From: Super D [angrymonkeybuttlove420@hotmail.com]
To: wwu@OCF.berkeley.edu

You can lick my balls.

I like the concept of your riddle page, but with one major flaw... no answers. I see why you don't have them posted, but i think it's silly. If I sit here for the next 10 hours and think about one of those riddles, I will never know if I got it right because you don't have the damn answers posted. I think you should have them posted on a separate page or something. So, until then, lick all up on my balls.

Super D

PS.. my indian coworker suggested that you could lick all up on his balls, too. but, he's mildy retarded, so make sure to bring some pepper spray.

WARNING!!! WARNING!!! (Score:1) 
by $beirdo on Wednesday July 24, @12:19AM (#3942341) 
(User #318326 Info | http://www.beirdo.com/)  

ARRRRRGGGHH!!! He didn't post the answers anywhere!!! I'M LOSING MY MIND WITH FRUSTRATION!!! Did anyone get the one about foot size and spelling bees??? My curiosity is eating me alive...

Infuriating,,, (Score:4, Interesting) 
by Grape Shasta on Wednesday July 24, @02:53AM (#3942825) 
(User #176655 Info)  

The thing that drives me nuts is not having the "right" answer to check my answers against. Look at this one, for example:

willywutang is hanging out on a heavily forested island that's really narrow: it's a narrow strip of land that's ten miles long. let's label one end of the strip A, and the other end B. a fire has started at A, and the fire is moving toward B at the rate of 1 mph. at the same time, there's a 2 mph wind blowing in the direction from A toward B. what can willywu do to save himself from burning to death?! assume that willywu can't swim and there are no boats, jetcopters, teleportation devices, etc.. (if he does nothing, willywu will be toast after at most 10 hours, since 10 miles / 1 mph = 10 hours)

There's many possible answers, so how do I know if I've got the answer they want? He's in a heavily forested area, so grabbing a log and paddling out around the fire shouldn't be hard. Or he could dig a little moat, though that might not be too effective. So, is there some other, clever answer, I should look for, or am I done? Grrrrrrrrr!

  H. Lee
  Re: Easy: Willywutang & buring island
« Reply #2 on: Today at 2:10pm »  Quote  Modify  Remove  

The question is: "what can willywu do to save himself from burning to death?!"

So my answer? He can drown to death.

From: ghazan
To: wwu@OCF.berkeley.edu

I like many others I'm sure who visit the site really doesnt appreciate the chronic lack of answers on the site. Being so curious about some of the answers and not knowing them... you know what? setup a page where people can get their answers after paying you with a creditcard. This would be better than the brainpain. Better yet PUT EM UP!!

From: Fischer
To: wwu@OCF.berkeley.edu

Yo dude, put the answers to the riddles on the website for the people that look at them forever and just leave your website pissed off, like myself. You're just making people angry and hoarding knowledge.

Re:These are pretty easy (Score:5, Funny) 
by RadioheadKid on Wednesday July 24, @12:11AM (#3942305) 
(User #461411 Info | http://slashdot.org/)  

My first thought was, where are the answers. My second thought was, thank god I have a job.

From: m0rlock
To: wwu@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu

I was really enjoying your site (arrived through a link to the riddles portion from I dont know where) right up until I got to the linux suxor page. Dont you think you might have been a little biased? I use linux more than windows myself. Though win 2k is a respectable enough os there are features in the available linux ui that i like and i feel that linux offers a finer grained control of its server features than windows each os has advantages and disadvantages of its own. Yahoo chat may not be the best place to look for advice on linux or anything for that matter :) The yahoo chat rooms ive seen seem to be dominated by idiots. If you want good linux advice try the various linux news groups or if you like email me and if i can provide an answer i will. Interesting site. Good work.

Weird entries in the Microsoft category... (Score:2) 
by Succa on Wednesday July 24, @12:30AM (#3942383) 
(User #108618 Info)  

The MS category has some real toughies, like:

"y do u think u r smart"
"y do u wanna work at Microsoft?"

and a great catalyst for catastrophe...

"If you could remove any of the 50 states, which state would it be and why?"

