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Finally bowing to public pressure, Trump visited the island and mockingly tossed rolls of paper towels to residents, apparently to suggest they could easily clean up the "flooding" themselves.

mike  ·  2457 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: July 5th, 2017

Deep in vacation mode. Bought myself a used acoustic with a pickup, so had to get an amp and a microphone. The salesman talked me into a Fishman Loudbox Mini. I should buy that guy a beer. This amp sounds great, looks great and is a lot of fun.

Started a new art project - haven't done art in about a year and it feels great. Goal is to make 20-25 cm models of the 5 Platonic solids, each made from 6 human figure shapes. They'll be 3d printed in metal. Making 3d art is 10x harder than 2d, my 2d pictures I can cheat and hide things, but a 3d model that people can handle has to be perfect from every angle. This will take me all summer and maybe beyond.

Going to Greece on Sunday to sit on an island and do nothing for a week except eat well and drink adequately.

mike  ·  2861 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 2000 days. Thank you all.

Fun to see my daughter in one picture! I love the deer head pic. Brilliant shadows! Where is that, and where can I get that sweater?

mike  ·  2889 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Latest addition to my math park

Thanks! I never knew there was so much math in sound diffusers. Just spent a few bewildering minutes reading about quadratic residues on wikipedia, and then quadratic residue diffusers. Just mind-blowing what folks can use math for.

I especially like this:

    Originally an abstract mathematical concept from the branch of number theory known as modular arithmetic, quadratic residues are now used in applications ranging from acoustical engineering to cryptography and the factoring of large numbers.

A lot of research – science as well as math – works to understand some rather abstract concepts that have no apparent value. And then, 300 years later, it solves a problem. Maybe the solution is just how to best diffuse noise, or maybe the solution saves millions of lives.

Coincidentally, another project going on right now is sound damping in what we call the DaVinci room, a very cool room with a vaulted ceiling. The noise is bad - I taught two days of courses to high school kids in there and it was too much. I'd been pushing for us to just carpet the ceiling but my partners didn't agree. We're putting up sound-absorbing panels right now. I thought it would look bad, but now I think it will look great! Here's the start:

mike  ·  3029 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: December Photo Challenge Day 11: Window

Rainbow through the windows in the great hall.

mike  ·  3030 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The 1000 day club -Are you in it?

Five. Once upon a time I hit 80 throws with 6 and 21 throws with 7, but that was a lifetime ago. I'm happy I can and do still juggle five balls. It was really hard to learn and still feels amazing to me when I do it.

mike  ·  3173 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Our Community and Real Names

I've made no attempt to hide my identity here. I'm just as public as thenewgreen. It does impose some limitations. I can remember at least twice typing a comment on a thread and then deleting it because it was something I would not want the world to know. In both cases I remember thinking that that was a shame because I had a perspective that I think would have contributed something. I thought about creating another account for just such cases but I haven't.

I've only gotten in one scuffle here, but wasn't worried about being hunted down. I'm not an asshole most of the time. On those rare moments that I want to be, having my identity public can serve to keep me in check. Only a little annoying.

I'd rather be me here and let you know it. The things I want to share are usually things I create and am proud to take ownership of. So you get me. The price is that sometimes I'm more cautious than I want to be.

mike  ·  3187 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Ask Hubski: Guns. Do You Have One? Do You Want One?

I bought one back when Clinton was talking about gun reform. I had always wanted one, for end-of-the-world scenarios. Bought a .22 pistol. Don't laugh. I figured the ammo would be easiest to come by post-apocolypse, and that I could be a good enough shot to make a .22 deadly. Furthermore it wasn't deadly enough that if someone got it from me and shot me I would be ok. Double-sided logic? Maybe.

I was in Florida at the time. I had to sign papers and wait three days. A few weeks later it got stolen from my house by some painters. Reported it to the police. I was so fucking ashamed that I had bought a handgun and didn't secure it enough that it got stolen, and could end up being used in a crime. The police came to my house and I told them the story. I was absolutely shocked how sympathetic they were. One of them shook his head and said in a calm sympathetic voice, "you buy a gun to protect your home and someone takes that, that's terrible." He was telling me I was a homeowner and a gunowner and that I was the same as him. I found it somewhat disturbing.

Even so, I bought another gun, the same kind. I still thought it was the right gun. I used to practice rolling out of bed, taking the gun from its case, loading the clip, and shooting imaginary bad guys. I got pretty smooth at it.

