Punctuational Blasphemy!

Just announced on Tsunku♂’s blog: Tanpopo and Pucchi Moni to be revived!

But wait! All is not as simple as it seems!

Quoth Tsunku♂:

新生タンポポに新生プッチモニ。などです。

[Translation (my own attempt; may contain errors): We will have a revived Tanpopo, a revived Pucchi Moni。, and others.]

Note the placement of the full stop (。 ) after “Pucchi Moni” (プッチモニ。) in a sentence-medial position. Clearly, Tsunku♂ is labeling the group Pucchi Moni。 and not Pucchi Moni, as it has always been known:

Indeed, out of all of H!P’s Musume/Moni groups (which also include Morning Musume。, Country Musume。, Coconuts Musume。, Mini Moni。, and Eco Moni。), Pucchi Moni has been the sole group whose name fails to feature a final full-stop flourish. While the significance of this distinguishing mark (or lack thereof) is a matter for further debate, one thing is for certain: H!P’s fastidiousness toward preserving proper punctuation (however idiosyncratic and unorthodox it may be), extending even to romanizations of group names (as can be seen, for example, in every official printing of the name Morning Musume。—always a Japanese-style full stop, never a Latin one (.)—in sharp contrast to the omitting of the full stop by most fans who use the romanized form), reflects a continued commitment to a program of punctuational purity.

In light of this, it is improbable that Tsunku♂’s shocking use of the full stop in this latest post arose out of sloppiness. No, this is nothing short of intentional, subversive, unadulterated blasphemy!

TSUNKU♂! WHY ARE YOU PUTTING A STOP TO PUCCHI MONI WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO RESTART IT?

Ah, but perhaps Tsunku♂ is trying to tell us something here…. Maybe this is some kind of hidden message! Maybe Tsunku♂ is being held captive by mysterious entities that want to revive Pucchi Moni for their own nefarious purposes! Or maybe this is just a glimpse of some enormous revolutionary Hello! Project restructuring currently in the works and under wraps! Maybe Tsunku♂ is planning to add even more crazy symbols to names in places where they don’t belong! Or maybe … maybe …

Oh, the possibilities are endless!

[EDIT: Apparently Tsunku♂ has now removed the stop from both instances of "Pucchi Moni" in the linked post. Very suspicious.]

[Puzzle Contest] Image Color Puzzle Results and Solutions!

The Image Color: A Hello! Project Puzzle puzzle contest has ended! The following people submitted correct answers while the contest was in progress:

• maiZe, on 2009-02-20 at 05:25 UTC.
• Mars, on 2009-02-21 at 05:54 UTC.

Congratulations! maiZe will be getting a 20 USD gift certificate to YesAsia.com soon.

Here is a complete solution.

Doctor Kirari is in the house.

WHO WANTS A COLONOSCOPY?

[Puzzle Contest] Image Color: An H!P Puzzle

It’s been too long since my last H!P puzzle … here’s a new one! I’ll keep the rules short:

• The contest ends 2009 February 23 at 23:59 UTC, or 96 hours after I receive the first correct submission, whichever comes later. This is to keep the contest fun and motivating for solvers even if someone’s already found the answer.
• The first person to submit a correct answer wins a 20 USD gift certificate to YesAsia.com.
• You can collaborate with whoever you want, but there’s only one prize.
• Submit answers by leaving a comment with your name and e-mail address; I’ve set the comments on moderated mode so your comment won’t be displayed publicly.
• You may submit more than once, but please keep your guesses to a minimum.
• If you include your e-mail address (or if I have other ways of contacting you), I’ll let you know whether or not your submission is correct.
• The answer is a word or short phrase having to do with Hello! Project.
• Knowledge of Japanese language and/or writing systems is not necessary to solve this puzzle.
• I may put up hints later.
• Good luck!

 

EDIT: I have reformatted the puzzle to display three separate grids instead of only two. It’s the same puzzle, just represented in a way that may reduce conflicting information.

 

Hints: (highlight to read)

• Title:
  • Yes, the title actually does mean something.
    • The term refers to a concept in H!P.

    • The °C-ute song has nothing to do with this puzzle.
• Flavortext:
  • If you don’t get what “pyon pyon fumu fumu yeah yeah” has to do with this puzzle, forget about it. It’s not essential.
• Grids:
  • The three grids roughly correspond to three stages of solving this puzzle. You can just focus on the first grid if you’re just starting the puzzle.
    • That said, information discovered in later stages may be helpful in figuring out parts of earlier stages.
  • The grids line up with each other.
• Grid 1:
  • What do the letters spell?
    • It’s an abbreviation of sorts.
      • “PPL” = “people”.
  • Do the icons remind you of anything?
    • If not, try watching Hello! Project PVs and looking at CD covers. The more recent the better.
      • The more colorful the better.
  • Put the icons in groups.
    • Don’t group them by color.

    • Put the icons in H!P groups.
    • Think about the colors in each group.
    • Each color in a group represents a distinct person.
• Grid 2:
  • Combine this grid with Grid 1 to get additional information.
  • Three letters have already been given to you. You need to find more.
  • Each letter corresponds to a square and can be deduced from the information in that square.
    • Names are important.

    • No one in H!P has a given name that is ten letters long.
    • Look at surnames and consider how you can get letters out of them.
  • If you have the right letters, patterns should emerge.
    • You should search for words.

