In the Playpen: Pygmalion

D4RK ONION

*presses power button*

Booting BIOS (Ver. D4.R.K)

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D4RK@ONION:/$ > cd ~/C&H
D4RK@ONION:/$ > ls
D4RK@ONION:/$ >
..............Pygmalion.txt

D4RK@ONION:/$ > cat ~/C&H/Pygmalion.txt

PYGMALION.TXT
This week we have a true celebrity; he's managed to take the time out in between a starring role in the Irish Collegiate Programming Contest and grooming his beard to answer your questions. (Conor)

I totally would hit that (Pygmalion Davidius)

Pygmalion likes big numbers. And pie. Possibly both kinds. I don't get it. (MavisDavis)

It may be cliché, but that is one EPIC beard. And sure Pyygy's alright too. (eVeNtInE)

He also has a savage beard, which some folklorists claim he has grown in a mere 22 hours... (jumpguy)

Blah, I'm too tired for this (Hotaru)

I think PlayPen is a pretty cool guy eh prograsm and doesnt afraid of anything. And his beard is wise. (Davidius)

These are REAL quotes, from REAL pyggy lovers. I'd marry him, but I fear he would beat me. Better ask him some questions. (D4RK ONION)


D4RK@ONION:/$ > sudo shutdown -h now
D4RK@ONION:/$ > Will I dream? Daaaaa-vey Daaaaa-vey

Davidius

Bestest programming language evar? - Token question

The name "Ho-ster". Great name or greatest name?

Totoro_

Do you think you spend too much time on boards

Pygmalion

Davidius wrote: »

Bestest programming language evar? - Token question
Ooooh, I'm going to go with Python and C++, depending on my mood and stuff.

Python is just amazingly pretty to code in, you can do stuff like

if n not in primes: return False

and it's grand, checks if a variable is in a list, just write it out in plain English and Python will do it :P
Also nice:

tri = [int(n*(n+1)/2) for n in range(1, 100001)]
ans = sum([i**i for i in range(1, 1001)])

First one gets the first 100000 triangle numbers in one line of code, second line gets the sum of the first thousand squares.

As for C++, it's probably just because it's what I'm used to, I did a tiny bit of PHP before it but it was my first real exploration into programming.

The name "Ho-ster". Great name or greatest name?
Greatest name of course. And so fitting and appropriate

Totoro_ wrote: »

Do you think you spend too much time on boards

Oh god yes, I just pop on every time I should be working or something, and a lot of the times when i shouldn't too.

Questions the first

Extrasupervery

Favourite band?
Favourite live performance?
Other favourites pertaining to the musical variety?

/lazy

Pygmalion

Extrasupervery wrote: »

Favourite band?
Oh god no idea, I'm a big fan of Ensiferum and Wintersun, although maybe Eluveitie is better.
On the other end of the spectrum I love some of the old Radiohead, Weezer and the like.
I could transform the spectrum into a plane and mention many others, and move away from the general genre of Rock, but I'll keep it nice and 1-dimensional for now.

Favourite live performance?
I've actually never been to much live performances, just tons of forgettable local bands, mostly in the Wexford area.

Other favourites pertaining to the musical variety?
I'll just take this opportunity to leave this here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9dpTTpjymE

Now I really should shower and get some sleep.

jumpguy

P=NP

Agree or disagree?

Pygmalion

jumpguy wrote: »

P=NP

Agree or disagree?

Disagree, I could go on about how it's probably not true and how it seems intuitive and stuff but realistically I can't claim to have any idea, it's just an opinion really

adf

phlegms

Why am I so awesome?

(Your answer should be no less than 500 words, but no more than 600)

Pygmalion

phlegms wrote: »

Why am I so awesome?

