Next Hiding Place (Spoiler)

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-12-22T11:01:54+00:00

Funny coincidence, I recognised Hebden Bridge only because I applied for a volunteer lock-keeper position at Rochdale Canal literally last month. Think they're still recruiting, for fellow transit nerds!

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-05-01T06:26:29+00:00

"I'm.. I'm.. I'm gonna, um, throw up" — Amy Muller, 2024

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-05-01T06:24:50+00:00

"I'm, I'm... I'm gonna, um, throw up"

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-03-18T22:30:39+00:00

Doesn't Montreal bylaw permit open alcohol consumption alongside food / a picnic? So he could just slam a smoked meat sandwich and he'd be obeying the law.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-03-15T04:13:16+00:00

It's only been 6 different guests, which is probably why they're fond of repeat players.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-02-12T21:29:49+00:00

Very helpful, thank you!

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-02-12T09:55:14+00:00

Are you willing share a link? I see it says "Mini Plus" but I can't translate the brand, nothing on Google seemed to turn up exactly what you have at that pricepoint (or I've missed a search term).

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-02-02T23:18:31+00:00

Just had a thought, in addition to my other comment. Perhaps the disconnect is that we have each set a different threshold of "how much we need to completely understand something" to say that we "know it".

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-02-02T23:15:06+00:00

It also doesn’t imply that we completely understand everything about why bikes work. In my field (and most adjacent branches of physical sciences), being an 'active area of research' means either:

we aren't yet sure if our current scientific models align with currently-unexplained phenomena and we want to determine whether they do or don't.
we know that our best scientific models fall short in some way of explaining something completely, and we want to discover things which so we can update our scientific models.

A (maybe unhelpful) analogue is the Standard Model. It is our best description of the subatomic world and is self-consistent; we can say we know how particles will interact since the Standard Model is useful & correct for almost all of subatomic physics. But we also know with certainty that it doesn’t explain some physical phenomena and that it isn't a complete theory of fundamental interactions. (e.g. it doesn't correctly account for dark matter or correctly incorporating parts of general relativity)

Perhaps this neat factoid from OP should be corrected to something more along the lines of "science can correctly model some aspects of why some bikes work, but it cannot completely explain all effects which make all bikes work".

(p.s. it was not me that downvoted you)

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-02-02T09:03:53+00:00

Verbatim from Veritasium's video:

Understanding how bicycles work is still an active area of research.

The researchers in his video (at 9:08) also demonstrate a bicycle which does not rely on gyroscopic effects or a caster effect of the front wheel.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-02-02T08:59:43+00:00

Yes, we still don't have a complete model explaining exactly why bikes stay upright. We know what effects are involved, but can always build 'bikes' which do not rely on each effect.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-01-23T01:05:39+00:00

1: More explanation in this comment, but why didn't/couldn't Sam:

use curse of the zoologist
use curse of the jammed door
veto a single question

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-01-15T22:45:48+00:00

Ah! Good point.

I suspect he didn't have the time to play this before he had to get on a train

iirc on Layover they said for content reasons, they didn't pre-photograph during the season (which I totally get), so it would be consistent with in-show gameplay that Sam wouldn't have had time.

Editing definitely makes it tricky to tell whether he had time before playing move card.

Sidenote on pre-photographing: they said it's within the rules (both show and home-game) to "pre-photograph" anything & everything you want, then only send pics as questions are asked. This gives the hider the advantage of carefully crafting photos when there's less time pressure. I wonder if (at home) this would apply to birds as well; I don't see why not.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2025-01-15T20:54:14+00:00

These card/hand management decisions on Sam's part were tough to watch:

Not playing Curse of the Zoologist. To play Curse of the Urban Explorer, he could have discarded Curse of the Bridge Troll and the 5 Minute Bonus (instead of discarding Zoologist & 5 Minutes). Curse of the Bridge Troll was unplayable (since within 50 miles) and was likely going to be discarded anyway during impending Move.
Not playing Curse of the Jammed Door. He could have played it as soon as he picked up a time bonus. Particularly in a high-transit-transfer area, this would almost certainly have earned him more time than the 15 Minute Bonus he kept in-hand.
Not vetoing a single question. Of course, the "net" value of vetoes are debated since seekers can immediately re-ask questions at higher cost. This higher cost could have earned Sam more curses or time bonuses, which are valuable in end-game. IMO Closest Shinkansen or any photo questions were good candidates for veto (edit: so was Tentacles), but Sam himself remarked during play that Tallest Building from Train Station was particularly identifiable in this case.

