Reddit challenged me.

xflowgolf said:

MadScientistMatt said:

Very impressive. But I have to wonder... how does one draw a maze, and know that it can be solved, without also knowing the solution?

This is what I was thinking as well.  

Ah ha! You have stumbled across a cornerstone of computability theory! In computer science there's a class of problems called decision problems, that present a problem with a simple yes-no answer.  Some of these problems are easy to solve by finding the solution that satisfies a "yes" result, but some are difficult or impossible to provide the actual answer, while a "yes" result is much easier.

For example, the Ackermann Function (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ackermann_function) is provable to always be possible to compute a result, but whose value quickly becomes uncomputably large.

SyntheticBlinkerFluid said:

That’s awesome dude. House ball too, nice. 

People dont usually leave warhammer deathstone 9000s at thrift shops? My choices were two black house balls, a blue and white swirl house ball, and inexplicably,  a candlepin ball. This one was the least demolished,  and by far the filthiest. 

Next up,  bowling pin. 

In reply to vwcorvette :

As soon as I find one for cheap. 

In reply to Mndsm :

I might still have one in IL, I’ll try to remember to check when we get up there this fall. 

Word. 

If you can get a scan of the giant one, I'll provide a solution.

Matthew Kennedy said:

If you can get a scan of the giant one, I'll provide a solution.

It would take equipment well beyond my pay grade to pull that off. I'm not even sure where you scan a 100ft roll (or however long it is) 24" wide paper. Interesting proposition,  though. I can probably provide decently hi res pics once its finished, if that helps. That wont be for a few months, at least. 

I might try this on a helmet.

In reply to Appleseed :

For some reason this lite off a thought in my head...

What if the solution to the maze was a bunch of outlines of different tracks?

That would be cool!

In reply to Appleseed :

It would be easier than a ball. Way less surface area. 

In reply to wvumtnbkr :

It would be easy to do. Place tracks, leave open, build around. 

In reply to Mndsm :

If i bring an odd desk ornament to the challenge, could you do some of that awesomeness to it? I want some of your art on my desk.

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

That can possibly be arranged. Never know what you're gonna get tho. 

In reply to Mndsm :

As long as its awesome and kid safe, im good with that. 

Ill see what i have.

Is food proper payment?

In reply to Dusterbd13 :

I'm not sure. Last time I drew on something of someone else's, I got in trouble. 

I'll say...sure. that works. 

Mndsm said:

In reply to Appleseed :

It would be easier than a ball. Way less surface area. 

On a full face? I'd bet they are very close in surface area.

In reply to Appleseed :

If you're not coloring the visor, and obviously not the neck hole, I would bet the usable surface is smaller. 

Mndsm said:

 

Let me show you. 

 

At it's very core  a maze is nothing but a series of forks . one path splits and becomes 2, 2 become 4, and so on. here, I have a total of 14 possible paths you can take. Now, this is all well and good, but only one can be the answer. So, every so often, I'll close off some paths. sometimes one fork has more than a 2 way split, but you get the idea. As long as I dont close all the paths at the same time, there is always one path available. And as long as I dont start a random new path that's not attached to any open path, there will always be a continuous line available from beginning to end, regardless of how convoluted. 

Thank you. So the short version is that this method allows you to avoid accidentally creating a maze with no solution, but does not require you to keep track of what the solution might be. Interesting.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Exactly. The problem I run into with building around and existing path ( I started this way, in elementary school) is that usually too obvious. This way, I don't need to know, because unless i manage to keep track of all the branches, theres no way i will know. If i dont know, theres no way anyone else does without doing it  

I bet I could scan that. We have a pretty fancy HP plotter/scanner (HP Pagewide 5000)

I just checked: 36" wide by 18 meters long (708.7in)

In reply to RossD :

We may have to talk eventually. 

Mndsm said:

In reply to vwcorvette :

As soon as I find one for cheap. 

I can probably snag you one tomorrow 

Lemme know. I was gonna do a beer bottle at some point too. Cat berkeleyed up my big one, got wet paws all over it and got ink everywhere so I'm out like 10 hours of work right now while I reassess just how much thrust I need to put his stupid ass into orbit. 

In reply to Mndsm :

How heavy is the cat, how big is your boat? Lower or outer orbit?