Sudoku Techniques # 1 #2 # 3 and End Game

 

Why Do I Love to Play Sudoku ?

This is my all time favorite pastime. The reasons I play it I will list them down. The game is very simple, there are 81 squares filled only partly with the number 1 to 9. Each row and each column can ONLY have one of that same number (that is Row 1 has only one of the number 1 and so on and so forth. The same rule applies for each Column.

No such rule applies for any diagonal lines in any Sudoku.  

The way Sudoku games are designed are as such. The simpler Sudokus fill up many numbers in the 9 x 9 matrix square, hence it is easy to deduce your way through.  As you get to the more difficult games the use of many different strategies must apply. The harder Sudokus leave you with less than 30 squares filled up while the simpler Sudokus fill up to 50 squares.

Here are the most common techniques or tricks to solve almost any sudoku. Do note that there is only 1 right answer and up to 80 wrong answers, hence you need to be very patient, have a lot of focus and some basic intelligence. I list the following below, and one day I will try to elaborate it as simply as I can for the beginner and intermediate players to help them along their games.

1.Elimination (along each row, column or even each square of 9)

2.Doubles

3. Trebles

4.Outright counting 

5. Gwendolin's Thread (this is doing a 50 / 50, going with 1 (of 2 possible) number and leaving a trail if you end up wrong somewhere further down the game. If that happens, you backtrack and take the second number and you will normally win the game. 

6. Elimination and Deduction (very advanced players can use this).

Why do I love this game ? 

1.It stretches my deductive capabilities 

2. increases my focussing on the topic.

3. I am forced to apply logic in most games

4. I am also using my numerical skill in rapid counting and using numerate skills

in addition,  is a very healthy and rewarding pastime compared to numerous other hobbies such as 

a) drinking

b) clubbing

c) smoking

d) congregating in coffee shops or 'chasing the wind' at the Clubhouse  Pool Bars 

I am very comfortable in my own skin. 

   

Drone Flight Practice 23rd July 2022

Dog and the Bone Game ; a game from my childhood, still played in India today

This game was very popular 'back in the day' when we were kids. I am happy to see that it is still being played in many parts of Asia, like India for one. The rules of the game are simple.

Form 2 teams of (for example) 5 people each. They will stand beside each other in one line facing each other. The 'bone' will be in the dead centre, ideally inside a circular 'ring'. Each kid is given a number from 1 to 5. You can make the 'bone' out of anything, some of us just used rolled up newspaper or a circular rubber toy for babies to chew on (This is ideally disused !). 

When both sides are ready and facing each other, the referee if there is one, calls the number and each team member with that number runs as fast to the 'ring' and tries to get the 'bone' without letting the opposing team member with the same number 'tag' you.

If you are (say) No. 3, you run and then prance around the circular 'ring'. The MAIN OBJECTIVE :

Try to distract the opponent and get the bone back to your team behind the line without him / her touching you.

If you are swift and nimble enough, you and your team wins 1 point.

The end of the game is when one team accumulates 10 points.

READY

SET 

PLAY !!! 

The Day US Decoupled the US Dollar from Gold Deposits and the Aftermath. Nixon's Madness

This article is copied from Nikkei Asia (25th August 2021) with reference to Mr. Masaki Shirakawa (ex-Bank of Japan) I do not own any rights to this article and is reprinted for my readers' understanding and enlightenment. 

This month marked the 50th anniversary of the "Nixon Shock," when U.S. President Richard Nixon decided to suspend the convertibility of foreign official holdings of dollar into gold, making now a worthwhile moment to look back on how it affected the global economy, ponder its historical importance and consider the challenges ahead. By suspending the dollar's convertibility into gold at a fixed price of $35 an ounce, and also imposing a surcharge on imports plus freezing wages and prices, 

Nixon precipitated the collapse of the postwar international monetary system known as the Bretton Woods agreement, leading to the start of the floating exchange rate system which has become norm ever since among the advanced economies. The economic rationale behind Nixon's decision was straightforward: With public finances in the U.S. deteriorating in the 1960s and 1970s, growing deficit on the balance of payments and a resulting gold flowing out of the country, the U.S. was approaching the point where it could not make good on its guarantee to convert its currency into gold. While it can be said that this decision was inevitable, it still deserves to be remembered as a shock -- it was a purely unilateral decision taken without consultation. "If historians search the precise date on which America's singular dominance of the world's economy ended, they might settle on August 15, 1971," noted Jeffrey E. Garten, author of the recently published Three Days at Camp David: How a Secret Meeting in 1971 Transformed the Global Economy. 

Today, it is impossible to imagine a unilateral decision of this scale and global importance being made by any single country. It is true that there were shades of American unilateralism in the famous international policy coordination at the height of the Plaza and Louvre accords signed in the mid-1980s, but not on the same scale. But if we look specifically at the dollar itself, which was the very root of the problem in 1971, a different landscape has subsequently unfolded. The expected fall in the status of the dollar as an international key currency did not happen. The expected fall in the status of the dollar as an international key currency did not happen. © AP The function of a specific currency as a global currency can be measured by how widely it is used in foreign trade, international debt issuance and major international payment systems, and the degree to which it features in official foreign reserves. Looking at its global shares according to such measures, the dollar's status as the international key currency is not on a downward trend. Rather, it seems to have increased over the past decade, despite a decline in America's GDP share of the world economy. 

As globalization progresses, demand for the dollar has steadily increased, satisfied by the growing current-account deficit and corresponding net capital inflows to the U.S. Under the Bretton Woods system, the growing demand for dollars was satisfied by the widening U.S. balance-of-payments deficit, which put a strain on U.S. gold reserves. This vulnerable situation came to be called Triffin's dilemma, after the economist who identified it. What we are seeing now can be called a modern version of Triffin's dilemma. But a dilemma in what sense? The best way to answer this question is to think about whether the world is really able to enjoy the monetary policy freedom that was supposed to be enabled by a flexible exchange rate system.  

