The Matrix introduced a whole generation to the concept of metaphysics by portraying the perceived illusion as an illusion. If people can make a blockbuster film on philosophy, why not math? 

Here’s my whack at a script:

A young man, while working at CERN, discovers that he can manipulate anything to infinite precision. This of course, is a huge discovery, and he is rewarded with various awards and medals. 

But then, this man realizes the power of what he has done, now he can apply the Banach-Tarski theorem. He immediately created a machine which analyzes an object and then duplicates it. 

A bowling ball goes in. Two bowling ball comes out.

He tries food. It works. 

The international community once again showers him with accolades: he basically solved world hunger…. 

meh… There’s not much of a good vs evil thing going on here… I guess math just makes the world a better place. 

Also, someone else basically did this already…

I noticed this while working with production functions in econ: lowercase omega looks like balls, and omega prime looks like a penis. 

Proof? 

Now that you seen it, you can’t unsee it… 

I don’t use the elevators anymore at Cornell, except to wash laundry. 

Assuming that I only go up and down the stairs 4 times a day, I change my elevation around 40” x 4 = 160”

Now over the 15 weeks of this semester, I would’ve changed my elevation over 5 kilometers by foot. 

… That’s like climbing 5/8 of the height of Mt. Everest… except I go down half the time… 

An email I got today:

Billing Alert

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You are receiving this alert because you have used 80% of the bandwidth included in your basic student network service for the month of February. Only Internet usage to or from off-campus sites is measured. If you exceed the usage included in your basic monthly student network service, additional usage will incur charges at a rate of $0.0015 per megabyte ($1.54 per gigabyte).

Please read this alert carefully. This alert is for your information, to help you manage your network usage, and to help you to avoid unexpected charges.

About Student Network Service
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Student network service includes 50 GB (gigabytes) of Internet usage to or from off-campus sites each month. This includes usage from all systems registered to your Cornell NetID, such as desktop computers, laptop computers, and network-capable handheld devices.  Network usage based billing applies to activity on the wired and Wi-Fi networks, including the Student Wired Network Service, RedRover, and RedRover Secure.

Use of on-campus resources, such as Cornell’s websites, Blackboard, student services, university libraries, and DirecTV DOES NOT count towards network billing.

How to View Your Bill
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Your bill is on-line at http://nubb.cornell.edu.

The Network Usage Based Billing (NUBB) web site is the definitive source of network billing information. It displays your network billing information for all network-capable deices registered to your NetID.  This includes a listing of your registered devices and the amount of usage on each for both the university wired and Wi-Fi networks.  The NUBB website displays your total usage for the month, as well as displaying your charges to date (if any).

The NUBB website is updated daily at approximately 12:00 Noon EDT/EST.  CIT encourages you to check the NUBB website regularly, and use it to manage your network usage and avoid unexpected charges.

A Special Word About Network Security
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Unexpected network usage can indicate that your system has been compromised, become infected by a computer virus, or is conducting activity of which you are unaware. Under University Policy 5.4.1, you are responsible for the security of your devices.

Cornell provides free security software and other resources to assist you.  For more information, see:http://www.dfa.cornell.edu/dfa/treasurer/policyoffice/policies/volumes/informationtech/resources.cfm
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/security/

Questions?
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If you have questions about your network usage charges, or if you believe that your system has been compromised or infected, please contact:
The CIT Contact Center (HelpDesk)
Phone:  (607) 255-8990
Email:  helpdesk@cornell.edu

Our staff will assist you in attempting to identify the activity generating your network usage.  You may also find more information and answers to commonly-asked questions on the following web sites:
http://www.cit.cornell.edu/services/nubb/about/faq.cfm

Thank you,
Cornell Information Technologies
Network & Communication Services

This is an automated message from the CIT Network Usage Based Billing (NUBB) System.  You will receive only one notification in a given month.

One of today’s NYTimes articles was about the growing educational gap between the economic classes. Although many causes were listed, the author listed almost no resolutions. I believe that with the current college application format, the sons and daughters of the wealthy will always have an advantage. 

It’s true that college isn’t everything. In fact, a major goal of any program trying to close this gap is to increase “literacy activities” among poor children. This will even the playing field during the grade school years, but it will tilt again once college application starts.

(I’m still a staunch believer that a college education is the surest way to a higher income bracket, even for the poorest of families. Financial aid these days are incredibly generous to the poorest in order to show diversity within its campuses.)

The economics status of the family will greatly determine whether the family has enough resources and time to send the child to piano lessons, sports clubs, or extracurricular activities in general. Without that boost in the resume, the poorer the family, the less likely that they will get into top universities (where the opportunities to push his or her family ahead is even bigger). 

Without resolving the college application process to something that truly measures intelligence, dedication or virtues, universities will continue to favor the parents who can ship their children to soccer practice every Saturday morning. Only the smartest and most dedicated lower-income children will have a chance of attending a top university, while average kids of upper-income families will have that chance just because of the money. 

I’m not saying that I know how to reform this, or fix the gap. I do believe that this must be something that needs to be addressed.