about life, the universe, and everything
Yesterday, at Fenway Park, the Pan-Mass Challenge presented a check for $16.2 million, 95% of the funds raised this year, to the Jimmy Fund in support of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, bringing the PMC’s 24-year total contribution to $102 million.
posted @ 12:49 PM EST
When I previously commented on the confusion between a dodecahedron and a buckyball in reporting on recent interpretations of observations made by NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, I hadn’t remembered (or hadn’t ever known) that Plato said that the dodecahedron was the shape “… which the god used for arranging the constellations on the whole heaven”; this in conjunction with his assigning the other four regular polyhedra to fire, earth, air, and water.
posted @ 02:44 PM EST
It now looks like chess playing software will have to be designed to blunder occasionally in order to pass the Turing test - since that is what even the strongest human players do - in spite of what Ian Rogers said in commenting on game two yesterday between Kasparov and Fritz:
Fritz surprised the pundits by making good move after good move, the same moves suggested by the many top-level human players in attendance. Australian #1 Ian Rogers proposed that X3D Fritz had passed the chess Turing test, the point at which a computer becomes indistinguishable from a human!
posted @ 02:52 PM EST
Without explanation good old Dave had this picture in his blog today. We sometimes refer to our chocolate lab, Mousse, a 9 month old puppy, as “Devil Dog”. We’re hoping he grows out of it.
posted @ 05:13 PM EST
Here’s a picture that Mary took of Drew and me on the Ellipse in Washington, after our ride with Lance Armstrong through DC in the Tour of Hope, October 18th. Click on the picture to see an expanded view that includes Lance.
It was a beautiful day and fantastic to ride on closed roads in our nation’s capital.
Later, the national team arrived, completing a 3,200 mile relay ride in seven days.
posted @ 04:06 AM EST
In NCAA Division III women’s soccer, Wheaton College prevailed 3-2 over Amherst College in a seesaw battle. Wheaton’s All-America forward Tracy Prihoda was a force, scoring the first and winning goals.
posted @ 04:06 AM EST