These toughies are gonna keep me up all night!

TWO CONDOMS, THREE WOMEN (Score:5, Funny) 
by 0xdeadbeef on Wednesday July 24, @12:16AM (#3942327) 
(User #28836 Info | http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Friday November 23, @05:14PM)  

A man would like to have safe sex with three women, any of whom may be carrying an STD. Given two condoms, how can he do so, while ensuring that no STD is passed from one woman (or possibly himself) to another (or to himself)?

This is a common situation on the job. Who says riddles aren't relevant in interviews?

Re:TWO CONDOMS, THREE WOMEN (Score:5, Funny) 
by jred on Wednesday July 24, @12:51AM (#3942469) 
(User #111898 Info | http://www.cautioninc.com/ | Last Journal: Saturday June 01, @02:34AM)  

Ok, I like the other guys' answer, about wearing both & flipping it. But I think that would suck. I don't mind wearing one, but two at once just isn't going to work for me. So I use condom 1 on girl 1, condom 2 on girl 2, meanwhile having sent girl 3 to the store to get more condoms :)

Re:TWO CONDOMS, THREE WOMEN (Score:5, Funny) 
by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 24, @03:30AM (#3942893)  

Easy, its just a riddle... Very unlikely to occur in a real world situtation. It seems you guy are actually planning what you would do in such an event!

"Oh no, 3 horny women and only 2 condoms...Thank god I read slashdot".

Maligner
 Re: two condoms, three women
« Reply #11 on: Jul 25th, 2002, 8:44am »  Quote  Modify  Remove  

Well , here at work after quite a lot of arguments we proved the following :
Given n condoms , you can "do" 2n-1 women , without getting infected , or infecting other girls.
The reason is simple - you put n condoms. each time you are done you remove one ,and keep it aside until you are left with only one which you don't remove , hence n girls.
Then you put each one of the used condoms reversed , do your thing , and throw it away - n-1.
This way we proved = n+n-1 = 2n - 1 girls.

P.S. - Yes I know, we should have something better to do with our time..

 
Microsoft interview questions (Score:5, Funny) 
by MillionthMonkey on Wednesday July 24, @01:59AM (#3942689) 
(User #240664 Info)  

You have a monopoly in a given market. A company creates a groundbreaking product and establishes a new, completely different market. Assuming you cannot buy the company, how do you smash it and extend your monopoly in the old market to the new one?

How would you go about designing an email client that executes any code that is sent to it?

If you could remove any of the fifty states (thus rendering federal antitrust statutes inapplicable to corporations in that state) which state would you remove and why?

How would you go about designing an operating system for people who hate computers and who just want to use their machines for pay-per-view entertainment?

An End User License Agreement (EULA) appears in a window with "I Agree" and "I Disagree" buttons. The text area in which the EULA appears is eighty columns wide. How many lines of text can be included in the EULA before a computer that just meets your system requirements is unable to load it into memory?

At a fork in the road between two cities, you see 2 people. One always tells the truth, and comes from the city of safety. The other person always lies and comes from the city of cannibals, where they will eat you. Which one do you hire to write up licensing agreements for your legal department?

An Arab sheikh is old and must will his fortune to one of his two sons. He makes a proposition. His two sons will use their computers, and whichever computer gets a blue screen of death first will win the fortune for its owner. During the race, the two brothers do nothing on their computers, neither willing to risk a blue screen of death. In desperation, they ask a wise man for advice. He tells them something; then the brothers immediately jump onto the computers and start installing new hardware, sharing files, and downloading hastily written security updates. What did the wise man say?

 
Got one for ya (Score:5, Funny) 
by bravehamster (bravehamster@NO_MORE_SPAM.hotmail.com) on Wednesday July 24, @12:00AM (#3942261) 
(User #44836 Info | http://www.bravehamster.com/)  

Here's a riddle:

You've just created a new and interesting website. People are intrigued, and you watch your visitor counter tick over rapidly. All of a sudden, your router explodes into jagged flaming plastic shards, and your server starts sending out distress signals on it's LED's in morse code. What has just happened?

