History of Math - Final Project

Last December I completed a History of Math course towards my Masters. The final project was to pick a specific person and problem and write an essay on it. I ended up going a little overboard, but it went well and I'm pretty happy with the final result so I thought I would share it.

Kurt Gödel And His First Incompleteness Theorem

Escaping a Car In Water - Don't Wait For The Car To Fill!

Recently, on the Rick Mercer Report, there was a segment on how to escape from a car after driving into a body of water. This may seem foolish, but it is all too common. In fact, just a few months ago, a car was pulled out of the Otonabee River in my home town of Peterborough containing the body of a woman who went missing a couple of months earlier.

There is obviously some good life saving advice, the most important of which is to get your windows down and get out fast (even electric windows will work for a while - contrary to what the video says). Also useful is carrying a center punch in your glove compartment (a machine shop center punch which you can get at a hardware store will do) for easily breaking the window.

Unfortunately, the video perpetuates a myth that you will be able to open the car door once the cabin is fill with water. This isn't precisely right. First, they are right that you won't be able to open the door if there is still air inside the car, but they are wrong in implying that you are guaranteed able to open the door once the cabin is full of water. This will only be true shortly after the car has hit bottom! So, if you are talking a deep body of water, and you have waited until the water level is at the windows, and you have no way of breaking the windows ... well, you're dead!

Here's the Mercer video.



The issue is the difference in pressure between the outside and the inside of the car. Water pressure is more than enough to prevent you from being able to open the door, or roll down the window for that matter. What is often missed is that water pressure builds rapidly as you descend, so if the car is full of water, but the car is still in the process of sinking, the pressure on the outside is still building and will be higher than the pressure on the inside. The pressure will not begin to equalize until after you've hit bottom.

The issue was also explored on an episode of Mythbusters. Unfortunately, they missed this little bit of physics too. Thus, they repeated the deadly myth that you will be able to get out of your car once the cabin is full.



Thankfully, there is one television program that got this right. The next clip is from the British car show, Top Gear.



So, if you find yourself in this deadly situation, roll down the windows and get the hell out FAST! If you wait, it could easily mean you wont be getting out at all.

Model Ship Update: Main Sail

I know it's been a long time, but I'm getting back into this after a bit of a hiatus. Below are pics of the recently added main sail. The rig is pretty much the same as the other square-rigged sails: halyards, topping lifts, buntings, clewlines, and reefing tackles.


The first picture shows the front view. The bunting is the line running down the front of the sail to the foot. Next is a back view. The reefing tackle is at the top right of the sail, while the clewline goes through the block at the bottom right of the sail. Of course, all these lines would have their port side equivalents. The third picture is a detail of the main yard. The topping lift is the line running through the double-block in the foreground. The blocks for the halyards are at the center of the yard, under the maintop. Most of these lines are made fast to a series of pegs at the base of the mainmast as shown in the final picture.

Still have to attach braces, sheets, and maybe tacks. The tacks aren't in the plans, but I think they should be there.

Two more sails to go. Hopefully, you'll be seeing more pics here soon.

Game Reviews Being Moved

I've created a separate blog for game reviews: Weevil Reviews. So there will be no more game review here.

Now, if only I can stop playing games long enough to finish that model.

Mass Effect 2

The much anticipate sequel to Bioware's mega hit, it's tough not to be caught up in the hype. That said, this is certainly a solid game and, overall, an improvement over its predecessor.

Let's start with the improvements. The combat is much more shooter based. Gone is the RPG model of needing to develop your ability with a weapon in order to use it effectively. Now, the bullets go where you point the cursor. The controls have been tightened and the experience more visceral. Indeed, the combat is so much like Gears of War (right down to the conveniently placed cover) as to be a bit unnerving. However, layered on top of the combat are the still present tech and biotic powers, including the ability to call up a radial menu that pauses the game and allows the user to give individual commands to squad mates, and you have a tactically more complex experience than a typical shooter.

