I have to admit that the negativity in the comments is surprising to me. I totally agree, the spell binding was genius. When I started playing, I was surprised at the lack of Mana meter. "What? So I can just keep casting spells over and over? This is going to be stupid easy." Not so! The spell-casting limitation was shifted from some arbitrary in-game number to the skill of the person actually playing. Casting spells finally feels like you're doing something. I hope more games pick up on this idea.
Also, I played it through with my friend without issue and had an awesome time. Well worth the price of a Guinness.
can't these people do simple math?... 106 / 236 = 0.660194175
hehehe. I guess we'll have to call that one a typo, eh?;)
But, even if you meant 136/206 = 0.66019475, you've still fallen into the same trap as they did: you've rounded. You're abusing the equal sign. To be exact, we should say:
136/206 = 0.6601941747572815533980582524271844 (repeating) [pedantic or on-topic? I can't tell...]
And although we might call it "simple mathematics" that 1/3 = 0.3333... this leads to the true, but perhaps counter-intuitive result that 1=0.9999....
The average person will say that the first result is "truly equal" while the second result is "about equal". When pressed, they will backpedal and say that I guess 1/3 is "about equal" to 0.3333.... [ yes, I often bring this up in bars to hear friends' thoughts]. I guess, I'd have to put this out there to you all. How do we prove that 1/3=0.333...? We can show that the series 3/10 + 3/100 + 3/1000 +.... converges to 1/3, but I'd no longer call that "simple" [i.e. must define "limit", prove convergence, etc.]. Any thoughts on a better way to convince friends of the "exactness" of this equality?
Also use CHDK, also consider it good stuff. And I love the fact that my powershot takes AA batteries and has a standard USB connector. They've gotten more money out of me because of this, not in spite of it.
And they won't need higher salaries - just a nice bureaucracy and politics-free workplace.
Personally, I've never understood the resistance to paying teachers more. Our entire push in the last decade has to make schools more business-like. Normally, the measure of a good business is whether it stays in business. With schools, however, that metric doesn't work. No Child Left Untested is an attempt to fix this. If we have a metric for schools, then we can "bankrupt" those that aren't performing. We are trying to fit our schools into our free-market philosophy. However, for some reason, we ignore an elementary free-market observation; if you don't have enough qualified candidates for positions, then you need to improve working conditions and/or offer more money. Simple, and yet rather than recognize this, people complain about "administration" and call teachers whiners.
Since we can't outsource education, we've decided to put the squeeze on artificially. Give schools less money, while at the same time, expect more. The schools I worked at could use *more* "administration". Our principal was overworked. Our secretary was deciding which classes students should be placed in, because our *part-time* counselor was only on campus half the day. Rooms only got cleaned every third day. Roofs leaked. Heating failed. Our school had no librarian. There was no music program. There was no dance program. There was one visual arts teacher. After-school programs died as their funding was cut. What an inspiring place for a student to be. Really expresses the concern society has for their education.
And you've got curriculums that are created are created by textbook makers and suits far removed from the realities of students. You can't teach something to someone who doesn't care. But "inspiration" is secondary. Spend a week studying imaginary numbers that culminates in students who actually understand what they're looking at when they see the Mandelbrot Set, and, officially, you've wasted a week, cause that isn't on the tests. Spend a week working through some of the details and mathematics of how, exactly, your voice is transmitted from your cell phone to mine (something students are always *very* interested in), and, officially, you've now wasted two weeks. And the tests will show that you're behind. You must be a bad teacher.
I often think that our society's vision for teachers is to remove all individuality, all wiggle-room, all deviations from the norm. In our attempts to make sure that curriculum is presented exactly equally to all students in all schools, we will soon remove teachers all together and replace them with DVD's.
So incredibly true. Compare the two versions of "The Office." In the UK, they told their story, had some laughs, but when it ran its course, they stopped. I wanted more. I still want more. I'll just have to wait a few years then watch the episodes again. In the US, however, the program is floundering to find weekly topics. And it shows. Once Jim and Pam hooked up, the main tension, the binding thread was gone. Look at "Heroes". Intriguing first season, great climactic moment. But it just...keeps...going. Look at "Lost". I followed the first season closely, but after a while, you start to think that the writers are sitting around going, "Now what can we do this week, without really changing much. After all, we still have 10 more hours of programming to fill." Does anybody even watch The Simpson's anymore?
