Ammon Brown

So I started playing the scramble game on facebook recently. I am a big scrabble player so it appeals to me. I got to thinking that this would make an interesting computer science problem. So I put my puny little mind to it and came up with a script that not only uses the Scramble dictionary to find every possible word, but can also type hundreds of words into the text box in under thirty seconds. I have been testing it and it is close to 100% accurate. I am such a complete and utter nerd I just cannot believe myself. There was no real reason to do this, it just seemed like a fun challenge, which it was. I have still not decided whether to post a link to the script publicly, as that may kill a fun game. Sort of the way bots are threatening online poker. If I do post it then I will go into detail about some of the novel and elegant (I think) ways I solved a few programming problems.

The most fun is when I cheat and get scores in excess of 1500 points (average is less than 100), I get all kinds of mixed reactions from people in the chat box. Some get pissed off, some get very amused, some try to rather loudly ignore me, and some beg and plead for me to divulge my secret. The best by far are the people who see my score and say, “Wow, you are a fast typist!” or “Hey… is that guy cheating?” The funny thing is, I am too embarrassed to admit that I did this on a complete lark just for gits and shiggles. I tell people it is for a computer science class. So I am a cheater and a liar to boot! This little computer science experiment has turned into an interesting psychology experiment, as well. For me and my “victims”.