Any news on this? I don't know if a forum or skype etc. is necessary but some kind of direction to study given by someone who knows more about the subject than me would really help I think. I've just been reading books out of my local libraries math section without any real purpose or goal.

>>104

I've decided that while a forum would be nice, I'd really like to get on board with the studying & discussion sooner than later. I may plan on getting one set up in the near future, but not for the time being. As for my relationship with mathematics, in practice, I'm still mathematically immature (as posted before, my education doesn't extend beyond college algebra). Much like some of you have mentioned, I do spend parts of my freetime reading about math philosophy and the importance behind number & logical thought; but simply reading the literature isn't enough. The first thing that needs to be done in order for this to get started is finding the experts, the pros, the graduates. We need to find the people who are willing to teach and debate mathematics willingly without expecting a paycheck. Can anybody suggest any math forums or popular users on math forums that would be willing to give this a try? I'll start creating a schedule for discussion times to meet on the IRC in #calc if there aren't any objections to that, and will let you know if/when I can find a director (a math major with solid understandings of various branches) for this project to finally take off. If anybody knows of any contacts or ways to help, please let me know! Any and all help is appreciated, and I will be posting again sometime this week with more results. Thanks again for all the support everybody.

I plan on teaching myself geometry and algebra this summer and am down.

Is this still a go? As a math major who teaches/tutors as both a job and a hobby, I'm down with helping you fellas out with whatever you need. I'm pretty adept in almost every math course you can find at a community college, but I'm rusty on the finer points of Calculus 2 and Calculus 3.

If OP is still around, I'll hang out on #calc with the username 'ystesta' or 'Motzo' over the weekend, just hop on and beep me so we can start planning.

I think I posted on this thread as the guy with the tight schedule. With classes over, my schedule is no longer tight until I start summer school.

Hope to see you guys there!

I am always willing to spend time with other people who appreciate mathematics. I have spent some of the recent years of my life striving to learn more about number theory, prime numbers, and related algorithms and proofs. I do believe I could provide something worthwhile.

However, I am very absent-minded. I may not remember this thread tomorrow. Hopefully I will.

Lack of knowledge only offends pedants, and even then, I think they secretly thrill off of it.

http://digitalcollections.lib.ucf.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/IST&CISOPTR=26301&CISOMODE=print

This brings up the 1975 Naval report by Kincaid and others. Also wtf .exe in a URL? Not a programmer, so moving on.

It appears as though it was arrived at experimentally, ie by testing subjects, rather than theoretically. That's not uncommon at all for statistics, as from what I understand, it's a fairly new field (think about oldoldold mathematicians and who sponsored their jetset mathematical lifestyle, and think about those sponsors' opinions about free will and gambling.)

http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~nenkova/papers/revisitingReadability.pdf

appears to be a more modern take on the subject, with references as late as 2008, and more modern notation (attached is a pretty self-explanatory example of the notation, though it's still pretty dense in the text, but not inaccessible.)

Personally, I can't do anything but skim texts on a screen. I might print these out and read them though, it's a pretty interesting topic.

>>131
oops, in (2) in the attached pic, there should be an i just like in (1).

>>131

The .exe is a program generating the page. Think of it like .php, .asp, .pl, etc. The web server runs the program with the parameters of the URL as its input and presents its output as a web page.

>>136
Yeah, I'm familiar with that, I guess I've just never seen pages generated by an .exe

Eh, it depends on the context. I agree that stochastic models need to be taught, especially to engineers and applied mathematicians, but there are plenty of phenomenon that can be modeled just fine deterministically.

>>128
I agree that they can be modeled just fine, but along the lines of teaching proofs earlier in math education, it shapes the way a student approaches all problems.

Plus, stochastic behavior is undeniably an aspect of all real phenomenon. x^2 with probability 1 is the x^2 taught in textbooks, but is nowhere to be found in physical reality.

>>83
The model 2 is probably going to be wood and aluminium sheeting. Probably not going to get around to it this leave, probably next leave.

I got some clay to make the mold for the ice fresnel lens. I'm saving up can be bothered points at the moment, when I've got enough I'll get on with it.

