

Least squares fit of a surface in Python (with ridiculous application) - pingswept
http://pingswept.org/2009/06/15/least-squares-fit-of-a-surface/

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icey
It would have been much cooler if you'd included a picture of the stack of
masonite inverted so we could see the actual topology. Otherwise, pretty
awesome.

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pingswept
An excellent point. I finished the masonite cutting around midnight on Sunday,
the garage where I did the cutting was too dark for a good picture, and I
wanted to see if it was going to work.

It did look cool with all the contours showing.

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lutorm
That's more permanently (and aestethically) corrected by ripping up the floor
and re-leveling it... But I grant that would be more work.

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avigesaa
It looks like the platform rests on the edges of the masonite. I wonder if it
will leave depressions in the hardwood floors underneath? Assuming they don't
own the place, their security deposit may help pay for the proper fix.

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pingswept
Yeah, I'm a little worried about that.

For better or for worse, we do own the place. I've thought that I might add a
single flat sheet of masonite under the contours as protection, but that would
involve another trip to the store and pulling the whole thing apart again, so
maybe not.

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chime
Very clever approach. But my big concern is that the floor is not level to
begin with. If it's because the wood flooring was laid poorly, then fine.
However, if it's because the floor structure itself is bowing down due to the
weight, then I would be very concerned. Hope it's just a cosmetic deficiency
and not structural defect.

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pingswept
From what I can tell (I'm the owner of the house), the first 6 feet of the
floor were built slanted. A friend of mine with some contracting expertise has
suggested that the room was likely a porch that was later closed in; such a
slant would be typical for an exterior floor to shed rain. The flooring also
changes slightly in how it's nailed down around the 6 foot mark, suggesting
that the underlayment might change there too.

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edrtfgdr
Are we still allowed to express surprise that anyone who would choose such a
geeky solution has a girlfriend? Or have we all grown up?

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pavel_lishin
I think we're allowed to express surprised at the fact that the girlfriend
would put up with a relatively unaesthetic solution to this problem.

Although I guess in the end they'll probably cover up the bare materials with
something nice. Maybe a rug.

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pingswept
You will be gratified to know that the first suggestion that "the girlfriend"
made was to cover it with a rug.

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petercooper
This reminds me of the tale about the US spending millions of dollars to build
a pen that would work in zero gravity. After it was made, it was noted the
Russians simply used pencils!

The parallel here is to get a chair without wheels. I find all these
calculations interesting as a geek but in terms of the efficiency of the task,
"fail" :)

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pingswept
I am familiar with this "chair without wheels" technology you mention. The
slope is steep enough that the tilt is still annoying, but a chair with legs
of unequal length might have solved that.

The efficiency was, however, very close to 100%. You're just measuring the
wrong thing.

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petercooper
_we have found that this is steep enough to make a desk chair roll– kind of
irritating_

The only premise I could sense was related to the rolling.

 _The efficiency was, however, very close to 100%. You're just measuring the
wrong thing._

As you seem to have focused on how fun the exercise was, you are more than
likely right.

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saurabh
Very cool indeed. Is there a list of people like him that I can follow? Waking
up to something this nerdy would make my day.

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pingswept
I think the list you speak of is called "Hacker News."

Glad you liked it. I actually went and stood on the platform for about 30
seconds this morning, just to experience the joy.