My first time at the range was with a Florida wildlife officer. I hit a very high hit percentage. I has a high agility score at the time as a juggler and video game player. He told me I was a natural. I shot several guns and fell in love with the 9mm. It was the perfect amount of kick, serious and enough to sting a little bit, like you gotta shoot it like you mean it. I never liked the .22 again. I sold it a few years later when I had my first child. Didn't want a gun in the house.

Now that my kids are grown, I'd like a 9mm. I'd keep it in a safe. Well stocked with ammo, for the zombie invasion.

Interesting Norway fact: I live in Norway, so if I want one I need to join a gun club, take a safety course, be known by the group for at least 3 months, and have the president sign that I can buy a gun. How do you like for psychological screening? I think it's brilliant.

mike  ·  3233 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Vox: Expensive wine is for suckers.

I love the idea that knowing the wine makes it taste better. The brain scans show that. It actually tastes better just that you are aware it's more expensive.

This speaks to business. When I starting out getting paid for gigs (juggling and clown shows in the early days), I would take whatever price I could, $30 for a birthday party when the pros were getting $75-$200. Someone told me not to do that. Not only does it undercut the other performers and the art itself, but that people will think you are not as good if you charge so little.

I'm still in the performing business, but now it's educational talks and seminars. I usually get around $1000-2000 for a talk. If an organization can't afford it and I think it's something worth doing, I will do it free rather than accept $200.

I can't say whether people think I'm better than I am because I have a high price tag. I'd rather think that my price reflects quality and experience. But I do think the key to getting even higher paid jobs is to set a high sticker price, and deliver.

mike  ·  3264 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pretty cool invitation in my mailbox today

I've been to two of these previously, one in Trømso and one in Trondheim. In both places I had roles in the children's day, giving math shows and organizing . After the prize award ceremony and lectures and party in Oslo, the winner goes to another city in Norway the next day where there is a math learning event for school children (usually somewhere around 8th grade), more lectures, and another party.

Mind you the Abel prize winners are usually quite old, I think only one has been younger than 70. They are usually quite tired after day 2.

The party in Trømso is one my top memories in Norway. Trømso is far north in the arctic circle. We were a small group of about 25 for dinner and drinks. The mayor of Trømso, in all of his mayoral bling, wrote and sang a song for the Abel prize winner. In Norwegian tradition, there were many speeches and funny stories during dinner, and because the winner was not Norwegian it was all in English, which I appreciated at the time.

Here's a link to the cool thing we built a couple of years ago in Trondheim: http://www.matematikksenteret.no/content/2212/Abelprisen-og-et-digert-tetraeder

mike  ·  3289 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: I chased the solar eclipse, got these pics

Hmm. Yep, you should have 98%. We got 93% in Trondheim. Stavanger where I flew out from in the morning had total cloud coverage with rain -- they got nothing. Trondheim was about 2/3 covered, I was fortunate to be in my car chasing the openings.

Still, it didn't get as dark as I expected. It was noticeably darker, like a big storm rolling in, but with 93% coverage it seems like it should be only 7% bright, but it felt more like 50%.

mike  ·  3407 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Yeah, I’m Sick. Read All About It.

I too am sick. I have lymph cancer which has taken its toll and as of now, I am maybe in remission and maybe not. Many unanswered questions.

It struck me in this article that the author has a unique disease. I too have an axillary disease which as far as my doctors can tell is unique. I have an unusual gluten allergy, which I'm damn sure is connected to my cancer. It was first only triggered by eaten high-gluten foods like pizza or bagels, and then sweating. It has since in the 15 years since it first appeared become more and more sensitive, and now I can have the reaction without a cardi-vasular workout.

In Norway they will give you extra money every month if you have an allergy because food costs more (yeah, fuck yeah Norway!). You just have to test positive for the allergy. But I showed negative results on the tests. My doctor, bless her, did not say "you don't have an allergy" but instead said "you show negative on this test." I still got the feeling she didn't believe me. But what can I do? Eat a bagel and run on a treadmill in front of my doctor? Naw, as far as getting extra support for diet, I just fall between the cracks. So what?

