43 Comments
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Newellbany's avatar

5/6* for me today. I'm still having to start with the prior day's word due to a competition I'm in. And then I further handicap myself by my own insistence on using crude or suggestive words whenever possible on account of I have the maturity of a twelve year old boy. I wasted a guess for that again today.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

i think this a great strategy to have more fun with it. even if you went to lowest score at all costs, you would be mostly in the 3-5 guesses anyways.

i partly stopped playing a while back because it stopped being interesting.

heyalumnigo's avatar

I think doing it now in hard mode made it more challenging so I'm back to being interested in it.

Newellbany's avatar

Do y'all do Sports Connections for time? That's fun.

My monthly competition group did a couple of months with the following rules: we reported our times with each error worth an added 10 seconds. The maximum time was 4:00 (4 minutes) with no errors, 4:30 with 3 errors, a failed puzzle was worth 5:00.

Lowest total time for the month wins. We did this twice. The first month, the winning total time was about 50 minutes. The second month the winning time was about 42 minutes. Fastest day was 22 seconds.

Wiata78's avatar

I do regular Connections, but sometimes it drives me crazy. I tried Sports Connections a couple times and did worse. I would lose to you guys.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

the only one i have ever done for time is the NYT Mini. a bunch of us would post times. it was usually in the 20-50 sec range.

the best time ever was < 10 sec. i cant actually type all that fast so 12 sec is probably my best

we did not systematically keep track

heyalumnigo's avatar

Wordle 1,719 5/6*

⬛🟨⬛⬛🟨

⬛⬛⬛🟨🟩

⬛🟨⬛⬛🟩

🟨⬛⬛🟨🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

heyalumnigo's avatar

Tougher one for me today.

Justbear's avatar

Wordle 1,719 4/6*

⬜⬜🟨⬜🟨

🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜

🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Wiata78's avatar

Wordle 1,719 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨

🟩⬜🟨🟨⬜

🟩🟨⬜⬜🟩

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Today I did exactly the same as Wordlebot, word for word. Took a while though.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

anyone use NotebookLM?

people have mentioned this one to me before and i had been meaning to check it out. using it today for the first time.

in the meantime i have been using Claude a lot and i wrote a small app that does some of the same stuff, a little more data driven, and personally suits my needs. it has been a very good and fun learning experience as well.

feel free to check it out. you can drag in some PDF or XL sheet that has info and you can use the LLM style chat bot ot refine the visual to what makes you happy.

https://fiat-lux.onrender.com/about

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

also, super beta mode. so if it breaks you can help me iron out the kinks

Newellbany's avatar

DBD After Dark prefers it kinky

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

is having a good moment in the 2020's. the world is rife w/ conflict with no end in sight.

the other day i was thinking, we attacked Venezuela, now Iran.

who is next? or will we truly just annex Greenland and Canada?

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

(opinion) there is also no way China doesnt take this opportunity to seize Taiwan or something aggressive.

Newellbany's avatar

And we have sacrificed the moral high ground to say that they shouldn't.

FiatSlug's avatar

I have to point out that for this president the notion of a moral high ground is risible. For the rest of us, that lack should be scarier than anything.

Quite frankly, we should not restrict ourselves in such a manner when there are lives and geopolitical considerations at stake. The only thing we should take into account is if by "defending" Taiwan we would start a war with China.

My greatest concern is that Trump's Pentagon has now demonstrated absolute fealty to a monster in attacking Iran. There is no moral prohibition at play against this administration. There may not be a strategic prohibition, either, which is far scarier.

I posit that military commanders looking to bring on Armageddon, thereby ushering in the return of Christ, have held sway within the Pentagon and have helped to launch the attack on Iran.

Everyone who thinks that the 25th Amendment will be invoked is a damn fool, and why there isn't unrelenting pressure to impeach Trump is beyond me.

I only wish I had the power to move the Democratic leadership to behave quite differently.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

generally i skew towards the Greek myth names since the mythology and stories are more memorable. plus i took ancient Greek at Cal and IU for about 5 yrs.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

somewhat related, i am reading The Odyssey in a Cal book club right now. the idea is to have read the book before the movie comes out this summer.

i have never read Ulysses. it has always been on my list, just never started the adventure. i hear it is quite a commitment.

Newellbany's avatar

I have not read The Odyssey because I lack such commitment. But I have seen the Coen brothers' classic film based on the story: O Brother, Where Art Thou. Phenomenal movie.

HeyStudentsBears's avatar

that is indeed a phenomenal movie.

FiatSlug's avatar

It is one of my favorite films, Coen Bros. or otherwise.

