Thread Subject: MATLAB Central Spring Contest
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Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring Contest
launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon. Be
there or be square!
See you then!
Helen
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Helen Chen wrote on 29-Apr-08 14:05 :
> Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring Contest
> launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon.
perhaps it does, on -your- planet. but on /this/ one, May 30th doesn't
arrive for another 30 days.
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"D. Ismay" <!@a.com> wrote in message
<cuSdnYaj8fQSI4rVnZ2dnUVZ_qqgnZ2d@earthlink.com>...
> Helen Chen wrote on 29-Apr-08 14:05 :
> > Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring
Contest
> > launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon.
>
> perhaps it does, on -your- planet. but on /this/ one,
May 30th doesn't
> arrive for another 30 days.
Sorry about that, yes, I got over excited looking at the
calendar!
But still, the time has arrived. The contest begins..
The contest home page is at
http://www.mathworks.com/contest/wiring/home.html .
This page includes important links including the blog,
rules, and the contest queue.
If you've participated in the contest before, you can get
started right now by going right to the rules page at
http://www.mathworks.com/contest/wiring/rules.html .
Good luck to everyone!
Helen
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Good luck everyone. Looks to be yet another interesting
contest. I'll try to do a mid contest commented code this
weekend as usual, however I might be a little tied up in
trying to teach MATLAB to the newest contest participant, my
new daughter Katie who was born on Monday;)
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"Alan Chalker" <alancNOSPAM@osc.edu> wrote in message
<fva6u4$r8i$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Good luck everyone. Looks to be yet another interesting
> contest. I'll try to do a mid contest commented code this
> weekend as usual, however I might be a little tied up in
> trying to teach MATLAB to the newest contest participant, my
> new daughter Katie who was born on Monday;)
Congratulations, Alan!
And good luck to everyone, of course. :)
srach
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"Helen Chen" <helen.chen@mathworks.com> wrote in message
<fv82i0$nql$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring Contest
> launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon. Be
> there or be square!
>
> See you then!
> Helen
The rules state that this is based on
"the problem of wiring up printed circuit boards"
How does one "wire up"? Is it possible to "wire down" as
well? Or perhaps "wire in" or "wire out"?
I'm just being picky. Terms such as "wire up", "connect up",
etc. are not grammatically correct. The word "up" is not
needed. Just drop it:
"the problem of wiring printed circuit boards"
This is similar to the phrase "In order to...", just drop
the first two words "To..."
I've written books with both of these things in them. The
copy editors strike them out immediately. I am now working
on my 11th book, and I finally learned to avoid these before
the copy editor sees them. :-)
p.s., this looks like a great contest. I like the penalties
for poor coding!
Duane Hanselman
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"Alan Chalker" <alancNOSPAM@osc.edu> wrote in message
<fva6u4$r8i$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Good luck everyone. Looks to be yet another interesting
> contest. I'll try to do a mid contest commented code this
> weekend as usual, however I might be a little tied up in
> trying to teach MATLAB to the newest contest participant,
my
> new daughter Katie who was born on Monday;)
Congratulations!
SY
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Oops, I just posted this comment to the wrong place, so now
I'll post it here (sorry)...
Shouldn’t the last line of this part of the instructions
say [ 4 5 4 6] ?
The segments for the connector between the 8 pins could be
written like so.
w = [ 2 3 2 4 ]
[ 2 4 3 4 ]
[ 3 4 3 5 ]
[ 3 5 4 5 ]
[ 4 5 5 6 ]
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Andy:
That is correct, thanks for the clarification.
Lucio
The MathWorks Constest Team
"Andy Johnson" <matman@summitsolutions.net> wrote in
message <fvaatj$bdc$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Oops, I just posted this comment to the wrong place, so
now
> I'll post it here (sorry)...
>
> Shouldn’t the last line of this part of the instructions
> say [ 4 5 4 6] ?
>
> The segments for the connector between the 8 pins could
be
> written like so.
> w = [ 2 3 2 4 ]
> [ 2 4 3 4 ]
> [ 3 4 3 5 ]
> [ 3 5 4 5 ]
> [ 4 5 5 6 ]
>
>
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Duane Hanselman wrote:
[...]
