Mandelbrot

Mandelbrot

Very exciting for those of you who like fractals. I just found a talk by Mandelbrot http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/52/

I haven't watched it yet, so don't complain if it's not that good.
But, hey, it's Mr. Fractal, it has to be good.
As a wiki reference to intro Mandelbrot set
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandelbrot_set

Mini-trip: Salem

Mini-trip: Salem

I am bewitched!! Last Saturday my roomie and I along with a bunch of BU people we don't know, we went to Salem, MA.







The witch trials were based on events that took place there. But nothing compared to the Inquisition in Europe. We are talking about 20 people in the witch trials here, and thousands of people in Europe...simply no comparison.

In any case, I find it very interesting that a few girls caused so much trouble in the state and affected so deeply public perception against witch craft. After all, there were a bunch of teenage girls, in a society that sounded very puritan and which was really fast to point the finger to a black woman for "be-witching" the girls. And the more people believed and feared, the more power did they give the courts to rule against their own neighbors.

Which brings us to sth very important: if someone with some power persuades the public that they should fear sth (an idea, a group of people) whether rationally or irrationally, the public will immediately grant greater powers to the leader to destroy the cause of the evil. Ahem, reminds you of sth?

Theory 2: Driving in MA - permit, bureaucracy and computer screens

Theory 2: Driving in MA - permit, bureaucracy and computer screens

I've been very absent lately, and I profoundly apologize. But I have been DOING stuff. One of them had been to try to graduate from Boston University with a Master in Science. The other has been to (finally) get my driving license here in Massachusetts.
Note that I already have a European license, so I'm doing it to get it done as it is valid for five years as opposed to the international which is valid for a year or so.

I studied for the written test (aka. the permit) which ended up being highly annoying as the booklet focuses on how to keep your license and what are the fines for each of the minor and major crimes you can commit on the roads. NOT how to drive safely, correctly and how to take care of your car. ONE of the SIX chapters was about right of way and driving safely. The rest was about fines, penalties, insurance policies.
I consider this as a state attitude. And I am 24 and I know how to drive, but for a 16-year-old, maybe it would be more useful to say what is correct to do rather than mention what is wrong. As far as I have heard, it is highly pedagogical to tell students what is correct to do rather than what not to do.

Overcoming my frustration every time I needed to read the next chapter of the booklet, I finally finished it and my steps took me to the Boston Registry of Motor Vehicles. I go early, I get my number for the license and wait. And wait. And wait.
Because as it turns out that one-two RMV employees are taking care of licenses. Their job is to check your identity documents, collect the payment and perform a basic eye-check. The procedure takes a few minutes.

The result: the RMV has 10-12 computer screens where the permit test can be taken.
When I went to use it, we were only 3 people in the room leaving the other 7-9 computer screens completely useless. Simultaneously, outside, there must have been another 30 people waiting to take the test!! Bureaucracy doesn't just take computers to be overcome. It also requires management which recognizes the areas that are overloaded at any particular time and turns the attention of the personnel to that area.

And now the test. OF COURSE, like 7 of the 20 questions were about fines and what would be the punishment for doing this, not doing that...etc.
And the best part. Even though the computer knows my year of birth (which assumes that it knows that I'm over 18, so not a junior operator) 5 of my 20 questions are about junior operators!!!!

With this I leave you to the complete craziness of bureaucracy and the thought that it doesn't matter whether you are in Athens or in Boston. Waiting lines are universal!