Live data from Hacker News

Show HN: A basketball hoop to maximize shots that go in [video]

youtube.com

1–10 of 172 posts

Re: Show HN: A basketball hoop to maximize shots that go in [video]

#6

I love this! I was expecting something more like Mark Rober's movign dartboard [0], which is super cool, but this is even more interesting, because of the way you used software to come up with a general solution in advance. Kudos!

your [0] link is missing

edit: pasted the first yt result here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHTizZ_XcUM

Re: Show HN: A basketball hoop to maximize shots that go in [video]

#9
post #8

Clearly the hoop that minimizes shots is what exists at funfairs all over the world. Would making the backboard convex make it near-impossible to hit? What about making the curve imperceptible so it's hard to notice it's helping/hurting?

The carnival hoops I've examined all have ellipsis shaped rims. Impossible to distinguish from a circle when observed from the front, but clearly squished if you walk around and get underneath it.

Re: Show HN: A basketball hoop to maximize shots that go in [video]

#10
"Who is Monte Carlo?" Monte Carlo is for Europe what Las Vegas is for the US. The first name that comes to mind when you think gambling.

Monte Carlo method is repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results.

Monte Carlo algorithms are heuristic algorithms that solve problems with random process that can give wrong answers.

Las Vegas algorithms are algorithms that solve problems with randomness but get always correct result or knows that it failed. Runtime is finite.

Atlantic City algorithm is a probabilistic polynomial time algorithm that gives correct answer > 50% of the time (or 75% of the time by some definition).

Post reply on HN