Week #13

A new extra credit problem has been posted and is worth 10 points towards your quiz grades. It's due on Monday, November 22 29, 2004 at 8:30 a.m..

Yes, you can use your black obelisk (i.e. your calculator.), but only after you've enjoyed some fire cooked meat (sincere apology to any vegetarians, I respect you more than you'll ever know.).

Although I'd rate Kubrick's adaption of Clark's literary masterpiece one of the finest movies ever made, most see it as a complete and utter bore. However, I think many of you might find the beginning scenes quite humorous, especially after you see how our early ancestors were able to excel after being visited by the black obelisk -- again, we need to thank Mr. Lin for holding up the black obelisk in class, and then seeing others unearth their own personal versions of the black obelisk. What's especially weird about 2001: A Space Odyssey, is that modern man has lost control of his tools, whereas our early ancestors were able to use them quite effectively. So here goes my stern warning -- LEARN YOUR TOOLS OR THEY WILL BE TAKEN FROM YOU! Watch the movie and see how the human-designed tools worked against their human designers.

In any case, enjoy the Thanksgiving break.

Week #12

"God made the integers, and all the rest is the work of man." -- Leopold Kronecker (1823-1891)

I once thought that too, but I was then exposed to optimization problems where the solution set was restricted to the integers. As you know our solutions are not restricted to the integers, but are instead allowed to be any physically reasonably real number. However, in real optimization problems it is often unrealistic to talk about solutions that are not integers. For example, when FedEx is buying planes to ship items they cannot purchase 1.3 planes. So, some may reason that they should just round off. Not so. Try this simple problem (pre-calc, no calculus involved):

Maximize:
x₁ + 0.64x₂
Subject to the following constraints:
50x₁ + 31x₂ <= 250
3x₁ - 2x₂ >= -4
x₁, x₂ >=0

The solution when x is not restricted to the integers is (376/193, 950/193), but if we have to restrict x to integer values only, the solution is (5, 0) which is a long way off from (376/193, 950/193).

What's the point? Don't think you can willy nilly round to get answers that are integers!

Week #11

Please, everyone should pay careful attention to the fire-alarm. When it sounds you should exit the building. I know many of you were surprised that I asked you to leave the room, but you should leave the room no matter what. And keep this in mind, on 9/11 people made it to the ground level and then returned to their offices because they were told to do so. YOU NEED TO USE YOUR HEAD! When an alarm goes off you should only assume that there's a fire (or worse) and leave the building.


Here's the homework that most missed due to the early exit.

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Essex County Job Fair -- Wednesday, November 17, 2004 -- ECC's 4th Floor Multi Purpose Room -- 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m
The Career Resource Center, Training, Inc. and Regional Business Partnership are sponsoring an Essex County Job Fair at Essex County College. They expect to have more than thirty companies and employment agencies represented. Flyers and banners have been posted around the buildings.

It is very important, if you decide to attend, that you dress appropriately and have a presentable resume. The job fair is Wednesday, November 17, 2004 in the 4th Floor Multi Purpose Room from 12:00 noon until 3:00 p.m..

There's a moment in everyone's life where they become aware that life is just plain peculiar, but for most this passes with time, and normalcy usually returns. As one of my teachers once lamented: "You'll forget how utterly peculiar this stuff is, but you'll be better off for trying to learn it." In any case, I think you'll come to realize that studying mathematics may have no application to your success or failure in life, but you'll become indelibly stained by thinking about it. Here's hoping that the stain of mathematical thought will blend over time, and that you will not lose sight of other, equally important areas of thought.

Wow, if you got this far I am glad. Also, since you seem to be reading along, I want to again encourage people to stop by and discuss their grades, especially if you got a warning. I hate sending out warnings, but ECC really makes a big effort to do so. Please don’t despair!

Week #9 - eiπ

Okay, okay! Enough already, maybe I'm being too demanding when it comes to writing exams, but I need some reasoned feedback if I am to change. So please consider giving some anonymous criticism on my testing/grading procedures. Anyway, I'd also like to encourage anyone to stop by and discuss any issues they may have with the course.

I've redone the extra credit section in the sidebar and I'm sorry some of you were confused with what was assigned. Again, feedback about the BLOG design is appreciated, including complaints about content.

This week I don't have much else to say. Well, I guess I could rant on, but I won't.

Grade listing (raw scores without extra credits points added on) from high to low are: 93, 93, 93, 90, 87, 87, 84, 84, 73, 68, 64, 63, 58, 55, 55, 52, 50, 48, 40, 33, 33, 30, 22, 22, 17, 15, 13, 10. Please don't despair, just try to correct your errors and do better next time. Also, be alert for more extra credits.