General comments – Page 6 – Fooyah

August 5 2011August 22 2011

Children – Post hoc fallacy delirium

I have two children. One is currently two and the other is two months. I love them both to bits and think it is the best thing I have ever done (bloody hard work too). I think that the best I can ask for is that they both end up with happy and fulfilled lives.
Anyway, the way we learn how to deal with children contains the biggest logical fallacy. We expect children to react to what we do and tell them. We hope and expect that when we ask something of that child they do it because of what we have done in the past. We expect that when I child is upset or being difficult whatever we try and works that particular time should work every time. Now that is a big no-no. I have become more and more convinced that children are complete random action generators.
They do not follow the rules of what we expect. They follow rules written in the edges of clouds and butterfly wings. We try something and it works, therefore it should work every time. Wrong. The reasons behind the action are different every time and so the reaction needs to change too. We are just very good at changing our reaction depending on what we see. We like to kid ourselves that we have it sorted and understand the children so well. We don’t. Humans just love the patterns in life and where we spend most energy and time gives us the biggest case for patternicity.

Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc!

August 1 2011August 22 2011

Flat or heaped? A spoonful of sugar

My dad always asks for two heaped sugars in his coffee. Is it worth it? How does it compare to a level spoon of sugar?

Initial tests:

Standard Teaspoon – mass of granulated sugar (nearest gram)
Level 5g
Heaped 7g

Medicine Spoon – mass of granulated sugar (nearest gram)
Level 6g
Heaped 9g

It looks as though heaping sugar on top of the spoon increases the sugar by a factor of 1.5 (or thereabouts). I now need to get into the science department at work to use a more accurate set of scales.

Is it worth asking for heaped spoonfuls of sugar. Yeah, go for it!

July 31 2011August 22 2011

Nearly fully grown

My vegetables nearly ready to eat.

July 29 2011August 22 2011

Road Names

No, not silly road names like Cock Lane or Red Rose Close. They are very boring. What my wife and I do is name sections of road depending on what parts of race tracks they remind us. This allows us to talk about what idiot pulled out or drove too close and easily describe where this incident took place. No more “you know just past that corner after the big house” now we talk about “just past Petit Eau Rouge”.

So now I need to share these names with you.
A – Heading east along Pilgrims Way – small up movement in road and a turn right – Petit Eau Rouge
B – Heading west along Pilgrims Way – The Esses
C – Heading south along A229, the slip road turning onto the M20 east bound. It can be taken many different ways and hence – Graham Hill Bend
D – A roundabout which is very wide – Speedway
E – There’s a slight kink before a normal right turn around a roundabout hence – Mulsanne
F – A wide right turn at a T junction and so – Arnage

There’ll be more after my wife and I name them. Coming soon: the M25 southbound on to the M20.

July 28 2011August 22 2011

PS3

This is probably the definition of irony.
Decided to cancel my Continuous Play PS3 insurance policy. Although it was only £5 a month I had been paying it for a few years and could have bought another PS3 with that amount of money in that time. The issue is that I have a 60Gb Fat PS3 and the specification is so good I don’t want to lose it. I bought a few SACDs when they were released and the PS3 is the only thing that will play them since I upgraded my amplifier. So, 11am I phoned the insurance company and cancelled my policy with them.
I started playing on the PS3 and actually had it doing some GT5 B-Spec races while I was watching TV. Later on while my baby son was sleeping I thought I would have a go at a Japanese GT race at the Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit. I was doing really well and catching first place at about 3 seconds a lap with 2 laps to go and a gap of 4 seconds. This was going to be a fun last lap.
BLANK. The TV picture died, I could hear the HDD and fan of the PS3 running down and playing the sounds of death. Suddenly there’s a red light flashing on the PS3. I google, as is the modern way, and it turns out to be bad. OK, no panic. Surely everything will be ok.
Phoned the insurance company: Yes, my cover is still valid and yes they will stop my cancellation order.
Phoned PlayStation support: Yes, you are covered and we’ll send a reconditioned unit to you tomorrow.
Result: I am now playing GT5 (managed to get the save file) and loving it still. Won the GT race and now, as I type the PS3 is racing a B-Spec race for me but rather badly.
Hopefully, that is the end of the story.

