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Archive for June, 2009

Linux FTW: The Laptop, First Month Retrospective

Jun 20

Posted by Aaron in Geekery, Reviews | 2 Comments

screenshot2

Well, it’s been one month.

I figured since I had blogged obsessively for the first week, it seemed only fair to see how things stand after the initial test-period.

Before I get to the details, the general opinion I have is still very positive. I definitely consider it to be a solid purchase, and I have no buyer’s remorse whatsoever — I’m usually very apprehensive about large purchases because I’m anal-retentive about our family finances, so for me to be comfortable dropping $1500 on ANYTHING is a big deal.

That said, there have been a couple challenges along the way — nothing dealbreaking, but somewhat disappointing. Read the rest of this entry »

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From the archives: Towers of Annoyed

Jun 18

Posted by Aaron in Geekery | No Comments

My “Day I Left Pennsylvania” led me to some archived website posts (before blogs were invented) I had written many years ago. I’m re-posting them now. Bear in mind that most of the content in this series is over 5 years old. I have left the content more or less intact. I have removed some links and added some others — but that’s it. Enjoy!

(Just kidding, it’s “Towers of Hanoi” :) )

hanoiAny first or second-year computer programmers have likely run into this problem, most likely when they first get introduced to recursion.

Legend has it that in a temple in the Far East, priests are attempting to move a stack of disks from one peg to another. The initial stack had 64 disks threaded onto one of three pegs and arranged from bottom to top by decreasing size. The priests are attempting to move the stack from that peg to a second peg. The only constraints are that disks must be moved one at a time, and at no time may a larger disk be placed above a smaller disk. A third peg is available for temporarily holding disks.(Supposedly the world will end when the priests finish, so you would kind of wonder why we would want to help them, eh? ;^)

Ok, that’s a mouthful! Let’s start by breaking this down into some simpler rules: Read the rest of this entry »

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From the Archives: Billiard Ball Puzzle

Jun 15

Posted by Aaron in Geekery | No Comments

My “Day I Left Pennsylvania” led me to some archived website posts (before blogs were invented) I had written many years ago. I’m re-posting them now. Bear in mind that most of the content in this series is over 5 years old. I have left the content more or less intact. I have removed some links and added some others — but that’s it. Enjoy!

Consider the puzzle:

I have six billiard balls, one of which weighs less than the other five. Otherwise, they are all identical. What is the least number of weighings it will take to identify the lighter ball by using a balance scale?*

This is the classic layout for puzzles like this. The correct answer for this particular puzzle is 2. The formula for this type of puzzle is floor( log (base 2) x ). The function floor( ) means that if the number was a fraction, you round down to the nearest whole number. log (base 2) xmeans the answer is whatever power to which 2 must be raised to reach x.

log (base 2) 2 1 (2 ^ 1 = 2)
log (base 2) 4 2 (2 ^ 2 = 4)
log (base 2) 8 3 (2 ^ 3 = 8)
log (base 2) 6 ~2.585 (2 ^2.585…= 6)

So, using our equation from earlier, we can see that the floor(2.585…) is simply 2. 3 weighings wouldn’t be required until you add an 8th ball.

The question is now, how did we reach that conclusion? We have our cute little formulae and all, but if you really had to do this, how would you do it? (let’s say in this example that the ( 1 ) ball is the light one, but we don’t know that) Read the rest of this entry »

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My Latest Obsession: 30 Days

Jun 11

Posted by Aaron in Reviews, Secular Life | No Comments

30daysSo if you’ve talked to me at all this week, I have most likely mentioned this show I’ve been watching on Hulu called “30 Days.”

This show was created by Morgan Spurlock, the guy who directed the Oscar-nominated “Supersize Me” documentary, as well as “Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden” and other documentary films.

The central premise of 30-days is along the lines of “Supersize me”: People (sometimes Spurlock himself) are put into unfamiliar situations for 30 days with rules that compel them to participate in a way that is undoubtedly uncomfortable (generally for the first 14 days) but ultimately enlightening and often life-changing. It’s like “Wifeswap,” except done correctly.

I absolutely adore this show. (You can watch it here , you’ll have to create an account because it’s TV-MA, but it’s free and only takes a second) Read the rest of this entry »

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From the archives: The Marble Puzzle

Jun 9

Posted by Aaron in Geekery | No Comments

My “Day I Left Pennsylvania” led me to some archived website posts (before blogs were invented) I had written many years ago. I’m re-posting them now. Bear in mind that most of the content in this series is over 5 years old. I have left the content more or less intact. I have removed some links and added some others — but that’s it. Enjoy!

You are presented with the following puzzle:

In a box there are 20 balls: 10 white and 10 black. With a blindfold on, what is the least number you must draw out in order to get a pair that matches?

Some people get this one right off the bat, other people don’t. If you answered 3 then you are one of the people that DO get it. If you answered 11, then you are in the latter category. Why is the answer three? The best way to explain it is by analyzing the worst-case-scenarios of draws, which will give us the minimum number of draws necessary. (W = White, B = Black)

Drawing #
Current Draw
Total Draws
1
W
W
2
B
WB
3
W
WBW

The problem most people run into is that they forget that the problem asks for ANY TWO balls of the same color. If the problem said “how many must you pick until you can guarantee two white balls” then the answer would be 12. Read the rest of this entry »

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