# number (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 339 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover number. Page: Feed: --- ## [What is the quality of software that AI writes?](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/26/what-is-the-quality-of-software-that-ai-writes/) _2026-08-26 · Wayne Joubert · John D. Cook_ AI-powered coding agents increase productivity for many developers. But do these agents produce good-quality code? Some say this doesn’t matter, we are heading toward dark software factories with source code never inspected, and maybe we should eliminate source code altogether—“source code is the new assembly code”. Others have a different view. Humans sometimes need to \[…\] The post What is the… ## [Junk solutions](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/26/junk-solutions/) _2026-08-26 · John · John D. Cook_ When you’re interested in studying a family of functions, it can be useful to look at a differential equation that the functions solve. This is a theme I’ve written about several times, most recently here and here, but also three years ago here. Orthogonal polynomials are mathematically elegant as well as very useful in applications \[1\]. \[…\] The post Junk solutions first appeared on John D. Cook . ## [Ultraspherical](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/26/ultraspherical/) _2026-08-26 · John · John D. Cook_ When I hear the term ultraspherical I think of something extremely spherical. For example, a baseball is spherical, but a billiard ball is more spherical. Maybe a highly polished billiard ball is ultraspherical. Using this line of thought, the term ultraspherical polynomial is inexplicable. This is an example of the arcane terminology I wrote about recently. In \[…\] The post Ultraspherical first… ## [💉 A jab well done](https://www.komando.com/news/devices/a-jab-well-done/) _2026-08-26 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ The FDA authorized Aletta, Vitestro’s robotic blood-drawing machine. It uses near-infrared and Doppler ultrasound to hunt down a suitable vein. The post 💉 A jab well done appeared first on Komando.com . ## [On social media, he saw a woman he’d never met and decided to stalk her. This is becoming a trend.](https://www.komando.com/news/security/on-social-media-he-saw-a-woman-hed-never-met-and-decided-to-stalk-her-this-is-becoming-a-trend/) _2026-08-26 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ Two arrests, two weeks, two states. Neither man had met the woman he’s accused of stalking. Each saw her on social media and tracked her down. Here’s how strangers do that and how to stop it. The post On social media, he saw a woman he’d never met and decided to stalk her. This is becoming a trend. appeared first on Komando.com . ## [17.7 Million Sessions Was Not Enough: The Unit Economics of a Dead Biometric](https://vibeagentmaking.com/blog/17-7-million-sessions-was-not-enough/) _2026-08-26 · AB Support LLC · Vibe Agent Making Blog_ Amazon One died with one statistic to its name, carried unattributed by every outlet. Divide it by itself and you get 2.07 items per session, which is not what grocery shopping looks like. ## [GitLab 2017: Five Backup and Replication Techniques, None Working. What Confirmed Looks Like If Nothing Changed](https://vibeagentmaking.com/blog/what-confirmed-would-look-like-if-nothing-changed/) _2026-08-26 · AB Support LLC · Vibe Agent Making Blog_ GitLab counted five backup and replication techniques in 2017 and none of them worked. I asked one question of the eight success signals my agent fleet trusts: if the action had silently done nothing, would this look any different? Six of the eight would look identical. ## [Cochran's Q test in R, or the extension of McNemar's test for more than two groups](https://statsandr.com/blog/cochrans-q-test-in-r/) _2026-08-26 · Stats and R_ Introduction In previous articles, we showed how to test whether two qualitative variables are related thanks to the Chi-square test of independence in R (and how to compute it by hand). Both articles insist on one important limitation: this test requires independent observations. If you have dependent observations (paired samples), that is, if the measurements have been collected on the same… ## [Alcaraz and Williams thrill in brief but bright US Open mixed doubles showing](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cn5drv06w2ro?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-25 · BBC Sport_ Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz were among the star double-acts in New York as the US Open mixed doubles competition got under way on Tuesday. ## [GB's Dart and Jones advance in US Open qualifying](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c1mv0m7exxko?