Category: rePosts

Loved reading this. It reminded me of my first night in Kuala Lumpur. Chuck and Gelo were talking about a phycisist/mathematician  (I can no longer remember which) who had an epiphany whilst in the beach. Marc and I weren’t exactly following so they tried to explain some chaos theory basics.
This post is a nice primer to Initial Conditions with respect to Chaos Theory.

Chaos and Initial Conditions
Category: Chaos
Posted on: October 26, 2009 10:07 PM, by Mark C. Chu-Carroll
One thing that I wanted to do when writing about Chaos is take a bit of time to really home in on each of the basic properties of chaos, and take a more detailed look at what they mean.
To refresh your memory, for a dynamical system to be chaotic, it needs to have three basic properties:
1. Sensitivity to initial conditions,
2. Dense periodic orbits, and
3. topological mixing
The phrase “sensitivity to initial conditions” is actually a fairly poor description of what we really want to say about chaotic systems. Lots of things are sensitive to initial conditions, but are definitely not chaotic.
via Chaos and Initial Conditions : Good Math, Bad Math.

This I believe was when I knew that Chiz was not what he was purporting to be. He is plainly said, an empty suit/empty barong but through mimicry and well though-out quirks has presented himself as more intellectual than he really is. I hate how easy it was for him to appear smart. I doubly hate the fact that any form of bashing other people is met with the charge of envy/jealousy/crab mentality (which has been shown to be an inaccurate view of what crabs do, they apparently are trying to help each other ).

Retrogressing Education
Consider this pronouncement from Chiz Whiz:
Secondly, Mr. Speaker, we should and we propose that the curriculum be restudied. Mr. Speaker, I know that this will generate a lot of debate but I hope that our colleagues will listen for awhile. Sa ngayon, umaabot sa nine to eleven ang subjects ng ating mga estudyante sa elementary at high school. Nakukuba na ang ating mga estudyante sa kakabitbit ng napakaraming libro. Subalit ang tanong ko ho: Ito ba ay angkop pa rin sa pangangailangan ng ating bansa sa ngayon? Ang kanila po bang pinag-aralan ay nagagamit nila sa kanilang buhay sa labas ng paaralan at magagamit kapagka sila ay naghanap ng trabaho?
I can only cite myself as an example, Mr. Speaker, but mula po nung natapos ako nung high school hindi ko pa nagamit ang Calculus, hindi ko pa ho nagamit and Trigonometry, hindi ko pa ho nagamit and Algebra, IYUNG GEOMETRY, SA BILYAR KO LANG NAGAMIT. At iyong mga ibang itinuturo ay marapat sigurong ituro sa kolehiyo kung nais maging inhinyero ng isang bata. Iyong mga ibang itinuturo, marapat sigurong ibigay na lamang nating sa kanila sa kolehiyo o bilang elective pagdating ng high school.
via Where’s the Chiz? « Filipino Voices.

Back in the 1930s there was a Polish Marxist economist, Michel Kalecki, who argued that recessions were functional for the ruling class and for capitalism because they created excess supply of labor, forced workers to work harder to keep their jobs, and so produced a rise in the rate of relative surplus-value.
For thirty years, ever since I got into this business, I have been mocking Michel Kalecki. I have been pointing out that recessions see a much sharper fall in profits than in wages. I have been saying that the pace of work slows in recessions–that employers are more concerned with keeping valuable employees in their value chains than using a temporary high level of unemployment to squeeze greater work effort out of their workers.
I don’t think that I can mock Michel Kalecki any more, ever again.
via ZOMFG WTF!!!!! 9.5% THIRD QUARTER PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH NUMBER!!!! – J. Bradford DeLong’s Grasping Reality with All Eight Tentacles.

I’m posting this to highlight what I believe anybody who is serious about living fact based lives should be doing. Confronting evidence that goes against what we believe in. We cannot just shrug these things, or deny stuff (of course we can but that puts us in the class of people we call stupid or happy ).

Is it just me or is it hard to find mentors in the Philippines?

High school students from Germany have now done what many scientists strive for: had their research work published by a science journal. The Astronomy & Astrophysics science journal published a paper co-authored by three students who observed the light variations of the faint (19th magnitude) cataclysmic variable EK Ursae Majoris (EK UMa) over two months. Led by astronomer Klaus Beuermann from the University of Göttingen, and the students’ high school physics teacher, the team made use of a remotely-controlled 1.2-meter telescope in Texas. Astronomy & Astrophysics says the team “presents an accurate, long-term ephemeris,” and that “they participated in all the steps of a real research program, from initial observations to the publication process, and the result they obtained bears scientific significance.”
via High School Students Get Published in Astrophysics Journal | Universe Today.

