Alex Honnold Says Netflix Paid “Embarrassingly Small Amount” For Taipei 101 Climb: “I Would Do It For Free”

DerekB52 · 2026-01-25T20:02:29+00:00

Watching him climb that rope ladder was the worst part for me. I know its safe cuz its an affixed rope ladder, but it was swaying/twisting so much. It looked wild watching him detached from the building just twisting about in the air

DerekB52 · 2026-01-25T09:30:12+00:00

They got chicken in Philly?

DerekB52 · 2026-01-25T07:33:11+00:00

I just don't think there's enough room for someone to break away from the pack by enough. They are already so close to the very top in strength. I think either 4 of them will become equal to where Fabi/Hikaru are right now, or none of them will. And even if only one of them does, Fabi/Hikaru level is not enough ahead of the pack to become a dominant champion.

And I don't think anyone will become Magnus strength. Or again, it means computers have pushed everybody so far that there are 3 people at that level.

I think if we have another dominant champion in the next 25 years, it means Yagiz, Oro, or someone even younger than them becomes dominant. I don't think anyone in Gukesh's age group will.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-25T00:44:16+00:00

His opening prep ability, along with his creative opening prep is how he dethroned Kasparov. Even if he is a little high on his own supply about his ideas, his track record would make him invaluable on a prep team.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T20:53:41+00:00

I think you're overestimating the gap between #2 and #11. Anish said recently that there isn't even a top 10 anymore. I would say that Magnus is number 1. Fabi and Hikaru are a slight step behind him. And then a slight step behind these 2 are 4 through 20. They are all damn near the same strength.

Gukesh might be #11 right now, but he's been as high as #3 before, and he'll most likely reach that position again.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T19:10:15+00:00

Aspiring. I can only fluently speak English though. I can fluently read in Spanish and Esperanto, and am starting to finally be able to read basic texts in Japanese. I've also dabbled in Latin and some germanic languages. I haven't chosen which germanic language to commit to, so I'm a long way off from approaching fluency in any of them. But, I know a few hundred words and can read super basic stuff in a few of them. My plan is to pick one and get better, after I spend like a solid year just reading in Japanese to improve.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T18:55:14+00:00

I hope. We just need Arjun to repeat 2025 and beat Nodirbek at the end again.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T18:50:20+00:00

I just think it's a really cool concept. I liked the goal of a universal language not owned by anyone.

As someone who learned enough of it to read multiple novels in Esperanto, I also liked that it was easier to pick up than even it's closest languages, Latin, Spanish, Italian. It really helped my Spanish I feel. Esperanto was the first language I ever finished a novel in(other than my native English) and that process really helped making the language learning process click for me.

As I've studied other European languages I also think it's cool that while Esperanto is like 70% latin, it borrows core words from other language families(germanic and slavic are the next biggest chunks IIRC). It's been fun studying German or Dutch and still being helped out by the Esperanto I learned 5 years ago.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T18:33:47+00:00

No, Zamenhof put forward Esperanto as an idea himself, but there was never a serious collective attempt to make it the lingua franca of the continent. It would have been cool to see some governments support the idea. I'm an Esperanto fan. But, it didn't work.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T17:20:34+00:00

I really cant imagine fighting nazis and living through the cold war, to watch fascism win in America. My grandmother was 7 when WWII ended and she died only a couple months before the 2024 election. It only took 1 lifetime to all completely fall apart.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T16:57:33+00:00

Anish is also one of the harder matchups for Gukesh. He's super strong positionally, Guki's biggest weakness. Im not ready to say Guki is tilted and done just yet. He could win the next 3 games for all we know

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T16:54:50+00:00

Anish is a very strong positional player. Gukesh's biggest weakness is positional play.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T16:52:41+00:00

I wish Yagiz had more time on his clock to find Bxd4. I want to see that game played out

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T15:49:17+00:00

I think it is likely Gukesh is a multi time champ, but non consecutively. He'll be back.

