Andrew's Own Messageboard

So this is long overdue, but I finally have my own messageboard for you all to send me messages! If you have any comments, questions, jokes, recipes, stories, math problems, or anything else, then just post them here.

Easy Math Editor

This discussion board is a place to discuss our Daily Challenges and the math and science related to those challenges. Explanations are more than just a solution — they should explain the steps and thinking strategies that you used to obtain the solution. Comments should further the discussion of math and science.

When posting on Brilliant:

Use the emojis to react to an explanation, whether you're congratulating a job well done , or just really confused .
Ask specific questions about the challenge or the steps in somebody's explanation. Well-posed questions can add a lot to the discussion, but posting "I don't understand!" doesn't help anyone.
Try to contribute something new to the discussion, whether it is an extension, generalization or other idea related to the challenge.
Stay on topic — we're all here to learn more about math and science, not to hear about your favorite get-rich-quick scheme or current world events.

Markdown	Appears as
`italics` or `_italics_`	italics
`bold` or `__bold__`	bold
- bulleted - list	bulleted list
1. numbered 2. list	numbered list
Note: you must add a full line of space before and after lists for them to show up correctly
paragraph 1 paragraph 2	paragraph 1 paragraph 2
`[example link](https://brilliant.org)`	example link
`> This is a quote`	This is a quote
# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"	# I indented these lines # 4 spaces, and now they show # up as a code block. print "hello world"

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `$` ... `$` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$

Comments

No shave from November :P

Aditya Kumar - 5 years, 5 months ago

I've a question: Is this pic clicked randomly or it's a pose you did for the sake of pic? :P

Sandeep Bhardwaj - 5 years, 5 months ago

I think someone took a photo of me taking a photo. Now, that makes me wonder if someone took a photo of the person taking a photo of the person taking my photo? (And if someone did take a photo of that, I wonder if someone took a photo of them?)

Reminds me of this https://i.imgur.com/sUEF1hI.jpg

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 5 months ago

Something of this sort?

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 5 months ago

@Nihar Mahajan – Exactly!

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 5 months ago

Hmm . . . confusing lol!

Sravanth C. - 5 years, 5 months ago

What is that?

Department 8 - 5 years, 5 months ago

Looking cool with the beard :) !

Anish Harsha - 5 years, 5 months ago

Do you like carrots?

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 5 months ago

I feel like I'm missing out on the inside joke (I've seen this question before all around Brilliant). But yes, I love carrots.

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 5 months ago

It is a part of the culture and tradition we have on Brilliant. It was originally propagated by Agnishom.

He suggests that you also ask this sometimes @Andrew

Agnishom Chattopadhyay - 5 years, 5 months ago

@Agnishom Chattopadhyay – Well, fair enough Agnishom. I have a question for you....

Do you like carrots?

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 5 months ago

@Andrew Ellinor – Sure I do. How kind of you to ask!

Agnishom Chattopadhyay - 5 years, 5 months ago

@Agnishom Chattopadhyay

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 5 months ago

In which college do you teach?

Aditya Kumar - 5 years, 4 months ago

You are looking sooo cute! And BTW, which tab are you holding in your hand?

Sravanth C. - 5 years, 5 months ago

I think she's holding a selfie stick.

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 5 months ago

I knew I'd seen this before somewhere

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 4 months ago

Any relevance ( I couldn't get you ) ?

Venkata Karthik Bandaru - 5 years, 4 months ago

Well, today everybody has to have carry with them and hold up smartphones? And the rapturous looks that go with that?

Here's an early picture of an happy guy taking a selfie?

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 4 months ago

Peace.

Nihar Mahajan - 5 years, 4 months ago

Peace!

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 4 months ago

In my opinion, the good problems are going away on brilliant, and the community is dying. What do you think?

Clive Chen - 5 years, 2 months ago

What makes you say that? You just haven't seen any difficult problems in a long while?

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 2 months ago

It's much harder to find good problems that take a long time to think about and require clever and simple thinking.

Clive Chen - 5 years, 2 months ago

@Clive Chen – Hmm, I wonder if you're being challenged enough. Have been taking on some level 4 problems?