July 20 2011August 22 2011

White Flowers

Lots of daisies in the field near the reservoir.

July 19 2011March 11 2014

iPhone Apps

Here are some of my favourite iPhone apps and why:

General apps:

Podcaster – I listen to lots of podcasts! There’s a list here.
Tunein Radio – when I do the washing up I listen BBC Radio 4 via the internet as the FM signal in the kitchen is a bit iffy. I also listen to Radio Rock – Helsinki
Met Office – Get the weather and rain maps. Just great.
WordPress – for editing this site on the move and when I am away from a computer.
Wolfram – for maths stuff and finding out things that require time series or comparisons.
Flickr – puts my family photos onto the Flickr site.
Twitter – I can follow my favourite people and occasionally tweet about the aero-fauna I see.
IMDb – ever recognise someone in a film and wonder what else they have been in? If so then you need IMBd. I remember it when it was based in Cardiff (that’s a long time ago).
GTPlanet – I use it to check out interesting things about the Gran Turismo series.

Sport apps:

WTCC – keeps me in touch with the World Touring Car Series.
William Hill – I can place my usual amount on the sporting outcomes on offer.
Spurs – just to keep up to date with the score and Premiership table. Football on the whole bores me as a sport.
ECB Cricket – because cricket is a sport that matters.
NFL – after motorsport this is probably my favourite sport.
F1

Games:

F-Sim Shuttle – in top 3%
X – Plane – 4G
RC Plane 2
F.A.S.T.
Real Racing 2
Slayer Pinball HD
Angry Birds – in the top 9%
Sailboat Pro
Flick Golf

My GameCentre name is Kurtz72

Random:

Wind Tunnel – as an aero engineer (by degree) this is fascinating.
Star Walk – it’s always good to know what stars you are looking at.
Fractile – zoom into the Mandelbrot set which is just lovely and fascinating.

July 14 2011August 22 2011

More work

Been spending some time trying to lower load times for the site and seeing if I can customise the look. All of this takes a lot of time, which I am willing to give. It is not difficult though. I have to say I have found that WordPress is pretty good. I google things when I am not sure and the answer is pretty much there. Editing php files and the such is quite enjoyable even though I have no idea what I am doing.
One thing though, people. I am using the Twenty10 theme and not another because I like it and not because it is the default theme. I have tried other themes and I don’t like them. Maybe I’ll create my own theme.

July 12 2011August 22 2011

The Radar Fallacy

So, I mentioned The Octonauts in a previous post and I still think it is brilliant however there is another scientific flaw I have noticed. The Octopod’s Radar system seems to have the tv / film fallacy (it’s not a real fallacy, I made it up).
When a radar turns it discovers the position, as a distance and direction, from the radar. There are many types but they all work roughly the same. For a radar system to update the position of an object it must turn through the space where that object is. The radar sweep line on the Octonauts display turns at about 30 rpm meaning that the position of the decorator crab would jump every 2 seconds as it gets scanned. However, the position of the crab as marked by the blip on the screen moves smoothly even while the radar sweep is well away from the crab. This could, of course, be because of an auxiliary system that is not mentioned in the show.
I am sure there are films and tv shows where the radar has a finite refresh time but the movement of planes are smooth. Time to start looking at radar shots more closely!

