Bokke! Bokke!
The weekend before last saw me head over to the west for the first time in over a decade to watch the mighty Wallabies take on the Springboks at Subiaco Stadium. Not only had I never been to Subiaco before, I hadn’t seen a live rugby game outside of SA in quite a few years.
The last time I went to WA was when I was going on a cruise through Asia, I got off the plane, headed to Fremantle and got on the boat. Along the way in the taxi ride I got to see a great many things that were in Perth but very little interaction, mainly because I was in a moving car.
This time around though, it was interaction a-go-go. I was staying in a house about 10 minutes walk from Subiaco Stadium, which helped greatly after the game because I might have had one or two post-match lemonades. I tell you, I was floored by how nice the place is. Adelaide has a lot of parks, Perth has more, and better ones to boot. The best way to describe it I suppose is that it’s like Sydney, but really, really spread out and with nicer people, nicer houses and more money. Actually, it’s nothing like Sydney, disregard my previous statement.
While I didn’t have enough time to head to the Little Creatures Brewery(brewery), Matilda Bay Brewery or the Gage Road Brewery, I will endeavor to see them on subsequent visits now that my sister lives there.
While it’s a booming place, mainly due to the mining industry, Adelaidians need to take note; Adelaide will be very similar to Perth over the coming years with the influx of business from the eastern seaboard due to our own mining boom and the realisation that it is actually a nice place to live. If you think the price of real estate is expensive now, wait until that happens and you’ll wish for these days.
The actual rugby game, the reason for my trip, was fantastic. A great 16-9 win over the Springboks symbolised a 4 out of 4 run for the new coach, Robbie Deans, which over course they continued the weekend just gone with a 34-19 win over the All Blacks. The ones who turned down Deans for the head coaching spot some months ago.
So that leads me to the title of the post, I had a few South Africans near me and that’s all I could hear, bokke! bokke! Accompanied by some other chanting and no doubt derisory comments toward the umpire in their South African dialect.
iPhone 3G
Well, as we all know, it’s here. You may have heard a little bit about this phone but I for one can’t wait until I get one. As I have mentioned previously, I had mine thiefed by some little shit who thought it would be better in their pocket. Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, he’s done me a favor because I have since claimed it on insurance and will use it to put towards a new iPhone. It all worked out in the end. Now to decide which carrier to go with, it’s a toss up between 3 and Vodafone for my liking. PJ and a few others are with 3, but I’ve recently been told by Peej that if you roam onto the Telstra 3G network you get charged at $1.65 a megabyte, a hefty price tag for very little data. If they get that sorted in the next couple of weeks then I might look at them a little more favourably but currently Vodafone is leading the race to be my next provider. Telstra’s currently got a guernsey but that will soon change as I don’t intend on paying their stupid prices for their NextG bollocks.
Batman: The Dark Knight and Game Theory
I’ve put this at the end for a reason, if you haven’t seen the latest Batman installment, skip to writing a witty comment about the post because I discuss some plot points from this point onwards.
Right, ready? …Go.
Firstly, it’s a mallet to the fucking head of a movie, so much to take in, so much to be in awe of. It would be almost beneficial to be able to watch it at home just so you can take it all in. I’m sure you’ve all read about how good Heath Ledger is and it really isn’t an exaggeration, he’s that good. Not to take anything away from anyone else, but it’s a very worthwhile performance. Maybe not Academy Award worthy but something to sit up and take notice of.
Actually, if you’ve gotten to this point and still haven’t seen it, I really am going to discuss plot points, specifically about the ending of the movie.
There was one piece of the movie, at the end, which really intrigued me though. It’s one of the best uses of game theory in a movie that I’ve seen in a long time.
In the Joker’s last scene, he setups up a scenario to show Gotham that when it all comes down to it, man is a self-interested, rational thinking, perfectly formed being which desires wealth, avoids unnecessary labor and has the wherewithal to make decisions toward that end. Another term is which defines this is homo economicus.
The scenario is of course the two ferries, one filled mainly with prisoners and the other with civilians. Both have some form of police or guards scattered among them. The Joker, having already wired the ferries to explode if his pre-conditions aren’t met via the detonators having been placed in each ferry for it’s opposite party, has determined that one group must detonate the other before the clock strikes twelve or both ferries get blown up. The other stipulation is that no passenger may leave either ferry during this time or the decision will be made for them.
The solving of the game is fairly straightforward with detonation being the main strategy. Therefore homo economicus has a clear strategy of following it’s own end, which without fail will end with the destruction of both ferries.
As we know, this doesn’t happen as a morality clause that the Joker didn’t anticipate to have any effect took place which meant that neither ferry chose to blow up the other and in doing so, along with the man in a bat suit, helped save the day.
This is an example of a game theory problem commonly used called the Prisoners Dilemma, it follows similar lines and is quite good at showing how the two groups interact with their own “payouts”.
If you want to read more about how The Dark Knight uses this problem, head here and have a read. It’s quiet well done.
Well, after that, I’ve got to go digging about in a data centre’s raised floors for a bit. Fun for me.
Scottall i’ve got, all i’ve got is insane
Tags: Batman, Game Theory, iphone, Rugby, Springboks, Wallabies
Why the hell would you want to go to the Little Creatures brewery? Their beer tastes like soap. I’m all for Gage Road and Matilda Bay, however.
That may be so but they have the best view of Fremantle Harbour from the bar at the brewery, it’s fantastic.
That, in some cases, could make up for the soapiness of said beer.
ONly one thing makes up for the soapiness of the beer – a young bikini-clad hottie serving it to you.