Physicsforums, on the prospects of physics PhDs in quantitative finance (a very interesting field indeed, especially in present day):
"Personally, I'm quite interested in differential geometry so I'm looking for excuses to use differential geometry in my work. This involves "selling" differential geometry which is part of the challenge. There is also an educational aspect to this. To be able to sell differential geometry, you have to teach non-math people enough about differential geometry so that when you start talking about covariant vectors, people see $!$$!$$!$."
Tim, on... uhhh what?
"cause if u are naked u run faster so alot of crazy guys running around naked with axes trying to one hit ko u"
I've finally settled down in my new room. I left the wiring in a mess though, because I'll only be staying here for 3 months. (I originally planned to rig the walls with a surround sound system and LED backlights, but it's better to leave that for my college dorm. There's a remote LED chandelier outside though.) Nonetheless, I realized that I can't drift off to sleep in front of the computer anymore, because the lighting is rather glaring as a result of the blinds behind the screens.
Above: Screens. The thing under my left monitor is my organizer/phone.
I mount my other phone on the right of my keyboard (can't see it in the dark).
Below: LEDs on my RAM and router.
LEFT: Blue LEDs on my mouse, Alcatel wireless phone receiver and monitors
RIGHT: LEDs on my keyboard's backlit keys; and my modem, carefully snuck
behind a speaker. (The keyboard's screen is a crystal display.)
From bed height.
While fully lit with high exposure.
While fully lit. The device attached to my laptop is the bluetooth transmitter for my headphones... (it lights up with an LED too, just that it's switched off for now.)
I like this part. Left to right: Remote controller for all the lights in my room; remote controller for the speakers; and transmitter for my wireless mouse (I usually use the razer, which has a wicked blue glow too, but this is convenient when I'm reading from my bed.) I charge my phone from the same USB port behind my keyboard.
On an unrelated topic, I learned recently that many people spend $3000++++ for the bed, frame etc., but only about a sixth of that on the bedding. Personally, I think that the total budget should be divided 2:1 between matress+frame and bedding.
Westin Hotels and Resorts' "heavenly bed" concept gives a pretty good guideline of basic bedding:
Just felt like writing the romaji lyrics for this song. I find it easier to sing... uh... remember the lyrics than the other Japanese songs in my head. (Don't mind the video, I know that I've strange tastes.)
湿った雲が消える shimetta kumo ga kieru
次の季節まで急かして tsugi no kisetsu made sekashi te
しけった顔もサヨナラ shiketta kao mo sayonara
次は待ちこがれた 夏 tsugi wa machikogare ta natsu
go for it! Go for it
黒い雨傘過去にしまって kuroi amagasa kako ni shimatte
洗いたて白いキャミ araitate shiroi kyami
ちょっと誘惑チックに chotto yuuwaku chikku ni
最初で 最後のこの夏に saisho de saigo no kono natsu ni
ホントは少し背伸びumm… honto wa sukoshi senobi ummm...
だけどそう悔いは残さぬよう dakedo sou kui wa nokosa nu you
あなたとわたしいつまでも anata to watashi itsu made mo
思い巡る伝えき れない omoi meguru tsutae kirenai
靴音早めて kutsuoto hayame te
待ちきれぬ夏が始まる machi kire nu natsu ga hajimaru
Google's 2010 keynote was revolutionary. I just have to cover the entire front page of my blog with this. One of the major messages was a continued push for HTML5, which I fully support. Web applications are replacing the traditional functions of most desktop applications - instead of downloading a video straightaway, most of us will go to YouTube first. I'm sure many of you have felt frustration over requiring a download client (e.g. to access Adobe products, music downloads etc.) Those who had used ICQ/mIRC, or even MSN/AOL/Yahoo messenger now, find themselves using Facebook as often. The advantage that desktop applications have over Web applications is the access to your system resources - graphics processing, storage etc. - and HTML5 is designed to bridge this.
