brian schettler

Dontcha love it when someone sends you an email about POWs tunneling out of German prison camps…and I get to reading about it on Wikipedia…that leads to the July 20 plot to kill Hitler…which was Operation Walküre….that makes me think of a new movie coming out…

And of course I spent another 2 hours reading about Hitler and WWII on wikipedia…ahh, history…

Tags: history

I read this article a while ago but just found it again when discussion a brain teaser with Jon. One of my favorite parts:

Our brains are so hardwired to see patterns, it’s devilishly hard for most of us to generate random behavior.

Indeed, take a minute and try to write down a random sequence of 200 heads or tails. If you actually flip a coin that many times, there’s a very large chance (98%) that there will be a run of at least 6 heads or 6 tails in a row. But very few people can bring themselves to produce such runs in trying to be random. Your iPod’s shuffle function isn’t broken when it plays songs from the same artist two or three times in a row. By chance, runs do happen.

Tags: article, computers, freakonomics, math, people, personality, psychology, random

41 Hilarious Science Experiments. These are fantastic. “Crystal Meth–Friend or Foe?”

Tags: funny, kids, sciencefair

Sometimes you read something that makes you realize how short life is and how important it is to be chasing the good things. I enjoy From Where I Sit, a blog by the CEO of Nelson Publishing, Michael Hyatt. I enjoy it because it offers a very real, Christian perspective on the world. Today, Michael Hyatt posted about a “perfect moment” he had with his daughter and her husband. These moments come few and far between, and he mentions a book he recently read, Chasing Daylight, a book about a man who learned that he had a brain tumor and only had three months to live. Now he needs as many perfect moments as he can get…but the question is…shouldn’t we be chasing those perfect moments anyways?

According to O’Kelly, a perfect moment is an experience with others when time stands still. It is a time full of the present, when the past is left behind and the future is set aside. It is a special time of focused attention and heightened awareness. Interruptions and distractions are consciously excluded. Cell phones are off. Hearts are wide open. All that matters is this moment—the people I am with and the conversation we are having now.

Tags: Christian, death, happiness, life, perspective

Man, I wish I had enough time for this: the MCM/ICM Modeling Contest. You have 96 hours to come up with a model solving your choice of one of two modeling questions. One of last year’s questions:

 Airlines are free to seat passengers waiting to board an aircraft in any order whatsoever. It has become customary to seat passengers with special needs first, followed by first-class passengers (who sit at the front of the plane). Then coach and business-class passengers are seated by groups of rows, beginning with the row at the back of the plane and proceeding forward.

Apart from consideration of the passengers’ wait time, from the airline’s point of view, time is money, and boarding time is best minimized. The plane makes money for the airline only when it is in motion, and long boarding times limit the number of trips that a plane can make in a day.

The development of larger planes, such as the Airbus A380 (800 passengers), accentuate the problem of minimizing boarding (and deboarding) time.

Devise and compare procedures for boarding and deboarding planes with varying numbers of passengers: small (85–210), midsize (210–330), and large (450–800).

Prepare an executive summary, not to exceed two single-spaced pages, in which you set out your conclusions to an audience of airline executives, gate agents, and flight crews.

Tags: competition, computerscience, contest, math, modeling, problems

I found this interesting…the most horrible English words. My favorite:

