vern's Blog

Math, Memes, and Anime Dreams

[days-since-joeyandsalvatore]

It has been 2091 days since we last saw Joey and Salvatore

Last appearance: Episode 28 on 25th October 2020

[vernanonix]

Holy shit. It’s really been that long???

[vernanonix]

The REDACTED Unit podcast has a somewhat insane release schedule. They dropped six episodes across four series (main series plus three supplemental series) on November 8, 2025 as their premiere and as of July 7, 2026 have put out 83 individual releases. They're well on pace to hit their 100th release before the first year is up. The mad lads.

[demegods]

[wumblr]

all of the numbers that are divisible by 17 sound so absurd. 51? 68? 85? ridiculous. 102? absolutely not. and don't even get me started on 119

[wumblr]

34 and 136 i can believe, but i feel like i shouldn’t. it’s 102 in a trench coat

[red-swimmerz-deactivated2021082]

did we just run out of posts to make

[wumblr]

no, i haven't made a post about every number yet

[swinginsportscutebasketball]

I'm sorry to let you know that 100,000,001 (one hundred million and one) is divisible by 17 and because of that, so is every 16-digit number that is four digits repeated four times e.g. 1234123412341234

[wumblr]

[wizardoftrash]

Dividing by 17 in-general is insane behavior. This is eldritch math, so of course it’s gunna have wild outcomes. This is truly an info-hazard. I’m gunna see a number in the wild, wonder if 17 is lurking in there, and if I whip out my phone calculator and it’s true I’m going to LOSE IT.

[felixcloud6288]

@swinginsportscutebasketball is absolutely correct.

Proof:

100,000,001 / 17 = 5,882,353 so that's true.

This means if we divide 100,000,000 by 17, we get a remainder of 16.

So under modulo rules, 100,000,000 is equivalent to 16 under mod 17.

100,000,000 is also equal to 10 raised to the eighth power (10^8).

Now let's say we have some arbitrary number x which can be any whole number from 0 to 9999 inclusive.

Now let's make the 16 digit number where we repeat the same 4 digits 4 times.

This number will be equal to x*10^12 + x*10^8 + x*10^4 + x.

We can use modulo equivalences to prove this is divisible by 17. All we need to prove is that this number is equivalent to 0 under mod 17.

Quick interim form of the equation: x*10^8*10^4 + x*10^8 + x*10^4 + x.

I established earlier that 10^8 is equivalent to 16 under mod 17 so I can replace all instance of 10^8 with 16 and still have an equivalent number under mod 17: 16x*10^4 + 16x + x*10^4 + x

Add like terms: 17x*10^4 + 17x.

17(x*10^4 + x)

Anything multiplied by 17 is automatically equivalent to 0 under mod 17. Therefore the number is divisible by 17.

Conclusion: Any 16 digit number that is the same 4 digits repeated 4 times is divisible by 17.

[brokenbloodymolars]

There's a post sitting in my flagged posts that's been there for three plus years. It's a pair of onions in a bag that looks suspiciously like a pair of fat tits. Apparently it's flagged for everyone and God i wish i could show y'all

[brokenbloodymolars]

Lord if this works

[frightfullytreeish]

[zvaigzdelasas]

the solution to the Mathematician's Lament is to teach calculus in early grade school if not kindergarten & i am being 100% unironic

[zvaigzdelasas]

5-Year-Olds Can Learn Calculus

Why playing with algebraic and calculus concepts—rather than doing arithmetic drills—may be a better way to introduce children t

The familiar, hierarchical sequence of math instruction starts with counting, followed by addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division. The computational set expands to include bigger and bigger numbers, and at some point, fractions enter the picture, too. Then in early adolescence, students are introduced to patterns of numbers and letters, in the entirely new subject of algebra. A minority of students then wend their way through geometry, trigonometry and, finally, calculus, which is considered the pinnacle of high-school-level math.

But this progression actually “has nothing to do with how people think, how children grow and learn, or how mathematics is built,” says pioneering math educator and curriculum designer Maria Droujkova. She echoes a number of voices from around the world that want to revolutionize the way math is taught, bringing it more in line with these principles.

