memory lane [09 Nov 2009|12:46am] strategery I have a folder on my server full of old garbage photos. I got a kick out of some of these. I've uploaded most of them at various points in time, but they've since disappeared. ( old photos you've probably seen before ) post comment

Bruce Schneier interview [08 Nov 2009|10:46pm] evwhore At CNET: [on e-mail encryption] Nobody intercepts e-mails to steal credit card numbers or learn corporate secrets; instead, they break into servers and corporate networks and get at those e-mails before they're sent or after they're received. E-mail encryption doesn't protect against that threat at all. The primary risk to the data is when it's at rest, not when it's in motion. Ubiquitous hard drive encryption improves security much more than ubiquitous e-mail encryption, and good network security is even more effective. That being said, we now know that the NSA vacuums up all sorts of electronic communications, e-mail included. So maybe it would be a good idea for all of us to routinely encrypt our e-mail. But since most corporations don't regard the NSA as a threat--they're supposedly on the side of the good guys--defending against them isn't high on a CSO's (chief security officer) to-do list, even CSOs of international companies. Don't people care about their privacy? Schneier: Of course they do. Survey after survey demonstrates this. What you really want to know is why, if people care about their privacy, do they continue to give up their privacy in return for what seems to be so little? The answer to that question is complicated, and psychologists are not studying it sufficiently. In short, though, it has to do with immediate vs. long-term consequences, the fact that privacy is something people don't notice until it's gone, and how salient privacy is when the decision is being made. What do you think are the most serious legitimate threats to consumer privacy? Schneier: Marketing. The legal collection, storage, resale, and reuse of personal information. Information brokers are doing more to hurt consumer privacy than anything criminals or the government can do. And, even worse, the government can buy information from them, and criminals can break into their databases. post comment

ZOMFG [08 Nov 2009|10:36pm] evwhore via badastronomy, click here Now. MARS, BITCHES! post comment

Spidurtweets [09 Nov 2009|12:04am] spidurman 01:30 @caitycaity np. I've seen PLO games where 3 of us whip it out. Kinda funny # 21:05 @caitycaity np. First time for everything ;) # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter post comment

This is simultaneously hilarious and stupid [08 Nov 2009|08:13pm] evwhore Or perhaps it is merely a witty commentary on contemporary mores. Vorshtein? http://twitter.com/big_ben_clock post comment

I have GOT to get Phoenix on this list [08 Nov 2009|08:06pm] evwhore After all, he's 17, he should start thinking about college and what he wants to do with his life, unless he just wants to live at home lying around sleeping in all day like some loser. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cats_with_fraudulent_diplomas via boingboing: "Skeptics who believe that a university is actually a diploma mill often prove their point by enrolling their cats in the university's program and seeing whether the cat can get a degree. Some enterprising Wikipedians have assembled a list of several such cats." 6 comments|post comment

Babies Begin Learning Language In the Womb [08 Nov 2009|07:57pm] evwhore http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105092607.htm "The findings suggest that infants begin picking up elements of what will be their first language in the womb, and certainly long before their first babble or coo." Quoting a study: "The dramatic finding of this study is that not only are human neonates capable of producing different cry melodies, but they prefer to produce those melody patterns that are typical for the ambient language they have heard during their fetal life, within the last trimester of gestation." post comment

Why I prefer a treadmill [08 Nov 2009|11:44am] whipartist Several people have told me I'd be better off running outdoors than on a treadmill. Here's why I prefer the treadmill: - It's a smooth, regular surface without possible holes, rocks, and other things to trip on. It's also made for running, so it's not as hard as pavement. - I generally run late at night. My living room is well-lit and free of two-legged critters who might do me harm. - My living room is climate-controlled and well-lit. - With a treadmill I have a predictable, repeatable experience, and both the controls and metrics for that are at my fingertips. As a corollary, the pace-change indications are in front of me. "Run until 17:30" is easy. - Having small-bite progress markers in front of me keeps me going. An open trail thart didn't have very closely-spaced counters of some sort wouldn't work as well for me. I know that most people would be quite the opposite in this regard. - My entertainment options are more varied, and don't require me to carry anything or wear headphones. - If I injure myself, and I think this is a matter of when rather than if, help is more accessible. The only downside I can see is that it requires a functioning treadmill. I can cause that to happen again with time and/or money, and likely not too much of either. I don't imagine myself ever being a social or organized runner, so that's no issue. Did I overlook anything? 17 comments|post comment

