Durango Bill's Home Page




Featuring
Origin & Formation of the Grand Canyon
Evolution of the Colorado River (Geology)
3-D Grand Canyon Geologic Tour
Ancestral Rivers of the World
Energy/Oil Analysis
Probability Analysis of Popular Games
Graph Theory Enumeration


Computer generated picture of southwest Colorado
(3-D image of Durango, CO generated by Google Earth.)

   Durango, Colorado is located in the Animas River Valley just a few miles southeast of the 13,000-ft. high La Plata Mountains. Local attractions include the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Durango Mountain Resort (skiing), Mesa Verde National Park, and some of the world’s most frightening highways and jeep “roads”.

e.g. Black Bear Road / Black Bear Pass - Wikipedia    “You don’t have to be crazy to drive this road - but it helps. Also check “Black Bear Pass” videos at YouTube.

About the author and his home (near the small lake - lower left quadrant) where:
Sometimes it Snows in the Mountains  

 
 Links to Topics

Paleogeography / Historical Geology
     Evolution of the Colorado River
A model of the geologic history of the Colorado River and its tributaries starting with the Late Cretaceous through the present. Includes origin and formation of the Grand Canyon.

3-D aerial tour of the Grand Canyon
     3-D end-to-end geologic tour of the Grand Canyon
An end-to-end aerial geologic tour of the Grand Canyon. Sequencing through the pages simulates a nearly 300-mile trip starting with Glen Canyon Dam at Page, AZ., and continues past the Grand Wash Cliffs to Lake Mead.

Recommended Grand Canyon Videos
     Norman Beerger's The Grand Canyon
In 1982 Norman Beerger filmed and produced what is probably the best video ever made for anyone that would like an armchair scenic aerial tour of the Grand Canyon. Both the 1-hour and 2-hour versions are helicopter tours accompanied by a classical music sound track. The included notes can be used as a mile-by-mile guide for either the 1-hour or 2-hour versions.

Ancestral Rivers of the World
An illustrated world tour with examples of river systems that cut through mountain ranges instead of taking easier routes around them. The geologic processes involved are “antecedence” and “superimposition”.

Geodes
Amethyst geodes and cathedrals are fascinating members of the quartz family.

Creationism, “Intelligent Design Evangelism”, Religious Cultists
     Creationism = Willful Ignorance
A brief review of the fallacies of Creationism and “Intelligent Design Evangelism”. Noah’s Flood is physically impossible, but that doesn’t stop Creationists from perverting reality in an attempt to force their religious beliefs on everyone else. Is the willful ignorance of the Creationists a result of fear?
     “Dr” Jason Gastrich, “Ph.D.” - A Typically Fraudulent Young Earth Creationist
Creationists typically misrepresent their educational qualifications, and are woefully/willfully ignorant of the real world and its physical realities. Mr. Jason Gastrich is a classic example.
     George Bush Misrepresents Science and Knowledge
Is George W. Bush one of the ignorant Young Earth Creationists?
What might happen if you combined Ignorance and Power?
If the Ignorant Armies gained control, what steps might these Creationists take to throw us back into the Dark Ages of Religious Theocracy?
Some highlights from a paper endorsed by a large number of Nobel Laureates.
    New Orleans Underwater
The funds that were supposed to be spent reinforcing New Orleans’ levee system were instead diverted to the Iraq war and the figurehead Department of Homeland Security. Thus New Orleans did not have the protection it could have had when hurricane Katrina hit.
    What causes a Creationist to be a Creationist?
The answer is:   Fear!
1) Fear of evolution.
2) Fear and hatred toward gays/lesbians.
3) Fear of women.
4) Fear of death.
5) Fear of losing their “All Powerful Father”.
    Militant Protests by Religious Cultists against “Planned Parenthood” in Durango, Colorado
A small militant group of abortion protesters has been active at Planned Parenthood in Durango, Colorado. The group is run by “Michaela Dasteel, director of LifeGuard”, and as reported in the March 16, 2007 Durango Herald, their activities include:


