MathMods: Erasmus Mundus Master's Program in Mathematical Engineering

I received a forwarded e-mail message from Dr. Jumela Sarmiento recently. Jumela is our former chairperson at the Mathematics Department of Ateneo de Manila University and she is now in Japan for a short-term visit.

The message is about the Erasmus Mundus Scholarhip Program in Mathematical Engineering.

Viist the website, http://www.mathmods.eu/ for details.

Below are contents of the forwarded message.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Professor,

I am writing you following the advice of one of our colleagues, MarcDiener, in order to announce you that a new European Master degree (overtwo years) will soon open simultaneously in five universities (Aquila -Italy, Nice-France, Hamburg - Germany and Gdansk - Poland) financed bythe European Community in the framework of Erasmus Mundus program.

Our master, entitled MathMods (see the poster in the attachment and thewebpage www.mathmods.eu) aims at attracting the best students of third countries (outside the European community) and making them benefit from the very rich and often complementary abilities of professors and researchers of these five European countries in order to obtain a European diploma of mathematical engineering. This corresponds to a very strong demand of specialists capable of manipulating mathematical appropriate academical cursus is proposed (theoretical semesters followed by training in research labs or industry).

The mobility betweeen these countries will provide at the same time, the essential elements of cultural integration at european level and the scientificknowledge for persons able to act and work in different countries. A limited numbers of fellowships is available for the best students.

Therefore we strongly encourage the best elements of your university to apply to this program.

Best regards,

Victorita Dolean & Chiara Simeoni

--------------------------------------------------------

Raffy
11/29/07

Goodbye Taipei, Hello Manila!

Today is November 26, 2007 and I am now in Taipei's International Airport (Taoyan). I am using it's free Internet service, several minutes before I board my plane to Manila.

It's been a productive trip for me -- I made two research presentations, attended the ONCO-MEDIA meeting, participated in the Medical Informatics Symposium in Taiwan (MIST 2007) and the ICT Asia Regional Seminar in Academia Sinica, and met the director and staff of the Academia Sinica Grid Computing Center.

In addition, I have visited many interesting tourist sites in Taipei.

An interesting thing happened to me at the check-in counter in the airport. The airline company allows 20 kilos of checked-in baggage. When I put my checked-in baggages for weighing at the ticket counter, I had a pleasant surprise: my checked-in baggages weighed EXACTLY 20 kilos. A very rare event!

Cheers,

Raffy
in Taipei, Taiwan
11/26/07

About Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

(Figure Caption: Map of Academia Sinica. Click on map to see a larger image.
Source: http://www.sinica.edu.tw/as/map/asmap.html)

Note: Last Sunday, November 18, 2007 I arrived in Taipei, Taiwan for the following meetings/conferences: (1) ONCO-MEDIA Project Meeting, (2) MIST 2007 (Medical Informatics Symposium in Taiwan), and (3) ICT-Asia Regional Seminar The ICT-Asia Seminar (Nov. 19-21, 2007) was held at the Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.

Here's a blurb on Academia Sinica taken from its website (http://www.sinica.edu.tw/~hro/IS/introduction.shtml)

[start of quote]
"

Academia Sinica, founded in 1928, is the most prominent academic institution in the Republic of China. While affiliated directly to the Presidential Office of R.O.C., Academia Sinica enjoys independence and autonomy in formulating its own research objectives. Its major tasks are to undertake in-depth academic research on various subjects in the sciences and humanities, and to provide guidelines, channels of coordination, and incentives in order to raise academic standards in the country.

In recent years, under the leadership of President Yuan T. Lee, Academia Sinica has been transformed into a modern research institution. Many of the 28 research institutes are now headed by world-class scholars and staffed by highly-trained, motivated, and creative young investigators. Major strides have also been made toward raising the standards of academic research, and Academia Sinica is presently positioning itself to move its research activities to the international level. Aside from placing greater emphasis on opening up new areas of intellectual endeavors, Academia Sinica is also taking a leadership role in launching new initiatives in applied research to meet the broad spectrum of societal needs within Taiwan.

To fulfill these goals, Academia Sinica has adopted various measures to promote internal integration of research activities in the three broad research areas (mathematics and physical sciences, life sciences, and the humanities and social sciences) to improve the planning, implementation, and evaluation of long-term projects. Academia Sinica aims to enhance the impact of its research activities, to harness basic research results for applications and technology transfer, to engage Taiwan’s academic and research communities in a modern and forward-looking collective academic vision, to cultivate an intellectual environment that is conducive to the nurturing of young scholars and the recognition of outstanding scholarship in Taiwan, and to promote international cooperation and scholarly exchanges that will accelerate the overall development of academic research in Academia Sinica and the Republic of China.