No Chop [08 Nov 2009|01:16pm] njchick Joe my colorist and Sandy haircutter of 20+ years decided it was best not to chop since I have come such a long way from when my hair was really short this past winter.  So Joe worked up his magic and gave me the most beautiful honey/caramel highlights and Sandy gave me bangs and cleaned up the ends.  My hair acutally looks even longer now that they did their work! Since I was in my old hood' of Bergen County, I swung on over to see the sister and my niece and treated them to dinner.  My sister is very bogged down with the college search for Juliette and they actually are now leaning towards SUNY Stony Brook as they fell in love with the campus on Friday.  She's also applying to Penn State (College Park) and SUNY Purchase.   I really want her to go to my school, University of Arizona -- but Mom wants no part of that since she's witness some of my girls gone wild acts...one of these days I will post some pics but I have to find some that don't involve drunken debauchery. I dipped my toe in the online arena very briefly with a FT cash in a MTT PLO8.  I played a really solid tournament with no mistakes and no steaming.  Also played some Limit Hold Em since I am trying to put my mind back on track for Hold Em vs. Hi/Lo thinking.  There was a time back in 2003-2005 when I was playing ALOT of Hold Em in the underground NYC clubs and had much success.  Small steps...and seriously it was very interesting to try to re-learn/re-think Hold Em when u think your opponent has a wrap with 18+ outs...LOL. My goal for 2010 is obviously to play more tournaments and less cash games. I found one of my weaknesses in Live Cash play especially in the Omaha games in Atlantic City is that I know everyone and I'm quite friendly/chatty.  I have to STOP doing this because it really took away from my concentration and quite honestly made me more predictable/self inflicted errors.  I realize this much more now having taken 2 leaps back and I think it will be a huge detriment to my game if I continue....So other than ARG events where I want to be social and jovial....I will clear the mechanism, put on the headphones and go back to being non-verbal rock. I have a HUGE undertaking at work the next 6 months.  More to follow since I can't say much...it's all good and to think how these past 365 days have transpired being laid off from my * dream job* at Sansar Capital...I am due for a really really good 2010 with a new role/promotion and a promising future with financial security at a world-class Firm in the best venue (New York City).....I truly am very fortunate for the rewards work has bestowed on me this year....I swear if I didn't immerse myself with work in times of need, I would have never gotten through the personal hits I took this year.... Speaking of rewarding myself when the opportunity strikes, I am seriously thinking of when my lease is up on the Solara Converstible I might trade up/treat myself to the Audi TT Convertible  in 2011...METAL!!!!!!!   The Porche 911 is for my 50th Birthday but I don't want to rush that...... ********Oh and jacksnfiveis coming visit me next month....we will be down at the Borgata and Taj Christmas Weekend and New Years Weekend....mark your calendars and come play with us!!!!! 15 comments|post comment

Math is Hard...for the Administration [08 Nov 2009|10:06am] rcfox As you are all probably aware, the unemployment rate went up to 10.2% in October. If you go to this link, you will see a chart that shows the unemployment rate as predicted with and without the stimulus that passed early this year. With the stimulus, the unemployment rate was predicted to be at about 7.5% in October; without, about 8.9%. Let's just say that the Obama Administration made some errors. As noted in the above link, the Administration says (a) the stimulus is working as intended; (b) we'll be living with high unemployment for some time; and (c) everything is Bush's fault. I do agree with item (b) but the others are just spin for the naive. You can't blame the former President one year in--you have to start taking responsibility. Even the MSM is starting to notice. Today, a column by Glenn Garvin notes The Obama Administration's War on Math. Garvin notes the Edmunds study (the cost of the "Cash for Clunkers") and Jake Tapper's cost of the stimulus. There's more, but you should read the whole thing. Mr. Garvin's conclusion is dead-on: "Obamamath, on the other hand, is the poetry of pork." I'll end with a little note about the elections of last week, and something I didn't know. Charles Krauthammer notes in his column that the change in Virginia is quite meaningful. White House apologists will say the Virginia Democrat was weak. If the difference between Bob McDonnell and Creigh Deeds was so great, how come when the same two men ran against each other statewide for attorney general four years ago the race was a virtual dead heat? Which made the ’09 McDonnell-Deeds rematch the closest you get in politics to a laboratory experiment for measuring the change in external conditions. Run them against each other again when it’s Obamaism in action and see what happens. What happened was a Republican landslide. 6 comments|post comment

