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Walter Roberson

MATLAB in unexpected places

Walter Roberson on 5 Apr 2011
Latest activity Reply by ali yaman on 14 Jul 2022

This topic is for unexpected or bizarre or humorous references to MATLAB. Specific citations would be appreciated.

87 Comments

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 4 Mar 2022
Using MATLAB to simulate a million golf-balls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-pLRX3L-fg
And running Snake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOpBcfbAgPg
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 16 Dec 2021
https://youtu.be/MHTizZ_XcUM
Mark Rober uses MATLAB to control automatic dart board.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 4 Oct 2015

According to Ancestry.com, John and Mary Matlab lived in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania in about 1910, along with their children Mary Matlab, John Matlab, and Steve Matlab .

Frances Mupad lived in New York, New York in about 1840.

(I was looking for information on the history of MuPAD and was startled to see genealogy records ;-) )

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 7 Oct 2015

For some reason I keep thinking that somewhere out there, some author most have created a character, 'Steve Matlab, PI" (Private Investigator); or perhaps they made him a policeman. Maybe a high-stakes Forensic Accountant investigating the flow of criminal money. But certainly not "Steve Matlab, Caricature Artist", or "Steve Matlab Clowns For All Occasions".

This is what I think about what I cannot sleep at night.

Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 19 Jul 2015

Christmas (Kiritimati) Island, http://cobblab.blogspot.ca/2013_09_01_archive.html

Jan
Jan on 19 Jul 2015
This answer has been marked as potential spam. I'm afraid it advertises the use of Matlab in an unexpected place.
Anyway, I've removed the flag.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 14 May 2015
MATLAB mention in a humor post about Programming Vehicles:
http://crashworks.org/if_programming_languages_were_vehicles/
Fabio Freschi
Fabio Freschi on 16 Sep 2014
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1289
second scene
Doug Hull
Doug Hull on 16 Sep 2014
The is a MATLAB box in the background in the movie Contact when Elie runs in after hearing first message.
Luuk van Oosten
Luuk van Oosten on 15 Jul 2014
There is this guy who hates around everything about MATLAB. Pretty fun to read about his frustration and anger.
http://abandonmatlab.wordpress.com/
Matt J
Matt J on 5 Jul 2013
At the company I work for, I sometimes provide people with various MATLAB-compiled standalone utilities for their work. When I told him it was MATLAB, one of the people here, who was apparently unfamiliar with The Mathworks and its products, concluded that MATLAB itself was my invention and that I had named MATLAB after myself (because my name is Matt......Matt-Lab......get it?).
ali yaman
ali yaman on 14 Jul 2022
that was funny :)
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 5 Sep 2013
I think Matt means programs built using MATLAB Compiler. The startup icon would be the MATLAB logo.
If you want to develop for dedicated hardware you are more likely going to want to look at MATLAB Coder, or Simulink Coder, possibly with some of the extension toolboxes like Fixed Point Toolbox or HDL Coder.
Chad
Chad on 4 Sep 2013
could you elaborate on 'MATLAB-compiled standalone utilities'? I recently developed a spectral analysis tool for my company as an intern and I am curious how one would go about implementing this on dedicated hardware to be used in the field (middle of the ocean) without needing a matlab license
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 5 Jul 2013
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/07/130704094920.htm
Playing Cricket: Physicists Cast New Light On Spin-Bowling
As the Ashes series gets underway next week, a pair of brothers from Australia have been exploring the physics behind the spin of a cricket ball.
[...]
Garry Robinson said: "Our results show that the effects on a spinning ball are not purely due to the wind holding the ball up, since a reversal of wind direction can cause the ball to dip instead. These trajectory changes are due to the combination of the wind and the spin of the ball.
"The effects of spin in the presence of a cross-wind, and how to fully exploit it, may or may not be completely appreciated by spin bowlers. Either way, we have provided a mathematical model for the situation, although the model of course awaits detailed comparison with observations."
[...]
Once the equations were constructed, they were numerically solved using a computer software program called MATLAB; the solutions were then used to create illustrative examples for cricket.
[...]
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 20 Sep 2012
http://abstrusegoose.com/288
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 22 Sep 2012
It was only one Nickelback song!! And all I said was that it wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be!
Image Analyst
Image Analyst on 22 Sep 2012
And I wonder how this got on there...
http://abstrusegoose.com/267
Image Analyst
Image Analyst on 20 Sep 2012
I imagine the picture for "WALTER DISCOVERS MATLAB" would show the kid a few tick marks to the left.
Richard Brown
Richard Brown on 16 Apr 2012
On an episode of Harry's law (I can't remember which one), Tommy Jefferson (a fast-talking lawyer) boasts about a number of lawsuits he's won against various big corporations. It went something like this:
"Amazon, Microsoft, Matlab, ..."
Which was pretty amusing
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 7 Feb 2012
From the Acknowledgements section of Spectral methods in MATLAB by Lloyd Nicholas Trefethen:
"... there is a brass plaque on my office wall, given to me in 1998 by The MathWorks Inc., which reads: FIRST ORDER FOR MATLAB, February 7, 1985, Ordered by Professor Nick Trefethen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology."
Grzegorz Knor
Grzegorz Knor on 15 Sep 2011
http://youtu.be/hyzwxD33LcI
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8388/dailypicdump640155.jpg
http://www.ecrater.co.uk/p/9296034/duniya-matlab-di-by-harmandeep
John Tillinghast
John Tillinghast on 17 Aug 2011
There is a town in Bangladesh where many studies have been done on diarrheal disease:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795369900146X http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20099756 http://www.indepth-network.org/dss_site_profiles/matlab.pdf
etc.
Some of these are pretty mathematical papers, but I doubt that is why the town keeps getting chosen.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 17 Aug 2011
That is the same town where the high levels of Cadmium and arsenic were found in the water table; a high concentration of those metals in the body could cause some pretty nasty effects :(
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 11 May 2011
Futuristic MATLAB in a film? See the review of Stealth (2005) that Mike Verdone wrote.
Arnaud Miege
Arnaud Miege on 7 Apr 2011

