I'm a visiting lecturer at AIMS; My home is in Cambridge

2006: Probability and Statistics Recommended background reading: S. E. Hodge, M. L. Seed Statistics and probability (QA273.H655X). There are copies in the library and in the common room. Measuring π by coin-tossing (includes Graph-plotting example) What a theory of 'Measuring π' should look like Sketching practice sheet 'S' (especially important exercises: S1, S2, S3, S9, S11, S12, S18, S20, S21.) Probability and inference practice sheet I ('A') Probability and inference optional ideas ('C') - includes random walks and waiting times Central limit theorem, convolution (python code) | Read more about Central limit theorem and large deviation theory (postscript) | (pdf) gnuplot Introduction Gapminder The birthday problem - see my book → Probability and inference sheet D (pdf) Fountain codes see also the book, Ch 50 Survey - see the survey questions and responses Dasher | Malagasy test instructions Python programming task: using doctest

Communication skills Latex Example document (1 page, postscript) (pdf) [How High Can Animals Jump?] (tex source file) Latex Bibliography demonstration (postscript) (pdf) (tex source file) (An example bib file) To save you the trouble of typing in the BibTeX entries into your bib file, Wikipedia has links to Bibliography databases, including Amatex (for BOOKS) and CiteULike (for academic articles). | BibTeX database for computer science |

Further materials My Python links | My Python examples | Solution to the weighing problem (find the odd ball from N) AIMS teaching ideas (postscript) | (pdf) | Probability and inference practice sheet II My book: Information Theory, Inference, and Learning Algorithms AIMS Students wishing to view the book directly without using a web-browser can use either of the following methods: xpdf ~mackay/public_html/itprnn/book.pdf  gv ~mackay/public_html/itprnn/book.ps.gz

In 2005 I taught two courses at AIMS: Problem solving in Physics and Information Theory.

2005: Information Theory

1. Preparation for the course
2. Monday: we discussed channels, and what we mean by `reliable' communication; and we discussed the repetition code R3
3. Python GUI programming assignment -- includes a useful GUI for playing with Alan's switches puzzle, and David's switches puzzle.
4. Bayesian inference preparation
5. How can decoding, which we described using the 'Venn diagram' picture, relate to the Parity-check matrix view of the code?; and some challenges associated with the light-bulb question.
6. compression assignment 2005
7. Bent Coin Lottery simulator
8. Central Limit Theorem: Binomial(N,f) General distribution
9. BUGS (Markov-chain Monte Carlo software for statistical inference)
10. Quines

2005: Physical problem solving

1. Circular motion, and a sunset problem
2. Dimensions
3. Computing project: Planet
4. Problem Sheet 1 (postscript) | (pdf) |
5. Estimation: How much energy was used to transport all of the AIMS students to AIMS?
   How much energy could be generated per day if we put a big wind turbine on the roof of AIMS?
6. Motion of a metal ball falling on Alfred's head
7. Motion of a ball bouncing on the floor
8. (Monday) Conservation of momentum and angular momentum. Forces on falling paper cone.
9. New assignment: work out equations for an elastic collision
10. Estimation of useful work done by an AIMS student; of heat produced; and of power consumed in the form of food.
11. Project: use the collide function to simulate a one-dimensional collection of particles colliding with each other.
12. Sketching problems (postscript) | (pdf) |
13. Probability problems (postscript) | (pdf) |
14. Estimation (postscript) | (pdf) |
15. AIMS teaching ideas (postscript) | (pdf) |
16. Probability problems II (postscript) | (pdf) |

Here are my teaching resources from 2004.

Other resources for students:

Course materials Message 1 Probability and inference practice exercises (postscript) | (pdf) Waiting times computing assignment Order of magnitude solar energy / world energy comparison Measuring atoms with household objects Statistical physics: deriving the idea of temperature (postscript) compression assignment 2004 compression SOLUTIONS Probability and inference practice exercises week 3 (postscript) | (pdf) Dasher Fountain codes Bayesian inference | Change Blindness Monte Carlo methods Optional Activities Dec 2004 - Jan 2005   Project ideas

Programs (Advice about octave and gnuplot) octave/ centrallimit/ show1.m lottery/ lottery.m lottery2.m lottery3.m epidemiology/ epi1.m epi2.m derivative.m endemic1.m endemic2.m endemicderiv.m vectorfield.m physics/ enumerate.m configurations.m, recurse.m total.m string commands/example.m c/ compress/ solutions C tips About ups C tutorial gnuplot/ repetition/ gnu tex/ Makefile bibtex citedemo.tex | ps | pdf AIMStutorials/ latex/bibtex writing Red-ink me! (postscript) (pdf) metapost/ Tutorial magicpoint (demo) instructions (files) python Further software resources are in the Book's website

This is my homepage for 2004-5 (My 2003 homepage has more links and teaching materials)

AIMS: internal/computing / Debian and apt

Blooming Dale English-Medium Preschool

Muizenberg information

Map of Kalk Bay Peak (from http://www.themaps.co.za/silvermine.asp) | Map of Steenberg ridge | Walking routes | Boomslang Cave | map | Satellite image of mountains from Google

House of Juice: 10 Military Road (up Main Road, turn right, Steenberg station turning). 701 3331.
Habaneros (21) / 0 / 788 6967

Links to other websites

Archive of internet

Favourite bookmarks

Work

Citeseer | JSTOR | Mimas

Go

Useful

ispell

Directory enquiries | International

Amazon.co.uk:

Barnes and Noble

FACTS: Webster | OED | Heal thyself | Wikipedia | Hyperdict | Mathworld | Combinatorial |

TALK: | Babelfish | freetranslation |

NEWS: Google news | Guardian Unlimited | BBC News

PROGRAM: perl | Nice perl manual online

Sysadmin: linux

How to configure firefox: Go to the pseudo-URL "about:config". Enter "middle" into the search filter at the top of the page. Change the setting called middlemouse.contentLoadURL to true (Toggle it) . (There is also middlemouse.paste which should also be true - that does normal Unix paste if you middle-click in a text field). THEN Quit firefox and restart it?!?!
To fix window-focus: system - preferences - windows

Fun

Dilbert

IMDb title search | Ebert reviews | movies onlines |

Mornington Crescent

Heavens Above - What's up in the sky? | Space station spotting

Deja News:   in the completestandardadultjobs archive