The Flash Mind Reader is all the rage today. It seems totally impossible for it to do what it does. I did it a bunch of times and couldn't figure it out. ...But it is ultimately fairly logical. You just need to question some assumptions you took for granted.
17 Feb 2003 @ 01:10 by jazzolog : That Mind Reader Thing
If you're desperate for a solution, the designer is caving in to pressure and offers it at http://www.cyberglass.co.uk/solution.html . He's asking for a donation though. Half the faculty at Athens High were working on it last week and remained mystified. Some were urging people not to talk outloud---the computer can hear you---or point with the cursor.
17 Feb 2003 @ 03:52 by ming : Solution
Heheh, so would you like me to tell you how it works?
19 Feb 2003 @ 03:11 by jazzolog : The Mind Readers So Far...
What my buddies and I have noticed (we haven't been able to get back to work in 6 days because of snow---since we started this thing...and are stuck with email and reading each other's minds) is that all the 90s come up with the same answer, and the 80s and so on. There are 10 symbols, one for each of those answers. So we're down to 10 possibilities. Can it be there is a table of probabalities of some sort? We continue avidly.
19 Feb 2003 @ 14:33 by ming : Heheh
This is almost cruel. No, it is nothing of the kind. I'll give you a hint. Try picking the same thing twice in a row.
19 Feb 2003 @ 20:35 by jazzolog : HooHoo
Did that...last week. Tried the same number in fact: it still worked. Third time it screwed up though. I felt like an idiot doing it---and figured I deserved the brushoff. If we ever get back to work around here, I'm sure I'll learn the guys have come up with something.
19 Feb 2003 @ 20:39 by vibrani : Richard........wanna know?
Try thinking in chunks, or groupings of numbers and then look at the answers. There is a pattern that will emerge for you.
20 Feb 2003 @ 00:38 by vibrani : well....
It's not really about 9s (and I can't vouch for your equation's validity) but about a section of numbers that when the two numbers are added together and then doing the required subtraction will all yield the same answer. Go column by column breaking it down in groups of like seven or eight doing the math, until you get to the next grouping that all come down to the same answer, and therefore the same symbol with the answer.
20 Feb 2003 @ 11:59 by ming : The trick
If the two digits are a and b, then the two digit number is 10a+b. So if we add the two digits together, a+b and subtract it, we have 10a+b - (a+b) which reduces to 9a. And if we look at the symbols we see that every 9th symbol is the same. Which means that no matter what number you pick, you get the same answer.
What really threw me off is the additional trick that all the symbols change every time. I right away expected that all numbers would give the same answer, but I what was deeply puzzling was that I would get a different answer the next time. And I didn't notice that they had changed before somebody pointed it out.
20 Feb 2003 @ 18:56 by vibrani : thanks
Thanks for the mathematical explanation. Yes, the changing symbols add to the confusion! lol Did you ever see the card trick that works on a similar principle of predicting which card you'll pick?