• Schiemann: The Theory of Backgammon

    From Raymond Kershaw@21:1/5 to All on Sat Dec 11 13:04:10 2021
    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book, The Theory of Backgammon?
    Here are the contents: https://dirk-schiemann.de/download/content.pdf?fbclid=IwAR06TSWaPxc1e98hkgjlT4sa20sy3mjc_3yHnIZsySDB9SwJ48hx6ngNnwo
    If this has been done well, it will be a tremendous achievement.

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to ra...@clara.co.uk on Sat Dec 11 13:34:37 2021
    On Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 9:04:17 PM UTC, ra...@clara.co.uk wrote:
    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book, The Theory of Backgammon?
    ...
    Almost certainly, yes.
    I think it's highly unlikely that no one has read it.
    The author has presumably read it, and so has the publisher.

    Paul

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Sat Dec 11 13:37:28 2021
    On Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 9:34:38 PM UTC, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
    On Saturday, December 11, 2021 at 9:04:17 PM UTC, ra...@clara.co.uk wrote:
    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book, The Theory of Backgammon?
    ...
    Almost certainly, yes.
    I think it's highly unlikely that no one has read it.
    The author has presumably read it, and so has the publisher.

    On a less flippant note, googling him reveals that he's absolutely a world-class player
    with a PR of approx 3. That greatly piques my interest.
    Too many bg books are written by terrible players.

    Paul

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to Raymond Kershaw on Sun Dec 12 08:50:58 2021
    On 12/11/2021 4:04 PM, Raymond Kershaw wrote:
    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book, The Theory of Backgammon?
    Here are the contents: https://dirk-schiemann.de/download/content.pdf?fbclid=IwAR06TSWaPxc1e98hkgjlT4sa20sy3mjc_3yHnIZsySDB9SwJ48hx6ngNnwo
    If this has been done well, it will be a tremendous achievement.

    Thanks for the pointer. I just attempted to order the book.
    I don't know if it will work because I don't know how he wants
    to be paid, and I don't want to sign up for some new method of
    electronic payment just for the sake of buying this book.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Sun Dec 12 05:57:31 2021
    On Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 1:51:02 PM UTC, Tim Chow wrote:
    On 12/11/2021 4:04 PM, Raymond Kershaw wrote:
    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book, The Theory of Backgammon?
    Here are the contents: https://dirk-schiemann.de/download/content.pdf?fbclid=IwAR06TSWaPxc1e98hkgjlT4sa20sy3mjc_3yHnIZsySDB9SwJ48hx6ngNnwo
    If this has been done well, it will be a tremendous achievement.
    Thanks for the pointer. I just attempted to order the book.
    I don't know if it will work because I don't know how he wants
    to be paid, and I don't want to sign up for some new method of
    electronic payment just for the sake of buying this book.

    It might not be the worst idea in the history of our solar system to contact him at schiemann@sciwie.de
    If there is some secret non-obvious trick to buying his book (for example, maybe you need to find his mobile phone number
    and leave a voice mail with him reciting the first 1000 digits of the decimal expansion of pi in reverse order), then it would be good for the rest
    of us to know what to do.

    Thanks,

    Paul

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Sun Dec 12 09:20:05 2021
    On 12/12/2021 8:57 AM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
    It might not be the worst idea in the history of our solar system to contact him at schiemann@sciwie.de
    If there is some secret non-obvious trick to buying his book (for example, maybe you need to find his mobile phone number
    and leave a voice mail with him reciting the first 1000 digits of the decimal expansion of pi in reverse order), then it would be good for the rest
    of us to know what to do.

    Well, as I said, I attempted to order his book, meaning I
    filled out the form on his website, which presumably sends him
    an email and will prompt him to tell me how he wants me to send
    payment.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 12 09:44:44 2021
    On 12/12/2021 9:20 AM, I wrote:
    Well, as I said, I attempted to order his book, meaning I
    filled out the form on his website, which presumably sends him
    an email and will prompt him to tell me how he wants me to send
    payment.

