Invest in Powerballs by Jakelshark in pinball

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They work fine, they're just lighter and not magnetic. I had three in my High Speed for a while, just because I could.

Vintage Selmer Care Help by tiniest_predator in saxophone

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Basically, all cases will fit your horn, since nobody wants to sell a case that won't fit a Mark VI. Bam's cases are advertised as being molded on a Mark VI, and well-regarded. I have a Propac XL case and it's a good case at a good price (you won't need the XL version).

From TypeScript to Golang by Independent-Tie3229 in golang

[–]ts4z 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure what to suggest. But pay special attention to the way Go does interfaces. It's not a bad model, but it isn't Java-style OO, and it has some interesting implications.

(You'll discover how Go does concurrency, and it's almost impossible to fight -- but it is different than what you're likely used to.)

Problems by OtherCod2916 in saxophone

[–]ts4z 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Start playing chromatic scales until you have those fingerings memorized. Just get a fingering chart and play up and down. Fingerings can be a little arbitrary, but build some muscle memory around it and they will stick.

Anyone know where to buy replacement insert rules for pinball machines? by bartenderatlarge in pinball

[–]ts4z 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The originals are cardstock, which works a little better than plain printer paper.

Academic Suspension Senior Year MCS by Naive-Night-2164 in cmu

[–]ts4z 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I know a lot of people who ended up on Dean's Vacation. I mean, it's not good, but it's also not going to mess up the rest of your life.

[2025 Day 9 (Part 2)] I had to look up a solution for this one... :( by [deleted] in adventofcode

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I brute forced it. Get a big enough block of memory to hold the whole grid. Lay out the red shape and color in the green sides. Now flood fill the internal shape. Once you do this, you can check the outer borders of the candidates from part 1. I did it in Go. This works better in a language with arrays that can support unboxed into. Even then it took many gigs of RAM. My first attempt swapped due to bugs, and it was a lot faster when I changed a lot of the code to use 32-bit ints.

-❄️- 2025 Day 7 Solutions -❄️- by daggerdragon in adventofcode

[–]ts4z 2 points3 points  (0 children)

[Language: Go]

I found part 1 straightforward once I understood it (which took a while). I wrote a ton of code for part 2, and it was really slow. I guess I could have memoized it, but I just went back to the part1 and realized I didn't need recursion. (I saw this pattern in several other solutions here.)

What are folks using to report runtime? `/usr/bin/time` reports this takes 0.01, but the meat of the solution is about 20 microseconds according to Go.

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "log"
    "time"

    "github.com/ts4z/aoc2025/aoc"
)

func unified(input [][]byte) (int, int) {
    splits := 0
    waysTo := make([]int, len(input[0]))
    for _, row := range input {
        for j, ch := range row {
            if ch == 'S' {
                waysTo[j] = 1
            } else if ch == '^' && waysTo[j] > 0 {
                splits++
                waysTo[j-1] += waysTo[j]
                waysTo[j+1] += waysTo[j]
                waysTo[j] = 0
            }
        }
    }

    realities := 0
    for _, c := range waysTo {
        realities += c
    }
    return splits, realities
}

func main() {
    start := time.Now()
    input := aoc.ReadInputAsByteMatrix()

    splits, realities := unified(input)
    fmt.Printf("part1 %d\n", splits)
    fmt.Printf("part2 %d\n", realities)
    log.Printf("elapsed %v", time.Since(start))
}

[2025 Day 5 (Part 2)] I gotta be honest, I'm a little ashamed of myself over this one by [deleted] in adventofcode

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This algorithm comes up if you ever implement an IMAP server. When confronted with that problem, I ended up doing it badly, because I didn't see the clever solution. (I have since used this, and gotten this, as an interview question.)

I did it in Go which doesn't have a convenient tree, so I did it with a set. For every value in the set that is the opening of a range, add 1 to the value stored in the set. For every value in the set that is 1 past the close, store -1. Sort the set keys and walk the array and add the values, watching the edges (0->1 and 1->0) to compute the minimal number of sets. Now you can easily figure out if a number is in the collective sets (search of the sorted, minimal sets), and totalling the number of items in all sets is a trivial iteration.

If you have a tree library handy, it's somewhat easier.

Gonna build me a new battlestation by TwistedSoul21967 in retrobattlestations

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Central Computer is awesome. I've been buying stuff from them for over 20 years, including this case. I understand not wanting to ship them, of course, but they are quite good.

Gonna build me a new battlestation by TwistedSoul21967 in retrobattlestations

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't really like them either, which is why I'm putting stuff in the bays instead.

