Entry 9: Connected

Finally, we are connected! In honor of this occasion I give you “Connected” by Stereo MCs*.

This morning I handicapped us actually getting a working DSL connection by the end of the day. I put the odds at 1-1, even money. The events of the recent past left me extremely pessimistic, but somebody was supposedly coming out to help us. When you get somebody’s actual physical presence you usually get way better service. They can’t just transfer you. Anyway, the coin flip came up our way today, and we’re now online.

[Our marriage-saving modem.]

I’m still planning on not using Internet much at night. Like I said before, I’m enjoying doing other things, but it’s nice to have it here if I want it. It’s very good for S though, she can work now without cursing that little Mac rainbow spinner, download “Project Runway,”** and call friends and family in the States on our Vonage phone during the day (when it’s still a reasonable hour over there). She’s happy now, and I think our marriage is secure again.

In other news, mathematical/computer science news, about a week ago a man named Vinay Deolalikar produced a draft of a “proof” that P does not equal NP. This is one of the most famous open problems in mathematics and one of the Millennium Million Dollar Prize Problems. Although, I don’t have a super deep background in this area of mathematics (complexity theory), I can give a layperson’s description.

There are two prominent sets of problems in theoretical computer science. One is classified as NP problems, the other as P problems. NP problems are those you can “efficiently” check a solution for if you already have one. P problems are those you can “efficiently” find a solution for. It’s well-established that all problems in P are also in NP. What isn’t currently known is whether or not there are problems in NP that are not in P. That is, does P = NP? I believe it’s safe to say that most experts think the answer is no*** (perhaps, if for no deeper reason than, it would be pretty weird if the answer is yes), but there is no verified proof.

Dr. Deolalikar has yet to produce a finished journal paper for referee review (the review could, literally, take years to complete), but based on the draft, experts are skeptical. Apparently, there are a few issues that don’t seem immediately fixable. The verdict is very much still out though, so we will all wait and see. (You're on pins and needles, I'm sure.)

In other, other news, sporting news, I’ve taken up squash. I’m a pretty good racquetball player, but there are no courts here, so I’m trying a related game. I like squash, but I find it frustrating because it’s not racquetball – the game I already know and like and can play well. I’ve gone to club a few times, but I haven’t won a match yet. I even lost 2 of 3 to a woman I’d peg as being in her mid-50s. (The saddest part of this is that I was happy to win one.) I could hit much harder than her and outrun her, but she just stood in the middle of the court and hit these nicely placed dinkers. Still, I think I’m not bad for a beginner – I have to keep in mind that most people in the club have played hundreds, maybe even thousands of games, I’ve played about 10 – so I’ll keep going with it. I spent $90 on the racket, after all, and it’s very good exercise (especially when you are constantly out of position like me). It beats the treadmill, so that’s something.

* Stereo MCs are (were?) a British quasi-electronic rap group. They had a few radio hits in the early 90s, but are mostly unknown. I always kinda dug them though.

** I’ve sorta gotten into this show. Considering all the garbage S watches, I figured it’d be awful, but it’s not bad. I don’t really watch an entire episode intently, but I’ll come in and out and then watch the runway part at the end.

*** From Wikipedia: In a 2002 poll of 100 researchers, 61 believed the answer to be no, 9 believed the answer is yes, and 22 were unsure; 8 believed the question may be independent of the currently accepted axioms and so impossible to prove or disprove.