    • This is a word search.
  • There are words you can make out of the letters, and there are words you can make out of the letters you can’t make words out of.
    • The words you can make out of the letters you can’t make words out of form a clue that describes a state of Grid 3 that you should attain.

    • After finding all the words, read what’s left over.
• Grid 3:
  • What are the dimensions of the grid?
  • The grid is a board.
  • What’s special about the squares with circles?
    • Do the letters represent anything?

    • The letters stand for different types of pieces.
  • The circles are pieces.
    • The pieces can move according to strict rules.

    • What color are the pieces?
  • What board game could this be?

 

 

Image Color
A Hello! Project Puzzle

 

pyon pyon

fumu fumu

yeah yeah

Episode 2 of Q.E.D.: Creepy Dolls and Their Electromagnetic Superpowers

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

No, I’m afraid the similarly abbreviated quantum electrodynamics has yet to make an appearance on this show. But this episode does touch on static electricity, and since it glosses over the details, I’ll try to elucidate them here.

As explained in the episode, this creepy doll is responsible for death of the unsavory character lying lifeless at its feet.

This feat is accomplished when the dolls’ eyes (intentionally designed by museum’s curator for this lethal purpose) collected enough static electricity to deliver a jolting shock to the character, interfering with his pacemaker and giving him a heart attack.

Oh, the agony … and the super-cheap special effects.

OK, I’m not going to comment on how practically feasible this whole gimmick is. The concept is flaky, the explanation is sloppy, and the acting seems a bit inconsistent with the explanation, but I’ll try to explain what I think is going on anyway—on a theoretical level.

As an explanation, MIT genius kid Touma Sou says the eyes are Leyden jars, which the show tries to spectacularize by displaying a faux-historical shot of a manuscript page depicting the eye as a Leyden jar, surrounded by informative-looking scientific text …

… until you realize what it actually says:

[...] Christ in Garmany has discoveed static to be
[...] to be accumulated with such apperatus the there
[...] qgo though it is assuumed that it was a wire
[...] straightens statice electricicity, and it was devised
[...] petel van Musschenbrooke peter van Masschenbroek
[...] the Nethelands in 1746. There is a name of
[...] Leyden jar” becaus of haping þeen inovented
[...] the Leydun university in the Netherlands.
[...] was widely used for experimental use of
[...]lectricity, and it was used to experiment
[...] B. Franklin’s kite deep-frying.

Insulator

Is a generic name of the
material that doesn’t pass electy
or heat easily. It is said to
conductor (electric condactor) that
conducts electricity easily the noncond
(..referrig…singing). Moreover, the
insulator shows the dielectric substance.

The electric resistance of silver

Ag of the atomic symbol originates
in name “argentum” in Latin. Both of
the reflectivity of the electric condutivity
and the visible light ray are
the maximum in the metal
it was called “silvery white”
from the thing with
high reflectivity of
light in Japanese.

Glass

No- quality solid where
glass transition phenomenon is
[...]

LOL at the “Christ in Garmany”? And I’m not really sure what Ben Franklin’s culinary prowess with respect to the deep frying of kites has to do with anything, so let’s move on.

Here’s the diagram again, with the three labeled surfaces explicitly marked A, B, and C. I’ve also labeled a screenshot of one of the eyes. Note that the diagram labels the “Insulator” and the “Glass” separately, apparently confusing the generic concept of an insulator with an actual insulating material. In this case, the two surfaces are the same thing, and I’ve labeled both of them C. A is the exterior conducting surface, apparently made of silver, and B is the interior conducting surface.

As the show explains, people walking with rubber-soled shoes across the wool carpet pick up negative charge due to the triboelectric effect. In appropriate conditions (cold, dry air), there’s no conducting path for this excess charge to dissipate from the body, so it remains. For someone with negative charge to experience an electric shock, the negatively-charged electrons on their body have to travel to a region of more positive charge. The electric potential between the two regions is greatest when the respective charges are furthest apart, so the best conditions for such a shock would arise when someone is touching a positively-charged surface.

My best guess for how this positive charge gets there is that it is induced by rubbing the (silk?) cleaning cloth against the porcelain surface of the doll’s face. Since silk is higher up on the triboelectric series than unglazed porcelain, a positive charge collects on the cloth. If the cloth then comes in contact with the pupil of the eyeball, its positive charge is transferred to the interior, as both pupil and interior comprise conducting surface B, and the close proximity of conducting surfaces B and A induces a negative charge on A. This works if A is properly grounded, which I’ll assume is the case.

The attraction between A and B allows B to collect a large amount of positive charge, enough to result in a big spark, though this is limited by the capacitance of the eyeball, which is probably not that high due to the apparently limited surface area of the two conducting sheets.

So when negatively charged unsavory character touches positively charged pupil, electrons discharge and enter the eyeball, causing said unsavory character to experience a huge shock, flail dramatically, topple to the ground, and expire. C’est la vie.

That’s my take on it. The show’s explanation, as far as I can tell, mentions negative charge on both bodies without discussing positive charge at all, which is necessary for the discharge to occur. In addition, Sou’s rubbing of the doll with a cloth clearly misses the pupil, which leaves the viewer wondering how that could have effectively transferred any positive charge into the eyeball at all.

I’m afraid that on a technical level, this episode leaves me much more disappointed than Episode 1, unless I totally missed what’s going on (and please enlighten me if that’s the case!). Oh, well. Let’s hope there’s more awesomeness to come….