Energy/Oil Analysis
     The Great Rollover Juggernaut
A synopsis of the approaching energy disaster and is illustrated with many charts and graphs.
    The Oil Crunch and The End of Growth
Growth has to stop sometime. Where we are going, what financial signs should we look for, and what will happen to our standard of living.
   Crude Oil Prices vs Futures Traders Commitments
The chart shows current oil prices vs. the speculative position of large traders in oil futures contracts.
   Less Than 2 Baseball Parks per Capita
The human population has less than 2 baseball parks of land per capita for everything - including all our energy requirements.
   Yahoo Group for Suncor Energy and Canadian Oil Sands Resources
A financial interest group concentrating on Canadian Oil Sands stocks as an investment haven for the expected devastation from “Peak Oil”.
   Passamaquoddy Bay (Quoddy Bay)
A look at the two proposed LNG facilities in Passamaquoddy Bay, and in particular the hazardous passageway through Canadian territorial waters that LNG ships would have to use.
   The 1929 Stock Market Crash
Day by day data for the 1929 to 1932 bear market including the stock market crash in Oct. 1929. Energy Return On Energy Investment analysis indicates the current bear market may become even worse.

Game Analysis

     Bingo Probability and Statistics
The statistics, probabilities, and odds involved with the popular game of Bingo. Includes algorithms for the computations.
     Bridge Combinatorics and Probabilities
The statistics, combinatorics, and probabilities for the various point counts, suit distributions, and suit splits for Bridge hands. Includes “How To” mathematics.
     The Integer Brick Problem
Also know as the Euler Brick problem. No solutions out to odd side <= 21 billion (2.1E10).
     Monopoly Probabilities and Statistics
End-of-turn and "Land on" statistics/frequency analysis for Parker Brothers Monopoly Game. All the "What is the chance of landing on ..." statistics. Also, there are up to 50,083 ways to "Go To Jail".
     N-Queens Problem
How many queens (and/or superqueens) can be placed on an arbitrarily sized chessboard without any of them attacking another queen? Queens to N = 23, Superqueens to N = 20.
     Peg Solitaire (Both pages include number of solutions)
15 Hole Peg Solitaire
     This version is for a triangular pattern with 5 holes (peg positions) per side.
33 Hole Peg Solitaire
     Sold commercially as Hi-Q
     577,116,156,815,309,849,672 possible Hi-Q games
    40,861,647,040,079,968 different ways to win Hi-Q 
     Pig (Pig-out)
Optimal strategy for two versions of this dice game
     Poker Probabilities
Probabilities for 5 to 10 card hands (including misc. wild cards), lowball Poker, and optimal strategy for Video Poker.
     Shut the Box - Optimal Strategy
Includes a prototype for a casino version.
     Solitaire Chinese Checkers
The minimum number of moves to move a set of ten marbles from one side to the other is 27.

Graph Theory / Number Theory
(Valid for 47 states but not in Kansas, Louisiana, or Texas where all math/science “theories” are being thrown out as “not Biblical”.)
     Trochoids
Epitrochoids and Hypotrochoids are curves generated by rolling one circle around another stationary circle. Examples and graphical illustrations are given.   
     Partitions
How many ways are there to subdivide a set containing "N" items?
     Rooted (oriented) trees
A rooted tree has a single vertex (node) desiginated as a "root" (usually at the top). Travel along any of the edges is directed toward the "root". A table is given showing how many structurally different, rooted trees exist given "N" vertices.
     Non rooted (free) trees
A non-rooted tree has a free form where no vertex has priority. A non-rooted tree can be twisted, deformed, contorted, etc. into many shapes without altering its structure. Again, a table is given showing how many structurally different, non rooted trees exist given "N" vertices.
     Ordered Binary trees
A binary tree is rooted tree where each vertex can have a maximum of two edges that connect to lower portions of the tree. The "root" is normally depicted at the top. Edges from any vertex in the tree will descend either to the left (left branch) or to the right (right branch).
     Structurally different binary trees
How many structurally different binary trees exist given "N" vertices?
     Structurally different graphs
An unlabeled graph may have an arbitrary number of vertices with none, one, or more edges connecting some or all of the vertices. If you have "V" vertices and "E" edges, how many structurally different graphs can be constructed?
     Ramanujan Numbers
Ramanujan Numbers and the Taxicab Problem. The simplest of these solution groups is: 1^3 + 12^3 = 9^3 + 10^3 = 1729. Includes graphs showing 2-way, 3-way, 4-way, and the 193 known 5-way solutions. (The 194th known solution is currently the best candidate for Taxicab(6).)
     Analysis of Sorting Algorithms
A common task for computers is to sort data as an aid to analyzing it. Time trials and source code are provided for: Bubble Sort, Insertion Sort, Median-of-three Quicksort, Multiple Link List Sort, and Shell Sort.
  
