View topic - [TROUT!] Perplex City Sentinel 12th Jan

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Forum index » Archive » Archive: Perplex City » PXC: General/Updates

[LOCKED] [TROUT!] Perplex City Sentinel 12th Jan

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Relish
Boot

Joined: 12 Dec 2005
Posts: 57
Location: Sunny Sunny Wales!

[TROUT!] Perplex City Sentinel 12th Jan

Quote:

Kindling Held Late
The Brotherhood of the Six held the ceremony of the Kindling of the Flame at dusk on Tuesday night, following the light blanket of snow that fell in the early hours that morning. This is the latest the Kindling has been since 224, when the first snowfall was on 7th Feb. (Full text

Quote:

PCAG, Mind Candy Plan Earth Events
By GARIMA KING
The PCAG announced late last week that they plan to hold a pair of competitions on Earth. The competitions, to be held in New York City in the United States of America and in London in the United Kingdom, will be the first-ever Academy Games held outside the borders of Perplex City itself.

"As we prepare to celebrate the crowning of this year's champion, we thought it would be appropriate to share our city's sport with the fine people of Earth who are trying so ardently to locate the Receda Cube," said PCAG chairman Robert Zhi-Hui.

The first event will be held on the evening of Feb. 15. Sources at Mind Candy, who are helping the PCAG co-ordinate the competitions, say the the venue is not yet certain, but that the event is planned to be held in Manhattan, New York. Although the precise start time may be subject to change, organisers have indicated that they are planning for the festivities to begin at 7pm. The Sentinel's sources were closed-mouthed regarding precisely what will be played at the competition, preferring to reserve the element of surprise. According to information already propagated on Earth, however, the event will feature "traditional head-to-head contests."

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The second event, in London, England, will be a city-wide team competition, sources say. This event will take place on a Saturday afternoon in late February or early March, though the specific date has not yet been established. Mind Candy sources have said that more specific information will be available in the coming weeks, including team sizes and other organisational details. Our source suggested that Mind Candy is considering a list of suggested equipment, but that it is by no means certain that such a document will be supplied to players ahead of time.

In both events, leaderboard points will be awarded and there will be an opportunity to win vouchers for Firebox, one of the first retailers to offer the sale of puzzle cards. Players looking for more information are encouraged to visit the PCAG site. Mind Candy has requested that potential players indicate their interest as soon as possible so that the venues and events chosen will be appropriate in size for the total number of participants.

Quote:

View from Earth:
Sexual Politics
By BENJAMINBRUM
Sexuality is not something you can take for granted or assume -- contrary to popular belief, you can't tell whether someone is gay or not by looking at them. On Earth it's widely accepted that one in ten people are gay (or homosexual -- someone who is attracted to someone of the same gender). Perplex City may mimic Earth in several ways but this is one of those areas that doesn't seem to follow. It seems that Perplex City is utterly devoid of gay people. (Perhaps there is a hidden community of gay people, but the social stigma against gay people in Perplex City means they don't feel they can come out.)

It's hard to believe that there aren't any homosexual Perplexians -- a city of that size statistically should have a number of homosexuals within its community. It's possible that the attack on professional calligrapher Robert Drake, reported in the Sentinel on the 5th of January, could be an instance of a hate crime directed at a gay person. It's sad to consider that there's such a culture of homophobia in Perplex City that no one feels safe to come out or declare their sexuality.

It's interesting to note that the word gay doesn't get used in Perplex City at all. On Earth the word gay has changed its primary meaning dramatically during the 20th century. The word is thought to derive from the French "gai," and originally meant "carefree," "happy," or "bright and showy," and was very commonly used with this meaning in speech and literature. In the 1960s, gay became a word used by homosexual men to describe themselves. The word "homosexual" was used as a term to denote mental illness until 1973. More recently, the word gay has morphed into a pejorative term (e.g. "that film was so gay") and can be deeply offensive. This term implies that someone or something is of a lower quality or stupid.

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As a member of the Cube Retrieval Team on Earth I'm proud to be "out" as a homosexual, it doesn't surprise me that there's a number of the Earth-based team who are gay (both out and "in the closet"). Every year communities of gay people around the world march together and have a series of celebrations as a sign of solidarity and a mark of respect for the gay rights activists who ensured that certain rights could be won for homosexuals. It would be exciting to see Perplex City start to take significant steps towards integration of all people within their communities; perhaps the Earth Cube Retrieval Team can help in some way.