The broad outlines of his history — his legend — have made the boxer a projection of the migrant dreams of the many Filipinos who leave home and country for work. About 10% of the Philippines’ GDP is money remitted from overseas Filipinos: nurses, nannies, sailors, singers, doctors, cooks, X-ray technicians, mail-order brides, construction workers, prostitutes, priests, nuns. Some spend decades abroad, away from the ones they love, for the sake of the ones they love. Everyone in the Philippines knows a person who has made the sacrifice or is making it. Pacquiao gives that multitude a champion’s face of selflessness: the winner who takes all and gives to all. “To live in the Philippines is to live in a world of uncertainty and hardship,” says Nick Giongco, who covers Pacquiao for the daily Manila Bulletin. “Filipinos are dreamers. They like fantasy. And what is more of a fantasy than Manny Pacquiao?” (Read a 2004 story about Pacquiao.)
via The Meaning of Manny — Printout — TIME.

Big Fan of Take That and Robbie Williams, hope they make something worthy of a comeback!

Robbie Williams confirms reunion
Bang Showbiz | 11/05/2009 5:10 PM
Robbie Williams has confirmed he is working with “Take That: again.
The “Bodies” hitmaker – who left the group in 1995 and embarked on a successful solo career – has revealed he has been meeting up with former bandmates Gary Barlow, Howard Donald, Jason Orange and Mark Owen to work on a secret project.
When asked if he’ll be performing with the foursome again, he said: “We’ve got together, done bits and bobs. I can’t say much, but yes, I hope so.”
The 35-year-old singer – who has previously battled alcohol and drug addictions – also spoke candidly about how he was forced to stop performing in 2007 when his personal problems began to spiral out of control.
In an episode of TV talk show “Friday Night With Jonathan Ross” due to air in the UK on Friday, he said: “The decision to quit playing live was made for me, I’ve always been very nervous… 80,000 people, it’s an unnatural thing to do. You don’t know what’s going on in my head.
“It’s traumatic, really scary. I ended up in rehab again. it was ‘What are you doing to yourself?’ I thought it’s time to break the cycle.”
via Robbie Williams confirms reunion | ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

This is despicable!

The Gay Animal Kingdom Should Now Be Required Reading
Category: Biology • Education • Gender & Sexuality • Politics • Wingnuts
Posted on: November 3, 2009 5:30 PM, by Eric Michael Johnson
By now everyone has heard of the high school English honors teacher, Dan DeLong, who was suspended for offering students the Seed magazine article “The Gay Animal Kingdom” by Jonah Lehrer as an optional extra credit assignment.
According to the Alton, IL based Telegraph newspaper, DeLong has now been reinstated at Southwestern High School after several hundred students and parents attended a six-hour long disciplinary hearing:
At Monday night’s meeting, more than 200 people lined the stairs, sidewalk and office space at the district’s small unit office at 884 Piasa Road in the Macoupin County village of Piasa. Many of DeLong’s supporters had handmade posters and banners stating: “Mr. DeLong Inspires Us,” and chanting, “Broadening minds is not a crime.”
Unfortunately, what it looks like is that DeLong entered a plea deal with the Board of Education where he would admit that the article was “inappropriate” in exchange for going back to work. In a statement that DeLong read, on behalf of both himself and the School Board, this agreement was that:
[T]he Board of Education and administrator’s concern was never about sexual preference or homophobic condemnation. Rather, the issue of concern was the age appropriateness of the material. . . I agree with the board that the material in my class was not age appropriate for my sophomores and for that I apologize. I understand the board has decided that I shall receive a Notice of Remedial Warning.
This is wrong on several levels. First off, this is absolutely about homophobic condemnation. No one would have had any problems with a science article that described the evolution of heterosexual monogamy in voles or gibbons. Such an article would have naturalized a belief that many people hold as the only legitimate kind of relationship for our society today. However, by showing that same-sex pairs exist in the natural world (and that gender is a much more fluid concept than people may have realized) it challenges people’s assumptions about what “natural” actually is. Because they were threatened by this idea, the Board is confessing that ANY discussion that homosexuality could be natural is therefore inappropriate. It’s homophobia, pure and simple.
via The Gay Animal Kingdom Should Now Be Required Reading : The Primate Diaries.