randform

update 22.02.2011: the above image is a still from the below referenced film.

From the SDSS homepage:

SDSS is systematically mapping a quarter of the entire sky, producing a detailed image of it and determining the positions and absolute brightnesses of more than 100 million celestial objects. It is also measuring the distances to a million of the nearest galaxies, giving us a three-dimensional picture of the universe through a volume one hundred times larger than that explored to date. SDSS is also recording the distances to 100,000 quasars — the most distant objects known — giving us unprecedented knowledge of the distribution of matter to the edge of the visible universe.

youtube link

Modern microprocessors have facilities to gather statistical information about how branches in a program are taken. (more…)

I was happy and astonished to find that Marcel Duchamps Anémic cinéma is still on youtube. may be go watch fast.

->link

Today just another interesting scientific link this time about common sense:

The MIT Media Lab has embarked on an effort to give computers and other modern devices “common sense”, the capacity to understand and reason about the world as intimately as people do. By giving machines common sense, they will finally be able to understand people, our goals and typical problems, and they will be able to better assist us in solving them or coming to terms with them–thus simplifying and humanizing the technology and tools of the digital age.

For those unfamiliar with the problem of giving computers common sense:
->the Newcomer’s Guide to Commonsense Computing will help
Also
->visit the Open Mind Common Sense web site to get a first hand sense of the problem!

Just a short link to a symposium organized by the European Science Foundation on Biological Surfaces and Interfaces.

This 3rd conference on Biological Surfaces and Interfaces addresses the field of interfaces between synthetic materials and biological systems – biointerfaces – a topic that constitutes one of the most dynamic and expanding field in science and technology.

Links of interest on that site:

• 51st Biophysical Society Annual Meeting, Baltimore, USA, 3-7 March 2007
• Biomaterials Network
• ICIAM07- 6th International Congress on Industrial & Applied Mathematics, Zurich, CH, 16-20 July 2007

“Garten der vier Ströme”, (garden of the four streams) Erholungspark Marzahn

Berlins most beautiful garden is not – as one could imagine – a castle garden or the botanical garden, no it is the Erholungspark Marzahn. The Erholungspark Marzahn doesn’t provide a spectacular view onto Berlins rivers Spree or Dahme – often reserved only to Berlins “(economic) elite” – but provides instead of a view onto the old eastgerman claddings of Marzahn.

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for viewing the applet you need Java 1.5 or higher, please wait for the blue star.

• left click and drag – rotate
• middle mouse and drag – translate
• ctrl middle mouse and drag – zoom
• e – encompass

Today the DMV (german mathematician comunity) awards their media prizes to journalists for special archivements in communicating mathematics in the public. Besides the media prize (4000 euros) for George Szpiro (Jerusalem) and the journalists prize (1000 euros) for Ulf von Rauchhaupt (Frankfurt) a very special honor is given to Hans Magnus Enzensberger: The implicit surface given by the above equation was named after him.
Details about the prizes the winners and the ceremony here, an image of the surface from the press release here.

“Eiszapfen im Licht”, image from wikipedia

Today I am trying to make sense of the dynamics of advertizing. I am fully aware that this will end up in a rather naive attempt, but whatever – the customer has a right to think. This going to be more an essay then just a blog post.

(more…)

Way back in the beginning nineties the math department had a graphics supercomputer: (more…)

LiVES is an open source (of course) video editing and vj-ing tool. It allows for a way more playfull approach to video manipulation than say cinelerra which probably comes closest to apples final cut pro or Premiere pro on Linux systems. Have a look at the demos for lives (the image above is taken from the first demo by salsaman).