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Matt Parker Profile picture
Matt Parker
@standupmaths
#1 best-selling author, also maths clown. Videos: https://t.co/sCfGSvBKVm Also over here: https://t.co/3kB1s6dNdX
Nov 14, 2020 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
6 ÷ 2(1+2) is going viral again. And the correct answer from a mathematician is “you need to write this better so it’s not ambiguous”.

PEMDAS/BODMAS is not some law of maths. ‘Order of operations’ are a convention to make writing clear. (PS The solution is always MORE BRACKETS.) Image Also the answer is 1.
Oct 5, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
When I first heard that cases were missing I thought “can’t be an Excel problem, the rows run out at 1,048,576 which is bigger than even total cases”.

I never thought they’d have a case per COLUMN. Unbelievable. And yes: Excel columns end at 16,384 aka “XFD”. In Excel on a Mac hit the command-⌘ key with 'right arrow' and you'll jump to the last column (I think Windows is Ctrl+Right). Columns count up alphabetically and you can check that "XFD" is 'Excel base-26' for 16,384 which is 2^14. Excel stores column numbers as 14-bit binary.
Sep 2, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
If anyone can record themselves signing "Total Ellipse of the Chart" (just that sentence, not the whole song) with music and send it to me within 24 hours: I'll put it in a video (iff it sounds not-terrible). matt@standupmaths.com Note: I understand not everyone has the privilege of doing stuff like this for free, so I will happily pay. Or donate a commensurate sum to charity. I will also reply to this tweet if someone has done it to avoid anyone wasting their effort. I only need one version! Maybe two.
May 27, 2020 • 8 tweets • 3 min read
We are all set-up to watch the launch and then hopefully see them fly over the UK skies 15-ish minutes later. But it seems the Florida weather needs to improve before the 21:33 BST launch time. Watching live from the garden. @Dr_Lucie Image
Nov 3, 2019 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
Thanks everyone who sent me this amazing tweet!

So, as always it’s probably a binary overflow problem and sure enough 2^63 = 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 which is close! The “63” tells us that the system was probably using a 64 digit binary number. But instead of a normal number it would have been ‘signed’: meaning one bit is reserved to indicate positive or negative and the remaining 63 bits used for data.
Aug 22, 2019 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
It’s ok everyone. This is happening. Image Ok. It has twelve pieces, which is a good start. That feels like a complete puzzle. Image
Aug 17, 2019 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
It’s been a good night. Image And… done. Image
Aug 9, 2019 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I have gone for a quiet beer after my show tonight. When I asked for a pint they explained all the pint glasses were in the wash so I would have to wait. Undeterred I said they could just put my pint in two ½ pint glasses. They agreed it was a clever idea. I felt pretty smart. I got my drink straight away and have found a table.