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12:05 AM
@Verbeia migrate it.
 
12:15 AM
@rcollyer flagged
 
1:02 AM
Here I go begging for attention again but here is an answer of mine with zero votes. It wasn't posted days late, and I thought it was a good method. Is there something wrong with it?
 
1:21 AM
@MrWizard It works fine. I guess that I don't understand its working to appreciate it. I should learn more pattern matching and start by dissecting it.
 
@MrWizard I never saw the question in the first place. I suppose I could downvote your answer.... ;-)
 
Man, if at the current question influx rate, people can miss questions, how much more if it got up to SO-level?
 
That'd be a nice problem to have :-)
 
1:40 AM
I have not read about 1/3 to 1/2 of the questions on the site.
 
@rcollyer How's it going?
 
@BrettChampion It's okay. I have to rework what I was doing the past several days, but it should be straightforward.
 
@rcollyer Reminds me of the sort of thing I do. <write code><realize it doesn't handle some case><end up completely rewriting the code>
 
@BrettChampion this time it was put together a matrix, look at how it behaves, scratch my head when it doesn't behave at all like what I intended, and then there's the aha moment that it was wrong to begin with. :P
Mostly trying to use a new to me technique to probe a theory of mine, and with luck, it will reveal what I want it to. Otherwise, only a couple of days wasted.
 
1:56 AM
@rcollyer Hope it pans out.
 
I don't think it will be nearly as effective as I want. But, I may be able to use it for a paragraph in the dissertation. Yes, sometimes a lot of work goes into one measly little paragraph.
 
2:20 AM
@rcollyer Pareto, y'know... :)
 
@JM exactly.
 
"It's 80% done. All we have to do now is the other 80%"
 
@BrettChampion Tell me about.
 
Is there any part of life where Pareto doesn't rear its head?
 
Good question.
 
3:23 AM
A little thing to muse over: why does Sum[#[[k]], {k, Length[#]}] &[{7, 0, 9, 4, 7, 9, 3, 2, 5}] not throw an error message, but ContinuedFractionK[#[[k]], {k, Length[#]}] &[{7, 0, 9, 4, 7, 9, 3, 2, 5}] does? Both Sum[] and ContinuedFractionK[] are HoldAll, so that's not it...
(Nevertheless, ContinuedFractionK[] gives the correct answer.)
 
3:35 AM
@JM In my Mma session ContinuedFraction has Attributes {Listable, Protected} but not HoldAll. Am I missing something? Should it be HoldAll?
 
@Matariki You're missing the K on the end: ContinuedFractionK not ContinuedFraction.
 
Sorry for the confusion. I added HoldAll to ContinuedFraction but got the same error message.
Forget that also. I should go to bed.
 
Hola, @VitaliyKaurov
 
4:40 AM
@rcollyer hello
 
 
10 hours later…
2:42 PM
@RM Been there almost 20 years ago. Was one of the best vacations in the US we ever had. We had a grand tour around Yosemite, Sequioiah, Death Valley, Snow canyon, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon, the Flagstaff meteorite crater and a couple more things. We drove like 5000 km in two weeks.
 
 
1 hour later…
3:57 PM
The number of RTFM questions is rising steeply (or is that just my perception?). I tend to point the askers to the appropriate doc pages, but I got flagged yesterday as being rude and arrogant for doing that. Could I have your opinions on this, please?
 
4:21 PM
Hi Sjoerd!
I'd say this depends on the case, but generally I am strongly in favor of continuing doing what you did, and pointing to the docs. Should we lower the standards once, and we get overwhelmed by RTFM questions before we know it.
@Sjoerd I also think that we may deal with it along the lines of what Mr.Wizard suggested: have some "quota" for any new users, so that their first and perhaps second questions are answered with more patience, but pointing also to the docs. After that, pointing to the docs and /or taking other actions to get them to play by the rules.
 
 
2 hours later…
5:58 PM
0
Q: Image Shadow Removal in Mathematica

belisariusThe task is: Image shadow removal is an important topic in image processing. If you feel curious about it, you may take a look here, or just google for it image shadow removal There are also a few questions on SE around it. For example: http://dsp.stackexchange.com/questions/2247/how-can-...

 
6:53 PM
0
Q: GimmeTehCodez vs. Code-Request tagging

belisariusI recently asked this question on the main site. For it I created a tag code-request, because I'm not asking the community to put their effort in developing the algorithm (it may be a hard task), but to report already done efforts in the problem. However, I understand the tag could be misunderst...

 
acl
7:06 PM
@SjoerdCdeVries I too think there have been more such questions than before.
 
Hi !
Question. I am reading Math. docs., chapter that deals with Expressions
so every expression has the form Head[ arg1, ...............,argN]
therefore, FullForm[a+b+c] is Plus[a,b,c]
 
@newprint yep
 
I am curious, is the a way it deduces that the head of expr is "Plus"
 
a+b is a shorthand for Plus[a,b]
 
FullForm[a + b - c] on other hands intuitively should give you Plus[a,Minus[b,c]].
Of course, if you know anything about Computers
"-" is converted to "Multiply by minus and add"
 
7:21 PM
Why not Plus[a,b,Times[-1,c]]?
 
