[Link] Why we should expect good giving to be hard

Why we should expect good giving to be hard

Givewell is a great critical view on donations. And I agree with the last point of the article

On Another Go Board (towel)

The go board I put on top of a VCR is about the right size to play with penies as game pieces. it was not however big enough for the game pieces I had been collecting.  So I took a page from a Douglas Addams book and made this:

This is a go board on a towel, written in fabric marker for larger pieces 2.4cm or less. Given some creativity you can find game pieces pretty much anywhere, be they coins, or stones of different types or colours or with sharpie markings to distinguish them.

I've been known for the use of towels for just about everything: bedding, a martial arts weapon, a climbing aid, clothing, bandages, packing material, the list goes on and on forever. Know where your towel is, at all times.

The other photos in this collection document the process.

The Art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death. -Sun Tsu

-The Baron

So up until recently I had been using MoinMoin Latex to render my math formulae but it didn't run very well on tahnok.me and it was dependent on a really old version of tetex or texlive that I don't quite recall how I got working...

Now I have (MathJax)[http://www.mathjax.org/] working! It kinda eats my browser for a little while because pages like Math240 have more formula than is strictly reasonable but oh well.

Here's how I got it running!

Method 1: Using the MathJax CDN

This is the easiest way but it requires a request to an external server.

Step 1 Open up wikiconfig.py or whatever your config file is called and add:

html_head = u"""
        <script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
                 MathJax.Hub.Config({
                    extensions: ["tex2jax.js"],
                    jax: ["input/TeX", "output/HTML-CSS"],
                    tex2jax: {
                      inlineMath: [ ['$','$'] ],
                      displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'] ],
                      processEscapes: true
                    },
                    "HTML-CSS": { availableFonts: ["TeX"] }
                  });
        </script>
        <script type="text/javascript"
          src="https://d3eoax9i5htok0.cloudfront.net/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js">
        </script>"""

Step 2

Restart moinmoin and enjoy!

Method 2: Local installation of MathJax

I had to use this method for my local install of moinmoin and I don't always have laptop but I still want to see equations.

Step 1

Open a terminal to your htdocs/common folder. For me it was in wikidir/MoinMoin/web/static/htdocs/common

Then I ran git clone git://github.com/mathjax/MathJax.git MathJax

Step 2

Add the following to your wikiconfig.py file:

html_head = u"""<script type="text/x-mathjax-config">
 MathJax.Hub.Config({
    extensions: ["tex2jax.js"],
    jax: ["input/TeX", "output/HTML-CSS"],
    tex2jax: {
      inlineMath: [ ['$','$'] ],
      displayMath: [ ['$$','$$'] ],
      processEscapes: true
    },
    "HTML-CSS": { availableFonts: ["TeX"] }
  });
</script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="/moin/static193/common/MathJax/MathJax.js"></script>"""

Step 3

Restart moinmoin and enjoy!

Using MathJax

The current config treats anything between a pair of $'s as an inline formula and a pair of $$' as a formula to display centered in the page. So to get

You'd write $\sum_{v \in V} \deg (v)= 2 e \leq 2(3n-6) \leq 6n -12$

On Go, and ongoing

Go is an ancient oriental board game. I recommend everyone should learn how to play because it's amazing. I decided to make the vcr/dvd player on my floor multipurpose, and put a go board on top
Materials to make a go board: 1. Flat surface 2. Sharpie 3. Ruler

Part of the Christmas loot I received was a dremel head set. I hadn't used it yet so I thought "wouldn't it be awesome if all the lines were slightly engraved? 3/38 lines and 20 minutes later I decided that my dremel wasn't ideal. But at least 3 of the lines are engraved!

If You have a short attention span, stop reading here, the rest is fluff.

Reasons you should learn to play go:
-it's relaxing
-it builds your mental faculties
-in feudal japan, any samurai worth his steel was trained to play go like a master
-kung fu movies start making slightly more sense

All for now,

-The Baron

Disclaimer: This will possibly void your warranty.
Things you need:

• A computer running windows
• The Samsung Kies software bloatware purely for the USB drivers
• A copy of the latest SuperOneClick rooting program, which is currently at v2.3.1

Step 1

Download Kies and install it on your machine.

Step 2

Download SuperOneClick and launch the program.

Step 3

Plug in your phone and wait for the drivers to finish installing

Step 4

Click the button labeled "Root" in the SuperOneClick app.

Step 5

Wait! When I ran it, the program seemed to freeze, but this is normal and should be ignored.

Step 6

Enjoy some root-y goodness!

On Creating a Voltaic Cell

Baron here.  Shame. That's what I feel about how poorly this particular experiment went. The goal was to make a voltaic cell that didn't suck. I failed. Twice actually. The first time I used pop cans. I figured "oh, well these things are made of tin right? *first mistake* I'll just polish them with steel wool *second mistake* then use nails as the other electrode *third mistake*. I guess I should go to the kitchen to try and mix up the most acidic solution I can *fourth mistake*.

 

   
     It turns out pop cans, as you
     probably know, are usually a
     steel-aluminum alloy coated in
     tin. Not surprisingly, not only
     did the steel wool rub off this
     tin, it introduced two new
     types of electrodes (Fe & Al).

This abomination is onion and balsamic vinegar, blended. It smells worse then it looks, and it looks worse then troll blood.

Thought it would be a good idea to grind the rust off the nails first. turns out that was a waste of time too.

0.11 volts Max.        

Later that evening, feeling mildly pleased with myself for actually getting a voltage I though, "lets see what voltage a "spit cell" (a spit soaked wad of paper between two different coins) makes. That's when I felt depressed about my wasted hour, because then I made a voltage of 0.28 in about 20 seconds. This is what I made the next day:

It's 3 voltaic piles, same idea as a spit cell except multiplied a couple times over. This one also took me about an hour, and again I felt depressed that I'd wasted a lot of time because this puppy cranked only 0.5 volts at maximum.  In hind sight, I've learned a lot. And gained a new appreciation for the batteries re-charging on my wall, powering my phone, laptop, electric shaver, wireless headphones, car starter, remotes... it's impressive.

-The Baron

On An Disappearance (mine)

You may have noticed that I haven't stuck to my "post-a-day" plan at all. Reasons are multi-fold.  To start with, I have been letting my last post soak up some publicity before I post something that will hit readers first. Second, I've been very productive in my own little world: I overclocked a computer for the first time, I set up another ssh server in an operating system other then ubuntu, I've started another QR code marketing campaign.  That being said, there are 2 more days left of this month and that's approximately the amount of original content I can provide from the stock pile of experience from the past week and a half. In other words, I'll write a post tomorrow documenting some things that make me stranger then your average bear, plus one more Friday Free stuff question ( by the way people, come on, there is hilarity and free stuff you can sell on ebay just waiting to be sent to you!).

All for now,

-The Baron

ps- check out Bob-rz on deviant art. The man is Hilarious, and quiet possibly next Sundays artist in focus if the person I've been waiting on doesn't have their art digitized yet.