Failing is good

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.“

Michael Jordan

A biology teacher was teaching his students how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. He told the students that in the next couple of hours, the butterfly would struggle to come out of the cocoon. But no one should help the butterfly. Then he left.

The students were waiting and it happened. The butterfly struggled to get out of the cocoon, and one of the students took pity on it and decided to help the butterfly out of the cocoon against the advice of his teacher. He broke the cocoon to help the butterfly so it didn’t have to struggle anymore. But shortly afterwards the butterfly died.

When the teacher returned, he was told what happened. He explained to this student that by helping the butterfly, he had actually killed it because it is a law of nature that the struggle to come out of the cocoon actually helps develop and strengthen its wings. The boy had deprived the butterfly of its struggle and the butterfly died.

 Apply this same principle to our lives. Nothing worthwhile in life comes without a struggle. As parents we tend to hurt the ones we love most because we don’t allow them to struggle to gain strength

 I have shared  few more personal experiences  of Failures in life to explain my concept.

 I run a  company which helps student prepare for one of the most Prestigious IT Certification called CCIE ( Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert)  .Remember i just used the word most prestigious which is directly proportional to quite complex .Everything that Prestigious is complex to achieve and if everybody can achieve it then it cannot be prestigious .I meet a lot of my students on daily basis who failed and came to meet me to ask for improvement plan .When I ask them their score ,they are always very close almost failed by 1% or 2 % marks .I have not seen a student who failed every by a gap of 30% marks .Despite of failing ,we have the best passing rate in CCIE Exams in first and second attempt ,our first attempt passing rate is around 40% while second attempt passing rate is about 89% .Means anybody who has failed in first attempt is almost sure to pass in next if he failed with small gap .I ask them the reason of failures and they generally have a clear idea of where they failed .I feel happy to know my students have a clarity on each section and reason of failure .When this happens ,they prepare with great enthusiasm .Each student prepares his strategy to beat complex section and this leads to them attaining the most prestigious certifications .We have been a leader in  passing results and no one in the world is close .Only last year we have produced close to 250 Total CCIE while nearest competitor in USA  has not produced over 50 CCIEs .Our training infrastructure is one of the Largest in the World and we did not believe this till the time external Trainers confirmed this to us as they have worked for most of big players in India and USA .

 On placement side ,I take care of personality development to interview preparation and results have been tremendous again .But this did not happen overnight ,5 years of hardwork and learning from failures have resulted in creating one of the best Training company in India .We have never repeated a failure or  mistake again and that made all the difference .

 What do you do when you are travelling somewhere on your bike or car and it gets punctured on the way .Do you leave the bike on road and cancel your journey or you get it fixed and start again to reach to your destination .

 As we know MIT ,Harvard ,Stanford are very prestigious institutes in the World like IIM and IIT in India are the most prestigious educational institutes. Millions of students try for admission into these institutions however only few thousand are able to make it .Rest all fail .What happens to those who could not reach to IIT ,IIM or Harvard university , they get selected into Next Best College .I have a friend of mine who use to prepare for IIT Examination and was really passionate about getting into IIT .However even after trying 2 times ,he could not secure an admission into IIT however due to his preparation for IIT level exam he was selected in REC Delhi(Another World Class Institute) .Do you count it  a less achievement in any sense  ? I have many other friends who never prepared for anything big and ended up in small local colleges in their local city .They never tried for anything big so never got even half of it .

I would like to share some of the biggest inspirations for me which I have followed to deal with failures and they have lead me toward great Personal and Professional Success in Life .

 Larry Page and Sergey Bin -Google

No need of introduction. In 1998 Google sets up workspace in Susan Wojcicki’s garage at 232 , Santa Margarita, Men-lo park and Larry and Sergey hire Craig Silverstein as their first employee. Rest is history. They too failed first. They approached Yahoo in their earlier years for selling the idea. But the reply was NO. Then what happened. Now Google is bigger than Yahoo.

Nowadays people tend to give more focus on failures. They easily come to the conclusion that they are not capable of doing it. Any one who believes he can do it, can do it hundreds of times if he try it for 99 times. There is no short cut to success. Success can be achieved only by hard work and practice. Without these thing success will always elude you. All success people have short comings. All failed people too have short comings. The difference is that success people try hard to impair their shortcomings but failed one repent and live and die along with their shortcomings.

Steve Jobs -Apple

Steve Jobs need no introduction to anybody in the world. But you know he had slept in the floor of friends’s door rooms. He returned coke bottles for money. Steve jobs while in India, regularly got weekly free meals from local temple. A below par student as per the teachers of his school. But how he made Billions. Sheer hard work and confidence in his abilities. Perseverance and sticking to his strengths and proving that he means business. Rest is history.

Warren Buffet

As a young boy, he delivered newspapers and filed his first tax return at age 13 – and he claimed $35 deduction for the bicycle he bought. Now he is the second richest person in the world.

The theme behind all the stories are that these leaders dream big. Really big.

Dhirubhai Ambani

Dhirubhai Ambani started his entrepreneurial career by selling “bhajias” to pilgrims in Mount Girnar over the weekends during his early days. After doing his matriculation at the age of 16, Dhirubhai moved to Aden, Yemen. He worked there as a gas-station attendant, and as a dispatch clerk with A.Besse & Co. After becoming the distributor for the Shell products,A.Besse & Co promoted Dhirubhai to manage the company`s oil filling station at the port of Aden. But he returned to India in 1958 with Rs 50,000 and started the Reliance Commercial Corporation with a capital of Rs 15,000. From modest Rs.50,000 his empire now worth around 7 lakhs crores. What more he does not attend the school. If one have the patience and self confidence and dedication for the aim in his life, one can taste success. Success will always follow the hard work. Clouds cannot always keep the sun in darkness.