@belisarius Therefore, somewhere
there should be an intermediate result
a+b is just part of the expression
so is it Plus[Plus[a,b],c] ??
 
@newprint Minus[b,c] is not right. Check the help for Minus
and then check Subtract
 
Ah, ok, so Minus is just a negation, got it !!! Thanks !
But really curious about "intermediate result"
 
@newprint Check Attributes@Plus and then look for the meaning of the Flat attribute
 
Attributes[Plus]
{Flat, Listable, NumericFunction, OneIdentity, Orderless, Protected}
so, in other words, Flat is set to True ?
 
7:32 PM
@newprint Plus has attribute FLAT, yes
 
got it
FullForm[Plus[Plus[a, b], c]] = Plus[a+b+c]
Thanks !
 
@newprint you are welcome
 
How is weather in Argentina today ?
 
7:41 PM
@newprint Hot and Humid. Bad thing
 
Actually today is not that bad
we recently had 105F in some places 110
Even though, you are in Latina America
it is cooler there than over here
 
@newprint Hehe ... it's almost winter ...
 
proximity to south pole ?
 
@newprint 6160 kilometres (3830 miles)
 
CHM
8:12 PM
I have some trouble adapting this function so it can edit vectors. At the moment it only works with functions. Does anybody know how to do it?
I modified the `maxcols` var so that it now is `maxcols =
If[(Depth[m] - 1) == 2, Min[maxfields[[2]], Length[m[[1]]]], 1]`
Still doesn't properly show the vector :(
Got it, nevermind. The new function is:

editMatrix[Dynamic[m_], maxfields_: {10, 10}] :=
With[{maxrows = Min[maxfields[[1]], Length[m]],
maxcols =
If[(Depth[m] - 1) == 2, Min[maxfields[[2]], Length[m[[1]]]], 1]},
Interpretation[
Panel[DynamicModule[{rowoffset = 0, coloffset = 0},
Grid[{{If[Length@m > maxrows,
VerticalSlider[
Dynamic[rowoffset], {Length[m] - maxrows, 0, 1}]],
Grid[Table[
With[{x = i, y = j},
Switch[{i, j}, {0, 0}, Spacer[0], {0, _},
Dynamic[y + coloffset], {_, 0},
Dynamic[x + rowoffset], _,
 
 
1 hour later…
R.M
9:29 PM
@SjoerdCdeVries I saw some discussion on the big list answer that was once CW and is currently not... do you know how it got changed?
 
acl
9:41 PM
is this about the programming examples answer?
 
R.M
@SjoerdCdeVries I can't...
 
Would you mind if I did?
 
R.M
no
 
hmmmm
@acl yes it was
but don't tell mom
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries won't :)
 
R.M
9:43 PM
Since it also had my flag which was declined, it should've gone to meta since there isn't consensus.
 
@R.M That's probably the best. Would you do the honors?
 
R.M
Sure.
 
acl
@Sjoerd about the shadow question, I agree with MrW that there is a hue shift in the shadows (due to the shadow areas being illuminated by diffuse light from the sky)
 
@acl I hadn't seen a reaction. Will check now.
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries also as you said, the raw conversion introduces hue shifts that depend on the brightness (I've wasted thousands of hours on this sort of thing in the past)
I am afraid I can't come up with anything better though
(well, let's say a thousand :) )
 
9:54 PM
@acl I was aware of the blue color of the global lighting, but was hoping it wouldn't have such a large impact.
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries Yes I guess you were. I was hoping that some Lab mode would be better than HSB but it's not, as far as I can tell
 
@acl With respect to the sharp difference between the LD and UR parts of the shadow in the grayscale image I have been thinking of a prank, aimed at image processing researchers.
 
acl
(in addition to which, even if it was, I'd need to write a conversion routine in mma)
 
I have a Lab routine somewhere, stolen from a demonstration
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries didn't think to look there... but it doesn't seem to help, a and b are also affected too much
 
9:59 PM
true
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries what sort of prank?
(what's UR and LD?)
 
making one part of the shadow somewhat darker than the other part
the boundary of the foot path in the picture would make it hard to discover visually
should have said TR BL
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries ah right
 
@SjoerdCdeVries That image is just an example taken from a paper.
 
acl
pretty shocking to see how much chroma subsampling is going on here, without it being visually obvious
 
10:04 PM
@acl color vision has about a factor of 10 lower resolution than bw vision
 
acl
@SjoerdCdeVries yes, but it's still shocking to see
and from what I remember if you add monochromatic noise to particular channels in an rgb image, it is much more obvious in the green than in the others
 
acl
OK I'm off to finish my Goldbergs. The questions are either too easy or too hard for me recently...
 
@belisarius Nice, but too much work for now ;->
 
@SjoerdCdeVries Yeah. I am not asking for anybody to implement it!
 
10:11 PM
@acl Enjoy, I'm signing off for today
 
@SjoerdCdeVries see you!
 
