Toadfish Monastery

The principal is similar to Six Degrees of Separation.  The winner of each round gets to specify two wikipedia articles by title, and every player tries to determine the quickest route via in-article links: 

Toadfish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toadfish)
Greek language
Christianity
Monastery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monastery)


When you've found what you think is the quickest path, post it.  Players may only enter one path per round; the shortest path wins. New players can join at any time, until a round is declared closed by the current champ.  Ties result in a rematch, with the current champ giving the next pair of words.


Here's the first one:

Tourist Attraction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_attraction)

to

Caffè macchiato (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_macchiato)

I assume the route has to go in one direction and it is not allowed to use an article as intermediate that both ends point to (but not the other way).

Tourist Attraction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_attraction)
Ethnic enclave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_enclave)
Italy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italy)
Italian cuisine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_cuisine)
Caffè macchiato (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_macchiato)

Quote from: Swatopluk on September 13, 2009, 07:29:04 PM
I assume the route has to go in one direction and it is not allowed to use an article as intermediate that both ends point to (but not the other way).

Interesting question. I think it should go one-way only (although it may help to sketch out the pathway by working in reverse).  Each article used must contain a link to the next article on the list.

I'm also contemplating whether or not we should allow use of the "see also" list or if the links must be in the text of the article (open to suggestions).  The latter would be a more 'pure' form of wiki-fu but not really reflective of how one uses it in the context of the LPWB game, which was the inspiration.

Beagle has so far beat the admittedly wandering path I took to set up this round (I think I took a loop through List of fried dough foods (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fried_dough_foods) at some point  :D).

Awaiting challengers - alternate routes of the same length count as a tie.

And changing a wikipedia entry to achieve a shortcut should be right out too!

I'd like to think we are not that devious.  :P
(I'm a wiki-voyeur, I watch avidly but don't f#ck with the articles) ;)


C'mon everyone...  enter a path.  I've just confirmed that a win is still possible.  If I don't see an alternate entry in 20 hours (I'm gone tomorrow), I will award the win to beagle.  Neatly done path, btw.

Quote from: Agujjim on September 14, 2009, 05:54:45 AM
Neatly done path, btw.

Thankee kindly. Pity the path via Dolly Parton and RB211 didn't work though.

My first attempt is longer (but could be easily shortened by expanding one of the articles* ;D)

rest area
cafeteria**
coffeehouse
coffee

*or linking a word that occurs in the text but is not linked.
**why is no coffee mentioned here?

It wouldn't be hard (but would be cheating ;) ) to write a program which, starting from the destination page, used the "what links here" to backtrack with an ever increasing set of pages until the source was encountered.

Quote from: Swatopluk on September 14, 2009, 10:53:06 AM
**why is no coffee mentioned here?

'Cause cafeterias are for food. ;)

As opposed to coffeshops? ;)

You need food after a coffeshop, methinks. ;)

Care to enter a path?  There's still the opportunity to win (and yes, I'm plugging this game heavily to establish a field of competitors).

Tourist attraction
library
Italy
coffee
Caffe Macchiato

at least drawn level with beagle

Quote from: Swatopluk on September 15, 2009, 03:21:59 PM
at least drawn level with beagle

Curse you Red Baron!

Does that means one chooses the source and one the destination?
What if three or more draw? Waypoints?

Edit:

Rematch apparently. Going to take all my willpower not to write that program...

Quote from: beagle on September 15, 2009, 04:26:36 PM
Does that means one chooses the source and one the destination?
What if three or more draw? Waypoints?

Actually, I like this as otherwise draws could go on indefinitely. We'd need more players to pull this off. 

Alternatively, we could allow the winner to pick only the NEXT word (blindly), and make the previous round's destination the starting point.  In the case of a tie, waypoints will be invoked, which reduces pre-determination of a path.  Let's try this for the next round. 

In any case, Beagle has been declared the winner for this round as Swato's first (and official) guess was longer.

My best path was:

Tourist Attraction
Hospitality Industry
Cafe
Caffè macchiato (via the coffee portal at the bottom of the cafe article).

I was excluded for this round, but we will be all in for the next one, once Beagle supplies a destination point.

Thankee kindly.

Your challenge is to get from:

Caffè macchiato (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_macchiato)

to

Gallifrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallifrey)


Just to prove it's not really in a separate universe I've checked it can be done (in a ridiculous seven steps excluding endpoints).  You must be able to beat that.

Thanks beagle - and props for offering a seven-step confirmation.  You are still eligible to submit an entry for this round.

I would assume that in some way, shape, or form it's possible to get from any article to any other article (in an infinite number of steps), but if anyone finds an unlinkable set of articles (without resorting to programming) they will be awarded an honourary 10th-degree black belt in Wiki-Fu. ;)


Question: Do we ban disambiguation pages?

Quote from: Agujjim on September 15, 2009, 08:45:50 PM
I would assume that in some way, shape, or form it's possible to get from any article to any other article (in an infinite number of steps)

Ah, but Gallifrey hides behind the transduction barrier, and was destroyed in the Time War, but no-one know when that was/willen might be, or whatever the appropriate tense is.

