The Rationality of Pi

Disclaimer: To all my regular readers, I have a feeling that this blog may not appeal to you so I offer you the link below which I found to be extremely funny and proof yet again that the internet is extremely effective at destroying all our childhood memories.

http://funny.jdonuts.com/2010/09/100-acre-drug-use_16.html

I would urge you to continue reading however because what follows is a remarkable story that has at its core the most least understood, yet universally known, irrationality that exists. Pi .

Pi is a mathematical constant whose value is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter and is often expressed as 3.14. The truth is, as most of us are aware is that pi is an irrational number that continues into infinity in it's approximation. What is amazing about this number is that most serious mathematicians would tell you that they know nothing about Pi, yet the definition of Pi is really simple, It is just the ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle. Or, is it?

It is believed that Pi first entered our history in Ancient Egypt. It is there that the earliest know reference to pi occurs, written on a papyrus scroll in 1650 B.C by a scribe named Ahmes. Ahmes titled the scroll " The entrance into the knowledge of all existing things" ( I have to assume that Ahmes was not known for his modesty) and after some lengthy calculations he found the area of a circle using a cruder form of Pi. Thereafter, the great Greek philosopher Archimedes, who is now more commonly known in schools as 'that douche who has ruined my early childhood with all his damn theorems' found pi to be between 3 10/71 and 3 1/7. That is about 3.14 and you have to cut the Greeks some slack as they did not use decimals in 200 B.C. and this discovery was probably made using various circles and pieces of string. This approximation was more or less universally accepted until the German Mathematician Ludolph van Ceulen spent the greater part of his life approximating it to thirty five decimal places in the seventeenth century. This gave him such a sense of accomplishment that he had the digits engraved on his tombstone. The German's still call Pi 'the Ludophian number' but they are alone in this as they are with their obsession with David Hasselhoff music. The first person to use the greek letter Pi to represent this constant was the English mathematician William Jones and thus has it remained ever since.

There are many who believe that Pi holds within it a great mystery known to nature (and by inference God) similar to the uniqueness of Phi which Dan Brown explored to death in the 'Da Vinci Code'. With the advent of computers and mathematicians with nothing better to do, the race to determine the mystery of pi re-surfaced. Whilst we were watching the Olympic Games or Dallas, the nationalist battle to approximate Pi heated up. It began with George Reitweisner who derived Pi to 2037 decimal places. When the Japanese entered the battle things started getting silly quickly (Yasumasa Kanada and his team at Tokyo University used a NEC supercomputer to compute 2 million digits of pi, and found no signs of order). this continued in it's absurdity until the Chudnovsky Brothers announced to the world that they had obtained four hundred and eighty million digits of pi, a world record at the time. The record stood at one billion one hundred and thirty million one hundred and sixty thousand and sixty four decimal places in 1989 and was obtained by team Kanada. Surprisingly, to everyone but themselves, they still found no pattern!

Finally, this brings me to the main reason I wrote this blog ( I hope however you enjoyed the journey). It was the amazing story of the 'Chudnovsky brothers'. In short, these brothers were born in the Ukraine and eventually settled in America. They are brilliant mathematicians who one day concluded that it would be cheaper and more convenient to build a supercomputer in their apartment so that they could work with numbers to their hearts content. Gregory Chudnovsky suffers from a severe disease called myasthenia gravis which in his case has resulted in muscle weakness and difficulty in breathing. He is therefore confined to his apartment and used to do his research by dialing into a supercomputer and waiting many hours for a result. The result was often a message telling him that he had lost his connection! This therefore prompted these brothers to build their own supercomputer which they have  done using mail order parts with a combined cost of seventy thousand dollars. They thankfully have wives with conventional jobs and big hearts. This is in comparison to a Cray supercomputer which cost somewhere in the region of thirty million dollars.

I have recently read a significant amount regarding the lives and accomplishments of the Chudnovsky brothers but was most surprised (shocked) to learn that these great minds have no commercial backing or conventioanl academic jobs. Putting aside for the moment their genius mathematical ability, these guys built a working supercomputer in their apartment at a fraction of the cost! Nobody thinks that they warrant an investment? The thought of David Beckham being available for two months after the close of the US soccer season is unthinkable with European clubs trampling over each other to have the benefit of his services at remarkable costs. For some perspective, Beckham's deal with the LA Galaxy, those marauders of world club football, is $ 32,5 Million over 5 years.