 Thomas Alva Edision

 Once a student named Tomy returned home from school crying loud. On seeing this his mother asked him what had happened. He show her a letter from his class teacher. His class teacher complained that Tomy is not clever, brilliant and smart enough to continue in the school. He is a laggard and the teacher wants the Tomy’s mother to transfer Tomy from the school. This Tomy later become the great scientist THOMA ALVA EDISON. Thomas Alva Edison had only 3 month education in the school. Thomas Elva Edison failed around 10000times in the discovery of Electric bulb.

Science Poetry

Einstein and the Photon

"Wave or particle?" is the question.
It gives Albert indigestion:
      Photon is a fickle tickler.
Albert pleads, "Which do you favor?
Dearest Photon, do not waver;
      Choose ballistic or vermicular!"
Photon says, elucidating,
"Please don't think I'm vacillating
      When I say I'm not particler!"
-- Keith Enevoldsen, 2003

Rock Scissors Paper Two-in-One Logic Project

This project is really two projects. You build your own Rock Scissors Paper game in two different ways: (1) as an electric circuit board game, and/or (2) as a computer game. You can do either or both. If you do both you can compare your electric circuit logic to your computer program logic.
Rules of the game: Two players simultaneously choose either rock, scissors, or paper. The winner: scissors cut paper, paper wraps rock, rock smashes scissors.

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Rock Scissors Paper
Electric Circuit Logic Project

How to play: Players A and B will simultaneously press their Rock, Scissors, or Paper buttons, and a lamp will indicate the winner.
Supplies you will need: A board, twelve switches (push-button spring-return normally-off micro-switches), two lamps (small bulbs or LEDs, and lamp sockets), batteries (and battery holders), wire, wire connectors, screws, tape, drill, screwdriver. Use twelve single-pole switches rather than six double-pole switches because that better demonstates how the circuit works.
 
How to make it: Mount everything on the board. If you want it to be pretty, put the lights and switches on the front and the wires and batteries on the back. Here's a partial circuit diagram. Before looking at the complete circuit diagram, see if you can figure out where the other wires go.
 

Here's the complete circuit diagram.

How it works: Each player has three ways to win. Player A's three ways to win are built from three circuits (blue), each of which has two switches, one for each player's choice, wired in series. The three series circuits representing the three ways for player A to win are wired in parallel to light up player A's lamp. Similarly for player B (red).
Teacher's note: Depending on the age of the students, you should let them figure out as much as they are able by themselves. Don't show them the complete circuit diagram. You may want to print the partial circuit diagram and draw in a few more wires.
 

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Rock Scissors Paper
Computer Program Logic Project

How to play: This is a non-graphical command-line game. The program will ask player A to enter "r" (rock), "s" (scissors), or "p" (paper) (without letting player B see), then it will ask player B to enter "r", "s", or "p". The program will figure out who won.
Supplies you will need: A computer and the programming language software of your choice.
 
Here's the partial program in pseudo-code (not a real programming language). Before looking at the complete program, see if you can figure out the logic to decide who wins. Use the boolean logic operators "AND" and "OR" with nested parentheses.
 

 write "Rock Scissors Paper Game"
 loop forever
 {
  write "Player A, enter r, s, or p: "
  read a (see note 1)
  write "Player B, enter r, s, or p: "
  read b
  write "A chose: " + a
  write "B chose: " + b
  if (...you figure out what goes here...)
  {
   write "A wins"
  }
  else if (...you figure out what goes here...)
  {
   write "B wins"
  }
  else
  {
   write "nobody wins"
  }
 }

Note 1: You don't want player B to see what player A has typed, so you should (1) read without echoing what is typed, or (2) clear the screen after player A has typed, or (3) use a popup prompt box that goes away after player A has typed.
 
Here's the complete program in pseudo-code.
 

 write "Rock Scissors Paper Game"
 loop forever
 {
  write "Player A, enter r, s, or p: "
  read a (see note 1)
  write "Player B, enter r, s, or p: "
  read b
  write "A chose: " + a
  write "B chose: " + b
  if ((a="r" and b="s") or (a="s" and b="p") or (a="p" and b="r"))
  {
   write "A wins"
  }
  else if ((b="r" and a="s") or (b="s" and a="p") or (b="p" and a="r"))
  {
   write "B wins"
  }
  else
  {
   write "nobody wins"
  }
 }

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Comparison of the Two Projects

Comparing the electric circuit to the computer program, notice how the series circuits correspond to the "AND" operators, and the parallel circuits correspond to the "OR" operators.

Twelve-Tone Musical Scale

Why does our musical scale have twelve notes (counting both the white and black keys on the piano)? Why not ten or fifteen or twenty?

To answer this question, we first need some background information. A note's pitch or frequency is measured in cycles per second; for example, A' is 440 cycles per second. The distance between two notes, measured as the ratio of their pitches, is called an interval. If the interval between two notes is a ratio of small integers, such as 2/1, 3/2, or 4/3, they sound good together — they are consonant rather than dissonant. People prefer musical scales that have many consonant intervals.
There is no absolutely definitive list of consonant intervals because the concept of consonance involves subjective aesthetic judgment. However, the following seven pure intervals, smaller than or equal to an octave (2/1) and larger than unison (1/1), are commonly considered to be consonant.

Basic Consonant Intervals

2/1	octave	harmonic inverse of 1/1
3/2	perfect fifth	harmonic inverse of 4/3
4/3	perfect fourth	harmonic inverse of 3/2
5/3	major sixth	harmonic inverse of 6/5
5/4	major third	harmonic inverse of 8/5
6/5	minor third	harmonic inverse of 5/3
8/5	minor sixth	harmonic inverse of 5/4

This list can be constructed mathematically by listing the ratios of the smallest integers and including their harmonic inverses (defined below). First, list the ratios of the integers from 1 to 5, where the ratios are between 1 (unison) and 2 (octave): 1/1, 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/3, and 5/4. Then, include their harmonic inverses [shown in brackets]: 1/1 [2/1], 2/1 [1/1], 3/2 [4/3], 4/3 [3/2], 5/3 [6/5], and 5/4 [8/5]. Remove the duplicates. We can ignore the trivial unison interval. This leaves: 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/3, 5/4, 6/5, and 8/5. If you start with the integers from 1 to 3 or 1 to 4, the result is the top three intervals: 2/1, 3/2, and 4/3. If you start with the integers from 1 to 5 or 1 to 6, the result is this list of seven intervals.

