We have all experienced occasions when a family member or friend tells us a story that they have told us before. Usually we pretend it is new to us because it seems somehow rude to tell them that they are repeating themselves. Also it is likely that we have done the same thing to others and so we also benefit from this act of politeness. I know that I have done so and only realized what I was doing later or half way through the story and, in the latter case, felt obliged to quickly complete it. This is because we all have a repertoire of stories that we draw upon repeatedly in conversations with others. [Read more…]

Remember the Segway? Now along comes a unicycle that operates similarly to that and has a self-balancing technology that makes it so stable that it is impossible to fall off it. It is called the RYNO and you can read more about it here. It can be parked anywhere that a bicycle can be parked. It is being marketed to commuters in dense traffic areas that have high parking charges. [Read more…]

I have long been fascinated by the fact that although we have gone so far in space exploration, we find it much harder to penetrate into the Earth. The deepest we get is in the oceans where we have gone to a depth of around 11 km in the place known as Challenger Deep that is located in the Marianas Trench. Here is a graphic of what we know about the Earth. [Read more…]

Conditional statements (i.e., statements of the form “If p, then q”, where p and q are statements) are staples of logic and are used widely in mathematics, science, philosophy, and everyday life. How do we judge whether such statements are true or not? Normally this is achieved by looking at whether each of the statements p and q are true or not, and whether the consequence follows from the antecedent. But it is not always that simple. [Read more…]

Cory Doctorow tells us more about this prize-winning effort.

The video pretty much explains it all.

Suicide is a disturbing topic that most of us would rather avoid thinking about. Recently I spoke with an old friend of mine. He was shaken up because just the previous day a work colleague and friend, a middle-aged man, had committed suicide. He said he was a cheerful, fun-loving person, hence his death came as a great shock. [Read more…]

The game tic-tac-toe is something only very young children enjoy. Before long one learns that one can always avoid losing and if both players discover this, then you have only drawn games. But via Cory Doctorow I learn of a variation called Ultimate Tic-Tac-Toe that is extremely easy to learn but promises a quantum leap in the strategy required as well as in challenge and fun. [Read more…]

As children growing up in Sri Lanka, we were addicted to the game Monopoly. When a bunch of us cousins got together during school vacations, we would play games over and over again late into the night, with a lot of shouting and laughter. [Read more…]

I am definitely not a gourmet when it comes to food and drink. My senses of taste and smell are not highly developed and I do not frequent fancy restaurants. My idea of a good eating experience is to order familiar take out dishes from local Chinese, Thai, Indian, and Mexican restaurants. My reaction to food consists of just three categories: good, okay, or bad. [Read more…]