IQ Puzzle #16 - Medium

So apparently the last puzzle was a little bit too easy, here is one that should take a while to wrap your head around!

Good luck to you all, this one is tough :)

Ann Coulter vs. Al Franken - Racial Profiling

Hello all,

I have been a little bit sick recently, hence the lack of daily updates. I am just breaking the cusp of my flu now so I should be back to the races shortly. For now I have a question to you all:

What is your view on Racial Profiling?

I watched the video below recently and was shocked to hear what Ann Coulter had to say nearing the end. Skip to around 6:50 you can hear her rant.

I was sickened by this as she is demonstrating a severe lack of understanding. In my opinion it seems as though she does not have the slightest inclination of how airport security functions, let alone that it is not the liberal left who is keeping racial profiling from occuring. Racial profiling is occuring, and it is a very unfortunate thing. One of my friends who I go to university with is just about to finish his degree in engineering here in Canada, and yet every time he goes to the U.S. he gets hastled to the point where he has to exit his car and go have his fingerprints matched. This means any border crossing takes around an extra hour to hour and a half. What is the reason for this? He is Arab looking.

This is very unforunate because it not only affects him but anyone he is friends with as well. We were planning to all go down to the states for a day trip until he pointed out that if we were to do so our car would undoubtedly be pulled aside and the border crossing would take around 4 hours (including traffic). In my opinion that is completely unnaceptable. So what do you think?

IQ Puzzle #15 - Explanation

So the answer is H. You are all correct :p.

I actually made a mistake when I labelled it Medium haha, I see you guys felt this was far too easy so the next one I post will be a throwback to when I first started and Medium's were virtually impossible.

In case anyone did not understand the answer to this it was basically a series called the fibonacci series in which the previous two numbers are added together to generate the next in the series. For example 1, 1, 2, 3, 5 shows how 1+1=2, 1+2=3 and 2+3=5.

Hence all you had to do for this really was add together the last to numbers, 13 and 21, and you would realize you are looking for H, which had 34 in it. The orientation of the dots was simply a rotation around the central axis based off of the next number to be completed. This is most easily seen between 5 and 8 where 8 ends up in the same orientation (left side) as 5 because 8 is two full rotations of 4.

I am sorry it was so easy, I am working on one right now to blow your minds.


Shout out to linus who beat out convictus for the top spot. Welcome to the Leaderboard!

IQ Puzzle #15 - Easy

Alright guys here is the latest puzzle - I think that by using numbers instead of dots I have made this puzzle easier, however I hope you guys figure it out!

Good luck :)

TF2 - Screenshots, K/D Ratio

Just a super quick update from a match I played recently where I absolutely dominated. I started off as Scout, my worst class and ended up dominating so I decided to switch to my worst class, Heavy and here are the results:

 I ended up getting 20 kills in one life when I switched to Heavy, skyrocketing my K/D ratio to over 7.0!

I felt so invincible in this game and I attribute my play being so much better to a tip I heard where you turn on "dings" so that you can hear when you hit your enemys. This has improved my game durastically. Any of you have tips for TF2?

IQ Puzzle #14 - Explanation

The answer to this puzzle was very close to a few of my previous puzzles. If you take each number and convert it to a letter based off of A=1, B=2 etc. you are left with this:

Where the hint about the leaderboard was referencing the current leader, Convictus. The puzzle spelled out his name in numbers rather than letters. I figured I would bring up the idea of one of you doing a guest puzzle again, is there any interest?

IQ Puzzle #14 - Easy

This one here is really easy so I hope to have someone new get a point! Try your best :)

I will be back with the answer tomorrow, until then have a great day!

TF2 - Screenshots

So I have been playing TF2 a lot lately and have been doing pretty well. I thought I would share some screenshots of my progress thus far:


Here I start off as a Demo and take an early 2.4 K/D Ratio.

 Continuing as Demo I end up with almost a 3.0 K/D Ratio (2.75 to be exact) with 14 assists.

 After playing demo for a while I switched off to Spy and managed to maintain an exact 2.0 K/D Ratio until the end of the game with 5 Dominations.

