Where Were Those Pictures Taken?

So, I got a shiny new personal Google Maps API key and am starting to mess around with it, showing the knowledge gained from my first lesson. It provides location markers that pop up links to the corresponding photo galleries. This is not a full-blown geocoding extravaganza; it is meant to give some overall context to where each set of pictures were taken, not a precise location for any particular image...

Maybe I'll go nuts and do that for some future trip, I cant' really say. There are some pretty cool applications that make it easier, and I do have a GPS receiver now. I also have a handy-dandy cheat-sheet that provides a few plausible starting points for the non-code-writers, like me.

Intel Macintosh Fanfare and FUD

First, the challenge gets a nominal financial incentive: Make Windows XP and OS X dual-boot on an Intel-based Mac. Why, to win fame across the whole internet, and get some cash, to boot (ba-dum-dun)... The contest site unfortunately links to the completely uninformed Nakfull Propoganda blog posting, wherein the author thought he had accomplished something profound but hadn't really done much of diddly-squat (unless telling the EFI bootloader to load the vanilla sample EFI applications that Intel makes available -- instead of the actual OS kernel bootstrapping routine -- is somehow useful). At least NetCraft lends credence to the "powered by OS X" logos that are prominently displayed on the blog site. The only good content on this page is all from the guy that writes the Apple Intel FAQ, who is WAAAAAAAAAYYY more patient with the ignorati than I.

Second, the FUD-mongering: This eWeek article is so chock full of FUD, it makes a cynic smile...
Quote:

"Attackers have been focused on the [Intel] x86 for over a decade. Macintosh will have a lot more exposure than when it was on PowerPC," said Oliver Friedrichs, a senior manager at Symantec Corp. Security Response... There are many more malicious hackers who understand the x86 architecture in-depth... And attackers have access to hundreds of documents and examples of how to exploit common vulnerabilities on x86, whereas exploits for PowerPC are far fewer, Friedrichs said.

Analysis:
Norton Antivirus for Macintosh version 10.1 (*NEW* *IMPROVED* *Now with Intel-based Mac support*) was released on 25 Jan 2006. The eWeek article with the above choice quotes was published on 26 Jan 2006. Coincidence? Or, should the first page of the article simply state the following: Symantec manager believes that he can increase revenue by scaring folks into NAV/Mac software licenses and subscriptions with every new Intel-based iMac or MacBookPro that is sold. The article tries to recover and/or regain credibility by quoting a couple of "security researchers," including one that is critical of some OS X coding practices. I am not a virus writer (IANAVW?), but it seems to me that the underlying hardware architecture has almost diddly-squat to do with most of the types of exploits that are seen in the wild today. Heck, most of the payloads manipulate files in the file system -- not exactly the type of thing that requires digging out some rainbow-covered books on Intel processor/chipset internals or your trusty old-school 1980s Intel 8086 assembly programming manual. In fact, I'd bet that you probably don't even need to read this Cross Intel Architecture Development Tool write-up.

All your bike are belong to us

Read this Business Week article to learn about the UCI rules, and why the general "look and feel" of the common bicycle isn't likely to change any time soon. Economics are the primary justification for why recumbents, velomobiles, and other non-traditional HPVs aren't terribly likely to escape from niche status. The good news is that the component groups keep getting cheaper and better.

For an object lesson in supply-and-demand, note the huge disparities between the prices of road bikes and mountain bikes from your traditional vendors. The technology differences don't justify the prices, so don't even try to convince me that mid-range and high-end MTB parts are any heavier or perform any more poorly than their road counterparts.

"Intelligent Design" Dismissed by Vatican

Just about everybody picked up this story last week. An article by Fiorino Facchini, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Bologna* was published in L’Osservatore Romano, the newspaper of the Vatican. The article supports Judge John E. Jones’ ruling in the Dover case (PDF), and states that intelligent design is not science. Although the article does not convey the official position of the Catholic Church, the Vatican newspaper does not print articles that contradict church positions. Here's a quote translated from the actual article:

“If the model presented by Darwin is not considered sufficient, one should search for another. But it is not correct from a methodological point of view to stray from the field of science while pretending to do science. It only creates confusion between the scientific plane and those that are philosophical or religious.”

*: For you non-Italians, the University is not affiliated with Oscar Mayer.

