#define: game theory, dude (Friends)
The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source
1hr 22min Dec 17, 2023
What happens when you take four grizzled #define veterans and throw an Emma Bostian into the mix? Find out on this episode because our award-worthy game of fake definitions is back and this time it’s even better!
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Featuring:
- Amal Hussein – GitHub, X
- Lars Wikman – Website, GitHub, X
- Taylor Troesh – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn
- Emma Bostian – GitHub, LinkedIn, X
- Jerod Santo – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
- Adam Stacoviak – Website, GitHub, LinkedIn, Mastodon, X
Show Notes:
Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!
Jerod Santo
Welcome to \#define, our 100% original and in no way copied from Balderdash game show, where you're rewarded for lying, like a skilled politician. Let's introduce our players, in the order they will be playing. First up - yes, it's Amal Hussein. She's back.
Amal Hussein
Again? I'm first against again?
Adam Stacoviak
That's right... \[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
This is like the worst way to tell someone that they're going first. We have a whole pre-gaming for a reason.
Jerod Santo
This is how I assert my dominance early in the day, as I just put you first...
Amal Hussein
I can see that.
Jerod Santo
...and now we know the order of operations. Playing second - it's the winner of our inaugural game, it's Lars Wikman. Hey, Lars.
Lars Wikman
Hello, hello. Pleasure to be back. I have no expectation to win this time...
Jerod Santo
Did you sense the spite in my voice when I had to announce you? Because I was so close... I was so close to winning the previous round.
Lars Wikman
You were also close to scheduling me out... But Emma fixed it for us.
Jerod Santo
True. Unfortunately, you showed up anyways. Okay, so next up --
Amal Hussein
Do we have two Swedes on the show right now? Is that what's going on here?
Jerod Santo
Hold on, we haven't introduced Emma yet. You can't just start talking her.
Amal Hussein
Okay. Sorry. You're right, you're right. She doesn't exist yet.
Lars Wikman
Hasn't been defined yet.
Amal Hussein
Yes, exactly.
Jerod Santo
It's Taylor Troesh, livestreaming from his friend's bedroom... What's up, Taylor?
Taylor Troesh
Yo, how's it going? Here in the friend's bedroom once again... \[laughter\]
Jerod Santo
He's back in his friend's bedroom... Always happy to have you on the show. Playing fourth - there she is; now you can talk to her. It's our new contestant and our old friend, Emma Bostian. Hey, Emma.
Emma Bostian
Hey... Or hej, I guess they'd say Swedish, which sounds exactly the same. I'm not Swedish, but I'd like to be someday if they'll keep me.
Jerod Santo
When you get older, yeah...
Adam Stacoviak
Good goals.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, you're a Swede in transition, I would say...
Emma Bostian
Yeah...
Jerod Santo
Well, how's your lying?
Emma Bostian
I mean, I've made it this far in life...
Jerod Santo
Okay, so you're doing alright.
Emma Bostian
There's a reason I'm on this show...
Jerod Santo
We invited Emma for a few reasons. First of all, excellent BS-er. Secondly, the creator of our game show genre when she introduced JavaScript Jeopardy years ago on JS Party... Which I then took and ran with, and we have a bevy of game shows now... So happy to have you, Emma. You're welcome back anytime. Finally, playing last, because I'm enforcing his chivalrous ways... It's my partner in crime, it's Adams Stacoviak. What's up, dude?
Adam Stacoviak
What's up?! Glad to be back, glad to lie to you all, all day long.
Jerod Santo
Especially Amal. You're very good at trickin' Amal.
Adam Stacoviak
She's gonna get all my definitions, just love them and gobble them up.
Amal Hussein
Pretty much, yeah. But you know what? I would say the same for Lars. We didn't talk about that enough, but Lars definitely fell for me quite a bit, so... You know?
Lars Wikman
Who could avoid it...?
Amal Hussein
Ah... This is not good. This is a tactic; suck up to your opponents, get them comfortable...
Lars Wikman
Well, I need to build a good chemistry here, because we need to make sure that Jerod does not win. That's very critical to me winning.
Adam Stacoviak
Allyship is part of the game.
Jerod Santo
I am here to be the antagonist, so that all of you can be friends, even though if you think critically, you're also playing against yourselves... But whatever, whatever. This is a game of fake definitions. Here's how it works. Each round has a word; I will present said word. It also has a definition. You all will create fake definitions that represent that word. All words in the category of STEM. If you actually know what the word means, you can submit that to me, and you'll get three points for being correct. If you don't know what it means, then you'll make up a definition and try to trick the opponents into guessing yours. Three points for the correct definition to start, two points if you guessed the right one at the end, one point for each person who chooses your definition. If none of you - there are five this time, but if none of you select the correct definition, then three points to me as your host and moderator. The first player to reach 12 points wins. Any questions before we kick into round one?
Lars Wikman
If I did the math right, this means that you could, if you craft really believable ones, actually beat someone who is consistently correct. Or you could draw with someone who's consistently correct, which I like as an idea.
Jerod Santo
This is true.
Amal Hussein
You say the first person who wins 12 rounds, or 12 points?
Jerod Santo
12 points.
Amal Hussein
Oh, wow. Okay, so I guess that's how difficult it was for us to get there... I thought we got really close last time.
Jerod Santo
So last game we played 10 rounds, and Lars made it to 17 points... So we're thinking that it might be seven to eight rounds, maybe... But we'll see. We'll see how the game plays out. It just depends. So we hop right into round one. Your first word is syzygy.
Amal Hussein
And these are still STEM?
Jerod Santo
Correct. All in the world of STEM. Please submit to me your fake definitions privately now. Or whenever you're ready.
Amal Hussein
Can you spell the word for us, or put it in chat?
Jerod Santo
\[00:05:56.29\] Yes, it's syzygy. I will put it in the chat here. I am resolved this time not to fall prey to the humble megaflask. Please don't use megaflask in any of your definitions.
Emma Bostian
If you can hear some kind of farm animal noise coming out of my microphones...
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] Is that your daughter?
Emma Bostian
...it's my crotch goblin, who does not enjoy putting her pajamas on.
Jerod Santo
Well, it sounds like she's having fun.
Taylor Troesh
That's why you need to go to a friend's house.
Adam Stacoviak
Crotch goblin... \[laughs\]
Emma Bostian
\[laughs\] No, I love her. I'm just facetious.
Lars Wikman
Most kids around that age are some kind of goblins, but different times.
Emma Bostian
Mm-hm... Indeed.
Jerod Santo
Yeah, but two to four is the perfect age for children. They're the cutest, they're the weirdest... They say the darndest things.
Lars Wikman
Do you still have any in that range, Jerod?
Jerod Santo
No, my youngest is five now... Unfortunately. I mean it's not unfortunate that she's five, but... I'm happy that she continues to get older, I guess. Although my first daughter, I made her promise that she'd stay three forever, and she actually fell for it, and now I just punish her constantly for lying to me. \[laughter\] "You said you're gonna be three, and now look at you! You're 15!" I mean, that's such a terrible lie. Such a disappointment. Alright, I have Amal's...
Amal Hussein
You have a wide range of children, Jerod... Dealing with emotionally demanding and physically demanding - like, that's a wide spread. That's impressive. And then you have to deal with us, adult children on the show...
Jerod Santo
Right, yes. My other --
Amal Hussein
Your other bambinos.
Jerod Santo
My other crotch goblins... \[laughter\] I have Emma's... So far the ladies whoopin' up on the guys in time to definition...
Amal Hussein
I mean, you don't have to state the obvious, Jerod...
Jerod Santo
TTD... These girls know how to TTD, time to definition. Okay, I've got Lars, and Taylor... And Adam is now going up the rear.
Adam Stacoviak
Greatness takes time.
Amal Hussein
\[laughs\] Greatness takes time.
Lars Wikman
Something-something blockchain...?
Amal Hussein
Yeah, exactly. Something-something NFT.
Adam Stacoviak
No. I wish, though...
Jerod Santo
Okay, Jerod, hold it together... You have to read these...
Amal Hussein
Something-something please click this link...
Jerod Santo
Okay, we have all six definitions. I can't look at you guys, I'll have to... I had to go fullscreen on my spreadsheet, because if I look at your faces, there's just no way I can read these out loud without cracking. Syzygy - a phenomenon that occurs when a proton and an electron collide; named after scientists Thomas Syzygy. A phenomenon in literary psychology where the fiction lies to the reader as part of characters in the story not knowing the truth. Syzygy - maximum axial tilt of a planetary body. The persistent distributed key-value data store associated with the IBM Cloud Kubernetes service. \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
Oh, my gosh... \[laughs\]
Jerod Santo
Who was that?!
Amal Hussein
I couldn't even keep a straight face.
Jerod Santo
Syzygy - the fizzing that occurs after extracting two or more elements from their original state... Or syzygy, an alignment of three celestial bodies. We will start with Amal. I can reread or I can help you remember if you need to, which of those six definitions is the correct one for syzygy?
