Author Archive: Conrad Schiff

I suppose we could be quoting Andy Williams and say that it is the most wonderful time of the year but it hardly seems true. Once again the stain of violence is in news. Nonetheless, it does seem appropriate to point out that we are in the Advent Season and are awaiting the arrival of Christmas. During this period of time, where we are waiting hopefully for the promised joy of trees and toys and presents and family gatherings, maybe we can remind ourselves that hope for a more peaceful world still exists as well. With compassion, cooperation, and prayer, we can build a far more enduring and beautiful world than violence can mar. It is this hopeful note that we at BlogWyrm mark our final issue of the year as begin our winter break next Friday. We will return on Jan 8th.

But as we are not done yet, let’s say a little about this week’s issue.

Can corporate greed actually be good for consumers? Forget what the pundits and philosophers say for or against, the empirical evidence shows that competing groups can be fueled by greed can keep prices low for the consumer. Common Cents explains how as it examines the nice low price of gasoline.

Can video games be at the edge of cutting-edge research in the fields of mathematics and computer science? Well, maybe not all games but certainly Minesweeper. Read Aristotle to Digital to find out how.

Under the Hood continues its look at how vector calculus maps into the language of differential forms. This week, the link between the two is fleshed out to get the divergence and curl.

Finally, About Comics looks at Neil Gaiman’s return to his best character in The Sandman: Overture.

Until return, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Enjoy!

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!

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!

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!

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!

Happy Halloween. To celebrate the nation’s second largest holiday, Blog Wyrm brings you a special issue this week. It is short and sweet, just like Halloween candy – the Blog Wyrm staff is off to have some fun.

There is a well-known debate over how much language effects thought and thought effects language. This week Aristotle to Digital ponders the possibility how we wurf the web reflects how we think and vice versa.

About Comics relates a personal perspective on the rise of comics culture as reflected by the new companion event – Halloween ComicFest.

Can trade create wealth? Common Cents believes so and uses Halloween candy to make the argument.

Finally, Under the Hood presents the final form of the equations used by the controls engineer.

Enjoy!

Well… no new posts this week (other than this one). Life sometimes gets in the way and this week is one of those. No one thing is traceable as the culprit – more like the death of a thousand cuts. But… all this hectic activity is behind us and the Blog Wyrm staff will be publishing a new issue next week.

Well the chill is finally in back in the air and the leaves are starting their annual metamorphosis from verdant green to those amazing shades of yellow, gold, orange, rust, crimson, red, and brown. The Blog Wyrm staff had an opportunity to do some driving this week and what we saw was a spectacular demonstration of the subtle beauty of nature. Thousands of trees and millions of leaves pay silent, splendid homage to the wonder that is the natural world. We were left with a profound respect to the gentle but irrepressible way that life moves around us. Truly awe-inspiring.

Speaking of awe-inspiring, we would like to believe that our weekly columns are awe-inspiring but we really are just hoping that they are thought provoking and enjoyable.

Common Cents takes a long look at a doom-laden prophesy but one of the better-known economists of modern times, Lawrence Summers, and finds that he may be right about how to fix the global economy but for all the wrong reasons.

Aristotle to Digital introduces a new ongoing theme in its scope on philosophy, computing, and logic. The subject is the philosophically tricky concept of double effect. The lens through which it is examined, the detective story.

Finally, About Comics examines the curious re-launch of two of comics most famous magicians: DC’s John Constantine and Marvel’s Doctor Strange. Oddly enough, the advertising copy of both books seems to have been written by the same agency with both of them emphasizing that ‘magic has a cost’. Read and find out why?

Enjoy!

When it rains it pours. So goes the old saying and it just may have a point. After a relative dry summer, complete with desiccated, brown grass, and trees that are dropping prematurely yellow leaves well ahead of schedule, the rain is back and with a bit of a vengeance. Tropical Storm Joaquin morphed into category 4 hurricane fairly quickly and its path is still a bit uncertain as we head into the weekend. We at Blog Wyrm hope and pray for the safety and comfort of all in its path (even though we are grateful for the much needed rain).

Speaking of rain, its a good thing that there is Federally subsidized flood insurance for people who live in flood zones. Or is it? Common Cents looks at the moral hazard that such insurance can cause when the subsidy encourages people to build in places where common sense suggests you shouldn’t.

Aristotle to Digital examines the question of how time is represented. Originally defined in terms of motion, the representation of time has become, over the years, more and more abstract. Is there a point where we should abandon our notions of continuous time?

It’s off to the Baltimore Comic Con as About Comics gives the Blog Wyrm staff’s impressions from one of the bigger gatherings in the world of comic books – attracting creators, fans, and cosplayers from all over the East coast to Charm City.

Tidbits is back this week, admittedly a little worse for wear. It turns out that maybe that new job wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

Finally, Under the Hood continues on, perhaps at a snail’s pace, looking into the Laplace Transform. This week, the Laplace Transform is applied to a simple but real system of equations – the ever popular simple harmonic oscillator.

Enjoy.

This week has seen some tremendous changes on the US political landscape. The Pope journeyed from the Vatican to address Congress. Hardly a day elapsed and then we hear reports stating that the Speaker of the House is stepping down sometime in October. And finally, yet another government shutdown looms on the horizon.

But I would like to pose a question. Does any of this really matter? If each of us focuses on trying to make the world around us a bit better by putting someone else’s needs before our own, would we really need spiritual leaders, politicians, and government bureaucracies? Would a lot of little things done over a long period of time be a whole lot more palatable? Just a thought.

Well this week, Blog Wyrm has plenty of food for thought.

Under the Hood delves into one of the more baffling and strange looking – but very useful concepts – the convolution integral. An indispensable part of Laplace ad Fourier Transform theory, convolution still borders on the weird and mysterious for most of us. Hopefully, this weeks column will help dispel a little of the mystery

What do Pink Floyd and the Federal Reserve have in common? Common Cents argues that they have more in common than may first be thought. Read and find out what.

Aristotle to Digital takes another looks at the logic and humor of Yogi Berra, who passed away this week at the age of 90. At the heart of Yogi’s witty remarks is a skillful and playful use of natural language – especially equivocation.

And rounding out this week’s offering, About Comics finishes its examination of the comics how-to book by Peter David. Come and join the analysis of plot, script, the three-act form, and word balloons.

Enjoy.