Trolley Volley

About 2 years ago, Gabrielle and I were camping up in the Pacific Northwest, and were about to head back to Seattle. I was thinking I should get a souvenir but nothing really reflected my experience there. So, when we realized we had to hurry to make the next ferry I grabbed a package of 6 dice in lieu of a beer-cozy, and we headed out. On the long ferry ride, there’s not much to do, so we started to think of a new dice game that wouldn’t just be all luck. (It seems that dice games lack strategy a lot more than card games, doesn’t it?) Today, we are still the only players of Trolley Volley – partly because friends that we attempt to teach are dubious of playing a game "we made up". But, it’s a real game – it’s been play-tested now 100′s of times. So, I present to you a brand new game for an old-fashioned medium.

Trolley Volley

• Required: 6 6-sided dice, 2 people
• Objective: Be the first to reach 25 points.
• Scoring:
• a trolley of length 3 (1,2,3 or 2,3,4 or 3,4,5 or 4,5,6) = 1 point.
• a trolley of length 4 (1,2,3,4 or 2,3,4,5 or 3,4,5,6) = 3 points.
• a trolley of length 5 (1,2,3,4,5 or 2,3,4,5,6) = 5 points.
• a trolley of length 6 (1,2,3,4,5,6) = 7 points.

Trolley Volley has a similar flow to volleyball (hence part of the name). One person is offense, and as such they are the only one who can score. The other person is defense, and their goal is simply to re-gain the offensive position.

Play follows any number of volleys or rounds. The following is a description of a single round.

The offense player has four dice and the defense has two. Both players roll their dice simultaneously being careful not to lose track of what dice are theirs. Offense is attempting to make a trolley or a straight (in poker terminology) of either 3, 4, 5, or 6 numbers in a row. A successful trolley must have at least one or both of the defensive player’s dice. The defense player is attempting to prevent this or to get any three of a kind (again, where at least one is from the defensive player), which would trump or derail any of the opponent’s trolleys. After the first simultaneous roll, the offense player must first decide which of his four dice she/he will re-roll. They can choose to stay or re-roll 1, 2, 3, or all 4. After they pick up their dice to re-roll, defense makes the same decision on their two. Both players then simultaneously roll their chosen dice, and the volley is now complete (yes, that’s a short volley!). Based on the dice values, the players determine whether the offense scored a successful volley or not. If not, then the players switch roles.

Derailing

I mentioned the concept of derailing the offense by the defense achieving three of a kind. Many times this will stop a trolley that overlaps the three of a kind. For example, let’s say after the second roll of dice the final outcome is:

		4
2	3	4	5
2		4

 Where the offense has rolled the blue numbers and the defense has rolled the red. Even though the offense got a nice trolley of 2, 3, 4, 5 (remember a successful trolley has to have at least include at least of one of the defense’ die), the defense wins the volley since it created a three of a kind block ( 4, 4, 4).

The Situation

Let’s say that the result was slightly different…

		4
2		4	5
2		4	5

Here, the defense has achieved a three of a kind, but there is nothing to block, since the offense was not able to make a trolley. Of course, it is clearly, the defense’s turn to be offense, but additionally you enter into a mode of play, we simply call – the situation. This is basically like a hat-trick in hockey. The new offense player gets 5 dice to roll, and the defense has only one to fend off the trolleys.

 

That’s it – kind of confusing to learn, but quite easy to play. A couple practice rounds and you’ll quickly advance in the ranks of all-time best Trolley Volley players. Currently, there are only the two of us.

 

 

The hardest logic puzzle…

The hardest logic puzzle I’ve encountered seems to be lost. At least I can find no reference to it online, so I’ve taken the liberties (or perhaps you view it as an injustice if you are the original author) to rewrite the problem here.

