Lines. And points.

This is a math post.. Link rather... And folks who do not have a taste for it, don't blame me- you were warned!

I can't say I possessed a great liking for geometry at school, for whatever reason. Arithmetic was good (i am still in love with complex numbers), calculus was awesome. Algebra lost its charm later- maybe it got a little mundane, but for starters it was almost like solving some mystery ;) Trigonometry still leaves a bad taste as I think of the word. Computation is a word I learnt long after I had started liking it. Geometry on the other hand, and here I mean the Euclid kind of geometry, was one topic I developed a liking for after finishing school. As much as I hated the chapter on tangents and the 29 questions in the CBSE text, I loved geometry theorems after school... I still can't go past a new geometry result and resist the temptation to prove it. 

(Ahem.. And if you are still thinking about the 29 questions- no I don't remember the exact number. I just conjured up a convincing one ;))

So when I came across this post on Pascal lines I thought I would post it for fellow math lovers to read... The beauty of geometry lies in its essential simplicity- who would have thought that one circle and some lines across it could result in Steiner points, Kirkman points and so many other points named after people*. AND Cayley lines. AND theorems with Cayley lines and Steiner points.. It is really all beautiful. Especially when I think about whether my circular pen stand and all the refills it holds form pascal lines and hexagons and blah de blah... (Curse my imagination, huh!)

Anyway, check out this link... :) And for today,

 Image Courtesy: http://talent.randomoriginal.com/2010/09/13/thats-all-folks-the-open-call-is-officially-closed

*Someday I should catch hold of some new points and name them after myself to leave an indelible mark in the math world :P

Fast- II

I didn't intend writing this post really... I wanted to write about my New Year vacation, but then I think that will take some more time.. So thought will do a "quick post" instead... (And before I start, Happy New Year! :) )

This is about fasting.. (Somehow this every year around this time, I end up writing about this huh?) But really, this is a more serious take on fasting...

Right now, I am listening to a phone conversation in Tamil... (not sure if it is eavesdropping, but then this person is clearly loud and also knows others might be listening-- so not my fault you see ;) )

"You must treat me man... Come on, you got married"

"You didn't even treat me for your birthday"

"Just one rum will do da... "

......

 and so on. (translated, of course!)

Whoever it was at the other end was trying to escape, and as I type the conversation is still going on...."Wait a second.. this post was about fasting", you tell me, "and you are writing about some useless phone conversation?!"