In The Know
Hello World,
Happy New Year! No, Comrade Sergei and his infernal Russian date machine hasn't got a hold of me, so that I don't know it's the middle of September and not January 1st, although it's probably not from a lack of trying on Comrade Sergei's part. By way of explanation, I call your attention to the following entry that was recently posted at wikipedia, courtesy of Bill, who is a regular visitor to their site:
=============================
I finally got the time to stop by Wikipedia to see what today is, and had to write. You might be surprised to find an old favorite of yours wandering in later this afternoon (I know I was):
September 12: Ramadan begins at sunset (Islam, 2007); Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset (Judaism, 2007); Second Millennium of the Ethiopian calendar (2007); New Year's Day in the Coptic calendar (2007); National Day in Cape Verde.
=============================
So, for all of our Jewish friends, Ethiopians and Copts, this has obviously been a big week, and one that even our old nemesis Comrade Sergei can't sabotage. So let's all wish a great, big cyber Happy New Year to everyone who may fall into those categories, or anyone who's just looking for an excuse to celebrate. Why don't we all make like those wacky Cape Verde-ians, and party our socks off!
Meanwhile, we have one of our alert readers (thanks, Jim!) to thank for this unsolicited testimonial on mankind's never-ending quest for knowledge:
===================================
Hey lets not make fun of Great Courses Taught by Great Professors I have purchased a large number of their history and a few of their religion course over the years, I use them instead of talking books on long drives, some are very good and some are less good. They sent me a free-bie to comment on their new packaging, Transcendental writers or some such thing, I tried listening but I was never a fan of those writers to start with, if you think it may be your cup of tea I will send it to you, but NO Backzees. the problem with buying these is what do you do with them after you are done with them? If you ever decide to purchase one wait till they go on sale, every one goes on sale sometime during the year, to $69 for DVD's and $49 for cassette. otherwise you have to be rich, most of them are the same price as a sit-down real class.
===================================
Along those same lines, for anyone who may have wondered, as I did, about some of the more arcane subjects in the Great Courses lecture series, and well may you wonder, well, you may wonder no more, thanks to Bill's diligent research again at wikipedia:
===================================
Here's a quick SAT-type question for you: what pattern is reflected in these numbers:
(1) 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 . . .
If you guessed that each number is the sum of the two previous numbers, you win the Uncle Albert Fibonacci Number Award. I couldn't figure out what you actually DO with them. The Wikipedia article goes on for PAGES AND PAGES of incredible mathematical gibberish until it gets to what they're "good for". So just in case you wanted to USE this stuff for something practical, here's what they say (hold onto your hat):
Applications The Fibonacci numbers are important in the run-time analysis of Euclid's algorithm to determine the greatest common divisor of two integers: the worst case input for this algorithm is a pair of consecutive Fibonacci numbers.
Yuri Matiyasevich was able to show that the Fibonacci numbers can be defined by a Diophantine equation, which led to his original solution of Hilbert's tenth problem.
The Fibonacci numbers occur in the sums of "shallow" diagonals in Pascal's triangle and Lozanic's triangle (see "Binomial coefficient").
Every positive integer can be written in a unique way as the sum of one or more distinct Fibonacci numbers in such a way that the sum does not include any two consecutive Fibonacci numbers. This is known as Zeckendorf's theorem, and a sum of Fibonacci numbers that satisfies these conditions is called a Zeckendorf representation.
Fibonacci numbers are used by some pseudorandom number generators.
A one-dimensional optimization method, called the Fibonacci search technique, uses Fibonacci numbers.
===================================
Well, I don't think it would be an understatement to say that makes things just about as clear as mud, and that's putting it mildly. I say we send that whole mathematical idea back to the drawing board, until they can come up with a real something to do with it. Pseudo-random number generator, indeed.