I like this one from this blog:

Arnaud

Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 7 Apr 2011
I think it's kind of funny that he refers to it as a mesh. Isn't it a surface?
Kaustubha Govind
Kaustubha Govind on 7 Apr 2011
"Matlab" in Hindi literally stands for "meaning" - although it's pronounced Muth-lub (both u's pronounced as in the English word "hut").
akkii sdf
akkii sdf on 15 Apr 2015
btw its true.. :)
akkii sdf
akkii sdf on 15 Apr 2015
haha
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 7 Apr 2011
You could start pronouncing it that way in Mathworks, and see if it catches on!
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 6 Apr 2011
Some Matlab lyrics.
Unfortunately, I can't make out a single one of these. :(
http://www.thelyricarchive.com/song/2330991-387174/Matlab
http://www.sweetslyrics.com/542833.OM%20JAI%20JAGADISH%20movie%20-%20Pyar%20Ka%20Matlab.html
http://hiox.org/17422-jo-ishq.php
http://www.lyricsmasti.com/song/5112/get_lyrics_of_Matlab-Jo-Samjhe-Mere-Sandes-Ka.html
http://www.hibeamlyrics.com/matlab-nikal-gaya-hain-lyrics-mohammad-rafi.html
Kaustubha Govind
Kaustubha Govind on 7 Apr 2011
Done! :)
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 6 Apr 2011
Kaustubha, if you would do the honors so you can receive the credit ?
bym
bym on 6 Apr 2011
I concur, if it were an answer, I'd vote for it
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
That first comment is worth an answer of its own!
Kaustubha Govind
Kaustubha Govind on 6 Apr 2011
And apparently the first one is from a Nepali group.
Kaustubha Govind
Kaustubha Govind on 6 Apr 2011
"Matlab" in Hindi literally stands for "meaning" - although it's pronounced Muth-lub (both u's pronounced as in the English word "hut"). The last four links refer to Hindi songs. :)
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011

And let's not forget the famous musical group DJ Matlab!

Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
I'm glad ... I guess.
Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle on 6 Apr 2011
You, sir, have won today's internets by 7 wickets to love in the 4th hole of the 3rd chukka.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 6 Apr 2011
Cool DJ logo!
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
I Hate MATLAB. (3,873 people like this.)
You can choose between I Hate MATLAB, I hate "MATLAB", We Hate MATLAB, I F#$*ing Hate Matlab, or I Hate MATLAB and LABVIEW!!!
Maybe we'll start to see things like:
I Hate MATLAB but I hate those jerks in the I hate "MATLAB" group even more!
Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle on 7 Apr 2011
Judean People's Front?! We're the People's Front of Judea!
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 7 Apr 2011
That presents some tough choices: Do I sign up for "I hate Excel", "I hate Excel!", "I hate Excel!!", "I hate Microsoft Excel", or "we all hate microsoft excel"?
Paulo Silva
Paulo Silva on 7 Apr 2011
There are many I hate Excel groups on facebook!
Matt Fig
Matt Fig on 7 Apr 2011
I love helping folks see how cool MATLAB is! At work I often end up teaching someone how to do something in MATLAB that they couldn't figure out how to do on their own. It is my experience that when people see what MATLAB can do, how quickly ideas can be vetted, and how customizable it is, they end up coming back for more. Great stuff!
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 7 Apr 2011
Now there is something I just cannot understand - preferring Excel to MATLAB.
Jiro Doke
Jiro Doke on 6 Apr 2011
Like Matt, I also got my job at MathWorks because I love MATLAB. I actually got scouted from MATLAB Central! :)
I think the professors "forcing" these students to use MATLAB for their homework sets are partially responsible for these reactions. If students only see this as another tool they have to learn to solve something that they *think* they can do with Excel (or a calculator), then I can see them disliking MATLAB. When professors become creative and give interesting problems for students to solve, I think it'll be different. I do think "hate" is kind of extreme. But kids nowadays like to exaggerate everything.
I *LOVE* flossing!! (okay, not really, but it does feel nice afterwards).
Paulo Silva
Paulo Silva on 6 Apr 2011
I just reported that facebook group:
* Violence or harmful behavior->Self-harm
it's really self-harm :)
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 6 Apr 2011
A sad statement about my generation Andrew...
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
And why do people go to a site to say the same thing as everyone else? Do they feel validated?
Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle on 6 Apr 2011
I also liked "Only 0.18% of people in the industry actually use this langauge. That's how bad it is."
That's just begging for a "[citation needed]".
"The" industry. Which "the" industry, I wonder...?
Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle on 6 Apr 2011
I know I'm biased (but for the record, for me, loving MATLAB => employment @ TMW, not vice versa), but why would you *hate* MATLAB? I can understand not loving it like we do, but *hate*? I'm not a great fan of FORTRAN (at least F77, which I had to endure through school), but I don't hate it. (And the specific things I hated about F77 were precisely the things that MATLAB fixed!) I find Mathematica syntax far less intuitive than MATLAB, but, again, I don't hate Mma in any way.
All languages/applications have their strengths and weaknesses.
Odd. Very odd.
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 6 Apr 2011
ok we hate matlab but do any1 knows how to use it??? :D
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
Really? Which ones?
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 6 Apr 2011
It's very enjoyable reading some of those...
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
Matlab - Quality Custom Finishing: "For more than three decades, Matlab has set the standard for quality custom paint and powder finishes ... Woman owned and operated."
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 6 Apr 2011
I can't resist posting a link to a picture from the site Walter linked to:
http://web.archive.org/web/20100731213321/http://www.icddrb.org/uploads/images/hl_matlab.jpg
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 8 Jun 2011
The image didn't display reliably on this site, so I have posted the link to the archive instead.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 8 Jun 2011
Perhaps edit in the new link?
Andrew Newell
Andrew Newell on 8 Jun 2011
Found - using a Firefox addon.
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 8 Jun 2011
Unfortunately the original article that had the picture no longer exists. I did some searching but did not manage to come up with another copy of it.
Matt Tearle
Matt Tearle on 9 Apr 2011
No (R) though. We should sue them. The armed guards are a bit scary, though - they might be too much for us to handle.
Matt Fig
Matt Fig on 6 Apr 2011
It's even all caps!
Walter Roberson
Walter Roberson on 6 Apr 2011

Someone ran a book comparison between "MATLAB for Control Engineers",

and "Bakugan Battle Brawlers: Dan and Drago"

Wonder which one they bought?

 "My Control Systems Toolbox deactivates your Battle Transfer Function!"
 "Oh yah? Well my Image Toolbox demotes you to D-list celebrity!"
Matt Fig
Matt Fig on 5 Apr 2011
I do see the logo on other vehicles once in a while. If you see the logo on the back of a silver VW EuroVan with Idaho plates, look at the driver. You may just spot a bearded man wearing a MATLAB hat. Don't hesitate to wave!
Mike Jordan
Mike Jordan on 24 Feb 2021
Never heard or seen before.
Image Analyst
Image Analyst on 23 Apr 2014
I don't have it. I don't recall seeing it as an option before. Reminds me of a mousepad - do you have a MATLAB one of those? Like a thin neoprene and fabric one? I'd take one of those.
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 23 Apr 2014
Like this, only it says MathWorks. I'll take a picture of mine when I'm back in MA
http://tigzoo.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/dashboard-pad-demo.jpg
Star Strider
Star Strider on 23 Apr 2014
Never heard of it. What is it?
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 23 Apr 2014
Do you have the MATLAB dashboard cell phone pad?
Image Analyst
Image Analyst on 23 Apr 2014
The link I gave for Steve has a kind of fridge magnet his son made from bottle caps, but a big sticker like one would be good for filing cabinets, etc.. For a car, I'd worry that someone would swipe my magnetic MATLAB sticker, that's why I'd prefer a static cling sticker that I can put on the inside of the car window, facing outwards. Seems like it's time for another MATLAB contest where we let our creativity loose on promotional items.
Star Strider
Star Strider on 23 Apr 2014
How ‘bout magnetic versions? Cars, fridge magnets...
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 23 Apr 2014
Will do!
My previous comment is a little dated; I have a surface plot covering a ding on the tailgate of my truck :)
The best piece of new swag in the last couple of years was the chapstick. It came out it late December right as the winter was kicking into gear.
Image Analyst
Image Analyst on 23 Apr 2014
Sean, that's why we need the static cling window sticker. I already let Steve know, but if you have any pull with the swag acquisition folks, put in your vote too. We could be driving billboards for MATLAB.
Sean de Wolski
Sean de Wolski on 5 Apr 2011
I'm glad I'm not the only one who had the surface plot on their car. I had it on my old car but when I got a new one I didn't want to adulterate it with any bumper stickers. After it gets a few dings I have a surface plot waiting for it!

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