"
[endofqote]

More information about Academia Sinica can be found in its website (http://www.sinica.edu.tw)

Other information:

• How to reach the Academia Sinica
• English/Chinese language map to the Academia sinica
• Location and Map of Academia Sinica

Trip To Taiwan, Day 4. Nov. 21, 2007

TRIP TO TAIWAN
Nov. 18 - 26, 2007

ICT-Asia Regional Seminar
Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan

Wednesday, 21st of November 2007


10:00 a.m. Session VIII: Semantic Web and New Generation Internet Digital Content

• "Machine Translation for Khmer Language and GIS for Pnom Penh Localization," Sereysethy TOUCH, Institut de Technologie du Combodge, Cambodia
  
  
• "Digital Interactive Media in I2R," Joo-Hwee LIM, IPAL-CNRS, Singapore

10:50 a.m. Coffee Break

11:20 a.m. Session IX: Preparation for 5th Call for Proposals, Chairman: Mr. Christian THIMONIER, Vice-Director in charge of Scientific Cooperation and Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

12:50 Closing/Lunch

In the afternoon, the seminar participants had a tour of the National Palace Museum. However, I did not join the tour because I had a meeting with the Academia Sinica GRID Computing Center (ASGC) from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m.

At the ASGC, I met the director, Dr. Simon LIN and his staff. We discussed our group's (Ateneo de Manila University Grid and High Performance Computing Group) participation in the project, EU-Asia Grid.

After my visit to the ASGC, I met with my ONCO-MEDIA colleagues and we had a dinner at a restaurant in the National Park.

Later, Allan Espinosa accompanied me to the Shilin Night Market near the Jiantan MRT Station.

Trip To Taiwan, Day 3. Nov. 20, 2007

TRIP TO TAIWAN Nov. 18 - 26, 2007

Program

8:30 a.m. 5th ICT-Asia Seminar. Session IV: General Evaluation of ICT-Asia Program. Round Table. Chairman: Mr. Christian THIMONIER, Vice-Director in charge of Scientific Cooperation and Research at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

10:00 a.m. Coffee Break

10:30 a.m. Session V: Network Infrastructure

• "R&D Initiatives of Networked Communication Infrastructure in Taiwan," Tsai Zhe Hong, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
• "Design and Development of Readily Deplorable WIMAX+WI-FI Wireless Mesh Network," Vinay RIBEIRO, Indian Institute of Technology, India
  
• "QoS Experiments on a Testbed Network," Kien NGUYEN, National Institute of Informatics, Japan
• "Conformance and Interoperability Testing for MANET Routing Protocols using Formal Models," Stephen MAAG, GET-INT, France
• "Rapidly Deployable Disaster Management Systems," Allan ESPINOSA, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

12:35 p.m. Lunch Break

14:05 p.m. Session VI: ICT for Health (1)

• "DNAChipBench: Integrated DNA-Chip Informatics Platform," Sun KIM, Seoul National University, South Korea
• "From Rural Telemedicine to National Health Informatics Project -- Taiwan Experiences," Heng-Shuen CHEN, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
  
• "Medical Image Analysis and Information Retrieval with Grid Computing Applications," Rafael SALDANA, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
• "Self-sensing Space: Semantic Handover for Multiple Space Within Heterogeneous Wireless Networking," Kwang-Hyun PARK, San-Wan LEE, EECS, KAIST, South Korea, Mounir MOKHTARI, ET-INT, France
• "Context Aware Handover for Independent Living," Borhanuddin MOHD ALIA, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia

16:40 p.m. Session VII: ICT for Health (2)

• "ICT for the Visually Challenged," Paul KOLIN, Indian Institute of Technology, India
• "Patient Driven Mobile Phone-Enabled Medical Health Services," Nathaniel Josph LIBATIQUE, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

19:00 DINNER Reception offered by the Minister of Nartional Science Council, Dr. CHEN Chien-Jean. Venue: BANDO 8, Formosa Regent, *F, No. 9, Song Shou rd., Taipei (Hsin Kong Mitsukoshi A9 8F)

Trip To Taiwan, Day 2. Nov. 19, 2007

TRIP TO TAIWAN
Nov. 18 - 26, 2007

Day 2. Monday, November 19, 2007.