Reading is Fundamental [08 Nov 2009|07:38am] rcfox A poker post -- there haven't been many of those this year -- as I've been with business. Anyway, I'm in Vegas staying at the Venetian and enjoying life. I decided to play the deep stack donakament on Thursday (after driving in that morning). I held few cards, my steals generally didn't work, and everyone else at my table got cards. That's donkaments. On Friday I tried again. For a change, my cards were still generally bad but my steals did work. When I got called having raised with trash I was either hitting flops or my continuation bets generally got me the pot. With 2/3 of the field gone, I had an average stack. I get moved to a new table with some big stacks and small stacks (no reads on anyone). On my first hand at the table a woman two to my left makes quads and gets paid off. I'd like to do that. Instead, after paying the blinds (600/1200/200), I make a button raise (folded to me) to 3300 with AcTc. The big blind moves all in, for 10k or so and I call. He has TT, but I make both a straight and a flush to knock him out. On the next hand I get my fourth pair of the day: AA. From the cutoff I rai to 3300, the bb defends. Flop is JhTh5c (I have the Ah). I bet 4100, he check-rai to 15k, I shove, he thinks and calls and shows....J4O. We have about the same amount of chips. I have to fade 5 outs twice, but I don't (4 on turn). Sigh...After five minutes with two floors counting our chips he has 100 more than me and I'm out. I played cash yesterday. I had my choice of 1/2 or 2/5, but when I get to the room the 2/5 games look like a pro-fest. For reasons that will become obvious, I had no desire to get up from my 1/2 seat. I watch a bad player spew $750 (minimum), and the table is loose-passive. I get to see a lot of flops with junk (for nlhe). Key hand 1: I have J5s in the sb. 7 or so limpers (game is 10-handed), I throw in the $1, bb checks, so 9 of us see a flop of J53r. I bet $10, he rai to $30, and I call. Turn is an 8; I check, he bets $60, I check-rai him all-in, and he calls and shows 53. He thinks he hits an out when the river is a 5.... One other interesting hand. I really didn't get many big hands, but here I did. I have KK in the sb. Again, a bunch of limpers (say, 5); I rai to $20, first limper check-rai to $60. He's pretty deep (say, $400; I have him covered). I'm certain he has QQ+, AKs, and I'm 95% certain he has AA. Still, being a donkey, I decide to see a flop and call. The flop is KhQdJh, and I'm a lucky donkey. I check, he bets $60ish, I call. Turn is 3c. I check, he bets $75, I check-rai him to $175, he calls. River is Qh. I bet enough to move him all-in, and he goes into the tank. Well, he doesn't have QQ, so he most likely has AhAx. After 4 minutes or so he folds them face-up. He turned out to be an excellent player. I end the session +$700ish, so that made up for the donkaments. I'm reading hands really well, and that makes me happy. I've got to do some work this morning for a client, then it'll be back to the cardroom. post comment

best use of the meme [08 Nov 2009|12:58am] strategery feel free to discuss, but you're probably not going to change my mind. post comment

Foxwoods main event, Day 3 [08 Nov 2009|01:10am] terrencechan Well, if you told me going into the day that I'd end with 760k, I'd have taken it. But I actually went on a rush very early and got up to 860k by the first break, winning a QQ/AK race, then flopping a set against aces. My peak was 1.3 million or so when I played a big pot against Soheil, but then doubled him up when he flopped trips (with 82o in a raised flop, heh) and now he is the chip leader again. Anyhow, I'm pretty tired and don't feel like blogging too much about this, and I also played too many hands to remember and detail them all in any reasonable way. I guess you could click my tag on the WPT website if you were really that curious. But I'm having a lot of fun and am only 21 players from my first televised major final table! Yay! 7 comments|post comment

