senki | 15 years ago | on: Wrong scientific beliefs that were held for long periods
The worse belief is that science has anything to do with belief. Or, I believe so...
senki's comments
senki | 15 years ago | on: Image hosting that doesn't suck - just drag and drop
Just use an unsupported browser (Opera)!
senki | 15 years ago | on: π does not equal 4
Honoured Sir,
Understanding you to be a distinguished algebraist (that is, distinguished from other algebraists by different face, different height, etc.), I beg to submit to you a difficulty which distresses me much.
If x and y are each equal to 1, it is plain that
2 * (x^2 - y^2) = 0, and also that 5 * (x - y) = 0.
Hence 2 * (x^2 - y^2) = 5 * (x - y).
Now divide each side of this equation by (x - y).
Then 2 * (x + y) = 5.
But (x + y) = (1 + 1), i.e. = 2. So that 2 * 2 = 5.
Ever since this painful fact has been forced upon me, I have not slept more than 8 hours a night, and have not been able to eat more than 3 meals a day.
I trust you will pity me and will kindly explain the difficulty to Your obliged,
Lewis Carroll.
senki | 15 years ago | on: Antimatter atoms produced and trapped at CERN
It doesn't matter anyways.
senki | 15 years ago | on: Divisibility by 7
The Wikipedia has a good article:
senki | 15 years ago | on: Chess boxing
It's not prior knowledge but a prior conjecture. If you know something, you know it for sure.
senki | 15 years ago | on: The FBI is tracking whom?
The original Wired article was posted five days ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1770444
senki | 15 years ago | on: Chess boxing
A good example of a priori knowledge: "All bachelors are unmarried". This is true, because it's so by definition, it's probability == 1. The effect of boxing is not so obvious as you claim (prior probability that repeat head trauma causes damage: <1), and should be verified. See also roel_v's responses in this sub-thread.
senki | 15 years ago | on: Chess boxing
It's like homeopathy. No analysis necessary, it's just works, you know.
senki | 15 years ago | on: Computers are fast
Good idea. They already do it.
senki | 15 years ago | on: A great logo is recognizable in any form
They say, it depends on personality. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test
senki | 15 years ago | on: What is a safest way to set all bits of a variable to true in C?
Platforms differ, and the limits.h reflects this, that's the point. We should use the abstractions (the #defines) of the standard library, i.e. refer to these values by their names, that's the way to write portable software.
senki | 15 years ago | on: What is a safest way to set all bits of a variable to true in C?
The "limits.h" (ISO C99 Standard) defines UINT_MAX as the maximum value for a variable of type unsigned int which is 4294967295 (0xffffffff).
senki | 15 years ago | on: Visualization: The evolution of Python
I found two similar posters, maybe you'll find interesting:
http://www.digibarn.com/collections/posters/tongues/Computer...
http://log-rotation.jp/pyblosxom/images/unix/programming_lan...
senki | 15 years ago | on: Xkcd: Airfoil - So what's the right explanation?
Here is a good (and long) overview from the NASA with wind tunnel simulator Java applets: http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/right2.html
senki | 15 years ago | on: Interested in free video formats? We need your help
For Win and Mac... Thanks.
senki | 15 years ago | on: Several Hundred Thousand Germans Opt Out of Google Street View
We need an analogue of 'robots.txt' for the real world.
senki | 15 years ago | on: The Principals of 'Pataphysical Programming
Principal principles.
senki | 15 years ago | on: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?
Voila:
"The ultimate reason for the lower Japanese body esteem may perhaps concern broader cultural and historical perspectives. Being part of the West, but non-Caucasians, Japanese people seem collectively to experience high incongruence between their Western-oriented bodily ideals and the perceptions of their own body. "
Japanese body image: Structure and esteem scores in a cross-cultural perspective by Rotem Kowner, University of Haifa, Israel, in: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PSYCHOLOGY, 2002, 37 (3), 149–159
http://www.sjsu.edu/people/jennifer.anderson/courses/c5/s1/K...
senki | 15 years ago | on: Why do the Japanese draw themselves as white?
You are right. edanm asked for some evidence that there are idiots who think Japanese worship white people. It seems there are many, so the article really targets an existing problem. That's the point.
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