1. Fixing the “saddest graph” makes it more & less depressing.
2. One equation to rule them all.
3. I like this free equation editor (via @labroides).
4. How to fold a fitted sheet (The Finch & Pea tested & approved).
5. Making a better mousetrap was Newton’s Sin #5.
Category: Items of Interest
Happy Pi Day (Area)
Traditionally, Pi Day is 14 March, because that is 3-14 and π~3.14 (except in Indiana where it was 3 for a short time – also mythically in Alabama and Tennessee). That tells you the approximate number as our calendar does not handle irrational numbers well. It also does not work in Europe where they sensibly order their dates hierarchically day-month-year.
It also does not describe at all is how we get to that value. π describes the relationship between the radius of circle (r) and its area (A) or circumference (C): A=πr2 and C=2πr. If we set the length of the year (365.25 days) as the area, the radius of our year circle is 11 days. The 11th day of the year is, not surprisingly, 11 January.
I personally prefer to celebrate Pi Day as recognized by the circumference tradition on 27 February (r=58), but to each their own.
Downton allegory
What I got from Season 3 premier (Spoilers) of Downton Abbey is that the Crawleys are an exceptionally good-looking version of Goldman Sachs desperate for a bailout to rescue them from a financial disaster created by their own poor decision to invest to heavily in one trendy sector because they are either “job creators” or “too big to fail” or both. The lesson for the US financial industry is that they could get average Americans to support them by wearing more vintage gowns, letting their most Mr. Bates-y executive go to prison, and having Maggie Smith handle their public relations.
*For the record, I do know this is not really an allegory. Accuracy, however, had to give way to the perceived wit of the title.
**Originally posted at The Paltry Sapien.
Happy Holidays!
The Finch and Pea 