If you were to imagine an alien lifeform on some distant world, they'll have an identical math but their experience of it
I'm not sure if I'm on board with you here. That's quite a claim to make. Just because it's hard to imagine math that's not identical to our own, does not mean it does not exist. I can imagine a quantum sized life-form living in a probabilistic world, never coming up with the integers. Or maybe a universe-sized creature who has absolutely no need for the idea of oneness.
Since I'm posting, here's what I think is a fun problem:
2178*4 = 8712
21978*4 = 87912
219978*4 = 879912
There's one other family of numbers (i.e. a four digit number, expanded in a similar pattern) that does this, if we throw out palindromes and numbers with leading zeros. What is it and can you show that these are the only two such families?
Other solutions that solve poster's problem without answering his quesiton:
1. Memorize as you go.
2. Screw lecture, just watch Square One.
3. Have friend audio-record lectures then have other friend convert them to notes then photocopy friend's notes and use OCR.
4. Drop out of school.
5. Prove the Reimann Hypothesis and skip right to that PhD.
6. Hire a plant to continually ask inane questions during lecture, giving you more time to input those equations in LaTeX.
7. Code up a Math Module for Dragon Naturally speaking.
8. ???
9. Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
No, no you don't. Ever heard of a credit report? We've never had control over our information.
Anyways, the ability to keep in touch with important people in my life, for me, is worth the risk of whatever doomsday privacy issue others see. So what, some sketchy advertisers get some info on me? Uuuh, I have multiple websites, registered with my name and address. I have no doubt that my grocery shopping is closely tracked based on my credit card number. I'm sure that my contact info has been sold between companies hundreds of times. My phone company knows who I talk to and for how long. My insurance company knows my driving record. My fingerprints are on file in Oregon.
I happen to like the fact that I am able to call up and old friend and meet him for drinks while driving through town on a road trip, thanks to facebook. That's worth it, in my opinion.
Wouldn't that have been a perfect time to conduct audits and make sure everything was ready for the students to arrive?
I'm guessing you haven't worked in a public school? Two years ago I got my classroom assignment 3 days before students showed up. My co-worker had 1 day. Instead of curriculum planning, we spent the time running around the halls trying to find desks for students, the teacher's manuals for our books, get appropriate keys, etc.
Oh, and we also had a part time counselor in charge of 300+ students' schedules at our school and another 300+ at our neighbor school. A student shows up who hasn't registered? The secretary will put her in some temporary classes until a week later when the counselor can actually review her transcript and place her accordingly.
No one is sitting around that week. There's a thousand jobs that need to be done, but the districts keep cutting support staff and putting it on the shoulders of teachers and counselors. I wouldn't be quick to blame anyone in that school building.
Quoting Fight Club as an argument for the existence of more Wal-Mart like companies is like using Office Space as an argument for TPS reports. It's like using Lebowski as an argument for holding a 9-5 job. It's like using Alien as an argument for the frailty of women. It's like using Predator as an argument for the wussiness of United States governors. It's like using American Beauty as an argument for filming plastic bags in the wind. It's like using Ninja Turtles as an argument *against* nuclear experimentation. It's like using Ravenous as an argument for the impact of good soundtracks. It's like using web standards as an argument for using IE6.
No, no, no. You misunderstand. You know all of those half-finished hobby projects you have laying around? MonoDevelop actually gets them done! It's incredible! My productivity is through the roof!
Insightful? Really? Usually for satire, you use the Funny mod. Either myself or the mods are misunderstanding, but I'll respond anyways because this commonly heard quote has *layers* of stupidity. First, the simplest. If everyone was smart, *no one* would work at McDonald's because everyone would realize what shit food it is and stop eating there.
Is this actually an argument for the promotion of ignorance? No, it's not. It's a way for us to confirm our belief in the American Meritocracy. I don't want to work at McDonald's, that's why I did my homework. Everyone had an equal chance in school. It's what we tell ourselves to help us sleep at night while others starve to death, a shame on our abundant society if ever there was one. But not everyone has an equal chance in school. The inequities are everywhere and in plain sight. If you go to visit schools in China, you will have an escort choose which schools to see. In the US, you can get a visitor pass from any school, any day of the week. You can visit the affluent, suburbian school and the rundown, ghetto school in the same day, with no special permission. At least the Chinese recognize the injustices as shameful and try to hide them. We, however, are shameless. To discuss a solution is to abandon our illusion. And, hey, somebody's gotta clean the toilets, am I right? Eh?