Harmonic inverses: Two intervals are harmonic inverses of each other if they combine to make an octave, in other words, if the ratios multiplied together equals two — for example, 3/2 x 4/3 = 2. Harmonic inverses appear spontaneously when you construct a new musical scale. Imagine making a musical instrument with three strings. Start with two strings making an octave, a low string and a high string with half the length and twice the pitch. Now, add a string somewhere in the middle, for example, 2/3 the length and 3/2 the pitch of the low string. Playing the low and middle strings together makes a 3/2 interval (perfect fifth), and playing the middle and high strings together makes another interval, the harmonic inverse of 3/2, which is 2/(3/2) = 4/3 (perfect fourth). Each time you add a string between the low and high strings (the octave), you always get two intervals that are harmonic inverses.

In the past, people constructed scales based on pure or natural ratios of small integers. For example, the just intonation system uses the exact ratios shown in the table below. However, this method runs into serious problems. Although some of the intervals are perfect, other combinations of notes sound very bad ("wolf intervals"). After the Middle Ages in Europe, music became more complex, with more polyphony and more key changes, and these bad intervals became more common.
The modern equal temperament system was invented (in the 1500s) to solve this problem. (Galileo's father, a music theorist, was one early proponent of equal temperament.) The octave is divided into twelve exactly equal intervals. In this system, the smallest interval, the semitone, is not a simple integer ratio, but is the twelfth root of two (2^1/12) or approximately 1.059. Larger intervals are powers of the twelfth root of two, as shown in the table below. Although no interval (except the octave) is perfect in this system, the error is "spread around" evenly so there are no very bad intervals.
The table below compares just intonation with equal temperament. The intervals in both systems are never exactly the same (except the octave), but they are very close — always within about one percent or better. For example, the fifth (3/2), obtained by multiplying the twelfth root of two by itself seven times, is 1.498 — very nearly a perfect 1.500. The fourth (4/3), obtained by multiplying the twelfth root of two by itself five times, is 1.335 — very nearly a perfect 1.333.

Number of Semitones	Interval Name	Notes	Consonant?	Just Intonation*	Equal Temperament	Difference
0	unison	C-C	Yes	1/1=1.000	20/12=1.000	0.0%
1	semitone	C-C#	No	16/15=1.067	21/12=1.059	0.7%
2	whole tone	C-D	No	9/8=1.125	22/12=1.122	0.2%
3	minor third	C-Eb	Yes	6/5=1.200	23/12=1.189	0.9%
4	major third	C-E	Yes	5/4=1.250	24/12=1.260	0.8%
5	perfect fourth	C-F	Yes	4/3=1.333	25/12=1.335	0.1%
6	tritone	C-F#	No	7/5=1.400	26/12=1.414	1.0%
7	perfect fifth	C-G	Yes	3/2=1.500	27/12=1.498	0.1%
8	minor sixth	C-Ab	Yes	8/5=1.600	28/12=1.587	0.8%
9	major sixth	C-A	Yes	5/3=1.667	29/12=1.682	0.9%
10	minor seventh	C-Bb	No	9/5=1.800	210/12=1.782	1.0%
11	major seventh	C-B	No	15/8=1.875	211/12=1.888	0.7%
12	octave	C-C'	Yes	2/1=2.000	212/12=2.000	0.0%

* This table shows one variation of just intonation.

So, back to the original question: Why does our scale have twelve notes? We have explained that an equal-tempered scale works better in practice than a scale based on pure intervals, but we have not yet explained why we prefer the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale. Why do we not use a ten-tone or twenty-tone equal-tempered scale? Is there something special about twelve?
The answer is: Yes, the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is remarkable. The nearly perfect intervals seen in the table above are not typical of other equal-tempered scales. Consider the seven basic consonant intervals (described above): 2/1, 3/2, 4/3, 5/3, 5/4, 6/5, and 8/5. We observe:

The twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is the smallest equal-tempered scale that contains all seven of the basic consonant intervals to a good approximation — within one percent.

Furthermore, for the most important intervals, the fifth (3/2) and fourth (4/3), the approximations are better — within about one tenth of one percent.
Let's compare the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale to some other equal-tempered scales.

• All equal-tempered scales with 14 notes or fewer, except the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale, contain at most only three of the seven basic intervals (including the octave) within one percent.
• Several equal-tempered scales with between 15 and 30 notes (notably the 19-tone and 24-tone scales) contain all seven basic intervals, but in none of these scales are the intervals more nearly pure than in the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale.
• The 31-tone equal-tempered scale has all seven basic intervals to a good approximation, some with better accuracy than the twelve-tone scale, but the most important fifth (3/2) interval is less accurate than in the twelve-tone scale (2^18/31=1.495).
• The 41-tone equal-tempered scale is the first with a better fifth (3/2) interval than the twelve-tone scale (2^24/41=1.5004).
• The 53-tone equal-tempered scale has all seven basic intervals with a better accuracy than the twelve-tone scale (the fifth is 2^31/53=1.49994).

But bigger is not necessarily better. Although scales with many tones have many nearly pure intervals that are consonant (ratios of small integers), they have even more intervals that are dissonant (not ratios of small integers). In contrast, the small twelve-tone equal-tempered scale has more consonant intervals (seven) than dissonant intervals (five). We observe:

The twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is the only equal-tempered scale that contains all seven of the basic consonant intervals to a good approximation — within one percent — and contains more consonant intervals than dissonant intervals.

