Bees
I ran into a cute game while browsing web logs. This one was referred to by Weblog Wannabe. It is called Bubble Bees, at http://www.orisinal.com/games/bubble.htm. In the game, there is a pastel nature scene, and bees come from left to right on the screen. You have a bubble maker, consisting of a loop on a stick, and you are supposed to blow bubbles in front of the bees, trapping them in the bubbles. I got the hang of it a few times and scored 890. What I like about this game is its non-violent nature. Sure it traps bees, but in real life a bee were encased in a soap bubble, it could sting the bubble out of extinction without any harm to the bee. It sure is a refreshing change from all this violent beat and shoot 'em stuff that you see in many of these computer games. If you have a few minutes to use up, and want to test your mouse skills, try this game.
A Journey through Blogrealm
Blogtrek
Blogtrek
2002/06/15
2002/06/13
Algebra
One of the bigger advances made my humanity in the past two or three thousand years was the development of algebra by the Hindus and then by Al-Khwarizmi. This was the method by which arithmetic was turned into a detective game in which a certain unknown quantity was to be found. I feel that a large part of this advance was due to using single letters to denote unknowns. As long as words were used, the whole idea was clumsy. For example, to solve "Three times a certain number plus five equals four.", you say the same thing, only less by five, and say "three times a certain number plus five minus five equals four minus five." Then you have to write the simplification of that, and so forth. It is a slow process and one that many would not have patience with. By using a single letter such as x to stand for the unknown, one could write it simply as:
3x + 5 = 4
Subtracting 5 from both sides yields
3x + 5 - 5 = 4 - 5, or
3x = -1.
It is much easier to deal with. Note also the simplification that results from omitting the times or multiplication sign everywhere except between two numbers.
Unfortunately, we seem to be getting away from this compact notation. Computer languages commonly allow multiple-character unknowns, or variables, such as COST or ACCOUNTS_PAYABLE. If you do this, you can no longer denote multiplication by juxtaposition. You have to say COST*HOURS. Further, statements can get quite complicated such as:
Set Northwind_DatabaseSet = ThisDatabase.OpenRecordset("MYTABLE", dbopendynaset)
No wonder people can't learn Visual Basic or C++. This sort of thing is just as long-winded as "Three times a certain number plus five equals four." We are back to the days before al-Khwarizmi. That is why I break the rules and frequently use i or a to denote a variable. It's time we shortened our variable names to make computer programming less of a tedious chore.
One of the bigger advances made my humanity in the past two or three thousand years was the development of algebra by the Hindus and then by Al-Khwarizmi. This was the method by which arithmetic was turned into a detective game in which a certain unknown quantity was to be found. I feel that a large part of this advance was due to using single letters to denote unknowns. As long as words were used, the whole idea was clumsy. For example, to solve "Three times a certain number plus five equals four.", you say the same thing, only less by five, and say "three times a certain number plus five minus five equals four minus five." Then you have to write the simplification of that, and so forth. It is a slow process and one that many would not have patience with. By using a single letter such as x to stand for the unknown, one could write it simply as:
3x + 5 = 4
Subtracting 5 from both sides yields
3x + 5 - 5 = 4 - 5, or
3x = -1.
It is much easier to deal with. Note also the simplification that results from omitting the times or multiplication sign everywhere except between two numbers.
Unfortunately, we seem to be getting away from this compact notation. Computer languages commonly allow multiple-character unknowns, or variables, such as COST or ACCOUNTS_PAYABLE. If you do this, you can no longer denote multiplication by juxtaposition. You have to say COST*HOURS. Further, statements can get quite complicated such as:
Set Northwind_DatabaseSet = ThisDatabase.OpenRecordset("MYTABLE", dbopendynaset)
No wonder people can't learn Visual Basic or C++. This sort of thing is just as long-winded as "Three times a certain number plus five equals four." We are back to the days before al-Khwarizmi. That is why I break the rules and frequently use i or a to denote a variable. It's time we shortened our variable names to make computer programming less of a tedious chore.