>>79
Only the focal length changes. You should be able to use any fresnel as the example.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focal_length


For the case of a lens of thickness d in air, and surfaces with radii of curvature R1 and R2, the effective focal length f is given by:
[a function which depends on the focal length, with any (spherical in this case) curvatures you choose.]

>>90

It's more sciencey if you do the math yourself.

I've thought about a way to mathematically work out the shape of a parabolic reflector with a focal point to the side of the dish, so that the shadow of anything placed at the focal point doesn't impede the functioning of the reflector. This isn't exactly hidden and arcane information, but I've found useful resources on the subject scant sur l'internet.

Haven't done the math yet though. Will update again probably when I go back on leave and have moved the project onwards.

SAGE has been used.

Set of equations to plan the construction of your own parabolic reflector. (It doesn't look like a dish so that the object being held at the focus doesn't cast a shadow on the dish. Focus is offset out of the way.)

Quick design I made for the reflector I intend to build. The 'dish' has to be able to pitch and yaw so that it can be aimed at the Sun.

Smokeless powder, the slowest burning grade you can find for rifles, is probably best. Anything faster burning than that and you'll get an unimpressive CRACK (likely to unevenly blow the cake apart, unless you use way too much demo) instead of a cool-looking shove that actually moves the cake pieces apart.

You need to pack the powder to get any real effect from it, it can't just be loose (and anyway a cake would get it moist, and that's bad), so wrapping it tightly in paper or something similar is a good idea. You'll want a decent amount to get the right "completely blowing a cake apart" effect on video.

Since the material factors for your project are unknown (no way I can build a demo chart to effect based on "a cake", no reliable way to know how you're going to pack or place the device, and no idea what the device will be) you'll have to go with the Goldilocks approach: make three cakes and three devices. Make one you think is too small and try it out. Make one you know damn well is far too big and try it out. Make one based on the two sets and your newfound experience packing (and probably fizzling at least one) devices and you might get it just right.

Aside from the explosive itself you're going to need some high speed camera work. No matter what or how you do things this is going to be the single most important part of what you do. Even an underpowered device just shaking the cake would actually look pretty cool if slowed down enough in high detail -- so keep this in mind.

Anyway, that's my input on it. Not that I know anything about this -- I was an 18C (Special Forces engineer) for a decade before finally getting out and doing what I really wanted (SF wasn't bad, but with the wars winding down it sort of silly to stay in the Army!).

Oh thank you, i asked on a few other boards and i got similar info, although the smokeless input is new (and much appreciated). Would it be alright if i just used something like tissue paper to pack the powder? and should i lay it all in one thin sheet of paper, the width of the cake, or maybe little packets spread through out? As for camera stuff, I've got it down, didn't spare any expense on that portion, although i don't have the best of the best. Thank you for your input!

Not the guy you're responding to but try something a little more strong then tissue paper, as smokeless powder burns pretty slowly without somewhat of an enclosure (not much stronger, mind you, probably just fabric or something like it).

As for the position of the charges, I would say maybe one big 'un in the middle and maybe three smaller ones encircling it.
Also that picture makes me so god damn hungry for a nice cake

If i endeavour to learn guitar playing while unispired creatively it is difficult and exhausting; If iam able to acheive understanding and original insights while studying or creating math then i did so ONLY while being inspired.

it is verry enjoyable. It's a good way to spend your time, break your head, and stop thinking about bullshit, depression and self-compassion. It's fun.

Exhausting and difficult? at first, it might be, and you might get a headache after being on a problem for hours.
yet it's the price to pay sometimes huh?

What's your opinion on sex being legitimately enjoyable?

What's your opinion on sex being exhausting and difficult?

As you can see, these qualities are not mutually exclusive.

Exclusivity is not implied by polarized leading questions. Even if there are two of them.

Math is emotional shorthand for anthropomorphized concepts. It's a wonderful, underrated challenge with rewards limited only to the capacity of a mind.

>>123
That went from true to crazy real fast.

SAGE has been used.

Tablets have very low tolerances, and all tablet motherboards are proprietary along with most of the components. So probably not.

>>80

They could do it with a Raspberry Pi (computer), an SD card and low profile reader (storage), touch screen display (I/O), a power source, and a lot of know how (for the construction and programming). It would probably end up being like four inches thick, but you could just tell people it was an iPad prototype and gain mad rep.

