Still in "Gee-whiz" phase
05.04.06 3:15 PM


By dplass
TopCoder Member

Here I am, writing on a TopCoder pad with an NSA pen. I'm still in the "gee-whiz" phase, that's for sure.

I got interviewed on camera by the Blue Chip producer Nick, regarding tomek's 500 pointer in room 2 of the Algorithm semifinal round. I attempted to describe (a) what the problem was asking, (b) what category of solution it was in, but sadly, not (c) how to solve it.

Based on the code that he had started writing, I could guess that it wasn't a really geometry problem but actually a math or counting problem. I'm hardly qualified to analyze, or, sheesh, second guess someone who I myself predicted to be the winner of the TCO, but compared to "Joe and Sally Sixpack", I hoped to be able to provide an "acecssible" explanation for the documentary. Nick asked good questions that enabled me to use my knowledge of both algorithms and TopCoder to give him some useful footage.