Join Chaim and Kyle at Bamboopalooza 3! Octahedral pencil holders, giant 12 pointed bamboo stars, pig lighters and other mathematical oddments were enjoyed by all! Read the rest of this entry »

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Credit card numbers have an error catching code, that uses the tricks of the last few weeks.

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Is this podcast legally a “munition”? Old ideas in number theory are the basis for a whole new class of powerful encryption schemes that underlie the modern internet economy.

We just use the tools we discussed in the last couple of weeks, in a new way.

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We discuss a neat trick involving powers, mod a pair of primes.

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How do modern “trap-door” encryption schemes work? Over the next three weeks we'll explain, but to warm up, we talk about the medieval practice of “casting out nines”.

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Peter Winkler answers his puzzle set in the Land of Kleptomaniacs, and we chat about Martin Gardner. We'll pose another puzzle next week!

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We answer last week's puzzle and Peter Winkler asks how to send a ring through the land of the kleptomaniacs.

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A common investment strategy takes advantage of the subtleties of averaging.

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Is a man of perfectly average height, and perfectly average weight, too heavy for his size? Averages are not what they seem to be.

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When will the crisis come? When will we run out of Social Security Numbers, and other musings.

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