You could probably build one out of any old laptop computer. Just rip the screen off, tear its guts out, get a touchscreen monitor, and tape all the aforementioned guts to the back of it. Would even be quite flat.

The main problem is hardware-software compatibility. Since you have (likely) custom hardware, you're going to need custom software to run all the capabilities. Especially for tablets where every ounce of usability should be squeezed from components, you might end up writing your own drivers and shit. This is not wise.

Yes, you can do this. No its not that hard.
The most difficult part is finding a case molding that will fit whatever motherboard you want -- as almost all tablet/notebook motherboards are designed to deliberately not play well with case designs other than their own company's. That said, you may get away with using slimline server motherboards (lots of slim/single-nut server mobos are actually vanilla laptop mainboard form factors) and an E450 (or E350 -- both of these are usually built directly into the board, not separate chips) or maybe something low-wattage and Llano.

If you're not wise to the low-wattage arena, you may be surprised at me recommending AMD there, but the fact is in the low-wattage category there is no alternative unless you simply don't want 3D graphics at all -- Intel's integrated graphics blow and nVidia drinks lithium. But if you're willing to build a granite slab instead of a tablet, then whatever.

Screens are buyable, but a bit pricey unless you're buying bulk. Toshiba sells replacements to their tablets as separate items (and they cost more than a new tablet from them anyway, so...). The touchscreen and graphics connections are all standard stuff, so its not that crazy of an idea.

But unless its just a for-fun/learning project, I'd just buy an x86-based tablet and be done with it -- it'll save you money, time and headbanging -- though it'd earn you some street cred with fledgling hardware modders. Anyway, the case is going to be the hardest part, and may require contacting a custom plastics fabricator (not impossible, or even hard, just stuff that takes a little money and most folks don't know much about).

>>52

No, there's a finite quantity of planets in the known universe. There are probably lots of similar ones though, like featureless gas giants that are the same colour. However, there'd be different starfields in the background, they'd be different sizes, different satellites, different ambient light levels, including spectral and radiance differences.

>>53
I mean the universe in general.
It is not known whether it's finite or not. I'm just saying that if it is infinite then it must also be strange in this particular way.

The number of possible iterations of a 5 minute video @ 24fps in 420p (848x420).

So we first have the gamut of colour, let's assume we're stuck in the 20th century and still use web colours because I'm a lazy asshole.

Now web colours come in hex triplets, #FFFFFF for example, is white, while #000000 is black.

now since the largest 6 digit hex number is FFFFFF, that is how many possible variations we can have on one pixel.

Now we convert FFFFFF into decimal.

FFFFFF = 15*16^5 + 15*16^4 + 15*16^3 + 15*16^2 + 15*16^1 + 15*16^0 = 16,777,215 colours

Since our resolution is 848x420, for each frame there are

848x420 = 356,160 pixels per frame

Message too long. Click here to view the full text.

>>56

That should be 16777215^356160, not 356160*16777215. Somewhere on the order of 1.69401 × 10^2573156.

Then it should be that _raised to the power_ of 7200. That actually does come out a bit over the number of atoms in the universe.

>>85
Whoops, good catch. Fail math is fail.

Yes very much so, though it's all quite a bit above me. It's really fascinating stuff though, especially combined with deontic logic.

what the fuck are you nerds talking about....... -_-

>>114
You might be surprised if you look into it. There's quite a few tutorials online, and most of the concepts are pretty natural.

>>117
Link me bro, I'm too drunk, but will check later. I also had some quality leads like KED and a paper about the dangers of using deontic logic automated provers that I will try to find. Pretty sure I saved it.

Ok, OP again to answer my first question:

Salt dissolves because it has a negative solvation enthalpy. Entropy does play a role in solvation however, as it can allow some substances with a positive solvation enthalpy to dissolve anyway.