Amal Hussein
\[00:10:09.18\] I hate going first. Well, that was interesting... There was two references to planets. One sounded more legit than the other, but the element thing looked good, the proton thing seemed very legit, too... Can you read the planet once again?
Jerod Santo
Yes. This was number three, the maximum axial tilt of a planetary body.
Amal Hussein
Okay, I'm gonna go with that.
Jerod Santo
Alright. Lars, your turn.
Lars Wikman
What was the proton thing?
Jerod Santo
A phenomenon that occurs when a proton and an electron collide. Named after scientist Thomas Syzygy.
Lars Wikman
Sure. Let's go with that one.
Jerod Santo
Okay. Taylor, your turn.
Taylor Troesh
Let's go for the spread. Let's go for that other heavenly body one. Heavenly body, celestial body...
Jerod Santo
An alignment of three celestial bodies?
Amal Hussein
It's a little early to be playing the spread, but go for it. \[laughter\]
Jerod Santo
You can't start too soon. Okay. Emma, what do you think?
Emma Bostian
What are we left with?
Jerod Santo
We're left with -- so unused is the literary psychology one, and the...
Lars Wikman
IBM Kubernetes one...
Jerod Santo
Yeah, the Kubernetes service and the fizzing that occurs after extracting two or more elements. So those three.
Emma Bostian
Okay, I'll go with the most sciency one, the fizzing that occurs...
Amal Hussein
That's what I would have picked too, for what it's worth...
Jerod Santo
That leaves... Adam.
Adam Stacoviak
Gosh... What was number four, Jerod?
Jerod Santo
Number four was the IBM Cloud Kubernetes service... \[laughs\] Sorry.
Adam Stacoviak
Let's go with that one.
Jerod Santo
Okay. \[laughter\] Very good.
Adam Stacoviak
That sounds legit...
Amal Hussein
You're a martyr, if I ever knew one, Adam...
Jerod Santo
He is playing the spread, man... He's just playing the spread.
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah. We will see.
Jerod Santo
Okay, let's start with that one. So Adam thought that Syzygy was the persistent distributed key-value data store associated with the IBM Cloud Kubernetes service. That was Emma's definition. So one point for Emma.
Emma Bostian
It was so bad. I was gauging how strong all of your answers would be.
Adam Stacoviak
Nice.
Jerod Santo
Well, you got a point out of it, so not too bad.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, congrats.
Jerod Santo
Speaking of Emma, she guessed that says syzygy was the fizzing that occurs after extracting two or more elements... That was Adam's, so you guys traded points there.
Adam Stacoviak
And Amal, you admitted you would have guessed it! You love my definitions! You love my definitions. \[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
I was so close to guessing that; honestly, it's true. If you want to make me a T-shirt that says "I love Adam's definitions", I'll wear it.
Adam Stacoviak
I'll make it.
Jerod Santo
That would be a good one.
Amal Hussein
Do it.
Jerod Santo
Well, this time around, Amal, you chose the maximum axial tilt of a planetary body. Not Adam's. That was Taylor's definition. So one point for Taylor.
Amal Hussein
Darn it.
Adam Stacoviak
Good one.
Amal Hussein
Good job, Taylor.
Jerod Santo
Taylor guessed the other planetary one, which was an alignment of three celestial bodies... That was the correct definition, so Taylor got it right. He was close with his maximum axial tilt. So two points for him, plus one. Meanwhile, Lars, you guessed a phenomenon that occurs when a proton and electron collide. That was Amal's, so she gets one point there.
Amal Hussein
Basically, you're on-brand, Lars. You're just picking my answers...
Lars Wikman
Yeah...
Emma Bostian
I need to know why Adam chose mine, because mine was complete BS. Like, that was not even --
Adam Stacoviak
Because it was BS.
Emma Bostian
Okay. Well, thank you.
Adam Stacoviak
So he just likes to see the world burn, or what?
Emma Bostian
\[laughs\]
Adam Stacoviak
Because it was BS, that's why. It's fun.
Jerod Santo
Alright. Well, that round goes to Taylor. He gets three points; two for getting it correct, and one for tricking Amal. Emma and Adam both scored, Amal scored... Our previous winner is sitting in last with zero. I also have zero, so... Off to a hot start. Let's move to round two. Our word for round two is Ultracrepidarian. Ultracrepidarian. I will put it in the chat.
Taylor Troesh
Hey Jerod, may I have the country of origin?
Jerod Santo
No.
Lars Wikman
For the word?
Amal Hussein
\[00:14:10.17\] This is not a spelling bee.
Jerod Santo
It's not a spelling bee. Alright. The word is in the chat. The word is Ultracrepidarian. Spelled, for our listeners, it's spelled Ultracrepidarian. Ultracrepidarian.
Amal Hussein
I almost sent my answer to Jason, our editor... It would have been like so random.
Jerod Santo
Yeah. He'd be like "What is this...?!"
Amal Hussein
Qu'est que ça?
Lars Wikman
"What did you call me?!"
Amal Hussein
Yeah, exactly.
Lars Wikman
"Ultracrepidarian...!"
Amal Hussein
Listen, just because I watch the Kardashians doesn't mean -- I'm just kidding...
Taylor Troesh
Wait, what is a darian? Because if we're talking about ultra-creepy darians... Do you know of someone?
Jerod Santo
You can't phone a friend.
Taylor Troesh
You can't bring one on the show.
Jerod Santo
That's someone who's always daring you to do stuff...
Taylor Troesh
But in a really crappy way.
Jerod Santo
Well, you know, they'll double-dog dare you, they'll triple-dog dare you... Taylor's in.
Taylor Troesh
I think we're all very comfortable pretending like we know what we're talking about... But sounding official in STEM is a little bit different.
Jerod Santo
It is hard, isn't it? I feel like Adam might be waiting for ChatGPT to respond. He's been slow lately.
Amal Hussein
\[laughs\] Yeah, he does look like he's -- he's typing to ChatGPT "Please be terse and short."
Lars Wikman
"Make up a definition for this word that you might actually have in your dictionary..."
Amal Hussein
"I need to be able to tweet it! This many characters", you know?
Adam Stacoviak
I'm known to be an LLM, so there you go...
Amal Hussein
\[laughs\] Oh my God, imagine -- we should train an LLM on just Changelog. That would be so fun.
Adam Stacoviak
There is one.
Jerod Santo
We have one that has been fine-tuned with our transcripts.
Amal Hussein
Why do I not know this? This is amazing.
Jerod Santo
Yeah, you can ask yourself questions. Yeah.
Adam Stacoviak
You can talk to you.
Jerod Santo
Okay, I have all six definitions. Are we ready? Number one, Ultracrepidarian - a person who gives opinions beyond their area of expertise, occasionally used in academic contexts. Number two, a ferocious beast from the Crepidarian period; was long believed to be the precursor in the evolutionary spectrum to the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex. Number three, the paramount operation within a set of mathematical combinatorics. Number four, a person who can read two pages at once. \[laughter\]
Amal, stop. You can't just laugh in the middle of my readings. I'm trying to keep a straight face over here.
Adam Stacoviak
She can't, actually.
Jerod Santo
She does. I need to like mute --
Adam Stacoviak
She should not.
Jerod Santo
I should just mute you guys...
Amal Hussein
Listen, we should never use the word should, okay? Let's just put it that way.
Jerod Santo
Okay. Number five, Ultracrepidarian - a genus of sea urchins that were once thought to be unable to move. Don't laugh, Amal. It has since been confirmed that they simply move very slowly. And last, number six - mammals which only attack their prey when they are sleeping. So there you have it. Six definitions for Ultracrepidarian. Can we identify which one is the actual definition? Lars, you are first.
Lars Wikman
Am I supposed to remember all of these?
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] You can ask for -- I can help you out.
Lars Wikman
Can you give me the mathy one again? Combinatoric something-something.
Jerod Santo
Yes. The paramount operation within a set of mathematical combinatorics. That's a hard word to say.
Amal Hussein
Just remember we have somebody who studied math on the panel... Including myself, technically, but... I mean, Taylor, I think, is a little more advanced...
Lars Wikman
\[00:18:04.28\] I saw him laugh a lot at a different one... So I think he \[unintelligible 00:18:07.10\] on that one.
Jerod Santo
See, Lars plays the -- he reads our faces the entire time that we're reading these... Don't you? Yeah...
Adam Stacoviak
He does. It smart. It's a good move.
Lars Wikman
I like faces... And then there was one about Academic context... Being a smartass.
Jerod Santo
Yes, a person who gives opinions beyond their area of expertise, occasionally used in academic contexts.
Lars Wikman
No, I think that one was inspired by our conversation earlier. Let's go with the combinatorics one. I think someone's just trying to be fancy, but I'll go with the mathy one, because none of them really worked for me.
