Math, games, and software projects by Stephen Abrams.https://convergentblue.com/https://convergentblue.com/blog/a-geometric-one-liner/https://convergentblue.com/blog/a-geometric-one-liner/Which boxes have a volume equal to their surface area? One line of Python finds them all, and a week of brute force can't find any more.Sat, 14 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/siege/https://convergentblue.com/blog/siege/Using a genetic algorithm to pick a troop allocation for FiveThirtyEight's Riddler castle-war puzzle.Tue, 30 May 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/72-hours-lifetime/https://convergentblue.com/blog/72-hours-lifetime/Twenty-five years of wanting to make a video game, finally done in one Ludum Dare weekend.Fri, 04 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/jocks-vs-nerds/https://convergentblue.com/blog/jocks-vs-nerds/In a round-robin league, how many wins does it take to guarantee a playoff spot, and how few can still sneak you in?Wed, 17 Jun 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/entropy-the-opposite-of-chaos/https://convergentblue.com/blog/entropy-the-opposite-of-chaos/Which image below looks more disorderly? Which seems more chaotic? Perhaps these seems like trick questions - they're not. They may seem like leading…Sun, 19 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/when-will-this-game-end/https://convergentblue.com/blog/when-will-this-game-end/As it turns out, the NCAA publishes every overtime game including the number of overtimes. We'll come back to this later, but I decided to ask a more…Sat, 24 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/derangement-can-solve-your-problems/https://convergentblue.com/blog/derangement-can-solve-your-problems/Here is a very fun and surprising result which is not really new, but if you haven't seen it, you really should. The problem looks like this: I had a…Mon, 22 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/rage-faces-and-math/https://convergentblue.com/blog/rage-faces-and-math/A co-worker of mine recently emailed me a link to a rage face comic with the following: 'Is this always true??? I mean the math part... Stephen???' Knowing…Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/squaring-a-triangle/https://convergentblue.com/blog/squaring-a-triangle/Back in 1998, I overheard my high school math teacher musing to another teacher about the following problem: Given a line segment of unit length, select any…Fri, 27 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/learning-to-play-mancala/https://convergentblue.com/blog/learning-to-play-mancala/Because I love genetic algorithms and video games, I always wanted to create some artificial intelligence that learns to play a game. My first attempt is…Thu, 19 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/monte-carlo-excel-dice-roller/https://convergentblue.com/blog/monte-carlo-excel-dice-roller/Probability distributions have a way of yielding unexpected and counter-intuitive results, so I thought it might be fun and instructive to build a…Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/how-long-will-it-take-to-get-to-free-parking/https://convergentblue.com/blog/how-long-will-it-take-to-get-to-free-parking/According to the official rules of Monopoly, landing on the Free Parking space results in no action, however, many house rules include some sort of…Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMThttps://convergentblue.com/blog/introduction-games-are-fun/https://convergentblue.com/blog/introduction-games-are-fun/This blog will house projects and expositions about the intersection of math, computer science, and video games. For now, enjoy a short AMV created by yours…Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT