Archive for 2023

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New Math Operation

Dec

27

2023

I happened to be reading the back of the cereal box during a recent breakfast, and it had some activities to try.

image of the back of a Cheerios box with activities

So I tried them, and I was particularly disappointed with the math challenge. Here is the challenge. You try it and see what you think.

image of the crunch the numbers challenge on the back of the cereal box

It starts off easy enough: raspberry plus raspberry equals 4, so 4/2 = raspberry, thus raspberry = 2.

Then I skipped ahead to raspberry plus spoon equals 12, so 2+spoon = 12, thus spoon = 10

Similar logic with the last clue gave me strawberry = 3

Then we have two of the three variables for the second clue, so we can solve for blueberry = 6

So that gives us all the items we need for the final equation, to find the answer they want.

The first cluster of 3 fruits is a mystery, but we can solve the rest and come back to that. So strawberry plus spoon plus blueberry equals 19. Now all we need to do is add that to the fruit cluster.

The fruit cluster is a blueberry and raspberry and spoon clumped together, with no math operation involved. What is the math operation in this case?

Usually, if you put numbers together with no operator, that means multiply, like (10)(6)(2). So that would give the clump the value of 120, so the answer would be 120+19 = 139

But putting them together could also just be concatenating the numbers, so 6102, which would make the answer 6121.

Let’s check if the answer is either 139 or 6121.

image of the crunch the numbers challenge on the back of the cereal box

Nope, they say the answer is 37. That makes no sense. Let’s see if we can work backwards and figure out what math operation the fruit cluster is.

The clump must be 37-19 = 18.

Oh, if they want you to add the numbers together, they put a plus sign between the symbols. Or they just lump them together with no operators. That was not intuitive, because they already established the plus sign means add. Switching away from that, but then keeping it too, with no instructions or clues for what that means, makes it frustrating.

“Behold, I have discovered this,” says the Preacher, “by adding one thing to another to find an explanation”

Ecclesiastes 7:27

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Google Hertz

Dec

20

2023

For all the talk I’ve heard over the years about how Google hires the brightest and best talent, that apparently doesn’t mean for all aspects of the business. Or maybe they’ve grown too big and have lowered their standards.

I got this email from them, a standard form email, so I’m sure thousands of people got the same email. Which also means it should have been reviewed by someone other than just the one person who typed it up. At least I assume that’s standard practice for most places – an official communication to customers shouldn’t be thought up and sent out by one person.

In reality, it’s not a big deal. I think whoever gets the email will understand what Google meant. But it’s not like it’s an ambiguous term – “frequency” has a specific meaning, especially to electrical engineers, but even non-engineers know that a higher frequency means something happens more often.

It’s not like “turn up the air conditioning” which can get a response of “wait, do you want it warmer or colder?” because “up” can apply to the temperature setting or the fan speed or they actually want the temperature to do down. But I don’t know how you could take the term “frequency” as anything but frequency.

image of an email from Google that misuses the term frequency

Their problem is that they mixed units. The numbers are in time but their description is in frequency, which is inverse time. So when they say “lowest frequency” it’s actually the highest frequency, but lowest time. And vice-versa.

Why they felt the need to use “frequency” instead of “time”, I’m not sure. They must have had guidance from the product team that told them to use “frequency”.

Rid yourself of a deceitful mouth And keep devious speech far from you.

Proverbs 4:24

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All-Haiku Bowl Predictions, 2023

Dec

16

2023

Based on the popularity existence of last year’s article predicting bowl games in haiku form, I present to you this year’s all-haiku bowl game predictions. Still America’s only all-haiku college football bowl game predictions.

These are listed in order of date (earliest first). Some picks are whom I think will win, and some picks are whom I want to win. I’ll leave it to you, the reader, to decide which is which.
(more…)

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Smart Thermostats

Dec

6

2023

I’ve heard about these newfangled smart thermostats, but I have my doubts.

HAL-9000 as a smart thermostat

For the thermostat to be smart enough, it would need to be able to respond to the same question in different ways, depending on who is asking it.

As an example, if I walk into a room and ask the thermostat “Why is it so cold in here?”, the thermostat should give me an answer (“your son left the window open”) and not change anything.

On the other hand, if my wife walks into a room and asks the thermostat “Why is it so cold in here?”, the thermostat should know just to turn up the heat a couple degrees.

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot.

Revelation 3:15

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First Big Snow

Nov

29

2023

At the very end of Thanksgiving break, we got our first real snow of this winter. To celebrate that (or commiserate, your choice), here are some photos.

snow covering a fir tree

snow covering a Japanese maple tree

snow covering some trees

snow covering a driveway

snow covering a bottlebrush plant

He showers snow like wool; He scatters the frost like ashes.

Psalm 147:16

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Happy Thanksgiving

Nov

22

2023

I’m not posting anything today – I’m too busy doing Thanksgivingy stuff.

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

1 Chronicles 16:34

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Roundabout Signals

Nov

15

2023

Twice this last week, I noticed people signalling right-turn as they entered a roundabout that I also was approaching. Then they didn’t turn right but rather went straight through the roundabout (following the lane, of course).

That is one of the things that bugs me. Apparently some people are being taught to signal right when you’re entering a roundabout, and then signal again when you’re exiting a roundabout.

I don’t mind the signalling when exiting a roundabout, but it’s the “signal right when entering a roundabout” that’s the problem. These people are considering the road meeting the roundabout as an intersection. I consider the whole roundabout the intersection.

Here’s how I see it.

First up, a generic intersection :

image of a generic intersection, 4-way, no controls

This one doesn’t have any controls, so it’s at a high risk of people crashing. We need some way to coordinate who has the right of way. So we could make it a 4-way stop :

image of a generic intersection, 4-way, stop sign

That’s better. Now if you were approaching this intersection and wanted to turn left, you would signal left and you approach it, and the car would cancel the signal after the turn was completed.

Everyone agree? Ok, now we’re going to change the traffic control method from stop signs to a traffic light :

image of a generic intersection, 4-way, stop light

Does that change anything if you want to turn left? I hope not. You would activate your left turn signal as you approached the intersection, and the car would cancel the signal after the turn was completed.

In each case, the control method inside the dashed box doesn’t matter. You have options for the intersection, so you signal as you approach the box to let people know which leg of the intersection you’ll be taking.

Now let’s replace the stop light with a roundabout :

image of a generic intersection, 4-way, roundabout

I’m stating that it doesn’t change anything – you should signal left and you approach the intersection, and the car would cancel the signal after the turn was completed.

The problem with signalling right to enter the intersection is that people on the other legs of roundabout can’t tell the difference between that and signalling to take the first roundabout exit. It’s a bad idea.

It doesn’t add any information to the situation. The reason for signalling at intersections is to add information to the situation so that other drivers can make better decisions.

When entering a roundabout, everyone has to do the same thing – a slight right curve. Turn signals are to inform other people that you’re going to deviate from the current path, or to let them know which option you’re choosing when there are multiple options. When entering a roundabout, there are no multiple options (that’s one of the benefits of roundabouts) and you’re not deviating from a path. The path deviation should come when you exit, not enter a roundabout.

So the turn signal doesn’t add any information that’s needed. But it’s worse than that – it adds bad information. It causes confusion and delay, and that’s the worst thing that could happen, both here and on Sodor.

One caveat is that this is for roundabouts, not traffic circles. And it seems to me that whoever is teaching the signal right whenever entering a roundabout is someone who grew up with a traffic circle. Because those aren’t one intersection – they are big and are individual intersections around a circle.

Who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet, Who points with his fingers

Proverbs 6:13

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