OT--My Son, the Geek--BW---long

[CATherine]

My son, Jeff, has an old laptop. It is so old it won't even take
Windows 3.1!! So he runs it in DOS. A few days ago he was sitting at
such an angle i could see the screen as he worked on it. It showed a
design like a two inch sphere in pixels. Later, I noticed there were
more of these spheres in a column. And they were slightly larger. As
the days passed, the spheres grew and stretched sideways to ovals.

This morning i noticed the design had stretched out to a wide ellipse
with dark slots in the center and the pixels were sideways slots. I
was curious and very puzzled. I looked at him working on it and
noticed a bright white line and dark lines moving, reminding me of
what De-Fragging looks like.

"Jeff, how long are you going to work on that?"
"I don't know", he mumbled.
"Isn't it boring?"
"Um"
"It looks kind of like De-frag."
"Ugh, ugh."
"So, what are those moving slots and why has the picture changed from
a round to an ellipse?"
"It is a spreadsheet. I am entering numbers."
"I thought spreadsheets were sort of square. So, what are you adding
up?"
"I'm not adding up. I am entering formulas."

Uh, oh. I realize that word is beyond my capability. I can barely add
and subtract. I regularly mess up my checkbook even with the help of a
calculator. I remember being in geometry class during the dark ages of
my life, trying to learn formulas. The teacher only passed me in the
class with a D because he knew I was doing the best i could and he
didn't want me to repeat, especially not in His class!

But I am plagued by curiosity that won't let well enough alone. So I
plunge even deeper into the murk of whatever is fascinating him
despite the boredom of it.

"How do you know so many formulas?"
"One number just leads to another."
"So, what are the formulas for?"
"I am figuring out the specifications of a three-dimensional figure."
I think that is what he said. Or something like it. I didn't dare ask
what kind of three-dimensional shape. It blows my mind he is doing
three-dimensional stuff on a two-dimensional screen.

I watch awhile as the column of ellipses stretch more and more with
ever larger formulas going into the slots. The shapes are not only
wider than the screen; they are now taller than the screen.

"Jeff, you know what this reminds me of?"
"Um."
"I recently read a book by A.C. Clarke that had a woman delving ever
deeper into fractals. She was using a super computer. After several
months the fractal was bigger than the galaxy, she was delving so
deep. They finally had to take her away from it and force feed her and
give her therapy. The fractal made her bonkers. It was hypnotic."
"mumble."
"Jeff, do you feel alright? No fever?"
"I'm ok."
"Well, if you quit eating and your eyes start whirling, I am calling
the men in the white coats!"
"giggle."

He giggled. Oh, boy. Is that the first sign of going into hypnotic
bonkers? Help!!

CATherine, thinking her kid has way too much time on his hands.

[Takayuki]

CATherine wrote:
> "How do you know so many formulas?"
> "One number just leads to another."
> "So, what are the formulas for?"
> "I am figuring out the specifications of a three-dimensional figure."
> I think that is what he said. Or something like it. I didn't dare ask
> what kind of three-dimensional shape. It blows my mind he is doing
> three-dimensional stuff on a two-dimensional screen.

Even modern screens are normally two dimensional, you know. :)

I felt a strong sense of deja vu when I read this, because what Jeff is
doing is like something I went through a long time ago. When I was in
high school taking trig, I happened to be reading a book with a chapter
on Renaissance art history which happened to have this etching by
Albrech Durer:

http://www.makart.com/resources/artclass/finder.html

This is how Renaissance artists started mastering perspective - by
placing a grid screen between themselves and their subjects.

But this looked very familiar to me - the lines between Durer and the
model formed similar right triangles, whose lengths you could determine
using trigonometry, which we were learning. Also, the grid that is
being used looked an awful lot like a computer screen with huge pixels,
doesn't it? I made some quick calculations and as I suspected, found I
could use simple trigonometry to render 3D graphics! So I did, and it
was pretty fun.

I didn't know until then that you could combine Renaissance history and
trigonometry and apply them to computer science.

[CATherine]

On 20 Dec 2005 15:38:57 -0800, "Takayuki" >
wrote:

>CATherine wrote:
>> "How do you know so many formulas?"
>> "One number just leads to another."
>> "So, what are the formulas for?"
>> "I am figuring out the specifications of a three-dimensional figure."
>> I think that is what he said. Or something like it. I didn't dare ask
>> what kind of three-dimensional shape. It blows my mind he is doing
>> three-dimensional stuff on a two-dimensional screen.
>
>Even modern screens are normally two dimensional, you know. :)
>
>I felt a strong sense of deja vu when I read this, because what Jeff is
>doing is like something I went through a long time ago. When I was in
>high school taking trig, I happened to be reading a book with a chapter
>on Renaissance art history which happened to have this etching by
>Albrech Durer:
>
>http://www.makart.com/resources/artclass/finder.html
>
>This is how Renaissance artists started mastering perspective - by
>placing a grid screen between themselves and their subjects.
>
>But this looked very familiar to me - the lines between Durer and the
>model formed similar right triangles, whose lengths you could determine
>using trigonometry, which we were learning. Also, the grid that is
>being used looked an awful lot like a computer screen with huge pixels,
>doesn't it? I made some quick calculations and as I suspected, found I
>could use simple trigonometry to render 3D graphics! So I did, and it
>was pretty fun.
>
>I didn't know until then that you could combine Renaissance history and
>trigonometry and apply them to computer science.

