Complicated giveaway-WINNER
I actually cannot believe how few people entered this contest. Anyway, Pensfan won it (Microsoft Excel random number function chose the winner) and should have email from me by now.
For anybody who gives a rat's azz I've posted what I think is a decent (not great) answer to the question I originally posed at the end of this thread.....mostly because nobody else came up with anything better.
1/9/07: btt. Smart-azz to entrant ratio >> 1.618. If this doesn't change in the next 48 hours I'll pick a winner on 1/11/07 sometime after 7pm.
UPDATE: wow, a lot of you folks get crabby when giveaways don't follow your idea of what they should be! Anyway, for those of you who didn't read the original post the first time, I'll point out that at this point, all you have to do to enter is agree with Buschmaster or Pensfan. (But you'll still improve your odds by improving on their answers).
ORIGINAL POST
It's time for a giveaway for the following reasons:
-I recently got that fourth star
-It's still pretty close to the Christmas season (I would have done it earlier but didn't have the funds)
-Good news on my GF's health (see my other post on that topic)
-I just dropped $900 on what I hope will be a very fun .45 (again, see my other post)
-And just because you bozos are a continual source of entertainment.
I don't own a lot of stuff, and most of what you might want, I still want, so rather than send you the incense I've been meaning to throw away or take to Goodwill I'm giving away a $30 gift card.
I'm thinking of a gift card to Cabelas, but I'll buy one for any business that meets the following criteria:
-Can reasonably be construed to be a business that sells things of interest to shooters (my call).
-Not a company against which I have some weird grudge (there aren't many).
-Has some mechanism by which I can easily buy the winner a gift-card online.
Giveaway rules:
You must post a short essay that explains the link between the aesthetic appeal of the Parthenon and the way that cells multiply in living organisms. I have a vague notion of this link but I'm too lazy to put it together for myself.
The first submission that is acceptable achieves two entries into the hat.
The next poster to improve (my call on whether it's an improvement) on the first poster gets three entries into the hat.
Subsequent posters who improve on previous submissions get (in order) 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89...etc submissions into the hat (add the last two numbers in the series to determine the number of submissions you will get: e.g.: 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21, etc).
Anyone, at any time after the first acceptable post, may say 'what he said' to an acceptable post for a single entry into the hat, but no poster may gain more than one submission in this way. Also, if you already have a submission and post an improvement, your total number of submissions is the number of submissions warranted by your most recent improvement. In other words, if you posted the first acceptable essay (2 submissions) and also the fourth essay (third improvement; 8 submissions) then your total submissions are 8, not 10.
Clear as mud? Good luck.
I'll select a winner from the hat at random on 15 January. I may post hints if they seem necessary between now and then.
Edit. First hint:
The number of entries you get with each successive improvement to the essay forms a mathematical series that is named for the dude who first described it. The series goes: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34......
And that series is relevant to the question I have posed.
For anybody who gives a rat's azz I've posted what I think is a decent (not great) answer to the question I originally posed at the end of this thread.....mostly because nobody else came up with anything better.
1/9/07: btt. Smart-azz to entrant ratio >> 1.618. If this doesn't change in the next 48 hours I'll pick a winner on 1/11/07 sometime after 7pm.
UPDATE: wow, a lot of you folks get crabby when giveaways don't follow your idea of what they should be! Anyway, for those of you who didn't read the original post the first time, I'll point out that at this point, all you have to do to enter is agree with Buschmaster or Pensfan. (But you'll still improve your odds by improving on their answers).
ORIGINAL POST
It's time for a giveaway for the following reasons:
-I recently got that fourth star
-It's still pretty close to the Christmas season (I would have done it earlier but didn't have the funds)
-Good news on my GF's health (see my other post on that topic)
-I just dropped $900 on what I hope will be a very fun .45 (again, see my other post)
-And just because you bozos are a continual source of entertainment.
I don't own a lot of stuff, and most of what you might want, I still want, so rather than send you the incense I've been meaning to throw away or take to Goodwill I'm giving away a $30 gift card.
I'm thinking of a gift card to Cabelas, but I'll buy one for any business that meets the following criteria:
-Can reasonably be construed to be a business that sells things of interest to shooters (my call).
-Not a company against which I have some weird grudge (there aren't many).
-Has some mechanism by which I can easily buy the winner a gift-card online.
Giveaway rules:
You must post a short essay that explains the link between the aesthetic appeal of the Parthenon and the way that cells multiply in living organisms. I have a vague notion of this link but I'm too lazy to put it together for myself.
The first submission that is acceptable achieves two entries into the hat.
The next poster to improve (my call on whether it's an improvement) on the first poster gets three entries into the hat.
Subsequent posters who improve on previous submissions get (in order) 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89...etc submissions into the hat (add the last two numbers in the series to determine the number of submissions you will get: e.g.: 2+3=5, 3+5=8, 5+8=13, 8+13=21, etc).