> The rules state that this is based on
> "the problem of wiring up printed circuit boards"
>
> How does one "wire up"? Is it possible to "wire down" as
> well? Or perhaps "wire in" or "wire out"?
>
> I'm just being picky. Terms such as "wire up", "connect up",
> etc. are not grammatically correct. The word "up" is not
> needed. Just drop it:
>
> "the problem of wiring printed circuit boards"
>
> This is similar to the phrase "In order to...", just drop
> the first two words "To..."
You think that's bad? News anchor's favorite lines/words:
1. "...each and every..." (how are they different?)
2. "...first and foremost..." (can you have a 'last and foremost'?)
3. "...ramification..." (but not 'implication'?)
4. Everything has "impact", but nothing has "effect".
5. "...incredible!" (literal meaning, "not credible")
6. "...massive..." (while describing objects that
do not posses mass)
7. "There's..." (contraction of "there is", for
plural case)
8. 'behaviors', 'moneys', 'winds', 'rains', 'foods', 'fruits',
'medicines', when all
of these are group nouns and don't change spelling for plural case.
And it gets better -- those people are in a profession that, you would
expect, demands above-average understanding and proper use of
English and commonly-known rules of grammar.
Go figure.
--
D. Ismay
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One question:
Bridges are expensive: they cost 25 points each. In this
diagram we've saved 22 points by connecting the two 11 pins,
but we had to buy three connectors and a bridge, for a total
cost of 28. The net score for this move is 17 ...
Should it be 25+3-(11*2) = 6 ?
Using bridge will also lose credit?
Thanks
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In article <a8SdnUuVdO93WIXVnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@earthlink.com>,
D. Ismay <noSpam@Woohoo.Woohoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo.HOOHOO.hoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo> wrote:
>8. 'behaviors', 'moneys', 'winds', 'rains', 'foods', 'fruits',
>'medicines', when all
>of these are group nouns and don't change spelling for plural case.
You are wrong about each of the words you list.
http://www.oed.com
Note: in the below quotations, some non-ASCII letters disappeared,
especially eth and thorn. Sorry.
behaviour, n
1b. Also in pl.
1538 BALE Comedy in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) I. 211 Your fastynges,
longe prayers, with other holy behauers. 1601 SHAKES. Jul. C. I.
ii. 42 Which giue some soyle (perhaps) to my Behauiours. 1678
CUDWORTH Intell. Syst. I. iv. S19. 366 To observe the actions,
manners and Behaviours of men. a1763 `GEO. PSALMANAZAR' Mem. (1764)
186, I could see..thro' all his artifices and different behaviours.
1959 Camb. Rev. 7 Mar. 405/1 We must surely accept that the pattern
of associated behaviours first noticed by Weber was one of the most
brilliantly successful suggestions in the whole history of
intellectual endeavour.
money, n
2e. Chiefly Horse Racing and Gambling (orig. U.S.). With
preceding ordinal number: the prize or prize money associated
with finishing in the placing denoted by the number in a
competitive event; this placing itself. [...] 1894 Vermont Agric.
Rep. 14 96 He trotted in seventeen races..; won nine first
moneys.
3. In pl. (now chiefly in legal and quasi-legal parlance). Sums
or quantities of money.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) 2 Macc. iii. 6
Tolde to hym the tresorie in Jerusalem for to be ful with moneys
[L. pecuniis] vnnoumbreable. 1593 Acct. Bk. W. Morton f. 69,
Reseuet..iii scor ane stane of tolone ane pound les, of moneyes
is sum Ic honderis xxxiiii lib. 4s. 1600 SHAKESPEARE Merchant of
Venice I. iii. 115 You come to me, and you say, Shylocke, we
would haue moneyes. 1625 BACON Ess. (new ed.) 246 No Man will
Lend his Moneyes farre off, nor put them into Vnknown Hands. 1632
W. LITHGOW Totall Disc. Trav. IV. 140 [He] furnished him with
great moneys, and other necessaries. 1734 tr. C. Rollin Anc.