What happens if links are destroyed by Davros during the course of the competition? It all gets very heavy and may require deploying a paradox engine.

Quote
Question: Do we ban disambiguation pages?

No strong feelings on that. They've never attacked me...

My knowledge of British Sci-fi doesn't make it much past Red Dwarf, I'm afraid.  :mrgreen:

My thinking on disambiguation pages is that they may allow linking of rather unrelated articles by name; however, this requires a step through the page and finding a link to the disambiguation page itself (fairly rare), so they may not be overly efficient and probably can be deemed allowable Wiki-fu. Probably should keep anything open for the moment, until any particular method becomes disruptive (actually, I can think of a method that may allow Swato and Zono to get the jump on us in some cases, but I won't mention it).


Can't do much better than 7 steps, myself:

0 Caffè macchiato
1 Barleycup
2 United Kingdom
3 Television in the United Kingdom
4 Doctor Who
5 Gallifrey

That's way better than mine:

In reverse order...

Gallifrey
continent
earth
world
country
list of countries
italy
coffee
cafe machiato

I'm not thinking laterally enough.  I think it's between you, Swato and any resident cafe sci-fi experts.

Well, you're still eligible to enter a forward-order pathway (reverses do not count).  Partial overlap of paths is fair game.  I have found so far that the easiest way is to find a midpoint to work from (UK in this example); I worked it backwards for a while, but it wasn't much help (tried to work through Guinness, but I don't think the forward links would have been easy).

I'm more cafe than sci-fi, that's for sure, but the British obsession with Dr. Who made the second half of the path straight-forward.  Took a bit of clicking to find a UK-based coffee link.

Not much hope unless there's a Dr Who episode synopsis linking coffee and Gallifrey...

cafe machiato
milk
milky way
Gallifrey



** I dont quite understand all the details of this game but I assume each item has to have a link on the wiki page to the same item in the next wiki page - ie. link to link to link etc. If that's right, then my submission works.

Each article must contain the link to the next article - i.e. one could click through from start to finish.  This is based on my habit of wiki-wandering, starting on one article and ending up somewhere seemingly unrelated.

Not sure - is there a link to Gallifrey in the Milky Way article?  I failed to spot it, but if so, you are a WIKI-FU MASTER! The link from Gallifrey to Milky Way is not sufficient, because it's only one-way.

Quote from: Agujjim on September 16, 2009, 12:07:58 AM
Not sure - is there a link to Gallifrey in the Milky Way article? 

Something of an oversight, given the Time Lords' continuing meddling there.

I don't think we're going to beat your your route unless someone's created  Caffè Dalek, but there's still Deutsche-Brain's contribution. Maybe there's a German wiki hyper-route (as you hinted).

I won't even try.
Wkipedia discourages articles that have no link pointing towards them. It's in the guidelines for new articles that one should create at least one link (although two or more are desired).
Btw, there are several ways through Gilbert and Sullivan related articles to Gallifrey  :mrgreen:

I'm going to nitpick Griffin's linkage. "Milk" is mentioned in the Milky Way article, but isn't a link.

Caffe Macchiato
Coffee (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee)
Europe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe)
Earth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth)
Gallifrey

I hadn't picked up on the links having to be both back and forwards, as it were, so I agree my entry is a dud. :(

Quote from: Griffin NoName on September 16, 2009, 09:29:29 AM

I hadn't picked up on the links having to be both back and forwards, as it were, so I agree my entry is a dud. :(

Forwards only, actually.  One-way is OK, provided it's click-through from start to finish. Start at point A, click, click, click, click to point B.

Scrib, where's the Earth-Gallifrey link?



btw, I'm out all day - beagle is calling the win on this one.

My first attempt:

caffe macchiato
1. coffee palace
2. United Kingdom
3. Arthur Sullivan
4. Pirates Of Penzance
Gallifrey

Quote from: Agujjim on September 16, 2009, 12:18:19 PM
btw, I'm out all day - beagle is calling the win on this one.

So far it's looking like an Agujjim/Swato draw, unless Scrib can come up with a very good explanation as to where the Earth->Gallifrey link is. 

Swato's is the most creative IMHO.

The Gallifrey article mentions Earth.

As I understand the wishes of our founder it has to be forwards only:

Quote from: Agujjim on September 16, 2009, 12:18:19 PM

Quote from: Griffin NoName on September 16, 2009, 09:29:29 AM

I hadn't picked up on the links having to be both back and forwards, as it were, so I agree my entry is a dud. :(

Forwards only, actually.  One-way is OK, provided it's click-through from start to finish. Start at point A, click, click, click, click to point B.

Though I put in a whole silly route backwards, just to confuse things, and because I'm funny that way...


It must be nearly end of the working day Canada time. Let's let the fundator rule. I can't take the awesome responsibility.

Ok

This is not the shortest but I'm feeling creative and it is fitting for this forum :mrgreen:

Caffè macchiato
Milk
Milky Way
Creation Myths
Scientology
Science Fiction
Time Travel in Fiction
Dr Who
Gallifrey

Quote from: Scriblerus the Philosophe on September 16, 2009, 08:48:50 PM
The Gallifrey article mentions Earth.

