The Mark McDermot Confidential
If you have ever read some of the articles that I wrote for mathNEWS, you may be wondering who or what Mark McDermot is. He is a rather mysterious man and doesn't divulge much about himself. All I know is that he is quite a smart person and he always has some eccentric ideas floating in his mind.
The following is what he told me about himself:
- He was born in the mid- to late-1960's in Scotland.
- He earned a B. Math degree from the University of Waterloo, where he works now.
- He received his Master's degree from the Welsh Institute for the Study of Weird Things (he never mentioned who his supervisor was) in the early 1990's.
- He enjoys watching people going toe-to-toe, especially if the combatants think and strategize. He is a fan of the World Logical Battle Federation. For information about some of the past events, this is the place to go.
- He always wears a tartan on the first Sunday of April to celebrate Tartan Day.
- He was sent to cover the 2002 World Cup but he lost his way and took three months to return home.
He has designed a few interested gadgets. However, he did not want to mention anything about them right now. From what I know, he is currently on a sabbatical.
Below is a list of articles Mark "wrote" or was mentioned:
- Stressed Out? (March 28, 2003)
A look at a couple of interesting hoildays/celebrations in early April.
- What's going on on this Side? (October 18, 2002)
Upon his return to Waterloo, Mark McDermot made a few observations on a few things that happened at the time.
- A Spreading Epidemic (October 4, 2002)
A look at how the memorbilia business has grown to such a level that anything can now fetch some dough
- Fun with Numbers (July 12, 2002)
The inspiration for this "article" came after I walked by an office with an unusual room number
- A World Cup Update (June 14, 2002)
In reality, it is a report about the misadventures of a mathNEWS correspondent at the World Cup
- Descartes sentenced to be put down (March 1, 2002)
A report of the demise of the Descartes Math contest and how current and potential math students at the University of Waterloo reacted to the news.
- Research into Heights came tumbling down (October 19, 2001)
In a Smurfs-themed issue of mathNEWS, scientists tried to obtain an accurate reading on how tall a Smurf is and chaos followed.
The next two articles were written when mathNEWS produced Back to the Future-themed issues.
- mathNEWS going daily (June 25, 2031)
Describing how the mathNEWS editors of the time tried to make mathNEWS a daily publication and the chaos that ensued.
- Pascal — the newest Craze (June 29, 1971)
Featuring the "newest" advance in computer programming
- Probabilities one can actually relate to (May 18, 2001)
A list of my predictions and my guess of how likely they were going to occur.
- The 1st Annual Rusted Cube Awards (March 30, 2001)
A tribute to the best of the worst in the TV advertising world.
- An Invisible Hand at Work (March 2, 2001)
It introduces a little-known organization that keeps an university running.
- An Escape from Winter Blues (February 2, 2001)
Winter has got you down? Why don't celebrate a new holiday?
- An Encounter with Out-of-Planetteers (January 19, 2001)
Mark McDermot ventured into a strange world in which the locals appear to follow strange habits.
- A presentation from the World Logical Battle Federation (December 1, 2000)
A comparision between two dangerous entities associated with the number 235.