Re:Got one for ya (Score:5, Funny) 
by Tokerat on Wednesday July 24, @12:49AM (#3942458) 
(User #150341 Info | http://vinylninja.kicks-ass.net/ | Last Journal: Saturday April 13, @07:46PM)  

We get signal.
Main LED turn on.
It's Taco!
How are you gentelmen?
All your b0xen are belong to us.
You have no chance to pay bandwidth fees make your time

From: John Doe [i have hidden his real name to protect him, poor chump]
To: wwu@cory.eecs.berkeley.edu

Mr. Wu,

Thanks for posting the riddles on your board. They are, indeed, interesting mental excercises.

Please tell me if the solutions are available online or for sale: I have been laid off and need to be prepared to feed the HR trolls RSN. Thanks.

John Doe
(555)555-555

hai-yu-ken
Re: LOGICAL SIGNS I - python and treasure
« Reply #4 on: Jul 25th, 2002, 2:38pm »  Quote  Modify  Remove  

Honestly I don't like this question. It needs more information to solve. I came to the same answer as jj. However, I would not open either box, there is still the possibility that both of the enscriptions are true.

I say, pay someone to open the box for you!

James Jones
Guest
  Re: HARD: Calendar Cubes
« Reply #5 on: Jul 26th, 2002, 8:33am »  Quote  Modify  Remove

Using 6 for 9 is clever, but hey, using base 6 is clever, too.

If you want a "difficult riddle", Neil Sedaka, try this one:

Prove that every even number greater than 2 is the sum of two primes.

Neil Sedaka
Guest
  Re: HARD: Calendar Cubes
« Reply #6 on: Jul 26th, 2002, 8:52am »  Quote  Modify  Remove

You want me to prove Goldbach's conjecture ?

Don't you think I would have taken the $1million from Faber and Faber instead of mere kudos from you?

I'm far too busy working on a Grand Unifying theory of World Peace and an end to Hunger and Disease - in Base 6 !!!

Bl@ke
Guest
  CS:XOR FROM NAND
« on: Jul 25th, 2002, 6:43pm »  Quote  Modify  Remove

Assuming that there are two inputs and no other constant inputs, you can create an XOR gate using NAND gates by:

 
C = (A NAND B) 
D = (C NAND C) NAND C 
XOR = ((A NAND D) NAND B) NAND ((B NAND D) NAND A)
 
...or ...
 
((A NAND (((A NAND B) NAND (A NAND B)) NAND (A NAND B))) NAND B) NAND ((B NAND 
(((A NAND B) NAND (A NAND B)) NAND (A NAND B))) NAND A)

 
Testing the NAND gates 
==============================================
 
A = 0 
B = 0
 
C = (A NAND B)
 => (0 NAND 0)
 => 1
   
D = (C NAND C) NAND C
 => (1 NAND 1) NAND 1
 => 0 NAND 1
 => 1
   
XOR = ((A NAND D) NAND B) NAND ((B NAND D) NAND A)
   => ((0 NAND 1) NAND 0) NAND ((0 NAND 1) NAND 0)
   => ((1) NAND 0) NAND ((1) NAND 0)
   => (1 NAND 1)
   => 0
 
==============================================
 
A = 0 
B = 1
 
C = (A NAND B)
 => (0 NAND 1)
 => 1
   
D = (C NAND C) NAND C
 => (1 NAND 1) NAND 1
 => 0 NAND 1
 => 1
   
XOR = ((A NAND D) NAND B) NAND ((B NAND D) NAND A)
   => ((0 NAND 1) NAND 1) NAND ((1 NAND 1) NAND 0)
   => ((1) NAND 1) NAND ((0) NAND 0)
   => (0 NAND 0)
   => 1
 
==============================================
 
A = 1 
B = 0
 
C = (A NAND B)
 => (1 NAND 0)
 => 1
   
D = (C NAND C) NAND C
 => (1 NAND 1) NAND 1
 => 0 NAND 1
 => 1
   
XOR = ((A NAND D) NAND B) NAND ((B NAND D) NAND A)
   => ((1 NAND 1) NAND 0) NAND ((0 NAND 1) NAND 1)
   => ((0) NAND 0) NAND ((1) NAND 1)
   => (1 NAND 0)
   => 1
 