It's got to be clickable in order of progression, so Earth->Gallifrey.

Quote from: beagle on September 16, 2009, 08:53:20 PM
It must be nearly end of the working day Canada time. Let's let the fundator rule. I can't take the awesome responsibility.

Depends on how long your work day is (and how long you drive around Olds looking for Chinese food - small Canadian town without a Chinese restaurant? Impossible!  There are 2 but they are both closed).

Win to Swato for style points.  Technically it's a tie, so I will provide a waypoint that must be hit on the path from Gallifrey to whatever Swato specifies as a destination.  Makes for a more interesting game.  I need to mull it over (and pick up pizza).

Now that the rules are (hopefully) clear, let's make a proper match of it, and all enter a path.  

OK, new destination: Keystone Species (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species)
7 steps in my count.

Your waypoint is Syngas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngas).

I haven't the foggiest how far this will take us off the 7-step path Swato has sketched out, but I can get to Syngas in four moves (update: the entire path can be done in eight moves; not much of a detour ::)).

Remember, you must provide a path that can be 'clicked through', moving from start to waypoint to finish:


Gallifrey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallifrey)
?
?
?
Syngas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngas)
?
?
?
Keystone Species (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species)

Run out of time ,so this will have to do despite the long second leg:

Gallifrey
Earth
Methane
SynGas
Coal
Australia
Australian Antarctic Territory
Antarctica
Keystone Species

Hmmm....  something I hadn't anticipated with waypoints is that one could assemble shorter (but only partially overlapping) paths by mixing and matching other players' legs.  I propose that each leg of a path with a waypoint must be unique - i.e. no copying someone else to match their short first leg with your short second leg.

This is mostly to keep me from cheating; my second leg is short but the first leg had me stumped! ;)


Here's my entry:

Gallifrey
Earth
Plant
Coal
Syngas
Syngas fermentation
Glossary of environmental science
Keystone species


It's possible to shave one more off the first leg (using an alternate compound / element to methane) but since I would not have got it without beagle's entry, I will stick to my original plan.  :P

But some wikipedia entries have only one exit, so some parallelity must be allowed.

Quote from: Swatopluk on September 17, 2009, 02:19:22 PM
But some wikipedia entries have only one exit, so some parallelity must be allowed.

Parallel paths are definitely allowed - as long as there is at least one difference between each leg in the case of 'waypoint' routes.  There needs to be some advantage to posting first, because otherwise one would wait for most of the other players to enter and then try to find a parallel workaround on one or two moves for the tie.  I would propose that the first entry of winning length takes the win (officially) with subsequent entries of the same length getting a runner-up nod.  Wins may be reassigned at the discretion of the current referee (previous winner) for creativity, where merited.

WRT beagle's first leg, I'm declining to change the path I sketched out originally because I didn't see that as an option originally (it's self-flagellation rather than following the rules). It's still the winning entry at the moment, but a shorter overall path is possible.

Retitled the thread to reflect the developmental nature of the game - once we get rules hammered out we'll restart the tournament.

Besides the pure game aspect, I think this makes an interesting study on the average and maximum degrees of separation between any two articles in Wikipedia. It's also a great excuse for wiki-crawling, picking up factoids and delving into new areas of knowledge.

Observation: it took me ages to do my last entry. I am not sure I can cope with the extra complications !

Really, the rules haven't changed and the game remains the same - there's just a extra level of complexity with the waypoints.

I think I've overcomplicated the matter in the manner in which I've approached the methods   <--EXAMPLE HERE  :mrgreen:  because this is very, very basic.


Rules recap (need help to re-word these in plain language!):

Basic Wiki-Fu

1. Starting at the Destination Article from the previous round, find and post a path to the new Destination Article by following links contained within each article page. 
2. The path must be entirely clickable from article to article - one-way links to a PREVIOUS article in the pathway do not count.
3. The shortest path wins.
4. A winner is declared by the 'referee' (winner of previous round) when it appears that no more entries will be received. The winner becomes the referee for the next round and supplies the next Destination Article.
5. If two paths of the same length are provided, the FIRST person to submit a 'shortest path' is the winner and becomes the referee for the next round. Any other players submitting a 'shortest path' are considered runners-up in order of posting and contribute a Waypoint Article for the next round (Waypoint Wiki-fu). 
6. Duplicate paths are not permitted.


Waypoint Wiki-fu

1. When a subsequent player submits a 'shortest path' (i.e. equal in length to the first 'shortest path'),  they are considered a runner-up and may submit a Waypoint Article for the next round.
2. Waypoint Articles must be included in the path to the Destination Article (i.e. they are a midpoint somewhere along the path).
3. If multiple runners-up submit Waypoint Articles, the Waypoint Articles may be encountered in any order, provided the series finishes at the Destination Article.
4. The sub-paths between Waypoint Articles and/or the Destination Article are known as 'legs'. Duplicate legs are not permitted.


Is this clear enough?  Please help revise the rules, I'm a technical writer by profession so I write for precision, not transparency.  ::)

Any input on rules, or additional entries for the current round? ???