8:00 a.m. Breakfast in Academica Sinica Coffee Shop

9:00 Opening Ceremony, 5th ICT Asia Regional Seminar, ICT Asia Program

Welcome Remarks:

• Mr. WONG Chi-Huey, President of Academia Sinica
• Mr. Jean-Claude POIMBOEUF, Director of the French Institute in Taipei
• Mr. YANG Hung-Duen, Deputy Minister of the National Science Council
• Mr. Christian THIMONIER, Vice-Director In-Charge of Scienc
  

10:00 Session I. Presentation of Projects in Progress

• MOSAIC: Mobile Search and Annotation using Images in Contest, Dr. Joo-Hwee LIM, IPAL-CNRS, Singapore
• ONCO-MEDIA: Ontology and Context Related Medical Image Distributed Intelligent Access, Dr. Daniel RACOCEANU, IPAL-CNRS, Singapore
• SCOUT: Survey of Catstrophe and Observation in Urban Territories, Dr. Eric CASTELLI, MICA-CNRS, Vietnam
• MNSD: Models and Simulations for Natural Disasters, Dr. Jean SERRA, IGM, France

12:40 Lunch Break.

After Lunch, our ONCO-MEDIA partners led by Dr. Daniel Racoceanu and I proceed to the Wangfang Hospital, about 45 minutes travel by taxi from the Academia Sinica. The ONCO-MEDIA Project Workshop was held from 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Our presentations were as follows:

• "Use of the Medical Knowledge and Medical Cases for Stroke Detection from Brain CT", Dr. Daniel Racoceanu, IPAL-CNR, Singapore
  
  
• "Image Processing as Process: Applications on Cerebral MRI", by Dr. Patrick Brezillon, University of Paris, France
  
  
• "Medical Image Indexing and Retrieval for Assisted Diagnosis, Medical Research, and Teaching" by Dr. Wee-Kheng Leow, National University of Singapore
  
  
• Video Conference: "Data Management for Neuroimaging in Medical GRID" by Dr. Toshiharu Nakai and Dr. Epifanio Bagarinao, AIST, Japan
  
  
• "A Web-Based Query and Retrieval System of Federated DICOM Image Archives" by Dr. Rafael Saldaña (in collaboration with Karlo Layug, Paolo Tioseco and Allan Espinosa), Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
  
  
• "Intelligent Medical Image Retrieval with Electronic Medical Records for Dementia Treatment Enhancement" by Mei-Ju Su, National Taiwan University

After our paper presentations, the Chief Information Officer of Wang Fang Hospital showed us some medical information systems and innovative equipment being used by the hospital.

After the hospital tour, our ONCO-MEDIA group proceeded to the Sherwood Hotel for the Welcome Reception (Cocktail and Dinner) sponsored by Mr. Jean-Claude Poimboeuf, Director of the French Institute in Taipei.

Trip To Taiwan, Day 1. Nov. 18, 2007

(Photo Caption: Aerial View of the Taiwan Taouyuan International Airport.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_Taoyuan_International_Airport)

Trip To Taiwan
November 18-26, 2007


Day 1. November 18, 2007. Manila To Taipei.
----------------------------------------------------

Itinerary

8:30 a.m. Departed from Residence in Quezon City

11:10 a.m. Departed from Manila International Airport (NAIA) aboard Cebu Pacific Air 5J310

1:10 p.m. Arrived in Taipei (Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport). Met by representatives of ICT-Asia Seminar Organizers.

3:00 p.m. Arrived in Academia Sinica Center of Academic Activities (Guest House). Registered for the ICT-Asia Seminar. Stayed in Room 4017.

5:00 p.m. Left Academia Sinica for a Conference Dinner (MIST 2007) in Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world. Had Dinner with fellow speakers and invited guests in MIST 2007 (Medical Informatics Symposium in Taiwan) at Panorama Restaurant located at the 85th floor of Taipei 101.

11:00 p.m. Back in Academia Sinica

Pisay '77 Mini-Reunion in Cubao

Note: Click on the photos to see larger images.