2002/06/12
Gadgets
One thing that makes the world of the early 2000's different from the 1950's or earlier is the large number of gadgets that are available to make life easier. From when I was a child until now, they include television, washing machines, addiators, slide rules, calculators, compact discs, back teller machines, computers, VCRs, cellular phones, GPS devices, and PDAs, plus plenty of others. But do they all help? Take cellular phones, for instance. Each cellular phone has its own buttons on it; there is no standard. On one I looked at today, you turn it on by pressing END. That's right, you begin at the END. Whoever came up with that one? Evidently someone who feels the END is near came up with that one. I asked about analog service. They started talking about roaming. Since when does analog have anything to do with roaming?
Then of course there is the strength of signals. You have to have cellular phone towers nearby or you get no service. Cellular phones are a hot item in communities; many communities don't want them. OK, then, they don't get cellular phone service. That's NIMBY in action. The place becomes a black hole. Many other communities want the service but don't want unsightly towers, so guess what? They put cellular phone tower equipment on flag poles, trees (although these trees look a little odd), water towers, and other naturally and artificially-occurring high objects. What I found strange was that an old 1997 or so vintage analog cellular phone got better reception than a modern 21st century one with digital service.
I can go on like this about cellular phones or about other devices. Did you know that you activate voice mail at work by using call forwarding? That to me is like forwarding calls to the washingmachine - it does not make sense. I can also expand upon the unintuitivies of other gadgets in our age. It is not the gadgets' fault. It's the fault of those that make them. Someone out there thinks that END means turn on, that "system" means quit (Radio Shack Basic), that a fax is a special kind of printer (I'd like to print you something) and so forth. It's time the gadget manufacturers start making sense on these machines.
One thing that makes the world of the early 2000's different from the 1950's or earlier is the large number of gadgets that are available to make life easier. From when I was a child until now, they include television, washing machines, addiators, slide rules, calculators, compact discs, back teller machines, computers, VCRs, cellular phones, GPS devices, and PDAs, plus plenty of others. But do they all help? Take cellular phones, for instance. Each cellular phone has its own buttons on it; there is no standard. On one I looked at today, you turn it on by pressing END. That's right, you begin at the END. Whoever came up with that one? Evidently someone who feels the END is near came up with that one. I asked about analog service. They started talking about roaming. Since when does analog have anything to do with roaming?
Then of course there is the strength of signals. You have to have cellular phone towers nearby or you get no service. Cellular phones are a hot item in communities; many communities don't want them. OK, then, they don't get cellular phone service. That's NIMBY in action. The place becomes a black hole. Many other communities want the service but don't want unsightly towers, so guess what? They put cellular phone tower equipment on flag poles, trees (although these trees look a little odd), water towers, and other naturally and artificially-occurring high objects. What I found strange was that an old 1997 or so vintage analog cellular phone got better reception than a modern 21st century one with digital service.
I can go on like this about cellular phones or about other devices. Did you know that you activate voice mail at work by using call forwarding? That to me is like forwarding calls to the washingmachine - it does not make sense. I can also expand upon the unintuitivies of other gadgets in our age. It is not the gadgets' fault. It's the fault of those that make them. Someone out there thinks that END means turn on, that "system" means quit (Radio Shack Basic), that a fax is a special kind of printer (I'd like to print you something) and so forth. It's time the gadget manufacturers start making sense on these machines.
2002/06/11
Toastmasters as a Canoe Trip
The scheduling of a Toastmasters club (or any other organization that meets regularly at night) resembles a canoeing trip over rapids and obstacles. We set our canoe out in a straight line (set a time for our meetings such as 1st and 3rd Thursdays). We encounter rock outcroppings, shoals and other obstacles in this path (July 4, Thanksgiving, meetings, and so forth) and so have to steer our craft around it (reschedule meetings). Toastmasters is a canoe trip. Toastmasters is a fire. Therefore, some canoe trips are fires.
