My excuses for the delay, here is the final overview of Round 103: As he, I think, already said, Anton Cox is both Judge and Wizard for Round 104. Andre Engels All times are in MET. Players: Name Eligible Till Style Anton Cox *** WINNER *** +4.0 Jason Orendorff Not Eligible +1.0 Nicholson Neisler Not Eligible -2.5 Jeremy D. Selengut Not Eligible 0.0 Ed Murphy Not Eligible +2.0 Others Not Eligible 0.0 Rules: 103:1 Anton Cox VALID +1.5 103:2 Nicholson Neisler VALID -2.5 103:3 Anton Cox VALID +2.0 103:4 Jason Orendorff VALID +1.0 103:5 Jeremy D. Selengut INVALID 0.0 103:6 Ed Murphy INVALID +2.0 103:7 Anton Cox VALID +0.5 Text of Rules & Judgements: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 103:1 > >>>>>>>> > > My parents have just bought a new TV. It is an excellent set, with 100 > channels - but it comes with a nasty Family Retuning Controller. This evil > device is designed to stop us kids watching too much telly, and sounds an > alarm whenever it is misused. > > It is now past midnight, and I want to engage in some channel-surfing > while my parents are asleep. I know that the FRC is hard-wired with several > algorithms that only permit certain sequences of channels to be watched, but > I dont know what they all are! At least I know (from watching my parents) > that one can always begin by watching channel 1. So I have just switched on > the TV (with volume low!) to see what they are showing on that channel. > > Yawn! UK sports update (Football, Rugby and Cricket). Someone hurry up and > change sides before I fall asleep! > > All future contributions must include a description of one new algorithm > by which the FRC operates, and successfully change channels without setting > off the alarm. > > >>>>>>>> VALIDITY: No problems STYLE: Gives a direction to the round, without being too restrictive. However, its restriction seems to encourage adding possibilities ('new algorithms') instead of restrictions (new provisions), which I find a minus. +1.5 still. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 103:2 > ______________ > > > If the current chanel number ends with a 1, then the next acceptable > channel number must be a prime. > > I change channels from 1 to 13. > > _______________ Validity: No problem. Style: Goes off topic as much as possible, boring, also not a very interesting rule. -2.5. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 103:3 > >>>>>>>> > > Phzzzzzzzzz. Channel 13 must have ceased transmitting for the evening, so > I quickly turn to Channel 42. "Friends, Romans, Countrymen,..." - this seems > to be the classic theatre channel. Made up (as so many of these stations > are!) largely of repeats. > > Which reminds me of another property of the FRC; when changing to a new > channel one must always be able to return to the present one. Although > originally intended as an aid to the viewer, my father often curses this > feature (I wonder why...?). > > >>>>>>>> Validity: 13 does not end in a 1. I don't see any other problems yet. Style: Nice. Gets back to the theme, and the restriction is natural & interesting (the latter in the sense that it is one to watch out for in coming rules). +2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 103:4 > >>>>> > > Next, I decided to visit 46, the Florida Rough-housing Channel, where > the Falvoline Rasslin' Championship was just starting to heat up. I > remembered that you can always jump from an arts/entertainment channel > directly to the next sports channel up the dial. > > I had almost hit 64 by mistake, which would have set off the alarm, > because channel 64 is the Naughty channel. Each rule henceforth will > describe another circumstance that triggers the alarm. > > >>>>> Validity: No problem Style: positive: Nice little rule, in the manner in which I would hope them to be after rule one. negative: The arts/entertainment-to-sports rule seems to be of little consequence Doubles the 'must contain an algorithm' restriction of rule 1 slightly Those negative points are of little consequence, though, so +1. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 103:5 > >>>>> > > I soon tire of the wrestling, so I backtrack to 42 where the > "entertainment" is just as boring. I have no more information whatsoever > about how the FRC works, so I guess its experimentation from here on in. > The question is, do you feel lucky, punk? I've got no idea what is on > channel 24, I've never seen my parents watch it, so it must be interesting... > Here goes. > > On the screen pop up the words, "ILLEGAL OPERATION - ALARM IN 5 SECONDS." > > My eyes bugging out, I try to punch 42, drop the remote, pick it up and > just before the alarm sounds return to see Caesar get stabbed. *whew* As > I listen to my heart pounding, two things occur to me. First, the 5 second > warning is a great thing; unless I'm really stupid I can keep the alarm > from going off. Second, 64 and 46 are opposites as are 42 and 24; perhaps > all such operations are illegal? I go from 42 to 13 (still fuzz) and then > try 31 and get the alarm > warning again. Without panic this time I return to 13. Now I know channel > thirteen is not smutty, that's public TV (the Fraggle Rock Channel), so > there must be something wrong with the _way_ I got there. One more check, > I go to channel 1 (I have to hit "01") and then channel 10 - same problem > and I return to channel 1. Well, that's proof enough for me - reversing > the digits of a station is not allowed. > > >>>>> VALIDITY: If reversing digits was really disallowed, then going from 24 back to 42 would not only stop the alarm, but also restart it. STYLE: A bit sloppy at times - apart from the validity, there is also "...I know channel thirteen is not smutty..." (you mean thirty-one), and the poor test that the 01-10 click makes - as 10 is not a prime number, we already know that this operation is forbidden. On the other hand, it's a nice rule, and would give us a way to do illegal actions while still forcing the maker of a rule to mention its illegality. Let's even things out at 0. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 103:6 > I look up to see that I have accidentally switched to channel 11, and > there's the alarm warning again. I quickly hop over to channel 23 > (the Frog Races Channel) instead. Well, it's just as well, as channel > 11 is a scrambled pay channel (the Dizzy Channel) anyway. > > Hmm, let me figure this out. 11 is prime, so I guess only some primes are > valid after channel 1. Wait, 11 is its own reverse! I test this by > switching to channel 22 - sure enough, that sets off the alarm warning, and > I switch to channel 7 instead. Okay, so channels with both digits the same > are not allowed, either. And 1 must be considered prime, since I was able > to get back there from 11. How weird. > > Ooh, hang on! The announcer on channel 7 just said that, after they get > back > from Fairly Rotten Commercial, they're going to have a story about the new > channel Pi and how to get to it! All my friends would be *so* jealous if I > were to figure this one out... VALIDITY: Obviously INVALID because of 103:5s invalidity. STYLE: Nice twist (channel pi...?). And a bit extra because he can't help the invalidity. Although - the rule does imply that he did realize the 'getting back should be valid too', so he might have been able to find the reson 103:5 was INVALID. 2.0. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >>>>>>>> > > Excellent! I have just turned to Channel 85 - the Juggling Channel. It is > showing a first course, so I can even join in with the instructor. "Flick, > Release.... Catch. Flick, Release...." > > Oh dear. I just dropped the FRC, and one of its buttons has fallen out! I > will be in trouble tomorrow. It is the number 9 key, so I can't enter that > any more. If only I could try to put it back - but the darn anti-tamper > device in the controller would just set off the alarm. > > Time to change channel again. As most children like to type in a wide > variety of numbers, the cunning designers of the FRC have made it sound the > alarm whenever the (size of) the difference between the two digits > designating the channel increases by more than one. With that in mind I > switch to Channel 4 (for which of course I type "04") - it appears to be > the Farming Channel, as the presenter is droning on about Free Range Chickens. > > >>>>>>>> VALIDITY: OK STYLE: Rule is ok, but little more. The digits-difference rule seems more like number-juggling than a feature of a Family Retuning Controller, but on the other hand sets up a nice little trap (I hope I'm not telling too much). +0.5.