Arkansas, Meet the New Legislature You Just Elected

Posted on 6 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

Sources:

A Great Rhombcuboctahedron, Decorated with Circles and Hexagons

Posted on 5 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

The images on the faces of this polyhedron were created with Geometer’s Sketchpad and MS-Paint. Projecting these images onto these faces, and then creating this rotating image, was accomplished using Stella 4d: Polyhedron Navigator— a program you can try for yourself, for free, at http://www.software3d.com/Stella.php.

Hexagons and Circles

Posted on 5 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

On Demagogues, and the 2014 American Midterm Elections

Posted on 5 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

This Wikipedia article needs to be updated to include many winners from yesterday’s election in the USA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demagogue.

From the article: “They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people, nothing stops the people from giving that power to someone who appeals to the lowest common denominator of a large segment of the population.”

That’s exactly what happened in yesterday’s election.

On Voting, and Encouraging, or Discouraging, Others from Doing the Same

Posted on 4 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

I don’t like TV ads, mailings, etc. that encourage people to vote. If I had money to burn, I’d buy advertising with the opposite message: please don’t bother voting.

Reason 1: When more people vote, the impact of my single vote is diluted.

Reason 2: When fewer people vote, the impact of my vote increases.

Reason 3: If, hypothetically, my “please don’t vote” campaign convinced everyone else not to vote, I still would vote, and then I’d get my way — for everything on the ballot. =D

[Image credit: this picture of a ballot box was found at http://www.nbcwashington.com, and does not appear to be copyrighted. If I am mistaken, I will remove it upon request.]

R. Buckminster Fuller, On Beauty

Posted on 3 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

Like, Do You Like “Like,” or Do You Just “Like” “Like?”

Posted on 1 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

Kaizen

Posted on 1 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

I painted this many years ago, as a classroom poster, and then moved it from classroom to classroom, for years, until the posterboard on which it was painted was finally too damaged for further use. At some point, I will have to make a replacement.

Kaizen is a Japanese word which translates only loosely into English, as “continuous improvement.” To me, it means more than that: it means never being content with simply staying the person I am today, and going to sleep, each night, with the sincere intention to be a better person tomorrow.

Does this always actually work, as each day becomes the next one? No, I must admit that it doesn’t — but that does nothing to change the fact that keeping the kaizen principle in mind is an excellent way to live one’s life. On a year-to-year basis, it works much better, in practice, than it does from day to day. I am confident that I am a better person now than I was 365 days ago, even though there have, of course, been ups and downs, as the last year has passed.

Setbacks, which happen to everyone, are no reason to give up, and personal improvement, in all important parts of life, will always be a goal worth pursuing.

A Star with 49 Points, to Celebrate the 49-Hour Weekend Caused by the End of Daylight Saving Time, Tomorrow, in Most of the USA

Posted on 1 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

This is the weekend that Daylight Saving Time (or DST) ends in most parts of the USA, which means that this is the only weekend of the year, here, which lasts 49 hours, rather than the usual 48.

To celebrate this once-a-year event, I created the design above, based on the number 49. I started by making one heptagram, inscribed in a circle. The heptagram I used is one of two which exist, and is also called the {7/3} star heptagon. It looks like this:

After making one of these, I then rotated it 1/49th of a full rotation, repeatedly, until I had seven of them inscribed in the circle. Seven times seven, of course, is 49, so this created one type (many are possible) of 49-pointed star. Also, I had already extended the line segments to form lines, so that this geometrical design would extend outside the circle. Next came thickening and blackening these lines, as well as the circle, and re-coloring the red points to be black, as well.

All of this work was performed using Geometer’s Sketchpad. I then took a screenshot, moved the design to MS-Paint, and used that program to add the colors seen in the image at the top of this post.

I don’t like Daylight Saving Time, and never have, but I do enjoy the end of it, when it arrives once each year, and we get our “missing” hour returned to us — the one which was stolen from one of our weekends in the Spring.

To those who live in areas which do not observe DST, such as most of Arizona, you are fortunate — at least in this one respect. Heart attacks actually increase when DST starts each year — a fact which can be easily verified with Google. There are other problems with DST, as well. Daylight Saving Time (one of the worst ideas Benjamin Franklin ever had) should be abolished. Everywhere.

A Recurring Asperger’s-Related Conversation

Posted on 1 November 2014 by RobertLovesPi

This conversation has happened more than once, since I discovered I am an “Aspie,” as many of those with Asperger’s call ourselves, and then received all the confirmation I needed from a doctor of mine, without paying for expensive testing, and an official diagnosis. I did not seek testing and diagnosis because no treatment exists for Asperger’s — and I would not want one, if it existed, anyway. The conversation below is paraphrased, for the ideas involved matter far more than the exact words which were used — and, also, slightly different words were used each time this conversation happened.

Me: “I’d like to share something with you. I’ve discovered one of the reasons I’m so different from other people — I believe I have Asperger’s Syndrome.”

Friends/Colleagues: “Oh, we figured that out months ago! We were just afraid to tell you because we thought you’d be offended, and get angry at us, if we mentioned it.”

Me (laughing): “Don’t worry about it at all! I’m not the slightest bit offended, nor angry. You see, I like being the way I am!”

Several of my friends figured this out before I did, it seems, but we all know about it now — and I prefer it that way. There is no shame in being open about being an Aspie — it is part of who I am. I would not want to be without Asperger’s, in fact, for a great many reasons. Other posts on this blog, in the “Asperger’s” category, explain some of these reasons, and I invite anyone who is curious to read any, or all, of them.