Sunday, February 20, 2011

Fox 329

E[R] below can be computed depending on the random process... Try to guess what it is before computing. Randomness may be a fancy business...
See a similar concept: Bertrand Paradox


Dervish Fox: How can you cut a square randomly?

Red Fox:
Here is a way; first generate a random number to represent point A. Then another random number for point B along the three others sides. Drawn the line AB, and cut it out.

Dervish:
And how can you generate a random number?

Red:
Excel does it easily. Type "=RAND()", and boom, you get one right away.

Dervish:
But that depends on some seed numbers in the machine's memory, no?

Red:
Yes, that's why they call them pseudo-random numbers. Do you have a problem with that?

Dervish:
I have a bigger problem than that.

Red:
So... you believe that random numbers can't exist.

Dervish:
I believe that the word "random" should be removed from all world dictionaries.

Red:
Radical.

http://www.8foxes.com/

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Fox 325, 326, 328 - Solutions

These simple ones are all related, so their solutions are posted here together.

Fox 325 by Bob Ryden:


Fox 325 by six:

Fox 326 by Bob Ryden:

Fox 326 by Binary:


Fox 328 by César Lozada:


Fox 328 by Bob Ryden:

http://www.8foxes.com/

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Fox 15 - Solution

Well, we haven't received any comments. So here is the animated solution for Fox 15 by Bleaug.

"... Not an easy one though. I have tried to provide an animated SVG solution because packing all info into one single drawing or comment text would become clumsy. The proof is based on well-known (?) geometric properties of parabolas..."

To see the animation below, you will need any of the following browsers:
Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, or IE Explorer 9.0.


Use mouse clicks or left-right arrows on your keyboard to browse thru the pictures.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Fox 327


Earth is not a perfect sphere,
It's a geoid of some kind,
Not perfectly-round but close enough.

A year is a little more than 365 days.
A day is not exactly 24 hours,
little short of that.
Pi is more than 3.
Twenty-two over seven is not far off though,
often close enough.

Man hardly lives a 100 years.
Few goes beyond,
Some get close enough.

Truth ascends above digits,
distorts formulas,
bends orbits.

Man searches it with greed,
never reaches,
never conquers.

So my dear,
give up the precision,
stop running the numbers.
Instead,
smell the soil after rain,
hold a cuddling baby in your hand,
wander your vision from Vega to Orion,
let a snowflake die in your palm.
hear what morning breeze tells,
Then round up what you got.
A little more or a little less.
Even if it is still not found,
You're close enough.

--- Polar Fox