Saint Augustin said da mihi castitatem et continentiam, sed noli modo , Grant me chastity and continence, but not yet.
The title of this note means:
Love and do as you please.
Near Chilpancingo there is an Augustinian seminary, in the City of Chilapa. I assume that the original Saint, explains the ideology of this Catholic Order. They are freer than the Franciscans, and others with poverty vows.
"Along with being a prominent figure in the religious spectrum, Augustine was also very influential in the history of education. He introduced the theory of three different categories of students, and instructed teachers to adapt their teaching styles to each student's individual learning style. The three different kinds of students are: the student who has been well-educated by knowledgeable teachers; the student who has had no education; and the student who has had a poor education, but believes himself to be well-educated."
From the Wikipedia article linked above.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Otomí Mathematics
"3. Weaving and embroidery.
The Otomies have traditionally been highly regarded for their skills at textile arts, and I would like to examine the mathematics of Otomi weaving and embroidery. Some general observations about weaving and embroidery will motivate the mathematical considerations. I will focus on the Otomies, though many of my statements hold for traditional textile artists in general. Also, I will tend to refer to Otomi textile artists as female because most are women, though there are male weavers and embroiderers."
Taken from:
The Journal of Mathematics and Culture
October 2009, V4(1)
ISSN - 1558-5336
These present day Mexicans very likely belong to the oldest culture still living in Central Mexico.
The Otomies have traditionally been highly regarded for their skills at textile arts, and I would like to examine the mathematics of Otomi weaving and embroidery. Some general observations about weaving and embroidery will motivate the mathematical considerations. I will focus on the Otomies, though many of my statements hold for traditional textile artists in general. Also, I will tend to refer to Otomi textile artists as female because most are women, though there are male weavers and embroiderers."
Taken from:
The Journal of Mathematics and Culture
October 2009, V4(1)
ISSN - 1558-5336
These present day Mexicans very likely belong to the oldest culture still living in Central Mexico.
My History of Mathematics Course
"La matemática se basó en hacer todos sus conteos con lo referente a la naturaleza por la necesidad de contar lo que tenían; así mismo en un principio, las nociones primitivas de número, magnitud y forma pueden haber estado relacionadas más bien con diferencias y contrastes que con semejanzas, tales como son la diferencia entre un lobo y muchos, la desigualdad en tamaño entre un pececillo y una ballena, el contraste entre la redondez de la luna y la derechura de un pino."
Translation:
Mathematics was based on counting nature around them; thus in the beginning primitive notions of number, magnitude and shape could have been related rather with differences and contrasts than with similarities, as the differences in number between one wolf and many, in size between a little fish and a whale, the contrast between the roundness of the moon and the straightness of a pine tree.
This is the answer to the following question:
Describe the type of evidence on which an account of prehistoric mathematics is based, citing some specific instances.
I am pleased with this student's answer.
Translation:
Mathematics was based on counting nature around them; thus in the beginning primitive notions of number, magnitude and shape could have been related rather with differences and contrasts than with similarities, as the differences in number between one wolf and many, in size between a little fish and a whale, the contrast between the roundness of the moon and the straightness of a pine tree.
This is the answer to the following question:
Describe the type of evidence on which an account of prehistoric mathematics is based, citing some specific instances.
I am pleased with this student's answer.
Antígona Segura
This Mexican Astrobiologist is a source for the search of life outside our Solar System.
You can visit her page here.
You can visit her page here.
Exoplanet Characterization and the Search for Life
" Introduction
A few times in human history, astronomers have made discoveries that changed people’s view of the universe and of themselves. The most renowned of these was Copernicus’ suggestion, and Galileo’s subsequent proof, that the Earth orbited the Sun, rather than vice versa. This list should also include the discovery that stars are other Suns, that some nebulae are galaxies like our own, and that the universe began with a Big Bang some 13 billion years ago. We now stand at the brink of answering two other paradigm-changing questions: Do other planets like Earth exist, and do any of them harbor life? The tools for answering these questions either exist already or can be developed within the next 10-20 years.