Contrast this to Gregory Chudnovsky who was described by Herbert Robbins (emeritus professor of mathematical statistics at Columbia University) as the greatest mathematician since David Hilbert (don't feel stupid, I never heard of him either) and that he is the last of his breed. For years, the brothers were supported by their wives and modest grants from the National Science Foundation of America until eventually, after campaigning by a select few academics they were appointed as Distinguished Industry Professors at the polytechnic institute of NYU.

This is part of what is wrong with the world. Our priorities are all messed up. We pay millions for people to play sport or act (don't get me started on that topic!) yet we don't reward academic brilliance forcing most of the brilliant minds into the corporate world where their passion to explore and break new ground is crushed. Of course, I (as both a bad football player and self confessed geek) will see it that way and who cares about how many digits you can approximate pi to anyways. I think it is safe to assume that if you did not find a pattern in a billion, you are probably not going to find a pattern in the next billion. But behind the search lies an algorithm that could one day solve a much more pressing problem like "What is the Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything?" I assure you that David Beckham will not have a clue that the answer is 42!

P.S. I have added a reaction widget to the bottom of my blog posts and would love if you could give me feedback on what you thought. Comments would be great but if you don't have the time then perhaps just a tick in the appropriate box. Thanks.

Should SA follow Germany regarding Nuclear Power?

I had intended writing this blog on the recent decision by Germany to phase out Nuclear Power by 2022, it's impact and consequences but I have since decided to focus rather on how this decision should not be foolishly used to dictate the nuclear policy decisions in South Africa. Before proceeding any further, let me state that I am a great supporter of renewable energy and would love for it to form a much larger component of our national energy mix but I am not naive of the consequences that come with it. In an effort to reduce carbon emissions and improve our chances of sustaining life on earth, I would be prepared to pay more for electricity. I would accept that the sun does not shine everyday and the wind does not always blow and will therefore accept that there could be days that electricity supply would be interrupted. I am also fully aware that the majority of my fellow citizens would not be willing or able to make that sacrifice, mostly due to the massive levels of poverty already prevalent in our society.

The decision by Germany needs to be viewed in context and requires one to zoom out to understand it. Late last year, Germany announced that it intended increaseing the operating life of its nuclear power plants and this led to much protest from concerned citizens. The chaos that reigned at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan after the Tsunami therefore fed right into these protests and the leaders of the world's 4th largest economy were therefore forced to do a U-turn? Wheteher this proves to be a brave and radical gesture, or a blatantly populist move that defies all common sense remains to be seen. One thing is certain. This has all but secured a coalition for Angela Merkel with the popular Green Party after Germany's next election and may extend the reign of the Chancellor.

Enough on foreign politics (for now), which is what this is. There are some things that I would like my fellow citizens to consider before engaging in any discussion on this topic.

1. Do not repeat the opinion of Gareth Cliff: There is a reason that this is number 1 and it is because you should not base your opinion on any topic by the half facts presented by a radio DJ whose primary concern is of popularity an ratings.  Those should be his priorities (It's his job) but do not therefore expect an unbiased, well though out argument from him because his priority is not education or even the dissemination of information but, entertainment. This is true for most radio DJ's but I mentioned Gareth Cliff, because although I find the show and playlist entertaining I am often appalled with his views on current affairs.
2.  We are not Germany: If anybody has a chance of succeeding with this audacious plan, it would have to be the Germans. They have already achieved so much and it is primarily due to the role there government has played in the promotion of renewable energy. They have for years been charging consumers a small renewable energy tax which was used to subsidise the promotion of renewable energy in the country. Two years ago a similar tax was added to the cost of electricity in South Africa but that will be used to merely fill up the coffers as there has been no indication from Government on what this will be used for. The day after Germany announced its decision regarding nuclear power. NERSA (National Energy Regulator South Africa) announced a delay with the REFIT (Renewable Energy Feed in Tariff) which was launched to attract investors to build renewable power generating schemes in the country.
3. Germany is not us: Government remains committed (in policy ayways) to the Universal Access Plan which is a plan to electrify all the citizens of our country and to supply the poorest among these with Free Basic Electricity. I remain committed to this goal. In recent years, the cost of energy in South Africa has soared and we, as a country, are not in a position to pass on the cost of such a shift in policy to the consumers. The cost of renewable energy is significantly higher than coal or even nuclear for that matter and we as South Africans are not ready for such a step change. We are still adjusting to paying the true cost of the cheap coal energy we generate so much off.
4. Nuclear energy is presently the only viable alternative to provide base load power to the grid. Solar systems require the sun to shine, wind farms require wind to blow. These can therefore not be a reliable source of providing power 24 hours a day.
5. We have no safety net: If Germany fails to meet his target by replacing its nuclear fleet with renewable energy in the next decade it will be forced to increase energy imports from either France (Grid is 70% Nuclear) or Russia (Considerable Gas reserves). We are the giant of energy generation in our region, so we are unable to depend too heavily on neighboring countries to assist should we have an energy shortfall.

