Facebook hype

There is no escape: every news page is full news about Facebook going to IPO.

"Like" it or not, Facebook has made social media an multi-billion industry from a dorm room. It is also software engineering triumph being able to handle millions of users. That "Like" is also a simple innovation that revolutionized advertising. Just about every website added a "Like" us on Facebook icon, Tweet us on Twitter icon.

This means: people want to be heard. Their status, their photos, etc. Is there a better way to do this than Facebook? The guy who can do this will be the next multi-billionaire.

A big plus of FB is that it enabled long lost friends to hook up. Advertisers also yearn for new ways to advertise things. I hate to disappoint you but I never look at a single ad in detail. The big minus is... do you want your life to be revealed to people you don't know?

Giants have attempted to knock FB out: that (confusing!) Google Circles, that MSN stuff. I do not think even Google or Microsoft can knock any market share out, because people have already hooked on to FB. If FB comes up with an operating system you are going to stick with Windows right? If FB comes up with web search you are going to stick with Google right?

The only real possibility for FB to lose now is some outage or something which better not happen.

I find it tiresome to look through FB to read the long list of statuses. Yes, some are worthy news updates which I prefer a personalized announcement email (like a new baby).

I prefer blogging over putting my thoughts as status. I don't want to further pollute your facebook feed.

Here is a dire warning: people will eventually get Facebook fatigue and not bother look at it altogether.

Obama supports gay marriage

This is it. Obama declares support gay marriage.

Note this position shift:

In 2004, as a candidate for the US Senate, he cited his own religion in framing his views: “I'm a Christian. I do believe that tradition and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman.”

For those who are against is, what is your basis? The Bible you say? Do you have good explanations for each one of the following as described here?

Homosexuality is nothing new. It is there since ancient times. It is legal vs not-legal, support vs not-support debate being the new thing about it.

Perhaps one can look at this in anthropological point of view... the problem with homosexual couple is... they can't have their own children. Sure they can adopt. Sure, one of them can be actual parent given some sperm/egg donation from someone else. But these are not official offspring involving both members of the couple. If everyone is gay, the human race becomes distinct.

No I am not implying those who can't have children can't marry either.

Supporting gay couples means the very foundation of human structure: the family would be altered.

This is some tremendous social impact.

Where did you come from? Yes, you came from one man and one woman (your parents).

Marriage is spawning a new family, and it takes one man + one woman to have kids to create the family. I dare to say: nature has specified this process.

For those who prefer another combination of family... I do not support any laws to make that illegal. But I do not support marriage available for any other combination other than one man + one woman.

Coming next, what stops you from marrying your Ipad, your dog, your own granddaughter?

Once again disappointed with law and order in China

News says a foreigner tried to stop thieves in China then got beaten up as crowd look upon.

There are guards there, but won't help. and I am not too surprised.

Many clueless people just have $ on their eyes when they look at China. This incident once again reveals how horrible it is over there. Remember that 2 year old kid who got ran over by 2 cars and nobody offered to help?

Waita minute, eventually somebody helped, but not soon enough.

Besides economic growth, there is plenty for China to work on.

Math Genius Created by Brutal Attack

This news is fairly interesting. A man became a math genius after a brutal attack.

First, this man is extremely lucky. Most people under brutal attack die or got into coma.

But I'd like to comment on this line:

Everywhere he looks, he sees complex mathematical formulas -- like the Pythagorean theorem, for example.

Hmm, is the Pythagorean theorem all that complex? Waita minute are you talking about some Pythagorean Theorem involving complex numbers? (I don't think so...) If you look around, just about everything can be drawn by breaking things down into little triangles (and then right triangles) so the Pythagorean Theorem applies everywhere... That's how computer graphics work basically...

A visual representation of π? Here, call up your favorite pizza restaurant. Get a 24 inch pizza (do they sell that big size?) Instantly you get a visual (and edible) representation. That area of the pizza (in square feet) is 1*1*π = π. Order a 12 inch pizza, that circumference is 2*(1/2)*π inches.

A much more fascinating view of π are the infinite equations, such as the Gregory's Formula, and the Viete's Formula, and many more.

Fractals! The mysterious composition of small shapes... Some can be cranked out by a computer by iterations of complex (meaning complex numbers) equations. For instance, the Mandelbrot set is given by this relationship: z_n+1 = z_n² + c. Fractals CAN'T really be drawn by hand exactly because there are infinitely small parts. Alas, fractals don't have a lot of practical uses except drawing terrains to simulate some landscape in some video games.

So yes, this lucky man's brain is probably active now so he can perceive things not previously thought before, and creativity is needed in mathematics!

I think he should study some open problems and prove some age-old theorems and contribute to the world with his genius ability. Don't know where to start? try these million dollar problems.