What this means is that most that had to be done with Flash will soon be replaced with clever use of APIs, HTML5, CSS3 or simply embedded video using the VP8 codec - which puts a much lighter load on bandwidth (try play around with Hermès or any other boutique brand's site) while giving the look of smooth transitions and all that.
Given that people pay hundreds (which is considered underpriced - since the event sold out very early) to attend the keynote, I certainly recommend you to watch the free video stream on YouTube:
How you can take part:
- YouTube has implemented HTML5. One-click enabling/disabling of beta-testing for HTML5 can be done here.
- Test your browser compatibility with HTML5 here.
Now, about Apple... We know that the Android has lately outsold Apple's OS for smartphone sales; and given that Android is still in its early stages of implementation (Motorola, for example, has yet to implement 2.x) we well know that this gap is going to build further. (Seeing how major industry players like HTC, Sony Ericsson etc. are getting on the boat, I felt the similarities to how Blu-ray killed HD-DVD quite uncanny...)
I bought an Android device on the exact same day I watched this.
At 3:00, Gundotra alludes to Apple's monopolistic practices, which to me, also gives me valid reason to believe in Apple's impending downfall. Now, to clarify two things: I don't mean downfall as in a total wind-up. But I mean downfall in the sense of how Google established itself as the leader in search, advertising and cloud services to kill out Yahoo; and Microsoft, in the sense that Microsoft is now trying to safeguard its products which are now facing Google's competition, and poise bing to compete with Google's search engine. I also imply downfall in the sense of how Google is late to tap into social networking - in the sense of how Facebook is slowly but surely destroying Friendster, myspace etc.
I clarify the second thing: what I mean by "monopolistic practices". Apple's use of iTunes, proprietary software etc. is essentially a tying practice, like how Microsoft used to bundle Internet Explorer with Windows. But Apple doesn't have the firepower of Microsoft. It is trying to do too much with a product that doesn't have the actual edge over its competitors. (Accuse me of making up nonsense, but the way Windows came out as a $99 CONSUMER operating system in an age where computers came as mainframes and continued sustaining its dominant market share is very different from how Macintosh and the iPod can play the game - Cowon, Samsung, Creative etc. have products which are known to produce better sound quality than the iPod; and there are many ways you can set up a PC to perform on many levels better than a Mac). So it's not just with the iPhone. A single phone cannot carry every feature successfully - that's why mobile producers diversify their products to target niches: for the basic user, business, entertainment, connectivity etc. That's partly why Nokia is still the market leader in mobile phone sales worldwide.
I'd say that the rumors that AT&T will lose its exclusivity rights sound credible - and might be a response to the growth of Android carriers.
Now, about my private life: I just moved to a new location, unpacked most of the boxes, and now that I'm getting back into a routine, I'm starting to write again.
I'm nearly done with the first chapter of Contemporary Abstract Algebra, which is simply a rehash of elementary number theory. I liked this part:
"I was interviewed on the Israeli Radio for five minutes and I said that more than 2000 years ago, Euclid proved that there are infinitely many primes. Immediately the host interrupted me and asked: "Are there still infinitely many primes?"
The rest of group theory is starting to scare me... it's not a matter of difficulty but more of a matter of time - of which I have very little; and I'm starting to encounter many proofs which evade me.
