Random Stuff VIII: The Admin Special

[Mestiv he/him]

Look at my horse, my horse is amazing...

 

[Delightful]

*blinks*

 

*backs away slowly*

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

*Blinks*

 

*Walks forward to touch it.*

[Orlion Blight he/him]

*Blinks*

*Walks forward to touch it.*

You should give it a lick.

[Mestiv he/him]

It tastes like raisins

Edited April 6, 2016 by Mestiv

[Curious Anamaximder he/him]

It tastes like raisins

Uh, how do you know that?

[Mestiv he/him]

Uh, how do you know that?

From the song

[Oversleep]

My favorite method of proving 0,(9) = 1 is

x = 0,(9)= 0,99999...
10x = 9,999999...
10x - x = 9,99999... - 0,99999...
9x=9
x=1
Q.E.D.

You don't need any fractions to explain this (sometimes it confuses people).

What I am still unable to understand is how sum of all natural numbers is -1/12. Again, I know little about zeta function.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Oversleep

[Chaos he/him]

My favorite method of proving 0,(9) = 1 is

x = 0,(9)= 0,99999...
10x = 9,999999...
10x - x = 9,99999... - 0,99999...
9x=9
x=1
Q.E.D.

You don't need any fractions to explain this (sometimes it confuses people).

What I am still unable to understand is how sum of all natural numbers is -1/12. Again, I know little about zeta function.

It isn't, using the usual definition of an infinite sum. Other mathematics can make use of it in very specialized areas, but don't cite that result. It is wrong except when you define completely new math that, though can be useful, does not obey laws of algebra. They basically use a different definition of "equals" to make that work. That's why it makes no sense and does not obey algebra.

[Kaymyth she/her]

It isn't, using the usual definition of an infinite sum. Other mathematics can make use of it in very specialized areas, but don't cite that result. It is wrong except when you define completely new math that, though can be useful, does not obey laws of algebra. They basically use a different definition of "equals" to make that work. That's why it makes no sense and does not obey algebra.

 

My husband works off and on trying to solve the probably unsolvable problem of how to calculate/predict prime numbers.  Keep in mind, if anyone ever did solve this, it would break encryption software.  All of it.  Completely.

 

He also likes to sit in the dark and think about quantum mechanics because he thinks that science has it wrong.  Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to figure out how to explain his ideas, so he's also been trying to teach himself to use some sort of rendering software so that he can learn to illustrate the things in his brain.

 

He has not progressed quickly.

 

And some people think my hobbies are weird...

[Mestiv he/him]

Finding a way to calculate prime numbers wouldn't break all encryption software. Only the most popular asymetric algorythms like RSA. Symetric cryptography would still be safe as far as I know. Although, symetric cryptography is far less usefull.

[Jo and the Bush all/any]

Why does predicting prime number's break crypto?

[Oversleep]

Because... Huh. Wait. Why would it?

Generally, encryption works because it's easy to multiply two large prime numbers (because there's nothing hard in multiplying) but it's very hard to determine given number's prime factors. Sure, you can easily say that 252=2²*3²*7, but how about 9382849284927?

Basic idea is to pick two large prime numbers, multiply them, use the result of multiplication to encrypt the message. To decrypt the message you need to know what the prime numbers were.

I can't recall how being able to find prime numbers would influence finding prime factors, but I'm sure there is a relationship here.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Oversleep

[Kaymyth she/her]

Why does predicting prime number's break crypto?

 

Because so many encryptions are based on the product that comes from multiplying two very large primes.  If you have a way to predict and identify patterns in prime numbers, you have a way to break encryption.

 

Finding a way to calculate prime numbers wouldn't break all encryption software. Only the most popular asymetric algorythms like RSA. Symetric cryptography would still be safe as far as I know. Although, symetric cryptography is far less usefull.

 

Still enough to pretty much ruin the security of all of the internet.  The repercussions to the financial world alone would be dire.

 

 

ETA @Oversleep:  I don't know the exact details on how it works, but there's a lot of literature out there that worries about someone solving this.  Being able to solve for the factors would pretty much bring it all to a halt, which would be pretty bad.

 

James works on it more for fun than anything.  I don't think he actually expects to solve it.  I hope.

 

...which is why James isn't sure that he'd ever actually tell anyone if he solved the prime problem.

Edited April 6, 2016 by Kaymyth

[The Invested Beard]

As long as he doesn't tell Tyler Durden we should be okay.

[Mestiv he/him]

Quantum encryption is our hope

[Oversleep]

Quantum encryption is our hope

I have no idea how would it work. Sure, you can use quantum encryption between two participants, but how to use that for asymetrical encryption?

(I'm not quite sure I'm right about what I just wrote)

[Mestiv he/him]

I have no idea how would it work. Sure, you can use quantum encryption between two participants, but how to use that for asymetrical encryption?

(I'm not quite sure I'm right about what I just wrote)

I too don't know I'm just being silly

[Orlion Blight he/him]

The problem with quantum encryption would be all the entanglements you'd end up in

[Kobold King he/him]

My brother and I played chess. While waiting for him to set up his turn I started to get board.

 

I tried and failed to pull off a risky castling move. It was a rookie mistake.

 

He started to get mad at all the chess puns I was making, so I had to pull myself in check.

 

 

Bad puns are how I cope with losing terribly.

[Zathoth]

And now everyone can be happy that I am not good at math...

[Haelbarde he/him]

A thing that amuses me, in reference to the maths stuff, is we can actually divide by 0. In some cases. We invoke the idea of a limit, and then we get to play around with values at infinity and divide by zeros. Yay for calculus!

[DreamEternal]

A thing that amuses me, in reference to the maths stuff, is we can actually divide by 0. In some cases. We invoke the idea of a limit, and then we get to play around with values at infinity and divide by zeros. Yay for calculus!

I learned about this last week. After that, I came to the conclusion that while my initial impression that my calculus teacher was evil was wrong, my impression that she was a powerful witch wasn't.

[Master Elodin]

I learned about this last week. After that, I came to the conclusion that while my initial impression that my calculus teacher was evil was wrong, my impression that she was a powerful Tin Compounder wasn't.

Fixed.

[Chaos he/him]

A thing that amuses me, in reference to the maths stuff, is we can actually divide by 0. In some cases. We invoke the idea of a limit, and then we get to play around with values at infinity and divide by zeros. Yay for calculus!

I'm going to be honest, I don't really like this interpretation of calculus, as it makes it sound far more mystical than it is (it is not mystical at all, in fact). What calculus does is make precise statements out of vague things we say in English, like the word "infinity." It defines and makes precise such things.