I really love working on Hilga.  I couldn't put it away to go to sleep last night and ended up being up past 3 just programming.  It's not hard to do a 12 hour stretch at the computer.  I guess I understand why I stopped though.  I've been obsessively time testing one piece of the program trying to squeeze out a tenth of a second here and there.   ( Read more... )

So I promised a diet LJ entry once I lost the 50 pounds, but there's too much to write in a victory article that also is supposed to serve as a future complete diet guide to myself.  So maybe I'll put a couple of the tips together soon and just post as is.  Otherwise I'll never finish it ( Read more... )

I fixed my talk.  Turned out to be not too hard.  It was just one ugly point that needed to bring up, because without it we technically would not have been done.  So the talk is a little more awkward, but it still works.  I then went and updated the program that gave me the data I needed to get my results.  Now I guess I have a choice.  I can ( Read more... )

I'm having trouble with a recreational mathematics paper I'm writing involving Sudoku and KenKen.  I can't get the terminology settled.  There are many things I need names for and I don't have anyone to ask.

Here are some of the words I can think of (more words would also be helpful):

·        Puzzle
·        Clue Set
·        Clue Arrangement
·        ( Read more... )

So my talk on the Brian Hayes KenKen puzzle from October 2010 is now complete.  Just have to proofread it a couple times.  It's 80 slides and I am giving it on request to anyone who wants a lesson in KenKen ( Read more... )

My "masterpiece" hit arXiv today.  You can find it be going here and typing my (real life) last name.  It'll be the first entry.  Of course, some pretty lame things hit Arxiv, but at least it's out so no one can claim they did it first.  Check it out if you're interested.  It's evidence that I did something with this sabbatical. 

So the journal I'm submitting to asked me in the application to suggest some reviewers (with no promises that they will pick someone I suggest.)  I have no idea what to do here.  Maybe they avoid the people I want to review me, since I wouldn't put down someone who would reject it.  Maybe they use a mix?  Maybe they use people I pick and by not ( Read more... )

Got Mathematica up on my mom's computer so at least I can work on the OEIS for a sense of normalcy in my Asus free period.  That's good since Asus writes you when they get the machine, and I haven't been written yet, so it's been slow to ship.  This is going to be a slow process ( Read more... )

So an MAA contest problem just led to three sequences, only two of which were published in the OEIS.  Well I submitted them and this morning they were accepted.  They involve graphical representations of permutations.  Links here and here.

I've now done everything I need to do with the OEIS to proceed with the (big, scary) paper I'm writing up ( ( Read more... )

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