Applied Mathematics
     Guaranteed Profits in Stock Market Options?
This is a demo model illustrating how a linear programming system can be used to find an optimal profit for arbitrage positions in stock options.
     Mega Millions Odds & how to calculate them
In addition to the published odds for the Mega Millions Lottery Game, the mathematics on how to calculate these odds is also shown.
     Powerball Odds and how to calculate them
The standard odds, probabilities for multiple winners,  calculations for “Power Play Multiplier”, and expected “Return on investment” are all included as well as the math operations that are used to calculate these numbers.

Global Warming - and those people with closed minds that blindly deny it
   
“The Great Global Warming Swindle” is itself a Fraud and a Swindle
 “The Great Global Warming Swindle” is a pseudo-documentary in which British television producer Martin Durkin has fraudulently misrepresented both the data involved and scientists who have researched global climate. Movie director Durkin has willfully misrepresented the facts about global warming just to advocate his own agenda.
    Roger Cohen’s proposed $5,000 bet
A (retired) Exxon Mobil executive’s attempt to use money to promote his personal agenda. (Which is to deny “Global Warming”.)

Fight DMCA Abuse

     How to fight back against DMCA abuse
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act has been used abusively to suppress legitimate criticism of cultists and other “questionable activities”. Here’s an outline on how to fight back if you are ever a victim of a DMCA attack.

Fee Demo
    Fee Demo Complaint
U. S. National Forests are a national responsibility - illustrated with a Beetle Bailey cartoon.  We now have to pay additional fees to access our National Forest lands. This is in addition to the federal taxes that we all pay. Previously this tax money was used for maintenance of these publicly owned lands.

Yahoo Customer Service and web hosting
In reality, Yahoo doesn’t have a Customer Service Department. Yahoo has a Customer Aggravation Department that masquerades under the title “Yahoo Customer Service”. If you make the mistake of letting Yahoo be your web host, Yahoo will make it difficult for you if you want to switch to some other web host.

Animas River Flood
The winter of 2004/2005 had a much above normal snow-pack over the San Juan Mountains. A heat wave in mid/late May melted large amounts of it all at once.

A Giant Sequoia grove near Durango, Colorado
A log  of the author's effort (and a general “How to” guide) to get a Giant Sequoia grove to grow next to the author's home west of Durango, Colorado


Website Hits
    Over 2 million page hits since start-up March 13, 2001.
    The pages most frequently visited are (some variation with time):
“The Great Global Warming Swindle” is itself a Fraud and a Swindle
Powerball (Visits increase sharply when large jackpots exist)
Mega Millions (Visits increase sharply when large jackpots exist)
Poker
Home page
Evolution of the Colorado River
Rollover (People are becoming aware of “Peak Oil”)
(Parker Brothers) Monopoly
Grand Canyon Tour
Bingo
N_Queens (A surprisingly popular classic puzzle)
Yahoo Customer Service and web hosting
Creationism (& related pages)


Note about Google’s/Yahoo’s search engines

   For reasons unknown and for which Yahoo refuses to disclose, this entire website has been blacklisted/banned by Yahoo’s search engine. Other websites have suffered a similar fate. If you are trying to find information via Google’s search engine vs. Yahoo’s search engine, you should understand that Yahoo’s results may not include the information that you are seeking.


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Contact
     Bill Butler
     E-mail: lisawbill@mydurango.net  (Remove the "w" for a valid E-mail address.)