On Beyond Zebra
As promised, my impressions of this Dr. Seuss classic. I also read this as a child; in fact, I remember my teacher read it to our class. My impression of it was that it was a cute strange creature story. I now recognize it as being a fine example of my personal slogan: Just add one. That slogan means that you can always go beyond something. You can't name the largest number because I will just add one to it. In this story, one can even go beyond the alphabet and make letters beyond Z. Dr. Seuss makes these up, with a drawing of a letter, and then says what it stands for; e.g., Yuzz for Yuzz-a-Ma-Tuzz. However, he begins the name of the creature with a Y, not a yuzz. So all he is doing is continuing the game of saying "A is for ape, B is for Bear, . . ." But I think his story works out well anyway, as we try to imagine what sort of creatures could exist. It is the same theme, really as with "Bartholomew and the Oobleck". Why can't it oobleck? Why can't there be a unicorn, or a yuzz-a-ma-tuzz? I think it is a good story, since it encourages children to reach out and find what's beyond something.
The scheduling of a Toastmasters club (or any other organization that meets regularly at night) resembles a canoeing trip over rapids and obstacles. We set our canoe out in a straight line (set a time for our meetings such as 1st and 3rd Thursdays). We encounter rock outcroppings, shoals and other obstacles in this path (July 4, Thanksgiving, meetings, and so forth) and so have to steer our craft around it (reschedule meetings). Toastmasters is a canoe trip. Toastmasters is a fire. Therefore, some canoe trips are fires.
On Beyond Zebra
As promised, my impressions of this Dr. Seuss classic. I also read this as a child; in fact, I remember my teacher read it to our class. My impression of it was that it was a cute strange creature story. I now recognize it as being a fine example of my personal slogan: Just add one. That slogan means that you can always go beyond something. You can't name the largest number because I will just add one to it. In this story, one can even go beyond the alphabet and make letters beyond Z. Dr. Seuss makes these up, with a drawing of a letter, and then says what it stands for; e.g., Yuzz for Yuzz-a-Ma-Tuzz. However, he begins the name of the creature with a Y, not a yuzz. So all he is doing is continuing the game of saying "A is for ape, B is for Bear, . . ." But I think his story works out well anyway, as we try to imagine what sort of creatures could exist. It is the same theme, really as with "Bartholomew and the Oobleck". Why can't it oobleck? Why can't there be a unicorn, or a yuzz-a-ma-tuzz? I think it is a good story, since it encourages children to reach out and find what's beyond something.
2002/06/10
Icarus on a motorcycle
Today I listened to the car radio play "Icarus" by Paul Winter, which ends with a falling string motif symbolic of legendary Icarus' fall when he flew too close to the sun. When I heard that falling part, I also heard the roar of a nearby motorcycle, leading me to think, if Icarus had tried to fly on a motorcycle, like Evil Knievel, would he have fallen to the ground? Perhaps, but maybe he would have landed on wheels and survived.
Big project at work, but what is its purpose?
I was given a big project at work today, entitled by a noun phrase. I saw no verb in it, so I am naturally wondering, what is the goal of the project? It involves formulas like the economic order quantity, and fine, I know the formula and can derive it. But what does that have to do with the real situation? I need more to go on. But if I don't get that, can I make up my own? Turn the project into something that satisfies me more? Maybe that is what an ill-defined project deserves. It winds up being something completely different.
Ohio P
I finally found an Ohio P quarter today - twice, once in a vending machine, and once at a toll booth. According to Coin World, Ohio P is the rarest of the state/mint combinations, with only 217 million such coins made. The reason for the rarity is the shutdown of the Philadelphia Mint in late March.
Today I listened to the car radio play "Icarus" by Paul Winter, which ends with a falling string motif symbolic of legendary Icarus' fall when he flew too close to the sun. When I heard that falling part, I also heard the roar of a nearby motorcycle, leading me to think, if Icarus had tried to fly on a motorcycle, like Evil Knievel, would he have fallen to the ground? Perhaps, but maybe he would have landed on wheels and survived.
Big project at work, but what is its purpose?
I was given a big project at work today, entitled by a noun phrase. I saw no verb in it, so I am naturally wondering, what is the goal of the project? It involves formulas like the economic order quantity, and fine, I know the formula and can derive it. But what does that have to do with the real situation? I need more to go on. But if I don't get that, can I make up my own? Turn the project into something that satisfies me more? Maybe that is what an ill-defined project deserves. It winds up being something completely different.