_________________
there are 10 types of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who dont

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:07 am

Guest
Guest

Quote:

Iona Interviews...
Dale Robarding
By IONA RODIE
Dale Robarding is in some ways the most recognisable face of Cognivia. His tightly-curled hair stays close to his scalp, and the deep furrows in his brow remind one of the suffering face of Madna depicted in the half-buried murals at the Newguard Ruins. When his assistant guides me into his office, I find him standing at the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing out toward Lake Ellipse, hands clasped behind his back. I clear my throat to catch his attention, and he turns to me with a warm smile and a solid handshake. "Welcome to my little empire," he says.

Robarding has long been a high-profile public advocate for Cognivia. On top of his position as director of research, he is often called to testify before the City Council in policy sessions on drug-related legislation, and has helped to guide the governing body toward a position where controversial and potentially harmful drugs are tightly regulated, but still available to those for whom nothing else is effective. Today, Robarding also organizes regular recruiting sessions on the Academy campus, holds a special visiting professorship on neuropharmacology at Edyta College, and has published a handful of books on the history and cultural impact of the chemical advances of the last hundred years. One wonders how he finds time to perform any research.

Robarding nods, running one long-fingered hand across his hair. "It's true, I don't get to do as much research personally as I once did," he admits. "I retain a significant guiding voice in establishing what avenues we pursue as a company, but I do miss having a personal connection to the people whose lives we have touched."

Quote:

Duncan Shines During Week of Team Play
By CORWIN JONES
Reigning PCAG champion Serena Duncan wowed the city last week with her spectacular performance in team competitions, traditionally one of the most difficult periods for her. "I've found my pace again," Duncan preened on Saturday, clearly enjoying being on the winning side of this year's all-player team event -- for the first time ever in her career.

The final week of the championship begins today, with only 32 competitors now remaining. Notable names knocked out during the multi-player matches include Gabriella Petel, Klaus Johnson, and Georgi Shepherd. Duncan and former champion Ryan Cahill are in a close tie, though analysts have begun to favour Duncan for this year's win over Cahill. Close on their heels, though, are Ethan Roanoke, Jack Fleury, Jeannie Murrow, and Maureen Fender-Hu, all within a narrow margin of the leaders. Few insiders are giving them more than a token chance of an overall victory, as none of these players have shown the same consistent level of play under pressure as both the reigning and former champions.

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Raina Hollow of The Sporting Daily, though, is calling the championship "one for the record books," asserting that the championship had not been so hotly contested since Fiona Carrick snatched victory from Walt Greenleaf in 263. "This is a very exciting year, and for all that everyone has their pet theory on who will take the prize home, it's all speculation," Hollow said. "There's nothing here that anyone could talk to the bank, and that's the only thing certain about this year's match-up."

Duncan admitted in interviews to feeling "very optimistic" about her chances this year. "I went through a poor spell, but I'm past it now. ... I'm very pleased with my progress this year."

Cahill was somewhat more cautious in his own prognostications, however. When asked how he felt about being favoured to win in some circles, he appeared genuinely astonished. "Well," he said, "I suppose the beauty of the games is that anyone at all might win, isn't it?"

Quote:

3M Point Mark Passed
By KATE BREWSTER
The 3-million-point milestone has now been passed, with over 130,000 cards solved. Angelsk still tops the leaderboard with 6614 points, but she is now joined by 24 others tying for first place. The board is still dominated by the UK, but the Seychelles, Heard and McDonald Islands, Barbados and Kazakhstan are also beginning to make a showing.

The cards are being solved at an increasing rate, with the solves predicted to top a quarter of a million in a month's time. The number of registered players, meanwhile, is now at 12,715, with that number expected to increase to 16,000 in a month.

Of the new players joining within the last week, B.O.A., KnightOwls, thewizeneone, PhilG and PuzzleMasters have shown impressive performances, with B.O.A. ranked 363 and Puzzlemasters ranked 532 on the full leaderboard. Among players joining in the last month, MonkeySlave, Garath, wombat girl and Modern_hero are in the lead, while AngelK81 is already ranked 93 on the full leaderboard after only joining at the start of the year.