Last Tuesday, November 13, 2007, some of my batchmates (PSHS Class of 1977) and I had a mini-reunion in a restaurant in Cubao, Quezon City, Philippines. The following were present during the reunion:

1. Fidel Borja
2. Keku Domingo
3. Rolly Banez
4. Alvin Matos
5. Mon Castillo
6. Butch Reyes
7. Claire Farolan-Martinez
8. Rene Abad
9. Mary "Inday" Biron-Tolentino
10. Chona Ramos
11. Raffy Saldana


Here is a summary of what transpired during the"business meeting" last November 13, 2007.

1. I reported that there is currently around PhP225,000 pesos from the recent fund-rasing campaign that the batch can use for Phase 2 of our 30th Anniversary Batch Project.

2. Mon Castillo reiterated the need to beef up thecomputers and equipment in the "Internet Cafe" in thePSHS dormitories.

3. The group agreed to allocate funds for theDormitory Internet Cafe project before December 15. A marker with the name of PSHS Class of 1977 as donorwill be put up in the Dormitory Internet Cafe. There will be "ribbon cutting ceremony" (to be arranged with Jessamyn) on December 15 to highlight Phase Two of ourbatch project for our 30th anniversary.

4. After the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Dec. 15, thebatch will proceed to the Jala-Jala property of Mon Castillo in Rizal province for the batch Christmas party (overnight stay) and will leave the following day. Food will be on Potluck basis. Details about the Chistmas party will be announced later.

Cheers,

Raffy
The Pisay '77 Blogger
11/17/07

Trip To Taiwan

( Figure Caption: Map of Taiwan. Source: www.orientaltravel.com/taiwan_map.jpg )


Tomorrow (November 18, 2007) I will be in Taipei, Taiwan for the following meetings and conferences:

1) International Medical Informatics Symposium in Taiwan 2007 (MIST 2007)
2) ONCO-MEDIA Meeting
3) 5th ICT Asia Regional Seminar


I am a guest speaker at MIST 2007 which will be held from November 18 to 19, 2007 at the Taipei Medical University Wan Fang Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan. The tentative schedule is posted in the following website: http://bisp.tmu.edu.tw/mist2007/schedule_e.htm

Dr. Hung-Wen Chiu, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Association for Medical Informatics also invited me and other speakers to attend the conference banquet at 85F Observatory Restaurant of the Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world tomorrow (11/18/07) evening.

The 5th ICT Asia Regional Seminar is a French Government funded project. It will be held on November 19-21, 2007 at the Academia Sinica. The seminar will bring active researchers to present the latest accomplishments, innovations and potential furture initiatives in the following toipics: (1) Grid and high performance computation, (2) Semantic web and new generation Internet digital content, (3) Network infrastructure, (4) ICT for health, and (4) Robotics and cognitive sciences.

While in Taipei, I am also scheduled to visit our research partners in the Academia Sinica Grid Computing Center.

This will be my third time to visit Taipei, Taiwan. My first two visits to Taiwan occurred in 1994 and 1995, respectively, during the organizational meeting and first conference of High-Performance Computing Asia (HPC-ASIA).

Raffy
11/17/07

Congratulations, Dr. Reginaldo Marcelo

Today (11/12/07) Dr. Ma. Assunta C. Cuyegkeng, Vice-President of Ateneo de Manila University announced to the Loyola Schools Community that my colleague and Chair of Mathematics Department of Ateneo, Dr. Reginaldo "Reggie" Marcelo has been selected as one of the Outstanding Teachers by the Ateneo Schools Parents Council (ASPAC).

The awarding ceremony willl be held on Monday, 26 November 2007 at the Pangilinan Room (201), PLDT-CTC Building, Ateneo de Manila University at 4:00 p.m.

CONGRATULATIONS, REGGIE! We are proud of you and your achievements!

Cheers,

Raffy
11/12/07

Dr. Queena Lee-Chua's Article On ACM ICPC Philippines 2007

Note: Last Saturday (11/10/07) while I was still in Xiamen, China, I received an e-mail message from my colleague, Dr. Queena Lee-Chua (my co-teacher at the Mathematics Department of Ateneo de Manila University) informing me that her article about the ACM ICPC Philippines 2007 appeared on that day in her column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer titled Eureka! Queena is a popular author and resource speaker on mathematics education, and a multi-awarded professor. Her column at the Philippine Daily Inquirer appears every Saturday.


Source:
http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view_article.php?article_id=100048

[startofquote]

"
EUREKA!