Now, imagine a collaborative project in Sandwich, IL between the University of Bologna and the University of Texas at Austin's Pickle Research Campus...

Three and a Half Trillion Sudoku Puzzles

C|Net news.com has a nice column that points to this American Scientist article about the game of Sudoku. The article begins with a nice diatribe about the fact that mathematics is more than arithmetic, and continues on to expose (page 4) the following:

...9 x 9 Latin squares were not enumerated until 1975; the tally is 5,524,751,496,156,892,842,531,225,600... The order-3 Sudoku must be a subset of these squares. They were counted in June 2005... 6,670,903,752,021,072,936,960...

{Skip Ahead a Bit, Brother}

When all these symmetries are taken into account, the number of essentially different Sudoku patterns is reduced substantially. In the case of the order-2 Sudoku, it turns out there are actually only two distinct grids! All the rest of the 288 patterns can all be generated from these two by applying various symmetry operations. In the order-3 case, the reduction is also dramatic, although it still leaves an impressive number of genuinely different solutions: 3,546,146,300,288...

Yellowstone Gallery - Updated

UPDATED: Starting using the Coppermine Photo Gallery -- it's a PHP/MySQL online photo gallery application. Anyhow, converting the Yellowstone Gallery to use this tool, and updating the URL to: http://lonewolf-digital.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1

Lawsuit-resistant Table Saw for Schools

This one is actually kinda cool, or at least would be cool in a "cost is no object" world. The blogosphere is proud to bring you news of the SawStop, the world's first flesh-averse table saw. It is touted as being capable of saving your digits (or your weiner) by reacting to a change in conductivity in under 5 ms. Guess that makes it the first documented case of digit-all (go ahead, groan -- I know you want to) shop technology; donate one to your school now -- only $2799... Or, just get the Sears Craftsman Professional 10-inch table saw for $999.99, and use the remaining $1800 to cover your medical deductables and/or legal expenses.

Convergence for the sake of convergence?

From the probably-even-dumber-than-it-looks department comes this Sony mouse / VOIP flip-phone (JDM news courtesy of OhGizmo!). As a habitual headset user (a practice which allows me to continue the manipulation of my cursor via keyboard and/or mouse, despite using the phone or my IM's voice chat), I'm at a loss to understand the utility of this product. Although they do occur sometimes, the percentage of phone conversations that require my undivided attention is generally quite low. (I wish some of the oblivious automotive cell-squakers out there behaved as if they shared that sentiment.)

I think it would be really evil, however, to force a Technical Support center to use these things... "Umm, hang on, I (uhh) need to put you on hold so I can use my (uhh) mouse to look up some information for you..."

National Champions

The University of Texas Longhorns won the Rose Bowl 41-38 with a dramatic come-from-behind victory -- scoring twice in the final six and a half minutes to overcome a 12-point lead by the University of Southern California Trojans. Texas quarterback Vince Young was outstanding -- completing 75% of his passes and rushing for 200 yards, including 8 for the winning touchdown on 4th-down-and-5 when the game was on the line.

UT was well represented by fans attending the Rose Bowl; the Longhorn faithful occupied somewhere near 40% of the roughly 95,000 seats. We made enough noise to force USC into two delay of game penalties, and into calling two time-outs during the 3rd quarter.

Hook 'Em Horns!

Rene Descartes on Problem Solving

Looks like Descartes agrees with some of my ramblings on problem solving...

Quotes:

• "Each problem that I solved became a rule, which served afterwards to solve other problems."
• "Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it."
• "Everything is self-evident."

Quotes of the [arbitrary time period]

On the presidency, faith, and insanity:

Any man who wants to be president is either an egomaniac or crazy. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Do I think faith will be an important part of being a good president? Yes, I do. -- George W. Bush

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything. -- Frederich Nietzsche

On WMDs:

Free nations don't develop weapons of mass destruction. -- George W. Bush

I feel compelled to speak today in a language that, in a sense, is new; one which I, who have spent so much of my life in the military profession, would have preferred never to use. That new language is the language of atomic warfare. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower


Just for fun:

When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour. That's Relativity. -- Albert Einstein

English Pronunciation is Fun

The top twenty-one reasons that pronouncing English is fun (in no particular order):

1. We must polish the Polish furniture.
2. He could lead if he would get the lead out.
3. The farm was used to produce produce.
4. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
5. The soldier decided to desert in the desert.
6. This was a good time to present the present.
7. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
8. When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
9. I did not object to the object.
10. The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
11. The bandage was wound around the wound.
12. There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
13. They were too close to the door to close it.
14. The buck does funny things when the does are present.
15. They sent a sewer down to stitch the tear in the sewer line.
16. To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
17. The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
18. After a number of injections my jaw got number.
19. Upon seeing the tear in my clothes I shed a tear.
20. I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
21. How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?