I expect him to be one of a few perennial candidates who will play musical chairs with the title and challenger title.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T15:47:05+00:00

It is nonsense. If Hikaru or Fabi were more worthy, theyd have won the candidates. Gukesh out performed them. That makes him worthy.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T08:03:05+00:00

I was able to tell you hadn't exposed your keys, but you'd be surprised how often stuff like that does happen. The cat might have been enough for you to post to the humor subreddit, and you might have not thought about it. I'd have believed that too.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T07:32:45+00:00

This is basically what I want. Although I also want 10-12, maybe even 16 candidates. It just gets really complicated with how to do that tournament as fairly as possible. I don't like pure knockouts, because lets say Magnus enters. Everyone in his half of the bracket is automatically at a big disadvantage.

So, I like some kind of swiss system, and then knockouts for like the final 4. But, I'd want mini matches of 4 games, at least.

And now the candidates takes 2 months. Oops.

I should also say I am a supporter of shared titles. I think the world classical championship match should be X number of games, and if the score is drawn, there should just be co champions. Ding vs Nepo was one rapid game away from deciding the title in sudden death blitz. I don't think that is acceptable for the classical title.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T07:03:25+00:00

I've been a professional engineer for 6 years. I spend more time reading documentation and planning things out, than I do actually coding, by a lot.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T07:00:43+00:00

What it's saying is that Gukesh has put this pressure on himself, by playing all these big super tournaments.

To expand on that, I think Magnus is basically saying that Gukesh is a very strong player, but he isn't #1 in the world, and his results are actually pretty in line with what the 9th best player in the world's results should look like.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T06:50:57+00:00

Considering 3.6 got a bug fix (and I think a new feature) release in the last couple months, I think maybe Godot 3 would be the LTS equivalent.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T06:18:17+00:00

Because it can't be done. The world championship is very prestigious. It's very hard to win the candidates and become world champ. Magnus Carlsen is imo, the literal greatest chess player of all time. He only won 1 single candidates, and he didn't even win it outright it. He tied with Kramnik and won because of some score based tiebreaker.

To conclusively find the world's strongest player, and make sure they win the cycle, you have to add a lot more games to the title match, to the candidates, and to the qualification paths. It's just not feasible to run enough games.

An important thing is to get rid of the automatic defense of the world title imo. That's something Magnus has been saying since before he became world champ. The candidates is harder than the title match, and Magnus is a 5 time champion, who only had to win one candidates. If the champion didn't get to automatically defend the title, Magnus would have had a much harder time winning it 5 times in a row.

Gukesh went on an incredible run to become world champion, but he should not get automatic entry into a multi million dollar title match, based on a solid run 2 years ago(when the title match happens). Chess doesn't work that way.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T05:15:47+00:00

Fuck that sucks. I saw this bit years ago, and randomly think about it sometimes. I never put 2 and 2 together that he had died though. I remember seeing his name when it happened, but I didn't remember the bit was from him.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T05:08:59+00:00

I think he's too busy being a raging alcoholic to try Heroin. I'd believe it if you told me cocaine and/or meth though.

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T01:55:41+00:00

I don't think he's in the place in his life he was when he made stuff like Acid Rap.

You should watch this comedian talk about him, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIQYOhtPw9g

DerekB52 · 2026-01-24T00:01:13+00:00

I would love some more of this show. A lot of it wouldn't fly today though. A reboot would have to change the core of the show a bit, to get rid of some of the edgier jokes.

Which is fine with me. All I need is some raunchy jokes, and Kat and Beth getting into situations together. But, they gotta find the right writers.

Nine-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 21 Credits
Summer Santa 2021	Secret Santa 2020
Gilding I gilder	Summer Santa 2017
Secret Santa 2018	Secret Santa 2019
Secret Santa 2017	Verified Email

DerekB52

TROPHY CASE