'Nerdy tapas eating star gazers must have cheated' say US big tube lovers.
Apparantly a US astronomical team accidentally gave public access to their observing records which were then accessed by the tapas eaters according to the US big tube lovers web logs. Two days later the paellea heads claimed discovery of a new object in the heavens evidence for which the US team say was in their records. For more details about the cause of this nerdy bitch slapping contest see http://www.gps.caltech.edu/~mbrown/planetlila/#hack. And the tapas eater replies here http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mpml/message/15693.
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Friday, September 16, 2005
Ruby on Rails...
Find out for yourself what all the fuss is about:
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html
But read the posts at the end first as there are errors in the code!
http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/01/20/rails.html
But read the posts at the end first as there are errors in the code!
False Memories...
We've all had arguments of the 'who said what to whom' type. This may be related to the psychological concept of 'false memories' where an imaginary event has the properties of an actual memory.
An archived article in Nature Neuroscience http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v3/n12/full/nn1200_1316.html reports an experiment in which some researchers tested the idea that false memories are related to vividly imagined events in the minds eye and found that it appears to be the case.
If you ponder this for a while it will seem remarkable how easily the brain can be tricked and how often this must happen in a lifetime. In fact I suspect a lot our beliefs about ourselves, the world and our abilities are formed accidentally when these mechanisms are triggered.
This rings another bell with me. For example, Olympic athletes are supposed to vividly imagine successful outcomes many times a day. Maybe they are creating something similar to a false memories. Enough of these false memories could help convince the mind of some wonderful (or dangerously delusional) things.
This research supports the idea that the mind cannot distinguish at some level between vividly imagined scenes and memories. The response to vividly imagined events can be incredibley powerful and is easy to demonstrate - read a porn mag and your mind/body does the rest. Of course in the suggested experiment it is easy to distinguish fantasy from reality since she doesn't talk back.
An archived article in Nature Neuroscience http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v3/n12/full/nn1200_1316.html reports an experiment in which some researchers tested the idea that false memories are related to vividly imagined events in the minds eye and found that it appears to be the case.
If you ponder this for a while it will seem remarkable how easily the brain can be tricked and how often this must happen in a lifetime. In fact I suspect a lot our beliefs about ourselves, the world and our abilities are formed accidentally when these mechanisms are triggered.
This rings another bell with me. For example, Olympic athletes are supposed to vividly imagine successful outcomes many times a day. Maybe they are creating something similar to a false memories. Enough of these false memories could help convince the mind of some wonderful (or dangerously delusional) things.
This research supports the idea that the mind cannot distinguish at some level between vividly imagined scenes and memories. The response to vividly imagined events can be incredibley powerful and is easy to demonstrate - read a porn mag and your mind/body does the rest. Of course in the suggested experiment it is easy to distinguish fantasy from reality since she doesn't talk back.
Google Search Tip...
Try using 'filetype'. For example, "functional analysis" filetype:pdf will produce heaps of pdf's conerning 'functional analysis'. Good way to educate oneself on any topic using the Internet.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Einstein material...
www.alberteinstein.info contains an increasing number of scans and transcripts of original Einstein documents. See scans of the notebooks he wrote while learning physics for example.
Alternative to Hull's online course...
http://www.rotman.utoronto.ca/~hull/2307out/
Here is a list of chapters and assignments in the order in which Hull teaches them in his advanced derivatives class. This is relative to the 6e of his book, so may need adjusting if using an earlier edition.
Here is a list of chapters and assignments in the order in which Hull teaches them in his advanced derivatives class. This is relative to the 6e of his book, so may need adjusting if using an earlier edition.
Hull on Derivatives....
Hull is developing an e-course for learning about derivatives. For details see
http://www.hullonderivatives.com/internal.php?con=14&lnk=ls
Neat, the way the list highlights as you move the mouse over the grid!
I think its about $195 per module, a couple of thousand for the group of modules about labeled advanced derivatives and stoch calculus.
http://www.hullonderivatives.com/internal.php?con=14&lnk=ls
Neat, the way the list highlights as you move the mouse over the grid!
I think its about $195 per module, a couple of thousand for the group of modules about labeled advanced derivatives and stoch calculus.
Friday, September 09, 2005
Bad Science...
I know I'm not the only person over 10 years of age whose spotted trends in newspaper reporting. Newspapers are internally censored and end up being somewhat seasonal, rather like a trending random process with the odd jump diffusion (unsurprising similarity to market information). The Guardian has started keeping a record of such stuff here http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badscience/
Of course, they're above such nonsense!