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-25 · BBC Sport_ Britons Harriet Dart and Fran Jones both make winning starts in their bids to reach the US Open singles main draw. ## [Collect Open Source Legends (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/VoijZQ0Hw9jw) _2026-08-25 · **Sponsored**_ Open-licensed art, limited foil trading packs, and optional on-chain mints. ## [Retiring Wawrinka 'forever grateful' to US Open despite no wildcard](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cvgye2w5x20o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-25 · BBC Sport_ Stan Wawrinka says his US Open triumph will "forever be one of the greatest moments of my life" after missing out on a wildcard for a farewell appearance in New York. ## [Tuesday’s Cloud Seeding](https://garymackender.substack.com/p/tuesdays-cloud-seeding-b74) _2026-08-25 · Gary Mackender · Tales From the Homestead_ Music! ## [National Security Notebook | Number 21, August 25, 2026](https://ilanberman.substack.com/p/national-security-notebook-number-620) _2026-08-25 · Ilan Berman · Present Dangers_ Beijing’s soft-power play for Taiwan’s youth hits a wall… for now. ## [Vondrousova appeals to Cas against four-year ban](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c8e3rn5wwrwo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-25 · BBC Sport_ Former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova did not let an anti-doping official enter her home to carry out a test in December 2025 and her ban is set to run until June 2030. ## [🐎 Hold your cyber horses](https://www.komando.com/news/social-media/hold-your-cyber-horses/) _2026-08-25 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ Someone looked at a robot dog and thought, “Great, but can I ride it?” DaxAI’s answer is the Cyber Horse, a four-legged 660-pound-payload machine. The post 🐎 Hold your cyber horses appeared first on Komando.com . ## [Google scams have four new faces. Here’s the checklist that beats all of them.](https://www.komando.com/news/security/google-scams-have-four-new-faces-heres-the-checklist-that-beats-all-of-them/) _2026-08-25 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ A Google Form, a calendar invite, a “Google Security” call, an AI Overview phone number. Four scams wear Google’s logo, friend, but the company insists it will never call you about security The post Google scams have four new faces. Here’s the checklist that beats all of them. appeared first on Komando.com . ## [The tiny URL mistake that could send your utility payment to scammers](https://www.komando.com/news/security/the-tiny-url-mistake-that-could-send-your-utility-payment-to-scammers/) _2026-08-25 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ Fake utility payment websites are getting harder to spot. Learn the one place to check before you enter your credit card, plus the warning signs that can save you from a costly mistake. The post The tiny URL mistake that could send your utility payment to scammers appeared first on Komando.com . ## [The Median Occupation Barely Uses Claude: What 740 Rows of the Anthropic Economic Index Actually Say](https://vibeagentmaking.com/blog/the-median-occupation-barely-uses-claude/) _2026-08-25 · AB Support LLC · Vibe Agent Making Blog_ The Anthropic Economic Index has 740 occupation rows, and 22 of them are subtotals of the other 718. Filter correctly and the median occupation shows 0.020 percent Claude usage, with 209 occupations at exactly zero. ## [Numerical (in)stability of recurrence relations](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/24/numerical-instability-recurrece/) _2026-08-25 · John · John D. Cook_ The previous post gave several examples of three-term recurrence relations for special functions. These relations can be computationally useful, but they have to be applied carefully. Several years ago I wrote a post on stable and unstable recurrences. In that post I show that the stability of the recurrence relation for Bessel functions produces depends \[…\] The post Numerical (in)stability of… ## [Watson among Britons through in US Open qualifying](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cj0689mmp16o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-24 · BBC Sport_ Heather Watson is among the British winners in the first round of US Open qualifying as she bids for a first New York main-drawn appearance in five years. ## [From any door to your door (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/sIcr3V3FlWPu) _2026-08-24 · **Sponsored**_ Book rides, errands, deliveries, groceries and home help in one app ## [Coding Agents