You might want to consider some places to become re-engaged with the community. I recommend trying some the quizzes in Combinatorics and Number Theory. There are some level 4 problems by the community that you might find to be really difficult.

Another way you can get involved with the community is by joining the Brilliant Lounge. I'd love to see you there!

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 2 months ago

@Andrew Ellinor – There are some of us that prefer working on a "few" really hard problems instead of trying to hurry through easier problems. Brilliant offers listing of problems at levels 1-2 and levels 3-5. I think what Brilliant needs is a listing of problems at levels 5-6. Then we'll see a slower moving list of super-hard problems for those among us that prefer chewing on a hard bone for some time.

The trouble with the general community feed is that problems, once posted, just whiz right down to the bottom, so that by the time we come back ready to tackle a problem we noticed, we have to chase it down to the bottom and beyond.

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 2 months ago

@Michael Mendrin – Thanks for elucidating that concern, Michael. I never really saw it from that perspective (though I did push for having the line drawn between 1-3 and 4-5). This is in contrast to the previous community feed where you could filter explicitly for level 5, correct?

I passed your concern along to our product team and I've been told that separation of problems into easy/medium/hard buckets is coming (I'm unsure when though). The added bucket will hopefully slow that aforementioned whizzing effect. Fingers crossed.

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 2 months ago

@Andrew Ellinor – Thanks, Andrew. This is simply an application of "Theory of Filters" which I've jocosely made reference to several times with Calvin Lin---namely, "why can't the customer have everything, we just give them the knobs to find what they want?" I don't see a reason why Brilliant.org can't still remain a forum for the super-hards crowd, it doesn't need to sacrifice the larger customer base for that.

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 2 months ago

@Michael Mendrin – Thank you for the feedback, Michael. I'll continue to fight for the superuser because that's what I used to be before I joined the team (now my skills have gotten a little rusty and I'm uncovering smarter and smarter people). Hopefully I can do a bit more lobbying for the super-hard crowd in the future. ;)

A recommendation: you could possibly click "repost" in the menu for a problem that you like so that it will appear on your own profile so that you can revisit it. Not sure if that's your ideal solution though.

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 2 months ago

@Andrew Ellinor – Actually, I repost the most interesting problems that I've worked on just so that I can find them again easily in my own profile. But this works only if my own profile is not so cluttered. Eh, life always has to be complicated, ja?

Michael Mendrin - 5 years, 2 months ago

You look better with a shave.

Akshay Yadav - 5 years, 5 months ago

Haha, I'll keep that and mind and shave just for you.

Andrew Ellinor - 5 years, 5 months ago

I think you should keep the beard! Or just trim it. Or shave, it's really up to you.

Jake Lai - 5 years, 5 months ago

You look like a Fields Medalist without a shave :P

Swapnil Das - 5 years, 4 months ago

Hello Andrew. I am Kuldeep. I am a member of Brilliant and Brilliant-lounge@slack as well. I hope you remember me. I have been inactive from slack for a long time and that is why they have deleted my account probably. Can you help, by asking anyone, may be Calvin Lin sir, to send me an invitation to slack, so that I can join slack again?

Kuldeep Guha Mazumder - 4 years, 2 months ago

So what are the levels I can attend in Brilliant in all subjects, considering that I am a 10th grader in ICSE syllabus?

Akhash Raja Raam - 5 years, 3 months ago

I think andrew is cool both with and without the beard.

Ashish Menon - 5 years, 3 months ago

Math	Appears as
Remember to wrap math in `\(` ... `\)` or `\[` ... `\]` to ensure proper formatting.
`2 \times 3`	$2 \times 3$
`2^{34}`	$2^{34}$
`a_{i-1}`	$a_{i-1}$
`\frac{2}{3}`	$\frac{2}{3}$
`\sqrt{2}`	$\sqrt{2}$
`\sum_{i=1}^3`	$\sum_{i=1}^3$
`\sin \theta`	$\sin \theta$
`\boxed{123}`	$\boxed{123}$