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Thursday, August 8, 2002 |
A clarification on my comment about Mathematica earlier. I am talking about the function PrimeQ, there is a similarly named function in the NumberTheory packages that is slower, but gives a precise answer. Perhaps the new algorithm will make this function faster? As fast as the normal PrimeQ?
10:20:11 AM 
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New Method Said to Solve Key Problem in Math
Three Indian computer scientists have solved a longstanding mathematics problem by devising a way for a computer to tell quickly and definitively whether a number is prime [~] that is, whether it is evenly divisible only by itself and 1.
[From New York Times]
The article is a little confusing, but the achievement is not in the speed of the algorithm, as it's not faster than previously known algorithms, but in the fact that it removes the small error in those algorithms.
When Mathematica says a number is prime, in reality it is saying something like "I'm 99.99999% sure this number is prime." That's good enough for most purposes. The new algorithm eliminates that small uncertainty with no significant cost of speed, it seems. Great!
8:33:36 AM
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Hitler, It Seems, Loved Money and Died Rich. According to a new German television documentary, Hitler liked money, both for the luxuries it bought him and the loyalties it ensured, and he amassed a lot of it. By Steven Erlanger. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
What a surprise! Hitler was corrupt and couldn't distinguish between his own money and the state's. You know what? everybody that governs a country for over 8 years without elections is corrupt and doesn't distinguish between his own money and the state's. Who is going to be uncovered next? Stalin? Fidel Castro? Go ahead investigate them, see what you find...
8:15:19 AM
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© Copyleft 2005 Alfredo Octavio.
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