If it appears from the above that I believe Nuclear is the solution for South Africa, let me clear up that misunderstanding, I don't. Not presently anyways. We have no policy on how to dispose of Nuclear waste in South Africa. This has been outstanding for many years and until it is completed, no additional nuclear plants should be constructed in our country. To put things in perspective, the low and intermediate radioactive waste used to be disposed off in Vaalputs (a near surface disposal site for radioactive waste) but this is currently being stored on site at Koeburg because the National Radioactive Waste Management Agency  has yet to appoint the new operator to manage the site! So presently not is Koeburg just a nuclear power sttaion on our coastline, but it is also our nuclear waste storage site. I hope we have an Tsunami early warning system but suspect that if we did have a "Tsunami early Warning Management Agency" that functioned under the Dept of Environmental Affairs, they would have just announced its decision to suspend operations at the system until a new operator is found and employed!

Presently our best option would be to reduce our electricity consumption. This would be advantageous to us the consumer in two ways in that it would save us money and would help reduce emissions. Paying lip service to the promulgation of renewable energy in our country will continue well into the foreseeable future but until there is a drastic shift in government policy, I fear nothing more will come of it.

Saving the Planet, A quarter mile at a time

I have recently been posting and reading up a lot on ways to save the planet..... That is actually a silly statement. The planet is not in need of saving. The ability of our planet to sustain us a species requires work. The planet will continue to be here, even without us. Douglas Adams said so.

 (via caglecartoons.com) 

Reduce. Re-use. Recycle. The reason that mantra is so stated is because it is in order of priority. Recycling, which I have been focusing on is actually the least I could do to save the planet because it requires energy to make the waste usable again. So I started thinking, what can I start doing to lower my carbon footprint by either redusing or re-using. Whilst chatting to Sherwin, an old racing buddy who many in Durban refer to as 'The Grand Guru of Automative Environmental Sustainability', we discovered a great way to save the planet. Replacing the disposable air filter in my car with a High Flow Performance Air Filter by K&N.

If, like my wife you rolled your eyes at this suggestion, think about it for a minute. Over 100 million disposable air filters are discarded each year (Source: statistic at the back of the K&N box). That is enough to fill Moses Mabhida Stadium to the arch 50 000 times (source: internet blog. No verifiable source required. If that does not sit well with you, I could always just write, 'INDEPENDENT STUDY'). But seriously. This filter is made of multiple layers of treated cotton gauze that provides great filtration (and also high airflow rates) and should last the life of a vehicle provided it is cleaned every 50 000 miles (That stat is not made up and is actually the manufacturers recommendation). Usage of this filter would actually reduce the waste burden created by disposable air filters made of paper or other synthetic materials.

Additionally (and this is the equivalent of cracking an egg and getting two yolks), the improved airflow results in increased combustion efficiency which would result in more engine power and hence better fuel mileage. I challenge you to find another device that would make your car sound better whilst saving the environment. This is actually my first pass at a more comprehensive study I plan to discuss with my wife on why a Jackson supercharger could effectively save a tree in the Amazon every time I go to get bread from the shop. Until then, I will continue to try and save the planet.... a quarter mile at a time.

Retrenched Parent: Seeking new role!