Methionylglutaminylarginyltyrosy –
lglutamylserylleucylphenylalanylalanylglutaminy –
lleucyllysylglutamylarginyllysylglutamylglycyla –
lanylphenylalanylvalylprolyphenylalanYlvalythre –
onylleucylglycylaspartylprolylglycylisoleucylg –
lutamylglutaminylsErylleucyllysylisoleucy –
laspartylthreonylleucylIsoleucylglutamy –
lalanylglycylalanylasparthlalanylleucylg –
lutamylleucylglycylisoleucylprolylphenylalanylse –
Rylaspartylprolylleucylalanylaspartylglycylp –
RolylthreOnylisoleucylglutaminylasPfraginylal –
anylthreonylleucylarfinylalanylphenylalanylalany –
lalanylglycylvalythreonylprolylalanylglutaminy –
lcysteinylphenylalanylglutamylmethionylleucy –
lalanylleuOylisoleucylarginylglutaminy –
llysyhistidylprolylthreonylisoleucylproly –
lisoleucylglycylleucylmethionyltyrosylalany –
lasparaginylleucylvalylphenylalanylasparaginy –
llysyglycylisoleucylaspartylglutamylphenylalany –
lthrosylalanylglutaminylcsteinylglutamyllysylva –
lylglycylvalylaspartylserylvalylleucylvalylalny –
laspartylvalylprolylvalylglUtaminylglutamylsery –
lalanylprolylphenylalanylarginylglutaminylalany –
lalanylleucylarginylhistidylasparaginyvalylalany –
lprolylisoleucylprolylisoleucylphenylalanylisoleucy –
lphenylalanylisoleucylcysteinylprolylprolylaspartylalany –
laspartylaspartylaspartylleucylleucylarginy –
lglutaminylisoleucylalanylseryltyrosylglycy –
larginylglycyltyrosylthreonyltyrOsylleucyl –
leucylserylarginylalanylglycylvalylthreony –
lglycylalanylglutamYlasparainylarginylalany –
lalanylleucylprolylleucylasparaginylhistidy –
lleucylValylalanyllysylleucyllysylglutamy –
ltyrosylasparaginylalanylalanylprolylpro –
lylleucylglutaminylglgycylphenylalanylglycy –
lisoleucylserylalanylprolylaspartylglutaminy –
lvalyllysylalanylalanylisoleucylaspartylalany –
lglycylalanylalanylglycylalanylisoleucylsery –
lglycylserylalanylisoleucylvalyllysylisoIeucy –
lisoleucylglutamylglutaminylHistidylasparaginy –
liSoleucylglutamylprolylglutamyllysylmethionyl –
leucylalanylalanylleucyllysylvalylphenylalanyl –
calylglutaminylprolylmethionlysylalanylalanylt –
hreonylarginylserine.

Tags: english, funny, interesting, neat, words

I found this free graphing software which rocks, in my opinion. It is Ivan Johansen’s Graph. A very useful tool, in my opinion. I used it just last week to save me in one of my programs by interpolating a function I needed for a series of data.

Tags: freeware, graph, math, opensource, software

Interesting discussion on Ask Metafilter on where Obama and Hillary really stand on healthcare. My favorite quote:

Everyone has been largely correct so far. The reason why I like Obama’s plan is because I can envision it getting passed. Clinton’s plan has mandates. I grew up in Indiana. I know how that word translates to a lot of Americans – SOCIALISM. Obama’s plan has the benefit of appearing to be about personal choice and the free market. So, the people may grumble, but if they see it as something they have the option to choose for themselves, it makes it much more appealing. Even if Clinton did muscle through her plan, it would be like a new Roe v. Wade. You would get Republican congressmen and Senators elected to Congress who will run solely on the platform of reversing socialism and restoring freedom back to the ‘Merican people.

Tags: askmetafilter, democrats, healthcare, hillary, issues, obama, platform, politics

Another prediction proved true: most of the college students that where going for Ron Paul by placing stickers, posters, stencils, bumper stickers, etc. everywhere didn’t even get out to vote for him. Maybe I understand the whole “well he’s not going to win…” argument, but why not get out there and just put your vote out? Maybe something interesting would happen.

Tags: election, ronpaul, supertuesday

Well, I’m kind of sad it looks like Huckabee won’t win the nomination, but I believe McCain will give Hillary a good fight. I’m almost embarrassed that Hillary won Oklahoma. Although this makes me think of an observation I made the other day. People can be as politically correct as they want, as enthusiastic as they want about Obama in public. Everyone will jump on the bandwagon. But in the privacy of your own voting booth, you can be as racist (or sexist, for that matter), as you want. I hate to say this still plays a part in politics, but for some people it does, judging by the results (I met lots of Obama supporters, but I’ve yet to meet someone that supports Hillary). I suppose in a way this is the beauty of our voting system, because your true beliefs…however wrong or outdated…can still be voiced. It is freedom of speech, in a way.

Hmm, after rereading several times I’m sure some people will take this the wrong way. I don’t intend to be racist, but then again, I did vote for a white guy.

Tags: election, Government, politics, us, vote