Tuesday, May 07, 2013

The Boundless Influence of Gheorghe

For such a seemingly inconsequential little filler/dipshittery purveyor, Gheorghe: The Blog has made an outsized impact on the larger world. As Clarence has repeatedly pointed out (via the comments section, naturally, so there's no link I can use to prove the notion), the editors of Grantland routinely scour G:TB for new ideas. And it's pretty obvious that we turned Sports Illustrated on to Elena Delle Donne's greatness. A whole anti-CERN cottage industry has sprung up around our coal mine canary efforts regarding the Large Hadron Collider.

After those and other influential campaigns, we've turned our efforts to a far more fundamental pursuit. We're changing math.

In partnership with Briton Rob Eastaway, our very own Zman has pioneered an entirely new way to think about computation. Friends, we give you zequals (zequals).

Let's allow Eastaway to offer a description:
Zequals means you have to reduce any number to a single significant figure, followed by Zeroes (so the Z is for Zeroes, and also for the ZigZagness of the symbol).  For example 67 becomes 70, and the calculation 7 x 8 = 56 becomes 7 x 8 zequals 60.
Ultimately, zequals is extremely valuable when precision is less important than general directional sense. If we need to know roughly how many cans are in 18 cases of beer, 400 is good enough. If I need to figure out whether my kid's 98.8 degree temperature requires a trip to the doctor, 100 is probably a bit imprecise. But as Eastaway himself notes, "Many people develop the knack of estimating when they discover a real need for it: business people assessing the viability of a project, engineers looking at how long a job is going to take. In these examples, it’s the ballpark figure that’s important, not the number to its third decimal place."

Eastaway explains the concept in more detail in the video below. And while he doesn't credit Zman, we'll not take offense. We all know the truth, and that's good enough for us.




31 comments:

T.J. said...

ZMATH

zman said...

I am clothed in immense zpower.

zman said...

Note that I haven't taken a math class since high school calc, so all of this zequals stuff may be wrong.

Donna said...

I learned this year from a CPA and prof of accounting that when doing taxes, estimates are completely allowed and encouraged by the IRS!

Greg said...

Z. CAVARICCI

Dave said...

this makes sense now! i have been using "zequals" in place of "equals" for years!

and here is a link to grantland stealin our shit:

http://gheorghe77.blogspot.com/2012/01/once-in-lifetime-starts-making-sense.html

Shlara said...

I feel like there's a Schoolhouse Rock song asking to be made here

zman said...

Because she kept bootlegging' my shit.

rob said...

z(equals)...it's the magic (estimated) number/yes it is/it's the magic (almost) number

rob said...

i get a little worried when i find out things that dave and i have in common from a mental processing perspective.

Mark said...

I have nothing valuable to add. So, kind of a normal day.

Danimal said...

MADMEN SPOILER ALERT! MADMEN SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

Watched it last night. I fear the dilution of the characters on this show. There were plenty of storylines as it was, several of which haven't even begun to play out and now a new firm is added to the mix which surely will bring several new players into the fold, no? For Realz?
Does that zequal "risky" or am i just being a little too dramatic?


Mark said...

I've already spoken on my love of Joakim Noah in this space but Jimmy Butler deserves some love too. His back story is sad and inspiring. He also guarded LeBron last night, played 48 minutes and had 21-14.

T.J. said...

Apparently Butler has played all 48 minutes in the past three games...maybe even four now...

T.J. said...

Just looked - he has played 144 of 144 possible minutes in the Bulls' last three games.

Mark said...

And while I'm not as concerned as you, Danimal. I see your point. This sort of thing was an issue on The Sopranos and Weiner was surely involved in storyline development on that show.

Mark said...

That's a ton of minutes. And most are spent on the opposition's best offensive player. Deron Williams and now LeBron.

zman said...

Sorry if I sound like an asshole, but ... Mad Men's storylines are pretty straightforward. It's not like Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones where everyone has a screwed up name and comes from some fictional place with made-up customs. Mad Men revolves around people sticking their junk in places it doesn't belong, just pay attention to who's junk is where and you're fine.

rob said...

and that's...one to grow on.

what is mad men?

Mark said...

That's a good guide, if a bit oversimplified, Z.

Danimal said...

no apology necessary. it's not the storylines, just the # of storylines, taking time away from the storylines that are the most entertaining to yours truly. that is all. asshole.

Squeaky said...

Have any of you all seen the Armstrong body language video where an expert decodes it? Title is bad but expected.

http://pitchfix.populr.me/lie-strong---lance-armstongsbody-language-decoded

It's 20 minutes long but being a psych major I find it pretty damn interesting when they break down micro-expressions and patterns in his body language.

Who has made the monkey face?

What channel is Mad Men on? We are so behind on all the cool hip shows. We are anti-hip when it comes to TV shows. And I'm blaming that on my wife and her boring reality shows. Thank god for the NHL playoffs.

Mark said...

AMC. Same channel as Breaking Bad. I highly recommend both.

Shlara said...

I spent some time in a bit of a "Mad Men" rabbit hole on the interwebs last night--read about 15 different analyses of the latest episode. And then caught up with Tom & Lornenzo's Mad Style blog posts for this season. I realize you guys aren't students of fashion, but I think you woudl still enjoy the blog.

http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/tag/mad-style

zman said...

I am a professor of fashion.

zman said...

Say Teaneck!

Mark said...

I'm hurt, Shlara. And offended and hurt.

rob said...

here with jaycee dugard, steve largent, and bryan cranston. just another tuesday.

Shlara said...

OK, let me clarify---students of fashion HISTORY, with a focus on the 1950s and 60s

zman said...

I have three pairs of Rod Lavers. I know 60s fashion ... sneaker fashion, but that has to count for something.

T.J. said...

28-2 run right now for Knicks? Allrightythen