Also, scales with many tones are too large to be really practical: a keyboard with the same range as a piano would be huge.
In summary, the twelve-tone equal-tempered scale is probably the best compromise of all possible scales, and that is why it is now standard in the Western world and common all over the world.

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Which equal-tempered scales, other than the twelve-tone scale, are most widely used? We are including here only equal-spaced or roughly equal-spaced scales, not unequal-spaced scales such as the common pentatonic scales (black keys) and heptatonic scales (white keys).

• Roughly equal-spaced 5-tone and 7-tone scales are found in several musical traditions. The Indonesian gamelan slendro scale is a roughly equal-spaced 5-tone scale.
• The 6-tone (whole-tone) equal-tempered scale is sometimes used in Western music, as in the impressionistic music of Debussy.
• The 19-tone equal-tempered scale has been used by some Western musicians since the Renaissance.
• Indian music uses a subset of a roughly equal-spaced 22-tone (22 shruti) scale.
• Arabic and other Middle Eastern music uses a subset of a roughly equal-spaced 24-tone (quarter-tone) equal-tempered scale. The quarter-tone scale has been used by some Western musicians (Boulez, Ives).
• The 31-tone equal-tempered scale has been used by some Western musicians since the Renaissance, especially in the Netherlands (due to Huygens).

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The Equal Temperament Musical Scales Worksheet (MS Excel spreadsheet or PDF document) shows all the ET scales (up to 100 tones) and shows how well they match the "ideal" intervals. If you don't agree with my ideal intervals, the spreadsheet allows you to enter your own ideal intervals. If you don't agree with my scoring, you can change the score function, if you know basic programming.

Note: My mathematical results showing the specialness of the twelve-tone scale are fairly robust. When I perform the same analysis with small variations of the discretionary inputs, the twelve-tone scale still looks remarkable. For example, if I add or remove a few intervals near the end of my list of consonant intervals, the results are similar. Also, if I increase the matching tolerance from 1% to 2% or reduce it to 0.8%, the results are similar. You can try your own variations with the spreadsheet above.

Flexagons

Flexagons are folded paper constructions that are fun to flex to reveal hidden pictures.
Tetraflexagons are square. The simplest is the tritetraflexagon, which has three square faces. Hexaflexagons are hexagonal. The simplest is the trihexaflexagon, which has three hexagonal faces. A hexahexaflexagon has six hexagonal faces. The faces appear in different orientations. It is fun to flex a flexagon and try to find all faces in all possible orientations.
Here's a pretty Hexahexaflexagon Pattern (PDF) that I created. The document contains:

• Instructions for making and flexing a hexahexaflexagon.
• A blank hexahexaflexagon pattern. Decorate your own hexahexaflexagon.
• A decorated hexahexaflexagon pattern with six faces: flowers, leaves, snowflakes, faces, planets, and birds. The decorations are designed to make it easy to identify the six faces and their different orientations.

Hexahexaflexagon Pattern (PDF)

You can learn a lot more about flexagons at other websites.

Kinegrams

What is a Kinegram?

A kinegram (pronounced "KIN-uh-gram") is a moving picture you can make with paper and plastic. The word comes from "kine-" meaning "moving" and "-gram" meaning "drawing".
A kinegram has two parts: (1) an underlying picture with a complicated striped pattern and (2) an overlay of alternating clear and solid stripes on a sheet of clear plastic. When the overlay is moved up and down in front of the picture, you will see the motion, such as wheels turning or circles expanding and contracting.

Wheel without overlay	Wheel with overlay	Rings without overlay	Rings with overlay

The kinegrams found on toys use a "lenticular sheet" or "lenticular screen" instead of a striped overlay. This is a clear plastic sheet with parallel rounded ridges that act like lenses. The ridges are aligned horizontally and the motion effect is produced by tilting the kinegram back and forth. (Lenticular sheets can also be used for 3-D images, with the ridges are aligned vertically so each eye sees a different image.)

Kinegrams are related to Moiré (pronounced "MWA-ray") patterns, which are the patterns you see when look through two window screens.
You can view these kinegrams using paper and plastic, or using the computer.

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How to Make the Picture Move with Paper and Plastic,
Without a Computer!

The cool thing about kinegrams is that the picture moves using just a sheet of paper and a sheet of plastic, without a computer!

Step 1: Print the kinegrams on paper. Here are several kinegrams in printable Adobe Acrobat PDF files.

• Printable Kinegrams 1 (PDF). Basic kinegram patterns to cut and paste.
• Printable Kinegrams 2 (PDF). More kinegrams.

Step 2: Print the striped overlay pattern on a sheet of clear plastic. You can get printable clear plastic at an office supply store. If you cannot print directly onto clear plastic, then you can print the overlay on paper and then photocopy it onto clear plastic. Here are several printable overlays in Adobe Acrobat PDF files. The thickness of the clear stripes are different, but the overall spacing is the same, so all these overlays will work on all these kinegrams. Thinner clear stripes will make the kinegram appear sharper but dimmer; whereas thicker clear stripes will make the kinegram appear brighter but blurrier.

• Printable Overlay 50% (1/2 clear) (PDF). Makes image bright but blurry.
• Printable Overlay 33% (1/3 clear) (PDF). Makes image medium bright and medium sharp.
• Printable Overlay 16% (1/6 clear) (PDF). Makes image dim but sharp.
• Printable Overlay 08% (1/12 clear) (PDF). Makes image very dim but very sharp.