I suggest making it a bit easier, going from A to B is hard enough to have to step by C in the middle.

Limit to basic wiki-fu?  OK, we can do that.


I liked the idea of waypoints because straight A->B paths are proving to be very short, and the path lengths don't differ much.   Also, there's little motivation to submit an entry if you can't beat the first one posted (whereas using waypoints allowed meaningful ties).  But I do want to keep this fast and fun, so A->B might be best.


Basic Wiki-Fu

1. Starting at the Destination Article from the previous round, find and post a path to the new Destination Article by following links contained within each article page. 
2. The path must be entirely clickable from article to article - one-way links to a PREVIOUS article in the pathway do not count.
3. The shortest path wins.
4. A winner is declared by the 'referee' (winner of previous round) when it appears that no more entries will be received. The winner becomes the referee for the next round and supplies the next Destination Article.
5. If two paths of the same length are provided, the FIRST person to submit a 'shortest path' is the winner and becomes the referee for the next round.
6. Duplicate paths are not permitted.
7. Players not able to beat a previously entered path are encouraged to post their paths anyways, or declare a 'fold'.

I'll close the last round and start a new one, if I haven't lost y'all:

Keystone Species (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species)

to

Obfuscation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obfuscation)    :P

Too tired to deal with that this evening.

We'll leave this round open for the weekend - approach at your leisure.

Keystone Species
Salmon
Japan
Names of Japan
Obfuscation

Don't see a way to beat that.

Nor do I.

Keystone Species (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_species)
North America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America)
English Language (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_language)
Obfuscation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obfuscation)

Obfuscation was HARD to link into. :P

Ah I didn't know "obfuscate" counted as a link to "obfuscation". None of the instances of "obfuscation" I found (and I found plenty) were actually links. Sour grapes and pedancy.

There's still time for an entry.  ;) Anything you can click on is fair game, as long as it'll get you to the next article.  Click-click-click-click... 



I had an equally hard time finding links, but I think Search turned up a variety of suffixes.

Round is now closed.

Next round:
Obfuscation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obfuscation)

to

Apple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple) (as a bonus to the computer-literate, I will also take Apple Inc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc) as a destination, if that helps).


Paths in should be easy on this one, provided you can get out of Obfucation.

Obfuscation
propaganda
astroturfing
Apple Inc.

For a runner-up position:

Obfuscation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obfuscation)
Text-based (computing)
Graphical user interface
Apple Inc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc)

I suspect Griffin of Beagle can top this, even though it'd require a single bridge-word.

I will look later as I have to do RL at preset.

Will reserve you an entry space!

Though not actually shorter:

Obfuscation
Michael Crichton
Apple II
Apple Inc

brings us closer in 2. 5 steps in a way

Just don't post a 2-step solution - we should leave that up to remaining potential entrants. ;)

Obfuscation
Random Article
Apple

---

Better to be born lucky than rich. ;D

I might have lied.

What were the chances of that? And what about reproducability?

Quote from: Swatopluk on September 21, 2009, 08:41:05 PM
What were the chances of that? And what about reproducability?

The chances of me cheating? High.  The chances of me cheating again? Still high.

I couldn't find a legit better route. Besides, remember the old school motto, "Concelio est prudentia".

("Sneaky is best", in fake Latin obviously).

Maybe we should have beagle cook up his link-miner and compete against it, John Henry-style? ;)

Seems to be a number of 3-step paths on this one, but I can't nail down a 2-step (i.e. one bridge word) path.

Quote from: Agujjim on September 21, 2009, 08:55:10 PM
Maybe we should have beagle cook up his link-miner and compete against it, John Henry-style? ;)

Seems to be a number of 3-step paths on this one, but I can't nail down a 2-step (i.e. one bridge word) path.

I suspect Wikipedia gets annoyed if you download wholesale. Yahoo certainly did (whistle...).
Having looked it up I'm not too keen on the J.H. idea.

Tried most links and couldn't find a single page jump.

Yes, dying with our mice in our hands may be a bit drastic. :mrgreen:

We'll permit Griffin to take a stab at it if desired, as RL allows.  Swato is currently holding the win position.

Unless Griffin posts a path ending at Apple instead of Apple Inc., we will be using Apple Inc. as the starting point.

If she's doing her tax return she may be some time; it's not easy to hide £20M from HMRC.

Quote from: beagle on September 21, 2009, 09:13:15 PM
If she's doing her tax return she may be some time; it's not easy to hide £20M from HMRC.

Ayuh, it takes quite a few holes to hide that much gold. Is that why the Beatles dug 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire, to hide it from the Taxman?

The Beatles? Before my time...

(http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01478/1009-MATT-INSIDE-w_1478363a.gif)

Dunno about that - they recycle well.  I've got the 2009-released Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band on heavy rotation at the moment.
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519vKnhnQcL._SL500_AA240_.jpg) (http://www.amazon.com/Easy-Stars-Lonely-Hearts-Band/dp/B001SZ28VK)
(they also do OK Computer and Dark Side of the Moon in entirety)

You asked for it...


I was 10 at the end of the 60s. Much preferred the Rolling Stones, as they were getting arrested for peeing on police stations rather than being chased by screaming girls.  Much more impressive at ten.

