One interesting thing about Carlsen is how *little* opening theory he knows compared to his rivals. He doesn't follow this approach. Instead of highly specialising in a few openings, he has very general play where he can play most openings well. Seems to be working for him!
It is a valid example. Comparing the speed my TomTom sat nav says with the speedo in a number of cars, they have all overestimated how fast I was going. That's the same as Samsung has done.
I agree - it is very important.
I hire a lot of developers, and I rate this very highly. Not because it is needed to do the job - in many instances it isn't. But because it is a proxy for understanding logical complexity. That's what maths is. And, ultimately, that's what a lot of programming is. If you can demonstrate understanding of abstract logical complexity, then in my mind (as a hiring manager), I will rate you more highly.
That said - is it essential? No. Are there great programmers who can't do maths? Yes, absolutely. But on the balance of probability, I would rather hire someone who is.
Thanks for letting me know about Kiva. I hadn't realised this existed, but it looks like a great idea.
I put $1000 into this straight after reading this post. The way I see it, with interest rates such as they are in the UK, the cost of this is very little to me.
From TFA: HECToR's memory is also impressive. It is 3,200 times larger than that of a top-of-the-range iPod 160GB
Hmm... so a £113M computer has got 3,200 times the memory of a £230 iPod. Let's see how that stacks up:
For the iPod that's £1.44 / GB.
HECToR comes in at £220.70 / GB...
Chess positions vs atoms
on
Cracking Go
·
· Score: 1
There was an interesting quote in this article about the number of possible chess positions, "tree containing about 10^60 positions. That's about a thousand times the number of hydrogen atoms in the sun."
It is often misquoted that the number of possible chess positions is greater than the total number of atoms in the universe, however this is saying that it is less than the number of atoms in a single galaxy.
If a company tries to award a tax-paid prize, it can never do so, because each time it pays off the tax this leads to extra tax being owed
This is wrong, and so is the quote in the original summary saying that sponsors couldn't pay off the tax. Of course they can - it is just a matter of simple maths.
OK, he owes $25K tax, and say he's taxed at 50% (for the sake of arguement). The sponsors just pay him an extra $50K cash, he pays 50% of this straight as tax leaving him $25K left over to pay off his original tax bill. Simple.
"85% Why stop there? If it can get to 1.5 million km at L1 why can't it go all the way to 0.35 million km for the Moon? It seems to me that almost any spacecraft that can get to the 85% of the Moon in a finite period of time can make it all the way to the Moon"
Because the purpose of this mission is to travel using the Interplanetary Superhighway. This is a very slow, but extremely energy efficient (almost energy free) way of travelling round the solar system.
There are Lagrange points between any two bodies in the solar system, these are points where the gravitational forces balance out. Some of these are stable, but some are not and drift around. The Interplanetary Superhighway is the map of these drifting ones. Basically, you get to a drifting Lagrange point and you are on a highway which connects to any place in the solar system!
It just takes ages to get anywhere though.
Re:Every Theory Needs to be Tested....
on
Testing Relativity
·
· Score: 1
I agree. Nothing can ever be proved 100%. Theories just become less likely to be disproved the longer they are around and fit with experimental data. It is impossible to tell what new evidence is just round the corner - if new evidence doesn't fit with an established theory then that theory is questioned. If too much new evidence goes against the theory then it is junked.
On a more philosophical note - it is impossible for us to 'know' something is absolutely true, even through empirical evidence. There might be experimental error, or even eliminating this we are still observing with our five senses. Our brains choose to 'interpret' the data from our senses, but we don't *know* in an absolute sense. Everything is perceived through a 'veil of perception'.
This is what Descartes//http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes was going on about before he came to the conclusion "I think therefore I am":
"I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me... the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind."
This can be summarised in philosophical scepticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_skeptic ism
Of course, even after coming to this conclusion everyone goes back to adopting 'proof' - but it does mean you can never really know (or prove) something 100%. Descartes got round this problem by introducing God.
I've done that... it is cool. I've now got TiVoWeb running on my TiVo, put a network card into my TiVo (requires a bit of bending of the motherboard), connected it up to my broadband connection via a wireless link. I can now log on to my TiVo from work - handy for those times when someone just mentions that there's something interesing on tonight.
The only tricky bit is getting a network card that fits. Quick search round the user forums solved that one though.
From Dan's Data:
"70% silver by weight multiplied by three grams of grease at the current $US4.50 or so price for a troy ounce of silver, by the way, means that a three gram tube of this stuff contains about 30 US cents worth of silver. So I wouldn't be hoarding Arctic Silver 3 in a safe, if I were you."
bit stupid of them to risk business on 30 cents worth of silver!
A bit like the card system that renault are using? http://www.valeo.com/pdf/press/Keyless_GB.pdf
You just have the card in your pocket and walk up to your car. It automatically recognises you, pops the doors open and stuff. No need to even get the card out of your pocket. You then just press a start button, no need for keys at all.
TiVo is better than a DVD recorder, but there is also Sky+ as an option. Here's a good article describing the pros & cons http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/article.php3?story_ id=1256§ion=Reviews&slashSess=61591921eb04d744 56a7cec2784f01d2
The main feature that I really like (and you get with Sky+ as well) is that it 'knows' what's on TV. Just a few clicks and it will record all the episodes of your favourite program. Also, it records other things that it thinks you might like.
No, I'm in the UK and have got one. Wireless networked it up to my broadband connection as well, and installed TivoWeb so I can control it from work (although can't watch any of the programs). It's very good, but didn't really catch on in the UK. I don't think you can buy it new any more, but you can pick up some second hand ones on eBay.
Slashdot Mirror
Woah! Is this the US trying to secretly develop a nuclear bomb!?!
