Day: June 12, 2008

Electoral Math and Computer Science Rocks!

I wish I taught a computer science course so I could introduce this problem.

How many unique ways are there to acquire at least 270 electoral votes without any excess?

For example, one combination would be to win California, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. That would be equal to 272 electoral votes (not coincidentally, these are the John Kerry states plus Ohio).

Note that there are no excess electoral votes in this combination: if you remove one of the states with three electoral votes, the number falls to 269, which is below the 270-EV cut-off. So winning all of these states plus North Dakota would not qualify, since the candidate has superfluous electoral votes. On the other hand, replacing Vermont with North Dakota would make for a unique combination.

Not only is an awesome math/computer science problem, but I have to say that I totally love the response that it generated in the comments. (Plus, Isabel Lugo’s solution is just so damn sleek.) Minus a minor spat in the comments, this is totally one heck of a sick blog post.

Best. Comic. Ever. (For real this time.)

So previously I touted this as being the best comic ever. (Click link to see.) However xkcd has outdone itself with this one.

Although the funding structures have altered this in recent decades (where anybody knows where once physics was on top after WWII, now biology is on top), I still admit this overarching bias in my thinking. Math reigns supreme, lording over all other sciences, which are mere derivative structures, polluted more and more as you descend down each rung on the ladder of knowledge. Ka-chow!