So you think you’re good at math? Prove it! One of my favorite sources for MatLab tutorials, Blinkdagger, just started a bi-weekly math contest.

There are 1000 engineering-centric Leprechauns, all of whom are members of the prestigious group, Mensa. Each of the Leprechauns have an extremely high IQ (top 2% among the general population) and each Leprechaun is fully aware that all the other Leprechauns are also members of Mensa.

One day, the Leprechauns receive news that there is an abnormally large pot of gold at the end of the rainbow near China. All of the Leprechauns rush to the end of the rainbow and arrive simultaneously. In this situation, according to Leprechaun Lore, the treasure is to be divided by the following manner …

Link to Blinkdagger to learn (and solve) the Leprechauns’ problem.
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John Hunter just posted that his Curious Cat Science and Engineering Blog is now the # 1 Google result when one queries <engineering> + <blog>.

Congrats from # 4 on the wiki side of the equation (i.e. me). My Engineering Learning Wiki is the # 4 Google result if one queries <engineering> + <wiki>. Wikipedia is my chief rival (results # 1 and # 2)

Hey, John … Wikipedia doesn’t have an engineering blog … unfair competition!
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As some of us push the concept of open access to knowledge with initiatives like Creative Commons, the Internet Archive, and the Directory of Open Access Journals, we are all just a "Johnny Come Lately" compared to Gresham College in London, England.  They describe themselves in this manner:

For over 400 years Gresham Professors have given free public lectures in the City of London. The College is named after Sir Thomas Gresham, son of Sir Richard Gresham who was Lord Mayor in 1537/38 and who conceived the idea of building an Exchange modeled on the Antwerp Bourse. This was brought to fruition by Sir Thomas, on land provided by the City of London Corporation, and was given the royal appellation by Queen Elizabeth I.

Each month Gresham hosts five to ten new lectures, and makes them available online without charge. You may even download most lectures for optimized off line viewing. Topics range all over the spectrum, from "Proving Einstein right!" to "Debussy – Quartet in G minor, Op 10". Although not strictly engineering content, but given the value I have linked Gresham College on my Engineering Learning Wiki Seminar Page.

• Gresham College Lectures
  (click upon lectures tab | note European date format)

Did you ever have an image that really bugged you? For me it was the Nokia N800 (or N810) start-up image. Two hands stretched across the screen (see image below) … an adult reaching for a child’s hand. Every time I started up my Nokia, this image imprinted on my brain. My problem is that I am not a LINUX geek. I know enough to be dangerous, and thus was smart enough to avoid messing around with my operating system, but man … I hated that image!

Thus, started my research to change that file and become root on my Nokia’s LINUX OS (see all my Nokia Posts). Follow these instructions and you too can enjoy your own images at start-up! All of these commands assume that you are browsing via your tablet, not your PC or Mac. For the purposes of these instructions I often use "<" and ">" to set off and indicate commands. These symbols ARE NOT part of the input! All other symbols are as indicated, including spaces.

1. Visit the Repository for Nokia Tablets
   • Scroll down to Eko One
   • Click to Install
   • After the download completes and the catalog refreshes …
     • Enter your Nokia 800’s Application Manager.
     • Select <All Applications> and install <becomeroot>
2. Start up your Nokia’s X Terminal application
   • Type <sudo gainroot>
   • Do not shut down X Terminal
3. Backup and Create your own new Nokia system image files
   • You need to back up two files (the current system start-up images)
     • qgn_indi_startup_nokia_logo.png (800×480 pixels)
     • qgn_indi_nokia_hands.jpg (800×480 pixels)
   • These files are located in the following directory:
     • /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/hildon/
   • Now create one or two image files with the same pixel size
     • Give these files the same names as the originals
   • I like to use GPE-Filemanager to locate my files
     • This utility allows you to see Nokia LINUX OS files
4. Overwrite the old system files with your new image files
   • Go back to X Terminal
   • Change to the directory where your new image files are located
     • Command: cd /<directory name 1>/<directory sub-name 2>/<etc.>
   • Overwrite the Nokia system images using the copy command (this exact text)
     • cp qgn_indi_startup_nokia_logo.png /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/hildon/
       (and / or)
     • cp qgn_indi_nokia_hands.jpg /usr/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/hildon/

In summation … here is the image I replaced, and my new start-up image (my cabin’s lakeshore in Northern Minnesota.

A phenomenal computer! Anne Bartlett-Bragg from down under has a great post on her Learning Technologies Blog about how the brain can work through data. If the following content intrigues you, browse on over to her blog. It has some great posts which review how the mind handles learning. Thus, quoting directly from Anne Bartlett-Bragg’s Blog:

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too!

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

Note to my own children: Dad still says spelling IS important!
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