SecondThread's blog

Congrats to Geothermal on reaching LGM
By SecondThread, history, 3 years ago, In English

Geothermal just got passed 3000 rating after round #783, making him the 5th American LGM (as of when ratings update). This came with a very clutch 1:59:56 solve on problem D, making it even more impressive. He's been a personal friend of mine since we met at an in-person contest in Texas that I drove 17 hours to go to back when he was still purple I believe, so it's great to see him reach this achievement. Well done, Jay, you've earned it.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -17 Vote: I do not like it

I am wondering why people are upvoting this spamm post, So why did you downvote mesanu when he posted a blog about congrating SlavicG? Please stop posting bulshit.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +72 Vote: I do not like it

    Posts by accounts anything less than IGM = Instant downvote //CF policy

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -6 Vote: I do not like it

    I wouldn't call this spam, but up to you if you want to downvote it. Reaching LGM is a pretty big accomplishment compared to reaching purple. Also, Geothermal is a pretty significant member of our community (not saying SlavicG isn't), as he has hosted several round discussion livestreams and been part of some livestreams such as the unofficial CodeJam stream I hosted a while ago.

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it -28 Vote: I do not like it

    I'm guessing your either mesanu or SlavicG due to how you instantly recalled the incident and obviously because your hiding behind an alt?

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +3 Vote: I do not like it

Congrats Geothermal 0rz

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +58 Vote: I do not like it

More importantly, when will you reach your long term goal: CM?

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +77 Vote: I do not like it

    I'm making a lot of progress. A couple more solid contests and I'll be there :P

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
        Vote: I like it +141 Vote: I do not like it

      "A couple"? Pfft, such a noob. I only needed one contest to reach purple.

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +439 Vote: I do not like it

Can we please get back to programming?

I truly don't mean for this to come off as insincere, insensitive, or trying to diminish the importance of these events to people's personal lives.

But that being said...

Codeforces isn't the place for such debates. I'm not saying these discussions don't need to happen. They do. But them happening on this surface is essentially well-intentioned spam.

This stuff belongs on social media, or places like Reddit and Discord.

Alright, I've spoken my peace, bring on the flood of downvotes...

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it +5 Vote: I do not like it

Geothermal Orz

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3 years ago, # |
← Rev. 2   Vote: I like it +334 Vote: I do not like it

Thank you very much! All the support from the community has meant the world to me; huge thanks to everyone reading this who has discussed problems with me, helped me at times when I've been stuck, or supported me by watching my YouTube videos, participating in events I've hosted (e.g. the Lockout Championship in 2020), or engaging with my CF blogs. The grind to LGM has been a wonderful experience, and I'm looking forward to continuing my competitive programming career (perhaps it's time to set my sights on qualifying for more onsite finals?).

I'm hoping to make a long YouTube video (or perhaps a stream?) reflecting on today's round and my journey to LGM in general, as well as answering other questions I've been asked frequently (e.g. discussing thoughts on ways to practice, changes I've recently made to my setup, etc). That said, it will probably have to wait until I'm finished with the semester; hopefully, I should have the chance to make it sometime in May. In the meantime, many thanks to the CF community (and particularly to the administrators, coordinators, and problemsetters!); I'm looking forward to many more great years of competitive programming!

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
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    I remembered you as "speed solve god", because you are usually on top standings in Div2 Div3 rounds xD

    Congrats on reaching LGM!

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3 years ago, # |
  Vote: I like it -6 Vote: I do not like it

Congrats Geothermal!

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3 years ago, # |
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Geothermal can you talk about the 01:59:56 clutch :)

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    3 years ago, # ^ |
      Vote: I like it +156 Vote: I do not like it

    I hadn’t looked at D before solving ABCE, so finishing E at 1:22 left me with a little under 40 minutes to work on D. I realized fairly quickly that the problem was going to involve some variety of tree DP—I had thought for a few minutes about looking for an invariant, but that didn’t make sense partly because as you remove edges from the tree, it’s unlikely that any property will remain an invariant, and partly because it’s possible to turn a tree on which the problem can be solved into a tree on which the problem cannot be solved if you choose the wrong operation. I considered a couple DPs before locking onto the solution I implemented; I wasn’t fully confident that my idea was right, but I figured it was the best I could do with the time I had.

    I implemented my idea fairly quickly, but then, as I checked the output format to see whether I needed to print yes/no in uppercase or lowercase, I saw that I had to actually reconstruct the solution if one existed. At that point, I thought pretty seriously about giving up; I had only ten minutes left (and still hadn’t even tested my solution’s yes/no answers). I eventually gave it a try and was ready to start testing with four minutes or so left. I got the first of the five sample cases wrong (I had an error in my initial DP, then an RTE in my reconstruction code), and by the time I finished debugging, the clock was down to around fifteen seconds. I realized that there was no time to try the other sample test cases, so I just sent in my solution, figuring that it wouldn’t get AC. Naturally, I was pretty shocked when it ended up working!

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      3 years ago, # ^ |
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      lol, i thought you intentionally delayed your submission.

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