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The players remain stumped by wave 1 card #180, ARG!, though Academy sources suggest the players are almost there, with only the correct answer to question 11 missing. Several silvers also still remain unsolved. Caine Johansson, member of the Cube Retrieval Project at the Academy, remarked, "If they can't solve these, we can't wait to see how they cope with the next wave."

Johansson also revealed more information about how the players are progressing: "We're still seeing a lot of wrong answers. ... The ten most incorrectly solved cards all come from the green difficulty level or below. Cards 56 [Gravity], 112 [Three Little Words], 25 [Read Between The Lines] and 123 [Illogical] have been the most incorrectly attempted cards for quite some time now." He suggested that the players are learning to wait until they've solved a card rather than just guess, as card 242, Ciphers of History, has only been attempted 20 times.

With the upcoming New York and London live PCAG events, announced late last week, the leaderboard may see some substantial shake-ups, according to PCAG statistician Samara Jones. "Until the release of Wave 3 we're not going to see any major changes at the top," she predicted. "These events could be just what it takes to separate the top puzzle-solvers from the pack. We'll have to wait until February to see what happens. ... I, for one, can't wait."

Quote:

Letters
Think we're doing a great job? Is there something you'd like us to do better? Do you just have an opinion you'd like the city to hear? We'd love to hear from you! Just write email to lettersSPLATperplexcitysentinel.com.

Due to space considerations, we can't promise to print them all, but we do read every one. All letters submitted become the property of the Sentinel, and writing to us transfers the right to publish your letter.

LITERARY THURSDAY
I was wandering along the banks of the River Mazy recently, and I saw an unusual sight. A single duck, sitting, motionless, gazing in my direction. Of course, it just couldn't be looking in my direction because ducks don't look... do they? I spent a few moments pondering this to myself, my vision blurring slightly as my attention was led elsewhere. Upon refocusing, a surprise awaited me. My solitary duck, the strange character that he was, had now gained two companions, similarly still, piercing my shell with their gaze. Five minutes I stood watching their hypnotic bobbing. And then, in the blink of an eye, they had scattered, leaving but a watery ripple. I have my eyes on the ducks.

David Glosh
PCAG JUDGING BIAS?
I think that the judging call on Wednesday night that eliminated Maureen Fender-Hu from the finals was an absolute outrage. This was most certainly a case where following the sheer technicalities of the situation was willfully disregarding the spirit of the tourney. While it is true that Ms Fender-Hu did not ring in her answer correctly, review of the footage from that particular linguistics match reveals that she very clearly came to the correct answer far and away before Ryan Cahill did so, proving that the officials are more interested in pandering to the fans of most-favoured players rather than rewarding true skill. The leaders behind the PCAG are aware that a finals match between Ryan and Serena is what the fans are expecting, and they are determined to provide that... whether or not it is fair.

Dot Frouden
EARTH EDUCATION
Those Earth people get right up my nose. Have they not heard of such things as spelling and grammar? I hear from one of my inside sources at a top Perplex City newspaper (guess which!) that their View From Earth articles have to go through extensive editing to even make sense. And they expect us to read their articles and listen to their viewpoints? Listen up Earth, learn to spell.

Ivory Wintington

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:10 am

Reason
Unfettered

Joined: 18 Feb 2005
Posts: 408
Location: West London

Its all been posted here Wink

http://forums.unfiction.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=13771

_________________
Reason��

All of my PerplexCity swag is up for grabs in an attempt to fund a trip around Asia:

http://reasonisperplexed.blogspot.com/

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:14 am

Guest
Guest

confused me cos the sentinel site says monday 16th on the top. Must mean todays date rather than the dates of the news.

all that copying and pasting for nothing!

Smile

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 7:30 am

GuyP
Unfettered

Joined: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 584
Location: London, UK

Sorry Relish, this one's going straight to locksville. Cheers anyway - sometimes it's worth searching for a phrase from the issue on UF, just to check if it hasn't already been posted.

Posted: Mon Jan 16, 2006 3:13 pm

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