The shooting at Virginia Tech is a terrible thing. My heart goes out to all the victims who were just there to learn something to make their lives better. My heart also goes out to the shooter, he should not have done it, of course, but college can be very hard and demanding, far from home and without a support system until you make one yourself. Which can be very hard when you are going to school, doing homework and working.
What to do in such a circumstance? First don't panic, find cover, determine what is happening, and evacuate the area in a rational manner. The police are going to take a very long time to show up, so don't expect to be able to sit there and be rescued, you need to rescue yourself.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007
Babylonian mathematics
I am finding the History of Math book most fascinating. The Babylonians based their number system on base 60.
To given you an idea of what that would be like here is how we represent base 16:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 20...
To do the same with base 60 we would end up using the English alphabet, the Greek alphabet and still come up a bunch of characters short before we could use zero to get to "ten." Obviously it could handle really large numbers quite easily.
The funny thing is that we still use it to a limited extent today. We divide minutes into 60 seconds and hours into 60 minutes, there are also 360 (6x60) degrees in a circle.
To given you an idea of what that would be like here is how we represent base 16:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 A1 B1 C1 D1 E1 F1 20...
To do the same with base 60 we would end up using the English alphabet, the Greek alphabet and still come up a bunch of characters short before we could use zero to get to "ten." Obviously it could handle really large numbers quite easily.
The funny thing is that we still use it to a limited extent today. We divide minutes into 60 seconds and hours into 60 minutes, there are also 360 (6x60) degrees in a circle.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Thought Books
I don't really care for "great literature" mainly because all the great literature I had to read in school was all the same. The protagonists, I can't bring myself to call them heros, made some bad decisions, gets smacked with piles of irony and them dies. Four years of that kind of story and people wonder why no one reads books any more.
That said there are a number of books that should be read because they have influenced a large number of people. These will only be a sampling but I am sure you can find some more. These are the kinds of things don't study at the beginning of your education but closer to the middle, where you are ready for some challenges to your own paradigms. For good or bad these books have inspired people and it is best to be aware of them.
Primary religious books have influenced the greatest number of people. They have inspired some people to endure great suffering and other to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty.
Economic books have had great influence on thought as well. Authors like Adam Smith, John Keynes, Ludwig von Mises, Karl Marx and Ann Rand are some of the top influencers. Right or wrong they have gotten nations to act in certain ways. It is interesting how something called the dismal science and that doesn't really try to go out and be influential, they have made some very large impacts in the lives of virtually everyone on the planet.
Those are the most influential books, then there are the much smaller inspirational books that you may have heard of, these are optional reading, because while they have been influential to many people the groups have been very small and haven't been organized to really do anything. These include works like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Art of War, Ender's Game, Spiritual Marketing, How to Win Friends and Influence People. You'll find a lot of these in the Self Help section of the library or bookstore.
That said there are a number of books that should be read because they have influenced a large number of people. These will only be a sampling but I am sure you can find some more. These are the kinds of things don't study at the beginning of your education but closer to the middle, where you are ready for some challenges to your own paradigms. For good or bad these books have inspired people and it is best to be aware of them.
Primary religious books have influenced the greatest number of people. They have inspired some people to endure great suffering and other to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty.
Economic books have had great influence on thought as well. Authors like Adam Smith, John Keynes, Ludwig von Mises, Karl Marx and Ann Rand are some of the top influencers. Right or wrong they have gotten nations to act in certain ways. It is interesting how something called the dismal science and that doesn't really try to go out and be influential, they have made some very large impacts in the lives of virtually everyone on the planet.
Those are the most influential books, then there are the much smaller inspirational books that you may have heard of, these are optional reading, because while they have been influential to many people the groups have been very small and haven't been organized to really do anything. These include works like Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, The Art of War, Ender's Game, Spiritual Marketing, How to Win Friends and Influence People. You'll find a lot of these in the Self Help section of the library or bookstore.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Keep Going Kathy
Kathy finally posted again and is wondering where to go from here. Blogging is not about money, as it is most often done for free. Blogging is about community, it is about bringing people together on a particular topic and discussing it.
I want her to keep blogging but it need not be daily and a group blog would be a wonderful thing. I gladly volunteer to provide content.
I encourage her to start a project and continue on in greatness. Kathy has created a lot of love her and her products and ideas, and Newton's Law being what it is some people are hating her for that.
While I feel bad for Kathy, I feel a great pity for those who did this to her. They tear down instead of building the greatness within themselves. They are so wrapped up in envy and hate that it is a wonder they can function at all. They just remind me of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings.
There are plenty of people who have gone negative. "That will never work." "Yeah, but...." We need to surround ourselves with positive people and we will acheive something great.
There is also the Blogger Code of Conduct that has been posted and is being discussed. I just don't see the point. The poeple who act like they did are not going to stop and reconsider just because of a silly badge. They left civilized behavior behind long ago, if they ever learned it in the first place.
This is just a skirmish in the larger war of civilization. It is not just the war on terror, though it is a part of it, but it involves the daily decisions we make on the playground and in the boardroom and at the water cooler.
Civilization is organized enough to build the tools we need to defend against the bullies of the world, whether they are armed with keyboards or bombbelts. I no longer hate them or fear them, but I will exclude and ignore them. If they wish to grow up I will welcome them, if they want to build I will help them.
I want her to keep blogging but it need not be daily and a group blog would be a wonderful thing. I gladly volunteer to provide content.
