The Genii Forum

Roger M.

The Gardner-Smith Correspondence has long been out of print, and copies don't often come up on the secondary market (and when they do, they carry a premium price). What I should have said was "You can get them on ebay." How about "You can get them on ebay very rarely ". They don...

Roger M.

Well that has to go onto the "must buy" list, doesn't it.

Roger M.

.... If he was really serious about keeping his identity a secret,.... The general thinking has pretty much been that Erdnase wasn't really trying that hard to conceal his identity. Meeting Smith face to face in an unrushed session (probably more than one), giving Smith a cheque (presumably in his ...

Roger M.

Isn't it possible that the pseudonym was created to include the reversal to Andrews deliberately to hide the real name, by hiding a false name in an easily findable place? This is a pretty standard technique. To be a "pretty standard technique", one would have to be able to offer numerous...

Roger M.

To declare Erdnase a de facto magician when we have absolutely no idea who he is borders on a bit silly.

Keeping an open mind until we collectively take some sort of major step forward in identifying Erdnase might be the better idea?

Roger M.

USPCC also makes the Maiden back, which IMO is far nicer and more "reminiscent" of the standard Rider back than is the Mandolin back (which I don't like at all due to the weird, spindly legs of the angel).

Bicycle Maiden back would get my vote.

Roger M.

There will be a new candidate announced later this year that will throw everyone into a tizzy. It's not coming from me, but from someone else. Whether it is true or not, time will tell. As long as any given candidate is proposed along with credible evidence to support their candidacy, why would an ...

Roger M.

A voice of reason amongst this quagmire of quibbling! There would be a lot less "quibbling" if posters didn't show up in the forum with scant (or no) evidence at all and declare that they'd found Erdnase! When those posters then decide they've chosen the hill they're going to die on ... a...

Roger M.

The old nugget that a gambler only needs a couple of moves to put food on the table, while true, isn't representative of all gamblers . There are plenty of experts on gambling today (as there were in 1902) who know a whole lot of moves, and a whole lot of magic ... but they're experts on gambling fi...

Roger M.

In addition to Richards notes about serious personal issues (which can be devastating, and drain one completely of incentive to do anything at all ) I think the most common stumbling block for Kickstarter projects (that aren't a complete scam from the get-go) is the creator simply running out of the...

Roger M.

Further to my earlier post about Harry's show "Wise Guy", the show that he performed regularly at Oswalds ... does anybody know if there was ever any video released of Harry performing this specific show in Oswalds? I've read comments from those who saw the show, and they referenced the &q...

Roger M.

I'm confused -- so what have you actually done? You're saying that the red lines argument isn't your actual method and that you've trained a neural network that you're applying to this instance? If so, how was it trained? And what sort of accuracy does it have on similar examples? Or is Chris is sa...

Roger M.

I have programmed, developed and used neural networks when it wasn't called deep learning and fashionable to use them. My illustration with the red lines is there so that it can be intuitively understood by everybody at least those with common sense. You guys have none. When I write about stylometr...

Roger M.

But Chris hand drew some random red lines with a paint program that came pre-installed on his computer, isn't that the same thing?

Roger M.

The thread changed tone entirely when Chris began posting here, and decided to manipulate it such that he could not only become revered as the "discoverer of Erdnase", but that he could further abuse the thread and subject matter in a blatant effort to advertise and market his Lybrary ware...

Roger M.

Bill, Erdnase is not stating that there are "confidences" to betray. He is stating that there are not. This is not a bi-partite sentence, in which two concepts are expressed--that "We betray no confidences in publishing this book", and "(we are) having only ourselves to tha...

Roger M.

Sounds like a perfect candidate for Erdnase. Only if you're into: Self Deception Fantasy presented as fact Lying Fabricating or modifying evidence on a whim Having an ego so large it prevents one from seeing the truth Abusing a social thread in a hobby forum to monetize ones business undertakings D...

Roger M.

......Given the relative dearth of advice on how to comport oneself during a card game in the gambling section (nothing on wagering, or bluffing, or "reading" one's fellows' expressions)...... In EATCT, Erdnase makes note of Whist, Hearts, Cribbage, Euchre, Coon Can, Penuckle, All Fours, ...

Roger M.

I said above that, regardless of the experimentation and practice that preceded the writing of the gambling portion of EATCT, the actual setting down of the words was as simple as the chord changes in an instruction book on "How To Play The Guitar". It is only a matter of describing hand ...

Roger M.

jkeyes1000 wrote:But the magic section ironically gives us more fluent and more exuberant instruction on how to perform than does the gambling.

You literally have no idea what you're talking about.

Roger M.

...The new findings about Gallaway provide the first photo evidence that he is Erdnase, via the match of various characteristics of his hands..... Except your "new" findings don't do anything of the sort Chris, and simply repeating them ad nauseam doesn't change that rather obvious fact.

