Yamada Ichiro

"In most sciences one generation tears down what another has built, and what one has established, another undoes. In Mathematics alone each generation adds a new storey to the old structure." -Hermann Hankel

[bigsurboy]

Progression of the first 10,000 digits of π

by  Kryzwinski

[yamada-ichiro]

Arrival and Departure

[yamada-ichiro]

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[ltcolonel-faraj]

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[corporalsark]

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[yamada-ichiro]

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[secretsandpleasure-deactivated2]

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[ltcolonel-faraj]

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[corporalsark]

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[yamada-ichiro]

Yamada had to admit, the head of the Pleasurehouse (and, he reminded himself, the spy ring of SFB-1) surprised him. She held and presented herself professionally, tall and proud and rightfully intimidating in her own right. This was a woman he would be working with on a constant basis, and though Yamada didn’t hold personal relationships in high esteem, it would be the most comfortable and efficient for everyone if work relationships stayed cordial and mostly pleasant.

Still, if the state of the books and receipts was any indication of things to come… “Yamada,” he said, returning the gesture with well-oiled ease. “I’ll try to incorporate any changes or improvements as smoothly as possible.”

A small motion caught his eye, and he could recognize the hostility in Sark’s body language in respect to Marge. He filed the information away—any data could prove useful later, and with an extra body just entering the room, he didn’t have the time to analyze it at the moment.

Actually, Yamada hardly had time to analyze anything within the next minute. He managed to vaguely understand that the young woman who was practically bouncing in front of him (he’d been afraid for half a second he was going to be knocked over) was the mechanic, Regina Garza, and that she was responsible for the monstrosity that was sure to plague him in his dreams. That was as far as he got before a hand was thrust before him, expectant and much too quickly for him to comprehend.

As the gears in his head played catch-up, Yamada was left simply staring at Regina, shocked by the outburst and enthusiasm. Most people in the business were decidedly reserved (and with good reason), though he did know a few exceptions. “I-I’m not really…” He cleared his throat and made his tongue wait for his brain before he took her hand and gave it a short shake. “Right. Yamada Ichiro. It’s a pleasure.” He attempted a smile before sitting hurriedly in a seat. There were too many faces, too many personalities all at once and he’d be lying if he wasn’t a bit overwhelmed. 

[yamada-ichiro]

What's your favorite memory from college?

College was an experience in and of itself. The professors were able to go into extreme detail, even more so than my mentors, and were wholly devoted to their subjects. It was refreshing.

My favorite memory, though? That’s difficult to judge, as all memories are warped by one’s own perception of them. Going along with this flawed logic, however, I would have to say the day my first article was published would be mine. It was a simple thing about how Andrew Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem was overly complicated and lacked any enlightened ingenuity or, for lack of a better word, “style.” Fermat supposedly had a brilliant proof to support his last theorem, which the margin was famously “too narrow to contain.” Three hundred years later, Andrew Wiles offered an inelegant proof to the theorem, using techniques that hadn’t even been invented in Fermat’s time.

Of course, looking back, I know my article was lacking. I’d like to rewrite it with the notes I have gathered since then, eventually.

[yamada-ichiro]

What's the most annoying thing anyone has ever done at Rep & Red so far?

I haven’t been here very long, but I did receive an unpleasantly sticky “welcome present” from the mechanic, Miss Garza. The fact that it’s a complete physical mess isn’t the most annoying part—the problem lies with the fact that the actual financial records, beside the stains and gum, are spotty and insufficient at best. I don’t know who was in charge of the finances here before (was anyone in charge…?), but they’ve left me with no clear kind of filing system or organization or… anything! There’s absolutely no order, only madness.

Check back in at the end of the week and you might get a different answer.

[ltcolonel-faraj]

[yamada-ichiro]

A personality assessment? I’m not very familiar with A Song of Ice and Fire, so I can’t gauge how accurate the result “House Stark” is.

[ezrasung]

Yesss!

Oh, anyway— Mr. Yamada, I’ve only seen like, two seasons of Game of Thrones, but the Starks are basically the most honorable and sympathetic good guys. They got soul, so I’m assuming you do too.

I’m not a huge fan of Game of Thrones though. Lots of talking. You should watch Top Gear, it’s pretty rad.

[yamada-ichiro]

I—Well... you might find that's a rather premature assumption.

I do have to question the validity of this test. Most people would hesitate to use a word such as "sympathetic" while describing me. It looks like your result, however, was much more accurate.

I've never had much time for television. But if I get the chance, I guess I could, um, check it out. I would suggest something as well, but I don't suppose you'd be too interested in Mandelbrot's Statistical Self-Similarity and Fractional Dimension.

Thank you, Miss Garza.

[ltcolonel-faraj]

It’s been a while since A Song of Ice and Fire ended, but I thought this was fun. Also acceptable was House Martell, but I’ll live. Hear that, Jay? Don’t wake the dragon! 

[commander-oliver]

WHAT?

[yamada-ichiro]

A personality assessment? I'm not very familiar with A Song of Ice and Fire, so I can't gauge how accurate the result "House Stark" is.

[yamada-ichiro]

MM BABY I'D LIKE TO PLANT A HERSHEL'S KISS ON YOU IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN

I… I’m not quite sure I comprehend your meaning.