LOL, I just mentally revised your age by about a decade. Not entirely sure why I had you pegged closer to my father's age*, but I did.

Besides, I am a bit temporally shifted when it comes to music - I don't usually start listening to anything seriously unless it's had a decade or so to age. Helps to winnow out the carp. Swato prefers a century or so, I think.  ;)


_{*temporal, not mental - I think you're likely older there unless you feel a frequent urge to hurl yourself off objects taller than you are while astride a 30-odd-lb chunk of aluminium. ::)}

Quote from: Agujjim on September 21, 2009, 09:48:57 PM
_{*temporal, not mental - I think you're likely older there unless you feel a frequent urge to hurl yourself off objects taller than you are while astride a 30-odd-lb chunk of aluminium. ::)}

I've managed to sublimate that urge up till now.  I'm saving it for last.

But I'm bang up to date with music; currently getting into Nirvana.

Quote from: beagle on September 21, 2009, 09:54:36 PMBut I'm bang up to date with music; currently getting into Nirvana.

Case in point. I started getting serious about the '90s around 2005, despite being a teenager through the grunge/alternative years (was busy with the '60s & '70s on vinyl at the time). 

I'd recommend the Pixies if you haven't hit them on the way - Kurt Cobain was trying to make a Pixies album when he wrote Nevermind.

I've lost the will to live. And barely made a dent in the tax return. Please proceed without an entry from me.

And hey, the Beatles are Fab.

Quote from: Griffin NoName on September 21, 2009, 11:11:10 PM
I've lost the will to live.

I hope the game is not the cause! (dealing with taxes might very well be) :P

As far as I'm concerned Swato has the win, and as the new referee may start the next round at his leisure.

Quote from: Agujjim on September 21, 2009, 10:18:17 PM
I'd recommend the Pixies if you haven't hit them on the way - Kurt Cobain was trying to make a Pixies album when he wrote Nevermind.

Strangely enough I actually did them years ago (probably around the time of Fight Club), but still sometimes inadvertently hum "Where is my mind" or "Monkey gone to heaven" during boring meetings. (Not to mention using the "Don't worry, everything will be fine" film quote when referring to new functionality I'm not sure about).

60s and 70s Floyd/Doors is my "normal" environment.

Vera Lynn has not just managed to get back into the charts at 92 but also to kick the Beatles from #1  :mrgreen:

The next stop of the wikipedia train is

Hanuman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman)

starting from Apple Inc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Inc.)

If only I'd paid attention in R.E. I might know which Hindu gods had apple references, but as I didn't it's a boring country link again.

Apple Inc
China
Religion in China
Hanuman

That's one shorter than mine

Apple Inc.
polycarbonate
extrusion
terracotta
Hanuman

Does wikipedia have a complete list of all Hindu gods? To my knowledge there are several million of them on record and who knows how many more are worshipped in just small remote areas. Are there more species of beetles or Hindu deities? ;)

I can't see a way to beat it - will be gone for the day and could possibly match, but that's not a sure bet.

I just looked up the wikipedia entry for List of Hindu deities. It begins like this:

QuoteThis is a list of Hindu deities. Note that according to some Hindu literature, there are 330 million (including local and regional) deities,[1][2] not all of which can be listed.

:ROFL:

:ROFL:@Wiki-Humour

Probably as well. If I remember my A.C.Clarke correctly the stars start going out if you read the complete list.

Quote from: beagle on September 22, 2009, 06:16:44 PM
.......the stars start going out if you read the complete list.

.....but since they haven't gone out, that must prove that multiple gods were created at a singularity ?

The few General Relativity primers I read were mute on the point. However they probably agree that gods inside classical singularities can't be hairy, which isn't going to go down well with the Taliban.

Referee Swato to close round at will.

Apart from beagle noone came up with a solution, so it's his term again.

OK, mes amis, the next challenge is to get from

Hanuman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanuman)

to

The Killings at Badger's Drift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killings_at_Badger%27s_Drift)

Haven't done it myself yet, so there's the added frisson that a route might be impossible or lead through some murky articles. But somehow I doubt it; it's peak time ITV after all.

First proposal

Hanuman
India
Child marriage
Incest
Incest in popular culture
The Killings at Badger's Drift

I had a suspicion this one wouldn't route via Mary Poppins or Disney.

I thought there would be links through Indian mythology but I found no incest links.
While I was clicking I repaired a broken link, jftr if somebody hypersuspicious looks into editing history of pages.
Hm, I wonder if something dirty could be found on the Disney-related pages despite Disney sanitizing a lot in their adaptions of classic literature. Who would have thought that The Hunchback of Notredame could be fitted with a happy ending suitable for children (although some non-animated versions at least least the girl survive). I still wait for Disney's version of Titus Andronicus for vegetarians.

Quote from: beagle on September 25, 2009, 07:42:03 AM
......... it's peak time ITV after all.

Yes, isn't that odd :mrgreen:

I concede this match; would have been able to do an overlapping and equal-length entry comparable to Swato's but there's no link (despite incidence of the word) from Creation Myth to Incest.