I encourage her to start a project and continue on in greatness. Kathy has created a lot of love her and her products and ideas, and Newton's Law being what it is some people are hating her for that.
While I feel bad for Kathy, I feel a great pity for those who did this to her. They tear down instead of building the greatness within themselves. They are so wrapped up in envy and hate that it is a wonder they can function at all. They just remind me of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings.
There are plenty of people who have gone negative. "That will never work." "Yeah, but...." We need to surround ourselves with positive people and we will acheive something great.
There is also the Blogger Code of Conduct that has been posted and is being discussed. I just don't see the point. The poeple who act like they did are not going to stop and reconsider just because of a silly badge. They left civilized behavior behind long ago, if they ever learned it in the first place.
This is just a skirmish in the larger war of civilization. It is not just the war on terror, though it is a part of it, but it involves the daily decisions we make on the playground and in the boardroom and at the water cooler.
Civilization is organized enough to build the tools we need to defend against the bullies of the world, whether they are armed with keyboards or bombbelts. I no longer hate them or fear them, but I will exclude and ignore them. If they wish to grow up I will welcome them, if they want to build I will help them.
Monday, April 9, 2007
Potential homeschooling pitfalls
I think homeschooling is wonderful for some families, it doesn't work for everyone but for more then enough to make it worthwhile. More people do it them they think, if you help your children with their homework, you are homeschooling really.
The main objection to homeschooling I hear is "What about their socialization?" My general thought I if that is the best you can come up with there are some deep problems on your side. Not that it isn't a potential issue, if you get a ll insular then your children can run into some issues, like not being able to stand filling out forms and waiting for a bureaucracy to accomplish something.
Getting involved with group activities is important that way. Volunteering for some community service, joining a sports team or the local Boy Scout troop will make a big difference there. Schools have cut virtually all extracurricular activities not directly related to the sports teams, so often you'll have to go outside the school anyway.
There are clubs and associations for all kinds of things, bird watching, rocketry, collectable card games, and more then I can imagine, I keep running across groups doing things I would never have thought of. Go to your local library they are often the focal point of contact for these kinds of groups.
While there are lots of groups out there they may not be doing what you want to do, that is okay. That means you may have to create your own social group to do things with. You might as well do it right as part of training for the real world. Create a name, rules of association, choose a leader or committee of leaders and so on.
People are social and it is best to do a lot of that and also to create bounds to make what you are doing clear.
The main objection to homeschooling I hear is "What about their socialization?" My general thought I if that is the best you can come up with there are some deep problems on your side. Not that it isn't a potential issue, if you get a ll insular then your children can run into some issues, like not being able to stand filling out forms and waiting for a bureaucracy to accomplish something.
Getting involved with group activities is important that way. Volunteering for some community service, joining a sports team or the local Boy Scout troop will make a big difference there. Schools have cut virtually all extracurricular activities not directly related to the sports teams, so often you'll have to go outside the school anyway.
There are clubs and associations for all kinds of things, bird watching, rocketry, collectable card games, and more then I can imagine, I keep running across groups doing things I would never have thought of. Go to your local library they are often the focal point of contact for these kinds of groups.
While there are lots of groups out there they may not be doing what you want to do, that is okay. That means you may have to create your own social group to do things with. You might as well do it right as part of training for the real world. Create a name, rules of association, choose a leader or committee of leaders and so on.
People are social and it is best to do a lot of that and also to create bounds to make what you are doing clear.
Friday, April 6, 2007
BrainTeaser: Would the Plane still take off?
I ran across this brain teaser a while ago and I thought I'd post it.
If you built a 100 foot wide, mile long runway that was a conveyor belt that would exactly counter the effect of the wheels on an airplane would the airplane still take off.
How to solve this?
One question to ask is; does it matter if the plane has wheels? Of course not, there are seaplane that use pontoons to take off from the water, and planes can also be fitted with skis for taking off on snow. We could take the physicist take on that matter and set the plane on a frictionless plane instead. So really the wheels are not all that important to the problem.
Plane fly because of the flow of air over the wings that provide lift and the trust of the engines, the drag of the aircraft itself and the force of gravity.
So back to the problem, when the pilot spools up the engines, the plane pushes itself forward, the wheels will move forward slightly, the conveyor with have to move forward slightly to counteract the roll of the wheels, that will still move the plane forward. All the plane wants to do is to move forward so it can have airflow over the wings and that is happening even if the wheels are not moving.
So the plane should take off normally.
If you built a 100 foot wide, mile long runway that was a conveyor belt that would exactly counter the effect of the wheels on an airplane would the airplane still take off.
How to solve this?
One question to ask is; does it matter if the plane has wheels? Of course not, there are seaplane that use pontoons to take off from the water, and planes can also be fitted with skis for taking off on snow. We could take the physicist take on that matter and set the plane on a frictionless plane instead. So really the wheels are not all that important to the problem.
Plane fly because of the flow of air over the wings that provide lift and the trust of the engines, the drag of the aircraft itself and the force of gravity.
So back to the problem, when the pilot spools up the engines, the plane pushes itself forward, the wheels will move forward slightly, the conveyor with have to move forward slightly to counteract the roll of the wheels, that will still move the plane forward. All the plane wants to do is to move forward so it can have airflow over the wings and that is happening even if the wheels are not moving.
So the plane should take off normally.
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