    He emailed back promptly, saying that he accepts PayPal.
    Or if you prefer, you can wire the money directly to his
    bank account (which I guess is pretty standard in Europe).
    The book isn't cheap (99 Euros plus shipping, which works
    out to about US$140), but if you want to order it, his
    website URL is:

    https://dirk-schiemann.de/

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Sun Dec 12 07:04:59 2021
    On Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 2:44:48 PM UTC, Tim Chow wrote:
    On 12/12/2021 9:20 AM, I wrote:
    Well, as I said, I attempted to order his book, meaning I
    filled out the form on his website, which presumably sends him
    an email and will prompt him to tell me how he wants me to send
    payment.
    He emailed back promptly, saying that he accepts PayPal.
    Or if you prefer, you can wire the money directly to his
    bank account (which I guess is pretty standard in Europe).
    The book isn't cheap (99 Euros plus shipping, which works
    out to about US$140), but if you want to order it, his
    website URL is:

    https://dirk-schiemann.de/

    Ok, so the number of decimal places to which you should recite pi in reverse order in order to obtain the book is zero.
    Thanks for letting me know.
    I'll quite likely ask for it as a Christmas present, actually.

    Paul

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Sun Dec 12 07:15:53 2021
    On Sunday, December 12, 2021 at 2:44:48 PM UTC, Tim Chow wrote:
    ...
    The book isn't cheap (99 Euros plus shipping, which works
    out to about US$140)
    ...
    According to my research on the exchange rate, this puts the shipping at US$28 Hopefully, it's less for Europeans.

    To say that something's expensive (or "isn't cheap), we need to have a ready basis for comparison.
    This book is a) Hardback, b) Written by an absolutely world-class player and c) Has 374 pages.

    But I would agree that it could be much cheaper if a publisher could be found.

    Paul

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  • From Frank Berger@21:1/5 to All on Mon Dec 13 14:07:24 2021
    I guess the production cost is not that high. And compared to the books of Michi, paperback and less than half the stuff I feel the price is ok.

    And I assume that there is a terrible lot of work in it. It lies just behind me, but I have to finish the Zizka book first ( and ignore the Stick book and the 3rd Michi book and the recent Robertie book...) but I glanced over it and I had read / gave
    feedback to the bot chapter before publishing.

    If you get an allergic shock, if you see a mathmatical formular prepare your oxygene tent already (Tim you'll probably love it) :)
    I will carefully go through all the math to check my code and maybe get some new ideas. It might be the book for cube play what Magriel was for checker play.
    And he is not only in the top ten of the bmab but studied Math before becoming a BG Pro. See him here at work: (UBC Final 2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIC4pvgyE4Q&t=4s
    although he played beyond his usual level (*only* a 3.5 or so but he had a lot of diffcult decisions) Mochy played like a machine.

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to Frank Berger on Mon Dec 13 22:24:12 2021
    On 12/13/2021 5:07 PM, Frank Berger wrote:
    And I assume that there is a terrible lot of work in it. It lies just behind me, but I have to finish the Zizka book first ( and ignore the Stick book and the 3rd Michi book and the recent Robertie book...) but I glanced over it and I had read / gave
    feedback to the bot chapter before publishing.

    I didn't know about these books (except the Robertie book...I won his
    quiz competition and got a free copy). Thanks for mentioning them.
    I see that they all seem to be available here:

    http://flintbg.org/boutique.html

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to ra...@clara.co.uk on Tue Dec 14 02:23:12 2021
    On December 11, 2021 at 2:04:17 PM UTC-7, ra...@clara.co.uk wrote:

    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book,
    The Theory of Backgammon? .... If this has been
    done well, it will be a tremendous achievement.

    Ignoring that you must be his advertising agent
    here, my first reaction was "Oh, no! Not another
    BG book by another mathematician gambler!" :(

    This one only half qualifies though, because he
    is not a math PHD but just studied math (took
    101 and 102??)... I don't know which ones are
    actually more destructive?

    This reminds me of my long time wondering what
    attracts "mathematicians" to gambling, whether
    playing poker, backgammon, etc...??

    Except for a few who actually make "a good living"
    by beeing "professional gamblers", most whos see
    themselves as such never make more money per
    hour of their lives spent on it than teenagers who
    mow lawns and deliver newspapers for minimum
    wage.

    Surely they can make more money and live as more
    respectable people using their "math skills" in other
    ways. So, why?

    There are numerous novels, movies about "scientists"
    who ruined their lives by being addcited gamblers. A
    few years ago, I had seen a sad one about a math PHD
    who. His mother was disgusted with him but supported
    his addiction, as mothers love their childrens even if
    they murder their wives and sell their daughters for
    gamling money... :(

    Anyway, any statistics on what percentage of gamblers
    are mayhematician in all games? Just in backgammon?
    Among all gamblegammon player of all levels? Among
    just the "giants" of gamblegammon? Among bg book
    or bot peddlers??