? System have as many states as possible? I dont think I can buy that. All systems favor low energy states, and I would bet that the state of salt dissolved(& dissociated) in water would be the lowest energy state. Since both the na and cl ion would have there octets full. What other states are there?
And my understand of bp is that it is raised due to having a solute at all. That solute takes uP space, which reduces the space available at the surface of the solvent for it to release. Id like to know more about all this, never heard it explained using entropy

http://www.4college.co.uk/a/O/entsurr.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colligative_properties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_%27t_Hoff_factor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling-point_elevation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freezing-point_depression
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eutectic_system

>>65

Tends towards as the state with as many (equal-energy) states as possible, because atoms don't know how to go home. They will "wander off"

yup, take R with this metric:

d(x,y)= |x-y|, if (x=1/k for some k in N or if x=0) and (y=1/s for some s or y=0)
and 2 otherwise

zero is the only accumulation point.

http://amasci.com/amateur/holo1.html

Make a genuine hologram with no exotic materials or tools.

woah holy fuck i remember that game

please tell me what it was called. i used to play it in the movie theatre while waiting for a movie.

that thing was a quarter vortex

>>22
Amazing.

>>28
Time Traveler.

I dont think this counts as efficiency in the general sense, I.e. it doesnt produce more energy than it takes in. I think this 'efficiency' is the photovoltaic equivalent to the coefficient of performance in heat pumps.

>>23
But that's not HALF as eye-catching.
As with most of these amazing advances in technology though, how long before it trickles down to us consumers?

>>23
Yeah I'd say it's 114% of the efficiency that a perfect Carnot engine would get probably. That's still a pretty big deal.

I'm assuming you're not from North America and that the tests you're referring to are similar to the GRE. If so, there are books dedicated to helping you study for the GRE and, presumably, any other standard test out there. Read through one of those. Discrete math (graph theory, aspects of number theory and abstract algebra), algorithms, computation theory, programming languages, operating systems, and a few other topics will probably be fair game for test questions.

Also, why are you dropping out?

What a weird question. You're basically asking what it would take for a rope to snap. The EVA astronaut would be unable to return if they didn't have enough thruster capacity to return to the craft and if the craft was unable to move towards the astronaut. Maybe there isn't enough reaction mass on the craft to safely accomplish the feat, or enough energy, or maybe it would put the craft dangerously off course.

SAGE has been used.

It wouldn't be dangerous unless the astronaut pushes against the hull while untethered. While outside the ship, the space walker is going to be moving at the same speed as the ship and ideally wouldn't leave handhold range.

>>10
You could always compress some stuff and store it on Dropbox or various forms of physical media in your home.

Just use some of these. Everybody has some old floppies laying around somewhere.

>>13
He might as well go for videotape then.
Cheaper, easier to find and amazing life storage.

DVDs are completely underestimated

DVDs, tape drive. Problem solved.

I started tutoring people this year, and its really really hard to not have it devolve into just doing their work for them. I don't really mind that much but I have no idea what to do about it.

The only thing I've figure out is that apparently its helpful to talk about proof methods rather than problems and to have a good grasp on set theoretical foundations. Oh, and also that its generally good to ask lots of questions, and check pretty often that what you're saying and how you figured it out is clear.

I don't know if there really is anything to explain about x^2 though. It's just the notation, there isn't really much to do but memorize it.

I've devoted a good portion of my life to teaching math and only recently have I started my career as a professional tutor. However, because I've been doing this for a very long time, I must say I haven't run into the same troubles OP has gone through.

It's very common for people to memorize mathematical rules rather than understand what they are and how they work. Eventually there comes a time where this practice comes back to bite them in the rear, like when they mix up their mental rules of adding coefficients versus adding exponents. You have to be prepared to explain everything you do step by step whenever you show them an example or show how they should work a problem. Remember the power of normal numbers. Even in college some people are captured by the idea that variables have this magical property that makes them behave differently than 'normal' numbers. Whenever you see someone struggling to follow your work from step A to step B, simplify every aspect of the step with its arithmetical equivalent until they understand. If that means you have to prove that x^4 is different from 4x using arithmetic, then so be it.

The whole 'further point' idea is very good. It's always nice to provide some motivation for a student to succeed in their studies, but tread cautiously with it. I know some people that would mentally shut down if I ever strayed from the path of what was relevant to their set of problems. The person was sharp, don't get me wrong, but they simply couldn't handle too much information at once.

