I finished the chapter I was writing on exponential and absolute value functions, and now I’m working on a chapter involving quadratic functions. Topics include converting between standard and vertex form, graphing transformations of quadratic functions, characteristics of quadratic functions, solving simple quadratic equations graphically, exploring arithmetic series, and exploring sequences of partial sums of arithmetic series. It might sound like the last two topics don’t fit in with the rest, but if graphed, the partial sums of an arithmetic series form a parabola, which is the graph of a quadratic function.

Also, I just finished the book The Runner by David Samuels. I might not have time to read many more books in the near future, though, because I just got a part-time job tutoring students on the ACT, which will keep me very busy.

Tags: math, mathematics, The Runner, David Samuels, book, books

I recently saw the film Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. I tried hard to like this movie, but I couldn’t identify with Hunter Thompson at all. Apparently this guy had (and still has, even after his death) a very large following, but I really can’t understand why. The only thing I found remotely interesting in the film was the coverage of the 1972 presidential election, especially given what’s going on in the USA right now.

Also, today I applied to run the Tokyo Marathon. The marathon has a lottery system, and the automated e-mail that I got back after applying said that applicants will be notified of the lottery results in mid-November. I had thought we’d find out in October, but I guess I’ll have to wait an extra month. Hopefully, I’ll get lucky.

Tags: Gonzo, Hunter Thompson, marathon, marathons, Tokyo Marathon, running

I finished the chapter I was writing on complex numbers, and now I’m working on a chapter involving exponential and absolute value functions. Topics include solving absolute value equations graphically, solving absolute value inequalities analytically and graphically, characteristics of exponential functions, graphing transformations of exponential functions, solving simple exponential equations and inequalities analytically, and solving simple exponential equations and inequalities graphically. As you can probably tell from the list of topics I’m working on, I’m doing a lot of graphing. The graphing program I use is completely free and can be downloaded here. There are a few very minor bugs I’ve noticed, but basically it can do everything I need it to do. If you’re interested in math, check it out!

Tags: math, mathematics

I recently finished writing questions on combinations of functions for one of my clients. Topics included sums and differences of functions, products of functions, compositions of functions, and modelling with functions. Now I’m working on the big contract that I signed that’s going to take me through the end of August. It’s a test-prep book for the Georgia End-of-Course Test. Topics I’m working on now include writing square roots of negative numbers in imaginary form, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing complex numbers, and simplifying expressions involving complex numbers. Contrary to what their name implies, complex numbers aren’t complex at all! Click here for more information. Note: Don’t read anything below “The field of complex numbers.” That’s way more complicated than what I’m writing about.

Tags: math, mathematics

Well, I finally upgraded to Microsoft Word 2002. Previously I was using Microsoft Word 97, and it was doing everything I needed it to do, so there really wasn’t any need to upgrade. However, last weekend, I encountered a bug that caused Word 97 to crash when trying to save a document after adding a matrix. I actually lost some work (thankfully not very much), but it was painful enough that I immediately went to eBay and purchased Word 2002 as part of Microsoft Works Suite 2003. (Don’t ask me why they put Word 2002 in Works Suite 2003.) Anyway, it wasn’t very expensive, and now that I’ve upgraded, hopefully I’ll never lose any work like that again. Since I upgraded to Word 2002 in 2008, I estimate that my next upgrade will be to Word 2007 in 2013.

Tags: Microsoft Word 2002, Word 2002