Adam Stacoviak
What number is that one?
Jerod Santo
That's number three. So Lars went for number three, the math one. Let's go to Taylor now.
Emma Bostian
Creepy-sleepy.
Lars Wikman
That one is genuinely creepy.
Taylor Troesh
Creepy-sleepy, dude.
Jerod Santo
Are you talking about the sea urchins?
Taylor Troesh
No, the thing while you sleep. Yeah, the last one. Creepy-sleepy.
Jerod Santo
Mammals which only attack their prey while they're sleeping?
Taylor Troesh
Yeah, creepy sleepy.
Jerod Santo
Okay. I didn't know that. I guess you're right. Yes. Okay.
Adam Stacoviak
Creepy-sleepy.
Jerod Santo
Taylor. Good, goes for that one. Now we have Emma.
Emma Bostian
What were the first two, again?
Jerod Santo
The first two was the person who gives opinions beyond their area of expertise, and the second one was the ferocious beast from the Crepidarian period.
Emma Bostian
I'm gonna go with number one.
Jerod Santo
Alrighty. We go to Adam.
Adam Stacoviak
Pressure's on... Let's see here. Two and five, please. Give me those back.
Jerod Santo
Two was the ferocious beast from the Crepidarian period. Do you want the whole thing, or is that good enough?
Adam Stacoviak
End to end, please.
Jerod Santo
From the Crepdiarian period... It was long believed to be the precursor in the evolutionary spectrum to the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex. Number five was a genus of sea urchins that were once thought to be unable to move. It has since been confirmed that they simply move very slowly. That's five.
Adam Stacoviak
I'm doubling up with Taylor. I'm going with six. I feel like the creepy-sleepy is the most on the money.
Jerod Santo
The mammal which only attack their prey when they're sleeping?
Emma Bostian
Wait, are we allowed to choose the same as someone else?
Adam Stacoviak
Oh, yeah.
Jerod Santo
Oh, yes.
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah. I'm piling on six.
Emma Bostian
Cool.
Jerod Santo
The reason why people spread is to lock me out of points... Because if no one gets it right, I get points, and so that's why you want to spread your answers... But you do not have to. So now we go to Amal. Last up, Amal.
Adam Stacoviak
I have conviction though.
Jerod Santo
He's got conviction.
Amal Hussein
I'm gonna play the spread a little bit. I would have gone with the mammals one, the creepy-sleepy thing, but I think the sea urchins one sounds so ridiculous that I don't think anyone here has made it up. So...
Jerod Santo
Okay, so Amal goes for the sea urchins. That's number five. Yes.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. Wait, wait, hold on, hold on... Is this another Adam answer? Because if it is, then I don't want to pick this.
Adam Stacoviak
I mean, \[unintelligible 00:20:51.00\] I think you should choose it, because it's mine...
Jerod Santo
Do you want to change it? \[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
I don't remember the numbers of answers unless they're mine, so...
Jerod Santo
Well, Adam works around numbers.
Amal Hussein
That's a tell. Okay, fine. Fine.
Adam Stacoviak
Don't choose mine.
Amal Hussein
Sea urchin. Sea urchin. Let's do it. And if it's yours, Adam, this is 00 yeah, we're officially starting a war if this is yours.
Jerod Santo
Well, let's find out right away. So Amal thought perhaps Ultracrepidarian was a genus of sea urchins... And maybe Adam wrote that. But no, Lars wrote that. So one point for Lars.
Lars Wikman
Thank you...
Amal Hussein
Oh, that was so good, Lars.
Jerod Santo
He almost lost his point there, because we almost talked Amal out of doing it, and he would have lost that point.
Amal Hussein
Well, no, because Adam basically fronted like it was his, so... Man, tricky, tricky, tricky... It's fine. The war is not on. I mean, the war has been delayed, so that's all that matters.
Adam Stacoviak
Still on.
Jerod Santo
Lars thought that Ultracrepidarian was the paramount operation within a set of mathematical combinatorics. Tough to spit that one out. That was Emma's definition. Good job, Emma.
Lars Wikman
That was a good definition. Saying that I thought it was that is stating it strongly, but... Yes. I did pick that one.
Yeah... You did say it could be someone BS-ing, so...
Taylor Troesh
You should have gone for the one that Emma did. I'm pretty sure that was the right one.
Amal Hussein
\[00:22:11.05\] \[laughs\]
Taylor Troesh
You should have gone for the other one.
Jerod Santo
Taylor thinks he should have picked Emma's, which was a person who gives opinions beyond their area of expertise... And he should have, because that's the correct answer. That is what an Ultracrepidarian is.
Amal Hussein
No way...! Did anybody pick that one?
Emma Bostian
Yeah, me.
Jerod Santo
Yeah, Emma got it.
Amal Hussein
You did? Oh, awesome. Good job, Emma!
Emma Bostian
Thanks!
Jerod Santo
So three total points for Emma this round. But we're not done yet, because who picked that creepy-sleepy...? Taylor and Adam both fell for Amal's definition. Two points for Amal!
Amal Hussein
Ha-ha! I win! Yes! \[laughter\] Winner of the day.
Adam Stacoviak
No...!
Emma Bostian
That was a good one, though.
Amal Hussein
They even like remixed it and called it creepy-sleepy. I mean, honestly, I should get double points for that.
Jerod Santo
Well, we'll just give you the correct amount of points, but...
Amal Hussein
They came up with their own definition of my definition.
Jerod Santo
They did. So much so that it confused me.
Taylor Troesh
I actually knew the answer for this one, but I really wanted to say creepy-sleepy... \[laughter\]
Jerod Santo
Well-played... I mean, poorly-played, but well-played on another \[unintelligible 00:23:22.07\]
Lars Wikman
Wait, you knew the definition, but you didn't give it to Jerod?
Taylor Troesh
Yeah, I knew this one. I just wanted to say creepy-sleepy. \[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
Listen, Taylor's not a capitalist like all of us, okay?
Jerod Santo
No, he's an anarchist.
Amal Hussein
He's here to have fun, not here to win. Okay?
Jerod Santo
So did you know it after I read it to you then? Because you didn't submit it.
Taylor Troesh
Oh, yeah. I knew -- when you said it, I was like "Oh, yeah, that's it."
Jerod Santo
Once I read it. Yeah. Alright, after two rounds we have Emma in first place, with four points, we have Amal and Taylor in second with three, Lars and Adam tied in last, with one; I guess technically I'm last with zero, but we don't have to talk about that.
Let's move now to round three, and Omphaloskepsis. Omphaloskepsis. Please submit to me Omphaloskepsis now. Or whenever you're ready. I'm actually gonna go get a drink of water and bring it back, so take your time... Take your time, I'll be right back.
Amal Hussein
Take all the time you need. This one's hard.
Jerod Santo
Don't talk about me while I'm gone.
Amal Hussein
Hey you guys, we're doing great, because Jerod is at zero points, and we're already on round three. I just want to say, great job, everyone. Keep going strong, okay? He can't win this, or even come close.
Emma Bostian
This is much more difficult after a full day of work.
Lars Wikman
Yeah, they have it easy. It's good to have someone else in the timezone.
Emma Bostian
Exactly. Us Europeans have to \[unintelligible 00:30:26.28\] I say that as if I've completely just abandoned my US American identity... Which, frankly, I have...
Amal Hussein
Now all you have to do is work on the accent, Emma, and then you'll be good. You've already got like a half-Swedish baby...
Lars Wikman
Honestly, I would say, it seems like you're pretty far along with the accent.
Emma Bostian
\[unintelligible 00:30:46.20\]
Lars Wikman
Firstly, I actually heard it as a bit of a Norwegian accent, which is not bad, because those sound so happy.
Emma Bostian
Yeah, it's I'm learning it from preschool. My daughter's in Swedish pre-school and I'm just picking it up from her. So...
Jerod Santo
Okay, I have all six definitions for Omphaloskepsis. Are we ready? Okay, number one, a symptom of the lymph nodes where they react to and reject a substance the body has consumed; usually accompanied by significant discomfort and irritation of the mucous membranes. Number two, a process in theoretical immunology whereby the functions of cells within the immune system attack one another. Number three, also known as wigglebone disease... \[laughter\] An infection of the cartilage protrusion on the tip of the nose.
Amal Hussein
On the tip of the nose. Wow.
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] Number four - a form of scoliosis, where the deterioration of the spine occurs because of inflammation of the spinal fluid. Number five, the contemplation of one's navel. \[laughter\] Sorry. The contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation. And number six, similar to facial myalgia, Omphaloskepsis is an infection of the skin inside the nostrils.
Emma Bostian
How did we get two nose ones?
Jerod Santo
So lots of medical definitions here... We have six of them, read at various qualities of reading... And we have Taylor up first. What, sir, do you think Omphaloskepsis means?
Taylor Troesh
I think the two nose ones sound like they were written by extremely intelligent people, so I will go -- \[laughter\] I will go with the skin one, and not the wigglebone disease.
