what the likelihood is that a game will have zero legal plays. I'm certain it happens, but it's got to be pretty rare. It's a complex game, though, so here's my plan towards solving it:
- Given two non-ace cards, what is the chance that one cannot be placed on the other, using standard Klondike rules?
- Given three non-ace cards, what is the chance that none can be played on any other?
- Given seven...?
- Given two (three, seven) cards, what is the chance that there is no legal play (placing one on another or moving an ace to the foundation)?
There are more steps after that involving the eight deck cards, but it gets pretty complicated pretty quickly. I'll be happy just getting this far.
Discuss (1) -
5 Oct 2007The theme this time around is "ball physics". This makes me want to learn Flash so I can enter in the next competition.
-
26 Sep 2007
-
12 Sep 2007
-
23 Aug 2007Intricate and carefully planned monuments to an obsessed mind
-
15 Jun 2007
-
19 May 2007The most exciting sequel since Half-Life 2. It looks remarkably true to the original. I am still hoping it's not a MMOG, because I'm going to buy it.
-
17 Mar 2007Teaser trailer and first game footage for Penny Arcade's "On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One".
-
20 Nov 2006
I know that Brian got a Wii after camping out overnight. I know that Chris and Nomad were planning on showing up at their local Target at midnight. A co-worker of mine says he's sore today from playing Wii Sports (bowling and tennis) with his wife for 4 hours yesterday. (He's going to bring it into work tomorrow, and we're hooking it up to the projector.) I'm interested in your reviews.
-
6 Nov 2006
For those following the same strategy as me this fall -- "If I can't walk into a store and find a Wii, I wasn't meant to have one." -- there's some good news. Target's allocation information was leaked to the Internet the other day, and since then, several Google Maps mashups have sprung up. For instance, this Wii Locator.