Happenings – 2012 Oct 28

I got so caught up in doing control theory yesterday that I completely forgot about a happenings post. Here it is a day late… and perhaps even a dollar short.

Here’s a link to the use of the golden ratio in logo designs.

I’ve finished the course in R and I’ve begin a new one, on computational investing…. I just got distracted for a couple of hours looking at the detailed requirements for homework 1, and for the grading specification, by which we are each to grade 5 of our peers. I’ve posted to the discussion fora asking a few questions. (I forgot to ask how we choose who to grade, and why only 1/5 of us do it all.) I’m also not happy that the info was posted 2 and 4 days ago – to an auxiliary web site without even an announcement on the course web site!

We’ll see. I had the temerity to practice the grading rules on the professor’s example. I did not give him a passing grade…. We’ll see if I’m allowed to stay in the class much longer.

I only just learned that Bill Thurston died back in August. He was a Field’s Medalist, and he tried to make his work accessible to non-specialists. I own his prize-winning book attempting this. I’ve mentioned him and that book a few times: in books added, in a happenings post, and in a review of the Poincare’ conjecture. Peter Woit has some info, as does Wikipedia.

I also learned that the verdict came back in the Italian seismologists’ trial: 6 years each. I don’t know what to say. I keep seeing conflicting statements out there. Sometimes I think the only reliable source would be to translate and read the actual charges for myself. Nevertheless, here’s a follow-up by Nature, and another one by CBCNews.

I don’t know if I’ve got enough for a post on Monday… yes, I’ve been doing control theory… but I have not been working on the second-order system. As usual, we’ll see how it plays out.