The current sequence is merely an entrenched historical accident that strips much of the fun out of what she describes as the “playful universe” of mathematics, with its more than 60 top-level disciplines, and its manifestations in everything from weaving to building, nature, music and art. Worse, the standard curriculum starts with arithmetic, which Droujkova says is much harder for young children than playful activities based on supposedly more advanced fields of mathematics.

“Calculations kids are forced to do are often so developmentally inappropriate, the experience amounts to torture,” she says. They also miss the essential point—that mathematics is fundamentally about patterns and structures, rather than “little manipulations of numbers,” as she puts it. It’s akin to budding filmmakers learning first about costumes, lighting and other technical aspects, rather than about crafting meaningful stories.

[finalgirlfall]

mathematician's lament pdf on github

[certifiablecatlady]

Just got a random neopets avatar I've been trying to get for over 20 years. Never kill yourself!

[miggylol]

Spin the wheel. That's who's trying to kill you.

Spin the wheel again. That’s who’s trying to protect you.

(If you have zero idea about a name you got, spin until you see someone you recognize.)

Are you safe?

Absolutely not. I'm dead. 100% dead.

I might stay alive, but it'll be a really close thing.

I'll take some hits, for certain, but I should be okay in the end.

A few attacks might get through, but nothing concerning.

The attacker might be able to get in one lucky hit. If that.

I am the opposite of worried. I'm 100% safe.

…Look. I've tried picturing this. But I honestly don't know how to answer.

Voting ended onJul 14

(I've run this poll twice before, expanding it significantly for the second run. With about a year passed since that second run, I thought it was time to add another couple hundred names to the list and have another go.)

[vernanonix]

There’s a reason I don’t do fan art. But someone in the Hush Studio Discord gave the following headcanon for the REDACTED podcasts Postmortems:

Im entirely imagining these meetings as:

The agent, whether Eli or Kane, standing square, military stance, arms behind back, as upright as possible, as if one scrutinization is the end of their life....

And Sloan, on her stomach, legs kicking in the air, elbows planted on the desk/ground, and head being held by the chin in her hands just listening and correcting btw

After a joke about them needing to make the fan art for it, I made this…rendering.

There’s a reason I don’t do fan art. Lol.

[somewhereohio]

Finale update (finally)

hello everyone, it’s been too long! but i (rat) am working on the finale of the department of variance fully now. i finally finished an outline that i am happy with and have started the actual writing. it will likely be one long episode, though we’ll see if it needs to be split up

thank you all for your patience while i took a much needed break! i hope to have the writing done by the end of summer and production on the actual episode should start soon after.

[girlnephew]

[ryanthedemiguy]

I don't think this is possible????

[physicallyimprobable]

Hello Ryan I am here to help. So the first step is pretty easy: Three cheeseburgers are worth 18, so each one is worth 6. If these are dollars, that's a steal!

From the second equation we get that cheeseburger plus fries-squared is five. Subtracting cheeseburger, which is six, from both sides, we get that fries-squared is negative-one. Math fans will know that there are two solutions to this; either fries are the "imaginary unit" 𝒾 or they are its negative, -𝒾. We'll do the rest of the problem with 𝒾, keeping in mind that at the end we should also take the complex conjugates as solutions.

Finally, we have that cup to the power of fries, minus cup, equals three. Replacing fries with 𝒾, and moving a cup to the other side, we get that cup-to-the-𝒾 is equal to cup-plus-three.

Now, the weird part about this is the cup-to-the-i. The problem with this is that complex exponentiation is technically not a thing. That is to say, there is no one function which is mathematically equal to "input-to-the-power-of-𝒾". In fact, there are infinitely many such functions.

Fortunately, due to reasons that take about six pages to explain (trust me I've done it), there is one particular function that many people have agreed is "the most reasonable one". This is not a mathematical notion, but a human preference. Seeing as this question was presumably written by a human, I am comfortable with using this function.

So, what function is this? Well, given a complex number r∠θ written in polar form (if you don't know what that means don't worry), where -π < θ ≤ π, then (r∠θ)^𝒾 = e^(-θ)∠ln(r).