Canine Intelligence Quotients

The Christian Science Monitor has an article entitled "Why your dog is smarter than a wolf" that drew my attention for somewhat obvious reasons. Here's a quote:

"The wolves ... were only interested in the meat," notes Miklosi. "The dogs were of course interested in the meat, but knew that one way to get it might be to figure out what the human wants them to do."

To Csanyi, this proves that dogs have acquired an innate ability to pay attention to people, and thus to communicate and work with them. This is a skill that wolves don't assume even when raised from birth to learn it.

Dogs are "very motivated to cooperate with and behave like people," says Csanyi. "That's why dogs can do things no other animal can do."

So, the animal that has been bred for human social interaction over a period of several generations was more inclined to trust and rely upon humans than the animal whose ingrained social expectations are wildly different than what they have experienced for a couple of months. It's quite amazing what passes for science reporting these days...

Longhorns Win Big 12 Championship

The University of Texas Longhorns secured the Big 12 championship in convincing fashion and secured a second-consecutive Rose Bowl date with the little old lady from Pasadena. My Big 12 tracking page has been updated with a quick Flash that plays The Eyes of Texas while running through Texas' conference scores in reverse-chronological order. The weekly results tables are still available, too.

Let's Raise Money and Patent Putting on Pants

Seems Illiad shares a disdain for "patentus maximus ignoramus," as evidenced by his last two Sunday editions of User Friendly. This week, he harps on the latest Amazon Patents. Last week, it was the patent-applied-for story line.

Then again, maybe we should just jump right up onto this bandwagon and become filthy rich. We can pool our collective resources, raise some VC, and patent the process of putting on pants one leg at a time.

• > The wording should be broad enough that it also covers the act of donning trousers, chaps, shorts, culottes, underpants (including, but not limited to: boxers, briefs, boxer-briefs, panties, thongs, and jocks), or anything else that has 2 leg holes.
• > Before we file, we should begin investing in companies that manufacture skirts, kilts, sarongs, togas, and other one-hole or hole-less types of clothing that provide coverage of the lower body.
• > Further, we should invest in medical supply companies (particularly those that make splints, braces, crutches, and plaster for casts) and hospitals -- for those die-hard pants-wearers who insist on attempting to jump into their pants with both legs at the same time.
• > We can also sell licenses that allow people to use "our method" of putting on their pants, and may even be altruistic enough to grant free licenses for developing nations.
• > Individual-use licenses will expressly forbid the donning of pants via the one-leg-at-a-time method for military purposes, and military-use licenses will come at a great cost, have a waiting period, and expire quickly.

Coming Soon on Amazon.com?

Random House Webster's Constitution of the State of Texas
This State Constitution represents volume 19 in H. Mo Fobia's publicly-acclaimed series of constitutional amendmends that provide a new level of clarity to the American version of the English language.

This illustration is an original, and normally you would see some sort of copyright crapola here. Well, that's not the case this time. I hereby grant license to anybody who wishes to use this illustration as a form of political satire -- so long as you download the image and host it on your own site...

