Numb3rs

Numb3rs is a hit TV series in U.S. It's just finish its first season in States. While other action TV series -mostly cops, detectives and crime scene investigators- offer a pack movie about chasing bad guys, solving cases using DNA technology or crime profilers, Numb3rs approaches from different angle. Not only showing a solid and professionalism of FBI's trademark, it also shows us how mathematics help them to solve crimes or criminal cases. An FBI special agent has a very smart and genius younger brother who is a math professor, together they start to cooperate intensively to solve crimes, murder cases using math formulas.

Undeniable, math and numbers can be found in our everyday life. Even human behaviour which at most of time counted as random or unpredictable, but actually human do have pattern. And when this data are gathered, one can calculate the highest possibility of someone's next action. So they use math to trace the distribution of counterfeit bills, bank robbery pattern, serial killer hot spots, etc. It is a very good series, at least it offers a quite different vibe. Even they don't explain in detail about calculating using the formula, but it explains and gives examples -logically too- about patterns in this universe. You will be surprise how we actually form patterns in ways that we never realized.

Talking about surprise, some of you might already knew about the Mars hoax. This hoax is spreading via emails, saying that at the 27th of this month, we will witness one of the wonder that comes only once in about 200 years. So today I went to downtown to buy some hair gel for myself, and I passed Australian Geographic Shop where I decided to buy Swiss Army Classic, to start off my collection. While I was there, three dudes came in to the shop, then one of them was asking the staff about a telescope. And I overheard that they wanted to buy it because they want to see Mars tonite. I couldn't help myself, so I interrupted them politely and told them that it was actually a hoax. They seem pretty upset about it.

I don't know what will happen if I kept my mouth shut and let them buying the telescope. Maybe they will spend whole night trying to figure it out which side of the sky where they can find a big red planet hehehehe...

Oh, I've been collecting a special 13-part commemorative series from The Australian Newspaper. It contains a series of some momentum events during World War II. So I have to collect each part every day for 13 days. Then in about the 8th day, it was raining whole day. We even had this hail rain in the morning. It kept pouring until about 7 p.m. I went to the mini-market just around the corner to buy that day's edition. However they're sold out. Strike one! From that, I decided to walk another half K to a nearest 24-hours petrol station. Unfortunately, the lady said they're all sold out too. Strike two!

I was a bit upset, because it was a damp night and cold, while I had these two plastic bags of groceries from the previous mini-market. When I was home, I tried to call some people, to ask if they can drive to their nearest news agents or fuel stations to buy the newspaper. But help was nowhere to be found. My calls weren't answered and some hadn't got enough encouragement to get out from their warm house. Strike three! Next day, same thing happening, different circumstances but same sh_t result. So I missed two series. I almost give up the effort when I passed by a news agent in downtown. Strangely, they had newspapers from the last two or three days.

Nice try, thirteen, but my guardian angel owns you! =P Ok enough babbling here. Have a nice weekend everyone!

"Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise"
Alice Walker