Probability

The last time someone died during the Detroit marathon was in 1994, when a 42 year-old runner died of a heart attack. That is until yesterday, when 3 people died in a span of 16 minutes while running the half marathon. They weren't running together, and the weather wasn't hot -- it was in the 40s here in Michigan yesterday. This is troubling on a number of levels. First of all, we really don't think of runners as people in danger of dying. People who are in good enough shape to run a half marathon are not supposed to be in bad enough shape ... Read Full Story

Those who read the Quarterback regularly know that we tend to be more traumatized by events that we perceive to be rare. If our worldview suggests that something doesn't happen, it jars us when it does. The trouble with this, however, is that we are actually pretty bad at judging how rare things are. Even for those who, like me, make it their business to go digging up probabilities and statistics on various heinous situations, it's sometimes hard to find the data you need. So I was very pleased to hear on NPR today about the launch of the website BookOfOdds.com . This site ... Read Full Story

Garret Lisi is one of us, a surfer. He surfs the waves of Hawaii and the quanta of the universe, for those with even a tiny interest in our universe and how it works, or for those who sit in awe and wonder of it, listen to this talk. A lot of it will go over your head, but the reference to “all possibilities expanding and developing at once” gives me joy, and will bring a smile to my face for the rest of today, and possibly tomorrow. Posted in 1       Read Full Story

Book Details Author(s):Scott Miller,Donald Childers Hardcover: 552 pages Publisher: Academic Press; 2nd edition Book Dated:September 23, 2004 Language: English ISBN-10: 0121726517 ISBN-13: 978-0121726515 Description Miller and Childers have focused on creating a clear presentation of foundational concepts with specific applications to signal processing and communications, clearly the two areas of most interest to students and instructors in this course. It is aimed at graduate students as well as practicing engineers, and includes unique chapters on narrowband random processes and simulation techniques. The appendices provide a refresher in such areas as linear algebra, set theory, random variables, and more. Probability and Random Processes also includes ... Read Full Story

Book Details Author(s):Scott Miller,Donald Childers Hardcover: 552 pages Publisher: Academic Press; 2nd edition Book Dated:September 23, 2004 Language: English ISBN-10: 0121726517 ISBN-13: 978-0121726515 Description Miller and Childers have focused on creating a clear presentation of foundational concepts with specific applications to signal processing and communications, clearly the two areas of most interest to students and instructors in this course. It is aimed at graduate students as well as practicing engineers, and includes unique chapters on narrowband random processes and simulation techniques. The appendices provide a refresher in such areas as linear algebra, set theory, random variables, and more. Probability and Random Processes also includes ... Read Full Story