Hist. (1827) VIII. XIX. v. 163 To make him a present of the
monies arising from that sale. 1794 R. CUMBERLAND Jew II. ii. 24,
Why truly, monies is a good thing. 1819 SCOTT Ivanhoe I. x*. 208
`O,' said the Jew, `you are come to pay monies... And from whom
dost thou bring it?' 1822 BYRON Werner II. ii, But to steal The
moneys of a slumbering man! 1865 Morning Star 3 Feb. 3/5 A young
woman, was charged..with stealing from the person of Robert
Tharston,..7s. 6d., his moneys. 1871 R. ELLIS tr. Catullus Poems
xxix. 22 Is not all his act To swallow monies, empty purses heap
on heap? 1927 A. H. MCNEILE Introd. New Test. 132 Schmirdel
objects that it would have been quite irrational to convey monies
from South Galatia to Jerusalem by way of Macedonia. 1959 Times
Rev. Industry Mar. 4/3 There is an ambivalence in the claims on
promotional moneys, for the furtherance of distribution on the
one hand and for the extension of advertising on the other. 1990
J. MCGAHERN Amongst Women 55 He..started to tot up all the monies
he presently held against the expenses he had.
wind, n. (1)
1. Air in motion; a state of movement in the air; a current of
air, of any degree of force perceptible to the senses, occurring
naturally in the atmosphere, usually parallel to the surface of
the ground. a. In general or collective sense. [...]
(b) pl. pl. c825 Vesp. Psalter xvii[i]. 11 [10] Volavit super
pinnas ventorum, fle ofer firu winda. 971 Blickl. Hom. 51 as
windas & as renas syndon ealle his. a1300 Cursor M. 22630 Windes
on ilk side sal rise. 1390 GOWER Conf. I. 34 Right now the hyhe
wyndes blowe. c1460 J. METHAM Wks. (1916) 157 [I]ff Crystemes day
falle vp-on Moneday, yt schuld be a gret wyntyr, and fulle off
wyindys. a1593 MARLOWE Ovid's Elegies II. xi, Hither the winds
blow, here the spring-tide roar. a1614 J. MELVILL Autob. & Diary
(Wodrow Soc.) 261 The Lord of Armies, wha ryddes upon the winges
of the woundes. 1638-56 COWLEY Davideis I. Notes, Wks. 1710 I.
357 The Matter of Winds is an Exhalation arising out of the
Concavities of the Earth. 1748 GRAY Alliance 43 Command the
Winds, and tame th' unwilling Deep. 1830 TENNYSON Ode to Memory
14 The dew-impearled winds of dawn. 1860 TYNDALL Glac. II. viii.
263 The lighter de'bris is scattered by the winds far and wide
over the glacier.
rain, n. (1)
2. pl. a. Showers of rain; rainfalls. a900 O.E. Martyrol. 20 Mar.
40 aere lyfte ecynd is aet heo teh to a renas of aem sealtan sae.
971 Blickl. Hom. 51 as windas & as renas syndon ealle his. 1154
O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1098 urh mycele renas e ealles eares
ne ablunnon. c1200 Vices & Virtues 143 Godd..wiheld alle reines
rie hier & six monees. a1340 HAMPOLE Psalter civ. 30 He set aire
raynys haghil. c1400 MANDEVILLE (Roxb.) vii. 23 are es na
trubling of e aer thurgh raynes. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden)
2 Thys yere felle gret raynes. 1625 N. CARPENTER Geog. Del. II.
i. (1635) 5 The extraordinary Raines and showers which those
places suffer. 1738 GRAY Tasso 10 Swoll'n with new force and late
descending rains. 1878 HUXLEY Physiogr. 48 The heavy tropical
rains are usually confined to definite periods. Prov. 1846
DENHAM Prov. (Percy Soc.) 54 Many rains, many rowans.
food, n.
1. e. An article of food; a kind of food.
1393 GOWER Conf. III. 26, I you shall reherce, How that my fodes
ben diverse. c1449 PECOCK Repr. III. v. 303 Hauyng foodis..be we
content. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 5b, God sent from
heuen a swete fode for theyr brede called manna. 1617 MARKHAM
Caval. I. 56 In England..we have so many choyces of good foodes.
1674 N. COX Gentl. Recreat. IV. (1677) 45 The larger the Pike the
courser the food. 1754 Dict. Arts & Sc. II. 1288 Foods proper for
preserving health. 1887 Cassell's Fam. Physician 911 What are the
proper fuels, or foods, with which to supply it [the human
machine].
fruit, n.