Tale of the Diseased Monks
One Sunday evening after working in the fields, the secluded monks of the Kaetorsian order gathered for evening prayers. After the usual somber songs and pious prayers, the high priest said, “I have a grave announcement. It appears a horrible disease has fallen on our community this fine spring day. Some of you have acquired a disease from working in the fields today. I know this because the disease results in a purple spot on your forehead, and I can see that some of you have this. From what I know of this most evil disease – you will remain unharmed for 14 days. After which, the disease will spread to others, and you will experience a most painful passing that may last months. If we are not careful, this disease will completely destroy our peaceful monastery. Therefore, I ask that those of you who have this spot please remove yourself from our community before these two weeks are over. Despite the fact that all of you have taken a vow of silence, and a vow of humility, and thus will not be able to inform one another of the forehead spot, and even though we lack mirrors and the lake is choppy and you are unable to see for yourself whether you have this spot, you are all trained highly in the ways of logic and will be able to deduce on your own whether or not you have become infected. In this way, we will carry on as we always have. You will work in solitarily all morning and we will congregate here every evening to welcome one another to this holy life we share. Some of you would prefer that I simply point out those of you who are diseased and while I have not taken the vow of silence that you have taken, my vow of humility prevents me from calling attention to your dysfunctions. Good night”
The next few days passed as they always have. The monks that had been infected seemed as good natured as the others, and no one treated one another any differently. However, after more than a week, as the two week deadline approached, an air of nervousness crept in. The second Saturday after the high priest’s announcement was particularly tense. The next day marked the two week deadline before the disease was to spread again, and the diseased monks were still working and praying along side the healthy ones. After the congregation disbanded from the Saturday evening prayers, the monks returned to their private quarters. On Sunday, two weeks after the high priest announcement, all of the diseased monks were gone. Through their highly tuned logic skills, they were able to determine that they had been affected and removed themselves.
How many monks were infected? And how did they determine it?

Mike Ladd’s Negrophilia – a review

Here’s an album I’ve been listening to a lot lately even though it’s over a year old. Some would call Mike Ladd a rapper. And so, I feel a little bashful about my first music review being a rap CD. Truth is there is some rapping on this CD, but don’t let that scare you – this is smart music. Mr. Ladd, a New Yorker, is likely to doubt that his music extends beyond the 5 boroughs, but this one texan is a proud owner of Negrophilia – few collections dig as deep or attempt to make as much of a statement of this disc. So, if you’re a country music fan (which I am proudly not) this will probably be a stretch for you.
The genre of music here is hard to define, but one in which I’ve been seeking out lately. Music that crosses the boundaries of electronica and jazz while avoiding the black holes that are rock & pop. In other words, the music is artsy. And in listening to Ladd’s compositions you feel as if you’re absorbing a performace art troop at a hip Manhattan establishment.
One clear defining element of this work is the jazz musicians that are either 1) dictating the melodic phrases that Ladd filters through to define key emotions or is it 2) that Ladd is creating the music logic (ala sheet music?) which is filtered through these talented musicians. My feeling is the latter, and not to simply give Ladd the benefit of the doubt. But, one can hear the type of phrases that clearly come with some specified direction. On “Back At Ya”, the troop is actually quite limited. There is a clear harmony and melody followed throughout. Fortunately, the musicians push free jazz phrasing through the mix. The post-mash-up is a reconstruction of the recorded jam that defines the true talents of the artist. What I imagine to be a painstaking effort that too many who have never messed with electronic music will likely overlook but will hopefully appreciate the freshness.
Other reviews of this disc point out that the ambitious attempt results in a slightly flawed or jumbled statement of black american culture. But, again, Ladd is showing many facets in this work. Part of the cultural statements is to illustrate the numerous facets and the complex interplay of sub-cultures. The album begins to peter-out with instrumentals of what is to sound like comfortable older couples engaging in NY high life. And these gorgeous yet simple pieces (“Sam and Milli Dine Out” and “Nancy and Carl go Christmas Shopping”) are hard to justify next to caustic tales of blacks treated as second class citizens in our not-so-distant past, and more subtle (yet humorous) commentary of “Sleep Patterns of Black Expatriots Circa 1960″.
As music goes, it is important to have themes. As a listener, we can decide how much to invest in this. And so, when it comes down to it, the music – this new genre that attempts to side-step Rock/Pop and establish a truly American art form that combines jazz, spoken word, and digital capabilities – is quite exceptional to this white jazz nerd now living in the South.

