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☖ Forums → Discussion Forum → Computer Science and Math and Stuff
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Computer Science and Math and Stuff
2018-09-04, 5:09 PM #1121
That site (and the rest of the web) may well be full of racist people. All I'm saying that in the case of Terry Davis (who as far as I know had nothing to do with that site), the allusions being made there are to his own racist remarks, but which can probably be attributed at least in part to his schizophrenia, and as such are not to be taken seriously.

I probably should have just linked to the original Hacker News submission that linked there (but that's the story that was submitted).
2018-09-11, 8:49 PM #1122
Grad school is the only place where I can work for 10 hours on grounds, go home, eat with roommates, and then feel guilty for taking a break from studying.
2018-09-12, 1:35 AM #1123
https://mobile.twitter.com/angus_stafford/status/992072545984655362?s=09
2018-09-12, 1:36 AM #1124
Originally posted by Reid:
Grad school is the only place where I can work for 10 hours on grounds, go home, eat with roommates, and then feel guilty for taking a break from studying.


lol, look at this guy who’s never worked at a startup
2018-09-12, 8:57 AM #1125
An older friend of mine is the director of IT at fairly well known startup. He got a grand total of three days of vacation last year, one of which he used to attend his son's graduation. During the ceremony he got a text message, which upon receiving he promptly got up and left (in order to go back to his hotel and take care of some urgent work, of course).
2018-09-12, 12:00 PM #1126
Originally posted by Jon`C:
lol, look at this guy who’s never worked at a startup


I 10000% would speak to a couple talented friends of mine and start my own software company if I had the time. I chose the life of being a poor nerd over possibly having lots of money.
2018-09-12, 12:07 PM #1127
The Chad Applied Computer Scientist... best part is you never even have to work, just punch in your code to Wolfram alpha and you'll be the next Zuckerberg

2018-09-12, 12:11 PM #1128
I'd rather just be a programmer than study applied mathematics, tbh. I don't want to spend all day fiddling with software to see what happens to a PDE. I already know more than enough mathematics for most programming applications, anyway.
2018-09-12, 12:14 PM #1129
Pure mathematics is much more useful for programming (language theory (and practice (Haskell (and languages that steal things from it (like Scala (and then... Java)))))) anyway.
2018-09-12, 12:20 PM #1130
Also according to /r/math, the virgin / chad meme is from "incels", so I apologize for showing you guys that.
2018-09-12, 1:06 PM #1131
yeah there's a few mems areount here at the moment that are beneath the standards of massassi
2018-09-12, 1:12 PM #1132
a fraternity brother showed me that one. :/

He told me that everyone in his fraternity used the word "cuck" all over the place.

(to clarify: I'm not the one who was in the fraternity, he was)
2018-09-12, 2:14 PM #1133
i love cucking and being cucked by my brehs, no homo but we're very erotically connected
2018-09-16, 10:56 PM #1134
Get `yer Musk Reads

2018-09-17, 6:19 AM #1135
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
Get `yer Musk Reads


>sign up for musk updates you need to know about

>nothing is ever sent
2018-09-20, 12:19 PM #1136
Fun fact: in the 16th century, before numerical powers were a thing, the 16th power was called the "zenzizenzizenzizenzike", which "doeth represent the square of squares squaredly squared". I find this endlessly amusing.
2018-10-02, 3:50 PM #1137
Hey students, plz remember ∞/∞ and 0/0 are indeterminant forms. I beg of you...
2018-10-27, 12:38 PM #1138
I struggle with the acronyms students have. It seems everybody learns something different, too. Conversations often go like this:

"Okay let's simplify (x-5)(x-7) now. What do we do?"

"FOIL!"

"Uhh.. can you explain to me how that works mathematically?"

Often they aren't common things though and I hear stuff like:

"Use the TODFNAK method!"

Like.. what are they teaching students in grade school? Is "FOIL" really easier to remember than "distribution"?
2018-10-27, 12:46 PM #1139
FOIL is certainly easier to teach to children.
2018-10-27, 1:39 PM #1140
FOIL is an algorithm, and algorithms are mathematics too.

There was also "new math" in the 60's, where it was argued that kids should learn definitions before they know the relevant algorithms. Needless to say this was received terribly. Oliver Heaviside said that mathematics is an experimental science, and that the definitions come later, not first. This certainly is true for learning--how can a student appreciate just why a definition is a good one if they know nothing about the material the definition clarifies? The answer, of course, is only by years of training to begin to appreciate the abstract point of view, to the point that they, as mathematicians, can expect to learn a new topic from very abstract treatments. Of course there's a reason high school geometry is supposed to be the first exposure students have to this: because it relies on visual intuition as a fallback to the abstract approach!
2018-10-27, 1:39 PM #1141
I guess I'm just at that transition point where they're moving on from that.
2018-10-27, 1:41 PM #1142
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
FOIL is an algorithm, and algorithms are mathematics too.

