Thane Plambeck

Ice Rink Zamboni Operator Charged with DUI

link

Nice headline— sure beats "The Quick Brown Fox Jumped Over the Lazy Dog," although I guess it's missing a few letters.

Pronunciation of Schuppanzigh on the Music @ Menlo CDs

They say "Shoo-PAN-zig," which has to be wrong, I think?

I thought it was "SCHUP-pan-zich" (ie, with a German-sort of 'ch' sound at the end)

?

[Google does not seem to be my friend in resolving this one]

Monarch on Agapanthus

Monarch on Agapanthus
Originally uploaded by thane.

TV B-Gone

TV B-Gone
Originally uploaded by thane.

TV B-Gone packaging

Perelman conf at MSRI

Ricci Flow, 3-Manifolds and Geometry

It would be nice to spend some time trying to learn this stuff, or at least something about it.

TV B-Gone

This morning I received TV B-Gone Universal TV Power Remote Control Keychain that I bought at Amazon. Since we don't have a TV, Gloria and I proceeded to a sports bar to try it out. It was mid-afternoon and the bar was practically empty. Still, Gloria insisted that I show restraint.

I pointed it at a large screen plasma showing a food-eating contest.

Blink. Off in two seconds.

Next, at a small TV in the corner, showing a NASCAR video.

Blink. One second.

Most satisfying.

From a message "Turn off Your Television!" included with the device:

You're staring at a piece of furniture!

People on TV are not your friends. They're not in the room with you. You are alone in the dark, staring at a plastic box. Think about it. This is like a science fiction horror story, but it's really happening...

Also, this "disclaimer" from the back of the package:

This product is sold for the exclusive private use of the buyer on their own equipment. Use under adult supervision. For external use only. Side effects may include decreased anxiety, increased social skills, increased cognitive ability, increased sense of well being...

From an essay by Lloyd Trefethen, "The Definition of Numerical Analysis"

link

There is a general principle of computing that seems to have no name: the faster the computer, the more important the speed of the algorithm [...] In the early years, the gaps between fast and slow algorithms were narrower...

Late Heavy Bombardment

google search

Sudwest Funk

Recorded 21 December 1958, Hackensack NJ

There was a time when Donald Byrd probably spent as much time out at Rudy Van Gelder's house in Hackensack recording sessions as he did in the clubs performing for live audiences...

The Complete Blue Note Donald Byrd/Pepper Adams Studio Sessions

Added later: previously blogged

The Lerch zeta function

link

Scapino, or the Trickster

This season the theme of the Chichester season is the con man...

Google: I'm feeling lucky / search

Adams trounced by Hydra

The latest Grandmaster vs Machine chess match got a little messy.

link

From a report by John Nunn:

The Adams-Hydra match signals the approaching end of man-machine contests. Already, last year's event in Bilbao was a sign that things were looking bleak for the humans. In Bilbao, it was not so much the performance of Hydra that was so impressive, but Fritz's score of 3.5/4 against Ponomariov, Topalov and Kariakin (twice). Hydra, which made the same score, was running on its special-purpose hardware but Fritz was running on a laptop computer from the local department store...

From a spam email chain letter

"NOTE: THIS IS 100% LEGAL! SEE SECTION 1302 OF THE US CODES, PART 18!!"

OK, I thought: I'll bite. Fully expecting to find no such code or "part," I instead immediately Googled up this interesting law.
* * *
Whoever knowingly deposits in the mail, or sends or delivers by mail:

Any letter, package, postal card, or circular concerning any lottery, gift enterprise, or similar scheme offering prizes dependent in whole or in part upon lot or chance;

Any lottery ticket or part thereof, or paper, certificate, or instrument purporting to be or to represent a ticket, chance, share, or interest in or dependent upon the event of a lottery, gift enterprise, or similar scheme offering prizes dependent in whole or in part upon lot or chance;

Any check, draft, bill, money, postal note, or money order, for the purchase of any ticket or part thereof, or of any share or chance in any such lottery, gift enterprise, or scheme;

Any newspaper, circular, pamphlet, or publication of any kind containing any advertisement of any lottery, gift enterprise, or scheme of any kind offering prizes dependent in whole or in part upon lot or chance, or containing any list of the prizes drawn or awarded by means of any such lottery, gift enterprise, or scheme, whether said list contains any part or all of such prizes;

Any article described in section 1953 of this title - Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than two years, or both; and for any subsequent offense shall be imprisoned not more than five years.
* * *
This would seem to rule out the Publisher's Clearinghouse Sweepstakes (not that we get that anymore).

yclept

definition

fonds

definition

Glow in the Dark Zome

link

Eugene Strens collection

While in Calgary, I briefly visited the Eugene Strens Collection of materials on recreational mathematics. Richard Guy directed Martin Demaine and me to the twelfth floor of the main library on the University of Calgary campus—"We'll tell them a Guy sent us," said Martin. From the web page of the collection:

* * *
History
The collection was established in 1983. It was acquired from the family of the late Eugene Strens. Eugene Strens was an engineer, amateur mathematician, and a friend of the mathematical artist Maurits Escher. Strens lived in Breda (Netherlands) and collected over two thousand items mostly books but also newspaper clippings, periodical issues, and manuscripts. The collection is being developed by donations from authors and other collectors, and by purchase.

Description
The aim of the collection is to be as comprehensive as possible in the areas of intuitive and recreational mathematics. All periods and all geographic areas are included although the emphasis of the material is on the Western world. Journals are included and there are clippings of columns from early journals. Rare books and manuscripts are present. The collection can be used by non-specialists but is primarily aimed at specialists.
* * *
To look at stuff from the collection, you have to look up accession numbers from a database (which you can access online at that link, above) and then give the numbers to the curator, who brings out the goodies. I find this an unsatisfying way to browse, but Martin, Steve Norman and I were also permitted a brief look into the collection itself, which occupies a big portion of library stacks behind the main room. It's full of rare manuscripts and books on recreational mathematics. I could have easily spent days prowling around in there. Martin Demaine said that Don Knuth had spent ten days there.

Work vs Jobs

From Jeffrey Steingarten's review of Tom Hodgkinson's book How to be Idle, in the Sunday NYT:

The chief problem with modern life is not work in itself. It is jobs. In 1993 Hodgkinson founded the British magazine The Idler, on whose Web site he succinctly sums up the horrors of having a job: "With very few exceptions the world of jobs is characterized by stifling boredom, grinding tedium, poverty, petty jealousies, sexual harassment, loneliness, deranged co-workers, bullying bosses, seething resentment, illness, exploitation, stress, helplessness, hellish commutes, humiliation, depression, appalling eithics, physical fatigue and mental exhaustion." Yes, that pretty much sums it up. On this we can all agree.

Digital camera coaching

"It needs to be on the green triangle."

"Do you see this thunderbolt? Press the thunderbolt."

"No, it needs to be on the green triangle."

"Press OK."

"You don't want that. That's setup. Red camera to take a picture. Green triangle to look at pictures."

Timely question, 9:30pm

Shall I walk downtown to see what the anarchists are up to?

(Probably not).