Jerod Santo
Okay, so Taylor picks number six. An infection of the skin inside the nostrils. We go to Emma.
Emma Bostian
I'm going with number one. That thing about the lymph nodes.
Jerod Santo
Okay. Emma picks lymph nodes. We go to Adam.
Adam Stacoviak
I'm thinking three or five... What's three again? No, sorry, two or four. Two or four.
Jerod Santo
Two was the process in theoretical immunology whereby the functions of cells within the immune system attack one another. And four was a form of scoliosis where the deterioration of the spine occurs because of inflammation in the spinal fluid.
Adam Stacoviak
Let's go with that one. Number four.
Jerod Santo
Okay, number four goes to Adam. Back to Amal now...
Amal Hussein
Yeah, the fluid thing sounds really good... But the first one I think really hooked me in.
Adam Stacoviak
You're gonna pile on with Emma on number one?
Emma Bostian
Well, do you see I'm in the lead there, Adam?
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] She has a point...
Amal Hussein
The scoliosis thing makes sense, because it's like --
Jerod Santo
Scoliosis is number four. Adam picked that one. Number one is the symptom of the lymph nodes.
Adam Stacoviak
It's true.
Amal Hussein
So Adam, do you want me to join you with team scoliosis?
Adam Stacoviak
Nah... \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
\[00:33:58.20\] Okay, I'm gonna go with my girl Emma.
Jerod Santo
Okay, so you're on lymph nodes as well.
Amal Hussein
Mm-hm.
Jerod Santo
Okay.
Adam Stacoviak
It's a bad move.
Amal Hussein
Do we split the points if we both are correct?
Jerod Santo
You both score them, yes. You don't split them, you score them.
Amal Hussein
Okay, that's good. Okay.
Jerod Santo
And Lars... Lars but not least...
Lars Wikman
It's between immunology and the spinal fluid... But I'll go with immunology; get a bit more spread.
Jerod Santo
A process in theoretical immunology?
Adam Stacoviak
Number two.
Jerod Santo
Okay. That's number two. Lars.
Amal Hussein
That one sounded very fake, Lars. I'm surprised you picked that out there. I just wanna put that out there. Shots fired...
Taylor Troesh
I'll go with that one.
Adam Stacoviak
No one got the real definition.
Jerod Santo
Let's find out where the ladies landed. They both picked lymph nodes, and Lars was smiling all ears when you did that. Two points for him. That was his definition.
Amal Hussein
Lars...!
Emma Bostian
Sorry, Amal. I was only a bio major for three months, so...
Amal Hussein
For three months? Okay.
Taylor Troesh
What was the word again?
Jerod Santo
Omphaloskepsis.
Amal Hussein
Oompa Loompa.
Taylor Troesh
Yeah, well, isn't that the chocolate river in Willy Wonka, the Oompa Loompa sepsis? \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
I was like, they were the little baby dancers.
Jerod Santo
Oh, yeah... Let's check out scoliosis. Adam liked to check that one out, and Amal checked that one in. That was her definition. Adam, you're loving Amal.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, Adam...
Adam Stacoviak
It was a good one. The tables are turning!
Amal Hussein
I tried to get Lars to come my way, but you know... Now I have to pick a different tactic. I can't comment on my answers. That's like -- it's already out. So just so you know, when I'm commenting on other answers, it's not mine. Just so you know.
Adam Stacoviak
Okay.
Jerod Santo
Actually playing reverse psychology on you...
Adam Stacoviak
Sorry. Just so you know.
Jerod Santo
Lars like a process in theoretical immunology... Amal said that sounded really fake. It turns out it was really fake. Emma made that one up.
Amal Hussein
Good job, Emma. Yay!
Lars Wikman
Figures...
Emma Bostian
Two in a row, Lars. I'm coming for you.
Jerod Santo
Now the question is, can Taylor play the spread to much effect? Because he's the last one left to keep me out of the points... And he picked similar to facial myalgia - Omphaloskepsis is an infection of the skin inside the nostrils... Adam, was that one right?
Adam Stacoviak
Nah.
Jerod Santo
No, that was Adam's. One point for Adam, which means nobody landed on the correct definition... The contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation. Woo-hoo!
Adam Stacoviak
\[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
Are you serious? Was that real?
Jerod Santo
That's real.
Adam Stacoviak
Ohm my gosh...
Amal Hussein
What?! No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...
Emma Bostian
Everything I know is a lie...
Amal Hussein
You can't pick ridiculous definitions, okay? That's not part of the game. Because we make up the ridiculous ones.
Adam Stacoviak
It's kind of part of it...
Amal Hussein
Oh, darn it!
Jerod Santo
See, now I've thrown a wrench in your plans. It turns out when I laugh at the definition it's not necessarily because it's wrong... It's just because it's funny.
Amal Hussein
Oh, look at that...
Jerod Santo
So three points for me in round three. Excellent job, Jerod. Thank you very much. After three rounds, Emma's still though sitting in first with five, Amal with four, three-way tie at three between Lars, Taylor and myself. And Adam pulling up the caboose with two points.
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah, you know...
Amal Hussein
Do you all remember from the last time neuromuscular reeducation being like the acronym for NMR?
Jerod Santo
Yes...
Amal Hussein
And we were just like "No way. Nope. Reeducation - like, that is really pushing it." And then no one picked it , and it was real. This just feels like that.
Jerod Santo
Can we talk about a form of meditation wherein you stare at your navel? I mean, come on... Let's move on, round four. This is our TLA round, which stands for Three Letter Acronym. It turns out it's a four-letter acronym this time... But it's a special round where I give an acronym, you all provide the words behind said acronym, and the definition of the words. So much like NMR last time was neuromuscular reeducation - you provide that, plus the definition.
\[00:38:00.15\] Okay, and the acronym that you're going to do is VLSI. V as in Victor, L as in loser, S as in Saturday, and I as in Indigo. But that's not what it stands for. It's not Victor Loser Saturday Indigo, if anybody was thinking they might submit that. Can I just say from the last round - yes, Taylor's was the wigglebone disease... Please don't say "also known as..." I just can't handle them, okay? \[laughter\] As soon as I saw that, I'm like "Oh, I'm gonna struggle... I can't read Also Known As'es."
Adam Stacoviak
I \[unintelligible 00:38:36.08\] have said "Similar to the facial myalgia" then.
Jerod Santo
Yeah, that one actually worked. That one didn't crack me up.
Adam Stacoviak
That's a made-up term in my house. The kids put their face in the bathtub, like under the water, and I tell them they're getting facial myalgia.
Jerod Santo
Okay... \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
It's a way to get them to not put their face in the water when their brothers are having a bath together. It's just, you know, there's things in there.
Amal Hussein
It's also a way for them to have trauma around putting their face in the water for the rest of their life...
Adam Stacoviak
Oh, my kids love it. They laugh their butts off. They don't even care. They actually think it's hilarious.
Jerod Santo
They want facial myalgia.
Adam Stacoviak
They do. They're like "Dad, I have facial myalgia." \[laughs\] It's not working. It's not working...
Lars Wikman
Give it a minute and they'll start going "Oh, I can't go to school today... You know, facial myalgia." \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
"Why were you out yesterday?" "I had facial myalgia..." "What in the world is that?!"
Jerod Santo
That sounds legit.
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah.
Lars Wikman
I made a mistake this morning... I want to go get a drink. I chose lavender melon kombucha as my drink... \[laughs\]
Taylor Troesh
Lavender is not the right choice for beverage or food.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. It's definitely not a consumable... It seems like a flavor that ChatGPT made up. They were like "Alright, ChatGPT, come up with a new flavor combo." And it's like "I'm a machine, I've never tasted anything... But okay, here it goes."
Lars Wikman
We had some lavender chocolate, and none of us could eat it.
Amal Hussein
It sounds disgusting.
Lars Wikman
The chocolate bit was fine, but it tasted like bed linens.
Jerod Santo
Well, yeah. Lavender, right?
Lars Wikman
Nicely-handled fresh bed linens... But it's just not something I want in my food.
Jerod Santo
Which is a great smell...
Taylor Troesh
If you like that, you should taste my homemade muffins. They taste exactly like bed linens.
Emma Bostian
Jerod, I altered my definition... So the text is edited if you just copy the new one...
Jerod Santo
Gotcha.
Adam Stacoviak
I kept mine exactly the same, Jerod, just so you know... \[laughter\]
Emma Bostian
Okay, we're throwing shade just because you're last place, Adam? Come on... \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
Oh, snap!
Jerod Santo
Scary-spicy...
Adam Stacoviak
Coming hot!
Amal Hussein
Shots fired... Shots fired...
Adam Stacoviak
Everybody's always changing their answers \[unintelligible 00:40:57.12\] put it out there. Keeping it the same.
