Abstractions

Wow! That's all a person can say. Wow.

Yesterday I discovered that a class I wanted to take next term wasn't going to be offered next term but it was being offered this term and the class that I was taking this term WAS being offered next term so theoretically I could drop the class I'm currently taking and pick up the other class, even though it's two weeks into the term.

Whew.

The class I wanted to take was Advanced Calculus, and it sort of threw me when I found it wasn't offered. So I e-mailed the prof and sat in on the class today. My goodness, you just are amazed at what they were talking about.

The lecture was on ... oh I don't know. Really, I don't. Defining "unique", 1-to-1, and "onto." Proving that there is a countable set of real and rational numbers. Proving that there is a set of uncountable numbers (though no one knows where the set of countable numbers stops and the uncountables start). Just ridiculous stuff.

I'm glad I'm going into Statistics instead of Mathematics.

Combinatorics

There's a branch of mathematics called combinatorics, which is essentially the science of counting. Sounds pretty simple, eh? But it ain't, not by a long shot.

Most "practical" mathematics solutions can be obtained by procedures or algorithms. Multiplying, algebra, even calculus, if you learn the procedure, you can do the math. But combinatorics isn't like that. A professor that I had called it the "thinking man's mathematics" because you can't rely on a step-by-step method to solve the problem.

Here's an example of a counting problem, very similar to one that I had in a homework problem. Let's say you were going to buy a computer. Say they come in 4 different colors, with 5 different screen sizes, and 3 different keyboard styles. How many total computer combinations are there?

A. 4 x 5 x 3 = 60 different combinations

Here and There

I used my old 2000 Linn-Benton CC Identification Card as a straightedge today and I realized I was wearing the same shirt today as I was on that picture. What does that say about me?

Taco Bell's slogan right now is, "Think outside the bun." Someone gave me a pack of their hot sauce, and on the front it said something like: "The road to mediocrity is littered with empty ketchup packets." I categorically reject and deny that. I mean, come on. Salsa comes from tomatos, ketchup comes from tomatos. Can't we all just get along?

I've had this conversation before, but good-bye's are just awkward. I can hardly bring a phone conversation to a close, let alone comfortably stop talking to a just-met stranger.

Ctrl + S (or its cousin: Alt + F, S)

Becomes second nature. It's like a subconscious spasm almost.

Write a little bit. Ctrl + S. Think. Ctrl + S. Think some more. Ctrl + S. If it could be an obsession, I'm bordering on it.

That's great and all. Every computer user knows one should save work often. But there are two cases where this backfires. First, let's say you're programming or working in Excel and you discover you changed something in your file that you've decided shouldn't have been changed. If you've Ctrl + S'd, the program won't let you undo your work. The other issue is when you're working in a file that's really big, because every time you save it takes 15 seconds for the computer to calm down, which gets annoying.

Jokes about Stupid People

I was thinking, it's interesting that you hear jokes about "stupid" educated people, but never about stupid farmers or framers or truck drivers. Course, I know there's plenty of those out there (the classic, Urban U is beating Rural U so Urban U fans take out their keys, shake them, and chant, "Start your tractor, start your tractor..."), and generally you wouldn't expect to hear "stupid farmer" jokes told by a farmer, but I almost sense insecurity in the fact that people tell "stupid college graduate" jokes. You know? Like, why would you denigrate a class of people if you weren't intimidated or insecure about them in some way?

That's not to say that they should be made intimidated and insecure by me, a college graduate. They shouldn't. Truly, I am intimidated and insecure at times about the amazing stuff farmers and handymen can do.

Ok, here's the joke, you've probably heard it before. And it doesn't bother me, honest:

A man comes to a farmer in search of a job. The farmer says, Sure, here's a broom, go over and sweep that building.

The man says, Sir, you don't understand. I'm a college graduate.

The farmer says, Please, just go over and sweep the building.

The man again says, Sir, you...you don't understand, I'm a college graduate.

The farmer frowns slightly, but repeats. Please, if you want a job, just go over and sweep that building.

The man is exasperated, and says the third time, SIR, you REALLY don't underSTAND. I'M a college GRADuate.

The farmer looks at him and his face lights up. Ohhhhhh, I see. In that case, here, let me show you how.

Yeas & Nays

A shameless rip-off of the Barometer's weekly editorial of the same name (type in "Yeas and Nays"), sans crassness.

Yea for free food.

Nay for me eating at 1:45 when there was free hot dogs, cookies, vegetables, chips, and soda at 4. How stupid can I be?!?!

Yea for Day 1 away from home.

Nay for Day 60.

Yea to problems that take 7 hours to run on a super-fast computer. That is a lot of computation, complexity, and code!

Nay to problems that take 7 hours to run on a super-fast computer. Imagine if Microsoft Word took that long to start up!

Yea to specialty. In general, the more education you get, the more specialized you become. It's cool, if you enjoy your specialty.

Nay to specialty. With specialization comes boxes. You get stuck in a box. "He's a facilities guy." "She's a process-control expert." With boxes come limitations in job opportunities. Think about it, if you have a high-school diploma, you can work at anything from framing to farming, with a little work and luck (I guess in the case of farming, a lot of luck--or farming parents). If you have a PhD in Aerospace Engineering, you're likely not going to be able to get that Anthropology research grant you've been dreaming of.

Nay to specialty again. Especially if you've lived in a rural setting. If you want to be a part of an organization that is complex enough to require your specific area of expertise, you probably will have to move to the big city.

Yea for mom's cooking.

Yea for the Thai. What a gentle, uplifting people they are, at least from my experience, which is limited, I realize.

More Yeas than Nays, but then, I'm a pretty upbeat guy.

List of things I wish I could do.

-Write for the Barometer
-Sing in the OSU Chamber Choir
-Sing in the LBCC Chamber Choir (which I've decided against, at the moment)

I think I'm capable of any of these things. It comes down to time, mostly. Maybe next term I'll get on the Barometer. That'd be great.

This points to a needed diversification of my life perhaps.

If you double 2, what do you have?

If 2 is increased 200%, what do you have?