One interesting thing about Carlsen is how *little* opening theory he knows compared to his rivals. He doesn't follow this approach. Instead of highly specialising in a few openings, he has very general play where he can play most openings well. Seems to be working for him!
Don't underestimate the *huge* gap Carlsen has on his rivals in the rankings: http://www.chessbase.com/post/november-2013-ratings--nakamura-in-place-four-011113 Only people like Kasparov and Fischer have managed to pull away like that in the past ...
The 4th best player on the current rankings is from the US: http://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml Behind Norway, Armenia & Russia ...
It is a valid example. Comparing the speed my TomTom sat nav says with the speedo in a number of cars, they have all overestimated how fast I was going. That's the same as Samsung has done.
I agree - it is very important. I hire a lot of developers, and I rate this very highly. Not because it is needed to do the job - in many instances it isn't. But because it is a proxy for understanding logical complexity. That's what maths is. And, ultimately, that's what a lot of programming is. If you can demonstrate understanding of abstract logical complexity, then in my mind (as a hiring manager), I will rate you more highly. That said - is it essential? No. Are there great programmers who can't do maths? Yes, absolutely. But on the balance of probability, I would rather hire someone who is.
Thanks for letting me know about Kiva. I hadn't realised this existed, but it looks like a great idea. I put $1000 into this straight after reading this post. The way I see it, with interest rates such as they are in the UK, the cost of this is very little to me.
From TFA: HECToR's memory is also impressive. It is 3,200 times larger than that of a top-of-the-range iPod 160GB
... so a £113M computer has got 3,200 times the memory of a £230 iPod. Let's see how that stacks up:
...
Hmm
For the iPod that's £1.44 / GB.
HECToR comes in at £220.70 / GB
There was an interesting quote in this article about the number of possible chess positions, "tree containing about 10^60 positions. That's about a thousand times the number of hydrogen atoms in the sun."
It is often misquoted that the number of possible chess positions is greater than the total number of atoms in the universe, however this is saying that it is less than the number of atoms in a single galaxy.
err ... apart from maybe the Sun?
If a company tries to award a tax-paid prize, it can never do so, because each time it pays off the tax this leads to extra tax being owed
This is wrong, and so is the quote in the original summary saying that sponsors couldn't pay off the tax. Of course they can - it is just a matter of simple maths.
OK, he owes $25K tax, and say he's taxed at 50% (for the sake of arguement). The sponsors just pay him an extra $50K cash, he pays 50% of this straight as tax leaving him $25K left over to pay off his original tax bill. Simple.
"85% Why stop there? If it can get to 1.5 million km at L1 why can't it go all the way to 0.35 million km for the Moon? It seems to me that almost any spacecraft that can get to the 85% of the Moon in a finite period of time can make it all the way to the Moon" Because the purpose of this mission is to travel using the Interplanetary Superhighway. This is a very slow, but extremely energy efficient (almost energy free) way of travelling round the solar system. There are Lagrange points between any two bodies in the solar system, these are points where the gravitational forces balance out. Some of these are stable, but some are not and drift around. The Interplanetary Superhighway is the map of these drifting ones. Basically, you get to a drifting Lagrange point and you are on a highway which connects to any place in the solar system! It just takes ages to get anywhere though.
I agree. Nothing can ever be proved 100%. Theories just become less likely to be disproved the longer they are around and fit with experimental data. It is impossible to tell what new evidence is just round the corner - if new evidence doesn't fit with an established theory then that theory is questioned. If too much new evidence goes against the theory then it is junked.
//http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes was going on about before he came to the conclusion "I think therefore I am":
... the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind."
c ism
On a more philosophical note - it is impossible for us to 'know' something is absolutely true, even through empirical evidence. There might be experimental error, or even eliminating this we are still observing with our five senses. Our brains choose to 'interpret' the data from our senses, but we don't *know* in an absolute sense. Everything is perceived through a 'veil of perception'.
This is what Descartes
"I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me
This can be summarised in philosophical scepticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_skepti
Of course, even after coming to this conclusion everyone goes back to adopting 'proof' - but it does mean you can never really know (or prove) something 100%. Descartes got round this problem by introducing God.
I've done that ... it is cool. I've now got TiVoWeb running on my TiVo, put a network card into my TiVo (requires a bit of bending of the motherboard), connected it up to my broadband connection via a wireless link. I can now log on to my TiVo from work - handy for those times when someone just mentions that there's something interesing on tonight.
The only tricky bit is getting a network card that fits. Quick search round the user forums solved that one though.
From Dan's Data: "70% silver by weight multiplied by three grams of grease at the current $US4.50 or so price for a troy ounce of silver, by the way, means that a three gram tube of this stuff contains about 30 US cents worth of silver. So I wouldn't be hoarding Arctic Silver 3 in a safe, if I were you." bit stupid of them to risk business on 30 cents worth of silver!
A bit like the card system that renault are using? http://www.valeo.com/pdf/press/Keyless_GB.pdf You just have the card in your pocket and walk up to your car. It automatically recognises you, pops the doors open and stuff. No need to even get the card out of your pocket. You then just press a start button, no need for keys at all.
TiVo is better than a DVD recorder, but there is also Sky+ as an option. Here's a good article describing the pros & cons http://www.automatedhome.co.uk/article.php3?story_ id=1256§ion=Reviews&slashSess=61591921eb04d744 56a7cec2784f01d2
The main feature that I really like (and you get with Sky+ as well) is that it 'knows' what's on TV. Just a few clicks and it will record all the episodes of your favourite program. Also, it records other things that it thinks you might like.
No, I'm in the UK and have got one. Wireless networked it up to my broadband connection as well, and installed TivoWeb so I can control it from work (although can't watch any of the programs). It's very good, but didn't really catch on in the UK. I don't think you can buy it new any more, but you can pick up some second hand ones on eBay.