Step 3: Move the overlay slowly up and down in front of the kinegram and you should see the motion, such as wheels turning, etc. The overlay must be lined up precisely with the kinegram. It is helpful to make a sleeve of folded paper to keep the overlay straight.
Important Info about Printing Scale: The overlay must be printed at the exact same print size scale as the underlying kinegrams. It is best to print the Adobe Acrobat PDF files provided here, rather than printing the GIF or PNG images from the web page, because you can better control the print size scale. Print the PDF files at 100% scale if possible. If you reduce or enlarge anything, then you must reduce or enlarge all the kinegrams and the overlay by the exact same percentage. To help you check the scale of your printouts, most of the kinegrams on these pages have alignment marks (tiny blue dots on the left and right sides) that should exactly match the overlay spacing.

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How to Make the Picture Move on the Computer Screen

Drag the striped overlay slowly over the pictures to make them move.
Click the buttons to show the overlay and adjust its appearance.

• Click the "Show" button to fetch the overlay and make it visible.
• Click the "Hide" button to make it invisible.
• Click the black, gray, or white buttons to change the overlay color.
• Click the size buttons to change the size of the clear stripes. You can select 50%, 33%, 16%, or 8% clear. Select larger clear stripes for a brighter image; select smaller clear stripes for a sharper image.

When you first load this page, the draggable striped overlay is initially hidden. If you have a slow connection, you may need to wait for all images on the page to finish loading before you can use the overlay. Reload the page to return the overlay to its initial state. This draggable overlay uses executable JavaScript (JQuery). You may need to tell your browser to allow JavaScript to run. If it still does not work, try a different web browser if you have one.

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Sample Kinegram

When the striped overlay is moved up and down in front of this kinegram, the wheels of the car will turn, the road will move horizontally, and the sun will pulse in or out.

Car with rotating wheels.

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More Kinegrams

You can see more kinegrams here:

• Kinegrams 1 (web page). Basic kinegram patterns.
• Kinegrams 2 (web page). More kinegrams.

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Making Your Own Cut-and-Paste Kinegram Scenes

You can make your own kinegram scenes including funny faces, vehicles, abstract patterns, etc. by printing the kinegram patterns on paper and cutting and pasting them into a big picture, like a collage. It's fun to make your own cut-and-paste kinegram birthday cards or other holiday cards. You can do the cutting and pasting literally with paper, scissors, and glue, or you can do it on the computer in your favorite drawing/painting application.
Most of the kinegram patterns on these pages have a preferred horizontal direction, which must match the horizontal stripes of the overlay. If you are using scissors and glue (not a computer) to combine pictures, then be careful to line up the pieces exactly. Do not change the size of the kinegrams or the overlay. If you reduce or enlarge anything, then you must reduce or enlarge all the kinegrams and the overlay by the exact same percentage. Do not rotate the pieces. You may mirror the pieces. You may change the colors.

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More Info

For more info about this kind of animation, search the web for "kinegram", "scanimation", "lenticular sheet", "lenticular screen", or "lenticular lens".
You can make your own new kinegram animations if you are a skillful user of a computer drawing or painting application. There are detailed instructions here: Making Kinegram Animations.
Terms of Use: These kinegrams are free for your use. The kinegrams were made by Keith Enevoldsen and are released to the public domain.

Ambigrams

Ambigrams, also called inversions, are designs in which you can see different words, or the same word in different ways, depending on how you look at them. I created all the ambigrams on these pages, except where credited otherwise.

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Happy Birthday: Same upside-down.

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Happy Holiday: Same upside-down.

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up / down: Same upside-down. This is simple, but I like it.

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Four-Way Ambigrams

These ambigrams can be viewed in FOUR different ways! These are much more complicated than two-way ambigrams.

Earth / Air / Water / Fire

North / South / East / West

Other people have also tackled four-way ambigrams. Kevin Pease has created wonderful four-way ambigrams of Earth/Air/Water/Fire and Winter/Spring/Summer/Autumn.

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Name Ambigrams — Family and Friends

Here are some ambigrams of the names of my family and friends.

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Ambigram Links

There are many ambigrams on the web. Just search for "ambigram". Here are a few links to get you started.

• Ambigram Magazine, ambigram.com
• FlipScript Ambigrams, create your own ambigrams
• Scott Kim's website is great.
• John Langdon's website is also great.
• Gilles Esposito-Farèse's website has lots of ambigrams and links.

Symmetry Fun

Symmetrical Funny Faces

Each of these faces are made from two copies of the same design. The repeated design is either resized, rotated, or shifted to make the face. Try creating your own symmetrical funny faces.

Korean Alphabet (Hangeul)

Most English speakers think Korean has thousands of characters, like Chinese, but it actually has a very simple and logical alphabet, which you can learn in a few minutes. The alphabet was invented in 1443 during the reign of the Great King Sejong. There are 14 basic consonants and 10 basic vowels. Letters that have similar sounds also have similar shapes, so it is easy to learn.

You can hear how the letters are pronounced on other web sites, such as indiana.edu/~koreanrs/hangul.html.
The letters are grouped into syllable blocks containing an initial consonant (which may be silent or double), one or two vowels (below or to the right), and sometimes a final consonant (below).
Now, can you "decode" these words?

Try to write your name in Korean. You can look up your name in Korean on other websites, such as chinese-tools.com/names/korean.
You can find a lot more Korean on the web. Even if you are like me and don't know any Korean words, you can have still have fun "decoding" some words in a Korean text, such as words borrowed from English, the names of famous people, place names, and product brand names.

Gibberish

Gibberish

What is Gibberish?