Of course, they're above such nonsense!
Old bird with a pair of huge....
30ft wings - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4223658.stm
'Scientists think pterosaurs could inform modern aircraft design'
And where am I supposed to sit exactly?
'Scientists think pterosaurs could inform modern aircraft design'
And where am I supposed to sit exactly?
I read this...
'It is important to note that mathematical ideas model OUR CONCEPTION of the real world, rather than the real world iteself. '
This perspective can help with ones abilities in maths by providing the thinking space between phenomenon and description of those phenomenon using mathematics. I'm not talking about philosophy here, but about psychological process.
Try making the above statement concrete by applying it a real wold example - go from observation, to guessed pattern to linear description.
This perspective can help with ones abilities in maths by providing the thinking space between phenomenon and description of those phenomenon using mathematics. I'm not talking about philosophy here, but about psychological process.
Try making the above statement concrete by applying it a real wold example - go from observation, to guessed pattern to linear description.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
What is...?
The American Mathematical Society have a free online magazine (articles in pdf) that can be subscribed to here http://www.ams.org/notices/ .
I particularly like the What Is...? set of columns. The current one is called WHAT IS...a Lefschetz Pencil? .
So what is a Lefschetz Pencil? I'll give you some clues. Put on your topology hat and learn what a compact 4-manifold is. Now twist the 4-manifold just enough so that you get a fibre bundle....are you with me?....now go read the rest of the article and explain it to me when you have.
I particularly like the What Is...? set of columns. The current one is called WHAT IS...a Lefschetz Pencil? .
So what is a Lefschetz Pencil? I'll give you some clues. Put on your topology hat and learn what a compact 4-manifold is. Now twist the 4-manifold just enough so that you get a fibre bundle....are you with me?....now go read the rest of the article and explain it to me when you have.
Lebesgue's Theorem...
I've had no success puzzling over Riesz/Nagy proof of the existence of a finite derivative for the class of monotone functions. Alas, searches on the internet keep leading to the standard proof involving Vitali's covering theorem. I imagine Vitali's work is embedded in the Riesz's version, but the Riesz/Nagy proof is so simple (except for the inequality I mentioned) that the unexplained equality is getting quite frustrating!
John Kay Inspires Realism
John Kay provides a refreshing balance to the hero worship we are bombarded with every time we open a newspaper or watch television.
There appears to be a natural tendency towards hero worship in human beings. We need our gods in whatever field of pursuit we engage. Einsteins, Alexanders, Beckhams(!). But the business world desperately hides the role of fate and that it may require less and less knowledge and skill the higher up one slips - except for self promotion and politics. It hides the fact that success seems to rely upon the sway of events and of course a quick flick of the hand during the rewrite of business history.
Now I'm not saying successful people dont deserve what they have just that the world of hero worshippers forgets to assign the appropriate weighting to chance and fortune in the make-up of a persons success.
Given the bulk of human mass slopping into every corner of the planet, huge levels of success are to be probably expected rather than causally explained.
There appears to be a natural tendency towards hero worship in human beings. We need our gods in whatever field of pursuit we engage. Einsteins, Alexanders, Beckhams(!). But the business world desperately hides the role of fate and that it may require less and less knowledge and skill the higher up one slips - except for self promotion and politics. It hides the fact that success seems to rely upon the sway of events and of course a quick flick of the hand during the rewrite of business history.
Now I'm not saying successful people dont deserve what they have just that the world of hero worshippers forgets to assign the appropriate weighting to chance and fortune in the make-up of a persons success.
Given the bulk of human mass slopping into every corner of the planet, huge levels of success are to be probably expected rather than causally explained.
Google Favourites
Interesting thing about my surfing behaviour but I put less time into recording favourite URL's and have started relying upon google to find a web site again (though I've started making the effort of using the distributed favourites list offered by del.icio.us .
This kind of reminds me of how ActiveWord works. I never really put the effort into using this tool that the author says it deserves but the idea behind it seemed fruitful and has appeared in a couple of places. It works by allowing you to summon an application using a semantically meaningful word for an application or website. For example, lets say you want to search google and no browser is open. Simply hit the Ctrl key twice, up pops an edit box at the top of the screen, and type 'google'. Lo and behold, ActiveWord fires up the browser ready to go with a google search page. Similarly, you could type in 'system', 'word' or 'excel' for the respective control panel applet or applications.
The author wants to reduce the gap between whats in peoples heads and the task they have to perform to get to the target application. Typing the name of the application or website is often (if youre an efficient typist) quicker than hunting up and down various menus.