Ohio P
I finally found an Ohio P quarter today - twice, once in a vending machine, and once at a toll booth. According to Coin World, Ohio P is the rarest of the state/mint combinations, with only 217 million such coins made. The reason for the rarity is the shutdown of the Philadelphia Mint in late March.
2002/06/09
500 Hats
This weekend I checked out two books that I had checked out of the school library in 1953 or so. I enjoyed these stories when I was a child, and I checked them out to read them again. They are Dr. Seuss' "500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" and "Bartholomew Cubbins and the Oobleck". 500 Hats is a story of how this young man was shopping, and had to take his hat off before the King, but couldn't because every time he would take off a hat, another one would come on his head. This reminds me of a computer program gone wrong; in particular, one that gets a hat object creation caught in an infinite loop. A review said this story represented creativity, but was Bartholomew actually creating the hats? Or maybe it reflects the non-determinacy of creative impulses - the bigger and better hats near the end represents a burst of inspiration that Bartholomew had no control over. I simply enjoyed it because of the absurdity of the idea; another example would be the Queen in Alice in Wonderland trying to chop off the head of the Cheshire Cat when only a cat head was shown suspended in air.
The Oobleck story had great visual imagery. As a child I dreamed and imagined several times the idea of a storm of green football-sized gooey hail falling. To me it is a story about boredom. Why must it rain and snow all the time? Why can't it oobleck? Why are there traffic jams all the time when I go to work? Why can't I put on a jet pack and fly? Why are the colors red, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, and orange? Can't it be palist once in a while? Maybe this story says that our imagination exceeds the capacity of our world to handle it. Still, we need imagination to give us what we have today. Why couldn't I have a typewriter in which I can untype letters that I typed wrong and type in the right ones, or, better still, a typewriter that will correct the spelling of a word I misspelled? Sounded pretty farfetched in 1960, when I learned how to type. Yet today I am typing on such a machine. Still, the story says that if you get things different once in a while, it may not turn out too well, as with oobleck. The King apologized for coming up with the idea. But why blame him? He just wanted something different; he certainly did not want green goo gumming up his whole Kingdom.
Next time I may comment on another Dr. Seuss creation: "On beyond Zebra".
This weekend I checked out two books that I had checked out of the school library in 1953 or so. I enjoyed these stories when I was a child, and I checked them out to read them again. They are Dr. Seuss' "500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins" and "Bartholomew Cubbins and the Oobleck". 500 Hats is a story of how this young man was shopping, and had to take his hat off before the King, but couldn't because every time he would take off a hat, another one would come on his head. This reminds me of a computer program gone wrong; in particular, one that gets a hat object creation caught in an infinite loop. A review said this story represented creativity, but was Bartholomew actually creating the hats? Or maybe it reflects the non-determinacy of creative impulses - the bigger and better hats near the end represents a burst of inspiration that Bartholomew had no control over. I simply enjoyed it because of the absurdity of the idea; another example would be the Queen in Alice in Wonderland trying to chop off the head of the Cheshire Cat when only a cat head was shown suspended in air.
The Oobleck story had great visual imagery. As a child I dreamed and imagined several times the idea of a storm of green football-sized gooey hail falling. To me it is a story about boredom. Why must it rain and snow all the time? Why can't it oobleck? Why are there traffic jams all the time when I go to work? Why can't I put on a jet pack and fly? Why are the colors red, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, and orange? Can't it be palist once in a while? Maybe this story says that our imagination exceeds the capacity of our world to handle it. Still, we need imagination to give us what we have today. Why couldn't I have a typewriter in which I can untype letters that I typed wrong and type in the right ones, or, better still, a typewriter that will correct the spelling of a word I misspelled? Sounded pretty farfetched in 1960, when I learned how to type. Yet today I am typing on such a machine. Still, the story says that if you get things different once in a while, it may not turn out too well, as with oobleck. The King apologized for coming up with the idea. But why blame him? He just wanted something different; he certainly did not want green goo gumming up his whole Kingdom.
Next time I may comment on another Dr. Seuss creation: "On beyond Zebra".
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