The Junkdrawer of Thought

Four Dimensional Animation

2010-02-06T15:56:00.002-05:00

It looks like portions of the object are passing through itself, but that is just because we are limited to three dimensions.

Interesting Symmetries in Arithmetic

2009-07-01T15:18:00.000-04:00

The Beauty Of Math

View more presentations from paulcaspe.

Egg Carvings

2009-05-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

Eggs carved

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206

2009-04-07T21:41:00.002-04:00

Two hundred and Six is the smallest number that contains all five vowels exactly once when written.

Another Possible Use for a Junkdrawer

2009-03-28T22:46:00.004-04:00

I think junkdrawers are great. I prefer to use them to keep entropy at bay, to isolate the inevitable clutter that accumulates in my life, to avoid the awkward mental challenges that come from sorting items that resist any obvious kinship with the more mundane objects that I tend to keep neatly organised, by type and proximity to their probable area of use.

Junkdrawers conceal our embarrassing inability to bring the kind of order to our lives that we may sometimes desire.

You can also build stuff with them.

Here's a video of a guy who built a very functional oud from a drawer. Of course, the question arises as to whether or not this was truly a junkdrawer. He portrays it as a normal clothing drawer. However, it seems improbable to me that he would actually requisition a clothing drawer that was already in use for it's intended purpose. I prefer to think it was merely a left over drawer from a discarded dresser. I bet it began to accumulate various items before he found a use for it. Such is the nature of junkdrawers.

If you build an oud from a drawer, where are you going to store it?

The Beauty of Mathematics

2008-04-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

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Willard Wigan-Art in Miniature

2008-03-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

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Moebius Transformations

2008-03-04T22:13:00.000-05:00

This is a pleasant video. It has a nice classical music soundtrack and some eye catching graphics of mathematical transformations.

Moebius Transformations

40

2008-02-26T21:46:00.000-05:00

Forty is the only number whose letters in its name are in alphabetical order.

Fractal Animation

2008-02-20T21:20:00.002-05:00

A video full of fascinating and beautiful fractal images.

Fractal Flight

Pencil Art

2008-02-09T17:31:00.000-05:00

Some people draw with pencils. Others have different artistic ideas.

Pencil Art

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If you enjoyed that slideshow, you may enjoy this slideshow blog.

I'm Back

2008-02-08T17:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I took some time off from this blog and got some things done. I was surprised that some people kept visiting in my absence. Thank you. I thought I would come back and do a little more posting. I'll have to see how it goes.

Last Post

2007-06-25T15:02:00.000-04:00

Well, I've officially abandoned this blog. I am still actively posting at my main blog and I hope you will visit me there (or at this blog or this one). This blog has been a lot of fun and I want to thank everyone who has visited and commented. I plan on moving many of the posts to my other blogs.

Update 1/29/07: I'm thinking I might revive this blog soon. Please check back in a few months.

An Unusual Search Term

2007-05-11T10:19:00.000-04:00

I spend way too much time analyzing my visitor stats. I especially enjoy seeing what search terms people use to find my blogs. Since bigger sites have already monopolised the more popular search terms, I tend to do better with bizarre word combinations. One surprise has been the term "viol videos". I made a post with that name several months ago at a different blog and have received hundreds of hits from that search term and similar phrases. Apparently, there is a high demand and poor supply of viol videos.

I recently received a hit based on this search term: 1415926535 8979323846 2643383279 5028841971 6939937510 5820974944 5923078164 0628620899 8628034825 3. Here is someone who knew exactly what he was looking for. I'm glad that he was able to find it! Can you figure out what he wanted? If you're having trouble, you can just click here.

Check Out The Carnival of Craziness!

2007-03-30T15:46:00.000-04:00

A Crazy Carnival is in town. Have fun!

Numbers on a Date

2007-03-24T17:04:00.000-04:00

Warning! The following video contains mathematical humor.

Cast of Characters
pi
e
i

Other Mathematical Vdeos
Fermat's last Theorem
The Story of One
The Mendelbrot Set

Blog Review-Of Sound Mind

2007-03-13T11:43:00.000-04:00

What is music? One definition is that it is the organisation of sound. This hardly seems adequate. Not all organised sound seems musical and some noise may seem musical without being very organised. This confusion is aggravated by the fact that many experimental musical forms purposely blur the distinction between music and noise.