EDIT: Did you think I was going to let you go without some physics equations? Of course not!

Let’s figure out how much energy is transferred when someone gets a shock from touching the doll’s eyeball. Since we’re not given all the information, let’s make educated guesses. Suppose the outer conducting shell has a radius of 2.5 cm, and it’s separated from the inner conducting shell by an insulating layer of 1 mm thickness. The diagram says it’s made of glass, so let’s give it a dielectric constant of 5. Furthermore, we’ll idealize the whole thing as a spherical capacitor, so as not to worry about those bothersome non-symmetric electric fields.

We can now compute the capacitance of the eyeball, replacing the glass with vacuum temporarily. If there is a charge of Q on the inner shell, the electric field at radius r outside between the two shells is

.

Integrating this over r between the two shells, we can compute the electric potential difference between them:

Since capacitance is charge divided by voltage, the capacitance is

The energy of a discharge depends on the charge Q transferred:

Assume a typical charge of 1 microcoulomb is transferred. Then, plugging in our assumed values (r₁ = 2.4 cm, r₂ = 2.5 cm, Q = 1e-6 J, ε = 5ε₀), we have about 0.001498 joules, which is the amount of energy needed to move a one-kilogram block a height of 0.1527 millimeters.

Episode 1 of Q.E.D.: Math, Proofs, and Awesomeness

I’ve been anticipating the new detective drama Q.E.D. starring Takahashi Ai and Nakamura Aoi since it looked like it would involve a lot of awesome math, and now that the first episode is out, we can see that there is indeed a lot of awesome math! And correct, non-trivial math to boot!

Hello! Project member + stereotypical MIT nerd = WIN!

Meet Touma Sou (Nakamura), stereotypical MIT math nerd! Who, having graduated from MIT at a very early age, is for some reason reattending high school … I’m sure this will be explained in future episodes …

Mizuhara Kana (Takahashi) does an impression of MIT! D-:

Of course I am highly amused that “Massachusetts Institute of Technology” appears on the screen at the same time as Takahashi, who should definitely drop by for a visit sometime. I can show you around this place, Aichan, if you’re ever in the area.

Since “Q.E.D.” is traditionally written at the end of a math proof, this first episode of course features a math proof. As the show’s primary purpose is entertainment and not educational, it doesn’t focus on the details, but the details nevertheless are there and they’re intellectually stimulating, so I’ll cover that aspect here.

To begin with, the teacher presents the following proof in class:

[If this is hard to read, it and the below proofs are available as a PDF.]

Let’s go through the details. The statement being proved is given in line (1). This is giving a closed-form expression for the sum of the product of three consecutive integers over a range. In line (2), the summed expression is expanded as a cubic polynomial: . This lets us use linearity of summation to split the sum into three parts (3). Then using summation identities, each of the three sums is expressed in closed form (4). In line (5), we factor out , and in line (6), we group like terms of the remaining expression to produce a quadratic polynomial: . This polynomial can be factored into , leaving the desired expression (7).

Of course, for Sou this is not nearly intellectually challenging enough. (The subtitles say that the teacher’s derivation is erroneous, but it’s correct as far as I can tell; if this is what Sou actually says, maybe the producers just wanted to avoid getting into details about the distinction between generalizing a theorem and offering a better proof of the same theorem.) Sou realizes that this fact can be generalized, establishing a more powerful theorem. Instead of having a product of just three consecutive integers , why not have arbitrarily many? Sou generalizes the theorem to apply to a product of consecutive integers: . And indeed, there is a closed-form expression for this as well:

Note that this reduces to the previous theorem if you substitute .

It’s a fun exercise to try to prove this theorem, which I encourage you to do if you’re interested. I did so, and I’ll present my own proof later on. As it turns out, Sou’s proof is simpler than mine, but due to camera angles and low resolution, it’s pretty hard to actually see what the proof is.

After much squinting and deducing, I finally figured it out:

This is pretty short and makes some jumps that may not be intuitive, so I’ll go through the details:

In line (9), each term of the summation is multiplied by a ratio equal to 1, which does not change the value of the expression. You can easily do the math and see that the numerator is equal to . In line (10), the denominator of this ratio is pulled out of the summation, since it’s a constant factor, and the two terms in the numerator are multiplied with the product , using the distributive law. Line (11) is probably the biggest jump in this proof; it’s using a telescoping sum, reducing a sum of terms by canceling out intermediate pairs. If you plug in for , you get , and likewise, for , you get Notice that the terms cancel when you add these together. If you keep doing this all the way to , all the intermediate pairs cancel out, and you’re left with just two terms: . The second term vanishes, so the overall expression is reduced to (11), which completes the proof.

The following is my own proof, which is a bit lengthier and uses binomial coefficients, along with Pascal’s second identity. Let’s first prove Pascal’s second identity, stated here as a lemma:

We use the principle of induction, which is showing that a statement holds for some base case (here ) and showing that if the statement holds for some , then it has to hold for as well. Putting these parts together, you prove that the statement holds for all integers greater than or equal to the base case.

Lines (13) through (17) prove the base case. This makes use of the definition of the binomial coefficient , which for is equal to 1.

