Solving the Nerd-Sniping Problem: When Electronics meets Heat!

I recently stumbled upon this exciting problem from XKCD, aptly named as the Nerd-Sniping Problem: True to its name, it successfully managed to derail me from whatever it was that I was doing. The problem itself is quite curious, we have to find resistance between two points in an infinite lattice of ideal 1-ohm resistors.… Continue reading Solving the Nerd-Sniping Problem: When Electronics meets Heat!

100 pages vs 11 words.

How difficult is it to find a solution for something like this: “Mary baked some breads. For each bread, she boiled the same (as the bread) number of eggs. For each egg, she made the same (as the bread) number of pickles. If the total number of food items on the table is 39, how… Continue reading 100 pages vs 11 words.

Yet another explanation for the Monty-Hall problem

I assume that you know what a Monty-Hall problem is. It’s a problem that’s always fun to argue about, especially an uninitiated friend or acquaintance. But each time you discuss the solution with someone who’s adamant that it just doesn’t make sense, just keep in mind that even Paul Erdos got it wrong. We’re mortals,… Continue reading Yet another explanation for the Monty-Hall problem

A non-mathematical introduction to Kalman Filters for programmers

Read my manifesto on Code as an alternative to Mathematics. Code for this article can be found on this Colab Notebook should you choose to follow along. Why Kalman Filters? Kalman filters are ingenius. If you have never heard of them, then a very intuitive (and arguably reductive) way to think about them is to… Continue reading A non-mathematical introduction to Kalman Filters for programmers

Manifesto: Code as an alternative to Mathematics

For sure, many of the natural phenomena as well as logical arguments are best described using Mathematics. This is not merely because Mathematics is precise, concise, expressive, and powerful, but also because there is a plethora of mathematical tools of analysis (Probability, Calculus, Statistics, Linear Algebra, Number Theory, and the likes) readily available and anyone… Continue reading Manifesto: Code as an alternative to Mathematics

Teenage Rebellion is just Wind

Anyone who has undergone the process can tell you that teenagers are surly, distant, reckless, and most important of all, immensely abhorrent to critical feedback, especially from their parents. While this can indeed be difficult for the parents who think of their children as the same sweet darling of the yonder years, a scientific reconciliation… Continue reading Teenage Rebellion is just Wind

Can god create square circles?

Short answer: yes. Some of the arguments on whether God is omnipotent asks questions that are inherently an impossibility. For instance, can God create a square circle? This is, at first glance, an unachievable task which would suggest that no, not even God can create square circles because if it’s a circle, it’s not a… Continue reading Can god create square circles?

The Artificial in AI

We may have figured out how to create a brain, before we figured out how it actually works. Full disclosure, the quote above is not mine. I heard it from someone who heard it from someone who read it somewhere on the Internet. But this perfectly summarizes how the release of GPT-4 has made me… Continue reading The Artificial in AI

Avg, mean, and average

One of the annoying things about learning a new programming language / library is to remember all the small nuances that come with it. For example, why should it be that in some places you have to use avg() to calculate the average of a list of data points whereas other demand you use mean()… Continue reading Avg, mean, and average