UP Diliman national computing champ

Inquirer
Last updated 02:20am (Mla time) 11/10/2007

MANILA, Philippines—Fifty teams from 24 schools competed for the top spot in the Association for Computing Machinery-First Philippine National Inter-Collegiate Programming Competition (ACM ICPC Philippines 2007) held last Oct. 20 at the De La Salle University Canlubang Campus in Laguna.

Organized by the Computing Society of the Philippines, in cooperation with ACM, the event aims to provide college students the chance to sharpen and demonstrate their problem solving, programming and teamwork skills. The contest provides a platform for ACM, industry and academe to encourage and focus public attention on the youth as they pursue excellence in computing.

Each competing team consisted of three students. During the contest, each of team tried to outsmart each other by using a computer to solve six problems in three hours. The team with the most number of problems solved at the fastest time won the competition. The problems ranged from easy to complex, and included computer science topics such as data structures, combinatorics, graph algorithms and computational methods.

Winners

Marte Raphael Soliza, Ralph Rainier Pineda and Reginald Eli Deinla of Team UP Fighting Maroons from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman emerged champion. They were coached by Eric R. Tambasacan and Pablo Manalastas. They are able to solve five problems in 365 minutes, the only team which was able to solve more than three problems.
The second to seventh placers were able to solve three problems, and their rankings were determined by how fast it took them to do so.

In second place was Team cxxC from the Ateneo de Manila University (Admu). James Choa, Wilhansen Li and John Patrick Manalo were coached by Pablo Manalastas, Jal de Vera, Ramon Akie Mejiea, Eric Vidal Tan and John Paul Vergara. The team solved the problems in 148 minutes.

Team Heaven from UP Los Baños, composed of Jeremiah Pascual, Reinald Pugoy and Maverick Crisostomo, came in third. Rainier Alexis L. Rapera was the coach, and the students solved the problems in 151 minutes.

In fourth place was Team Automata from Admu. Ivan John Clement, Jason Christian Gaguan and Maria Clarisse Ligunas solved the problems in 196 minutes.
Ralph Justin Arce, Vanessa Rose Castro and James Wyson, of Team 43 from UP Diliman solved the problems in 234 minutes. They ranked fifth.
Team DLSU-2 from De La Salle University Manila ranked sixth. Brian Paul Samson, Christian Valeen Chiu and Jeric Bryle Dy, coached by Danniel Alcantara, solved the problems in 291 minutes.

Another Admu team, Excessive Output, emerged seventh. Jejomar Alexis Dimayuga, Thomas Dy and Danna Songco Aduna solved the problems in 355 minutes.
In December, the top teams will be given financial assistance to participate in the regional contest in Singapore, where they will have the chance to compete in the ACM-ICPC World Finals in Canada in April 2008. Here prizes, scholarships, and bragging rights will be at stake for some of the world’s finest university students of the computing sciences and engineering.

Rafael Saldaña from Admu chaired the board of judges. Other judges were Henry Adorna and Jaime Caro of UP Diliman, Eliezer Albacea of UP Los Baños, Caslon Chua and Nelson Marcos from DLSU Manila, and Raymond Todd Melton of Admu.

For more information, e-mail ACM-ICPC Philippines 2007 at computingsoc@gmail.com. Visit the contest website http://icpc2007manila.blogspot.com/ or Saldaña's blog http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/

"
[endofquote]

Invitation: Third Philippine-Swiss Information Technology School

Note: This invitation was sent to me (for dissemination) by my colleague, Dr. Caslon Chua, Dean, College of Computer Studies, De La Salle University-Manila.
--------------------------------------------------------------------


INVITATION:

Third Philippine-Swiss Information Technology School

Dates : January 7 – 11, 2008
Venue: Iskolar ng Bayan Building, UP Baguio,
Governor Pack Road
Baguio City, Philippines

Course Lecturers:

• Prof. Joachim Buhmann, ETH Zurich
• Dr. Thomas Hofmann, Google Research, Zurich
• Prof. J. Nievergelt, ETH Zurich
• Peter Orbanz, ETH Zurich

We would like to invite your university to send representatives to our post–graduate short course lecture series in Computer Science.The purpose of this lecture series is to further the professional education of research students and instructors of Computer Scienceat universities in the Philippines .

This year's post–graduate school program will cover basic data structures, probability andoptimization, machine learning, and information search andretrieval. The 5-day course is structured to include both lectures and hands-on exercises and is to be conducted at University of the Philippines-Baguio .

