Roll of the Dice

It's not a good idea, if you have to get up early, to leave your cellphone in your bag and rely on it as a secondary alarm. It doesn't work too well. It's a good thing I had the day off, though I did miss my ENT appointment this morning and had to reschedule it. Maybe going to bed at 2am wasn't the best idea either...

Since I'm tired and spent a good portion of this day on my computer, nothing interesting comes to mind. However, as this is the web and most anything is possible - much like the world of Oblivion - the old google trick may just work a second time.

Word: magnet
Link: 2nd
Result: http://www.homeofmagnet.com

I'm not really into music. I guess this time around it was a complete flop. Let's roll those dice again. Oh, speaking of dice, I was forwarded to this game a few years back called Petals Around the Rose. The object was to roll five dice and establish the number, figuring out the method for finding that number. After 30 mins of trying I was straining my brain and then it hit me (keep in mind that virtual dice are different than real-life 3D dice): maybe I should read the instructions.

After looking at the basic rules and then a small background story, I figured it all out in a matter of seconds. See, the trick is, you can give the answer within seconds, meaning that it's not some complex formula. The funny thing is, no matter how obvious you make it, some people literally take days to discover the secret of the petals around the rose. I have baffled many since learning this simple, yet entertaining game.

The rules are pretty simple. 1) The name of the game is important; 2) The answer is always 0 or an even number; and 3) One must never tell how it is done. But I'll bet there are multitudes of people who have posted the solution in various places and many others who have likewise searched for the solution. That's cheating.

Here is something akin to the original story that I read: http://www.borrett.id.au/computing/petals-bg.htm

Amusing. Now, you try it.

-Timotheos
Potentate of the Rose