@belisarius I know. Good night
 
@acl Which Goldberg? Classical Mech?
 
acl
@belisarius no, the variations (bach)! somehow I never used goldberg for classical mechanics
I did spend an hour on your question today though. didn't get me anywhere
 
@acl Sorry, that was not my intention. I know the problem is hard.
 
acl
10:14 PM
@belisarius oh no it was instructive
I wonder if the distribution of of questions is becoming more bimodal or if it's just me becoming even grumpier
 
@acl Yes, but it is one of those problems that can't be solved by neat tricks
 
acl
yes, but you only know this when you try. I thought I'd do what sjoerd did, but it doesn't work. then I tried Lab and so on, still didn't work
as I said, instructive.
(so of course I am still wasting my time on it now, while listening to music). still not getting anywhere of course. you are right, it can't be solved by "clever" tricks
 
@acl Re: Question quality. When you have a small question influx, any statistical fluctuation seems a tendency.
 
acl
@belisarius in fact I thought it was two problems in one: do what you ask for a B&W image, then find the appropriate colour space in which the shadow affects only one channel. I thought the second would be easy, despite having been a photographer since I was 10. but it's impossible, so the first being simple doesn't help
@belisarius it could be but it doesn't look like a fluctuation
@belisarius it could also be that I am spending most of my working time writing code these days so I am burnt out by the time I decide to play
 
@acl Re: the questions. Graduation is around the corner. I think it will bring some fresh air.
 
acl
10:23 PM
@belisarius let's hope so. I learnt a lot more about programming in mathematica from SO than from all the years I was doing it before, and that was both because I saw other people's code and because I tried to answer harder and harder questions. I'd like to keep this up
 
@acl Oh yes! Having a nice community and interesting questions is an unbeatable blend
 
R.M
@acl Very true! The near real time nature of the site also means that I can get tiny niggles clarified quickly via comments, which otherwise would've been an email (on MG) which takes 2 days to go back and forth, by which time I've already forgotten what the question was about
 
Excuse me when I chime in. How many hours are you guys spending answering questions in Mma. I see most activity here during my working hours but then can dedicate much time to it. Is quite amazing how fast answers poor in at time.
 
R.M
@Matariki I know you meant "pour", but it's unfortunate to see "poor" next to "answers" on this site :P
 
@RM Yes, typo
 
10:29 PM
@Matariki Several answerers here are full time employees of stack exchange trying to inflate the site's value
4
 
@belisarius That's nice in a way. Will they be able to keep that up? I guess once the interest in Mma is there you will not easily drop it. The site has definitely drawn me back into Mma programming and using new aspects of its capabilities.
 
R.M
@Matariki Life lesson #1: Do not take belisarius seriously.
 
@RM Starred!
 
@RM OK. you learn something everyt day. Noted
 
@RM I did that once, but I think I got away with it.
 
10:33 PM
@Matariki Sorry, I couldn't resist :D
 
@belisarius That's fine. Newbies have to be pulled over. I'll get used to it
 
@Matariki Oh no! Newbies are not pun targeted here. We work nd have some fun. That is it!
 
acl
@Matariki no he does this to everybody
 
@belisarius That sounds good love to add some fun. I am just in morning tea break here and have to get back to my machinery
 
@Matariki Welcome to the site!
 
acl
10:38 PM
there are some unsavoury characters around, though, like that nasty yoda thing.
2
luckily it's not been around much lately
 
@acl Is this part of the ritual?
 
@acl But Yoda is not a person anymore. He was devoured by his personage.
 
acl
@Matariki something like that yes :)
 
@acl Thats sounds like you guys are real fun to have around
 
acl
@Matariki except yoda of course
terrible entity
 
10:40 PM
You should also know that Mr.Wizard is actually many people sharing one account.
 
acl
@Heike that too, Mr.W is a collective entity
 
@Heike Most of them awake 25 hours a day
 
@acl Never met the guy only picture I good is that of a very small green guy with a bad fashion taste
 
acl
an inverse sock puppet
oh no!
 
I heard my name called out thrice
 
acl
10:41 PM
@yoda GO AWAY NASTY THING
 
There he is!
 
Oh wait.. I'm not the bloody Mary. My bad.
 
@yoda Ears yours properly now hearing
 
@belisarius That sounds like something out of the translation equilibrium website... with yoda speak thrown in
 
@yoda Ever what
 
10:44 PM
I did not know you can throw a yoda
 
@yoda Yes, funny site. I experimented a little a while ago.
 
oh, rcollyer is only 8 votes away from a silver on SO
 
@yoda Let's see
 
ok, I pushed him a little closer. Remember, don't go crazy or all your votes will be poof!
 
@yoda ok 2 less to go. The scoring board will take a little to get updated
 
10:54 PM
good, at least now he can get off Stack Overflow and concentrate on his thesis ;)
 
11:05 PM
is this a better fit for us or tex.se?
 
R.M
@EliLansey hmm... it was moved from Stack Overflow to TeX - LaTeX. probably it's better here, but I'd say leave it there unless they don't want it
They have a mathematica tag too, for issues related to mma and latex, so I guess it's fine there
 
@RM Both question and answer got a reasonable number of upvotes, so I guess they're fine with it over there.
 

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