unclevlad

OK, test #3. Run test 2...reset the target # to the char SPD at the start of each "turn". 1: 0.2952 2: 1.608 3: 5.3305 4: 12.1406 5: 19.3412 6: 22.5223 7: 19.33 8: 12.1035 9: 5.3749 10: 1.6128 11: 0.2909 12: 0.0238 First number is # of actions the char would get. Base SPD was 6. Second number is % of time they get that many actions. Ran 1,000,000 trials here.

I just went with the method described. There's no limit mentioned. The target number starts at your SPD. Roll. <= the target number, you can act. > the target number, bump the target number for the next phase. In this approach, you *have* to be able to act more than your SPD during a turn *at times* because you may well act fewer times in some turns. Say you have SPD 6. You roll 8, 8, 2. Action 1. 7, 9, 3. Action 2. 10, 8, 4. Action 3. 9, 11, 3. Action 4. Only 4 actions in that turn. If you can't get 7 or 8 later, you're getting hosed. And that set of rolls isn't *wildly* unlikely. Missing your first 2 would happen 5 out of 24 times...so call it 1 in 5. Now, losing *2* phases would be pretty rare, but losing 1...getting only 5 actions...probably wouldn't be. Oh. Lemme point out...the way I computed the numbers above, ONLY reset the test target number when the test passed. It did NOT reset after a turn. Doing so would drop the effective SPD by a bit. For this test, tho: 1. Run "phase 1" to "phase 12" as a trial. 2. Reset the target number to the SPD (used 6) at the start of each trial. Run all 12 phases. 3. Count the number of phases the char would've been able to act. 4. Then, in how many turns did the character get fewer actions than his SPD? Answer was about 38-39%. Ran 100,000 trials.

Insane is too mild. Partisan politics 20 years ago wasn't *as* divisive, but it was still very nasty. 9/11 absolutely unified the country. I can't recall anyone who really objected to the invasion of Afghanistan; I'm sure that there were dedicated anti-war adherents who didn't *like* that it was happening, but even there, I'd think most understood and didn't get vociferous. And how many remember The Night bin Laden Died? And Obama's announcement. It was an assassination, carried out by the government. The shout of approval and relief was enormous. It was totally amazing. I don't believe I cried...but it was close. It was soooo intense. If Russia dropped a nuke anywhere on US turf now, with Biden president...first thing would be that the right-wing talking heads would blame Biden for being soft. BUT at the same time, they'd be leading the call for a full-on counterstrike. The declaration of war would be drawn up, passed, and signed within hours...potentially purely by acclamation. Anyone who thinks otherwise is totally clueless.

It's gonna depend on what "standard character SPD" is. If it's typically 4-6, then the net effect is that the effective SPD is about a point higher. SPD 7 or higher, it's getting hard to notice. I'll leave it to everyone to decide for themselves whether this is considered a positive or negative. I am thinking that in many cases, I wouldn't buy beyond SPD 5 without darn good reason. I'm getting 6 actions a turn as it is. My consideration might be that I like high-mobility characters. When not on phases, the base SPD is presumably the controller, so that affects your actual non-combat, distance-travel running or flight speed.

First thing I thought was, yeah, this could get to be horrible for someone with a low SPD...we've all had terrible stretches of rolls. So adding 1 sounds good but...what does that do? So I wrote some quick test code. First number is the nominal SPD. The second number is the effective SPD...how many times per turn, using this method, the character would act. These are chopped to 2 places. 1: 2.97 2: 3.62 3: 4.32 4: 5.06 5: 5.86 6: 6.67 7: 7.5 8: 8.38 9: 9.26 10: 10.15 11: 11.07 12: 12.0 So this benefits LOW speeds more than high speeds. Granted, the higher speeds get an edge, but it's damped for SPDs we'd commonly expect. Note in particular SPD 2 vs. SPD 5, or 3 vs. 6. Just something to note, if you're thinking of using this approach.

Well, let us not restrict family infighting to the NFL. The Baltimore Orioles are owned by the Angelos family. The patriarch, Peter, is 93 now; medical problems left him disabled in 2018. He had a (somewhat) younger wife and 2 sons. The younger son is suing, claiming the elder has squeezed him out contrary to his father's wishes...in part by turning the mother against the younger son. THIS one really, really looks like a yellow snowball fight. Really nice billable hours, tho....

To paraphrase Locutus, in this playoff season...prediction is futile.

Catwoman

If they keep the 10-team playoff structure, which IMO is absurdly too many, but the league seems to love it... 2 divisions of 8 suggests that top 3 in each division make it; next 4 make the play-in. OR, top 2 make it. Next 2 best records make it. Next 4 into the play-in. Depends on how much you emphasize division vs. conference. That might be scheduling. 4 divisions of 4, you probably have to auto-qualify ONLY the division winner. Which I like somewhat less. With divisions of 4, there will be *bad* divisions. I was looking at Orlando earlier. They won their division a few years back, at 42-40. 7th seed, lost in the first round. It would be slightly more geographically balanced to put Boston in your Lakes division. They're not that far from Toronto. Putting Atlanta isolated them from 3 other southeastern teams, so it feels a radical shift. That said, breaking up those classic Eastern rivalries would be a big issue too. Your division breakdown shows the issue tho, very nicely. Overlay those onto a map, and look how *little* room there really is in the Western Conference for another team. Overall, except possibly swapping Boston and Atlanta, those divisions look to be very good. Until of course, the next franchise move.