The stellar energy flux incident on a planet drives its atmospheric chemistry to a disequilibrium state. But the degree of disequilibrium can be profoundly increased by the presence of life on a planet’s surface. As a prime example, the simultaneous presence of O2 and reduced gases such as CH4 or N2O in a planet’s atmosphere is considered the best available remote evidence for Earth-like life.9
Marine plants and algae do this as well, although the effect is muted by overlying water. This red edge is easy to pick out if one looks directly at a leaf, or down from space at a patch of densely vegetated land.14
Nearly all of Earth’s O2 comes from photosynthesis, which is carried out by plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Predicted atmospheric O2 concentrations prior to the origin of photosynthesis are too low to detect spectroscopically.15
References:
9. Lovelock JE. 1965. Nature 207: 568-70.
14. Sagan C, et al.,1993. Nature 365: 715-21.
15. Segura A, et al. 2007.Astrobiology 7: 494-5.
Taken from:
ArXive
A few times in human history, astronomers have made discoveries that changed people’s view of the universe and of themselves. The most renowned of these was Copernicus’ suggestion, and Galileo’s subsequent proof, that the Earth orbited the Sun, rather than vice versa. This list should also include the discovery that stars are other Suns, that some nebulae are galaxies like our own, and that the universe began with a Big Bang some 13 billion years ago. We now stand at the brink of answering two other paradigm-changing questions: Do other planets like Earth exist, and do any of them harbor life? The tools for answering these questions either exist already or can be developed within the next 10-20 years.
The stellar energy flux incident on a planet drives its atmospheric chemistry to a disequilibrium state. But the degree of disequilibrium can be profoundly increased by the presence of life on a planet’s surface. As a prime example, the simultaneous presence of O2 and reduced gases such as CH4 or N2O in a planet’s atmosphere is considered the best available remote evidence for Earth-like life.9
Marine plants and algae do this as well, although the effect is muted by overlying water. This red edge is easy to pick out if one looks directly at a leaf, or down from space at a patch of densely vegetated land.14
Nearly all of Earth’s O2 comes from photosynthesis, which is carried out by plants, algae, and cyanobacteria. Predicted atmospheric O2 concentrations prior to the origin of photosynthesis are too low to detect spectroscopically.15
References:
9. Lovelock JE. 1965. Nature 207: 568-70.
14. Sagan C, et al.,1993. Nature 365: 715-21.
15. Segura A, et al. 2007.Astrobiology 7: 494-5.
Taken from:
ArXive
Fire in Chilpancingo
Today we can read in a Chilpancingo newspaper that a drunkard burned the poor fruit stands of street vendors downtown at night.
It seems that in this town drunkards are really antisocial, I remember reading last month that a drunkard disappeared in a Government building after the authorities blamed students of attacking a Seven Eleven kind of joint outside campus. Later that night I saw a drunk man buying alcohol there, as I was going home.
I find these drunk people in the news odd. Maybe politicians here drink a lot and their drinking buddies volunteer for the dirty work. Who knows, I don't drink.
It seems that in this town drunkards are really antisocial, I remember reading last month that a drunkard disappeared in a Government building after the authorities blamed students of attacking a Seven Eleven kind of joint outside campus. Later that night I saw a drunk man buying alcohol there, as I was going home.
I find these drunk people in the news odd. Maybe politicians here drink a lot and their drinking buddies volunteer for the dirty work. Who knows, I don't drink.
A Friend of Obama Dead
I just saw the video on YouTube, which cannot be embedded here because of an explicit prohibition in YouTube.
Is this the black Al Capone behind this?
I can see all those rightists going through this sad incident.
Yesterday I wrote a somber piece, this does not help.
To top it off, tomorrow my Alma Mater, the University of California, goes on strike, you can watch the news with Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!
Is this how the end looks like?
