A Blog With No Name

Mail from the "Silly Party" I reveived this morning, and just had to share. I think they won't mind :-)

The somewhat important 2008 election is upon us.

Silly though we may usually be, we at the Committee
to Elect Michael Palin President would like to take
a moment to say, in all seriousness...

VOTE!
Vote like the wind!
Vote like you've never voted before!
Vote like your life depends on it! (It may)
Vote like the ice caps are melting! (They are)

Vote like if you don't then the Spanish Inquisition
will fry you up and toss you into a Spanish Omelet!

Vote like a crazed weasel with its head on fire that
has to vote in order for someone to dunk its head in
a bucket of water, thus dousing the fire and eliciting
a collective sigh of relief from every other potentially
flammable weasel, stoat or ocelot in the vicinity.

VOTE, YOU MISERABLE BASTARD, AS IF BY DOING SO YOU
CAN KEEP AN OIL-DRILLING, WOLF-KILLING, IGNORANT
ALASKAN MOOSE-MUNCHER FROM EVER GETTING HER IGNORANT,
WELL-MANICURED FINGER ANYWHERE NEAR THE BIG RED
ARMAGEDDON BUTTON! (You can)

Ahem.

We believe we've made our point.

*****************************************************
And now back to our regularly-scheduled silliness...
*****************************************************

SPLUNGE!


Until next time...

Your friends at the Temporarily Serious
Though Usually Quite Silly Party

P.S. If you're not a U.S. citizen, please feel free
to close your eyes and vote metaphysically.


Michael Palin for President

11870 Santa Monica Blvd.
Suite 106-535
Los Angeles, CA
90025
US

stumbling around some convex polyedra algorithms, I was looking for Chazelle's "onnion peeling" algorithm. I didn't really find the algorithm, but the creator's web page, and a very interesting article about algorithms and their posible influences on modern science.

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/pubs/algorithm.html

the article is filled with great humour combined with a lot of very illustrative explanations. it is a bit lengthy, but I believe it is a worth read if you are at least a bit into algorithms and science.

my favourite two parts are:

Hash table? Hmm, I know what you're thinking: Algorithmistas dig hash tables; they're down for PCP; they crack codes; they get bent out of shape by morphin'; they swear by quicksnort (or whatever it's called). Coincidence? Computer scientists will say yes, but what else are they supposed to say?

and

To this day, only two methods have been scientifically validated. One of them is the infamous “Kitty Flop.” Strap buttered toast to the back of a cat and drop the animal from a PETA-approved height: if the butter hits the ground, record a 1; else a 0. For more bits, repeat. Randomness results from the tension between Murphy's law and the feline penchant for landing on one's feet. The other method is the classical “Coriolis Flush.” This time, go to the equator and flush the toilet: if the water whirls clockwise, your random bit is a 1; else it's a 0.

although there is a lot more where that came from