All posts tagged: Softy

Micro Softy 77: Two Proud Texans

Micro Softy 77: Two Proud Texans

Published by Jenni Sidey

I’m a proud resident of the lone star state of Texas. Texas’s shape on the map is arguably the most recognizable of all the states. And I’m aware of no other state where businesses and citizens proudly fly their state flag. I pass two enormous Texas flags on my daily commute. Dr Pepper, HEB stores, Whataburger and Buc-ee’s all had their genesis in Texas. (Fun fact: There is no period after Dr in Dr Pepper.)  I live in McGregor, Texas, where Elon Musk’s Space X has a testing center. Occasionally, the testing of their rocket engines gently rattles the dishes on the shelves in my home.  So, here’s this week’s Texas Micro Softy:   The Glenn Beck radio program originates from the Mercury Studios in Irving, Texas (Dallas–Fort Worth area).  Two Texans were guests on his show.   One of them was the father of the other one’s son.   How can this be? There are no adoptions, divorces or sperm banks involved in the answer.  We’ll give the answer next week here at MindMatters.ai.  Solution to Micro Softy 76: The Smoking Gun  Here’s last week’s puzzle.  After a 911 call about a heated argument, officers entered an unlocked apartment. From the bedroom they heard, “Don’t shoot, Frank!” then two shots. Inside, a physician and a clergyman stood side by …

Micro Softy 76: The Smoking Gun

Micro Softy 76: The Smoking Gun

Published by Jenni Sidey

Like a computer scientist or engineer, a law enforcement officer often relies on abductive reasoning to crack a case. Here’s an example:  After a 911 call about a heated argument, officers rushed to an apartment. When no one answers their knock, they enter through the unlocked door. From the bedroom came chatter; one officer clearly heard a voice say, “Don’t shoot, Frank, don’t shoot,” followed by two loud shots. The police ran and opened the door to a bedroom.  Inside the room were a physician, a mechanic, and a clergyman. When the policeman entered the room, a smoking gun lay at equal distance from the clergyman and the physician who were standing next to each other. The mechanic lay dead on the floor. Immediately, without touching anything in the room or a word being spoken, the police office arrested the clergyman.  What obviously observed circumstances would justify this immediate arrest? That’s this week’s Micro Softy puzzle.  Hint: Review Micro Softies 22 and 52. Solution to Micro Softy 75: Horology: Not What you Think  Last week’s Micro Softy concerned the slowing of a pendulum’s period in order to slow down a grandfather clock that was running too fast.  Here are the four suggestions and whether they are true or not. For fellow nerds, below the answers, is the supporting …

Micro Softy 75: Horology: Not What You Think

Micro Softy 75: Horology: Not What You Think

Published by Jenni Sidey

Engineers need to know physics in order to build things. The history of time keeping is called horology. Time keeping became more accurate over the years. A big breakthrough was pendulum clocks invented in the mid seventeenth century by Christiaan Huygens. His invention dramatically improved accuracy, reducing daily errors to under a minute.  Early longcase clocks are known today as grandfather clocks. The popular term “grandfather clock” comes from the 1876 song My Grandfather’s Clock by Henry Clay Work. The song, about a clock that “stopped, short, never to go again when the old man died,” was a big hit.      The grandfather clock uses a pendulum to keep time.  With this background, here’s this week’s Micro Softy.   Burt’s grandfather’s clock was running too fast, and he wasn’t sure how to fix it. Burt worked at NASA, and one evening during a gathering at his house, he cornered four scientists and asked for advice on how to slow the clock a bit. Here’s what they suggested:  “At the end of the pendulum, there’s a weight. Tape something to it to make it heavier. That should slow the clock.”  “The pendulum is too short. Lengthen it, and the clock will run slower.”  “Make the pendulum swing through a wider …

