coming out of hiding...

Hi all,
I've grown weary of hiding out behind the old alias (which is a vague reference to my educational background) and so, have asked Sean to change my user name from "GaussianNoise" to "BradS". The new name is, of course, a shortened version of my real name: Brad SelbBBBrRRRRedeEEEE (remove the repeated uppercase letters).

Anyway, I still think this is THE best photo site on the entire net and I really enjoy conversing with everybody in this community.

Thank you Sean!

I am glad it is not just someone using your photo as their avatar. Welcome to the world of folks who use their real names on the net!

Welcome! I've never done handles myself.

What is GaussianNoise?

I asked this question to you last year but you never answered. So what does it mean anyway??
Best, Peter

I did the same thing, and also changed my avatar from a cartoon character. (A good one, but others were using the same one!)

Good to see you, Brad.

David

peters said:

I asked this question to you last year but you never answered. So what does it mean anyway??
Best, Peter

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Hmmm, sorry. I must have missed your original query. My other interest is in Applied Statistics. I am a PhD dropout from that field of study and until a few years ago, I earned a living doing statistics and a little programming. Since the dot-com bubble burst, I've been doing a lot of programming and only a little statistics.

Anyway, there was a famous mathematician named Gauss and there is today a very useful and important probability distribution function named after him - the Gaussian distribution (aka the normal distribution). This is usually what is meant when people talk about "the bell curve". The term gaussian noise usually refers to noise that can be described by the gaussian distribution function but noise is also a term used quite often by engineering statisticians. It is this second meaning of noise that I had in mind...the idea being that this observation is off in the weeds, normal but noise, an outlier but still, normal. It's a little play on words I guess. Gaussian = normal...gaussian noise is "normal noise" So, normal and noise at the same time. Normal but, also not normal. On the fringe. It describes how I feel about my place in the world...my plight in life if you will. Normal but, not really like everybody else. I blend in but, I really don't really fit. Fortunately, most people don't notice that I don't really fit in. It is pretty obscure, I know. Does that help?


If that is too deep, just listen to Tom Petty, "Damn The Torpedoes". At the beginning of one song you hear the lady in the background say "It's just the normal noises in here"....and remember, to a statisitcian, gaussian is normal.

BradS said:

Normal but, also not normal. On the fringe. It describes how I feel about my place in the world...my plight in life if you will. Normal but, not really like everybody else. I blend in but, I really don't really fit. Fortunately, most people don't notice that I don't really fit in.

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Hi Brad,

Are you adopted? Could you be a long lost brother I don't know anything about? Don't you think our vantage point is perfect for photography?

Murray

MurrayMinchin said:

Hi Brad,

Are you adopted? Could you be a long lost brother I don't know anything about? Don't you think our vantage point is perfect for photography?

Murray

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We might all be related. Photography is a poetic medium for those of us who don't feel as if we fit in -- as in standing on the street looking in through a window.

That's funny right there. My wife calls it the "911 Factor." As in: "Honey, you'd better knock it off, I think the neighbors are about to call 911." I feel your pain. Or was that exuberance?

Bruce

PS - I thought "Gaussian" had something to do with magnetics?

There's also the photographic link to C.F. Gauss through the lens designed by others, but named in his honor. The single Gauss is a triplet, but modern uses are in double-Gauss lenses have six elements. If I recall my limited optics reading correctly, it is the common form found in many modern "normal" angle lenses with variations like the Planar, Summicron, etc. Putting two single Gauss lenses back-to-back is an excellent way to correct common abberations.

Lee

This is amazing! My real name is "Gaussian Noise" I just use "Tom Duffy" as a handle.

When I first found APUG, I immediately spotted it as an internet scam operation. I mean, Who does _analog _ photography these days? And New Zealand and Nigeria both start with the letter 'N'. So how stupid would I have to be to sign in with my actual identity?
I cleverly signed in with the handle "Flotsam" instead of my real name... Ansel Weston.

MurrayMinchin said:

Hi Brad,

Are you adopted? Could you be a long lost brother I don't know anything about? Don't you think our vantage point is perfect for photography?

Murray

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and...

mrcallow said:

We might all be related. Photography is a poetic medium for those of us who don't feel as if we fit in -- as in standing on the street looking in through a window.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I do think this perspective is highly correlated with photography...but, I wonder about the old "nature vs. nurture" question. That is, did photography make me this way, or, do I do photography because I feel this way...

BradS said:

Hmmm, sorry. I must have missed your original query. My other interest is in Applied Statistics. I am a PhD dropout from that field of study and until a few years ago, I earned a living doing statistics and a little programming. Since the dot-com bubble burst, I've been doing a lot of programming and only a little statistics.

Anyway, there was a famous mathematician named Gauss and there is today a very useful and important probability distribution function named after him - the Gaussian distribution (aka the normal distribution).

Click to expand...

One of the drawbacks of the Euro is that Germany no longer has the DM bills with Gauss on them. I still have on tacked to my refridgerator with a magnet. The bill even has a gaussian distribution on it!

Matt

MattCarey said:

One of the drawbacks of the Euro is that Germany no longer has the DM bills with Gauss on them. I still have on tacked to my refridgerator with a magnet. The bill even has a gaussian distribution on it!

Matt

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That's EXCELLENT!