I’m not a car guy but I do miss the days when every car on the road didn’t look like every other car. This occurred to me today as I was driving behind a Maserati that, if not for the Maserati logo, would have been indistinguishable from a Hyundai Sonata. Also, if you Photoshop a BMW grill onto a Kia, you really can’t tell them apart. Read more →
Author Archive: Paul Epps
Fact Checking the Fact Checkers
PolitiFact has a article headlined “Donald Trump’s NRA speech, fact-checked”. Here’s a sample: “African-American unemployment has reached another all-time, in history, record low … And the same thing with Hispanic American unemployment, which is also at the lowest level in history — unemployment, lowest level in history. And women’s unemployment — women, many women — is at the lowest level in almost 20 years. Think of that.” The “fact check” starts out like this: As far as the numbers go, Trump is correct. It then goes on for another five paragraphs to say that Barack Obama deserves “at least as much” credit as Trump for low unemployment. That’s a fact check?! Trump didn’t even say anything about who deserves the credit, although the listener is invited to make a favorable inference. Had he added “. . . and I deserve all the credit,” it would be fair in that case… Read more →
Reflecting on Mathematical Techniques
Is Sustainability Sustainable?
We had a Sustainability Fair at work today . . . ironically, sustainability is a topic that I’m not able to sustain an interest in . . . Read more →
Things to Do With an Amputated Limb
I saw a guy in a men’s room today, on his way out, checking himself in the mirror and making a gesture with his hand like he was adjusting his hair, except he was totally bald. Some people, after having a limb amputated, can feel the limb as if it were still there. Does this also happen with hair? If you have a limb amputated, do you get to take it home with you? I’d like to stick my amputated arm up my sleeve and shake hands with people. Think of how great that would be on Halloween: “Have some candy, kid. AAAAAAHHHHHHH! MY ARM!” Read more →
Someone to Love
When you long with all your heart for someone to love you, a madness grows there that shakes all sense from the trees and the water and the earth. And nothing lives for you, except the long deep bitter want. And this is what everyone feels from birth to death. — Denton Welch, Journal, 8 May 1944, 11.15 p.m. Read more →
Spam of the Day
“New drink will make you drop 10 by the end of the month” 10 what? 10 dollars? 10 teeth? 10 friends? 10 IQ points? Read more →
Alfie Evans, 2016-2018
Thank god this could never happen here in the US . . . at least until Bernie Sanders is inaugurated. RIP Alfie Evans We're heartbroken, say the parents of 23-month-old Alfie Evans, as they announce that the toddler died overnight https://t.co/HuaJV9UFIE — BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) April 28, 2018 Read more →
Generic LinkedIn Recommendation
Feel free to use it: When you meet him, he will act upon you, whether you know it or not. What he says or does may seem inconsistent or even incomprehensible to you. But it has its meaning. He does not live entirely in your world. His intuition is that of the rightly guided, and he always works in accordance with the Right Way. He may discomfit you. That will be intended and necessary. He may seem to return good for evil, or evil for good. But what he is really doing is known only to the Few. You may hear that some men oppose him. You will find that few men really do. He is modest and allows you to find out what you have to find out slowly. When you first meet him, he may seem to be very different from you. He is not. He may seem… Read more →
What to Do and What to Have Done
All wisdom can be stated in two lines: What is done for you — allow it to be done. What you must do for yourself — make sure you do it. — Khawwas Read more →
I Wish I Was the Moon
No pills for what I fear
This is crazy
I wish I was the moon tonight
Fish and Whistle
Father forgive us for what we must do You forgive us and we’ll forgive you We’ll forgive each other till we both turn blue And we’ll whistle and go fishing in heaven — John Prine, “Fish and Whistle” Read more →
Competitive Programming: POJ 1426 – Find The Multiple
Description Given a positive integer n, write a program to find out a nonzero multiple m of n whose decimal representation contains only the digits 0 and 1. You may assume that n is not greater than 200 and there is a corresponding m containing no more than 100 decimal digits. Input The input file may contain multiple test cases. Each line contains a value of n (1 <= n <= 200). A line containing a zero terminates the input. Output For each value of n in the input print a line containing the corresponding value of m. The decimal representation of m must not contain more than 100 digits. If there are multiple solutions for a given value of n, any one of them is acceptable. Sample Input 2 6 19 0 Sample Output 10 100100100100100100 111111111111111111 Link to problem Solution below . . . Read more →
Passenger Sucked Out of Plane Window: Another Reason I Prefer to Just Stay Home
Southwest passenger died after broken plane window nearly sucked her out — CNN You are now free to move about the country! Thanks, but I’d prefer to move about the country from inside the plane . . . Read more →
Competitive Programming: POJ 2084 – Game of Connections
Description This is a small but ancient game. You are supposed to write down the numbers 1, 2, 3, . . . , 2n – 1, 2n consecutively in clockwise order on the ground to form a circle, and then, to draw some straight line segments to connect them into number pairs. Every number must be connected to exactly one another. And, no two segments are allowed to intersect. It’s still a simple game, isn’t it? But after you’ve written down the 2n numbers, can you tell me in how many different ways can you connect the numbers into pairs? Life is harder, right? Input Each line of the input file will be a single positive number n, except the last line, which is a number -1. You may assume that 1 Read more →
Where it Went
I saw a child carrying a light. I asked him where he had brought it from. He put it out and said: “Now you tell me where it is gone.” — Hasan of Basra Read more →
Competitive Programming: USACO Big Barn
Farmer John wants to place a big square barn on his square farm. He hates to cut down trees on his farm and wants to find a location for his barn that enables him to build it only on land that is already clear of trees. For our purposes, his land is divided into N x N parcels. The input contains a list of parcels that contain trees. Your job is to determine and report the largest possible square barn that can be placed on his land without having to clear away trees. The barn sides must be parallel to the horizontal or vertical axis. EXAMPLE Consider the following grid of Farmer John’s land where ‘.’ represents a parcel with no trees and ‘#’ represents a parcel with trees: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 1 . . . . . . . . 2 . # .… Read more →
Competitive Programming: POJ 1654 – Area
Description Consider an infinite full binary search tree (see the figure below), the numbers in the nodes are 1, 2, 3, …. In a subtree whose root node is X, we can get the minimum number in this subtree by repeating going down the left node until the last level, and we can also find the maximum number by going down the right node. Now you are given some queries as “What are the minimum and maximum numbers in the subtree whose root node is X?” Please try to find answers for the queries. Input In the input, the first line contains an integer N, which represents the number of queries. In the next N lines, each contains a number representing a subtree with root number X (1 Read more →
You Will Know Whether it Has All Been True
How does a life flash before one’s eyes At the end? How is there time for so much time? You pick up the book and hold it, knowing Long since the failed romance, the strained Marriage, the messenger, the mistake, Knowing it all at once, as if looking through A lighted dormer on the dark crest of a barn. You know who is inside, and who has always been At the other edge of the wood. She is waiting For no one in particular. It could be you. If you can discover which tree she has become, You will know whether it has all been true. — J.D. McClatchy, “Wolf’s Trees” Read more →
If liberty means anything at all it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear. — George Orwell, Animal Farm