Tossing Coins

Tossing a coin is 50-50, right?

Persi Diaconis is a Stanford Math Professor - and former magician.

Just one of his claims to fame is research into the randomness of coin flips.

He helped out Numberphile with this series of videos.

First, a general discussion about why a coin toss is NOT entirely 50-50.

Second, should you catch a coin or let ut fall to the ground? The answer may surprise you.

And last, here is just some extra footage which is also interesting.

And a bonus, one of the very early Numberphile videos about coin tosses at the Super Bowl!

Near Death Experience in Vietnam

My Dad was a soldier in the Vietnam War.

(Yes, Australia participated in the Vietnam War.)

Of course I have been aware of this all my life. I would not say Dad was forthcoming about his 'war stories', but was always willing to discuss them if asked.

Dad's tales always had a unique perspective because he was a 'Dog Tracker', meaning his journey through the jungle was shared with a Kelpie-Labrador cross called Caesar.

(Australia's war dogs were named in this way... Marcus, Cassius, Tiber, etc)

Peter Haran and Caesar

After a battle, it was Caesar's job to sniff, follow and then 'point' at the escaping 'enemy'.

I suppose this often put Dad at the pointy end of a second firefight.

It also means Dad had a quirky 'man and dog get into scrapes' angle to his time at war. On a few occasions Caesar saved Dad's life.

After the war Dad became a newspaper journalist, so perhaps it was inevitable that he would write a book about his Vietnam experience.

The book was called Trackers and has been quite successful.

Reading the book was an eye-opener for me, giving me a much better idea of what Dad went through.

But I always think the best way to understand a story is to go there - to stand where it happened. Take in the smells, the geography, the sounds,

So last year I travelled to Vietnam with Dad and we went to many of the places where his stories took place.

I am slowly turning them into short videos and posting them to YouTube. This was something Dad encouraged me to do - I was happy to just stand and listen to him talk.

The first video I've created is probably the most important, and is Dad's most 'famous' story. But I will let him tell it:

This extra video gives a little bit of extra information about land mines, and adds some context to the main video:

Rock - Paper - Lizards

As is often the case, the latest Numberphle video turned into bit of an extravaganza.

The main video - featuring Hannah Fry and animations by Pete McPartlan - is all about the game "Rock Paper Scissors".

A second video, which I decide to break off from the main video, goes into how the game has a parallel in the animal kingdom.

And finally, here is just some extra chat at the end. It was just good fund and would have been a shame to spike it!

The Birth of Freebooting

I often discuss "copyright infringement" with CGP Grey. It's a frequent topic on our Hello Internet podcast.

The original discussion back in episode 2

We're particularly interested in the context of people taking YouTube videos (such as our own) and re-hosting them elsewhere without permission.

These people (or the media hosts) can profit by running advertising against the stolen/cloned/taken/borrowed version.

Now the ever-cautious Grey does not believe this should be called "stealing", preferring the term "infringing".

I always feel infringing is too tame a word.

Listen from about 2'50" for Grey not liking the term "stealing"

We encouraged listeners to devise a new word to describe this practice.

It was really just for fun, but I suggested "freebooting", an old-fashioned piracy word which I thought was well-suited.

Listen from about 12'30" for the birth of freebooting

Grey preferred another viewer suggestion, viewjacking, but I did not like this.

Whichever is better, I think freebooting has gained more traction. Perhaps this has been due to my light-hearted advocacy.

My cause had a major triumph this week when Destin from Smarter Every Day used it in his video about the growing problem of "Freebooting on Facebook".

It seems official now!!!

But all nomenclature jokes aside, this is a serious issue and Destin's video is worth watching.

PS: As seen above, we're slowly putting old Hello Internet podcasts on YouTube, but the best way to follow recent episodes in via you podcast client or our website - details here.

PPS: Since original post, Sourcefed have also given the term (and issue) some prominence. And credited Grey (above me!) for coining the term.

Multiverses, God & Turbines

Two new videos on Sixty Symbols about Multiverses.

Both involve the "G" word at some point, so the video comments get kind of passionate at times.

Neither video is really about God - but that does not seem to matter.

Just to stir the pot further (inadvertently), Professor Eaves made a off-hand remark about wind turbines.

To be fair, I was expecting worse. And some of the comments on both videos are really smart and interesting.

The Human Webcam

This is Padre Antonio Piaggio and his collection of volcano diaries at The Royal Society.

In the 1760s, the padre kept a thorough log, including countless hand-drawn pictures, of a very active Mt Vesuvius.

The story is told in our second episode of the Objectivity video series.

The padre had been enlisted by William Hamilton, who was working in Naples at the time and developed an interest in vulcanology.

Sir William Hamilton

The diaries are extraordinary and include all manner of sketches, some of them extremely detailed.

Having someone keep such a close watch on the volcano brings to mind an early version of a webcam.

But alas the work was not put to good use. The ageing Hamilton decided he could not be bothered converting them into a scientific paper and essentially just dumped them on the society. 

So, to this day, they sit on a shelf largely unexploited.

They sure are pretty to look at though.

In case you missed it, here is part one of Objectivity, Isaac Newton's Space Wood.

Some Podcasts I enjoyed

If you're looking for some good podcast listening, I have a couple of recommendations.

(Obviously this assumes you are all up-to-date with our own Hello Internet)

First, I am a bit late to the party, but Serial was fantastic.

It's a 12-part series basically going into great detail about a 15-year-old murder case.
It was well executed and gripping.

Second, and here I'm even later to the party, but for something lighter I recommend chasing up the old episodes of The Incomprable in which they dissect the original Star Wars trilogy.

Good fun if you're a Star Wars tragic like me!

You're after episodes 46, 47, 67, 68, 88 and 89.