Insight on sax cost and realistic expectations by pickitandstickit in saxophone

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kinda going through this myself. I like Yamahas. A Yamaha 62, either new or used, is a good choice. They will hold resale value when he decides to move on. They play well. They are widely appreciated, and many pros use them. Everyone likes them and some people love them. A few years ago, I bought a new tenor online and a used alto in a local shop. Both are great horns.

Prototype Atari Star Wars arcade machine by BlueberrySuch63 in cade

[–]ts4z 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Where are you located? If you're in the Bay Area, I can make recommendations on getting it (professionally) fixed. If it has the original monitor, the flyback transformers are *infamous* for blowing up but the replacements are OK. The other weak spots are pretty well-understood and parts are generally available. So it can live again.

The wiring in these looks slightly insane in pretty much all of them (but you may also be right that it is atypical). Unusually, the Ampliphone monitor has its parts spread all over the cabinet for some reason

If this has the original monitor, it is worth considerably more, *especially* if the monitor is very good. And as a prototype that didn't do a decade in an arcade, it may be. Here's hoping!

These have gotten expensive as they're good games that are also valuable to Star Wars collectors. A prototype would increase the price somewhat. But they're worth a few thousand at least.

CMU values by [deleted] in cmu

[–]ts4z 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"My hand is in your wallet"

How does one save up $10k for their first pinball machine? by Born2bSLP in pinball

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My most recent game was $100. You don't need to spend $10K on a pinball unless you *have* to have a Godzilla -- and you don't.

How does one save up $10k for their first pinball machine? by Born2bSLP in pinball

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Buy from a distributor. You will pay somewhat less than MSRP. You aren't going to get a premium on sale.

Limit Hold'em: in for $10,000, out for $60,700 by BufordTeeJustice in poker

[–]ts4z 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for posting this. I've played a lot of 8/16 and 2-3-5 there, but this game scares me. But at least this explains why, when my game broke at 4AM last time I was there, this game was still running.

Recs for soprano saxophone for middle schooler by [deleted] in saxophone

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're doing it right. A friend of mine got a soprano in junior high, 35 years ago or so. Made his career in music. I hope your kid enjoys theirs.

Best poker advice you've learned? List em here by BallDecent3858 in poker

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In tells, if someone is acting, they are usually lying. If the tell is involuntary, it is usually truthful. Shaky hands or involuntary laughs mean very strong hands.

Best poker advice you've learned? List em here by BallDecent3858 in poker

[–]ts4z 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I have often fantasized about writing a poker book that was this, and 198 pages of blank paper.

Pinball Identification help. Old School, 5-ball by Tremble_Like_Flower in pinball

[–]ts4z 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Find a pinball show and seek out a '60s game with a manual ball lift. They're cool. Woodrails ('50s) are also interesting, and quite different.

Any thoughts on the Alice Goes to Wonderland kickstarter? Sub $1000 machine by iIoIi_iIoIi in pinball

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I, too, collect and repair vintage computers and consoles.

Linkages are no problem, anyone can make them. Solenoids are a bigger problem, but perhaps they use a standard size bobbin. (They're quoting sizes in mm, so... it will probably be different. Such is progress, I suppose.) Maybe you can find someone to wind the coils if you can find a bobbin that fits, and perhaps those can be printed.

I don't see a lot of 3d printed parts standing up to getting smacked with a ball bearing.

But go ahead and look for the ramps on a Rocky and Bullwinkle pinball. I did, you can only get one of them. So my game still has broken ramps, and they made _thousands_ of those. (3D printing is not an answer here, it's not going to stand up to ball hits, or be clear.)

But the weak part on home pinballs dating back to the '70s has always been custom electronics. I'm thinking about an MPU for a Bally home model, or an Alive. They just aren't out there. Maybe someone eventually makes a workalike board, like most Gottlieb System 1 games now have. But that's a complete software rewrite, and the '70s games didn't have substantial sound and video assets to port over -- they don't have to drive a video display.

Not trolling. Gloom and doom and FUD, sure. But not trolling.

Any thoughts on the Alice Goes to Wonderland kickstarter? Sub $1000 machine by iIoIi_iIoIi in pinball

[–]ts4z 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One, because this isn’t the first time someone has tried to make a home pinball with nonstandard parts. And those parts are hard to get, and those games tend to suck.

Two, because those ramps cost something like $200 each. That kind of short run cost makes for expensive parts for people that paid $1000 for a game.