Anyone, at any time after the first acceptable post, may say 'what he said' to an acceptable post for a single entry into the hat, but no poster may gain more than one submission in this way. Also, if you already have a submission and post an improvement, your total number of submissions is the number of submissions warranted by your most recent improvement. In other words, if you posted the first acceptable essay (2 submissions) and also the fourth essay (third improvement; 8 submissions) then your total submissions are 8, not 10.
Clear as mud? Good luck.
I'll select a winner from the hat at random on 15 January. I may post hints if they seem necessary between now and then.
Edit. First hint:
The number of entries you get with each successive improvement to the essay forms a mathematical series that is named for the dude who first described it. The series goes: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34......
And that series is relevant to the question I have posed.
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WTH??? [:(!] 0 -
[8D]--The whole relationship between those two is the "jurassic Park" run amok--
--The probable success in cell division prediction/production and justifiable record Data approaches .0001 %--
--Can be done as reliably with crustaceon "cell structure" as LIVING cell isolation--
--[:D][:D]--JIMBO0 -
more like a earn away, or a confuse away, nothing given away but confusion
so i don't think i qualify, thanks anyway0 -
Too complicated for my limited mind. I think I'll pass and spare the headache, thanks anyway. 0 -
What they ALL said. [:D][:D][:D][:D] 0 -
Now... the problem with offering the first proof is that I only get one entry. So I will only offer some basic info to add on to it later for more entries.
The facade of the Parthenon is often said to have followed the Fibonacci String, or the Golden Ratio, in the proportions of the building.
Adolf Zeising, whose main interests were mathematics and philosophy, found the golden ratio expressed in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants, and of veins in leaves. He extended his research to the skeletons of animals and the branchings of their veins and nerves, to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals, as well as the use of proportion in artistic endeavors. In these phenomena he saw the golden ratio operating as a universal law. Zeising wrote in 1854:
"in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art, and which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realization, however, in the human form."
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I guess I should watch Donald Duck in Mathemagic Land again.
(I have a copy somewhere)0 -
Damn I dont write reports for the college classes I take and I PAY them, why would I write one let alone two for a $30 gift card, nice gift just too much work for this lazy bum .... maybe I can get the wife to write it. [;)] 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Pensfan
Now... the problem with offering the first proof is that I only get one entry. So I will only offer some basic info to add on to it later for more entries.
The facade of the Parthenon is often said to have followed the Fibonacci String, or the Golden Ratio, in the proportions of the building.
Adolf Zeising, whose main interests were mathematics and philosophy, found the golden ratio expressed in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants, and of veins in leaves. He extended his research to the skeletons of animals and the branchings of their veins and nerves, to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals, as well as the use of proportion in artistic endeavors. In these phenomena he saw the golden ratio operating as a universal law. Zeising wrote in 1854:
"in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art, and which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realization, however, in the human form."
Definite improvement on the first explanation. Worth three submissions. Still haven't explained WHY the golden mean (or rather, the Fibonacci series) shows up in nature.0 -
quote:Originally posted by Pensfan
Now... the problem with offering the first proof is that I only get one entry. So I will only offer some basic info to add on to it later for more entries.
The facade of the Parthenon is often said to have followed the Fibonacci String, or the Golden Ratio, in the proportions of the building.
Adolf Zeising, whose main interests were mathematics and philosophy, found the golden ratio expressed in the arrangement of branches along the stems of plants, and of veins in leaves. He extended his research to the skeletons of animals and the branchings of their veins and nerves, to the proportions of chemical compounds and the geometry of crystals, as well as the use of proportion in artistic endeavors. In these phenomena he saw the golden ratio operating as a universal law. Zeising wrote in 1854:
"in which is contained the ground-principle of all formative striving for beauty and completeness in the realms of both nature and art, and which permeates, as a paramount spiritual ideal, all structures, forms and proportions, whether cosmic or individual, organic or inorganic, acoustic or optical; which finds its fullest realization, however, in the human form."
O.K., what he said! By the way what did he say?[:D][:D][:p][:p]0 -
quote:Definite improvement on the first explanation. Worth three submissions.??? you crazy 0 -
What ??? you really need to lay off the drugs ..........
Geez !!!
d.a.stearns
Gunsmith / LEO
Niota , Tn0 -
I had one and the wheels fell off,I painted it red then I ate it.[:D] 0 -
'In the Spring, there will be a period of growth...' 0 -
I love this!! Don't know anything about it.
I have to study and LEARN something today to enter a giveaway??...OK I win automatically by learning and have a chance at an extra treat.
How come I feel like a gerbil in a lab experiment in problem solving???[V]
BTW WHAT Pensfan said!!!0 -
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quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
the parthenon is in the shape of a golden rectangle, the sides of which use 'the golden ratio' (phi, 1.618...), which is the ratio ultimately approached by any two numbers in the fibonacci series (mentioned above). this 'golden ratio' and the fibonacci series is related to the packing arrangement that cells are created in living organisms (specifically plants) because it's the most efficient.