jammed in too tight

So, I’m in this band, Concentric. I began it about 5 years ago as an outlet for my “songwriting.” Yes, the quotes around songwriting are intentional. When you write instrumental music, you sometimes feel that you’re not really writing music even though it may be more complex than vocal music. When are you done? Has the theme gotten to repetitive? Has the intended emotion of the song been communicated?
Anyway, once you get your head deep into songwriting, it becomes like any other creative outlet – you start to become over-sensitive.
In the latest incarnation of Concentric, we’re doing a lot of simultaneous cooperative songwriting – basically jamming -free of any borders. A free jazz jam isn’t always that free with me. I can’t help myself sometimes – I get too concerned about trying to write more structure on the fly. Here are two snippets from our last jam where about 2 or 3 minutes into it, I’ve found a phrase, I can’t let go – I’m jammed in too tight.
Here’s a first sample…another short spring Austin went from freezing to 100F in a matter of 3 weeks)
Here’s the second…where you’re from (a random title, a brooding tale of your troubled youth – you are haunted)
Anyway, being jammed in tight is not bad for the bass player (that’s me), that’s because humans like the bass simple and repetive. Almost always – from rap to punk to classical. Why, I don’t know – some biological reason? a repetition of a low pitch snore that comforts you as a child?

graph – an overused word

This week I’ve been working on a first year report on a grant I have, to represent mechanical systems with graphs – part of the report has to be fairly well-simplifed as it may be seen by a US senator. So, I’ve been thinking about how well understood the concept of a graph is. Do you know what a graph is? A graph is one of many things dictionaries and encyclopedias only whittle it down to about 10 definitions a piece. What I refer to is unfortunately referred to as a mathematical graph.

But are these ever use by normal people in everyday life? Yes. Even senators are likely to have seen a few. For example, that playoff schedule for March madness, your family tree, a map to your house, a diagram from a user’s manual, and a flowchart.

Mathematicians dig graphs and a whole bunch of theory can be applied to them. But when it really comes down to it, these graphs are a way to visualize complex things in life – be it a playoff schedule or the innards of an automotive part.

But, is that all a graph is good for – presenting information? Or can graphs be used in reverse? Can we first make a graph and then use it as a template for the design of something?

Turns out, this has become a real calling in life for me. So, more to come on this topic.

finding the right energy

I want to take a simplified view of energy today. First off, why do we need energy?
A. lighting: the original use of energy – old folks still refer to energy companies as the light company. People want to see when it’s dark – to read, to work more, to see what went bump in the night. No changing this, shy of taking a more aggressive approach to daylight savings time. Bulbs are pretty darn inefficient, and new sources such as fluorescent, halogen, and LEDs are better but people tend to prefer the yellow-y glow. Oh well, we should be able to mimic that soon (if not already) with LEDs.
B. computers/audio/visual – your cell phone, your mp3 player, your laptop with the battery that always goes out. In general these things are pretty efficient, and manufacturers are driven to make them more so – despite the energy crisis – for portability and longer use
C. all things mechanical (transportation/dishwashers/lawnmowers ) – here’s where things get interesting! Basically we like our mechanical energy as something that spins, since spinning things are compact (compared to things moving out along a straight line) and easy to change into something else.

How can we make things spin?
1. an engine – powered by gasoline/petroleum
2. a motor – powered by electricity
3. animal power – yokes, bicycles
4. air pressure/wind – those cool air-powered tools at the mechanic’s
5. water pressure/waterwheels
The latter three are hardly taken seriously in many products. Why? Three reasons:
i. inefficiencies in overcoming the discrepancy in energy type (spinning to reciprocating, spinning to spinning at higher speeds, etc.)
ii. inefficiencies in overcoming the discrepancy in time (i.e. storage – you can make energy now, but want to use it later)
iii. inefficiencies in overcoming the discrepancy in space (transmission – you can make energy here, but you need it there).
Of course, there’s also the issue of amount. You can probably walk to the store, but the amount of energy required to walk to Toronto is not something you plan to expend on your next business trip. At any rate, these inefficiencies need to be better understood before we rule these seemingly lo-fi solutions out (3, 4, and 5). Hybrid energy is about combining these 5 to solve your problems as opposed to simply relying on one. Using multiple energy sources is a painful way to do the task at hand, so “hybridding” should be driven by manufacturers doing this for you seamlessly.

But it’s hard to resist the lure of that electric motor. The good thing about itis that it takes the same input as A and B above – electricity. So, that’s why we need energy – specifically electrical energy.

Problem is, electricity is also prone to the “inefficiencies in overcoming the discrepancy in space.” There was a talk the other week on fallacies of the hydrogen economy. I couldn’t make it, but grilled some who went. It seems the speaker had no hidden agenda but was merely pointing out the absurbity in using energy to make hydrogren to translate back into energy as opposed to making energy in the first place. That’s a fine thing to hang your hat on, and I imagine one could do quite a bit of math to prove it – although fairly straightforward.

