Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 22-7-2022 —Pi Approximation Day

22nd July, 2022.

It’s Friday: a day that looks like it’s going to rain.

I hope it does: we could do with it!

Saying that … ?

I’m very aware that the BBC’s weather service has been saying it’s going to rain since Tuesday!

Heigh … ho!

~≈💧≈~

OK … 

I’ve made another of my slightly off-beat unboxing videos.

The backpack … ?   Is now officially unpacked and hanging off my front door: ready to go at a moment’s notice.

The phone … ?   Is still in its box: I need an extra power block, I think.

And will have to read the instruction manual: the thing can block numbers, which will come in handy, block scam calls.

I’ve ALSO managed to get hold of the Classic Dr Who’s season 22 box set.

I was hoping Katy Manning would be in the Behind the Sofa watch-alongs: she’s usually fun to watch!

But apparently not.   It’s Wendy Padbury, Janet Fielding and Sarah Sutton (Zoe, Tegan and Nyssa), this time.

Which should be equally as good: the last time I saw the three of them, it was handbags at twenty paces … and utterly hysterical … !

~≈Â≈~

JUST as a last thought … ?

I mentioned the phone, there: ordered in part, because it can block numbers.

But it also marks the fact I’ve got a new landline and internet contract with BT.

I’ve managed to get onto their Home Essentials package, aimed at those of us on Universal Credit.

It’s pretty much the same deal I’m on: with extra free minutes.

And half the price I was paying.

That should help the money situation.

~≈☏≈~

The Daily Teaser — 14-3-2014: π Day

Oh, that’s a good thing!

The last day of my course is this coming Monday.

So … ?   Today I’ve had the comparative leisure of having a lie-in.

OK, granted, I like to try and get up early: at least to give myself some form of structure to the day.

But even so, it’s nice to sleep in.

Along with that … is the fact I’ve a TV inspired earworm going through my head.  I’ve a documentary on, about the First World War, at the moment.

And The Unknown Soldier, by The Doors, going through my head.

Let’s get a move on, shall we?

AFTER I play it for you … 

~≈Ê≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: and scoring eight out of ten.

Let’s see how she — and you — do with today’s questions, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1) According to Larry Shaw of the San Francisco Exploratorium, today is Pi Day: named in honour of the mathematical constant.   Pi itself, represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to it’s what: diameter or radius … ?

Q2) What IS Pi: to five decimal places … ?

Q3) The letter used to represent pi — π — is taken from which alphabet … ?

A3) The Greek alphabet.

Q4) It’s that alphabet’s equivalent to which letter in our latin alphabet … ?

Q5) The number pi can be approximated by different fractions: the lowest of these is 22 divided by … what … ?

Q6) Pi is also described as what: rational or irrational … ?

Q7) Pi shares that status with the square root of which even number … ?

Q8) The capital letter pi — ∏ — is usually used to represent what, in economics: production, consumption or inflation … ?

Q9) If you made a hobby of memorizing the digits of pi, you’d be practicing what … ?

Q10) Finally … which German born physicist was born on Pi Day, 1879 … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 13th March, 1925 saw the teaching of Evolution banned in which US state: Tennessee, Texas or Utah … ?

A1) Tennessee .

Q2) What was the name of the teacher eventually — and famously — prosecuted for violating this law: John T. Scopes, Jean B. Goode or Jonty Smith … ?

A2) John T. Scopes.

Q3) Was that state the 14th, 15th or 16th to join the USA … ?

A3) The 16th.

Q4) Moving on, slightly … the teacher’s trial was known as the what trial … ?

A4) Formally as The State of Tennessee vs John Thomas Scopes: informally as either the Scopes Trial, or the Scopes Monkey Trial.

Q5) The 1960 film — with Spencer Tracey — based on these events was called ‘Inherit the’ what … ?

A5) Wind.

Q6) Who popularized the theory of evolution, in his book, On the Origin  of Species … ?

A6) Charles Darwin.

Q7) More to the point, what did he call evolution … ?

A7) Natural selection.

Q8) What’s the name of the belief — usually followed by devout Christians — that says that the universe was designed … ?

A8) Intelligent Design.   (Which ignores the fact the human airway crosses the human digestive tract: which is VERY intelligent.).

Q9) Which boy-band released a 2012 album called Evolution … ?

A9) JLS.

Q10) In which year was the film, Evolution — with David Duchovny and Julianne Moore — released … ?

A10) 2001.

I’ll leave you with this claim …

“I recited Pi to 22,514 decimal points in five hours and nine minutes. I was able to do this because of weeks of study, aided by the unusual synaesthesic way my mind perceives numbers as complex multidimensional coloured and textured shapes.”

Daniel Tammet.

And with this tune … 

Have a good day.

*        That’s a thought, Debbi, Aunty Beeb’s putting out a lot of stuff about the First World War: probably worth keeping an eye peeled for, on BBC America … 

π: Blimey … !

You know, I can honestly say that it’s not that often I’ve seen a Darren Aronofsky film.

Honestly.

I think the last one was the thoroughly enjoyable, Natalie Portman vehicle, Black Swan.

So his work is something I’ve not seen a lot of, to be frank.

Until last night, that is.

Last night … ?   Last night, I managed to rent π* from the iTunes Store.

I don’t know if you’ve seen i: but I came away rather impressed … 

~≈Â≈~

π follows the day to day life of Max Cohen, played by Sean Gullette.   Max is an obsessive number theorist who suffers some incredibly painful headaches, in between bouts of work on his theory that patterns can be observed in unexpected places: his particular hobby-horse is trying to find the patterns in the sheer chaos of the rise and fall of the Stock Market.

Until one day, he finds his purpose built server, Euclid, crashing, after picking out a seemingly random 216 digit number.

With one stock market prediction at a very low, nonsensical, value.

It’s only when, the next day, he finds that prediction is bang on the literal money, that he consults an old Maths mentor, Sol — Mark Margolis — who advises Max of two things.   That the number could well be meaningless.

And that he — Max — should take a break.

Something Max ignores: especially when he mets a young Hasidic Jew called Lenny, who tell hims a little of the ancient number searches involved in the ancient branch of Jewish mysticism he follows: and mets Marcie, a Wall Street broker who’s extremely interested in Max ’s work.

Offering an extremely powerful processing chip for his computer.

It’s only when Max uses that chip, and finds his system crashing again, that things go wrong: and his headaches get worse … 

~≈Â≈~

Now … 

Did’t I just have a whale of a time with this … ?

Lordy, didn’t I just … ?

π is a very surreal little psycho-thriller, one that had me thinking loving of the work of William Gibson: someone who’s been a favourite author for some years.

It’s pacey, intriguing, and, giving a focus on some hard science aspects of number theory, WITHOUT alienating a lay audience, great fun to watch.

I enjoyed it: I think you will too.

π
★★★☆

*        OK, OK, it’s called Pi … !