Of course, it's not wikipedia's fault that these things make no sense, and without our friends at wikipedia, we would miss out on a wide variety of miscellaneous information that we can have right at our very fingertips, and for no particular purpose whatsoever. An ordinary person might be forgiven for thinking that I was responsible for posting the following entry, to lend an aura of legitimacy to my contention that things fall over in our house because the gravity is too strong in certain places. Au contraire! (That's French for "A pint's a pound, the world around.") Here's what the wikipedians have to say about it, and I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it:
===============================
A mass concentration or mascon is a region of a planet or moon's crust that contains a large positive gravitational anomaly. This term is most often used as an adjective to describe a geologic structure that has a positive gravitational anomaly such as the "mascon basins" on the Moon. The lunar mascons alter the local gravity in certain regions sufficiently that low and uncorrected satellite orbits around the Moon are unstable on a timescale of months or years. This acts to distort successive orbits, causing the satellite to ultimately impact the surface.
===============================
Well, as Dave Barry always says, "I'm not making this up!" and I think we would all have to agree with that. Or do we? For anyone with time on their hands, and a sense of humor, I invite you to check out the following web site:
================================
Main Page - Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia ================================
This distinctive site is set up to look just like wikipedia, except that none of the stuff they have is true, and some of it is so incredibly goofy that you wind up laughing at it in spite of yourself. I thought it was very inventive, although you know what I always say about people with too much time on their hands! But I still feel this is a better purpose for using precious Internet resources, than posting instructions on how to build your own pipe bomb, or ways to hack into an iPhone. Let's have more of those stories on the NASA space shuttle billboard, with a chaser of Norwegian princesses.
And last, but by no means least, when the next article reared its ugly head on wikipedia recently, you know that Bill couldn't resist letting me know about it, and with good reason:
==================================
Today's featured Wikipedia article was about one of your favorite subjects, Daylight Saving Time. It was EXTREMELY interesting (especially since, being Wikipedia, it was allowed a distinct anti-DST slant!) and if you get a chance, you should read it. But if you don't have a chance, I've noted two salient sections. First, the guy we owe all this to was not, as has been suggested, Ben Franklin (it says Ben used the idea in a SATIRE -- it figures the governments didn't get it.) It was -- should we not have guessed? -- a snooty GOLFER. And wait until you find out who got us stuck with the present set of changes!
**************************
In 1905, the English builder and outdoorsman William Willett invented DST during a pre-breakfast horseback ride where he was dismayed by how many Londoners slept through the best part of a summer day.[14] An avid golfer, he disliked cutting short his round at dusk. Two years later he published his proposal,[15] but his idea was not acted on immediately. Germany, its allies, and their occupied zones were the first European countries to use DST, starting 30 April 1916. Most belligerents and many European neutrals soon followed suit, but Russia and a few other countries waited until the next year, and the United States did not use it until 1918. Since then the world has seen many enactments, adjustments, and repeals.[16]
*********
[There's whole SECTIONS about whether or not it does any good, mostly concluding that it doesn't and that the farmers hate it and the retailers love it. The most telling part is the following, in the "Politics" section (where is Michael Moore when we need him?):]
*********
In the U.S. the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and the National Association of Convenience Stores successfully lobbied for the 2007 extension to DST;[39] in the mid-1980s Clorox (parent of Kingsford Charcoal) and 7-Eleven provided the primary funding for the Daylight Saving Time Coalition behind the 1987 extension, and both Idaho senators voted for it on the basis of fast-food restaurants selling more French fries made from Idaho potatoes.
==================================
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly don't need to be hit over the head with a brass band to see the fine Italian hand of our slippery Russkie pal, Comrade Sergei working behind the scenes (and what else would you expect?) and in cahoots with the retailers (which you wouldn't expect) with the end result of making our lives miserable twice a year. Skeptics may scoff, but don't forget that thanks to Bill, I won the coveted Uncle Albert Fibonacci Number Award, so I ought to know.