1. Vegetable products in general, that are fit to be used as food
by men and animals. Now usually in pl. Also fruits of the earth
or the ground.
c1375 Lay Folks Mass Bk. (MS. B.) 392 o froytes of o erthe make
plentuus. 1549 Bk. Com. Prayer, Litany, That it may please thee
to give and preserve to our use the kindly fruits of the earth.
1648 GAGE West Ind. xii. 43 The answer of our Queene
Elizabeth..to some that presented unto her of the fruits of
America. 1665 Ord. Mayor Lond. in De Foe Plague (1840) 46 That
no..musty corn, or other corrupt fruits..be suffered to be sold.
1725 WATTS Logic I. vi. S3 If the husk or seeds are eaten, they
are called the fruits of the ground. 1791 T. NEWTE Tour Eng. &
Scot. 196 At Aberdeen, turnips, carrots, and potatoes, pass,
among the common people, by the name of fruit. 1859 JEPHSON
Brittany ii. 20 The Breton peasant can turn all the fruits of the
earth to account. c1374 CHAUCER Former Age 3 They helde hem
paied of the fructes at ey ete. 1500-20 DUNBAR Poems xiv. 63
Quhilk slayis the corne and fruct that growis grene. fig. c1374
CHAUCER Boeth. I. pr. i. 3 (Camb. MS.) Thise ben tho
that..destroyen the corn plentyuos of fruites of resone. 1559
Mirr. Mag., Hen. VI, xxxix, See here the pleasaunt fruytes that
many princes reape. 1707 WATTS Hymn, `Come, we that love the
Lord' viii, Celestial Fruits on earthly Ground From Faith and
Hope may grow.
2. The edible product of a plant or tree, consisting of the seed
and its envelope, esp. the latter when it is of a juicy pulpy
nature, as in the apple, orange, plum, etc. tree of fruit =
fruit-tree. As denoting an article of food, the word is
popularly extended to include certain vegetable products that
resemble `fruits' in their qualities, e.g. the stalks of
rhubarb.
b. with a and pl., as denoting a kind of fruit.
1375 BARBOUR Bruce x. 191 The treis..Chargit vith froytis on
syndri viss. c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 261 ou schalt purge colre
wi a decoccioun of fretis. c1460 J. RUSSELL Bk. Nurture 667
Speke..For frutes a-fore mete to ete em fastyngely. 1527 R.
THORNE in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 252 Our fruites and graines be
Apples, Nuts, and Corne. 1650 FULLER Pisgah I. iv. 11 Dates,
Almonds..Nuts..Pomegranates and other severall fruits. 1795
Gentl. Mag. 540/1 The glow of ripe fruits and declining leaves
mark the autumn. 1842 TENNYSON Gardener's Dau. 190 Fruits and
cream served in the weeping elm. 1858 HOMANS Cycl. Commerce 886
This fruit [currants] is of a violet colour, and hangs in long
loose bunches. 1475 Bk. Noblesse 70 Planted withe treis of
verdure of divers fructis. 1585 JAS. I Ess. Poesie (Arb.) 14 To
taste, and smell..Delicious fruictis, whilks in that tyme abound.
1596 DALRYMPLE tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. I. 6 Excepte spice and
Vine, and sum fructes.
medicine, n. (1)
1. a. A substance or preparation used in the treatment of
illness; a drug; esp. one taken by mouth. Also: such substances
generally. Also in extended use.
a1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus
Rerum (BL Add.) f. 99, Skabbe is curable wi metisines at..clensi
wiinne & wioute. 464 M. PASTON in Paston Lett. (1971) I. 291 For
Goddys sake be war what medesyns ye take of any fysissyanys of
London. 1513 H. BRADSHAW Lyfe St. Werburge II. 853 All phisike
and medicyns were founde to her in vayne. 1617 J. WOODALL
Surgions Mate 4 Haue ready your medicines to binde vp the wound
againe. 1741-3 J. WESLEY Extract of Jrnl. (1749) 15 One of the
mistresses lay..near death, having found no help from all the
medicines she had taken.
{There are two additional meanings listed that take the plural,
but which I have not quoted here as both are marked as Obs.}
--
"When we all think alike no one is thinking very much."
