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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2026

This advert ran next to the Martin Gardner article about pentagonal tilings that inspired Marjorie Rice.

1970s advert for a calculator that can apparently do everything except arccos(0).

"Remember, you can't calculate the arc cos of 0. But at $59.99..... who cares!!!"

Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 13/09/2026

I'm reminded of @dag's law of adjectives makes me think that if Jenrick were confident, he needn't be very confident, and if the donations were legal, they needn't be perfectly so.

Reform’s Robert Jenrick ‘very
confident’ £72m donations
are ‘perfectly legal’

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 02/08/2026

Just stumbled on this delightful exchange from several years ago. @christianp is an excellent human being who does sterling work keeping the nonsense levels around here just right. mathstodon.xyz/@christianp/11113762…

$An exchange from several years ago where I torment CLP by suggesting a Tale of Two Cities number theory course would start "It was the best of \times" and I remain unbanned.$

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 12/07/2026

@christianp I found one by hand in London that's under 200m, which I reckon is respectable (even if "house" might be stretching it.)

Map showing distance between 37 Great Peter St, 37 Tufton St and 37 Smith Square.

Map showing locations of 37 Great Peter St, 37 Tufton St and 37 Smith Square.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 09/07/2026

I'm sure the library must have a dictionary in which it can look up the meaning of "exciting", As a wise man once said, "you keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Message from my library about "Exciting improvements to our self-service kiosks."

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 08/07/2026

This is astonishing. The betfair marketplace reckons Count Binface has about 15% chance to unseat Mr Farage. For comparison, Leave was about 10% when I went to bed on the night of the Brexit vote.

Odds from betfair listing Reform around 1.2 (low 80%) and Binface around 7 (mid teens).

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026

TIL that Bambos Charalambous's first name is Charalambos. Without a u, which unsettles me slightly.

From wikipedia: Charalambos "Bambos" Charalambous.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 08/05/2026

I've been reminded of the role of Varrius in Measure for Measure. Varrius enters and leaves within three lines without saying a word.

Measure for Measure Act 4, Scene 5, in which Varrius enters, the Duke speaks three lines, and everyone leaves. This is Varrius's only involvement in the play.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 23/04/2026

I now believe I've misunderstood slightly -- the runner-up is a red herring and the correct (?) explanation follows. I hope my Dutch football friends will correct me if not. * There are six promotion play-off spots. * These are awarded to the winners of each […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

The top of the Period 4 table for the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Willem II lead with 19 points, ADO Den Haag follow with 18 and Vitesse are in third with 17 points.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 11/03/2026

If you teach Edexcel A-level maths, you'll be thrilled to know that the weather data I've got hold of for a client apparently measures cloud cover in decioktas.

List of cloud cover values (for Aultbea No 2 in January 2016, if you MUST know) -- all of which are multiples of 1/80.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 14/02/2026

Am I misreading this or is Kennedy saying "It's a bit unsporting to CATCH us cheating"? www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/feb/…

However, on Saturday, Kennedy vented his anger at the Swedish team for
calling him out. “I know we’re not the only team that they’ve done that to,”
he said. “They have come up with a plan here at the Olympics, as far as I
know, to catch teams in the act at the hog line. It was planned right from the
word go yesterday, from the words that were being said by their coaches and
the way they were running to the officials.”

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 30/01/2026

Bit surprised that there's a factor of 100 difference in plays for Free Fallin' and Something In The Air. I'm not surprised it's more popular (even if SITA is /very/ good), just that it's so much.

Spotify listens for tracks on Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers' Greatest Hits. (Yes, I'm using Spotify. Don't tell anyone.) Free Fallin' has been played close to 900 million times, Something In The Air 'only' 8.5 million.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 30/01/2026

I have to question the wisdom of your attendance slogan's real acronym being "HEDROT".

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 01/01/2026

My personal New Year tradition is to listen to the Saw Doctors. This year's first punch-the-air moment was during Michaell D. Rocking In The Dáil.

CD cover of The Saw Doctors' Live On New Year's Day 2005 . Someone in a brown coat and hat holding a cane, looking at... I dunno what. A sphere twice as tall, divided into segments, mainly green, some brown, some brown spikes in the top half.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 21/11/2025

I think a new Rembrandt would have been more impressive.