Roger M.

If Erdnase is to be considered "an original", an innovator, a creative contributor to the annals of magic rather than a mere parrot, he cannot reasonably be supposed to have intuitively surmised the essential elements of successful performing. Not sure anybody here has ever said Erdnase w...

Roger M.

Not directly related to Erdnase, but rather an interesting look at the early Chicago printing scene, and the original Chicago printers row ... with Drake, McKinney, etc all within a few blocks of each other. Interesting aside, that Chicago has a "new" printers row, largely due to real esta...

Roger M.

I was talking about the case for Gallaway having written "The Monotype System" and "Copyfitting" books, not his case for Erdnase. The case for Gallaway writing The brain strain when working rapidly is much less than when working slowly; if you doubt this, try to keep track of th...

Roger M.

That's the issue, there isn't actually any evidence of him playing cards at all, let alone skilfully ... unless you have enough of an imagination (as you do) to make the dozen or more giant leaps of faith required in order to believe that the passage was written by Gallaway. Re-use practices, lingu...

Roger M.

... Now there is evidence of him playing cards very skillfully. That's the issue, there isn't actually any evidence of him playing cards at all, let alone skilfully ... unless you have enough of an imagination (as you do) to make the dozen or more giant leaps of faith required in order to believe t...

Roger M.

Still not a lie old chap. All you do is take my statements out of context. No Chris, I actually can tell (and posit that everybody else here can as well) when you're intentionally shifting the context of your presentation to suit your whim, and to make yet another fanciful fabrication in an effort ...

Roger M.

***to be fair, I was editing my post when Chris posted, he hadn't read my post as it's written ... which may or may not have affected how he responded***

Roger M.

That you can’t, or choose not to distinguish between, and understand the difference between “ yes, he also wrote EATCT” , and “I think it was written by...” IS your problem Chris. (both quotes are yours) One is a blatant lie as it states as a fact something that is (to date) unknowable, the other is...

Roger M.

... mixed in with the occasional outright lie. Could you please provide examples? There are dozens, if not hundreds of examples Chris ... but let's just use one from your most recent newsletter, where speaking of Gallaway you state: - And yes, he also wrote "Expert at the Card Table", ins...

Roger M.

"The brain strain when working rapidly is much less than when working slowly; if you doubt this, try to keep track of the cards when playing with people who take all day to decide what card to play." Not to overstate the terribly obvious, but the sentence above, although it references pla...

Roger M.

That all changed because I did last week find a record of Gallaway playing cards - very skillfully I should add. See my upcoming newsletter. I can't even be bothered except to note that Chris pulls a quote from a book that he claims Gallaway wrote (Copyfitting) in which the author (which is very li...

Roger M.

P.S. No offense intended, Rog. Just a little tit-for-tat. None taken - I did (after all) rather forcefully question your sanity and/or mental health - so for me to then take any offense at your response would be more than a bit churlish on my part. Quick wit and sassy repartee can be, admittedly - ...

Roger M.

All you are doing is playing Top Dog, and all you are using is attitude. Is that a sort of "earned privilege" in The Forum? I have no privilege whatsoever on the forum, earned or otherwise ... but I do stay on topic (unlike you), and am demonstrably interested in the actual subject matter...

Roger M.

....Logic has a bad rep amongst exact scientists, because most folks do a shoddy job of it. Usually, they are not thorough enough. They rest content when they discover something they like. Don't bother to consider all sorts of possibilities that they are wrong. Dare their adversaries to find fault,...

Roger M.

This is a thread about the search for Erdnase, nobody has offered you an invitation to practice amateur psychological analysis. ........To which you responded by being snippy and deflecting...... Once again: "...nobody has offered you an invitation to practice amateur psychological analysis&qu...

Roger M.

Because beyond simply owning a copy of a book that he was involved in printing, there is absolutely no reason on earth to suspect Gallaway of ever holding a deck of cards in his hands in the first place, no reason to suspect him of ever gambling in his lifetime, and perhaps most importantly ... the...

Roger M.

All practitioners of logic will admit that they can be wrong. I have seen Chris concede this many times. Tell me, Bill--How often have you confessed your fallibility in this forum? Or Bob? Or Leonard? Or Roger? A few times, maybe. But not nearly as many as Chris. I think he is far more deserving of...

Roger M.

..... why would he not socialize with other circus folks? Why would he not begin to write EATCT? Why would he not gamble and practice his cards? Because beyond simply owning a copy of a book that he was involved in printing, there is absolutely no reason on earth to suspect Gallaway of ever holding...

Roger M.

In his failed efforts to promote Gallaway as a serious candidate, Chris now has a dilemma on his hands. The Genii Forum, and it's now dozens upon dozens of pages stating very clearly that "Gallaway is not Erdnase", is a major thorn in Chris's efforts to be regaled in history as the man who...

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