"Algebra" by Michael Artin is available on Google Books! More about this great book:
Diese ungewöhnliche Einführung in lineare Algebra und Algebra ist über viele Jahre aus den Vorlesungsnotizen des Autors gewachsen und zeichnet sich aus durch einen harmonischen Aufbau des behandelten Stoffes. Als eine Besonderheit umfasst dieser nebst den üblichen Inhalten auch die Betonung spezieller Themen wie Symmetrie, lineare Gruppen und quadratische Zahlkörper. Der Text besticht insbesondere durch eine für den Studenten besonders verständliche Präsentation des Stoffes. Zahlreiche Beispiele und Ãbungsaufgaben erhöhen seinen Wert als studienbegleitende Literatur für die ersten drei bis vier Semester des Studiums der Mathematik und verwandter Gebiete. Dieses sehr lebendig geschriebene Lehrbuch umfasst sowohl lineare Algebra (Matrizen, Vektorräume, lineare Abbildungen und Bilinearformen) als auch Algebra (Gruppen, Ringe, Moduln, Darstellungen von Gruppen und Körpertheorie). Darüberhinaus werden die Themen Symmetrie, lineare Gruppen und quadratische Zahlkörper ausführlicher behandelt. Diese Kapitel illustrieren nicht nur die enge Verbindung zwischen Algebra einerseits und Geometrie bzw. Zahlentheorie andererseits, sie lassen auch besonders viel von der Begeisterung und dem persönlichen Engagement des Autors spüren. Er hat in dieses Buch die Summe der Erfahrungen einfliessen lassen, die er im Laufe vieler Jahre mit Algebravorlesungen gemacht hat. Der Stoff wird sehr verständlich präsentiert und ist mit einer Fülle von Beispielen angereichert, die die abstrakte Begriffsbildungen motivieren und veranschaulichen. Dadurch ist das Buch, das ausserdem zahlreiche Ãbungsaufgaben enthält, auch zum Selbststudium hervorragend geeignet.
I saw this guy on empty roads past midnight, towing a pretty Cannondale with XT disc brake groupset etc., with vintage bike that has two flats, a chain that's sagging nearly onto the ground. I bet no one can figure out the full story.
Barcelona 1 - Inter Milan 0. Inter celebrates(?) as they advance to the finals.
What is this?
Give yourself a pat on the back if you know what's behind each picture...
Now that I have MATLAB on my laptop, it's time to separate the PCs from the Macs. W7 offers a much improved ReadyBoost option over Vista, but exploiting it to its fullest potential is the difficult part. Here I talk about formatting your flash memory with which file systems, allocation unit sizes; how to get this done without having flash drives sticking out from the side of your laptop permanently; and how generally everything starts faster.
The Putnam Competition is insane. Citing a factual statement, the median score on the competition is 1 out of a possible 120.
Let's put this into perspective. You have some 4000 of the world's brightest undergraduate mathematicians, who were sifted through the upper deciles of college-entering students from high school, then filtered through some self-selection within the universities. They sit down for 6 hours to concentrate their best on effectively a 120 mark test.
And at least half of them score 1/120 and below, i.e. the majority of the world's brightest mathematicians score either 0/120 or 1/120 out of this test. To make it more dramatic, on the upper end, there are people who score 120/120 once in a while.
Imagine the feeling that you'd get if you spent 6 hours and scored zero... that must be one of the rare experiences that the Latin proverb, "Amici, diem perdidi," finds an application for. Of course, saving the dramatization, not all of the best mathematicians-to-be take part in the competition, and how good one is at mathematics competitions doesn't reflect one's academic aptitude/productivity. Competitions differ from research.
Some questions on the competition have deceptively simple solutions. For example, find
"It is produced by no more than 2 carbon manufacturers in the world."
??? Like what... BP Amoco? Sumitomo? Mitsubishi? Nippon Graphite Fiber Corporation? Kureha Corporation?
Update: On further inspection, it wasn't only a puncture that I had... the rim took some dps too. Quite a headache if it can't be kept true after repair because I can't find a matching rim anymore. I was saying, that given the taxi rates over here, the break-even point for a $5000 wheelset is 7500km provided that repair/maintenance cost is included in the $5000. Of course, that's if you were riding as fast as Cancellara a taxi.