(Your answer should be no less than 500 words, but no more than 600)

Me wrote:

An essay on phlegms awesomeness
'Brilliant', 'Quite Good', 'What?', these are just some of the comments made recently in the press regarding phlegms awesomeness. I find my self constantly drawn back to the subject of phlegms awesomeness. Until recently considered taboo amongst polite society, spasmodically it returns to create a new passion amongst those who study its history. Often it is seen as both a help and a hinderence to socialists, trapped by their infamous history. With the primary aim of demonstrating my considerable intellect I will now demonstrate the complexity of the many faceted issue that is phlegms awesomeness.

Social Factors

Society is our own everyday reality. When blues legend 'Bare Foot D' remarked 'awooooh eeee only my dawg understands me' [1] he failed to understand that if one seriously intends to 'not judge a book by its cover', then one must read a lot of books. While deviating from the norm will always cause unrest amongst ones peers, phlegms awesomeness raises the question 'why?'

Did I mention how lovely phlegms awesomeness is? Just as a dog will return to its own sick, society will return to phlegms awesomeness, again and again.

Economic Factors

Economics has been defined as 'I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.' To my learned ear that sounds like two people with itchy backs. We shall examine the Custard-Not-Mustard model. For those of you unfamiliar with this model it is derived from the Three-Amigos model but with greater emphasis on the outlying gross national product.

The statistics make it clear that phlegms awesomeness is a major market factor. Seemingly transport costs world wide are driven entirely by phlegms awesomeness. Strong fluctuations in investor confidence have been seen over the past two financial years.

Political Factors

Politics, we all agree, is a fact of life. Comparing the electoral politics of most Western and Eastern European countries is like comparing the two sides of phlegms awesomeness.

To quote that most brilliant mind Elijah B. Adger 'Man's greatest enemy is complacency with regards to personal and political hygiene.' [2] Considered by many to be one of the 'Founding Fathers' of phlegms awesomeness, his words cannot be over-looked. I feel strongly that if politicians spent less time thinking about phlegms awesomeness and put more effort into their family life, that we would have a very different country.

Why did phlegms awesomeness cross the road? - To get to the other side! Just my little joke, but lets hope that phlegms awesomeness doesn't inspire similar hilarity in the next elections.

Conclusion

In my opinion phlegms awesomeness has, and will continue to be a major building block for the world in which we live. It inspires, it stimulates and never hides.

I will leave you with the words of Hollywood's Courteney Clooney: 'It's been nice educating you.' [3]

[1] Bare Foot D - Classic - 1967 Stinton Records

[2] Adger - Politics Per Day - 2000 Jinder Publishing

[3] Everything you always wanted to know about phlegms awesomeness, but were afraid to ask. - Issue 287 - QKS Publishing

I definitely, 100% wrote this, and did not simply use an automatic essay generator until it gave me one with the right word count.

soccymonster

Me or deise?
John or edward?
What would you order in a chinese?
Favourite type of cheeseeee? GAA, yay or nay?

almostnever

The old reliables:

What's the best piece of advice you were ever given?

Best compliment you've ever received?

5 things you like about yourself?

Languages you'd love to learn to speak?

Any fears/phobias?

Any interest in politics?

Are you ticklish?

What do you do when you need cheering up?

Pet peeves?

Guilty pleasures?

Bottled water,yay or nay?

Proudest achievements?

Best "mistake" you've ever made?

What inspires you?

How would your friends describe you?

Do you dream in colour?

Pygmalion

soccymonster wrote: »

Me or deise?
You, no deise, no you, no Jedward, no deise, no deise, no you, etc. etc.

John or edward?
Stephen Fry

What would you order in a chinese?
Generally I just go for the old reliable chicken curry and rice

Favourite type of cheeseeee?
I'm going to be boring as hell and go with Red Cheddar, not a huge fan of the stronger ones.

GAA, yay or nay?
Nay

I'm not sure I can answer almostnever's right now, they're really hard, all I can come up with for pretty much all of them is "No idea". I'm thinking hard though

syncosised

What was the first useful program you made (i.e. no Hello World!)?