==============================================
 
A = 1 
B = 1
 
C = (A NAND B)
 => (1 NAND 1)
 => 0
   
D = (C NAND C) NAND C
 => (0 NAND 0) NAND 0
 => 1 NAND 0
 => 1
   
XOR = ((A NAND D) NAND B) NAND ((B NAND D) NAND A)
   => ((1 NAND 1) NAND 1) NAND ((1 NAND 1) NAND 1)
   => ((0) NAND 1) NAND ((0) NAND 1)
   => (1 NAND 1)
   => 0

 
Ryan
Guest
  Re: CS:XOR FROM NAND
« Reply #1 on: Jul 25th, 2002, 10:00pm »  Quote  Modify  Remove

15 NAND gates? Good lord...I don't think so.

This can be done in 5 quite easily, if you go through a better design approach.

Start with the truth table for an XOR gate:

A B | Z 
0 0 | 0 
0 1 | 1 
1 0 | 1 
1 1 | 0

Now write that in boolean AND-OR form for the 1s (since we are designing with NAND gates):

(/A * B) + (A * /B)

Apply a double negation to the above expression, thus not changing it:

// { (/A * B) + (A * /B) }

Apply DeMorgan's theorem with one of the negations across the OR:

/ { / (/A * B) * / (A * /B) }

Now the entire expression is in term of NANDs. Inversion is easily achieved by feeding the value to both inputs of a NAND gate. This gives 3 layers of logic.

Layer 1 (inversion only):

A NAND A = /A 
B NAND B = /B

Layer 2 (logic inside parentheses):

/A NAND B = C (placeholder) 
A NAND /B = D (placeholder)

Layer 3 (final logic):

C NAND D = Z, which is the output

That's how a computer ENGINEER designs an XOR gate from NAND gates.

Your Name Here
Topic: How are M&Ms made? (Microsoft section)
« on: Jul 30th, 2002, 5:01pm »  Quote  Modify  Remove  

A nozzle with a diameter of about 1/2mm squirts out a hot substance that, when cooled, forms the candy shell of the M&M. The nozzle tip starts at rest, then begins moving in a gradually increasing circle until it is moving in a circle that is equal in size to an M&M. The size of the circle then decreases until the nozzle tip is at rest again, then the cycle is repeated.

The hot substance comes out of the nozzle tip and forms the shell of the M&M, just like a pot can be made by coiling strings of clay one on top of the other. Gravity pulls the shell away from the nozzle, and the equipment is calibrated so the shell is built up at the same speed it falls away. (The speed of the nozzle rotation has to change to match the accelerating speed of the falling shell.) When the circle grows from nothing to the size of the M&M, the bottom of the candy shell is formed, and as the circle shrinks the top of the M&M is formed.

A connected series of about 500 M&M shells is thus formed. These long chains of M&M shells are sent to workshops in the developing world, where labourers saw them apart with jeweler's saws. After sawing the shells naturally have holes in their tops and bottoms. They are then mounted on a centrifuge and spun around their axis at high speeds while molten chocolate is injected into them. The spinning action throws the chocolate out to the perimeter of the candy shell and keeps it from dripping out. When the chocolate is hard, the M&M is removed from the centrifuge and the holes in the shell are filled and sanded by technicians trained in auto body repair. The M&Ms are then spraypainted and the M&M logo is painted on with a very fine brush by children with extremely keen eyes.

James Paige
Re: Easy: Marble Jars 
« Reply #12 on: Aug 8th, 2002, 11:18pm »

Igor sat bound hand and foot on the hard wooden chair in the darkened room. The taller kidnapper, the one they called Marco, placed two large jars on the big hardwood table in the middle of the room.

The other kidnapper, the one called Lupo sniffed a bit, took a last drag from his failing cigarette, and tossed the butt at Igor. It bounced lightly off his chest, releasing a little puff of harmless sparks.

"This is a little game we like to play sometimes," said Lupo. Lupo was the only one who ever addressed Igor directly. "This is for that we have a little fun, and that we show you we are not such bad guys, and give you a chance to live."

