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If you're having trouble getting new participants and you need very many more than 140 (which I would think is not a bad number for this kind of survey anyhow -- how many are you hoping for?), then perhaps you could offer incentives for participation. However, any changes to the survey might require new approval from an ethics committee or whatnot, and perhaps some thought should go into whether offering incentives could actually skew the results. One interesting tactic I've seen before is to offer that all participants (that actually complete the survey) go into the running to win a prize (à la lottery), which might be a good idea if you can't afford incentives for each individual participant. This might also require a bit of thought as to how to award a prize if you intend to keep the survey completely anonymous, though. Best of luck! Edit: Very unlikely, yet nevertheless possible spoiler edited out...

1) Well, if you enumerate all primitive Pythagorean Triples (using, say, Euclid's method), this guarantees that each (a,b,c) are relatively co-prime. Also, since any powers of relatively co-prime values (a^k, b^j, c^i) are also relatively co-prime, it follows that powers of primitive Pythagorean Triples are also co-prime, so the method ought to guarantee this. 2) No, this means that: for any c in a Pythagorean Triple (a0,b0,c), there exists some a and b such that a^2 + b^2 = c^2n for all non-negative integers n >= 1, as found by the relationship (x + yi)^n, c=|(x + yi)^n|, where initially x = a0, y = b0, and a = |x|, b = |y|. Note that this doesn't actually show that there isn't some c which is not the 3rd value of some Pythagorean triple which satisfies the equation, so I don't know for sure whether or not it covers all solutions (see below)! 3) The above method can compute solutions, however as I said above, I don't know if it's "complete" in the sense it can generate all possible solutions where they may exist. My intuition is that since Euclid's method can generate all primitive triples, that the complex number method will also find all solutions which are powers of c. Any ideas? I've yet to check your formula, but it looks interesting! How did you get to it?

Alrighty, *takes a deep breath*, here we go... Nice pickup about A067312. From this, it's actually really straightforward to determine a method for generating the values! Take any primitive Pythagorean triple. For example, say, (8,15,17). To enumerate all values for (a,b,c) where a^2 + b^2 = c^2 where c = d^n, we can use any Pythagorean Triple as a starting point in the sequence generator for A067312, which is (x + iy)^n, d=|(x + iy)^n| (the absolute magnitude, corresponding to the hypotenuse). For the initial triple of (8,15,17), the start of the sequence is (as the triple <(x + yi), c, exponent>, where a=|x|, b=|y|): (8 + 15i), 17, 1(-161 + 240i), 289, 2 (-4888 - 495i), 4913, 3 (-31679 - 77280i), 83521, 4 (905768 - 1093425i), 1419857, 5 So, for example, we find that 905768^2 + 1093425^2 = 1419857^2 = (17^5)^2. All this takes is the method for determining powers of complex numbers, or simply repeated multiplication of a complex number with itself, n times. Bingo!

Done. Looks like really interesting research. I'd also love to see the results...

Haha, I know you're not making this up, and neither am I! Here are some solutions to a^2 + b^2 = c^8, for values of (a,b,c): 175, 600, 5 220, 585, 5 336, 527, 5 375, 500, 5 2800, 9600, 10 3520, 9360, 10 5376, 8432, 10 6000, 8000, 10 ... so I'm guessing there are infinitely many more triples like this which satisfy the equation which are simply larger variants based on such ratios, which is kind of what I was thinking earlier. Kind of like how there are an infinite number of integers (0, 1, 2, ... ∞), and reals (0, ..., 0.01, ..., 0.1, ..., 1, ..., ∞), but there are 'more' reals than integers (no integers between [0,1], but an infinite number of reals between [0,1]), just like there are 'more' solutions to c^4 than there are to c^8s -- still infinitely many. Likewise, with a^2 + b^2 = c^12, we have: 1185, 15580, 5 4375, 15000, 5 5500, 14625, 5 ...these are far fewer in between than, say, with c^8, which in turn are far fewer than for c^4, and again for c^2. Cool problem this, a bit of a head scratcher! By the way, have you seen the proof that Wiles produced for Fermat's Last Theorem? It's crazzzyyy complex... I could never really understand it. There's a cool documentary about it though!

Hmmm, me thinks you might be getting some integer overflow errors... Also, if a^2 + b^2 = c^4 has an infinite number of solutions (for different values of c), why does a^2 + b^2 = c^8 not also have an infinite number of solutions, if c in the first is simply c^2 in the second?

