Monthly Q&A – #1
Have questions? Get some answers!
It's been about a month since Q&A launched on this blog. I've had a staggering two questions e-mailed to me for answering. Don't be afraid to send in questions!
Avoiding and testing for fake flash drives – eBay
Sometimes you've just got to use eBay. Here's how to do it safely.
Buying flash memory devices on auction sites is risky business. It may appear that the listing offers a large capacity product for insane prices, but reality is, there's very little chance that it's the real deal. Originally scammers would flog off devices with no electronics inside. Playing such a primitive trick is all too obvious, even a layman could quickly and easily identify the root cause within minutes.
Sorry for the lack of updates!
Just thought I'd pop in to inform you all that I haven't abandoned the place!
I've been busy with university work, nonetheless, I've just started work on the site's very first review! It's the Rihac CISS (Continuous Ink Supply System), which acts as a large ink reservoir feeding ink into bubble jet printers. It's an awesome product, but does it perform well? To find out, watch this space! In the meantime, here's a picture to whet your appetite:
Proving a probability paradox – Part 3
The last installation of the three part look at the Monty Hall problem
Last but not least, this third part of the our problem solving exercise delves into the code for the TextBox object. Part 1 and Part 2 can be found at their respective links. Part 1 contains the code we're analysing.
Proving a probability paradox – Part 2
This one's about the code.
Today we continue with the discussion regarding the Monty Hall Paradox. Part 1 of this guide can be found here. For those who want more insight into the Monty Hall problem, there's a good explanation on Wikipedia.
Programming is a great tool for solving problems, especially those which involve mathematics. As mentioned previously, the programming language I've chosen is C#. You could also replicate the simulation on several other languages.
Note: This is not a programming tutorial. If you want to learn C#, there are many guides on the Internet. This write-up will only briefly cover the C# language. The following describes how the software itself functions. That being said, mucking around with the code will help you learn how to work with the language.
Journalistic Trolling
Not all errors are mistakes.
Journalism is a broad area of literature aimed at providing audiences with information, entertainment, and opinion. The journalists who create these pieces of writing for the masses are often closely scrutinised. That is, there will always be readers ready to pounce at the smallest of errors.
Proving a probability paradox
Logic isn't always as obvious as one first thinks...
A paradox, by definition, is a contradiction of logic. I was recently introduced to the Monty Hall paradox, a probability driven problem which appears to have an obvious answer, but in reality, is quite sneaky.
The Monty Hall problem originated with the TV show 'Let's Make a Deal', in 1963. It's named after the host Monty Hall, and the problem in it's basic form involved three doors, each with an unknown object behind it. Only one of the doors contains a prize, the other two have an unwanted results - a goat.