    Would anyone in the circuits be willing to help tabulate
    this kind of info?

    I would expect that "mathematician gamblers" should do
    this eagerly just to brag about themselves... ;)

    Oh, BTW, the book you publish may be better if paperback.
    Just in case it's shoved up your mathematician/amateur
    gambles asses, hard-cover would hurt more... :))

    MK

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Tue Dec 14 02:32:54 2021
    On December 12, 2021 at 8:05:01 AM UTC-7, peps...@gmail.com wrote:

    Ok, so the number of decimal places to which you should
    recite pi in reverse order in order to obtain the book is zero.

    But 99 Euros even, plus shipping, handling, fingering, etc.
    with no specific decimal places, converted to US Dollars
    in 6 decimal places comes out $143.4824

    When ordering, in order to avoid further complications,
    make sure you add the remark "Keep the change!"... ;)

    WTF!? Horde of sick MFO's... :(

    MK

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Tue Dec 14 03:17:28 2021
    On December 11, 2021 at 2:37:29 PM UTC-7, peps...@gmail.com wrote:

    On a less flippant note, googling him reveals that he's
    absolutely a world-class player with a PR of approx 3.
    ... Too many bg books are written by terrible players.

    You mean you wouln't buy/read it if Chow wrote a book?

    So then, why do you give a fart about his opinion about
    positions, etc.?

    Sexual preference? Okay, well, I wouln't want to get into
    that area. Math fuck and science suck as you please...
    Here, for free or priceless, of course. Not prostituting
    your mathematician selves for a petty 99 euros.

    MK

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 14 07:24:09 2021
    On 12/14/2021 5:23 AM, MK wrote:
    On December 11, 2021 at 2:04:17 PM UTC-7, ra...@clara.co.uk wrote:

    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book,
    The Theory of Backgammon? .... If this has been
    done well, it will be a tremendous achievement.

    Ignoring that you must be his advertising agent
    here, my first reaction was "Oh, no! Not another
    BG book by another mathematician gambler!" :(

    This one only half qualifies though, because he
    is not a math PHD but just studied math (took
    101 and 102??)... I don't know which ones are
    actually more destructive?

    This reminds me of my long time wondering what
    attracts "mathematicians" to gambling, whether
    playing poker, backgammon, etc...??

    Except for a few who actually make "a good living"
    by beeing "professional gamblers", most whos see
    themselves as such never make more money per
    hour of their lives spent on it than teenagers who
    mow lawns and deliver newspapers for minimum
    wage.

    Surely they can make more money and live as more
    respectable people using their "math skills" in other
    ways. So, why?

    There are numerous novels, movies about "scientists"
    who ruined their lives by being addcited gamblers. A
    few years ago, I had seen a sad one about a math PHD
    who. His mother was disgusted with him but supported
    his addiction, as mothers love their childrens even if
    they murder their wives and sell their daughters for
    gamling money... :(

    Anyway, any statistics on what percentage of gamblers
    are mayhematician in all games? Just in backgammon?
    Among all gamblegammon player of all levels? Among
    just the "giants" of gamblegammon? Among bg book
    or bot peddlers??

    Would anyone in the circuits be willing to help tabulate
    this kind of info?

    I would expect that "mathematician gamblers" should do
    this eagerly just to brag about themselves... ;)

    Oh, BTW, the book you publish may be better if paperback.
    Just in case it's shoved up your mathematician/amateur
    gambles asses, hard-cover would hurt more... :))

    MK

    Quoting this beautiful piece of prose just in case you
    decide to delete it...

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Tue Dec 14 07:32:45 2021
    On 12/14/2021 5:32 AM, MK wrote:
    On December 12, 2021 at 8:05:01 AM UTC-7, peps...@gmail.com wrote:

    Ok, so the number of decimal places to which you should
    recite pi in reverse order in order to obtain the book is zero.

