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Rankk.org Topic - The good, the bad and the ugly

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The good, the bad and the ugly
Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-21 09:01:57
8 more challenges to go...
But so far, which challenge are good, which ones are bad and which ones are ugly?
8 +votes | 1 −votes
Huuuuuuu
The good, the bad and the ugly
Posted by Pha. Sapr0 1354 from on 2007-02-21 18:26:59 Reply
hmm i'll give a review sometimes tomorrow ... gotta review my logs to think
10 +votes | 1 −votes
Death Comes To All !!!
www.theguardians.ro
The good, the bad and the ugly
Posted by Viz. alpha 546 from on 2007-02-22 01:30:10 Reply
#21, lisp, #31,#33[first part] and #37[first part] are ugly ffs
sudoku = bad
all javascripties = good
linux shell = very good
pgp thing = cool
#32 and Co. about gems = nice
BLACKJACK = !VERY! exciting and phun
also, #34 and perl = cool, what can I say :) love coding quests
#22 = nice. took me a while to figure out wtf
#25 = phun :D
10 +votes | 1 −votes
- Re^2: The good, the bad and the ugly
  Posted by Viz. yai2k3 404 from on 2007-02-22 06:52:23 Reply
  I quite liked the Sudoku one. Well-designed, and solvable without resorting to bifurcation.
  The gem-related challenges were nice as well.
  
  9 +votes | 1 −votes
  596f 7520 6d75 7374 2062 6520 626f 7265 642e 203b 290a
- Re^2: The good, the bad and the ugly
  Posted by Pha. Sapr0 1354 from on 2007-02-22 17:07:43 Reply
  i liked the sudoku aswell ... i'l liked it best till BlackJack took the big spot :P
  i kinda agree with #21
  8 +votes | 2 −votes
  Death Comes To All !!!
  www.theguardians.ro
- Re^2: The good, the bad and the ugly
  Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-23 10:15:40 Reply
  Yes, 21 is ugly. I remember Bio didn't like it too.
  But I thought the lisp one should be ok, because not only does it add variety to the challenges, it's also an opportunity to acquaint oneself with the language.
  Yes the first part of 37 is ugly but I suspect the second is alright.
  My thinking for sudoku is the same as that for lisp - adding variety to the challenges. It's also a fitting challenge because it's a puzzle.
  8 +votes | 1 −votes
  Huuuuuuu
The good, the bad and the ugly
Posted by Viz. cosmas 169 from on 2007-02-23 07:51:59 Reply
There were many good ones, but I can think of four that have an especially nice combination of presentation and spirit: 24 (wrong labels), 29 (crypto entrance test), 30 (sudoku), and 36 (the number e).

The only two I didn't like are 35 (blackjack) - unclean and tedious (on the other hand, the method I used to solve it was most probably incorrect, so my opinion may be partially unfair), and the first part of 37 (sql injection) - unrealistic implementation (did you get my mail, by the way?). A lesser problem is that some challenges are a bit spoiled by too revealing titles (3, 23, 24). I also have mixed feelings about 34 (zipped) - on the one hand, I am not particularly fond of such kind of problems, on the other, I was able to advance a few levels on electrica with the knowledge gained. :)
9 +votes | 1 −votes
Indistinguishable from a feature
- Re^2: The good, the bad and the ugly
  Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-23 10:07:07 Reply
  I think I roughly know how blackjack can be tedious but how is it "unclean"?
  No, I didn't receive your email. Did you send it to sphinx_fndr@hotmail.com?
  On 3, the title was there right from the beginning. It was intentional, because the first few are really just for warming up. With the hint, that question is only slightly more difficult than challenge 1. Without it, the jump in difficulty might become too steep and sudden.
  The titles for 23 and 24 were added later..Yes, particularly for 23, they were intended to soften the challenges.
  7 +votes | 1 −votes
  Huuuuuuu
- - Re^3: The good, the bad and the ugly
    Posted by Viz. cosmas 169 from on 2007-02-23 16:24:57 Reply
    Because it generates high load on the server for a prolonged time. This effect is, as I guess, too small to really matter, but still... :P
    Yes, that's where I have sent it to. Perhaps you could have some kind of contact form to send you information? It should be much easier to implement than a pm system, and would be almost as good. :)
    9 +votes | 1 −votes
    Indistinguishable from a feature
  - - Re^4: The good, the bad and the ugly
      Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-24 14:32:45 Reply
      There's a higher load on the server for sure but unless a lot of people are playing it at the same time, I guess the effect isn't noticeable...
      I haven't got anything from you...As for the PM, ya, might do it when we've completed coding all the challenges and there's nothing left to do for the site ;)
      7 +votes | 1 −votes
      Huuuuuuu
    - - Re^5: The good, the bad and the ugly
        Posted by Viz. cosmas 169 from on 2007-02-26 18:12:48 Reply
        Never mind, then. :)
        The main point was that spaces are not allowed between certain lexical elements where they shouldn't matter.
        5 +votes | 1 −votes
        Indistinguishable from a feature
      - Re^6: The good, the bad and the ugly
        Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-26 20:57:53 Reply
        Ah I see. For cases like this, I wished I had Perl ;)
        4 +votes | 1 −votes
        Huuuuuuu
The good, the bad and the ugly
Posted by Viz. neoeon 106 from on 2007-02-27 06:03:58 Reply
As far as I made it already - the nice ones are dominating. I loved XXIV (Wrong labe1s) and most of all XX (Nice try) the others were mostly challenges I loved solving
But there are two which I really dislike(d):
V (Hi Intruder) & XXI (Rays of the sun)
I don't like their "maybe one day you'll stumble about the right thing to do - or maybe you won't ever"-style, if you know what I mean.
For my taste coincidence on doing the right thing which isn't logical even after solving it is too big (actually I can only say that about #5 because I'm still stuck at XXI).

5 +votes | 1 −votes
There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don't
- Re^2: The good, the bad and the ugly
  Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-27 10:06:44 Reply
  XXI had a bug after we changed it recently. It's now fixed. I've also taken the opportunity to soften it with a hint on how to send the solution. Good luck!
  5 +votes | 1 −votes
  Huuuuuuu
- - Re^3: The good, the bad and the ugly
    Posted by Viz. neoeon 106 from on 2007-02-27 21:32:45 Reply
    Thank you very much - tried to post all the time (like all other levels did ;-) sometimes things are more simple than one thinks. Now I know that I have to overthink the solution and not the way to turn it in.
    
    5 +votes | 1 −votes
    There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don't
  - - Re^4: The good, the bad and the ugly
      Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-28 00:30:11 Reply
      Congrats on passing the level!
      The original was neither POST nor GET...
      But it was a little too hard, too sudden. With the change, it's now more appropriate for that level.
      4 +votes | 1 −votes
      Huuuuuuu
    - - Re^5: The good, the bad and the ugly
        Posted by Viz. neoeon 106 from on 2007-02-28 02:43:05 Reply
        Congratulations are too early - when I learned the right method to turn the answer in, I recognized the answer I had so far wasn't right. I'm sure it's obvious but I don't see it ... aarggghhh
        5 +votes | 1 −votes
        There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary and those who don't
      - Re^6: The good, the bad and the ugly
        Posted by Pha. Sphinx 6553 from on 2007-02-28 19:58:05 Reply
        Oops...thought you had passed it already ;)
        4 +votes | 1 −votes
        Huuuuuuu
  - Re^3: The good, the bad and the ugly
    Posted by Viz. alpha 546 from on 2007-02-28 04:53:10 Reply
    hmm
    that hint made #21 50% easier. or even more, because of [confusion level]--
    4 +votes | 1 −votes

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