Happy New Year! No, Comrade Sergei and his infernal Russian date machine hasn't got a hold of me, so that I don't know it's the middle of September and not January 1st, although it's probably not from a lack of trying on Comrade Sergei's part. By way of explanation, I call your attention to the following entry that was recently posted at wikipedia, courtesy of Bill, who is a regular visitor to their site:
=============================
I finally got the time to stop by Wikipedia to see what today is, and had to write. You might be surprised to find an old favorite of yours wandering in later this afternoon (I know I was):
September 12: Ramadan begins at sunset (Islam, 2007); Rosh Hashanah begins at sunset (Judaism, 2007); Second Millennium of the Ethiopian calendar (2007); New Year's Day in the Coptic calendar (2007); National Day in Cape Verde.
=============================
So, for all of our Jewish friends, Ethiopians and Copts, this has obviously been a big week, and one that even our old nemesis Comrade Sergei can't sabotage. So let's all wish a great, big cyber Happy New Year to everyone who may fall into those categories, or anyone who's just looking for an excuse to celebrate. Why don't we all make like those wacky Cape Verde-ians, and party our socks off!
Meanwhile, we have one of our alert readers (thanks, Jim!) to thank for this unsolicited testimonial on mankind's never-ending quest for knowledge:
===================================
Hey lets not make fun of Great Courses Taught by Great Professors I have purchased a large number of their history and a few of their religion course over the years, I use them instead of talking books on long drives, some are very good and some are less good. They sent me a free-bie to comment on their new packaging, Transcendental writers or some such thing, I tried listening but I was never a fan of those writers to start with, if you think it may be your cup of tea I will send it to you, but NO Backzees. the problem with buying these is what do you do with them after you are done with them? If you ever decide to purchase one wait till they go on sale, every one goes on sale sometime during the year, to $69 for DVD's and $49 for cassette. otherwise you have to be rich, most of them are the same price as a sit-down real class.
===================================
Along those same lines, for anyone who may have wondered, as I did, about some of the more arcane subjects in the Great Courses lecture series, and well may you wonder, well, you may wonder no more, thanks to Bill's diligent research again at wikipedia:
===================================
Here's a quick SAT-type question for you: what pattern is reflected in these numbers:
(1) 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 . . .
If you guessed that each number is the sum of the two previous numbers, you win the Uncle Albert Fibonacci Number Award. I couldn't figure out what you actually DO with them. The Wikipedia article goes on for PAGES AND PAGES of incredible mathematical gibberish until it gets to what they're "good for". So just in case you wanted to USE this stuff for something practical, here's what they say (hold onto your hat):
Applications The Fibonacci numbers are important in the run-time analysis of Euclid's algorithm to determine the greatest common divisor of two integers: the worst case input for this algorithm is a pair of consecutive Fibonacci numbers.
Yuri Matiyasevich was able to show that the Fibonacci numbers can be defined by a Diophantine equation, which led to his original solution of Hilbert's tenth problem.
The Fibonacci numbers occur in the sums of "shallow" diagonals in Pascal's triangle and Lozanic's triangle (see "Binomial coefficient").
Every positive integer can be written in a unique way as the sum of one or more distinct Fibonacci numbers in such a way that the sum does not include any two consecutive Fibonacci numbers. This is known as Zeckendorf's theorem, and a sum of Fibonacci numbers that satisfies these conditions is called a Zeckendorf representation.
Fibonacci numbers are used by some pseudorandom number generators.
A one-dimensional optimization method, called the Fibonacci search technique, uses Fibonacci numbers.
===================================
Well, I don't think it would be an understatement to say that makes things just about as clear as mud, and that's putting it mildly. I say we send that whole mathematical idea back to the drawing board, until they can come up with a real something to do with it. Pseudo-random number generator, indeed.