Igor listened intently. The bruises on his body throbbed, where they had beaten him, and though he believed none of it, this talk of a chance to live caught his full attention.

"We have here two jars of marbles." explained Lupo. "One with fifty white marbles, one with fifty black marbles."

Igor looked at the jars on the table. They were directly under the single bare lightbulb that lit the room. The bottom of each was full of shinly lumps, white in the jar on the left, black in the jar on the right.

"We are going to put the blindfold back on you, and you will pick one marble from a jar we will give to you at random. If you pick a white marble, you live. And if you pick a black marble," Lupo smiled darkly, "you die."

Marco chuckled a little, standing with his huge arms crossed over his chest.

Igor's heart sank. This was like flipping a coin for his life.

James Paige
Re: Easy: Marble Jars 
« Reply #13 on: Aug 8th, 2002, 11:19pm »

"But there is more!" said Lupo brightly, like he was pitching a kitchen-gadget on the infomercial channel. "Before we blindfold you, we let you mix up the marbles any way you want, just so long as they all end up in the jars."

"I can redistribute them any way I like?" asked Igor hollowly.

"Yeah," said Lupo. "But we shake them up before we let you pick a marble, so it won't do no good to put all the white ones on top. You gotta play fair."

Marco chuckled again.

Igor did not like the sound of this. It did not make sense. Why would men who had interrogated him for hours, beaten him black and blue, and left him with nothing to eat and just an occasional mouthful of water for days suddenly give him a chance to go free? And why would they do it with such a silly little game?

"Move him over." said Lupo.

Marco unfolded his arms, and dragged Igor's chair over to the table and positioned him in front of the jars.

"Untie his hands." said Lupo.

As Marco complied, Igor felt the blood surge back into his hands. How long had he been tied? he wondered. He immediatedly began massaging his wrists. They had been numb before, and now they hurt so suddenly, but he did not care. It felt wonderful to have them free.

"Take your time." said Lupo. "Think about it carefully."

Igor stared at the jars, still massaging his hands. This was just simple probability. It wasn't so hard. He tought about it for a moment, and finally he reached into the left jar and took out a handfull of white marbles. He looked at them in his hand. Eight marbles. He dropped all of them into the black jar.

Lupo and Marco had been standing silently, watching him, but now Lupo leaned over to Marco and whispered something. Marco nodded and left the room.

Igor took another handful of the white marbles, and dropped them into the black marble jar. He knew if he was given a jar with only white marbles in it, he was sure to live, and if he was given a jar with a mixture of black and white marbles, at least he still had a chance. He would leave as few marbles as possible in the white jar. In fact, he would just leave one. Lupo had not said that was against the rules. Then he would put all the rest of the marbles in the other jar. One jar of guaranteed life, and one jar of nearly-fifty-fifty chances. Taken together that would give him almost seventy-five percent chances of living... assuming that the kidnappers would be honest about randomly picking a jar for him to draw from.

Igor's hand stopped as he hovered his fourth handful of white marbles over the black marble jar. How were they going to choose randomly? Would one of them be blindfolded and shuffle the two jars around and then pick one? Certainly not! They would just pick one and call it random. They would never give him the jar with one white marble in it. This was a trick. This was a joke. How could he trust men like this to play fair? He withdrew his hand from the jar, and stared at the marbles.

Lupo snorted, and turned to light another cigarette.

They would not give him the jar with one white marble, they would give him the jar with fifty black marbles and forty-nine white marbles. They would shake the jar up, and he would draw, and his chances of living would be just slightly less than fifty-fifty. What else could he do? After a moment of thought, he dug deep into the black marble jar, and pulled up a handfull of mostly black marbles and dropped them into the white jar. If he put twenty-five of each color in each jar then his chances would truly be fifty percent. He would take the randomness out of their hands completely. If he was to face half a grim reaper he would face it with his own luck.