    But 99 Euros even, plus shipping, handling, fingering, etc.
    with no specific decimal places, converted to US Dollars
    in 6 decimal places comes out $143.4824

    When ordering, in order to avoid further complications,
    make sure you add the remark "Keep the change!"... ;)

    WTF!? Horde of sick MFO's... :(

    MK

    According to https://www.angio.net/pi/ the string 1434824 occurs
    at position 428253 (counting from the first digit after the decimal
    point), which is unusually early for a random 7-digit number. But
    there's a typo somewhere because $143.4824 has only 4 decimal places
    and not 6.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to Raymond Kershaw on Fri Dec 17 23:03:27 2021
    On 12/11/2021 4:04 PM, Raymond Kershaw wrote:
    Has anyone read Dirk Schiemann's new book, The Theory of Backgammon?
    Here are the contents: https://dirk-schiemann.de/download/content.pdf?fbclid=IwAR06TSWaPxc1e98hkgjlT4sa20sy3mjc_3yHnIZsySDB9SwJ48hx6ngNnwo
    If this has been done well, it will be a tremendous achievement.

    Just received the book today. Haven't looked inside it yet,
    but wanted to say that I was surprised at how quickly the book
    arrived. It was shipped "UPS Expedited." I have no complaints,
    but if cost is an issue for you, you might ask Schiemann if you
    can save a bit of money by choosing a slower shipping option.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to Frank Berger on Sun Dec 19 02:13:59 2021
    On December 13, 2021 at 3:07:26 PM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:

    I guess the production cost is not that high. And compared
    to the books of Michi, paperback and less than half the stuff
    I feel the price is ok.

    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless, why are some people so willing to pay more
    for some books just because they are "plywood-cover"..? Why
    couldn't he publish it digitally for the same price and why
    wouldn't you all pay the same price for a digital edition? Are
    you paying for the content or for the paper by the weight?

    And I assume that there is a terrible lot of work in it.

    I assume that the contents are "terrible" also. ;)

    .... but I glanced over it and I had read / gave feedback to the
    bot chapter before publishing.

    Obviously he doesn't know whom to ask for feedback. Or else,
    he would have done something more worthwhile than publishing
    yet another conceited bg book title no less than using the words
    "The Theory of Backgammon"...

    I will carefully go through all the math to check my code and
    maybe get some new ideas.

    New ideas? Ha ha! I don't think you would be capable of such
    thing. Since it was mentioned here lately, I took yet one more
    look at your bot.

    It offers nothing "different old" nor better than other top bots,
    one of which is freeware. Regardless of how many hardcover
    bg books you read, your bot will never amount to anything...

    And he is not only in the top ten of the bmab but studied Math
    before becoming a BG Pro.

    BTW: I used one of your one million dice files claimedly produced
    in some real hi-tech fancy way and XG complained that it was not
    good enough, with especially the ratio of 33's being unacceptable.

    Keep jerking off...

    MK

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 19 05:11:49 2021
    On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 10:14:00 AM UTC, MK wrote:
    On December 13, 2021 at 3:07:26 PM UTC-7, Frank Berger wrote:

    I guess the production cost is not that high. And compared
    to the books of Michi, paperback and less than half the stuff
    I feel the price is ok.
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless, why are some people so willing to pay more
    for some books just because they are "plywood-cover"..? Why
    couldn't he publish it digitally for the same price and why
    wouldn't you all pay the same price for a digital edition? Are
    you paying for the content or for the paper by the weight?
    ...
    Authors run the risk of piracy. If it's paper only, a free unauthorised
    online version is less likely to emerge.
    Cracking the Coding Interview is paper only, for the same reason.

    Paul

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to All on Sun Dec 19 08:52:29 2021
    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless

    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From Bradley K. Sherman@21:1/5 to tchow12000@yahoo.com on Sun Dec 19 14:11:16 2021
    Timothy Chow <tchow12000@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless

    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."

    Paradoxically, going vegetarian does.

    --bks

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to Bradley K. Sherman on Sun Dec 19 07:06:46 2021
    On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 2:11:18 PM UTC, Bradley K. Sherman wrote:
    Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless

    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."
    Paradoxically, going vegetarian does.

    Are you vegetarian? (I'm not.)
    The reason I'm not is just selfish hedonistic reasons.
    I enjoy the taste of meat, and I'm not prepared to give it up.

    If you are, congrats. I agree that it's a fine moral stance.

    Paul

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to Tim Chow on Sun Dec 19 07:04:58 2021
    On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 1:52:32 PM UTC, Tim Chow wrote:
    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless
    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."