The first day is dedicated to a summary of basic concepts as background knowledge to the rest of the course.

The remaining four days are dedicated to Machine Learning and Information Retrieval, with extensive laboratory work.

The lecture series is open to qualified candidates from any university in the Philippines . Faculty members and/or graduate students from Computer Science departments with a solid backgroundin machine learning, and information search and retrieval are invited to apply.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Doctoral School.

Sincerely,

Caslon Chua, Ph.D.
Dean, College of Computer Studies
De La Salle University
E-mail: chuacl@dlsu.edu.ph
Tel : (02) 536-02-76
Fax : (02) 536-02-78

Not So Lucky :(

Yesterday (11//11/07) I wrote in a blog entry ( See My Lucky Day ) that I thought I would be lucky on that day because of the numbers 7 and 11.

It turned out that I was not so lucky after all :(

My laptop bag (with the laptop inside) accidentally droppped on the floor. The result: the laptop's LCD screen now has very poor visibility. I have to bring it to a Toshiba service center in Makati City to be repaired.

I feel "incomplete" without a functioning laptop :(

Raffy
11/12/07

47 Is A Special Number

47 is indeed a special number.

Today (November 11, 2007) I have turned 47 years old -- it is my birthday today.

Although I am not a "numerologist" nor a "number theorist", I would like to think that numbers can be fun :)

For example, I found today a website about some interesting facts on the number 47. It's title is Prime Curios! and the website address is http://primes.utm.edu/curios/page.php/47.html

I would like to reproduce some information (from the website) about the number 47 in this blog:

[startofquote]

"
There are 47 occurrences of 47 in the first thousand prime numbers. [Faust]

Tyrannosauras rex measured up to 47 feet in overall length. [Norris]

It is interesting that the product of 4 consecutive Fibonacci numbers can equal the product of the first 7 primes.

In the Pixar Film Monsters Inc., the scream factory had enjoyed 47 accident-free days at the start of the movie. [Hartley]

There is an abnormally high use of the prime number 47 in episodes of Star Trek.

The houseband for New York City called Black 47 reside on 47th Street.

The British liner Great Eastern had a coir fiber launching rope with a circumference of 47 inches.

The AK-47 is the most widespread weapon in the world. [Kalashnikov]

479 can be written as the sum of distinct smaller 9th powers.

66647 has a digit sum of 666. [De Geest]

Auguste Comte coined the word sociology, which appeared for the first time in a footnote to the 47th lesson of the fourth volume of his Course of Positive Philosophy.

43 + 73 = 407.

47 x 2583 + 1, 47 x 21483 + 1 and 47 x 26115 + 1 are the only known primes of the form 47 x 2n + 1. [Ballinger & Keller]

John Major was 47 years old when he became British Prime Minister.

47 is a prime Keith number.

The MK-47 was the first and last Soviet calculator with magnetic cards. [Frolov]

47 is self-conscious: 4 + 7 = 11, 7 + 11 = 18, 11 + 18 = 29, and 18 + 29 = 47. It refers to itself. Note that 4, 7 and 47 are Lucas numbers. [Faust]

The Declaration of Independence contains 47 sentences. [Hammonds]

47 is the first and only prime p less than 20000 of the form p*2^(p+1)-1, where p is prime. [Luhn]

Lot 47 Inc. is a privately owned film company focused on the acquisition and distribution of American independent films as well as high-profile foreign films.

Marine Storm Warnings occur with forecast winds greater than 47 knots. [NOAA]

The translation of the Bible (KJV) was made by 47 scholars. [English]

"The number 47 may be a flying increment to fill allspace, to fill out the eight triangular facets of the non-allspace-filling vector equilibrium to form the allspace-filling first nuclear cube." (Quoted from section 1238.51 of Synergetics by R. Buckminster Fuller.) [Croll]

47 + 2 equals the reversal of 47 * 2.

There are 47 Pythagorean propositions in Euclid's Elements. [Dobb]

It is approximately 47 degrees from the Tropic of Cancer (the greatest distance north that the sun can appear directly overhead) to the Tropic of Capricorn (the greatest distance south that the sun can appear directly overhead). [Obeidin]

New Jersey is ranked 47 in total land area among States in the Union.