Is this the black Al Capone behind this?
I can see all those rightists going through this sad incident.
Yesterday I wrote a somber piece, this does not help.
To top it off, tomorrow my Alma Mater, the University of California, goes on strike, you can watch the news with Amy Goodman's Democracy Now!
Is this how the end looks like?
Chicago Schools President Dead
"The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said Monday that Scott shot himself in the head near the Chicago River. A .380-caliber handgun were found near a riverside loading dock not far from Scott's car about 3:15 a.m. Monday, police said."
What is so bad about the Chicago Schools System, that explains this suicide?
I almost took a job in that Schools System.
Maybe nothing, and the man was just depressed: Who knows?, or as they say around here: Only God knows?
What is so bad about the Chicago Schools System, that explains this suicide?
I almost took a job in that Schools System.
Maybe nothing, and the man was just depressed: Who knows?, or as they say around here: Only God knows?
Monday, November 16, 2009
I See the End
I keep asking questions in my posts. I remember listening to John Archibald Wheeler once at the Physics Department of the University of California at Santa Babara.
That man never gave a straight answer.
So I figure, I could go about life the same way; one looks wise. Somehow, reading about the sorry state of the American infrastructure in today's NYT Bob Herbert piece, it hit me.
Empires come and empires go; that is the story of humanity. Why should today be different. I understand now all those Tea Party protesters, Sarah Pallin et al.. Americans have gone nuts.
The End of Mexico, tied to the US is now clear. Here we do not even decide who works, and who doesn't, it is all decided in the offices of the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
Sad.
That man never gave a straight answer.
So I figure, I could go about life the same way; one looks wise. Somehow, reading about the sorry state of the American infrastructure in today's NYT Bob Herbert piece, it hit me.
Empires come and empires go; that is the story of humanity. Why should today be different. I understand now all those Tea Party protesters, Sarah Pallin et al.. Americans have gone nuts.
The End of Mexico, tied to the US is now clear. Here we do not even decide who works, and who doesn't, it is all decided in the offices of the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank.
Sad.
End of the World, or End of Oil?
Cantarell in Mexico is reaching its limit. President Calderón just fired 20, 000 electrical industry workers. This looks like the end of oil for Mexico. King Hubbert predicted trouble in 1956. Fifty years later we are in trouble.
It is more likely to have an end of oil, than an end of the world. To some of us, though, there is not much difference.
Tighten your seat belts, here comes a country coming to a standstill, here in Guerrero teachers were marching in Acapulco.
Is this the end?
From the Oil Drum:
"In addition, if debt is decreasing, the price of oil is likely to stay on the low side, because of reduced consumer demand (layoffs and inability to by cars and new houses). The low price will make it difficult for oil companies to generate revenue from cash flow to use for investment, leading to less investment. The low prices will also discourage investment in places where oil is theoretically available, but the cost of extraction is too high.
I do not see climate change legislation as terribly helpful. Cap and trade will add huge overhead to the system—something we really cannot afford right now. Peak oil is likely to mean a continuing major recession, and a natural decline in fossil fuel use. To me, we would be better off spending our resources developing local agriculture and local manufacturing, and perhaps even sailing ships."
It is more likely to have an end of oil, than an end of the world. To some of us, though, there is not much difference.
Tighten your seat belts, here comes a country coming to a standstill, here in Guerrero teachers were marching in Acapulco.
Is this the end?
From the Oil Drum:
"In addition, if debt is decreasing, the price of oil is likely to stay on the low side, because of reduced consumer demand (layoffs and inability to by cars and new houses). The low price will make it difficult for oil companies to generate revenue from cash flow to use for investment, leading to less investment. The low prices will also discourage investment in places where oil is theoretically available, but the cost of extraction is too high.
Why didn’t anyone tell us about this problem?