That was an interesting site. I didn't know the old artists used such
techniques.

Jeff sometimes mentions the words--trig and calculus--when he is
talking about something mathematical. My eyes just glaze over and the
explanations just make a noise in my ears. I say, why use trig when a
measure tape will do? :-))

--
CATherine

[badwilson]

Geez, that sounds like my dad. He loves fractals, he's always making
programs to make them. He sent me a 2 hour DVD with his fractals set to
music. I hate the music he picked but if I put it on mute and play my
own music it's actually pretty cool. It's something that should be
projected onto a big screen in a nightclub.
--
Britta
"There is no snooze button on a cat who wants breakfast." -- Unknown
Check out pictures of Vino at:
http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album


CATherine wrote:
> My son, Jeff, has an old laptop. It is so old it won't even take
> Windows 3.1!! So he runs it in DOS. A few days ago he was sitting at
> such an angle i could see the screen as he worked on it. It showed a
> design like a two inch sphere in pixels. Later, I noticed there were
> more of these spheres in a column. And they were slightly larger. As
> the days passed, the spheres grew and stretched sideways to ovals.
>
> This morning i noticed the design had stretched out to a wide ellipse
> with dark slots in the center and the pixels were sideways slots. I
> was curious and very puzzled. I looked at him working on it and
> noticed a bright white line and dark lines moving, reminding me of
> what De-Fragging looks like.
>
> "Jeff, how long are you going to work on that?"
> "I don't know", he mumbled.
> "Isn't it boring?"
> "Um"
> "It looks kind of like De-frag."
> "Ugh, ugh."
> "So, what are those moving slots and why has the picture changed from
> a round to an ellipse?"
> "It is a spreadsheet. I am entering numbers."
> "I thought spreadsheets were sort of square. So, what are you adding
> up?"
> "I'm not adding up. I am entering formulas."
>
> Uh, oh. I realize that word is beyond my capability. I can barely add
> and subtract. I regularly mess up my checkbook even with the help of a
> calculator. I remember being in geometry class during the dark ages of
> my life, trying to learn formulas. The teacher only passed me in the
> class with a D because he knew I was doing the best i could and he
> didn't want me to repeat, especially not in His class!
>
> But I am plagued by curiosity that won't let well enough alone. So I
> plunge even deeper into the murk of whatever is fascinating him
> despite the boredom of it.
>
> "How do you know so many formulas?"
> "One number just leads to another."
> "So, what are the formulas for?"
> "I am figuring out the specifications of a three-dimensional figure."
> I think that is what he said. Or something like it. I didn't dare ask
> what kind of three-dimensional shape. It blows my mind he is doing
> three-dimensional stuff on a two-dimensional screen.
>
> I watch awhile as the column of ellipses stretch more and more with
> ever larger formulas going into the slots. The shapes are not only
> wider than the screen; they are now taller than the screen.
>
> "Jeff, you know what this reminds me of?"
> "Um."
> "I recently read a book by A.C. Clarke that had a woman delving ever
> deeper into fractals. She was using a super computer. After several
> months the fractal was bigger than the galaxy, she was delving so
> deep. They finally had to take her away from it and force feed her and
> give her therapy. The fractal made her bonkers. It was hypnotic."
> "mumble."
> "Jeff, do you feel alright? No fever?"
> "I'm ok."
> "Well, if you quit eating and your eyes start whirling, I am calling
> the men in the white coats!"
> "giggle."
>
> He giggled. Oh, boy. Is that the first sign of going into hypnotic
> bonkers? Help!!
>
> CATherine, thinking her kid has way too much time on his hands.

[Sandra]

My elder son has been programming from age 10, so I can sympathise with you!
He is now at Uni in his first year on a computing degree. We have got used
to not understanding half of what he says, and he laughs when we let our
eyes glaze over! His laptop though is his pride and joy. Other kids hanker
after cars, he goes after gigabytes! Have to admit he is very good at what
he does, but where that ability came from we have not a clue. He can spend
days rendering graphics or sorting out problems. When Suduko came along, his
response was to make a program that would solve them! We did tell him that
the idea was to give the brain cells a work out but......

--
Sandra

[Yoj]

"Sandra" > wrote in message
...
> My elder son has been programming from age 10, so I can sympathise with
you!
> He is now at Uni in his first year on a computing degree. We have got used
> to not understanding half of what he says, and he laughs when we let our
> eyes glaze over! His laptop though is his pride and joy. Other kids hanker
> after cars, he goes after gigabytes! Have to admit he is very good at what
> he does, but where that ability came from we have not a clue. He can spend
> days rendering graphics or sorting out problems. When Suduko came along,
his
> response was to make a program that would solve them! We did tell him that
> the idea was to give the brain cells a work out but......
>
> --
> Sandra

I wouldn't worry about his brain cells. I suspect they get enough of a
workout with the programming and problem solving he does.