The inductive step is proved in lines (18) through (25). We assume the statement holds for and show that it also holds for . In line (18), we split the sum of terms into two parts. The first part is identical to the sum of terms, which we can replace with by the inductive assumption (19). In line (20), we replace the binomial coefficients with their equivalent factorial ratios, and in line (21), we factor and out of the two denominators, respectively. In lines (22) and (23), we factor out common factors of both terms, and add together the remaining fractions. Combining the two parts, we get (24), which can be written as (25), thus proving the lemma.

My alternate proof is as follows:

In line (26), we rewrite the product of consecutive integers as a ratio of factorials. We then reindex the summation (27) for convenience, so that starts at 0. Next we multiply the entire expression by and divide it by the same amount (28). Each term of the summation can be expressed in binomial form (29). Using Pascal’s second identity, we can rewrite the sum as (30). Turning this back into a ratio of factorials, we get (31). We can cancel out a factor, leaving (32). Finally, expressing this ratio of factorials as a product of consecutive integers, we have (33), as desired.

(I’d stick a “Q.E.D.” at the end of that proof, but no one uses that anymore. The square box is sufficient.)

I’m definitely looking forward to more math and awesomeness in the upcoming episodes….

[The above proofs are available as a PDF.]

EDIT: Upon rewatching the episode, I discovered that Sou has excellent taste in reading material:

Douglas R. Hofstadter’s Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid. I approve.

EDIT 2: Agggh!! What was I thinking? There’s a really easy inductive proof that I would have seen had I inducted on the right variable the first time. >_<

It’s, uh, self-explanatory.

Buono! loves IPA

[ko̞ no̞ mi t̠͡ɕi]

The Best of H!P: 2007

Having done The Best of H!P: 2008, I’m now stepping back a year. 2007, after all, was the year I was introduced to H!P…

So here goes…

The Categories.

• Best Album — Best compilation of recordings in an album or mini-album format.
• Best Single — Best release in the single format. All tracks are taken into consideration.
• Best Recording — Best overall individual track.
• Best Composition — Most musically meritorious track.
• Best Lyrics — Most lyrically laudable track.
• Best Instrumental Performance — Most instrumentally impressive track.
• Best Vocal Performance — Most vocally virtuoso track.
• Best PV — Best music/promotional video.

The Contenders.

BEST ALBUM

1. Kirarin☆Land — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
2. 4th Ai no Nanchara Shisuu — Berryz Koubou
3. ☆☆☆ — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
4. 1st GAM ~Amai Yuuwaku~ — GAM

BEST SINGLE

1. Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba — Berryz Koubou
2. Hana wo Pu~n / Futari wa NS — Kira☆Pika
3. Chance! — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
4. Happy☆彡 — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)

BEST RECORDING

1. “Seishun Oodoori” — Berryz Koubou
2. “Ai no Suki Suki Shisuu Joushouchuu” — Berryz Koubou
3. “Ichaicha Summer” — GAM
4. “Haru Beautiful Everyday” — Morning Musume.

BEST COMPOSITION

1. “VERY BEAUTY” — Berryz Koubou [composed by Tsunku; arranged by Suzuki Shunsuke]
2. “Tsuugaku Vector ☂” — °C-ute [composed by Tsunku; arranged by Hirata Shouichirou]
3. “Hand made CITY” — Morning Musume. [composed by Tsunku; arranged by Suzuki Daichi Hideyuki]
4. “Chance!” — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.) [composed by Oda Tetsurou; arranged by Iehara Masaki]

BEST LYRICS

1. “Hana wo Pu~n” — Kira☆Pika [lyrics by YumYum]
2. “Oyaji no Kokoro ni Tomotta Chiisa na Hi ~Duet Version~” — Satoda Mai with Fujioka Fujimaki [lyrics by Fujioka Fujimaki]
3. “Tsuugaku Vector ☂” — °C-ute [lyrics by Tsunku]
4. “Futari wa NS” — Kira☆Pika [lyrics by YumYum]

BEST INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE

1. “Sakura→Nyuugakushiki” — Berryz Koubou
2. “⋯H” — GAM
3. “Shiawase Clover” — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
4. “Atsui Tamashii” — GAM

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE

1. “Egao” — Matsuura Aya
2. “Ai Ai Daiko” — Maeda Yuki
3. “Ai no Fune” — GAM
4. “LIFE” — Goto Maki

BEST PV

1. “Chance!” — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
2. “Kokuhaku no Funsui Hiroba” — Berryz Koubou
3. “Honto no Jibun” — Buono!
4. “Bokura ga Ikiru MY ASIA” — Morning Musume. Tanjou 10nen Kinentai

The Best of H!P: 2008

This is a semi-response to Amy’s recent poll. It’s not a complete response because I have nothing to say for a bunch of these categories, and furthermore, I think it’s much more useful to have a few top picks in each category than just one winner. Probably the main reason why modern-day politics has been in such a slump is that too few jurisdictions have any form of preferential voting in place. Voting for just a single candidate (for example, plurality voting) is a terrible, terrible system. But I digress…

Anyway, in the preferentialist spirit, I will have four top-ranked contenders in each of the following eight categories:

• Best Album — Best compilation of recordings in an album or mini-album format.
• Best Single — Best release in the single format. All tracks are taken into consideration.
• Best Recording — Best overall individual track.
• Best Composition — Most musically meritorious track.
• Best Lyrics — Most lyrically laudable track.
• Best Instrumental Performance — Most instrumentally impressive track.
• Best Vocal Performance — Most vocally virtuoso track.
• Best PV — Best music/promotional video.