 "Making the decision to have a child is momentous.  It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."  ~Elizabeth Stone

I love that quotation because it best describes my experience as a parent. The other quotation that also speaks to me is,

"Children are a great comfort in your old age - and they help you reach it faster, too. " ~Lionel Kauffman

My eldest daughter turns 5 next week and I am livid with all the authors of all the childcare and parenting books I have read ever since that morning my wife and I first saw those two red lines  on the home pregnancy kit. While you went on and on about baby-proofing your home,  how to deal with tantrums (which I prefer regarding as fiction) and learn through play techniques, you neglected to devote a chapter to (or even mention) what we should do when our little toddlers start growing up! Nobody warned me that your child's 5th birthday was to be considered a watershed event.

What follows may be considered pride and boasting by some but if they do then they clearly do not understand the relationship between fathers and daughters because fathers are incapable (until they are teenagers) of referring to their angels in any other way. My little girl has recently moved into her own room, and sometimes tells me that I can leave before she is  even asleep. That she'll fall off to sleep on her own! It is with great sadness that I realise that this, in some way marks a change in our relationship, one that we are unlikely to recover as she grows in independence, learns to read etc etc. I am also particularly upset that she is now learning to tell  time because I can no longer lie to her that it is bedtime, when trying to get her to bed early! I understand that this is the natural progression of things but wanted to just share this brief note to all the other dads out there, so that the transition does not take you by surprise like it did me.

But do not despair Dads, for even now I have conjured up little tricks/ techniques to at the very least extend your role for a few more years. These tips, some may say manipulations, include but are not limited to:

• Slowing the pace at which they learn to read (For anybody who has not heard of sarcasm or read any of my previous blogs, I feel compelled to state here that I am not Taliban or Taliban-lite but only mention the word Taliban in  my blogs to get a few more hits from people in the CIA, MOSSAD etc.)
• Keeping her Pyjama's in  a drawer that is out of reach. Success with this method may require the removal of all stools and step ladders from the house.

 Luckily for me, I have a second little girl who just turned 1, so I still have at least another 3 years of usefulness but I am often reminded of what Sydney J. Harris once said,

"The beauty of "spacing" children many years apart lies in the fact that parents have time to learn the mistakes that were made with the older ones - which permits them to make exactly the opposite mistakes with the younger ones."

Don't spoil MY day by spoiling YOUR ballot! - SA Elections 2011

On Wednesday, May 18^th, South Africans will go to the polls in Municipal Elections to determine their councillors and who will run their municipality for the next 5 years. For the majority of the residents in my Ward (Ward 23 of the Ethekwini Municipality), if the voter turn-out in the 2006 elections are anything to go by, it will be just another mid-week public holiday. You get the same excuses:

> My vote does not make a difference

> Why waste my time, all politicians are crooks

> There is no party that I believe in etc etc.

I am not here to criticize your opinion. Or go off on a idealistic soliloquy on how we should embrace our democratic duty because of the many who have sacrificed their lives to afford us this ideal. Or to state the obvious, that there is no such thing as a non-participatory democracy. If you do not vote, then for the next 5 years you should not complain about the lack of service delivery. This is your only opportunity to have a voice in the direction your community is heading in. If you are happy to let others determine that direction for you, then you are entitled to that belief. I love democracy, everybody has a role!

The new 'in-thing' amongst otherwise very sensible people is to vote but to purposely spoil your ballot. It is delusionally believed that this will send a message to the powers that be, that people want to vote but just don't have a viable alternative. I can assure you that all the ruling ward party would see is another unsatisfied voter who chose not to support the opposition. Score! And if voters turn out in large numbers and spoil their ballots, all you could possibly hope to achieve is a voter education program before the next election. Most importantly, do not come to the voting station with the intention of spoiling your ballot, because those queues are long enough without your anonymous pointless rebellion. Just stay home and enjoy the day off from work.

Symbol for the Socialist Green Coalition

I was shocked when I discovered the number of candidates running in my Ward (17 candidates). Why don't they all have posters? How will I chose? Luckily for me 9 of the candidates did not reside in the area so that narrows the list down considerably. To be fair, I was never going to consider voting for the Vryheidsfront Plus or the Afrikaner Christen Alliansie! To narrow the list further, I decided that any party that does not have a poster in the community will also be excluded from my list. The only party that could have a justifiable reason for not having posters is the'Socialist Green Revolution' because there are no state owned printing firms and it would be a waste of paper. I promise you, that had I arrived on election day and saw that name on the ballot sheet, I would have voted for them. Had this occurred then I would have asked a friend to slap me thereafter (because true friends never slap hard at moments like these). I will not go into the details but their website was an eye-opener into the level of naivety/ idiocy I would have helped gather an additional vote. They go the extra mile ( on their merry journey to la-la land in that they not only demand that Eskom supply the country with free electricity but also supply households with the means for renewable electricity production. As much as I want to continue with the sheer stupidity of that statement (which appears on their Manifesto), I will stop.

