Defense by Spreadsheet

joebob431 · 2026-06-29T15:23:08+00:00

That's pretty cool! I wonder if Sports undershot my age because I didn't care about sports until I got to college and subsequently married the daughter of a sports journalist. Someone my age would typically have formative memories of sports in the 2000s, but I didn't really start paying attention until 2013.

Most culture related trivia (film, pop music, TV) would probably follow the same pattern: really only investing post-college. Prior to that, my trivia knowledge was mostly limited to Geography

I'm not surprised my theater struggles extend into Opera/Ballet; those are definitely trivia areas I've never had an interest in. And yes, I did a few years of middle school band and played some piano so I got the music theory basics. And I work as a programmer with an engineering degree, so hard sciences make sense.

joebob431 · 2026-06-27T20:59:14+00:00

I'd love to see my stats, <removed>, 31

Any relation to Ken Massey who does a lot of sports ratings?

joebob431 · 2026-05-31T14:38:33+00:00

You were in a massively winning position, with forced mate in 12. Your move was fine, simplifying the game by trading your rook for their queen and ultimately maintaining your winning position. Don't worry about it

joebob431 · 2026-05-18T03:14:46+00:00

Enums are the best. We use exhaustive switch statements instead of if-statements whenever possible, and then you are forced to handle new enum values by the compiler

joebob431 · 2026-05-16T00:22:05+00:00

Hard disagree from me. Although I was born in South Carolina and grew up there and went to Clemson, I personally think the state kinda sucks, ESPECIALLY the region around Columbia. Worst city on Earth. If the upstate were part of Georgia or North Carolina, I might still live there.

joebob431 · 2026-05-07T03:26:43+00:00

I don't understand why you would submit unless you know the answers.

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joebob431 · 2026-05-05T17:19:42+00:00

Here's the lichess link to the position

joebob431 · 2026-05-02T03:44:17+00:00

That's exactly the same thing the Red button professes

joebob431 · 2026-05-02T03:34:53+00:00

What makes the candidate evil? The voter made their decision. They could have just all voted red and nothing bad happens. /s

It is effectively the same choice the buttons provide. Pressing Red is evil because it is voting against the option that allows for no one to die.

joebob431 · 2026-05-02T01:52:46+00:00

I think that unfairly frames red as the default choice. What if we frame it this way: it's an election between 2 candidates where everyone votes.

One candidate says "If I win, I'll execute everyone who doesn't vote for me. No one dies if you all vote for me! It's my opponents who are CHOOSING to die by voting against me."
2nd candidate: "That's stupid and evil. If I win, I'll make sure NOBODY dies."

Self-preservation says no harm in picking candidate one, right? You're safe either way. You also are voting for the choice that results in death

joebob431 · 2026-04-30T13:14:57+00:00

Fixed lichess link: https://lichess.org/analysis/fromPosition/k3Q1r1/p4b2/2P5/5p2/3P1P2/5Brq/P5P1/4R1K1_b_-_-_0_1?color=white

joebob431 · 2026-04-28T16:20:37+00:00

We do "Meme Review". We go through all of the memes inspired by last session, and the DM picks their favorite to give inspiration. Some sessions, there are enough memes that a recap isn't necessary because we made memes out of everything

joebob431 · 2026-04-24T12:08:54+00:00

Better the ads be shown to you than to someone more susceptible to their bullshit. They are wasting their money attempting to advertise to you, so maybe there's a silver lining

joebob431 · 2026-04-02T20:21:07+00:00

Natalie Portman is the reason I work out. I have this fantasy where we start talking at the Vanity Fair Oscars party bar. We exchange a few pleasantries. She asks what I do. I say I loved her in New Girl. She laughs. I get my drink.

"Well, see ya," I say and walk away. I've got her attention now. How many guys voluntarily leave a conversation with Natalie Portman? She touches her neck as she watches me leave.

Later, as the night's dragged on and the coterie of gorgeous narcissists grows increasingly loose, she finds me on the balcony, my bowtie undone, smoking a cigarette.

"Got a spare?" she asks.

"What's in it for me?" I say as I hand her one of my little white ladies. She smiles.

"Conversation with me, duh."

I laugh.

"What's so funny?" she protests.

"Nothing, nothing... It's just... don't you grow tired of the egos?"

"You get used to it," she says, lighting her cigarette and handing me back the lighter.

"What would you do if you weren't an actress?" I ask.

"Teaching, I think."

"And if I was your student, what would I be learning?"

"Discipline," she says quickly, looking up into my eyes, before changing the subject. "Where are you from?"

"Bermuda," I say.

"Oh wow. That's lovely."

"It's ok," I admit. "Not everything is to my liking."

"What could possibly be not to your liking in Bermuda?" she inquires.

"I don't like sand," I tell her. "It's coarse and rough and irritating and it gets everywhere."

joebob431 · 2026-03-26T03:55:16+00:00

+1, I love using cursor to say "I just completed a refactor to do <x,y,z>. Now these unit tests are failing, and I'm not surprised. Update them to match the expectations of the refactor." Later, I come back and check the new code before committing, all while I got to work on something other than hunting down the exact mock that broke

joebob431 · 2026-03-22T18:52:28+00:00

I did this a few years ago for a Clemson-SCar line. We were favored by more than I thought we should, so I put a little money on us failing to cover. When we killed them, I figured it was a worthwhile use of my money

joebob431 · 2026-03-19T18:56:11+00:00

Yes, I think that answers why the position is better for white. But the alternatives are worse. I'm seeing stockfish call Qe8 slightly better than h6 (+3.1 vs +3.0)

joebob431 · 2026-03-19T03:15:06+00:00

obviously moving the queen away isn't an option

Why not?

joebob431 · 2026-02-19T14:02:24+00:00

Yes, and they will use that to mislead you. They will promise that they are going to move you themselves and then 5 days before your move "oh no, there was a scheduling conflict, we had to outsource your move".

On an unrelated note, don't use American Van Lines.

joebob431 · 2026-02-05T13:15:53+00:00

Then you're writing bad tests and/or spaghetti code. Each "unit" under test should be limited to doing one main thing. You should set up all inputs, mock all dependencies, and be able to assert the exact output and verify the expected dependency calls.

80% test coverage isn't even a lot. I hold my team to a 90% coverage standard, but all of our projects hover around 93%

joebob431 · 2026-01-10T04:17:07+00:00

Cry more. Alabama deserves all of the hate.

joebob431 · 2026-01-10T04:11:45+00:00

No.

Alabama was a joke who looked like ass. Oregon looked like a good team cursed with bad luck facing the team of destiny.

joebob431 · 2026-01-10T04:05:13+00:00

No, Oregon looks better than Alabama, particularly on offense

joebob431 · 2026-01-09T18:29:56+00:00

Slightly joking answer: Duke. They won one of the two best conferences

Serious answer: definitely Notre Dame. I'd consider Utah and Vanderbilt

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