All in all I feel pretty good about my performance thus far and hope to continue learning tips and tricks to get even better.

Do any of you guys play TF2?

Vancouver Music - Mother Mother/The New Pornographers

So I thought I would feature two awesome bands from my hometown, Mother Mother and The New Pornographers.

Both of these bands are unbelievable to me in the sense that they do not put out any songs that I dislike. I am amazed at the quality and dedication put into crafting each piece, something you don't see often in the music industry anymore.

As for The New Pornographers I am absolutely in love with their sound. They sound so fresh and so new that I can't help but have them on in the background. Seriously, listen to the song I posted. Unreal.

Both of these bands performed at Vancouver's 125th Anniversary Concert Series held at Stanley Park. It was absolutely beautiful at night and the crowd was super into all the songs. Such a great time.

Here is a link to a song by Mother Mother

Here is a link to a song by The New Pornographers

As well here are two videos I took at the Concert, you can hear how good The New Pornographers sound live and you can see the glowing balls that were designed by my University's Engineering Department:

It was really cool when they came down over top of you:

Anyway I will have another puzzle up soon, best of luck to you all and have a great day :)

IQ Puzzle #13 - Explanation

This one here was another classic addition/subtraction puzzle. The number of edges of each of the figures had to be subtracted from left to right to garner the correct answer. Congratulations to Convictus who somehow continues to get the answer right the first time, every time. Shout out to badscribbler and Shaw who also got it right!

I will have a post up tomorrow all about Vancouver's local bands! Hope you will enjoy :)

IQ Puzzle #13 - Easy

Another easy puzzle to warm you guys up, I will be trying to return to the once a day puzzles, I have been exceptionally busy with midterms this week but after Monday will be all done. I think you should all be able to figure this one out pretty quick, it is quite similair to a previous puzzle I made.

Good luck to you all, results will be up later tomorrow.

Drinking/Andre the Giant

I for one love enjoying a glass or two of wine over dinner, it is relaxing and I love the feeling of the warmth that comes from my stomach. I was stumbling around the internet and came across a hilarious site devoted to drunkards. What surprised me the most however was who the focus of the article I found was upon. Andre the Giant.

You see, recently we had been learning in my Biopsych course about Andre as he was an excellent case study of acromegaly, a glandular disorder which causes some people to grow to be remarkably large. What was NOT mentioned in my Biospych class was that Andre was a massive drinker. When I say massive, I mean after reading this article I learned he had to drink 2 litres of vodka just to feel "warm inside".

For those interested, here is the article. It is quite long but picks up in the middle and becomes hilarious as it describes carriages in New York being stolen, piano covers being used to cover Andre when he was passed out, and keeping bars open until 5am by ordering drink after drink. Definitely worth a read.

So what do you guys and gals like to drink? My favourites are Rum and Coke, Sangria, Whiskey Sour's and White Russians. Post below!

Zombie Ball - Video Update/BioPsych Low Calorie

I am currently in the process of getting another zombie ball game organized and have decided I will for sure sit out a round and video tape the proceedings. Hopefully the video will explain the basics so that you all can try it out some time. It is honestly a ton of fun to play.

In other news I have been learning about something exciting in my Biopsych course about low calorie diets and their effect on aging. Basically a low calorie diet that is still balanced in nutrients has been shown time and time again since the 80's to extend the life of rats dramatically. Flashback to post WWII and you have the island of Okinawa in Japan already practicing this sort of diet. So by the time the researchers had done the rat studies they were able to study this island's inhabitants as well.


Turns out, the low calorie diet seems to have a dramatic effect in humans as well! The researchers involved found that the level of centenarians (those of age 100 or older) was in some cases 40 times higher on the island of Okinawa than the rest of Japan. It is notable that the Japanese already have a calorie reduced diet in comparison to the rest of the world so the Okinawans are eating less than less than normal. Along with the longevity comes other perks as well. It was found that there was absolutely no daibetes or other insulin diseases, cardiovascular health was improved significantly and levels of disease were lower than normal as well.

