Monday, April 16, 2007

Good Math, Bad Math and the Twilight Zone

Just a few more interesting articles. First, a funny article in "The American Conservative" (not my usual fare!) about the Bush administration and possible a explanation for their bizarre conceptions of reality, entitled "Twilight Zone". (Article link stolen directly from Human Iterations).

Next, if I haven't mentioned Good Math, Bad Math to you yet... it's amazing. Just about the geekiest blog on the planet, the focus is on math and computer science, with a light sprinkling of blasting IDiots for their failed use of math. The specific article I wanted to share with you was Strange Loops: Ken Thompson and the Self-referencing C Compiler, which discusses how Ken Thompson introduced a back door inserter directly into the C compiler itself, in such a way that the source for the compiler doesn't need to contain the back door after the first compilation of the compiler. Brilliant and terrifying at the same time; how much do you trust your compiler?

No comments:

The City Born Great - How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

The second story in N. K. Jemisin's anthology How Long 'Til Black Future Month? , "The City Born Great," is an exciting ta...