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Poetic justice. I love this quotation from Mike: "I think that I did not make a mistake except to believe that you truly intended to attempt to compress the d

Poetic justice. I love this quotation from Mike: "I think that I did not make a mistake except to believe that you truly intended to attempt to compress the data I was sending you." Mike is happily preying upon people by taking their money to enter what he believes is an impossible contest, but the moment he is outsmarted he appeals to morals and calls into question whether Patrick was acting honestly. I'm guessing there is some backstory on this newsgroup involving people who would claim to invent compression algorithms that do the impossible. I'm imagining that one day Mike thought "time to get these people to put their money where their mouth is." Still, it's pretty low to pose the challenge without saying "I'm taking this bet because it's highly unlikely that you can actually succeed. This is explained in the FAQ. Are you sure you want to give me $100?"

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jlgreco 14y ago
I am reminded of "apocalypse loans". (loans that only need to start being paid back, usually with incredibly steep interest, after an apocalypse that the borrower is anticipating. "If the world ends, you pay nothing!") I've seen such loans proposed often, but I don't know if anyone has ever actually taken one.
- ars 14y ago
  It exists: https://www.google.com/search?q=rapture+pet+care https://www.google.com/search?q=rapture+pet+care
svantana 14y ago
Actually, it is most likely possible, it's just very difficult. For example, it is likely that the data file was generated using a deterministic computer program. And that program is most likely a lot smaller than the outputted data. Therefore, one could use that very program as the "decompressor" - voila! The problem is - it would take astronomical computational resources to recreate that program, although there is a very straightforward algorithm to find it - just test out all possible programs starting from 0,1,2,3, and so on...
- dagw 14y ago
  it is likely that the data file was generated using a deterministic computer program The file was generated using random data from random.org which gets its randomness by using specially tuned radios to record atmospheric noise.
- praptak 14y ago
  The data was taken from random.org, whose source of randomness is a physical process, highly unlikely to being "algorithmizeable" (is that even a word?)
- deleted 14y ago
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jlgreco 14y ago

I am reminded of "apocalypse loans". (loans that only need to start being paid back, usually with incredibly steep interest, after an apocalypse that the borrower is anticipating. "If the world ends, you pay nothing!") I've seen such loans proposed often, but I don't know if anyone has ever actually taken one.

ars 14y ago
It exists: https://www.google.com/search?q=rapture+pet+care https://www.google.com/search?q=rapture+pet+care

svantana 14y ago

Actually, it is most likely possible, it's just very difficult. For example, it is likely that the data file was generated using a deterministic computer program. And that program is most likely a lot smaller than the outputted data. Therefore, one could use that very program as the "decompressor" - voila! The problem is - it would take astronomical computational resources to recreate that program, although there is a very straightforward algorithm to find it - just test out all possible programs starting from 0,1,2,3, and so on...

dagw 14y ago
it is likely that the data file was generated using a deterministic computer program The file was generated using random data from random.org which gets its randomness by using specially tuned radios to record atmospheric noise.
praptak 14y ago
The data was taken from random.org, whose source of randomness is a physical process, highly unlikely to being "algorithmizeable" (is that even a word?)
deleted 14y ago
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