Suggest a route through Category:English novels, but I can't make it there in a short enough route (tried via The Satanic Verses).

Me too neither. My routes through the misbehaviour of immortal gods and top 100 lists are going nowhere.

Mine haven't even got started. I fold.

Quote from: Agujjim on September 25, 2009, 08:03:11 PM
I concede this match; would have been able to do an overlapping and equal-length entry comparable to Swato's but there's no link (despite incidence of the word) from Creation Myth to Incest.

I ran into exactly that problem.

OK, new destination
From
The Killings at Badger's Drift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killings_at_Badger%27s_Drift)
to
Minufiya_University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minufiya_University)
I did it in 5 steps (one of them really nasty :mrgreen:).

Will have to attempt this tonight, real life intervenes...

I'm hoping for a route through Stargate and the General Aliens Department in Cairo ;)

Don't take a wrong turn at the Ostrogoths  ;)

The long list...

The killings at Badger's drift
United Kingdom
British Empire
Egypt
List of universities in Egypt
Minufiya University

Is that 4 or 6 steps?

Whichever, I can only equal it

The killings at Badger's drift
red wine      (or autopsy)
ancient egypt
Egypt
List of universities in Egypt
Minufiya University

If only modern Egyptians had a wine industry (though I see some issues) or had kept up the old funerary traditions.

The Killings at Badger's Drift
Autopsy
Ibn al-Nafis
Cairo
Suez Canal
Mashhour Ahmed Mashhour
Minufiya


Longer.

Same length, different route.

The Killings at Badger's Drift (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Killings_at_Badger%27s_Drift)
Village
Megalopolis
Greater Cairo
Shibin El Kom
Minufiya_University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minufiya_University)

I have to correct myself. The way I found is 4 not 5 steps.

Spit it out, then...  I can't see how to shave anything off the path I found.

The Killings at Badger's Drift
Sergeant
1 July
(Death of) Marwa El-Sherbini
Minufiya University

The "1 July" was of course a really nasty one due to the huge number of possible follow-up links.
Hm, who should be the next? Or should I give another challenge?

You won, so give the next challenge.  I tracked back as far as 1 July, but didn't get past there (and would not have guessed Sergeant had such a link, although I did poke around a bit).

I'll see, if I can find a new one (but I have to leave offcie now)

Your new destination (starting from Minufiya University (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minufiya_University)) is Yaddo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaddo)
Took me 6 steps. I assume there are faster ways.

Not that I can see...

Minufiya University
public university
THE–QS World University Rankings
University of Oxford
Worcester College Oxford
The Line of Beauty
Yadda

OK:

Minufiya
Egypt
Hosni Mubarak
The New York Times
Times Books
Yaddo

I suggest you count me out. I'm finding the new course I am doing is about equivalent to this.

I'm tapping out on this one - no time to solve it (and too many damned names to sort through ::)).

Too many obscure artists for your taste? ;)  :mrgreen:

Looks like Zono got a shorter route than mine. I'll have to find the piece of paper I wrote my way on.

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on October 01, 2009, 02:48:58 PM
Too many obscure artists for your taste? ;)  :mrgreen:

Ayuh. 

Still not likely to catch this round, will plan to join in next round or Monday evening, whichever is later.

My way was:

Minufiya University
Shibin el Kom
Time Zone
Charles F. Dowd
Intercolonial railway
Saratoga Springs, NY
Yaddo

It's Sibling Zono's turn now!

Oky, from

Yaddo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaddo)

to

Triterpene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triterpene)

Easy!

Yaddo
paintball
turpentine
triterpene

I had the feeling it was going to be easy for you, and indeed that was my path.

Damned artists!  I'll sit this one out as I don't see a way to one-jump it. :P

Next target (from triterpene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triterpene)):
Sir William Penney (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Penney,_Baron_Penney)

Hey, noone trying his or her luck or skill?

I may have something to do with the fact that I played into your hands and can't for the life of me sort among that many organic compounds and link them to the British atomic bomb.

Well, the first step should be easy, since there are not many exits from triterpene.
Hint: after that no organic compound anymore

Triterpene
Ambrein
Chemical Formula
Periodic Table
Neodymium
Atomic Weapons Establishment
William Penney

triterpene
biochemistry
Nobel Prize
dynamite
cordite
Ministry of Supply
William Penney


So far, we have a tie!   ;D

Oo another contestent.

I'm still to stuck into my MSc to have time for this pursuit. Sadly.

Wandering around the virtual Sheffield University is a lot like this game - except the premise seems to be to take the longest, not the shortest, route.

My way was a bit longer

triterpene
ambrein
standard state
tin
ductility
Wigner energy
Windscale fire
William Penney

Interstingly lambi's way looks more British tha beagle's

Quote from: Swatopluk on October 10, 2009, 07:49:41 AM
Interstingly lambi's way looks more British tha beagle's

I resent that. What could be more British than devising new and better ways to blow up Johnny Foreigner at the AWE?  It's as British as apple pie.

Triterpene
Biochemistry
Nuclear chemistry
History of nuclear weapons
Talk:History of nuclear weapons
William Penney

I can't find Penney on the talk:... page.
But it can be replaced with 'Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom', so Agujims way remains the shortest.
I therefore award Agujim the prize and the task to name a new destination.