Common sense tells us that at some point, a finite world is going to run into limits. M. King Hubbert predicted the problem in 1956. A year later, 1957, Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover spoke about the problem:I suggest that this is a good time to think soberly about our responsibilities to our descendants - those who will ring out the Fossil Fuel Age. Our greatest responsibility, as parents and as citizens, is to give America's youngsters the best possible education. . . . We might even - if we wanted - give a break to these youngsters by cutting fuel and metal consumption a little here and there so as to provide a safer margin for the necessary adjustments which eventually must be made in a world without fossil fuels.The fact that resources were limited was known, but there seemed to be reasons not to bring up the issue. M. King Hubbert wasn’t really believed until after US production began to fall in 1970. And even if he was believed, with such a distant event, it probably seemed likely that technological advances would increase the amount of oil that could be quickly and cheaply extracted, for many years.
I do not see climate change legislation as terribly helpful. Cap and trade will add huge overhead to the system—something we really cannot afford right now. Peak oil is likely to mean a continuing major recession, and a natural decline in fossil fuel use. To me, we would be better off spending our resources developing local agriculture and local manufacturing, and perhaps even sailing ships."
Volvo in Chilpancingo?
This really looks ominous.
This is the last town I would imagine a Volvo dealership setting up shop. It means that the US market is really going down the drain, these Swedes are really trying to sell cars, eh?
To me it looks eerie, like some 2012 signal or something. Maybe a Matrix sequel, I really don't know. What about Santo against the Viking Moguls?
I guess I should get back to work.
This is the last town I would imagine a Volvo dealership setting up shop. It means that the US market is really going down the drain, these Swedes are really trying to sell cars, eh?
To me it looks eerie, like some 2012 signal or something. Maybe a Matrix sequel, I really don't know. What about Santo against the Viking Moguls?
I guess I should get back to work.
UFOs, 2012, Chilpancingo?
Hey, at this rate I'll make the name of this town as famous as Roswell. Why not, both are cultural deserts.
Yesterday we had our first UFO aficionados meeting, and I went to see 2012 for the second time, at three bucks the ticket I reckoned it was worth it.
What is this nonsense, Orson Welles must be laughing loudly wherever he is.
Why are we so gullible?
I try to keep a straight face, but I am starting to feel like a really odd ball. Who are these people around me? They don't know what a quark is, and they jump into fantasitc explanations to the simplest phenomena around them. If religious leaders in the past were thinking people, I understand now why they wrote those fairy tales that pass as sacred scriptures.
OK, the point of this ranting is to report that the people of Chilpancingo, me included, went to spend their hard earned money to indulge in fantasy, and some of them believe it. Besides they believe that extraterrestrials are out there, looking towards us.
You can read Dennis Overbye's Essay in the NYT on some of these issues here.
Yesterday we had our first UFO aficionados meeting, and I went to see 2012 for the second time, at three bucks the ticket I reckoned it was worth it.
What is this nonsense, Orson Welles must be laughing loudly wherever he is.
Why are we so gullible?
I try to keep a straight face, but I am starting to feel like a really odd ball. Who are these people around me? They don't know what a quark is, and they jump into fantasitc explanations to the simplest phenomena around them. If religious leaders in the past were thinking people, I understand now why they wrote those fairy tales that pass as sacred scriptures.
OK, the point of this ranting is to report that the people of Chilpancingo, me included, went to spend their hard earned money to indulge in fantasy, and some of them believe it. Besides they believe that extraterrestrials are out there, looking towards us.
You can read Dennis Overbye's Essay in the NYT on some of these issues here.
Cosmic Ray Detectors in High Schools?
Mexicans have done cosmic ray physics for many years. Recently radioastronomers proposed to put some antennas in high schools to monitor the Sun and Jupiter.
What about cosmic rays?
It is not very expensive to install a detector. These detectors usually are in sites with more than ten of them, so they have to be cheap.
One question though, is what are they good for?
