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

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

#321
post #159
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That happened to me when I had an ipad in a standing case and the seat in front cranked back - trapping then pinging the tablet across me and by neighbour's lap. Though the ipad itself wasn't damaged, a couple of glasses didn't make it, and required the steward to try to brush up whatever fragments of glass they could. I feel that airlines are a microcosm of "Do you care about who you actions might affect?" - similar…

> do you care about who your actions might affect This one surprises me every time I fly. When I have the aisle seat I can be up and out in 10 seconds. It seems to make like everyone else will plop down , place down 3 different liquids on the tray and then take a nap. When I ask to use the bathroom I end up feeling like a nuisance

Selecting the aisle seat is consenting to be asked to get up, so don't feel bad for asking.

That said, 10 seconds is not a realistic expectation. Ask before it's an emergency.

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

#322

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.

If you don't fit in the smallest seat then buy a bigger seat. Someone using the space they paid for is not being an asshole.

I just did that. And having paid an extra $1000 per seat for 3 seats, the airline (Qatar) gave them to someone else.

Neat. Now what do I do?

Typed from a 17 hour flight to New Zealand.

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

#323
post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry for an empty response but this, 100% this. As a person who is WELL over 6' tall, the very idea that the person in front of me might recline is enough to give me significant anxiety throughout a flight. I once saw a design for seats where the base slides forward if you want to recline - the idea being, if you're going to recline you're going to do so into your own space, not the person behind you. I'd be a big a…

I'm also over 6' and I don't understand the problem? The seats only recline a few degrees, it's not like they're laying on my lap! Even fully reclined there's plenty of space in front of my face, and leg room is barely impacted at all. (Like probably an inch max?) Granted, I've only flown American and Delta, maybe other airlines are worse in this respect?

Those few degrees matter if your knees are already brushing the back of the seat in front of you. It matters how tall you are, how much of that is in your legs, how big your feet are (the more you need to bend your knees, the higher they will be), and it also varies depending on seat design and layout.

For others like me, one trick is to at most minimally use the under seat storage: small handbags only. No backpacks, briefcases, or anything else big enough to hold a laptop. Then, you can put your feet in that space. This lowers my knees by 1-2 inches depending on the plane, which really matters. It's the only thing that helps significantly, aside from paying for premium economy. Doesn't help with the claustrophobia, but there's not much to be done about that.

The other things I've tried (that don't reliably work) are leaning forward from the seat back (to pull my knees back) and slouching slightly (so that the inevitable recline compresses the seat back into my knees rather than bashing them). The former saves my knees, but sacrifices my back. The latter kind of helps during the flight, but walking will still hurt the next day.

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

#324

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I never get these discussions. Nor I. TFA is about a chess bot, yet here we are discussing seat reclining etiquette.

You’ve been here before right? At least we aren’t discussing ad blockers for the 18th time this week.

Still does not negate that they do not make sense when they occur.

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

#325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried the exit row instead? Sure, you might have to agree to help others, but if you aren't willing to do that regardless of the row, then that just says a lot about you.

Yepp, I generally will try for the exit row or the first row in a section (sacrificing no under seat storage), but they tend to be the first seats booked. Since I'm usually traveling with multiple other people and we prefer sitting together, it makes it pretty difficult to reliably select those seats with extra leg room. I haven't seen any airlines that charge "+$25 for the extra leg room" on 12+ hour international f…

It's been awhile 2017ish, but I used to book flights for a team of photographers that traveled a lot. They all had their individual preferences for aisle/window, exit row. Maybe it was because they all had lots of butt-in-chair miles, but their upgrades were typically $25 for domestic US travel. Maybe I'm conflating that as the price for everyone when it was the price for their status only???

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

#326

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried the exit row instead? Sure, you might have to agree to help others, but if you aren't willing to do that regardless of the row, then that just says a lot about you.

The physical requirements are an issue for a lot of people. E.g. a tall senior citizen, anyone flying with a small child, anyone with a visible disability (temporary or otherwise).

I know American at least has some rows with extra leg room that aren't the exit row. (Though obviously if you want more space you have to pay for it.) Not sure about others.

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

#327
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…

[deleted]

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

#328
post #22

I played the bot (probably early 2025) and wasn't that impressed. I won 5-1 or something like it. I did win one or two local chess tournaments in the past but I'm really not an impressive chess player.

Same. I just played it and rocked it and I am a 500 on chess.com. I think this is older version

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

#329

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The physical requirements are an issue for a lot of people. E.g. a tall senior citizen, anyone flying with a small child, anyone with a visible disability (temporary or otherwise).

I know American at least has some rows with extra leg room that aren't the exit row. (Though obviously if you want more space you have to pay for it.) Not sure about others.

Yes, it's usually called "premium economy" or something like that. I was resistant for a long time, but eventually decided that being able to walk the next day without pain was worth the extra cost. That said, they tend to fill up quickly -- so not always an option.

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

#330

In short: it plays far too well (~2500 ELO.) People think it originally played at a reasonable level and accidentally got more powerful as the seatback computers got more powerful; the same thing happened to the Mac chess app with the release of the M1.

> the same thing happened to the Mac chess app with the release of the M1

I fired up Chess shortly after getting an M1 and got destroyed a bunch of times. I thought that I was just extremely out of practice and quit playing for years. I guess it's better to find out late rather than never.

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