Troubleshooting Your Way to Better Math, Pt. 2

a.k.a.: math rant, part 2
By the end of the previous math rant, I had stipulated that all problem solving can be approached in a manner that is typically associated with troubleshooting. Namely, the problem can be reduced by employing an iterative process that results in a continual refinement of the "working answer" into a final solution. The final solution is not reached until all of the available data have been consumed. I provided an example of applying this technique to arrive at the summation of several four-digit numbers.
Problem Solving Theory
One of the most valuable skills in any profession is an ability to understand a problem, classify and distill the problem into discrete components, and formulate methods (or theories) of resolving each resultant "problem-ette." This is the role of a troubleshooter (M-W). Cultivating this skill is essential to success in many fields, although the problems encountered can vary widely. An IT professional will encounter vastly different problems than a plumber or a mechanic, but all of these skilled workers must apply similar problem solving principles. Educators and executives apply the same logical processes in solving the problems encountered in their fields. The principle is simple: understand the nature of the problem, be knowledgeable of the constraints and rules, apply your experience to formulate a hypothesis, and test the hypothesis to verify the result.
Why Troubleshoot Math Problems?
The logical constraints and rules associated with basic arithmetic provide a very practical introduction to troubleshooting methodologies, which can then be applied to more difficult classes of problems. (Those of you who don't dismiss the preceeding statement as a circular argument may have recognized it as a case of the type of iterative process that I am attempting to promote.) A consistent application of problem analysis followed by targeted iterative solution generation reinforces understanding of not only the underlying problem and principles, but also the means of arriving at a solution. The current methods of mathematics education tend to teach rote processes that require little understanding of why the process works.
Example - Find the Product of Two Three-digit Numbers
This class of problem demonstrates my point fairly well. Consider the task of finding the product of two three-digit numbers, say 456 x 789. If you were taught the same way I was, your initial reaction is probably "let me grab my calculator," followed by a reluctant reach for pencil and paper to apply the dreaded process of starting on the right-hand side and carrying digits, which goes something like this:
The Way You Were Taught:
Consider the problem, and apply the method that has been demonstrated to arrive at an answer to the problem. Be sure to write everything in nice little columns, so that you'll be able to "carry" any digits as required. Then, start turning the "multiply like this because it works" crank. The process works something like this (starting from the right-hand side):
1.) Nine times six is fifty-four. Write the four (under the "line"), but "carry" the five.
2.) Nine times five is forty-five -- add in the "carried" five to make fifty. Write the zero to the left of the four, and "carry" the five.
3.) Nine times four is thirty-six -- add in the "carried" five to make forty-one. Write the one to the left of the zero, then -- since there aren't any more digits -- write the four to the left of the one. You now have a top line in your sub-solution that reads "4104"...
4.) Eight times six is forty-eight. Carefully write the eight under the zero from the previous line of the sub-solution, and be sure to "carry" the four. (Some of you may have been lucky enough to learn to place a zero as a "placeholder" to the right of this eight.)
5.) Eight times five is forty -- add in the "carried" four to make forty-four. Write a four to the left of the eight, and "carry" the other four -- don't mix them up!!!!
6.) Eight times four is thirty-two -- add in the "carried" four to make thirty-six. Write the six to the left of the four, then -- since there aren't any more digits -- write the three to the left of the six. You now have a second line in your sub-solution that reads "3648(0)"...
7.) Seven times six is forty-two. Carefully write a two under the four from the previous line of the sub-solution, and be sure to "carry" the four. (Again, some of you may have learned to place two zeros as "placeholders" to the right of this two.)
8.) Seven times five is thirty-five -- add in the "carried" four to make thirty-nine. Write a nine to the left of the two, and "carry" the three.
9.) Seven times four is twenty-eight -- add in the carried three to make thirty-one. Since you're out of digits write the one to the left of the nine, and then the three to the left of the one. You now have a third line in your sub-solution that reads "3192(00)"...
10.) Add the three lines of the sub-solution to get the final solution. So, that's 4104 + 36480 + 319200. Eventually, after much more carrying (see prior rant), you will arrive at 359784.
Why did you add the sub-solutions components? Because you have to, that's just the way it works... Why work the problem right-to-left, because it's harder to lose your place that way. How can you test the validity of your solution?
The Way That Makes More Sense:
Oddly, many of you learned the logical way of solving this class of problem much later in your mathematics education -- after the above process was already firmly, and indelibly, ingrained. When considering the multiplication of two three-digit numbers, the first step is to separate the numbers into their constituent components, namely rewrite the problem as: (400 + 50 +6) x (700 + 80 + 9). When presented in this manner, the "distributive law" and the need for addition of solution components become apparent to those who have studied algebra. I prefer to approach the solution in this manner, because it involves application of a logical process that demonstrates the significance of each digit appropriately. So, without further ado, let's troubleshoot this restated problem:
1.) 400 x 700 is 280000.
2.) 400 x 80 is 32000, and 280000 + 32000 is 312000.
3.) 400 x 9 is 3600, and 312000 + 3600 is 315600.
4.) 50 x 700 is 35000, and 315600 + 35000 is 350600.
5.) 50 x 80 is 4000, and 350600 + 4000 is 354600.
6.) 50 x 9 is 450, and 354600 + 450 is 355050.
7.) 6 x 700 is 4200, and 355050 + 4200 is 359250.
8.) 6 x 80 is 480, and 359250 + 480 is 359730.
9.) 6 x 9 is 54, and 359730 + 54 is 359784.
Instead of carrying digits, we gave them the appropriate significance throughout the entire process. Instead of saving all of our addition until the end, we performed it with each refinement of the solution. Notice that the solution converges on the final answer as the data are consumed, just as it did with our summation example.
Isn't That Still Just a Process?
Because the process is founded on logic and mathematical principles, rather than merely applied "because it works," it is possible to refine the process based on the problem. Once the principles are well-understood, it is appropriate to apply logic to identify "faster" ways of reaching the solution. In fact, I would encourage a group of students to discuss ways to do just that. Remember, we are trying to instill understanding, not just methodology.
For example: 456 x 789 = (456 x 790) - 456. Zeros are really awesome when you're multiplying, because you get to "skip steps." This results in restating the problem as ((400 + 50 +6) x (700 + 90)) - 456, wherein one subtraction takes the place of three "multiply and add" steps from the prior example.
Another example: 456 x 789 = (455 + 1) x (790 - 1). Fives aren't too bad, either. So maybe this would work out to ((400 + 55) x (700 + 90)) + 790 - 456, which takes considerably fewer steps -- but much more advanced understanding. If somebody came up with this and could explain it to the class, they might get a gold star...
Summary
Applying the troubleshooting method, in which the problem is rephrased to allow an iterative process that continually refines estimates until it converges on the solution, represents a logical way to handle many different types of mathematical problems -- not merely simple summations. The above example illustrates how this process can also be applied to finding the product of two three-digit numbers. The key to unlocking the potential of the troubleshooting approach to mathematics is to instill understanding of what the numbers represent and their significance based on place. If we did teach the foundations in this manner, then making the jump from decimal into other number systems -- where this type of "bitwise" operation is essential -- would become vastly easier. As the T-shirt says, "There are only 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary, and those who don't."

