Monthly Archive: November 2015

Issue 46: Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. It was about this time last year that we launched Blog Wyrm as simple experiment. We thought we would try to bring well-written, thought-provoking articles on a variety of subjects on a weekly basis. We expected it to be hard and, frankly, we were unsure how long we would be able to last. There were, of course, ups and downs. But in the 52 weeks that have passed, we’ve managed to publish 45 issues of content. That’s a record that we are proud of and we’re thankful for those who have kindly read our articles, for the technological and political freedoms that make self-publishing possible, and for the well-spring of ideas that we can draw on.

Taking center stage is this week’s offering in Common Cents. It shouldn’t be hard at this time of the year to talk economics – after all the success of the Pilgrims after a shaky start is due to free market forces and self-reliance. Unfortunately, the lesson of their near failure and ultimate success, which led to the first Thanksgiving, falls on far too many deaf ears.

One of those long-standing ‘chicken and the egg’ questions is how much does language influence thought and how much does thought influence language. Aristotle to Digital takes a look at this question from a new angle: how much does auto-completion effect how we search and what can that say about the aforementioned age-old question?

About Comics salutes the architects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe who seem to have turned a serious business shortcoming into a new opportunity for growth. What does all that mean? Hint: my Inhuman can beat up you Mutant..

Finally, Under the Hood begins a several part exploration of the similarities between classical vector analysis, a la Gibbs and Heaviside, and how it matches up with the newer language of differential forms.

Enjoy!

Issue 45: Our sympathies

Well is has been a rough week on the international stage. The aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris has left an attack in Mali and other incidents of violence in its wake. Much of Western Europe is on high alert as well as New York and Washington. The thoughts and prayers of the entire Blog Wyrm staff goes out to the families and friends who lost loved ones.

What does it mean to say a computing problem is hard? How about NP-Hard? This week Aristotle to Digital discusses these points as they relate to a very simple problem called the subset sum problem.

As a society we value literacy. We find it hard to see how someone can succeed and have a fulfilling life if that someone can’t read. Unfortunately, we don’t place the same priority on mathematical or economic literacy. Common Cents presents a case where the numbers simply don’t add up for a young woman seeking to make the world a better place.

About Comics asks the question as to what happened to the fine art of exposition in comics. Are thought bubbles, clues to the story, and continuity so bad? Many modern comics seem to think so.

Finally, Under the Hood examines the formalism of the First-Order Gauss Markov process and how it can be applied to physical systems with unmodelled forces.

Enjoy!

Issue 44: Election Fever

As a nation, we’ve now passed the Election – 1-year mark. I was already sick of the incessant chattering and poor logic by our ‘media pundits’, who hear what they want to hear and report on things not said. I suppose it is only going to get worse but sigh… one can hope. I don’t mind vigorous debate and sharply delineated lines but when it is based on distortion and the need to be noticed, I draw the line. Can’t we have a civil discussion where we are all fair even if we are not friends?

Well there is nothing unfair in our columns this week.

About Comics looks at Grant Morrison’s new title Nameless. Part horror epic, part Jungian archetypal story, part semiotics in visual representation, it is a grand idea that falls short.

Imagine that you’ve bought a product online and when it arrives it isn’t at all what the seller said it would be. Suppose that when you tried to return it they ignored you. You would be angry and willing to share your nightmare with the rest of the world. For some people in the same position who find out that their purchase involved a term-of-service restriction to their online free speech that’s when the nightmare begins. Common Cents talks about the need for a free flow of information in an economy and how proposed legislation would help protect our right to yelp.

Trying to make a logical decision is hard. It is harder still when qualitative aspects are involved and more than one person is charged with deciding. Aristotle to Digital examines the Analytic Hierarchy Process way of coming up with a logically supported rationale.

Finally, Under the Hood peaks a bit more at the benefits of dividing a matrix up into column and row arrays. Come see how coordinate transformations, physical units, orthogonal matrices, and eigenvalue all link together.

Enjoy!

Issue 43: A Hot November

Well today in the nation’s capitol the temperatures topped out in the mid- to upper 70s. The temperature is currently higher than in Pasadena, California. It was a nice days for a walk and so that’s just what I did. Walked and thought and enjoyed the fall foliage under a warm summer sky. Go figure.

Some of the thoughts that have been brewing over the last week made it to this week’s issue.

What is the difference between equality and fairness? In the economic circles these two terms tend to get conflated but they are quite different. Common Cents looks at some of these differences and how they weave a great deal of behavioral economics together.

Building on the theme from last week, Aristotle to Digital looks at a subtle shade of difference between how a thing is done – technique, and what is picked to be done – judgment.

About Comics reviews a newly-found addition to the Wild, Weird, West genre – the Sixth Gun.

Finally, Under the Hood looks at how dividing a matrix up into column and row arrays gives some general relations for matrices and their inverses.

Enjoy!