podcasts/wbu37.mp3

In the October episode of Wrong, But Useful, @icecolbeveridge and @reflectivemaths have their habitual chat.

• Dave insults mechanics, then gets stroppy about Colin insulting stats
• The number of the podcast is 16, 40 and 64, because one number isn’t enough for Dave
• Dave visits a fete and gets ripped off by a tombola
• Mathsjam is coming up! Get your tickets soon and prevent Dave from going.
• Colin plugs his forthcoming book, as per
• Colin also plugs @colinthemathmo’s appearance on The One Show, juggling
• Dave buys loads of maths books and a couple of snooker ones; Colin is reading Big Data, by @timandraharknes; @alexbellos has a new puzzles book due out soon.
• There was a thing about elegance, possibly from @srcav. We diss exams.
• Dave’s school is doing an assessment thing that Colin doesn’t like
• Loyal listener Chris Warburton sends us an email about the 200TB proof, which we discuss
• Gold stars to Chris, as well as @chrishazell72 for a proper postcard (scan to follow), Sam Steele for writing in from Australia, and @notonlyahatrack for a tweeted answer. Dave inadvertently reveals his location.
• This month’s puzzle: pick distinct positive integers $p$, $q$ and $r$ such that $\frac{1}{p} + \frac{1}{q} + \frac{1}{r} < 1$, but as large as possible.

* Edited 2016-10-10 to add a picture of Dave’s tombola tickets.