According to the famous dictum of "open economy trilemma," a country cannot enjoy the following three good things simultaneously: free capital movement, a fixed exchange rate and autonomous monetary policy. One has to be given up. Most advanced economies opted to pursue free capital movement and autonomous monetary policy by giving up fixed exchange rates. But today, judging from the interest rate configurations in many countries, nations are seemingly not enjoying autonomous monetary policy, with interest rates either at or near zero in all advanced economies. Is this because each individual country, from the bottom of its heart, wanted to set its interest rate at zero? That is probably true in the U.S., where the Federal Reserve believes zero interest rates are needed to regain policy room by ultimately increasing inflation expectations. 

How about the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan? Do they really believe zero percent is the most desirable for their own economies? Or, to put it differently, are they enjoying fully autonomous monetary policy? I guess the answer is yes and no. On the one hand, the thinking behind zero interest is the same for them as it is for the Fed. But on the other hand, given the Fed's policy stance they do not have much choice. Their main concerns for Europe and Japan seem to be about the possible exchange rate appreciation of their own currencies in case they raise interest rates. Ultimately, the influence of U.S. monetary policy has become stronger, not weaker. The choice for many countries -- at least for advanced countries -- is not a trilemma but a dilemma between free capital movement and autonomous monetary policy. Even in this case, we could imagine a situation in which losing monetary policy autonomy is justifiable, if the resulting global macroeconomic performance is reasonably satisfactory and if individual countries can benefit. In this light, how should we assess global macroeconomic performance, and for that matter the collective performance of monetary policy, in recent decades? 

Yes, there was a period called "the Great Moderation," but it was followed by the global financial crisis. The straightforward implication of suspending gold convertibility is that our monetary system has become truly a fiat money system, which means human wisdom is the only anchor of a currency's value. Fifty years on, the broader truth is that we still have not found how best to control money. This is still a journey in progress.

Life Tips from a Mentor

Roland Teo and I have been having lunches on a regular basis for the last 10 years or so, always at the same Crystal Cafe near his condominium at Merchant Road. He has been happily retired since 2016 and has never regretted a single day of his retirement to smell the roses and take things easy in his life.

A very established and accomplished banker, I always bounce ideas and thoughts with him and I have gained tremendous insight from a top level executive who has international foresight and is very forthright with his local and geopolitical views of the current Governments as well as overseas ones.

His take is very well thought through and he reads widely from many sources. 2 very wise and well experienced quotes come to mind which I have had the points hammered out so clearly from his helicopter viewpoint of managing hundreds of direct report over the last 30 years and also his experience on the board of several Government organizations with major revenue and profit reportings on a regular basis.

1. People are generally Lazy

Not all the people but easily 80% to 90% of the people want to cruise in their life. Everyone is entitled to how they want to live their life. But are they living their lives as subsisting or are they living to the best potential of their lives. Macchiavelli also stated that it is most important to evaluate how one lives and how one ought to live. There is a distinction between the 2 and many people - by choice or by non thinking cruise their way downhill to an ordinary and mundane life.

To work hard takes effort. To work hard and use all your talents to their fullest abilities takes

a) effort

b) purpose

c) getting out of one's comfort zone.

I am mindful of this, as I am at the last possible chance of making something of myself and my business, so everyday I go out there to be a better person than I was the day before and I try not to be lazy to take the path of least resistance.

2. People overestimate their abilities all the time   

A lot of people I know say they will ace this and ace that and make things happen, but when they don't they just fade into the background and slip into some kine of denial as to why things didnt pan out as they were supposed to be.

A lot of times it is due to a) poor planning and b) an overestimation of his or her own abilities.

The end result leads to the person getting a failure and making excuses for why it didnt succeed.

It takes a) collective effort of a team   b) admittance that there are people better than you in almost everything and c) putting in the long hours to see through their goals.

A Bonus Question : 

Are Leaders  made or  born ? 

I disagree, great leaders are born. Average leaders can be taught to behave like a leader.

My estimate from the current crop of incumbent ministers is that we sadly have average leadership in our Government, and our country as a whole can only move along with at best mediocre growth for the next  3 -  5 years

The truly great leaders all did not want to get involved in politics, and as a result we have this lot who are governing us. 

The time between now (2022) and the next elections will be difficult for many of us. There are so many challenges we ordinary citizens are facing it is indeed scary.

  

Rest - Most Important Aspect for a Fulfilling Day

Recently I have come down with a 'flu bug. I believe it is not COVID having taken to ART Nasal Swabs and both are negative. My first instinct was to 'keep calm and carry on'. However, I realised that this is the first time in over 2 years that I have had anything 'serious'. Even when I caught COVID in Nov 2021, it was very mild compared to this.

My symptoms are (to date) : 

a) slightly red eyes with eye dirt. 

b) sore throat

c) slight irritating cough (well under control).

So, I have taken refuge again and am back to my 'man cave' attic for the next couple of days.

A lot of us underestimate the need for adequate rest, and I am really guilty of this. My optimal sleep duration is 8 hours and of late, have been subsisting on 6 hours or so for weeks. My aim is to rest, let the body fully recover and stress less.

Do the things I really enjoy (not exercise at least for the next week) such as :

a) Preparing for my annual holidays with my wife.

b) Mind games (Sudoku, and Circuit Breaker)

c) Flying my drone

c) Cycling

There is enough work for 5 days out of the 7 to keep my team and I busy. The other 2 days are meant literally for rest, recuperation and reflection.

Carpe Diem  

Saturday 16th July

3.36 pm

SINGAPORE 

EST : +7 HR.