Recent Posts - page 125

  • What's the matter with kids today?

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    Those of us of a certain age recall a song from the musical Bye Bye Birdie (originally a Broadway show starting in 1959, subsequently a movie): “What’s the matter with kids today?” The song was written 48 years ago, but… Read More ›

  • No driver's license? Something must be wrong!

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    In a tone of shock and amazement, one of my sophomores asked me, “Did you hear that our new principal doesn’t have a driver’s license?” Several of his classmates chipped in, in a similar tone. Apparently this was supposed to… Read More ›

  • The exam controversy continues

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    A month ago, almost to the day, I posted an entry entitled, “Can exams reduce stress and be otherwise helpful?” I cited the following advantages to a dedicated final exam period: On a given day, students can focus on one… Read More ›

  • Miniature worlds

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    Check out the great photos at <legnangel.livejournal.com/564026.html>. I wish I could read the Russian text, but maybe Boris can help. Anyway, the question for me is why this collection resonates for me at several different levels. For one, the miniature… Read More ›

  • Sel de la Terre

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    Just got back from Sel de la Terre. Highly recommended for a wonderful birthday dinner with that Provençal flavor.

  • Graphing aids

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    There are several blogs that I read regularly. One of my favorites is Learning Curves, by the pseudonymous math professor Rudbeckia Hirta. She goes to some lengths to hide her real name, as well as the the name of the… Read More ›

  • Bars, gates, & a ticket of admission

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    Almost 25 years ago, my friend and colleague Phil Lewis wrote an article for Kaleidoscopes called (if memory serves) “Subject to Gates and Bars.” If I were better organized, I would be able to find that article; Phil always describes… Read More ›

  • No slow service from Apple

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    Tuesday afternoon at 4:20 — I took my iBook to the Cambridge Apple Store, having made an appointment earlier in the day at the so-called Genius Bar. (CDs and DVDs were ejecting less than 50% of the time. Worse yet,… Read More ›

  • Win the lottery: what a good idea!

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    All I can do is shake my head in amazement: About one out of five Americans believe that winning the lottery is the most practical way of attaining personal wealth, according to a survey released in January by the Financial… Read More ›

  • The Harvard Coup

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    No, that’s not a typo. I don’t mean the Harvard Coop; I’m referring to the forced resignation of Harvard President Larry Summers, which Alan Dershowitz rightly calls a coup. Definitely read Dershowitz’s column! I do have a certain bias in… Read More ›

  • Finally TiVo

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    So we finally gave in and got a TiVo box. I think it was a recommendation by Ira Glass that did the track. Most of the setup was painless, but it’s been very frustrating trying to connect it to our… Read More ›

  • The soul-stealing iPod and fuzzy math

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    Does the iPod steal music’s soul? Do these numbers make sense? Here are the views of Tony Brummel, founder of Victory Records: iTunes “makes music disposable. It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul,” according to Macworld… Read More ›

  • Redefining our major curriculum units

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    Early in April, our entire math department will be participating in a workshop on “redefining our major curriculum units”. At this point I have some very preliminary thoughts, some of which I’ve discussed here previously: Many mathematical applications that are… Read More ›

  • Inflammatory headline in Boston Globe

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    Today’s Boston Globe reports on the appointment of new principals to both of the high schools in Newton. One candidate, Jennifer Price, had been a finalist for the position at Weston, though she was not the one ultimately chosen. (See… Read More ›

  • The Bookman’s Promise

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    I’m currently reading The Bookman’s Promise, another Cliff Janeway mystery by John Dunning. If you don’t know this series, run to the nearest library or bookstore — at least if you love books. Dunning’s protagonist is a bookman, defined in… Read More ›

  • Throwing money at it

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    How we can solve the dismal state of so many of our schools that are educationally inadequate? We all know that throwing money at the problem won’t help, don’t we? “Throwing money at the problem isn’t going to help,” says… Read More ›

  • Bill Gates Redux

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    We don’t have to like Bill Gates, and we certainly don’t have to like Microsoft, but we do have to admit that Gates has changed. He’s making an impact by doing fine work as a philanthropist, and occasionally he’s even… Read More ›

  • The Anglo-Irish Murders

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    I’ve just finished listening to an audiobook, The Anglo-Irish Murders, by the Irish author Ruth Dudley Edwards. Rates a cautious thumbs-up from where I stand. But I learned from a former boss that where you stand depends on where you… Read More ›

  • Bush & Barbie

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    On February 3, President Bush was addressing a crowd at Intel concerning the importance of studying math and science: A lot of people probably think math and science isn’t meant for me — you know, it seems a little hard,… Read More ›

  • Personal responsibility

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    An interesting resonance among four recent but different news and/or entertainment items: Last month, students in a certain well-regarded suburban high school report that “other kids” (of course it’s always other kids) have been selling or giving Ritalin to their… Read More ›