-- Walter Lippmann
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Hi,
are there any limitations to the size of the grid?
and maybe a silly question, but just to be sure, there are not periodic boundary
conditions?
thanks
Sebastian
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"Helen Chen" <helen.chen@mathworks.com> wrote in message
<fv82i0$nql$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring
Contest
> launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon. Be
> there or be square!
>
> See you then!
> Helen
Hi Helen,
Great contest. May wires branch out? (fx. can 3 pins be
connected in a 'T' formation).
I might be missing it but it is not used in the examples,
but not explicitly prohibited either it seems.
Thanks
Soren
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Walter Roberson wrote:
> In article <a8SdnUuVdO93WIXVnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@earthlink.com>,
> D. Ismay <noSpam@Woohoo.Woohoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo.HOOHOO.hoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo> wrote:
>
>> 8. 'behaviors', 'moneys', 'winds', 'rains', 'foods', 'fruits',
>> 'medicines', when all
>> of these are group nouns and don't change spelling for plural case.
>
> You are wrong about each of the words you list.
bad guess, Mr. Roberson.
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Can bridges bridge two 90 degree angled connectors in the
same node?
something like this
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--//--
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So North and West is connected to each other and South and
East to each other.
Laszlo
"Soren Christensen" <sorench@gmail.com> wrote in message
<fvamqc$r2m$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> "Helen Chen" <helen.chen@mathworks.com> wrote in message
> <fv82i0$nql$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> > Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring
> Contest
> > launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon. Be
> > there or be square!
> >
> > See you then!
> > Helen
>
> Hi Helen,
> Great contest. May wires branch out? (fx. can 3 pins be
> connected in a 'T' formation).
> I might be missing it but it is not used in the examples,
> but not explicitly prohibited either it seems.
> Thanks
> Soren
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In article <L_ednRtBG9SRdYXVnZ2dnUVZ_g2dnZ2d@earthlink.com>,
D. Ismay <noSpam@Woohoo.Woohoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo.HOOHOO.hoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo> wrote:
>Walter Roberson wrote:
>> In article <a8SdnUuVdO93WIXVnZ2dnUVZ_h-vnZ2d@earthlink.com>,
>> D. Ismay <noSpam@Woohoo.Woohoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo.HOOHOO.hoohoo.Woohoo.Woohoohoo> wrote:
>>> 8. 'behaviors', 'moneys', 'winds', 'rains', 'foods', 'fruits',
>>> 'medicines', when all
>>> of these are group nouns and don't change spelling for plural case.
>> You are wrong about each of the words you list.
>bad guess, Mr. Roberson.
No guess. I provided specific citations to a source considered by many
people to be authoratative. The quotations provided in some cases extended
back farther than 1000 years. It is now incumbant upon you to prove your
case.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_noun#Multiple_senses_for_one_noun
Many English count nouns can be used as mass nouns, and in these
cases, they take on cumulative reference. For example, one may
say that "there's apple in this sauce," and then apple has
cumulative reference, and, hence, is used as a mass noun.
Conversely, "fire" is generally a mass noun, but "a fire" refers
to a discrete entity, and does not satisfy the criterion for
cumulative reference. Two common situations of this process are
when speaking of either servings/measurements of a substance
("Two waters please") or of several types/varieties ("waters of
the world").[2] One may say that mass nouns that are used as
count nouns are "countified" and that count ones that are used as
mass nouns are "massified." Some mass nouns can't easily be
countified, and some count nouns are hard to massify. For example
the count noun "house" is difficult to use as mass, and the mass
noun "cutlery" is hard to countify:
--
"Ignorance has been our king... he sits unchallenged on the throne of
Man. His dynasty is age-old. His right to rule is now considered
legitimate. Past sages have affirmed it. They did nothing to unseat
him." -- Walter M Miller, Jr
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I have a question that actually pertains to the contest,
not dictionary definitions.
With bridges, are you allowed to jump then over another
pin, or just a wire connection.
Ken
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Hi again,
this is my first constest, so sorry for ask but the darkness implies not answering
the questions?
just to start looking tomorrow the thread.
best
s
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Answers to some of your questions:
1. Bridges can only be used for crossovers, they can't be
used to have two 90 angles a the same coordinate.