Invent Facts When Denied Them. All 4 of My Probes Returned a False Zero.](https://vibeagentmaking.com/blog/coding-agents-invent-facts-false-zero/) _2026-08-24 · AB Support LLC · Vibe Agent Making Blog_ A 2026 arXiv paper reports that coding agents denied a required fact fabricate rather than stop, so instruments built on reads look for a hole already filled. I ran four small probes at a different layer and all four returned a false zero. ## [Unity Lost $110 Million to Bad Training Data. The Filing Says "Challenges With Monetization Products."](https://vibeagentmaking.com/blog/unity-110-million-bad-training-data/) _2026-08-24 · AB Support LLC · Vibe Agent Making Blog_ On May 10, 2022 Unity Software told the public two versions of the same bad news. The 8-K blamed challenges with monetization products. The earnings call named a platform fault, bad ingested training data and $110 million. Just one of those versions is in the filed record. ## [Three-term recurrences](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/24/three-term-recurrences/) _2026-08-24 · John · John D. Cook_ There many examples of families of functions where each function can be computed as a linear combination of the two previous terms where a and b are functions of x but not on n. This is called a three-term recurrence formula. It’s amazing how often you can run into three-term recurrence formulas. There are theorems that give conditions \[…\] The post Three-term recurrences first appeared on John D.… ## [The von Mises-Fisher distribution](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/24/von-mises-fisher/) _2026-08-24 · John · John D. Cook_ Probability density function must integrate to 1, and so if you know a density function up to a constant, the constant is determined. When you’re looking at a probability density f(x) for the first time, it helps to ignore the normalizing constant. Concentrate on the part of the function involving x and know that the normalizing \[…\] The post The von Mises-Fisher distribution first appeared on John… ## [The Expert Authenticated His Own Prediction: Bredius, van Meegeren, and Theory-Laden Seeing](https://vibeagentmaking.com/blog/the-expert-authenticated-his-own-prediction/) _2026-08-24 · AB Support LLC · Vibe Agent Making Blog_ In 1892 Abraham Bredius rejected a real Vermeer for showing Italian influence. In 1937 he authenticated a van Meegeren forgery for showing Italian influence. Same expert, same theory, opposite errors. ## [🦾 Crash course](https://www.komando.com/news/devices/crash-course/) _2026-08-24 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ During training for Beijing’s World Humanoid Robot Games, one humanoid got a little too confident. The competition includes running, soccer and boxing. The post 🦾 Crash course appeared first on Komando.com . ## [That ‘AI’ robot butler? Sometimes it’s a guy in a VR headset watching your kitchen. Here’s what the contracts really say.](https://www.komando.com/tips/artificial-intelligence/that-ai-robot-butler-sometimes-its-a-guy-in-a-vr-headset-watching-your-kitchen-heres-what-the-contracts-really-say/) _2026-08-24 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ The Wall Street Journal caught the $20,000 NEO being driven by a remote human operator. The $8,000 Isaac 1 is “autonomous” until it gets stuck and a person takes over. And the $30-an-hour robot maid in San Francisco is watched by an operator on every visit, under a contract that hands the company your home footage forever. Four house rules before you let one in the door. The post That ‘AI’ robot… ## [Gauff gears up for US Open with Cincinnati triumph](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cg7k9g4n3pmo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-24 · BBC Sport_ Coco Gauff powers past Jessica Pegula in the final of the Cincinnati Open to win her first title of 2026 just before the US Open, as Arthur Fils wins the men's event. ## [What exactly is modified about a modified Bessel function?](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/23/modified-bessel-function/) _2026-08-23 · John · John D. Cook_ Special functions often have arcane names that not very helpful without some context. The previous post goes into some reasons for this. This post will expand on a point at the end of the post about “modified” functions. Things are given their names for reasons. Discovering those reasons may help you understand their motivation and \[…\] The post What exactly is modified about a modified Bessel… ## [Why special function terminology is arcane](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/23/arcane-terminology/) _2026-08-23 · John · John D. Cook_ Special functions are special