There was also "new math" in the 60's, where it was argued that kids should learn definitions before they know the relevant algorithms. Needless to say this was received terribly. Oliver Heaviside said that mathematics is an experimental science, and that the definitions come later, not first. This certainly is true for learning--how can a student appreciate just why a definition is a good one if they know nothing about the material the definition clarifies? The answer, of course, is only by years of training to begin to appreciate the abstract point of view, to the point that they, as mathematicians, can expect to learn a new topic from very abstract treatments. Of course there's a reason high school geometry is supposed to be the first exposure students have to this: because it relies on visual intuition as a fallback to the abstract approach!


I get that, I just don't know what any of the acronyms are. I've had to have them explain to me things like "FOIL" or the hi di lo mnemonic. It's been so long since I've thought in that way that there's a gap between how I think of math and they do, and it's something I just deal with when teaching.
2018-10-27, 1:43 PM #1143
If they appreciated the abstract approach of high school geometry or real analysis, then yes, they should move on.

Of course, calculus is also quite algorithmic!

[quote=Charles Pugh]Was plane geometry your favourite math course in high school? Did you like proving theorems? Are you sick of memorising integrals? If so, real analysis could be your cup of tea. In contrast to calculus and elementary algebra, it involves neither formula manipulation nor applications to other fields of science. None. It is Pure Mathematics, and it is sure to appeal to the budding pure mathematician. [/quote]
2018-10-27, 1:45 PM #1144
Originally posted by Reid:
I get that, I just don't know what any of the acronyms are. I've had to have them explain to me things like "FOIL" or the hi di lo mnemonic. It's been so long since I've thought in that way that there's a gap between how I think of math and they do, and it's something I just deal with when teaching.


I guess you don't remember what middle school algebra was like then.
2018-10-27, 1:48 PM #1145
There are merits to mnemonic devices-in particular, for cases in which what is being memorized is a completely arbitrary convention.

In particular, do you have a more "mathematical" way to get people to remember operator precedence than to say "PPMA", or " Parentheses, Powers, Multiplication, Addition"?
2018-10-28, 1:48 PM #1146
IBM just bought Red Hat.


RIP.
2018-10-28, 1:48 PM #1147
Sure hope there aren't any 40 year olds working at Red Hat lmbo
2018-10-28, 2:21 PM #1148
Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
I guess you don't remember what middle school algebra was like then.


No I don't, lol.

Originally posted by Reverend Jones:
There are merits to mnemonic devices-in particular, for cases in which what is being memorized is a completely arbitrary convention.

In particular, do you have a more "mathematical" way to get people to remember operator precedence than to say "PPMA", or " Parentheses, Powers, Multiplication, Addition"?


I don't have to teach operator order, so no. I know how it works and can deal with them because of the ring axioms, literally.

I'm not in any way suggesting they should be taught differently, I'm just expressing that I have some difficulty in overcoming the differences, lol.
2018-10-28, 2:32 PM #1149
Ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny.

Mathematics is said to obliterate its own history through later, superior, but more abstract, treatments.

Hence it's not suprising to observe the problem that academics sometimes also obliterate their personal pedagogic history, and thus have trouble relating to students (to the extent that they remain lazy teachers).
2018-10-29, 6:38 PM #1150
Originally posted by saberopus:
i love cucking and being cucked by my brehs, no homo but we're very erotically connected

you joke but its a lot of fun
Epstein didn't kill himself.
2018-10-29, 7:33 PM #1151
Originally posted by Spook:
you joke but its a lot of fun

yeah I heard about you and gary
2018-10-29, 9:08 PM #1152
Originally posted by Steven:
yeah I heard about you and gary


lmao I like how you managed to pick the name of one of my friends I have not engaged in any cuckold type behavior with lmao did you ever make detective?
Epstein didn't kill himself.
2018-10-29, 9:18 PM #1153
no I wouldn't smoke the Lt's pole so I got busted back down to boot
2018-10-30, 8:59 AM #1154
too bad, you could have cucked his boyfriend
Epstein didn't kill himself.
2018-10-30, 9:13 AM #1155
...
huh?
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2018-10-30, 9:20 AM #1156
Hi, Tenshu! Did you know your name is an anagram of "he nuts"?
2018-10-30, 9:25 AM #1157
I'm at a loss for words.

None of my maths classes ever went like this.
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2018-10-30, 10:02 AM #1158
All if my classes at Clayton Forrester Junior College School of Xenoarchaology and Cryptozoology were exactly like this
2018-11-01, 8:31 PM #1159
Logarithms and exponentials are pretty hard to teach. You just have to think about them until they make sense..
2018-11-01, 9:55 PM #1160
What about 0⁰?
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