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Meta
Author Archives: Anton
cat mannerisms
It bothers me that Rocky and Bramble, though not obviously neurotic, don’t share the joyful manner of their predecessor Pillow (2005–2010?), who gave the impression of expecting fun around every corner. What am I doing wrong? It now occurs to … Continue reading
it’s all connected
My old calculus book gives a formula for the curvature of a parametric arc in the plane — that is, an arc defined by two functions (x(t),y(t)) of one variable. For thirty years I didn’t think about the derivation of … Continue reading
Posted in curve-fitting
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High Throw
Read this first. To throw for maximum distance (on an infinite plane in a vacuum), you aim at 45° elevation; in other words, split kinetic energy evenly between vertical and lateral velocity. (I dimly remember having proven that, but am … Continue reading
Posted in sciences
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a trinket becomes a toy
A new father asked: Are you charmed or annoyed to learn that your 3d geometric object is making a great toy for [baby, 8 mo.]? I replied: I have cats, so I’m not a bit surprised! On a related note, … Continue reading
Posted in merch
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how adolescent boys talked
If you don’t remember George Carlin’s speech that contains the phrase “six sins for one feel”, go ahead and look it up. When I first heard it, the phrase “feel her up” was new to me, but its meaning was … Continue reading
Posted in language
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pass the time by tracing rays
I had assumed that Pixar did not use ray-tracing because it could not provide certain desired lighting effects. Now Dad tells me that Monsters University is Pixar’s first ray-traced feature, which implies that the speed wasn’t available until now.
To your rearranged bodies go
I’m re-reading To Your Scattered Bodies Go and, of course, pondering the arrangements. The premise is that all humans who ever died (for some convenient definitions of ‘human’ and ‘ever’) are simultaneously resurrected (for purposes unknown to them) on an … Continue reading
Posted in prose
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