A Very Exciting (and Dangerous?) Mathematics Conference

Some mathematics conferences are more dangerous than others.

(Bernadette Stolz-Pretzer is apparently attending a particularly exciting conference. Thanks for posting this picture and letting me share it.) pic.twitter.com/wKiax2gWOA

— Mason Porter (@masonporter) September 11, 2018

P.S. I wonder what they actually have in mind with that session? I'm at a loss. I suppose it's clearer to the people who are actually attending the conference?

Words Well Hung

I can see myself uttering last words along these lines (though I can do without the hanging).

"I see that you have made 3 spelling mistakes." Last words of Marquis de Favras after reading his death sentence before being hanged (1790). pic.twitter.com/b4aFy7yyJM

— Klaas Meijer (@klaasm67) September 15, 2017

(Tip of the cap to George Takei.)

Headline: Sudden Execution Causes Extinction of Matrix Products

Here is a quote from a paper I finished reading this morning: "We first execute the last matrix product..."

Well, damn. Now I guess matrix products have become extinct. Cruel bastards.

WTF of the Day

Apparently, an Ohio inmate tried unsuccessfully to get out of a death sentence using a too-fat-to-execute argument.

Well hung

The listed 'story highlights' on CNN's article about Saddam Hussein's execution are currently the following:

• NEW: Hussein refused to wear black hood
• NEW: Hussein told witness, "Don't be afraid"
• NEW: Bush praises Iraqis for giving fair trial
• Celebrations break out in Baghdad and Michigan


Not to make light of things, but I can't help being amused by the 4th highlight. It sounds like the punchline to a joke.

(Now I'll read the article and see if there's a good reason for their being celebrations in Michigan versus other places in the U.S. -- and perhaps have egg on my face for being insensitive, but we'll see what's in the article.)

Update: Apparently, Dearborn, Michigan has the largest "concentration" (although I think the article actually means raw population) of Iraqi-Americans in the United States. (I wouldn't have guessed that.) So, my comment was a bit insensitive, but I still think that headline is amusing, and I'm not going to lie to myself and pretend otherwise.