Sunday, December 27, 2009

Youtube Videos

Here are a few YouTube videos: If you can't see them here go to http://www.youtube.com/user/shambezi.





Friday, December 25, 2009

'Going Rogue' for Palin (comment on the comment)



I should have cited my table on December 9th properly:

*Maranon, R., Supporters, protesters go 'rogue' in Norman, Friday, Dec 4, 2009, The Oklahoma Daily, http://oudaily.com/news/2009/dec/04/supporters-protesters-go-rogue-norman/

**Jones, J., 'Going Rogue', Friday, Dec 4, 2009, Norman Transcript,
http://www.normantranscript.com/archivesearch/local_story_338011547

Edit: Well more than that. I should have cited my sources.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Going Rogue for Palin (comment)

It seems that data of actual times that people waited in line, as well as the number of people that waited in line would be useful.

A table like:

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Going Rogue Waiting for Palin

(Posted 12/05/2009, edited 12/06/2009)

Just How Long Does One have to wait in Line to Get Their “Going Rouge” book signed?

A few thoughts:

Consider a Problem, likely a differential equation with:

Boundary Condition1: At some time, the number of people in line equals zero
(edit(12/06/2009): Actually the time is unknown. We want to know this to answer the just how long does one have to wait problem. )
Boundary Condition2: At some later time, the number of people in line equals zero
(edit(12/06/2009): this is not really what we wanted to know, but it might be helpful if we wanted to model part 3 (see below))

**edit(12/06/2009) These two edits may mess up the boundary conditions somewhat. It looks like we might have to look at boundary conditions. Data gathering would be most appropriate, but would be cumbersome if it had to be done for each time the model is run (say the the famous person is changed). This would sort of defeat the purpose if the model was to be universal, and not require a whole lot of input and effort. I am thinking about statistics and using a normal variate somewhere (even for the mean of something), but I don't know how to do that off the top of my head. I think it might be doable, it might just take a little time. This sounds like a tough problem.

Solve this as a 3 part problem :

Part1: For the time before 7pm Thursday when the line is forming. Consider the rate of people joining per unit time. The line forms when the rate is zero. The rate may peak at some point.
Notes: This would depend on the population density about the location, the mobility of the population to Hastings (given obstacles such as traffic, road layout etc.), the proportion of people in the region that would go see Sarah Palin, and how crazy people are (i.e. what they perceive is a good time to go) which could depend on the popularity of Sarah Palin. The region’s boundaries would have to be defined as a point where the density of people going to see Sarah Palin would drop below a certain level. I suspect this may be modeled using catalytic reactor theory, and/or theory used by industrial engineers and concert organizers. (Suspected Keywords that come to mind: Catalytic Reactor, Industrial Engineering, Statistics, {Barnum and Bailey Circus, LiveNation, various production companies (theater, concert), The Walt Disney Company, Six Flags} (or at least people who consult for them), UPS, Wal-Mart, Mathematicians) Consider effects like mobile devices, and their dispersal of information that could discourage people from joining the line.

Part2: For the time between 7pm and the time when all the wristbands have been passed out.
Notes:
It is suspected that People will leave the line while additional People that will join the line after 7pm. Consider effects like mobile devices, and their dispersal of information that could discourage people from joining the line.

Part3: Time at which all the wristbands are all passed out, and people begin to leave.
Notes: This is a dispersion type problem. People may find out that the wristbands are gone in a manner like wave propogation, which could be much faster than a walk or a run. Consider effects like mobile devices, and their dispersal of information.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

dance (cont.)

another thought.

you may not (or not at all possibly) need a computer to accomplish emulation.

think about an analog and digital watch. I am assuming all digital watches have a computer (or computer like thing) of some sort.

The Physics of Dance (cont.)

I just thought my thoughts about the computing power could be seriously flawed. It nearly suggested, or possibly assumed (can't decide) that the brain actually solves physics equations. And also it would have to run like a computer to solve these programs. When in reality, the brain may have no idea what a physics equation is at this level. And may in fact have method that is inherently faster than a computer program solving a physics program in the same way it is faster to get to the first floor by jumping off the balcony rather than walking or even running down the stairs. You get to the first floor by following both methods, but one is inherently faster than the other. In the same way, the brain may have some sort of mechanism that is inherently faster and requires much less "computing power" if you can even gauge it that way. In short, less effort to do the same thing. With less effort, the maximum speed that you could do it could change as well. With the stair analogy. It would seem that most people (given some constraints, like their own power maybe...I will stop thinking here) could not propel themselves to the bottom of the stairs to the floor in the same amount of time that it would take to reach the floor by jumping off the balcony.

Improving Singing with a Mattress

Owh, it seems that leaning with your lower chest against your bed improves singing. It helps the sound be a whole lot fuller and louder as well. This makes sense because I remember Marilyn Horne saying at a Master Lesson that actors wear some sort of leather support under their costume to support their diaphragm. I believe that this is the same sort of thing, that is leaning against your bed supports the diaphragm.

In contrast, I tried it without leaning against my bed, even standing up, and I couldn't get the same sound. The sound was not nearly as full, and not as loud.
Now if only there were more beds in places where one would usually sing.

A Scary Incident and the Physics of Dance

I was thinking about the Physics of dance. One of the things I was thinking about was how the body manages to shift its center of mass such that complex moves like balancing on top of another may be accomplished. And if I can recall correctly, all without thinking about it all to deeply. Forgetting that I was scared half to death, I noticed one thing while I paused to reach over to turn off my PC. I nearly fell off my chair and maybe badly injured myself, but I noticed that my body corrected very quickly saved itself from a fall once I realized I was in motion. I willed to save myself, and almost subconsciously grabbed the side of the desk I was sitting at as well as the windowsill that my head and neck was about to hit. So I wonder, does one will something to happen and just kind of do it? What I am saying really is, the brain has to some pretty complex calculations to save itself, or even move. And in order to save myself from falling I had to know to grab the desk and the windowsill behind me in about ¾ of a second (or so it seemed). This is a lot of computing power. I am thinking along the line of center of mass, movement in x,y,z coordinates (or any coordinate system really, in short, 3 space). All I really thought, or so I thought I thought, was to grab something. I don’t understand dance, but I would presume dancers sort of imagine themselves doing the movement and do them. This is curious. To actually solve the equations to maintain balance and move in the desired way would be daunting.

Note: I was watching: Off the Rails on Youtube during this incident

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96eqQNSOnj4&feature=PlayList&p=751E997B9C51754A&index=33&playnext=2&playnext_from=PL