Nerd Comedy gold

John's massive parallelism strategy assumed that lay people use their computers to simulate hurricanes, decode monkey genomes, and otherwise multiply vast, unfathomably dimensioned matrices in a desperate attempt to unlock eigenvectors whose desolate grandeur could only be imagined by Edgar Allen Poe. 

https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1309_14-17_mickens.pdf

Touch2

Two points on this:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/09/microsofts-hardware-round-2-surface-2-and-surface-pro-2/

First, you can barely hear MS over the roar of iphone press right now.. Way to pick your moment guys!
Second: I see there is a new touch keyboard/cover that is a custom "mixing deck". Great, I'm sure all 100 people will buy that. Idiots.
Here is the obvious answer: When does the 'touch cover' just become another display (custom keyboard)? I'm thinking reduced resolution display.. maybe foldable e-ink.. Make it a slightly softer plastic so it gets scratched instead of your primary. Maybe there is a very thin/transparent felt type material you can put on this.. You heard it here first.

-JD

Bayesian updating of probability distributions

http://www.databozo.com/2013/09/15/Bayesian_updating_of_probability_distributions.html

Math diagrams.

Neato.

http://www.johndcook.com/math_diagrams.html

TRIG!

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/roots-of-unity/2013/09/12/10-trig-functions-youve-never-heard-of/

Sweet!

Versine: versin(θ)=1-cos(θ)
Vercosine: vercosin(θ)=1+cos(θ)
Coversine: coversin(θ)=1-sin(θ)
Covercosine: covercosine(θ)=1+sin(θ)
Haversine: haversin(θ)=versin(θ)/2
Havercosine: havercosin(θ)=vercosin(θ)/2
Hacoversine: hacoversin(θ)=coversin(θ)/2
Hacovercosine: hacovercosin(θ)=covercosin(θ)/2
Exsecant: exsec(θ)=sec(θ)-1
Excosecant: excsc(θ)=csc(θ)-1

Fishing

Idea of the day: FIsh Tracker / Fish Tracker Analytics.

Something like:
http://www.meder.com/us__fish_tracking_device.html

Here is an idea for you:

1) Catch a fish.
2) Tag and release.
3) Analytics.

You now have a couple options:

If the fish schools up, then you can go catch it's buddies .Right Now. (Alternately you can catch the same fish over and over).

Eventually the fish/device will die. More interestingly you could probably create accurate predictive models for where the fish are at any given time and under any given condition. So many interesting questions here. Assuming a model can be built, how does fishing perturb the model? If a lake were completely fished out and restocked, would the same model reemerge? Can general models be applied across different lakes/regions?

I don't see this at Bass Pro yet, would the next fish-millionaire drop me a post card?

-JD