Great Site: What’s Special About This Number?

Last week, I stumbled on this fun site. It’s a running list of numbers with an indication about what is special about that number.

Stuff like …

and just a few of my favorites from the first 100

The site is also full of links to fun and interesting math topics – if you find math fun and interesting.

April 7, 2009 | Filed Under Fun | Comments 

Weekly Link Roundup

Stanford offers free downloads of its iPhone development class | Software | iPhone Central | Macworld
A great way to learn iPhone programming
Recent gopher Bookmarks on Delicious
Wow, it's been at least ten years since I browsed gopher.
8 Year-Old Entrepreneur Makes Plea For Job – Business Opportunities Weblog
What a cool little kid!
Tarjeta de dentista :: Cuarto derecha
Very creative design idea.
Garlic Shrimp and Scallops Recipe (by Jeremy Zawodny)
Rachel Sutherland, 2006 The Other Half of Famous Twins | GetBack Retro Images, Video, Games and Trivia
HugeURL
Totally useless site but good for quick laugh.
Talking Points Memo | Frightful Kindle
I love the Kindle app for iPhone but I like the Kindle better. The "non-backlitness" is a big plus for me. I spend a lot of time in front of a screen so the more I can get away the better. The iPhone app is very cool for "having my books with me" all the time. I carry the Kindle a lot of places but I carry the iPhone everywhere.
Twitter / mcuban: can't say no one makes mon …
Haha, good point
"60 Minutes" freaks out over Conficker. Where's John Hodgman when you need him? | TV Barn
"Maybe tonight, a lot of 50-plussers will update their security software or lock up that wi-fi they've been sharing with the neighborhood. I suppose that's all for the good. Still, I wonder if anyone bothered to inform Lauren, the 30-trying-to-look-like-22-year-old featured in those Windows ads, that her $700 Windows box could get infected with Conficker — but a Mac, or a PC with non-MS-manufactured Linux as the operating system, can't?"
BBC NEWS | Magazine | Death and my daughters
A moving story about dealing with death.
BBC NEWS | UK | England | North Yorkshire | Missing chef website investigated
I was in the hospital with third degree burns on 22% of my body when I was a junior in high school. A local convenience store placed a can for donations in the store. I know they collected donations – people told me and it was a high traffic store. I never saw a dime of those donations!
Perfect Running Pace Revealed | LiveScience
"Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison now have an explanation for this state of running nirvana, and we can thank our ancestors and some evolutionary biology for it."
April 5, 2009 | Filed Under Faith, Family, Freedom, Fun, Links | Comments 

Great Idea: Blackboard Blogging

Alfred Sirleaf, a 33-year-old “information evangelist” in Liberia, does his part to keep other citizens of his city properly informed by posting all the news that’s fit to print – on a chalkboard.

Mr. Sirleaf scours newspapers every morning and decides what news should be posted on his busy street corner. He does all of this for those who could not otherwise obtain this information because they cannot afford newspapers, televisions, or in some cases even the electricity they need to watch television.

He says

I do all the dirty work for them, and I just give them exactly what they want.

and he has even devised an elaborate system of symbols to use because many of his “readers” cannot actually read.

Read more at nytimes.com or watch this video.

April 2, 2009 | Filed Under Fun | Comments 

Book Review: A Brief History of Time

Twenty-one years ago today a masterpiece was published.

In A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking attempts the impossible. His mission is to explain incredibly complicated theories in a way that is understandable to the average reader. In less than 300 pages Hawking covers topics like the nature of time and space, the origin of the universe, black holes, and time travel.

In an attempt to make the book even more accessible, an illustrated, updated and expanded edition was published in 1996. Hawking claims in the foreword that

Even if you only look at the pictures and their captions, you should get some idea of what is going on. (empasis mine)

I think the key words here are some idea. The ideas in the book are very difficult to understand.

I’ve read the book twice, but like many people I suppose, I’ve also read parts of it from time to time and shared it with friends over the years. What I find fascinating is that I enjoy reading it even through the passages where I feel a little foggy. It’s brilliantly done and the illustrated edition includes dozens of wonderful images which make it a pleasure to pick up and review every once in a while – when you are in an intellectual or contemplative mood especially.

April 1, 2009 | Filed Under Books, Reviews | Comments