Joy

[Karen]

Wow. That's all I can say. (This is a wonderful story by the way. Maybe you
can't do math but you can sure write.)


"CATherine" > wrote in message
...
>
> My son, Jeff, has an old laptop. It is so old it won't even take
> Windows 3.1!! So he runs it in DOS. A few days ago he was sitting at
> such an angle i could see the screen as he worked on it. It showed a
> design like a two inch sphere in pixels. Later, I noticed there were
> more of these spheres in a column. And they were slightly larger. As
> the days passed, the spheres grew and stretched sideways to ovals.
>
> This morning i noticed the design had stretched out to a wide ellipse
> with dark slots in the center and the pixels were sideways slots. I
> was curious and very puzzled. I looked at him working on it and
> noticed a bright white line and dark lines moving, reminding me of
> what De-Fragging looks like.
>
> "Jeff, how long are you going to work on that?"
> "I don't know", he mumbled.
> "Isn't it boring?"
> "Um"
> "It looks kind of like De-frag."
> "Ugh, ugh."
> "So, what are those moving slots and why has the picture changed from
> a round to an ellipse?"
> "It is a spreadsheet. I am entering numbers."
> "I thought spreadsheets were sort of square. So, what are you adding
> up?"
> "I'm not adding up. I am entering formulas."
>
> Uh, oh. I realize that word is beyond my capability. I can barely add
> and subtract. I regularly mess up my checkbook even with the help of a
> calculator. I remember being in geometry class during the dark ages of
> my life, trying to learn formulas. The teacher only passed me in the
> class with a D because he knew I was doing the best i could and he
> didn't want me to repeat, especially not in His class!
>
> But I am plagued by curiosity that won't let well enough alone. So I
> plunge even deeper into the murk of whatever is fascinating him
> despite the boredom of it.
>
> "How do you know so many formulas?"
> "One number just leads to another."
> "So, what are the formulas for?"
> "I am figuring out the specifications of a three-dimensional figure."
> I think that is what he said. Or something like it. I didn't dare ask
> what kind of three-dimensional shape. It blows my mind he is doing
> three-dimensional stuff on a two-dimensional screen.
>
> I watch awhile as the column of ellipses stretch more and more with
> ever larger formulas going into the slots. The shapes are not only
> wider than the screen; they are now taller than the screen.
>
> "Jeff, you know what this reminds me of?"
> "Um."
> "I recently read a book by A.C. Clarke that had a woman delving ever
> deeper into fractals. She was using a super computer. After several
> months the fractal was bigger than the galaxy, she was delving so
> deep. They finally had to take her away from it and force feed her and
> give her therapy. The fractal made her bonkers. It was hypnotic."
> "mumble."
> "Jeff, do you feel alright? No fever?"
> "I'm ok."
> "Well, if you quit eating and your eyes start whirling, I am calling
> the men in the white coats!"
> "giggle."
>
> He giggled. Oh, boy. Is that the first sign of going into hypnotic
> bonkers? Help!!
>
> CATherine, thinking her kid has way too much time on his hands.

[Karen]

"Takayuki" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> CATherine wrote:
> > "How do you know so many formulas?"
> > "One number just leads to another."
> > "So, what are the formulas for?"
> > "I am figuring out the specifications of a three-dimensional figure."
> > I think that is what he said. Or something like it. I didn't dare ask
> > what kind of three-dimensional shape. It blows my mind he is doing
> > three-dimensional stuff on a two-dimensional screen.
>
> Even modern screens are normally two dimensional, you know. :)
>
> I felt a strong sense of deja vu when I read this, because what Jeff is
> doing is like something I went through a long time ago. When I was in
> high school taking trig, I happened to be reading a book with a chapter
> on Renaissance art history which happened to have this etching by
> Albrech Durer:
>
> http://www.makart.com/resources/artclass/finder.html
>
> This is how Renaissance artists started mastering perspective - by
> placing a grid screen between themselves and their subjects.
>
> But this looked very familiar to me - the lines between Durer and the
> model formed similar right triangles, whose lengths you could determine
> using trigonometry, which we were learning. Also, the grid that is
> being used looked an awful lot like a computer screen with huge pixels,
> doesn't it? I made some quick calculations and as I suspected, found I
> could use simple trigonometry to render 3D graphics! So I did, and it
> was pretty fun.
>
> I didn't know until then that you could combine Renaissance history and
> trigonometry and apply them to computer science.
>

As Charlie Eppes (mmmmmmm) say in NUMB3Rs: We use math everyday. :D

[CATherine]

On Wed, 21 Dec 2005 16:00:38 -0600, "Karen"
> wrote:

>Wow. That's all I can say. (This is a wonderful story by the way. Maybe you
>can't do math but you can sure write.)
>
Gee, thanks!! I was feeling sort of goofy and tickled while talking to
Jeff. Sometimes I get rather spacey. ;-) So, then I sat down at my
desk and started laughing about it; and first thing I knew I had
brought up Notepad and was writing it down! The best things in life
are spontaneous!

--
CATherine