Based on some new analysis I’ve done of Nanyan numerals (as described here), I’ve discovered a new algorithm for generating Nanyan numerals. Previously, the only way I new to generate them was to factor the number and recursively figure out the Nanyan numeral for each prime factor and then combine them from lowest to highest. Or you can just find the lowest factor of a number and then combine that with the numeral for the number divided by that lowest… Read more

What would happen if certain art forms were as popular as sport? Opera, for example—imagine if every large city had multiple opera houses, each bragging at how their performances were better than any other. Paradise for some, a nightmare for others, but fantasy regardless. Though we’ll never reach that point, there are times when it reaches the mainstream. This video for example, from a Three Tenors TV Special, made the rounds some time ago—especially in reaction videos. As incredible as… Read more

It’s Sunday October 30, and on this day and date in 1938, Orson Welles and his Mercury Players performed the famous War of the Worlds broadcast. Relive that moment now by listening to this famous broadcast on YouTube.

Recently, I’ve been revisiting an old hobby—mazes. In the past, I’ve drawn mazes by hand, and I had never written a proper maze generator before. But for some reason or other, recently I thought I’d give it a try. I briefly looked at some articles for suggestions how to go about it, and then I just sort of made up a series of algorithms to generate mazes in different ways. The end result is a series of maze sets on… Read more

Though this poem may be more appropriate for Remembrance Day, it is more than suitable for Memorial Day as well. In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields. Take up our… Read more

For the past few years, we’ve had a number of 50-year milestones for the various manned lunar flights. Apollo 8 circled the moon in December 1968, and the following year Apollo 11 made the first manned lunar landing on July 20, 1969. Besides Apollo 11, there were five other lunar landings, ending with Apollo 17. (Apollo 13 was scheduled to land in April 1970, but famously did not.) In honor of those anniversaries, I thought I’d share one of the… Read more

Social media is filled with posts trying to catch people out on their ignorance (or forgetfulness) of the arithmetic order of operations. Everyone learns this at some point in their education, but most people rarely have to think about it in daily life. Even so, you would think that after years of seeing these same problems pop up again and again, everyone would remember what the order of operations were. Usually, these problems are set up to confuse people on… Read more

On the Postdiluvian blog, I gave an explanation of how Nanyan Numerals work.  Now I want to show you how to create a simple Python program for converting to and from Nanyan Numerals.  For this post, I’ll focus on converting Nanyan numerals to a more readable integer. The language of choice for this project is Python.  Open a new file and let’s begin. We’ll start by adding the Nanyan Numeral we want to convert, and let’s choose the number 5. … Read more

Since The Ancient Chronicle came out, I’ve been sorting out what my next project will be. I have the next book in the Postdiluvian series more or less mapped out (in my head), and I started working on it, but I have not gotten far on it yet. Instead, I have a very different idea for a book, and I quickly wrote a nearly-complete first draft. I started revisions several times, but the theming never seemed quite right. I suspect… Read more