The leveling system and powers have been refined, some would say simplified, from Mass Effect 1. There are fewer options when it comes to abilities, but the abilities you do have are amped up and combine together more effectively. Mixing and matching squad mates is more flexible and gamers that can learn to combine and coordinate their squad's abilities can lay devastating pain upon their enemies.

Bioware continues to develop their ability to create deep characters and stories. Both voice work and character animation are second to none. The dialog scenes, always a big part of every Bioware game, are far more dynamic than before. Much more like participating in a movie drama. Once again, relationships become a big component of the game. Indeed, the story consequences of your relationships with your squad are more dramatic than in Mass Effect 1. Also fun is your ability to import your Mass Effect 1 characters, which effect the starting conditions of the universe in which you play. This is a feature that Bioware promises to expand upon even more in ME3.

Now for the bad. Gone is the mako and driving around generic planet environments to search for resources and side missions, but that has been replaced with slowly scanning the planet from orbit, which is even more dull. Once you find a side mission, they are much more various than in ME1 as well as being better integrated into the story, but the actual process of finding these missions is boring as hell. In addition, the resource gathering is essential to upgrading your ship and equipment, something you're going to want to do to get the most out of this game.

This game is also easier than before, with a sense of trying to appeal to a wider audience. The game is more shooter now than RPG and there is a general sense of the game being dumbed down a bit.

That all said, none of this is a deal breaker. The story does suffer somewhat from being that middle child of a trilogy, bridging opening and climax, but overall its exciting, engaging, and stands well on its own. The challenge can still be found by cranking up the difficulty. There's certainly nothing here that doesn't leave me eagerly awaiting ME3.

Another Reason To Love Google

Yes, I know their march to complete Internet (and soon World) domination steadily soldiers on, but I still can't help but love Google.

I've now made the switch from Firefox to Googgle's Crome, and found their incognito window feature. A neat idea, but here is the message that comes up when you use it.


Make sure to read the last few bullets. How can you not love these guys?

Dragon Age: Origins

Another gift under the tree this year, Origins comes from BioWare, the same folks that gave us Knights of the Old Republic (best Star Wars game ever!) and Mass Effect. However, instead of being set in space, this time we've got ourselves a good old Sword and Sorcery piece. With it's deep malleable story and extensive dialogue trees, Origins is instantly recognizable as a BioWare game, but for those that are familiar with the previous titles there are a number of notable difference.

First off, gone are the good/evil meters judging every one of your decisions. That doesn't mean your decisions don't have consequences. One the contrary, your companions still react to what you do, as does the story. In fact, the permutations as to where the story goes is more extensive then in any of BioWare's predecessors. The game not only has multiple endings, but multiple beginnings and middles, and someone who wants to see them all is going to be kept busy indeed.

Second is the depth of the game play. Origins is a tougher game than Mass Effect, sometimes a bit intimidatingly so. The learning curve at the start is a somewhat steep, but ultimately this game becomes more rewarding for it as you continually discover more abilities and tactics, even during repeated playthroughs. One of my knocks on Mass Effect was how easy it got, even on the highest difficulty level, once you got into the second act of the game. With Origins, I found myself turning it down to "casual" on my first playthrough. On hard, this game is sure to challenge any RPG veteran out there.

Bioware has also put in full, and solid, voice acting for all of their extensive dialogue trees. With far less repetitive side missions than in the previous games, Origins becomes much more engaging. With a deep and engaging story, and intriguing and well voiced characters, Dragon Age Origins is easily one of the best RPGs out there, a must for any fan of the genre and likely a good idea for those that aren't too.

My only knock, what's with the blood? I mean, it's almost comical how much blood gets sprayed around in this game (very Monty Pythonish), and they carry the blood splattered characters right into the dialogue scenes where one can't help but giggle as one blood smeared character calmly talks to another. Oh well, I suppose it is visually distinctive.