Math Is Fun

"Law professors know absolutely nothing about the real world or how to actually practice law." You could say precisely the same thing about education professors knowing nothing about how to actually teach. I once had an education professor who would tell us in class that a good teacher is firm, fair, and flexible. The test would then ask us to list the 3 qualities of a good teacher. He also told us that a good teacher meets his students' needs, abilities, and interests. The next test would have an item:
A good teacher meets his students' _____, _____, and _____. No wonder there are so many sorry teachers out there.

Sometimes I have trouble separating your non-fiction writing from your fiction.

I found turning 30 even more depressing than turning 50 and getting my AARP card. When I was in my 20s, I was in the same decade as when I was a college kid. When I hit 30, I wasn't a kid anymore. Sadly, even though I am "only" 50, I have been charged the senior's rate at a basketball game, movie theater, and barber shop without even asking for the discount.

Wow, my dad was the same way and, I just found out, his dad to. That explains why I need to hire a handyman for anything other than changing a light bulb.

If aliens were going to target an earthling, you would hope they might go after someone like Jerry Springer or Ann Coulter, rather than some poor, obscure Bosnian.

Boy, that Bertrand Russell guy sure knew what he was talking about!

Gil Hodges is a childhood hero of mine, but for a different reason. He was the manager who took by beloved Mets from national jokes to world champions almost overnight. In fact, I have a tray of Hodges hanging from my kitchen wall. Here is a picture of the tray from an eBay auction:
https://i14.ebayimg.com/02/i/000/e5/22/3921_1.JPG
It is a travesty that he is not in the Hall-of-Fame. You might also enjoy this YouTube clip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4rwO_05CIE

The problem is that the politicians don't have the courage to make the unpopular decisions necessary to fix this mess. Congress needs to pass legislation authorizing the Federal Reserve Board, or some other non-elected group, to take the actions necessary to put Social Security on a sound financial footing.

Wow, two math posts from you! I'm impressed. You didn't mention that this glorious day has its own web site:
https://www.piday.org/

Very Twilight Zone-ish.

Here is is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WB-T0Ill08

First of all, why does everyone feel it necessary to comment on how little math they know or how much they hate math? Would you brag about how you can't read or how you hate to write? It bugs the living daylights out of me how people find it socially acceptable to be bad at math. I sure hope you aren't passing on those feelings to your kids.

Secondly, it is hard to explain what a comformal mapping is because it comes from a branch of mathematics called Complex Variables, which is at a higher level than calculus. Some of you may remember from high school Algebra II that when you take the square root of a negative number you get what is called a complex number. Complex Variables is the study of functions (equations) where we plug in complex numbers for the variables. A mapping is a transformation of one problem into another (hopefully easier) problem. The conformal mapping preserves certain characteristics of the original problem in its new setting. I did find a nice page on the NASA web site about this topic.
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/map.html
Sorry, but I feel if I expound any more on this topic, I will chase away Steve's readers.

Wow, I must be weird. I refuse to buy any clothing that has the manufacturer/designer's name on the outside (except for jeans, since they all do). If I am walking around in sneakers with the name Nike on the outside, then Nike should be paying me for the advertisement I am providing them. Instead, they expect me to pay more for those shoes. What a scam!

Apparently South Florida judges take it more seriously than Central Florida judges when undersized sea creatures are killed. In today's Miami Herald, there is a story about a guy getting a year in jail for, among other things, killing undersized sailfish.

Apparently South Florida judges take it more seriously than Central Florida judges when undersized sea creatures are killed.
www.miamiherald.com/466/story/438662.html