Finally, the comment betrays the truth of the education system. It's an economic sorting engine. It's a drawn-out college entrance exam. The truth is, we need factory workers. Why do you think we cram active children into seats in small, almost windowless rooms and drown them in rote, mindless exercises? We could ask why dropout rates are so high. We could ask why there are disparities in grades between economic and cultural groups. We could really question the goals of this machine we've built. We could ask you what you could possibly have against a smarter, more informed populace. But, hey, somebody's gotta wash the dishes, am I right? Eh?
You get a C+. Your comment is insightful and original, at that. You have a clear title indicating the content to be found within and you have neither spelling mistakes nor grammatical errors. What's more, by refusing to make a categorical statement, you are promoting discussion. It is clear that your comment is an opportunity for others, perhaps more experience in the field, to chime in. So why the C+?
You should know better than to start a new thread this far down. Find some random troll up at the top of the page and respond to it. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S GOATSE! Within minutes, others will be vigorously arguing the importance of search up above. They will be the ones scoring karma and street cred. You, my friend, have missed out on your big chance. The cars, the girls, the glamor. I'm afraid history will remember you thusly: an also ran. The internet is a vicious place, Mr. caywen. C+.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't have mod points, but just wanted to say thanks for posting a serious comment. Every comment above is just a cheap joke.
I have to admit that the negativity in the comments is surprising to me. I totally agree, the spell binding was genius. When I started playing, I was surprised at the lack of Mana meter. "What? So I can just keep casting spells over and over? This is going to be stupid easy." Not so! The spell-casting limitation was shifted from some arbitrary in-game number to the skill of the person actually playing. Casting spells finally feels like you're doing something. I hope more games pick up on this idea.
Also, I played it through with my friend without issue and had an awesome time. Well worth the price of a Guinness.
can't these people do simple math? ... 106 / 236 = 0.660194175
hehehe. I guess we'll have to call that one a typo, eh? ;)
But, even if you meant 136/206 = 0.66019475, you've still fallen into the same trap as they did: you've rounded. You're abusing the equal sign. To be exact, we should say:
136/206 = 0.6601941747572815533980582524271844 (repeating) [pedantic or on-topic? I can't tell...]
And although we might call it "simple mathematics" that 1/3 = 0.3333... this leads to the true, but perhaps counter-intuitive result that 1=0.9999....
The average person will say that the first result is "truly equal" while the second result is "about equal". When pressed, they will backpedal and say that I guess 1/3 is "about equal" to 0.3333.... [ yes, I often bring this up in bars to hear friends' thoughts]. I guess, I'd have to put this out there to you all. How do we prove that 1/3=0.333...? We can show that the series 3/10 + 3/100 + 3/1000 + .... converges to 1/3, but I'd no longer call that "simple" [i.e. must define "limit", prove convergence, etc.]. Any thoughts on a better way to convince friends of the "exactness" of this equality?
Also use CHDK, also consider it good stuff. And I love the fact that my powershot takes AA batteries and has a standard USB connector. They've gotten more money out of me because of this, not in spite of it.
And they won't need higher salaries - just a nice bureaucracy and politics-free workplace.
Personally, I've never understood the resistance to paying teachers more. Our entire push in the last decade has to make schools more business-like. Normally, the measure of a good business is whether it stays in business. With schools, however, that metric doesn't work. No Child Left Untested is an attempt to fix this. If we have a metric for schools, then we can "bankrupt" those that aren't performing. We are trying to fit our schools into our free-market philosophy. However, for some reason, we ignore an elementary free-market observation; if you don't have enough qualified candidates for positions, then you need to improve working conditions and/or offer more money. Simple, and yet rather than recognize this, people complain about "administration" and call teachers whiners.