I said this idea has appeared in a couple of places the first being that I no longer record as many favourite web site links. Instead I tend to remember semantic information (for example Quinny Speedi SX and kiddicare.com) which I then pump into google which recreates the association. This probably works because my first port of call is normally google whenever I go surfing so I'm recreating the search steps I took, but the effect is the same. I only have to remember semantic content instead of urls etc.
The second place I've spotted this notion is how the new google desktop search engine has included applications in the search box completion (appears when you start typing a word). So, typing 'system' will show the System Control panel applet has been indexed and can be started directly. The main difference between this and ActiveWord is that the latter is far more configurable as it can associate any name with an application or url etc.
Words have tremendously high semantic packing and we can expect more apps to exploit this concept in the ongoing future.
This kind of reminds me of how ActiveWord works. I never really put the effort into using this tool that the author says it deserves but the idea behind it seemed fruitful and has appeared in a couple of places. It works by allowing you to summon an application using a semantically meaningful word for an application or website. For example, lets say you want to search google and no browser is open. Simply hit the Ctrl key twice, up pops an edit box at the top of the screen, and type 'google'. Lo and behold, ActiveWord fires up the browser ready to go with a google search page. Similarly, you could type in 'system', 'word' or 'excel' for the respective control panel applet or applications.
The author wants to reduce the gap between whats in peoples heads and the task they have to perform to get to the target application. Typing the name of the application or website is often (if youre an efficient typist) quicker than hunting up and down various menus.
I said this idea has appeared in a couple of places the first being that I no longer record as many favourite web site links. Instead I tend to remember semantic information (for example Quinny Speedi SX and kiddicare.com) which I then pump into google which recreates the association. This probably works because my first port of call is normally google whenever I go surfing so I'm recreating the search steps I took, but the effect is the same. I only have to remember semantic content instead of urls etc.
The second place I've spotted this notion is how the new google desktop search engine has included applications in the search box completion (appears when you start typing a word). So, typing 'system' will show the System Control panel applet has been indexed and can be started directly. The main difference between this and ActiveWord is that the latter is far more configurable as it can associate any name with an application or url etc.
Words have tremendously high semantic packing and we can expect more apps to exploit this concept in the ongoing future.
Mathematical Problem Solving...
I've been looking at problem solving heuristics for mathematical problem solving. It still seems to be 'dark magic' despite the current research into mathemtical learning taking place in universities today. If you search the web you'll find little more than rehashes of Polya's original work.
The areas I feel haven't been considered stem around making internal representations of problems and altering/mainpulating those internal presentations in a way a mathematician might. We need to start building a way of recording the internal vocalbulary used by mathematicians (and physicists, biologists etc). I'm not saying this is easy, but the majority of papers I read are information poor, vague notions about some classroom experiment performed on bunch of under 16's which make great reading for curriculum teachers but offer no value whatsoever to those who actually want to figure out how 'it' is done. I'd say the really difficult progression in math is from undergraduate to graduate maths when the obfuscation of motivation behind the ever increasing number of theorems and at the same time the formality of argument reach ever increasing levels.
We want to know what goes on in the mind of an Atiyah when he first sees a new bit of mathematics to learn?
How does he approach reading, problems etc?
What kind of mental map do they keep of the interconnections and categories of problems and mathematics they have encountered?
How about samples of their original notebooks? Textbooks hide to much for those who want to teach themselves the reality behind the origin of theorems and conjectures (though see John Mason at the OU).
How do they represent directions and goals? How do they react to difficulties and problems?
This is not an organised list but just a tumble of ideas no-one has seemed to ask.
The answers of course must be quite detailed - we want to see videos of them in action so we can spot patterns in what they do. Learning from the masters by osmosis is still a viable option if you ask me - we just need to utilise digital technology a little more.
The areas I feel haven't been considered stem around making internal representations of problems and altering/mainpulating those internal presentations in a way a mathematician might. We need to start building a way of recording the internal vocalbulary used by mathematicians (and physicists, biologists etc). I'm not saying this is easy, but the majority of papers I read are information poor, vague notions about some classroom experiment performed on bunch of under 16's which make great reading for curriculum teachers but offer no value whatsoever to those who actually want to figure out how 'it' is done. I'd say the really difficult progression in math is from undergraduate to graduate maths when the obfuscation of motivation behind the ever increasing number of theorems and at the same time the formality of argument reach ever increasing levels.