Micro Softy 74: The Cretan Paradox & Logical Illusions

Micro Softy 74: The Cretan Paradox & Logical Illusions

Published by Jenni Sidey

There are optical illusions and auditory illusions. This week’s Micro Softy concerns logical illusions.  Two optical illusions are shown in Figure 1.    On the left, the “Mad poiuyt” appeared on the cover of MAD Magazine in March 1965.   On the right, stairs repeat themselves in an impossible illusion. If you walk clockwise, you are always going downstairs forever. This staircase was used in the surreal art of M.C. Escher.  Figure 1: Two optical illusions. / WikipediaLeft, WikipediaRight.  The Shepard-Risset glissando is an auditory illusion where the pitch of a sound appears to continuously rise or fall indefinitely. Christopher Nolan’s films like Dunkirk and The Dark Knight used it to heighten the sense of dread or relentless motion. It can be used to create the illusion of an endless climb or descent, or to signify a special event, as in Super Mario 64’s endless staircase.  A tone that decreased in pitch forever is not possible. The Shepard-Risset glissando is an auditory illusion.    Logical Illusions  This week’s Micro Softy is about logical illusions. Here’s a classic example.  Epimenides, a 6th-century BC philosopher from Crete, reportedly said:  “All Cretans are liars.”  The Apostle Paul repeated this claim in the New Testament book of Titus.  “One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: `Cretans are always liars …’ ”  [Titus 1:12]   The logic illusion paradox arises when we consider that Epimenides himself is a Cretan. Suppose …

Micro Softy 73: The Ups & Downs of Escalator Design

Micro Softy 73: The Ups & Downs of Escalator Design

Published by Jenni Sidey

Civil engineers need to design around people. This is a hint for this week’s Micro Softy.  At the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) airport, the train Skylink seamlessly transports you from terminal to terminal. Trains depart every 2 minutes, with a maximum travel time of 9 minutes between the farthest points, making it highly efficient. The train operates from Level 3. An up escalator takes you there.  Here is something interesting. There is a single escalator that takes you up to the Skylink train. There are two down escalators for those exiting the train. That’s this week’s Micro Softy. Why are there two down escalators but only a single up escalator for Skylink?   See next week’s Micro Softy for the obvious answer.  Solution to Micro Softy 73: Necklace Cutting   Here’s last week’s Micro Softy concerning a girl named Sally with money flow problems.   Sally needs to pay her rent daily for 30 days using individual gold beads from a 31-bead necklace. However, each time she cuts the necklace to separate beads, she must pay a jeweler to reconnect it. To minimize these jeweler fees, she must find a strategy that allows her to give the landlord exactly one bead per day using the fewest possible cuts. …

Micro Softy 72: Necklace Cutting

Micro Softy 72: Necklace Cutting

Published by Jenni Sidey

At their most primitive level, computer programs can be reduced to a sequence of binary numbers.  Keep this in mind to solve this week’s Micro Softy.  Sally owes rent on her apartment but doesn’t get her paycheck for a month. But Sally owns a necklace with 31 gold beads. She tells her landlord she will give him one gold bead every day during the 30-day month. At the end of the month, she can pay the landlord her rent in cash and get her necklace back.  But there is a problem. Every time she cuts her necklace, she needs to pay a jeweler a dollar for the jeweler to reconnect the break in the necklace. So, Sally must figure out a way to minimize her payment to the jeweler by minimizing the number of cuts to her necklace.   For the first day, she cuts off one bead and gives it to the landlord.  The second day, she cut off two beads. Sally gives the landlord the two beads and the landlord returns the single bead he collected the previous day. Now the landlord has two beads.  On the third day, she gives the landlord the single bead he returned the previous day. Now the landlord has three beads.  So, Sally has …

Micro Softy 71: Strange Economics

Micro Softy 71: Strange Economics

Published by Jenni Sidey

Great nerds are able to grasp deeper meanings. So here is this week’s Micro Softy about an overheard conversation. Bill walks into Home Depot looking to buy something for his home. He asks the clerk in charge, “How much for one?” “Sixty cents,” the clerk replies. “Okay, how about 11?” “That’d be a dollar twenty.” “Great,” Bill says. “I’ll take 101.” “That’ll be a dollar eighty,” the clerk answers. So, here’s this week’s Micro Softy. What was Bill buying? Solution to Micro Softy 70: The Light Above Your Stairs Last week’s puzzle asks: how does a two-way switch control the light on the stairs? There is a switch downstairs and one upstairs. If the light is on, flip either switch and the light turns off. If the light is off, flip either switch and the light is turned on. To see how this works, look at the figure. The two switches used are called “single throw – double pole.” One switch is upstairs (marked U) and the other downstairs (marked D). As shown, both switches …