So without further ado…

BEST ALBUM

1. Café Buono! — Buono!
2. Kirari to Fuyu — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
3. 5 (FIVE) — Berryz Koubou
4. COVER YOU — Morning Musume.

BEST SINGLE

1. Minna no Tamago — Shugo Chara Egg!
2. Renai♥Rider — Buono!
3. Papancake — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
4. FOREVER LOVE — °C-ute

BEST RECORDING

1. “Love Chick” — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.)
2. “Hoshi no Hitsujitachi” — Buono!
3. “Sono Bamen de Bibiccha Ikenai jan!” — Morning Musume.
4. “Minna no Tamago” — Shugo Chara Egg!

BEST COMPOSITION

1. “Oh! Tomodachi” — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.) [composed and arranged by BOUNCEBACK]
2. “Yume wo Hitotsubu ~Berryz Kamen Ending Theme~” — Berryz Koubou [composed by Tsunku; arranged by Takahashi Yuichi]
3. “Tan Tan Taan!” — MilkyWay [composed and arranged by Maeyamada Kenichi]
4. “Hajimari no Uta” — Shugo Chara Egg! [composed by Izumi Noritaka; arranged by Nakano Sadahiro]

BEST LYRICS

1. “Internet Cupid” — Buono! [lyrics by Masanori Ouchi]
2. “16sai no Koi Nante” — Abe Natsumi & Yajima Maimi (°C-ute) [lyrics by KAN]
3. “Papancake” — Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume.) [lyrics by 2°C]
4. “Last Forever” — Buono! [lyrics by Kawakami Natsuki]

BEST INSTRUMENTAL PERFORMANCE

1. “Janakya Mottainai!” — Buono!
2. “Saigo no Natsuyasumi” — v-u-den
3. “BE” — Berryz Koubou
4. “Kioku no Meiro” — High-King

BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCE

1. “Johnny e no Dengen” — Morning Musume.
2. “Hanaichimonme” — Matsuura Aya
3. “Rottara Rottara” — Buono!
4. “ROMANCE” — Morning Musume.

BEST PV

1. “Renai♥Rider” — Buono!
2. “Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix (β Ver.)” — Dschinghis Khan × Berryz Koubou
3. “Resonant Blue (Another Ver.)” — Morning Musume.
4. “Gachinko de Ikou!” — Buono!

Countdown! The Top 100 H!P PVs: Interlude

Countdown! The Top 100 Hello! Project PVs

 

So … we’ve been at the halfway point for a while now. My original plan was to do this every year, and that certainly doesn’t look feasible at this point. Though getting through half the countdown in one year is some progress, I guess. The countdown covered only PVs up to and including 2007, so all the fantastic videos from 2008 weren’t included. And seeing as how this will continue on into 2009 without honoring the 2008 PVs, here’s a list of the 2008 H!P PVs that I thought were noteworthy, in alphabetical order:

• Abe Natsumi & Yajima Maimi (°C-ute) – 16sai no Koi Nante (1213 Ver.)
• Berryz Koubou – Dschinghis Khan
• Berryz Koubou – MADAYADE
• Dschinghis Khan × Berryz Koubou – Dschinghis Khan Tartar Mix (β Ver.)
• Buono! – Gachinko de Ikou!
• Buono! – Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!
• Buono! – Renai♥Rider
• Buono! – Rottara Rottara
• °C-ute – FOREVER LOVE
• °C-ute – Edo no Temari Uta II
• MilkyWay – Anataboshi
• MilkyWay – Tan Tan Taan!
• Morning Musume。 – Resonant Blue (Another Ver.)
• Shugo Chara Egg! – Minna no Tamago
• Tsukishima Kirari starring Kusumi Koharu (Morning Musume。) – Papancake

Sorry I don’t have anything more exciting. This countdown should (hopefully) pick up again in January.

tasty … ^_^

This has nothing to do with Hello! Project whatsoever, but …

Yum yum! (It looks much better in real life … the color is a bit off there … ) Ingredients include veggie bacon, cheese, asparagus spears, and blueberries. Tasty!

I call it Chef K’s [ <6973> <506F7374536372697074> <626F6D6221> <6461> ] { cvn cvx } forall 4 2 roll

Sorry, couldn’t resist sticking a PostScript pun in there…

(Hint: execute the code in GhostScript or your preferred PostScript interpreter, and do a pstack …)

The Yajima Combinator in Translation

This is a follow-up to my previous post, THIS IS NOT A REVIEW. I was inspired by a comment from Julia to translate the examples Airi and Maimi wrote (in the fictional universe depicted in my last post) into Turing, from the original Scheme.

