31.3.20
XKCD vs Coronavirus
17.3.20
The Ideal Mathematician
An intriguing essay by Philip J. David and Reuben Hirsch.
The ideal mathematician’s work is intelligible only to a small group of specialists, numbering a few dozen or at most a few hundred. This group has existed only for a few decades, and there is every possibility that it may become extinct in another few decades. However, the mathematician regards his work as part of the very structure of the world, containing truths which are valid forever, from the beginning of time, even in the most remote corner of the universe.
Labels: Academia, Mathematics
12.3.20
Try out the new Mandelbrot Maps, Part II
Another one of my honours project students, Freddie Bawden, has also done a great job with an update to Mandelbrot Maps. He's looking for feedback. Try it out!
For my final year project I’ve build an interactive fractal viewer using WebAssembly and Web Workers to create a multithreaded renderer. You can try it now mmaps.freddiejbawden.com! Feedback can be left at mmaps.freddiejbawden.com/feedback and is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Labels: Computing, Graphics, JavaScript, Mathematics, Web
11.3.20
Coronavirus: Why You Must Act Now
Labels: Academia, Covid-19, Politics, Scotland
4.3.20
Try out the new Mandelbrot Maps
I'm looking for feedback for an app that I've developed for my honours project - an interactive fractal explorer called Mandelbrot Maps! It is built with React and WebGL, and has a simple and intuitive user interface.
Try it out at https://jmaio.github.io/mandelbrot-maps/ - please leave your feedback through the button on the website ([Settings] > [Info] > [Feedback]).
Labels: Computing, Graphics, JavaScript, Mathematics, Web
A Nearly Carbon-Neutral conference model
There has been much discussion of how to reduce the carbon footprint of conferences by supporting remote attendance in real time, now accelerated by the advent of coronavirus.
Most of the models I've seen discussed are synchronous, supporting virtual attendance in real-time. I was intrigued by this white paper, which proposes an asynchronous model. Talks are grouped into sessions of three, with Q&A panels open for comment for a period of a few weeks.
On average, the pilot conferences’ Q&A sessions generated three times more discussion than takes place at a traditional Q&A. A few sessions generated more than ten or fifteen times more, making clear that, while different from a traditional conference, meaningful personal interaction was not only possible, but in certain respects superior.
This might be an interesting model for SIGPLAN/ACM to explore. Although the white paper suggests it as a replacement for conferences in a physical location, we could also try it out as a supplement to such a conference.
Labels: Academia, Climate Change, Politics