because they’re useful. They can also be shrouded in arcane terminology. These two facts are related. The more widely useful a function is, the more likely it is that the function will be discovered independently multiple times. Independent discoveries lead to varying definitions and notations. For example, there are two widely \[…\] The post Why special function… ## [ThreatCrush on GitHub (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/9s7T7BcO6KRE) _2026-08-23 · **Sponsored**_ View the ThreatCrush listing on the GitHub Marketplace. ## [📦 Water you waiting for?](https://www.komando.com/news/social-media/water-you-waiting-for/) _2026-08-23 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ A viral TikTok shows an Amazon drone cruising over a family’s backyard and dropping a cardboard package directly into their swimming pool. Watch it flop here. The post 📦 Water you waiting for? appeared first on Komando.com . ## [I have passkeys on Google and my bank. Do I still need a password manager?](https://www.komando.com/news/security/i-have-passkeys-on-google-and-my-bank-do-i-still-need-a-password-manager/) _2026-08-23 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ Paul in Indiana set up passkeys and wonders why he still needs a password manager. Fair question. Passkeys cover maybe a dozen accounts. The other 150 are still running on “Fluffy2019!” Here’s how the two work together and the one move that ends password chaos for good. The post I have passkeys on Google and my bank. Do I still need a password manager? appeared first on Komando.com . ## [The difference orbit inclination makes](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/22/inclination/) _2026-08-23 · John · John D. Cook_ Suppose you wanted to find the distance between Earth and Mars over time. To first approximation, both planets orbit the sun in elliptic orbits in the same plane. If you wanted to be more accurate, you’d need to take into account the fact that the orbit of Mars is tilted about 1.85° relative to the \[…\] The post The difference orbit inclination makes first appeared on John D. Cook . ## [Codle #230](https://codle.ouuan.moe) _2026-08-23 · Codle Puzzles_ Due to the low number of players, Codle has entered the cycle of utilizing previously used puzzles. This puzzle was first used on 2022-08-28. The text present in the following statement may contain information that is no longer up-to-date, as it has been copied directly from the old puzzle. M-arrays https://codeforces.com/contest/1497/problem/B ## [Coming soon](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/22/coming-soon/) _2026-08-22 · John · John D. Cook_ There’s a pizza shop near my home with a sign out front that says “Coming Soon.” When I drove by it this morning I thought about how you would model the time until an event happens that is “coming soon.” Suppose I look at the sign one day and guess how many days until the \[…\] The post Coming soon first appeared on John D. Cook . ## [Coming soon](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/22/coming-soon/) _2026-08-22 · John · John D. Cook_ There’s a pizza shop near my home with a sign out front that says “Coming Soon.” When I drove by it this morning I thought about how you would model the time until an event happens that is “coming soon.” Suppose I look at the sign one day and guess how many days until the \[…\] The post Coming soon first appeared on John D. Cook . ## [Williams and Alcaraz to play US Open mixed doubles](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c4g3gp9k2njo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-22 · BBC Sport_ Serena Williams will pair up with Carlos Alcaraz for the mixed doubles at the US Open at Flushing Meadows. ## [Bejlek continues stunning run to set up Gauff semi](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/c9v4v8ke01xo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-22 · BBC Sport_ Czech Sara Bejlek continued her stunning run at the Cincinnati Open as she upset American Madison Keys to reach her first WTA 1000 semi-final where she will face fourth seed Coco Gauff. ## [Text via satellite during storms](https://www.komando.com/episode/text-via-satellite-during-storms/) _2026-08-22 · Digital Life Hack Archives - Komando.com_ When the towers go dark, your phone's got a secret backup that could reach the outside world. Plus, one caller's home security scare and the overlooked fix Kim swears by, including: - Texting when cell towers fail - A listener's home security worry - The security fix most people miss The post Text via satellite during storms appeared first on Komando.com . ## [Six trade secrets from the pros: The seat map that lies, the $15 fee you can