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Complex Numbers
Complex Numbers
A complex number is expressed in the standard form a + bi, where a and b are real numbers and i is defined by i^2 = -1 (that is, i is the square root of -1). For example, 3 + 2i is a complex number.
The bi term is often referred to as an imaginary number (though this may be misleading, as it is no more "imaginary" than the symbolic abstractions we know as the "real" numbers). Thus, every complex number has a real part, a, and an imaginary part, bi.
Complex numbers are often represented on a graph known as the "complex plane," where the horizontal axis represents the infinity of real numbers, and the vertical axis represents the infinity of imaginary numbers. Thus, each complex number has a unique representation on the complex plane: some closer to real; others, more imaginary. If a = b, the number is equal parts real and imaginary.
Very simple transformations applied to numbers in the complex plane can lead to fractal structures of enormous intricacy and astonishing beauty.
December 31, 2008 at 1:11pm December 31, 2008 at 1:11pm
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New Year's gives an opportunity to reflect and project. I've spent the last few days in relative solitude, but I haven't found answers (mostly because I've been playing Fallout 3 instead of reflecting, projecting, writing, working, planning, sleeping, eating...)
Reflections
For me, 2008 sucked big, hairy, greasy, moldy donkey balls. Oh, there were breaks from the suck, but for the most part, vacuum.
Certainly, it could have been worse. It was worse for a lot of people, but I'm not that good at empathy, and they're not Me.
The economy went to shit, and took my company with it. Part of the hazards of doing business, it is. I take some comfort in knowing that had I been working for someone else, I'd have been laid off, most likely, long before now. As it is, my company barely made money; hence, I barely made money.
I spent most of the year in severe pain. This is better now, but it's not great. I don't know if it'll ever be great again.
Dad got sick and then died, and I've been having to deal with the resulting paperwork ever since.
I still haven't been published.
On the bright side (every silver lining has a cloud, you know), I have great friends, both here and in the "real" world, and I'm still married, and I don't have any kids to complicate things further.
And really, I have everything that I need, so why should I bitch about this other stuff?
Projections
I'm going to go WAY out on a limb here and say that 2009 will be a better year. I may end up a year from now eating those words, but for once I'm cautiously optimistic. It's not that the economy can't get worse - it can, and probably will. It's not that my back will magically get better - but at least I have some confidence that it won't get much worse. Of course, one's father can only die once, so that isn't going to happen again (Mom died back in '99).
So I'm asking myself, what do I want?
Do I want my company to do better? I don't know - that would mean more work, which goes against my basically lazy nature.
Do I want it to tank completely? I don't know - I like having money. The more money you have, the more money you CAN have, and it represents security against times when you're NOT making money. You know... like NOW.
Do I want my back pain to go away? Yes, but at what cost? Some people say to make it go away I'd have to have surgery, which means a period of recovery with even worse pain, and I've never been one to trade short-term downside for long-term upside.
Do I want to be published? Sometimes I think so. Other times I feel like it would lock me into something. I don't know. It's very confusing.
Do I want to be happy? That's too nebulous a goal. What would make me happy? I don't know.
What do I want?
I don't know, and that's the honest truth.
I want things to be automatic, so I don't have to work for them. Unrealistic.
I want to spend my days on a Caribbean beach, drinking rum and staring at the ocean. I imagine that would get old fast.
I want to keep the house I inherited from my father, the house where I (arguably) grew up. But the upkeep and taxes on that may be prohibitive.
I want to have better relationships with my wife and my friends. But I'm a geek - I don't know anything about human relationships. I'd rather play video games or design spreadsheets. Besides, that's like work.
I want to lose more weight, but the plain truth is I love to eat and derive great pleasure from it, and I find nothing wrong with pleasure.
I want to stop having these struggles with myself, to quit battling myself for every choice I have to make.
I want things to be better, but I don't have the first idea how to make them so.
Well.
I suppose it'll just have to happen by itself.
Happy New Year to all of you fine readers, and may all of your problems have easy solutions. |
December 21, 2008 at 6:47pm December 21, 2008 at 6:47pm
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Or, Winter solstice.
There's this cool pattern called an "analemma" that you get when you take a picture of the sun at the exact same time at different days through the year (naturally, you'd have to adjust for daylight savings time and don't try it in Seattle):
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html
To be honest, I'm not exactly at a high point either, right now. I can only hope that with the return of the Light, I'll get some clarity back.
December is usually bad for me. At no other time of the year is it driven home to me that this is just Not My Culture. I actually went out yesterday looking for some gifts for people. It was depressing. The music, the decorations, the crowds, the constant press of BUY BUY BUY...
Everything sucked.
I mean, really, I go through Barnes & Noble (which I've taken to calling, depending on the audience, Buns & Noodle or Boobs & Nipple) and everything sucks. I kept looking at the crap they're selling for books and going, "And I'm still not published?"
Culture shock in one's own hometown.
New Year's sometimes restores me. We'll see. |
December 16, 2008 at 2:52pm December 16, 2008 at 2:52pm
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susanL  : I have homework for you Robert Waltz. I challenge you to find something to share about what is RIGHT with the world...PROMISE!
It's taken me a few days, but now I have it.
All these links that I share, the news stories and magazine articles and blog pages that depict human weirdness in all its multifarious glory?
They are what's right with the world.
Case in point: without the greatness of Cracked, I would have never known about all of these
Insane Discoveries That Science Can't Explain
We like to feel superior to the people who lived centuries ago, what with their shitty mud huts and curing colds by drilling a hole in their skulls. But we have to give them credit: They left behind some artifacts that have left the smartest of modern scientists scratching their heads.
For instance, you have the following enigmas that we believe were created for no other purpose than to fuck with future generations.
http://www.cracked.com/article_16871_6-insane-discoveries-that-science-cant-expl...
Or, consider this heartwarming video about Chad Vader, the supermarket manager:
http://www.ilovebacon.com/112408/f.shtml
And if that's not enough, consider this epic prose from the Master, Neil Gaiman.
http://www.neverwear.net/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4&ze...
...I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive
and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it.
So enjoy it!  |
December 9, 2008 at 9:22pm December 9, 2008 at 9:22pm December 4, 2008 at 3:22pm December 4, 2008 at 3:22pm
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Last month, I proposed (rather tongue-in-cheekly, or so I thought) repealing Amendment XXII (Presidential term limits), with the implication that we needed to do it now so Obama can take advantage of it in 2016. This was mostly to tweak the ears of the "Palin 2012" crowd. They can make funny jokes; I can make funny jokes.
A few days later, I proposed taxing churches to help with our budget shortfall. I'm actually more serious about this one, though I don't see it happening. And in any case, if it would get churches MORE involved in politics than they already are, forget it.
I'm totally serious about this one:
Legalize marijuana.
Now, I know that most of the people who say that do so from a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke. They see personal benefit in it because then they can have a reliable, safe source for pot, and don't have to freak out every time they hear sirens (in fact, one of the things I like to do to fuck with potheads is to imitate a siren).
Me, I'm not a pothead. Sure, I've smoked it (whoops, there goes my chance at a political career - ha), but it's just not a big deal with me. For me, personally, I could give a shit whether it's legal or not. Unlike with alcohol, which they can pry from my cold, dead fingers, it's not a personal concern.
However, I like to think that my political views go beyond what's good for me, personally, and look at the big picture.
In this case, the big picture includes:
 Billions of dollars of taxpayer money spent prosecuting a "war" against a substance that, while not as innocuous as its ardent supporters claim, is demonstrably less hazardous than the legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco and, arguably, less hazardous than many prescription drugs;
Flagrant violations of the fourth amendment through seizure of property of people busted for pot;
Thousands of nonviolent "criminals" clogging up prisons, again on taxpayer bill (granted, some of that is offset by the previous point);
The government missing out on a metric assload of tax revenue.
The people I mentioned earlier, who also support legalizing ganja? They deserve a safe, reliable source of weed. If you're going to ingest a substance, at least let it be as regulated as, say, alcohol.
http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2008/12/03/einstein-insanity-and-the-war-o...
Today's blog entry has been brought to you by the anniversary of Amendment XXI to the U.S. Constitution, which repealed Prohibition 75 years ago tomorrow. So I raise a glass in toast to this great anniversary, but not a bong.
Not yet. |
December 3, 2008 at 7:59pm December 3, 2008 at 7:59pm
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The "defiling" phase of my organizational efforts seems to have ended. Now, I have three times the work ahead of me: trying to find a place for everything cluttered around.
I don't know why I don't do these things as I go.
Yes, I do... I'm usually too depressed to give a shit. |
December 2, 2008 at 6:02pm December 2, 2008 at 6:02pm
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I think we've stumbled upon the solution to World Peace:
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1433&Ite...
ISRAEL AND PALESTINE SIGN PEACE DEAL TO PREVENT CLINTON VISIT
ISRAEL and Palestine last night signed a hastily arranged peace deal in a desperate bid to prevent a visit from Hillary Clinton. ... "Everything's fine. These guys are a hoot, I love them. We're actually thinking about going skiing together."
Speaking of comebacks,
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-10-best-comebacks-of-all-time/
The 10 Most Devastating Insults of All Time
The French call it “l’esprit d’escalier,” or “staircase ghost.”
To the rest of us, it is known simply as the comeback, that divine and tender coincidence of all the universe’s comedic forces at the perfect moment. A truly good comeback can instantly turn tables, elevate the terminally zinged to the status of champion, and reduce the zinger to a stuttering fool.
A useful article for anyone on the internet who would like to have a comeback that may be slightly above, "Your mama." |
December 1, 2008 at 9:37pm December 1, 2008 at 9:37pm
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It's amazing I ever get anything done.
Seriously. I have records scattered between here and my office, and I truly suck at categorization. Everything's either lumped all together and useless, or separated too finely to be of any use. And then when I finally go through everything (i.e. now), I agonize over every piece of documentation: Shred it? Keep it? If I keep it, where do I file it? Have I already created a folder for this category? Does it have tax implications? Is there anything else like it in the piles, or will it be the lone occupant of a slender folder?
I think I'm on my fifth trash bag full of shredder clippings.
There is, however, now a corner of my desk where you can see the surface of the desk. That is, one on each of my desks: home and office.
I will say this: Organized people will never know the joys of discovery that I have experienced. Never. |
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I'm more than happy with Carrion Luggage, however.
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