Categories
Doodles

The Grauniad

Have worked out how the Guardian can be so much up its own arse. It is actually like a Klein bottle which has no inside or outside.

There are so many sordid parts of the UK media. In my opinion that would be the Murdoch press, obviously the Daily Mail. Easy targets but one I particularly hate is the Grauniad. (http://www.guardian.co.uk I have given the link as everyone is free to make up their own mind, I know some of the opinions in it drive people almost orgasmic with joy and agreement).

It is not because generally the sordid rag has a different political view to me (although I notice those with alternative political views hate other papers solely for this reason). In fact I prefer The Independant despite the time it takes to download any article on a slow connection speed.

Anyway amongst my many things I have against it are…

1) The exceedingly poor taste 9/11 coverage that friends of mine at the time found truly offensive

2) Hypocrisy, I (in common with the Guardian opinion writers) could not see how banks could pay bonuses to their CEOs while making a loss. Likewise I cannot see how when the Guardian Media Group made a  £171,000,000 loss they paid thier CEO a £143,000 bonus.

3) As if Wastebook isnt evil enough I now accidently click on links to Guardian articles then on my wall everyone in the world can see I am reading the Guardian. I then have to disinfect myself.

Categories
New Year Resolutions 2011 Sonnets

Lets Derive on Forever

When I am feeling particularly creative there is sometimes only one way to express it, and that is through one of my more creative pursuits, mathematics…

Art can take you to an imaginary land
Far beyond what a mans eye can see
Literature can describe such places so grand
Drama can provoke feelings in both you and me
But what of places beyond ones imagination?
What about to things that the mind cannot picture
Any method of thought that can cope would be fun
This is where mathematics comes right to the fore
It can see things both in this world and beyond
Things imaginary as well as things everyday
It is why maths is something of which I am fond
Maths needs immense creativity along the way
So if lifes beauty is something that’s much sought
Consider e to the pi i minus one equals nought.
A random walk of a drunk beetle to see if he would return to the start
Categories
New Year Resolutions 2011 Unusual Hybrids

The Dog Fish – And Chaos Theory

Is it a fish or is it a dog, is it a fishdog? No its a dogfish. Some crazy people think dogfish are a type of shark but I think it is a close cousin of a beagle…

It is said that if a dogfish wags his tail in the South China Sea it can cause good surfing in Newquay. This is a known as the Dogfish Effect and is a key concept in Chaos Theory.

Get the surfboards out, this is one happy fish...
Categories
Limerick New Year Resolutions 2010

3D Geometry Apprentice Style

I am sure everyone like me was curious as to the link between the pyramid bottle shape and the name prism, ruined it all for me…

~

There once was a confused little prism
Who caused somewhat of a schism
Cross sections weren’t unique
The bottle rose to a peak
Creating a name full of unrealism
Categories
Lessons New Year Resolutions 2010

8th-14th December…

Wednesday

The probability of drawing unique names in a secret Santa is an alternating series that eventually converges at 1/e. (Obvious once I realised that it is related to derangements).

Thursday

Individual African elephants can have different numbers of ribs.

Friday

Found a neat way of explaining !n.

Saturday

Catnip can for some cats be a calming influence.

Sunday

The large blue butterfly caterpillar is adopted by ants and feeds on ant larvae until it metamorphosises.

Monday

Michael Bear is the present Lord Mayor of London (not to be confused with Boris, the Mayor of London).

Tuesday

Rupert the bear was 90 this year.

Categories
Doodles Limerick New Year Resolutions 2010

Travelling Prophet of Doom Problem

prophet of doom in the british countryside
Prophet of Doom contemplating whether P=NP before embarking on his tour of cheery greetings.
A prophet  from Ottery,
Had immoral places to see,
But he got rather sick,
Of finding a route that was quick,
He just wished that P equalled NP.
Categories
Lessons New Year Resolutions 2010

November 10th – November 16th

Wednesday

I learnt how a XOR goat cardboard model works.

Thursday

Koch described the snowflake curve in 1904.

Friday

There is a train from Bridgwater to Taunton at 1.07 am on Saturday morning.

Saturday

I learnt the identity of South Park’s Mint Berry Crunch (Bradley Biggle brother of a goth kid).

Sunday

The bolt in Frankenstein’s monster in the film is actually connections for electrodes, not to keep the head on.

Monday

“Now is the winter of our discontent” was from Richard III. Roy Orbison died the same year English pound notes stopped being legal tender.

Tuesday

Prince William will have a father in law called Mike (assuming all goes smoothly etc.)

Categories
Doodles

Scenes From the History of Mathematics (Helge von Koch)

Koch House
Snow falls at Helge von Koch's house
Categories
Lessons New Year Resolutions 2010

November 3rd – November 9th

Wednesday

African Pangolins mainly give birth to one offspring at a time whereas the Asian ones are more likely to go for twins or triplets.

Thursday

The collective noun for hamsters is a horde.

Friday

The real Maria Von Trapp made a fleeting appearance in The Sound of Music.

Saturday

Swindon Supermarine made this years FA cup 1st round, I can remember being entertained by a bad tempered game between them and Taunton Town a few years ago…

Sunday

A 600g box of jelly babies contains approximately 100 jelly babies.

Monday

The Hungarian Algorithm was actually dvised in america based on the previous work of 2 Hungarian Mathematicians.

Tuesday

140g of sugar puffs will give you 100% of the daily recommended amount of vitamin B1.

Categories
Doodles

Scenes From the History of Mathematics (John von Neumann)

John von Neumann plays cards with Space Slug
John von Neumann uses game theory to outwit the evil space slug and save Planet Earth from certain destruction