Amal Hussein
Making fun or giving Adam and Jerod a hard time - it's just so easy. You guys are such easy targets... It's because we all love you, so you're just so easy to like poke at...
Jerod Santo
Well, feel free to poke at me whenever you like.
Adam Stacoviak
I like that.
Amal Hussein
\[laughs\] Jerod, I'm a married lady, okay? I can't be poking randos...
Jerod Santo
Alright, WTF does that TLA mean? VLSI. Six definitions. Vision Lens Spectrum Interceptor - the apparatus used to mimic the human eyes' ability to capture light. VLSI - Verilog Language System Integration - a language for Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). VLSI - Vector Language Symbol Interference, a shorthand used to store large computational vector data as a means of reducing cloud storage costs. Number four, VLSI - Very Large Scale Integration, the process of creating an integrated circuit by combining millions or billions of transistors onto a single chip.
\[00:42:18.13\] Number five, Vector LASIK Surface Incision - a minimally-invasive type of dermal laser treatment using acute angles and low power. And number six, Vector Longitudinal Scalar Intersection, a Cartesian coordinate where two vectors intersect along a horizontal plane, typically used in aerospace engineering to calculate the angle at which the wings are attached to the fuselage. There you have it, six I think pretty good definitions this time around. One of those is the real definition, and the real acronym. And five of them are not.
Lars Wikman
I'm not convinced there's a real one in there...
Amal Hussein
I'm amazed that we used vector more than once.
Adam Stacoviak
Or did we?
Jerod Santo
Last round Taylor went first, so this round Emma will go first. Emma, which of those do you think is the correct definition?
Emma Bostian
Could you read one and five again, please?
Jerod Santo
Yes. One was the Vision Lens Spectrum Interceptor, an apparatus used to mimic the human eyes' ability to capture light, and five was Vector LASIK Surface Incision, a minimally-invasive type of dermal laser treatment using acute angles and low power.
Taylor Troesh
Just to let you guys know, that one's the correct one. That's what they did to fix my wiggle-bone disease. \[laughter\]
Emma Bostian
I mean, what are the chances we get three vectors out of six answers? So I have to assume it's gotta be one of those, right?
Amal Hussein
Well, Emma, in all fairness, these are all a bunch of software engineers, so I'm not surprised about that. We see the word V and we think vectors these days...
Jerod Santo
Right.
Adam Stacoviak
Vector's the new cult, too.
Emma Bostian
But you literally just said you were surprised, so now I don't believe you...
Amal Hussein
Maybe I was playing a game.
Emma Bostian
I'll go with five... I'll just go with five, yeah.
Jerod Santo
Emma's going with five. Alright, we now go to Adam. Which one do you think it is?
Adam Stacoviak
None of them. Gosh...
Jerod Santo
Vector? Victor? Was the vector victor?
Adam Stacoviak
I'm not going with vector... What's two and six again, Jerod?
Jerod Santo
Two and six?
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah.
Jerod Santo
I feel like these are arbitrary numbers when you guys ask me for them. \[laughter\] Like "Yeah, three and seven..." Two is the Verilog Language System Integration, a language for Field Programmable Gate Arrays.
Adam Stacoviak
Oh.
Jerod Santo
Six was the Vector Longitudinal Scalar Intersection, a Cartesian coordinate where two vectors intersect along a horizontal plane; typically used in aerospace engineering to calculate the angle at which the wings are attached to the fuselage. Or fuselage, if you're so inclined.
Adam Stacoviak
The choice is so hard...
Jerod Santo
Please don't make me read these again.
Amal Hussein
This is really hard, honestly.
Adam Stacoviak
What was three again?
Jerod Santo
Three - Vector Language Symbol Interference. Do you want the full definition?
Adam Stacoviak
No.
Jerod Santo
No... \[laughs\]
Lars Wikman
Absolutely not.
Jerod Santo
That's good. I did not want to read it.
Adam Stacoviak
Which bad one should I choose...? I'm gonna go with number two. Gosh, this Verilog stuff's got me.
Jerod Santo
Number two... The Verilog Language System Integration? Alright, you got it. Next up, Amal. \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
Sorry...
Jerod Santo
You're making all kinds of noises...
Amal Hussein
Well, no, because this is really hard.
Adam Stacoviak
It is hard.
Jerod Santo
Well, tell us your thought process. What are you thinking?
Amal Hussein
Well, what am I thinking is I think all the vector ones are from the engineers, which is pretty much everyone... So I want to go with a non-vector answer. So could we just summarize...? I don't need the definitions. Just give me the non-vector ones. Can you list those out?
Jerod Santo
The non-vector ones. The Verilog Language System Integration, the Vision Lens Spectrum Interceptor, and the Very Large Scale Integration.
Lars Wikman
\[00:46:02.26\] One of the vector ones was not programming or engineering in that way...
Amal Hussein
Yeah, it had to do with aerospace. Yeah. And I think that definition was way too long to be real. So that's my pry. I eliminated it there.
Lars Wikman
No, hold on... There was one more.
Jerod Santo
There's so many...
Lars Wikman
One of them was a vector laser, right?
Jerod Santo
There's three vectors. Vector LASIK, Vector Longitudinal, and Vector Language. And then there's other words too, but those are the three vectors.
Amal Hussein
What's the second one that you've read that was not vectors?
Jerod Santo
Vision Lens Spectrum Interceptor, the apparatus used to mimic the human eyes' ability to capture light.
Amal Hussein
Let's do that one.
Jerod Santo
Amal lands on that one.
Amal Hussein
And if I see somebody smiling here, then you know what? You got me. \[laughs\]
Jerod Santo
Lars, what have you got?
Lars Wikman
My thinking is that the most kind of crisp engineery type definitions have been Emma's consistently, so I think a very long one is probably Emma, because it seems like nerd bait.
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] It seems like nerd bait...
Emma Bostian
I'll take that as a compliment, actually...
Jerod Santo
Yeah, I think that was a compliment.
Lars Wikman
Yeah, go for it. And the dumbest-seeming one, which I think is what Jerod would have picked, because he's absolutely kind of spicing up the definitions, seems to be the Very Large one. So read that one again, because I didn't catch all of it.
Jerod Santo
Very Large Scale Integration - the process of creating an integrated circuit by combining millions or billions of transistors onto a single chip.
Amal Hussein
Okay, can I change my answer?
Jerod Santo
No.
Amal Hussein
Just for the record, I want to say that I would have picked that had I heard that definition again.
Jerod Santo
I've read it like six times.
Lars Wikman
I'm going with the Very Large one, because naming things in hardware is silly...
Jerod Santo
There he goes. He's got it. And Taylor.
Taylor Troesh
It is the Very Large one.
Jerod Santo
Oh, confident man. It is the Very Large one. So are you picking it though? Because you've been known not to pick the one that's correct.
Taylor Troesh
I'm falling behind,, so I've got to pick the correct one this time.
Jerod Santo
Alright. Taylor had to pick the correct one. And Lars was on point, Taylor was on point; that is the correct one. Very Large Scale Integrations. So two points for each of you for getting it correct.
Lars Wikman
Now I'm super-curious if I was right about which one was Emma's...
Adam Stacoviak
She was number three.
Jerod Santo
You were wrong, because that was actually Taylor's. He's also good at nerd bait. Have you read his blog?
Lars Wikman
But he usually doesn't do it. \[laughter\]
Taylor Troesh
Because I think VLSI has to do with FPGAs. So like, very large scale integration - it's like programming a whole bunch of tiny, tiny little hardware chips.
Amal Hussein
Nice.
Lars Wikman
Also known as Very Large...
Emma Bostian
Very Large, yeah.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, I'm happy that I now know what that strategy is, Lars. I think when in doubt, pick the most ridiculous one. I think that has seemed to be the most consistent --
Lars Wikman
That's not gonna be consistent, because it's gonna be mixing it up...
Amal Hussein
Really?
Lars Wikman
Yeah. Next time... Next time, there's going to be a definition with a spelling error in it.
Jerod Santo
Oh...!
Lars Wikman
So he will be tripped up while reading it.
Jerod Santo
You're really meta-gaming this thing.
Lars Wikman
But that's one episode out still...
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
Okay, speaking of spelling errors though, you guys, I think I would have actually won this round had I not spelled the wrong -- I was supposed to say Vector Language Symbol Inference. And this makes sense. It's a shorthand used to store large computational vector data as a means of reducing cloud storage costs. I'm thinking of, "How do I reduce my logging costs?" "Well, we use shorthands." I think that makes sense...
Jerod Santo
Yeah. Here's where the problem is - you said all the vectors were engineers, and so at that point you outed yourself.
Adam Stacoviak
You peed in the pool.
Jerod Santo
You peed in the pool.
Amal Hussein
It doesn't matter. That's the point. You're supposed to do that stuff. But yes, you're right... I'm wrong. \[laughs\]
Jerod Santo
Fair, fair. Alright. Well, let's get the rest of these figured out. So the Verilog one - that was Taylor's nerd bait and Adam fell for the bait, so he guessed that one, and that gave Taylor another point.