Spidurtweets [08 Nov 2009|12:03am] spidurman 14:10 Another day another PLO game # 14:34 RT @mjosephb: Go Go Go RT @tchanpoker 860k. No really. This is kinda fun # 17:05 @scsuhockey10 ssssh spoilers suck # 20:16 @caitycaity ???? # 20:23 @caitycaity ahhh now I'm curiously confused. # 20:24 @caitycaity now I placed him. I gave him lots of money # 20:28 @caitycaity we are solid and good game # 20:33 @ken_fischer apparently we played together today. TWas fun. (Todd aka the 1 seat) # 20:46 @abostick59 probably worth it though! # 21:01 @caitycaity near tournament podium btw # 21:37 @caitycaity and I got to introduce myself to Ken lol. # 23:25 @caitycai ty played with him last two days. And his mom today # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter post comment

Half-Dead Power Supply? [07 Nov 2009|08:19pm] markgritter My gaming computer bricked: no lights, no fans. Naturally that led me to be suspicious of the power supply. The little Shuttle boxes are packed quite tightly so it was not entirely straightforward to get the power supply extricated. But when I did, I noticed that it made a little sparking/clicking noise when the power was applied. Also, all the +12V outputs seemed to be between +6V and +8V. So, diagnosis confirmed. Fortunately I was able to just look up the power supply model number on Google and find many people willing to sell me a replacement. I was also able to confirm that falling voltage is a common symptom of failing power supplies. But, I'm not clear from an electronics perspective why that should be. I've put together a switching power supply or two from components, but just DC-to-DC. My gut feel is that the order the components would fail in is: (1) fan, (2) "switch", (3) rectifier, (4) capacitor, (5) inductor. But I don't quite see how a switch failure would still provide DC current, just not enough. Maybe it's the capacitors that tend to go first, and thus they don't hold enough charge to reach the desired voltage. I wonder if anybody has done a study... maybe I should ask Patrick, our platform guru. Or my father, an electrical engineer. ETA: I found this rather dense and jargonish PDF presentation from IBM. Their failure percentages are: ~30-35% MOSFET (amplifier?), 10-15% Choke (inductor), 10-15% Driver (switch?), 0-5% Ceramic (capacitor), 0-5% Poly (poly-propylene capactior), < 2% Fan. So I guess I was totally off base on fans and inductors. post comment

Dear collective conscience: I ran [07 Nov 2009|04:42pm] whipartist I just spent some time in the hotel's fitness center running. I finished W2D3. With a bang, and not a bad one like the last time I tried to it. My current pattern is a five minute warm-up, followed by 90 seconds of running and 120 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes, then a five-minute cool-down walk. Usually, I can do the first half of the workout OK but the last couple of runs of a session kick my ass-- I barely make it through, and I really have to push myself for the last 20 seconds or so of each segment. At the end, I feel like I'm ready to keel over and die. Today, I made it through the fifth segment without problem. I made it through the sixth 90-second run without dying and thought to myself, "Well, let's see what happens." I kept running for another 30 seconds. And then another 30. And then I looked at the clock and decided to stop, because I have to meet someone for dinner soon. Note: I decided to stop. So I managed to make my last 1.5-minute run a 2.5-minute run, and I feel fine. My hip is a little bit sore, but it was sore before I started so I can't manage to care about that. P.S. This is where it gets scary. I'm thinking of getting up early so I can run again tomorrow before my flight. Please send the dudes in white coats pronto. I've said this before and I'll say it again. HOLY CRAP! With what the fuck? sprinkles on top. Oh, and I did the running segments a little bit faster than I have before. I don't think it really makes a difference, though, because it just means a slightly longer stride. I'm not actually working harder. 3 comments|post comment

Fish. [07 Nov 2009|02:31am] hgfalling Our fish died today. It was a betta that we've had for three years or so. That fish was awesome. It lived through two weeks with the heater at 50 in the winter. It lived through murky tank water, probably not being fed for several days in a row. It evaded the cats. It was pronounced dead by one of us at least ten times, but always came back to full health, swimming around and flaring its gills when you would look at it funny. The fish was a warrior. Also, check this video out: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4628040&categoryid=2378529 2 comments|post comment