2. You can not bridge pins, if I am not wrong you'll pay
for them but they'll be ignored.
3. The example that described the cost of the bridge should
give a net score of 25+3-(11*2) = 6
4. The size of the boards (as well as other parameters in
the testsuite) are sampled from a distribution, therefore
theoretically speaking there is no limit, but in practice
you could expect that most likely the distributions of the
board sizes wil resemble those in the sample testsuite.
5. "T" connections and "+" connections are possible and you
do not pay extra but the number of wires used (3 and 4
respectively)
6. Darkness does not mean "do not answer question", I'll be
around for a while, let me know if you have questions.
Good luck,
P.S. As orginizer I get the chance to peek at some of your
entries :), we have started receiving some interesting
pieces of code.
Lucio
The MathWorks Contest Team
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Hi,
wasn't the ranking (without scores) visible in the darkness
phase of the last contests?
Markus
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Enjoying the new contest! Thank you all for organizing it.
A question: is the routine that checks for forbidden
functions available? More than once in past contests I have
had entries disqualified because I accidentally left in a
forbidden command I had been using for debugging.
P.S. Congratulations, Alan!
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"Nicholas Howe" <NikHow@hotmail.com> wrote in message
<fvbv0f$b3l$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Enjoying the new contest! Thank you all for organizing it.
>
> A question: is the routine that checks for forbidden
> functions available? More than once in past contests I have
> had entries disqualified because I accidentally left in a
> forbidden command I had been using for debugging.
>
> P.S. Congratulations, Alan!
Yes, Congrats Alan!
On the other note, I would have benefited from having the
routine that checks for forbidden functions! All my entries
in darkness failed because I accidentally left an error()
call in helper code that I copied from a function I wrote
for another purpose. I assure you I had no nefarious
purposes, and it would have been nice to find out they were
going to fail before I submitted them. Please consider
releasing this code in the future.
Thanks,
Mike Bindschadler
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The first phase of the Wiring contest has passed. At
noontime today, we finished Darkness and have now entered
Twilight.
Things were off and running as soon as the challenge was
posted. Entries were posted continually through the noon
deadline. David Jones, a MATLAB Contest veteran, is the
winner at the Darkness close. Congratulations David!
Here were the top 10 in Darkness:
1 David Jones
2 Nick Howe
3 Claus Still
4 Steve Hoelzer
5 nathan q
6 Alfonso Nieto-Castanon
7 Fabio Carnevale
8 Schwabenpower
9 Michael
10 DreadNox
Best,
Helen
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Markus, no we haven't changed anything about Darkness. It's
really quite dark.
Nicholas and Michael, we'll consider making this checker
available in the next contest. I hate to see it surprise
people at the end of Darkness. Sadly, some of our security
is "security through obscurity", so we'll have to trade that
off against how much security we lose.
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I don't know if it is permitted to ask for help on this, but
I am really puzzled about an error message that my last four
submissions have been generating:
Line: 1 Column: 21 Unexpected MATLAB expression.
The first line of my program was a comment, and I've tried
changing it/deleting it/etc. but still get the same error
(always Line: 1 Column: 21). The code works perfectly on my
machine on the testsuite.
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While this is actually just a problem with my current
algorithm, I can make a case that you should accept the
empty set as a valid answer.
Suppose that all pin values are on the order of 1e-9. Based
on the scoring of this puzzle, I can not imagine ever
wanting to connect any pins. The cost of the connector far
out ways the benefits of eliminating the pins.
That being said, I'll go find out what is wrong with my
algorithm.
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"Matt Butts" <mattbutts@gmail.com> wrote in message
<fvd6cg$of3$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> While this is actually just a problem with my current
> algorithm, I can make a case that you should accept the
> empty set as a valid answer.
>
> Suppose that all pin values are on the order of 1e-9. Based
> on the scoring of this puzzle, I can not imagine ever
> wanting to connect any pins. The cost of the connector far
> out ways the benefits of eliminating the pins.
>
> That being said, I'll go find out what is wrong with my
> algorithm.
>
Actually, this is possible, and is exactly what the
contest-supplied solver does. You just supply a 0 x 4
matrix, for example by W = zeros(0,4).
