Arbit Scratchpad

I got the following response from IKEA after the incident:  IKEA Glass Tumbler Explodes. However my response would be  I underwent this agony after IKEA selling me this untested/defective good (explosive?) and this untoward accident which happened at our premises and might have caused so much more damage. There was hardly any thermal shock - after almost 5-10 mins after pouring water from the tap (cold) the glass exploded with a loud sound and scattered around. I bought the product thinking it is robust and not so fragile that merely trying to drink water it will explode into pieces. Also IKEA needs to ensure this product is checked/evaluated for safety standards or else any customer could get hurt - knowingly selling this product would amount to willful negligence .  As a friend of mine states consider an accident happens with my car due to a fault in the system and I am exposed to danger. Can the car company just educate me and their job is done?   C...

An IKEA glass tumbler (we bought in  Gothenburg,  Sweden) exploded on our dining table tonight. We had a few guests at the table and they were having dinner when the glass exploded and shattered into small pieces and minute fragments. It is sheer luck that nobody was hurt. Cold tap water was poured into the IKEA glass tumbler (which was lying unused inside the cupboard) and was offered to the guests. This happened within 5 minutes after pouring the cold tap water. With a loud thud sound (as if it had been shot), the glass exploded and shattered. People could have been badly hurt because of what happened and such products must not be produced (or procured from sub-standard sources) and sold without proper quality testing. This was so totally ridiculous, that buying glass products from IKEA will be a risky proposition hereon. I am apprehensive that guests could have been severely hurt and it makes me shudder (what if shards or  particles  of...

First short story in the 'CSlueth files' series.  Note: This is purely a work of fiction! 1. The dead body  Wednesday, Chalmers tekniska hogskola, 6:30 PM  He had just walked out of the classroom in the V building. For the past forty five minutes he had been coding an exciting dynamic systems simulation after having completed a late and rather boring simulation exercises session class. He had to take the road in front of the Chalmers Bibliotek library as he wanted to meet a friend staying nearby. As he walked past the Information Sciences department building there was a gust of cold winter wind that struck his face and he raised the collars of this jacket, sinking in his chin into its warm, furry interiors. It was December and it would get dark really early. It was dark now and hardly anyone else around.   He hummed a tune as he ran up the flight of stairs, the library was at an elevated level from the V building. He found himself humming some r...

An Ode to Google ‪#‎DeepDream‬ - Perhaps generated by the same process - I see a scene in a park and start imagining other patterns ...

Accepting Contradictions You want me  To be like you. And I want you  To be like me. Acceptance is hard, you see! You won't change your mind, And I agree with you too! A space where it is impossible  To change your mind - is a dead space.  Bury it. And yes  It's OK to contradict yourself  On a regular basis Else you’re not even thinking ...

Was thinking about an analogy recently while getting back home from the tram station.  Let us assume you are waiting at a bus stand for a particular bus. Quantum physics is akin to saying: Any given bus can be bus route number 5, 10 or 15 (or any other number) with any of the probabilities ranging from 0 to 1 at any time. It transforms into an exact bus number that arrives next when its probability of being that route number becomes 1. Or vice versa.  But if you are on a particular bus the probability being the same route number is always 1. Or unless you have seen the bus yourself its route number is less than one but we cant be certain it might also be zero.  Seems like a joke right? I know at the quantum (or very small scale) it maybe true, but can the analogy be used elsewhere in designing systems?