You’re obviously referencing William Herschel, who composed twenty-four symphonies and, with the aid of his hand built, custom telescopes, discovered Uranus and two of its moons. He also discovered over two thousand galaxies and catalogued them, creating the base for the New General Catalogue system astronomers still use today. I’m not familiar with the name “Herschel’s Kiss” for any objects he discovered, nor any named after him, though. (And why would I want a celestial object planted on me? They’re not fungi—they can’t grow biologically.) Is this some slang of which I am not aware? Are you so enthused by this supposed object that you elected to scream about it to me over the Internet?

Edit: … Ah. I’ve recently been informed that the point of your message was on the, er, kiss. So, this was a… flirtation? Right. Well.

I don’t really, um, what I mean to say is I—

…

You’re wasting your time.

[raceandeconomics-deactivated201]

Formalized Music: Thought and Mathematics in Music is a book by Greek composer, architect, and engineer Iannis Xenakis in which he explains his motivation, philosophy, and technique for composing music with stochastic mathematical functions. It was published in Paris in 1963 as Musiques formelles: nouveaux principes formels de composition musicale as a special double issue of La Revue musicale and republished in an expanded edition in 1981 in Paris by Stock Musique. It was later translated into English with three added chapters and published in 1971 by Indiana University Press, republished in 1992 by Pendragon Press with a 2nd edition published 2001, by Pendragon. The book contains the complete FORTRAN program code for one of Xenakis’s early computer music composition programs GENDY. It has been described as a groundbreaking work.

[feigning]

[thekingofangst-deactivated20130]

Tokyo - Rainbow Bridge by GlobeTrotter 2000 on Flickr.

[fathom-the-universe-blog]

Fractal Seascape

These images are sections of “The Burning Ship Fractal”. This fractal is a small variation on the Mandelbrot set and it looks like a burning ship. Zooming in on the perimeter of this fractal shows incredible intricate structures, a haunting seascape with burning shipwrecks reminiscent of a historical battle at sea. For the maths enthusiasts, I have included the link with the formula. There are also programs that can run this fractal if you want to explore it yourself.. I can’t get mine to work (yet)  Fathom the Universe http://paulbourke.net/fractals/burnship/

[secretsandpleasure-deactivated2]

[visualizingmath]

The Klein Bottle is “an example of a non-orientable surface; informally, it is a surface (a two-dimensional manifold) in which notions of left and right cannot be consistently defined. Other related non-orientable objects include the Möbius strip and the real projective plane. Whereas a Möbius strip is a surface with boundary, a Klein bottle has no boundary (for comparison, a sphere is an orientable surface with no boundary).” More.

The Klein Bottle can only exist in 4 dimensions.

Image source.

[yamada-ichiro]

Arrival and Departure

[yamada-ichiro]

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[ltcolonel-faraj]

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[corporalsark]

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[yamada-ichiro]

Just as Fukushima made no attempt to include him, Yamada didn’t bother following after the two of them. He was relieved, in a way; good to know they wouldn’t be putting up false pretenses. When he realized he was instead left alone with Lt. Colonel Faraj and the Doberman (still obscenely large—28 inches at the withers at least), he wondered if he should have suffered through the greasy snack.

Luckily, Lt. Colonel Faraj suggested something much more appealing. At the prospect of work—calming, uncomplicated work—the numb feeling in his toes and the cobwebs behind his eyes cleared. “If I could, I would like to get a start on them now,” Yamada said, speaking for the first time since getting into the car. The sooner he learned the organizational system of their records, the sooner and more efficiently he would be able to work the new expenses in.   

He veered too close to the dog a few times as they navigated the halls once again, feeling its cold nose bump against the back of his hand. He moved to the other side of the hall, wondering absently if the hound could tell from his smell that something was wrong with him. The thought didn’t make him any more excited for his future appointments with the Lt. Colonel.

Lt. Colonel Faraj seemed as aghast as he was at the sight of the “books.” So that’s what Jay Oliver meant by stuck. A soft sigh of, “Oh,” escaped his lips before he could stop it. It was the definition of disorder. His skin crawled at the thought of the many hours it would take just to get the papers in an acceptable state, let alone how long he’d have to spend organizing the records from scratch. (How far back did they go?)

The next moment was a bit of a blur. Yamada went still and stiff as a board as the (gigantic, huge, dangerous) Doberman jumped on him, all muscle and paws and teeth. Well, tongue was more accurate. He was thankful he managed not to topple over from the sudden force.

It was pulled away quickly. Yamada didn’t hear if there were any apologies. He only saw the man appear from behind a corner. Corporal Sark’s eyes, though he couldn’t meet them, stared into him, through him, surveying him like the very cameras he controlled. He smiled, which was normally a sign of welcome, but even Yamada could tell it was… off.

Even so, he followed procedure. “Yamada Ichiro. Thank you for your hospitality, Corporal.” His eyes skittered over to the clump of papers and receipts, which didn’t end up making him feel any more at ease. “I’ll be working as the accountant for SFB-1 and Golden Gate Casino and Pleasurehouse.” He considered smiling back. It was customary, was it not—returning a smile? The thought was quickly chased away. Between the emotionally-aware Lt. Colonel and the eagle-eyed Corporal, he’d be seen through in seconds.

Straight to business, then. Staring at the table, he said, quietly, “I could use some help separating the papers from the spearmint.”   

[randomspection]

Chang Yu says: “Presence of mind is the general’s most important asset. It is the quality which enables him to discipline disorder and to inspire courage into the panic stricken.”

Sun Tzu, The Art of War (via randomspection)

[neutrinoprism]

[malswebparty]

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Herschel’s 8th Symphony

William Herschel, along with his sister Caroline, is best known for discovering the planet Uranus in 1781, but he was also a composer.  Here’s a short extract from his 8th Symphony.