He's on there, by last name only in the Anglo Hate?  section:

QuoteFrisch, Peirls, Fuchs all took up British Nationality. You have to look around quite a bit to find the not-inconsiderable amount of UK and Commonwealth scientists involved, e.g., Tuck, Oliphant, Penney, Chadwick, etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.40.253.74 (talk) 22:21, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

But I'll take up the task.

Next destination is the Big Black album Songs About F*cking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_About_Fucking)

Not often the challenge combines two of my interests.


Sir William Penney
Physics                (need to expand table)
Solid
Atomic spectroscopy
Atomization
Big black
Songs about F*cking

Considerably shorter than my first-identified pathway, I think.

If only Sir Bill had been randier...

I'll not even try this time.

me neither

I hope this game is still going if I ever find I have time on my hands.... which probably wont be till my course finishes in 2 years

Well, I'm certainly having a crack at it - need to re-work a path backwards from Big Black I think.  Often I go for a conceptually quick route, that needs a number of detours through large articles to make the connection. :P My first-scouted route pivoted on B-52s....

Ah, there's a unexpected path:

William Penney
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity
Crucifixion of Jesus
King of the Jews
Songs About F*cking


Could perhaps be refined, but those last two moves must be worth some bonus credit. ;)

Quote from: Agujjim on October 14, 2009, 12:46:34 AM
...
Crucifixion of Jesus
King of the Jews
Songs About F*cking

...those last two moves must be worth some bonus credit. ;)

Fully agree with that :mrgreen:

Quote from: Agujjim on October 12, 2009, 04:07:33 PMNext destination is the Big Black album Songs About F*cking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_About_Fucking)

This doesn't win, but I think it's interesting enough to share:

William Penney
World War II
Resistance during World War II
Special Operations Executive
Ian Fleming
Ernst Stavro Blofeld
Dr. Evil
List of fictional cats
C.S. Lewis
Christian Alternative Rock
Timeline of alternative rock
Songs About F*cking

I just like how I managed to get the SOE, "list of fictional cats" and Christian Alt-rock all in there.   ;D

I am always surprised what kind of lists there are on wikipedia

Shame you didn't get TS Elliot in there too Lambi ;D

LOL, if I could give a waypoint....   :ban:


I'm glad you managed to use the Timeline of Alternative Rock - that was my original inbound path.


Any other entries?  I think most of the usual suspects have entered or folded by now...  Zono?

You can go on, I wont beat nor distance nor cleverness in this round. ;)

You know, I originally was going to point last round at "More Songs About Buildings and Food", but I'm not that into architecture (compared to the other two).  :mrgreen:

Next stop is Mikhail Lavrentyev (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Lavrentyev). 

I'll be posting at the end of the day, if I remember with all the goings-on.  Almost chose Fight Club instead - learned something about it today that I hadn't realized before (but is very appropriate considering it is/was(?) my favorite movie of all time). 

How's that working out for you - being clever?  ;) ;) ;)

Double-posting to address time-sensitive links:

Songs About F*cking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_About_Fucking)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
October 15
Mikhail Lavrentyev (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Lavrentyev)

Yes, there's a reason for my madness, if you read between the lines a bit. ;) ;) ;)

Legitimate entries will be considered as I'm not sure this was a fair play.

Triple post!  Since we've had no entries (and the last one was a bit of a lark), I will reset the path:

Songs About F*cking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_About_Fucking)

to:

Bagheera kiplingi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi)

Quote from: Agujjim on October 16, 2009, 07:47:48 PM
Bagheera kiplingi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi)

Just had to look that up !

But too immersed in MSc reading to find the path to it.

Interesting creature with an interesting species name. :)

I haven't sketched out a path at all yet, just blindly chose a destination.

I think I stumbled (metaphorically) over that creature just a few days ago.

Songs About F*cking (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_About_Fucking)
Noise rock
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag (insecticide)
Spider
Bagheera kiplingi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi)

Any way I can find is longer

Songs about F*cking
South America
Species or Biodiversity
Invertebrates
arthropods
spider
bagheera kiplingi

A possible other way could be through acacia but I haven't found a two-step way from South America there.

Hmm...  I think it's possible maybe to shave a step or two by using Rain Forest (or similar) out of South America to get to spider?  I started down that path a little, didn't pan out easily.

Too bad album titles do not provide links from individual words - I sketched out a path initially via The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars but no spider links.  There's potentially an even shorter path via the original album title, if the expletive linked out to sexual intercourse (link to Spider there, apparently ???).

There is a British band named Acacia but the wikipedia entry has no link to the tree.
I tried the rainforest route but it came to nothing (shorter at least).

Bah, I'm up again, aren't I?

I will try a straighforward one and see if anyone can find a shortcut.

Bagheera kiplingi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagheera_kiplingi)

to

Tanuki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanuki)

I'll try in the afternoon. I presume it will go through Studio Ghibli Animes  :mrgreen:
Otherwise I would not know without looking it up what Tanuki are.
I hear in the US Pom Poko is censored and only available in a version missing a certain scene.

