Plank's Constant Day: A Celebration Day | Rick Giz posted on the topic | LinkedIn (2024)

Le Cygne – as Performed by Andrea Hughes – and a GoFundMe Campaign “Le Cygne (The Swan) is a piece taken from the larger work, Le Carnaval des Animaux (The Carnaval of the Animals), composed in the year 1886 by Camille Saint-Saëns. Originally featuring the cello as the solo voice, Saint-Saëns himself arranged this version of the piece for violin and piano.” Andrea plays both parts. Andrea is a graduate of CIM, the Cleveland Institute of Music. A catastrophic disaster struck. Her violin bow broke, snapped. Insurance is inadequate for a replacement. The most inexpensive replacement suitable for her skill level is in the $10,000 range.There is a fundraising campaign set up as a GoFundMe site. Link here:https://lnkd.in/eZQQC8yS#gofundme #violinbow

The Mathematics of Beer Quality – Presenting the Guinness Brewery This article from Scientific American discusses something called a t-test. It’s a well written article; the explanation is concise. But first an interesting oddity: Although the t-test was developed by a statistician while employed at Guinness, the research was published under an assumed name because Guinness did not want to tip off its competitors as to its research. And now for a few pertinent definitions: null hypothesis: The claim that the effect being studied does not exist. t-test:Astatistical test that compares the means of two samples. It is used in hypothesis testing, with a null hypothesis that the difference in group means is zero and an alternate hypothesis that the difference in group means is different from zero. p-value: The probability of obtaining test results at least as extreme as the result actually observed, under the assumption that the null hypothesis is correct. A very small value means that such an extreme observed outcome would be very unlikely under the null hypothesis. #mathematics #statistics #probability #beer #guinness

2

3 Comments

A Slight Change in LyricsA devastating tragedy. More fallen victims to Artificial Intelligence. What a shame.😎 #AI #layoffs #humor

19

4 Comments

"Math-ish: Finding Creativity, Diversity, and Meaning in Mathematics"Dr. Jo Boaler, professor of mathematics education, Stanford University.New book recently published, May 2024. Website: https://www.mathish.org/7 Principles:•The power of mindset on learning•The importance of teaching students how to learn•Utilizing a visual and physical approach to math•Understanding mathematical ideas in the world•The importance of connected and flexible knowledge•Ways to foster equitable relations among groups and individuals•The value of diversity in learning mathematics and beyondSeems like a good teaching reference textbook. But I’m not sure I also need to buy the plushie mascot, appropriately named “ish”. Here’s an article from phys.org which features the book: “The Case for ‘Math-ish’ Thinking”https://lnkd.in/ewaBM2un#mathematics #education

2

1 Comment

Embellishing the ResumeHow true is this of YOU? 😎 #resume #humor

4

1 Comment

Microsoft, 1984. Time Magazine article from 40 years ago this year, April 2024. More than the floppy disk, we love the eyeglasses even more.But how did he manage to get the disk to stand up on edge like that?🤣 #microsoft #billgates #timemagazine

6

3 Comments

The Can of Soup – An Optimization Problem – Minimizing Surface AreaImage credit:Campbell Soup companyMotivation for this post: Campbell's Soup is releasing a limited-edition flavor of grilled cheese and tomato soup, available April 2024 presumably for a limited time. In recognition, a post seemed appropriate but I struggled to find a math theme for it and then this one came to mind.Say I am selling soup, and I want to maximize my profits. I do not want to sacrifice product quality, but I can save money if I minimize the packaging for a given volume.A soup can is a cylinder, and a cylinder can take on many shapes. It can be short and wide, or tall and narrow. The question is which shape uses the least amount of material for a given volume. This translates to finding the minimum surface area of the cylinder.So we must determine the best ratio of the height to the radius, to contain a given volume v. The volume of a cylinder is given by the equation v = pr^2h where r is the radius and h is the height.Solving for the height gives h = v/(pr^2)The total surface area of a cylinder is given by the sum of the areas of 3 different surfaces:the top, the bottom, both of which are circles of radius r, and the side which can be rolled out as a rectangle of height h and length of the circle’s circumference, 2prAdding the areas of the 3 shapes gives 2pr^2 + (2pr)hNext, substitute for the height in terms of the volume and the radius, giving 2pr^2 + (2pr) v/(pr^2) and then simplify to 2pr^2 + 2v/r Next, to determine the minimum surface area, take the derivative with respect to r and set it equal to zero. This produces 4pr - 2v/r^2 = 0Next, solve for the variable v which gives v = 2pr^3Now we have 2 expressions for the volume, v = 2pr^3 and v =pr^2h, where the first is for the minimum surface area and the second is true for any cylinder.Next, set them equal to each other, 2pr^3 = pr^2h, and finally simplify it to h = 2r So the height of the cylinder must be twice the radius, i.e., the optimal ratio of height-to-radius is 2, meaning h/r = 2. This will minimize the surface area for a can of soup, regardless of its volume. It is the optimal solution. To make certain you’ve reached the minimum, you’d need to take the second derivative and observe that it does not go negative. I could have measured cans of soup in my kitchen pantry, but I did not have enough brand variety. So armed with the math formula, I visited the soup isle in the grocery store, and measured cans of different brands. Clerk comes up to me and says “Sir, they all have the same number of ounces, just pick one.” I say “No, see, you don’t understand, it’s not about volume, it’s about surface area.” Clerk says “Sir, we don’t allow math geeks in here. Please leave.” Actually, Campbell’s didn’t do very well. Progresso did better, but still not quite right. #mathematics #optimization #soup

9

10 Comments

The IBM Mainframe – How it Runs and Why it Survives A Deep Dive. This article is a bit lengthy, but worth the read. #mainframe

82

10 Comments

A Mainframe for the Masses·A mainframe computer on a limited budget.·Transactional processing at scale.·ROI in months compared to hyperscale cloud.#mainframe #computing

12

3 Comments