Foxwoods main event, Day 2 [07 Nov 2009|12:58am] terrencechan This morning, as I was in the shower, I thought to myself, "it'd be nice to like, 10x my stack today." Turns out my expectations were too low! It's not often you get to go from 30k to nearly 400k on the second day of the tournament, but good things happened. All of the next three hands happened in the first (400/800/100) level. Big hand #1: I raise to 2100 from middle position with 22 and get two callers. One has just moved to the table with a ton of chips. The flop comes A82 rainbow, they check to me, I bet 3000, the guy with lots of chips check-raises to 9k, I call. Turn is a 5, he checks I check. He asks me for a count as the river is dealt (24000ish) and puts me in, I snap-call, and he says "nice hand". Up to 72k. Big hand #2: Really aggressive guy raises to 2600 early, button calls, I make it 10500 with KK, original raiser folds, button calls. Flop is Q76 with two hearts, I bet 11k, he moves in for his 60k, I call. He has Ah8h and I fade everything. Up to 110k. Big hand #3: AK opens from middle position, I 3-bet with AA, he shoves, I call, I hold. Up to 185k at the first break! I only had one more big pot the entire day. In the 500/1000/100 level, I open to 2500 with Ks6s and am called in three places. Flop is AsJcTs, checked to me, I bet 6k, player on my immediate left raises to 16k, all fold, I put him in for another 45k. He thinks for a while and calls with AT. I hit a spade on the turn and a queen on the river, just to put the punctuation on my run-good. That took me to 267k. The rest of the day was pretty calm. I don't really remember how I went from 260k to 394k at the end of the day. The rest of the pots I won were quite small. I called a 2-barrel from Christian Harder that added another 20k to my stack, but really, I don't even remember how I accumulated chips, which is nice. I guess I 3-bet a bunch of times and was never called, and I never really lost a pot of significance. I hope to do more of the same. Weird funny hand: On the last break of the day, a crowd gathered around the one remaining hand still going. I came over to look at a T42 rainbow flop, and all of Jason Mercier's chips in the middle against a single opponent. It is a very big pot; the bet was effectively for over 100k and there was at least that much in the middle. The guy facing the bet starts trying to extract information from Jason. First, he asks, "will you show if I fold?" Jason does not answer. After another minute, he says "will you show your aces if I fold?" Then a few more minutes go by -- at this point we are over seven minutes into the break -- and he asks, "will you show your aces if I fold my kings?" Finally eight minutes into the break he releases his cards. Jason immediately perks up, "you had kings?" pointing to the unprotected (and still unmucked hand). He then gives the guy a disgusted look and says "right, you had kings. You're wasting my fucking time." It was really funny. Annoyance: At one point the ace of spades was dealt on the river and we noticed it was really bent. So we asked the floor for a new one. The dealer puts in the new deck and we continue playing; the floor gets us (what we thought was) a new ace of spades. Then on the next dealer push someone shows down AA and again it is pointed out that the ace of spades is bent. We ask the floor to replace it. The process repeats. After the next dealer push I am dealt the As5h early and muck the 5. I leave the As in front of me face down. It is so bowed the middle of the card is not touching the felt. I say, "anyone want to guess what card this is?" I can't believe the floor had the gall to give us back the same card *twice* and just think we wouldn't notice or care. We're playing for nearly a million dollars and they can't bother to get a new card fro a $3 deck. Praise: For playing five 90-minute levels with no dinner break! I'm now quite convinced this is how all tournaments should be. Anyway, I am hoping for someone really bad with a lot of chips sitting to my right tomorrow. Based on plays I've seen, I know that there are some of them still left in the field. :p In other news, poker is fun and exciting again! 2 comments|post comment

Spidurtweets [07 Nov 2009|12:04am] spidurman 12:15 Sitting at 2/5 again see how this goes # 13:10 I hate it when they suck out on my 95o # 13:39 Been runner runnered three times so far lol. Kmn # 14:40 PLO time. Prob be most same game as Wednesday # 14:41 Three floor people all look right at me the second they call it lol # 17:22 It's 4/8 from the Wednesday PLO game. Getting pissed at the nit jokes. Time to start stealing # 23:30 Racked up. Good game had enough in play that the risk/reward wasn't ther e anymore # Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter post comment

[06 Nov 2009|10:08pm] strategery The morning I first set foot in regulatory compliance, one of the state government agencies had just disapproved one of our filings with a few minor corrections in mind. It took them a whopping 62 days to respond, so they had to approve whatever we had filed: they missed their own deadline (deemer clause). The problem of state insurance department employees not knowing their own rules is more common than I thought it would be. Jobs report sucked. Santelli's "how is this better than six months ago??" line was golden. This weekend will be spent doing projects and watching competitive Halo. 6 comments|post comment

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