"I am the paterfamilias!"

heyalumnigo's avatar

[T&F] Sahaida Qualifies For NCAA Indoor Championship

https://calbears.com/news/2026/3/3/track-field-sahaida-qualifies-for-ncaa-indoor-championship.aspx

California track & field's Ali Sahaida has been selected to compete at next week's NCAA Indoor Championships, as announced by the NCAA on Tuesday. The meet will take place from March 13-14 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with Sahaida's event (women's pole vault) scheduled for 2 p.m. PT/4 p.m. CT on the second day of competition.

heyalumnigo's avatar

[LAX] Cal Topped By No. 15 Syracuse

https://calbears.com/news/2026/3/3/lacrosse-cal-topped-by-no-15-syracuse.aspx

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The California lacrosse team (3-4, 1-2 ACC) lost its third straight game Tuesday with a 13-3 defeat on the road in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest at the JMA Wireless Dome against No. 15 Syracuse (3-3, 2-2 ACC).

Newellbany's avatar

I'm gonna have to pop over to Syracuse and burn some sage outside the Dome this summer. Gotta exercise the demons from that place before September's Cal football game there.

heyalumnigo's avatar

[MGOLF] Zhou Ties For Second At Cabo Collegiate

https://calbears.com/news/2026/3/3/mens-golf-zhou-ties-for-second-at-cabo-collegiate.aspx

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico - California sophomore Ziqin Zhou shot a 2-under-par 69 in the final round of the Cabo Collegiate, finishing in a tie for second place individually.

After almost breaking the 18-hole course record Sunday with a 7-under 64, Zhou finished the tournament at 8-under par. Freshmen Trevor Cox and Xihuan Chang finished the day in a tie for 53rd place at 8-over par.

heyalumnigo's avatar

[WBB] Lulu Twidale Earns All-ACC Second-Team Honors

https://calbears.com/news/2026/3/3/womens-basketball-lulu-twidale-earns-all-acc-second-team-honors.aspx

California women's basketball junior guard Lulu Twidale has been named to the Atlantic Coast Conference All-Second Team, it was announced by the conference office on Tuesday afternoon. The Australian native became the second straight Golden Bear to be recognized on an All-ACC team as former teammate Ioanna Krimili earned second-team honors in 2025.

Wiata78's avatar

They’re playing Wake Forest at 10:30 am Pacific time on ACC

dcblue's avatar

Spoiler alert. They kicked ass and are on to the next round. I didn’t realize they were playing until it was too late to watch.

heyalumnigo's avatar

[WPOLO] Cal's Julia Bonaguidi Wins First MPSF Player of the Week Award

https://calbears.com/news/2026/3/3/womens-water-polo-cals-julia-bonaguidi-wins-first-mpsf-player-of-the-week-award.aspx

California women's water polo junior Julia Bonaguidi earned her first career MPSF weekly award with Tuesday's selection as the MPSF Player of the Week. She's the first Golden Bear to secure that honor since 2024.

heyalumnigo's avatar

[WGYM] Paulsson Tabbed ACC Newcomer Of The Week For Fourth Time

https://calbears.com/news/2026/3/3/womens-gymnastics-paulsson-tabbed-acc-newcomer-of-the-week-for-fourth-time.aspx

Tonya Paulsson of the California women's gymnastics team has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Newcomer of the Week for the fourth time this season, announced by the conference office Tuesday afternoon. This is the sixth weekly conference honor awarded to a Golden Bear in 2026, with Annalise Newman-Achee taking ACC Gymnast of the Week following week one and Sage Melkonian earning ACC Co-Specialist of the Week after week six.

Newellbany's avatar

Maybe they'll play more loose. They were so tight on Saturday when they knew they were playing for their tournament lives.

heyalumnigo's avatar

Sharks beat the Canadians 7-5.

Sharks can score. If they could defend a little better, watch out.

heyalumnigo's avatar

Giants perform their civic duty, get crushed by Team USA (15-1)

https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/san-francisco-giants-scores-standings-nl-west/103814/giants-team-usa-exhibition-recap-paul-skenes-bryce-eldridge

The San Francisco Giants knew their part on Tuesday and they played it well. Perhaps a little too well, if you ask me. The Giants hosted a star-studded Team USA on Tuesday at Scottsdale Stadium, serving as the tune-up appetizer before the World Baseball Classic starts later this week.

heyalumnigo's avatar

Dodgers overcome first inning grand slam to beat Guardians (5-4)

https://www.truebluela.com/dodgers-scores-standings/110711/dodgers-overcome-grand-slam-beat-guardians

Roki Sasaki had his second outing of Spring Training on Tuesday, and it didn’t start very well.

After allowing a single and two walks to the first three batters, Sasaki gave up a grand slam to Kyle Manzardo. He then walked the next batter and then was removed from the inning. Roki re-entered the game in the bottom of the second, looking much better. He struck out two and induced a fly out. He also set down the side in the bottom of the third.