I don't mind not having complete answers to these kinds of questions. As an experimental composer, I find it to be far more enjoyable to challenge definitions and categories than to settle on traditional views.

Of Sound Mind is a great blog for learning about sound and the ill defined border between music and noise. This blog chronicles the adventures of an imaginative sonic explorer. He shares his thoughts and audio clips. These audio clips are unique. They are generally not finished compositions. Sometimes, they explore isolated elements of music or unusual recording techniques. Listening to them provides a rare glimpse into a musical mind at work.

This approach may seem somewhat strange in our modern world of readily available, polished, professionally produced music. It is easy to forget about the ingredients of music. It is even easier to forget about the fascination of sounds that may not be musical in any traditional sense.

There was a time when things were different. Attentive listening to sounds was often a matter of life and death. You may not see the approach of an enemy or predator, but if you were alert, you might hear it. When darkness fell, hearing became even more important for evaluating your surroundings. I am sure that there was much greater respect and admiration for the power and mystery of sound.

Today, sound is frequently a nuisance, something to be blocked out. When we use it for entertainment, it is often trivial and played in the background. I can only speculate on the consequences of this sensory imbalance, on the peculiar shift of attention from the auditory to the visual world that has taken place in modern times.

If you want to learn more about sound, if you want to experience a broader range of sonic possibilities, I recommend that you pay a visit to Of Sound Mind.

The Parrot Sketch

2007-03-11T13:53:00.000-04:00

A Leaky Bucket

2007-02-25T12:43:00.000-05:00

Suppose you have a water filled bucket with three holes. The first hole can empty the bucket in five minutes. The other hole can empty it in ten minutes. The last hole can empty it in 15 minutes. How long will it take for all three holes to empty the bucket? Please leave a comment if you have an answer or a guess.

Can You Read This?

2007-02-11T15:12:00.000-05:00

The following was obtained from the excellent blog, Amazingly Bizarre. It is used here by permission.

Lets see how smart u are :)
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs.

cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm.

Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

if you can raed tihs psas it on !!

A Tough Brainteaser and a Tougher One

2007-01-22T18:17:00.000-05:00

Suppose you have ten trees. How can you plant these trees so that they form five rows of four trees each. Leave a comment if you figure out the answer.

If the first problem is tough, the second one is much tougher. How can you you do the same task (plant five rows of four trees) with only eight trees. It sounds impossible, and it is unless you use an imaginative approach. (Hints: Don't bother planting more than four trees in a row. The second problem is possible, but may not be practical.)

1/649,740

2007-01-17T21:46:00.000-05:00

The probability of being dealt a royal flush.

Herbal Cigarettes

2007-01-11T10:36:00.000-05:00

I could tell you what little I know about this sketch and the show it came from, but that would spoil the fun. (See the comments on a Language Sketch for a lively discussion.)

Herbal Cigarettes

Aside from being a funny sketch. it contains some delicious ironies that will only be apparent if you are up to date on American television. I welcome your comments.

Language Sketch

2007-01-08T11:30:00.000-05:00

This may not be a tough question for some of you, but can you identitify the actors? If so leave a comment.

Language Sketch

Wrong Blog

2007-01-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

I hate to tell you this, but you came to the wrong blog. It's not your fault. You didn't know. If you must, you can stay and look around a bit, but I feel compelled to advise you on the error of your ways.

You see, this blog is just a junkdrawer of thoughts. You can come back any time. It will still be here. The real excitement is taking place at one of my other blogs. It is only one week old today, yet it has already won a prestigious award and has been recognised by other bloggers. Yesterday, it received over a thousand unique visitors. It has also brought much deserved recognition to others.

If you enjoy reading blogs, it provides an unique way to browse the bloggosphere. If you write a blog, you will discover a stunningly simple (and completely free) way to promote your online presence.

I'm not bragging. I cannot, in good conscience, brag about this. The success, so far, has simply been the result of the positive response of the blogging community to a simple idea.

I hope you will visit today and see what the excitement is all about.

The preceding was a pseudo-advertisement. Had I been two people, instead of one. It would have been a paid advertisement with an appropriate disclaimer.