Online 20 Questions Genie

praise of diversity

The box shown in the figure four compartments of equal size and a perimeter of 112 cm. What is its area in cm2?

That's the problem - including the book excerpt practices of open problem , Gilbert and Michel Arsac Mantis (CRDP Lyon, 2007) - which has been recently raised a family, for my beloved wife. Three of us to look and we left all three in different directions. One tried to put all this into an equation, the other issued heroic assumptions. Personally, I found it quite easy and I present here the fast that I found.

in itself, regardless of the solution to this problem. What is interesting is to see that - facing the same problem - each person took a different path (and there are others yet). None of these roads was fundamentally wrong. Some are no doubt easier than others but they all led to the solution.

This applies almost always when this problem is presented to an audience, mathematician or not. Beyond this mathematical problem, one might think that is exactly the same face to any other "problem" ... family problems, social problems, professional problems, health problems, problems of life!

It is rewarding to first realize that facing such a problem, there are several ways to solve it. According to our personality, we will choose one or the other, but that does not mean we have the "right" way. There are others that also result in resolving the situation. Some are more complex than others, but the level of complexity does not it depend on the degree of perception of the person placing the solution in practice? In other words, a track I can seem very complex but in fact be very simple for anyone who develops it.

These different tracks, these different approaches to the solution often create misunderstandings harmful if not perspective. Take for example any ethical or moral issue. This is not because the other has an approach angle different from mine that it necessarily wrong. If already facing a simple mathematical problem, there are different possible starting points, what should we think of moral or ethical problems that are both complex and both open in the sense that no one "answer" as possible?

When I was asked this mathematical problem, I was very happy to have found a quick and easy simple solution. Seeing my family look, not without difficulty, some interesting solutions in itself, I was really challenged: have not we too often tend to think that the answers to complex questions are simple when we see from our point of view, when in reality they vary depending on the personality of each of us?

The truth is rarely universal. It is built around what each perceives reality. Far from being a limit to human intelligence, this variety of approaches is what makes all the wealth.

O Make Minnie Mouse Ears

Le Figaro: The last day of his trial, Khodorkovsky supported Putin

The former CEO of Yukos oil giant faces a new sentence to fourteen years of settlement.

the last day of his second trial, Mikhail Khodorkovsky has engaged in a fierce critic of the Russian regime. Already sentenced to eight years in penal colony for tax evasion, the former CEO of Yukos oil giant faces a new sentence, more severe, and presents itself as a political prisoner.

Behind the bulletproof glass of the box, the sobriety of the accused, black shirt and jacket, thin rimless glasses, matched only by the virulence of his remarks. Cursed rival Vladimir Putin, he bluntly blames his arrest and imprisonment in the fall of 2003: "I was informed that President Putin had decided to make me eat the gruel for eight years."

Seven years of Siberian colony pounds of oatmeal later, the former oil magnate refused to reconsider the merits of this second case. "Nobody seriously expects that I plead guilty," he exclaims, sweeping huge burdens that weigh against him and his former associate, Platon Lebedev, accused of embezzling 200 million tons of oil between 1996 and 2003, virtually all of Yukos' oil production over this period. The prosecution requested fourteen years of settlement.

Political Testament

Pending the trial, which will be released December 15, Khodorkovsky prefers "to speak of hope" and make his final plea a political testament. Because despite "the shame for this State who lies, torture, hostage taking," he maintains "the hope that Russia becomes a state of liberty and law (...), a state where human rights do not depend Besides the mood of the Tsar, good or bad. "

crammed into the small courtroom, his mother and some former employees of Yukos cry in silence. He looks at length, before challenging the judge: "I do not want to die in prison. But my beliefs are worth risking my life. In this court is played not only my destiny but that of every citizen of this country. "The applause burst forth. "Svoboda", "" Freedom! ".

At the time of the first trial, the majority of Russians saw Khodorkovsky as a greedy tycoon, enriched on the smoking ruins of the USSR.

But for twenty months that drags this second trial, he seems to have earned his stripes as a political prisoner. According to the latest survey by the independent Levada, 42% say that the trial be held "in the corridors of power."

Present at the hearing, Mikhail Kasyanov, prime minister during Putin's first presidential term, calls on top of the executive: "This man did nothing. We must free him. Unfortunately this is not Dmitry Medvedev, but Putin will decide. "

By Madeleine Leroyer

How Much Does It Cost To Treat Ringworm In Dogs?

End Point in the Case Alexanian

Today Russian justice finally closes the file Alexanian. It should not be seen as a gesture of humanity. At the expiration of the limitation period, neither the judge nor the prosecutor can not prevent the closing of the record. Only the defendant himself has the right, if he wants to get a dismissal and compensation.
This is not the choice made by Alexanian. He can not afford to waste time and energy to fight against the pseudo-Russian justice. The most important thing for him now is to recover all of his civic rights, including the possibility to leave Russian territory. For over a year since he is requesting permission to travel abroad for treatment.
Relatives and supporters of today Alexanian grow a sigh of relief. But a great feeling of bitterness remains. Those who know
Vasily know that if his health would permit, he would fight to the end to prove his innocence. And then somehow, those who remained in prison and tortured for two years received at least a draw. He failed to force him to testify against his former employers of Yukos, but their strategy has worked in part. Bitterness
also because courageous testimony before the Supreme Court Alexanian Russian did not cause the reactions that we were entitled to expect. The remand is always synonymous with blackmail and torture, since there were several deaths in the same prison and in the circumstances appalling ...

And last but not least - why Alexanian he spent two years in detention?

- He was charged with offenses that did not exist in the Penal Code at the time he supposedly committed. Upon his arrest, the indictment referred to in Article 174.1, which only appeared in the penal code in 2002, while the episodes mentioned dated from 1998-1999. The indictment was therefore invalid at the time. It was surreptitiously fixed some months later.

- The judges who decided his detention relied in particular on an electronic document that had supposedly been found in the computer's legal department at Yukos, which described the various means by which employees of Yukos could circumvent the law. This document was therefore Alexanian a dangerous character, may hinder the smooth running of the investigation if left at liberty. Now we learned a few weeks ago that the document was not developed within the company, Yukos, but ... by Ribyne, CEO of East Petroleum, one of the fiercest opponents of Khodorkovsky and part-civil trial.
This element of the case has been little reported by the media, but use by the public prosecutor of such gross forgery is scandalous to say the least!

So if we sum up: Alexanian was arrested on the basis of an indictment invalid, he was kept in custody two years because of a crude forgery. During these two years he has been subjected to blackmail and abuse, his health has deteriorated to put his life at risk ... Therefore difficult to truly rejoice today, even if the persecution of Alexanian by Russian authorities is nearing completion.

They will also tormented to the end: to make their decision, judges are required to attend in person qu'Alexanian in court, even though the doctors forbid him from appearing in public because of his severe immune deficiency. The young lawyer became extremely thin, the lower face covered by a surgical mask. He had difficulty speaking clearly and often paused to cough ... The Observer