Isaac Asimov's Book of Facts mentions the "fact" that mosquitoes have 47 teeth. [Patterson]

The gyroelongated pentagonal cupolarotunda has 47 faces. It is the largest prime number of faces a Johnson solid can have. [Hartley]

47 is the largest known number, n, such that n and n + 1 are both Ulam numbers. [McCranie]

The 47 Society is a humorous society at Pomona College in California that propagates the belief that the number 47 is the quintessential random number. Campus lore suggests that Pomona math professor Donald Bentley produced a convincing mathematical proof that 47 was equal to all other integers.

There are an incredible number of references to the number 47 in the TV show Alias. [Hunt]

A fifteenth century Chinese official named Wan-Hoo attempted a flight to the Moon using two kites fastened to a sedan chair on which he had strapped 47 black powder rockets. 47 servants simultaneously lit the fuses and Wan-Hoo disappeared in a burst of flame and smoke. [Caldwell]

The surprising formula for primes proposed by J. Minac and C. Willans in 1995 had 47 symbols. This formula, based on Wilson theorem, gives all the primes successively and without repetition, but unfortunately is not very convenient. [Capelle]

47 bones of the "Lucy" skeleton were unearthed in '74.

473 is the smallest cube which is sum of consecutive squares. Note that the following cube with this property is also prime. [Capelle]

The modern concert harp has 47 strings. [Kamath]

Only 47 printed copies of the Gutenberg Bible are still in existence.

ceil(( + e/47)^47) is prime. [Noll]

A prime number that has its own fan club (www.47.net). [Schuler]

Mary Mallon, better known as "Typhoid Mary," was a food service worker who infected 47 people with the bacterium Salmonella enterica typhi.

The Hadwiger Problem asks for the largest number of subcubes (not necessarily different) into which a cube cannot be divided by plane cuts. The answer is 47. [Post]

Mathematician Kevin Hare has proven that any odd perfect number must have at least 47 prime factors, including repetitions.

47 is the smallest prime whose number of perfect partitions is greater than itself. [Beedassy]

In the play The Five Hysterical Girls Theorem by Rinne Groff, renowned number theorist Moses Vazsonyi fears that he has lost his edge in the intellectually grueling world of prime number theory at the age of 47.
"

Cheers,

Raffy
11/11/07

My Lucky Day

(Figure caption: My Raffy's World blog reached its 7,000th hit today,

November 11, 2007-- my birthday.)

I think that it is my lucky day today.

Today, November 11, 2007 (or 11/11/07) I have turned 47 years old.

4 + 7 = 11.

The numbers 7 and 11 are considered lucky numbers by many Filipinos.

[Note: 7, 11, and 47 are all odd prime numbers :) ]

Also, my blog (http://raffysaldana.blogspot.com/) reached its 7,000th hit today.

Maybe I should buy a lotto ticket to test whether today is really my lucky day :)

Happy Sunday!


Cheers,

Raffy
11/11/07

Desiderata: Another Milestone

(Photo caption: A photo of me taken at Haoyue Park, Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, China on November 7, 2007)

Last night (November 10, 2007) I arrived in the Philippines from my trip in Xiamen, China. I had a great time in Xiamen (even though my mobility was hampered by my aching foot -- from too much walking).

Today (November 11, 2007) I am celebrating another milestone in my life. It is my 47th birthday.

I thank God.

And I thank God for the following:

my dearest beloved -- even though she is thousands of miles away from me today, physical distance will not be a hindrance to our relationship because we are deeply connected.

• my family and relatives -- I am very thankful for their love and support


• my friends, batchmates, former classmates, colleagues, co-workers, and superiors


• my mentors and former teachers


• my mentees, students, and former students


• my communities (religious, professional, NGOs)


• the people that I have met in different parts of the world


• the countless blessings that I have received

I also thank God for all the people who have contributed to my growth in all aspects -- mentally, emotionally, physically, culturally, and spiritually.

In our brief existence in this world, I believe that we should endeavor to make it better.

Today's Gospel Reading (Luke 20: 27-38) is about the Resurrection. I believe that the Resurrection is about Hope for Humanity. There are many evils and sufferings that we endure everyday, but there will always be Hope for all of us.

Happy birthday to me and to all those celebrating their birthday today :)

For my birthday blog entry I would like to quote one of my favorite literary pieces: Desiderata.

"
DESIDERATA

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater
and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life
keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery,
and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.
"

Cheers,

Raffy
The Pisay '77 Blogger
11/11/07

Images of Xiamen, China -- Xiamen University (Part 1)

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Images of Xiamen, China -- Xiamen University (Part 2)

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