Adam Stacoviak
Good job, Taylor.
Jerod Santo
\[00:50:02.11\] Vector LASIK Surface Incision - Emma guessed that. That was Lars'es, so he also gains another point for tricking somebody; three for each of you. And Vision Lens Spectrum Interceptor - you know Amal loves Adam's definitions, so he got her with that one.
Amal Hussein
Of course he did... Like a moth to the flame, you know?
Jerod Santo
Yes. So three points for Lars, three points for Taylor, one point for Adam...
Adam Stacoviak
Was four Lars'es, though? Was Lars'es number four?
Jerod Santo
Four was the correct one, that was mine.
Adam Stacoviak
Oh. Okay, nevermind.
Jerod Santo
The Very Large Scale Integration. Yeah.
Adam Stacoviak
Because I was watching Lars laugh really hard when four was read... And I was thinking he laughed at his own thing, or it was that ridiculous. And I think it was both...
Lars Wikman
It was just funny that it was called Very Large...
Jerod Santo
Yeah, Very Large Scale... Alright, after four rounds we have a two-way tie for first, Lars and Taylor. We have Emma in second with five, Amal in third with four, and Adam and Jerod tied for last, with three points. We move now to round five. Your word for round five is Zymurgy. Zymurgy. Oh, you put that in the chat.
Lars Wikman
That's not my real one. \[unintelligible 00:51:19.20\]
Jerod Santo
I like that one.
Adam Stacoviak
\[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
Oh man, this is hard. This one's tough.
Jerod Santo
For those not in the chat, Zymurgy, "A controversial dance move band from the 1988 Olympics." I just like the idea that it'd be a dance move band. And the specificity \[unintelligible 00:51:43.14\] is also a nice touch.
Lars Wikman
I actually had to do the math. I was like, \[unintelligible 00:51:50.08\]
Emma Bostian
Controversially, there was one in 1972...
Lars Wikman
Actually, that might work out...
Jerod Santo
You're pretty safe just guessing even-yeared numbers, right? Pretty safe.
Lars Wikman
That dance move was the cause of them having to do the 1989 Olympics. Did you go and start your printer, Adam?
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah. That's what I call that.
Jerod Santo
You call it the printer?
Adam Stacoviak
That's what I just did, \[unintelligible 00:52:24.16\] starting the printer.
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] I'm very confused...
Adam Stacoviak
\[unintelligible 00:52:31.01\]
Amal Hussein
Oh, did he flush the toilet? Is that what happened? \[laughs\]
Adam Stacoviak
You heard that? It's really far away.
Amal Hussein
I did not hear a thing, for what it's worth...
Jerod Santo
The other day I was driving the kids home... I was driving home with the kids, and I told them when we get home, I'm gonna drop the kids off at the pool, and two of my kids were completely stunned, had no idea I was talking about... And my nine-year-old boy, he was onto it immediately. Oh, yeah. He's like "That is so funny." He said it for like the next three days straight.
Amal Hussein
Oh, that's so funny...
Jerod Santo
"Drop the kids off at the pool!" Alright. I just thought of that because, you know --
Adam Stacoviak
I did not drop any kids off at the pool just now, just to be clear...
Jerod Santo
Gotta go run a print job. I'm gonna use that one next... \[laughter\]
Taylor Troesh
Taking the browns to the Super-Bowl. \[laughter\]
Lars Wikman
The level has risen.
Amal Hussein
I'm pretty sure that was a number one and not a number two. If it was a number two, that's really impressive...
Jerod Santo
Speedy. Speedy Gonzales.
Adam Stacoviak
Just printing over here, don't worry about me... \[laughter\] Turning on my printer.
Jerod Santo
Alright. Zymurgy - the result of a merge event of two zygotes. An academic term for the lack of a synergistic effect where two separate processes do not interact or affect one another in a measurable way. The process in which a zygote or a fertilized egg cell resulting from the union of an egg and a sperm embeds itself within the uterine lining. This process is also more commonly referred to as implantation.
\[00:54:02.06\] Zymurgy occurs when there is more than one asteroid headed in the same direction. The study of fermentation and brewing. Or the cooperative advantage of small, independent groups. Six definitions for Zymurgy. Adam, you're up first this time.
Adam Stacoviak
Read number six again, please?
Jerod Santo
Number six is the cooperative advantage of small independent groups.
Adam Stacoviak
That's like the anomaly of them all, you know? They're all very scientific. Two was too long, five was fermentation... I'm going with six.
Jerod Santo
Six. Adam goes with the cooperative advantage of small, independent groups, and we go to Amal.
Amal Hussein
I'm gonna go with number one.
Jerod Santo
Number one, the result of the merge event of two zygotes?
Amal Hussein
Okay, maybe not.
Jerod Santo
What do you mean?
Amal Hussein
Okay, fine. Fine. Let's do that. The other one with zygotes also sounded interesting, but let's do that one.
Lars Wikman
Merging goats...
Jerod Santo
Lars.
Lars Wikman
This one was genuinely very tricky... What was the one with just one zygote?
Jerod Santo
The process in which a zygote or a fertilized egg cell resulting from a union of an egg and a sperm embeds itself within the uterine lining. This process is also more commonly referred to as implantation. That was number three.
Lars Wikman
I'm not sure it's referred to as implantation, but okay. \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
Speculating the speculation. I love it. "I'm not sure it's referred to as that..."
Amal Hussein
It's just called making a baby. Baby-making.
Jerod Santo
There's lots of terms for it.
Amal Hussein
Human creation.
Lars Wikman
You know, a baby goat is called a kid. So kids become goats, and zygotes become kids.
Jerod Santo
Oh, deep.
Emma Bostian
\[laughs\] That's the title of this episode.
Amal Hussein
That's very meta. Yeah. A baby goat is a kid.
Adam Stacoviak
"Give me my baby goat..."
Jerod Santo
What are you gonna go with, Lars? Do you like that one, or did implantation scare you off?
Lars Wikman
No, I'm trying to remember the other ones.
Amal Hussein
They were all pretty crappy, for what it's worth... \[laughter\] Not our best round.
Jerod Santo
We have the study of fermentation and brewing, we have more than one asteroid headed in the same direction... Do you want more? ...with the cooperative advantage of small independent groups...
Lars Wikman
I'll actually go with the small independent groups as well.
Jerod Santo
Okay. Taylor, your turn.
Taylor Troesh
I have no clue. \[laughter\]
Jerod Santo
Welcome to the club.
Taylor Troesh
You guys took the good one. Let's go with the fermentation. Was there one about fermentation?
Jerod Santo
Yes. The study of fermentation in brewing.
Taylor Troesh
Yeah, that sounds wrong, but let's do it.
Adam Stacoviak
\[laughs\] Oh, my gosh...
Lars Wikman
I think that's called hipsterism.
Jerod Santo
Okay. And Emma...
Lars Wikman
Originally, I was gonna pick number one as well, but then I'm thinking, can two zygotes actually merge? I don't think -- is that scientifically possible? And it sounds very much like the merging of zygotes, so that seems like an easy definition. Also, the last one sounds like corporate BS, so it could also be true... What is a corporate advantage or collaborative advantage?
Jerod Santo
A cooperative advantage of small independent groups.
Emma Bostian
Like, what the hell does that mean?
Taylor Troesh
Game theory, dude...
Adam Stacoviak
Game theory, dude... \[laughter\] I love it.
Jerod Santo
Pretty defensive there, Taylor.
Emma Bostian
I don't know, man. I can't get on board with the -- the fermentation is like a scientific thing that happens with growth and whatnot...
Taylor Troesh
It's like metallurgy, zymurgy...
Emma Bostian
But then there's synergy, which is also cooperation of team people, so I'm like "Hmm..."
Jerod Santo
Right. So you're gonna go with corporate, or you're gonna go with beer?
Amal Hussein
Whoever made up that cooperation thing is gonna get a whole boatloat of points this round.
Emma Bostian
\[00:58:10.04\] I'm gonna trust Taylor and go with the fermentation, because I feel like we would have heard the term zymurgy if it was really a corporate BS word. \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
Wow...
Jerod Santo
Hey, that's pretty good logic, actually. Alright, Taylor and Emma team up. No spread. Wow. This is dangerous, guys...
Amal Hussein
I'm an independent on number one. I just want to put that out there.
Adam Stacoviak
Tell her, Jerod.
Jerod Santo
Amal -- let's start right there then. Amal independently picked Adam's again. \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
Adam, I hate you! What's going on? This is not fair. This is not fair at all.
Jerod Santo
It's like clockwork.
Lars Wikman
As per usual, it doesn't go well for the independents. Sorry to say...
Amal Hussein
\[laughs\] Yes...
