Why make this video?

Posting a "different video" to a channel like Numberphile inevitably raises comments and questions?

Why did you do this? What is the point? Are you out of ideas?

Why did I make this video? Because I thought of it and wondered what it would be like.

That's a nice thing about being a YouTuber (as opposed to, say, working in traditional TV). 

Anything goes.

It'd be a pretty boring life if we just made the same videos over and over again - for film-makers and for the viewers!

So what is the point of this 1-200 video? You decide.

For a channel called Numberphile, maybe it is just a little love song!?

Maybe it is a comment on Google's push to define and categorise everything, even something as abstract as numbers?

Or maybe it was just something cheerful to upload on a Friday afternoon?

Maybe it is all these things?

There's really no need to explain. I just made it. It's free to watch it or ignore it.

I wouldn't even bother writing this blog, but it provides a link with which I can quickly answers questions, which I am learning is quite efficient!

Black Stump Selfies

Hello Internet listener selfies at the Black Stump "skyscraper" in Adelaide, with copies of The Adelaide Advertiser as proof they are contemporaneous!

Hear this bit of podcast for explanation and the newspaper challenge.

@LukeAvery3

@guestyman

@DG567828

@callumgare

How Freebooting Works - Episode 3216

I upload this video to YouTube.

This appears on Facebook without permission.

Oh by the way, the "credit" was added retrospectively, presumably after the video's peak.

The freebooting Facebook page cannot be messaged.

And Facebook's intellectual copyright form, which is takes a while to fill out, seems to be confused!?

If anyone at Lifehackorg sees this post, please remove my intellectual property from your Facebook page.

The Pi Ring

Had a great email exchange with a Numberphile viewer to coincide with Pi Day.

Bryce, from Australia, showed me this photo of the engagement ring he bought his future wife.

He explained:  "I chose the diamond for my finance's engagement ring based on Pi and so it is 0.314 carats. It was lucky that she wouldn't have worn a full scale Pi diamond at 3.14 carats because I couldn't have afforded that anyway!

"It is a round/brilliant cut, of course. I will be getting the Greek letter Pi engraved onto the inside of my wedding band so we have matching Pi rings."

Bryce went on to explain: "I knew for certain that she was the one when I told her the diamond was 0.314 carats, and she said 'you got me a Pi ring!'"

Pi Videos

We're marking a very special edition of American Pi Day - 3/14/15 (using the US date format).

It seems there's a glut of videos and articles being published, so I've not done anything special this year.

But, of course, I have contributed my fair share of Pi-related Numberphile videos in the past (see below).

My favourites are probably the Mile of Pi and Pi with Pies.

(Fun challenge - press play on all the videos below and listen to the Pi cacophony!)

Mr Spock

The recent death of Leonard Nimoy has people talking not just about Nimoy (a much loved actor and man, by all accounts) but also the lasting impact of his famous Mr Spock.

I enjoyed this Incomparable podcast on the topic.

But from a purely science perspective, Mr Spock (and Nimoy) have probably inspired more scientific careers than we realise.

This came through a while back in a video I made for My Favourite Scientist:

Amazing Autographs

There has been lots of interest in the latest Objectivity video about signatures in the Royal Society Charter Book.

The video focuses on Alan Turing and Stephen Hawking (because of recent news at the Oscars).

However if you want to see more of the book, there is a video last year from "sister channel" Periodic Videos which has more details.