Quote from: Swatopluk on October 26, 2009, 08:14:31 AM
I hear in the US Pom Poko is censored and only available in a version missing a certain scene.

I have a Chinese bootleg so I couldn't tell you, but there's lots of giant balls in that version, in multiple scenes. I finally understand the (rare) Tanuki Suit in Super Mario Bros 3.

Well, the movie is highly Unamerican and anti-capitalist anyway ;)

From what I can figure, part of the path linking to it definitely is not. ;)

One boring route

Bagheera kiplingi
Mexico
Japan
Japanese people
Japanese folklore
Tanuki

Shorter than mine, I think.  I'll give it another 24 hours....

Instead of Mexico, ants is also a possible waypoint. Otherwise I can't find anything shorter.
It would of course be easy to cheat. I find it especially frustrating, when a good link word has no link attached.

Best I manage is

Bagheera kiplingi
Ant
Mammal
Canidae
Racoon Dog
Tanuki

Unfortunately not shorter than Swato, so I guess he wins!

No, beagle wins. Same length but earlier

Beagle takes it then.  My path passed through Disney's afternoon cartoon show "Tale Spin" which links to Porco Rosso, then via Pom Poko.

Much longer, but that was the originally found path.

OK, the new challange is

Tanuki
...
Windows 7


(Just to goad S.Z. into playing so he can set something tree-huggy as the next target).

But the vole article doesn't have a link to Microsoft!
:mrgreen:

OK, my first attempt

0.Tanuki
1.Okinawa
2.United States
3.Internet
4.Microsoft
5.Windows 7

Hello, noone at home?

"...at the moment there is no one at home. Please leave a message after the beep.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Seriously, quite busy now, perhaps if I manage to get my computer back at home (my son's xbox died and now he is playing with my computer!).

Quote from: Swatopluk on November 02, 2009, 08:54:41 AM
Hello, noone at home?

Mine is no better...

Tanuki
shapeshifting
video games
Prototype (video game)
Microsoft Windows
Windows 7

I think I beat it....

0.Tanuki
1.Kanji
2.Japanese script reform
3.Meiryo
4.Windows 7

Reckon so. Your go.

OK, next stop is Cordyceps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps)

This will clearly not be the shortest way but I challenge anyone to find a more obscure one

0. Windows 7
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2. Charles Dickens
3. Inuit (link word was Esquimaux)
4. low-carbohydrate diet
5. Diabetes
6. Anti-diabetic drugs(s)
7. Cordyceps

At least from 0 to 3 one would not expect direct links  :mrgreen:

Hello, noone at home?
(http://www.emofaces.com/en/emoticons/a/alarm-clock-emoticon.gif)
http://www.emofaces.com/en/emoticons/a/alarm-clock-emoticon.gif

No, I've been in the field doing 14-hour days - will try to catch up. ;)

----------------

Pathway in:

Windows 7
The Guardian
BBC
BBC Natural History Unit
Planet Earth (TV series)
Cordyceps

I was pursuing some Steven Segal-based pathways to rival Swato, but they got unmanageable.

OK, since there seems to be no challenger, shall I name the next destination?

Yes, do. 

OK, now go from
Cordyceps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyceps)
to
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Captain_and_the_World_of_Tomorrow)
in 4 steps or less

Need help finding a pre-2009 Steven Seagal movie utilizing the Wilhelm scream. ;)

That's not the way I took, although the scream rests on my desktop

I don't think it'll actually work.

Gave up last night as I needed to sleep early (up at 5:15 am to get on-site by 7:00).

It's so easy. Just 4 steps  :aargh!:

Promise to try eventually (fiendish though, this one - suspect China-related pathway but getting outta Cordyceps by the right path seems to be the critical element).

Little time left over between work (12 hours a day) and sleep (8 hours a night, amazingly enough) - hour in the morning is a total write-off from prep & packing, and at least an hour at night is dinner/lunch prep and getting prepared for sleep (can surf while eating, though). Should be back home tomorrow night - moot point as there's no actual entries yet. ;)

Clarification on steps:
Cordyceps
1
2
3
4 Sky Captain....

Will that beat your path, or match it?

That would match.

I give up.  Too wide of a concept-gap; I have my suspicions but nothing is meshing up.

The world is changing fast. There was a cleanup in the entry "High-definition Video" (actually several major rewritings in the last weeks), removing the link to Sky Captain (which was cited as an example in the article when I posted the challenge).
The backward link still exists

Cordyceps
Modern Marvels
Ice Road Truckers
High-definition video
---Link's broken---
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

You propose a new destination Agujim! Starting from
Pest (Animal) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest_(animal))

So you were hosing me?! _{hey, if anyone's the hoser (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoser) here, it's me!} :ROFL:  I should make you find an alternate path in 4 steps.  ;)


Pest (Animal) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pest_(animal))

to

Feeble-minded (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feeble-minded)

Sorry, I seem to have forgotten about this game. I'll come back here after the holidays, when I have enough computer time on my hands.

Ayuh, let's look at it then.  I forgotted my pathway by now. ::)