We want to know what goes on in the mind of an Atiyah when he first sees a new bit of mathematics to learn?
How does he approach reading, problems etc?
What kind of mental map do they keep of the interconnections and categories of problems and mathematics they have encountered?
How about samples of their original notebooks? Textbooks hide to much for those who want to teach themselves the reality behind the origin of theorems and conjectures (though see John Mason at the OU).
How do they represent directions and goals? How do they react to difficulties and problems?
This is not an organised list but just a tumble of ideas no-one has seemed to ask.
The answers of course must be quite detailed - we want to see videos of them in action so we can spot patterns in what they do. Learning from the masters by osmosis is still a viable option if you ask me - we just need to utilise digital technology a little more.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Lebesgue's Theorem...
There is a proof for the above theorem in Riesz/Nagy. The theorem concerns the existence of a finite derivative for the class of monotone functions. It proceeds simply enough by proving a Lemma. The Lemma shows that the function as defined is monotone. However, I'm a little bemused by the contradiction at the end of the proof of the Lemma which ends g(x1) < g(eps) <= g(bk) < g(x1). I can see the first and second half in isolation, but where does the g(eps)<=g(bk) come from?
Maths Again...
OK, todays incoming read is Functional Analysis by Reisz and Nagy. I've been meaning to get hold of this for some time. Its a cracking read, quite easy to skim, and inspiring in the credentials of at least one of the authors that I've heard of previously. There's a repetetive logic to the topic of Analysis that is beginning to unfold.
I've also been refreshing some of the theory behind Monte Carlo simulation. Its odd how such seemingly difficult mathematics results in a so few lines of codes.
Also, started the day with concepts from HAF - namely relations, ordering, partially ordered, posets, wosets and co.
These objects are beginning to come to life and interelations starting to appear.
Outgoing read is 'Naked Olympics'. Its a popular historical book about some of the facts behind how the ancient Olympics were held. I was horrified to read about the conditions at Olympia as 40 thousand sports fans crammed into the stadium and its surrounding grounds in the hottest filthiest conditions imaginable. The nearby river almost dried up in the summer heat was used as a communal toilet. Dead animals used in sacrifice were dumped in holes and left to rot in the heat. Waste was disposed of willy-nilly. Sweaty men who didnt take baths (there was no water anyhow) would stand in the burning sun till large numbers dropped from heat exhaustion.
And yet they kept on coming for over a thousand years!
I've also been refreshing some of the theory behind Monte Carlo simulation. Its odd how such seemingly difficult mathematics results in a so few lines of codes.
Also, started the day with concepts from HAF - namely relations, ordering, partially ordered, posets, wosets and co.
These objects are beginning to come to life and interelations starting to appear.
Outgoing read is 'Naked Olympics'. Its a popular historical book about some of the facts behind how the ancient Olympics were held. I was horrified to read about the conditions at Olympia as 40 thousand sports fans crammed into the stadium and its surrounding grounds in the hottest filthiest conditions imaginable. The nearby river almost dried up in the summer heat was used as a communal toilet. Dead animals used in sacrifice were dumped in holes and left to rot in the heat. Waste was disposed of willy-nilly. Sweaty men who didnt take baths (there was no water anyhow) would stand in the burning sun till large numbers dropped from heat exhaustion.
And yet they kept on coming for over a thousand years!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
What I...
...want/am consuming. There's a couple of websites where you can record 43 things you want (www.43things.com) and books/videos you're consuming (www.43.allconsuming.net). In the first you make public a list of things youre after. Another person can go along and see all the people who want the same thing. I guess the idea is to then encourage each other or share success stories once you've achieved your goal. There's also a list of the most popular goals. It can be quite intersting to see how many others are after the same things as oneself.
However, the individuals all seem rather isolated and I dont yet see much activity between fellow goal seekers.
Also, the site wont be much use if people are only going there to announce their resolutions du jour and never popping back to help others in the same categories or not even reporting upon their progress.
The latter site records a list of books you might be reading or music you maybe listening to. Again without other people commenting upon or expanding upon the why and wherefore the site wont be much use. Why not comment upon Amazon or just write your own blog.
However, the individuals all seem rather isolated and I dont yet see much activity between fellow goal seekers.
Also, the site wont be much use if people are only going there to announce their resolutions du jour and never popping back to help others in the same categories or not even reporting upon their progress.
The latter site records a list of books you might be reading or music you maybe listening to. Again without other people commenting upon or expanding upon the why and wherefore the site wont be much use. Why not comment upon Amazon or just write your own blog.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)