Nah, I’m kidding, of course. WA couldn’t care less what you think. WA has provided you the opportunity to say what you think, however, and you should take it. Enough of this, and WA will have no choice but to care.
Month: August 2026
A Stella Achievement
UPDATE (05/10/26)
I’ve added below a third, just released, video, which includes references to and a brief interview with Robert.
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A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Burkard’s and my wandering minstrel days, which included the unpredictable meeting of various strange and unusual people. One of these strange and unusual people was Melburnian Robert Webb: musician, programmer, God-knows-what-er. A few years back, I posted (and again and again) on Robert’s excellently disturbing music and accompany videos: give Treat a listen and look. Long before that, Burkard and I wrote about Stella, Robert’s remarkable software for visualising and creating polyhedra. Robert is back.
The Difference Between the Inquiry People and the Explicit People
The Inquiry People know way too little mathematics and do not care, being firmly convinced that it does not matter. On the other hand, the Explicit People know way too little mathematics and do not care, being firmly convinced that it does not matter. Continue reading “The Difference Between the Inquiry People and the Explicit People”
The Concept ‘Horse’ is an Object
JEFF
Once, when I was a teenager, I was hanging out with my brother Jeff and some of his university acquaintances. The conversation was meandering, in the solving the world manner that students have always loved. At some point, a girl made the very standard complaint,
“Women are being treated as objects.”
My brother, employing his famous Jeffersonian diplomacy, responded,
“But women are objects.”
And the fun ensued. Continue reading “The Concept ‘Horse’ is an Object”
Re-Up: Host Requests Posts by Guests
I had forgotten about this but The Teacher of Bray and some stumbling around in the blog brought it to mind and it seems worth re-raising. A few years ago I offered for people to write guest posts for this blog. No one took me up on it, not counting re-publishings, but perhaps someone is now interested. Below is what I wrote a few years ago and, modulo a couple very minor edits, seems fine to leave as is.
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Guest Song: The Teacher of Bray
This one came out of nowhere. A reader of the blog, and a complete stranger, sent me their “poem”, The Teacher of Bray, apparently composed during a not-so-thrilling PD. It is a reworking of the The Vicar of Bray, a famous and very funny satirical song from the early 18th Century. (I had not heard of the song previously.)
Below, with the author’s kind permission, is The Teacher of Bray. For those who wish to know the melody in order to sing along, and it is worth it, here is a good version of The Vicar of Bray. Continue reading “Guest Song: The Teacher of Bray”
WitCH 155: AERO Foil
I was gonna let this one go but an email prompted me to reconsider. Then, I wasn’t sure how to do it, and pondered either a quick PoSWW or a full-blown post. In the end I decided to handball it to the aether and make it a WitCH. It is a triple bunger of nonsense, and readers can decide which bunger offers the biggest bang. Continue reading “WitCH 155: AERO Foil”
Laptops in Schools Really Suck: Sign the Petition
Coming on the back of poor NAPLAN results, there is a group called The Heads Up Alliance, with a petition demanding of education ministers that schools stop being stupid. Specifically, the petition is hammering five principles for the use of screens and technology in Australian schools: Continue reading “Laptops in Schools Really Suck: Sign the Petition”
Travelling Salesmen, Rainbow and the Value of Idiotic Effort
I had been planning this post for a while, but Burkard prompted the post to be moved up the list and prompted some addition to it.
Earlier this year, the result of a friend’s suggestion, I made a rather long drive for a rather short engagement. It was supposed to be two engagements but one person reneged. Such is life; the word of some people is worth more than others’. Anyway, two engagements or one, it was a lot of work for a busy and tired Marty. Was it worth it? It depends upon how one calculates such things, which is the subject of this post. Continue reading “Travelling Salesmen, Rainbow and the Value of Idiotic Effort”
Is a Percentage a Number?
This post was requested by frequent commenter, Terry Mills, famous for his divisibility test for 53. Simply put, Terry asks the question in the title:
Is a percentage a number?
To give Terry’s question some context, we’ll include a few exercises from the Year 7 Cambridge text. To be clear, we haven’t chosen Cambridge because it is a very bad textbook; that is by the by. Cambridge‘s is just a good example of pretty standard treatment. If and when the conversation gets going, commenters can introduce better sources. Continue reading “Is a Percentage a Number?”