Since we can't outsource education, we've decided to put the squeeze on artificially. Give schools less money, while at the same time, expect more. The schools I worked at could use *more* "administration". Our principal was overworked. Our secretary was deciding which classes students should be placed in, because our *part-time* counselor was only on campus half the day. Rooms only got cleaned every third day. Roofs leaked. Heating failed. Our school had no librarian. There was no music program. There was no dance program. There was one visual arts teacher. After-school programs died as their funding was cut. What an inspiring place for a student to be. Really expresses the concern society has for their education.
And you've got curriculums that are created are created by textbook makers and suits far removed from the realities of students. You can't teach something to someone who doesn't care. But "inspiration" is secondary. Spend a week studying imaginary numbers that culminates in students who actually understand what they're looking at when they see the Mandelbrot Set, and, officially, you've wasted a week, cause that isn't on the tests. Spend a week working through some of the details and mathematics of how, exactly, your voice is transmitted from your cell phone to mine (something students are always *very* interested in), and, officially, you've now wasted two weeks. And the tests will show that you're behind. You must be a bad teacher.
I often think that our society's vision for teachers is to remove all individuality, all wiggle-room, all deviations from the norm. In our attempts to make sure that curriculum is presented exactly equally to all students in all schools, we will soon remove teachers all together and replace them with DVD's.
No, no, no! THIS one goes here! THAT one goes there!
So incredibly true. Compare the two versions of "The Office." In the UK, they told their story, had some laughs, but when it ran its course, they stopped. I wanted more. I still want more. I'll just have to wait a few years then watch the episodes again. In the US, however, the program is floundering to find weekly topics. And it shows. Once Jim and Pam hooked up, the main tension, the binding thread was gone. Look at "Heroes". Intriguing first season, great climactic moment. But it just...keeps...going. Look at "Lost". I followed the first season closely, but after a while, you start to think that the writers are sitting around going, "Now what can we do this week, without really changing much. After all, we still have 10 more hours of programming to fill." Does anybody even watch The Simpson's anymore?
I shoved my head back up my ass when I found out that the Freedom Fries people were serious.
...with deep fried french fries, topped with a cold beer and chocolate ice cream...
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
If you were to imagine an alien lifeform on some distant world, they'll have an identical math but their experience of it
I'm not sure if I'm on board with you here. That's quite a claim to make. Just because it's hard to imagine math that's not identical to our own, does not mean it does not exist. I can imagine a quantum sized life-form living in a probabilistic world, never coming up with the integers. Or maybe a universe-sized creature who has absolutely no need for the idea of oneness.
Since I'm posting, here's what I think is a fun problem:
2178*4 = 8712
21978*4 = 87912
219978*4 = 879912
There's one other family of numbers (i.e. a four digit number, expanded in a similar pattern) that does this, if we throw out palindromes and numbers with leading zeros. What is it and can you show that these are the only two such families?
Mod parent trawl.
Other solutions that solve poster's problem without answering his quesiton:
1. Memorize as you go.
2. Screw lecture, just watch Square One.
3. Have friend audio-record lectures then have other friend convert them to notes then photocopy friend's notes and use OCR.
4. Drop out of school.
5. Prove the Reimann Hypothesis and skip right to that PhD.
6. Hire a plant to continually ask inane questions during lecture, giving you more time to input those equations in LaTeX.
7. Code up a Math Module for Dragon Naturally speaking.
8. ???
9. Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
Wait... What were we talking about?
Car analogy?
34^2+1 = 17*89
Most Dearest Friend ObsessiveMathsFreak,
I actually appreciate the salutations and valedictions. Sometimes they even help me identify Nigerian spam.
Sincerely,
Your friend,
mctk
PS I just thought of something to say, but unfortunately I've already typed out the message, so I'll just have to write it out here at the end.
Somebody might have s*** something profane.
F***.
I have control over my information.
No, no you don't. Ever heard of a credit report? We've never had control over our information.
Anyways, the ability to keep in touch with important people in my life, for me, is worth the risk of whatever doomsday privacy issue others see. So what, some sketchy advertisers get some info on me? Uuuh, I have multiple websites, registered with my name and address. I have no doubt that my grocery shopping is closely tracked based on my credit card number. I'm sure that my contact info has been sold between companies hundreds of times. My phone company knows who I talk to and for how long. My insurance company knows my driving record. My fingerprints are on file in Oregon.