The original snippets of code were:

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using named recursion in Scheme)

(define (FOREVER x)
  (display x) (FOREVER x))

(FOREVER "LOVE ")

(the Y combinator in Scheme)

(lambda (f)
  ((lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))
   (lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))))

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using the Y combinator to do anonymous recursion in Scheme)

(((lambda (f)
   ((lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))
    (lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))))
  (lambda (p) (lambda (s) (display s) (p s))))
 "LOVE ")

Of course, the latter two examples rely on unnamed functions (lambdas), which, as it turns out, appear not to be supported at all in Turing. As a result, I could only duplicate the first example:

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using named recursion in Turing)

procedure forever(x : string)
   put x ..
   forever(x)
end forever

forever("LOVE ")

Feeling inspired, I decided to try this out in Python. Unfortunately, while lambdas are supported in Python, they are purely functional, meaning it’s impossible to get side effects out of the recursive process like printing “LOVE” every time. You’d have to generate an infinitely long string of these and then print it out:

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using named recursion in Python)

def FOREVER(x):
   print x,
   FOREVER(x)

FOREVER("LOVE")

(the Y combinator in Python)

(lambda f: \
  (lambda x: f(lambda y: (x(x))(y))) \
  (lambda x: f(lambda y: (x(x))(y))))

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using the Y combinator to do anonymous recursion in Python, theoretically)

(lambda f: \
   (lambda x: f(lambda y: (x(x))(y))) \
   (lambda x: f(lambda y: (x(x))(y)))) \
 (lambda p: (lambda s:(s + p(s)))) \
('LOVE ')

Of course, you won’t be able to see anything from running that last one. But you can use the Y combinator to print out “LOVE” a finite number of times:

(printing “LOVE” 17 times using the Y combinator to do anonymous recursion in Python)

(lambda f: \
   (lambda x: f(lambda y: (x(x))(y))) \
   (lambda x: f(lambda y: (x(x))(y)))) \
 (lambda p: (lambda s: (s==0 and ' ') or ('LOVE ' + p(s-1)))) \
(17)

Feeling even more inspired, I decided to tackle the task of translating this into PostScript, which is totally one of the awesomest programming languages ever, even though many people who are familiar with it don’t realize its programming complexity and dismiss it as a simple page description language … ahem. (It’s the language behind PS files, the precursor to PDF.)

And behold, it worked!

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using named recursion in PostScript)

/FOREVER { dup print FOREVER } def
(LOVE ) FOREVER

(the Y combinator in PostScript)

{ [ exch
   { [ exch
         { dup cvx exec exec } aload pop
     ] cvx } aload pop
      8 -1 roll
     { cvx exec } aload pop ]
  dup cvx exec }

(printing “LOVE” an infinite number of times using the Y combinator to do anonymous recursion in PostScript)

(LOVE )
{ [ exch
   { dup 5 string cvs print
      [ exch } aload pop 8 -1 roll
         [ exch cvx { exec } aload pop ] cvx
         { aload pop ] cvx exec } aload pop ] cvx } cvlit
{ [ exch
   { [ exch
      { dup cvx exec exec } aload pop ] cvx } aload pop
    8 -1 roll { cvx exec } aload pop ]
    dup cvx exec }
exec cvx exec

And just for fun, here’s computing the factorial of 6 using the Y combinator:

6
{ [ exch { dup 0 eq exch { 1 } exch [ exch } aload pop
         9 -1 roll [ exch { dup 1 sub } aload pop
         4 -1 roll cvx { exec } aload pop { mul } aload pop ] cvx
      { aload pop ] cvx ifelse } aload pop ] cvx } cvlit
{ [ exch { [ exch
      { dup cvx exec exec } aload pop ] cvx } aload pop
      8 -1 roll {cvx exec } aload pop ] dup cvx exec }
exec cvx exec

PostScript rocks.

THIS IS NOT A REVIEW

 

CUZ I DONT DO REVIEWS YO

this is a DIALOGUE on the nature of computation brought to you by °C-ute or actually just THE AIRI AND MAIMI SHOW cuz everybody else is like wut im a computer n00b i dont even know how to type zomgwtf but AIRI AND MAIMI are like SUPER FREAKING GENIUSES or something and they totally know everything about computers and programming and data structures and algorithms and complexity theory and all that

because contrary to popular belief °C-ute is actually short for

°COMPUTE

thats right THATS A DASH your supposed to fill in the missing letters duh

(betcha didnt know that huh?)

WUT

 

oh hay look its °C-ute in the middle of their STRUCTURE AND INTERPRETATION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMS class and today their going over HIGHER ORDER PROCEDURES and how to call a procedure using another procedure as an argument or even reflexively using the procedure itself

 

so erika and mai are like WUUUHHHHHH???? but airi and maimi totally know wuts going on cuz their like SUPER FREAKING GENIUSES and their already jumping ahead to next weeks topic…..

 

and airi goes hey check this out zomglolololololol

 

… one level of embedding …

 

….. TWO levels of embedding …..

 

……. FOUR LEVELS OF EMBEDDING ……..

 

……… EIGHT LEVELS OF EMBEDDING IS THAT AMAZING OR WUT OMG???!!! ………

 

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

 

and maimis like WUT

 

and airis like RECURSION B****ES!!!

 

but maimis like STFU N00B that terminates after only eight iterations

betcha cant do an infinite loop wut

 

so airi sez OH YEAH WELL CHECK THIS OUT

 

(define (FOREVER x)
  (display x) (FOREVER x))
(FOREVER "LOVE ")

 

SEE IT PRINTS OUT LOVE AND RECURSIVELY CALLS ITSELF SO IT CAN PRINT OUT LOVE AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN

its like LOVE …….. FOREVER!!!!!

 

wut

 

FOREVER LOVE

get it? GET IT??!!!

 

but maimis like SRSLY zomgrofl THAT IS SO TRIVIAL IT MAKES THE TRIVIAL GROUP LOOK NONCOMMUTATIVE lol

 

NONCOMMUTATIVE?????!!!!!!!

