by scribe | Feb 20, 2014 | off-topic
My ISP tells me it’s been more than 24 hours since the last spam from my account. They think (knock on wood) that the problem has been fixed. So you can once again submit comments and you shouldn’t get taken to a nasty-looking “Forbidden” page....
by scribe | Feb 19, 2014 | Chess Lecture, current news, off-topic
I’ve been told that the spam coming from my account started up again, and so my Internet service provider has once again been forced to block comments on my blog. The blog does appear to be the source of the problem, because the spam stops when they put up the...
by scribe | Feb 15, 2014 | current news, off-topic, Uncategorized
There was a period of about 24 hours when comments were disabled on my blog. What happened is that somebody figured out a way to send out spam that appeared to be from my blog. To get to the root of the problem the comments had to be disabled for a while. The problem...
by scribe | Jan 22, 2014 | chess clubs, off-topic, ruminations
Yesterday at the Aptos Chess Club one of the kids asked me, “So what do you do for a job?” In 17 years, it’s the first time I’ve ever gotten that question! One reason, I think, is that kids are pretty self-centered, and they don’t have a...
by scribe | Jan 13, 2014 | current news, literature, off-topic
Today the New York Times Numberplay blog features a card game that I co-invented, along with a mathematical problem: What is the best strategy? Here are the rules for “Stern-Mackenzie One-Round War.” The game requires three people, one of whom serves only...
by scribe | Dec 6, 2013 | literature, off-topic, ruminations, tournaments
A few of you might remember a post I wrote last year about a really cool math problem that a friend sent to me. For those who don’t remember, here it is again: Two chess teams are going to play a chess match. The best players on each team are supposed to play on...
