Now that I’ve managed to restore most of my old articles on to this new server I’d like to link to a few of my favourites which are perhaps my the best that I’ve written. The articles cover a wide variety of different topics and in many cases show originality of ideas. I’d even contend that I’ve suggested some ideas before anyone else has; unfortunately, this hasn’t lead to fame. 😛

The similarity between Scottish and Scandinavian words

Link: Similarity between Scottish and Scandinavian words

My favourite article that I wrote and the one that received the most comments. Why this is interesting: I drew comparisons between words that I believed were unique to Scottish dialects but did not appear in English (as best as I knew it). I’m not fluent but I have done a fair amount of learning across Norwegian and Swedish. Since the article was written I’ve also made an effort to learn some Icelandic (Nordic rather than Scandinavian). Quite a few comments came from English people who were able to point out that their dialect also contained similar words to the ones I posted, and sometimes to other Scandinavian words. The comments have been preserved.

Quality, Value, Momentum Investing
Link: Quality, Value, Momentum Investing

Perhaps my second favourite article. I came across an interesting investment article that referenced an academic paper on investing. I then read the paper and did some calculations. The underlying premise is that quality, value, and momentum are three long term biases. It is interesting to note that Stockopedia now offer a QVM investment filter. I will also point out that my article pre-dates any of theirs. 😉

Physical, meta-physical and multiverse
Link: Physical, meta-physical and multiverse

An article on nomenclature and how I would define each of the terms in the article’s title.

On the impossibility of detecting malicious human actions
Link: On the impossibility of detecting malicious human actions

It is impossible to predict when a computer will halt (the halting problem) which also means it is impossible to build a perfect malware detector. I built upon that idea to show that this also means that it is impossible to perfectly detect malicious human actions. A neat result which is obvious in hindsight and I haven’t seen it in too many other places.

Political Compass: the road towards an invariant expression of opinion
Link: Political Compass: the road towards an invariant expression of opinion

While the political compass is a big improvement from the simplicity of the ‘left-right’ political divide I belief there is a lot more that can be done. In this article I proposed a way of working towards an invariant expression of opinion. This idea was actually the impetus behind creating this website which is why I still hold it dear. Despite it being the impetus for creating website I never wrote as much on it as I had planned. The original idea came in 2006 (more than 10 years now!).

Hacking is?
Link: Hacking is?

I enjoyed re-reading this article I wrote in 2009. It was one of the first I wrote on this website and has aged fairly well. I explored the meaning of the word ‘hacking’ and how it relates to the notion of computer hacking.

The illusion of free will
Link: The illusion of free will

An interesting topic but you will need to forgive that it has a number of grammatical errors. The writing could be clearer but hopefully it is an interesting read.

Investing: A Relative Tobin Q portfolio
Link: Investing: A Relative Tobin Q portfolio

I’ve never seen this suggested anywhere else, so I think I can claim bonus points for originality. 😛 This one is for investment geeks.