Of course, it's not wikipedia's fault that these things make no sense, and without our friends at wikipedia, we would miss out on a wide variety of miscellaneous information that we can have right at our very fingertips, and for no particular purpose whatsoever. An ordinary person might be forgiven for thinking that I was responsible for posting the following entry, to lend an aura of legitimacy to my contention that things fall over in our house because the gravity is too strong in certain places. Au contraire! (That's French for "A pint's a pound, the world around.") Here's what the wikipedians have to say about it, and I can assure you that I had nothing to do with it:
===============================
A mass concentration or mascon is a region of a planet or moon's crust that contains a large positive gravitational anomaly. This term is most often used as an adjective to describe a geologic structure that has a positive gravitational anomaly such as the "mascon basins" on the Moon. The lunar mascons alter the local gravity in certain regions sufficiently that low and uncorrected satellite orbits around the Moon are unstable on a timescale of months or years. This acts to distort successive orbits, causing the satellite to ultimately impact the surface.
===============================
Well, as Dave Barry always says, "I'm not making this up!" and I think we would all have to agree with that. Or do we? For anyone with time on their hands, and a sense of humor, I invite you to check out the following web site:
================================
Main Page - Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia ================================
This distinctive site is set up to look just like wikipedia, except that none of the stuff they have is true, and some of it is so incredibly goofy that you wind up laughing at it in spite of yourself. I thought it was very inventive, although you know what I always say about people with too much time on their hands! But I still feel this is a better purpose for using precious Internet resources, than posting instructions on how to build your own pipe bomb, or ways to hack into an iPhone. Let's have more of those stories on the NASA space shuttle billboard, with a chaser of Norwegian princesses.
And last, but by no means least, when the next article reared its ugly head on wikipedia recently, you know that Bill couldn't resist letting me know about it, and with good reason:
==================================
Today's featured Wikipedia article was about one of your favorite subjects, Daylight Saving Time. It was EXTREMELY interesting (especially since, being Wikipedia, it was allowed a distinct anti-DST slant!) and if you get a chance, you should read it. But if you don't have a chance, I've noted two salient sections. First, the guy we owe all this to was not, as has been suggested, Ben Franklin (it says Ben used the idea in a SATIRE -- it figures the governments didn't get it.) It was -- should we not have guessed? -- a snooty GOLFER. And wait until you find out who got us stuck with the present set of changes!
**************************
In 1905, the English builder and outdoorsman William Willett invented DST during a pre-breakfast horseback ride where he was dismayed by how many Londoners slept through the best part of a summer day.[14] An avid golfer, he disliked cutting short his round at dusk. Two years later he published his proposal,[15] but his idea was not acted on immediately. Germany, its allies, and their occupied zones were the first European countries to use DST, starting 30 April 1916. Most belligerents and many European neutrals soon followed suit, but Russia and a few other countries waited until the next year, and the United States did not use it until 1918. Since then the world has seen many enactments, adjustments, and repeals.[16]
*********
[There's whole SECTIONS about whether or not it does any good, mostly concluding that it doesn't and that the farmers hate it and the retailers love it. The most telling part is the following, in the "Politics" section (where is Michael Moore when we need him?):]
*********
In the U.S. the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association and the National Association of Convenience Stores successfully lobbied for the 2007 extension to DST;[39] in the mid-1980s Clorox (parent of Kingsford Charcoal) and 7-Eleven provided the primary funding for the Daylight Saving Time Coalition behind the 1987 extension, and both Idaho senators voted for it on the basis of fast-food restaurants selling more French fries made from Idaho potatoes.
==================================
Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I certainly don't need to be hit over the head with a brass band to see the fine Italian hand of our slippery Russkie pal, Comrade Sergei working behind the scenes (and what else would you expect?) and in cahoots with the retailers (which you wouldn't expect) with the end result of making our lives miserable twice a year. Skeptics may scoff, but don't forget that thanks to Bill, I won the coveted Uncle Albert Fibonacci Number Award, so I ought to know.
posted by El Tango Fandango @ 2:42 PM
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