kill and the $12 part that “fixes” a dead dryer.](https://www.komando.com/tips/money/six-trade-secrets-from-the-pros-the-seat-map-that-lies-the-15-fee-you-can-kill-and-the-12-part-that-fixes-a-dead-dryer/) _2026-08-22 · Kim Komando · Komando.com_ Round 2 of our most-loved format. The airline seat map is a sales floor, not an inventory list. The hotel’s 800 number can't help you, but the front desk can. Plus, the $15 modem rental fix, the $12 dryer trick, the help desk’s sacred order and the photographer's one-second habit. The post Six trade secrets from the pros: The seat map that lies, the $15 fee you can kill and the $12 part that… ## [📸 Developing patience](https://www.komando.com/news/devices/developing-patience/) _2026-08-22 · Katie Knauf · Komando.com_ The Godox C100 is a $45 camera with no screen and no instant playback, so you shoot, move on and find out later what you actually captured. It's basically a digital camera with the philosophy of a disposable one, and honestly it might be the cure for the 47-take family photo spiral. The post 📸 Developing patience appeared first on Komando.com . ## [The road to epsilon-zero: Shortlex order also orders sequences of numbers](https://blog.plover.com/math/ordinals/06-nim-shortlex.html) _2026-08-22 · Mark Dominus · The Universe of Discourse_ Previously: Ordinal numbers and basic set theory Ordinals as nim-heaps Nim always ends, even with infinite ordinals Infinite Nim as a coin-moving game Coin-moving games with no coins Productive programs and well-founded orders In part 4, Infinite Nim as a coin-moving game , we saw how to reinterpret infinite Nim into an equivalent game: instead of heaps of beans and various special tokens, we… ## [Thales + Systematic: Interoperability Deal or Defense Hype? We Look Under the Hood](https://thelintedledger.substack.com/p/thales-systematic-interoperability) _2026-08-21 · The Linted Ledger · The Linted Ledger_ In 2003, I watched a defense stock spike 40% on a missile deal. ## [Injured Sinner & Draper withdraw from US Open](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cvgw2qg3e70o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-21 · BBC Sport_ World number one Jannik Sinner and Britain's Jack Draper pull out of the upcoming US Open through injury. ## [Major Timberwolves/Lynx Ownership Shift: Marc Lore to Marc Stad](https://www.canishoopus.com/timberwolves-news/68456/nba-sale-timberwolves-lynx-ownership-marc-lore-elisa-stad-alex-rodriguez) _2026-08-21 · Benny Hughes · Canis Hoopus_ The Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx have a new majority owner after founder and partner of the Dragoneer Investment group, Marc Stad, bought majority shares from Marc Lore to become the controlling owner. In a sale that seemingly came out of nowhere in the eyes of the general public, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that Marc Stad \[…\] ## [Friday Homestead Dispatch](https://garymackender.substack.com/p/friday-homestead-dispatch-cf1) _2026-08-21 · Gary Mackender · Tales From the Homestead_ Week Number Eighty-Three ## [Injured Sinner out of US Open](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cvgw2qg3e70o?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss) _2026-08-21 · BBC Sport_ World number one Jannik Sinner pulls out of the upcoming US Open with a knee injury. ## [How would you know whether an ancient culture had zero?](https://www.johndcook.com/blog/2026/08/21/ancient-number-system/) _2026-08-21 · John · John D. Cook_ A few weeks ago I wrote about the number system used in labeling spreadsheet columns. Labels run from A through Z, then AA through AZ, etc. This looks a lot like base 26, but it’s not quite the same. It has no analog of zero. If Z were like zero, Y would be followed by \[…\] The post How would you know whether an ancient culture had zero? first appeared on John D. Cook . ## [How Far Can You Roll?](https://thefiddler.substack.com/p/how-far-can-you-roll) _2026-08-21 · Zach Wissner-Gross · Fiddler on the Proof_ You attach a light to a wheel. What is the length of the path traversed by the light as the wheel makes one complete revolution? ## [SB Nation Reacts: Retire Jersey Retirements (For Now)](https://www.canishoopus.com/reacts/68406/sb-nation-reacts-kevin-garnett-anthony-edwards-jersey-retirement) _2026-08-21 · Leo Sun · Canis Hoopus_ It was fairly clear from the comments section and social media that the Timberwolves community strongly believe there aren’t any currently retired/soon-to-be retired players who’s jerseys should follow Kevin Garnett’s number 21 to the Target Center rafters. Based on the list that was provided to fans, Ricky Rubio was the strongest contender. That said, there \[…\]