I avoid gluten altogether now. Last year I had so severe a reaction, with hives and swelling over my entire body including my nose and eyes and into my lungs, that I lost consciousness for a few minutes. Woke up looking at the ceiling of an elevator. I now carry an epipen with me so I can ensure that I can breathe if I have such a reaction again. Thankfully, since reducing my gluten intake to 0 I have not have a reaction since. I must still deal with people who say "Oh, you think you have a gluten allergy? Most people who think they have an allergy don't really have one." Fuck you very much. I almost died from mine. I'm pretty damn sure I'm not imagining it.

So it was interesting to read an account from someone else with a unique disease. It sucks when people don't believe that you're really sick.

The author talks a lot about fatigue. I was fatigued for a loooong time. Chemotherapy does that to you, in my case almost for a year after my last treatment. Some mornings I woke up feeling like I was filled with bricks and could barely get out of bed, but I did, and I went to work, and felt shitty because I was supposed to be better and couldn't hack it.

So anyways, I feel for the author. I know fatigue. I know what it's like to a disease with no name that the government doesn't recognize. I'm just lucky to be a steady job already.

mike  ·  3563 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Would you like to know your personal moderation stats?

You know that's not what I'm referring to. I think you know exactly why some people find you overbearing, even "insufferable". And you use your very fine debating skills to argue that that they are wrong to perceive things this way, and you will grind people down until they give up, and you will display the attributes of someone who is being overbearing and insufferable. If this is the impression people are getting, how is that their fault?

And who is to say you don't match my straw man? How do I know you aren't arguing just because you want or even need to be right? I only know what you project, and you can argue I'm wrong, and you can argue everyone else is wrong, and maybe I am, and maybe they are, but your reasoning is entirely circular. You project an image of someone who likes to argue and be right and knock people around, and when someone points it out you accuse them of projecting, and argue about it to show you're right, and knock people around while doing it.

You see the problem? You're not talking to me, you're talking to a straw man of me, one which you've already decided has constructed a straw man of you.

My name's Mike. What's yours?

mike  ·  3563 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Original art: Share it.

Here's an old one I made about 10 years ago. This is a math joke. Get it?

mike  ·  3568 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Give me some "SPAM"  ·  

A pentagram is a five pointed star with crossing lines, the kind every kids learns to draw. A pentacle is a pentagram inside of a circle and has a rich history, which includes usages in various kinds of "magick". A pentagram inscribed in a pentagon is the symbol of the Pythagoreans and is a kickass mathematical shape.

Here's a handy guide I made to help show the difference:

mike  ·  3580 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Give me some "SPAM"

Thanks for the invite, thenewgreen! Here's a few of my sites:

Naked Geometry, my artwork, math with naked people.

Naylors in Norway, a blog about family life in Norway.

Matematikkhuset - Math House, website for my business.

Mike's Cancer Blog, my cancer experience. With science!

Norway's Math Blog, my weekly math blog for the Norwegian Math Eduation Center. Even if you don't understand Norwegian you can understand a lot.

mike  ·  3617 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The slow death of purposeless walking

"There are many people who regard walking from place to place as "dead time" that they resent losing."

Interesting choice of words. Walking is a big part of my recovery from cancer treatment, and I look at it quite the opposite from "dead" time. I view every hour I walk as one extra hour I will live, so it is very much "free" time to me, time to live that doesn't count against against my lifespan.

I walk about 30-60 minutes a day, to work and back, and while it has a purpose and a destination, I vary the route every single time and keep an awareness: what am I going to learn this time?

I love it.

mike  ·  4101 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Brian Leiter, “Why Tolerate Religion?”

There are entirely rational reasons to be a good and moral person. I contend it is better to base your morality on rationality than on religion, simply because rationality means being thoughtful and attentive to the current situation, while religion implies following someone else's thinking without question. Blindly relgious folk could do with a good dose of rationality, methinks.

mike  ·  4109 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Project Major Khaaan: The [lost] Hubski Weather Balloon

I suggest you allowing your friends on Hubski to donate for the next launch. I, for one, would kick in money so I could feel like a part of the next mission! Paypal?

mike  ·  4605 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Hubski Update: Experiment complete
Glad you put back some measure in there -- I did like getting a score. Maybe we can chalk that up to growing up in a video game world, but I think there's something deeper there, the same phenomenum that makes video game scores popular. Read what you will into my psyche... I'm not competitive with everyone, but I am glad greedo doesn't have more karma than me now. ;-)