Super Volatile

Krzysztof Szafranek's link blog

Hi, I'm Krzysztof and I make websites.
When I'm not making websites, I read these.
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Dec 21 / 2:42pm

yesmanapple comments on Respectful question: You guys actually like this stuff?

When studying mathematics, the math major sees pure truth. When something is proved in mathematics, it is true forever. Mathematics is also completely subject to our imagination, and not at all limited by the constraints of reality. Math is a language that allows us to speak about concepts and ideas that no language can express. Algebra is not a series of mindless tricks but the study of structure.
more on reddit.com

Passionate explanation of the love of math.

Filed under: math  
 
Sep 11 / 11:13pm

BBC News - Why parents can't do maths today

I used to think I had a good understanding of maths - until my daughter started going to primary school. That's when I discovered a revolution had taken place in the way arithmetic is taught, and there were techniques and terminology that meant nothing to me.
more on bbc.co.uk

British primary schools use new methods to teach children multiplication and division. The parent who wrote the article was initially confused, but new techniques are actually easier to understand than the old ones. Worth reading.

Filed under: education   math  
 
Jun 13 / 12:57pm

Is 17 the "most random" number?

The idea is that 17 will always be the most common answer when people are asked to choose a number between 1 and 20. But neither Cosmic Variance nor Pharyngula offered a reasonable means of testing this proposition. That's where our poll came in. This morning, I took a look at our data, and with 347 responses, I can confirm that 17 is significantly more popular than any number.
more on scienceblogs.com

It turns out human have very strong and precise sense of what is random and what's not. Which is exactly the opposite of randomness.

Filed under: computer science   math  
 
Jun 5 / 12:58am

Magic quantum wand does not vanish hard math

In the end, they conclude that NP-complete problems are just as hard on an adiabatic quantum computer as on a classical computer. And, since earlier work showed the equivalence between different variants of quantum computers, that pretty much shuts down the possibility of any quantum computer helping with NP-complete problems.
more on arstechnica.com

It's seems like the hope for solving NP-complete problems in polynomial time is gone again.

Filed under: computer science   math  
 
May 25 / 10:41pm

Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover

more on ted.com

Interesting presentation on how to teach math.

Filed under: learning   math  
 
Mar 28 / 2:41pm

The chloroformed mind: the case against teaching math

You should read the entire thing, because it really is a fascinating and persuasive idea. I think the early years of math had a terrible effect on my enjoyment of the subject.
more on ordinary-gentlemen.com

The article uses research showing value of practical math training to argue against including any math training at primary school level...

Filed under: education   math  
 
Mar 25 / 1:34am

You Don’t Need Math Skills To Be A Good Developer But You Do Need Them To Be A Great One

The trick with math is – people are afraid of it – even most programmers, you'd think we wouldn't be, but we are. So, we turn our words into a self-fulfilling prophecy. It's not that I don't need math for my work it's just that I don't really know it and even if I do, I don't know how to apply it. So I get by without it and when you make-do without something for long enough, after a while you don't even notice it's missing and so need it even less – self-fulfilling prophecy.
more on skorks.com

It's amazing how far one can go in software development while being clueless about the math. But beware: there's a wall ahead of you and you're gonna hit it one day.

Filed under: math   programming