So what do you guys think? Is it worth sacrificing calories for a longer healthier life? Is it worth it to live your life this way without adequate research done to prove this is the cause of the Okinawan's health? Post in the comments.

Gaming - Mann Co Store/TF2

So I am struck with a dilemma and need some opinions. I have recently started playing tf2 after it was released free to play. For those of you who do not know tf2 is "team fortress two" a game put out by valve that originally cost money but has been made free to play. You might say "Well how do they make money then?" The answer is quite simple hats and other items are available for purchase in the store for real money and these micro transactions fuel the addition of new content and upkeep.

So my problem is this: I feel like I should give some money back to the game as I have already played for over 10 hours for free. I would like to gain something at the same time and so have been looking at buying these keys they have to open crates for an item. The only thing is #1 a key costs $2.49, and #2 the item you get is not set, it is randomly chosen from a list and can in around 20% of cases give you the weapon you start with which in my opinion is a waste of money.

So I ask you bloggers, what should I do? Does anyone know if it is worth it to buy keys? Apparently after even one purchase your chances of finding items randomly, (what I have been doing up until now), increases. Does anyone know if it is a substantial increase? Post your opinions below!

IQ Puzzle #12 - Explanation

This one here I messed up on a little bit. There were two possible answers, C and G. C is the more "simple" of the two, although G would technically still work.

As you can see above when the dots are inside the circle they count as (+1) and when they are outside the circle they count as (-1). The column on the left is always added to the middle column to produce the column on the right. In this respect the equation to solve this puzzle is (2-3) or (-1). This is represented as a dot outside the circle, or as some posters pointed out a circle inside and two outside.

Great job and the scoreboard on the right has been updated!

IQ Puzzle #12 - Easy

Alright so comment moderation is back on for the duration of this puzzle. I will have the answer out tomorrow. I figured I have been making the puzzle too hard lately so here is a nice and easy one:

Good luck to you all and on a side note going out now to play some zombie ball, I will try to take a video/pictures and make a post showing you all how it is done.

Frisbee Tips - Common Mistakes

I figured I would put together a little set of tips for new Frisbee players out there. I will cover the three largest mistakes I see.

#1 Not enough spin.

A lot of people when they first start learning how to throw have discs that wobble a lot. The wobble can be avoided by providing enough spin on the disc.

Solution: Spin comes from the wrist and is a snapping motion that follows the arc of your arm. One way to practice getting enough spin on the disc is to hold your bicep against your ribs with your non-throwing hand and then try to throw. Because your arm is strapped against your body, both the force to make the throw go forward and the spin needed to keep it flat must be provided by your wrist.

#2 Too much spin/Late Release.

The too much spin problem usually comes hand in hand with a late release. As players try to put more spin on the disc they often hold on for too long and the trajectory of the disc ends up going to the right on a backhand and to the left on a forehand.

Solution: This late release can be avoided by reminding the player to always release the disc as soon as the wrist is in line with the forearm. If it is later than this, often times the disc will end up going in a direction you don't want it to.

#3 Stepping forward.

The last problem that is often seen is that people try to step forward while throwing. When you have no mark on you this is no problem, however as soon as someone is defending your throws they will be in front of you and you will have nowhere to step.

Solution: Always step outwards, from your plant you should be making a step directly in line or even backwards a little bit to allow you to throw unimpeded by your marks defense. This one is an easy fix in terms of helping the person correct it, but unfortunately can take a long time to get into muscle memory so that it is done immediately.

Those are my tips for now, also comment moderation is off thanks to the suggestion by icey.

Until next time, get out there and enjoy the weather!

Free Game to Play - Fault Line

I stumbled across this little gem today and it has a super easy yet rewarding premise, you can fold the lines of the world you are in. I really enjoy puzzle games (as most of you know), and so games like this are awesome. I think that so long as an element of fun is added to puzzles, the repetitve nature can be avoided. Portal did this well in Portal by having intriguing dialogue, and Portal 2 added the co-op play which is hard to resist. What do you guys think, are puzzle games fun?