Just seen on ESPN bottom line... The sister of the Chargers owner Dean Spanos is suing to take over the family trust, which owns over 1/3 of the club. The main claim is tied to the massive expenses from the move to LA, devaluing the trust. I thought I'd seen this before, but what I'm thinking might've just been speculation that something like this would happen. The suit also includes claims of misogyny. It is apparently *rather* nasty overall.....

I was guesstimating. Almost wrote "couldn't see it without a high-power microscope"...but wasn't sure. Lessee..... Yeah...density estimate of a neutron star is in the range of 4-5 x 10^17 g / cc. So we're talking ~ 10^-16 cc, or a cube of about a micron on a side. Adequately small... This of course, begs the question, how many angels could dance on that cube?

Given that the Republicans will resist changes strenuously, and will invoke "FREE ENTERPRISE!!!!" loudly...and will fight in legislatures and the courts, and challenge new techniques through the approval process...getting anything done is all but impossible. Note that it's not just diabetes. Mylan and Pfizer settled EpiPen overcharge claims with sizeable settlements...probably pennies on the dollar, tho. EpiPens were going for $600 a pop...when it should cost $10. Oh, and parents whose kids needed em? They needed to get one for use at school. And their shelf life is...6 months. So you're looking at 4 a year, even if you don't use them. Heck, look at the mess in trying to get the oxycontin lawsuit settled. Too many parties, too many interests, too much money, so it just drags on and on and on. Our judicial system was built on trying to be fair, to avoid a tyranny of the majority and to assure both sides can be heard. Problem is, smart lawyers have flipped that, so those mechanisms are used to be completely obstructive.

Interesting point brought up on a Michael Smith (ex-ESPN) podcast. Trevor Bauer got a 2 year suspension for his actions. The NFL's discipline decisions have a different basis, but the Watson situation feels very similar. Giving MUCH less could turn into a PR nightmare.

The PGA-LIV kerfuffle continues. Interesting take on what may be a big factor here: https://sports.yahoo.com/pga-tour-vs-liv-how-the-masters-holds-the-key-to-future-of-golf-192021259.html

I expect the NBA will expand. An NBA franchise doesn't need as large a base of support as MLB (biggest) or the NFL (franchise costs are SO much higher). The stigma against Vegas is probably mostly dissipated. The town supports the Golden Knights; 6th in attendance, at 104%. (How? I have no clue. But still, 18,000+ per game.) And Seattle might well have the inside track for the other, because the league still has a guilty conscience about the Sonics bailing, I think. If they do 2 far-west teams, they'll have to ship 1 team to the Eastern Conference. And realign. 2 divisions of 8, per conference, or 4 divisions of 4? Western expansion options are somewhat limited, and it may well be the case that Vegas is simply the best choice. NorCal has the Warriors, and is pretty heavily saturated (2 baseball, 1 hockey). SoCal, forget it. Even San Diego would be pushing it, I think. Seattle's penciled in already. Portland's got one. SLC has one. Denver has one, and is saturated. Phoenix is out. Texas is out, with teams in Dallas and San Antonio. By population, you're dropping down to El Paso (forget it), Vegas, ABQ, Kansas City. (Colorado Springs is probably too close to Denver.)

Or to distill Cancer's...randiness.

To no one's surprise, Oklahoma finished off the dream season, beating Texas 10-5 to take the WCWS. From the ESPN story: Bold mine.

I suppose, but a pinhead doesn't exactly create a stunning visual.

Ah, sorry. Should've realized my interests take me places not everyone goes... And I'm a little surprised it came up that way. For anyone interested, the project name is Density Cubes.

I'll admit it's not cheap, but I think it may interest some of you. Metal density's something that can come up. I have nothing whatsoever to do with the project, altho I might back it yet. I just think it's a cool visual exemplar.

"Kentucky Fried..................WHAT??!!!?!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!"

ice cream parlor they don't deliver, and those Uber Eats fees are killers...

It's a consequence of things opening back up, combined with the exceptional mobility of the virus. I've noted that multiple broadcasters have been out due to it, for example. Travel's a big factor, I suspect. Had to get a crown on a back tooth that was starting to crack. This was in a window when it was possible, so I just got it done. The dental office took more than normal precautions, plus, every dental visit I've had, the personnel were all wearing masks. Covid is actually, I suspect, the *lesser* risk. I had to have my upper right front tooth pulled a few years ago...and get a bone injection because the socket was in bad shape. AND this was during a thoroughly MISERABLE, hard-core periodontal cleaning. (Yeah, I screwed up for years, and this was the bill coming due.) Antibiotics before. Antibiotics for a few days after. Periogard (prescription antibiotic mouth rinse) for a couple weeks. Because everything there was basically one big, semi-open sore just *begging* to be infected. So they're taking all precautions to prevent that. Covid's just an add-on. It might be prudent to wear a mask for a while, when you're out...that's if you're not doing it anyway.

Escaping the egg farm (baby killers!!!!)

Vlad the Impaler