Friday: Solving problems.

Problem 1: It turns out I had poor data sampling in one thing, resulting in a bunch of low signal-to-noise points corrupting a lot of measurements.  Culling those down to a more reasonable number helps a lot.  It also allows me to see that for one population of points, the comparison paper is probably wrong.

Problem 2: The annoying problem that is supposed to be solved by an eight year old program (that doesn't work anymore because it hasn't been used in eight years) is probably not as hard as I initially thought.  Because the distortion solution I want probably has to be continuous (and differentiable), I can probably write something reasonably quick to do iterative solutions starting from the center of the frame and working outwards.

Also, there's a tropical storm coming this weekend, so it's probably going to be impossible to do any shopping until it's over, because everyone panic buys and then the storm turns out to not be a big deal.

This screenshot is relevant when you read the links.

• Pokemon
• People are installing Magikarps in gyms they take over.
• This would be my plan as well, but I never seem to get Magikarps.
• It is possible to hatch eggs using nothing by the power of inaccurate GPS.  I proved that this evening by sitting on my couch while my trainer ran all over the neighborhood.  I got a Spearow, though, not Onix.
• Gastly.
• This is definitely worth clicking on, given the horror of the second image.
• I don't like the game that much.
• Raticate.
• Not Pokemon, which today is apparently "Russia" and "how fucking stupid Wikileaks is."
• Donald Trump is working with people who have a strong interest in Russia.  Why this doesn't disqualify him in the eyes of his lunatic supports is less clear.
• This is a bit more speculative, so I don't fully buy it, but this quote sums up my thoughts, "The leaks really only hit Western countries. You mean to tell me that 1.7 million documents were obtained from an intelligence agency, and there was no dirt on the Russians or Chinese? Come on."  Yeah.  Wikileaks is clearly not doing what they claim.  They're selectively publishing things to further some nebulous goal of their delusional rapist leader.  Allegedly.
• And today they decided they're going to "expose" the DNC, and successfully dumped a bunch of credit card and social security numbers.  Great job, guys.  Way to "fight for freedom" and "transparency" on the same side as a fucking fascist and a murdering dictator.  Allegedly.