July 4 2011August 22 2011

Hawaii 5-O

This re-imagined TV show is brilliant.
A friend, Jase, really likes CSI Miami and I have tried to watch it but find it extremely clichéd. CSI Miami is poorly scripted, it is poorly shot and poorly acted (apart from Emily Procter). However, Jase finds something to enjoy and thoroughly raves about it.
I now understand what he means. Hawaii 5-O is poorly scripted, reasonably acted and extremely clichéd. The scenery is brilliant. The technology used is rubbish. The actors are glamorous and the plot appalling. I love it.
I vaguely remember the original series, watching it with my dad when I was younger. I do not remember whether it was any good. I am worried that if I went and watched the original series it would be like seeing 1980s Dr Who or Blakes 7. In my mind these shows are brilliant but if I was to see them I know I would be disappointed. I have recently seen some episodes of Space 1999 and it is amazingly dated!
5-O is shot in Hawaii and makes the islands look fantastic. It is a brilliant advert for a visit. I can’t help feeling that Hawaii is somewhat wasted on the Americans! The actors are very glamorous and include members of the cast of Lost (good early on) and Battlestar Galactica (all good). The premise of immunity of the 5-O crew is somewhat bothersome for a humanist, but a brilliant plot device. The relationship between the main two characters is well scripted with them arguing like a married couple. I love them driving between crime scenes for the discussions they have. The idea that a police group can hack into any bank account, any phone account, utilities, CCTV system or triangulate a mobile signal is rather far fetched but I guess some of the population believe it.
This show is a great find and well worth watching as it is brain dead TV. It takes no brain power to watch but entertains.

July 2 2011November 6 2020

Octonauts

The kid’s tv show Octonauts is brilliant. Let me explain.
Most other children’s shows have something wrong with them. A character or object or plot device which pushes the boundaries of imagination too much, here are some examples:
Bob the builder: a scarecrow that is alive, the character Spud. I’m fine with the vehicles talking and being able to drive themselves but a sentient scarecrow is too much.
Postman Pat: the village has a much higher proportion of ginger kids than anywhere in real life, apart from occasional villages in Scotland. Also these kids all seem to have colds and so speak with blocked nasal passages. Perhaps all these children were fathered by Pat.
Postman Pat SDS: Pat is turned from a competent postman to the world’s most incompetent delivery man. If something can go wrong it does. The economic model for this type of delivery is unsustainable.
Chuggington: a world of sentient trains doesn’t bother me too much but there are some physics issues. The trains get washed by resting on tracks that then turn the train longitudinally so it ends up being horizontal, not good. Another problem is the small train which can extend on a cantilever and turn its body to face the other way, don’t like this. I am quite happy with the flying train though.
Everything’s Rosie: the characters are annoying and whinge a lot. The carts they drive around in have no appreciable power source and don’t slow going up hill. Although I’m happy with Oakly who can speak I don’t like the female speaking tree, Saffy, as she just spouts Eastern mystical bollocks all the time.
Mr Bloom’s Nursery would be ok if it didn’t have the talking, singing, moving vegetables with faces. Surely there is enough excellent entertainment and learning that can be garnered from a gardening show that doesn’t need anthropomorphised vegetables. The McGregors are particularly annoying.

So back to the Octonauts . The main characters are animals who talk and are curiously the same size. They don’t wear ballast and have magic “field tech” helmets. The Octopod would need to be pressurised a huge amount for the depths they travel to and they even have Tunip, a half vegetable half animal called a vegimal. Somehow all of this is acceptable as the stories are excellent and consistent and it just looks marvellous. All the creatures the Octonauts find are real and look, act and eat the way they do in real life. Marvellous.
I think it’s one of the best things on TV at the moment.

Explore, Rescue, Protect.