Picture of a man holding a bit of paper. Headline "Experience: I found an old Rembrandt in a drawer"

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 07/11/2025

*through gritted teeth* What do you notice? What do you wonder? (The chart is a few years old, but the punchline is still valid.)

List of longest unbeaten streaks in international rugby union at a specified ground. Top are New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland (49, ongoing); second England at Twickenham (22); third Georgia at the Dinamo Arena in Tbilisi (21). Joint fourth with 19, ongoing, are Ireland at the Aviva in Dublin and... New Zealand at Murrayfield, Edinburgh.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 04/11/2025

[uspol] That is NOT what I will remember Dick Cheney for.

"Cheney, who served under presidents from Nixon to George W Bush, will
be remembered for key role after 9/11"

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 01/11/2025

[Answer] *I* was expecting circular arcs. But nope!

The actual curve -- r = 1 + sec(theta)/2 -- is in two branches, one vaguely normal-distribution shaped and the other with a funny loop-the-loop through the origin.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 01/11/2025

Interesting question from 11yo Young Bill: what's the 'average' of a circle and a square? After a couple of questions, he clarified that he meant in terms of distance from their common centre, and he (quite impressively, imo) built the thing in Geogebra. I've […] [Original post on mathstodon.xyz]

A Desmos plot of a red square with vertices at (+-1, +-1) and a red circle of radius 2 centred on the origin. The "average" plot consists of a set of four blue arcs in between, and a black sort of shamrock shape inside the square.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 27/10/2025

What Abbotsbury Road needs in that empty unit is a restaurant selling burgers, kebabs and pizza IN THAT ORDER.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 19/10/2025

Proper vanishing point! (Don't worry, I checked carefully for trains.)

A straight single track railway. Photo taken from between the rails, showing the vanishing point in the distance. Overgrown trees, bushes and grass flank the track.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 06/10/2025

I've just retrieved my ca. 1985 ZX Spectrum+ from the mathemattic cupboard and realised that my watch isn't just 20,000 times more powerful, it also has a better screen resolution and (adjusted for inflation) cost half as much.

A dusty black keyboard with "Sinclair ZX Spectrum" at top left. Beside it is a grey cassette recorder and a "Mined-Out" cassette.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 05/10/2025

Dogs are allowed back on the beach. Pete is delighted!

Silhouette of a goofy Patterdale terrier, a small chocolate-brown dog, kicking up the sand as he runs around the beach. There is calm sea in the background and distant cliffs. The sky is clear except for a few high clouds.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2025

Shout-out to the teenage girls I passed while running for shouting encouragement to "the little doggy". Pete was spurred on and is now worn out.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2025

[A pun some readers may find distressing.] Inspired by a discussion with @alisonkiddle

Four pictures. On the top line, a fern, a baby, a fern.

Below, a map showing Tesco in Brno.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 16/09/2025

No, you had a silly idea watching the Finite Group livestream on catch-up.

A red dragon curve on a background of green and white, echoing the flag of Wales.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 30/08/2025

[Crimes against dataviz] I'm going to go and have a little cry.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2025

After an offhand comment in @standupmaths's "Love Triangle" (which is available wherever etc.), my kids are now *thrilled* whenever they see a steep hill sign with a colon in it. Today we found one on the way into Bourton-on-the-Hill.

A streetview of a rural road with "A44" written on it. There is a faded street sign stating that there's a 1:11 gradient ahead, and low gear for 1/2 mile.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 18/08/2025

This is the model village inside Bourton on the Water's model village. Under the plastic canopy is its own model village, within which you can just about make out another. A lovely detail.

A 1:81 scale model village with a plastic canopy in the foreground. Beneath that is a 1:243 scale model village, containing a 1:729 scale village.

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Colin Beveridge @icecolbeveridge.mathstodon.xyz.ap.brid.gy · 25/06/2025

Oof, smashing it! Seven significant figures (nearly 8) from a 10,000,000 loop Monte Carlo method. It wouldn't be Monte Carlo if it wasn't slightly rigged, but still, happy with that.