Since the beginning of the year the LAGO collaboration in Puebla has measured an increase in radiation coming from the Sun. This may be caused by the changes in the Sun and Earth magnetic fields. I assume radio signals from the Sun and Jupiter, may also show anomalous behavior. In any case with the data one can discuss with students about the Solar System.
A meteorological station will come in handy also.
It could happen.
What about cosmic rays?
It is not very expensive to install a detector. These detectors usually are in sites with more than ten of them, so they have to be cheap.
One question though, is what are they good for?
Since the beginning of the year the LAGO collaboration in Puebla has measured an increase in radiation coming from the Sun. This may be caused by the changes in the Sun and Earth magnetic fields. I assume radio signals from the Sun and Jupiter, may also show anomalous behavior. In any case with the data one can discuss with students about the Solar System.
A meteorological station will come in handy also.
It could happen.
Water Back in Mexico City
"La ruptura
The "extraordinary" breakdown of a pipe caused that around 500 neighborhoods in Cuajimalpa, Tlalpan, Magdalena Contreras, Álvaro Obregón, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez, Coyoacán, Azcapotzalco, Cuauhtémoc and Iztapalapa had a complete lack of running water"
This was a programmed repair that went awry.
extraordinariade un tubo ocasionó que alrededor de 500 colonias de las delegaciones Cuajimalpa, Tlalpan, Magdalena Contreras, Álvaro Obregón, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez, Coyoacán, Azcapotzalco, Cuauhtémoc e Iztapalapa resintieron la falta total de suministro de agua."
The "extraordinary" breakdown of a pipe caused that around 500 neighborhoods in Cuajimalpa, Tlalpan, Magdalena Contreras, Álvaro Obregón, Miguel Hidalgo, Benito Juárez, Coyoacán, Azcapotzalco, Cuauhtémoc and Iztapalapa had a complete lack of running water"
This was a programmed repair that went awry.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Water Crisis in Mexico City, November 15, 2009
Today Mexico City has whole swats without drinking water. The Cutzamala Water System broke.
My mother will hopefully get water tomorrow!
Like Big Boy Caprice in the Dick Tracy movie, says in an escape scene,
This is awful!
From La Jornada in Mexico City, I get this:
"Sin embargo, este sábado, la ruptura de un tubo en la línea 1 del acueducto obligó a suspender el suministro de agua en bloque al valle de México en un ciento por ciento."
My translation:
However, this Saturday, the breakdown of a pipe in line 1 of the aqueduct forced the water suspension in block to the Valley of Mexico in ONE HUNDRED PERCENT.
Wow!
Nothing in the NYT. The NYT is not a Mexico City paper. It seems to me that for Americans, Mexicans don't exist, . There is my mother in the city without running water, and nothing in Google!
My mother will hopefully get water tomorrow!
Like Big Boy Caprice in the Dick Tracy movie, says in an escape scene,
This is awful!
From La Jornada in Mexico City, I get this:
"Sin embargo, este sábado, la ruptura de un tubo en la línea 1 del acueducto obligó a suspender el suministro de agua en bloque al valle de México en un ciento por ciento."
My translation:
However, this Saturday, the breakdown of a pipe in line 1 of the aqueduct forced the water suspension in block to the Valley of Mexico in ONE HUNDRED PERCENT.
Wow!
Nothing in the NYT. The NYT is not a Mexico City paper. It seems to me that for Americans, Mexicans don't exist, . There is my mother in the city without running water, and nothing in Google!
Underground Journalism?
I just read that Durango journalists are threatened by gang members not to mention their names in print.
You know? There is such a thing as BitTorrent and other P2P ways to keep your identity secret.
Can't journalists come up with a way to protect themselves this way?
You know? There is such a thing as BitTorrent and other P2P ways to keep your identity secret.
Can't journalists come up with a way to protect themselves this way?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
One Million per Soldier
Let me get this straight. Are you telling me that because three thousand people were killed almost ten years ago, Americans are willing to pay, ONE MILLION DOLLARS per soldier, to feel safe?
Nuts.
Nuts.
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