I happen to like the fact that I am able to call up and old friend and meet him for drinks while driving through town on a road trip, thanks to facebook. That's worth it, in my opinion.
Wouldn't that have been a perfect time to conduct audits and make sure everything was ready for the students to arrive?
I'm guessing you haven't worked in a public school? Two years ago I got my classroom assignment 3 days before students showed up. My co-worker had 1 day. Instead of curriculum planning, we spent the time running around the halls trying to find desks for students, the teacher's manuals for our books, get appropriate keys, etc.
Oh, and we also had a part time counselor in charge of 300+ students' schedules at our school and another 300+ at our neighbor school. A student shows up who hasn't registered? The secretary will put her in some temporary classes until a week later when the counselor can actually review her transcript and place her accordingly.
No one is sitting around that week. There's a thousand jobs that need to be done, but the districts keep cutting support staff and putting it on the shoulders of teachers and counselors. I wouldn't be quick to blame anyone in that school building.
Quoting Fight Club as an argument for the existence of more Wal-Mart like companies is like using Office Space as an argument for TPS reports. It's like using Lebowski as an argument for holding a 9-5 job. It's like using Alien as an argument for the frailty of women. It's like using Predator as an argument for the wussiness of United States governors. It's like using American Beauty as an argument for filming plastic bags in the wind. It's like using Ninja Turtles as an argument *against* nuclear experimentation. It's like using Ravenous as an argument for the impact of good soundtracks. It's like using web standards as an argument for using IE6.
I don't think the penguin is AT&T's power animal.
unless you are an expensive coffee drinking,
You.
iPhone toting
In.
meeja student
Sensitive.
with messy hair
Clod!
who lives in a big city
Oh, nevermind.
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods?!
No, no, no. You misunderstand. You know all of those half-finished hobby projects you have laying around? MonoDevelop actually gets them done! It's incredible! My productivity is through the roof!
At the library, no less!
Insightful? Really? Usually for satire, you use the Funny mod. Either myself or the mods are misunderstanding, but I'll respond anyways because this commonly heard quote has *layers* of stupidity. First, the simplest. If everyone was smart, *no one* would work at McDonald's because everyone would realize what shit food it is and stop eating there.
Is this actually an argument for the promotion of ignorance? No, it's not. It's a way for us to confirm our belief in the American Meritocracy. I don't want to work at McDonald's, that's why I did my homework. Everyone had an equal chance in school. It's what we tell ourselves to help us sleep at night while others starve to death, a shame on our abundant society if ever there was one. But not everyone has an equal chance in school. The inequities are everywhere and in plain sight. If you go to visit schools in China, you will have an escort choose which schools to see. In the US, you can get a visitor pass from any school, any day of the week. You can visit the affluent, suburbian school and the rundown, ghetto school in the same day, with no special permission. At least the Chinese recognize the injustices as shameful and try to hide them. We, however, are shameless. To discuss a solution is to abandon our illusion. And, hey, somebody's gotta clean the toilets, am I right? Eh?
Finally, the comment betrays the truth of the education system. It's an economic sorting engine. It's a drawn-out college entrance exam. The truth is, we need factory workers. Why do you think we cram active children into seats in small, almost windowless rooms and drown them in rote, mindless exercises? We could ask why dropout rates are so high. We could ask why there are disparities in grades between economic and cultural groups. We could really question the goals of this machine we've built. We could ask you what you could possibly have against a smarter, more informed populace. But, hey, somebody's gotta wash the dishes, am I right? Eh?
You get a C+. Your comment is insightful and original, at that. You have a clear title indicating the content to be found within and you have neither spelling mistakes nor grammatical errors. What's more, by refusing to make a categorical statement, you are promoting discussion. It is clear that your comment is an opportunity for others, perhaps more experience in the field, to chime in. So why the C+?
You should know better than to start a new thread this far down. Find some random troll up at the top of the page and respond to it. I DON'T CARE IF IT'S GOATSE! Within minutes, others will be vigorously arguing the importance of search up above. They will be the ones scoring karma and street cred. You, my friend, have missed out on your big chance. The cars, the girls, the glamor. I'm afraid history will remember you thusly: an also ran. The internet is a vicious place, Mr. caywen. C+.