The gibberish (nonsense text) presented here is generated by a very simple computer program. Given some sample text, say Shakespeare, as input, the computer generates output which is random, but which has the same statistical distribution of characters or combinations of characters. (A character may be a letter, a digit, a space, a punctuation mark, etc.)
In level 1 gibberish, the output has the same distribution of single characters as the input. For example, the probability of seeing a character like "e" or "z" or "." will be approximately the same in the output as in the input. In level 2 gibberish, the output has the same distribution of character pairs as the input. For example, the probability of seeing a pair like "th" or "te" or "t." will be approximately the same in the output as in the input. In general, in level n gibberish, the output has the same distribution of groups of n characters (n-tuples) as the input. (The algorithm is a letter-based Markov text generator. Level n gibberish is a Markov chain of order n-1.)
It is amazing how well this simple algorithm works, even for very low level numbers. For example, at level 2, you can easily recognize different languages. At level 3 you can recognize the styles of different authors.
For even more fun, the gibberish generator can easily blend two different languages or two different authors. If the input is simply the text from author A followed by the text from author B, the output will be a smooth blend of the two.
To generate your own gibberish, go to Gibberish Generator.
To see some samples, go to Gibberish Samples.
A final thought: Is the human brain simply a level 100 gibberish generator?

References: Program named Mark V. Shaney (pun on Markov Chain) by Bruce Ellis, Rob Pike, and Don P. Mitchell, publicized in the June, 1989, Scientific American "Computer Recreations" column titled "A potpourri of programmed prose and prosody" by A. K. Dewdney.

Portmanteau Words

Portmanteau words are words made from two or more other words. I wrote a program to generate some portmanteau words using a thesaurus (WordNet). The program looked for words with related meanings and overlapping spellings. Here are some of the better ones that it found.

