What I saw on the web on 2026.π

[reblogarythm]

1. Calculating pi from coin flips (without randomness)
   by Matt Parker
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kahGSss6SsU
   following up James Propp's paper posted yesterday
   via rss
   
   
2. Feeling Grumpy about Pi Day
   by Mike Merrifield speaking to Brady Haran
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV6e41-uxc
   oh look, someone is being worng on the internet. little endian dates? feh.
   via rss
   
   
3. "Titled"
   by Vi Hart
   https://vimeo.com/1173465844
   several excellent points here from Vi.
   via rss
   
   
4. The arXiv is separating from Cornell University, and is hiring a CEO, who will be paid roughly $300,000/year:
   by John Carlos Baez
   https://mathstodon.xyz/@johncarlosbaez/116223948891539024
   this doesn't sound like good news?
   via discord
   
   
5. Pope Leo on Mathematics Day: Moral dimension must be upheld
   by Deborah Castellano Lubov
   https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-03/pope-leo-sends-mathematics-day-message.html
   apparently March 14th is "the International Day of Mathematics"? huh.
   via discord
   
   
6. Calculating Pi with Skittles (and census data!?)
   by Tony Padilla speaking with Brady Haran
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O6ej9OSW2w
   now wondering about what would happen if you attempted to interpret the census π calculations as an implicit curvature...?
   via rss
   
   
7. The Theology of the Warrior Cats
   by Hank Green
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTl_f0W1a68
   i mean, we couldn't have all of today's links be mathematical in nature, could we? maybe we could?
   via rss
   
   
8. A language curiosity
   by TYWKIWDBI, reblogging redditors
   https://tywkiwdbi.blogspot.com/2026/03/a-language-curiosity.html
   indeed curious!
   via rss
   
   
9. I traced $2 billion in nonprofit grants and 45 states of lobbying records to figure out who's behind the age verification bills. The answer involves a company that profits from your data writing laws that collect more of it.
   by Ok_Lingonberry3296
   https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1rshc1f/i_traced_2_billion_in_nonprofit_grants_and_45/?share_id=yEeUuZVOUgHm2Me-4mjNB
   that's disconcerting without being surprising
   via discord
   
   
10. Seattle Universal Math Museum
    by Seattle Universal Math Museum
    https://seattlemathmuseum.org/
    if at some point in the future i'm in the area again, something assuredly to check out
    via discord
    

Comments

[landofnowhere]

Re: #4 -- as someone familiar with the US academic nonprofit scene, this particular trend doesn't necessarily sound bad in and of itself, although it is indicative of larger trends with the current administration making both governments and universities less reliable sources of funding (and Cornell in particular is being persecuted by the administration). arXiv as I understand it currently has some issues; I understand it's a bit miserable of a job to be a volunteer moderator, and recently the arXiv made the controversial decision to require that all papers have an official English-language version to reduce the strain on moderation, which has understandably ticked off a lot of francophone and hispanophone mathematicians. Whether the restructuring and the Simons Foundation giving it some money right now will actually solve those problems is of course extremely unclear.

There's currently a trend, which I don't fully understand, for nonprofits to rebrand their Executive Directors as CEOs without changing the job in any meaningful way, but 300K doesn't sound unreasonable to me for such a position, especially given that it's based in NYC. I wish my country were more socialist and put more government money into funding basic scientific infrastructure, and I vote accordingly, but sigh. We'll see how this goes.

[reblogarythm]

we will indeed. fingers crossed.