Drawing Some Eyes

Useful tutorials that I'll definitely refer back to:

http://www.onlypencil.com/blog/tutorials/drawing-realistic-cat-eyes/
http://katherinethorell.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Draw-Various-Animal-and-Human-Eyes

how to weigh 12 coins: a solution

With regards to the previous puzzle, I'd better write this down before I forget... Took quite of bit of thinking...

So here goes my three steps:

1) Cluster the 12 coins into 3 groups of 4, and weigh 2 groups. Say the groups are G1, G2 and G3, and weigh G1 against G2.

Two scenarios

1.1 G1 = G2

Then both G1 and G2 contain authentic coins. The fake coin must be in G3, and finding it in a group of 4 in two steps is quite straightforward.

1.2 G1 and G2 weigh differently. Say G1>G2.

2) Let G1 = {x1,x2,x3,x4}, G2 = {y1,y2,y3,y4}. Make 2 new groups K1 = {x1,x2,y1} and K2 = {x3,x4,y2}, and weigh these 2 groups.

2.1 K1 = K2

Then the fake coin is either y3 or y4, and can be identified in one step by comparing one coin to a known real coin.

2.2 K1 and K2 weigh differently. Say K1>K2 (K2>K1 is symmetric).

Then y1, x3 and x4 must be real. If the fake coin is heavier, then either x1 or x2. If it is lighter then y2. And we'll just need the next step to find out.

3) Weigh x1 and y2 against 2 known real coins.

3.1 {x1,y2} = 2 real coins

Yay, x2 is the fake coin :)

3.2 {x1,y2} weigh differently from the 2 real coins.

If {x1,y2} is heavier, then the fake coin is heavier, so there, x1 is fake :)

If otherwise, then y2 is fake :)

a puzzle on weighing coins...

There are 12 coins, with one counterfeit which looks exactly the same as the others but weighs differently (we have no idea whether it's heavier or lighter).

Question: how to identify the counterfeit given at most 3 chances to weigh the coins on a balance?

Thoughts on Movie: Killer Toon

I recently watched this Korean horror movie called Killer Toon. While I admit that I am really not a big fan of horror movies (because yes I have a weak heart), this particular movie quite appealed to me. For one, it is not blatantly or grossly scary. While it does have its scary moments, this is not overdone with the sole purpose of giving people a heart attack. Also, it explores a theme that everyone can relate to: guilt.

A brief synopsis of the plot as found on Wikipedia goes here:

After a series of murders are committed that mimic a famous webtoon, detective Lee Ki-cheol (Um Ki-joon) places the cartoonist Kang Ji-yoon (Lee Si-young) on the list of suspects.

There are longer and more complete versions out there, but I will delay adding them for now. Here, I will just attempt to jot down a few thoughts.

One thing that bothered me after the movie is: what is the role of the cartoonist here? She is the only person who provided a link between the various stories of the other characters, but there are a few peculiarities. While the police's main concern with Kang is that she can forecast deaths in her cartoons, the reasons as told in the movie deem this concern rather irrelevant. In particular, if the ghosts only want to seek revenge, why do they even need to make their secrets known to Kang. They certainly do not need the publicity or her help or the dramatic suspense leading to the kill. Rather, Kang and her cartoons act as a catalyst that reminds the people of their guilt. In real life, these can be anything that triggers their memory that they had done something wrong or against their moral principles, to such an extent that they can no longer live with themselves. What killed them are their inner 'ghosts'.

I quite like the ending part revealing detective Lee to be responsible for his junior Kim's death, when all along the movie set up the scene that Kim died under his own gunshot under the influence of the ghost of the little girl who was knocked down by his car. It brings us back to reality that humans are the ones capable of causing harm and hurt, either intentionally or unintentionally. However, this twist can be better handled since it brought up a few inconsistencies or points that the movie had no screen time to explore. For instance, out of the four people who were sought after by vengeful spirits, Lee was the only one who did not deliberately kill or let a person die. In fact, Lee prevented Kim from shooting himself. Although the fact that Lee did kill Kim in a misfire and that he attempted to cover up the incident did Kim injustice, it is debatable whether the extent of wrongdoing in this case is comparable with that of the others, and consequently whether he deserved the same punishment. Probably, the point is that all kinds of guilty doings are equally bad, but that seems like an overanalysis of the materials here. I haven't been able to think of a more appropriate but equally impactful way of dealing with this scene, guess I'm not a scriptwriter after all.

And the most disturbing part of all, despite having killed a girl (moreover possibly her only friend) for her own selfish gains, Kang got to walk away scot-free, bounded by neither the law nor her own morals, if any.