I just got another assignment to write some math problems. Topics include using data analysis and probability, performing systemic listing and counting with matrices and vertex-edge graphs, factoring higher-order polynomials, exploring Euclid’s five postulates, recognizing when an algebraic expression is undefined, working with linear functions, and investigating triangles. These problems should keep me busy all the way through June.

Also, I was having some serious problems with my computer running slowly when surfing the internet, but since I switched from Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox, all of my problems have disappeared. I’m now a Firefox convert!

Tags: math, mathematics, Mozilla Firefox, Firefox

Click here for a math exercise from FoxTrot. At the top of the left pane is a series of numbers. By figuring out the math problems in the key below, you can determine the number that corresponds to each letter of the alphabet. Then you can substitute the appropriate letter into the series of numbers above to decode the message. The hardest math problem shown is probably the one for letter ‘Q,’ since you need to know a little calculus to figure it out. However, the good news is that the letter ‘Q’ isn’t used in the message, so you don’t need to know how to do this problem to complete the exercise. Note: The answer for letter ‘Q’ is twenty-four.

Tags: math, mathematics, FoxTrot

I recently read the books Rigged by Ben Mezrich and Relentless Pursuit by Donna Foote. Relentless Pursuit profiles four teachers in the Teach For America program. It also talks a lot about Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America. One of the most famous alumni of Teach For America is Michelle Rhee, chancellor of the District of Columbia public school system and founder of The New Teacher Project, a program similar to Teach for America.

In addition, just this last weekend I saw the movie Sugar. It’s about a minor league baseball player from the Dominican Republic. It’s a very good movie, but it’s not really about baseball. Go see it if you're interested in how many of the players who you see on TV came to be there.

Tags: book, books, Rigged, Ben Mezrich, Relentless Pursuit, Donna Foote, Teach For America, Wendy Kopp, Michelle Rhee, The New Teacher Project

I’ve been hearing a lot about Twitter lately. Here is what Wikipedia says about Twitter:

Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or external applications. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.

It seemed a little strange to me, so I looked at the Twitter page of someone I find interesting – Lance Armstrong. No offense to Lance, but his Twitter page is boring. I don’t really understand why people find Twitter so interesting. There’s no context whatsoever. It’s just a bunch of simple statements saying, “I did this,” or “I did that.” If you think this blog is boring, try taking a look at someone’s Twitter page!

Tags: Twitter, Lance Armstrong

I recently completed a contract to write twenty-six multiple-choice math problems. Some of the topics included using origin-centered dilations to describe and investigate similarities among geometric objects, analyzing how changes in dimensions affect the perimeters and areas of quadrilaterals and regular polygons, analyzing how a change in the radius affects the circumference and area of a circle, applying the properties of central angles, inscribed angles, and arcs of circles to solve problems, finding the sum of two vectors, and applying congruence and similarity relationships among geometric objects to solve problems. This was a good client to do work for, and I hope for more contracts from them in the future.

Tags: math, mathematics

Yesterday I finished the Capital City Half Marathon in 1:31:51. That’s a pace of 7:01 per mile. We had perfect weather, and I really enjoyed the course, since there were some big downhills near the end. That was only the third half marathon I’ve ever run. The last one was the Mardi Gras Half Marathon in New Orleans on February 1st of this year, and my time there was 1:32:59. That had been my best time in the half marathon, so I beat my previous best time by over one minute. The half marathon is a very different kind of race than the marathon. It’s more about speed, and less about endurance. Since I don’t have much natural speed, I think I prefer the marathon over the half marathon. Still, I had a lot of fun yesterday.

Tags: marathon, marathons, Mardi Gras Half Marathon, Capital City Half Marathon, running