I OWN TSUUGAKU VECTOR☂

I AM THE LIVING EMBODIMENT OF THE INNER PRODUCT OF ANY TWO VECTORS IN A HILBERT SPACE

 

cuz thats like CONJUGATE SYMMETRY

which when restricted to a real scalar field means that under the inner product any two vectors COMMUTE

FOR REAL

 

oh yeah well thats nothing compared to the Y COMBINATOR

 

(lambda (f)
  ((lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))
   (lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))))

 

your procedure is so weak it needs a name zomglol

WITH THE Y COMBINATOR YOU CAN DO ANONYMOUS RECURSION ZOMGAWESOME

 

(((lambda (f)
   ((lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))
    (lambda (x) (f (lambda (y) ((x x) y))))))
  (lambda (p) (lambda (s) (display s) (p s))))
 "LOVE ")

LOOK NO NAMES WUT

 

………………… O__________________O ……………………

 

THATS RIGHT THE Y COMBINATOR IS SHORT FOR YAJIMA COMBINATOR!!!!!!

 

o rly?

 

YA RLY LAMBDA CALCULUS FTW

 

well lambda calculus is ok but….

 

KAPPA CALCULUS IS THE BEST!!!!!! =(^w^)=

 

and maimis like *facepalm*

 

but then saki butts in and is like

i like SKI calculus cuz its like SAKI but like without the A

 

and airi and maimi are like LOLWUT

 

 

NEXT TIME ON THE AIRI AND MAIMI SHOW FEATURING °C-UTE

WTFAWESOME BATTLE OF THE BRAINZ LIKE ZOMG

 

SUPER FREAKING GENIUS IDOLS DISCUSS COMBINATORY LOGIC AND FORMAL GRAMMARS AND THE CHOMSKY HIERARCHY AND THE COMPUTATIONAL EQUIVALENCE OF RECURSION AND TURING MACHINES!!!!!!

 

and °C-ute perform AN INTERPRETIVE DANCE interpreting THE RUNTIME EXECUTION OF A SCHEME INTERPRETER INTERPRETING ITS OWN SOURCE CODE

 

LOLWUT kthxbai <33333333 XD

 

THIS BLOG IS NOT DEAD!!

… I’ve just been busy, sorry.

Busy with what, you ask?

Well … I’ve been living it up (?) as a graduate teaching assistant for a course in mathematics for computer science, taken mostly by second-year undergrads, with a total enrollment of around ~180. As part of my duties, I get to teach two sections that meet twice a week and also contribute to writing problems for assignments and quizzes. What fun!

Actually, the making-up-awesome-problems part really is fun! I managed to whip together an entire problem set on the topic of sums and asymptotic relations in which all the problems are Hello! Project-themed.

Alas, after discussion with the other staff members, we decided that while the problems were awesome and hilarious (maybe more so for me than for them), they were a bit on the challenging side, not straightforward enough, and touched on a few topics we weren’t really covering (Problem 4d in particular “would kill the students”). So it got scratched, and a more boring replacement was released instead.

But all is not lost! We’ve decided to release this problem set as optional, not-for-credit “challenge problems”, and you can try them out here:

Hello! Project Challenge Problems (PDF)

If you wish, you can send your solutions to kirarinsnow@mit.edu, and I’ll respond with comments.

Enjoy!

This is how we roll in Kirarin☆Land …

My computer died last week. The AC adapter connector thingy broke, and thus my poor laptop was unable to power up.

But now it’s alive again! Rather disemboweled, but fully functional nevertheless. I think I removed like 60 screws or something.

So yeah! I can get back to doing that remix album now…. Yayz! ~^.^~

And while I have everything dismantled, I might as well put the keys in their proper locations… wheeeee….

Countdown! The Top 100 H!P PVs: 55-50.5

Countdown! The Top 100 Hello! Project PVs

 

At this rate, we’ll get to the #1 video in the year 2023 or so…

Birthday Double Dactyls for Koha! (Part 2)

It’s no longer Koha’s b-day in my time zone, but it’s still Koha-day in most time zones west of here, so …

MORE DOUBLE DACTYLS FOR KOHA! YAYZ ^_^

Seriously, the double dactyl is the most demented form of poetry ever … hence, perfect for Koha. ^_^

(see Part 1)

 

Futari wa NS

Futari hitori,
Hikaru, Kirari
Team up to try to dis-
Prove Gauss’s rule.

Finding no monopole,
Sadly they figure that
Ferromagnetically
Poles must be dual.

 

Ramutara

Ramutaarattattan!
World-weary Koha-chan
Cuts ‘cross Kamchatka to
Kolkata … more!

Finished with traveling,
Koha now looks for a
Nongeographical
Place to explore.

 

Sansan GOGO

DNA → RNA:
Misinformed MilkyWay
Err in directing us
Which way to go.

5-prime to 3-prime’s how
Nucleotides link up
Ribonucleically
All in a row.

 

Olala*

Olala olala,
Mademoiselle Kusumi
A commencé à chan-
Ter en français.

Cependant, tout le monde
Trouvait son accès de
« Francocacophonie »
Vraiment mauvais.

 

* A rough English translation that loses all of the delicious rhyming tonguetwistery of the French:

Olala olala,
Miss Kusumi
Started to sing
In French.

However, all the world
Found her outburst of
“Francocacophonie”
Truly bad.