P.S.: Had my first puncture in nearly 24,000km. It was my mistake rather than my equipment failing me actually, I tried to skip two curbs that were about 1 foot apart (effectively a pit hole), and I knew it the moment I cleared the curbs and heard that whistling sound. ):
Mood: Brahms, Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 35/1
The next technique I want to introduce was one of my favorites from the Math Olympiad. I think that everyone trying to qualify for the USAMO team knows this - whereas most people taking the SMO don't know about this trick. This is very useful when solving Olympiad questions involving inequalities where you can identify a function to be maximized/minimized (let's denote this $f$) and a constraint function (let's denote this $g$). This isn't well-liked by the judges, since it's an unsaid tenet of the Olympiad to solve problems through some elegant algebraic manipulation, while Lagrange multipliers essentially reduce this 'theorycrafting' stage to plain calculation. I call this brute-forcing.
Part 2: Lagrange multipliers
There's one such question in the SMO 2009 preliminary round, if I recall correctly. But my favorite illustration of this is through this problem:
"$A$, $B$, $C$ are angles in a triangle. Show that $\sin A+\sin B+\sin C \leqslant \dfrac{3\sqrt{3}}{2}$"
While I was in high school, I observed that university calculus could make short shrift of many of the math problems that we were given. I decided to write a series of posts on these occurrences, which should give the average person an edge in high school. Some of these techniques borrow from college mathematics, or simply got omitted from the Singapore-Cambridge syllabus for no good reason (AM-GM-HM inequality, L'Hôpital's rule, partial derivatives, differential operators etc.), hence I assume that the reader will at least make the effort to comprehend these, or already know these.
Part 1: Carrying the integral into the complex plane
One of the things that I pointed out was that we could integrate certain functions, and in particular, trigonometric products, much faster than we were conventionally taught. One of my teachers discussed the legality of these 'tricks' with another, and as a result, I was responsible for the cheeky "Using integration by parts" printed ahead of a question on my final year examination.
For example, you could get up to 5 marks from "Find $\int e^{x}\cos2x\, dx$"
I didn't know the answer beforehand here: I did actually work it out in that single step. It took about 3 seconds for the answer to lay out visually in my head. The secret?
You have a 100 page report. Your boss/teacher tells you to rearrange the sections. Now your contents page, citation/reference numberings etc. are out of order. You removed two citations from the text while you were editing - then you needed to remember to remove those from the bibliography at the end too. Don't forget to re-number all the references after those 2 citations. Double-check the citation style for each reference you made, make sure all of your page breaks remain correct...
A lot of work? Now you have to "print preview"... shift around a few text boxes that 'float' your pictures/accompanying text, 'justify' a few paragraphs so that they look neater, format line spacings etc.
Then you don't get it... MS Word keeps giving you those green squiggly lines for grammatical errors. You RIGHT-CLICK - Ignore all, but after a few seconds, it pops up again... You press ENTER and it gives you a two-line spacing instead of one. You press TAB and it doesn't indent by the same width as it previously did. At the end of it all, your formatting still looks amateurish and un-neat.
Familiar problem? Definitely. Only that I had a 120 page report for Project Work and it was a 70 +MB file, because all of the pictures were embedded in the same Word document, and that kept crashing my cheap laptop while I had to revise all of the formatting. LaTeX solves all of these problems for you, and gives you uninterrupted time to focus on the content by drastically cutting down your formatting time. So this is particularly useful to high school students who haven't done academic research, e.g Singapore-Cambridge GCE 'A' Level takers who have to do Project Work, if you're reading this...
1. Getting started: WYSIWYG vs WYSIWYM
I don't subscribe to format wars, OS wars etc. However, I have to differentiate between WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) and WYSIWYM (What You See Is What You Meant) for the advantages to make sense.
Just a quick random post as I'm figuring out what to make for dinner... I am addicted to Calpico/Calpis water recently!
OK, I'm not as crazy over it as Nagasawa Masami.
And credit to Never Trust a Scrawny Foodie for the heads up on the sugar content. 56g of sugar per 500ml of the drink! More sugar than double that of coke, and heavier in sugar than some hectoeuro-priced bike parts in carbon fiber. Wow.
