neděle 15. dubna 2012

Boot Camp Assistant error


When you get following message in the Boot Camp Assistant:

"The startup disk does not have enough space to be partitioned. You must have at least 10 GB of free space available."

It means that the Boot Camp reserves 20 GB for Windows partition and then it needs additional 10 GB of free space to run Mac Os X. Hence you need 30 GB of free space to install Windows and not 10 GB as the message could mislead you.

And there is one more hiccup. That 20 GB for Windows must be continuous. Hence if you have more than 30 GB of free space and you still get this message:

  1. Boot Mac from the install disk (hold the C key as you boot until the language selection screen appears.) 
  2. From the Utilities menu on the install screen choose Disk Utility, then Repair Disk. 

sobota 14. dubna 2012

Why geometry is taught

The history of Mathematics as we know it started in the 5th century BC in antic Greece, where philosophers examined geometry and postulated things like Pythagorean triangle. And for example architecture benefited from the geometry and it allowed construction of great buildings like Pantheon or Roman Colosseum.
But in the 5th century AD west Roman empire collapsed and western Europe sank in the darkness. This epoch is characterized by Romanesque art, which employs massive walls and small windows because otherwise the building would collapse.
However, in the 11th century Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and they have been amazed by the local architecture and decided to transport local "the true Gods" architecture back to home. Hence they have pillaged libraries and acquired many translations of antique books in Arabian language. The imported architecture is now called Gothics and it was possible build such elegant and high buildings only because the information from ancient Rome and Greece were recovered.
As more and more people obtained access to the ancient books a new epoch called Renaissance emerged. In translation Renaissance means reborn, reborn of antique culture. Since antique mathematics focused mostly on geometry, all new observations were proved using geometry. This promoted progress in astronomy, which studies trajectories of planets, and optics. Hence Kepler postulated hypothesis that planets follows ellipsoid trajectories and Tycho de Brahe designed a new type of telescope.
But then it looked like everything that can be easily proved using geometry was already proved and a new way how to prove things emerged independently from Newton and Leibniz in the 17th century. This new method, integrals, favored advances in mechanics and led to introduction of steam machines, combustion engines and atom energy.
Nowadays no one proves things using geometry because integrals are easier to use. However, no one likes to throw out 23 centuries of research and still geometry is easier to understand than integrals - just recall how integrals were explained - like an are under the curve...         

If I had three days left

If I had three days left I would listen to music, dance, talk with friends and enjoy food as if these things were the most opulent events in my life. These things are intentionally small and common, because they don't require any preparation and still they can produce pleasant feelings.
In the mean time I would reserve 2 hours to fix my life as much as I can - I would apologize to my friends for what I have done to them and I would apologize that it took so long to apologize. This should easy my feelings. And I would write a list of places where did I store/invest my money so my family can easily retrieve them.
In the first evening I would spend a night in a bed with a paid company. It wouldn't be anything fancy since next day I would like to be actually  able to do something, but it should give me a feeling that I am macho.
The second day I would do crazy things like free climbing without any protection or driving the fastest car I could get as fast I could make it. And I would visit the barber ask him/her to shave my head on skin.
The second evening would be reserved for my girlfriend.
The third day I would get a tattoo, a simple black tattoo like a pictogram of a mushroom - it takes just a few seconds to draw it but it would symbolize that I have overcame the fear from needles. And I would get a monstrous genital piercing, simply because I wouldn't have to wait until it heals. And I would abuse the strongest drugs I could find since I wouldn't have to pay the consequences. If I couldn't find anything better, I would drink as much alcohol I could and wouldn't say everyone on sigh "I love you".
When I finally pass away, it should be a few minutes before the end of the 72th hour.








And then nothing.

pondělí 9. dubna 2012

Why British drink unsweetened tea

British colonized half of the world. But access to clean water was in some parts of the world problematic and if a foreigner unaccustomed to local water wanted to avoid problems with a bowel, the water had to be boiled. However, boiled water can stink incredibly and taste even worse. Hence the water had to be flavored either by tea or coffee. And it happen that British colonized the part of the world which was suitable for growing of tea and not coffee.

But why British drink unsweetened tea? French food is best with wine. German Schweinebrate is best with beer. And incredibly greasy Russia food is best with vodka. Drinks complement food. And unsweetened tea complements British food. Hence I will begin from food. British food is traditionally either salty, acidic or sweet. It is because at the beginning of the medieval time the average temperature decreased by two Centigrade and British islands began to be dependent on imported of food. But what methods could be used to preserve the food during the transport in the medieval times? Basically four methods were possible: put it into salt, put it into honey, put it into vinegar or smoke it.

But British never used smoking very much since smoking is good only for preservation of meat, fish or cheese. But British are on an island and have the finest grass in the world that has been extensively used for breeding of domestic animals. Hence British never really needed to import any meat, fish or cheese and never needed to eat anything smoked. And after almost complete eradication of all British forests during the Victorian epoch for ships they even couldn't enjoy domestic smoked products.

Consequently all imported food must have been salty, acidic or sweet. But try to eat salty or acidic things all the time. I will spare you and your stomach - it is impossible. Eat too much salt and you get into a problem with osmotic pressure. Eat too much acidic food and you run into a problem with pH. Hence most British food was sweet - it was the only way how to preserve the food while preserving its edibility. And traditions are extremely strong in England. Thus British still eat over-sweetened food, they still drink tea and they still don't put any sugar into tea because all the sugar is included in the food. British are so keen to make everything sweet that even meat is caramelized to make it taste sweet. And the only way how to survive the never ending flood of sweet things is to drink bitter tea. And reversely, the only way how to survive bitter tea is to eat sweet food. Hence it is Ouroboros.