This is the first time I have taken such an interest in a municipal election and found it to be a very entertaining, yet informative ride. For example. The current ward councillor has defected (or been fired, depending on the source) from the ANC and is now running with the IFP. What is interesting is that both the ANC and IFP are running with the campaign “look what we have done for you over the last 10 years” yet they are both referencing the same work done. In a recent twist, the councilor has now reported the ANC to the Independent Electoral Commission for planning to bus in 450 former shack dwellers who were relocated to homes in Welbedacht so that they may swing the vote in this ward. One cannot help but wonder whether he would have blew the whistle on this if he was still the ANC candidate?

Even the runner up in the last municipal elections, Sokhalingam Pillay is now running as an independent. I am not sure why the Minority Front have chosen to replace him but I would never be able to bring myself to vote for the Minority Front. I don't wish to elaborate on this standpoint only to say that the wig and the returning 2006 election posters points to somebody who is trying to hide something and I am also against 'Leader for Life' Parties, which incidentally is the same reason I would not vote for the 'Truly Alliance'. When the posters first started going up, I was intrigued by this party but more specifically, it's name. 'Truly Alliance'. It just did not sound right. The word 'truly' was just the wrong adjective to use before alliance unless you were trying to emphasise that this alliance is now 'truly' an alliance. Then one day on the way to work, it all made sense. The leader of the party is former Municipal Executive committee member Tony Adams, hence the T A is simply an acronym for his name. It is the only thing that makes sense and for the record, Truth Alliance would have been a much better party name and achieved the same ego mileage for Mr Adam.

As a candidate for councilor the individual that has impressed me the most thus far is independent candidate Ish Praladh. With the exception of a poor picture choice for his election poster, his campaign has been the only real 'campaign'. He has posters everywhere, a catchy slogan (Stop the Rot!) and has been seen regularly campaigning in the area. Whether driving in the back of a bakkie or directing traffic after mosque prayers he seems to be the candidate who wants this job the most and if he can bring the same level of professionalism to his job as ward councillor that he has brought to his campaign then I would be impressed. He is also chairman of the Reservoir Hill's Ratepayers association and appears to have a long history of community upliftment.

I know what most of you are thinking. I am no better than the guy who votes based on the plate of Biryani he just ate and all this electioneering is just 'promises and lies', but one has to believe that tomorrow will be a better day and that there are people out there who will deliver on their promises. Otherwise, what's the point. However, I would like this blog to send out just one clear message.

If you intend spoiling your ballot paper, then please stay at home!

X-Men: 'First Class' or 'First Farce'

 I am a self confessed geek so expect me to comment regularly on all things geek-related. This being a huge year for super hero movies means there will be an abundance of topics for which to share this particular passion. I wanted to write this post to express my uneasiness with the new X-men movie (X-men: First Class). I am a huge fan of the X-men. Admittedly not as fanatical as the guy pictured below, but a huge fan nonetheless. I have my original comic book collection, graphic novels, all the dvd's (including the first Bryan Singer X-men movie, which was really just a very long trailer for the two installments that were to follow and some action figures from my childhood (ok, I bought them as an adult)

Here is a picture of legendary comic book writer Stan Lee at the exact 

moment he regretted ever picking up a pen in the first place.

What were Marvel thinking? This movie is in essence an "Origins" story. It is however, not the ORIGIN of the X-men. The initial team consisted of Cyclops, Marvel Girl (Jean Grey), Iceman, Beast and Archangel. In 2007 there was actually a series of comics titled X-men: First Class that focussed on their origins. The only similarities that exist between this new movie and that story is the title and Beast! I was not being fanatical ( so I keep telling myself). Did the best selling American comic not deserve to have their origins told as it has always been known?