Here’s my concern: No one would agree that Duracells (or Energizers) would solve the energy crisis. But, still, we use batteries all the time. Why? Aren’t you listening?! Because of the discrepancy in space – they’re portable. What else is portable? hydrogen, gasoline, and well us – assuming we’re going along for the ride.

why epicycle?

Putting the “epi-“ on the word “cycle” refers to the rotation of something upon something else. Remember that spirograph you had as a kid? Those fun little doodles are often the result of making a round piece rotate upon or within some other shape. So, this is a rather nice word, epicycle. It has some subtle mathematical implications that I like and can make some rather complex and beautiful shapes – math and art in one.
One rather popular use of the word is as it is used to describe epicyclic gear trains or planetary gears. This happens to be a wonderful invention that defies many in its ability to compactly and efficiently produce a large mechanical advantage. The design transcends patents and is now both a highly used concept and a wonderful demonstration of kinematic mechanisms. So, part of the naming is based on this as well.
Finally, I can see an analogy between epicyclic rotations and my daily grind. What I mean is that I have a vocation that takes a huge chunk of my time. But, the research and teaching of engineering design is surrounded by my other passions (or rotations) namely music and other creative endeavors.
A search on epicycle brings up a little history too. The view that the earth was the center of the universe has been debunked by showing how nearly impossible it would be for heavenly bodies to move in an epicyclic fashion. Therefore the use of the term could also be used as a badge of believing more in the power of scientific discovery than blind faith. I’m not sure I wanna make a stand on this (at least just yet). It’s fascinating though to know that some very bright people (even from 2200 years ago) are not immune to going great lengths to justify or cover up what they want to believe in.

Math, Science, Design, and Repair

I’ve been taking an extended weekend to spend time with my parents and
grandmother who are visiting from up north. Most conversations revolve
around what we will see or saw in our day. But some of the most
rewarding conversations are with my dad talking about mechanical things.
My dad has the world’s best mechanical intuition and can fix about
anything or understand why something works the way it does or why it is
likely to break. I inherited a smidgen of this and its helpful as a
teacher of engineering design. So I have some basis for making the
pending parenting advice.
It is true that young Americans are quite gadget-savvy yet many are not
pursuing an occupation in high tech areas. – that is to say, fewer US
students are majoring in engineering. If you read that paranoia too in
The World is Flat and would like to foster some DaVinci or Eintein in
your child here’s some blatant advice.
Lots of math and science activities are important in budding engineers,
but so are design and repair activities. Design is tough – it’s
expensive. When I was young I drew a lot – a great way to exercise
one’s design skills – crafts, cooking, playing music all feed into a
drive to want to make stuff – which is one glamourous aspect of
engineering. But something that’s easier and can be very satisfying is
repair. Helping a child repair a toy is an experience they are not
likely to forget.
Kids break toys all the time, many are in fact designed to fail. I don’t
care how much you chastise them about being careful and conscientious,
but one time see if the toy has the following properties.
a) it doesn’t plug in
b) it is primarily held together by screws (you do own a screwdriver,
right?)
c) has failed/broken in a non-obvious way. Meaning something inside is
broken – not on the surface.
This toy is a perfect opportunity to do repair. That sounds boring, but
the reward is that the child gets the toy again in (possibly) complete
working order, and they earned it!
Now guide them through taking the thing apart. Careful with the screws -
you collect them, don’t penalize the sloppiness – they have a delicate
momentum now that should be fostered. Ask leading questions, “What do
you think we’ll find inside?” “what do you think this thing component
does?” Mention that engineering designers created the toy – made all the
decisions about how long, how wide, what color? Present these mythical
beasts as happy elves that love their job and making children happy.-
well don’t make them too magical – but don’t make them about to be a
bunch of mean businessmen in 3-piece suits either.
The good thing about many electromechanical devices is that when they
break we can really see what went wrong. The material cracked, a spring
jumped off of a post, etc. Finding what’s broke may take some patience
and persistence. If something is complicated you can be boggled by the
complexity, but the more you look at it the simpler it gets. Asks what
should the toy do, why is it not doing it now… this may help both of
you find the problem.
In the end, I give you a 40% chance of fixing it. Oh well, you tried.
You can try again. The repairing exercise will build mechanical
intuition even if the toy doesn’t go together again. Also that
intimidation factor you both feel will diminish. There’s no magic in
technology just a lot of time and cooperation. Repair is maybe not as
glamorous as design but it’s still important in a lot of industries and
cheaper and easier as a learning exercise.