Jerod Santo
Adam teamed up with Lars to pick the cooperative advantage of small independent groups... Emma almost picked it, but she thought we would know about it if it was a real silly term... And it's a fake silly term made up by Taylor. So two points there.
Lars Wikman
Good one.
Amal Hussein
It's not even science. That's what I was trying to understand, y'all; that's not even STEM. Like, how was that -- like, I didn't want to point that out, but it's not.
Taylor Troesh
It's game theory, guys...
Jerod Santo
It's game theory, which is science.
Adam Stacoviak
\[laughs\] I like how you responded "It's game theory, dude."
Jerod Santo
And the spread was not applied... So a lot riding on this. Taylor and Emma both thought zymurgy was the study of fermentation and brewing... Unfortunately, they were correct. That is the correct definition, which means I score zero points. Emma gets two for that, Taylor gets four for the round... Big round for Taylor, moving him in the first place with 10 points. He's two points away from stealing this one. I think we should start minding the Taylor spread, as he has 10. Emma has seven, in second, Lars has six, Amal and Adam with four, and me, a meager flask three.
Round six. Your word - I guess it's a phrase in this case - for round six is Wirth's Law. Wirth is the name, and Law is the game. Please submit to me your definitions...
Taylor Troesh
I really feel like I've heard of this, but I have no idea...
Lars Wikman
Yeah, I've heard of this, too. What is it...?
Taylor Troesh
Game theory, dude.
Jerod Santo
Game theory, dude.
Taylor Troesh
That's gonna be my answer to everything from now.
Adam Stacoviak
It's better than an It Depends.
Taylor Troesh
That's what I'm gonna tell my clients. "So how do we do that?" "Well, game theory, dude."
Jerod Santo
It's better than saying automagical. You just say it's game Theory.
Amal Hussein
What's wrong with saying automagical? Stop hating on that. It's a great word.
Jerod Santo
It's a stupid word.
Amal Hussein
I saw your little thing about that. No, it's a fantastic --
Jerod Santo
No, it's not.
Amal Hussein
Automagic... Every time I use it, especially outside of tech settings, people fall in love with me, give me their numbers, and stuff... It's crazy.
Jerod Santo
That's one of the reasons why it's stupid. It's like manipulative.
Amal Hussein
\[laughs\]
Taylor Troesh
All I can think of is Sturgeon's Law right now, which is -- Sturgeon's Law is 90% of everything is crap.
Jerod Santo
It's a good law.
Taylor Troesh
Yeah...
Jerod Santo
Wirth's Law.
Lars Wikman
Pegleg boy from Diablo.
Jerod Santo
Hm... I don't play that game.
Lars Wikman
It was a very good game.
Jerod Santo
I heard that.
Amal Hussein
I think we need to play music during the live show, not the edited show... Just putting it out there, Jerod. It's time to step up your host game.
Lars Wikman
Elevator music. Can we have Mat in for --
Jerod Santo
Making up jingles?
Amal Hussein
Yeah, that would be nice... Just for some \[unintelligible 01:05:55.27\] make up jargon during the strumming, just to inspire us...
Taylor Troesh
Or actually now that BMC has been on the show... Just be here. Just Polka...
Jerod Santo
\[01:06:10.27\] Yeah, live VMC would be sweet.
Amal Hussein
That would be extremely distracting for me... I love music, especially EDM...
Taylor Troesh
Well, it's gonna be Polka, so...
Jerod Santo
Well, you're the one that requested it, Amal.
Amal Hussein
I know, but I didn't request EDM, live EDM, with a DJ. That's not what I -- that's a party for me.
Jerod Santo
We throw parties around here. It's what we do.
Amal Hussein
That's true, that's true...
Jerod Santo
Let's see. Am I missing some still? I'm missing Adam's. Consistently the last enterer.
Adam Stacoviak
I just can't think of anything. I've got law block.
Jerod Santo
Is that like \[unintelligible 01:06:46.18\]
Adam Stacoviak
That's right.
Amal Hussein
Taylor, I think we need to get you a T-shirt that says "I started from the bottom and now I'm on top." Remember last time? I think you were the expected winner, but then it turned out to be Lars...
Jerod Santo
Yes.
Taylor Troesh
I expected Lars to win... \[laughter\]
Lars Wikman
Thank you.
Taylor Troesh
Yeah. Look at him.
Jerod Santo
Well, Taylor is within striking distance. We begin round six, Wirth's Law... We have six definitions. Number one, the quality of a codebase is inversely proportional to the number of people that work on it. Number two, two particles of the same mass, but different densities, will have the same release of energy during combustion. Number three, an adage on computer performance which states that software is getting slower, more rapidly that hardware is becoming faster. Number four, science can never be used to prove something. Number five - proposed in the late 1900s, Wirth's Law states that the security of a cryptographic system depends on the key length and algorithmic complexity rather than the secrecy of the algorithm. And number six... \[laughter\]
Taylor Troesh
This one has to be very serious... \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
Also known as meager flask...
Jerod Santo
Yes...
Amal Hussein
Also known as meager flask...
Jerod Santo
And number six, Wirth's Law - when in doubt, Pareto's Principle.
Lars Wikman
What?!
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
I have a feeling I know who wrote that.
Jerod Santo
Wirth's Law - when in doubt, Pareto's Principle.
Emma Bostian
Okay...
Jerod Santo
We begin now with Amal.
Amal Hussein
I think three sounded the most interesting, and so did five. Could you repeat those two?
Jerod Santo
Three was the adage on computer performance, which states that the software is getting slower more rapidly than hardware is becoming faster. Number five was the security of a cryptographic system depends on the key length and algorithmic complexity rather than the secrecy of the algorithm.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, that's too many words. I think I'm gonna go with three.
Jerod Santo
Three. Very good. Lars?
Lars Wikman
I'll go with the cryptographic one.
Jerod Santo
Cryptographic one, that's number five. Taylor?
Taylor Troesh
I completely forgot all of them, so I'm gonna pile on with Amal, because she's gone independent a few times, and I feel like I need to support her.
Amal Hussein
Oh, thanks. It was getting lonely over here, you know?
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] She sounds unimpressed. Okay. He's gonna pile on... So that's with the adage on computer performance etc, etc.
Taylor Troesh
Yeah, there was two computer performance ones, right?
Jerod Santo
Yeah, number one and number three. So you're on number three, or did you want number one? The quality of a codebase is inversely proportional to the number of the people that work on it.
Taylor Troesh
That sounds fake. Let's go with three.
Amal Hussein
And I think for the sake of the game, let's hope that I'm wrong, and so is Taylor. I just want to put that out there.
Jerod Santo
No problem. Okay. Emma, what are you thinking?
Emma Bostian
Man... What was number two again?
Jerod Santo
\[01:09:54.00\] Number two was Wirth's Law states that two particles of the same mass but different densities will have the same release of energy during combustion.
Emma Bostian
I'm so tired of the space ones, not for any particular reason other than my brain does not comprehend the meaning behind the words... So I'm torn between one and whichever one Amal and Taylor piled onto, so...
Jerod Santo
That's three.
Emma Bostian
I'll go one to spread it out.
Amal Hussein
For what it's worth, the particles don't have to be in space. Like, they can be any particles. \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
Isn't it all space?
Jerod Santo
That's not worth much, Amal... Thanks though.
Emma Bostian
Too many words.
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\]
Amal Hussein
I just wanted to make sure... Yeah, yeah. Okay, cool.
Jerod Santo
Amal wants to clarify the definition, for some reason... Adam, what are you thinking?
Adam Stacoviak
I'm not picking two, but I want to hear it again. \[laughter\]
Jerod Santo
You want to hear it again?
Adam Stacoviak
Oh, yeah. End to end.
Jerod Santo
Wirth's Law states that two particles of the same mass, but different densities, will have the same release of energy during combustion. And in parentheses it says "Whether it's in space or not." \[laughter\]
Adam Stacoviak
What about number one again? What was that one again? Inversely what?
Jerod Santo
Number one, the quality of a codebase is inversely proportional to the number of people that work on it.
Adam Stacoviak
And three they're piling on. What's the difference with that one? Computer performance what?
Jerod Santo
Software is getting slower more rapidly than hardware is becoming faster.
Adam Stacoviak
Oh, yeah. Let's hang there, with everybody else...
Jerod Santo
You're gonna hang out with everybody else?
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah.
Jerod Santo
Okay.
Amal Hussein
I personally actually believe in that, which is why I picked it.
Adam Stacoviak
That's truth right there... I'm not sure if it's a law, but that's truth.
Jerod Santo
Alright. Well, let's start with Emma. She thought perhaps Wirth's Law is that the quality of a codebase is inversely proportional to the number of people that work on it. Taylor thought that sounded made up, and that's because he made it up, and so she gets one point for that. He's now one point away of being the victor.