June 30 2011August 22 2011

TV volume settings

This post is based on a tweet. Perhaps this’ll happen more often. I find something pithy to mention and then I’ll expand upon it in a blog post.
My wife was changing the TV volume the other day and making sure she could see the number it was set on (the amp is perpendicular to where we sit, so quite hard to read). I asked whether she was being fussy about what volume the amp was on. No, was the reply, you are the fussy one.
This is correct as I would prefer the TV volume (actually the amp volume) on either a multiple of 2 or 5. Given that for normal TV viewing the ideal volume is somewhere between 20 and 30 this gives plenty of choice: 22,24,25,26,28. The other volume settings are incorrect to use and even if they create the best listening conditions I would find it hard to settle on one of those.
I do not consider this to be weird behaviour, I consider it to be remarkably sensible although I would probably end up with many logical fallacies should I attempt to explain how this obsessiveness can be justified.
A friend will only get out of bed if, when he looks at the alarm clock, it is a multiple of 5 minutes. If not he will stay in bed until the next multiple. Now that’s weird!

June 29 2011August 22 2011

The worst waiting room

I’d like to know if there are worse but the waiting room I am currently sitting in is pretty poor. A row of chairs placed against the wall in what can only be described as a corridor, probably because it is a corridor.
I don’t think there are any magazines or books. The only entertainment is trying to guess why people are here. The noises of muffled chatter, trollies laden with removals going by and clacking over the bumps between tiles along the floor aren’t enough to keep my Internet crazy brain entertained. Just to add to potential humiliation the corridor isn’t off the beaten track either. It’s the route to the three main treatment areas. I’d often walked past these chairs and wondered about what it feels like to sit there. Now I know.
I have to sit up. If I slouch then the people walking along the corridor will have to walk single file, I can’t even cross my legs as my foot would stick out too far and inconvenience a great many people who gave business further along the way.
I’m keeping my head down and typing this to pass the time. Ignoring all that pass. A quick glance along the line of bored patients indicates they have the same tactic as me. There are no posters to wonder about, no collections of leaflets and no flyers for made-up alternative treatments just three tone walls (I kid you not).
I’m going to read a book on the Kindle app. That might pass the time. Could do with a coffee too. Let’s discover the crazy of the Congo with Mister Kurtz!

More adventures!
It turns out I’m pretty tired and reading or playing on the iPhone are out as I’ll fall asleep. I’ve just realised my chair doesn’t even have arms I can rest on. The chairs either side of me have arms and I’m sandwiched starting to feel as though I’ve paid economy. I can’t lean forwards, backwards or take my elbows from my sides.
It looks like the appointment is going to be delayed. All the people before me haven’t been in and I’m losing the will to live.

June 27 2011August 22 2011

How to eat an apple

Apart from using a knife (or not) and cutting up an apple I can think of predominantly two ways of eating an apple. This does matter because one way is correct and the other is not so correct.

Circumferential or the Segment method?

A circumferential eater will take a bite, rotate the sphere using the core as the axis and take another bite. This will result in a curve of apple exposed around the great circle of the apple. Then another line of bite is taken from each end (assuming that the eater has a big enough mouth to bite to the core)
A segmental eater takes bites out of the apple from stalk to opposite pole. This results in a segment being eaten and then the apple being rotated to start the process again.
The problem is exposure of the flesh of the apple to the air to turn brown and this needs to be minimised. In the segment method the area exposed for significant time is constant. For the circumferential method the area exposed increases with time.

Which leads to:

The analysis shows that if your bite radius is greater than 0.140 of the radius of the apple then you should eat in segments. Apart from small mammals the bite radius is going to be more than 14% of the apple radius, unless there is a huge apple variety waiting to be discovered.

This post was necessary because every time I eat an apple my wife tells me I am eating it the wrong way.

June 24 2011August 22 2011

Flowers

See, it’s nice down South! Another dog walk another lovely view. Probably going to rain in a bit.

June 23 2011February 18 2020

Time Consuming

Just managed to upload the parish website version 2. This was started in about 2004 and then I had a re-imaging in about 2010. There’s quite a but there. I was really proud of it and like the colour scheme. Some pictures are missing and I doubt I’ll find them as I changed computers in that time, whoops.
Link here.
It brings back some wonderful memories and what you can do when you have the time and aren’t running around after two kids.