On This Day in Math

MANY HAVE ARGUED THAT A VACUUM DOES NOT EXIST, OTHERS CLAIM IT EXISTS ONLY WITH DIFFICULTY IN SPITE OF THE REPUGNANCE OF NATURE; I KNOW OF NO ONE WHO CLAIMS IT EASILY EXISTS WITHOUT ANY RESISTANCE FROM NATURE.

-- Evangelista Torricelli in a Letter to Michelangelo Ricci

The Phone Call of a Lifetime

BEGINNING MY CAREER



I started my professional career in May, 1988, at a newly formed environmental engineering firm of less than 10 people in Knoxville, TN. I had just finished my Master's degree in Geology but I had already been programming computers since 1977.

Job Searching with Cats: Sheba

This happened a couple of days ago.I was in the middle of answering a typical interview question -- "Why do you want to work here?" -- when Sheba suddenly launched into a concert. I had petted and cuddled her beforehand to buy her silence during the call, but I guess it's never enough. She finally ran away after I made furious kicking gestures at her.She did the same thing when I had another interview today, but this time I just kept moving around until she gave up following me and went to sleep on the couch.Next comic: Oscar the ninja also gets in on the job-blocking action! - Full Post

Fermat's Last Theorem (1997)

This book by Simon Singh is a good summer read because it’s short, informative, and the mathematics are dumbed down. I skipped them anyway.Fermat’s Last Theorem focuses on a theorem scribbled by 17th century French mathematician Pierre de Fermat stating that there are no whole number solutions for xn + yn = zn for n greater than 2. Fermat coyly revealed that he had proof of his theorem, which eluded others of the mathematical persuasion for centuries, until one extremely persistent Brit announced that he had solved it in 1993. He had spent seven years in isolation working exclusively on the theorem.Simon Singh tells the stories of the great minds who set out to solve the problem before Andrew Wiles came along. Even when they failed to construct a proof, these mathematicians created new techniques and even new branches of mathematics. All paths do not lead to a solution to Fermat’s Last Theorem, but many of them converged to lead Wiles to his conclusion.Singh emphasizes the absolutism of the mathematical world, and why the insistence on flawless logic deterred so many eminent minds of the past, and almost unraveled Wiles’ years of work. Wile’s proof is over a hundred pages long, and one reviewer found a gap in one area, which, if not repaired, would have been enough to discredit the proof.For Wiles, the stakes were so high because solving Fermat’s enigma was his childhood dream. He wanted to solve it since he chanced upon it in a library book when he was ten. Incidentally, when I was ten I resolved to own a cat, have an apartment, and hold a desk job. So we both achieved our dream! The difference, of course, is that his dream is a dream of higher cognitive creation and my dream sucks.Wiles had a fantastic quote for when he finally, conclusively had proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem, one year later: “Nothing I ever do again will mean as much.”I turned to Fragrant Husband and repeated that line. “Can you say that about anything?” I asked him.“Maybe just you,” he said.D’AWWWWWWWWW. Infinite Pogi Points Unlocked. - Full Post

The Tyranny

Forget the protests in Egypt. Look beyond the continuing saga of Snowden. Ignore US politicians' attempts to control women. The true tyranny is here:These innocent-seeming shoes, which I snapped up at the new TJ Maxx at the Galeria, gave me blisters. Blisters! Small pockets of fluid caused by friction! Oh the pain! The agony! How can you compare violent national protests and invasions of privacy and cruel patriarchalism to my office dress code-induced pain?You cannot. Please, readers, learn from my tragedy -- walk, do not run, and certainly not over great distances, in brand new shoes. Then you shall be spared the suffering. This post brought to you by Vacation Mode, Fourth of July subcategory.  - Full Post

The Calm Before...

I have no great wit to share today, just quiet.  I'm looking forward to my vacation this summer.  At the same time, it leaves me with precious little time to finish up several projects that need to be ready before I go.  Even so, at this stage, the only projects that I'm working on are ones of my own choosing, not those that others have subjected me to (or at least at this stage, my  to those projects is now complete).
We'll be spending a week+ in England this summer.  I'll be meeting my family there on the way back from another international trek.  I'm looking forward to spending a week and more in the home of Shakespeare and Doctor Who.
And when I return, I'll have barely enough time to head to Chicago and Montreal in the same week for IHE and HL7 meetings. Somewhere in the coming weeks I need to find time to update a book chapter, and if all goes well, start a grant project in my hometown at the start of the next month.  And in a few more days, the very last piece of paper is expected to arrive at admissions to move me into yet one more step of my career. But all that turmoil can wait just a little bit longer.
Right now, at this very instant, all is quiet.  I have a moment or two to listen to the thunder and await the rain.  I can hear the frogs.  I try to close my eyes and focus so that I can see the future, so that when I have the time, I can make it happen.  But nothing comes.  So, I'll enjoy the quiet, and not confuse it with peace... - Full Post

What is in a name?

I hardly ever get worked up about what you call some things (whereas I ).  It's not my job to name things, or at least the things that aren't important, like what you'd call a product or service that you are selling.
The discussion I found really amusing today was on the "Is HIE a noun or a verb?"  It really depends on what you are selling I would guess.  If you "are" an HIE, then you are selling yourself, and the services provided by your organization, so you'd probably fall on the noun side of this debate.  If, on the other hand, your customers are "HIE" (noun form), or others who need exchange services, then you'd probably fall on the "verb" side of the debate.
Linguistically, the phrase "Health Information Exchange" parses ambiguously as either a noun or a verb.  The first two words "Health Information" are descriptive of either the kind (of noun), or the subject (of the verb). And itself is ambiguous. As a verb it is the trade of information.  As the noun, it is the act or place where such trades occur.
Does it matter what "we" agree on?  No.  The word will still be ambiguous because usage creates definitions, not the other way around.
One of pointed out that Name = Brands = Function = Market, and referenced Kleenex, Ziplock, Web, Chapstick, Coke and Sharpie.  I'll point out in response that it was the product that came first, then the name recognition that established the brand and subsequently the market.  While the name was important, what made the name successful was the product it was applied to, NOT the other way around.
Arguably, a bad name can kill a good product or service.  But I've never seen a good name save a bad product or service.  In fact, a bad product or service can kill a good name.  Did you see what happened to United stock when they ?
Don't worry about the name.  Worry first about the product or service.  Even a can become a great brand, but it never would have happened if the product hadn't tasted so good. - Full Post