acknowledgmention = acknowledgment + mention
acquaintroduce = acquaint + introduce
admirespect = admire + respect
adolescentertainer = adolescent + entertainer
adornament = adorn + ornament
adornamentation = adorn + ornamentation
alonely = alone + lonely
ambushwhack = ambush + bushwhack
amusementertainment = amusement + entertainment
angleaning = angle + leaning
animale = animal + male
antediluviantiquated = antediluvian + antiquated
applaudits = applaud + plaudits
applemon = apple + lemon
arcticy = arctic + icy
artistudio = artist + studio
atomicroscopic = atomic + microscopic
babblecture = babble + lecture
backsiderriere = backside + derriere
badvantage = bad + advantage
ballyhoopla = ballyhoo + hoopla
bankrupture = bankrupt + rupture
barbariangry = barbarian + angry
beginaugurate = begin + inaugurate
beginitiate = begin + initiate
behindquarters = behind + hindquarters
belowgrounderground = belowground + underground
bespokengaged = bespoken + engaged
bewitcharm = bewitch + charm
blastrafe = blast + strafe
blastrike = blast + strike
blurbanize = blur + urbanize
boomerangle = boomerang + angle
braintelligence = brain + intelligence
brandishow = brandish + show
breezephyr = breeze + zephyr
brouhahangover = brouhaha + hangover
brushrub = brush + shrub
buckettle = bucket + kettle
bugabooger = bugaboo + booger
bugaboogeyman = bugaboo + boogeyman
bureauthority = bureau + authority
burnishine = burnish + shine
bushrub = bush + shrub
bustop = bus + stop
cameradar = camera + radar
carefreewheeling = carefree + freewheeling
caterpillarva = caterpillar + larva
chamberpotty = chamberpot + potty
chitchatter = chitchat + chatter
chooselect = choose + select
churchapel = church + chapel
clapplaud = clap + applaud
clapplause = clap + applause
clashowdown = clash + showdown
classociation = class + association
combattle = combat + battle
cometeor = comet + meteor
commention = comment + mention
congestrangle = congest + strangle
convictim = convict + victim
coquetteaser = coquette + teaser
correctify = correct + rectify
corrosivenomous = corrosive + venomous
coverlap = cover + overlap
craftrade = craft + trade
crashipwreck = crash + shipwreck
crisscrossbreed = crisscross + crossbreed
crunchug = crunch + hug
cryell = cry + yell
culturefinement = culture + refinement
curemedy = cure + remedy
curveer = curve + veer
dadaddy = dada + daddy
daemonster = daemon + monster
demonster = demon + monster
denudespoil = denude + despoil
depicture = depict + picture
derrierear = derriere + rear
desirequire = desire + require
digestomach = digest + stomach
discipleader = disciple + leader
disciplearner = disciple + learner
disguisemblance = disguise + semblance
doublengthen = double + lengthen
dreambition = dream + ambition
drumble = drum + rumble
duetwosome = duet + twosome
dyellow = dye + yellow
eggheadventurer = egghead + adventurer
empiregion = empire + region
enchantmenthrallment = enchantment + enthrallment
enjoymentertainment = enjoyment + entertainment
enjoymenthusiasm = enjoyment + enthusiasm
erodecay = erode + decay
erupture = erupt + rupture
establishmenterprise = establishment + enterprise
evile = evil + vile
explainterpret = explain + interpret
explodestroy = explode + destroy
fablegend = fable + legend
fabricloth = fabric + cloth
faitheory = faith + theory
fellad = fella + lad
felladdie = fella + laddie
femaleader = female + leader
figureckon = figure + reckon
filmovie = film + movie
firstart = first + start
flapel = flap + lapel
flashowy = flash + showy
formerstwhile = former + erstwhile
friskylark = frisk + skylark
fryoungster = fry + youngster
fundertaking = fun + undertaking
gaincrease = gain + increase
gamerrymaking = game + merrymaking
geniuser = genius + user
gentlemankind = gentleman + mankind
ghostagger = ghost + stagger
glidescend = glide + descend
glimpsee = glimpse + see
globearth = globe + earth
gobbleat = gobble + eat
godeity = god + deity
gooze = goo + ooze
governmenterprise = government + enterprise
grapear = grape + pear
grouchurl = grouch + churl
gyrateeter = gyrate + teeter
gyrevolve = gyre + revolve
haterrorist = hater + terrorist
hattire = hat + attire
hauncheek = haunch + cheek
headministrator = head + administrator
headversary = head + adversary
heavenlightenment = heaven + enlightenment
heistickup = heist + stickup
hiddenigma = hidden + enigma
hintimate = hint + intimate
holeak = hole + leak
homicideath = homicide + death
honestraight = honest + straight
hoodlummox = hoodlum + lummox
hoodlump = hoodlum + lump
humorality = humor + morality
humoriginality = humor + originality
imbibeverage = imbibe + beverage
initialpha = initial + alpha
invitempt = invite + tempt
itchafe = itch + chafe
jobusiness = job + business
joinfiltrate = join + infiltrate
joustruggle = joust + struggle
jumblend = jumble + blend
jumpstartle = jumpstart + startle
keistern = keister + stern
kingdomain = kingdom + domain
laborganization = labor + organization
lastop = last + stop
leadvantage = lead + advantage
lecturebuke = lecture + rebuke
legerdemaincantation = legerdemain + incantation
leisurest = leisure + rest
licencertify = licence + certify
lifeeling = life + feeling
lifestival = life + festival
literatureading = literature + reading
lollipopsicle = lollipop + popsicle
longhandwriting = longhand + handwriting
loreligion = lore + religion
lovenjoy = love + enjoy
madame = madam + dame
madmaniac = madman + maniac
magazinewspaper = magazine + newspaper
maleader = male + leader
mamammy = mama + mammy
manimal = man + animal
masqueradeceive = masquerade + deceive
mateammate = mate + teammate
metalloy = metal + alloy
minfinitesimal = min + infinitesimal
monoclens = monocle + lens
moocheap = mooch + cheap
moochintzy = mooch + chintzy
moverturn = move + overturn
murderase = murder + erase
murmurmuring = murmur + murmuring
narratell = narrate + tell
nativeteran = native + veteran
natureligion = nature + religion
naturesponsibility = nature + responsibility
needemand = need + demand
needesire = need + desire
newsflashy = newsflash + flashy
newspaperiodical = newspaper + periodical
noisensation = noise + sensation
officenter = office + center
ogleer = ogle + leer
opinionotion = opinion + notion
originception = origin + inception
originitiation = origin + initiation
outcastaway = outcast + castaway
outrageousurious = outrageous + usurious
overturnover = overturn + turnover
painfliction = pain + infliction
painjury = pain + injury
pastimerrymaking = pastime + merrymaking
penclosure = pen + enclosure
persecutormentor = persecutor + tormentor
picturead = picture + read
picturealize = picture + realize
pictureflection = picture + reflection
picturender = picture + render
playpenitentiary = playpen + penitentiary
pleasurejoicing = pleasure + rejoicing
pleasurevel = pleasure + revel
pointent = point + intent
polarctic = polar + arctic
polishine = polish + shine
potatomato = potato + tomato
pushove = push + shove
pushuffle = push + shuffle
pushunt = push + shunt
quartetrad = quartet + tetrad
quicksilverratic = quicksilver + erratic
rascallywag = rascal + scallywag
recitell = recite + tell
renegadeserter = renegade + deserter
repelbow = repel + elbow
reposerenity = repose + serenity
republicandidate = republican + candidate
restop = rest + stop
riffleaf = riffle + leaf
ripenhance = ripen + enhance
rotateeter = rotate + teeter
ruffleaf = ruffle + leaf
rumpleat = rumple + pleat
runravel = run + unravel
saintellectual = saint + intellectual
salvolley = salvo + volley
schoolmaterror = schoolmate + terror
schnozzle = schnoz + nozzle
scorchar = scorch + char
scramblend = scramble + blend
scratchafe = scratch + chafe
screenigma = screen + enigma
sensensibility = sense + sensibility
sexhibition = sex + exhibition
shackleash = shackle + leash
shamelancholy = shame + melancholy
shortcutoff = shortcut + cutoff
shoutcry = shout + outcry
sirenchantress = siren + enchantress
sketcharcoal = sketch + charcoal
smallowly = small + lowly
smilingrinning = smiling + grinning
smittenamored = smitten + enamored
spareserve = spare + reserve
spearrow = spear + arrow
spheregion = sphere + region
spouseeker = spouse + seeker
spurging = spur + urging
squarectangle = square + rectangle
stigmark = stigma + mark
stoperation = stop + operation
storecord = store + record
stoven = stove + oven
studentertainer = student + entertainer
stupidiot = stupid + idiot
survivorganism = survivor + organism
swellspring = swell + wellspring
swerveer = swerve + veer
switchange = switch + change
takeep = take + keep
talentertainer = talent + entertainer
tattletaleteller = tattletale + taleteller
taxicabriolet = taxicab + cabriolet
taxidermistuffer = taxidermist + stuffer
tempestorm = tempest + storm
tendernessence = tenderness + essence
thirstarve = thirst + starve
thithere = thither + there
thrustab = thrust + stab
tiptopnotch = tiptop + topnotch
titillatingling = titillating + tingling
tobaccoffee = tobacco + coffee
tradeal = trade + deal
traindoctrinate = train + indoctrinate
tributestimonial = tribute + testimonial
tubelowground = tube + belowground
turnoverturn = turnover + overturn
twisteer = twist + steer
twistir = twist + stir
ultradical = ultra + radical
umpireferee = umpire + referee
uniqueer = unique + queer
unitem = unit + item
varietype = variety + type
vegetablentil = vegetable + lentil
villaintruder = villain + intruder
villainvader = villain + invader
virtuosorcerer = virtuoso + sorcerer
visualisee = visualise + see
washave = wash + shave
washbasink = washbasin + sink
washine = wash + shine
washower = wash + shower
weirdotty = weirdo + dotty
wenchick = wench + chick
whimpulse = whim + impulse
widthickness = width + thickness
wifemale = wife + female
wincrease = win + increase
wisensible = wise + sensible
withinside = within + inside
wobbleaning = wobble + leaning
worldomain = world + domain

Word Fun

Anagrams

Two phrases are anagrams if they have the same letters, but in a different order.
Here are some good anagrams:

• A Ballet Dancer: Alert, Balanced
• A Decimal Point: I'm a Dot in Place
• Alec Guinness: Genuine Class
• Animosity: Is No Amity
• Bottoms Up: Pubs' Motto
• Contradiction: Accord not in it
• Dormitory: Dirty Room
• Eleven plus two: Twelve plus one
• Listen: Silent
• Semolina: Is No Meal
• Slot Machines: Cash Lost in 'em
• Snooze Alarms: Alas! No More Z's
• The Earthquakes: That Queer Shake
• The Morse Code: Here Come Dots
• The Public Art Galleries: Large Picture Halls, I Bet

There are a lot of anagram sites on the web, such as www.anagramgenius.com.