Micro Softy 70: The Light Above Your Stairs

Micro Softy 70: The Light Above Your Stairs

Published by Jenni Sidey

Some confuse the occupation of an electrical engineer with an electronics engineer or an electrician. I’m an electrical and computer engineer. I have been asked more than once to help a friend wire their houses. I suspect I could fake it, but am not licensed and would probably electrocute myself.  But I do know Switching Theory and how a two-way switch works. To show off my electrician skills, this week’s Micro Softy is about the light switch on your stairs; If the stair light is on, flip the downstairs switch and the light goes on/off. A flip of the upstairs switch does the same thing. If the light is off, flipping either switch turns the light on.   What’s a simple circuit that does this?   Solution to Micro Softy 69: A Bunch of Switches  Here’s last week’s Micro Softy. Fritz goes to an overcrowded prison where he is the 100th prisoners. There are seven switches on the wall. One is down and the other six are up. Every day, each prisoner flips one and only one of the switches. A prisoner can choose a different switch each time, but only flips one switch.  If Fritz identifies …

Micro Softy 69: A Bunch of Switches

Micro Softy 69: A Bunch of Switches

Published by Jenni Sidey

Computer engineers are required to study digital logic. This includes switching theory. Last week’s Micro Softy relates to this week’s puzzle, so let’s give last week’s solution first.  Solution to Micro Softy 68: An Overcrowded Prison   Frenchy was the 100th prisoner at the Pokey Nook Prison. Every day, each of the 100 prisoners here must flip a switch. Prisoner #1 goes first, then #2, etc up to prisoner #100. There are two switches next to each other. A prisoner can flip either switch but could only flip one. If Frenchy can tell the Warden with certainty when the 101st prisoner arrives, he’ll be released,     Frenchy and the other prisoners at Pokey Nook Prison flipped a switch each day for 101 days, On the 102nd day, Frenchy announced with certainty the 101st prisoner had arrived. How did he know?  The answer lies in 100 being an even number.   Suppose Frenchy starts with both switches in the up position. After 100 flips, including Frenchy’s flip, the switches will either both be up or both be down. If the initial configuration had one switch up and one down, then after 100 flips including Frenchy’s, they would still be in a one-up, one-down arrangement. Any other resulting configuration would signal to Frenchy that the 101st prisoner has arrived.  A Really Overcrowded Prison   This …

Micro Softy 68: An Overcrowded Prison

Micro Softy 68: An Overcrowded Prison

Published by Jenni Sidey

Great minds can figure the way out of difficult situations. Can you?  Here’s this week’s Micro Softy.  Frenchy is convicted of insensitive language that a coffee shop barista considered a micro aggression. Frenchy was convicted and sent to the Pokey Nook prison in Paris. Before being placed in isolation, he meets the Warden.  “You are our 100th prisoner. Every day, each of the 100 prisoners here must flip a switch. Prisoner #1 goes first, then #2, etc up to prisoner #100 which is you. There are two switches next to each other. You can switch either one but you can only switch one switch. We’re watching.”  The warden took a deep breath and continued.  “We’re overcrowded here. If we get one more prisoner, we have to start doubling up cells which is no good. Your crime is the least serious of all the prisoners in here. So, if you can tell me with certainty when the next prisoner arrives, I’ll release you to free up your cell. But no guessing. I don’t have the time. If you guess and are wrong, you will be sentenced to a severe paper cut and be required to dip it in lemon juice.”   Frenchy and the other prisoners at Pokey Nook prison flipped a switch each day for 101 days, On the 102nd day, Frenchy announced with certainty the 101st prisoner had arrived. How did he know?  Solution to Micro Softy 67: Three Switches and a Song   Here’s last week’s Micro Softy was also about switching theory.  …