Applying this to our problem a value r∠θ will be a possible solution for cup if e^(-θ)∠ln(r) = r∠θ + 3. Splitting this into real and imaginary parts, we get two equations: e^(-θ) cos(ln(r)) = r cos(θ) + 3 and e^(-θ) sin(ln(r)) = r sin(θ). We can graph these equations on Desmos:

The possible values of cup are the intersections between the red, green, and purple. There are infinitely many of these which have an angle of around -π/3, and there are two weirdos: One which is a complex number very close to -2.98, and one which is somewhere around -25. The possible values for cup are all of these infinitely many solutions, and also all of their complex conjugates.

[sharkgirldick]

They were right, 99% of people can't solve it.

[peelerofpotatoes]

i've actually been working on some formulae to give all possible solutions to complex exponentiation problems recently, so here's my take on this:

let the value of the glass = z, for z ∈ ℂ:

z^(±i) = 3+z

let z = r·e^(iθ) for r,θ ∈ ℝ, -π < θ ≤ π

∴ z = r·e^i(θ+2πn) for all n ∈ ℤ

∴ (r·e^i(θ+2πn))^(±i) = 3+r·e^i(θ+2πn)

distribute powers (apologies for the use of ∓):

r^(±i)·e^(∓(θ+2πn)) = 3+r·e^i(θ+2πn)

convert to the same base:

e^i(±ln(r))·e^(∓(θ+2πn)) = 3+r·e^i(θ+2πn)

split into real and imaginary components:

re: cos(±ln(r))·e^(∓(θ+2πn)) = 3+r·cos(θ)

im: sin(±ln(r))·e^(∓(θ+2πn)) = r·sin(θ)

in effect, all this changes is the restriction on the domain of theta to be between -pi and pi, so you can just ignore that constraint.

[inthefallofasparrow]

[lady-troll]

:)

Saw something on my dash :)

[vernanonix]

I've been deep into The REDACTED Unit and this is my favorite joke that I hope becomes canon one day. le sigh (Images used are of the cast members for Hedy and Lucas.)

[mathsnightmare]

TNT if you're going to start re-introducing a bunch of old villains that haven't been seen in 10+ years now would be a great time to seriously commit to figuring out the logistics of how you could re-run their plots (or as equivalently as possible on the modern website) so (you and) your players can actually be introduced (or re-introduced) to these characters directly and in their source material. just slap the word "classic" in front of everything and you don't have to worry about reusing old assets.

[vernanonix]

Can I get the avatars too? Pleeeeeease?

Man, can you imagine being able to take part in the OTHER side if the Meridell war?

[vernanonix]

A thought on the complaints of The Amazing Digital Circus Ep 9 and “that” character’s fate. Spoiler below the cut.

People are mad that Jax abstracted off screen. That they were robbed of some climactic scene. But consider what abstraction in TADC actually means. It’s when a character’s mind has broken and they’ve given up. It’s effectively a parallel to suicide. And so for that climactic scene to be someone metaphorically (semi-literally) pulling the trigger, I think the cut from “I wish I had spoken to him,” to him being gone hits a lot harder and is a lot better.

The only real difference we have here is we get closure for Jax. That he regrets it. That the breaking moment that could have lead to his own redemption came after he died. That it all came too late.

Jax is a complicated character. No one’s trauma justifies then being shitty to others. And despite all that, Pomni tried to reach the good that was under all that. The rest of the cast was even starting to see it by the end. They accepted him in the ranks.

The peeks at Leeroy in real life show Jax had the capacity to be good. And so with all that in mind, Jax’s admission of “I don’t want to go,” is a real gut punch.

Jax could have been a good person. He chose not to. And he died regretting it.

(Also, this is not all touching on the transfemme side of things. But I’m not qualified to talk about that.)

[vernanonix]

I haven't touched Pokemon HOME on the Switch in a while, but Pokemon Champions made me wanna bust it out to figure out what's going on in there. And man the interface is still rough. What can I do to convince TPCI to give me the following:

The ability to insert boxes between other boxes instead of swapping

The ability to make box groups (Living Dex, Shiny Dex, Competitive, Event, and so on)

Prevent transfer Pokemon (from Go) from going into grouped boxes.

Let me work in two boxes inside Home simultaneously.

The ability to select and drop multiple Pokemon like in Legends ZA instead of the region select.

[animentality]

[ovenroastedtwerkey]

A grill worth fighting for