But I recommend everyone to try it anyway. It has a flavor which I can't describe... you're like, missing out on one of the 'primary flavors' if you haven't tried (kidney failure flavor?). Calpis water has been endorsed by Nagasawa Masami (in picture above) for as long as since 2005, I think. Her ads are kind of crazy, but quite cute. I embedded some of them below...
Because one day after Valentine's Day, is Feynman's death anniversary. (More correctly 2 days after Valentine's Day, because I live in a different time zone.)
I've never had a chance to see him speak on modern footage, something I'd really want to. I like the way he teaches in the Feynman Lectures on Physics, how it explains "how", not "why", and "why not why". Since I don't like writing obituaries, I'll just point out my favorite account of his passing was in Richard Feynman and The Connection Machine, full article here.
"Telling The Good Stuff You Know
Actually, I doubt that it was "progress" that most interested Richard. He was always searching for patterns, for connections, for a new way of looking at something, but I suspect his motivation was not so much to understand the world as it was to find new ideas to explain. The act of discovery was not complete for him until he had taught it to someone else.
I remember a conversation we had a year or so before his death, walking in the hills above Pasadena. We were exploring an unfamiliar trail and Richard, recovering from a major operation for the cancer, was walking more slowly than usual. He was telling a long and funny story about how he had been reading up on his disease and surprising his doctors by predicting their diagnosis and his chances of survival. I was hearing for the first time how far his cancer had progressed, so the jokes did not seem so funny. He must have noticed my mood, because he suddenly stopped the story and asked, "Hey, what's the matter?"
I hesitated. "I'm sad because you're going to die."
"Yeah," he sighed, "that bugs me sometimes too. But not so much as you think." And after a few more steps, "When you get as old as I am, you start to realize that you've told most of the good stuff you know to other people anyway."
We walked along in silence for a few minutes. Then we came to a place where another trail crossed and Richard stopped to look around at the surroundings. Suddenly a grin lit up his face. "Hey," he said, all trace of sadness forgotten, "I bet I can show you a better way home."
And so he did."
On a side note, my Valentine's Day +/- 1 day was semi-eventful.
I received a number of mails on the anodizing tutorial, and I've a sense of the FAQs now. I'll post an update for the tutorial soon! Think I answered everyone except one guy regarding a crankset (sorry!) - I will get to you soon.
I've been busy with settling missing documents all over for my colleges, hope you guys didn't think I ignored your emails from the slow replies. I've also been on medical leave for about 20 days... I've to fix my trigger finger condition at the hospital; it's starting to hurt, and there's no way I can continue learning trills on the piano for now. I'm more worried because it's on my writing hand. My mother lost a finger from an infection after the same operation on her non-dominant hand. I can write, spin pens etc. with my right hand too, but it doesn't feel the same. (Like most people, I'm cross-dominant - which is commonly mistaken for ambidexterity.)
On another hand, I decided to learn how to draw. I have a photo frame at home, a pretty long one, which accommodates 3 photos. It was a waste to throw it away even though I'm moving home soon, so I came up with an idea of what to display in there. From left to right:
Picture 1: Silhouette from behind at angle, from ankle height, with focus on source of scattering leaves. Black background, white leaves/silhouette.
Picture 2: Silhouette rotated to the side view. Divided in half with a vertical line. Black BG/white FG on the left, white BG/black FG on the right.
Picture 3: Silhouette closing her umbrella. White BG/black FG.
This is the first sketch I did (picture 2), without the white shading. I think the result was pretty good for the very first time I've drawn anything besides for calculus class and mechanical designs! I decided to shift the silhouette here closer towards the right from picture 1 so that part of the silhouette/umbrella is affected by the "yin-yang" color effect.
Yeah, I drew a dinosaur's claw for her -_-;
(If you guessed correctly, this was inspired by Touhou.)
