Author Archives: Anton

Finagle’s Law

I hoped to have some new math pictures for you (or at least for me) today, but my attempts to install a code library that I need have come to nothing. The makefile invokes gcc with options that version 3.3 … Continue reading

Posted in bitterness, mathematics, neep-neep | 6 Comments

long-awaited

Jamie Zawinski has ported his gorgeous screensaver collection to MacOS. My favorites are Demon, a colorful cellular automaton; CloudLife, a fuzzy variant of Conway’s Life; Substrate, whose randomly growing arcs suggest the street plan of an old city; Galaxy, a … Continue reading

Posted in eye-candy, neep-neep | 2 Comments

as she is spoke

I hear some strange things in this medical transcription gig: Due to her birth weight less than 1500 grams, she will require a rule out retinopathy of prematurity eye exam . . . . Let’s take an against un-Englishly compound adjectives stand!

Posted in language | Leave a comment

am i reading too much into this?

I’m surprised to see it acknowledged in two teevee shows that heroin is useful as a painkiller. (Charlie Stross, a former pharmacist, mentioned that “diamorphine (aka Heroin™) is carried routinely in ambulances in the UK.”) In the first series of … Continue reading

Posted in cinema, drugwar | 1 Comment

writing tip of the day

If you use “however” in two consecutive sentences, it’s a sign that your paragraph could benefit from rearranging. If you use “however” in three consecutive sentences, your paragraph may be beyond help.

Posted in prose | Leave a comment

I’m depraved on account of I’m deprived

Today’s Straight Dope responds to this inquiry: Everyone is familiar with the song that goes, “There’s a place in France where the naked ladies dance.” What’s the origin of this mysterious song and its seemingly Egyptian melody? So naturally I’m … Continue reading

Posted in music+verse | 3 Comments

les maths sont universels

Philippe “Goulu” cites my sphere arrangements page and discusses the subject thereof, in French.

Posted in blogdom, mathematics | Leave a comment