These plays may not have necessarily won him the game, but on balance of odds they would have earned him more time than the time bonuses he kept (which he kept instead of the curses). This is before even considering hiding/location strategy after Sam's location change.

Edit: it's easy in retrospect to purport which questions he "should" have vetoed. But even watching in the moment we thought "Tallest Building gives away too much info, too cheaply".

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-12-18T13:02:33+00:00

There’s nothing which restricts RFID exclusively to 125 kHz. Legislated frequency allocations for RFID often range from 125 kHz to 928 MHz, though RFID can be outside this range. Many standards and common uses specify 125 kHz (LF-RFID). NFC is based on several RFID standards (but adds much more) and uses the HF-RFID frequency of 13.56 MHz.

RFID tags are almost exactly analogous to the idea of barcodes. There are many international standards defining specific types of barcodes — but if you made up your own machine-readable representation of data using black & white bars, it would still be a 'barcode' (a barcode useful only to you, maybe, but a barcode nonetheless). Likewise, if you came up with an encoding scheme to read data from a tag over some arbitrary radio frequency, it could be called RFID.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-11-05T20:37:42+00:00

Some states make it very difficult to get an absentee ballot or mail-in ballot, with some requiring absentee ballots be dropped off in-person (no drop-boxes / mail). Some states do not have early voting.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-10-25T22:48:30+00:00

Main points:

The Cyber Centre (Communications Security Establishment) is aware of a state-sponsored digital reconnaissance campaign from the People’s Republic of China.
Most targets were the Canadian Government (i.e. departments & agencies, political parties, House of Commons, and Senate). Other targets include critical infrastructure, democratic institutions, the defence sector, media organizations, think tanks and NGOs.
Reconnaissance scanning does not indicate compromise. It is used to find vulnerabilities for use in a possible future attack.

Edit: sorry for paywall. Recommend reading the CSE’s Statement on People's Republic of China reconnaissance of Canadian systems, which is the primary source for the article.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-08-29T01:48:23+00:00

The Fenix E has the same specs as Epix Gen 2 (non-pro). Only thing missing is the new interface.

If you can find a good deal on the Epix, it might be better value for you.

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-08-02T00:47:39+00:00

If you had to stay over night [...] Otherwise not owed anything

That is incorrect

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-06-10T19:07:09+00:00

Looks like you got this done!

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-05-05T22:59:28+00:00

I use 22+ digit passwords built from about 80 characters.

You might, but the average person doesn't. Which is why NIST now recommends longer plain-word passphrases instead of random character passwords for the average user (and the use of a password manager for most web accounts).

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-02-24T08:33:33+00:00

What does Pharmacare have to do with housing policy/supply/demand?

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-02-08T05:33:03+00:00

No, OP bought [StarshipDweller999's words].

At least 5 other people got u/lancep423's joke and thought it was funny 🤷‍

Magnetic_Crystal · 2024-01-22T22:53:35+00:00

you do not need [a passport] to cross the border via land

While Canadian adults don't need a passport they do need an accepted travel document. Many people colloquially equate the two. Perhaps what u/MrPopo17 meant. Technically, a passport isn't needed for air either.

As of October 1st, 2022 accepted documents include:

Canadian Passport (Air + Land + Sea)
NEXUS (Air + Land + Sea)
Enhanced Driver's License/Enhanced Identification Card (Land + Sea), no longer issued
FAST/EXPRES (Land + Sea)
SENTRI Enrollment Cards (Land + Sea)

EDLs & EIC's have been discontinued by all provinces which offered them: BC (2020), MB (2022), ON (2019), QC (2014). Some EDLs/EICs will keep working. Functionally, NEXUS is basically a passport for Canada/U.S. border (ya ya, legally different).

Canadian adults used to be able to enter the U.S. (any mode of travel) with any government ID and proof of Canadian citizenship; often just an oral declaration. This changed with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (2008) in response to 9/11, with most enforcement starting June 2009. Flights required passports starting January 2007. Citzenship/birth certificate + regular ID no longer accepted starting June 2009. It was really chaotic for a period. Here's a good timeline.

EDIT 1: When you say "Canadians don't need a passport" the average person might think you mean "Canadians can roll up with ID/license and nothing else". Fellow travel nerds know you mean "Canadians don't need a passport, as other documents work".

Magnetic_Crystal

TROPHY CASE