ThoughtProvoker
2004-04-15 13:40:47 |
Do we need new/more Scholars?
I am very disappointed to find no new problems posted on perplexus today. (The scholars are usually quite diligent about ensuring new problems are posted.)
Might we need some additional Scholars? |
ThoughtProvoker
2004-04-16 10:44:14 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
This is the 2nd day in a row. It's 11am Eastern Time, and no problem has been posted. :-( C'mon guys, I look forward to seeing the problems in the morning. |
ThoughtProvoker
2004-05-07 14:00:08 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
It's 2:15pm Eastern time, and no problem has been posted today.
PLEASE! I need my fix! |
Gamer
2004-05-07 15:45:04 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
There is a new morning problem, and a new afternoon problem will be posted ASAP |
levik
2004-05-07 17:23:30 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
As to that, please everyone welcome our own SilverKnight to the rank of Scholars :) |
SilverKnight
2004-05-07 17:45:21 |
...
I'm honored, thank you. |
Sam
2004-05-10 23:32:32 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
Hmmm...
Everyone likes to solve a puzzle first thing in the morning. Those who wake up at 7:00 are no exception.
Unfortunately, we can't realy expect our scholars to roll out of bed every morning just for the express purpose of pushing a puzzle. Indeed, sometimes puzzles don't get pushed until noon (lazy bums were probably still in bed).
What if scholars had the ability to push a morning problem any time after, say, 11:00 pm EST the night before? The problem would not be posted immediately, but would instead get automatically posted the following morning at 7:00 am EST.
This way scholars would get a full eight hours to post a morning puzzle, with nobody yelling in the queue messageboard that no puzzle had yet been posted, and, magically, a brand-new puzzle would appear each day at 7:00.
Of course, this may take more programming that levik cares to worry about at this very moment, but as a long-term addition to Perplexus I think it would work quite well.
Any thoughts? |
TomM
2004-05-11 07:16:16 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
Scholars can post any puzzle at any time. It is a "gentlemen's agreement" that two problems are pushed per weekday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. If enough people ask, and if a scholar stays up late or gets up early, there's no problem there. :) |
fwaff
2004-05-11 08:35:41 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
I don't see that programming a delay is worth the effort - whenever a problem is posted it's an early morning for somebody. If a problem is posted at 11pm EST then this is 7am MSK.
How about having a scholar from somewhere in the big wide world outside North America? That way you could have problems posted 12 hours apart without the need for anybody to stay up late or get up early. |
Billy Bob
2004-05-11 08:45:41 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
Maybe you should do something like sam said. Scholars could give the 'OK' to be posted and at a certain time, a new problem could be posted. |
Sam
2004-05-11 13:43:34 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
Tom, the question wasn't whether Scholars can post at any time, but whether they could add a "delay" to their posting, allowing their post to get added at some random time.
For examplel, I'm on a photo site, photo.net, and they update the Photo Of The Week every Monday morning. I believe that such a system is in place there as well - the "Scholar"-type people there pick a picture Sunday night, and it gets automatically added.
The only reason I'm suggesting this is that sometimes (admittedly rarely - our scholars are a good bunch) no morning puzzle or afternoon puzzle is posted when there are three or four +3s ready to go in the queue. If Ss had any time from 11 at night (or whenever) onwards to puch the morning problem, this would be less likely to happen. |
TomM
2004-05-11 15:38:39 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
I follow you now. At 7:00, I was not fully awake, and missed that nuance. ;) |
Gamer
2004-05-11 15:47:22 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
I think it sounds good. It would still need work so only one gets posted as a morning problem and one as an afternoon problem. |
fwaff
2004-05-12 03:34:48 |
Re: Do we need new/more Scholars?
Again I ask: 'why bother?'
Provided 2 problems are posted each day, does it really matter when they are posted?
If the problems are posted at the same time each day then it will generally be the same person (or small group of people) that are the first to post and as has often been stated before many people don't post a solution if there is already a solution posted (even if it is a variant on what is already there).
By having random posting times (which they essentially are by being manually controlled), then it means that different groups get the opportunity to be first to post.
Of course it's possible that I've missed the point of the site entirely and it's real purpose is to keep a very small clique amused, in which case having an automatic 7amEST posting is a great idea. |