I think that all the 'surface level bullshit' the media pushes, along with the hoards of dodgy labour ministers (particularly in NSW, poor Kristina Keneally!) actually count for a lot more than you might think. I dare say the general public base most of their opinions on what they perceive via the media, which is a shame in a way, because being a little closer to the action here in Canberra where I'm privy to some inner workings, I also think the ALP have done a fine job, particularly Julia Gillard and her many thousands of public servant departmentees. On another note, the internal bickering also counts for quite a lot -- I hear that Rudd is a flat-out first-class c*nt to work with.

Heh, are there any radio presenters as disgraceful as Howard Sattler who might dare ask such a question? Hmmm...

I gave this a go, but got lost... do you have an analytical solution? I'd be very impressed if so!

I agree, haha, I wouldn't at all be surprised if Abbott gets ousted to make way for Turnbull before the election! It's funny to read Rudd's response to Turnbull's earlier prediction of the recent spill. He must have been under enormous pressure from the Labour party to step up. That Shorten sure is a shifty one... he's been a very naughty boy! I wonder what his aspirations are...

...or your pecs! If you have a fat cat... http://www.telly.com/6ZYVI?fromtwitvid=1

I remember being stuck inside the house with mum and dad with all the windows and blinds closed through the day, which i remember thinking was/felt strange. We were just listening to the radio and trying to keep cool because it was really hot, and i remember looking outside and the porch was all grey with gumleaves on it. It was Ash Wednesday, and our house and yard was covered in ash which was blown in from fires a fair way away, including these huge gum leaves (like a foot long) which were all charred. I think i remember this stuff because mum and dad were upset and i didn't understand what was happening. I was about 2-1/2.

....

AARRRGHHHH

(Tai) Lung

...this is pretty sad... isn't this the third SAB'er to have passed away in very recent times?

Yeah, that's what I got from the article too. I think that a classification model which maps between responses and drugs could be interesting to look into deeper, such as if there are any common chemical structures which may elicit similar effects. An understanding of this could lead to new drug discoveries, too... think PiHKAL/TiHKAL, the compounds in which were mostly structurally similar I think the problem with the study is that those reports on Erowid are highly subjective, and you can't always put down what you feel into words, let alone in a consistent enough way to extract correlations with AI tools like machine learning... but it's a nice idea!

(NSFW thread behind the link... :-O)

I've really struggled with this too, I travel quite a bit and sometimes my poor plants are left to fend for themselves for a couple of weeks... I've tried these plastic spikes that screw onto water bottles and release water over time: Unfortunately, I couldn't set them all properly, so they either let all the water go too quickly (empty bottles + dry soil when I got back), or didn't let enough water out (so were still full when I got back). I've since tried water-retaining crystals to dig into the soil, which has worked a little better, like these Hortico ones from Bunnings: But these are probably only good for a few days. I think your very best bet (besides getting help from someone to visit and water the plants for you!) is to set up a sprinkler or irrigation hose on a timer, which you could DIY if you're hardcore... I'd love to see other suggestions too! I really like the cloth idea, I'll definitely give it a go - I live in an apartment, so I can't set up an irrigation system on the balcony!

Actually yes, you're right, heavy ethanol abuse can brain your damage permanently.... This is what I think too - it's probably too expensive to test for all the different types out there, especially on a case-by-case/per-person basis. Although, if you're talking a big, rich organisation (like a mining company) which relies on people working with heavy machinery or working in dangerous workplaces, I could well be wrong...

Most things seem to diminish to levels which are undetectable from the bloodstream within days, however some stuff can stay in your fat cells (like THC) or hair follicles for weeks, if not months. Check this site out (dunno how accurate it is, though): http://www.passyourdrugtest.com/timetable.htm Besides those durations in which a drug can be detected in your body, I've read that some can actually change body chemistry forever (like some designer drugs), although I think this isn't true of weed or LSD, despite common conception... does anyone know if this is true?

Hope Sandoval

Beautiful, atmospheric... Outernational Meltdown - Hungry on Arrival (Spring Heel Jack Remix), often incorrectly thought to be Squarepusher - Cooper's World from the album Lost In Space Drum 'n' Bass. Easily one of my all time favourites.

Ween... BOOGNISH-ALICIOUS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DU91POX33aE