 

 

Yayz! I wanted to do 16 double dactyls in honor of Koha’s turning 16, but since double dactyls do double duty, so to speak, 8 should be enough. ^.^

I’ll probably have more double dactyls to post in the near future, though….

Birthday Double Dactyls for Koha! (Part 1)

Happy birthday Koharu!

In celebration of Koha’s birthday (07.15), here are a few double dactyls I’ve composed:

 

Papancake

Pancakey pancakey,
Master chef Kirari
Proves she can pancake-sort
Faster than SHIPS.

Quite inexplicably,
This method takes but a
Subpolynomial
Number of flips.

 

SUGAO-flavor

Flavor Flav, baklava,
Koha-chan’s talk of a
“Genuine flavor” is
Just a disguise—

Hard-to-find particle
Actually is quantum
Chromodynamics’s
Largest in size.

 

Hana wo Pu~n

Kirari pikari,
Koha and Mai, though
Experts at tangent and
Cosine and sine,

Find themselves thwarted by
Trigonometrical
Hippohypoteni:
Transforms affine.

 

Konnichi pa

Konnichi pa-pa-pa!
Kirari’s tra-la-la
Seizes the heartstrings and
Moves one to tears.

Poignantly touched by her
Einführungsmelodie,
Passersby nonetheless
Cover their ears.

 

 

More double dactyls are in the works, so stay tuned!

(see Part 2)

TSUNKU / つんく / つんく♂: The Enigma, the Conspiracy, the Revelations

I. Tsunku: The Enigma

If one follows the development and output of Hello! Project, one is likely well acquainted with Tsunku, the Producer:

Of course, Tsunku does not produce everything in Hello! Project, nor is his work limited only to production. A prolific lyricist and composer, he is also responsible for writing most of Hello! Project’s songs. One need only scan any recent (Tsunku-produced) Hello! Project release to see Tsunku’s name emblazoned across the front cover, acknowledging his role in producing the record. In addition, on the interior of the liner notes, one may often see both the lyrics and composition of the tracks attributed to Tsunku, his name rising elegantly above the very words he has penned.

Indeed, let us journey together, dear reader, through the experience of gazing upon Tsunku’s name as it appears on the Berryz Koubou single “VERY BEAUTY”, selected arbitrarily as a typical example of a Tsunku production.

Observe in particular how the three simple hiragana strokes (つんく) are embellished with a Mars symbol (♂), prominently displayed yet not intended to be pronounced. An interesting touch, otherwise attributable to Tsunku’s idiosyncratic whims but for the fact that this name appears differently on the interior:

Here the Mars symbol is noticeably absent. One might dismiss this as a mere typographical error, but closer examination of other recent Tsunku productions reveals that the Mars symbol is consistently missing from the lyrics and composition credits while present on the cover production credits.

One might fancy the notion that behind the “Tsunku” nom de plume lies a team of two individuals, one a producer and the other a lyricist and composer, differentiated only by the presence or absence of the Mars symbol. While there is some merit to this possibility, one must consider the history of this peculiar symbol as it is displayed on the covers of Tsunku-produced releases over the ages. In particular, one must note that early Hello! Project releases credit Tsunku as producer without the Mars symbol.

Immediately some pertinent questions arise: At which point did Tsunku the producer begin adopting the Mars symbol as an essential feature of his pseudonym? Did he consistently omit the symbol prior to this point, and has he consistently included it since then? And perhaps most importantly, why are there two Tsunkus now when once there was but one?

Speculation about Tsunku’s gender identity and/or sexual orientation aside (to be addressed in due time), let us examine in detail, dear reader, the evolution of this name, in hopes that such an endeavour may uncover heretofore unacknowledged clues to illuminate this enigmatic figure and to guide us in dissecting this mystery.

Michishige the Mathematician

Going over the last few installments of Pocket Morning Weekly Q&A, posted in translation at Hello!Online, one might notice a developing interest in mathematics by none other than Michishige Sayumi:

 

2008.03.30
Question: Is there something about which you’ve thought, “Certainly this year, I want to challenge myself with this!”?
Michishige: Math Problems ☆

2008.05.11
Question: Fill in the blank to the right with one word. “I’m surprisingly ___”
Michishige: I’m surprisingly intellectual.
Please try to understand that somehow. m(・-・)m

2008.06.15
Question: Among your fellow members, what about you makes you think, “At this, I definitely can’t lose!”
Michishige: Simultaneous equations!!

 

The evidence is indisputable. Sayumi is a math geek. XD

While her fellow MoMusu are busy with more mundane interests, our Sayumi is off challenging herself with math problems (here, Sayu, try Project Euler) and has apparently discovered the wonders of linear algebra (I’m assuming at least some of those simultaneous equations are linear). No doubt Sayumi has mastered the techniques of Gauss-Jordan elimination, Cramer’s rule, and LU decomposition and is well on her way to achieving world domination.

In addition to this, Sayumi has listed Tetris as a hobby and as a “special skill”. This is by far the geekiest interest I’ve seen in any H!P member. Because Tetris is not your average video game. It is a mind-stretching mathematical puzzle, and several of its subproblems are NP-complete. NP-complete, I tell you! This places it in the class of difficult problems that includes Boolean k-satisfiability, determining the existence of a Hamiltonian path, and Minesweeper.

Sayumi is hardcore.

For this, she gets an Excellence in Unabashed Geekitude Award.

And I still need to give Koharu one, don’t I?