Opinion on recursion?

Do you drive yourself crazy trying to be an efficient coder?

What programming languages do you have some experience in?

Favourite branch of mathematics?

What course are you doing? It might make your reasons for nerdiness clearer to me! :P

Pygmalion

almostnever wrote: »

The old reliables:

What's the best piece of advice you were ever given?
No idea, probably something like "Don't worry about the LC" or something generic and boring, which I then took to an extreme and used to justify spending my time on the internet instead of studying

Best compliment you've ever received?
No idea, as a man I care not for such things, all I can think of is a few "You're pretty awesome/hardcore"s at the moment

5 things you like about yourself?
Five, god.
Well I seem to be able to eat all I want and not get fat.
That's pretty much all I could say without feeling like I'm being arrogant or something

Languages you'd love to learn to speak?
German and Irish fo' sho'.
There's some others I think it'd be pretty cool to know, like Old English, and Esperanto, but would be so useless that it wouldn't be worth the effort, and which I'd probably get bored with after 5 minutes.

Any fears/phobias?
Does being afraid of talking to girls count?

Any interest in politics?
Kind of, I can't be bothered keeping up with most of what happens though, 99% of discussions about "politics" are really just people taking national or international decisions personally and resorting to crappy insults.

Are you ticklish?
Unfortunately, yes. Not as bad as some people though.

What do you do when you need cheering up?
Go on internet and talk to people I don't know at all, or only half-know?

Pet peeves?
People who say "could care less" without realising that they sound like idiots.
People who think they know more about a subject than they do, even worse when you get them acting like a smug bastard like 99% of them do.
Competitive people, competitions are supposed to be a bit of fun, yeah it's nice to win but I have no idea how the hell anyone can take that much pleasure in being better than someone else.

Guilty pleasures?
Lots of crappy music mostly.
I went through a Lady GaGa phase a while back.

Bottled water,yay or nay?
I'm going to say nay due to the massive waste of money and amount of rubbish generated (ironically those who drink bottled water, IMO, tend to be the type to go on about the environment).
but sometimes if you're out and just want some water it can be handy.
Really though people should probably just get their own re-usable bottle and fill that up before they leave, as long as their tap water isn't too bad, or they have a filter for it.

Proudest achievements?
No idea, a couple years back I was messing around with a Bejewelled clone game and added a few features, emailed the changes to the author and got them put into the next release.
Quite a nice feeling when you update to the next version and see stuff you've written included with the game. Hurrah for Open Source I guess.

Best "mistake" you've ever made?
No idea (Yup, I told you that was my answer to all of these).
Probably just one of those mistakes we all make where you end up learning tons about the subject at hand in the process of fixing the mistake.

What inspires you?
Nothing, I have no motivation or inspiration
Really though most of the stuff I do I just do for fun, not for any long term gain or anything, so not sure if that could count as inspiration, and any crazy ideas I get just come either from nowhere or from just reading about stupid stuff online

How would your friends describe you?
No idea, nerdy, super awesome, perhaps insanely attractive?

Do you dream in colour?
I was about to answer yes to this and then realised I have no idea, I can remember a few of my dreams but can't say with 100% certainty that they were in colour.
I'm going to say probably

syncosised wrote: »

What was the first useful program you made (i.e. no Hello World!)?
I made a couple of really bad PHP sites at one point, one was a blog but without a database, just saved posts to files and included them :P.
Second one had a database but was still really badly written.
Wouldn't consider either of these useful though, it was just how I learned PHP (and SQL in the case of second one).
I wrote a nice little graphical program in C++ to do Trading, Profit and Loss things in business studies in 2nd or 3rd year, was also hilariously awful, but saved time. No menus or buttons or anything, just a badly designed table, as you filled in numbers it'd calculate for you and fill in the totals.
Again, not very useful though

Opinion on recursion?
I'm not a big fan of it, but it definitely has it's uses.
If you can be sure the stack has enough space it can be a good solution, and if you use a lookup table for previous results it can be fairly efficient in a lot of cases (Like using a lookup table with a recursive fibonacci sequence makes it pretty much O(n) if I'm not mistaken).

