Live data from Hacker News

The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

youtube.com

121–130 of 352 posts

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- it’s 3 days not 5 (e.g leaving NYC Wednesday morning arriving SF Saturday evening) - the internet connection is excellent (even in most tunnels) so you can work, have video meetings, etc, not to mention play chess online

I was rather disappointed by the internet connection on the Cascades line (going Seattle --> Portland and back). As far as I could tell, they use T-Mobile for backhaul. Who are headquartered in Seattle. Yet the connection barely seemed to work for about half of the journey

boo, it's in the middle of no where along part of the route. Tmobile coverage is mainly in urban areas and along free ways no matter what slingblade tells you on the tv commercial. I don't know if you'd get any coverage on parts of that route other than wired.

Just like how sometimes when you're flying over the rockies or into canada you just don't get internets. There's still middles of no where out there. Often not very far from the freeway.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#122
post #74
post #8

Is this really true? I played a few games with it in August. It's not very good. It's one of those old programs where 95% of the moves are pretty strong. But if you just do nothing and sit back it will occasionally make a random blunder and then you grind it out. I figured it's how they were able to weaken a chess engine back in the day; can't adjust the overall strength, so add random blunders. I'm only about 2000 o…

> I'm only about 2000 on lichess That puts you in the top 7% of players on the site. I have a hard time believing you could get to that rating without knowing that.

They aren't talking about the site, they're talking about their strength (as measured by that site) so it can be compared to the numbers in the article.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#123
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's true, I'm 2050-2100 lichess, around 1800 on chess.com. Never played a rated tournament but played some rated players who were 1400-1500 rated USCF, and they were roughly my strength, maybe a bit better. Still the Delta bot, easy mode, was much, much better than me.

Casually just in the top 2-3 percent of chess players globally world wide humble brag. I'm not that good at it, just a little bit!

I mean, if you’re in the top 3 percent of anything, yes that’s pretty good, but not unbelievably so, especially in the field of chess. If for instance you randomly put together a classroom full of chess players, there’s decent odds one of them is better than top 3%. Two classrooms and it’s almost a certainty.

Put another way, looking at chess.com users, there are ~6 million people who would count as the top 3 percent. Difficult to achieve, yes, but if 6 million people can achieve it, it’s not really a “humble brag,” it’s just a statement.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't be surprised when you learn their so-called "chess bots" are actually people, lying hidden below the floor of the passenger cabin, moving pieces with the help of levers and magnets.

Sounds like a potential Amazon product.

Sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_Turk (because that's the joke).

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#125
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then again by the airplane seat itself when the person in front of me reclines their seat. This reminds me of the time I had my laptop open on the tilt-down tray and the very large man in the seat in front just repositioned his girth (not even reclining the seat) but it flexed the seat back enough that my laptop screen was momentarily caught between the tray below and recessed lip above and was almost crushed.

Gorilla glass vs gorilla

(I get the joke) Not even gorillas even, the seats on most US carriers are too small and narrow for a lot of adult men even if they're in good shape. I had to sit shoulder to shoulder with one poor guy an entire flight to New Zealand because both of our shoulder widths are wider than the seats and I wanted to make sure my girlfriend had room enough to sleep. We were both good sports about it and were joking about needing a smoke afterwards, but it was not fun unless he wanted to lean halfway out into the aisle. I'm taller than average but not a giant.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was rather disappointed by the internet connection on the Cascades line (going Seattle --> Portland and back). As far as I could tell, they use T-Mobile for backhaul. Who are headquartered in Seattle. Yet the connection barely seemed to work for about half of the journey

boo, it's in the middle of no where along part of the route. Tmobile coverage is mainly in urban areas and along free ways no matter what slingblade tells you on the tv commercial. I don't know if you'd get any coverage on parts of that route other than wired. Just like how sometimes when you're flying over the rockies or into canada you just don't get internets. There's still middles of no where out there. Often not…

Even tooling through places like Olympia it seemed to fizzle out

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#127
post #4

Last time I flew Delta they no longer had this bot, which made me sad. One of my favorite parts of flying was getting absolutely crushed into a tiny cube by the airplane seat's easy chess bot, and then again by the airplane seat itself when the person in front of me reclines their seat.

Some low cost airlines no longer have anything. A small fold-out tray to hold your tablet. There is Wi-Fi to access an intranet with flight information and maybe some entertainment. If you have that, you just load it up with games from your play store.

I prefer the Airbus 31x and 32x models without the entertainment systems so much more. On United the Boeing had fucking ads playing NON STOP THE ENTIRE FLIGHT and because I boarded early I'd try to turn off as many around me as possible because somehow the flying public does not mind bright flashing annoying lights in their faces for HOURS.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some low cost airlines no longer have anything. A small fold-out tray to hold your tablet. There is Wi-Fi to access an intranet with flight information and maybe some entertainment. If you have that, you just load it up with games from your play store.

This is increasingly common in domestic US full-price airlines. It makes sense, in a way - most folks have their own devices, and the airlines save money and weight and don't have to worry about future tech obsolescence - but still makes me a bit sad.

The thing I really wish domestic airlines would take away is reclining seats in economy. Nothing good comes from having them.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#129
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- it’s 3 days not 5 (e.g leaving NYC Wednesday morning arriving SF Saturday evening) - the internet connection is excellent (even in most tunnels) so you can work, have video meetings, etc, not to mention play chess online

If you're not traveling between those specific destinations it can take far, far longer. Amtrak is a joke.

Amtrak is decent on very specific routes and still an absolute joke to anyone who has used trains in Europe, Japan, Taiwan, etc, and no personal experience but I'd imagine China too. My friend takes the Amtrak route up and down the Pacific coast precisely because she's stuck on a train for days and can't be disturbed while doing boring paperwork as an anti-procrastination strategy. Although the observation cars do have great views.

Re: The chess bot on Delta Air Lines will destroy you (2024) [video]

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> when the person in front of me reclines their seat. As a reasonably tall person I have never reclined my seat and will forever consider anyone who does an asshole. The very fact that you can but don’t do something is the precise space where assholeness is defined.

Surely you should blame the airlines, rather than the individuals. They cram more people on, giving you less space - but charge the same - and you get mad at other customers, rather than them for cramming you in.

I pointed out exactly the opposite: surely moral action is only possible when one has agency.

If an airline needs to force you to be a decent person, then you have no right to claim decency in the first place.

People who lean their seats back are assholes. Claiming “but this is permitted!” proves my point.

I can’t imagine what a nightmare world it would be if decency were only possible through the exercise of external authority.

Post reply on HN