One of my major worries is helping people too much with their homework. I'm afraid of being used as a crutch to help someone hobble through a class without their complete understanding of the material. At the very least I shoot for their being able to competently take tests and answer questions even if they're forced by time or circumstance to memorize a formula or process.

I'm surprised at the amount of tutors here. If I may ask, what do you request for your pay?

I'm dirt cheap, about 10 dollars an hour. The school I work for pays me less, though.

>>70
I charge $15 Canadian. or equivalent trees.
I've seen people advertise for up to like 35, 40 dollars, which seems kind of crazy. I'd feel bad charging that much, which maybe sounds dumb

SAGE has been used.

>>70
OP here, only done it once, so I haven't charged anything. I think there's a benefit to charging for both people, which is that everyone takes it more seriously. I'd be more inclined to prepare ahead of time on what they're working on, if I were being paid. Otherwise I'm happy to help, but I'm probably not going much further than answering questions that come up while we're together. Likewise, they probably won't mind if we quit early or get sidetracked.

After I get some volunteer experience in, I plan to charge 10-20 USD, depending on who it is, their level, and transportation.

All people who have successfully completed elementary school should be able to use mathematical tools for not only pre-requisite rote knowledge but as a creative tool as well.

All people who have successfully completed elementary school should be able to use mathematical tools for not only pre-requisite rote knowledge but as a creative tool as well.

I know so deeply that their feelings aren't founded on any kind of understanding about what they're talking about, so mostly I just feel bad for them. Outwardly, I take it as an opportunity to get all "language of patterns, science of infinity", which I've gotten pretty good at because every other day someone next to me on the bus/train sees me doing calc and is like "OH GOD I AM GLAD I DON'T HAFTA DO THAT LOL" Every single time has ended with them being like "hey, that's pretty cool actually."

Don't get mad, just manipulate reality.

>>64

This is a great approach. Thank you for being so level-headed about it all.

I tutor maths at a junior high school. So I work with a lot of students who are just learning if they're partial to math even a small bit or if they feel like they have no reason what-so-ever to learn it. Incidentally the many of the students in the latter category are failing their classes and trying to motivate them with something other than "you need to know this in order to go to high school" is a complicated task. At such times I fantasize about a better math education for students like this that can show them that everyone in spirit is a mathematician.

Like >>64 explained, I think presenting elementary concepts in more "advaned" maths to people who aren't techincally savvy is a good approach to opening them up at least a bit. eg I'm the first person in my family who went to college and when they learned I wanted to study math they were rather turned off. One day, however, by brother who studies english and philosophy asked me about how "advanced" math is done and how research is done if it's so abstract. I explained deductive and abstract reasoning to him and illustrated it with basic geometric examples from Group Theory. Surprisingly he took it really well when he learned that it wasn't as esoteric as he had previously thought it would be. And he hated his last math class, elementary algebra/ precalculus. So even he, in spirit, is a mathematician and I find that rather encouraging as an aspiring mathematician myself.

implicit functions

spectral sequences

I've thought about this a lot. You have to reconcile the traditional ideas of ritual and repetition with the fact that higher maths disregards a lot of that.

The followers could be scheduled to wake and do problems, could be understood to give tutoring (always free, or in exchange for lodging/food) when asked.

hidden markov models

Significant results and cultural popularity in short. With respect; i believe secrecy would diminish the effective influence of a modern math group unless you can collaborate with a group of elite mathematicians pursuing a genuinely unique and important style/field of study that would cause significant cultural or political change. (such as greek pythagoreans)
A group that developed tools and systems able to bridge the gap between right and left brain hemispheres modes of analysis and could produce interactive works of art and mathematical creative tools could marshall the power of two types of creative geniuses. In the spirit of steve jobs, (just as he used the sophistication of technology to create elegant devices that enhance the lives of people) the artists/animators and mathematicians/philosophers would be able to use systems created by engineers to illustrate and elaborate the mathematical intuitions of the interested public and math "cult" members.
In summary, apps and interactive events that would allow any mathematical insight, musical or visual artistic event to be transformed easily and powerfully into a "complex" that in turn could inform and inspire further mathematical insights, or philosophical, musical riffs.
I do not necessarily favor one type of program tthat is improved upon and anyone can use; but more so a set of connection protocols that are determined by the community