Do you drive yourself crazy trying to be an efficient coder?
Yes, to be honest I think the main reason I don't get programming done very much is that I hate the idea of starting a project without having everything planned out perfectly, which of course means I don't start it ever :P.

What programming languages do you have some experience in?
I would be fairly comfortable writing something in C++, although I don't consider myself anywhere near an expert on it.
After that probably comes Python and Java, which I've used a bit (Java for the last year in college, Python mainly just to do Project Euler problems) but like I'd consider myself a complete beginner in these.
Other languages which I have used minimally are PHP, Javascript, Assembly (tiny, tiny amounts, couldn't write anything in it tbh) and have glanced at LISP.

Favourite branch of mathematics?
Oooh, graph theory of course, also a fan of Calculus. I don't claim to actually know anything about either of these, just that they're awesome

What course are you doing? It might make your reasons for nerdiness clearer to me! :P
Computer Applications in DCU

Those took longer than I'd anticipated

phlegms

Pygmalion wrote: »

I definitely, 100% wrote this, and did not simply use an automatic essay generator until it gave me one with the right word count.

I don't know whether to be disappointed or impressed. Maybe a little of both?
But regardless, I still love you :pac:


Moar questions?!


Whats your favorite thing about being a filthy nerd?

Your favourite linux distro?

If I were to put a linux distro on my netbook what would you reccommend?

Is their any software you would pay for?

A Neurotic

If you were to set up a donkey sanctuary:

Where?

How many donkeys?

Talk me through your typical daily regime in caring for the donkeys.

Would you name the donkeys? If so, what?

Can donkeys have beards?

Pygmalion

phlegms wrote: »

I don't know whether to be disappointed or impressed. Maybe a little of both?
But regardless, I still love you :pac:


Moar questions?!


Whats your favorite thing about being a filthy nerd?
The respect and admiration I get from people like you.

Your favourite linux distro?
Arch, it's lovely, and rolling release which is good because, as ashamed as I am to admit it, I use a big bloated, pretty DE (KDE) and this means I can keep it up to date, unlike in Kubuntu.
The fact that it's so minimal and llightweight makes me feel bad for putting KDE on it though.

If I were to put a linux distro on my netbook what would you reccommend?
Dunno, I think most of the major ones have a Netbook remix (Ubuntu and Kubuntu do), you could also try Arch but can be a bitch to set up if you don't know what you're doing

Is their any software you would pay for?
I tend to not do the whole "paying for software" thing, since in 99% of cases you can get something much better for free, and the other 1% of the time the non-free application in question is so ridiculously over-priced it would be impossible to afford anyway (Mathematica is over €3000 for individual use, Photoshop seems to be hundreds too).
Games seem to be an exception to this, not much good free ones out there and they're reasonably priced and usually great quality. Althugh few can compare to Nethack, I don't play much games though.

That said, thinking of taking up the offer of Microsoft Office for like €50 for students at some point, I don't use Office software much but realistically it does kick OpenOffice's ass and might as well take advantage of it, free upgrade to Office 2010 when it's out too it seems.
So might as well get it when I can still get it at a semi-reasonable price.

God I should stop procrastinating and do my Programming.

Pygmalion

A Neurotic wrote: »

If you were to set up a donkey sanctuary:

Where?
I have a decent sized garden in Wexford, like 2/3 of an acre, could fit a few

How many donkeys?
As much as could fit comfortably

Talk me through your typical daily regime in caring for the donkeys.
I would wake up, look out the Window and realise that they're all still alive, then I would get on with my day

Would you name the donkeys? If so, what?
I would name them all after C&H members, crudely painting on the names and avatars so I can tell them apart from the others at a distance, I would try and match them up as close as I can from appearance. For example the Donkey that looked the most like Boxxy would be Aoibheann.
I would constantly talk to them about the posts their namesakes have made in C&H recently in the hope that they would acquire the personality of the posters they represent, and could serve as temporary replacements if the real people ever took a break from Boards.

