03.25.08
Posted in goings on at 11:18 am by electricvishnu
’tis the spring time, with the birds and their chirps, the budding trees, and all the rest. it seems as if winter didn’t really happen. there was no huge big bad snow to speak of, and that last march blast never really came, oh well, better luck next year.
so the economy is in the crapper, we’ve been in iraq for five years [with 4.000 lives lost,] china is cracking down on the restless tibetans . . .
as mr, al puts it:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_hO8Qxtuig]
the november predicament: ["clinton says she ‘misspoke’ about dodging sniper fire," new york times. 03.25.08]
so back to the spring thing . . .
in the western christian tradition, this past weekend marked bbj’s mystical transformation from . . . well you know the whole story, and i wouldn’t want to offend with any alternative [and perhaps slightly irreverent] reading of scripture.
and on the other side
arthur c. clarke has passed away. on the star of bethlehem, that clarke believed was a pulsar:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IN1yvdYx0HU]
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03.20.08
Posted in goings on at 7:14 pm by electricvishnu
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9cF66cSptE]
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03.19.08
Posted in goings on at 6:49 pm by electricvishnu
["the bear precedent," the wall street journal: 03.19.08]
it could not be said much better than how nicole gelinas put it in an opinion piece.
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03.17.08
Posted in goings on at 10:16 am by electricvishnu
st patrick was not born in ireland.
st patrick is also the patron saint of engineers. [http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/patrons.asp], not just of the rowdy rowdies on st pat’s day.
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03.14.08
Posted in math at 7:08 pm by electricvishnu
happy pi day to all.
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03.12.08
Posted in haikus at 12:18 pm by electricvishnu
it’s just rock and roll
and corrupt politicians
that make this world move
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03.09.08
Posted in math at 8:33 pm by electricvishnu
a calendar problem
after non-leap years, the next february begins one day after the previous year (tuesday, the year after monday)
after leap years, february begins two days after the previous year (wednesday, the year after monday)
pay-days occur biweekly, therefore assign the integers {0,1, 2, 3, . . . , 12, 13} to {friday (1), saturday (1), . . . , thursday (2)}
plot integers within 4 X n matrix, entries in column 1 are on leap years, so
a(2, k)= a(1, k) + 2 [mod 14]
a(l+1, k) = a(l,k) + 1 [mod 14], for l not= 1
a(m, k+1) = a(m,k) + 5 [mod 14]
solve for a(0, k) = 0
2008+4k = “3 payday february year”
we know a(m, k+1) = a(m,k) + 5 [mod 14]
only consider the sequence a(k):
so a(k) = 5k [mod 14]
5 and 14 are relatively prime, so
5*k not= 0 [mod 14] for all 0<k<14
5*14 = 0 [mod 14]
k = 14
2008 + 4*14 = 2064
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03.08.08
Posted in goings on at 3:34 pm by electricvishnu
on march 8, 1983, ronald reagan, in a speech to the national association of evangelicals, refers to the soviet union as an evil empire.
twenty five years later . . .
and on the other side of the planet, the right to water-board is reserved?
(see also “the unstudied art of interrogation“)
on a different note:
a sigur ros movie:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr4s7KeCbV8]
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03.03.08
Posted in math at 1:52 pm by electricvishnu
[thanks to paul the social worker for introducing this problem]
paychecks are given out biweekly. in 2008, there are three paydays in february. when is the next year this will happen?
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Posted in math at 1:47 pm by electricvishnu
a few months ago i posed a question concerning the planarity of the new york city subway map?
solution:
first, a finite graph is planar if and only if it does not contain a subgraph that is a subdivision that is either K(5) or K(3,3).
[it must not contain within it either 5 nodes that all connect with one another or two sets of 3 nodes each which all connect with all 3 of the nodes of the other set.]
there exists a subgraph K3,3. therefore, the new york city subway map is not planar.
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