Cheers,
Mike Bindschadler
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"Matthew Simoneau" <matthew@mathworks.com> wrote in message
<fvd0u3$i9i$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Nicholas and Michael, we'll consider making this checker
> available in the next contest. I hate to see it surprise
> people at the end of Darkness. Sadly, some of our security
> is "security through obscurity", so we'll have to trade that
> off against how much security we lose.
Even if you left the sneakier bits off the distribution
version, it would still be helpful. Something which did a
straightforward check for common functions which happen to
be disallowed in the contest (error, eval,
debugging/benchmarking functions) would help those of us
just making honest and forgetful errors.
I don't want to whine too much about it, I know it's my
responsibility to make sure my code complies with the posted
rules; this is just a suggestion for a nice feature for
future contests.
Thanks,
Mike Bindschadler
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Nicholas, it took me a while to figure this out because
there was a bug in the error reporting, but your code
contains TITLE a handle graphics command and on the
restricted list. Sorry for the confusion.
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"Michael Bindschadler" <mikeREMOVETHISbind@gmail.com> wrote
in message <fvd9fr$435$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> "Matt Butts" <mattbutts@gmail.com> wrote in message
> <fvd6cg$of3$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> > While this is actually just a problem with my current
> > algorithm, I can make a case that you should accept the
> > empty set as a valid answer.
> >
> > Suppose that all pin values are on the order of 1e-9. Based
> > on the scoring of this puzzle, I can not imagine ever
> > wanting to connect any pins. The cost of the connector far
> > out ways the benefits of eliminating the pins.
> >
> > That being said, I'll go find out what is wrong with my
> > algorithm.
> >
>
> Actually, this is possible, and is exactly what the
> contest-supplied solver does. You just supply a 0 x 4
> matrix, for example by W = zeros(0,4).
>
> Cheers,
> Mike Bindschadler
Thanks for the clarification. I was mistakenly assuming that
[] would be treated the same as a 0x4 matrix.
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Sorry all, but it appears I have the dubious honor of being
the first to crash the queue this time around. I was trying
to determine the scoring coefficients and submitted a
program with what should be a very high node count.
However, after testing it on my version of R2008a, it
appears that mtree 'wraps around' the node count as a fault
and it's returning a value of 1 for the node count.
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Even though I accidentally crashed the queue, I think I have
been able to figure out the scoring formula and am posting
it here as I traditionally do. I’ve determined it’s very
similar to the recent contests:
score = k1*result + k2*e(k3*runtime) +
k4*max(complexity-10,0) + k5*nodes
Where:
k1 = 0.1
k2 = 2
k3 = 2/30 (0.06666666…)
k4 = 1
k5 = 0.001
The current leading entry has a time of 56s, result of
141891, cyc of 25, and nodes of 4196. Here’s a breakdown of
the current tradoffs:
-cyc and score are a 1:1 ratio (i.e. each point shaved off
cyc is a point shaved off the score)
-time and score are a 1:5.7 ratio
-result and score are a 1:0.1 ratio
-node and score are a 1:0.001 ratio
David Jones entries have already settled in just at the
‘knee’ of the time exponential curve, which is rather flat
until about ~50s. However, because of the new time exponent
constant, we are going to see much more payoff in this
content in focusing on reducing the execution time versus
other scoring elements, probably down to the ~10 second range.
Unfortunately that probably also means that people are going
to end up taking the lead due to ‘luck of the draw’ in the
minor variations we always see in execution times, since
they will be amplified more in the total score compared to
in the past.
Hope this helps everyone!
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Yes, our code wasn't robust to when the file was too big for
M-Lint to handle and the queue was down for a bit. We're
back up and running. Sorry for the delay of game.
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"Matthew Simoneau" <matthew@mathworks.com> wrote in message
<fvdebf$p7p$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Nicholas, it took me a while to figure this out because
> there was a bug in the error reporting, but your code
> contains TITLE a handle graphics command and on the
> restricted list. Sorry for the confusion.
Thanks for looking into this for me. I think I ended up
removing that call to title soon afterwards.
Another request, if anyone has time: does anyone have the
matrix for Lucio's example problem? I'd be interested in
trying my code on it. Thanks!