Can donkeys have beards?
Only the Donkeys representing myself and Soccymonster

It's hard to think of things to write here.

KnifeWRENCH

How devestated were you to learn that the guy you had an argument with in a pub in Cork wasn't actually me?

What pub was it? If you can't remember the name, whereabouts in Cork was it?

What advice would you give to someone who doesn't know the first thing about computer programming but would like to learn?

Did you expect something interesting to be hidden behind this spoiler?

Are you disappointed that it didn't contain anything interesting?

Are you also disappointed that the previous spoiler was also quite uninteresting?

............

Tell me, Pygmalion; is your life just a series of constant disappointments?

jumpguy

How would you sum yourself up in 10 words?

Have you had any particular challenges entering 3rd level so young?

Do you comb your beard?

When did you decide to grow your beard, and how long did it take, and why?

What did your CAO form look like? Are you happy with how it turned out?

Favourite science: Physics, chemistry or biology? (You can't say computer science)

Most prized possession?

Do you prefer to work alone or with people?

conor@laptop:~$: find -name 'witty_questions.txt'

Well that didn't work.

What's your favourite application of graph theory?

Who is your favourite mathematician or computer scientist and why?

What is your biggest interest outside of maths or computer related areas?

Do you more or less agree with the following graph?

Pygmalion

KnifeWRENCH wrote: »

How devestated were you to learn that the guy you had an argument with in a pub in Cork wasn't actually me?
Very, I cried a little.
So little that there was no tears and minimal emotion but still crying

What pub was it? If you can't remember the name, whereabouts in Cork was it?
Lancastar (Like, with a Star where the 'A' should be, could also have been Lancaster but the star didn't look like an 'E')

What advice would you give to someone who doesn't know the first thing about computer programming but would like to learn?
No idea really, I learned really slowly and sporadically over a fairly long period of time.
I'd recommend starting with C or C++ as a language because you'll learn more about how the computer actually works, rather than just how the specific language you're using works.
Also best to deal with Pointers from the start, rather than getting used to programming without them and then trying to "unlearn" what you've been doing in the easier languages.
If you do want to start with something easy go with Python IMO, should be tons of tutorials around.

Also stay the hell away from Java as a first (or second, or third etc.) language IMO, it has it's followers and I won't claim to be an expert, but IMO it just seems like all the difficulty of C/C++ with few of the benefits

Did you expect something interesting to be hidden behind this spoiler?

Are you disappointed that it didn't contain anything interesting?

Are you also disappointed that the previous spoiler was also quite uninteresting?

No.
No because I didn't get my hopes up.
No.

............

Tell me, Pygmalion; is your life just a series of constant disappointments?

You know me so well

jumpguy wrote: »

How would you sum yourself up in 10 words?
Pygmalion is a pretty cool guy, eh answers questions and

Have you had any particular challenges entering 3rd level so young?
Not really, I'm not social enough to encounter the problem of not getting in, and the beard does the rest of the work

Do you comb your beard?
I do not, although I was told to start today before it gets out of control

When did you decide to grow your beard, and how long did it take, and why?
I didn't so much decide to grow it as I simply got fed up of shaving, I have no idea when it was, but it was after my debs, so earliest it could've been was late August, and I don't believe any DCU people know what I look like without it, so it must have been there by the end of September

What did your CAO form look like? Are you happy with how it turned out?
1st place: CA in DCU (My current course)
2nd place: EC in DCU (On second thought this would've been ****, but my intention was to try and switch into CA)
3rd-10th place: Haven't got a ****ing clue, I believe TCD and UCD Comp. Sci were 2rd and 4th but not sure what order. Prob TCD then UCD.