    I'm a bit surprised by this response. Suppose a backgammon author wants their ideas
    known, but has no interest in benefiting financially from the work, so piracy issues are irrelevant.
    [For example, the writer might be wealthy from other means.]
    If environmentalism is a concern, then I would have thought publishing digitally would be the way to go.

    I thought the reason for paper as opposed to digital is the avoidance of piracy?
    Are you saying that, even from a pure environmental perspective, paper is preferred over digital?

    I find that surprising.

    Paul

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  • From Bradley K. Sherman@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Sun Dec 19 15:21:07 2021
    peps...@gmail.com <pepstein5@gmail.com> wrote:
    On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 2:11:18 PM UTC, Bradley K. Sherman wrote:
    Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless

    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."
    Paradoxically, going vegetarian does.

    Are you vegetarian? (I'm not.)
    The reason I'm not is just selfish hedonistic reasons.
    I enjoy the taste of meat, and I'm not prepared to give it up.

    If you are, congrats. I agree that it's a fine moral stance.

    It's not a religion, Paul. I eat meat occasionally.

    --bks

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  • From pepstein5@gmail.com@21:1/5 to Bradley K. Sherman on Sun Dec 19 09:22:59 2021
    On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 3:21:08 PM UTC, Bradley K. Sherman wrote:
    peps...@gmail.com <peps...@gmail.com> wrote:
    On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 2:11:18 PM UTC, Bradley K. Sherman wrote:
    Timothy Chow <tchow...@yahoo.com> wrote:
    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:
    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless

    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."
    Paradoxically, going vegetarian does.

    Are you vegetarian? (I'm not.)
    The reason I'm not is just selfish hedonistic reasons.
    I enjoy the taste of meat, and I'm not prepared to give it up.

    If you are, congrats. I agree that it's a fine moral stance.
    It's not a religion, Paul. I eat meat occasionally.

    --bks

    It's part of a religion for Hindus, I think.

    Paul

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  • From Timothy Chow@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Sun Dec 19 20:17:08 2021
    On 12/19/2021 10:04 AM, peps...@gmail.com wrote:
    If environmentalism is a concern, then I would have thought publishing digitally would be the way to go.

    Just Google "does going paperless save trees" and you'll find
    plenty of information about the topic.

    It's not an entirely uncontroversial premise, but if you read up
    on the topic, you'll see why it's complicated.

    A related question is, which is more environmentally friendly in
    public toilets, paper towels or electric hand dryers? Paper towels
    are of course made from trees and electric dryers are not, but this
    is far from the only relevant fact.

    ---
    Tim Chow

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  • From MK@21:1/5 to peps...@gmail.com on Sat Dec 25 20:19:37 2021
    On December 19, 2021 at 8:04:59 AM UTC-7, peps...@gmail.com wrote:

    On December 19, 2021 at 1:52:32 PM UTC, Tim Chow wrote:

    On 12/19/2021 5:13 AM, MK wrote:

    In this digital age of some people fighting to save trees by
    going paperless

    Despite what one might naively think, going paperless doesn't
    "save trees."

    I used the term to generally mean environmentalists and as
    my position on the subject. Personally I still and always opt
    for paper mail and media if awailable, I don't recycle, I use a
    wood stove in winter even if partially for the pleasure of it, I
    open burn leaves, branches and other yard waste during the
    allowed seasons in the year, I'm not vegetarian, in short, I
    couldn't care less about the planet nor the people on it...

    Even if I really don't care, I find what you said hard to believe.

    I'm a bit surprised by this response. Suppose a backgammon
    author wants their ideas known, but has no interest in benefiting
    financially from the work, so piracy issues are irrelevant.

    I just clicked and searched "Cracking the Coding Interview"
    that you mentioned in your other reply and it only took me
    about 20 seconds to download a 54Mb PDF of it (just to see,
    with no intentions of reading it). Obviously paper format isn't
    a solution to piracy. In fact, people are more likely to pay for
    books that they can afford like that $15 paperback and more
    likely to look for a pirated version of $150 hardcover book as
    the one discussed here, simply because they can't afford it.

    Also, selling 100 copies of a $150 hardcover won't necessarily
    result in more "net revenues" than selling 500 copies of a $15
    paperback or 1000 copies of a $5 ebook.

    If environmentalism is a concern, then I would have thought
    publishing digitally would be the way to go.

    I agree and moreover I think publishing digitally would be the
    way to go for many other reasons as well.

    MK

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