*yawn*
yep what he said [:D][:D][:D]0 -
I gave a simple explanation (above) on purpose, so y'all have something to start with. if you want to elaborate on it, go right ahead! 0 -
quote:UPDATE: wow, a lot of you folks get crabby when giveaways don't follow your idea of what they should be! Anyway, for those of you who didn't read the original post the first time, I'll point out that at this point, all you have to do to enter is agree with Buschmaster or Pensfan. (But you'll still improve your odds by improving on their answers).
i find it hard to believe you have over 1,000 post, and can think for a second anyone here can agree on anything, only thing two gb members ever agreed on is what a third one is doing wrong0 -
quote:Originally posted by buschmaster
quote:Definite improvement on the first explanation. Worth three submissions.??? you crazy
fyi... so far I disagree with both of them0 -
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Now there's some stacked cells for ya.[;)] 0 -
Ok, I'll agree with what pensfan said and postulate that the reason is The Creator made it so. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by mrseatle
She looks alittle like my health care provider at the VA. Younger version though.0 -
Cool!
Thanks for the interesting give-away spurgemastur! I actually thought it was fun researching the info. At least I got to learn something new through it!
Email replied to.
[8D]0 -
Here's something that approximates the answer I was looking for:
As many have pointed out, if you take the ratio of the width to the height of the Parthenon, you get the golden mean, 1.618. The ratio of two consecutive numbers in the Fibonacci series approaches the golden mean as the Fibonacci series approaches infinity (i.e. F(n)/F(n-1) = 1.618 as n approaches infinity). The Fibonacci series is simply 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8..where you take the F(n-1) + F(n-2) to find F(n).
Fibonacci numbers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number
or http://community.middlebury.edu/~schar/Courses/fs023.F02/presentations/fibonacci.htm
This ratio is found in many works of art and for some reason is thought to be pleasing to the human eye. The golden ratio also is found in many biological phenomena: The ratio of the width to the height of a Nautilus shell approaches the golden mean as the diameter increases. If you look down at a pine-cone from the attachment end, you'll see that the arrangement of the scales form spirals that run both clockwise and counter-clockwise. The ratio of the numbers of spirals in each direction will yield an approximation of the golden ratio (the number of spirals will always be two consecutive Fibonacci numbers). The same is true of the florets found in flowers of the daisy family. This occurs because of the way cells grow and divide, and can be understood under a simplified set of cell growth and division rules.
Pine cone example: http://www.waxoil.com/bination/fibonacci/double-fibonacci.php
Nautilus example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spiral
First, define some discrete quantity of time that a cell requires to mature, and start with a single immature cell. At time=0, you have one immature cell. At time 1 you have 1 mature cell. At time=2, you have one mature cell which divides, yielding the original (mature) cell, and one immature cell, for a total of two cells. And so on:
Time # mature cells # immature cells Total cell count
0 0 1 1
1 1 0 1
2 1 1 2
3 2 1 3
4 3 2 5
5 5 3 8
etc.
To build this table, you add as many immature cells at time = n as there are mature cells at time = n-1, and add immature cells at time = n-1 to mature cells at time = n-1 to get the number of mature cells at time = n. The total cell count through time yields the Fibonacci series. (The Wikipedia link above provides similar examples using pairs of rabbits and bees in the context of population growth).
Thus the Parthenon and cell division are linked by the golden mean. The former has dimensions that form the golden mean when ratioed, and the latter proceeds according rules that produce the Fibonacci series, which can be ratioed to produce the golden mean.0 -
I see that the table in my above post didn't come out looking nicely. If anybody cares, let me know and I'll fix it. But I suspect nobody cares. 0 -
Cool! The table is readable if you know what you are looking at.
I had the basic concept down, but didn't really know about the formula and how the numbers are that close as it reaches infinity. Also the mature vs immature cells was new to me.
Thanks again for the give-away. The knowledge gained was just as fun as the drawing.
[;)]0 -
quote:Originally posted by Edgsmth
"And just because you bozos are a continual source of entertainment."
Maybe it's not what you say but how you say it? Good for you, the giveaway and all, just a little uninspired.
Not that I meant to hurt your feelings and sensibilities by not entering, it's just that the time spent in entering would be better spent in pursuit of my career and its advancement.
Hope you are done now, maybe when you hit five you'll come up with a firearm or sportsman related giveaway.
Sorry if I offended you with the quote you pull at the top of your post....I meant that as a JOKE.
With respect to the number of entrants, I was less hurt than surprised: it only took one poster to take the time to make a good answer; anybody else could then enter by agreeing.
This giveaway WAS shooting related, with respect to the prize offered.
But in the end, you're right. People here didn't care for this one. I probably will do it differently, next time.
Maybe weird questions should go with small give-aways, and serious giveaways should be simple throw-your-name-in affairs?
Or maybe somebody who wants to give something away should make the rules he wants?
what do you think?0 -
quote:Originally posted by Edgsmth
You didn't offend me, sorry if I offended you by ignoring the giveaway.
ok. fair enough. no harm done.0
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