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Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #4 If not Latin, then what? Please see the links at...

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #3

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #3 Plants and the moon. For thousands of years, people...

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #2

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #2 An i for an i ? Not nymphs: women! There are...

Understanding The Voynich Manuscript #1

Understanding the Voynich Manuscript #1 Tom, Dick and Harry explain a statistical method. ...

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Patrick LockerbyRSS Feed of this column.

Retired engineer, 73 years young. Computer builder and programmer. Linguist specialising in language acquisition and computational linguistics. Interested in every human endeavour except the scrooge... Read More »

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The Shortest Path Problem in a Dynamic Network.

The Shortest Path Problem in a Dynamic Network.

Apr 15 2009 | comment(s)

The Shortest Path Problem in a Dynamic Network.

A method is needed by which efficient new network routes can rapidly be
calculated to route traffic away from problem paths and nodes. A
possible method is proposed.  I propose to call it the Wentrok heuristic.

What Is The Quickest Route From Newtork To Wentrok?
Bootstrapping Commutatively Encrypted Communication

Bootstrapping Commutatively Encrypted Communication

Apr 14 2009 | comment(s)

This is the second of a two part blog on commutative encryption.
Part one was Using Encryption to Block Spam.
The Rock And The Hard Place Of Homer

The Rock And The Hard Place Of Homer

Apr 13 2009 | comment(s)

The Rock And The Hard Place Of Homer

The well-known expression: 'between a rock and a hard place' almost certainly has its earliest origins in Homer's Odyssey. In that saga, Ulysses has to take his ship between Scylla and Charybdis, two rock-monsters which are a bow-shot apart. It is impossible to avoid both monsters - a course must be steered which leads to the least loss of life.

Unravelling Homer's Yarn
Using Encryption to Block Spam

Using Encryption to Block Spam

Apr 12 2009 | comment(s)

Using Encryption to Block Spam

Tackling the problem of spam is a problem in communication. If spam is noise as against wanted communications, then the spam problem is a signal to noise filtering problem. Unwanted emails, especially broadcast spam emails, consume about 80% of currently available bandwidth.  We need to filter out the 80% noise so as to increase the efficiency of the web in distributing the 20% of traffic that is the wanted signal.
A Theory of Time Part 5 : Some Thoughts on Velocity

A Theory of Time Part 5 : Some Thoughts on Velocity

Apr 10 2009 | comment(s)

Part 1, which begins our examination of the question 'what is time?' can be viewed here.
Part 2 Some travels through time can be viewed  here.
Part 3 discussing language, sequence and order, can be viewed  here.
Part 4 a brief discussion of clocks, Steno, Foucault and Allais, can be viewed here.

Note: this blog on time is speculative, not established fact.
Building A Straw Man Out Of Red Herrings.

Building A Straw Man Out Of Red Herrings.

Apr 09 2009 | comment(s)

A recently released British film The Age of Stupid, uses good science to good effect in a projection of a possible future.  The theme is that if we do nothing about global climate change, then we are not living in an age of reason, but in an age of stupid.  In another blog, I posed the question:
Is this the age of stupid?

I propose to name the not stupid, and shame the stupid.


Rachel Carson