Favourite science: Physics, chemistry or biology? (You can't say computer science)
Out of those 3, physics.
If mathematics counts then that instead.

Most prized possession?
No idea, laptop I get the most use out of.

Do you prefer to work alone or with people?
Alone, definitely. Working with people irritates me.

Deleted User wrote: »

conor@laptop:~$: find -name 'witty_questions.txt'

Well that didn't work.

What's your favourite application of graph theory?
Oooh, there's tons, not sure if it counts as an application, but graph colouring fascinates me, it kinda blew my mind to realise that Sudoku and register allocation in compiling programs are actually the same problem.
The classic "shortest distance between two points on a map" and "fastest way to escape a maze" stuff still gets me every time though

Who is your favourite mathematician or computer scientist and why?
No idea, so I'm going to go with Turing because of the bad-ass-ness of breaking German codes, and the whole thing about him being like the first comp. scientist (apart from like Ada and Babbage I suppose :P)

What is your biggest interest outside of maths or computer related areas?
I dunno really, that's a hard one, I suppose the obvious stuff like Movies, TV shows and Music but I doubt I'd be any more interested in those than any other people, perhaps even less so.
Languages fascinate me but I don't have the attention span to properly learn anything

Do you more or less agree with the following graph?

Yes, although I'm not sure if that rate will be sustained

Generic text

Jay P

Pygmalion wrote: »

Generic text

+1 on Turing.

Are you religious?

Thoughts on:

• Snooker - Fascinating in the way they move the balls around the table, or boring
• Stephen Fry - Genius or super genius
• Sarcasm - Highest or lowest form of wit

Favourite drink?
Least favourite drink?

Are you on any other forums?

Pygmalion

Jay P wrote: »

+1 on Turing.

Are you religious?
No, not at all.

Thoughts on:

• Snooker - Fascinating in the way they move the balls around the table, or boring Pretty boring
• Stephen Fry - Genius or super genius Super Genius
• Sarcasm - Highest or lowest form of witHighest, of course

Favourite drink?
Hmmm, Coke perhaps, I dunno
Least favourite drink?
Anything with Vodka in it makes me feel horribly sick, bad experience etc.

Are you on any other forums?
Not actively

a

jumpguy

Best experience of your life?

Konata

What kind of epic question should I ask you?

jumpguy

If x is y and y isn't x, then what's y?

jefreywithonef

Don't you hate pants?

Since you mentioned Project Euler in another answer, how far are you along in it? I've just started the problems.

Do you need tea/coffee/orange juice in the morning to get going or do you just launch into the day?

Pygmalion

Just waking up now

jumpguy wrote: »

Best experience of your life?
No idea, seriously.
I think up there was the whole "**** yeah I got more than enough points to get into DCU". Despite the low points requirements there was still a stupid part of me thinking I'd ****ed up the LC.

Hotaru wrote: »

What kind of epic question should I ask you?
Anything you want, but preferably something easy.

jumpguy wrote: »

If x is y and y isn't x, then what's y?
First thought that popped into my head as I read this was "An adjective", also "a set" but then I suppose it would've been "If x is in y"

Monzo wrote: »

Don't you hate pants?
Yeah, thankfully I'm not wearing any now

Deleted User wrote: »

Since you mentioned Project Euler in another answer, how far are you along in it? I've just started the problems.
I've done 69 of them, but haven't done any since *checks* 02 Apr 2010 12:20 am.
Need to go and get more of them done but perhaps it's good for my studies if I wait until Summer. I have a few that seem straightforward bookmarked.
I've done the Sudoku one before on an old account but I'm thinking this time it'd be more fun to just do them on pen and paper :P.

Do you need tea/coffee/orange juice in the morning to get going or do you just launch into the day?
Nope, not really, I'm not a breakfast person or anything.