For those of you who have not yet seen the trailer for the upcoming movie, I have attached the latest international trailer below.

After watching that trailer, I am certain many of you are thinking "What the F**k?" The trailer to the movie looks amazing and it is definitely something I will watch and enjoy. And, ....I agree! All my criticism earlier was based on some serious artistic liberties being taken by the creators. But there was one key thing I was missing which I only discovered tonight. This movie is meant to tie in to the X-men movie franchise (i.e. the Three X-men movies and Wolverine: Origins). It is for that reason that the only characters that could be used in this movie were Beast and Mystique (because they are the only ones whose age could not be determined). You could not introduce Iceman in Origins because they chose to make him a teenager in the initial trilogy (which is a shame because the real Iceman is one of my favourite X-men and is very witty and fun in the comics whereas in the movies, he was a pansy). You may recall that Cyclops was only rescued as a young boy by Prof X in the closing scene of Wolverine: Origins (which was set in the 70's).

OK. I am excited now. This whole thing makes sense to me and I think the movie will be amazing. Bryan Singer (Director of the first two X-men movies) is the writer and producer of this flick and he understands how it is all meant to tie up. The driving force behind my conversion is:

• The script seems really intelligent, weaving the X-men into such a major world event like the Cuban Missile Crisis.
• Director Vince Vaughn who directed my favourite movie last year (Kick Ass) and was ironically originally hired to direct X3: The Last Stand.
• The introduction of the Hellfire Club as villains. The Hellfire Club is an old cabal (founded in 1760) that has for centuries been amassing political and economic power and influence by illicit means. They are the perfect villains for this story, and
• Finally, James McAvoy as a young idealistic Charles Xavier. This is not a new reason as I am a big fan of his acting and wanted to see what he would bring to the role.

Suddenly June 1st seems like a lifetime away!

My review of Sucker Punch

This is such a difficult blog to write because in essence I am going against the popular choice. All my favourite movie reviewers have given Sucker Punch terrible reviews (Shaun de Waal from the M&G, the NEWYORKER Film File). Even www.rottentomatoes.com rates the movie at 22% (based on critic reviews) yet surprisingly 55% of the audience who participated in the survey (59 908 people), enjoyed the movie. So, perhaps there is nothing wrong with me after all and finding this movie enjoyable does not imply that I have a fetish for schoolgirl porn or French maid ensambles. To begin, check out the trailer for Sucker Punch if you have not done so already.

When I saw this trailer, I though that this was going to be my 'Kick Ass' for 2011. In a year that Super Heroes re-emerge on the silver screen again ( Thor, X-Men : First Class, Green Lantern, Captain America), will this movie, created and directed by Zack Snyder, the man chosen to resurrect Superman in 2011, deliver a 'sucker punch' to the industry. It did not live up to all my expectations which were admittedly quite high but I still found it to be a highly entertaining movie.

Despite its obvious flaws (the plot is pretty much what you see in the trailer, 5 girls in a mental institution attempt to break out but while undertaking real tasks to aid their escape, they imagine the tasks to be battles being fought in a fantasy realm), this movie is a visual and auditory masterpiece. Regardless of how it does at the Box Office, I am very confident that when released, the Blu Ray Disc for Sucker Punch will  become a best seller. This movie will become the demo disc people will use to show off their home entertainment systems.

The plot appears to merely be a device for getting from one action sequence to another and I believe that it is in these sequences that the movie excels. Zack Snyder has put an obscene amount of detail into each CGI frame of the fantasy parallel universe that this group of heroines find themselves in. These sequences accompanied with the perfect music reminded me at times of Kill Bill. I know that Snyder is no Tarantino (yet!) and I am purposely not explaining too much abouththese worlds and the battles fought therein because what then would be the point of you watching the movie. One reviewer explained it best when he referred to the fight scenes as "an absolute nerdgasm".

I recommend this movie to anybody looking for escapism. For those who want to watch a movie and just enjoy it without having to think too much about social injustices or modern family drama etc. Relating to the plot that is so often criticised, even by myself, I think the movie is smarter than it appears to be and the more you think about it after the movie, the more things start to make sense. The only time that I will enjoy this movie more, is when listening to the directors commentary on the DVD. This will explain some gaps in the plot and also shed some light on the many metaphors found throughout the movie.