Message #3524

From: Roice Nelson <roice3@gmail.com>
Subject: Mathologer MagicTile Videos Up!
Date: Sat, 08 Oct 2016 09:14:48 -0500

Hey all,

Burkard Polster, aka Mathologer, has been working on MagicTile videos and
posted them today! They are in a similar style to the MC4D videos he did,
with one for a general audience and a second to dig in more.

The primary video:
https://youtu.be/DvZnh7-nslo

Supporting video:
https://youtu.be/iOla7WPfCvA

He includes a challenge to solve one of the Klein Bottle puzzles, with a
special hall-of-fame for solvers. A few of you have solved this puzzle
already, but for this challenge we are starting anew and providing just 100
slots.

Burkard has been thinking about this video for some time and he has made
many useful suggestions and requests the past few months. MagicTile is the
better for it. The biggest improvement is that there is now a surface view
for all spherical and euclidean puzzles, including the non-orientable ones
like the Klein bottle and Boy’s surface. F6 toggles between the
traditional plane view and the surface view. All surfaces are implemented
as minimal surfaces in S^3, so you can use the 4D controls to move them
around in wacky ways. There are a number of other tweaks and small
improvements, as well as a smattering of new puzzles.

Like the MC4D video, this is a great new resource. My wife saw it and her
response was… "Wow, this is so helpful in understanding what your program
is actually about!" :D

Check out the video, grab the latest MagicTile, and jump on the Mathologer
challenge! Even I am going to go for it.

Cheers,
Roice