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Palindromes

A palindrome is a word or sentence which is spelled the same backwards and forwards.
Here are some good palindromes:

• A man, a plan, a canal — Panama! (One could reply, "No, it's a banana bastion.")
• A man, a plan, a cat, a canal — Panama!
• A man, a plan, a cat, a ham, a yak, a yam, a hat, a canal — Panama!
• Able was I ere I saw Elba. (Napolean could have said this when he was exiled to the island of Elba, if he spoke English.)
• Are we not drawn onward, we few, drawn onward to new era?
• Cigar? Toss it in a can. It is so tragic.
• Doc, note, I dissent. A fast never prevents a fatness. I diet on cod.
• Dog, as a devil deified, lived as a god.
• Dogma? I am God.
• Drab as a fool, aloof as a bard.
• Go hang a salami, I'm a lasagna hog.
• Ma is as selfless as I am.
• Madam, I'm Adam. (Eve replied simply, "Eve.")
• Madam, in Eden, I'm Adam.
• No sir, prefer prison.
• Pa's a sap.
• Niagara, O roar again.
• Senile felines
• Sniff'um muffins.
• Ten animals I slam in a net.
• Straw? No, too stupid a fad. I put soot on warts.
• Was it a cat I saw?
• Yreka Bakery (in Yreka, California)

Finnish has the longest palindromic words. Here are several (the longer ones are more contrived).

• saippuakauppias (15 letters), soap dealer
• saippurakaruppias (17 letters), soap salesman
• saippuakivikauppias (19 letters), lye dealer
• saippuakuppinippukauppias (25 letters), soap cup dealer

The longest common English palindromic word is "redivider" (9 letters). The contrived chemical term "detartrated" has 11 letters.
"Kinnikinnick," the name of a plant and also a dried leaf and bark mixture smoked by Cree indians, is not a palindrome, but it is sometimes (mis)spelled as a palindrome in two different ways: "kinnikinnik" (11 letters) and "kinnik-kinnik" (12 letters). Each half of the last palindrome is itself a palindrome.
The shortest English palindromic word, not counting one-letter words, is "aa," which is a Hawaiian word for a kind of lava.
English needs a synonym for "palindrome" that is itself a palindrome. The word should have meaningful roots, like the word "palindrome", which derives from Greek palin, again + Greek dromos, racecourse or running. Here are some candidate palindromic synonyms for palidrome.

• retreverter — From "retreat" (from Old French retrere from Latin retrahere), to draw back + Latin vertere , to turn. (From Seth Hoyt.) This is almost perfect. The roots are meaningful. Both roots are Latin. The only drawback is that "retre-" is not as familiar as "retro-".
  
• retrovorter — From "retro-", backwards + "vortex" (variant of "vertex", from Latin vertere, turn), turning column. (From Seth Hoyt.) It begins nicely with "retro-", but "vorter" is a stretch.
• palinilap — From Greek palin, again + English "lap", a racecourse lap or a fold. It has fairly meaningful roots. It is a natural modification of the familiar word "palindrome". A brief web search indicates that this may be the most popular candidate.
  
• emordrome — From Greek dromos, racecourse or running. But emor has no appropriate meaning. (Greek emor may mean "without a share".)
• rotor or rotator — From Latin rota, wheel. A rotation of 180 degrees is kind of like a reversal, but not really.
     
• mynonym — It sounds like it could be synonym for palindrome. From Greek onyma name. But myn has no appropriate meaning. (Greek myn may mean an excuse, pretense, or diversion.)
• reversrever — From Latin re, back + vertere, turn. But this word is too contrived.
• wordrow — From "word" + "row". But it contains no part that means reversal.

If you can think of a better word, please send me a note.

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Pangrams

A pangram is a sentence which uses all 26 letters. A minimal pangram uses each letter only once. The following minimal pangram describes the situation in which a wryneck woodpecker from the grasslands of Africa climbed up the side of a male bovid which is grazing on sacred Muslim-owned land:

Veldt jynx grimps waqf zho buck.

Source: Michael Jones of Chicago, in the Guinness Book.

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Repeated Words

Can you correctly punctuate the following, which has 12 "hads" in a row?

Ann where Bob had had had had had had had had had had had had written next to it as a correction.

Answer:

Ann, where Bob had had "had," had had "had had." "Had had" had had "had" written next to it as a correction.
(Ann and Bob were taking a grammar exam.)

The following sentence has 21 "ands" in a row:

Wouldn't the sentence "I want to put a hyphen between the words FISH and AND and AND and CHIPS in my FISH-AND-CHIPS sign" have been clearer if quotation marks had been placed before "FISH," and between "FISH" and "and," and "and" and "AND," and "AND" and "and," and "and" and "AND," and "AND" and "and," and "and" and "CHIPS," as well as after "CHIPS?"

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Contractions

How many words can be contracted into a single word using apostrophes? Is "I'dn't've" a legal word? It means "I would not have," as in "I'dn't've done that if I were you."

Flags of All Nations

How many flags can you identify?

Flag images and data from World Factbook