More Insane DRM Nonsense

Hot on the heels of the Sony CD DRM rootkit fiasco, and the subsequent knee-jerk reaction (pay no heed to the uninformed title of the article), comes the entertainment industry's latest salvo. This is a bill that aims to (cough) encourage the adoption of digital content (cough), assuming that said content is sufficiently restricted. How does it do this? It's deceptively simple, just make analog recording disappear, and you'll have to buy encumbered digital content instead. Don't throw away your current recorders -- they may be worth more than you could possibly imagine in a few years...

Everything and Nothing

Speaking of everything, Wikipedia has been experiencing some sour grapes as a result of rampant trolling and widespread apathy. Of course, their philosophy is still appealing to the anti-corporate vein that runs in several folks.

As a former employee of an ISP, I've always had a soft spot for UserFriendly. So, here's Illiad's jab at the unspoken contractual obligations of dating. Sorry, I'm not crazy enough to try to come up with any personal references to either confirm or deny the cartoon's allegations.

If you're interested in more academic pursuits, here's the Flash gallery of physics animations. Or, you could burn some time in a way that me and the father of BitTorrent have in common -- Sudoku. The nine-by-nine grid of digits is both fun and addictive. Apparently, it's not quite as addictive as EverCrack; I've never played six games at once. If you want to get outside and move, you can still go high-tech with the official Adidas microchip-enabled soccer ball...

Paranoia Express

In case a safe room doesn't give you enough peace of mind, you can also equip your bedroom with the Quantum Sleeper (patent pending). This monster cocoon allows you to encase yourself, and a like-minded paranoiac who is willing to share your bed, in the finest available polycarbonate. The list of features shouldn't be missed...

If you have more dollars than sense, you may also want to put these hide-a-doors on your wishlist. These make me laugh; every installed door that is pictured on their website is 200x more obvious than any secret door in any first-person shooter. Even the secret doors in the original Wolfenstein 3-D (e.g. push the Hitler portrait to get the machine gun) were harder to spot than these are.

Of course, if you're really this paranoid, maybe you should just stay home and watch the movie "Panic Room" -- don't worry, you don't have to leave the house to get it... You could always add a DVD player to the list of essentials for your bomb shelter.