Lars thought that perhaps it was the cryptographic system that depends on the key length and the algorithmic complexity, rather than the secrecy of the algorithm... And that was Emma's definition. So one point for her.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, Emma, you do have the most technical and nerdy definitions, I just want to put that out there, for sure.
Emma Bostian
I read a lot, you know?
Amal Hussein
That's why I also projected that you would be the winner of this game, to be honest, just because you're the one who reads the most...
Emma Bostian
Well, thank you.
Jerod Santo
Yeah, excellent definition. Borderline, they're too good. They're a little bit too long, a little bit too studious... They need to be --
Emma Bostian
Yeah, I get it... I'll dumb it down for everyone, it's okay.
Jerod Santo
Dumb it down for us, would ya?
Amal Hussein
They're too ChatGPT, you know what I mean? But I know you didn't use it. It was like EmmaGPT you know...
Emma Bostian
I know.
Jerod Santo
Yeah, she's like a robot.
Lars Wikman
Do you have a book list somewhere?
Emma Bostian
Of what?
Lars Wikman
Of the books you read?
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] Just books...
Emma Bostian
I mean, I'm on Goodreads, but I read every genre. So if you've got a preference, come see me. I'll hook you up.
Jerod Santo
Nice. Well, it all comes down to this, since Taylor is one point away from winning... He piled on. We have Amal, Taylor and Adam. They're all on number three... And so maybe they're all correct, or maybe they're all wrong, and we play on. Wirth's Law - an adage on computer performance which states that software is getting slower more rapidly than hardware is becoming faster. It sounds true, and it sounds like Wirth's Law indeed. So you guys all got it correct.
Amal Hussein
Yaaay!!
Jerod Santo
It is Wirth's Law.
Amal Hussein
Oh, no. Taylor, no!
Jerod Santo
No...! We're giving Taylor three points for the round. Adam gets two, Amal gets two... And after six rounds of play, Taylor with 13 points is our winner.
Emma Bostian
Nice.
Jerod Santo
Yay!
Amal Hussein
Yaay!
Adam Stacoviak
Good job, Taylor.
Amal Hussein
Yeah, good job, actually. Yes.
Jerod Santo
As the victor, you now have to give a speech.
Taylor Troesh
I have to give a speech?
Jerod Santo
Yes. So right now, on the spot, you have to give some kind of speech. We'll wait eagerly your words.
Taylor Troesh
\[01:14:00.24\] I think the last long thing I wrote about on taylor.town, my website, was my pardoning of engineers. I pardoned all junior engineers... I think that's the last long speech I gave very impassioned. I think if you want to read that online, that's still there. It also has an associated little repo called wigwam.directory. That's a URL that you can type into your browser, Wigwam.directory... And that will lead you to a list of alternative projects to bloat... Because Wirth's Law states that software is getting slower than hardware is getting faster... I don't like that. So wigwam.directory is a, I think, \[unintelligible 01:14:47.20\] solution to that. So that's my speech. And pointer to a speech.
Jerod Santo
Very good. We will link up the pointer to the speech, as well as to the wigwam.directory. I didn't know of this TLD; that's a new one to me. Very cool. Let's do some quick postgame analysis as we close; a nice cooldown... Lars, your thoughts on this round of \#define, and why you didn't win.
Lars Wikman
Oh... Because I played too poorly. That's why.
Jerod Santo
Oh, okay.
Lars Wikman
But it was fun to see Taylor kind of start by going into his old shenanigans, and just like, there was something goofy... It was the wigglebone... I think it started with the wiggle bone, but then he just played it straight, I think, generally.
Amal Hussein
He's got a great poker face...
Lars Wikman
...when he wants to...
Amal Hussein
Because he always looks a little ridiculous, you know? So it's like, you can't tell.
Taylor Troesh
Game Theory.
Jerod Santo
\[laughs\] Game theory, dude.
Taylor Troesh
Game theory.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. If you look at his eyes when you're reading out things, he's just like an owl, hunting in the dark. He's like this, like that...
Adam Stacoviak
Dang...
Amal Hussein
Yeah, yeah, you're very -- I can't tell what you're thinking. You have the best poker face out of everyone. Congrats.
Taylor Troesh
Amal, when I look into your eyes, I see --
Amal Hussein
Aww... Do you want me to take my glasses off? Would that be better for you?
Taylor Troesh
Oh, there we go. There we go.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. \[laughs\]
Taylor Troesh
This is the eyes of a crow; like a very smart crow... \[laughter\]
Amal Hussein
That's such a compliment. Thank you. I love crows. Crows are so --
Taylor Troesh
\[unintelligible 01:16:25.01\] that solves puzzles.
Jerod Santo
Oh...
Amal Hussein
That's like the nicest thing anyone has said to me this year. Thank you.
Emma Bostian
You need to get out more, dear...
Taylor Troesh
This year. We're at the end of the year, too. That's good.
Jerod Santo
That's a long time. Yeah, that's a very nice compliment.
Amal Hussein
That is.
Jerod Santo
Let's go to Adam. Adam, you were you're trailing behind, but you actually pulled into a three-way tie for third place at the end of the game with that last round. Your thoughts on \#define and your placement here. Third place... Nothing to shake a stick out, or at... How do you feel?
Adam Stacoviak
\[01:17:02.14\] I think it's just challenging to write these definitions. It really is. It's challenging, because they -- you can be so ridiculous because you're trying to make something up. And then you're also trying to decipher through the BS. And then you've got Taylor here, who sometimes does throw the oddities out there. And so you've really got to pay close attention to what's on the field, and what to choose from. And you obviously can't choose your own BS, so...
Jerod Santo
Right.
Adam Stacoviak
Yeah. But...
Jerod Santo
Amal, curious why it is that you find yourself so attracted to Adam's definitions.
Amal Hussein
I mean, I don't know; years of listening to Changelog, perhaps... I've socially conditioned my brain, I don't know...
Jerod Santo
Okay... \[It's better!\] That's really a lot. Playing the long game.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. It's better, exactly! Yeah. He just sounds so authoritative. What can I say...
Adam Stacoviak
Thank you.
Amal Hussein
But also, my request is for next time that we just totally flip the script on the rules. Made up words, made up definitions, and points go to the person who gets the most hits. You know what I mean?
Jerod Santo
So there is no -- there has to be a real definition. Or you're just saying the words are all made up?
Amal Hussein
No, there doesn't -- I mean, everything. Why does there have to be? Yeah.
Adam Stacoviak
What you're saying is, when in doubt, Pareto's Principle.
Amal Hussein
Basically, yes. That's correct.
Jerod Santo
That was one of Adam's definitions that you did not pick, was that one.
Adam Stacoviak
Yes. It was the worst. I just couldn't come up with anything.
Amal Hussein
He couldn't come up with anything. I knew that. So he was like "When in doubt...", you know...
Jerod Santo
I like the idea that somebody's law though just refers to somebody else's law... That's kind of a fun idea.
Adam Stacoviak
Well, it's a principle.
Amal Hussein
Yeah... But I couldn't actually get through without laughing because of the reference.
Lars Wikman
There is Hofstadter's law, which states that software projects always fall behind, even if you take into account Hofstadter's law.
Jerod Santo
Oh, yeah. I like that one. Self-referential... Emma, your first game of \#define. You fared quite admirably... I think you ended up in second place. Excellent job.
Emma Bostian
Oh, neat-oh!
Amal Hussein
Great job.
Emma Bostian
Thank you.
Jerod Santo
What are your thoughts? What is your opinion? How do you feel?
Emma Bostian
Yeah... I would say etymology is not a gift we are all granted with, as is displayed by the -- no, I'm just kidding. I will say, being too intelligent was my downfall... So if you were to have me back, I will change my definitions for the plebeians of the tech industry.
Adam Stacoviak
Dang...
Jerod Santo
Thank you. \[laughter\]
Emma Bostian
Okay, this was a lot of fun. I genuinely had no idea about any of them.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. We just need to watch some reality TV before you come on the show. That's what needs to happen.
Emma Bostian
I do... I'm a huge Love Island fan, so I will bulk up on it.
Jerod Santo
Bulk up on Love Island. That'd be a good game plan for next time.
Amal Hussein
Yeah. That'll take you down a few notches, just temporarily; just for the game.
Emma Bostian
That's true.
Jerod Santo
Alright. Well, this has been round two of \#define. We have a new champion, Taylor Troesh... And we have five new losers, some of which already were... And we have me, your humble host, and sometimes not so humble... Thank you for listening, thank you for playing along. If you liked this game, go back and listen to round one, where I get defeated by the humble mega flask; lols all around... And that's a fun one as well. If you like these games in general, and you want to hear more of them, do let us know. We enjoy playing them, and if you enjoy listening to them, we will do them more often. So that's \#define, that's Changelog & Friends. Any final words, Adam, before we just say goodbye?
Adam Stacoviak
Bye, friends.
Jerod Santo
Alright, bye, y'all. Thanks for hanging out.
Amal Hussein
Bye!
