[OT] Retreating from Iraq AT THE SAME TIME

[Andrei Alexandrescu]

Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
> Benji Smith wrote:
>> Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>>> Let's reconsider the problem of retreating from Iraq, with a twist.
>>> Grace to new technology, teleconferencing is now possible. All direct
>>> subordinates of any officer can be called SIMULTANEOUSLY. So there is no
>>> more need for one officer to call each subordinate in sequence; he or 
>>> she will call them all at once. Cool!
>>>
>>> However, now the demands also increased. Your task, should you yadda
>>> yadda, is to devise a schedule for teleconferenced such that EVERY rank
>>> and file soldier finds the news at EXACTLY the same time. That means you
>>> must insert some delays in the system. However, you should insert as few
>>> delays as possible, and also to ensure there is minimal global delay
>>> from the moment the President picks up the phone to the moment soldiers
>>> get the news.
>>>
>>> Be warned: this is quite a different problem than the previous one in
>>> spite of the similarities. You may want to start from scratch instead of
>>> adapting an algorithm suitable for the previous problem.
>>>
>>>
>>> Good luck!
>>>
>>> Andrei
>>
>> Hmmmmmm. Does each officer have the *option* of calling subordinates 
>> at different times? Can an officer have a conference call with all of 
>> his subordinates who have subordinates of their own, delaying a call 
>> with the leaf-node privates until later? If not, I can't imagine 
>> there's any generalizable solution...
> 
> Each officer can only wait for a specified time before calling all 
> direct subordinates. You need to figure out how long each officer waits.

Rats, I'm wrong (Sean just explained me over Skype). Yes, an officer can 
insert delays in calling certain subordinates.

Andrei