James Paige
Re: Easy: Marble Jars 
« Reply #14 on: Aug 8th, 2002, 11:21pm »

Igor tried to remember exactly how many white marbles he had moved to the black marble jar. The first handful had been eight. The second had been seven. Fifteen. He had not counted the third handful, had he? Now he would have to count them all to be sure he had exactly the right number in each to insure fifty-fifty-- Igor stopped again. Fifty fifty wasn't enough. This was a toss of a coin. Why do with marbles what could be done with a coin? A chill ran down his spine. He had let himself be carried away in the logic of the game, and that was a mistake. He was forgetting who he was dealing with. Cruel evil men. This was better than a coin toss for them because it gave him a glimmer of hope. It let him think he had a chance to save himself, or at least to improve his odds. Surely this was all a lie. The were going to kill him one way or the other, and this was just them having one last laugh at his expense. Both his hands were full with marbles now, and he dropped them all into the right-hand jar. He would not do it. He would just sit here and they-- Wait.

Igor thought about his hands. His hands were free. It was the same ropes which had bound his hands that bound him to the chair. His ankles were still tied, but he was not tied to the chair anymore. His hands were completely free, and there was nobody in the room except Lupo.

He glanced up at Lupo, careful not to move his head. Lupo was now pacing patiently up and down the room on the other side of the big table, flicking his cigarette up and down between his teeth. He could see the strap of Lupo's gun holster over his shoulder, but Lupo's hands were clenched behind his back. Igor knew he had to take a chance. This wasn't the kind of chance you could use logic or probability on, this was just the kind of chance you had to take when there was no other way.

Igor gently reached for the right-hand jar and withdrew a single black marble. He rolled it between his fingers and watched Lupo pace, down, and then up, and then down.

"I have a question." said Igor.

Lupo started, and looked at Igor with raised eyebrows.

Igor threw the marble with all his might. It struck Lupo directly in the eye, and he reeled and stumbled back, uttering a stream of curses punctuated by death threats.

Igor seized the black marble jar and smashed it on the edge of the table. Glass and marbles flew everywhere, and he felt pain in his fingers, but he ignored it. Picking up the largest shard of the jar he toppled sideways off the chair and immediately began slicing franticly at the cords that bound his ankles.

Black and white marbles spread from the tabletop, rolling of the edges and bouncing on the floor, clinking like metal on the bare concrete. Lupo, one hand over his eye, ceased his stream of profanity to call loudly for Marco, and staggered forward, drawing his gun.

James Paige
Re: Easy: Marble Jars 
« Reply #15 on: Aug 8th, 2002, 11:22pm »

The cord frayed and snapped, and Igor's feet were free.

Truly the white marbles were life. Lupo's foot trod on a pair of them, and slipped from underneath him. He fell hard, the gun discharging into the air. The sharp noise of the gunshot made the next few seconds seem deathly silent, while Lupo strugged to get up, and Igor scampered forwards on hands and knees, and then the brief silence was shattered by Lupo's scream as Igor drove the glass shard deep into his outstretched leg.

Both of Lupo's hands clutched the wound. Where was the gun?

Igor jumped to his feet, unsteadyly, as his ankles experinced the same burning that his wrists had just minutes ago. Where was the gun? No time to look for the gun. Marco would be coming.

Igor still had the big shard of the black marble jar in his hand. No sooner had he positioned himself by the door, than Marco entered in a dead run. Without time to think, Igor lunged, putting his full weight behind the shard.

Igor choked on his breath as he watched Marco slump to the ground. he had nearly taken his head off. He felt the warm sticky wet blood splattered all the way up his arm. Marco's blood. Lupo's blood. Some of it was his own blood. He could now feel the sharp sting in his hands where he gripped the shard. He had never killed anyone before. He had never even really imagined it.

Lupo was cursing loudly again. The gun was still somewhere on the floor. Igor ran out the door. Where were the two other guys? The ones who had been there when he was interrogated? Were they even still around? Igor realized he had dropped the shard of glass. He wished he still had it. No time to go back for the shard. No time to go back for the gun. Can't go back in there. There is death in there. There is death in there.

jeremiahsmith
Re: Easy: Marble Jars
« Reply #16 on: Aug 9th, 2002, 12:47am »

Good story.