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Thanks to the Matlab Contest Team for dreaming up a great wiring puzzle. It
has been fun working out incremental improvements through Darkness and
Twilight, especially with the wiringGUI and Lucio's analysis to visualize solutions.
Judging from scores during Twilight, it seems that finding good bridges
efficiently is what separated my Twilight algorithm from the rest of the pack.
But now as we enter the Daylight phase, all my coding secrets will be revealed,
... so roll up your sleeves ... and let the tweakfest begin ...
Good luck to everyone for the rest of the contest!
-- David Jones
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"Helen Chen" <helen.chen@mathworks.com> wrote in message
<fv82i0$nql$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Just a reminder to let everyone know that the Spring Contest
> launches tomorrow, Wednesday May 30th at high noon. Be
> there or be square!
>
> See you then!
> Helen
It seems that much of the Statistics page is not being
updated properly.
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"the cyclist" <thecyclist@letter.after.f.mail.com> wrote in
message <fvhptn$kgm$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> It seems that much of the Statistics page is not being
> updated properly.
Thanks for the heads-up. We'll take a look at this.
Helen
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Here I want to provide Markus's post from previous contest:
"As in all contests, some guys tend to ruin the contest by
obfuscating their code, as DrSeuss does at the moment.
In the contest rules under "Hacking" we read "we ask that
you not abuse the system." I think this should also be valid
for the annoying obfuscation of code.
In the current leading code, I still find large portions of
my twilight winning code. I insist that you at least do not
obfuscate code that others have written!! If you want
introduce a new variable, call it as you like, but leave the
others as they are!
Markus
"
SY
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Hi.
Would it be possible to announce in advance if we are going
to have (and when) late twilight, best result, 1000
character, generality competition?
SY (Sergey)
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When did (or will) the score-neutral switch in test suite occur??
-- David Jones
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Anybody wants to play “best result” with 3 min time limit
today?
Let’s say between 6PM and 9PM ET?
SY
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"Sergey " <ivssnn@yahoo.com> wrote in message
<fvnfas$cmt$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> Anybody wants to play “best result” with 3 min time limit
> today?
> Let’s say between 6PM and 9PM ET?
>
> SY
>
Unfortunately, that's right in the middle of the night in
Europe. But have fun anyway. :)
Btw. the leading entry "does it shorten time" by Gwendolyn
Fish was just a moment ago in back in the queue? Does this
announce the swapping of the test suite?
Regards,
srach
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Hi,
I follow Sergey and would like to know when the next contest
phases will end. I have this HUGE improvement and just wait
to plug it in at the right time :-)
Markus
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I ran into some bumps with the test suite swap, but we
should be back in business.
We're now running a "first to break 13000", which could take
some time. I picked this target by figuring that most of
the difference in results between the old and new test
suites could be made up without major innovation, but there
is always some risk that the target is too aggressive.
The "best result" really clogged the queue last time, so
instead we're bringing back a variation on the "1000
Character Challenge". This time, however, we're be using
node count rather than character count. Since the top entry
is now around 4500 nodes, maybe 1000 node limit? Or even
more restrictive? I like this one because it gives a chance
for people to work with shorter code for a while, and now
that we're using nodes instead of characters there won't be
as much pressure to make the code illegible. We'll do this
sometime tomorrow.
Historically, we've announced the mid-contest prizes as we
go so we could react to whatever was going on. We've picked
up some traditions, like the Sunday Push. I'll float the
idea to the team of announcing at least most of them in
advance next time.
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"Markus Buehren" <mb_matlab.REMOVE@gmxTHIS.de> wrote in
message <fvnh32$q3s$1@fred.mathworks.com>...
> I follow Sergey and would like to know when the next contest
> phases will end. I have this HUGE improvement and just wait
> to plug it in at the right time :-)
>
Markus -
Did you see Matt's note about the schedule on the contest
blog ( http://blogs.mathworks.com/contest/ )? The challenge
to beat 13000 will remain open until someone beats it, but
we have a concurrent second - the 1000 node challenge.
Wouldn't it be interesting if someone won both challenges
with the same submission? It would be another first for the
MATLAB Contest!
Helen
|
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> Markus -
>
> Did you see Matt's note about the schedule on the contest
> blog ( http://blogs.mathworks.com/contest/ )?
Sure, but the note was posted later than mine :-)
Markus
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